QUEENS OF THE ROAD - part 1
So here's the first official part of my report. This part of the report will be mostly text at the beginning with a picspam following in the end. It seems I concentrated more on talking with the guests than taking photos but there are already so many great photos around that I guess it doesn't matter. The pics are clickable for larger.
Standard disclaimer: As always I'm happy to share my experiences but I do ask that you respect the hard work I've put in this and don't take any parts of the report or the photos and post them somewhere else. I'm fine with people linking on this report and even encourage it. Also if you want to make icons of any of my photos, that is fine too. All I ask it that you ask. :)
Second disclaimer: All things stated here are my own opinions and don't represent the opinions of anyone else.
There's a story behind my copyright watermark but that story is still coming :)
Finally. I hope you enjoy!
Thursday 27.3.2014
My convention experience surprisingly started already on my way to Bilbao. I was originally supposed to fly to Bilbao through Munich at ass-crack of dawn but due to ground workers of Lufthansa going on strike, I was re-routed to fly through Paris instead. In the end that proved to be a good thing. I met another convention attendee at the airport and while we were queuing for the plane, I joked about how funny it would be if the guests happened to be on the same plane. At no point did I actually think that would be the case. I got seated on my seat and found another convention attendee sitting pretty close to me. We had seen each other in Cologne. After we had gotten into air, she asked me if I thought a guy wearing a cap in business class could be Gale. I could only see the hat so I really couldn't be sure. This person solved the issue by getting up and walking to business class to see if it was him. I could see her leaning down and talking with someone, so that pretty much told me that it was him and she confirmed it when she came back. She told me that it was Gale and Scott sitting there but she also said, I think, that Peter wasn't there. I do have to say that I don’t think it was quite alright for her to walk there and do that. It’s not something I would have done. At that point I moved to sit next to the girl I had met on the airport since there was a free seat next to her and spent the rest of the flight there. Her seat was closer to the front of the plane so I caught the occasional glimpse of Gale and Scott and at some point noticed that Peter was sitting close to them after all.
When we landed we made our way out of the plane with my friend among the flow of people and ended up standing about 10-15 meters away from Scott, Peter and Gale. We were talking among each other but I do admit to sneaking a few glances at them. The embarrassing thing was that while I was talking with my friend, I sort of missed my luggage going by and had to take a few running steps to reach it. And of course this was into the direction where the guys were standing. As luck would have it, the bag next to my luggage belonged to Gale and I had to be careful not to pull my luggage on his legs when we were at the luggage belt at the same time. When we both (my friend and I) had our luggage, we made our way out of the airport and towards the taxi queue. We again caught a glimpse of the guys when they were packing their stuff to the car that was there to pick them up.
I had put out a tweet at the luggage hall about the guys being on the same plane and almost immediately that tweet started to go viral with people favoriting and retweeting it. Had to silence my phone so that the constant beeping wouldn't attract too much attention. And of course when we reached the convention hotel, there were some people in the reception I recognized and had seen the tweet so talked with some people there for a while. Was nice to see so many familiar faces again! Also met my dear roomie blue_eyedstar, Sandra, there. She had already gotten our room since she had gotten there earlier than me. Together we made our way to our room and got settled to wait for other people to arrive.
*******
Friday 28.3.2014
My friends and I had made plans to go to the Guggenheim museum in the morning, as had quite a few other people from the convention from the amount of familiar faces we saw there. We spent a nice few hours in the museum just browsing around and enjoying the art. I do have to say that modern art isn’t for me. Sure the building was great and it was fun to actually be able to climb and go into some of the art but I just don’t quite get what makes some of it art but that’s of course just me. We were just about to leave the museum when someone spotted Randy, Scott and Peter queuing for tickets to the museum. I’m sorry to say but at the first loud “OMG! It’s Randy!” shout, we decided that it was maybe a good time to vacate the museum. Of course we had been on our way out anyway. I did come across Peter and Scott on our way out and they gave me a nod, smile and a quick hi but that was it. Don’t know if they recognized me from the airport or just guessed what I was in town for :)
And then fast-forward to a few hours later...
It was finally time to get the convention started for real. The first thing was registration for the people who were taking part in the Close Up activity that afternoon. I was surprised to see how many people were queuing for registration but just thought that maybe some people had missed the part of it being just for the people taking part in the Close Up or were maybe just hanging out there in wait for the registration to be open to everyone.
Looking through the program I received with my tickets, I noticed that they had moved one of the M&Gs a bit. Originally Scott’s M&G on the Sunday was going to overlap with Gale’s panel pretty badly. I sent the organizers email about maybe moving that M&G a little since there seemed to be space but never heard back. However, don’t know if they had considered my feedback or had come to the decision themselves, they had moved the M&G just in the way I had suggested. That made me happy since it meant I wouldn't have to miss that much of the panel.
It was some time later when I found out why there were so many people at registration. It was because they were actually all taking part in the Close Up. There was a bus for us outside the hotel and that bus was practically filled with people which basically meant that they had sold about 50 tickets for the Close Up. At that point I got a bad feeling about the whole thing since I don’t really think 50 people taking part in something quite goes with the description of getting to spend time with the guests in an intimate setting or whatever the description of the activity said. The Close Up was in no means a cheap activity so I sort of expected it to be a bit more exclusive thing. I guess it’s no surprise that the organizer refused to answer my question about how many tickets there were available.
My dear friends Sandra and Kimmah in the bus
When we got to the pier where the boat we were supposed to be sailing with, was on, we were told to wait by the gates for a while. I have a feeling that Scott and Randy were already there at that point but I could well be wrong. People started to take photos of them right away when they stood there with the organizers. I admit to sneaking a few photos myself too. Also saw Elke, the organizer of the Rise ‘n Shine conventions, walking up to them and talking with them. Now, this is of course just my opinion, but I don’t think it was okay for her to do that. Sure she has organized a few conventions with them but at that convention she was in just as an attendee and had paid the same amount (I assume) as everyone else for the Close Up. I do feel that the same rules should have applied to her than to other attendees.
And then on the pier waiting for the boat
Anyway, after quite a wait, Peter and Gale also showed up and we were directed to enter the boat. It was unclear where the guests were going to be but since it was pretty cool outside my friends, Sandra and Kimah, and I decided to stay in the lower floor which was inside and much warmer than the outside air. Also that space had the food and drinks in it. We were among the first people inside the boat so got to choose our seats pretty freely. The guests were brought into the boat last and were taken to the upper deck. That of course meant that most of the people who were on the lower deck, tried to go to the upper deck instead. There was of course no room for everyone so they told us that about half-way they would switch so that the people who were there now would come down and we could go up. So I just sat with my friends and talked about random things while enjoying some wine, bread and cheese. Scott and Peter came down separately at some points to get themselves some drinks and food and did exchange a few words with people but then went back up. When time just went on I started to get worried that we would miss out the guests completely and that definitely didn't improve my mood.
However, after time that felt like eternity we were told that it was time to swap. We climbed on the upper deck. We saw the guests sitting at the chairs across from the stairs. I got my customary “Hello, Pia” from Randy and said hi back. At first took seats a few rows from where the guests were sitting but then I decided that I had paid good money for having the chance to talk with them so I got up and walked to where they were sitting. I first engaged Scott by talking to him about the Guggenheim museum and asked his opinion about it. It seemed he had experienced it a bit differently than I had but we did discuss it a while. Then I posed pretty much the same question to Randy and talked with him for a while. He continued our discussion by asking how my trip in had gone. Didn't want to bore him with details about how difficult making the trip had actually been due to the flight cancellations, so just went with saying that it had been good and that I had actually flown in the same plane with the others from Paris. At the same time I apologized for Scott for being the person who was the first one tweeting that they had been spotted on the airport.
While I was there I also told Randy that I had tried to come up with some good questions for the panels. Joked at that point that I didn't want him to be worried about me again since the last time we saw each other, he had said to me that I was being too quiet and asked if I was alright. I promised to do better this time around. He joked back something about me asking questions and somehow it got turned around so that he was saying that I was always so very quiet and how it seemed I didn't engage at all and seemed almost uninterested. Yeah, that describes my behavior at convention really well! NOT!
After I felt I had taken my time with them, I moved away and took a seat again. A while later I saw Peter standing near one of the railings by himself so went to talk with him about the Guggenheim as well. We both agreed that the best part was the stuff you could go into and climb on. I told him that we had climbed into this net thing they had there and had spent quite a lot of time there. And also admitted to him that we had taken photos up there even if you weren't supposed to. He gave me this conspiring smile and stage whispered that they had too. Spent some more time talking to him before leaving him in peace.
A while later I found myself sitting close to Randy again. Don’t remember what we began talking about but I do remember that he brought up the video we had made in London with Sandra crawling down some stairs singing Wreckingball by Miley Cyrus. Probably sounds weird if you weren't there, but it was hilarious and there’s a theme going in that and it’s sort of a joke in our group. Randy did ask her if she already had another song in mind and she replied that she was taking requests. Next Randy suggested that there were perfectly good stairs on the boat as well and that Sandra could do a repeat performance right there and then. It is possible Sandra swatted him at that point.
Randy was also sweet enough to ask after some of the other people in our group since he hadn't seen them on the boat. We had to tell him that they weren't there and he made us promise to tell them that they were missed. He’s so sweet!
Noticed that while the other guys were moving around and occasionally going to get some food and drinks, Gale sat in the same seat the whole time. At one point the seat in front of him was free so I sat there. Since he seemed deep in conversation with the people around him, I just concentrated on talking with my friends while waiting to see if there was a lull in the conversation. To me it looked like he might have been feeling slightly ill from the rocking the boat did but I could well be wrong. However, when I got a chance to speak to him, I did ask him if he was alright. He did very quickly reply that he was fine and then asked if I was alright. I told him that I was fine and then continued with saying that I was glad to see him again and mentioned that I had gone to LA to see Orpheus Descending and really enjoyed that and was curious to know if he was planning on doing any more theater. He did say that he would love to at some point and if possible in London. Someone else commented there that didn't he do something in London already and he said it had only been a workshop. There were a few more words exchanged but then someone on his other side started to talk with him and he turned away so I turned back to my friends and continued talking with them.
Again my friends and some guy in the background :)
Photo credit oceanreign
The whole theme of the cruise for me was having random encounters with the guests but pretty much always just exchanging a few words with them before moving away since I didn't want to appear to crowd them. At some point of the cruise I decided that my dress choice had been a pretty bad one. While the dress looked good, it wasn’t the warmest choice to be standing on the deck and also the constant wind there posed the danger of my skirt flying up. Really didn't fancy the idea of flashing my knickers at everyone. I did complain to the guests about my skirt too :)
A fine picture of me holding my skirt...
Photo credit oceanreign
Don’t have too clear recollections of all the encounters I had but I do remember standing close to Peter and Randy and just taking photos of the scenery when I spotted a ship sporting the name of a Finnish company. I pointed it out to them and they asked me what the company did. Had to search for the words for a while but then got out that they dealt with paper and pulp. Randy immediately commented that his father used to work in that industry and had actually visited Helsinki quite a few times for work. Peter asked him if he had ever gone with his father but Randy said he hadn't. He did add that he would love to visit Helsinki one day. I jokingly commented that I keep inviting him but he never comes. Got a laugh for that.
Before heading out for the cruise, Sandra and I had joked with some friends of ours that they were going to hire a row boat and row after us. So when we saw a bunch of rowing boats, we got a good laugh out of that and joked that it was them coming now.
Then there was an encounter between Scott and Peter when Scott came from the lower deck holding some bread and cheese in his hands. Peter yelled at him asking where his cheese was. Scott was all confused looking and asking if he had been meant to bring Peter some and Peter just acted all insulted by it. Scott then asked Peter if he wanted him to go and get him some and Peter still acted insulted. Scott slumped and shuffled back downstairs to get some cheese for him. So very amusing!
At one point I happened to be standing close to Peter and Scott when they started talking about some building they were jokingly planning on buying. It seemed they had really put some thought into it. They had already divided the place up according to who was going to get which floor. They pointed out the building and I had to comment that it might require some work before they could move in. They shrugged and said that maybe it needed a few new windows or something.
We also got some our own amusement when it looked like every time Sandra came to the upper deck, Randy went downstairs and vice versa. He did keep saying that he was cold so I think it was more that and not him avoiding Sandra but we found it amusing anyway.
We were already approaching familiar surroundings when we were told that we had to go down again and that the first group got to come back up for a while still. I was sort of glad to be able to go back down to the warmth even if I was sad to leave the guys. Scott saw us making our way down and asked us if we had given up to the cold. I told him that we had been told to leave to give space to other people. He went all “Well, get going then!” and shooed us out of there. Of course he was just joking.
We sat downstairs for the rest of the trip. Randy seemed to have given up to the cold as well and was spending most of the time downstairs. He had a group of people sitting around him so I decided not to bother him anymore. Spent the time before we docked taking some more scenery photos as well as talking with my friends.
When we docked, the guests were escorted out of the boat first. Some people tried to run after them but they were gotten into a car pretty quickly, I was told. It also appeared that some people might have told others where the boat was going to dock since it seemed there were people waiting on the dock to catch a glimpse of them.
Now it's time for that picspam
As in conclusion about the Close Up, it was okay, but it wasn't quite worth the money I paid for it. In my opinion they had sold too many tickets for it for the amount they charged. This is again of course just my opinion and other people might feel differently. That being said, I had fun but I guess did expect too much. I blame some other events I've attended. They've raised my expectations :)
We made our way back to the hotel in the bus and I sort of thought that the evening was over for me, what it came to the guests. I was proven wrong some hours later. Sandra had gotten herself a dinner with Randy. Everyone else in our group was sitting in the hotel bar having some drinks and food. Suddenly I started to get text messages from Sandra which all were quite negative about the dinner. It seemed that different to what had been said when the dinners were sold, there were actually seventeen seats at every table. The dinner was originally advertised as there being 12 seats. Also the tables were long ones so the people sitting at the other end of the table from the guest couldn't really hear anything that was being said. I did feel bad for Sandra since she had paid good money for the dinner too but not enough to get a seat close to Randy.
Then in the middle of everything I got the weirdest text, still from her phone. It read “its Randy. Didn't you have pink hair for a while?” I stared at the text and tried to make sense of it. The text had nothing to do with anything I had been talking with Sandra about so I just pretty much felt WTF. I showed the text to my friends and their comment was that it’s obviously Randy texting me. My next WTF moment was thinking why Randy thought I had had pink hair and also why the hell were they talking about me and my hair on the dinner. I replied in the negative to the text and the texting went back to Sandra telling me about the dinner which she began to enjoy a lot more once Randy moved around the table and started to talk with people other than the ones sitting closest to him.
I was just left with a confused feeling about the text. And also slightly amused. When Sandra got back from the dinner, I tried to question her about what had happened but she wasn't really able to explain to me what the whole hair thing had been about. But she did say that Randy had kept stealing her phone and reading through the texts between us. Nosy guy! :D
By that time it was already quite late and sleep was a good idea. We knew we would have a long day ahead of us the next day.
Saturday
Standard disclaimer: As always I'm happy to share my experiences but I do ask that you respect the hard work I've put in this and don't take any parts of the report or the photos and post them somewhere else. I'm fine with people linking on this report and even encourage it. Also if you want to make icons of any of my photos, that is fine too. All I ask it that you ask. :)
Second disclaimer: All things stated here are my own opinions and don't represent the opinions of anyone else.
There's a story behind my copyright watermark but that story is still coming :)
Finally. I hope you enjoy!
Thursday 27.3.2014
My convention experience surprisingly started already on my way to Bilbao. I was originally supposed to fly to Bilbao through Munich at ass-crack of dawn but due to ground workers of Lufthansa going on strike, I was re-routed to fly through Paris instead. In the end that proved to be a good thing. I met another convention attendee at the airport and while we were queuing for the plane, I joked about how funny it would be if the guests happened to be on the same plane. At no point did I actually think that would be the case. I got seated on my seat and found another convention attendee sitting pretty close to me. We had seen each other in Cologne. After we had gotten into air, she asked me if I thought a guy wearing a cap in business class could be Gale. I could only see the hat so I really couldn't be sure. This person solved the issue by getting up and walking to business class to see if it was him. I could see her leaning down and talking with someone, so that pretty much told me that it was him and she confirmed it when she came back. She told me that it was Gale and Scott sitting there but she also said, I think, that Peter wasn't there. I do have to say that I don’t think it was quite alright for her to walk there and do that. It’s not something I would have done. At that point I moved to sit next to the girl I had met on the airport since there was a free seat next to her and spent the rest of the flight there. Her seat was closer to the front of the plane so I caught the occasional glimpse of Gale and Scott and at some point noticed that Peter was sitting close to them after all.
When we landed we made our way out of the plane with my friend among the flow of people and ended up standing about 10-15 meters away from Scott, Peter and Gale. We were talking among each other but I do admit to sneaking a few glances at them. The embarrassing thing was that while I was talking with my friend, I sort of missed my luggage going by and had to take a few running steps to reach it. And of course this was into the direction where the guys were standing. As luck would have it, the bag next to my luggage belonged to Gale and I had to be careful not to pull my luggage on his legs when we were at the luggage belt at the same time. When we both (my friend and I) had our luggage, we made our way out of the airport and towards the taxi queue. We again caught a glimpse of the guys when they were packing their stuff to the car that was there to pick them up.
I had put out a tweet at the luggage hall about the guys being on the same plane and almost immediately that tweet started to go viral with people favoriting and retweeting it. Had to silence my phone so that the constant beeping wouldn't attract too much attention. And of course when we reached the convention hotel, there were some people in the reception I recognized and had seen the tweet so talked with some people there for a while. Was nice to see so many familiar faces again! Also met my dear roomie blue_eyedstar, Sandra, there. She had already gotten our room since she had gotten there earlier than me. Together we made our way to our room and got settled to wait for other people to arrive.
*******
Friday 28.3.2014
My friends and I had made plans to go to the Guggenheim museum in the morning, as had quite a few other people from the convention from the amount of familiar faces we saw there. We spent a nice few hours in the museum just browsing around and enjoying the art. I do have to say that modern art isn’t for me. Sure the building was great and it was fun to actually be able to climb and go into some of the art but I just don’t quite get what makes some of it art but that’s of course just me. We were just about to leave the museum when someone spotted Randy, Scott and Peter queuing for tickets to the museum. I’m sorry to say but at the first loud “OMG! It’s Randy!” shout, we decided that it was maybe a good time to vacate the museum. Of course we had been on our way out anyway. I did come across Peter and Scott on our way out and they gave me a nod, smile and a quick hi but that was it. Don’t know if they recognized me from the airport or just guessed what I was in town for :)
And then fast-forward to a few hours later...
It was finally time to get the convention started for real. The first thing was registration for the people who were taking part in the Close Up activity that afternoon. I was surprised to see how many people were queuing for registration but just thought that maybe some people had missed the part of it being just for the people taking part in the Close Up or were maybe just hanging out there in wait for the registration to be open to everyone.
Looking through the program I received with my tickets, I noticed that they had moved one of the M&Gs a bit. Originally Scott’s M&G on the Sunday was going to overlap with Gale’s panel pretty badly. I sent the organizers email about maybe moving that M&G a little since there seemed to be space but never heard back. However, don’t know if they had considered my feedback or had come to the decision themselves, they had moved the M&G just in the way I had suggested. That made me happy since it meant I wouldn't have to miss that much of the panel.
It was some time later when I found out why there were so many people at registration. It was because they were actually all taking part in the Close Up. There was a bus for us outside the hotel and that bus was practically filled with people which basically meant that they had sold about 50 tickets for the Close Up. At that point I got a bad feeling about the whole thing since I don’t really think 50 people taking part in something quite goes with the description of getting to spend time with the guests in an intimate setting or whatever the description of the activity said. The Close Up was in no means a cheap activity so I sort of expected it to be a bit more exclusive thing. I guess it’s no surprise that the organizer refused to answer my question about how many tickets there were available.
My dear friends Sandra and Kimmah in the bus
When we got to the pier where the boat we were supposed to be sailing with, was on, we were told to wait by the gates for a while. I have a feeling that Scott and Randy were already there at that point but I could well be wrong. People started to take photos of them right away when they stood there with the organizers. I admit to sneaking a few photos myself too. Also saw Elke, the organizer of the Rise ‘n Shine conventions, walking up to them and talking with them. Now, this is of course just my opinion, but I don’t think it was okay for her to do that. Sure she has organized a few conventions with them but at that convention she was in just as an attendee and had paid the same amount (I assume) as everyone else for the Close Up. I do feel that the same rules should have applied to her than to other attendees.
And then on the pier waiting for the boat
Anyway, after quite a wait, Peter and Gale also showed up and we were directed to enter the boat. It was unclear where the guests were going to be but since it was pretty cool outside my friends, Sandra and Kimah, and I decided to stay in the lower floor which was inside and much warmer than the outside air. Also that space had the food and drinks in it. We were among the first people inside the boat so got to choose our seats pretty freely. The guests were brought into the boat last and were taken to the upper deck. That of course meant that most of the people who were on the lower deck, tried to go to the upper deck instead. There was of course no room for everyone so they told us that about half-way they would switch so that the people who were there now would come down and we could go up. So I just sat with my friends and talked about random things while enjoying some wine, bread and cheese. Scott and Peter came down separately at some points to get themselves some drinks and food and did exchange a few words with people but then went back up. When time just went on I started to get worried that we would miss out the guests completely and that definitely didn't improve my mood.
However, after time that felt like eternity we were told that it was time to swap. We climbed on the upper deck. We saw the guests sitting at the chairs across from the stairs. I got my customary “Hello, Pia” from Randy and said hi back. At first took seats a few rows from where the guests were sitting but then I decided that I had paid good money for having the chance to talk with them so I got up and walked to where they were sitting. I first engaged Scott by talking to him about the Guggenheim museum and asked his opinion about it. It seemed he had experienced it a bit differently than I had but we did discuss it a while. Then I posed pretty much the same question to Randy and talked with him for a while. He continued our discussion by asking how my trip in had gone. Didn't want to bore him with details about how difficult making the trip had actually been due to the flight cancellations, so just went with saying that it had been good and that I had actually flown in the same plane with the others from Paris. At the same time I apologized for Scott for being the person who was the first one tweeting that they had been spotted on the airport.
While I was there I also told Randy that I had tried to come up with some good questions for the panels. Joked at that point that I didn't want him to be worried about me again since the last time we saw each other, he had said to me that I was being too quiet and asked if I was alright. I promised to do better this time around. He joked back something about me asking questions and somehow it got turned around so that he was saying that I was always so very quiet and how it seemed I didn't engage at all and seemed almost uninterested. Yeah, that describes my behavior at convention really well! NOT!
After I felt I had taken my time with them, I moved away and took a seat again. A while later I saw Peter standing near one of the railings by himself so went to talk with him about the Guggenheim as well. We both agreed that the best part was the stuff you could go into and climb on. I told him that we had climbed into this net thing they had there and had spent quite a lot of time there. And also admitted to him that we had taken photos up there even if you weren't supposed to. He gave me this conspiring smile and stage whispered that they had too. Spent some more time talking to him before leaving him in peace.
A while later I found myself sitting close to Randy again. Don’t remember what we began talking about but I do remember that he brought up the video we had made in London with Sandra crawling down some stairs singing Wreckingball by Miley Cyrus. Probably sounds weird if you weren't there, but it was hilarious and there’s a theme going in that and it’s sort of a joke in our group. Randy did ask her if she already had another song in mind and she replied that she was taking requests. Next Randy suggested that there were perfectly good stairs on the boat as well and that Sandra could do a repeat performance right there and then. It is possible Sandra swatted him at that point.
Randy was also sweet enough to ask after some of the other people in our group since he hadn't seen them on the boat. We had to tell him that they weren't there and he made us promise to tell them that they were missed. He’s so sweet!
Noticed that while the other guys were moving around and occasionally going to get some food and drinks, Gale sat in the same seat the whole time. At one point the seat in front of him was free so I sat there. Since he seemed deep in conversation with the people around him, I just concentrated on talking with my friends while waiting to see if there was a lull in the conversation. To me it looked like he might have been feeling slightly ill from the rocking the boat did but I could well be wrong. However, when I got a chance to speak to him, I did ask him if he was alright. He did very quickly reply that he was fine and then asked if I was alright. I told him that I was fine and then continued with saying that I was glad to see him again and mentioned that I had gone to LA to see Orpheus Descending and really enjoyed that and was curious to know if he was planning on doing any more theater. He did say that he would love to at some point and if possible in London. Someone else commented there that didn't he do something in London already and he said it had only been a workshop. There were a few more words exchanged but then someone on his other side started to talk with him and he turned away so I turned back to my friends and continued talking with them.
Again my friends and some guy in the background :)
Photo credit oceanreign
The whole theme of the cruise for me was having random encounters with the guests but pretty much always just exchanging a few words with them before moving away since I didn't want to appear to crowd them. At some point of the cruise I decided that my dress choice had been a pretty bad one. While the dress looked good, it wasn’t the warmest choice to be standing on the deck and also the constant wind there posed the danger of my skirt flying up. Really didn't fancy the idea of flashing my knickers at everyone. I did complain to the guests about my skirt too :)
A fine picture of me holding my skirt...
Photo credit oceanreign
Don’t have too clear recollections of all the encounters I had but I do remember standing close to Peter and Randy and just taking photos of the scenery when I spotted a ship sporting the name of a Finnish company. I pointed it out to them and they asked me what the company did. Had to search for the words for a while but then got out that they dealt with paper and pulp. Randy immediately commented that his father used to work in that industry and had actually visited Helsinki quite a few times for work. Peter asked him if he had ever gone with his father but Randy said he hadn't. He did add that he would love to visit Helsinki one day. I jokingly commented that I keep inviting him but he never comes. Got a laugh for that.
Before heading out for the cruise, Sandra and I had joked with some friends of ours that they were going to hire a row boat and row after us. So when we saw a bunch of rowing boats, we got a good laugh out of that and joked that it was them coming now.
Then there was an encounter between Scott and Peter when Scott came from the lower deck holding some bread and cheese in his hands. Peter yelled at him asking where his cheese was. Scott was all confused looking and asking if he had been meant to bring Peter some and Peter just acted all insulted by it. Scott then asked Peter if he wanted him to go and get him some and Peter still acted insulted. Scott slumped and shuffled back downstairs to get some cheese for him. So very amusing!
At one point I happened to be standing close to Peter and Scott when they started talking about some building they were jokingly planning on buying. It seemed they had really put some thought into it. They had already divided the place up according to who was going to get which floor. They pointed out the building and I had to comment that it might require some work before they could move in. They shrugged and said that maybe it needed a few new windows or something.
We also got some our own amusement when it looked like every time Sandra came to the upper deck, Randy went downstairs and vice versa. He did keep saying that he was cold so I think it was more that and not him avoiding Sandra but we found it amusing anyway.
We were already approaching familiar surroundings when we were told that we had to go down again and that the first group got to come back up for a while still. I was sort of glad to be able to go back down to the warmth even if I was sad to leave the guys. Scott saw us making our way down and asked us if we had given up to the cold. I told him that we had been told to leave to give space to other people. He went all “Well, get going then!” and shooed us out of there. Of course he was just joking.
We sat downstairs for the rest of the trip. Randy seemed to have given up to the cold as well and was spending most of the time downstairs. He had a group of people sitting around him so I decided not to bother him anymore. Spent the time before we docked taking some more scenery photos as well as talking with my friends.
When we docked, the guests were escorted out of the boat first. Some people tried to run after them but they were gotten into a car pretty quickly, I was told. It also appeared that some people might have told others where the boat was going to dock since it seemed there were people waiting on the dock to catch a glimpse of them.
Now it's time for that picspam
As in conclusion about the Close Up, it was okay, but it wasn't quite worth the money I paid for it. In my opinion they had sold too many tickets for it for the amount they charged. This is again of course just my opinion and other people might feel differently. That being said, I had fun but I guess did expect too much. I blame some other events I've attended. They've raised my expectations :)
We made our way back to the hotel in the bus and I sort of thought that the evening was over for me, what it came to the guests. I was proven wrong some hours later. Sandra had gotten herself a dinner with Randy. Everyone else in our group was sitting in the hotel bar having some drinks and food. Suddenly I started to get text messages from Sandra which all were quite negative about the dinner. It seemed that different to what had been said when the dinners were sold, there were actually seventeen seats at every table. The dinner was originally advertised as there being 12 seats. Also the tables were long ones so the people sitting at the other end of the table from the guest couldn't really hear anything that was being said. I did feel bad for Sandra since she had paid good money for the dinner too but not enough to get a seat close to Randy.
Then in the middle of everything I got the weirdest text, still from her phone. It read “its Randy. Didn't you have pink hair for a while?” I stared at the text and tried to make sense of it. The text had nothing to do with anything I had been talking with Sandra about so I just pretty much felt WTF. I showed the text to my friends and their comment was that it’s obviously Randy texting me. My next WTF moment was thinking why Randy thought I had had pink hair and also why the hell were they talking about me and my hair on the dinner. I replied in the negative to the text and the texting went back to Sandra telling me about the dinner which she began to enjoy a lot more once Randy moved around the table and started to talk with people other than the ones sitting closest to him.
I was just left with a confused feeling about the text. And also slightly amused. When Sandra got back from the dinner, I tried to question her about what had happened but she wasn't really able to explain to me what the whole hair thing had been about. But she did say that Randy had kept stealing her phone and reading through the texts between us. Nosy guy! :D
By that time it was already quite late and sleep was a good idea. We knew we would have a long day ahead of us the next day.
Saturday