I shared a room with Mr Viesteg, our stand's German dentist (who spoke with a delightfully impeccable Irish lilt) a circumstance which on German terms immediately put us on the informal Du. With us both being snorers, it also put us on equal footing for the night – in separate beds of course.
The Elmond guest room we were staying in had the remarkable feature of the bathroom being bigger than the sleeping area. Downstairs, we found that we were the first to breakfast – but soon the others joined us and we returned for the second day at the NEC.
It took a while for the visitors to trickle through from the main entrance and then it back into our routine. It was good that we had practiced yesterday as there was a greater flow and often all five of us would be busy talking to dentists, dental nurses, students, lecturers.
Towards five pm, the masses had disappeared and things became quiet again. I set out with the camera to take pictures of interesting close up details at other stands.
Tonight, we took a taxi to the centre of Birmingham, to the canals by Broad Street for a meal at the Handmade Burger. Afterwards, Mr Heker took us on a tour of the near vicinity, displaying an embarrassing knowledge of the area as a German, compared to myself as the only Englishman of the team.
At 11pm we returned to the agreed pick-up point where the canal crosses Broad St where people were massing for the pubs and clubs. In addition to the police who, in pairs, were keeping an eye on events, there was a patrol of City Pastors. They were there to also offer their own form af human assistance to anyone who needed it.
Both Mr Heker and I tried some photography; with the small camera, I was only really able to photograph two exotically dressed figures outside Walkabout, who were amusing the queue to enter to what they told me was a giant bouncy castle! I almost wanted to go in.
We thought it was busy, but one of the bobbies drily informed me that it would get busier, they were there till five am – and you should be there Saturdays!
Mr Viesteg and I had been moved to another room, which was, sizewise, the antithesis of the previous night's room; it was in the eaves and the bathroom was very much smaller.
We were amused first by a sign:
“Notice to all Guests. Please do not take curry meals back to rooms as the sauce destroys the bedding”.
Then we we could only fill our kettle for a late night drink from the shower – once we had worked out how to operate it.
The news headline of the day was the capture and death of Colonel Gaddhafi , apparently found hiding in a drain in Sirte.
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