We caught the train up from Tiverton, which was delayed by 15 minutes, then had to walk the entire length of Paddington Station to get to the taxi rank. The taxi hit majorly bad London traffic, even the taxi driver said it wasn't usually that bad. He was very good and weaving in and out and taking us down side roads however, and we managed to arrive only 30 minutes later than we had planned for. Nevertheless, by the time we got through the doors and up the stairs everyone was heading towards the cinema and we didn't even have time for a drink.
Carl and the girls grabbed some popcorn and we followed the crowds to get a seat to watch the film. Kevin Macdonald gave a speech, then the film started.
Afterwards it was back out to the reception and then we did all get drinks. It was lovely, there were waiters wandering round offering nibbles and plenty of liquid refreshment. There were official looking people with cameras who I can only assume were the press. There was a roped off area with a TV camera and lights. We chatted to a few people; one lady who worked on the production of the film, the lady whose children are undoubtably one of the stars of the film - when the dad comes home from Afganistan - and the Irish couple who are going to bed to sleep on Christmas Eve (he took our photo and poured wine over himself in the process). We didn't get to speak to Kevin Macdonald, which was a shame, cos Caitlin would have liked to, but he was a busy man.
We stayed until just gone 9 o'clock, then had to make our way back to catch the train. It was 2 o'clock before we got back home to bed. But Wow! what an experience!
