Photo of the Week: California

Yosemite, California

Where am I?

I want to apologize for not posting as much lately.  I have a whole bunch of excuses, some better then others.  But here's what's been going on...

I was busy with my day job at one point, I worked a lot of extra OT in October, then the first weekend of November I was away for a Penn State game - got to see Joe Paterno get his 400th win against Northwestern.  It was one of the best games I've even been to, the crowd was great (once the team started to score), I could barely hear the Blue Band for most of the game!

I bought a new computer, a Mac and I'm so confused by it, I keep finding new issues every time I try something new.  My brain hurts whenever I try to deal with iphoto.  There's been success and hysteria, but I'm still wondering where exactly my pictures are on my harddrive?  Let's just say that technology has not been my friend lately.

Then I had surgery and I'm still feeling doped up over a week later and I stopped taking the good drugs a few days ago.

So what does the future hold, until I sort out a couple more things posts will come out slowly.  When will things sort themselves out?  I wish yesterday, but I'm thinking another 2 weeks.

Photo of the Week: London

Buckingham Palace, London, England

Creepy Toys and free museums in Edinburgh

While I was at the Scott Monument in Edinburgh the group I was with got chosen to do some surveys, as part of it the girl mentioned some free museums in the city and recommended the Museum of Childhood, located on the Royal Mile.  But she left out the part of the creepy toys there...

The museum is primarily a bunch of displays of different toys from various periods in history.  Some were cool, others were just creepy.  There were a lot of dolls.  Big dolls, little dolls, fancy dolls, simple dolls.  Even a doll with it's head on backwards.  It was one of the nicer dolls, but it still reminded me of chucky.  Who makes a doll display (presumably, one of your nicer displays in a toy museum) with a doll with its head on backwards? 

And what about all the doll houses and the like?  How about one for a butcher shop, complete with toy dead animals to hang in the window.  Huh? 

Overall the Museum of childhood was ok.  It has some interesting things in it, but it also had some weird and creepy things.  But, it was free.  I wouldn't put this on the top of your list of places to visit in Edinburgh, but if you're passing by and have a half hour to kill then stop in.  This musuem is a good if you're traveling with children, as they'll be interested in the toys, yet there is a small gift shop, not a big money sucking one like we have in the US.

In contrast I did stop at The People's Story, another museum on the Royal Mile.  At the time I thought it was kinda lame, but in hindsight, for a free museum, if you don't mind guiding yourself (I had done quite a few attractions that included an audio tour and got lazy) through a musuem, this one wasn't too bad.  It is also a free museum so you shouldn't get your expectations too high, but it's another place you can fill a half hour or an hour of time and maybe learn something too.

Photo of the Week: Paris

From Paris:  The Arc de Triumph

Ghost Tours

I did two ghost tours on my trip, one in York and one in Edinburgh.  York is known as the most haunted city in the world, so it's a great location to do a ghost tour.  In Edinburgh my tour was actually ghosts and ghouls by Mercat tours.  I did enjoy both tours, but the one in York was MUCH better then then one in Edinburgh. 

I think the company that did the tour in York is called the Original Ghost Walk of York, Contiki arranged it with a guide named Clive and he was fantastic!  Clive was the kind of guy who you could tell did ghost tours because he loved the ghost stories themselves, not just to make a buck.  He was very authentic, knew the city well and didn't do the theatrics that are often complained about in these types of tours.   I did notice other tours in York while we were on ours that had a lot of theatrics, this was not one of them.

In Edinburgh I had a tour with Stuart from Mercat Tours, you could tell the tour was more scripted with a bit of theatrics (but no one jumped out at you).  But it was a good tour, it covered a wider variety of the history of Edinburgh.  Crime and punishment, life in the city throughout it's history and we went into the underground vaults for most of the ghost stories.  It had a lighter, cheesier feel to it compared to my tour in York.  But it was still enjoyable and not over the top.    

The one thing I liked about both tours was that they made the city come alive a little more and in a different way.  I wouldn't necessarily do a ghost tour to learn about a city, but if you're looking for a tour in the evening, or something other then a straight up history tour then a ghost tour is a fun way to see a city.  How cheesy you like your tour is up to you, but I did like the more authentic style of tour better.

Photo of the Week: Scotland

William Wallace Monument, Scotland

Boardwalk Villa's Review

I should start this post with a caution.  My views of this resort are clouded by the overcrowding in our unit, which is not the fault of the resort.

I thought the unit was nice, tastefully decorated and well set up for a family with a maximum of 4 people.

The kitchen:
I thought the kitchen was small compared to other time share units I have been in.  It did have all the necessities, but the counter space was limited.  I don't think this was a good space to do serious cooking in, just lighter meals.  The kitchen table was crowded since it was so close to the living room.  Basically, if you're looking to have breakfast and snacks here, it's just fine.  If you're looking to save money by cooking then this kitchen will be cramped.

The living room:
I thought the couch, chair, TV and tables all worked well in the room and were appropriate for a unit like this.  But, the fold out couch was not comfortable to sleep on.  For that reason, I would not suggest this unit for a group of 4 adults. 

Washer and Dryer: 
Small, but handy especially in this day of bag fees on airlines.

Balcony: 
A nice size, but it didn't feel clean.  There were a lot of birds around and it was obvious that the floor, chairs, tables and ledge were not cleaned regularly.  I wondered if it had been cleaned before we arrived.

Bedroom: 
A nice size bedroom, the bed looked more comfortable then the fold out couch.  There was a TV and a chair in there too.

Bathroom:
This was the highlight of the unit.  The bathroom had 2 parts - one had the shower, toilet and a sink, outside of that and part of the bedroom was another sink and a whirlpool bath.  It was spacious and suitable for the larger group since there was the additional sink that could be used while others were showering. 

Closets:
Closet space was ample, one of the closets was big enough to hold a pack and play.  Though it's kinda mean to stick your kid in a closet. 

Pool: 
I wasn't overly impressed by the pool area.  It was a basic Disney pool with a big slide.  It looked like it needed fresh paint too.  And the clown slide reminded me of the movie It, so I wouldn't say it was a friendly pool.  But there was a hot tub and it was a fun ride down the slide.

Boardwalk area:
I thought the Boardwalk area was nice with the shops and restaurants, though it is quiet during the day (that whole park thing), but it seemed lively in the evenings.  The streetmospheres were very good, my nephew loved them.  But again this area seemed a little washed out and looks like it needed fresh paint. 

Location:
Very good if you like EPCOT, not as good if you like the Magic Kingdom. It was a short walk or boat ride to EPCOT, but the bus to the Magic Kingdom felt quite long and had a couple stops on it.  There was also boat service to the Hollywood Studios, not as short of a ride as to EPCOT, but it was very easy to use and the boats were great if you had a stroller since you didn't have to fold them up.  The Swan and Dolphin and the Beach and Yaht Club were equally convenient to all the same parks.

Contiki's Pre-Departure Meeting

Every Contiki tour starts with a pre-departure meeting.  The meeting is typically the night before the tour starts.  It's a bit of an introduction to the tour, and a chance for the tour manager (TM) to collect some information about those on the tour before the tour starts.  In London the pre-depature meeting takes place in the Contiki basement, but the location doesn't matter that much, the meetings are all pretty similar.  It goes something like this:

You arrive about 15 minutes early, that will get you a good seat and a chance to check out the people on the tour as they come in.  Initially, everyone is sitting apart, but as people arrive they fill in the seats.  There are a lot of single women scattered in the room, there is little conversation going on.  Then some couples arrive, they stick close together.  Friends arrive, maybe just 2 people, or maybe a group of 4 people.  They seem to bring a little life to the room, they are actually talking to each other as though oblivious to the excited, nervous, tension in the room.  As the group grows you start to wonder, how many people are in here?  This looks like more then 50, maybe there are 2 tours?  But what is the other tour, and who is on my tour and who is on the other tour.  Wait, there are 3 staff memebers here, but I know the one girl works here, so which of the other 2 staff members is going to be my TM?  Of course there are the people that you look at and make the snap judgment about and pray they're not on your tour - they just look weird! 

Then the meeting starts, a few minutes late since people were still trickling in.  One of the TM's starts, introduces herself and which tour she will be running and introduces the other TM, who will be running the other tour.  They both look cool and friendly, but yours looks like the better TM.  Or maybe you're disappointed that the cute TM isn't your TM.  They tell you what time to arrive the following morning, and suggest getting something tonight to eat for breakfast the following morning, breakfast on the first day is not included in the tour.  The TM's break up the groups, the cute TM takes the other tour to the other side of the Contiki basement, and they take that weird looking person with them. 

Your group moves in a bit, taking up the empty seats that opened up when the other group left, you notice a lot of girls in the group and a lot of the guys seem to be in couples.  It doesn't look like you're finding the love of your life on this tour.  Your TM gives a little introduction of themselves, they've been with Contiki 4 years - good, that means they know what they're doing.  He/she gives some information on what the first day or two will be like.  You look around at the people, some have their contiki documents in the documents folders, others have them separate.  Are they saving space or trying to be cool?  Then the TM starts collecting paperwork.  Those in front quickly jump on line while many of the others hang back and start to introduce themselves.  Who's from Australia?  You're from New York?  I love New York!  Someone annnounces that a bunch of people are going to dinner and drinks at The Pub after the meeting.  After a while you realize that you might have gotten rid of the initially weird looking person, but realize that you do have an annoying person on the tour, the one who knows everything and talks a lot.  Mental note to steer clear of them.  Eventually you turn in your paperwork and then make your way to The Pub.  There's only a dozen people from tour there, but you start talking to people, find the guy who is the one who thinks everyone would be happier if they were drinking and hope they don't try to push alcohol on you the whole tour.  After a while you decide it's time to leave, who wants to start a tour hung over and tired, you have 2 weeks to get to know everyone and besides, that guy does keep trying to push drinks on you. 

Note:  This is a fictional account of a pre-departure meeting, made from a cluster of memories of various pre-departure meetings and embelished for your entertainment.

Photo of the Week: Washington, DC

Arlington House