cheers mate...... went up by BMI Baby jet in the end, think it was probably the best idea even though it was delayed by more than an hour in each direction (one being a lightning strike on the plane (!) the other being ripples in the pond from BA). get a 3/4 hour lift to the airport, sit around for a while with a pint, get on a plane, get a book and bag of sweets out, land an hour later, hop a bus, and bang.... before you know it, you're at the corner of waverly and princes street. sorted. and the same in reverse getting back.
rather than getting in the car, getting out of birmingham on the m6 (or toll road, a38/a5 right now might be better..), getting through the ellesmere-liverpool-manchester-blackpool traffic hellhole, slogging over the cumbria/yorkshire hills, changing direction in the glasgow inner suburbs, and then dealing with the giant mess that the m8/a8 appears to be at the moment.... and finding somewhere to park up that itself didnt involve a bus ride to get to/from the hostel.
(it took the bus itself 25 minutes to get from the airport to the middle of the city because of the traffic and works, without very many (brief) stops... about a 15mph average speed, and the thing took off like a rocket too)
wandering around the town on foot was an eye opener - very few parked cars, all of them on meters of some kind, and very few "ordinary" vehicles - all of them were either brand new (and few of the small polo-corsa class), expensive/prestigious, or both. similar with the traffic that was about, apart from a few golfs and maybe three polos (2 mk3, 1 brand new) that were obviously passing through...... and a plague of buses and taxis! might just have been extra stuff laid on for the festy, but public transport seems so much better sorted than in birmingham.
nice place you got there too.... everywhere's
big... but somehow not as evil/threatening as my home conurbation, even for the displaced lone (or trio) traveller(s). possibly because it feels like one giant theme park just from the design and layout of the buildings
(brum just feels like it's going to fold in and eat you)
cheers
) but parking and petrol are problems. I know i can make it in only as much petrol as the flight plus sundries will be, just by spending a couple more hours than that would be.... anyone know of good spots to park around the town? Lacking in expensive charges, traffic wardens, and scallies?
evil
hope its good and i want to go to mary kings close any one been to it 