A little trip north

They say that home is where the heart is and well if that is the case, I should have two hearts.

I’ve always lived in Surrey and apart from three amazing years at Chester University the south has always been my home. This forms the basis of my little adventure down memory lane and with a few new experiences thrown in, will be one holiday I won’t forget in a hurry.

Fresher’s week at uni is every students dream and every graduate’s nightmare, so if you are neither student nor graduate this week is a free pass to party and re-live those university years. This is precisely what two of my ex-housemates and I did last Wednesday.

After packing bags, shoes and student friendly outfits I headed to Oxford, the first destination and homeland of the designated driver Becky. As tales of woe go this one was a good start to what was guaranteed to be four days of politely put hell. My car had broken down so I had to take the train to Oxford, been sent in totally the wrong direction by a bearded member of national rail, scuffed my new boots, engrossed myself in a copy of ‘Reveal’ and three hours later I was standing outside Oxford station in the pouring rain. A journey that was meant to take just under an hour had in fact tripled.

However, the sight of Becky in her BMW (and who said money was an object) was enough to lift my spirits and put us back on the road in the direction of the M6 and off to Chester.

We had decided to make a slight de-tour once we got north and headed to Shrewsbury to pick up Amy. Not only did this allow us quality girly time, but it also meant we could get ready in a clean and safe environment. This was something we knew that Simon (our beloved friend and now master student aka our hotel manager for the next few days) was less likely to give us.

Once we were scrubbed, straightened and on the way to CH1 we started to debate on just how cool we really were. Were we too old to be having our forth freshers week or should we be making the most of it, kissing every child in sight and having lots of unprotected sex?

The first night out (Wednesday) was to the new student destination D and E. To the students it’s called Destiny and Elite and to the locals it’s called Desperate and Easy, glad to see that the folk of Chester haven’t lost their classiness. This was great, hours queuing to get served, sweaty children and more VK’s than water. It wasn’t Brannies by a long shot, but it wasn’t far off.

We then bundled on a vomit coated bus and headed to back to Simons and bed. Now it is important to remember that we were not the only friends crashing at Simons, we were the only girls, but with a ratio of two men to women how bad could it really be? This is the point where I hold me head up high and smile at the thought of the other five squished into a bed and myself on the floor and slumming it as any student should. Bed sharing is something I’ve never enjoyed doing and this is no secret.

So our first night had been completed, we were feeling a little worse for wear, but our hearts and minds were strong and our urge for Pizza Hut buffet was to unite us all.

There is something magical about Pizza Hut buffet, every time I think of it I instantly think of Thursday mornings, scrolling through the previous nights photos, embarrassing stories and hiding from your previous conquests on the table opposite you. In short Pizza Hut hadn’t change, but we definitely had.

With our bellies full we headed back to Castle de Clague for hangover catch ups and to start making plans for another fun-filled night. Either way, the plans must have been slightly tainted because by 12:30 am on Friday morning we were back in our beds and snoring. Turns out all this ‘trying’ to be students is harder than it looks, thankfully this time us girlies had found a empty room complete with bed to sleep in. This meant the added bonus of no more floor to sleep on and the disadvantage of spooning with Becky and Amy.

Now, I hate moaning and really can’t stand people who do. But as with many contradictory things here goes nothing. Feminism should be made illegal, bed sharing should be made illegal and last but not least duvet hogging should be made illegal.

Allegedly I hog the duvet, kick in my sleep, continuously move and am probably not far off talking/ singing/ reciting Chaucer too. Yes, I am hell to share a bed with and it was due to this reason that I spent Thursday/ Friday night sleeping on the floor.

So after another interesting night sleep we waved Amy off and set about making plans for our final day in Chester. Top of the list was to have lunch with Kate, who had been my accomplice since we met on our English and Journalism course back September 2007.

Once Becky and I had dragged ourselves out of bed (see what I mean about contradictory) we ventured down to the Bouv. The Bouv is the shrine for second and third years. First years don’t really know about it and by third year you have memorized the menu, well maybe not everyone but certainly the members of 6 West Lorne 2009. After the worlds largest Toad in the Hole we decided to do the first of two things we had never done at uni before. Go to Ikea.

Ikea, it’s Swedish, it’s cheap and it can instantly lift any mood. More effective than alcohol and you get a free pencil, what more could you want? So the four of us Becky, Kate, Matt (poor innocent victim and friend of ours and Simons) and I pilled into Beckys black-mobile and headed west.

I am still unsure why this vast blue and yellow shop has so much mood control, but what I can say is that Matt bought an entire new room and Kate and I bought two matching cuddly rabbits.
Yes, Ikea is Toy R Us for adults. A few hours later Becky, Matt, Kate, myself and our two aptly named bunnies Rodger and Henry set sail back to Chester and our final night out.

As with any few days away/ holiday/ well earned time out, it would be rude not to end things with a bang. So for our last night we trekked it down to Chester SU, our own little SU and the one place where you could do pretty much anything and get away with it.

Due to it being the last night of freshers we (Simon, Becky and I) were prepared to queue and had accepted that we were not going to be getting inside in any hurry. This only added to the moment and surrounded by people from our year who had also come back to taste the glory, we laughed, talked and caught up on the four months that had past by. We were like celebrities in our own world, we knew where we were, we knew everyone and nothing could ruin our night.
Not even the moaning freshers demanding that our queue-pushing friends get to the back of the line could wipe the smiles off our faces. We were home.

The SU may have had a new lick of paint and may have bought up half of Ikea, but the same cheeky bar staff still strutted the counter, the floor still stick to our shoes and the DJ still sucked. It had finally paid off to know the men in high places and it left me itching to text and say thanks, followed by one seriously over due kiss.

I guess the fact that I fell/was pushed down the concrete stairs outside the SU, cracked my head open and woke up in hospital was probably a good thing. It certainly saved me a lot of phone credit that night.

All in all that last day we had managed the two things we had never done throughout our university experience, go to Ikea and go to A and E. Neither are really things to shout about, but both add to the beauty of our first trip back to Chester.

The drive back was so painful there are no words to sum it up and no matter how many ‘head banger’ nicknames get revealed I will always owe a huge amount to Becky. So here you go Becs, your own mention in my crazy little blog of wonder…thank you. It’s not easy to stick by someone when the are an uber pain in the arse or when they hog the duvet, but Miss Connell out did herself that night. She is a star in our tiny little world and a true friend.

So that brings me to the end of our little adventure back to Chester and I have probably missed loads out. The next step is to upload all the photos and see how much of a state we all really were. I had a fantastic time and will definitely move back to Chester one day.