The Chances of Anything Coming from Mars are a Million to One

Okay, quick confession - there is no week 2 to the Christmas Countdown. SBB was knackered from working 25 days straight and on the Thursday we went on a little trip.

SBB and I have always been big fans of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds so when I heard the stage show was coming so close I snapped up tickets ASAP. And it. Was. Amazing.

Here's how our trip went:

Breakfast. Toasted bagel with honey and a cup of tea. Lovely!

Red Funnel gets festive

We traveled up on Thursday lunchtime and headed straight to our hotel to check in. We stayed in Hotel Celebrity (although I don't have a picture of it).

Each of the rooms is named after a famous person (or people) and the halls have some really quirky artwork.

Erm... What goes on in THIS room?

It even has a ghost! Unfortunately the room seems to be an office and not available to book... But how cool would that be?!

 There's even leaflets/a poster about the ghost. I nabbed one to read later.

Our room was Keira Knightley. It was a nice room - clean and tidy.

View from the window - not quite as good as the last time I was in Bournemouth!

We trundled into Bournemouth and had a good wander round the Christmas market.

Those little black dots in the sea near the pier are surfers - very brave as it was freezing!

 After a quick trip back to the hotel to dump our shopping we heading out for some food. We settled on Prezzo.

There was so much on the menu I almost couldn't choose - I was drawn towards the lobster spaghetti but I've never had lobster so wasn't sure whether I should take the risk but then SBB asked:

'Well, how often do you get the opportunity to eat lobster?'

Good point.

Doesn't it look good?

It was so SO good but I couldn't eat it all. It was literally a mountain of spaghetti in a sauce that was so good I wanted to bury my face in it. But I didn't. Obviously.

We may have come on a particularly busy evening but as soon as we arrived we were asked, rather imperiously, 'Have you booked or just wandered in?' We were served very quickly which was both admirable and unexpected. To give you an idea of how quick it was - I've had longer waits at McDonalds! On one hand it was nice to be served quickly but we did feel a little rushed.

After dinner we wandered around a bit and then went into a place called 'Fun Station'. It had a load of arcade games but what drew us in was the counter in front of the window selling waffles and sundaes. A perfect place for pudding.

Looks bloomin' marvelous doesn't it?

I've forgotten what our sundaes were called but SBB had one with brownies and chocolate ice cream and I had one with banoffee and toffee. Oh my they were good.

After pudding it was time to head over to the BIC.

The stage

I took another picture during the intermission but I won't upload it because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. The show was great. The acting was a little poor (even Liam Neeson in the first half. For shame, Liam, for shame!) but the music more than made up for it. It was a great evening which finished to thunderous applause.

The next morning we were heading out so we heading down for the buffet breakfast which was lovely. I think it was an 'all you can eat' but I only managed the one plate.

I'm quite glad I picked Hotel Celebrity. It was friendly, clean and quiet at night (which is always a plus for me) and for £36 for the two of us for a night was an absolute bargain!

We took a rather bizarre detour back to Southampton because SBB turned left out of the hotel's carpark instead of right like I told him (sighs and rolls eyes).
Once in Southampton it was time to head to one place: Ikea!

It's strange but it's only after being in Ikea that I remember how much I dislike the place. I think what I dislike is the fact that you have to go through the how show room to get to the actual 'shop' area. But we were there to buy stuff for the flat and we managed to get everything on our list except the light fixture we wanted because they'd discontinued it (sad face).

Our trolley

Our trolley was filled with all white and clear items, except for a new storage box for my workout clothes.

*I wasn't paid to review Hotel Celebrity I just enjoyed my stay!*

A Musical Interlude

Last Friday we went to The Pyramids in Portsmouth to see The Rifles. We ended up taking the car as the passenger ferries didn't have any return crossings after half past ten (thanks Wightlink and Hovertravel...).

As it happens this was probably a good thing because A: we didn't have to walk around in the cold and B: it meant we could park near Gunwarf when we arrived and go to Burger King. Now, it's important to note at this stage the love that SBB and I have for Burger King. We don't have one on the Island so whenever we visit the Mainland we make our mission to eat there!

Happily filled up on Burger King we drove to Southsea and bagged a parking space practically outside the venue with free parking! I know, simple things...

We were the first ones in the queue and stood making idle chat with one of the door-staff, mainly along the lines of 'Ooh, isn't it cold!'

When we got inside we headed straight for the bar and bought a couple of bottled waters and the barman told us he had to keep the lids adding, at the puzzled look on my face, that it was company policy.

'What can you do with a bottle lid?' I asked in wonderment.

He shrugged. 'I don't know. Throw them at people? The management assumes everyone's fourteen.'

We laughed and went away with our drinks to find a convenient wall to lean against next to the lighting/sound area and SBB pointed out that a filled water bottle with a lid acts as a solid weapon. I looked at my water a little distrustfully.

'To think,' I joked, 'I've always assumed water to be a refreshing beverage when actually it's a lethal weapon!'

The stage

 The place was almost empty and that's pretty much how it stayed all night.

Only joking.

People started filtering in as the warm-up acts were playing.

I've never been to The Pyramids before and the room was smaller than I expected but it filled quite nicely.

The Rifles were supported by The Novatones and The Incredible Magpies. SBB said he could see influences by The Libertines and the Arctic Monkeys in The Novatones and as I speak write is downloading some of their music. But to me the aim of their music seemed to be 'thrash the instruments and sing as loudly and as bolshy as possible'.
The Incredible Magpies (as well as having an awesome name) seemed to have better control of their instruments and their singing.
I do have to point out that it all wasn't really my type of music so it's not really fair to 'review' these bands. SBB had bought two tickets, intending to be joined by a friend but he wasn't available. I hadn't known that SBB had been intending on going alone and, although he would have been fine, I couldn't bear the thought of him being on his own so happily agreed to go along with him.

Although I'm not really a fan of The Rifles I don't mind listening to them in the background as we're driving along, for example, so while I wasn't jiggling around like the rest of the crowd I was content to listen and tap my toe every now and again. My enjoyment was hampered somewhat by two things 1: I couldn't keep my eyes open I was so tired, 2: My shoulders and back were aching from my week at work. At one point though a couple of  'crowd control' staff popped up near me and started making 'I can see them' movements with their hands - do you know the ones I mean? - so I watched with interest, assuming someone was about to be yanked out of the crowd.
However, to my disappointment, they decided whoever it was wasn't as much of an issue as they'd thought and so they went away.

As the gig wore on I became increasingly grateful for being stood at the back against the wall as the semi-empty beer cups started flying. Perhaps it's just me but I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS. What is the entertainment factor of throwing your drink dregs over the people in front of you and, likely, hitting someone on the head with your cup?


Anyway, SBB really enjoyed himself and the music so that's what really counts.