August 11, 2006

Curious, George-slash-MOFI EURO MEETUPS!!11!1 It's the classtool family European vacation! Hey kids! Big Ben! Parliament! Exclamation point! And there's

To celebrate the successful insertion of zombie bone into my wife's neck and the successful completion of my second and final college degree, indeed also to begin the process of making babies so that my newly-increased income evaporates faster than rubbing alcohol on a hotplate, my wife and I have decided to drink lots of booze and have lots of sex in Europe. Two among the English and the Irish (Dublin and London), and at least three among them damn Eye-talians (Rome, Florence, Tuscany). Tentative itinerary looks like this: Oct 8-10: London Oct 10-13: Rome Oct 13-14: Tuscany Oct 15-17: Florence Oct 18-21: Ireland Oct 21: Jesusland This means meetups with you damnable foreigners and your funny accents. I hope you will bathe first. But I also need advice from the locals that our crooked-ass travel agent wouldn't give us: cheap but decent places to stay. A clean room, bathroom and bed are really all we need, nothing terribly fancy, and we're doing this as cheaply as possible (crossing the pond ain't cheap, which puts us on a bit of a budget), so we figure you, our beloved EuroMonkeys, will have the inside track. I've been working with the lovely mothninja on the Italian front, but I thought I'd pick monkey brains in London and Ireland for advice, as well as alert you to the public drunkenness we will be undertaking in two months. Please do not try to fleece us, or we will call the policeyoney on you and have you thrown into a secret black prison, whereupon your feet will be licked by goats. I'm so damn excited at the prospect that I could spit. What say you?

posted by middleclasstool 18 years ago
  • I LOVE TEACH PANDA BLAH BLAH LETS BAN BEREK SQUEEEE
  • oh I am so jealous!! Italy...Ireland....Italy have fun!! have lotsa sex!! take pictures!!
  • gee, I hope that didn't sound like I was encouraging you to take pictures of your wife & yrself having sex...that was not what I meant!! take pictures of the scenery, the people, the views. and have sex.
  • Be sure to bring plenty of water on the plane. Those long flights can leave you really dehy...What's that?....Terrorists.....What?........ Nevermind
  • God, I hate you all. *pouts*
  • Yeah, we took bottled water with us when we flew to England a couple of years ago. They don't give you nearly enough beverages on those 12-hour flights, and you do get really thirsty. My husband told me todat that, because of these new restrictions, I won't be able to bring my lip balm on-board the next time we fly out there. As such, I plan to hide my lip balm up my ass.
  • Why do you hate freedom, nunia?
  • Because freedom ain't free, my dear Flagpole.
  • *sigh* you suck.
  • (read: I suck)
  • I am in lipbalm solidarity with my lipbalm sister nunia...I too will stick some up my...um, I might put mine in my pussy instead, if you don't mind....
  • No, I don't mind. Thank you again for asking. I fact, you can carry mine the next time we fly out. Deal?
  • i'll write more about places to see/go in dublin later. for accommodation, isaac's hostel is reportedly quite good and its location is pretty central. you can get a double room from €29.00 to €36.00 (2005 prices). the website is here. see also my (and others') comments in this thread. typically enough, i'll be visiting dublin a few weeks before and again a few weeks after you
  • Swim for it; it's the only way to travel these days.
  • What no Japan?
  • *considers not mentioning my chapped lips*
  • i'll write more about places to see/go in dublin later Yes, I meant to add that -- places to see, too, we want to know that. typically enough, i'll be visiting dublin a few weeks before and again a few weeks after you Damn you! What no Japan? My wife has this thing about me drooling on other women's boots. It's a penis-choppy-offy kind of thing.
  • Damn - October is good boot weather too!
  • MonkeyFilter: have fun!! have lotsa sex!! take pictures!! When in teh England, make sure to visit the Duke of Squeee's country estate.
  • *seethes* mct, I defy you & the missus to find better pancakes in England & Italy than right here in Nashvegas.
  • *considers not mentioning medusa's chapped lips*
  • I have gone past seething and am now plotting revenge.
  • And here I was just focussing on comeuppance...
  • I took a large empty bottle on board for my long flights and the staff were always happy to refill it rather than give me dinky little plastic cups of water. I even had a small audience of flight attendents once when I mixed some bright green powder into my drink, and told them the benefits of powdered green tea. For London, you might be better off googling some sites for bed and breakfasts (not hotels, which usually cost a damn sight more), and looking out for online specials. Try to stay within Zone 1 and 2, anything beyond that takes too long to travel back, plus the cost of getting a day ticket for the Underground for Zones 1-4 might tack on more than if you had stayed in the Central area in the first place. /verbose
  • Okay Alnedra, that post had absolutely no mention of chapped lips or even a single entendre! I suggest you make some more tea and try again. I'll have the iced chai with soy. Danke.
  • Okay Alnedra, that post had absolutely no mention of chapped lips or even a single entendre! Hey, my lips are chapped! Anyone wanna have sex?
  • well I've got some lip balm handy... /couldn't resist :D
  • okay, in dublin: national gallery, merrion square, has the "rediscovered" caravaggio that had been hanging in a jesuit house for years undetected. also some jack b. yeats (brother of william butler) paintings. it used to have a great cafe, but it's years since i was there, so i'm not sure now. across the street from the gallery is a nice park; well recommended for a picnic if the weather's okay. st. patrick's cathedral and christchurch are both worth a visit. the guinness hops store tour has been replaced by the storehouse tour but should nevertheless be interesting. you'll definitely get a chance to drink some quality stout. bewley's cafe on grafton street is (was) a dublin institution. it changed ownership last year, so i'm not sure how much this has affected it. it used to be a fine place to drink large mugs of tea or coffee and eat sticky buns. gigs: this is a good guide. worth checking closer to your trip. there's generally a good comedy scene in dublin, either in pubs or larger venues. the laughter lounge might have something on during your visit. pubs: cassidy's on camden street paid host to bill clinton when he visited. it's a nice place. neary's on chatham street (off grafton street) has a nice side bar with three or four tables. the stag's head on dame lane is good fun at night. the dawson lounge is a relief after somewhere like the odeon. actually, i'd recommend just about any pub on this list. this guide is also pretty good.
  • +1 roryk informative
  • the dawson lounge is a relief after somewhere like the odeon.
    which in the context of my muffing the link to the odeon, is sort of meaningless. it's here: trendy place, converted railway station, nice food, good selection of beer, also a guy who hangs out in the toilet and offers you soap, aftershave, and handcream.
  • Arg!!! How tentative is the itinerary? Because those are the exact days we're not going to be in Florence in October... (probably leaving on the 15th or 16th, back probably 18th or 19th - a big unavoidable family thingie that requires our presence elsewhere) It would totally SUXX0R to miss you, but would of course leave you guidebooks and insider info on painting the town. But ARG!!
  • Have fun on your trip! Has no useful information
  • *checks inventory* lip balm: 5 single entrendre: 0 100 TON HAMMER™ : 1 petebest Flattened Head, Collector's Edition : 0 *decides to go whompingshopping*
  • eep.
  • Hostels have private rooms, some with ensuite - they seem to run about £25-30 per person in London. I don't know how you feel about hostels, but obviously in private rooms, you don't have to worry about being woken up, and you have privacy. The benefit for me (and something I missed a great deal when staying in Paris) is access to a kitchen. Eating out in Europe is much more expensive than in North America - being able to make you own tea and coffee can say you about £1-2 each, for every cup, let alone being able to make dinner or lunch (cheap lunches - takeout, grocery store - will cost at least £3, more likely £5, and eating in any place will cost £7 to £15 -- and those are the CHEAP places). I was at the national archive yesterday, and lunches in their cafeteria are all £5.10 (they gouge there as well as for Doomsday); the local fish and chips was also £5 for fish, but only £3.20 for roast chicken and chips. Kebab is healthier, and can be found in the city for about £3. But it rapidly adds up, and (as a coffee/tea addicts) my husband and I really regretted not being able to make our own in Paris. This site lets you see hostels in London by location (click on the "map" bit).
  • I should be delighted to buy you and yours a pint this October in London. MCT. Having bought you one it would be rude of me not to get the job done and get you so drunk that you slide back to your hotel on a pyramid of puke. Wow I feel a little excited. My bath is running as I type - so yes I shall be fragrant in October. As long as I stay in it till then.
  • Arg!!! How tentative is the itinerary? Only the flights from country to country are locked in, so don't worry. We can rearrange our tour of Italia to meet with you and Ben, no problem. We'll just sort of reverse our trip in Italy a bit, go straight from Rome to Florence and then to Tuscany. I'm really looking forward to meeting the London monkeys, and any Irish monkeys who can make it to Dublin. I know the window of opportunity is narrow, but could I coax one or two of you out for a pint and a shot? An evening in a London and Dublin pub has long been a dream of mine, but it would pale in comparison with an evening in a London or Dublin pub in your company. Thoughts?
  • AARG I just realized I missed randomaction's comment. Sorry, yes! I'll see you there!
  • Does anyone have experience with or know the reputation of Nova Car Hire? We'll be renting a car in Italy, and their rates are double-plus-cheap, but we don't want to get screwed.
  • "No va" in Italian means "it doesn't go". Just sayin'.
  • ???
  • That site is pretty useful, but you have to pay them a booking fee, and some of the hotels won't let you book directly. I used it to find places in London, but you might be able to find other sites that don't charge fees.
  • When we meeting up, Middleclass? 8 or 9 October (London)? Who else is around then?
  • *Leans against truck, chewing toothpick, petting bloodhound, drinking Budweiser, and gazes nonchalantly across the Atlantic.* God dang youroopeens!
  • You mind y'protect yer privates MCT! *breaks off hunk of Red Man chaw*
  • Hey, MCT: If you're Canadian in the kitchen, what are you in the washroom? Eur-o-pean! HAW HAW! Try that one out over there. They'll love your insouciance.
  • How about the ninth, if that works? We'll be just flying in on the eighth, so we may be a bit pooped from the time change usw. If more monkeys are available for pubby goodness on the 8th, though, I'm down with that. I leave location to your expertise.
  • Man, I've just mentally checked out this week. I'm already on vacation in my head. Screw housework.
  • i have left an important message for you in dublin, engraved into the bottom of a guinness pint glass.
  • I must find it! Someone call Dan Brown Umberto Eco!
  • When are you arriving in Firenze, mct?
  • We'll be coming in late (11 pm, looks like) on the 10th and heading out...sometime that Friday pm (we pick up the rental car at noon, but I'm not sure exactly when we'll start heading toward Montepulciano). (I like to write in parenthetical asides (I guess I should have been a LISP programmer.)) For Irish monkeys, we'll be in Kilkenny on the 18th and early 19th, and then to Dublin from the 19th until the early morning hours of the 21st. I am going to fucking fall over when we get home.
  • Let's shoot for the 9th in London then, it's Mondaylicious. Just looking up this thread, it seems I'm the only London-based Monkey in it. If you don't want middleclass and I to drink every single goddam drink in London without you, it might be wise to place your bets now. Otherwise I shall simply take him and Missusclasstool somewhere nice and you will think: "Damn. Coulda had cocktails with the toolmasters". LUSER.
  • randomaction chimed in. You guys love me. No one else there does :( OH GOD I WISH I HAD A GIRLFRIEND
  • Dude, forget the plane ride back. Hang out with me and roryk in Paris. We can find a terasse somewhere, throw back Pernod, and pretend to be the Lost Generation. roryk Joyce, me F. Scott, and you, uh, Alice B. Toklas? Somebody. We'll figure it out.
  • I think I could do 9th...
  • But I can't do HTML (obviously).
  • If there isn't a shoutout to ME in this meetup, somebody's got a lot of explaining to do.
  • 9th cool with me.
  • Where shall we go, Pallas? Somewhere nice-ish but inexpensive? Somewhere with a view, perhaps?
  • Nice, inexpensive, view... hmmmm /ponders And somewhere quintessentially British, since the Tools are going to be sampling a lot of European fare/drinkage on its own turf... Are we thinking dinner, or drinks, or both? Do you know a good gastropub somewhere?
  • We're up for either/or. We can eat beforehand, if necessary. Two days! Woooo!
  • *grumbles*
  • Yeah, well, I just won two tickets to see Terry Gilliam being interviewed by some comic geek at that exact same time, so I donwanna go to your stupid party anyway. Pfft.
  • We leave tomorrow! *does little taunty dance thing to katfursto* How 'bout that meetup thingy? Thoughts? If we can't get it worked in the next 24 hours or so, then quid, just e-mail me your local contact info and we'll give you a ring sometime after we land.
  • Do you think it's worth a new FPP (a bit late now, perhaps...)
  • Pleg - might as well. MCT - will do.