CTDC Slovenia 2000: Friday 3rd March

Intro

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Friday 3rd March 2000

Sarah: "If Adria are going to fly only one flight a day to Slovenia, why can't they do it at a civilised hour? Seven o'clock is really far too early to be arriving at an airport.

Everybody is looking a bit vague and sleepy. However, we do have two main questions:

1. Where is Georgina?
2. Where is breakfast?

Both questions happily resolve themselves, although I do panic a bit when the announcement is made that "Gate Number 4 is now closing", and we are still in McDonalds. I force the others to abandon their McMuffins and leg it smartly planewards."

Karen & Dave: "Awaking at 11:00, K&D looked out of their window to discover bloody great mountains a few miles away. Although they were a beautiful sight, coming in on a night flight had meant there had not been visible during the night flight, so were quite a shock. After coming to (ooh err) they took a leisurely walk into the centre of Kranj, before returning to the dorm to meet the rest of the Chesham Touring and Drinking Club."

Sarah: "Smooth flight to Slovenia. However, once on the ground we are not even through passport control and I am already in trouble - ducking out of the building to have a cigarette whilst waiting for luggage I'm immediately accosted by two security types who tell me to put the cigarette out at once otherwise I'll get arrested, pointing in the direction of an amiable portly policeman shuffling along in our direction.

First impressions of Slovenia came from Ben “All a bit smart here – look at the Mercs and BMWs”.
Chastened to find quite a bit of Western chic around - knew I should have packed the Armani.

We successfully get a taxi (and a free lesson in Slovene) to the University Halls of Residence that will be our home for the next three days. We are put on the third floor, which judging from the urinals probably houses the male student contingent (see Ben’s quote). There we meet Karen and Dave! Hurrah!"

Karen & Dave: "The rendezvous was complete, with the exception of Mr Reed who was left dealing with the messy consequences of packing a can of Red Bull in his bag in the plane's hold. Once everyone had dumped their bags into their rooms, serious preparation for the following days tournament was required........"

Sarah: "Having dumped gear, I hear the general chorus of “where’s the beer?” and merrily follow everyone to the “EuroBar” where we all get stuck into the Pivo (very cheap)."

Karen & Dave: "The CTDC and the other team from the UK, the Puckaholics made the 200yd journey down to the Euro(trash)bar to sample some of the local ales (lager, lager, lager). The team members started their traditional pre-match bonding. Douglas was celebrating his birthday today and also celebrating a year since his first, different type of bonding with Marion. So in true Octopush style there was another round: well, you can't deny the birthday boy can you?"
Bumps? Nah! Tickling works best on Doug!

Sarah: "Ben and Dave also turn out to be closet smokers, so we pop outside from time to time to get required nicotine fixes.

Several beers later speech is getting slurred. Pizza seems a Good Idea. Question: "Where are Toby and Tracey?"

Karen & Dave: "Slightly wobbly on their feet, the motley crew left the bar in search of a well-known pizza restaurant in the heart of Kranj that by now has become the de facto meeting point for teams arriving in multiple parts. Lager (aka Pivo), Pizza, Pizza and Lager were duly ordered and consumed."

Sarah: "We find the Pizzaria: Very Big Pizzas. George and I share one. Ben and Martin both opt for Horse Meat Platter. Toby and Tracey, the final two members of the CTDC team, arrive. Several beers later we stagger home via a return visit to the EuroBar."

Karen & Dave: "Following yet more alcohol, members of each team started to depart. But for some it did not end there!!"

Sarah: "Pretty shattered and looking forward to early night for Big Tournament. Ready to say goodnight to others when Mark (Puckaholics) turns up resplendent in blonde wig, telling us of a party going on at the Uni block next door. Hmm, I don't want to get a reputation for being a wimp on first night of CTDC…

…Find party in kitchen. Bright young things who all speak ridiculously good English offering us a very potent cherry brandy. On the walls are slogans for each student e.g. Natasha - "Hippy Trip" and Helena -"Saddle your beauty"?!"