Yes, Hubert officially attended his first animation festival! Whee! Well, it wasn't that much of a "whee" situation really. Let's see if we can explain.
Hubert's friend, also known as me, was invited to attend the screening of her film at the festival, of course, Hubert was first to jump in there and claim the spare ticket! So, ticket's in hand, Hubert and I packed that night and set off for the English land of Exeter. (Those English can be a little odd towards Welsh Sheep so Hubert was cautious and included a can of pepper spray in his bag). We got into Hubert's friends brothers car...known as "James" (a good name for a driver don't you think? "Home James!") On the way to the land of Exeter we picked up another of Hubert's friends, Chris.
It was a long journey, which included travelling packed lunches and even a stop at a service station, which Hubert decided was highly over-priced...yet he still bought a chocolate bar. Which he failed to eat. Instead, his friend's ate it. It was good.
Hubert has just pointed out, it is at this point, or possibly earlier, I should have informed you that this adventure lasted three days, and so could cover a lot of typing. Just letting you know. On with the tale!
Day 1:
So Hubert and his friends arrived at Exeter and...instantly got lost. It is a confusing place, a lot different to the land of Wales. It was ok though, Hubert had his trusted compass and we all found our way to the youth hostel at which we were staying. Chris and Hubert had packed sleeping bags, as the room was only due to have one bed, but to our surprise it contained three! Hubert chose the top bunk and settled in quite nicely.
The time was noticed, and all three of us headed towards the building called "The Phoenix" to see Hubert's friends film. This is where the not so "whee" part starts to come in. On arrival we met two other animators and friends of Hubert, Grindle and Steven, and after queuing for a while, were ushered into the seats in the cinema. The screening began, and a hush fell over the crowd…the first few films were received with rounds of applause…and then…the projector broke. Yup. Broke. Hubert leapt from his seat in a rage and battered the group of Bournemouth animators in the seats next to us…
No, not really, I think that’s what he wanted to do though, but in reality we sat there for a few minutes waiting for an image to appear, then a voice came over the speaker system “could everyone please go to the Best of the West awards reception outside while we fix the projector?” So everyone went outside for a while, Hubert had a lemon and coke while I made do with my free glass of orange juice. After a short interval of mingling and socializing, everyone returned to the cinema and a few more films were shown before time ran out and everyone had to leave. Hubert was happy that they just managed to squeeze in my film before this point, and although a lot of people had left, it was still seen by a few. This made him smile.
Chris, Hubert and myself headed off on the short trek “home” after that screening, home being the youth hostel. On the way we obtained some chips and a large sausage in batter, Hubert does like his chips. Sadly, they were not quite as good as the ones from his previous adventure in Usk, they were however, still edible. On arriving at the hostel, everyone took to their beds and had a good nights sleep.
Day 2:
After a rather relaxed and lazy morning, we all managed to gather up enough energy to force ourselves onto the English streets in search of some breakfast. After walking much farther than was actually required in the pursuit of food, Hubert decided we should enter Café Nero and formulate a new game plan, as our current hunting tactics were quite obviously failing. Upon sitting on a seat at the back of the café, Hubert noticed a remarkably small human, also known as a child, sat on a table opposite waving a light blue balloon. A few moments later, another one of these remarkably small humans walked into the café with a larger human, and was also handed a light blue balloon. Hubert said he liked the balloons, not because he has a fixation with them (after his last adventure) but purely because he thought the colour would bring out the shine in his eyes.
It was at this point, Chris took matters into his own hands. He went up to the Café Nero staff member behind the counter, and explained how Hubert had travelled all the way from sunny Wales only to be disappointed by this land of Exeter. He then asked if Hubert may have a balloon to cheer him up after this great disappointment. The staff member pondered for a moment and then Hubert was given a mighty blue balloon! This made him ever so happy, and all other small humans that saw him during the day were most surely envious.
After this wonderful gift from the Café Nero, we continued on our travels and ended up at the Aardman Exhibition where Hubert was very impressed to come face to face with the Were-rabbit. He did not flinch, and for this fact, he was proud. Continuing from this, food was finally obtained, in the form of a sausage sandwich. It was collected from another café that was situated in a hole in the wall, Hubert commented on how extraordinary this was. I just remarked upon the sausages, which were very tasty.
Further exploration of Exeter followed, viewing and juggling at many old buildings and towers. Hubert was most impressed by the architecture. He also commented on the large quantities of ducks, swans and geese. All of which did not seem to like him…unless you count him as a food group. A meeting with Hubert’s friend Grindle also took place, and both were most happy to relive the afternoon’s rugby, where Wales beat England. Hoorah for the Welsh! Hubert made sure he had his pepper spray to hand that evening while we walked home. On this second night, Hubert took the double bed and enjoyed the rolling space so much that he spent half the night doing backflips. It was quite entertaining.Day 3:
An early morning started the final day of the adventure, as James was coming to collect the three of us and check out had to be done at the Hostel by 11am. With the arrival of James, bags were placed in the car, and then Hubert wanted to explore Exeter one last time. We all trekked off for a final look around, and ended up back at the Phoenix, where there was a sci-fi and comic book expo. Sadly, this expo comprised of about five people selling comic books and Greedo from Star Wars. Hubert had met Greedo before, and was pleasantly surprised to see this friend once again. They shared a biscuit and a short chat, before James stated it was time to leave.
Once again, the long journey took place, complete with another service station stop, and another uneaten, over-priced chocolate bar purchased by Hubert. After paying for said item, he realised he actually wanted the Toffee Crisp and not the Galaxy Caramel he had bought, this upset him, because he had run out of money. One thing that did cheer up Hubert on the journey home was that he got to see the giant Wicker man…he failed to snap a decent photo though.
Click here to see the Photo Set from Exeter.
