Laundry

It's not what you think it is...

I'm going to come clean on something.  In our recent travels over the past few years, we have had the not-so-cool task of doing laundry twice.  Rather than pack enough clothing (and increasing the weight of our bags for the trip), we decided to travel lighter and lose a couple of hours to cleaning.  Little would we know that both of these times, we would encounter some very interesting things!

Cairns, Australia (2009):
This one was unavoidable.  We were in Australia for two weeks during their winter and had to carry both fall and summer clothes.  So, while we our bags were fully loaded, we were also flipping between temperate and tropical climates.  Talk about a pain!

So, one evening, we hit a nearby laundromat.  This place was rather interesting and regrettably, we left the camera behind at our hotel room.  Anyway, there were no doors in and out of the laundromat like you would see in the U.S.  However, I did see roll-down steel doors.  I thought it was rather odd for a building like this to be set up this way--especially with the fact that Australia is obviously one of those countries that keeps up with the times.

We loaded our clothes into a washer and walked two shops down to eat Indian food.  Yes, of all things, we had Indian food while we were in Australia!  Australia, too, apparently is a melting pot of many different cultures.  Anyway, the guy running the restaurant (a little "hole in the wall") spoke perfect English.  The time we were there while waiting on our laundry after finishing our meal, he talked with us between customers.  What we gathered was that he helped some of the locals with their computer problems on the side and that he had lived in all corners of the world (including a stint in Los Angeles).  I could have told him at the time that I worked for Dell, but decided to leave work at work.  One of the things I don't like to do when on vacation is talk about work.  Don't get me wrong.  I work hard, but ever since meeting my wife seven years ago, I have done well in keeping life and work separate.


Paris, France (2011):

Five days into being in Europe and we already had to do laundry!  The reason for that was because nearly every place in Europe we have been to in the summer (except for Italy) was cold!  Cold weather means bulky clothing.  So, my wife, my brother-in-law, and I had to go do laundry.  We carried a minimum amount of clothes because we had to walk from our hotel and, besides, we were at the halfway mark on our trip through Europe.

So, we dumped our clothes into the washer and my brother-in-law left to wander around. There were three seats, all side-by-side, in the laundromat.  My wife, who was about four months pregnant, sat down on one of the end seats, turned 90 degrees, laid her legs across the other two seats, and said, "Little cows!"

"Little cows" is a code for "Dave, massage my calves!"  So, I obliged.

One of the locals came in about a minute or two later, who had laundry in one of the dryers.  He opened it up, felt no heat, and cursed at the dryer in French.  "Mierd!"  A friend of his came in and verified the problem.  Then, they started feeling the insides of the other vacant dryers for ones that felt hot.  Eventually, they found one that was working and transferred the clothes there.  Then, the guy left the laundromat for about 20 minutes.

I continued massaging my wife's "little cows."

Time passes.

The same guy returns a little early, seeing his clothes were still tumbling in the dryer.  My wife starts to shift back to normal sitting position when he said in an awkward version of English, "That's okay.  Sit!"

Heather and I sitting at the Canal Saint Martin
at night.  Because we were at 48 degrees
North latitude, the sky did not officially turn 

a pitch-black hue until about 10:45 PM.

His dryer eventually stops and he gets out his clothes.  Then, he starts folding them while singing opera to my wife in four different languages!  Needless to say, it was amusing.  I thought about tipping the guy with a couple of Euros since he had trouble with the dryer, but thought that might turn out to be some kind of unintentional insult.  So, I did not risk creating an international incident while I was there.

Then, we went back to the hotel, dropped off our clothes, and walked a few blocks to the Canal Saint Martin before calling it a night.

Eight Quick Tips for Disney World

1.  Be prepared for rain in the afternoon!  It has been a reoccurring theme for our four days at Disney!

2.  If you have a larger stroller, use the front row of the parking lot trams.  The front row is a double row and significantly wider, allowing you to fit your stroller in the tram seat.

3.  Plan in advance what rides you want to ride (or attractions you want to see).  Once you know what you want to ride (or see), get the Fast Pass.  Each person in your group can only have one Fast Pass at a time, so make it count.

4.  If you are travelling with a small child, be sure to get Rider Swap tickets from the ride attendant.  Regardless of whether you have a Fast Pass or not for this ride, you will be able to enter the Fast Pass line.  The Rider Swap ticket allows for up to three people total to return at any time of the day (they are dated).  Be sure to show proof of child (see below) when doing so to eliminate potential hassle.

"Proof of Child"

5.  Wireless data availability is inconsistent, subject to carrier.  The two carriers represented on our trip were AT&T and Boost Mobile.  AT&T had no problems whatsoever.  Boost Mobile had problems at Magic Kingdom and Epcot.  I did not try my Boost phone at Animal Kingdom, after two consecutive days of frustration.  Then, I tried it again at Hollywood Studios, where there were...wait for it...no problems at all!

6.  If you have a baby, each park has a baby care center.  On the maps, they are marked by a little pacifier.  They are really great.  Each one has a central lounge flanked by a semi-private changing area and a private nursing room with rocking chairs.  The one at Epcot had four rocking chairs to a room with no dividers, though.  They also sell diapers and baby food, and offer high chairs to feed kids in the baby care center.  In the central lounge, there is at least one sink, one microwave, and a TV for cartoons.  I was able to go into the nursing room at Hollywood Studios because it was a private room with space for only one family.

7.  Free water!  You do not have to buy their overpriced Dasani (or as I call it "da nasty") bottled tap water!  You can ask for a cup of water from most of the quick service restaurants, and yes, it's no charge.

8.  You can bring your own food into the park!  You read that right.  Just make sure it all fits into a small soft-sided cooler and they will not give you any grief over it.