Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Bucket or Chuck-it: Team Phungo on the Road - Scotland, Manchester, Liverpool

You may have noticed there hasn't been a post here in a few weeks, that is because Team Phungo has been abroad travelling across the United Kingdom.  We were fortunate enoughed to be invited to a friends Wedding in a castle outside the Scottish town of Stirling. It was a great idea and a good time was had by all involved.

Bucket or Chuck-It

BuckChuck is yet another attempt at a review feature I want to add to Phungo.  Bucket refers to something being bucket list worthy, while Chuck-It is the opposite - stuff that really doesn't need to be on your bucket list (something like building a full 660 Topps Wal-Mart Paralllel set)

To start of BuckChuck I am going to look at our trip to the UK - I hope to return to some of these items in more detail eventually but who knows

Scotland
Inverness - Bucket - cool little down on northern tip of Loch Ness, appears to have a vibrant night life.

2013 05 25 Loch Ness Sunset (10:23 pm)


Loch Ness - Bucket - I don't know any of my European Geography, but this lake is huge, there is also a significant cool factor in checking out the home of an iconic real or mythical creature.
Nessie Shops - Chuck-It - stuff for the amatuer tourist.
Highland Club, Ft Augustus - Bucket - Monastary on the bottom side of the lake.  Rented out a few suites with friends and had a great time.
Glascow - Bucket - like Inverness a lively town with a decent music scene and some noteworthy cultural landmarks
Stirling Castle - Meh - Ok I am adding a third category, Meh.  Stirling Castle is interesting but I don't think it is necessary.  Regardless an enjoyable afternoon can be spent in Stirling
Weather - Meh - mixed a little colder and ranier then I would of liked

England
Manchester - Bucket - great town. I have no concept of how bit Manchester is, but it had entertainment value that rivals a town the size of Philadelphia.

Cavern Club with John Lennon Statue - 2013 06 01

Liverpool - Bucket - All Beatles all the time. Had a great afternoon here checking in on the early haunts of the fab four

Travel
Destination Wedding Europe - BUCKET and BOTTLE IT - if you have the resources and are fortunate enough to get invited to a Dstination Wedding, I strongly urge you to consider it.  
Driving in the UK - Chuck-It. Other side of the road, Shifting w/ the left hand, and roundabouts, it is the hat trick of driving hassles
UK Gas Prices - Chuck-It - 1.33/Litre - Dothe math and you will find out that petrol here is practically free
GPS in the UK - Bucket - If your driving I highly recomend it, and check out how your insurance works when travelling abroad.
UK via train - Bucket - great scenery, efficient, care free
Citizen M Hotel - Bucket - rooms may seem a bit tight to some but staying in these newer Eurostyle hotels was pretty cool.
Vittles Scotland/UK - Bucket - with a little resarch there is a lot of intersting stuff to find here. Big Bonus big push for everything natural/organic
Libations Scotland/UK - Bucket - they have ALWAYS craft beer here
Sundays in Europe - Chuck It - I can never figure out what places are going to be open on a Sunday when travelling abroad.  Most of this is ok, except figuring out the whole eating thing.
US Airways - Meh - Didn't have an issue this time through, but they how me for to many shoddy experiences in the past - they were adequate.  
Jet Lag - Bucket - Parts of Scotland are as far north as Alaska - the sunset goes on forever and twilight remains till near 11 pm.

Movies - When travelling I get to see a lot of stuff I may not ever watch otherwise....
This is 40 - Bucket - good enough or an inflight movie - and cameos Philadelphia Flyer Scottie Hartnall.
Identity Thief - Chuck-it - not even good enough for inflight
Jeff who lives at home - Chuck-it - not good anytime ever
Spies Lies and Naked Thighs - Meh - Late 80s Harry Anderson/Ed Begley Jr Vehicle - this was pretty bad and we didn't make it thru the whole movie but it may have some unintentional humour.
New Girl reruns - Bucket - show is better than I had thought originally

Trading Cards - Unknown - but I got a few packs of stickers (UEFA I think) and we will be checking them out.

Hope to get some more pix up and more details on the above eventually.  Had a great time abroad, but am glad to be back home.




 

1 comment:

Brad's Blog said...

Sounds like a fun trip, welcome back!

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