Globetrotting: to Disneyland Paris and back with TCD

[Duane 150]

This is a great TR so far...  this is playing out just like the Amazing Race.  "The last one to check in, may be eliminated"

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Bummer about the delay and rain, but glad you made the play! That's one I've never seen. 

[jmaul 65]

Score on the Guinness. Perfect head.

 

Score on the Bangers n Mash.

 

Score on the Irish Breakfast. That BACON.

 

Sorry to hear the transportation issues you had. Guess the TCD pixie dust doesn't work as well overseas.

 

McDonald's? Fail, but I understand the situation you were in.

 

Les Mis, nice.

 

Question. Did you have to bring a ton of adapters for charging phones, cameras,  and what not? Is there like maybe one USB adapter that has all the AC plugs needed for the Countries?

[DaveInTN 3,247]

They use the same signs in Russia.  

 

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Ghost

[Northerngirl--Lori 5]

Yae!! another TCD trip report!! I am looking forward to reading the rest!

Sent from my KFAPWA using Tapatalk

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Getting up at intermission to leave had me laughing.

Arches huh? I thought for sure you would have made a run for the satanic mermaid.

[LONE-STAR 370]

Arches huh? I thought for sure you would have made a run for the satanic mermaid.

His trip ain't over you know how he loves to boycott that place with a Mocha Grande.

[Travisma 1,317]

Great reports and pictures. My daughter was in London the end of April for a few days.

[DramaMama .......... Janet 75]

Finally caught up!  Great TR so far.  

Mickey D's can be forgiven since you had the full Irish breakfast.

Black pudding.....YUM!  That was a good looking plate.  

Keep it coming!

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

They use the same signs in Russia.  

 

 

I remember reading an article sometime back about the exit signs around the world. The thinking , if I recal correctly, was they were made green because green means go and having and exit sign that was red for stop could be confusing. 

[disney4dan 68]

The pood forn photos are looking great!  Wondering if you just brought a camera on the trip or if these were taken with a cell phone for convenience? I've noticed lately that I haven't really carried a camera around since the cell phones have upped the game on picture quality and these photos are great!

[dblr....Rennie 224]

This trip report is really moving along!!!! Breakfast looked good plenty to clog a artery

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I imagined Dublin to be more modern ... more like your later photos.

 

There must be parts of it that are more modern.  We were in an older area of town.  There seems to be a lot of construction going on.

 

Oh London, I have missed you!  I was very blessed to spend 3 weeks one summer and four weeks another summer living in a flat in London with my parents.  After that, I had a few week long trips and weekend trips.  This was all back in the late 70's and 80's.  It seems like a year or two ago.

 

Can't wait to see more!

 

I would have liked to see London in the 70's and 80's.  It's very nice now, but I imagine it was nicer then.

 

Nice TR so far. Visiting The UK and Ireland is on our list of to do's. 

 

I thought it might have been a directional sign to the facilities for those passengers that had been stuck on the tarmac waiting for a gate.

 

 

 

I have a cousin who used to work at one of the theatres nearby the one where you saw Les Mis. She is now at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. 

 

That's cool about your cousin.  The theater district seems like a very fun place in London.

 

This is a great TR so far...  this is playing out just like the Amazing Race.  "The last one to check in, may be eliminated"

 

LOL.  Our trip was a lot like the Amazing Race.  We visited three countries in just over a week.  We barely scratched the surface.  But, it was a good first trip.

 

Bummer about the delay and rain, but glad you made the play! That's one I've never seen. 

 

If you like theater, you need to see Les Mis.  If I understand things correctly, the production we saw is the longest running one of this play.  I saw it once before in Tampa, and this performance blew that one away.

 

Score on the Guinness. Perfect head.

 

Score on the Bangers n Mash.

 

Score on the Irish Breakfast. That BACON.

 

Sorry to hear the transportation issues you had. Guess the TCD pixie dust doesn't work as well overseas.

 

McDonald's? Fail, but I understand the situation you were in.

 

Les Mis, nice.

 

Question. Did you have to bring a ton of adapters for charging phones, cameras,  and what not? Is there like maybe one USB adapter that has all the AC plugs needed for the Countries?

 

Yeah, I should have said something about that BACON.  It was awesome!  It was kind of like a cross between Canadian bacon and American bacon.  And it was good!

 

The adapters weren't too big of a hassle.  I knew from Twin #1's trip to Europe last year that there were just two kinds we needed.  She had some left over, and we ordered a few more for good measure.  They plug into the outlet wherever you are, and then you can plug any American gadget you want to in.  We mostly only needed to charge phones, so at most places we just needed two adapters. 

 

They use the same signs in Russia.  

 

 

Must be a EU thing.  They had those same signs in France too.

 

Yae!! another TCD trip report!! I am looking forward to reading the rest!

Sent from my KFAPWA using Tapatalk

 

Glad to have you along.  Thanks for posting.

 

Getting up at intermission to leave had me laughing.

Arches huh? I thought for sure you would have made a run for the satanic mermaid.

 

Yeah, that intermission thing was a faux pas I won't live down.  It's one of DD's favorite stories to tell about me in Europe.

 

Me make a run for the Satanic Mermaid?  OK, you got me.  We did stop for a Frappuccino in Dublin.  There was a Starbucks right off of Grafton Street.  And, there was also one across the street from our hotel.  That darned company is taking over the world! 

 

His trip ain't over you know how he loves to boycott that place with a Mocha Grande.

 

You know me too well.  See the next update.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great reports and pictures. My daughter was in London the end of April for a few days.

 

Thanks.  I just missed your daughter, I guess.

 

Finally caught up!  Great TR so far.  

Mickey D's can be forgiven since you had the full Irish breakfast.

Black pudding.....YUM!  That was a good looking plate.  

Keep it coming!

 

Glad you like it.

 

Tell your hubby that we will be visiting the Globe theater soon.   I imagine he would like that kind of thing.

 

I remember reading an article sometime back about the exit signs around the world. The thinking , if I recal correctly, was they were made green because green means go and having and exit sign that was red for stop could be confusing. 

 

Makes sense, but when I first saw those signs, it didn't register that they were exit signs. 

 

The pood forn photos are looking great!  Wondering if you just brought a camera on the trip or if these were taken with a cell phone for convenience? I've noticed lately that I haven't really carried a camera around since the cell phones have upped the game on picture quality and these photos are great!

 

Good question.  I have used the same little old point and shoot Canon camera for years.  I inherited it from Twin #1 when she acquired better camera equipment.  I am sad to say that that camera finally died on day 3 of this trip. But being the good Boy Scout that I am, I was prepared with a back-up camera.  That was another old Canon point and shoot, and it made it through the trip.  Some of the photos are from our phones, but most of them are from that point and shoot camera.

 

 

This trip report is really moving along!!!! Breakfast looked good plenty to clog a artery

 

Yes, we are moving along, but we're not even a quarter of the way done yet.  That was the best breakfast I had on this trip, and I would stay at that hotel again just for the breakfast.

 

TCD

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Getting up at intermission to leave had me laughing.

 

No kidding. I'm still chuckling. :)

[Dalspot ... Karen 21]

I shouldn't have read this a half hour before lunch... now I'm hungry and have to wait.  Great pics tho!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

No kidding. I'm still chuckling. :)

 

I'm glad that y'all are being entertained.

 

If you ever meet my daughters, they all have plenty of stories like this about me.

I shouldn't have read this a half hour before lunch... now I'm hungry and have to wait. Great pics tho!

Sorry about that. I'm about to post an update with another food photo in it. But, this one probably won't make you too hungry.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

We have made it to day 3.  We had a very rushed day 2, moving from Dublin to London and seeing the play. 

 

That was how I planned it, though.  I figured the thrill of beginning the trip would allow us to push things a bit without us being too tired.  Plus, we were now done with flying until our last day.  The transfer from London to Paris would be a lot less of a hassle.

 

I haven't had a chance yet to say much about our London accommodations.  I was pleased to find that I had chosen well again.  Tripadvisor ranked this hotel #36 our of 1050 hotels in London, and the reviews were consistently positive.   Here's a link to the Tripadvisor site if you would like to read more about the hotel: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g186338-d7193214-Reviews-Premier_Inn_London_City_Aldgate-London_England.html

 

One of the things that attracted me to the hotel was that it was brand new- it hadn't been open a year yet.  It ended up being in a part of the city that was obviously in the midst of a building renaissance, but all of the construction around us was no problem.

 

Compared to American hotels, I would equate this one to something like a Courtyard by Marriot.  Not luxury by any means, but a notch above a budget hotel.

 

I don't have many photos of the room- just these.

 

This one shows the beds- I got the big one again:

 

 

And this shows the nice TV we had. I enjoyed the British television programs played on the local stations:

 

 

Since we were on the east end of town, that put us near the London Tower and the Tower Bridge.  Our plan for day 3 was to head out to see the sights in our area of town, then cross the bridge and make our way west along the river.

 

We hopped the tube a couple of exits to the station called Tower Hill, and this was the first thing we saw when we came out:

 

 

I think that's a public works building.

 

The London Tower was across the street:

 

 

The London Tower is centuries old, and houses the Crown Jewels.  A lot has happened there, and I thought it might be interesting to take a tour of it.  The guidebooks I read said that it's good to arrive early, as there are usually long lines later in the day.  We weren't sure if we wanted to take the time for the tour, so we figured that we would size things up when we got here.

 

The outside of the Tower was cool to look at:

 

 

There is a moat around the castle, and there were signs telling us how they used to have live lions and other beasts roaming around the perimeter of the moat:

 

 

 

There are some parts of the Tower that are ruins:

 

 

This is the entrance- you needed to buy a ticket to go in there, and there was a long line just to buy tickets:

 

 

It seemed like it might be a big time investment to tour the Tower.  We weren't sure that it was something we wanted to spend time doing.  As luck would have it, there was a little coffee shop right there, and we decided to have a cup of coffee an a bite to eat while we figured out whether or not to take the tour.  This is the view from inside the shop- that's the Tower outside the big windows:

 

 

This was my breakfast- it was called a bacon biscuit, but the biscuit was more like an English Muffin.  The bacon was like the kind I had in Ireland:

 

 

Do you see that packet of HP sauce there?  I had never heard of it, but it is all over England.  It's kind of like Heinz 57 and Worcestershire sauce mixed together.  Why anyone would want to put that on perfectly good bacon is beyond me.

 

We decided over breakfast that since there were other buildings that we wanted to tour, we would skip touring the Tower of London, and instead head across the river.

 

There's the Tower Bridge (which is often mistakenly called the London Bridge):

 

 

I wasn't sure if I had enough pictures of the Tower, so here you go:

 

 

We headed toward the bridge.  We weren't sure if anyone could just walk across it, or what the deal was.  But we could see people walking across it as we approached it:

 

 

Here's another Tower photo- maybe I got a bit carried away:

 

 

So, you know Beefeater's Gin?

 

It's named after the Beefeaters who guard the Tower of London.  And here's one of them:

 

 

I've heard that there are a bunch more of those guys inside the Tower, but I can't tell you for sure, as we skipped it.

 

The bridge went up as we approached.  I am not sure how often that happens, but everyone was taking pictures of the bridge going up, so I figured I should too:

 

 

You know, if they planted a few more flowers, this place could be as nice as Epcot:

 

 

 

If you take a moment and look at the buildings around the Tower, you can see that there are a variety of architectural styles, which is interesting:

 

 

As we got closer to the bridge, I started to worry a bit about how I would do walking across it.  I am not a fan of heights, and sometimes will freak out in such situations.  Walking across a rickety old bridge might be one of those situations:

 

 

Here's one last Tower photo for good measure:

 

 

And then we came to the bridge.  It's big.  And it's old.  But, everyone else seemed to have no problem walking on it, so I was going to walk across it too:

 

 

And here we go.  It ended up being no big deal.  It was solid, and didn't sway or anything.  DD did say she could see the river passing beneath us through cracks in the base, but I pretended that I didn't hear that:

 

 

Here's a good tourist photo- a Double Decker bus on the Tower Bridge:

 

 

Here's a look down the river- you can see the Tower over to the far right of this photo.  Note how the skyline includes old and new architecture:

 

 

Another look at the London skyline- there are some very interesting buildings:

 

 

The bridge has its own towers:

 

 

You can see a bunch of cranes in this photo- a lot of them are located in the area of our hotel:

 

 

Whoops.  We're at the photo limit.

 

We'll finish crossing the bridge in the next update, and then head west along the river.

 

TCD

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

I took the tour when I was 16 and really enjoyed it.  Lots of cool info about the Beefeaters, the crows, and many beheadings.  Plus, I got to see the Crown Jewels.  If you go back, I would recommend the tour.

[FW Rendezvous 5]

What a great, thorough read.

TCD, you are the trip report MASTER!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Did you try the cinnamon rolls at that quaint little coffee shop?  

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Loving the London pictures.

 

Noticed that you had ketchup on both your breakfast plates.  That's even grosser-sounding on a bacon sandwich than the HP sauce! 

[campingdawgs 4]

I'm enjoying your report! It's bringing back memories of going to London and Ireland several years ago. We really enjoyed the Guinness in Dublin- at the brewery- but I had never really liked it before. It tastes different there. I didn't care for the black pudding. Maybe it was knowing there was blood in it. I thought Ireland was beautiful. The greenest place I've ever seen. I felt at home there.

We stayed with my cousin in London. We went there first and then took a $20 flight to Dublin on RyanAir. It was fine, just basic. We did the Tower of London tour and really enjoyed it. Lots of history there. We also walked across the Tower Bridge and passed the actor Patrick Stewart out for a walk. We didn't go to the Globe although I wanted to. I was outvoted on some things so I want to go back and see more of London. I'm looking forward to the rest of your report. It's a great read as I sit on the beach at Grayton Beach State Park.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I took the tour when I was 16 and really enjoyed it.  Lots of cool info about the Beefeaters, the crows, and many beheadings.  Plus, I got to see the Crown Jewels.  If you go back, I would recommend the tour.

 

Well darn, now I wish we had taken the time for the tour.  I'll have to try it the next time I'm over there.

 

What a great, thorough read.

TCD, you are the trip report MASTER!

 

Thank you for the kind words.

 

Did you try the cinnamon rolls at that quaint little coffee shop?

 

Well played.

 

Loving the London pictures.

 

Noticed that you had ketchup on both your breakfast plates.  That's even grosser-sounding on a bacon sandwich than the HP sauce!

 

I agree with you there.  The funny thing is that my parents both like ketchup with scrambled eggs (is that a Long Island thing?).  I never have.

 

I'm enjoying your report! It's bringing back memories of going to London and Ireland several years ago. We really enjoyed the Guinness in Dublin- at the brewery- but I had never really liked it before. It tastes different there. I didn't care for the black pudding. Maybe it was knowing there was blood in it. I thought Ireland was beautiful. The greenest place I've ever seen. I felt at home there.

We stayed with my cousin in London. We went there first and then took a $20 flight to Dublin on RyanAir. It was fine, just basic. We did the Tower of London tour and really enjoyed it. Lots of history there. We also walked across the Tower Bridge and passed the actor Patrick Stewart out for a walk. We didn't go to the Globe although I wanted to. I was outvoted on some things so I want to go back and see more of London. I'm looking forward to the rest of your report. It's a great read as I sit on the beach at Grayton Beach State Park.

Grayton Beach!

Lucky!

 

Thanks for the input on RyanAir.  I was tempted to use them for our short fights in Europe, but I didn't want a problem.  I figured they might have really strict baggage restrictions or other tricks to jack up their revenue.

 

We did make it to the Globe and ended up really enjoying it.  I have photos of that later in the report.

 

I'm glad I didn't know there was blood in the pudding.  I probably would have eaten it anyway, but that does sound gross.

 

TCD