Sheepish

Groupon had a very good deal: two cinema tickets for €10. We went to the Odeon at The Point. Actually getting to the cinema within the building is not a pleasant experience. Several flights of escalators pass by empty retail units and the whole place had a general air of incompleteness. We finally got to the cinema itself and the first problem was: where's the ticket office? There isn't one. This nasty idea in the multi-screen cinemas that you buy your ticket at the same place as drinks and popcorn and sweets and all that is really offputting (or is it just me being grumpy?).

Anyway, I handed over our Groupon vouchers, the girl at the till did her thing and checked the barcode and … there was a problem. "This voucher isn't valid on Bargain Wednesdays", says she. Sure enough, there it was in the (very) small print, which we'd failed to notice when we'd picked tonight to see Game Night. There was nothing for it but to retreat sheepishly from the queue and leave the building.

Now what? We'd planned on having a drink in the nearby Gibson Hotel after we'd laughed ourselves silly at the film anyway, so the only thing was to bring this plan forward. It's a lovely place to have a relaxing (and dearer than average) drink. Some might say too lovely, because one led to another and then another and then another as we checked tram times. It was while on a toilet break that I spotted this quirky sculptural piece in the lobby, which couldn't but bring a smile to one's face.