Florida is GREAT...

EB-Z · 10-16-2006, 03:59 PM

Day 1 & 2: Sat/Sun. Arrive Heathrow airport, London on 17 day business trip around England. Weather beautiful.. tour around london eat bland tastless food, drink cool flat beer. fall asleep around 10pm (5 pm florida), wake up 6 am (1 am fla.).
Days 3-7: Mon/Fri. Take Underground Tube to Kings Cross with 100 lbs of luggage starring at what has to be an 80's gang from the New York subway system (yellow, orange, and blue spiked hair, tatoo's of weird things on all exposed skin). Attend conference all week, eating bland food and drinking cool, flat beer in the evenings......except Wed. night..was taken for Thia? food after telling locals that their food was bland. Drank lots of cool flat beer to stop the fiery sensation from inside and spent half of thurs. in bathroom.
Day 8: Sat. Weather beautiful, invited to a Lord's estate for some Pheasant and duck hunting. Shot 9 birds and gave them to the poor villagers that spent the day doing what a dog does in the US, beating the bushes to drive the birds to several rich people sitting in chairs (drinking cool flat beer) waiting for the villagers to reach them.
Day 9: Sun. Overcast, 55 F. get invited to go fly fishing for trout on private stream. Catch one fish in 4 hours, return to guests home for cool flat beer and bland food.
Day 10: Mon. (today). return to conferences in Peterborough until thursday night. Ate bland food for lunch. going for Indian cuisine tonight. Will drink lots of cool beer and spend tomorrow in bathroom waiting for lunch and the bland food again...
Florida (and the US in general) is GREAT!

Really missing home and the Vette,
Will keep you posted if I can ever get the phone line to dial up the internet again....

Chuck

**Rich Z** · 10-16-2006, 04:39 PM

Wow! Sounds like you are having a GREAT time! Not.... What kind of cars are you driving or riding around in over there? I just get a mental image of everyone over in England driving around in Mini Coopers, or equivalent...

CREWZIN · 10-16-2006, 05:03 PM

Sounds like you were in the wrong place. I spent a total of 13 years in Northern England (3 seperate tours while working for the U.S. Government). Except for the weather, I loved it over there. London and the bigger cities are great for a weekend getaway, but wouldn't want to live there. The rest of England, Scotland and Wales is a great place to spend a lot of time.

EB-Z · 10-17-2006, 02:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich Z

Wow! Sounds like you are having a GREAT time! Not.... What kind of cars are you driving or riding around in over there? I just get a mental image of everyone over in England driving around in Mini Coopers, or equivalent...

Ha, Your not far off! Lots of mini's, and smaller cars! Because the gas is about $1.50 / liter, most cars are 1.7L or smaller. There are quite a few Lotus and Lambo's in the city areas and if they own a full size vehicle, they're Land Rovers. I'm in a small Ford, something they don't offer in the States. It's diesel and I'll admit, quite peppy for such a small engine, I just can't stand the "sewing machine" sounds all around.

Crewzin,
Your right on with your remarks, once outside the city zones, the country is beautiful and the stone homes with Thathed roofs and buildings are amazing! But... The food still Suc*s and the beer is too warm!

I offered to buy dinner for 10 other Brits, if one of them could lead me to a bar-b-que joint! or a steak house with real "steak". I've got some great pictures, but can't post them on "dial-up".
Well, time to head out to the "Round abouts" and fight all those 1.7 Liters for a placement.

regards
Chuck.

CREWZIN · 10-17-2006, 08:22 AM

Chuck,
One more thing. I'm permanently banned from ever giving blood over here in the U.S. because of the "Mad Cow" scare that was going over in Europe (including England). The donor centers over here always ask if you've been over to Europe while screening you to see if you qualify for giving blood.

The best meals I've always found while over there were in the pubs.

Suicide King · 10-17-2006, 10:18 AM

There's no place like home.

CREWZIN · 10-17-2006, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suicide King

There's no place like home.

Mark Dalton · 10-17-2006, 12:57 PM

I've been to England a few times while in the USAF and really enjoyed it. Didn't eat off base too much but did down a pint or 10.

As noted above, the country is beautiful outside the cities. A lot of history to be found there.

Now France..holy sh!t! Don't think I'll go back any time during this life. I'm sure there are exceptions but in general (at least in Paris) the folks were pretty rude to americans.

EB-Z · 10-17-2006, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CREWZIN

OK, so there are a few negatives with Fla....but Gator tail tastes great...so, it's all a matter of the perspective in the way you view the picture. I see tidbits for a month!

OK, quick post on Day 11: Tuesday. Weather 55F. overcast with drizzle all day. No bar-b-que restaurants to be had. Indian dinner was good (as far as spice). Sweaty forhead after appetizers, 4 bears with dinner. sweaty forhead dried up about 1/2 hour after leaving restaurant. Brits are enjoying my torture after commenting on their bland food...Cool beer is tasting good...uhmm...by weekend I'll enjoy the bland food...Make note*. not a good idea to suggest the UK is the nicest 3rd. world country visited.....many remarks about US being young colonists after Jaws are removed from table top! All in All, great people with good humor.. food still Suc*s, but beer is getting better by the day!

**Rich Z** · 10-17-2006, 05:19 PM

Watch your step over there, man. They've taken away all the guns from everyone, but I understand they train handily with those cricket bats.

As for gator tail, I tried it once and didn't care for it. Too rubbery in texture for me. Kind of like chicken flavored bubble gum.....

And watch it dining with those "4 bears".....