Shocked enough to write
I still have a week or so of travelog to post from our time in England, but the pace of life doesn't let up for such "luxuries". One thing is to find the time to travel, another is to find time to tell about it.
The way things are going, we will need to find more than just time to travel. Trudy, one of my assistants in the consulate, said her husband was planning to go to Lisbon last week on business, but decided not to when the travel agent said that the cheapest available round trip to Lisbon from here was on the order of $750. Helder said he didn't want first class, economy was fine...that was the economy fare! Abbie and I paid about $450 each the last trips we took.
The 600-mile bridge to the mainland hasn't been built yet, so driving is out. Although local driving is not out, it is already ouch. I stopped for gas on the way home today and glanced at the pump where the girl had just filled the tank on her sports car. €85! Even without pencil and paper, I knew that was a lot...turns out to be US$134 for the 14 gallons she pumped: $9.54 a gallon. I was just returning to my car after paying for my tank of gas, and I felt a momentary consolation: because I had chosen the cheaper grade of gas at $8.73 a gallon, I only paid $91.68 to put 10.5 gallons in my car.
Coming up: 1) pictures from the visit of Pastor Alan Pallister and family, who are with us for a couple of weeks. 2) A Test of English (for those of you who think you know English)--a pictorial review of signs encountered in Ireland and UK...you won't want to miss these signposts that mark the linguistic divide between the US and the UK. 3) All the Doors of Dublin --- another photo essay...ok, not ALL the doors, but you'll see what I mean.
The way things are going, we will need to find more than just time to travel. Trudy, one of my assistants in the consulate, said her husband was planning to go to Lisbon last week on business, but decided not to when the travel agent said that the cheapest available round trip to Lisbon from here was on the order of $750. Helder said he didn't want first class, economy was fine...that was the economy fare! Abbie and I paid about $450 each the last trips we took.
The 600-mile bridge to the mainland hasn't been built yet, so driving is out. Although local driving is not out, it is already ouch. I stopped for gas on the way home today and glanced at the pump where the girl had just filled the tank on her sports car. €85! Even without pencil and paper, I knew that was a lot...turns out to be US$134 for the 14 gallons she pumped: $9.54 a gallon. I was just returning to my car after paying for my tank of gas, and I felt a momentary consolation: because I had chosen the cheaper grade of gas at $8.73 a gallon, I only paid $91.68 to put 10.5 gallons in my car.
Coming up: 1) pictures from the visit of Pastor Alan Pallister and family, who are with us for a couple of weeks. 2) A Test of English (for those of you who think you know English)--a pictorial review of signs encountered in Ireland and UK...you won't want to miss these signposts that mark the linguistic divide between the US and the UK. 3) All the Doors of Dublin --- another photo essay...ok, not ALL the doors, but you'll see what I mean.
posted by EP | 4:36 PM | Permalink
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