Well hello Orlando, I’ve missed you!
I sit here again on a lovely November morning. It is very tranquil as the waterfall gently cascades into the pool and the sunshine is making me squint! Seriously, I am not complaining at all as the weather is fabulous.
So lets go back a few hours…
We left home at 8:30am on Saturday and after a quick McDonalds breakfast stop we headed up the M6. All was well for half an hour or so and then we hit traffic. There was a large slow moving load that was causing chaos – a whole 9 miles of chaos according to the sat nav! There seemed to be no quicker alternative routes so we sat it out reaching the airport at about 11am.
Check in was easy with no queue at the Upper Class desk and the fast track security line was similarly empty. We both got searched though for some reason.
A quick stop at WDF for aftershave and lip gloss and then off to the lounge. It’s a shared lounge at Manchester and quite poor – a million miles away from the Virgin Heathrow lounge. (Metaphorically speaking for anyone who wants to be smart).
Everything was on time and we boarded at 12:30. We weren’t in our usual seats of 6A and K but were a row back in 7. The Upper Class cabin was full, all but one seat however the Premium Economy was totally empty!
The flight time was well quick at 8.5 hours; we were really pleased. The flight itself had various bumpy spots, not really bad but the Captain was a little over zealous with the seat belt sign so we were belted in a fair amount. The food was ok. Paul had garlic chicken with mushroom risotto and I had cheese and biscuits. We both then had sticky toffee pudding with vanilla sauce.
Paul watched some movies; ‘Salt’ (described as superb), ‘The Sorcerers Apprentice’ (described as OK) and ‘Dinner for Schmucks’ (described as crap). I read mags and did endless puzzles. The only real notable part of the flight was the nutter woman! She looked normal but her behaviour indicated she was definitely a few sandwiches short of a picnic. She had a throw away camera and took LOADS of pics throughout the flight – many of which were out of the window, with flash!! At 40 thousand feet over the Atlantic even without the flash reflection what was she hoping to get? At some points she took pics of the cabin and even took one of Paul!! She also laughed hysterically and loudly at whatever film she was watching. She spent loads of time out of her seat too and yet whenever you looked around the cabin she was no-where to be seen. When it came to landing the seat belt sign had been on for ages and it was almost at the “crew take your seats” prompt that she finally arrived back to her seat.
We landed at 5:30 local time to a slowly setting sun. Debarkation was quick but sadly being on the late flight meant the immigration hall was packed. We queued for half an hour but at least our bags were waiting for us on the carousel once we were through. Customs was quick and as we headed up the escalator to the train we thought we were home free. Trouble was we noticed we had yet another broken case. We decided to go and get the car and then deal with the luggage desk afterwards. Paul had booked and pre-registered the car to allow him to use the Alamo kiosk. This would be great as there was a massive queue at Alamo. Trouble was, yep, you guessed it, the kiosk didn’t work. So Paul got in the queue and I waited (patiently I might add :-)).
We then headed to the Virgin baggage desk which was on the other side of the airport. We filled in all the forms and were given a number to call. The desk could authorise only $100 so we need to call to get authorisation to spend more after we have priced up a replacement case.
We finally left the airport 1.5 hours after landing (we have got through in 30 mins before) so were perhaps a little fractious!
We have a small Kia Rio – it’s a bit naff but was cheap and does the job! The evening traffic was fine as we headed to Publix and Applebees. We got the usual essential shopping and then got a carry out from Applebees as we were both tired.
We had a minor panic when we got to the house as there was a weird lock box hanging on the door and Paul couldn’t get the key to work. We thought for one awful moment the locks had been changed but it was only user error and we soon got in ok.
We ate, unpacked and hit the sack, it was 10pm local time so all in all had been a very long day.
We were up bright and early on Sunday morning (body clocks still not adjusted) and had our usual itinerary item for day 1 planned – breakfast at McDonalds in downtown Disney. Being early we parked ok and the weather was really nice. It was warm and pleasant enough for shorts and T-shirts. As we walked past the Lego shop we both suddenly realised that McDonalds was gone! The building was there but had been turned into a new chicken restaurant. Being creatures of habit we didn’t like our plans being changed! We got back in the car (the rest of Downtown Disney being boycotted for now!) and headed to Crossroads, the nearest McDonalds. Paul tried to order off menu bit it didn’t work at all. Anyway, we did eventually eat our breakfast.
After brekkie, we went over to Millennia. We were early so went the long way via I-Drive. We got there at around 10 to 11 so decided to go to Super Target and Off Broadway shoes first. We bought loads of sweets and some coat hangers but surprisingly NO shoes. We both tried some on but nothing that spurred a purchase.
We then went over to Millennia, parking up by Niemman Marcus. I did hand over some dollars here with purchases of L’Occitane handcream, some Yankee candles and a silver necklace from Tiffany’s. The shop assistant tried to get Paul to buy me the diamond version. I was with him but it was not to be! Jimmy Choo was very disappointing with no sale items at all so my spending was reasonably curbed it has to be said. I did fall in love with a handbag in Juicy Couture but left it behind……(for now ?)
As we exited Milennia it was raining! It was very fine rain and the temperature was still warm and as we drove back to the Davenport area it soon brightened up.
We decided to have food early (kind of lunch and dinner combined) so went to TGI’s. We had some really nice Jack Daniels chicken and then I had caesar salad and Paul had Pasta with chicken and prawn. It was really nice, accompanied by a big glass of root beer. The only slight issue was that I was a bar and it was Sunday so there was a lot of noise from those watching the football.
We came home and watched X-Factor and the results out by the pool with a nice cup of tea!
So, here we are this morning. We’ve had bagals, juice and tea and a visit from George and the pool man. Sadly, the pool heater is broken and it’s a call out job so no swimming for us (unless we are very brave!). No idea how long it will take as we’ve left it with George.
We’re off to Disney now, Hollywood Studios and Epcot. Until next time……