The Frying Pan

@ElendilTheTall still pretty vague, but we'll manage. Right now still compiling the wishlist of "wanna see, wanna do", then turning that into a route.

ElendilTheTall

What's on the list so far?

Stephie

9:34 AM

Son wants to see Greenwich and possibly ride the Docklands Light Railway.

ElendilTheTall

Ok

second one is slightly odd but OK :)

SEE! the wonders of the ExCel Conference Centre

Stephie

I'd love to take them to Avebury, hubby is rooting for the Natural History Museum in London and - perhaps - the London Eye at dusk.

ElendilTheTall

NHM is great

also the British Museum for human history

Stephie

@ElendilTheTall a) driverless train b) featured prominently in his school book.

And perhaps the Observatory.

While we're there.

ElendilTheTall

Sure

the Royal Naval College is something to behold too

and the Cutty Sark is there as well

Stephie

9:38 AM

Then a lot of nature, preferably different ones, and ideally full of rabbits. Then the New Forest, because of the Ponies.

Don't think I can get hubby back to Beaulie - the donkeys got a bit too close a few years ago.

ElendilTheTall

New Forest then up through the Cotswolds maybe?

Stephie

Probably.

ElendilTheTall

Bath is worth a trip too

Stephie

So I heard. A few times, in fact.

ElendilTheTall

The town is nice (have a cheese scone in the Pump Rooms), but the Roman baths themselves are something else

you can really imagine people shuffling around the cloisters, bathing in the water, that kind of thing

very atmospheric

Stephie

9:41 AM

If it fits, perhaps the Poison Garden at Alnwick. The minors, especially son, are in a "magic potion" phase atm.

(But I'm keeping that up my sleeve.)

ElendilTheTall

wow, that's waaaay up

also expensive, we holidayed near Alnwick last year

Stephie

I know...

ElendilTheTall

Lovely beaches in Northumberland though

Cragside is worth a look, the first house in England to have electric lights

I say house, it's a Victorian castle in its own little glen

Stephie

And if we still want to drift further north, Lindisfarne.

ElendilTheTall

How long have you got in total?

Stephie

9:45 AM

In theory, as long as we want. Aiming for two weeks atm.

ElendilTheTall

wow

bear in mind British roads suck, from the motorways on down :)

so much congestion these days

too many cars on the road

Stephie

That much worse than nine years ago?

Note that we had a toddler in tow back then....

ElendilTheTall

yup, definitely worse

Stephie

ok

noted, thanks

ElendilTheTall

London you're going to need, what, 3 days?

a day to get out to the New Forest, a day there, a day to get to Cornwall if you're going, couple of days there, a day to get back to the Cotswolds, a day there

mounting up!

What are you doing accommodation-wise?

Stephie

9:52 AM

B&B, preferably farm stay.

ElendilTheTall

well, if you're going to Northumberland and the Lakes, you'd be crazy not to visit Hadrian's Wall on the way

seeing as you drive alongside it for an hour and a half

Stephie

Cool, didn't know that.

ElendilTheTall

From Northumberland you'd come down to Newcastle, then hang a right onto the A69

the A69 basically follows the route of the Roman road south of the wall

I recommend stopping at Sycamore Gap: 2.bp.blogspot.com/-2FARwIX3zDk/UHwdsG0Ax2I/AAAAAAAACXs/…

great views both north and south

as seen in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

:D

Stephie

Ah.... beautiful. <scribbles notes on list>

ElendilTheTall

though how he managed to walk from Dover to Nottinghamshire via Northumberland is a mystery to Englishmen everywhere

Stephie

10:01 AM

Continental drift?

ElendilTheTall

lol, maybe

your best bets in the Lakes for accommodation and access are either Keswick or Ambleside

Stephie

Bad navigation system. Happens still today.

@ElendilTheTall Hope we really make it that far north!

ElendilTheTall

Northumberland is farther north than the Lakes :)

waaay farther north

and more remote

The Lakes are 90 minutes from Manchester

Northumberland is the middle of nowhere in comparison :)

Stephie

Problem is, we'd love to go everywhere.

ElendilTheTall

indeed

given the choice, I'd go for the Lakes personally

Northumberland is nice, but it's just so out of the way

Stephie

10:04 AM

And still have leasure to soak up lots of impressions and let the kids experience the country, the language, the culture.

That doesn't work if you are rushing from a to b to c...

ElendilTheTall

well, I don't think the Brexit plans include detaching and floating away, so you can always come back next year :)

Stephie

If time and budget allow it ;-)

ElendilTheTall

This is just my two cents, but if I had two weeks, I would not go to Cornwall or the Eastern side of the country.

Stephie

Agreed. Matches our plans.

ElendilTheTall

Based on what you've said, I would start in London, loop out to the New Forest, maybe duck into Dorset as a pseudo-Cornwall, then back up through the Cotswolds, join the M6 and head north for the Lakes

taking my time as I did so

how are you getting here and back?

Stephie

10:08 AM

That's roughly the plan. We might shift London to the end.

@ElendilTheTall we're taking our car, and the Calais/Dover Ferry.

ElendilTheTall

shifting London makes sense, definitely

BUT!

bear in mind the queues to Dover have been nightmarish because of French strikes

like, 14 hour delays

Stephie

no?!?

ElendilTheTall

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36886727

Stephie

I was expecting delays due to border controls, but the French are still on strike? Ugh.

ElendilTheTall

basically the French had one guy at the security checkpoint in Calais

1 guy for 1000 cars

Stephie

10:11 AM

Eeeeek!

Sounds like a bad movie plot.

ElendilTheTall

so if you haven't booked already, consider Holland -> Hull

Stephie

Ok, I'll look into this. Thanks for the alert!

ElendilTheTall

No problem :)

If you came into Hull, you could do the Lakes first

Drive up though the Yorkshire Dales

then do the whole thing in reverse basically

Stephie

Will discuss this with hubby later.

ElendilTheTall

Hull -> Lakes -> Dorset -> New Forest -> Cotswolds -> London -> Hull

Stephie

10:15 AM

(Who protested against me calling him hubby online.)

ElendilTheTall

another thing to bear in mind that driving in London is the nightmare to end all nightmares

so consider staying outside and getting the train in

somewhere like Reading

Stephie

Was just about to type exactly this. ^_^

Like you don't go to Paris by car.

ElendilTheTall

A newspaper here had a regular column written by a guy who lived in London for years, then moved his family to rural Shropshire

Stephie

Is Greenwich "too much London" already?

@ElendilTheTall culture shock?

ElendilTheTall

he looked on the map and saw his kids' new school was 4 miles away, so packed them out the door at 7am

got there at 7.10 :D

he was used to London time

@Stephie not if you pace yourself

Stephie

10:18 AM

Must have had an inexplicable bout of productivity after the move...

ElendilTheTall

London is a really tiring place

constantly on the move, dodging people, making sure the kids are with you, all that kind of thing

Stephie

Ha! Don't I know.

ElendilTheTall

so I'd say allow a day for Greenwich, and a day for the NHM

the NHM is also very near the Victoria & Albert museum and the Science Museum

and Harrod's :)

and only a tube stop or two from Buckingham Palace

Stephie

And the last time I was there, I felt queasy all the time. Leaned later that the "upcoming cold" would be born the following summer.

ElendilTheTall

so you could do that little section

and Buckingham Palace is right by Horse Guards so you can do the obligatory take-a-photo-with-a-house-hold-guard thing

Stephie

10:21 AM

@ElendilTheTall I'm not a tourist! (Jk!)

ElendilTheTall

:)

your clothes will give the game away even if your accent doesn't

Stephie

Don't I know it.

Jolenealaska

hi guys

ElendilTheTall

@Stephie schedule a visit to Fortnum and Mason

the Queen's grocer

Stephie

@ElendilTheTall better than Harrod's.

ElendilTheTall

10:25 AM

and hubby can get a tailor made shirt on Jermyn Street just around the corner

@Jolenealaska hello you

Stephie

@Jolenealaska o/

Jolenealaska

I'm just here for a bit. I went to bed early because I've got a big day tomorrow. But I forgot to eat. So I woke up early and hungry.

I've got some chicken breast that I butterflied and it's marinating in something Asian-y.

ElendilTheTall

good show

I am just acting the travel agent for Stephie here

Jolenealaska

I see. I have one of those obligatory photos-with-the-****

Mine is with a Canadian Mountie at the border.

ElendilTheTall

Are they allowed to smile?

Jolenealaska

10:36 AM

This one did.

Photo ops were obviously his entire purpose. I wonder if they do that by the hour or shift. This guy seemed to enjoy it.

It was at the very start of the Alaska Highway. THAT is one hell of a drive.

Stephie

@ElendilTheTall and you are doing a goid job.

Have to go.

ElendilTheTall

cya later

@Jolenealaska the household guards here aren't allowed to react in any way

Jolenealaska

I know. The constant harassment of people wanting to get them to react has got to get extremely old.

ElendilTheTall

they're allowed to warn people off

normally quite amusing because they move as suddenly as possible and point their rifles at them

Jolenealaska

The Mountie was more like "OOOh, a camera! Where would you like me?"

ElendilTheTall

10:45 AM

still... still... still.... GET BACK!

@Jolenealaska much Canadian

Jolenealaska

In Korea I worked at a place that very intentionally looked like nothing. We took buses there, and loaded and unloaded at a well guarded and hidden entrance.

It was possible for a civilian to wander on foot close to that entrance.

One time an old guy selling his wares got a bit close. I happened to be right there when it happened.

It was three "move along sir"s, followed by three men looking very serious, pointing guns at the poor dude.

Remarkably, that seemed to encourage him more that he wanted to see beyond the entrance. He didn't seem to take it seriously, even with M-16s in his face.

After about 30 seconds, more guards came from nowhere and the guy was face down in the dirt.

While he was facedown, he got a lecture in Korean that I couldn't understand.

I did get the feeling, though, that something clicked and he wouldn't be back.

ElendilTheTall

Here's hoping

Jolenealaska

11:01 AM

I was fairly new in country, and was struck by just how blasé the guy was with guns in his face. To me it was quite clear that he was close to getting shot.

ElendilTheTall

evidently a bad-ass

:)

right, lunch time

Jolenealaska

I may be here when you get back, I may not be. Ping me.

Enjoy your lunch!

rumtscho

11:43 AM

sorry for not answering, a colleague came in for an important and long talk

the avatars are displayed similar to this chat

so 48x48 pixels would be the usual size I think

and I would like something at least slightly anthropomorphic

so not a flower or a waterfall or similar

is there some character I remind you guys of? which you think will fit me?

Jolenealaska

oooh! Must ponder...

What is the role that you will be playing with this new avatar?

ElendilTheTall

11:58 AM

@rumtscho well, there's always the robot theme

Stephie

I kind of like the idea.

Olimpia.

But that's too dark.

Jolenealaska

agreed

ElendilTheTall

Well, it would be cropped square, so you'd lose the black

Jolenealaska

Can you find one that looks a bit more benevolent?

ElendilTheTall

I have the same access to Google you do, toots :P

rumtscho

12:12 PM

In my department, I'm not even the most robotic person

ElendilTheTall

wow

I bet the Christmas party is a laugh riot

;)

has anyone heard of Prisma?

rumtscho

the geometric figure?

Jolenealaska

@ElendilTheTall Yeah, well, it's 4am

rumtscho

(I am aware I just catapulted myself more firmly into robot status, yes)

ElendilTheTall

It's an app that turns your photos into 'paintings'

but not in a shitty Photoshop-tutorial way, it really does quite an amazing job

original: flickr.com/photos/cintramontane/25783335233/in/…

prisma'd: imgur.com/4liOZwa

Hokusai-style

Jolenealaska

12:18 PM

By the way, did you guys know that it's the same actress that played Phasma(?) in The Force Awakens and Brienne in Game of Thrones?

ElendilTheTall

yup

get with the program Jolene

:P

she kinda sucks in both tbf

Jolenealaska

lol I never get the pink piece.

That reminds me...

My friend with the shitty dog is going to spend a few days with me because her lease ends (her apartment) before she is actually going to leave the state...

Just the other day she was here dropping off stuff because she's going to move, she'd rather give it to me than junk it (Yay me! Lots of good stuff)

While she was here she saw the Scrabble board. She rolled her neck and told me that she would kick my ass! "Bring it!", I said.

That should be fun.

She says nobody ever beats her.

ElendilTheTall

hoo

you need to live-stream that

Jolenealaska

And I have her for like four days :)

Dragon typos must be kind of weird from your end.

ElendilTheTall

pretty sure we're used to weirdness from your end

as it were

:P

Jolenealaska

12:26 PM

:-)

ElendilTheTall

12:37 PM

for a second I thought you were going to say she left a copy of trivial pursuit and you were going to test me

alas, alas

Jolenealaska

That will be my daily goal from now on. To find a reasonable trivia question that stumps you.

What document ended the American Revolutionary war?

ElendilTheTall

hmm, well, it wasn't the D of I...

if that's what you were trying to do

Jolenealaska

No, but most Americans think that the war ended on July 4, 1776.

ElendilTheTall

Treaty of Paris?

I nearly said Versailles but that was a different war

Jolenealaska

Yup

lol

So which caused more problems? hmm?

ElendilTheTall

12:41 PM

Oh, Versailles

Basically caused WW2

or didn't help at any rate

Jolenealaska

Well sure, I was being goofy anyway.

ElendilTheTall

I bet the French loved having the treaty signed in Paris

Jolenealaska

the French

It's a shame we don't have one here.

ElendilTheTall

what, a Frenchman?

Jolenealaska

Yup

Left leaning, somewhat culinary chat room with political undertones.

ElendilTheTall

12:44 PM

My genetics demands 'no comment'

Jolenealaska

I need to do one of those DNA ancestry tests, since I don't have a clue.

I think my male DNA donor was mostly Irish.

ElendilTheTall

In Germany?

Jolenealaska

Of course you know that I have always thought that my female genetic donor was solidly German.

ElendilTheTall

ja

Jolenealaska

I was born in Germany, but only because my father was stationed there.

I just look at pictures of my genetic father and think Irish

ElendilTheTall

12:48 PM

oh, well...

(¬‿¬)

Jolenealaska

My dinner was quite nice. I seared the chicken breasts that I had marinated in some ginger and soy marinade that came in a bottle (a Troi giftoid). I rested and sliced that as I stirfried some defrosted vegetables (an asparagus stirfry mix) and boiled some udon noodles.

I tossed it all together over high heat and added more bottled ginger/soy stuff.

In went some defrosted frozen peas.

OH, and copious sriracha.

That was actually really good.

ElendilTheTall

ah, the mos juste

sri racha on everything

I found extra-sour sriracha the other day

literally, awesomesauce

Jolenealaska

oooh!

ElendilTheTall