The first time we see our new Audi S5

So I finally got the car… the wait is FINALLY over.  Maria and I took the train down to New Market on 3 May (the day of the horse races, the same day as the Kentucky Derby).  There we met up with Paul, our Audi sales rep.  He took us over to the show room to sign some paperwork and pick up the car.   When I first saw it, I was definitely smiling from ear to ear.  I am sooooo glad I pulled the trigger bought the S5.  It’s really a nice looking ride.

Maria and I drove around Lakenheath and Mildenhall running errands the rest of the day.  We were staying down there overnight and then heading to Alconbury about an hour away for a softball tournament on Sunday.  It was killing me not having anywhere to get out and open the car up.  I would turn onto this one road, about two miles long and drive about 40-50 mph in a 60 mph zone.  That way the cars in front of me could get way ahead and then I could drop down a gear and get on it for a bit.  I just wanted to go fast in that thing and that was all I could do for the first day.

However, on day two I opened her up on the A11 and A14 on the way to Alconbury.  She flies.  All 354 hp of her.

Love those LEDs

After the softball tourney on Sunday we began the 130 mile drive home.  It was really funny, the S5 is pretty well liked in Europe and the daytime runing lights are so unique, tons of people were rubber necking on the trip home.  We had several people stop us in parking lots and ask about the car.  We even had a 7-series BMW blow by us doing at least 110+ mph.  He hit his brakes and swerved into the center lane of the A-1/M.  We had no idea what the hell he was doing until we got up behind him and saw all the guys in the car turning around to check out the S5.  They were going so slow I had no choice but to go around them, which is what they wanted I guess.  Then I promptly dropped into 4th and gunned it.  I watched in the rearview mirror as the idiots in the 7-series just about had a 30 car pile up trying to swerve in and out of traffic to catch back up to us.  That was the end of the racing.

Anyway, we finally got the S5 and are every bit as happy and satisfied as we’d hoped.  The damn thing is has a reverse camera system built in, it’s awesome… just look at that grill and headlight setup.

Most of the Dublin Gang Plus One Photo Shopped In.

So, remember the guy (Kio) that was not supposed to go with us to Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day? Well Andy felt bad that he booked his tickets for the wrong month (one month early at that), so he thought he’d include him in one of our group pictures. See if you can figure out which one he is…

Adding some green... This picture links to our St. Patty's Day photo album.

So Maria and I are back from Dublin, Ireland, where we spent St. Patrick’s Day with a group of friends. It was great! We flew in the afternoon of the 16th and back out the morning of the 18th. We drank, ate, drank, walked around, drank, ate, slept, drank and… well… drank!

We lost one couple in transit (he accidentally booked his tickets for 16 – 18 February…. Doh!), but everyone else made it back in one peice, even if they were hurting that last morning.

Traditional Irish boxties at Gallagher's Boxty House.

It was VERY crowded with wall-to-wall people everywhere, but we didn’t see too many angry people, everyone was pretty cool for the most part.  There were a good mix of Irish, Americans and other tourists.

By the way, we have to admit, Maria and I actually liked the Guiness.   We had a pint at the airport in England and it was “eh,” okay.  Then we had one in Ireland on St. Patrick’s day and teh stuff really does taste better in Dublin, a lot better.   However, I ended up going back to the ever faithful Kilkenny draught and Maria went back to the cider as her drink of choice.

Andy, Eric, Tony, Maria, Blue and Jack at Fitzgeralds in Dublin on St. Patrick's Day.

Erin-go-Bragh!

Hotel La Florida

I decided we needed a vacation, so why not another cruise.  We picked a 10-night Royal Caribbean cruise that departed Barcelona on January 16^th and returned on the 26^th.

The short version:

We flew to Barcelona where we stayed one night in one of our favorite hotels ever.  The next day we got on a Royal Caribbean ship for ten days that took us to ports in southern Spain, the Canary Islands and Morocco.  We enjoyed every port, soaked up the sun and had blast.  We wrapped up the trip with another night in Barcelona (with shopping).  Then we flew home.

The long version:

We flew to Barcelona on the 15^th of January and stayed at the Hotel La Florida.  It is perched 500 meters above the city on Tibidabo Mountain, with spectacular views of Barcelona and the Mediterranean Sea.  This hotel turned out to be our favorite in Europe.  We will stay there next time we plan a trip through Barcelona.  We took the picture of the hotel to the right from the ship.  I would like to add that the airline only allowed a measly 22kg of checked baggage each, that’s only 49 lbs… for 13 days!!!  Well we did it, barely, we’ll see about getting back.

Our stateroom

The cruise started the following day (Friday), leaving Barcelona in the afternoon.  We got a great deal on a balcony stateroom.  I picked one on the starboard side of the ship because of the ships scheduled route.  This worked out great because the coastline was on that side of the ship most of the time.  We had great views pulling in and out of each port and along the coast.  That night we met our table mates who were all really nice.  I think we connected most with the couple from California, Craig and Kelly, they were a ton of fun.  They were “about” our age, Craig celebrated his “36^th” birthday, or so he said… We also met another couple, Kyle and Erika, who are stationed in Germany.  We ended up hanging out with them most of the cruise and did some excursions together.  I am sure we’ll be seeing them again sometime this year, we were promised personal tours of the Christmas markets… don’t think we forgot!

Our second day onboard was at sea which we used to relax (and do some grad school homework, blah).  This was also a formal night, so the ladies were all dolled up and the men wore their suits and tuxedos.  I did not bring a suit, but I rented a tuxedo.  Remember that 22kg weight limit?  Yeah… damn Jet2.com.

Us with Antonio

Day three took us to Seville, Spain, for our first port.  Maria and I took a 4×4 excursion up into the mountains.  There was only one other couple, a lady from Royal Caribbean to evaluate the excursion and our guide, Antonio.  He was a riot!  He was like a 10 year old with ADD.  He was also one of our favorite guides we’ve ever had on our trips.  Maria and I loved him.  His biggest downfall though had to be his driving skills, just could not talk and drive at the same time, and talked… a lot!  Every car that passed us was giving him some sort of hand gesture, and it was never a thumbs up or a simple wave.  This was a pretty fun day with some off-roading, a goat herder visit, scenery, a small mountain village, Puerto Banus and TAPAS.  I love tapas and this tapas was one of the best.

Later that night, we went to the mystery dinner theater with Kyle and Erika back on the ship.  Maria and I saw the same show in August on our Baltic cruise, but still enjoyed it again.  Ironically enough, there was a mom and daughter at our table who sailed the same ship (Brilliance of the Seas) during a Panama Canal cruise in April.  They too saw the same show, even some of the actors were the same.  The mom won the drawing at the end of night’s show after “guessing” correctly who done it (the card they drew was one of the ones I folded up, so I will take all of the credit, they always pick the folded ones).

Later still on day three, after dinner, we went to see the Love and Marriage game show that they produce in the theater onboard… and wouldn’t you know it?  Maria and I ended up on the show.  It was fun, just like any game show.  We had a blast while everyone laughed at us and we laughed at ourselves.  We got a free DVD of the production, a bottle of wine and a cooler with all kinds of Royal Caribbean garb inside.  We’ll have to tell you about me saying “Maria’s family” and Maria saying it’s like a “stretch limo.”

Erika, Kyle, Maria and I

Day four was at sea again… “Darn, you mean we have to lounge around all day and soak up the sun?  Twist my arm.”

Day five was in Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands.  We were just there this same time last year, so we decided the night before to sleep in and relax all day.  That sounded like a winner and it was.  It’s not all that big of an island and we spent a week there last time, so it was not a hard decision.  Maria got a nice long nap in up in the Viking Lounge while I trudged through some grad school homework.  I know what you are thinking, “on the cruise, homework?”  But, it was just the first week and I did not want to get behind.  It did not take up too much of my time anyway.  Crown and Coke makes almost any mundane task fun!

Day six was in Tenerife.  We booked a “safari” that took us up into the mountains and to Mount Teide, the highest peak in Spain.  We shared the jeep with Kyle and Erika for the day.  Except for Erika getting a little bit car sick on the way back to the ship, I think we all enjoyed the day seeing the island and climbing around the rocks near Mount Teide.

Back on the ship we suited up for the second and final formal dinner back.  That night we celebrated Craig’s fift…  Errr…  Thirty-sixth birthday.

Us and the kids in Rabat

Day seven was at sea again.  We spent most of it hanging out with Kyle and Erika on the 12^th deck enjoying the sun.  Throw in a workout, some drinks (yes, Crown and Coke again), some food and you have a recipe for fun.

Day eight was what had drawn us to this cruise to begin with, Morocco.  We picked the all day excursion that took us around Casablanca and then up to the capital, Rabat.  In Casablanca, we got to go in the largest mosque outside of Saudi Arabia.  The mosque holds 20,000 men and 5,000 women with room for 100,000 outside.  That is just crazy big.  We visited a few other spots in Casablanca before the ride up to Rabat.  We really liked Rabat.  We visited a casbah in the heart of town (yes, as in rock the casbah), toured a mausoleum, saw a “changing of the guards,” met a bunch of Moroccan kids and just enjoyed the day.   We went back to Casablanca for shopping to wrap up the day.  We got a rug and a few other things… Yes, we still had to stay under 22kg for the flight home.

Tony and Maria in Rabat

Dinner that night was at Chop’s Grill, Royal Caribbean’s signature steakhouse (alternative dining option).  Man that food was good.  We went with Kyle and Erika and I think all four of us wish we had elastic waist bands on that night.

Day nine was in Cadiz, Spain.  We did a short city tour (bus and walking) followed by a Flamenco dancing show (no, we did not actually dance, we watched some dancers and musicians).  The city of Cadiz was pretty cool, we did not expect anything special, but it surprised us with its history, quaint city streets and beautiful architecture.  The Flamenco show was the one part of the trip I was not looking forward to.  However, once it got going, all I could say was “OLE!”  It was great.  Our boat was docked right there in town, so after the tour we walked around Cadiz some.  Maria did a little shopping before we headed back to the boat, she’ll have to tell you all about her shoes and purse for €10 each.  Yes, we still had the 22kg thing to worry about!

Day ten was our last day and it was at sea.  Again, we spent it relaxing, working out, lounging in the sun with Kyle and Erika and …. Packing!  Ugh!  Not the highlight of this trip.  That 22kg was at the forefront of our thoughts.  We’d bought quite a bit of stuff by this time too… a rug in Casablanca, shoes in Cadiz, a purse in Cadiz and more.

Day Ten ended with saying good bye to all the friends we made and exchanging contact information.

Maria at our hotel window with our ship behind her.

The cruise ended on the 26^th (Monday), back in Barcelona.  We stayed the night there again, but this time back at the Eurostars Grand Marina Hotel, not the awesome one we stayed in the first day of our trip.  This hotel was great though, we’d stayed there before and it’s right next to the center of Barcelona.  We walked around, shopped, ate and enjoyed the rest of the day, even after the most expensive 2 mile cab ride in history.

On Tuesday we wrapped up the trip with tapas for lunch on La Rambla.  Then we headed for the airport and came back “sunny” old England.  Blah!  At least our boys were here for us J.

By the way, we somehow managed to get everything back to the UK under the 22kg weight limit.  How, you ask?  We wore layers, lots and lots of layers for the flight home…. Lol.

That’s it for now.  We are thinking of a trip in March or April maybe, just for a weekend or something.

As most of you know, Maria and I got married in September of 2004 and moved England a few months later.  We have been in England ever since and live in a sleepy (and often wet) little village called Hampsthwaite, just outside of Harrogate, about a 3 hour car ride north of London.  We like it here, for the most part, but the real draw is the easy access to Europe and other destinations.

Check out the blog posts, we’ll try to keep the blog up to date. As for the “little bit” of travelling we do, there are a couple of pages we’ll keep updated as we go (links to the right labeled “Our Travels…”

Tony, Maria, Yukon and Dakota hope to see you again soon!