On the road again: Worldcon, Brighton, day 4London, day 1

Brighton graced us with sunny skies today, so the views everywhere, even out my room's window, improved greatly.

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Inside the hotel, the main event of the day was the World Fantasy Con banquet and then the presentation of the British Fantasy Awards and the World Fantasy Awards.  A singing trio and vaguely disco house lights gave the 1:00 p.m. meal a bit of a surreal atmosphere, but everyone I saw seemed to be reasonably happy with the affair. 

Our table included long-time friend and fan powerhouse, Peggy Rae Sapienza; new friend and Library of Congress SF person, Colleen Cahill; Fast Forward host Mike Zipser, who made me promise to do the show the next time I'm in the D.C. area; the talented and gracious artist, Lee Moyer; and fellow writer and serious foodie, Scott Edelman, to name but some of the folks with whom I shared the meal.  Our conversation topics ranged broadly, but foodie stories certainly dominated the discussion. 

After the ceremony, I rushed to my room, packed, and checked out.  Two and a half hours later, I emerged from the car service's comfortable ride into my residence until early Thursday morning, London's justly famous Savoy Hotel.  I first stayed here on a whirlwind London visit for Ziff-Davis right before Christmas in 1992, so I was excited to get to try the completely renovated version of this classic hotel. 

It is lovelier and nicer than I remember it.  Even the light-poles at the main auto entrance to the hotel sport a bit of fancy, in this case a topiary version of Kaspar, the Savoy hotel cat. 

I've stayed completely current with work so far, so I will begin tomorrow caught up.  I expect to fall behind as I tourist as much as I can, and I have an appointment to sign stock tomorrow at a bookstore; more on that then.

I look forward to my first full day in London in many a year.