This post is a round up of all we did while in Florida 2009. Included are the day by day posts along with the general posts written while we were out in Orlando. I have put these into categories and have also provided links to the websites of the attractions, shops and restaurants we visited and would recommend.

The holiday itself was based around the needs to two teenaged boys and two adults acting like teenagers! Even if you don’t fit into either category you are bound to find something here that appeals to you given how much there is to do in Florida.

Finally, this was all correct in April 2009 but is subject to change - check the links to the official sites provided to see if it holds true now. And enjoy!

Things to do

• Disney Hollywood Studios 1 and 2
• Disney Animal Kingdom
• Disney EPCOT 1 and 2 
• Disney Magic Kingdom
• Downtown Disney
• Disney Water Parks
• Universal Studios 1 and 2
• Old Town Car Show (official site)
• Boggy Creek Airboats (official site)
• Bok Tower Gardens (official site)
• Shopping/Outlets

Places to Eat

There are plenty of chain restaurants in Florida that you will recognise from the UK but there are also a vast number of US only places that serve great food. The following are some of the places we have tried and return to on a regular basis:

• Perkins - great breakfasts - check out my favourite the Tremendous Twelve
• Ruth’s Chris Steak House - the best steakhouse. Once you have eaten here you will never want to eat steak in the UK again
• Cracker Barrel -  a good value family restaurant serving traditional style food
• Bahama Breeze - another good, more upmarket, restaurant
• Red Lobster - great for fish - the seafood fondue is fantastic
• Downtown Disney (official site) - plenty of choice from McDonalds to themed restaurants to relaxed dining.

Places to Shop

So the dollar rate isn’t as good as it once was but there are still bargains to be had, particularly clothes:

• Shopping
• Lake Buena Vista - mainly clothes but also a good character outlet selling cheap Disney stuff
• Premium Outlets - Higher end clothes retailers
• Prime Outlets - Higher end clothes retailers
• Barnes & Noble - Book store. There is one opposite Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse on West Sand Lake Road. Pay a visit before getting a great steak!
• Coupons - don’t leave home without them!

Americana & Trivia

Various topics mentioned in the posts that capture the essence of both America and the holiday:

• Arriving
• Old Town Car Show
• Airboat Rides
• Staying in touch
• Driving
• Weather
• Odds and Sods

By Day

This is a list of all posts in the order that they were posted:

• Day 1 - Arrival in the US
• Day 2 - Old Town Car Show
• Day 3 - Disney Hollywood Studios
• Day 4 - Shopping
• Day 5 - Universal Studios
• Day 6 - Animal Kingdom
• Day 7 - Universal Studios
• Day 8 - Downtown Disney
• Day 9 - Disney Epcot
• Day 10 - Boggy Creek
• Day 11 - Coupons, Parking & Water Parks
• Day 12 - Disney Magic Kingdom
• Day 13 - Bok Tower Gardens
• Day 14 - Disney Hollywood Studios
• Day 15 - EPCOT and Home

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The following are some photos that didn’t make it into the one of the daily posts but I still thought were worth putting up.

The villa we stayed in is owned by a British couple who have kindly provided two clocks to show the time in the US and the UK, as seen above. Unfortunately when this picture was taken the time was actually 1 o’clock and the time difference is five hours. New batteries please!

Poor Herbie is feeling a little cut up about his part in Lights, Motors, Action! In a crowd pleasing turn Herbie comes on while the stage is being set for the next stunt sequence. As part of this Herbie drives around and then is told “don’t go down that tunnel”. Guess what! The cheeky little car goes down the tunnel and emerges split in two.

At home I may have to occasionally stop the car for a slow pigeon or possibly a cat (although I’m not that bothered about stopping for cats) but I have never had to stop to allow a turtle to cross the road before. Why did the turtle cross the road?

I don’t care what Grant thinks about the Gaucho Grill Restaurant that steak from Ruth’s Chris Steak House tasted fantastic.

Apparently Sean, SNP member for the Bahamas, received his knighthood from “Britian’s Elizabeth, Queen”. So reads the plaque in the Burger King on International Drive but then that is the same establishment that contains this tribute to Bill Haley that the boys found so amusing.

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The last day before we get the flight back home this afternoon. Keen to eek out the most of our holiday we pack up and leave the house early for a goodbye Perkins breakfast. The intension being that we won’t be needing to eat again until we get on the plane.

Breakfast out of the way we go to EPCOT for a final fling. I am feeling a little under the weather (in fact I have been feeling dodgy since our trip to Typhoon Lagoon earlier this week – probably too on board too much water). So we get a fast pass for Test Track and then the boys while away the time until we can use our passes by going on Test Track as single riders. Helen and I go shopping for a tee shirt Helen had here eye on and sit around waiting for the boys to emerge.

We all go on Test Track together for a final time before heading out and along International Drive looking for a Subway to get the boys some lunch and food for Alex for the journey as he can’t eat what is provided on the flight.

Finally we head to the airport to drop off the car and bags for the flight at 17:20. First problem is that the “fast bag drop” line is moving at a snails pace compared to the line for check in AND bag drop. Actually, that’s a lie our line isn’t moving. Second thing is that we are told that our flight has been delayed by two and a half hours as the incoming flight had to make an additional stop for a medical emergency. So we have five hours to kill at the airport. Great.

UPDATE: Flight now delayed to 20:30 so it’s a delay of six hours.

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For our last full day we had saved a visit to our favourite park – Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We had decided to try and do all the things that there hadn’t been time to do on our last visit. This included the new Toy Story Midway Mania! which is a series of simple arcade style games that you are taken to on a two person car. The ride only opened last year and this showed in the queues which were enormous. The queue for the fast pass was longer than the standby queue on mist other rides. However, it was worth the wait and Alex has declared this to be the best ride in all the parks.

We then went to Drew Cary’s (who?) “Sounds Dangerous” and another ride on Star Tours before going on what I think is one of the best attractions in Disney – Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. You get to see three scenes from the popular series of films. It’s fascinating to watch as the scenes are changed which is pretty amazing in itself. The video below shows the re-enactment of the famous “ball” scene.

Finally, to see the Muppets 3D show. We have seen this so many times that it’s hard to explain why it is still as funny as when we first saw it… but it is. I guess the Muppets are just funny.

So that was our last full day and I can’t believe that two weeks are up already. Our flight is late tomorrow afternoon so we will still get the morning to do things but it’s not the same knowing that the bags are already packed and there is a nine hour flight waiting for you.

Click here to see more pictures from Disney’s Hollywood Studios

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Bok Tower Gardens sounds like it should be another theme park but in this case it is as the name suggests – it is a garden with a tower. Actually, that’s doing it an injustice as it is a really relaxing place and the gardens are beautiful. Also, unusually for Florida, most of which is as flat as a Perkins pancake, the gardens are reasonably high up which gives some great views over the surrounding land including the orange groves.

We visited today without the boys, unsurprisingly, who stayed at home in bed. After the storms of yesterday the weather was good and the temperature very pleasant. It was also nice to visit somewhere where there weren’t any crowds and the only sounds were of birds rather than children.

You cannot go into the tower itself but it houses a carillon which, according to wikipedia, is a musical instrument consisting of at least 23 cast bronze cup-shaped bells or, in this case, 60 of them from Loughborough. You can hear what it sounds like on the video below:

After a gentle stroll round the gardens we returned home for a quite afternoon in before going out to one of our favourite restaurants – Ruth’s Chris Steak House. This is very much at the top end of dining here in Orlando but the food is excellent and since eating here a few years ago on a business trip I haven’t been able to find steak anywhere near as good in the UK.

Tomorrow is our last full day so, being Thompsons, we have meticulously planned it to get the most from it. Another early start is required! 

Click here to see more pictures from Bok Tower Gardens

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For those that think that it’s sunshine 24/7 here in Florida today would have been a real wake up call. Being America the rain, like everything else here, was big (and wet!)

However, being plucky Brits and undeterred by a bit of rain we ploughed on regardless and went to Magic Kingdom. The advantage was, as you can see from the picture left, that few others bothered to make the trip.

Magic Kingdom is is definitely aimed at a younger visitor and probably best for the under 10’s. That said we still have a few rides that we like to do there. The Buzz Lightyear ride is great and Mat must have been on about five times today.

Helen and Alex go on Space Mountain which is usually a roller coaster in the dark. I say usually as today, half way round, all the lights came on and they could see exactly what they were in for as it came up. Also as you wouldn’t normally see the inner workings no effort had been made to make them look good so Helen felt that it was more daunting.

Finally a trip on Thunder Mountain – the only roller coaster I will go on, which shows how tame it is! The three of us went on while Mat went on the Buzz Lightyear ride again.

After that it was clear that the rain was set in for the day so we gave up and went home and change out of our clothes, which by this point were sodden. Forecast for tomorrow is sunny and 27 degrees.

Click here to see more pictures from Magic Kingdom

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We went to Universal again today so instead of telling you about the Simpsons ride once more I thought I would post some miscellanea.

First up – coupons. Unless you like throwing money away, in which case skip this section, before going to pretty much any attraction other than the major theme parks don’t go without taking a money off coupon. They are available everywhere from the villas, restaurants, shops and outlets and offer significant savings. For example the dinner shows can be reduced by up to 50% and we got $4 per person off our trip to Boggy Creek yesterday.

You can also get coupons for the outlets. Craftily the coupon booklets for Lake Buena Vista are held at the shop furthest from the entrance but it is still worth making the trip as there are further discounts off the already cheap clothes and shoes on offer.

Next, parking in the parks. So you have taken a deep breath and bought your park tickets feeling glad that you have got that expense out of the way. Thinking that there is nothing else they can sting you for – wrong! Somewhat unbelievably both Disney and Universal also have the cheek to charge you for parking too. I have two objections to this: firstly it’s not that you can avoid it. The States is not geared up for walking, you have to drive into the parks and so you have to pay – it is not optional. Secondly it is $12, equivalent to £8 at today’s exchange rate. That makes parking at the Oracle a real bargain. Oh and Disney and Universal are clearly operating a cartel too as, surprise, surprise, it is the same at both places.

We did do something yesterday other than visit Universal again – we also went to one of the Disney water parks, Typhoon Lagoon. There are a couple of Disney water parks and if you have multi-park entry tickets then entry to the water parks is included too.

Both parks are themed and have the same layout. There is a lazy river running around the outside with a simulated beach complete with waves in the middle. At the back there are a number of water rides, including a family raft ride which you can see us on here.

The lazy river is great as it allows you to be, well, lazy as you float around the park on an individual rubber ring. It would be completely relaxing if it wasn’t for the jets of cold water at regular intervals. However, it is a great way to cool off and do something a bit different.

Oh, and another great thing about the water parks is that the parking is free!

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And now, as they say, for something completely different. This morning Helen and I left the boys in bed and went off for an air boat ride at Boggy Creek. This is as far removed from Disney as you can possibly get and the closest to the real Florida as you are likely to get. You board an air boat for an half an hour ride over a shallow reed lake - similar to the everglades themselves.

We did the same ride a couple of years ago and came away disappointed as we didn’t see anything of interest and it was freezing - possibly why we saw nothing. This time was completely different as it was teeming with wildlife including a number of alligators - the big feller on left was what we came across first.

There was also a wide variety of birds including cranes, ospreys and vultures. The boat allowed us to get up close and get a really good view of everything. Our guide was also very knowledgeable making it all the more interesting. A great trip and thoroughly recommended if you are coming to Florida and tire of the parks.

Click here to see all pictures from Boggy Creek

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Another day, another park. Today was the turn of EPCOT.

EPCOT is a little unusual compared to the other Disney parks in that while it has the traditional rides it also has what it calls its World Showcase. This contains distinctive buildings and themes from a dozen countries around the world. For example Italy has scenes from Venice, Canada the Rockies etc. For a lot of people it is probably the closest they will ever get - particularly Americans who have a only a small percentage holding passports.

The UK is represented by a building that could be a scaled down version of Hampton Court and a pub. It’s all very twee but it is the only place in Florida that we have been able to find Cadburys chocolate, even if it is at vastly inflated prices, and Cadburys beats Hersheys hands down. There is also a show in the streets which is high camp and panto which the boys find amusing - particularly as the cast is made up in part by poor unsuspecting tourists.

Elsewhere there are a couple of other good things to visit. The first is Spaceship Earth, a slow moving ride through the “golf ball” symbol of the park. This has been “reimagined” since the last time we were here and now the train you ride in has a touch screen from which you choose your language and county of origin. This led to us being guided round by Dame Judy Dench. Not sure who represented Scotland, Wales and Ireland. At the end you select from some options and a short film of you in the future is shown. You can see the one that was put together for Alex and me here:

The other great ride and probably the most popular attraction in EPCOT is Test Track, a simulation of a car being put through its paces over rough roads, brake testing and finally a speed test on the track. This last part is a banked track on which your “car” is driven up to 64mph. It’s great fun as you can see from the video below with Alex and Mats heads bobbing away in front of us.

Click here to view all pictures from EPCOT

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We had a slow start to the day today as we had been hitting the parks pretty hard over the last few days and we knew we were in for a late night as the boys were going to a concert (New Found Glory) in the evening. So we started the day with brunch at Perkins before spending the afternoon at the villa. The picture on the left is the cholesterol inducing Tremendous Twelve. 

Late afternoon we headed over to Downtown Disney the entertainment part of the Disney complex containing shops, restaurants, a cinema and other live venues. After feeding the boys and seeing them safely into the concert Helen and I went to the House of Blues for a meal.

When we emerged we then had three hours to kill so we hit the shops starting with the Virgin Megastore. This is closing at the end of May so everything was on sale with up to 20% off. However, on closer inspection all was not as it seemed. When we had been in earlier in the week there were a large number of CDs on sale for $10 and now they had all gone back up to the RRP - about $18. Even with 20% off these were going to be more expensive. I guess that is one way of ensuring you don’t lose money during a sale.

Unsurprisingly the majority of the shops in Downtown Disney are aimed at a younger audience with plenty of Disney merchandise on sale along with Lego and a few others. Nevertheless we did spend a fair amount of time browsing before grabbing a drink and sitting beside the lake whiling away the time.

The boys came out at 10:45 and were full of the energy that loud music (pop punk in this case) seems to give you. They had been pretty close to the front and had clearly enjoyed themselves which was a relief as I was a bit concerned that Mat might not. As it was he was impressed by the guitarists and ran me through all the guitars they were using.

We made our way home and even managed to find the right road - something that we still struggle to do after five years of visits!

Click here to see all pictures from Downtown Disney

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There are many things missing from US roads, small cars for example, but the most noticeable is probably the absence of roundabouts, so it was quite a surprise to find one in the community our villa is on.

As you can see from the picture below a roundabout is such a rarity that it requires plenty of signs to explain how to use it. Unfortunately the same does not apply to a 4-way stop junction which seems to be used when the junction is too small or too insignificant to warrant traffic lights and where in the UK we would have a roundabout. At these all-way junctions everyone is supposed to come to a complete stop and then take it in turns to go based on the order you arrived. Of course no one knows the order they arrived and so it is just a free for all.

I would like to say it is organised chaos when, in fact, it is just chaos but then visitors to the UK probably think the same about our roundabouts.

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Another early start to beat the crowds - if you have teenagers you will know what a challenge this can be but the lure of another trip to Universal seemed to do the trick.

Once again Universal was empty in comparison to yesterday’s trip to Disney’s Animal Kingdom and it was easy to move around the park, which was a godsend. This also meant that it was quick and easy to get onto the rides. We had already decided that we wanted to go back on to the Simpsons Ride so we went there first. We followed that up with a trip to Men in Black. And then we did them both again!

As you can see from the picture the men had their picture taken with Bart Simpson - the highlight of my day.

All attractions have a sign outside describing the ride and listing the reasons you shouldn’t ride: heart complaints, back problems, expectant mothers etc. I guess that adding “fat people” to the list wouldn’t have been terribly PC so the statement shown in the picture below is added as almost an addendum at the bottom. I wonder how many lawyers it took to come up with this wording?

You can see the rest of the pictures of Universal  here.

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Another Disney day again today, this time it was Animal Kingdom. As a contrast to Universal this park was heaving with elbow room only available. I don’t think I have ever seen it quite so busy.

On the busy days you have to be organised to get the most out of the park. So we spilt up with Helen and Alex going over to Dinoland (after Africa and Asia Disney obviously felt there was nothing worth theming in Europe or the Americas) to go on one of the rides there while Mat and I went to get fast passes for the safari ride. There were so many people queuing for fast passes that by the time we reached the head of the queue they were giving them out to speed things along. This meant that we could also get another pass for Dinosaur.

While we were waiting for Helen and Alex to come off their ride Mat and I went on some of the fun fair attractions on which you can win soft toys as prizes. $20 later Mat had won a cuddly dragon and an alligator.

The whole family back together again and we tackled Dinosaur. The picture above is taken from the ride and looking at it you could be forgiven for thinking that it is the scariest ride imaginable - the woman bottom right certainly seems to have forgotten that dinosaurs last roamed the earth millions of years ago.

The safari ride is exactly as the name suggests riding through part of the park given over to a variety of animals including lions, giraffes, elephants etc. As ever it is cleverly done and you can (almost) believe that you are out of the park for ten minutes. You can see more pictures of the animals by clicking on the image below.

After the park we came back to the villa via Barnes and Noble, a great book shop where Helen could also satisfy her coffee cravings. We all found books that we wanted and couldn’t get in the UK. I have been looking in Waterstones in Reading for anything by Martin Cruz Smith for a while now and they have nothing in. Here I found a couple of books of his I have yet to read. Mat found two enormous books of guitar music which will be a challenge to get into the cases and not take us over the weight limit on the journey back!

Click the image above for all pictures for Animal Kingdom

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Today was chilly and very windy so it was on with the jumpers as we made our way to Universal for the very first time. Even though this is our fifth time to Orlando we have never been to Universal before - partly because of the additional cost but also because there has just been so much to do at Disney.

First impressions of Universal were not great as you are directed into a dark multi-story car park. Even though it is only a short walk from the car park to the park there are both moving walkways and escalators to ensure that you arrive at the park gates without having broken a sweat.

Universal is actually two separate parks with a shopping area separating the two. We elected to go into Universal Studios today, saving Islands of Adventure for another day.

When we went through the gates at just after nine we wondered if we were in the right place as it was empty. Whereas Disney is heaving and you are constantly elbowing people for space here you could look down a street and so no-one else. To have the place to ourselves suited us just fine!

First stop was Shrek 4D which is film shown in 3D (the 4th dimension to this, I’m guessing, is the moving seats rather than passing of time). It was slickly done but I also get a cross eyed sensation when watching things with 3D glasses. When then went to the Men in Black ride which was very similar to the Buzz Lightyear ride in Magic Kingdom. You sit is small cars and have laser guns to shoot aliens trying to get the highest score possible.

The boys haven’t ever seen the Blues Brothers film but Helen and I had and so wanted to see the musical tribute on one of the street corners. “Jake and Elwood” sang a few songs accompanied by a saxophonist before driving away in a copy of the car seen in the film. Must remember to get a copy of the film when we get back so the boys can see it.

The Simpsons ride is the newest attraction and this is where most people had made their way to and so there was a queue by the time we got there. However, the wait was well worth it. When the ride starts you are lifted into the air and the walls are lowered. Above and around you is a massive screen onto which is projected a Simpsons backdrop. At first this is a rickety roller coaster but later becomes Springfield. As the backdrop moves so does the car that you are in giving a very realistic sensation of moving. We all came off the ride having really enjoyed it and agreed that it was the best thing in Universal.

Finally, Jaws, based on the Spielburg film and with just as realistic shark!

All in all was had a great time at Universal and will be coming back in the next few days to redo the Simpsons ride at the very least. It was interesting to be able to compare Universal to Disney having now done them both and I think that while they are both great entertainment Disney is just that little bit slicker (and cleaner!)

 Click the image above for all pictures from Universal

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Weather was predicted to be wet today so we elected to go shopping rather than the parks. As it happened it only rained once and that was as we were walking from the car to the shops - hey ho.

There is nothing like the British High Street here in Orlando but outlets are big business with many recognised shops offering their wares at a discount. This includes the likes of Gap, Ralph Lauren, Nike and more shoe shops than you can possibly imagine.

Our favourite outlet has to be the Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores close to Disney. It is a relatively small collection of shops with a great little independent coffee shop selling British tea and Daily Mails (well, you can’t have everything).

One thing that I find really annoying is that the prices shown do not include tax so having carefully got the correct amount out I then have to fish around for that extra amount at the till. In fact I don’t even know what the tax rate is here - I think it is about 7% but it isn’t displayed anywhere so I cannot be sure. This practice means that prices seem cheaper than they really are as you never remember to take the tax into account until it is too late. I much prefer the the UK system - although I would prefer the US tax rate!

In the slightly less exciting world of grocery shopping we have discovered that the food is better at Publix but if you are after clothes and non-foods then the mighty Walmart is your place.

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When we were in the States a couple of years ago we decided to pick up walkie-talkies to allow us to stay in touch if we split up while in the parks. We found that the units worked well when we were trying them round the house but were completely useless in the parks unless you were stood virtually next to each other. This was because there were only 22 channels to choose from and when in a park the size of Disney World that’s quite a few people per channel.

This year we decided to try a different tack and go with a couple of pay-as-you-go phones. So when in Wal-Mart we picked up the cheapest phones we could find – two basic Nokia 1208’s on t-mobile. This came to the grand total of £26 and included a small amount of credit.

Registering them was straightforward on the t-mobile website and didn’t need address details, just the number code of your local area.

The best thing about the phones is that they are on a “pay by the day” tariff which has a charge of $1 for every day that you use the phone. Once you have paid your 1 USD you can then make unlimited calls to any other t-mobile number which, of course, includes the other phone.

Being on the mobile network the phones don’t suffer from the problem we had with the walkie-talkies and the only difficultly we have had so far is being able to hear the ring tone in the parks, even on the loudest setting.

I reckon that by the end of the holiday the phones and air time will have cost us just shy of £40, which is a small price for some peace of mind and will have been invaluable.

Thanks to Dirk for the tip.

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The last time we came here the park was called Disney MGM Studios so there has been a rebranding since then. However, all the attractions remain the same and it is still our favourite park. Probably because it’s the park with the most adult attractions. Including Indiana Jones, the Star Wars ride Star Tours, the backlot tour and Lights, Motors, Action!

Today we were given some “surprise” fast passes for Lights, Motors, Action! so we built our day around that. Fast passes are great as they allow you to skip the line and go straight to the front. I know it is meant to be British to queue but I dislike it - particularly when I am on holiday.

So, first up we went on the Great Movie Ride which takes you through animatronics scenes from famous movies such as the Wizard of Oz and Alien. Then we did the Backlot Tour which takes a look at what goes on behind the scenes on films. Then the Star Wars themed Star Tours ride which is basically a giant simulator but great fun.

Lights, Motors, Action! is, as the name suggests, a car stunt show looking at how car scenes are done in the movies and, as you can see from the video below, it is very spectacular.

You can see more pictures here.

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Whenever I go to Old Town (off marker nine on the 192), Blackpool springs to mind. Old Town is packed with small shops selling tat along with the usual selection of places to get fast food - including an “English” chip shop. At one end is a fun fair and a giant A frame to launch you into the sky on a bit of elastic.

However, Old Town has one redeeming feature and it certainly pulls in the crowds. Every Saturday night they have a car show where some 100 classic cars come together to be inspected and later cruise through the streets of the town.

There are many US classics on show, all beautifully prepared, and a surprisingly large number of English cars too. On show last night were a TR4 & 6, a couple of Austin Healey Sprites and an assortment of Minis. It is interesting to compare and contrast the big, brash US models with the much smaller European counterparts. Styling is also a lot more brash too as you can see from some of the interior pictures.

It’s a trip that I always enjoy and that the family grudgingly allows me to go to (I walk through the cars while they hit the shops). It makes me want to get on and do some more to my MG.

There are more pictures from the show here and check out the video below of the Ford Mustang driven by a member of ZZ Top!

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So we have made it into the US without any problems. In fact things went pretty smoothly. Once off the plane we were straight to the front of the security line to get our passports checked. Previously we have been waiting in line for over an hour so to be through so quickly was a real novelty. Then, once through, our baggage was already waiting for us on the carousel.  Orlando has this peculiar system where you collect your baggage and them put it onto another conveyer while you get a short train to the main terminal where (eventually) your baggage arrives on another conveyer. This year we were allowed to take our bags on the train saving another wait. So we made it to the car hire desk in double quick time.

We had already pre-booked a small SUV which we knew would be sufficient for what we wanted but the guy behind the Alamo desk had clearly recently been on the up-selling course as he tried to persuade us that what we had ordered wouldn’t be capacious enough for the four of us and our two bags. Also, apparently, we didn’t have enough three letter acronym insurance or road side assistance. What this guy hadn’t appreciated was that we had just stepped off a nine hour flight and were in no mood for his sales ploy. He got short shrift particularly from a disgruntled Helen.

So we were on our way. The SUV (a Kia something or other) of course had enough room for all our luggage along with another couple of families too. It also had the most vicious brakes I have ever encountered. One slight touch on the pedal was enough to put the rest of the family through the front windscreen!

Out on the road and we had the first problem of the trip when I missed the turning for the cash toll booth and went through the pre-pay lane meaning, no doubt, that I will have been caught on camera and will have a charge added to my card at some point. Don’t know how much and right now and I don’t want to know.

Got to the villa in good time. It helped that we have been here before and so were familiar with the roads. Dumped our stuff and went back out to get some food - Dominos and Chinese. Helen and I sat around like zombies for as long as we could manage (until 20:30 as it turned out) while the boys stayed up playing air hockey before finally getting to bed at 21:30.

Looking forward to our first full day tomorrow!

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