well, who would have thought it…
…I’m being sent to Coventry! Well not sent, strictly speaking, but Other Stuff has decreed that I will be in the area mid-April, and since I was planning a return to Nottingham around-about then anyway it seems an ample opportunity to kill two birds with one stone and spend a couple of extra days exploring in the Midlands. I will hope to be taking in the delights of Cov (on foot in the usual way, rather than naked on horseback) between the 14th and 16th of April when I then have to dash off for a nearby rendezvous, but that’s another story altogether.
I have only ever passed through the city once before on my way to the airport; having noticed the super-cheap special offers newly available from our budget airlines, and shortly afterwards been beside myself with excitement to have obtained return flight tickets to Paris Orly for approximately two quid each I was soon to find that the only way to actually utilise these as anything other than bookmarks was via the most expensive, time-consuming and devilishly complicated way possible to travel to the point of departure (although several years on, I suspect there is no other way). As a result, I spent virtually an entire day sitting on coaches, trains and buses, rushing for connections including (memorably) dragging a large and heavy suitcase up two flights of out-of-order escalator at Birmingham New Street, and finally arriving at Coventry Airport giddy, starving and exhausted in the pouring rain, only to find a spectacularly charmless set up which made Leeds Bradford look like JFK.
However, an hour or so later and bolstered by the finest full English I have ever eaten at an airport (the worst was at Southampton where the menu, careful to avoid any use of the terms ‘grilled’ or ‘fried’ in order to avoid falling foul of the Trades Descriptions Act, boasted an offering costing slightly under ten pounds and comprising, well, best not to think about it; lets just say upon wondering why I had mashed potato, it turned out I didn’t – that was the scrambled egg) I had warmed to Coventry a great deal. After buying a paper, sweeties and a rectangular handbag pack of tissues at the adjoining airport shop (same counter as the breakfast) I took up a contented residence in the central portakabin waiting area to await boarding and by the time of my return a few days later, the place was almost welcoming …and then of course I had to start the Tourettes-inducing main journey all over again, in reverse.
Anyway, nostalgia time over with – I will be staying at a central hotel, and whilst nothing is cast in stone, I am looking forward to my trip and promise to post proper advertisements nearer to the time. Back home in Scarborough, I have had a surprising steady week for the time of year, helped along no doubt by the tentative Spring sunshine (plus my absence the previous week probably didn’t hurt). Preparations for my New York trip are now seriously underway, and the usual peace and quiet of half term week is to be spent finalising these, although a limited number of appointments will be available for those who wish to see me before I go especially bearing in mind that every time I plan a week off I wind up bored and grumbly by the Wednesday lunchtime. I am also tentatively planning my next Edinburgh visit, more than likely in May and possibly by way of Inverness – watch this space…
The coming week is shaping up nicely, and I am looking forward to a long awaited catch-up with a favourite visitor on Sunday tea-time (tea and cake included) as well as welcoming some ever-keen newbies. There is still some availability left Monday – Thursday before my mini-break, so don’t miss your last chance to visit before the globetrotting starts!
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