Silversea Water Cooler: Part 3, Welcome!

Good Eveing Coolers!

 

Terry, it's just like having our own personal Cooler News Netwotk not CNN .... but ..... TNN! :D

 

Saturday is still the taditional change over day in British seaside resorts, so always has a sort of air of anticipation and excitement buzziness. Cars with roof boxes driving slowly around waiting for their earliest checking in times. All the takeaways start filling up in the evenings, and pensioners walk around ..... the daily bickering put aside and a temporary truce is called, and the holly state of deadlock replaced with the cermonial public display of the holding of hands.

 

Tonight to make the seaside tradition complete we had fish and chips delivered which we had with a bottle of ice cold Bredon Champers .... and over the bay was a firework display.

 

Good to see Soapy is enjoying her trip .... and Spins seems to be in good spirits and Lois is booking stuff!

Now that is civilized....Champers with fish and chips. Like it..... Penny

Greetings Coolers!

Read an interesting and entertaining story this morning on the subject of London's disappearing phone boxes.

'Quintessential British treasure:' What next for London's disappearing phone booths?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/quintessential-british-treasure-what-next-for-london-s-disappearing-phone-booths-1.4298159

We saw a number of them when we were in Gibraltar earlier this year. I love them!

Have a great day all!

Greetings Coolers!

 

Read an interesting and entertaining story this morning on the subject of London's disappearing phone boxes.

'Quintessential British treasure:' What next for London's disappearing phone booths?

 

We saw a number of them when we were in Gibraltar earlier this year. I love them!

 

Have a great day all!

I spent an hour in one, on our first trip to London. Forgot to call the bank ahead of time and after making one cash withdrawal upon arrival, my ATM card was frozen. Didn't realize it until the night before we were leaving - we had a 4AM pickup to go see Stonehenge at 6AM. I needed cash to pay my tour operator, and my card wouldn't work. So I had to make a call...instead of getting to bed at a reasonable hour!

Took about 45 minutes on hold (luckily it was a collect call) and that took care of it. Now I can set travel notices online without calling. The Stonehenge visit was great BTW, but we were pretty tired.

WOW JP...you got up close and personal with the delightful red phone box! I'm sure it wasn't much fun at the time but it is a great story now! :) Thanks for the smile this morning!

The great thing about the red 'phone boxes was their peculiarly unique odour of fast food and urine.

Hi M,

The phone boxes are being removed because (it is felt that everyone now has mobile phones or broadband which requires a phone.

The story of BT phone boxes is much more interesting when you leave the major cities, because every village had a red telephone box which it becomes quite attatched to because it is normally in the center of a village not far from The Village Pub. As an aside, uniquely along The Embankment and outside The Institute of :Electrical ; Engineers (next door to The Savoy) is a green telephone box. I know this because I had a summer working on the Thames tourist cruisers giving the commentary when I wasn't earning enough in the evenings as a DJ.

Our village has a phone box,and BT told us that it planned to remove the box unless the village bought it. So we did, and there was an extensive consultation as to what we should do with it. The normal official uses are a library, or somthing similar. The informal use is as a urinal most telephone boxes in my experience smell of urine.

So we now have a telephone box in the village, which has been freshly painted by village volunteers. We have a village telephone box committee, with a chairman, treasurer, secretary and bank account. The box is as fresh as a daisy except when you open the door it smells of urine but now it has no phone.

Yes TTS and J.... the article did mention the unfortunate smell in the telephone boxes. We did not venture into the ones we saw in Gibraltar so I don't know if that is a common usage offshore. They are just so charming on the outside! So glad your village bought theirs J. In almost all the British mystery shows I've seen on TV (I adore British mysteries) the villages have one.

I can well imagine you as a tour guide J! I'm sure you were very entertaining! Did you provide a "creative" version of the landmarks on display? When Myster and I made our first trip to New Orleans we took a "horse and buggy" ride around the French Quarter. Seemed almost a mandatory thing to do. Our driver gave a colour commentary and he definitely played fast and loose with the facts. He told us that Joan of Arc "The Maid of Orleans" helped in the fight during the Civil War. :)

The great thing about the red 'phone boxes was their peculiarly unique odour of fast food and urine.

Jeff's and J.P's detailed backgrounds shared about the red phone boxes was very, very good. BUT, this above by Tothesunset takes the first prize for being the most memorable and graphic. Smell-a-vision is a special writing skill. Congrats to Tothesunset!!

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Panama Canal? Completed Feb. 28-Mar. 15, 2017, Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco adventure through the Panama Canal with our first stops in Colombia, Central America and Mexico, plus added time in the great Golden Gate City. Lots of fun, interesting pictures!! Those visuals start on the second page, post #26. See more at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2465580

Hi M,

The form on the river cruisers was that you didn't earn a wage but added to the commentary that "you supplied the sound system and the microphone out of your own pocket ... and that if visitors wanted to show their appreciation ..... then ....... " ;) and you stood at the exit with a bucket and smiled a lot. I was 15 and 16. Yes, around 70% was fact and say 30% urban myth. I now know for example that Christopher Wren never lived in the house I said he did when building St Pauls that has a blue placque. And I remember London in a time before a time than it is as today. I could walk from the area that is now called The Barbican to that is now called The South Bank on a Sunday morning and rarely pass anyone else out walking.

That is so cool J! I'll bet the 30% is what earned you the best tips! :) Your memories of a London before sound much more "romantic" in many ways. Your country has so much more history, intrigue and mystery than our fairly young Canada.

Your memories of a London before sound much more "romantic" in many ways. Your country has so much more history, intrigue and mystery than our fairly young Canada.

YES, the United States is "young", too!! London and the UK have had so much more history, twists and turns, proud/shameful moments, etc. Just think of London during World War II?? Or, the various angles/plots involving the Royals and religious players?? Much has happened there!! Lots of great sharing by Jeff and others. Personally, I find that mix/intersection of history and architecture to be very unique and fascinating as we have done our travels in 23 countries in Europe. Keep it coming!!

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Super loved so different many parts of the Caribbean in 2015!!! See more details and lots of great visual samples/examples at the link of "Barbados: Our Pix's, Experiences!":

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2262999

M, I was in many ways extremely lucky to have lived in the centre of London when much of it was still bomb sites and before it was rebuilt. It makes me sound extremely old, but much of London was the product of mid60's onwards. I think I love London in a different way than many Londoners because I feel I know it from that time.

Today we had a wander out and along the beach and had a bottle of Picpoul in a newly gentrified place just below our house. Much of the talk was Hampshire rather than Birmingham talk and the arrivals yesterday are on average we'd say around 20% fatter than the last lot of visitors. I felt I'd like to start a web site just featuring tee shirts of the various places people have claimed to have visited. We had everything from The Hard Rock Cafe of Sydney to The Cool Bar at Phuket. Their dogs are treated as though they were babies rather than dogs and the children run around out of control as though they have never experienced the joy of control from caring parenting. Things are therefore as you would expect them much to be.

We bought proper food with us to eat but I didn't fancy proper food so I made some sausage and onion paninis with claret and nuts. A cosmopolitan meal now that I have lost my appetite and am reeling from the disappointment of learning I didn't win any prize in Terry's recent urine post competition! :)

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Your meal looks delicious J! And you did win a prize for your "TNN" comment! :) Keep your pecker up! Ha Ha!

Your meal looks delicious J! And you did win a prize for your "TNN" comment! :) Keep your pecker up! Ha Ha!

....... perhaps it was the TNN comment that cost me any placing in the competition. :D

And you shouldn't talk about me keeping my pecker up in any forum with American's .....;)

Lovely seaside photos.

They wash away the olfactory memories of using a phone booth as a pissoir.

Today it's overcast here in South Florida. The sky has that preternatural color which heralds a storm.

We awoke to a mans voice coming from outside our house saying, "all clear".

Eerie. Was there someone in our yard? Police or military or who knew. While DH stayed under the covers, warm and safe,

I got out of bed to investigate and good dog Eloise came with me. Her head was down and she displayed some anxiety.

I walked outside near our pool and then heard the voice again, this time saying, "warning take cover, severe and dangerous weather approaching". Eloise was very frightened and with good cause.

I was able to determine the voice was automated, and coming from a golf course located near us. They also have a lightening alert which sounds when lightening is nearby.

Eloise knows that when the lightening alert sounds she must get out of the swimming pool and come into the house immediately.

Problem with the new voice alarm is it uses the word danger. I have taught Eloise that word means she is in physical danger. Necessary here because of the poisonous Bufo toads and other critters which we might encounter on our walks. I NEVER use the word unless it is in fact, real danger.

I hope that the golf course stops using their new alarm/ warning which is very intrusive and scary to others outside their community.

And now back to my mundanity, I hope.

Enjoy Sunday all.

And you shouldn't talk about me keeping my pecker up in any forum with American's .....;)

Won't touch and comment on Jeff's above statement. Seems like a dangerous "neighborhood" in which to travel.

But, appreciate Jeff's nice food and wine pictures/details, added London history/background, etc. Plus, Spins' interesting experiences with the nearby recorded warning system.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc. We are now at 227,623 views for this live/blog re-cap, including much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

Lovely seaside photos.

They wash away the olfactory memories of using a phone booth as a pissoir.

I suppose we were lucky that's all they were used for!

Tothesunset takes the first prize for being the most memorable and graphic. Smell-a-vision is a special writing skill.

A sadly underappreciated skill in the commercial marketplace.

TTS.....could you please exercise your special writing skill to capture something mouth-watering or floral? :) Scent-a-vision might be a better term for those.

Penny....Your country continues to be hit by tremblors. :( A 6.1 yesterday and a 5.9 today. Really hope things settle down soon so that the devastation stops! Thoughts are with your country!

TTS.....could you please exercise your special writing skill to capture something mouth-watering or floral? :) Scent-a-vision might be a better term for those.

You'll need to speak to my agent. :D

I'll get right on that! The world could use some cheer! :)

Joining Mysty, my thoughts are with Penny and the people of Mexico. Slowly we keep hearing from our friends in PR..many in a numb state... Thankfully, aid is starting to arrive, some people already have power and others have both power and water. My sister in law in Tampa is helping with a relief effort, and Gov. Cuomo here in NYS is proactively getting all support for aid and relief.

The ride to and from Vermont was GEORGEOUS! The leaves were reaching mid status towards peak, and the mountains looked glorious. The days were sunny and in the high 70's FH. What more to ask?

Mysty and Cam, I can't begin to imagine what it must be like every time an after shock occurs. My friend whose apartment was damaged writes that it is so frightening. It is really wonderful to see teams from all over the world working together to dig. To my way of thinking, this is what humanity is about.

Puerto Rico and so much of the Caribbean have a long road to recovery, as does Mexico.

Yes Penny...that is the glass half full! Humanity at its best. We are capable of it! I much prefer to focus on that rather than humanity at its worst when world leaders threaten or focus on pro sports figures and the anthem.

Cam...So glad you enjoyed your trip to Vermont! Food for the soul!