A Grand Prix Weekend

March 5th, 2005...came up with the idea to watch F1 in Silverstone this season and bought the tickets online. £199, Pits Straight A is the most expensive tickets we can afford. So there we go, making possible plans just to be there on time in Silverstone for the race.

If we were to catch a train on Sunday, we might not be able to get there in time it'll take 2 and a half hours to get down from where we were. So, we decided to stop by somewhere nearer. All the hotels and other possible means of accommodation near Silverstone were fully booked. Without much choice, we agreed on spending a night in London. At least we can do some London shopping and sightseeing. Then on July 7th, watching the London explosions on the TV, we thought our plans might not work. So off we go, cancelling our hotel reservations and train tickets. And man, there is a £10 charge for cancelling the train tix :(.

With our London plans not working, we needed to choose somewhere else. Birmingham is the next choice, since we could also do the same shopping and sightseeing there. Booked a room at the Ibis New Street the day before and got the train tics. Got into the train to Birmingham on Saturday morning and checked in once there. Feeling so excited that we were going to Silverstone the next day, we shopped happily and wander around the city centre. After a few hours of shopping and nothing much else to do, we went to watch War of the Worlds in Odeon. By 9pm, we came out of the cinema. First thought when we came out was "why is there so little ppl on the streets on a Saturday night?"...Unaware of what had happened, we went back to our hotel which is just opposite china town. Then we saw police everywhere, blocking roads. Only then that we found out the city had been evacuated, including all hotels in the city centre. Apparently the police received some calls claiming that they found suspicious packages that might seem to be bombs. MIGOD! We couldn't get back to our hotel cos it is practically locked up.

Wandering around the streets for a few hours, we decided that we couldn't stay wandering arnd for the whole night. So we tried calling up the hotel. After a series of calls for help, we managed to get the hotel manager's number. And fortunately enough, he reallocated us to another hotel in Wolverhampton. But I can tell ya, the taxi price is not cheap. With all the mess, we thought we could never have get back to the hotel and get our F1 tickets which was locked up in the hotel in time for the Race. Didn't sleep much that night...Woke up early around 5 and watch the news for the latest updates. Around 6am, the police finally let ppl back into the city. Phew. And so off we go, hop into the taxi back to the hotel to get our stuff.

And so it was...what a night to remember...

July 10th, 2005...we got onto the 845 train to Milton Keynes Central and got a taxi to the circuit. It was really hot and sunny. But it doesn't matter cos we were finally there!!! The race was not bad. But I would say it was not as interesting cos there isn't much overtakings and stuff going on. More to a pit race for Silverstone 2005. Sitting on Pits Straight A, overlooking the pits stops and VIP areas was quite interesting. Observing other ppl were another amusing thing to do lol. Lots of things going on. But it was a total confusion especially after the cars pitted and positions were unclear. If we had a binoculars it would be better since the we couldn't see clearly the positions and lap numbers on the TV. It was definitely noisy. The "vrooms" of the engines clearly covered the commentator's voice. Outside the circuit were stalls selling drivers and teams' merchandise. Very crowded indeed. But we managed to squeeze in and took pictures of cars on display.

The race finish at around 230...then there was a half an hour race for British Historic Cars. That was not as interesting but the cars were cute. Then we walked to the Beckets to watch the Grand Prix Party. It was more like a few bands invited to play and interviews with some of the drivers like Jenson Button, David Coulthard and Chris Klien. At least we had a closer glimpse of the drivers ;)...

We din stay until the party finish cos we need to catch the train home...so we left the circuit around 6...

And so that it is...a lifetime experience on a Grand Prix Weekend...

It all seemed like a dream!!!