Date: 5-7 June 2015

Modes of Travel: British Airways, Heathrow Connect and Various Taxis

Cast of Characters: Dan, Bruce, Kristen and Alyssa

Hotel: Holiday Inn City Centre, Aberdeen

Day 1 –

So we knew we were headed back to the AGM last year after our first one. Once the dates were known we booked it and invited Kristen to join us as well.

The day started at work for all of us at work as we booked the last flight of the night. So after work I made my way to Heathrow via Paddington Station and the Heathrow Connect.  After taking the Heathrow Express previously I expected a similar experience, boy was I wrong, it was hot stuffy and packed. I would have been better off taking the tube, the journey would have been more pleasant on the tube!

Once I arrived, I met Bruce at security and we went through to the lounge. Kristen joined us shortly after and we enjoyed some bubbles to celebrate her Birthday. Alyssa joined us and we settled in until our flight was called which surprise surprise was delayed.

We finally got on-board about 45 minutes late and were on our way to Aberdeen. After an uneventful flight we collected our bag and got in the taxi rank. We arrived to find 25 people in front of us with no taxis, after about 20 min waiting Bruce and Alyssa got impatient and Bruce ordered a taxi using an app and then a second taxi from a different app as there was no confirmation. We continued to wait and about the time the taxi from the first app arrived a taxi at the rank arrived too, so we hopped in the one we had ordered and Bruce cancelled the other one and off we were to the hotel.

After check-in we still wanted a drink so we agreed to meet at the Justice Mill as the end of the street.  Turns out it was a Wetherspoons complete with DJ. It really wasn’t our scene but we decided on one drink and then popped to a kebab shop for a late night snack.

We all went back to our rooms so we could get good nights sleep  (this was a bit difficult as the bed was the size of a postage stamp) as tomorrow was the PUNK AGM!

Day 2 –

We met Alyssa at her hotel around the corner and caught a taxi to the AECC. Even on arrival we knew this was going to be better than last years as there were no queues to get in. Once we were in it was already starting to get busy so we popped to one of the 6 bars and got a beer to start the day. After this we secured a table and settled in for the business talk I visited the merch table for a few necessities and our yearly beer stock up from the online shop. Just before the business talk started, Alyssa’s future Sister and Brother in Law joined us and we all watched the Business talk before heading in the to the Mikkeller tasting we had booked.   We were especially excited about this as we were just at Mikkeller the week before in Copenhagen.

Sadly Mikkeller himself couldn’t make it due to a delayed flight or something so one of the Brewdog and Beavertown brewers led the tasting.  They really could have spent a few minutes before the tasting to read the tasting notes before leading the tasting as quite frankly it sucked. The beer was good however.

We had a few more beers and listened to some of the live bands before headed back into town. Once again, Bruce booked a taxi on the app and we went outside to wait. A taxi pulled up and dropped someone off and Bruce and Alyssa decided we would just take that one as ours was 2 minutes away and we had already been waiting 5 minutes. They both seem to have forgotten we weren’t in London……

We had the driver drop us at the Brewdog in town and we had many more beers and played a game called Linkee.

After Brewdog we decided we should eat and walked towards our hotel. On the way we saw a pub called the Illicit Still, which we did not go in but are defo going to be popping into next year, with a name like that why wouldn’t we. We didn’t stop this time as we knew we needed some food so headed back towards our hotel as right around the corner was a place called Rustico. Rustico was recommended by our friend Jordan who is from Aberdeen. They were quite busy when we walked in, but they were able to seat us very quickly. After a short wait for our order to be taken the service was very quick and the food and wine very enjoyable.

We finished up dinner and I was past the point I should have been out the day of drinking took its toll and Bruce and Kristen felt the same so we parted ways and headed back to the hotel.

Day 3 –

We had a mid day flight so I aimed to get us to the airport for 90 minutes before departure. We met at Alyssa’s hotel for the journey back. I tried two separate taxi companies and was unable to get a taxi on the phone or via the app, but luckily the hotel could get us one and we were on our way.

We made it through check in and security pretty easy. Saying that the Security Staff could be friendlier.

We chilled in the lounge until our flight was called about 30 min before departure. We made our way to the gate and at 20 minutes before departure we were one of the last people on the plane and the doors were closed and we were off 15 minutes early.

It was an uneventful flight and even early they were ready for us and we pulled right up to gate and then sat for 10 minutes. Turns out the gate was broken so we had to walk down some steps over to some stairs and them up to the jetway as normal.

Overall it was a great trip and we are looking forward to the next PUNK AGM next year.

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