It's time to hit the road again and today we drove from Manchester to Newcastle - the boy's bus leaving at 11am and the girls (now all split up into separate cars) leaving the hotel at around the same time. Last night when the boys were bussed off to their compulsory end-of-match team dinner, my travel buddies and I hit up a fabulous Mexican restaurant called Chiquitos where we shared plates of nachos, burritos, chimichangas and the odd mojito (or two)! Q: What do you call two mexican men playing basketball against each other? Juan on Juan!
The mood amongst the group feels a little sombre at the moment, although that could be a direct correlation to the weather we've been having (which at times has been downright miserable) and fatigue from all the travel. I was in bed sound asleep before the boys arrived back at the hotel last night, and this morning as everyone was milling around at breakfast and in the foyer pre-travel I was rushing around packing, more packing, and picking up our hire car. I've barely seen much of Ed let alone the rest of the crew and while there's still an air of positivity, it's difficult to gauge true emotion.
Again today I was incredible grateful to have my sister with me on tour. Getting organised for us (Romy and I) to leave the hotel was a mission - having to pack everything up and have our bags in the foyer by 10am, then having to catch a taxi to the hire-car company five kilometres down the road, THEN fill in all of the required paperwork and install the infant car seat, before making my way back to the hotel to pick up Romy (who was thankfully being looked after by Nicole). By the time I arrived with the hire car and having to drive around the block several times to find a carpark, Romy was well overdue for her morning nap (read: very grizzly and distressed baby). Without Nicole at my disposal you might imagine how in the past when I was on my own, things always went pear-shaped very quickly. There's absolutely no fun in juggling a crying 10kg baby, her pram and several suitcases to and from a car parked a few blocks away from your hotel.
As if collecting the hire car and then driving four hours (including pit stops) to Newcastle wasn't painful enough, having to return the hire car to the dealer in Newcastle became an absolute debacle. I dropped my passengers and our luggage off at the team hotel before entering the address of the car rental company into my iPhone navigation system. Forty minutes into the trip I realised I'd been guided to the wrong address, at which time I also found myself out of phone battery, leaving me with no map directory and no credit to call anyone. I didn't even know anyone's UK phone numbers by heart. Almost three hours later I eventually ended up back at the hotel to a furiously worried husband and sister.
I do however feel compelled to mention the brilliant service I've been getting from the great team at Enterprise Car Rental - the guys in their offices at Hammersmith, Manchester and Newcastle have all provided fantastic customer service including free pick ups (and returns) with all car hires. Highly recommend. (No, I did not receive anything in return for this mention)!
The mood amongst the group feels a little sombre at the moment, although that could be a direct correlation to the weather we've been having (which at times has been downright miserable) and fatigue from all the travel. I was in bed sound asleep before the boys arrived back at the hotel last night, and this morning as everyone was milling around at breakfast and in the foyer pre-travel I was rushing around packing, more packing, and picking up our hire car. I've barely seen much of Ed let alone the rest of the crew and while there's still an air of positivity, it's difficult to gauge true emotion.
As if collecting the hire car and then driving four hours (including pit stops) to Newcastle wasn't painful enough, having to return the hire car to the dealer in Newcastle became an absolute debacle. I dropped my passengers and our luggage off at the team hotel before entering the address of the car rental company into my iPhone navigation system. Forty minutes into the trip I realised I'd been guided to the wrong address, at which time I also found myself out of phone battery, leaving me with no map directory and no credit to call anyone. I didn't even know anyone's UK phone numbers by heart. Almost three hours later I eventually ended up back at the hotel to a furiously worried husband and sister.
I do however feel compelled to mention the brilliant service I've been getting from the great team at Enterprise Car Rental - the guys in their offices at Hammersmith, Manchester and Newcastle have all provided fantastic customer service including free pick ups (and returns) with all car hires. Highly recommend. (No, I did not receive anything in return for this mention)!
 |
| One of three 'Girls Cars' en route from Manchester to Newcastle |
