There's No Place Like Dome !- A Day Out At The Dome: Part 1

The Scene: Ed's House...7:30am
"Ok then......", declared Ed triumphantly. "...Marmite sandwiches?...CHECK!... cartons of drink?...CHECK!...chocolate biccies?...CHECK!...A-Z of London?...CHECK!". Ed zipped up his bag, and was finally (after seven re-counts) convinced that he'd remembered everything - for today was no normal day. It was to be a day of adventure, excitement, thrills and spills - all the fun of the fair and the experience of a lifetime rolled into one!
(have I built it up enough yet?)

Yes, ladies and gentleman - today was the day that Pupiline visited the Millennium Dome. And aided by his fellow roving reporter Chris M, the young Ed Vista was more than a little excited........

Ipswich Railway Station 8:45am
Although still worried about whether he'd packed enough sarnies, Ed felt a little better once he and Chris M had purchased their train tickets. Liverpool Street was the destination, and with the train arriving at 9:02 - the boys had just a little while to wait - or so they thought.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WE ARE SORRY TO INFORM YOU THAT THE 9:02 TO LIVERPOOL STREET HAS BEEN CANCELLED…." "NGGGGHHHH!!!" exclaimed Chris M - "Bl**dy British Rail!"

The 9:15 Train To Liverpool Street 9:54am
"My bum's sore" Ed eloquently explained "I feel like an extra in some kind of WW2 evacuee film!" - The previous cancellation had caused the train to become completely overcrowded, with our heroes having to sit on the floor the entire journey.
Still - the chat was flowing, the weather was great, and the morale was high...
"Bl**dy British Rail!" repeated Chris M.

On arrival at Liverpool Street, the two pals found the journey to The Dome to be really easy. Taking the Jubilee line straight to Greenwich (on the new ever-so-posh trains) They arrived at their final destination at about 10:45 - not bad considering the delays they both agreed.
Yes, and finally - our two numb-bummed reporters were getting the feeling back in their behinds....

Millennium Dome Entrance Area 10:53am
"Right, so you are Chris and... Ed are you?" confirmed the official Millennium Dome lady. Feeling ever so important, Ed Vista and Chris M nodded their heads and signed their names on the special guest list. "Right then, would you like to sit down in the media lounge?" "WHOOO! The Media Lounge!" They both thought, "This sounds like really exclusive and cool, I could get used to this!". And they were right about one thing, the media lounge was really cool - decked out in bright orange sofas and futuristic looking super TV's - "It's just like 2001!" noted Chris M thoughtfully. Sadly though, the duo's inability to work the specially laid out coffee machines (SAMPLE CONVERSATION: "I think you have to press this button...no not that one...squeeze that thing...aghh! It's burning me etc. etc.) - meant that they wouldn't be joining the ranks of the paparazzi quite yet!

After going ten rounds with the coffee machine, Ed Vista and Chris M decided to pass on the beverages. Soon after though they were met by the Dome's PR lady Claire, and once the formalities were over with - it was time to enter the millennium experience!
Excited? These guys? Nah, they're professionals....seen it all before....just another days work for them....just take it in their stir....OHMYGOD! IT'S LIKE REALLY MASSIVE AND EVERYTHING - LIKE A GIANT SPACESTATION OR SOMETHING! YAAAAAY! ME FIRST FOR THE MIND ZONE! PUPILINE COMING THROUGH! Ahem.

The Mind Zone 11:20am
The Dome was split into many different zones, each offering a different unique experience. Stumbling around and staring at the roof , wide eyed and mouth agape - our two friends came across The Mind Zone first, so decided that this would be a good place to start.

The first bit of this zone reminded Ed of the London Science Museum - "reminds me a bit of the Science Museum this" he declared. And with its collection of human-mind themed optical illusions, experiments and just plain weird stuff - there was plenty to see and do.

These weren't just things to look at though - everything was designed to be interactive. So all the optical illusions had switches and triggers which made them move and do different things - Chris M had loads of fun with an odd "Guess-the-weight" illusion which crazily made a soft Pikachu toy appear really heavy! Whilst Ed Vista was particularly taken aback by a "Trace-the-star-with-your-finger" game, which somehow made his finger appear really slow and out of time with his mind....MAD!

Everything on show here was really well explained, and cleverly the people who designed the exhibits gave a detailed explanation of why everything happened like it did, sneakily mixing learning with fun. Crafty.
"Oh, so that's why my finger moved really slowly!" exclaimed a relieved Ed Vista. And y'know what? All of sudden - he wasn't scared anymore.

By far the best thing on show here though according to our two budding journalists was "The Morphing Machine" which, once you'd sat down and had a picture of your face fed into it, amazingly morphed your image into an old person, an asian person, a man/woman or a celebrity.

It was brilliant fun, they both agreed - and finally Ed Vista's lifetime curiosity was satisfied as he found out exactly what he'd look like if he were Boy George - Laugh? His sides are still splitting to this day.

The Millennium Dome Show 12:15pm
The inside of the dome was kinda shaped like a big donut, with all the different zones located on the bit you'd eat. Inside the hole then, was the performance area for the Millennium Dome show - which was performed three times a day and promised to be a visually spectacular event.

Taking up their positions on the floor of the dome (there were seats which went all the way around the central arena to watch the show, but the pair were told it was better to watch it from the ground)

Lasting about 40 minutes, the show was indeed really spectacular - full of amazing acrobatics and pyrotechnics. Starting off with some pretty impressive dancing set to really dramatic music, the show rapidly transformed into a kind of circus-act-gone-mad! Performers with stilts descended from the roof of the dome on bungee ropes, people in giant hamster wheels flew into the air, a giant chimney sprung up out of nowhere and spewed fireworks into the sky, acrobats back-flipped into the arena from within the crowd.... "Erm, this is all really cool" whispered Ed during the show "But what the heck is this actually all about?" - "I dunno" replied Chris helpfully.

Well, whatever it was supposed to be about, the whole performance was absolutely breathtaking (our two friends were later told that in a nutshell, the plot involved some kind of harmonious society which turned bad and then went harmonious again - but to be honest, it just wasn't important!) When it was over, our two heroes picked their jaws up from the floor and both agreed that the show was really great - "Gee, those female dancers were really 'flexible' weren't they?" drooled Chris M.

Interview Time! 1:15pm
After all the excitement, the Pupiline pair made their way back to the media lounge (this time casually ignoring the coffee machine) and met up with Claire the PR lady who kindly organised an interview with three of the performers of the show.And hey! Guess what?

- Eddy Vista