A Weekend in Tier 2 London

Back in September a few West End theatres announced they were reopening with social distancing in place and I got super excited – I’d missed the theatre so much and it felt like a step back towards normality with the theatres reopening. I immediately booked three weekends to London – one in November, December and January.

November and January were obviously cancelled due to national lockdowns but I did get extremely lucky with my December trip. When we came out of the November lockdown and the tiers were announced both my home town and London were put into Tier 2 meaning the theatres, hotels, restaurants etc could remain open and since it was a solo trip I’d still be able to go. London were not in Tier 2 for long before they got bumped to Tier 4 but I still managed to squeeze in my weekend trip.

I caught the train to London after work on Friday 11^th December 2020 – the first train was to Wolverhampton and then I changed over for the London Euston train. I was a bit worried about social distancing on the long-haul train so I decided to book a first class ticket so there’d be less people and I could also have a single seat, saving any awkward ‘please don’t sit next to me’ conversations with people who think COVID is a hoax. The journey went as planned and it was nice going first class, I got a poppadom snack box and some other treats and the attendants also managed to dig me out some orange juice after initially thinking they didn’t have any left.

When spending a weekend in London I used to take the Friday off work, travel earlier in the day and watch an evening show but I’ve found I quite like getting to London later and only having to find my hotel, it’s less stressful. This time I stayed in a hub by Premier Inn – I always stay in some kind of Premier Inn now, I’m never sure whether I prefer the hub or the actual Premier Inn. It depends what you’re after – the rooms in regular Premier Inn’s are bigger and I prefer their breakfast but I like the hubs compact rooms and they also have better TV’s. I would say hub is better for the solo traveller due to their size, would be a bit of a squash for a couple.

My first night went smoothly and when I woke up I tried out the hub breakfast – I was initially booked into a different hub a few minutes away but due to COVID that hub closed and I was moved. The new hub only offered continental breakfast and although I was offered a refund I decided to stick with the hotel breakfast – it takes the pressure off trying to find somewhere when I’m hungry and still half asleep. With the new COVID measures you were taken to a table and given a menu where you picked a cereal, yoghurt and pastry/bread item and any drinks you wanted which the waiter then brought to you. On my first morning I had Weetabix, toast, and yoghurt with fruit – I’m not normally a fan of continental breakfast but to be fair it was really nice.

Due to COVID concerns and the amount of times I’ve visited London before I decided to spend a chill morning in my hotel room. I set off in search of some snacks, went back to the room and then watched YouTube on the TV until I needed to head off to find the theatre for my first show.

I’d booked a ticket for ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ at the Duchess Theatre, a show I’ve already seen quite a few times but still enjoy. I liked the COVID guidelines they had in place – you had a timed entrance and then the theatre was entirely one way which was a bit of a ballache when returning from the bathroom as you had to go down, through the lobby and back up but I felt really safe. I also liked that nobody was allowed to sit next to me, I know that theatres need and prefer every seat to be filled but in terms of comfort it was really nice to have so much extra space. There was also lots of hand sanitiser available and your temperature is taken before you can enter the theatre. You also have to wear your mask for the entire performance unless you’re having a drink or eating, and there are staff members watching to make sure this is followed and that no one takes the piss.

As I said, I’d seen this show a few times already and it was interesting to see the changes they’d made due to COVID. For example, at the start of any ‘Goes Wrong’ show the actors come into the audience before the show starts and things also happen on stage – whilst there were still the usual pre-show shenanigans there was obviously less audience interaction. In this ‘Goes Wrong’ show a member of the audience is brought onto the stage to ‘help set up the stage’ before the show begins but due to COVID one of the actors had to do this instead. There’s also a joke in which one of the actors spits water into another actors face which obviously was cut. Another joke that was cut is that one of the actors usually accidentally sets fire to something which goes out by itself but another actor jumps out and starts spraying it with a fire extinguisher before disappearing backstage and yelling “Of course they didn’t notice! I improvised!” I’m not really sure why that one was cut but presumably it was for the actors’ safety.

I absolutely love ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ but unfortunately I think it’s one of those shows that I’ve just seen too many times now so I know when all the things are going to ‘go wrong’ – but if you haven’t seen it I absolutely recommend it, I love anything by Mischief Theatre.

One of my least favourite things about watching two shows in one day is the stress of finding somewhere to eat between shows so I’d decided to eliminate that stress this time by booking a table in advance. I settled on the Hard Rock Café in Piccadilly Circus but unfortunately my booking wasn’t until 6PM and the show finished at about 4:30PM.

I’m not surprised that London went into Tier 4 because there was pretty much no social distancing whatsoever. I went to Leicester Square to sit down for a bit while I waited for my reservation and there were street performers with people surrounding them and not social distancing at all. I played ‘Among Us’ for a bit but eventually had to get up and start walking around as my entire body was freezing cold. I sat in Piccadilly Circus too on my phone but that wasn’t fun as there was a loud protest on one side and a busker on the other who literally said “anyway, here’s Wonderwall” as I sat down. Eventually I decided to see if I could have my reservation a bit early and headed to the Hard Rock Café.

Although I couldn’t go to my table immediately I was allowed to hang out in the shop which was nice and warm until my table became available. I do love the Hard Rock Café, I’m such a fussy eater (and I hate it) but there’s always something I like at Hard Rock. After the main I still had some time before my evening show so I decided to order dessert so I went for the brownies and Oh My God the waiter warned me they were massive but I wasn’t prepared at all. I didn’t finish them but they were tasty.

Once I was done it was time to head straight to the theatre to see my evening performance of ‘Death Drop’ which had been described online as ‘The Mousetrap but with drag queens’. This was pretty much my entire understanding of the show and I’d treated myself to a ticket on the front row. The COVID measures were pretty much the same as the first theatre and again, I felt really safe.

I wasn’t sure about ‘Death Drop’ at first, I began to worry that my front row seat had been a mistake as I thought there was going to be dreaded audience participation but luckily there wasn’t really. A lot of the earlier jokes went over my head but as it went on I ended up really enjoying it. I loved all the queens but for me personally LoUis CYfer and Kemah Bob absolutely stole the show. There was also a song at the end of Act One that I really loved but can’t find a recording of anywhere online. In the end I really enjoyed the show, it was everything I love about theatre rolled into a hilarious performance.

After that it was time to head back to the hotel. The next day followed a similar suit, breakfast in the hotel before packing up and heading to Victoria station to catch a coach home instead of the train. The coach felt a bit safer as presumably they keep an eye on the number of tickets booked meaning social distancing can be more easily enforced whereas it’s harder to keep track with trains. Before I knew it the weekend was over and I was back in Telford.

Theatre has taken such a massive hit lately so if you can support them then please do so! At the moment Mischief Theatre are doing someone online live shows called ‘Mischief Movie Night In’ which are £10 a ticket and I can’t recommend them enough, they’re hilarious and completely improvised. They have their final weekend next week so get tickets whilst you still have chance!

My COVID-19 Vaccine Experience

This wasn’t something I was initially going to write about but my good friend Becca wrote a thread of tweets on what to expect when you go for your first dose of the vaccine so people know what to expect so I’ve decided to write up my experience in a blog post.

Please be aware that obviously everyone’s will vary depending on the individual and where you get your vaccine, this is purely what I experienced.

I went for my vaccine on the same day as Becca – she went first thing in the morning and I went at lunch time. My appointment was scheduled for 1:15PM at a centre that had only been opened for the vaccine just two days prior so obviously there were still some patches being ironed out. Arriving was a bit stressful as my estate agent chose that exact moment to call me to resolve an issue (that she was very reluctant to help me with) and also my brother’s carer rang my Mom to let him know he’d come to the centre an hour ago but had been told to wait in his car to save him waiting outside and someone would come to fetch him.

I showed my vaccine appointment to the first staff member who then also asked to see some works ID because I was booked for the vaccine under the grounds that I’m a carer. I am a carer but that’s my second job and since I’m a ‘private carer’ I don’t have any ID but I showed him a letter that had been signed by the council to prove I was genuine which he accepted. You then drive up to the next person and my Mum was getting stressed that she’d have to wait in the car for me – she’s not a carer so wasn’t having the vaccine yet and needed to get back to work so when we got to the next staff member she was like “I’m only dropping Hollie off, can she go and join the queue?” And the guy was like “Sure, she can do what she wants.” Not in a snotty way, he was genuinely really lovely and told my Mum how to get back out and pointed me in the right direction.

The queue to get into the centre was quite short, it looks longer because of the social distancing but it took about five minutes to get inside. Once inside I was asked if I’d recently had COVID or a flu jab which I hadn’t. You’re then also asked if you’re feeling well which I was and he waved me in. You apply some hand sanitiser and then remove your mask and put on the mask they provide you with. There’s then another member of staff who scans your appointment QR code and asks for some ID – this ID is just to prove that you’re you so doesn’t need to be a work ID, I used my provisional drivers licence and this was fine.

Once inside you will be directed to the back of another queue and I was in this queue for a while, longer than I thought I would be. I was on my lunch break but luckily my manager knew I was getting the jab and when I text her to say I would be longer than I’d thought she was really chill and told me not to worry. Just something to bear in mind if your employer is not as relaxed as mine is – however like I said, the centre I visited had only been open a couple of days and with experience they may be able to reduce the wait time. I don’t mind queuing, particularly for something that will protect me against a deadly virus so like I said it’s just for you to be aware that you probably won’t be in and out if you have other commitments. Becca pointed out they will probably let you jump the queue if you’re particularly nervous or worried about getting the jab (and the waiting will make it worse) but obviously don’t take the piss because otherwise it will ruin it for those who are genuinely nervous.

I was in the queue for about fifty minutes and as I got nearer the front my brother’s carer was finally let into the building so I’m not sure what happened with him but he arrived earlier than me and ended up waiting longer! Once you’re at the front of the queue you have to wait until a nurse becomes available and then you’re directed to a little station. Although there are screens up these don’t allow much privacy so make sure you wear something that would give them easy access to insert the vaccine without having to remove layers!

With the nurse there’s also someone with a laptop who asks you a few basic questions like your name, date of birth, just so they can find you on the system and then the nurse will ask you a couple of questions and talk you through which vaccine they’re giving you. Luckily I’m okay with needles so I wasn’t too fussed but all the nurses and staff etc. are wonderful so just let them know if you’re feeling a bit nervous. It took a literal second and it was like a little scratch, nothing to worry about. The nurse will then give you a leaflet and explain what side effects you can expect and what to do. You’re also not allowed to drive for the next fifteen minutes, not a problem for me because I can’t drive anyway but another thing to bear in mind.

The last step is to take your little card detailing which vaccine you had to a desk where you’re booked in for your next appointment in twelve weeks’ time. If you’re not feeling great after the jab just let one of the staff know and I’m sure they’ll let you sit down for a few minutes but I felt fine so I got booked in for my next appointment and then I was done and on my way back to work.

I felt okay for the rest of the day except for mild pain in the arm that had been jabbed but my side effects did kick in in the middle of the night. They weren’t bad enough to prevent me from sleeping but I had muscle ache and kept getting either boiling hot or freezing cold. When I woke up I thought I felt okay so I carried on as normal but I did get a little bit worse. Luckily I was working from home so it didn’t matter too much and I felt at my worse between 12 noon and 1PM. I was freezing cold, achy and I felt a wave of nausea every so often. I also had a loss of appetite so I decided to spend my entire lunch break having a nap and that did help, I felt better throughout the afternoon although it did switch then and I was boiling hot instead of cold – but it saved me money on heating I suppose.

The majority of my symptoms were gone by Friday morning. The pain in my jabbed arm persevered and didn’t disappear until Monday of the following week but it wasn’t the end of the world.

To put things in perspective the week before I got my jab my colleague was off the entire week with the Coronavirus. She spent the entire week sleeping and her body hurt so much that she couldn’t even get herself up to make a cup of tea – and if you ask her about it she’ll say she considers herself lucky to have recovered and that she found the whole experience was really scary. I would take a day of being achy and a bit under the weather ten times over if it stopped me getting the real deal. My friend Becca called in sick the day after her vaccine and if working from home isn’t an option for you and you feel a bit ‘ugh’ the next day I’d recommend doing the same because it wasn’t pleasant but like I said – much more bearable than the real deal.

I also realised that this vaccine may have affected me more than ones I’ve had previously because I haven’t been sick in a long time… With the social distancing measures in place I haven’t picked anything up and although I’ve felt a bit ‘ugh’ for a couple of hours at a time  I haven’t actually been sick or ill for days on end. So my body was probably a bit less prepared for this than it would’ve been pre-lockdown. Hopefully the next dose will be a bit easier.

In summary, there’s pretty much nothing to worry about it and if you are able to have the jab I would urge you to do so. You’ll protect both yourself and others who are unable to get the vaccine. The side effects are 100% worth it to prevent you from getting COVID.