-=*September 10 2011, Westbound Transatlantic from Barcelona to Port Canaveral*=-

[karentan]

We have had a lazy day really. i don't know where it has gone.

i know that feeling! apart from the dreaded cards, its seems like the only other thing i've managed today is my ironing!

 

[granmaz]

I pottered this morning, and this afternoon a bit. Had the F1 on then a film. Played on my puter on and off(mostly on) Made potato wedges and custard for tea and have sat here all evening, one eye on here and one eye on the TV!!

 

[granmaz]

We didn't eat the wedges and custard together I must add!!!

 

[BigHugsForEeyore]

it has been raining from pretty much 8am this morning til now. made taking the dog out for a walk this afternoon really miserable. we need some sun! we just need to get winter out the way first, then spring will be here before we know it!
spent 2 hours earlier doing the one job i absolutely dread every year - writing christmas cards. normally i leave them til as late as absolutely possible, then i still put it off some more. but got them all (well most of them, got a few more to do, ran out of cards) done, so thats one job done for another year.
everyone on my facebook keeps saying that the coca cola advert has been on, so christmas is coming, i just cant get into the spirit yet, so i'm thinking bah humbug at the mo!

I haven't seen the advert on TV yet but I saw a giant billboard advert for it in Leeds on Tuesday.

Christmas seems to get earlier and earlier each year. It'll come to the point where we may as well just leave everything up all year round.

Watch out for the Easter Eggs in the shops on January 1st!!

 

[granmaz]

I have posts on FB about the coca cola ad too. I've been on BBC though.

 

[Pinky166]

We didn't eat the wedges and custard together I must add!!!

I said ewwww out loud when I read that - glad you cleared that up!


Yes the Coca Cola advert was on the ads between x factor earlier. Christmas is coming! I finished all my christmas shopping this week!

 

[MandyGirl]

Pretty good actually thanks. John's mum wasn't too bad, though extremely frail. She was quite chirpy to be honest and conversation wasn't too difficult. She really is fed up, had enough, and wants to go. Sad isn't it?

The journey went well, and we both slept like logs last night. I had a lot of pain meds, so I think they had an effect there.

Watching the F1 now.

Glad the trip went well! I know how challenging it can be at times when our loved ones are in their 90s. I think I started understanding my husband's mannerisms more in how much he was like his grandmother.

 

[PFlamingo]

'kay, just looked on lowfares.com, just to see what was out there. Looks like we should be able to find something one-way, Orlando to Barca for around 500-600 each, maybe a little less. Saw a great deal on Air Berlin - $350 each. Downside is a 10 hour layover in Dusseldorf. But for that kind of fare, I can amuse myself for 10 hours, & so can DH. The most interesting was a flight where the leg to Barcelona was on Pakistan Air. Hey, I'd be game to try it, but I don't think I could get DH on board w/ it.

If I can get something in that range, I'd rather have the confirmed flight than take my chances on the military thing. I think that will be a much better way to go than the other.

Besides, DH just informed me that we'd probably have to leave from someplace like Dover (Delaware) and "we could stay with my brother and mom while we wait to get a flight." Um, no thanks. We can drive to Orlando, leave our car and a couple of dogs w/ my parents, fly to Barca, then have transportation (via my parents, who are NOT crazy, like other relatives I could mention) back to our car from Port Canaveral. Apparently, it didn't occur to DH that if we flew out of Delaware and returned to Florida, we'd have no way to get back to Georgia (where we live) without going via Delaware somehow. Suddenly that "free" flight to Europe just got very expensive, in more ways than one! I think we now understand why I do all the travel planning around here.

Okay, sorry about that little rant. MIL is just a little crazy, but not in a good way. My folks, are, in fact, crazy, but only in good ways.

Anyway, this is starting to look more do-able.

 

[LittleDisneyLovers]

Hi! We are also booked on this cruise. We are a family of 5, kids will be 9,7, and 4 on the cruise.
MandyGirl, we wanted to mention that we booked the Novotel Barcelona City, they have family rooms that accommodate 4. They are supposed to be kid friendly according to their website.

Hi and
Just wanted to let you know we stayed at the Novotel barcelona City before the WBAT thus year. It was modern, new and clean. It's straight across the road from some shops (Disney store, Starbucks, Zara, etc....). The view from our room overlooked the Sagradia Familia (sp?) which was really nice. The staff weren't overly friendly or helpful, but we were only there for one night and it met our needs just fine. We used Barcelona Taxi Van from the airport to hotel and it was 55 euro for 4 of us, 6 bags and 4 cabin bags. Then we used them again to the port which was 45 euro. There are taxi's straight outside the hotel and the taxi ride into Las Ramblas was about 10 euro.

We didn't eat the wedges and custard together I must add!!!

Glad you cleared that up, EW. After all the talk of Haggis and whatnot last thread I wasn't sure?

 

[birkner]

Just want to share what John and I did today. We drove up to Sausalito, got lunch to go at Sam's BFF's family store, Mollie Stones. Afterward we drove to Stinson Beach to eat our lunch. Once lunch was done, we went to Muir Woods. All in all a sunny, wonderful day...with temps in the mid 70's. I hope to post some pics later.

 

[MandyGirl]

Just want to share what John and I did today. We drove up to Sausalito, got lunch to go at Sam's BFF's family store, Mollie Stones. Afterward we drove to Stinson Beach to eat our lunch. Once lunch was done, we went to Muir Woods. All in all a sunny, wonderful day...with temps in the mid 70's. I hope to post some pics later.

That is such a beautiful area! It has been about - omg - 17 years since I was there (college) but I oh so remember it. Glad you had a wonderful day!!

 

[middleofamerica]

Welcome aboard!! We are Noel and John and this is will be our 5th DCL cruise. We also did the 2010 WBTA.

What to do in London
Travel for kids
Things for children to do in London

Thanks for the information and welcome everyone! We're really excited!

 

[middleofamerica]

Hi and
Just wanted to let you know we stayed at the Novotel barcelona City before the WBAT thus year. It was modern, new and clean. It's straight across the road from some shops (Disney store, Starbucks, Zara, etc....). The view from our room overlooked the Sagradia Familia (sp?) which was really nice. The staff weren't overly friendly or helpful, but we were only there for one night and it met our needs just fine. We used Barcelona Taxi Van from the airport to hotel and it was 55 euro for 4 of us, 6 bags and 4 cabin bags. Then we used them again to the port which was 45 euro. There are taxi's straight outside the hotel and the taxi ride into Las Ramblas was about 10 euro.
QUOTE]

This is VERY helpful! Thank you! We've been trying to figure out how we would get there without splitting up and such since we have three kids. We've gone through many scenarios, but it's great to hear what someone else has actually done! I remember seeing someone on here that mentioned this hotel, it was probably you, thanks for that, it was the cheapest we could find (that seemed nice and took kids!). I might have to let you know if we have any more specific questions about it, I'm so thrilled there is a Disney Store across the street!

 

[birkner]

That is such a beautiful area! It has been about - omg - 17 years since I was there (college) but I oh so remember it. Glad you had a wonderful day!!

Here are the promised pics:

 

[birkner]

Thanks for the information and welcome everyone! We're really excited!

You are welcome. Any more info you might need, please let me know.

 

[Pinky166]

'kay, just looked on lowfares.com, just to see what was out there. Looks like we should be able to find something one-way, Orlando to Barca for around 500-600 each, maybe a little less. Saw a great deal on Air Berlin - $350 each. Downside is a 10 hour layover in Dusseldorf. But for that kind of fare, I can amuse myself for 10 hours, & so can DH. The most interesting was a flight where the leg to Barcelona was on Pakistan Air. Hey, I'd be game to try it, but I don't think I could get DH on board w/ it.

If I can get something in that range, I'd rather have the confirmed flight than take my chances on the military thing. I think that will be a much better way to go than the other.

Besides, DH just informed me that we'd probably have to leave from someplace like Dover (Delaware) and "we could stay with my brother and mom while we wait to get a flight." Um, no thanks. We can drive to Orlando, leave our car and a couple of dogs w/ my parents, fly to Barca, then have transportation (via my parents, who are NOT crazy, like other relatives I could mention) back to our car from Port Canaveral. Apparently, it didn't occur to DH that if we flew out of Delaware and returned to Florida, we'd have no way to get back to Georgia (where we live) without going via Delaware somehow. Suddenly that "free" flight to Europe just got very expensive, in more ways than one! I think we now understand why I do all the travel planning around here.

Okay, sorry about that little rant. MIL is just a little crazy, but not in a good way. My folks, are, in fact, crazy, but only in good ways.

Anyway, this is starting to look more do-able.

Sounds like you've got it all planned Pat, those flight prices seem pretty reasonable to me.

Just want to share what John and I did today. We drove up to Sausalito, got lunch to go at Sam's BFF's family store, Mollie Stones. Afterward we drove to Stinson Beach to eat our lunch. Once lunch was done, we went to Muir Woods. All in all a sunny, wonderful day...with temps in the mid 70's. I hope to post some pics later.

Thanks for sharing your Noel, I love your photos of the trees they look huge!

 

[birkner]

Thanks for sharing your Noel, I love your photos of the trees they look huge!

You are welcome. The tallest redwood tree there is 250 fee. Our old Woodside house was surrounded by redwoods as you can see the tallest one on our website needinfo.

 

[squitty]

Morning everyone.....nice fresh morning here.

Yes I booked a few days ago.

I wanted to use our VA miles & was holding out for VA Miles only flight from MCO but they hadn't released any at all for August or Sept so I figured they either weren't going to or if they are then not for a while yet and I couldn't handle the waiting as I was getting stressed out over it. I ended up booking Miles only from Miami to Heathrow. It feels much more real now.

Fantastic I never thought of Miles from MIA to LHR. I always forget about MIA

Here are the promised pics:

Fantastic part of the World, fab photo's. We were in California last year and DH wanted to visit Muir Woods to see those trees. Sadly we never made it.
Thank you for sharing the photos.

 

[birkner]

Fantastic part of the World, fab photo's. We were in California last year and DH wanted to visit Muir Woods to see those trees. Sadly we never made it.
Thank you for sharing the photos.

I am glad you enjoyed the pics. John and I feel very fortunate to live in California as there are so many places we can make a day or weekend trip to see.

 

[granmaz]

Great photos and area Noel. We were always going to go up there next time we got to SF, but not looking likely now.