I know you love Disney but...really? ~a dis meet in London 5/15

[laura74]

I was excited….my first English pub! Hey, it doesn’t take much to excite me.
There was only one thing stopping be from opening the door to said pub…..I had read all about European restaurants and was a little worried. In America I have come across 2 kinds of service. Either you walk in and wait to be seated or you walk up to a counter and order. Easy peasy. All my hours of research had uncovered the fact that in England & France it wasn’t always that simple. I’ll get to the issues of French eateries later but from what I read in a pub it could work 1 of 2 ways. Either you walk in find a seat and then order at the bar or you find a seat and they come to you.
I realize after writing that out it doesn’t sound that hard …..but I didn’t know how to tell once you walked into the pub what to do!

I stress out about stuff like that too. I’m much too concerned about looking like an idiot when probably no one is paying attention.

So, taking a deep breath I walked through the pub doors confidently, and then came to a screeching halt once inside. It was like a maze inside and I didn’t know which way to turn…do I explore all the nooks and crannies? Should I ask some one where or what to do?

I would have just made D.Jay go first.

D.Jay returned with out meals and I realized that I was starving! I had the special which was a small steak and garden salad and D.Jay ordered some sort of meat plate…which had 4 or 5 kinds of meat along with mushrooms and fries. One of the meats was called gammon ….we decided it must be some sort of pork. He really like his food but I’m a little picky when it comes to my meat….meat surprise is not my idea of a good thing.

I don’t like meat surprise either.

As D.Jay and I were leaving the pub I told him about the man that had continued to stare at me the entire time we were there. He just looked at me , smiled and then pointed to the tv that was on the wall behind me above me head. I felt like an idiot. I had no idea it was even there. I was relieved to know that I didn’t have a neon flashing idiot sign above my head after all!

That reminds me of the movie About Last Night when Rob Lowe tells Demi Moore that he noticed her looking at him. She then points to the clock above his head.

Great update Cheri! Also good luck to your son. You must be proud!

 

[Heluvsme]

Great update!!

I had never even considered the idea that there may de a different protocal in other countries regarding the "how-to's" of entering a restaurant and then determining whether you seat yourself, place your order yourself, or wait on a wait person.... I would have walked in, like I do here, and just waited for someone to come seat me.

 

[glennbo123]

That's a great story -- you didn't have an idiot sign above your head, you had the idiot box.

 

[winkers]

I probably would have been doing the same thing without ever realizing the TV was there. Too funny!! Glad you two were fed and got some rest.....or not. Not sure about a lumpy bed only 3" off the ground.

we'll discuss the bed later....dundunduuun.

I stress out about stuff like that too. I’m much too concerned about looking like an idiot when probably no one is paying attention.

!

If you look up worried in the dictionary , I'm sure there'd be a picture of me!

Great update!!

I had never even considered the idea that there may de a different protocal in other countries regarding the "how-to's" of entering a restaurant and then determining whether you seat yourself, place your order yourself, or wait on a wait person.... I would have walked in, like I do here, and just waited for someone to come seat me.

If I hadn't obsessed the planning of the trip...which ment finding the rick steves traveling site, I wouldn't of had a clue and would have looked even more ridiculous!

That's a great story -- you didn't have an idiot sign above your head, you had the idiot box.

Idiot box is much better than word for it then **** tube, which my mom still uses.

 

[winkers]

This morning my sister texted me a picture of my niece ready for her first day of kindergarten and my sweet little Kaylie was wearing a Rapunzel shirt!

This may not sound like anything special but this is my sister who didn't want cartoon characters of any sort on her kids clothes. So, being the disney freak I am, I bought Kaylie one of the fancy Ariel nightgowns in WDW. Of course Kaylie fell in love with it and refused to take it off for several days.

Over the past 3 years I've gone slowly....basicaly anything disney I found at the dollar store or on clearance I gave to her. Last summer I found the cutest princess tshirt on clearance for $1 and couldn't help myself.

So today seeing that she was wearing full on disney, a slightly evil laugh escaped my mouth.....welcome to the dark side.

 

[eandesmom]

This morning my sister texted me a picture of my niece ready for her first day of kindergarten and my sweet little Kaylie was wearing a Rapunzel shirt!

This may not sound like anything special but this is my sister who didn't want cartoon characters of any sort on her kids clothes. So, being the disney freak I am, I bought Kaylie one of the fancy Ariel nightgowns in WDW. Of course Kaylie fell in love with it and refused to take it off for several days.

Over the past 3 years I've gone slowly....basicaly anything disney I found at the dollar store or on clearance I gave to her. Last summer I found the cutest princess tshirt on clearance for $1 and couldn't help myself.

So today seeing that she was wearing full on disney, a slightly evil laugh escaped my mouth.....welcome to the dark side.

Love it! I've got my goddaughter in Germany running around saying Mickey mouse Mickey mouse!

 

[winkers]

By the time we crawled into the lumpy yet hard bed, 3 inches off the ground I felt like I hadn’t slept in a month. My body didn’t care what time zone it was in and even though I was excited about our first full day in London, I was out when my head hit the pillow.

I was up at 6 the next morning because we needed to leave by 7:30 to catch the tube. When I went into the bathroom to shower I discovered that like English restraints, English bathrooms are also a little different from ours. I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of the bathroom! I kept meaning to but we weren’t in the apartment much. So, I’ll have to just describe it to you.

The toilet was fit for a queen on her throne. Really. When sitting on it my feet barely reached the floor….I’m 5’7 so not exactly short. This toilet looked 200 years old and a little fragile. When I first used it I had to search for 5 minutes to find the “flusher”. It was a button on the side and when pushed made a sound like a 747 was taking off and about to fly out of the bowl.

My first hurdle of the morning over I stepped into , actually crawled because the side of the bathtub was above my knees, into the bathtub for a shower. This is where I was faced with what I call a “dial a shower”.

Here I am in a foreign country, staying in a complete strangers flat staring at this oval plastic unit that had a hose & shower head attached, not sure how to turn on the water. Oh, and I was naked.

I stared at this thing looking for something to say “on”….but no luck. After about 5 minutes of fiddling around I found that if I pushed a button in the water…..freezing cold…would come out of the hose. Only one problem…the button didn’t stay in unless I was pushing it and the shower hose wasn’t attached to anything, so I had to hold it up.

It’s a little hard to shower when one hand has to be pushing in a button and your other hand is holding the shower hose. It was an interesting experience. I ended up getting wet…take finger off of button….soap up….push button….wash off soap….remove finger…..shampoo…push button….rinse hair….I skipped the conditioner because I was freezing by this time.
It took me a lot longer to get ready than I had anticipated so I was surprised to find D.Jay still asleep when I went back to the room. So. Not. Fair.

 

[glennbo123]

Sounds like that shower requires the "buddy system".

 

[winkers]

Sounds like that shower requires the "buddy system".

 

[cp'ersmom]

It's funny how they tried to convert really old bathrooms to modern facilities. Did you come across any toilets with the pull chain?? And speaking of toilets, did every time you saw at "to let" sign, think of the bathroom??

One of my first times in England, we were sightseeing around London and my friend and I needed to use the bathroom. The used to have (maybe still do) public toilets scattered around town, anyway we searched high and low for one and by the time we found one we really needed to go bad. Only problem was it cost money, exactly 2 pense, which in English slang is 2P. When we saw it cost 2P TO PEE we almost didn't need to restroom any more! Picture two American crazies doing the gotta go dance and laughing so hard we almost did. Gotta love England!!!

 

[eandesmom]

This is where I was faced with what I call a “dial a shower”.

Here I am in a foreign country, staying in a complete strangers flat staring at this oval plastic unit that had a hose & shower head attached, not sure how to turn on the water. Oh, and I was naked.

I stared at this thing looking for something to say “on”….but no luck. After about 5 minutes of fiddling around I found that if I pushed a button in the water…..freezing cold…would come out of the hose. Only one problem…the button didn’t stay in unless I was pushing it and the shower hose wasn’t attached to anything, so I had to hold it up.

It’s a little hard to shower when one hand has to be pushing in a button and your other hand is holding the shower hose. It was an interesting experience. I ended up getting wet…take finger off of button….soap up….push button….wash off soap….remove finger…..shampoo…push button….rinse hair….I skipped the conditioner because I was freezing by this time.
It took me a lot longer to get ready than I had anticipated so I was surprised to find D.Jay still asleep when I went back to the room. So. Not. Fair.

Oh my. And BRRR! Reminds me of trying to wash my hair, while camping, in a park service bathroom sink, that only has cold water and had to be held on to run.

BRRRR

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Crazy water system. Did you ever get hot water? I think some of the showers over there have a water heater just for the shower so you turn it on just when you are getting in I have a couple of DIS friends in England, and it seems like that is what they were describing. I can't stand to be cold - worst thing Ever!!! At least you were awake, I guess?

 

[smidgy]

I remember pay toilets! they had them at the thaters in downtown Chicago. (reminds me of the play Urinetown, where only those with money can pee anywhere!)

I like glennbos idea of the buddy system!

 

[winkers]

It's funny how they tried to convert really old bathrooms to modern facilities. Did you come across any toilets with the pull chain?? And speaking of toilets, did every time you saw at "to let" sign, think of the bathroom??

One of my first times in England, we were sightseeing around London and my friend and I needed to use the bathroom. The used to have (maybe still do) public toilets scattered around town, anyway we searched high and low for one and by the time we found one we really needed to go bad. Only problem was it cost money, exactly 2 pense, which in English slang is 2P. When we saw it cost 2P TO PEE we almost didn't need to restroom any more! Picture two American crazies doing the gotta go dance and laughing so hard we almost did. Gotta love England!!!

We didn't see any pull chains...at least I had heard of those before.

2p to pee....I think I would have wet myself from laughing! /That's a great story.

Oh my. And BRRR! Reminds me of trying to wash my hair, while camping, in a park service bathroom sink, that only has cold water and had to be held on to run.

BRRRR

sounds like a fun time... I love everything about camping except the bathroom issue.

Crazy water system. Did you ever get hot water? I think some of the showers over there have a water heater just for the shower so you turn it on just when you are getting in I have a couple of DIS friends in England, and it seems like that is what they were describing. I can't stand to be cold - worst thing Ever!!! At least you were awake, I guess?

me vs. the shower becomes a daily ritual....As far as plumbing goes, the USA is way ahead of Europe.

I remember pay toilets! they had them at the thaters in downtown Chicago. (reminds me of the play Urinetown, where only those with money can pee anywhere!)

I like glennbos idea of the buddy system!

Is there seriously a play called Urinetown?
The buddy system would have worked if my buddy weren't still snoring away in the other room.

 

[lovealldisney]

When I first used it I had to search for 5 minutes to find the “flusher”. It was a button on the side and when pushed made a sound like a 747 was taking off and about to fly out of the bowl.

I'm cracking up over this! We had the same experiance in Germany! My hubby thought these were the best toilets EVER! What can I say he's a man and that toilet had POWER!

Did yours have 2 buttons? The top one is for number 1 and the bottom one is for number 2.... Lets just say my toilet at home now has this feature.... (that's how much hubby liked it) Although it doesn't quite have the 747 action as the European toilet.....

 

[winkers]

I'm cracking up over this! We had the same experiance in Germany! My hubby thought these were the best toilets EVER! What can I say he's a man and that toilet had POWER!

Did yours have 2 buttons? The top one is for number 1 and the bottom one is for number 2.... Lets just say my toilet at home now has this feature.... (that's how much hubby liked it) Although it doesn't quite have the 747 action as the European toilet.....

nope, just 1 button. I'm pretty sure it would be impossible to clog one of those. They put the toilets at POP to shame.

 

[Pyrate_Pryncess]

I am so in! I love reading what you write!

Crazy about customs! Even strong, tough (coached), strapping men can fail at customs! My husband got me put on the border watch list in Canada because even though I coached him, he is an idiot!

I can't wait to keep reading!

 

[winkers]

I am so in! I love reading what you write!

Crazy about customs! Even strong, tough (coached), strapping men can fail at customs! My husband got me put on the border watch list in Canada because even though I coached him, he is an idiot!

I can't wait to keep reading!

Ok....that sounds like a story you need to share!

 

[Pyrate_Pryncess]

ok, ok! I'll tell!

We were engaged when Sept. 11th happened. He was in Korea at the time and the plan was to get married on his leave. Sept. 11th changed that. His leave was cancelled and so was the wedding. One day in October, he called me to tell me that he would be home the next day. I called the J.O.P and arranged a quickie wedding!

Our "honeymoon" was spent seeing family that he hadn't seen since he deployed. Since we were going to Pittsburgh, we decided to go to Buffalo to see my side of the family. This was before the new passport regulations. You could just "walk" into Canada.

He had never seen the Falls so we had a day planned up there. I coached him a few days before we were going and told him ALL of the correct answers to the questions that border control would ask (I had done this a MILLION times).

When we got to the border this is how it went:
(there were a few more questions that he messed up but, they were little)

Customs: Where are you coming from?
Me: (the right answer) Buffalo
Him: KOREA! (WHAT??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???)

Customs: What is your business in Canada?
Me: (right answer...again) To see the falls!
Him: To see Canadians I guess (REALLY?)

Customs: Where are you stationed? (By now, they had taken our ID's)
Me: Virginia
Him: Korea, Im home on leave.

Customs: Do you have anything to declare?
Him: Nope, nothing

At this point, the customs guy saw the carton of ciggarettes that was in the front of the truck and yelled "PULL OVER THERE"

We pulled over and were seperated and questioned. The truck was searched and so were we. Thankfully, he had a copy of his leave orders on him otherwise it would have been bad! When they were finally done, they had a helicopter escort us to the falls to make sure that is where we were going!

Since then, I have beel pulled aside for the "random additional questioning" whenever I would cross. Seems weird right??? Well, a couple of years ago, my friend who is a cop was bored at work and called me and asked for my social security number. Being that he is a really good friend, I gave it to him.

He called me back a little while later asking me what I was doing on October 26th 2011. Of course, I couldn't think that far back. He was laughing the entire time and then he informed me that I am on the "Canadian watch list" and will always be pulled to the side when I cross! WOW! I had him run hubbys info and guess what?


THAT IDIOT IS NOWHERE ON THE LIST! He literally got me put on the list and walked away scott free! Needless to say, this was an awesome start to our marriage! HA!

 

[winkers]

ok, ok! I'll tell!

We were engaged when Sept. 11th happened. He was in Korea at the time and the plan was to get married on his leave. Sept. 11th changed that. His leave was cancelled and so was the wedding. One day in October, he called me to tell me that he would be home the next day. I called the J.O.P and arranged a quickie wedding!

Our "honeymoon" was spent seeing family that he hadn't seen since he deployed. Since we were going to Pittsburgh, we decided to go to Buffalo to see my side of the family. This was before the new passport regulations. You could just "walk" into Canada.

He had never seen the Falls so we had a day planned up there. I coached him a few days before we were going and told him ALL of the correct answers to the questions that border control would ask (I had done this a MILLION times).

When we got to the border this is how it went:
(there were a few more questions that he messed up but, they were little)

Customs: Where are you coming from?
Me: (the right answer) Buffalo
Him: KOREA! (WHAT??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???)

Customs: What is your business in Canada?
Me: (right answer...again) To see the falls!
Him: To see Canadians I guess (REALLY?)

Customs: Where are you stationed? (By now, they had taken our ID's)
Me: Virginia
Him: Korea, Im home on leave.

Customs: Do you have anything to declare?
Him: Nope, nothing

At this point, the customs guy saw the carton of ciggarettes that was in the front of the truck and yelled "PULL OVER THERE"

We pulled over and were seperated and questioned. The truck was searched and so were we. Thankfully, he had a copy of his leave orders on him otherwise it would have been bad! When they were finally done, they had a helicopter escort us to the falls to make sure that is where we were going!

Since then, I have beel pulled aside for the "random additional questioning" whenever I would cross. Seems weird right??? Well, a couple of years ago, my friend who is a cop was bored at work and called me and asked for my social security number. Being that he is a really good friend, I gave it to him.

He called me back a little while later asking me what I was doing on October 26th 2011. Of course, I couldn't think that far back. He was laughing the entire time and then he informed me that I am on the "Canadian watch list" and will always be pulled to the side when I cross! WOW! I had him run hubbys info and guess what?


THAT IDIOT IS NOWHERE ON THE LIST! He literally got me put on the list and walked away scott free! Needless to say, this was an awesome start to our marriage! HA!

that is one of the best stories I've ever heard!