Tactical Nuclear Penguin

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THAT is some strong beer! I hope it still tastes like beer though, I wouldn't want to spend that kind of money and find out it tastes like bourbon! I forwarded the links to a couple of beer drinking friends, they will get a kick out of it too.

Penguin must have got trapped by the Iceland volcano or drowned after drinking to much of that beer listed below. Gotta wonder if he has enough krill for his next round of world journeys.

dc to london via south pole, not my preferred route...

hopefully by next week scheduled flights will resume...

@greg_be: could use some recommendations of BE beer to bring back to the states...

dc to london via south pole, not my preferred route...

hopefully by next week scheduled flights will resume...

@greg_be: could use some recommendations of BE beer to bring back to the states...

Sorry Penguin, not the beer type. But, in Brussels on the market square (well one of the streets leading into it) there is a store that has the name 150 Belgian Beers or something like that. Its a small place, but floor to ceiling and front to back walls of beer.

Try for the more obscure type. Deuvel and Jupiler are the more popular ones here.
Palm is another. These are stronger than that water downed stuff you call beer back there, but less powerful than the linked beer in previous convo.

Be sure to leave your non essentials at home. You will need every quarter pound in both suitcases to make it back with beer, chocolate and diamonds. Be sure to pick up some Euros before you leave.

dc to london via south pole, not my preferred route...

hopefully by next week scheduled flights will resume...

@greg_be: could use some recommendations of BE beer to bring back to the states...

I saw where the volcano may start spitting out mroe stuff in the coming weeks! This may become an long term problem and your South Pole route may become more common place! Or at least flying South first then East or West. Africa may become a more popular destination soon, then a boat across the Mediterranean Ocean to Europe then a train to your real destination.

still no decision on where i will be for the first 2 days in europe (london? brussels?), but on track for antwerp beginning on may 2...

still no decision on where i will be for the first 2 days in europe (london? brussels?), but on track for antwerp beginning on may 2...

I guess you think the volcano will be calming down so you can fly in by then? Or are you going a more Southerly route to get in?

IAD --> LHR --> BRU

wish i had tried for IAD --> BRU...

IAD --> LHR --> BRU

wish i had tried for IAD --> BRU...

Oh that's not to bad.
Who you flying?
Yeah the LHR leg adds a few hrs to the flight, but you get some time to stretch.

I busted a sea-iad-bru flight by goofing up the time for check in.
So we went sea-ord-lhr-bru
Final leg was a 99% empty 777 by United to Bru from LHR.
Seems that is a ferry flight they use to get the plane into position for the next day for a return flight.

UA: IAD --> LHR

BA: LHR --> BRU

Yeah, sux. It's a measly 1 hour flight LHR --> BRU, but since the trip is not "seamless", in LHR I'll have to go through Immigration, get my luggage, go through Customs, go to a different terminal at LHR, check in, go through security, wait, (and then to the Immigration & Customs thing all over again in BRU). Hope 4 hours is enough to all that stuff at LHR. Didn't know itinerary until after I had to purchase tix, otherwise IAD --> BRU would have been much more sane...

UA: IAD --> LHR

BA: LHR --> BRU

Yeah, sux. It's a measly 1 hour flight LHR --> BRU, but since the trip is not "seamless", in LHR I'll have to go through Immigration, get my luggage, go through Customs, go to a different terminal at LHR, check in, go through security, wait, (and then to the Immigration & Customs thing all over again in BRU). Hope 4 hours is enough to all that stuff at LHR. Didn't know itinerary until after I had to purchase tix, otherwise IAD --> BRU would have been much more sane...

LHR is not to bad. 4 hrs should be enough time to deal with any hassles and queues and be able to transfer and do a little shopping or eating.

There should be shuttle buses for between terminals.
BA has there own new Terminal 5, so your taxi time to the runway should be short. United's area is more down by mid field. I think it is Terminal 1 from the looks of things. Their page says there is a train every 15 mins and journey time is 3 mins.

The one thing we found about the passenger screeners is that they are a bit on the rude/firm side. X-ray screeners are very through and any thing that looks suspicious will be examined and the bag sent back through without the offending item. If it passes ok without the item then it will be given back to you.
Their metal detectors are just as sensitive as the US ones if not even a bit more so. So get ready to "strip". Shoes as well.

BRU is easy going. Just show your passport and have your next travel ticket (train and plane) ready. The passport guys look very closely at your passport and are very silent in doing so, but once you clear the computer and your passport passes inspection then your on your way. Baggage claim is in a hall with I think it is 5 carousels. Just look for your flight. There are free carts to use on the airport property. Just ignore the customs guys at the door. They don't give a care about flights from London. Just walk with the rest of the people out the door and then go find the elevator to the train level.

Will try to make long story short.

Checked in 7 (yes, seven!) hours early for IAD-LHR on UA. Got boarding passes. Somewhere along the line, we got "floated" and "involuntarily re-routed", which is why when we finally stepped off the plane, IAD looked like FRA, lol !!!

I mean, I know they don't speak "real" English in London, and that English is derived from German, but the German we heard was just a little "too" German, lol!!!

Finally got to BRU via Luftansia, late last night.

Needless to say, TSA also tore apart my checked luggage. Completely destroyed a packed box I brought over with me, to ship to someone in Europe.

Will spend May Day in Brussels, and heading up to Antwerp on Sunday morning.

time to file a complaint with the airline.
that is incompetence at best.
good thing your luggage made it, with that kind of rerouting they could have "lost" it on the original flight. then you get a nice bag/passenger mismatch and make the original flight late while they find your bags.
see you at starbucks Antwerp central station in 20hrs or so.
hope you keeping dry, though as a penguin it doesn't matter.
is your s/o a walking mermaid? then water is not problem for her.

Will try to make long story short.

Checked in 7 (yes, seven!) hours early for IAD-LHR on UA. Got boarding passes. Somewhere along the line, we got "floated" and "involuntarily re-routed", which is why when we finally stepped off the plane, IAD looked like FRA, lol !!!

I mean, I know they don't speak "real" English in London, and that English is derived from German, but the German we heard was just a little "too" German, lol!!!

Finally got to BRU via Luftansia, late last night.

Needless to say, TSA also tore apart my checked luggage. Completely destroyed a packed box I brought over with me, to ship to someone in Europe.

Will spend May Day in Brussels, and heading up to Antwerp on Sunday morning.

nah, she's a turtle, lol !!!

so far, no rain, just a few sprinkles;

whats up with these belgian keyboards ?!

haven't they ever heard of "qwerty" ?!

about 16 hours till antwerp star schmucks...

that's an "American" keyboard Pengy lmao
welcome to the 'french' rest of the world.

and

The AZERTY layout is used on Belgian keyboards (although most non-alphabetic symbols are positioned differently) and is also, no doubt, the inspiration behind the Lithuanian ĄŽERTY layout

nah, she's a turtle, lol !!!

so far, no rain, just a few sprinkles;

whats up with these belgian keyboards ?!

haven't they ever heard of "qwerty" ?!

about 16 hours till antwerp star schmucks...

Found an American Penguin in my "backyard" today.
We shared some gourmet krill today. Was a fun time.
I showed him his iglo tonight. He seemed glad to have a place to flop out and keep out of the way of crazy scientists.

Pengy wanted me to show how his Gentoo brothers in arms can beat orca whales at their own game of hunting.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r21436219-video-Whales-Chase-A-Penguin or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJaMtBKnN-I

got lost on way to south pole, and somehow ended up in Belgium, and ran into greg_be. Played the part of the perfect host. Pointed me in the right direction, and in a few days time, I'll be on my way again. See where I'll wind this time !!! Thanx mate!

got lost on way to south pole, and somehow ended up in Belgium, and ran into greg_be. Played the part of the perfect host. Pointed me in the right direction, and in a few days time, I'll be on my way again. See where I'll wind this time !!! Thanx mate!

be sure to stock up on supplies while you are here.
never know what kind of "floating" you might get along the way.
be sure to spend lots of euro's, we like lighter bank accounts over here. lol

Spending many euros on belgian waffles and fries, they really are THAT good...

Purchasing beer and chocolates as souvenirs...

Heading to London via Brussels tomomrrow...

Big Shout-Out to greg_be !!!