11/08/2009 by Russell.

Gosh! is it really way back in July that I last made a post?

First up was Derren Brown, on 16th July - what could he offer? very clever and manipulative chap? Was it all so random? I never saw the join between set up (if there was one) and inspiring comments ‘How did he do that?’ He certainly tries to think out of the box, so much random selection in the audience with whizzing paper plates.  However, I did work out where he was going with the word ‘Enigma’ but how he arrived at that was completely (or to me at least) seemed random selection.  Thanks Derren, Greg and I will be back. And what about the McFly thing? well if you went you would know! so book your ticket for the next time round.
Within Days of this we were off to Montpellier to visit Sylvie. Up at the crack of dawn, in Montpellier before 11am, thanks to easyjet.

Needless to say we left a murky Luton to arrive in clear blue skies of the med. We went to town, to Palavas for beaches, to the old Roman Aquaduct of Pont du Nord, to Sete, Cap D’Agde, Millau and Lord Foster’s bridge, to the Camargue etc, oh and a spot of sunbathing.

Sadly I fell asleep and scorched my back - loser eh?, we had a good beach at Palavas, which was a 20 minute commute - although there are many beaches to choose from from La Grand Motte to Cap D’agde.  The weather was glorious every day, very hot, comparable to Greece and Corsica.  We were in shorts everyday, watching our Archos/iPod movies by night, or playing cards on the verandah with Prissine, Sebastien and our other host Anne Marie, for which Greg and I were very grateful for the two beds and of course Banjo a friendly dog, seeking breakfast with me everyday (oh for the days of my dog Penny).

The day we chose to go to the Camargue, about 40 mins away, we had a good day seeing the white horses although not as I imagined trotting through the surf, but our quest was the Flamingo’s. Which we found on a wildlife sanctuary near to the town of Saint Marie de la Mer, but the jewel of the Camargue is the fortified town of Aigues Mortes, where we found weaponry for an army(and that’s the shops!) to the most delightful confectionery shop selling biscuits, sweets and toffees.  We paid a few Euros in there for one of Gregs friends.  On the whole we had a great outing.

To drive on and see the Millau bridge over the Tarn Valley is spectacular to say the least. It clearly beat the pants off the alternative proposals, so who says Brits can’t do design? come in on budget and look aesthetically great (which was a requirement) - wonder if we include this on our civil engineeering projects.

Down side was my hearing, which at times plagued me.  Iwas in the little store buying Phillip’s bracelet when this chap said something behind me, thining he was speaking to me in french about the bracelets, I immediatley responded saying something like ‘just looking, Ok mate’ only to notice he was talking to someone on the the phone, me and Greg just howled with laughter.  We had some great light moments on holiday, especially in Intermache, taking one of those bags to put your fruit in off the dispenser…yup - the whole roll came shooting out across the floor of the supermarket..

The lilo was great on the beach and in the pool where we were staying.

I personally was on a quest for a pair of cycling shorts for my colleague Rob. we went everywhere, hypermarket, sports shops, until we arrived on the Saturday to the largest Decathlon I have ever seen, shorts? and boats and guns and wet suits and footwear and punch bags, and even lockers to put your belongings in as you went hunting for goods. So shorts were easy to purchase.

In all the only real mishap was my chipped tooth in the departure lounge at Montpellier airport, the tooth broke awaywith the filling and cost me £100 to repair..ho hum, back to normal now fiddling with my Dad’s house

Greg in Montpellier

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31/05/2009 by Russell.

 Wow! it was hot, and we both flagged a bit, Oblivion, Nemesis and this one, Willy WOnka’s glass elevator and a stroll thru the gardens.  Emily you missed it,  easy journey from Chesterfield, rather down south.  Top tip, get online and buy in advance, plus get the queue beating ticket for £8 extra.

Click the pic to see full sized image

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16/07/2008 by Russell.

Me and the gang are off to Agadir, Morocco, today for 2 weeks. All week the weather on the BBC says ‘rain’ - can you believe it? Another web site says its sun all the way..Either way I have just packed trunks and a beach towel.

Over the past 6 months I have had the pleasure of visiting Berlin (February), Shanghai (March), Venice (April) and Milan for the day in July. The world is out there and it has to be seen.

Shanghai was a trip of a life time, how the Chinese are moving forward is incredible, buildings, cars, shops and of course fakes. Our party of students enjoyed many aspects of the visits, from factory floor visits to seeing silk being made from cocoons, You can see these experiences on you tube - search for rustycarno - and you will see many videos clips.

As for Venice, expensive and can be seen in a day. Top tip - Do not eat in St Marks Sq, unless you are wealthy. Better still don’t eat at all, all restaurants are expensive, who said pasta was cheap.

Bruce was back in town and had my father not been ill - I would have gone to Cardiff to see him for the third time on the tour. Absolutely spot on.

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26/03/2008 by Russell.

Hectic comes to mind when thinking about the year so far.

January passed by without too much effort, a highlight being United beating Arsenal 4-0.

But come February, Berlin was on the agenda. I have been here before, but the visits to KPM porcelain factory and BMW were worth the time taken to visit these factories. KPM procelain is so exclusive, they export to the new found wealth in China - coals to Newcastle and all that. The students werereasonably behaved, late nights are the norm, but all participated well in the organised events. The hotel was next door to a sex shop, aswell as three others in the vicinity, all students paid them a visit, and came out more wiser. Stayed on an extra night with my colleague David, we were so naughty we thought we’d go to a strip club ( never been to one before) for the experience, well there were three girls and us two….yup, nothing happened, no strip, only girls on the game - can’t be bothered with that rubbish, so after one drink we departed..however compared to Shanghai, our hotel had girls on the game in the bar area and in the massage area, now that wasn’t expected.

Shanghai, long flight, and a lot to do on our schedule. the Bund was (river light show) only lit up at the weekends, because of an energy shortage in China. this was incrdible to imagine beforehand, projections at least 300feet high on to the sides of buildings (skyscrapers).

The old market (refurbished) was pleasant until you saw Starbucks on the scene.

The Silk factory was excellent, fashion show wasn’t much cop, but the silk bedding was excellent, so much so, Nick my colleague and i are thinking about importing them, the mark-up is excellent.

The trip on the river beforehand was not particularly scenic, but the smells coming from the water were interesting to say the least, now who’d wash their clothes in that? not I, but the chinese do.

Everywhere we went, we were always seen as easy prey for fake goods, beggers or dealing in the cheap street trading which is commonplace.

Ah fake goods…the students enjoyed the wheeler dealing of haggling with the traders. Yours truly also found the dealing part interesting and part realisation that you were being taken for a ride.

Are my Ray Bans fake? who knows, everythng looked legitimate even down to the after care booklet, but my Patek Philipe watch is fake..

Our next vist was to Bosideng a factory known for its raincoats, although we saw only dresses being made, 900 machinists on one floor, 6 to a room in their accommodation, we brits wouldn’t cope with that, all this shift work for around 150-200 pounds a month (accomodation and food included)

All our visits were accompanied by Sammi - who was on duty with us from9-11pm at night, she made it all very worthwhile, the food she ordered was superb, all for around £4 pp, even went withNick and myself for a foot massage…wow - you should try it.

.

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25/10/2007 by Russell.

Congratulations my son,you made it with flying colours…hope the day goes well and so does the evening, ahem.

As for greg and I - we managed 9 roller coasters in the day and repeated a further three in the evening.  Greg shut his eyes on the ‘Big one’ which rises 300 feet up. But to a small 12 year old this is a huge ride, even I couldn’t believe the height when you reach the top.

We did ‘bobsleigh’, rat run, steeple chase, the Grand national, and of course ‘In Fusion’ (the dangly leg thingy) plus about two other ‘coasters’.  A great value day out for £20 each.  The queues weren’t to bad either. A recommended vist for any roller coaster fan.  BY TICKETS ONLINE IN ADVANCE OF YOUR VISIT.

We also dined at http://www.chesterscarvery.co.uk again, which is excellent value.

Off to the pool tomorrow 

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24/10/2007 by Russell.

Greg and I are on vacation.

Ripley’s believe it or not is our purpose, having visited such an strange set of exhibits in Hollywodd, we decided ti see what the UK’s offerings were.  We have seen kore of the same stuff, including the 9 foot fellow.  Despite that the weather is reminiscent of summer days, clear bue skies and warmish weather to stroll around.

On our way up here we had a pleasant couple of hours with Phillip ahead of his 21st birthday.  He was treated to an ipod docking station to listen to his music LOUD.

Hotel (Gaydon Hotel in Lytham is just fine), all quiet and we can see the sea from our room.  TV on with Xbox 360 makes it all the better.

The Tower tour is an expensive experience, we didn’t want to spend all day with childrens play areas or see a circus, so £28 was an expensive lift journey.

Have been on the pier, strolled around in shorts been up and down on trams, and will be going back to see the ‘illuminations’.  Hope to go swimming on Friday in a theme pool and complete all the rides in the Pleasure Beach on Thursday.

 No ice creams or doughnuts yet, but have got our seaside rock..mmmmmm

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14/08/2007 by Russell.

Got back convenient time at 12.08pm at Heathrow.

The holiday was a wheeze, can’t believe we all went and saw so much and participated in so many activities.

Most stupid moment

Walking into a glas sliding patio door at The Bahai Hotel, not once but twice!

Best Activity:

Mule Ride (Emily and Gregory)

Best Theme Park

Disney (Emily and Gregory)

Funniest Moment

Runaway Chicken (Emily and Gregory)  Drive in McDonalds at Grand Canyon (Dad)

Biggest Surprise 

Cycling past full grown Elks at 6.00am on the way to Mule Ride

Best Beach

Del Coranado, San Diego, Malibou, Santa Monica - too many

Best View

Seeing the HOLLYWOOD sign, Grand Canyon

Best Shopping

Emily and Las Vegas

Worst Value for Money

Hotel breakfasts

Once the dust has settled I am sure we can add a few more pointers

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11/08/2007 by Russell.

Arrived at the posh Sheraton hotel at our final destination.  A self contained shopping street outside the studio we will visit on Saturday.

Have been up to Universal for a stroll and found ‘Bubba Gumps’ and an 18 screen cinema, we might go to the movies on our final night.  We can watch Harry Potter on an IMAX here.

Earlier today we visited a Hollywood cemetry, couldn’t find Edward G Robinson or Peter Lorre, but saw Cecil B deMille, Johnny Ramone and Jane Mansfield.  Strolled Hollywood and found Rodeo Drive, Have got a map of all the celeb’s addresses which we will check out on Sunday morning, we have found Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Angeline Jolie, MM,  John Wayne, Steven Spielberg are among the A list celebs homes we will visit.

This might be the last post before returning home, our expensive Internet willrun out by the time we have finished at Universal.  We shall do the tour of the sets aswell as the Mummy experience , Back Draft and of course Shrek.

E and G in great spirits, will go tothe studio before breakfast again to get a good full and final day.

If we organise ourselves properly with the freeways we hope to have a closer view of ‘HOLLYWOOD’ sign.

Goodbye Hollywood

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10/08/2007 by Russell.

Emily and dad had a spat in the car becase of a simple but important misunderstanding, the air was blue because of a wrong freeway, 2 and half hrs later we arrived in Malibou.  I hate going in the wrong direction when it can be avoided, otherwise we have got to all our destinations really well.

Lunch at a takeaway sandwich bar - expensive but hey - the sarnies were delicious.  Greg met peanut butter for the first time on this trip.

Wanted to get up to Santa Barbara, but really wasn’t possible, so went on the beach and Pacific at Malibou.

DRove a bit further up PCH, and returned on 101 back to LA - some 55 miles back.

I would like to do the drive again, once you get in the hang of the freway system, it falls into place, but from Anaheim, we are about 1.5hrs from the beach.  LA is huge.  We have to move north by 35 miles to get to Universal today.

Will do the macabre today and visit some gravestones…

…and take a drive round the celeb homes in bel air.

Glad C and K had a good time and Phillip kept the house in order during your break.

Kids in bed as I write, but they are ahving such full days and don’t necessarily realise what a huge place LA is.  Forget public transport you need a car with aircon.

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09/08/2007 by Russell.

Weds - up and out of Hotel without breakfast at 8.40 to go to Disney, we arrived back after 10.30pm.  It was a long day.

To beat the crowds on the best rides wearrived early and managed to conquer Star Tours ( Star wars ride) and Space Mountain before 10.am and then we had breakfast.  Emily soon got into the swing of things on the rides.  Greg had the desire of getting on the big rides just like I remember Phillip.

We slowed down at around 12.30pm, by which time I was flagging, and we had been on, Buzz Lightyear and Critters (log fume) and seen Cap’n Jack fighting his enemies on an island.

We also visited Californian Adventure Park, another extension to Disney, Muppets and monsters Inc.

We walked up and down and around, seeing and watching the parade in the heat.  It  was so hot to sit on the pavement - you burnt your ass!

To finish we watched a firework show to end all shows, fireworks from behind and to the side aswell as over the castle centrepiece.

It was another full day, and hopefully we will have a sedate drive up the Pacific coast highway for a beach.

Still got Universal studios to crack yet, can’t wait.

The sun hasn’t stopped shining since we have been out here  and only thing now is the eating habits of burgers and chips and pizzas.  Would like some vegetables… 

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