Although nothing would have given me more pleasure than to stay up until midnight watching the penultimate MOTD of the season, having to get up at five to be ready for the train to take me to London meant that I taped it and will catch up with it on Friday. Still, despite it being the most desperate of six months, the win on Sunday means we are safe form relegation now and can look forward rather than back. I do hope that some kind of investigation is begun to find out why we went from 7th to 17th in six months with just the two wins and an embarrassing FA cup defeat to chill the heart. That there was such gushing feelings of relief and joy should be tempered with the thought as to why we went so long playing poor football and not scoring goals, however we have now achieved the feat of scoring more goals that games played, 38 in 37!
Last night the Canary’s Youth team played the second leg of the FA Youth Cup final at Stamford Bridge, and 3000 canary fans cheered the young lads on to a 4-2 aggregate victory to lift the cup for the first time in 31 years, if my memory serves, and a really good sign for the next few years as these talents develop into professional footballers.
I caught my usual train out of Dover, it was soon full of commuters, but not that bad, really. I even gave my time to thinking about work, about the problems that we face and solutions. I really wasn’t just staring into space. London was as crowded as ever, as people pour into the old Olympic site to turn the village into flats for Londoners, and the temporary structures around the venues are slowly taken down. It seems so long now that we were all cheering Team GB on, and already the gold seems to be fading as cuts for funding are announced and training venues are being closed. So much for Olympic Legacy………
For an unpleasant change, the airport was in chaos, the self-chik in machines were not printing baggage labels, so we had to queue up to get the desks to print them, then another queue for security wound its way round the departure hall twice before it shrunk to more normal sizes. So, not time for people watching, just the Italian businessman man opposite talking loudly into his phone and waving his arms about; he looked like an Armani Ad, all perfect clothes, hair and tan.
And then it was time to board, and leave Merrie England behind and head to Billund. I read work documents on the plane, so no pictures of London to show you, sorry. All was well until we were on final approach when the pilot told us of the weather on the ground; misty, rain and just five degrees. When we got out of the plane it felt like February. Brr.
At the car hire place, I was given an Audi again, which made the little boy inside me grin from ear to ear. And then find the car and head to Esbjerg to find what was happening here, before leaving for the hotel at six. I went for a walk, took a couple of shots, but ended up at the Irish Bar for just the one beer, then heading back to the hotel for a burger. The food is fine, but the attitude of the staff is poor and the atmosphere is dreadful, like a morgue. So, I quickly finished so I could head upstairs to follow the youth team game on Twitter.
Tuesday.
And the sun did shine on the Kingdom of Denmark and people did smile, even those in work.
Not much to report about work, other than I am sharing an office with my old boss this week, all is jolly and happy here. We got lots of work done, and despite plenty of meetings still got the job done and I could see the end of my inbox. Such an odd event don’t know if I should be worried they were all being blocked somewhere.
At just gone four, the computer system went down, again, so I packed up and decided to head up the coast to Blåvand where there is a lighthouse, and I though a drive might be good. Beats sitting in the hotel room or darkening the doorway of the Irish bar. Helps my liver too.
So, I had seen signs in town heading the way, but these took me through a commercial area, and then through residential areas. We came to a beach on the edge of town, and there was a statue made of white stone, of four seated figures. Seemed modern, so I stopped, snapped it and drove on.
The road opened out to wide flat vistas, crossed a shallow river, before entering a forest growing out of dunes. Past a Danish Army base, where I could see tanks dug in. I thought about stopping for snaps, but probably not a good idea and so drove on.
Blåvand lies next to the sea and is a typical seaside place, a strip mall full of nick nack shops, ice cream parlours and the like. I drove on and the road turned and twisted through the dune, and between the dune, brick-built houses with thatched roofs nestled. Now holiday homes for the rich and German by all accounts. The lighthouse was covered in scaffolding, but I stopped to snap it, snapped the beach and German fortifications before heading back to Esbjerg as I had to meet with my old boss at half six so we could walk to Bones for some serious rib action.
I parked up and just had time to head to my room, dump my office stuff, change into a t shirt before heading back down to meet Philip and walk to Bones. As we ate, migrant east-European workers gathered on the corner opposite to drink cheap(!) beer out of bottles and smoke. Not the best place I guess, and ladies of the night chose their spot so they could carry out their business.
We walked back to the Scandig, and from my room I watched the evening ferry cast off and head out into the lagoon and then fade from view as dusk descended. I followed Twitter to see how Wigan were doing, they had to win at Arsenal to stay up, and did well for an hour, but conceded three quick goals to seal their fate and they will also be playing in the Championship next season. As City were already safe, I was able to enjoy the evening with a degree of smugness.
And before the final whistle, I headed to bed with another day at the coalface under my belt.
With half an hour to go before the great escape, time enough to pause to jot a few words down.
Outside, the sun is shining, so I may find a church to snap on the way to Billund, or I might just go straight back and relax in the lounge. Sorry bar, I do not have a ticket to the business lounge this week. Oh well.
Yesterday was a typical day here, like a whirlwind with a mix of meetings and getting actions done before the next meeting begun and more actions being allocated. So it goes, so it goes.
After work I went back to the hotel to read, only to fall asleep whilst reading, waking up in time to meet Philip for lunch. We headed to Dronning Louise in the rain, and managed to get a table. I had fine local beer with which to wash down the pulled pork burger; very nice, if a little cold. And then, I thought, back to the hotel to watch the game. But, disaster, it wasn’t on any channel. I thought about going to the Irish bar, but frankly was so tired I couldn’t be bothered, and went to bed at half time, so did not find out until this morning that Chelsea won another European trophy, although the Europa League does not have the financial reward the Champions League does. Still, Frank et al looked happy enough with their medals on.
And that is it, next stop Billund, then London then home, and tomorrow a day working from home. Just what the doctor ordered…
No comments:
Post a Comment