rgoble5972
Are we there yet?
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2001
- Messages
- 276
B]CAST[/B]
Robin 41 Trip Report writer, Bringer of Good Weather, Recently Relieved of Duties as Trip Planner
Larry - 46 - Host, Walking Compendium of Knowledge, and Trip Report god.
Jill - (no way would I betray a confidence without permission) - Keeper of the Passports, Park Navigator, and First in Line
Greg - 17 - Quiet Teenager, Purveyor of Dry Wit and Sarcastic Remarks
Ed - 14 - Runescape Addict, Chief Dog Walker, and Professional Conversationalist
Pippin/Killer - 4 months - Official Wilmot Poodle, Beggar of Table Scraps, Eater of Baked Goods
Friday, July 8, - Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Gosh, there were too many activities to even mention. Some of the places we visited include Dunrobin Castle (Braggarts! They have castles just lying about all over the countryside there--you cant swing a dead haggis without hitting a castle in Scotland!), Shin Falls, Cairn Gorm Mountain, Dornoch, Elgin, Forres, Findhorn, Duffus Castle, Glen Loth, and, the wildly famous Tescos. I tried haggis (twice!) neeps and tatties, fish and chips (with brown sauce) and mushy peas (also twice), crumpets, Yorkshire pudding, and much more, and obtained a laymans working knowledge of the Venturi Effect.
Larry back again. Hey Robin was a great guest, she was very plucky tried everything food wise, brought us the hottest day's of the year over from Texas with her, and was generally a good egg. PS Have I told you about Shell Grip, its this evil road surface that they have put on all our junctions, and its like an abrasive tarmac, and it is designed to give you great grip when you break, but the problem is tyre wear................. OK I'll Shut up, sorry, back to you RG.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
If I keep touching my pants, youll know that Im not playing with myself.
This was the first official Disney-ish day of the trip. We were to fly to Luton airport right outside of London and spend part of the night there. I say part of the night because our plane for Paris left at 6:00 the next morning, so we had to leave for the airport at 4:45am and thus be up at 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning. ( Larry - I'm not mean or anything, but that was the most expensive flipping hotel on the trip, and I was in it for about two flipping hours, Christmas Pah Humbug!!!)
The morning started with Larry taking me on his motorcycle to his office so I could meet some of the people that he works with while Jill took Pippin to the kennel where he would be staying while we were gone. This wasnt my first trip on the bike. Larry had taken me for a ride the night before as well. I think he enjoyed dressing me up in heavily padded bike gear until I looked like a giant tick so much that he wanted to do it again, only this time he wanted to publicly humiliate me in front of people that he knew.
Larry - She was even dashing enough to go on my motorbike with me, looked very cool in her Biker Chick outfit, Oh Biker Chic, - sorry RG
So, after bundling up in borrowed bike gear from Greg (Yes, I could brag that I can wear the pants of a 17 year old, however, since I think thats illegal in at least 15 countries, Ill keep quiet about that for now.) we set off for Larrys office where I met many nice, though slightly alarmed, people who, luckily, are used to seeing Larry in leather biking gear but looked a bit dubious to meet the Hells Angel from Texas. We got home around 11:00 and, while Larry started cooking lunch, I walked down to the grocery store to pick up some more eggs.
The plan for lunch was to eat anything that could spoil while we were gone for a week so Larry got to be very creative in the menu planning. After all the dust from the flour had settled, we had a lovely lunch consisting of Larrys famous strangled eggs, with cheese and black pepper, bacon, croissants and English muffins, and his top secret hash browns with ham and his secret ingredient. Ive been sworn to secrecy about the mystery ingredient and so, while I could tell you what it is, Id then have to kill you.
(I have less scruples, and I am prepared to auction the information on eBay if there is a demand. - Larry.)
After lunch, everyone pitched in and helped clean up. We managed to fit all the luggage into the trunk (she means boot.) of the car (Larry says hell invite me back if I mention that its a Jaguar--British racing green, thank you very much) and set off for the airport at 12:30. We only had to make one trip back to the house to pick up the laptop and the battery charger.
Larry parked the car at the airport and then put the keys in a carry-on bag with all of the travel documents. It felt odd not having the keys in his pocket and he kept checking both of the pockets in his trousers for them. He finally explained what he was doing after he became self conscious that he kept feeling around in his pockets with his hands. If I keep touching my pants, he said, Youll know Im not playing with myself.
Our flight was on time at 3:00 and we arrived in Luton at 4:25. The hotel we were staying at is adjacent to the airport so we only had a short walk to the hotel after we claimed our luggage. We checked in right at 5:00 and arranged for a cab to take us into Luton proper for some dinner at 6:00.
For this night, we had a boys room and a girls room. There were two single beds in each room so the boys gallantly agreed to let Jill and I have a room where we could each have our own bed and they took the other room where I believe Larry moved a mattress onto the floor and slept there for the night while the boys took the beds (one of which was minus one mattress!). Actually, I think they knew that we girls would be up earlier to get ready and they wanted all the extra sleep they could get for our early start the next morning.
We quickly got settled in our rooms then went back downstairs where our cab showed up promptly at 6:00. We all agreed that Chinese food sounded good, so we asked the people at the front desk to recommend a place. After a short drive into Luton, we wound up at a place called Sun Do, where Ed distinguished himself by eating his entire meal, including the ice cream for dessert, with chopsticks. Greg managed to eat his whole meal with chop sticks as well, but passed on eating the ice cream that way.
When we arrived, we were the only people in the whole restaurant. We knew it was early however, so we were undaunted. We ordered a family style meal and got to pick which appetizers and entrees we wanted. We had spring rolls, prawn toast, fried seaweed (which I had never tried before--it was very good), ribs, and flatbread for starters and, for entrees we had cashew chicken, sweet and sour chicken, beef with pineapple, beef in ginger, pork ribs, and pork with vegetables. Everything was delicious and we all ate ourselves silly. (You can't beat a nice bowl of monosodium glutamate - L)
About halfway through the meal another group of people finally arrived. They, as the second group of people in the entire place, actually had a reservation for their table. Greg remarked that he bet they were hot about paying a booking fee for their reservation!
On a sad note one of the reasons why the restaurant might have been empty, was because the day before Luton Railway Station which was next door had been closed off, whilst the police removed some explosives left there by the four London Bombers, This is the second time I have had a Disney trip right after a terrorist outrage I went to WDW a few days after 9/11. My personal view is the way to deal with them it to show them that we are not cowed by them, and we will continue our lifestyles and won't be daunted by that prospect. - Larry.
After dinner, we all felt the need to walk around a bit to let our food settle. We found a shopping center to look through but all the stores were closing up as it was almost 8:00. We walked a little further and found the Galaxy Center where War of the Worlds was showing at 8:15. We decided that sleep was definitely for wimps and got tickets for the movie. (Great Film by the way. I'll see it again as soon as they put the ending in. - LWW)
Afterwards, we called another cab and were back at the hotel by 11:00. We decided that this was the worst hotel value ever for the amount of time we were actually going to spend in bed.
In the girls room, Jill got ready for bed and we both set out the clothes wed need for the next morning. I needed to unwind a bit after the movie so I went down to the lobby, got a diet coke at the bar, and started my trip report notes. I sent a few emails and then went back to the room and was in bed by 12:30
Robin 41 Trip Report writer, Bringer of Good Weather, Recently Relieved of Duties as Trip Planner
Larry - 46 - Host, Walking Compendium of Knowledge, and Trip Report god.
Jill - (no way would I betray a confidence without permission) - Keeper of the Passports, Park Navigator, and First in Line
Greg - 17 - Quiet Teenager, Purveyor of Dry Wit and Sarcastic Remarks
Ed - 14 - Runescape Addict, Chief Dog Walker, and Professional Conversationalist
Pippin/Killer - 4 months - Official Wilmot Poodle, Beggar of Table Scraps, Eater of Baked Goods
Friday, July 8, - Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Gosh, there were too many activities to even mention. Some of the places we visited include Dunrobin Castle (Braggarts! They have castles just lying about all over the countryside there--you cant swing a dead haggis without hitting a castle in Scotland!), Shin Falls, Cairn Gorm Mountain, Dornoch, Elgin, Forres, Findhorn, Duffus Castle, Glen Loth, and, the wildly famous Tescos. I tried haggis (twice!) neeps and tatties, fish and chips (with brown sauce) and mushy peas (also twice), crumpets, Yorkshire pudding, and much more, and obtained a laymans working knowledge of the Venturi Effect.
Larry back again. Hey Robin was a great guest, she was very plucky tried everything food wise, brought us the hottest day's of the year over from Texas with her, and was generally a good egg. PS Have I told you about Shell Grip, its this evil road surface that they have put on all our junctions, and its like an abrasive tarmac, and it is designed to give you great grip when you break, but the problem is tyre wear................. OK I'll Shut up, sorry, back to you RG.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
If I keep touching my pants, youll know that Im not playing with myself.
This was the first official Disney-ish day of the trip. We were to fly to Luton airport right outside of London and spend part of the night there. I say part of the night because our plane for Paris left at 6:00 the next morning, so we had to leave for the airport at 4:45am and thus be up at 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning. ( Larry - I'm not mean or anything, but that was the most expensive flipping hotel on the trip, and I was in it for about two flipping hours, Christmas Pah Humbug!!!)
The morning started with Larry taking me on his motorcycle to his office so I could meet some of the people that he works with while Jill took Pippin to the kennel where he would be staying while we were gone. This wasnt my first trip on the bike. Larry had taken me for a ride the night before as well. I think he enjoyed dressing me up in heavily padded bike gear until I looked like a giant tick so much that he wanted to do it again, only this time he wanted to publicly humiliate me in front of people that he knew.
Larry - She was even dashing enough to go on my motorbike with me, looked very cool in her Biker Chick outfit, Oh Biker Chic, - sorry RG
So, after bundling up in borrowed bike gear from Greg (Yes, I could brag that I can wear the pants of a 17 year old, however, since I think thats illegal in at least 15 countries, Ill keep quiet about that for now.) we set off for Larrys office where I met many nice, though slightly alarmed, people who, luckily, are used to seeing Larry in leather biking gear but looked a bit dubious to meet the Hells Angel from Texas. We got home around 11:00 and, while Larry started cooking lunch, I walked down to the grocery store to pick up some more eggs.
The plan for lunch was to eat anything that could spoil while we were gone for a week so Larry got to be very creative in the menu planning. After all the dust from the flour had settled, we had a lovely lunch consisting of Larrys famous strangled eggs, with cheese and black pepper, bacon, croissants and English muffins, and his top secret hash browns with ham and his secret ingredient. Ive been sworn to secrecy about the mystery ingredient and so, while I could tell you what it is, Id then have to kill you.
(I have less scruples, and I am prepared to auction the information on eBay if there is a demand. - Larry.)
After lunch, everyone pitched in and helped clean up. We managed to fit all the luggage into the trunk (she means boot.) of the car (Larry says hell invite me back if I mention that its a Jaguar--British racing green, thank you very much) and set off for the airport at 12:30. We only had to make one trip back to the house to pick up the laptop and the battery charger.
Larry parked the car at the airport and then put the keys in a carry-on bag with all of the travel documents. It felt odd not having the keys in his pocket and he kept checking both of the pockets in his trousers for them. He finally explained what he was doing after he became self conscious that he kept feeling around in his pockets with his hands. If I keep touching my pants, he said, Youll know Im not playing with myself.
Our flight was on time at 3:00 and we arrived in Luton at 4:25. The hotel we were staying at is adjacent to the airport so we only had a short walk to the hotel after we claimed our luggage. We checked in right at 5:00 and arranged for a cab to take us into Luton proper for some dinner at 6:00.
For this night, we had a boys room and a girls room. There were two single beds in each room so the boys gallantly agreed to let Jill and I have a room where we could each have our own bed and they took the other room where I believe Larry moved a mattress onto the floor and slept there for the night while the boys took the beds (one of which was minus one mattress!). Actually, I think they knew that we girls would be up earlier to get ready and they wanted all the extra sleep they could get for our early start the next morning.
We quickly got settled in our rooms then went back downstairs where our cab showed up promptly at 6:00. We all agreed that Chinese food sounded good, so we asked the people at the front desk to recommend a place. After a short drive into Luton, we wound up at a place called Sun Do, where Ed distinguished himself by eating his entire meal, including the ice cream for dessert, with chopsticks. Greg managed to eat his whole meal with chop sticks as well, but passed on eating the ice cream that way.
When we arrived, we were the only people in the whole restaurant. We knew it was early however, so we were undaunted. We ordered a family style meal and got to pick which appetizers and entrees we wanted. We had spring rolls, prawn toast, fried seaweed (which I had never tried before--it was very good), ribs, and flatbread for starters and, for entrees we had cashew chicken, sweet and sour chicken, beef with pineapple, beef in ginger, pork ribs, and pork with vegetables. Everything was delicious and we all ate ourselves silly. (You can't beat a nice bowl of monosodium glutamate - L)
About halfway through the meal another group of people finally arrived. They, as the second group of people in the entire place, actually had a reservation for their table. Greg remarked that he bet they were hot about paying a booking fee for their reservation!
On a sad note one of the reasons why the restaurant might have been empty, was because the day before Luton Railway Station which was next door had been closed off, whilst the police removed some explosives left there by the four London Bombers, This is the second time I have had a Disney trip right after a terrorist outrage I went to WDW a few days after 9/11. My personal view is the way to deal with them it to show them that we are not cowed by them, and we will continue our lifestyles and won't be daunted by that prospect. - Larry.
After dinner, we all felt the need to walk around a bit to let our food settle. We found a shopping center to look through but all the stores were closing up as it was almost 8:00. We walked a little further and found the Galaxy Center where War of the Worlds was showing at 8:15. We decided that sleep was definitely for wimps and got tickets for the movie. (Great Film by the way. I'll see it again as soon as they put the ending in. - LWW)
Afterwards, we called another cab and were back at the hotel by 11:00. We decided that this was the worst hotel value ever for the amount of time we were actually going to spend in bed.
In the girls room, Jill got ready for bed and we both set out the clothes wed need for the next morning. I needed to unwind a bit after the movie so I went down to the lobby, got a diet coke at the bar, and started my trip report notes. I sent a few emails and then went back to the room and was in bed by 12:30
