Another trip to the UK

Some of our puzzle trips are spur of the moment decisions.  This last month Peter Hajek was the cause of one of those. A few months back, I had bid on yet another Berrocal and won.  I thought to ask Steve to pick it up for us, but he reminded me that Peter lived right next door.  I very quickly emailed Peter requesting that he pick up my new piece and paid for the auction.  In the mean time, I had purchased another box of puzzles from Happy Puzzle Company and had them delivered to Steve.  Now Steve then went to Peter's for a visit and delivered that box there.  In the mean time, Peter very generously donated a collection of parlor games and puzzles to the WPC so we woke up one morning and decided to go pick them up.  

Now that sounds like we just hopped in the car and left.  In reality, I emailed all parties involved, booked hotel rooms and the Chunnel and spent a day planning the trip because of meetings and work going on in the WPC.  So a week later we finally hit the road.  Our trip this time was dull with not many extra sites to see because I wanted to get there and back because of the work going on here.  We always stop in Como for the night, then again somewhere in France before taking the Chunnel the next morning.  I messed up this time and we ended up in France for 3 days!  UGH!!

I also discovered F1 hotels. The last time we stayed at one, we thought it was ok so I booked again without realizing what I was doing.  I'm posting it here for my future reference.  NOTE TO SELF: NEVER AGAIN!!!  Yes, the hotel was cheap and the rooms were adequate, but after spending 3 consecutive nights in one, I would only recommend it to a college student, and grudgingly at that.  George looked up the average size of a prison cell in the US and they are bigger than these rooms.

The first night in France we stopped in Nancy Sud.  Talk about a nasty area.  The only positive was a big shopping mall across the road.  We had a simple dinner in the room, then went out to the lobby to play a game of Eurorails that we always carry with us. We had a bratty kid decide he wanted to smoke right at the door, with his foot in it so he didn't need to open it with the code.  Talk about lazy.  Anyway, we asked him to please close the door.  I thought by his behavior we had asked him to give us all of his money and clothes too.  He was incredibly rude to us.  But, another gentleman traveling with him managed to get him to shut the door.  

We had planned to have a lie in, but the next morning we got up and headed out.  I didn't want to stay there anymore.  We reached Calais and this is where I realized I made a mistake.  We were checked in to another of these F1 hotels, this time it was about 1/2 mile from the Chunnel station.  Not bad.  The property was the same, but nicer people around.  When I went to check in for the morning ride, I discovered that it was a day later.  Oh joy!  I booked the F1 again and went for a drive over to the Cité Europa to look for puzzles.  Bust.  Oh well.  Back to George for another game. 

And another day in the same hotel....

Finally, we woke up, I checked in and discovered we could leave a bit earlier so off to the UK we went.  We met with Peter around noon, had a good long talk, lunch, more talking, more puzzling.  You get the idea.  Out of respect for Peter's wishes, I post no photos.  

We left him around 4 and drove to the hotel we chose for the night.  This time we stayed at the Rising Sun Inn in Longfield.  I highly recommend it.  We will stay there again. It was such a quiet little place with an amazingly comfortable bed!

We brought in the game thinking we would play, but both of us were so exhausted, we went to bed without eating.  The fish and chips lunch was more than enough to satisfy us.  And speaking of, what is it with fish and chips?  Our friends in the UK love them.  I enjoy it, but it really hates me. Every time I eat it, I'm sick.  this time was no exception.  Around an hour after I went to bed, I was up tossing lunch.  It just didn't agree with me.  But look at this beautiful room!  

Again we had no lie in.  I wanted to get home.  I had gotten a message bout a rogue electrician who decided to pull wires out of walls willie nillie and was eager to return to sort out the problem.  We woke around 8 and I checked in to the Chunnel only to learn that we could get on the train 3 hours earlier without having to pay more.  Needless to say, we got up and left right away.  The ride across was uneventful and we began our trip home.  But....Once again we had to stay at a pre-booked F1 hotel.  I can see you all slapping your forehead.  Yes, I was stupid!  NEVER AGAIN.

We drove as far as Reims spent yet another night with this hotel chain and got up the next morning as soon as possible for a visit to Constantin Puzzles.  Again, out of respect for Constantin I won't post photos.  We had a tour of his workshop, George got to look at the laser cutters he uses and thankfully has decided he doesn't want to get one.  Those are expensive machines!  We were so honored, they made a lunch for us and allowed me to rummage through the storage area. Of course, I had ordered a bunch of puzzles in advance and picked those up.  While rummaging, I managed to find quite a few more that we didn't have.  

After leaving, we decided to stop in Luzern and stayed at an Ibis hotel.  I had booked us an F1, but this time because I had decided to pay a bit more to be able to cancel in case we were unable to make this short detour.  I cancelled.  I was able to find an Ibis and that is where we spent the night.  Much more comfortable bed, much more comfortable room, and only a 7 hour drive home.  I let George have his lie in and we left around 9:30 or so.  

You know that feeling you get when you are a long holiday and finally return to your home region.  When I crossed the border into Italy, I breathed a sigh of relief and began to enjoy the beauty of the country we have chosen to call home.  We had a very leisurely drive through Italy and returned to the castle around 4.  

I immediately went over and dealt with the rogue electrician.  Turns out, there was confusion as to who actually owns the building.  (Note: it is George and I).  Once that was established, I got the smokers out-we have clothes stored there and the smell....And got everyone back to doing as I wanted it done.  Problem solved.  

As we had guests arriving in a week, George and I decided to do a little more unpacking.  This time, it was the Mega Mansion.  Finally!  It has found a home under the stairs in the tower hall.  I think it is in good company now.  

The End

....

MPP and disaster!

I don't know when I last wrote anything substantial.  So much time has passed.  We decided to attend the MPP this last weekend when Dick Hess was in town.  George and I drove up to the UK in our new car and stopped by London to pick up a few puzzles that a friend was storing for us.  We then went on to the puzzle party in the Midlands.

On the drive up, we had quite a few nice picnic's in different countries and I filled up on fois gras.  So much so I'm now renaming my belly canard! Driving through the chunnel was interesting.  I was the first car on the upper level!  EEK! 

Somewhere along the way we came across the Waterloo museum and had to stop and look.

Our first stop was at Big Steve's to pick up a few puzzles he had been storing for us and for some good chats.  I have some puzzle envy!  He has quite a few that I am interested in.  George got a tour of his workshop and thanks a bunch Steve-he's buying 3 of those printers.

The day was finished off with a great lunch at a local pub and dinner at the most interesting hotel later that evening.  

We got up around 10 the next day and arrived at Allard's in the late afternoon, had a nice lunch and a chat for a while.  Shortly after, they had to go get Wil and Louis from the airport so George and I went to check in to our hotel.  He napped while I bought some wine and a sweater for each of us.  It is July, but England is cold. Italy is hot and I wasn't smart enough to bring along sweaters.  

We returned to Allard's around 7 for dinner with everyone and had a nice evening of chat and pizza.  Wil handed me a Minoru Abe puzzle to solve and I'm pleased to say I did it! Dick gave us all a disentanglement and as usual, I was unable to solve it, although I did understand what needed to be done.  We stayed until around 10 chatting but I needed to put my lover to bed so we took our leave until the morning.

We woke early and were at the hall around 10 as expected.  As always, it was great to see friends and catch up with them.  I purchased a few puzzles but really just spent time talking to other puzzlers.  One of the people I saw had a very large change in body shape that surprised me (I'm not shaming anyone, all will be made clear in the coming months I'm sure) and it's not what you think!  I met quite a few people I only know from Discord and just generally had a great time.  

George sat in a corner programming in a tile puzzle that we purchased from Wil the night before and he managed to do it within a day.  

James showed up and we had a nice chat with him about returning the puzzles he kept to the greater collection.  It will be nice to have those fine specimens back in the WPC for all to enjoy.  I did say I would forward him a list of what I have purchased in the interim so he can keep those.  We don't want to look too greedy.  I don't need two broken radio's on display.  (This is just one example). If anyone wants to sell a kakuda set, do let us know. James has opted to keep those.

I attempted a few more puzzles and then spent a great deal of time with Louis, Wil, and Dick working on some match stick puzzles.  But when Dick and Louis started using factorials, I was mentally challenged and had to give up before my head exploded.  

Around 6 or so we all went to Allard's for more puzzling and what I've been told is the usual Fish and Chips dinner.  I took a few photos of some puzzles I'm looking for, and tried to force Wil to sell me a few others.  (Right, like that will work). It had been a very busy few days for us so George was more tired than usual. Sadly, we returned to our hotel around 9.   

The next morning we awoke earlier and took off for London.  We arrived at the Chunnel we paid the extra 50 pounds to leave on an earlier shuttle.  And then we waited 1/2 an hour.  We were in France by 3 and took off for home. Around 3 hours later, disaster struck. I needed the loo and George filled the tank.  Big mistake!  He put gas in a diesel engine.  

As a I was driving down the road, I felt a 'mushy' gas pedal and asked him about what he filled the tank with. When he replied, I knew he screwed up.  We pulled over and got a tow.  But this lead to an even bigger problem.  We had to be in Perugia on Wednesday for an appointment for our Permesso.  Ok.  Problem solved.  We rented a car, left ours behind and made a run for home.  

Along the way we stopped somewhere in Switzerland for the night.  The hotel I wanted to stay at was on top of a road more windy than the one that heads to the castle. Somehow I managed to turn the car around and left.  I wouldn't have slept at all thinking about the drive back down in the morning. It was a nice place.  I sure wish I knew where it was, we'd stay there again. There was even a puzzle in the hall!

Oh, and we saw lots and lots of cows!  I think I pointed everyone of them out to George. Either that or I mooed at them...Each country and region has different looking cows.  It's amazing really.  

We arrived on Wednesday evening had dinner and crashed. On Thursday morning we raced to Perugia so we could go through the process of getting our Permesso.  Disaster!  Our name was not on the list.  We waited and waited and waited all to no avail.  Better luck next time.

That evening I put all the white puzzles in the cupboard.  We have more coming at some point in the future. It will be nice to have all of them on display.

Back home again and Antonio called the mechanic and made a trip with George to the dealership that sold us the car.  Turns out the biggest problem was that the engine wouldn't ignite.  Why?  Because when the tow truck picked it up, it engaged the auto alarm which disables the engine.  To reset it they need the spare key that is in the castle.  So...4pm and we took off again for France!

I drove for about 4 hours and stopped for the night in Parma.  We had a nice hotel room, a good dinner, and a great sleep.  Until 4 am that is. We got up early for the last 6 hour drive to the car.  We made it before they broke for lunch and guess what, the key didn't work. Now what?

Go have lunch and come back. Fair enough.  So they tried a few other things, but nothing worked.  Friday morning a new technician came out and tried something, but again, it didn't work. So now what?  The car was shipped to the nearest Ford garage, but they couldn't look at it until Monday morning as the foreman wasn't in.  What?  People only work 1/2 days in France?!? No wonder the car is taking so long to fix.  

The upside? we got to take a tour of the local area.  Turns out there is a flying machine there and a really nice looking building or two.

We spent one more night in the Ibis budget hotel (don't ever do that again!) and woke up with sore backs from sleeping on a very hard bed. We got up, packed the car and decided to go on a puzzle hunt in Germany.  So lemonade right? 

We hit 6 puzzle shops and filled the trunk of the rental car.  We now have around 20 new puzzles and are out of France.  It was a weight lifted when we crossed the border.  Now we are here in Baden-Baden for a weekend of spa and pampering.  Can you imagine what George is doing?  Burrtools of course!