More observations and cultural differences from this weekend...

Everyone says how expensive things are over here.  My obseravtions so far is that they are expensive because the dollar is weak compared to the pound.  A shirt that sells for $20 at home sells for 20 pounds here.  Same with shoes, boots, video games, etc.  I guess if you are here on holiday (Brit word for our vacation) things would be expensive.  I do reserve my final vote until I am here for a while, maybe I just haven't seen a lot of stuff yet.

We found Kalle a book published in 1893.  Karl gets the new book, it was published in 1902.  (Thanks for the tip Becky - hope you enjoyed your trip btw.)

Swiping credit cards seemed to confuse a few people here.  Apparently they have chip on the side of their cards so they insert the credit card into their hand held credit card machines.  We did have to tell a few people to turn the card around so their machines would read the magnetic stripe on the card.

The lights in the hotel only stay on if you insert the key into a room key slot on the wall by the door.  Energy saving I guess.  Another energy saving method is that all of the hotel room outlets have switches next to them so you need to turn on the outlet before you can use it.

At restaurants it is considered impolite to bring the check so patrons have to ask for it.  Most places do not expect tips.  A lot of restaurants also close after lunch and open at 6 PM for supper.  Then you have places like Burger King that are open all day but close at 7:30 PM during the week and 5:30 PM on Sunday.    

The Standing Order, a pub that used to be a bank.  We met the world famous Kathy Elliott there Saturday night.  Hey Mark - when are you coming over?

Ye Olde Dolphin - Derby's oldest pub.  It was established in 1530.  For a little historical perspective, Columbus "discovered" America in 1492.  The Spanish San Miguel de Guadalupe colony was established by South Carolina in 1526 and the English Jamestown colony was established in 1607.

The structure is original but the interior furnishings were not original.

Corn Beef Hash with egg and a bowl of chips.  I saw it on the menu and had to try it, Holly and Uncle Fran would understand.  Not what we get in the States though.  Think boiled potatoes cut into quarters and covered with Manwich sloppy joe mix.  The egg did help.

The food has been mostly good overall.  Breakfast sausages are "different", not terrible but no seconds for me thanks.  The beer is not warm either.  Not as cold but definetely not warm.  Most beer is pumped at the bar from kegs stored in the cellar.  But I have seen quite a few tapped beers advertised as "extra cold".  From what one bartender explained they pressurize the keg which keeps the beer colder.  They also don't pump the extra cold beers from the bar, they just open the tap and CO2 pushes it out of the keg like your basement kegerator.  This is the kind of stuff I find interesting.

Ye Olde Dolphin has a haunted cellar, above is the sign advertising the next tour.  The existing pub building used to be the original pub next to a doctor's office.  So when a person died at the doctor's office they would put the body in a part of the pub's cellar until burial.  According to legend a person was declared dead and woke up in his coffin in the cellar.  His spirit now haunts the pub.

Lori next to the door leading to the old coffin storage part of the cellar.  Visitors are not allowed in that part of the cellar.  It actually goes further underground so the floor is slippery and the ceiling is lower than the door shown.  The cellar was neat, Lori wants to come back and do the tour.

We also went to Sainsbury's, a local grocery store.  I didn't take a picture but we found "Table Still Water" (bottled water) for 17 pence (pence=cents, pound=dollar in money lingo).  The Sainsbury brand was 84 pence.  Before we bought the table still water I wanted to read the label since it was so cheap.  There was a warning on it to drink the water within 3 days of opening the bottle and refridgerate it after opening.  Needless to say we did not buy the table still water.  I'm still not sure what goes bad in drinkable water that you have to drink it within 3 days.  And I hope I do not find out.

And they even have stores my dad would like.

Thanks for listening,

Jay