Subject: RE: MudMeet Groningen
From:
Letty
Date: 09 May 03 - 11:46 AM
I can't believe it's been a week since the meeting either... Maybe I should be writing some stuff down before I forget.
What happened last week (abridged), part 1.
I arrived in Groningen on Thursday, to help clean my brother's student flat to acceptable adult hygiene levels (we skipped the kitchen cupboards, but I think we got away with it!). After a long night in town (preparation) playing pool (beating the guys, well 2 of them anyway, of course I let Max (later scared away from visiting me by what he described as huge guys standing in the living room, thereby referring to MudGuard, Eric and Skipjack) win), returned home safely and completely sober (honest).
The first to arrive in Moose Mansion on Friday was, ever pünktlich as only Germans can be, MudGuard, even though he came by bike! :-)
Don't get too impressed: he didn't cycle down all the way from Munich, he took the train as well. Maybe he only cycled five minutes from Groningen station, I don't know.
MudGuard joined me when we walked my dog Kerry (who slept in the same room as Eric and Skip and looks like a black sheep, but don't draw any conclusions) through the historical park (English garden style), and we saw a bit of the city centre as well. Groningen is a university city with about 180,000 inhabtants, 25% of whom are under 30: so there's always lots to do, and the pubs flourish.
Then it was time to move downtown. We had booked a table at Sally O'Brien's, an Irish pub, and Gerry the manager (who to my surprise is actually Irish, as I always figured that O'Brien's was a fake Irish bar) had promised us we could play after dinner.
After ordering a few pints, MudGuard and I were still the only ones present, and I was beginning to worry about the fate of the other mudcatters... A few drinks later, we found out that part of the German delegation (Frank, Iris, Anne and Ute) had indeed arrived in Groningen, but were both stuck in Groningen's infamous one-way system and had forgotten, of all things, to bring their B&B address (!)... After a few phonecalls, Willem and I found out where they were staying, and we were ready to settle down.
Although I had forewarned the staff, Sally O'Brien's managed to break EuroGathering (tm) restaurant traditions: not only did the food arrive in the correct order, complete with side dishes, but MudGuard wasn't the last to get served (ok, second last, but still)!
During the course of the meal, more mudcatters arrived: Wolfgang and Susanne arrived together, and Mooman was dropped off too. After dinner, we started a session, still a bit hesitant, but slowly gaining confidence and praise from the staff (we had scared the customers away, apparently: it was very quiet and we practically had the bar to ourselves). The only person who was less pleased was the DJ who had been hired to play (overly loud) music that night (well, we HAD told them we were coming, so why bother?). Poor chap. We gave him a break of about half an hour to 45 minutes to do his thing, which gave me the chance to collect Eric and Skipjack from the station. Mooman had already announced them to the bar staff as 'two famous musicians from England', so once they joined us, the session was back online. Gerry the manager was so happy, he offered us food if we could come back the next day.
After closing time, we found out how many mudcatters fit into Susanne's car, and went home for coffee (or African rooibos tea all the way from England) and sleep. The dog was very glad to see us.
[to be continued]
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sj
