The Nightmare Before our (canceled) Christmas Trip-TR Updated 11/23 About This Page:

[debrabrown]

Not the heat! ugh.. What a kick in the shorts.

[KMB733]

Great Start at Epcot!!

[lazanya]

Great start so far! more please...

[chezp]

Great start!

[Starla4436]

Continued
Friday October 23

Ben and I were lucky enough to visit the F&WF two times already during this years festival…so we had already tried lots of different things. I carried around a print out of all the choices at each booth and we highlighted off each item we tried. My goal is to try at least one thing from each stand …after this trip we are pretty close.

The first booth we stopped at was Krakow, Poland. I really wanted to get the kielbasa and potato pierogie but they were missing the kielbasa at the time so I went with the pork shank.

I really enjoyed the pork shank. I love cabbage and pork so it was quite nice and I really liked that the cabbage was pickled…I t was very yummy.



We sat on bench facing the lagoon and split the plate …It was really hard to get up from that shady spot but we kept moving on.

We continued on to China. We saw Mulan was just hanging out with no lines so we made our way over. Ben has a slight issue with character interaction…he acts as if the character is a celebrity and that we are bothering them when we take pictures with them…but he let it go and came take the picture with me.



Mulan asked Ben where his sword was and he said he left it in his other pants. Ben asked why Mulan didn’t seem sweet like the other princess with their high pitched voices and tiaras (he has never seen Mulan)…I explained to him that she was a warrior and pretended to be a man and to bring honor to her family…he said that explained it.

We stayed in China for awhile playing with these puppets which I love…






The we made our way over to the Joy of Tea stand where I had a mango/green tea slush. It was delicious and a life saver for the next booth.



Our next stop was New Dehli, India.





We split the rice and lentil crepe with potato and onion filling. Ben loved it! I liked it OK…It was SPICY! Like I said before thank goodness fro my mango/green tea slush. Ben finished most of the plate which was fine with me.


You can see the pain in his face.

Next stop was Cape Town, South Africa. We ordered the Mealie Soup with Crabmeat and Chili Oil .





I really loved the soup but realized it was way to hot outside for soup…Ben also liked it but said it could have done without the corn. We sat in the shade and tried to beat the heat a bit.


We were directly across from a DVC kiosk and Ben warned me not to make eye contact. DVC is in our three year plan and we have already been on a number of tours.



After our break we headed over to America for the Samuel Adams Beer tasting.



We were about 30 minutes early so Ben ran over to the Tokyo, Japan booth for California Rolls and the Tuna Sensation. I liked both of them…the Cali roll was pretty standard but I really enjoyed the tuna sensation which was raw tuna chunks with avocado and soy sauce. It was the perfect food to eat in the heat.

After we snacked it was time to get in line for the tasting.





We of course stood in front of the most annoying group ever. As soon as the line started to move into the class the group pushed pass us so they could sit where the beer has just been poured. A CM kind of fussed at them but let them stay while Ben and I were escorted to the ONLY seats in the sun. So we looked down at the row of hot beers in front of us.



OH Well Its FREE!









The history lesson was short and sweet and thank goodness for that because we were baking in the sun. My favorite hot beer that I tried was Sam Adams light. At one point we started to both start getting really sick from the sun we left the seminar and went to the store next to the American Adventure. We attempted to answer the American history trivia question of the day:

What incumbent first lady was the first to visit Africa?

We had no luck but found out before we left that it was Patricia Ryan Nixon …huh.

To be continued
When you get sick from sitting in the sun drinking hot beer cure it with cold beer in air conditioning.

[lazanya]

Great update! Sorry about the hot beer. Hope you both feel a bit better.

[KandJluvdisney]

great update
sorry about the hot beer in the sun
hurry back with more please

[skateycat]

love the tr so far, ria! you really got some great photos! oh, and the capris are SO she-she on you! keep the news rolling....

[chezp]

Another great update - it sounds like you guys are having great fun at the Food and Wine Festival.

[Colexis Mom]

Great update and pictures Maria!

[Starla4436]

Continued
Friday October 23

**I forgot to mention we also met up with Snow White in Germany. She asked me if the diamonds in my head band where from Dopey…I told her they where from my prince (b/c I am cheesy like that) and then Ben told her that he had made some kind of deal with Dopey to get them…the conversation went on for awhile because no one else was in line. We only had a photo pass picture taken and It came out terrible…it looks like I think Snow has the swine flu because I am leaning away from her.**


Ben stopped by the Samuel Adams booth and picked up a festival ale while I headed for Louisiana and picked up an Abita Amber. We met back up in Japan.






This is me reconsidering Abita being the cure all for heat stroke.

We decided to go into the huge store in Japan for some a/c.
Its kind of a tradition for Ben and I to go look at the Mikimoto pearls and pretend we can afford them. We always ohhhh and ahhh over the black pearls. We did witness a guy buying his lady a couple of different pieces his exact words were “whatever you want baby”…huh must be nice.

We decided that it was time to head out ...our cure of cold beer and a/c was not cutting it. We needed to lay down in a dark cold hotel room. The CSR had not yet texted us our room number but I was hoping it would be ready.

On our way out we ran into a couple I had never taken a picture with so we had to stop…



I love beast. He is one of my favorites. Belle seemed a little agitated that day…I am not sure if she didn’t get enough reading time or what…but she was not in great spirits. It made me think of this Monica song I sing to Ben when I am being crabby...

It's just one of those days that a girl goes through
When I'm angry inside,
Don't wanna take it out on you.
Just one of them things.
Don't take it personal.
I just wanna be all alone
And I you think I treat you wrong.
Don't take it personal

Hey no problem Belle I understand.



We stopped at the front of the park and had some photo pass pictures taken. The came out really well except for the fact that I forgot to take off my backpack. Also the photo pass girl was really aggravated and not friendly at all. (see above lyrics for her too)

We waited for the bus for about 20 minutes which felt like forever b/c we were so worn out. As soon as we sat down on the bus I received a text with our room number! Yippy Skippy!


To be Continued…
Relaxing at Our Hotel and A bus trip to remember

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update!

[B.M.]

Great update- Glad the room was ready so you can finally cool down; can't wait to hear about the bus ride! And I agree- when your hot and tired; 20 minutes or even 5 can seem like an eternity!

[KMB733]

All caught up on the great updates. Looks like your enjoying yourselves, except for the warm beer.

[chezp]

Another great update - it sounds like a wonderful time, except for the heat.