UK 2013 part 8 - Floating costs: Fuel, Food, Parking

Budget, budget, budget!

Yup, we need to figure out whether or not we can afford the trip.
All the time taht I am planning transportation, lodging and attractions, I a also noting the cost of each, as you can see on my trip itineraries.

But what about expenses that we can't pre-pay or book such as food, fuel, park charges, and souvenirs?

Souvenirs? What souvenirs?
Well, souvenirs will have to wait for their turn. If we can we can, if we can't, too bad.

Meals
How did I plan our meal expenses?
Well, in most cases our breakfast is included. There are only 4 days in which it isn't.

So we mostly have 2 extra meals to pay for.

What did I plan on? About £25/€25 per meal for 2.

How did I get to this price?

I did some online searching for typical prices of meals - eating cheap, like pub grub - and it turns out it ranges between £5 to £10. I figured then we might spend an average of £25 per meal. Some days might be slightly more, others slightly less. We might skimp on lunch to splurge on dinner. Either way, the idea is to average £25 or €25 per meal and try to not go over this price. That means try to not eat fancy.

How did I figure out those typical prices? Bing searches for "typical meal prices in ____" and google docs for local restaurants.

Doing it backwards is also an option. That's how I do when we go to Orlando and Brazil. I have an idea of what is realistic to expect of course. Then I establish how much I can spend meals, divide it by the number of meals, then find the places that will serve food for that price.
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Fuel
Gee, that's the hardest part. What I did was find the approximate mileage that we would be driving. Figure out the average mpg of the car we will be driving. Then I check websites that give us prices of fuel in England (in liters.

After I get all this data I use the following formulas:

Total of Miles/Miles per gallon = total gallons spent.

Turn gallons into liters.

Liters * pounds per liter = total pounds spent on fuel

http://www.petrolprices.com/
http://www.pumps.ie/

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Parking

That's not really hard, just time consuming. What I did was find the parking lots (car parks) on google maps or one city websites. Some city websites will also give you the cost per hour. So I could calculate the approximate amount of money spent by the approximate amount of hours we were going to spend at the place.

I also checked for places where I could park for free. Some street parking is free at certain times of the day and on certain days of the week.

UK 2013 part 7 - lodging and transportation

Tight budget
Because we travel on a super tight budget, price is a major thing we have to consider. many times we passed on great places because the price was just too high above our means. However, when there's minimal difference between the ideal place and the cheaper place - we go with ideal.
We have also learned that cheapest is not always cheapest if you consider distance and breakfast charges. If you are going to be too far from your attractions or if you will be paying ridiculous amounts of money for breakfast (if you eat breakfast), the cheapest place might end up expensive.
Also - be ready to get there, take the bite of the charge for a one night stay and say - "sorry, can't stay in this piece of junk." Your sanity is more important than your money.


Searching for transportation

Transportation is a big thing I consider. Car rental or public transportation? Which public transportation options do I have and how can I get deals for them?
Also are there sight-seeing tour buses? Is it worth it?

When we stay in big cities we forego the car. Driving in a place like London, Boston, NYC, Washington-DC, Salvador or Rio de Janeiro is a terrible idea for me. The terrifying thoughts of being stuck on mile-long traffic jams, lost in some dark street, and spending a lot of money on fuel waisted. 

When we were in London, we turned in the car and saved 4 days of rental. We purchased the Oyster card - which allowed us to travel on the Tube and on buses. The Oyster is rechargeable and we each put £50 in our cards, which gave us extra cash. 

We took the Tube a lot, and we also walked a lot. Many attractions are within walking distances, and walking also makes for finding little wholes-in-the-walls. We only took the Tube when the distance was too long to make a walk worthwhile. We also took a cab when we had no idea where to start - for instance, from the airport to the hotel.

In Dublin, Belfast, York, Liverpool, Bath, and Edinburgh, where we only spent a day each time, we found a cheap parking garage (in British is car park), and dropped the car there for the hours we stayed there. I had researched parking garages before I left home. I knew where they were and how much they cost. I also researched free street parking. Certain places are free at certain hours and days of the week. 

To NYC and Boston, I leave the car at a train station (some stations have free parking) and take the train in. When I was there with family, we took sight-seeing buses. When I go by myself I take the subway.

In DC I also take the subway and the sight seeing bus with my family.

In Rio de Janeiro, since the fam was with us, we rented a van with a driver/guide, and a sight seeing bus. But if it were only Dean and I we would have used public transportation.  

In Petropolis we had a driver/van and paid a city guide to come with us for a few hours, but we were not very fond of his work.


In Salvador, I take the bus. But if you are not a local, get a van with driver. Salvador's public transportation system is insane and makes no sense to anyone who has not lived there their whole lives.

In small towns we drive. We could have opted for the rail in England if we only cared about going from point  A to point B.
But the getting there is part of the experience, so we drive.


Car rentals
There are several ways we usually rent cars. We use:
the AAA website,
the airlines mileage website
the credit card website
Expedia
 Kayak (my new favorite) searches several different travel agencies, general car rental agencies, and specific rental agencies. They found me a British car agency called Holiday Autos that charged my credit card as a local transaction.

Consider the  size of the car, as well as whether it is a manual or automatic. We always try for manuals and mini sizes. They fit anywhere, are more economical and fit our family size.

Hidden vs. disclosed fees - call first and get a better deal
Comparing rentals is very complicated. 
There are fees that don't always get disclosed. 
The cheapest rental might actually be the most expensive.

Tip: read the fine print, read the contract, read anywhere that says "fee", "included", "not included". In doubt - call them.

With Holiday Autos, I was not sure what fees were included in it. It sounded like the 3rd cheapest one (after autoeurope for $250 and rentalcars for $258 - they all quote in dollar)
But autoeurope had a £40 one-way fee, and rental cars - I found after a lot of searching in their website - has a £50 one-way fee, even though the first additional driver was already included.

I called Holiday Autos to inquire about a one-way fee. They assured me there was none, and even quoted me on $261 instead of $285.

Fees - These are the ones I learned about:

1. prime-location fee
2. mandatory insurance
3. additional driver fee
4. value added tax (UK)
5. fire insurance
6. mileage (limited or unlimited)
7. one-way fee (different drop-off location)
8. road fund fee (UK)
9. any extra addition to your rental, such as baby seats, GPS, etc.
10. airport fee

When you get to the rental agency and they charge you a lot of extras and you say, "But I didn't see any of these values", they will point to the part of your contract that says, "additional fees might be charged locally"

Searching for lodgingAgain, here are my websites where I have searched for B&Bs as well as Inns/Taverns:
http://www.toprooms.com/EviivoCoop/hotel/uk/
http://www.4hotels.co.uk/    (used it last trip)
http://www.pubsulike.co.uk/index.asp - I just found this one, but they don't have much. I actually just posted the two places I found in Cookstown there. 
http://www.tripadvisor.com is another good place - since it saved my life. I post reviews there too.
google maps (looking for icons of beds on the map)
bing.com (typing key words such as "inns taverns England" or "inns taverns near _______")


The following is a list of some places I have looked into while trying to find a place to stay:

Costwolds  - We choose The Mouse Trap Inn for its best price and for being a tavern

In Bourton-on-the-water:
Dial house hotel  http://www.dialhousehotel.com/flash/index.html (over £100 per night)(hotel)
The Mousetrap Inn http://www.mousetrap-inn.com/onlinebooking/  (Jul31-Aug2 -£122.00)(£61 per night)(breakfast included ) (tavern)
In Bledington:
The King's Head: http://www.thekingsheadinn.net/contact-us/ - (start £95 night ) (hotel)
In Winchcombe:
The White Hart Inn: http://www.whitehartwinchcombe.co.uk/  - (£81 per night) (hotel)
In Great Rissington:
The Lamb Inn: http://www.thelambinn.com/  (£115 night)(hotel)
In Lacock:
The Thatched Cottage: http://www.thatchcottagelacock.com/?page_id=5 (£80 to £90 night) (B&B)
Damson Cottage: http://damsoncottage.2day.ws/ (£70 night) (B&B)
In Stow-On-The_wold: http://www.number-nine.info/index.php - (£65 night) (B&B)

Oxfordshire - we chose The Crown Inn for being a cheaper tavern relatively close to the places we will go. The Buckingham Hotel was a better location and price, but for just £3 extra we chose a tavern over a hotel. 

In Dorchester-On-thames:
Crown Cottage http://www.crowncottage.net/crowncottage.net/Welcome.htm  (£70 night)(B&B)
In Benson: http://www.crowninnbenson.co.uk/accommodation.html (£50 per night - no breakfast)(£150)(tavern)
In Long Wittenham : http://www.grangebb.com/ (start £60 per night) (B&B) 
In Wyncombe:
Buckingham Hotel http://www.buckinghamhoteluk.com/ (£47 night - no breakfast)


Scotland - we chose the Alvey House


In Newtonmore
Eagle view. http://www.eagleviewguesthouse.co.uk/ (£72 night) (B&B)
Alvey House Hotel: http://www.alvey-house.co.uk/index.html (B&B) (£63 night)
The owners just recently retired but the new owners said they would honor the previous rate we quoted on line.   

In Glasgow - We are spending the night here bc this place is across the street from the airport and our flight leaves in the morning. This way we have a full day wherever we want to go and drive to the airport the night before the flight.
http://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/208/Glasgow-Airport-hotel/rooms-rates?from=list ( £23night) (motel)


Lake district - we choose the Greenbank Country House. We were decided to stay at the Elm Tree, whose owner is an Everest climber and the place is just minutes away from downtown. But toprooms showed me this gem - a wonderful view in the country part of Keswick, for a lower price? What a find! Bye bye, Everest.

In Kewswick :
The Elm Tree Lodge http://www.elmtreelodge-keswick.co.uk/index.htm -  £32.5 (pp/pn)
Little Town Farm http://www.littletownfarm.co.uk/Accommodation/Rooms/ - this is a farm Hotel (80.00 per night).
ivy lodge start @ £30 (person, night)
the inn £47.5 (person/night)
oakwaite house £33(person/night)
The GreenBank Country House http://www.greenbankcountryhouse.co.uk/ (farm hotel) (£55 night)

Northern Ireland - we chose The Belfast House for being a Tavern.

In Cookstown

Fortview: http://fortviewbandb.com/ (£60 night) (B&B)
Manorview: http://manorviewbandb.com/ (B&B) (£50 night)
The Central Inn: http://thecentralinn.com/ (tavern) (breakfast incl.) (£50)
The Belfast house: http://www.belfasthouse.co.uk/ (tavern) (breakfast incl.) (£55)

UK 2013 part 6 - date change: Skype & Tripadvisor

Date change mess-up - Tripadvisor to the rescue

So I mess up sometimes. I try to be as thorough as possible, but sometimes I mess up.

Before I start booking places, I first check availability of every lodging, flight, car rental and anything that might make our trip non-viable concerning price and availability.

Once everything is checked and double checked, I start booking and paying.

Since our dates changed twice, I went back to every lodging place, every car rental place, and checked the flights as well. 


As soon as I made sure everything was viable, I started booking and paying for the stuff that had to be paid in advance.

Well, I made sure about everything but The Central Inn. 

Yes, I had emailed them to check the new dates, but I forgot to wait for a reply. By the time The Central Inn replied saying they were fully booked on my new trip dates, I had already paid for and booked everything else.

I freaked. I had already exhausted my searching places - 4hotels, toprooms, google maps...  the only place I had left to look was trip advisor. Praise the Lord! Trip advisor had, at the bottom of the list, an extra tavern in Cookstown - the place called The Belfast House.

Booking without internet - Skype

They had no online booking, so the next day, in the morning we called them with Skype. They had B&B rooms for £55/night. True. £5 more a night - I lost us £20.

UK 2013 part 5 - Flights

Last night I got on the computer to go back to planning. This part of my trip  planning is called ... Ta-dah! ... booking flights!


Best money-time-value relationship

First:
Websites.

My go-to site to book anything within the US or US-Europe has been Expedia. However Kayak.com is a great helper too!

Next:

I checked leaving from a nearby airport. It was so much more expensive, that it was cheaper to rent a car in and out of Logan.

So yeah, check for different starting options. and consider how to get in and out of there:
Do you have a ride?
Where are you going to leave your car? How much do they charge for long term parking at the airport? Some airport motels charge very little to have you leave your car at their parking lot. Call them!
Will you take the subway or a cab into the airport?
Do you really want to drag luggage (if you travel with large luggage like I do when I go to Brazil) cross town till you get to the airport?

In case you are wondering, all Brazilians carry large luggage when going home to visit. That's because they are carrying order packages for mom, little brother, neighbor, church friend, classmate from first grade they just reconnected to on Facebook  and the classmate's dog. If you are like a Brazilian - remember to consider how to get to airport carrying all that luggage. it might be worth to pay more for transportation.

Third:
I considered how to maximize the itinerary and specific dates that had to be met. We had to spend one Sunday in Cookstown for family connections and another Sunday in Wendover for more family connections.

Fourth:
To maximize time on task and minimize time in transit - still keeping budget in mind - I looked into a number of flight combinations - single and multi-destinations:

-Boston-Dublin-Boston;
-Boston-London-Boston;
-Boston-Dublin-Edinburgh-Boston (that would made need for only one flight between islands)
-Boston-London-Edinburgh-Boston.

At first I had opted for Boston-London-Edinburgh-Boston. I figured we'd land in London. Saturday - London; Sunday-Wendover; Midweek-Cotswolds; Luton-Dublin via Ryanair; Ireland till Sunday. Dublin-Liverpool via Ryanair; midweek-Lake District; end of week-Scotland; then home.
This was the second cheapest option. It made sense from a travel line point of view, and not lose a day going back to your original port of entry.

Fifth:
I had to take into account the cost of the tickets between islands as well. Ryanair is the cheap way to fly if you are not carrying luggage. Tickets as low as €16. But you have to keep checking for sales and they usually have sales for flights in 14 days - don't book too early.
Since the cheapest option was Boston-Dublin-Boston, I considered the option of starting the trip in Ireland. Then Ryanair Dublin-London. Then follow the path up to Scotland. on the day we fly home we would take Ryanair Glasgow-Dublin.  To get to Glasgow from our final destination was just a matter of hours and no day would be lost except for the day already lost which is back-home day.

Sixth:
BOOK IT! After I made sure the dates were set on stone, I started booking. I booked the flight with Expedia this week, after I made sure every Tavern and B&B we wanted was available and car rentals were reasonable. Then I went on to book the lodging.

Booking lodging is another posting.

For now, that's all, folks!

UK 2013 part 4 - Ireland

Since I had lined up the South of Liverpool part of the trip, I went on to Ireland.

I started planning Ireland first, bc we were looking into traveling into Dublin.

Travel Books and Videos:
Part of planning is going to Barnes and Noble, grabbing a coffee, and flipping through travel books. I decided to do that bc we had too much free time in Ireland, too much free time in the Cotswolds, too much free time in Keswick, and too much free time in Scotland. Not too much, but simply free time and I would hate to be driving up and down without a clue of what to do. So let's have fun at the bookstore together.
Those books have so far helped me find interesting things in Ireland.
But videos are also useful. Besides Rick Steves, we have watched Traveling with Kids, a Channel on Roku made by a couple and their 2 little boys.

Saturday:

Linen Hall Library in Belfast

We found out in a travel guide (either Michelin or DK) that the Linen Hall Library in Belfast has a place where you can make genealogical search. we also found out that they open on Saturdays (9:30-4) and admission is free (though donations are encouraged).
The Linen Hall is the oldest Libray in Ireland, and I read somewhere that it holds the oldest books in Northern Ireland, as well as the oldest newspaper. The Bobbin is their new cafe, and apparently the name is the result of a popular contest.

Originally we would spend this Saturday in Dublin, but we figured we'd do Dublin on the last day, and go try to find genealogical info before we made it to the church.

St. George's Market - click here to watch a video abut it.
From Dublin to Belfast is only 1h40m-trip, so we would make it there at around 11. We figure we could eat lunch at St. George's Market (Sat 9-3). St. George's Market is one of Belfast oldest attractions (1890) and considered one of the best markets in Great-Britain. If you are a New Englander, think one of those Big E convention center buildings, with lots of free food sampling. Last time we were there we bought Turkish Delight, learned what a guzunder is, and talked to locals. I was not planning on going back there, but, hey, now that we have an important genealogical research to make on a Saturday, why not?

So, lunch at St. George's Market, the research at the Linen Hall Library till 4, then a black cab tour of the city murals.

Black Cab Tours:
They are tours of Belfast that last approximately 1h30m and cost between £25-30 for up to 2 people. The neat thing is that they take you to a tour of the murals, but they will also do
 - City Centre
- Political Districts
- Wall Murals
- Cemetery and Graveyard
- Titanic Shipyards
- City Hall
- Traditional Pubs and Bars
- St Annes Cathedral
- Cave Hill
- Queens University
- Ulster Museum
- Belfast Peace Wall
This list is taken straight our of this website: http://www.belfasttours.com/about.htm
But the other one i found, more expensive, is this one:http://belfastblackcabtours.co.uk/

Sunday:

That's church day. We will go to a Presbyterian Church in Pomeroy, where we found a lot of family last name in the burial ground at the church.


Monday:
Probably spend the day on genealogy reserach. We might do the City Hall records in Cookstown, and follow up on any links we find.
Dinner at McCartney's. We have to to find this place that we drove through while getting lost in Cookstown whereabouts.

Why dinner at McCartney's? Well, can you guess which McCartney I love? Of course I want dinner or a drink at this place.

Tuesday:

If we run out of genealogy links, we will probably do the drive from Cookstown, through the Sperrin Mountains, to Londonderry - the only completely walled city in Northern Ireland - and to the Giant's Causeway (which we both loved), doing a coastal drive (which Dean fell in love with) all the way to Glenariff Forest Park.
Than back to our homebase in Cookstown.
 in case dinner the night befoe didn't work, we will try dinner or drink at McCartney's again.


Wednesday:
Dublin
the Book of Kells at the Trinity College (€8.50 each, if booked online).
The Book of Kells is a 9th-century gospel manuscript - the four gospels in the latin Vulgate text- written on Vellum (prepared calfskin) - housed in this 18th-century library at Trinity College. It's supposed to have originated in a monastery the island of Iona, west of Scotland, and maybe finished at Kells (after a Viking raid made the monks take refuge at Kells, County Meath).

The Crypt of St. Michan's (€4 each) after lunch.

 The Crypt is these vaults underneath this still active church where mummified remains of the Dublin's most influential families were found. There is a lot of legend around it, such as a supposed crusader, but apparently and unfortunately, the oldest body in there is only 650 years dead.
Our guide in 2011 was amazing! So knowledgeable about the world. He knew I was either a Corinthians or a Palmeiras fan, and argued that the Beatles were actually Irish.
I hope we meet him again.

On Saturday it's better to do St. Michan's first, bc they close earlier (10-12:45 vs 2:00 to 4:45  during the week).  On Sunday, forget St.Michan; the church is active and they hold service there.
On another weekday, I'd do Book of Kells first since they open early [Mon-Sat 09:30-17:00; Sun (May-Sep) 09:30-16:30; (Oct-Apr) 12:00-16:30.]

We will have lunch or dinner at the Brazen Head - supposedly the oldest pub in Ireland, then head to the airport.

We might turn in the car as soon as we get there and take public transport to save on parking  Let's see which is more economical.

UK 2013 part 3 - South of Liverpool

Last I wrote I had been looking for taverns.
Argh!!! 




Then I went on to do some actual planning. I will get back to lodging later.

Assuming we would be arriving in Ireland on a Saturday, then moving to the London area mid-week, the next part of the planning is the Cotswold district.


Mid-week:
Visit the Cotswolds. Windsor will be packed anytime, but the Cotswolds will probably be empty of tourists during the week.

I discoverede the Cotswold District by chance last trip-planning, while searching with the key words "Quaint villages in England." I started reading on them and the name Cotswolds got mentioned a lot. So I started narrowing my search by using that word too! 

Cotswold means any of an English breed of a large, long-wooled sheep. That area had its hay day during the height of the wool industry.That's why you'll see huge cathedrals there. As wool declined, so did the area. The houses decayed and the people could not modernize them. It stayed stuck in time, giving the Costwolds that quaint little-village atmosphere my Dean so dearly wanted to see. Who would have thought their demise would also become their glory.

While searching, I came across this website: http://www.cotswolds.info/places/ 
It has given me a north on my trip planning. It lists (probably) all the Cotswolds towns and some suggestions of where to eat and where to stay.

This Website helps you navigate the Costwolds. It even has a map to give you an idea of what the are is like.

While in the website, check out a link that talks about deserted towns: http://www.cotswolds.info/blogs/deserted-villages.shtml#deserted_villages

Saturday morning: 
Visit the Windsor Castle. 
£17.50 each, and extra £5.45 each to visit the Great Kitchen (which has been active for nearly 750 years).

They suggest you plan to arrive after 11:30, when it's  less busy, and plan about 2.5 to 3 hours for that visit.

But from March to October the place is open 09:45-5:15 (with last admission at 4pm). 

You can also choose the tower tour instead of the kitchen; there's the tour of the Queen Mary's Doll House. Check their website. The Semi-State rooms won't. They only open from October to March (odd!)

We want to be there as soon as it opens. We will try to see the change of the guard there instead of in London. Check out the dates for the change of the guard. I July it happens everyday. From August to March, it happens every other day.

In the afternoon: 
Visit London.
No, we are not doing the London sight-seeing stuff.  We've done that, and decided no need to repeat it. If we were doing the London experience, we would need more time - like last time. We did sight-seeing and we went into several buildings, such as the Jewel Tower, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Tower of London.
This time, we are going to London for some private reasons. ....  a few old-style-shaving stores (Taylor of Old Bond Street is one of them), and Paul's house. You know which Paul I mean - the love of my life, the most talented musician on earth - and yes, I know where his house is. What kind of a Beatles fan would I be if I didn't know that? 
If I am lucky he will be there ... if not lucky, I will leave a note... something like, "Drop Nancy, I'm yours." kind of thing. Oops, did Dean hear that?

Pick and Choose
We were going to try to visit the Buckingham Palace, but chose to skip it. Since our time is limited and we want to prioritize our own little selfish reasons to go there, we chose to pick one royal home to see, and we picked Windsor. Why? Windsor will definitely be open in either July or August, while before July 27 the state rooms in Buckingham are closed for visitors.

We could co see the Royal Mews (the stable) or the Queen's Gallery (I am so not an artsy person...) 

The change of the guard, happens everyday (from May to July) at 11:30 till July. But I read in a forum at Rick Steves website that the one at Windsor is more beautiful. Also It costs  £19.00 (latest admission at 4:45) versus £17.50 from Windsor.

It's breaking my heart that we can't go in to have a cup of tea with Her Majesty... but hey I will survive...

Sunday 
Church in Wendover to try to find Humphreys. Rest of the day to follow up on clues about the Humphreys.

Monday 
So far on Monday we will drive up to Liverpool and maybe York.
The Beatles Liverpool is already out of my system. I did it last time. I'm good. ... I did my once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to the Beatles Mecca.
We have also already done the York thing (even though we didn't make it into the Cathedral). If you want to know about those places, read my memoirs of UK2011 trip.
The reasons we might stop by Liverpool or York is to meet friends of Dean for a drink or meal while we drive up to our next destination - the Lake District.

However, I have suggested Dean to maybe look into genealogical archives in Wendover on Monday, skipping Liverpool and York altogether.

Well, that's all for now, folks!

Here are the links for the places I have mentioned in this post:

Costwolds information place: http://www.cotswolds.info/places/

What's cool about it: The Costswolds is a place where, centuries ago, the Wool industry made afluent. With the decline of the wool industry, so did the affluence of the area. T

to the Bukingham Palace: http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/visit/buckinghampalace/what-to-see-and-do/the-state-rooms

What's cool about it: The Buckingham Palace is the working headquarters of the Monarchy, where The Queen carries out her official and ceremonial duties as Head of State of the United Kingdom and Head of the Commonwealth.

to the Windsor Castle: http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/visit/windsorcastle/plan-your-visit

What's cool about it: Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world. It has been the family home of British kings and queens for almost 1,000 years. It is an official residence of Her Majesty The Queen. The Kitchen has been active for about 750 years. And I read on a Rick Steves discussion forum (where people give their opinions) that the change of the guard there is much more impressive than at Buckingham.

UK 2011 Day 5

Day 5

• Get car @ Alamo @ 8:30 am

Cost - £ 28.12 (left over)

• Drive through George's childhood home (25 Upton Green), through Paul's childhood home (20 Forthlin Rd.)
• Park at Yellow Tree Road
• Walk to Strawberry Fields (Beaconsfield Rd.), St.Peter's Church, (Church Rd), through Mendips (251 Menlove ave).
• Drive through QuarryBank School (Harthill Rd)
• Park around Penny Lane and walk down it.
• Drive through George's birth home (12 Arnold Grove), through Ringo's birth and childhood homes (Admiral Grove and 9 Madryn)

addresses to park: Burgess St, Craven St, Kempston St, Lambert St.

cost – £5.00

• Walk to the Jacaranda (21-23 Slater Street ), The Grapes (corner of Knight St and Roscoe St.) Liverpool Institute (Mount St) and Liverpool Art College (68 Hope St.)
• Walk to The Beatles Story

address – Albert Dock

cost – £ 13

• Lunch @ The Cavern Club

address – 10 Matthew St.

cost – free from Mon-Wed

• Walk by the NEMS (12-14 Whitechapel)
• Drive (through Prestbury, Chipping, Keswick if there is time) to Days Inn Abington M74

address to park - Welcome Break Srvc Area J13M74 Lanarkshire, ML12 6RG UK

We got the car at Alamo and that's when we were extremely upset at them. They had charged out credit card for those 2 days we were in Ireland, bc they could not figure out where the keys were, therefore we made them lose money on a car that had to stay parked instead of being rented. They had the guts to tell us we did something stupid by leaving the keys inside the car.

"would you do that to your own car?" the guys asked.

"Yes, actually, we do that to our cars every time we leave it at the mechanic, because it's too late at night for him to be there for us." You know, some of us work for a living.Shut up, Virginia. Anyway, he took the charge off the card when we told him where the keys were.

Then we got another Vauxhaul. This one was driving awful, and it was bigger than what we paid for again, but we took it, just to exchange 2 days later.

As usual, since I stink as a tuour group guide, we left the hotel late again. Got to breakfast late to start with. Anyway, we did see George's and Paul's childhood homes, but we couldn't get to Ringo's. 

The walk's first stop was John's Childhood home. From there we took the back roads (it's a very residential area) and found St. Peter's church, where John and Paul met as teenagers. I started to get a little desperate when we kept walking and the church was nowhere, but then this guy with a British accent helped us find it. 

The walk to Strawberry Fields was really long too, and I confess I was a bit scared of the the deserted place, but in the end it was ok - and worth it.

We really enjoyed the walk through the residential area. Getting to see the houses and the cars people have parked in their garage is neat.

From Strawberry Fields we were really close to the car, so we made our way back to the car to go look for their childhood school which we did not find.

We also could not find the parking spot I had scheduled for Penny Lane, there were cars parked everywhere on both sides of every road. So we drove through Penny Lane. I think next time I want to find a way to walk there.

We were late anyway, so we headed straight to the Beatles Story, at the Dock. Dean convinced me to do the Beatles experience. I did, and I learned nothing, bc I already know so much about the Beatles... The cool thing was buying shirts and a lunch box.

That really put us behind schedule.... gotta build in time for unexpected activities next time. We were going to walk to Cavern, but, hey, Dean was tired and we would never make it on any reasonable time. So we skipped the Jacaranda, Liverpool Institute, and Liverpool art College. I have to be honest, they looked so much closer on the map! We drove towards the Cavern club and found a street parking lot.

Of course it turned out that we were late for our lunch at the Cavern Club. We went in there and took pictures, but it was close to 5. We walked to the Grapes and meant to take pictures at the Beatles hiding spot (they went there when they wanted to hide from the crazed fans from Carven Club. We couldn't do that bc some fat old guy with the butt crack showing. We waited and waited and then we figured it was time to go. We ate this pub on Matthew street called Flanagan's Apple. I ordered a blue drink and FINALLY ATE FISH AND CHIPS!

It was too late to do anything, we were driving toScotland and wanted to do it through the Lake District. We got to the lake district at dusk and saw some cute towns - the ones mentioned above - Prestbury, Chipping, Keswick. We got to  our road side Days Inn in Abbington Scotland at around midnight... (what else is new?) and I warned Dean we could not be late the next day or else we would not make to the castles... - now an exercise in making predictions - can you guess what happened the next morning?