Secret Santa

Okay, so this is about a month late for the Christmas theme, but allow me to explain...  Since the start of the new year, we have been doing some decluttering in our house (you know, that place we are typically at when we are not traveling).  This week, I managed to find something in my office from a Secret Santa at work from years' past:  a deck of National Geographic playing cards!  What makes these unique is that they have pictures of various peoples, places, or things that are in unique parts of the world--okay, for the most part, it's landmarks.  So, back to this short story...  I took a few minutes to go through the deck and pick out the ones I have seen.  Stat-wise, I had a hand of nine cards...

In poker, this would be a pair of sixes...

So, which ones have I collected, so far?

The Eiffel Tower!
(Paris, France)

The Leaning Tower of Pisa!
(Pisa, Italy)

The Golden Gate Bridge!
(San Francisco, California)

The Gateway Arch!
(St. Louis, Missouri)

Mount Rushmore!
(South Dakota)

Big Ben!
(London, England)

The Sydney Opera House!
(Sydney, Australia)

St. Peter's Basilica
(Vatican City)

Oh, and the last one happened to be the Ace of Spades!

The Colosseum!
(Rome, Italy)

Six Places to go to in "Hotlanta"--even if it isn't hot

In recent years, it seems that a lot of our fall and winter travel has centered around going to Atlanta.  Here's some of our favorite places that we have been to (in no particular order):

The World of Coke:  For those that may not be aware, Coca Cola's headquarters is located in downtown Atlanta.  Hence, you rarely are able to find a place with Pepsi products anywhere in this town.  (Nothing against either brand, just stating the facts.)  Here, you get to go through a museum full of memorabilia related to the company--even some things you never thought of as under Coca Cola's "umbrella," like Five Alive!  Additionally, there's a 3-D movie, a room where you can sample many of Coca Cola's products from around the world (like Inca Kola), and a complimentary bottle of Coke to take home with you!  We managed to get in for free through Coke Rewards!  So, if you collect Coke points, be on the lookout for that deal as it may come back!

...and a polar bear hamming it up!

IKEA:  Whether you love or hate shopping, this is a place to go in midtown Atlanta.  If you love shopping, there's all kinds of cheap, durable goods for the home from kitchen utensils to ready-to-assemble furniture!  If you hate shopping, but love eating, its main cafeteria on the upper level is a can't miss and could soften the blow of spending time shopping with your spouse or significant other.  Be sure to order a Swedish Meatball plate or combo as that is their signature meal.  Also, be sure to get a slice of chocolate overload cake as I give it two thumbs up!

Sorry, flags not included...

JC's 5 Star Outlet:  While on the subject of shopping, this is more of a hit or miss place.  You never really know what the deals are until you get in there.  So, you could hit a homerun.  This is essentially JC Penney's clearance outlet store chain, and this is one of their larger stores (if not, the largest)!  If you are traveling to the south side on I-75, you might want to stop in and check it out...

Medieval Times:  The very dinner theater that the movie Cable Guy made famous has a place northeast of Atlanta off I-85 North.  And yes, just like Janeane Garofalo stated, it is true that there were no utensils used during Medieval times and therefore are not used at Medieval Times!  However, one disappointment was that my wife and I did not get to go down into the pit to play with the various weapons like Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick got to do.  What made up for it was that we had a Living Social deal:  2 for 1...and it was even good for New Year's Eve!

There was, however, lots of horseplay...

Stone Mountain:  This is situated on the east side of Atlanta, just east of I-285.  Around Christmastime, they are open in a limited capacity as some of their rides and activities are closed due to them being summer attractions.  Three things they continue to do in spite of the cold are:  (1) cable car rides to the top of Stone Mountain, (2) train rides around Stone Mountain, and (3) various family-friendly shows that are all indoors.  In addition, Stone Mountain features a snow park where people can go tubing or just play in the snow.

...or get your picture taken with inanimate penguins!

The Original Dwarf House:  For those that do not know what this is, this is the location of the first-ever Chick-Fil-A (BTW, their headquarters is also in Atlanta, just like Coca Cola)!  There are two things that make the Dwarf House unique:  (1) it is segregated into two parts--a diner and a Chick-Fil-A and (2) it is one of the few Chick-Fil-A restaurants where you can order beef!  (Yes, it's true!)  This location is "sandwiched" (no pun intended) between I-75 South and I-85 South near Hartsfield International Airport.

The original sign is still there today...

...and yes, that little door does work!

Just Banned this Toy from the Car!

Rather than write a lengthy post about this little story of driving along I-40 to Memphis on Christmas Day, I thought I would share why this little toy got taken away...  Enjoy!

Christmas Ornaments of the World

Merry Christmas, everyone!  Here are some pictures of some of our Christmas ornaments we have brought home from other countries.

Belize, 2008

Australia, 2009

Italy, 2010

France, 2011

Words

My wife and I have traveled to many countries where the primary language happened to be English.  The English-speaking countries we have traveled to together have been:  Canada, Belize, Australia, the U.K., and the Bahamas.  In spite of having a common language that is mostly understood, there have been some misunderstandings, some unintentional comic relief, and some moments that just make you wonder how America and the rest of the English-speaking world got separated by a common language.  Here are three short stories...


Asking for a bandage almost resulted in calling "999" (or Britain's "911")
While my wife was a little over 4 months pregnant, we happened to be in London.  For some reason, she needed a band aid.  Unfortunately, we didn't think to pack any of them. I went downstairs to the front desk to see if they had any.  On my way down, I thought about how I was going to ask for one as I was of the belief that "band aid" was an Americanized word that might not be understood.  So, I thought I would ask for a "bandage" instead.  I casually waited in line behind various guests that were checking out. A few minutes later, I was up at the front of the line and asked, "Do you have a small bandage?"

The poor girl behind the desk frantically sprung into action believing somebody was seriously hurt.  She pulled out some gauze pads from the first aid kit.

"I'm sorry, but this isn't exactly it.  I'm not sure what the British word for it is.  My wife has a minor cut and just wants to cover it up.  We just need a bandage with an adhesive."

So, she pulled out a roll of first aid tape.  "Is this what you are needing?"

"I'm afraid not.  It should have self-sticking adhesive at the ends with a pad in the middle."

"Oh, a plaster!"

She pulled one out.  I opened the package.  "Yes!  This is it!  I appreciate it so much!"

"No problem at all.  Would you mind telling me what that is in American English?"

"Sure.  It's a band aid."

"I never heard of that before.  I'll make sure to share that with the staff so we can better assist our future American guests."

So, on our way to the subway station, we decided to stop by Britain's version of the Dollar Tree, which was called Poundland!  Rather than bug the front desk again for plasters, we decided to get some of our own.

Sadly, though, we discovered one small problem...

It was one big sheet you had to cut on your own!
However, airport security would have a fit if we tried
to carry anything sharp enough to cut it!

Oh, and it gets worse...

I didn't read the measurements,
realizing it was one large strip
that had to be cut to size!

I went back to Poundland to try to find a pair of scissors that would be sharp enough to cut the plaster, but to no avail.  All they had were those little safety scissors that we all used to have back in the first grade that would only cut thin sheets of paper and that's it.

So, every time my wife needed a new plaster, it was always preceded by getting in line at the front desk (or queueing) just to ask to borrow a pair of scissors.  We didn't mind waiting in line, but felt like we were being a pain to the hotel staff.


Toilet "Humor"
During our stays across Australia, we discovered two things that we hated about hotels there:  (1) no complimentary breakfast and (2) no complimentary internet.  However, during my wife's hours upon hours of research ahead of time, she discovered a way around #2:  McDonald's!

So, every morning in the cities of Melbourne, Cairns (pronounced "Cans"), and Sydney, we would take my wife's netbook and go to the nearest McDonald's for breakfast and uploading photos to Facebook.  Toward the end of our day, we would return to McDonald's for dessert and uploading yet more photos to Facebook!

One morning in Cairns, we were eating breakfast at McDonald's (of all places).  Cairns is one of Australia's smaller cities (153,000 people, 14th largest city).  So, it had more of a relaxed feel than the hustle and bustle of Melbourne and Sydney, the top two cities in Australia that had over 4.1 million in population in the cities proper.

While I was eating my breakfast, minding my own business, I could not believe what I had heard from the staff there!

Manager (Shouting over the equipment just to be heard):  "Does anybody know where Claire went?"

One of Claire's Coworkers (Shouting back):  "She's in the toilet!"

At this point, I just about died laughing.  A split second later, I realized my wife and I comprised maybe 25% of the restaurant's customers at the time.  So, I quickly stifled myself and turned my laughter to "covering and coughing."  International incident averted!

By this point, I had already been in the country for about a week.  So, I knew that Claire's coworker was really saying that she went to the restroom!


Know What You Order
Between Australia and the U.K., we found ourselves having some dishes that had unusual names.  If you didn't have much familiarity with the Australian and British versions of the English language, you might as very well be lost when it comes to ordering some food outside the traditional fish and chips.

In Australia, we stopped at the Koala Cafe, a little place we drove to just off the Great Ocean Road somewhere between Melbourne and the Twelve Apostles.  There, we ordered prawn burgers.  Now, most Americans may not be familiar with what a prawn is, but should be familiar with what it looks like.  It's shrimp!  We thought that was unusual and figured, "Why not?"

...and it wasn't that bad!

In London, we stopped at a restaurant along the River Thames.  Sadly, I cannot remember the name of the place, but I do remember them serving decent traditional fish and chips, which was something I had wanted since arriving in town.  My wife, meanwhile, was amused by a dish named Bubble and Squeak.  I was fearing the worst about the squeak part, thinking it was a mouse, but then thought that the Ministry of Health (or whatever) probably would not condone that.  So, this is what it turned out to be...

It's the darker stuff next to the eggs.
This variant is just pan-fried cabbage,
but it can be served in other varieties
(according to Wikipedia.)

A year later in London (again), we stopped at a restaurant not too far from our hotel (and Poundland).  I did not feel like having fish and chips again, but felt like trying another dish named Gammon Steak.  Let's think about that second word there again:  steak.  When I think of the word, I typically think beef.  So, I thought to myself, "Hey, I love steak.  I wonder what gammon is.  I'll give it a shot.  Perhaps gammon is a finer choice of meat (as the meal was about 9 or 10 British pounds (or US $14 to US $15)?"  So, what did I actually order???

Ham?!?!?  I was expecting beef!  However, I
"manned up," took responsibility for failing to
ask questions, and proceeded to eat the
greatest ham steak of my life!  The chips
(aka: fries) weren't bad, either...