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SVTPerformance's Chain of Restaurants
Road Side Pub
Glad I live in the US and not the UK.
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<blockquote data-quote="Uncle Meat" data-source="post: 16852056" data-attributes="member: 5089"><p>Easy answer first. There's <strong><em>nothing to see or do</em></strong> in the little town of Crewe where the wife and I currently are. We're only here because this is where my son and his wife reside. We originally scheduled our trip for 3 weeks with the intention of taking care of and assisting with the expected new baby. The tickets we purchased months ago are non-refundable and cannot be changed so we were locked in on our travel dates. The baby arrived about 20 days earlier than anticipated so by the time we arrived here there was nothing much for us to do but visit with my son and his family. </p><p></p><p>Trying to do anything here is considerably more challenging, frustrating, or unsatisfying when compared to the states. For example... Yesterday the plan was to take a train (we have 4 adults, a 3-year old, and a preemie to move around as a group, with all necessary support equipment) to a children's fun zone for a few hours so the 3-year old can play and get some exercise. You see the weather here sucks for the most part all year long, but is especially trash in November & December. Always damp, always cold, always grey. Not conducive to outside activities. British homes & flats are very small here so there's not a lot of room for a 3-year old to run around so there seems to be a lot of the "Play Centers" around the country for the kids. We decided to take the train North to Warrington, about a 15 minute ride, to the play zone there and then afterwards hit a Brazilian steakhouse for dinner before returning to Crewe. Train tickets cost £14 per person, one way. Kids were free. So that is a total of 8 tickets, 4 to get there, 4 to get back. We bought them in advance to save a few pence. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite11" alt=":rolleyes:" title="Roll Eyes :rolleyes:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":rolleyes:" /> So that's the equivalent of about $136 to get 4 adults 20 miles up the road. So we spend a couple hours at the play zone and then head to the restaurant. Keep in mind we are walking to all these locations because there is no other choice. No Uber, no Lyft, and very few taxi's which are prohibitively expensive. Plus none of them can hold 5 adults and 2 children, legally. The weather is below freezing at this time of the afternoon so walking is not very pleasant. We have a great dinner at the steakhouse and once done we head out towards the train station to catch our ride back. Unfortunately the rail workers are having a half-hearted strike so our train is delayed because there's no crew to drive it. Of course the train platform has no place to keep out of the weather so how long do we stand around in the freezing weather waiting for our delayed train? The answer was 1 hour before we said fug this. We then had to call 6 different taxi agencies until we found one who had access to a van and could drive us all back to Crewe. They actually had to call someone in special to do this. Cost for the 30 minute ride? About $125. As for our return tickets we couldn't didn't use? Too bad, so sorry says UK Rail. We were told quite rudely we should have remained on the platform until the train eventually came.</p><p></p><p>That is just one thing in a long list of BS we've had to put up with while we've been here. Nothing is simple, quick, or fast here.</p><p></p><p>While this countries buildings and infrastructure still look old and very "English" like you'd expect, the population is no longer made up of those polite & quaint old English folks you expect to see and meet. It's now primarily all immigrants who are quite cold and rude. </p><p></p><p>Go to London with your wife. Do the touristy thing and then get the hell out of there. </p><p></p><p>One other thing... this place is almost a totally cashless society now. Make DAMN SURE the credit card you plan on bringing with you doesn't stick it to you with each and every international transaction you make! My Visa/Debit card hits me up for 5% of everything I use it for on EVERY purchase!!!!!!! Don't even get me started with the raping you get on the conversion your CC uses when they convert the GBP to the US Dollar. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite4" alt=":mad:" title="Mad :mad:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":mad:" /></p><p></p><p>Okay the wife knows I'm mad by the cadence and sound of my bashing of keys as I type this all out. So before I go on another rant as to why this place sucks big hairy bawls I'll quit here.</p><p></p><p>U.M.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Uncle Meat, post: 16852056, member: 5089"] Easy answer first. There's [B][I]nothing to see or do[/I][/B] in the little town of Crewe where the wife and I currently are. We're only here because this is where my son and his wife reside. We originally scheduled our trip for 3 weeks with the intention of taking care of and assisting with the expected new baby. The tickets we purchased months ago are non-refundable and cannot be changed so we were locked in on our travel dates. The baby arrived about 20 days earlier than anticipated so by the time we arrived here there was nothing much for us to do but visit with my son and his family. Trying to do anything here is considerably more challenging, frustrating, or unsatisfying when compared to the states. For example... Yesterday the plan was to take a train (we have 4 adults, a 3-year old, and a preemie to move around as a group, with all necessary support equipment) to a children's fun zone for a few hours so the 3-year old can play and get some exercise. You see the weather here sucks for the most part all year long, but is especially trash in November & December. Always damp, always cold, always grey. Not conducive to outside activities. British homes & flats are very small here so there's not a lot of room for a 3-year old to run around so there seems to be a lot of the "Play Centers" around the country for the kids. We decided to take the train North to Warrington, about a 15 minute ride, to the play zone there and then afterwards hit a Brazilian steakhouse for dinner before returning to Crewe. Train tickets cost £14 per person, one way. Kids were free. So that is a total of 8 tickets, 4 to get there, 4 to get back. We bought them in advance to save a few pence. :rolleyes: So that's the equivalent of about $136 to get 4 adults 20 miles up the road. So we spend a couple hours at the play zone and then head to the restaurant. Keep in mind we are walking to all these locations because there is no other choice. No Uber, no Lyft, and very few taxi's which are prohibitively expensive. Plus none of them can hold 5 adults and 2 children, legally. The weather is below freezing at this time of the afternoon so walking is not very pleasant. We have a great dinner at the steakhouse and once done we head out towards the train station to catch our ride back. Unfortunately the rail workers are having a half-hearted strike so our train is delayed because there's no crew to drive it. Of course the train platform has no place to keep out of the weather so how long do we stand around in the freezing weather waiting for our delayed train? The answer was 1 hour before we said fug this. We then had to call 6 different taxi agencies until we found one who had access to a van and could drive us all back to Crewe. They actually had to call someone in special to do this. Cost for the 30 minute ride? About $125. As for our return tickets we couldn't didn't use? Too bad, so sorry says UK Rail. We were told quite rudely we should have remained on the platform until the train eventually came. That is just one thing in a long list of BS we've had to put up with while we've been here. Nothing is simple, quick, or fast here. While this countries buildings and infrastructure still look old and very "English" like you'd expect, the population is no longer made up of those polite & quaint old English folks you expect to see and meet. It's now primarily all immigrants who are quite cold and rude. Go to London with your wife. Do the touristy thing and then get the hell out of there. One other thing... this place is almost a totally cashless society now. Make DAMN SURE the credit card you plan on bringing with you doesn't stick it to you with each and every international transaction you make! My Visa/Debit card hits me up for 5% of everything I use it for on EVERY purchase!!!!!!! Don't even get me started with the raping you get on the conversion your CC uses when they convert the GBP to the US Dollar. :mad: Okay the wife knows I'm mad by the cadence and sound of my bashing of keys as I type this all out. So before I go on another rant as to why this place sucks big hairy bawls I'll quit here. U.M. [/QUOTE]
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SVTPerformance's Chain of Restaurants
Road Side Pub
Glad I live in the US and not the UK.
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