Update (new trip)

Hey, blog followers (you will only get this message if you follow my blog through Google). I know that I haven't posted for around a year, making this blog officially "stale", but I thought that I should announce my next trip that qualifies as "blog-worthy". In October of this year, I will be traveling to Eindhoven, The Netherlands, to participate in the Dutch Cube Day. A new twist has been added to the blog: in addition to my perspective on things, my mother will be joining us and offering her side of the experience!! If you're looking for the blog, the URL will be http://www.dcdeindhoven.blogspot.com (it has not been officially created yet, but I will get around to it eventually). This may change, but I will make sure to spread the word if it does.

A couple more questions answered. Most of them are from Kathy. In fact, all are from Kathy. To respond to the question about the puzzle, read one of my latest posts (second latest, I think). No, I did not manage to solve it. Well, actually, I did technically solve it, but I can't exactly proclaim myself a brainiac because of it. I had to go on YouTube and watch a video solution several times over in order to bring it to a solved position; at which point I bragged for a little while then told Grandpa the truth and promptly called off the bet. Also, my legs have in fact recovered (believe it or not) but I haven't gotten over my caffeine addiction. BTW, in case you havn't seen many pictures of the tower bridge, there's one with a blog post. In case you hadn't figured out where the walkways are, they're on that big long blue part with the royal crest (?) kinda visible on them. Dad loves his new toy (WOW) and I'm starting to miss being able to play with it when I'm bored. Also, Magic Camp is coming up and I think that I will be using the chain escape during the campre's show.

Posted comments not showing up :-(

It has come to my attention that a number of people have made comments but they just haven't been published for some reason.
We love hearing what you've had to say about the trip so if you have said something or asked a question,my apologies for not answering. Please post again . If you are posting under "anonymous" you can tell right away if it works because a caption will pop up saying "your comment has been saved". if you don't see this message, chances are that your comment has gone to never-never land.

Here's a (hopefully) complete list of all of the souvenir items that I accumulated during my trip. The ones that came free of charge are marked with a *.

Bags*
Grandma was smart. Every time someone asked if we wanted a bag, she said "yes". She even specifically asked for a bag sometimes. They make great souvenirs and they're cheap.

Harrod's (large)
Harrod's (small)
Hamley's
British Museum (x2)
Transport Museum
Historic Scotland (museum)
Davenport's Magic Shop
Tower of London
Hard Rock Café

Fliers*/magazines*/newspapers*
"This is London" travel guide
Kensington Palace (we didn't go there)
"Connoiseurs Scotland"
"Where"
The London Paper
Welcome to Edinburgh (x2)
Hatchard's: a short history
Camera Obscura
The Real Mary King's Close
Pollock's Toy Museum
Edinburgh Castle
Daily Telegraph
Celsea Physic Garden

I also got 5 maps (free)

Tickets
Tower Bridge Exhibition
City Sightseeing London
The Original Tour
The London Eye
We Will Rock You
London Underground Day passes
Edinburgh Castle

General
Tower Bridge Photgraphs and Magnet
Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum Souvenir Keychain Featuring Johnny Depp and You
Rapid-Fire wooden rubber band gun with target and 10 rubber bands
Hard Rock Classic Tee
Headphones from the Original Tour*
Jumping frog (balloon legs, when you pump air into said legs they expand, thus allowing the frog to spring into the air)
Air Canada Comfort Kits*
Napkin from Harrod's*
Diet Coke Bottle from the Club Lounge*
Jars of Ketchup and Maple Syrup
Magic Wallet
Working Replica Catapult wih pencil sharpener
Sugar/sweetener packets with Harrod's Logo*
"Wheel" keychain from Royal Yacht Brittania
Brittania Bear Keychain from " " (for Michelle)
Replica Roman Coins from British Museum (for Michelle)
Bagpiping Bears (from Grandma, one for each kid)
Egyptian Golden Cat earrings from British Museum (for Katherine)
Harrod's Biscuits (Chocolate Macademia nut/Ginger, for Mom, Katherine, and Michelle)
Hand-cranked music box ("whistle while you work")
Underground Logo Keychain from Transport Museum
Rosetta Stone-shaped keychain from British Museum
Hard Rock Café Pin*
Hard Rock Café rotating guitar keychain
"bagpipes" keychain
"Wow" (super-awesome magic trick)
"Count of Monte Cristo" escape (binds hands, feet, and neck)
Bedlam Cube
Eastsheen double, triple, and quadruple 2x2x2 Rubik's apparatuses (picture the 2x2x2 Rubik's cube but linked at the corners of other 2x2x2s)
Giant Inflatable HoverDisk (seems to have a mind of it's own)

If i've forgotten anything, i'll be sure to post it

I would like to thank my faithful readers for supporting my blogging experience. Your comments have given me fuel, and it's nice to know that there are people out there who care.

I have recently had several people request details on certain post items, so I though that I wuld clear some things up. One thing worth mentioning is that I went on the London Eye, as opposed to the London I. This error occured in the first post which was composed of phone conversation and IM transcripts. I mentioned it during an IM chat and, using "chatspeak", called it the "I" in an attempt to asave finger energy and prevent joint strain. I probably assumed that my family at least knew what I was talking about and thus used a shortened form. While we're on the topic of the London Eye, some people had never heard of such a creature. I think that the best way to describe it is a giant Ferris Wheel except slower. That and the carriages don't rock back and forth, making you feel like you're going to fall. It is actually quite nice. Also, now that we're back, I can disclose certain souvenir items that were previously kept secret. The "awesomest item for mom" from the Tower of London Gift Shop was in fact a DIY moving paper model of an executioner chopping someone's head off. We are now in the process of making said model. The Tower Bridge (which we visited afterwards) is a little bit different than most people expect. It's very blue. I was not anticipating so much of the colour blue. It is magnificant and if you see a picture of the bridge, you'll see a span connecting the two main towers. These are walkways, open to pedestrians like us. It's neat being up there.

Something else that some people were wanting more details about was the bet placed between myself and my Grandparents. The wager was placed on my ability to solve the Bedlam Cube, which is a cubular puzzle consisting of 13 differently shaped 3 dimensional pieces. The rules we decided upon were that all of the pieces must be used and there should be no gaps (spaces between blocks) in the puzzle. The deal was that if I could solve this puzzle, I would travel 1st class on the flight from London to Toronto and Grandma and Grandpa would have to go Economy (there was only one first class ticket). If I couldn't solve the puzzle, I would be sitting Economy and Grandma/Grandpa would fly 1st class. Unfortunately, I soon realized that solving the puzzle before the end of the trip would not likely happen, even for a cubemaster like me, and thas it would be likely that pieces would become lost in transit if they were not in their original packaging. I decided that all bets were off and looked online for a solution instead. Before doing this myself, though, I sent a coded plea for help to my father. The ensuing conversation was apparently quite funny to some, so I will post it here:

Marc Hache says: i love the way you write
jean-marc.hache@shaw.ca says: thanx. Just working on this BEDLAM CUBE.
jean-marc.hache@shaw.ca says: I always make sure to say PLEASE and thank you, and that was what got me into the London Dungeons gift shop today. I'll explain what i'm doing later.
jean-marc.hache@shaw.ca says: we should SEARCH FOR the hatchard's in Picadilly
Marc Hache says: Atta boy. You should think about going to bed. Another big day tomorrow.
jean-marc.hache@shaw.ca says: I just created a SOLUTION of water and sugar, I request that you follow the coded instructions that I just covertly sent. The CAPITALS should help you do it.
jean-marc.hache@shaw.ca says: relay the results ASAP, please and thank you
jean-marc.hache@shaw.ca says: let me know if you don't get it

By the way, it was my pleases and thank-yous that got me into the London Dungeons Gift Shop. I asked one of the costumed actresses if I could just go into the gift shop without the whole Dungeons experience. Because I was so polite, she granted my request even though she wasn't supposed to do so.

Another thing: I wish to dispel rumours that on our last day I had a bad day. I absolutely did have a good day even though my blog may seem to indicate otherwise. I would like to officially say that although certain days of the trip may have been better, it was in no way a bad experience. In fact, it was coming very close to a good experience, especially the Royal Yacht Britannia. We also saw some cool things on the way.

For those who are interested, I will be posting a complete list of souvenirs on Monday, August 4th or later

Once again, not much to write about today. We went on a train then spent several hours in an attempt to reach our hotel. Once there, I immediately honed in on the conveniently located model aircraft shop near the lobby. I checked out the prices and decided that shopping there might not have been as fun as originally thought. A mass-produced 6 inch model costs around $40 whereas a fee 10 times that will only get you a small model of a Fokker Dr 1 Triplane. I'm not a big fan of the monetary decisions of that place. Anyways, we retired to the lounge where they had some delicious chocolate cake with heavenly sauce. A big bonus was that it was free (free as in "don't pay for it at the time of consumption. We probably paid for luxuries like this with the cost of the hotel room). We don't have much more time here, but I might just continue writing after I get back. We're not going buisiness on the way back, but that matters not as I will have plenty of memories to get me through the trip.