From the moment we left the hotel we turned heads with our dashing Harvey Spector-like tuxs, and also with the 3 Irish escorts the gents in the society had hired for the trip. From a late night inner-city London enquiry I made, I found that hiring indigenous escorts from the college was indeed a resourceful, cost-minimizing move by savy society treasurer Andrew.
The hotel was a spectacle both inside and out and the Champagne was flowing like the Thames. We made our way into the dinner area and my narrow palate was too much for the food put in front of me, as I had expected. While appreciating the aesthetic side of the dishes, I made sure to take advantage of the wine on offer. The guest speaker Caroline Casey, who managed to complete Accenture's graduate program despite being completely blind (and not telling them), was inspirational. I was hoping she'd bump into me later in the night but I wasn't afforded this opportunity unfortunately.
Smash Hits! followed and they had the whole room rocking to 90s gems such as "Freed From Desire" and "I'm Horny", a marked contrast to the formalities in the reception room two hours earlier. Even the two lighting directors at the side of the room seemed rather boisterous, although that may have been down to all the red wine I was feeding them. I managed to get talking to a lot of business professionals throughout the night, and they were all keen to reach out to us students and help us in whatever way they could- a real testament to what the event was all about.
At around 2.45am (very open to correction on this!) we left the ball and headed into the night.
We inevitably made our way to a casino in Piccadilly Circus, which was more of a nightclub really. After initially losing a few bob at the start I managed to claw my way back into a handsome profit at the roulette table (at least I think I did, still haven't mustered up the courage to check my bank statement).
Another early start was needed Sunday as we headed of to the lifetime experience that is "The Church". Anyone reading this who has been will know that it's hard to do this place justice in words! Its basically a daytime party (12-4) every Sunday, set up by an Aussie 33 years ago. It's been banned by the council at 8 different venues so far and it's easy to see why! Options at the bar may be somewhat limited for the more adventurous drinkers, but for me 3 cans of Fosters for £10 did the trick.
After a few of the group took a nap in the ever hospitable "Chicken&Ribs" we made our way back to the hotel (to put back on the tuxs!), then continued to The Walkabout, another down-under watering hole. This more established looking venue brought on me a distaste for Australian males and a fondness for New Zealand "cuzzys".
All things considered it was a fantastic, well organised (/subsidized) trip!
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