The Great Goblin Invasion (Polls finished!)

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lingrem
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The Great Goblin Invasion (Polls finished!)

Post by lingrem » Sat Jun 22, 2013 5:28 am

Most Likely Date-Range:
August 14-20 (hopeful minimum?) to work around the WorldCon Thunt is wanting to try to attend, and my non-availability of up to August 19 due to my 30th birthday...)

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So!

A lot of you have shown interest in visting England. Of course, it's an expensive trip especially for those of us in North America. But hey, we'd have a year to plan it out and budget.

Now, I have NO problem at all with sort of coordinating it - I love London to pieces. Hostels are the cheapest way to stay in London, but I know that some people are not very comfortable with them. I don't know which hostels in London are good or not as I've not stayed in them, but I've always managed to pick out a pretty good one (and I allllways read up and select ones that do not have a party atmosphere as I like to be able to sleep as I wake up early!) . Anyway. Depending on numbers, we'd be able to get a room book for just us. (most hostels have 4, 6, 8, etc people per room.) I've also already done the whole "sharing a hostel room when people arrive and leave on different days" so I've already been used to emailing hostels with complicated itineraries.

I'd likely be in England for a few weeks, because I'd be wanting to spend time with my friends who already live there and would need to make a trip out to Bristol to visit one of my besties.

Dates:
I can ONLY go anywhere in July or August. If people wanted to come and they aren't super comfortable with travel, it'd be easiest if I arrived at least a few days earlier so that I could get totally familiar with the location of the actual hostel. And then I could let you know EXACTLY how to get to it from any of the airports. So I'd recommend arrival dates to be sometime after July 7th. Wears has already said that August for him is typically spend at his sisters, so July would be best. Of course, if it doesn't work for others then I'm sure we could trrrry to get Wears to rearrange his summer next year ;)

Budget: Ok. There are loads of things to do in London. Budget-wise, Oyster cards and food and alcohol and souvenirs. I would HIGHLY recommend an oyster card, and I'd find a hostel in Zone 1, so you'd only need a zone 1-2 pass. Getting it for a week is best because it is so easy to use it. (Of course, you'd have to put some cash on it.. or purchase a different ticket at the airport, since those are CERTAINLY not in zone 1 or 2!).

Free things in London:
Natural History Museum. This is a MUST because we are all geeky and it is my favourite museum!
Science Museum (conveniently located next door to the Nat. His. Museum)
V&A Museum (right across the street from Sci and Nat His!)(I am not a fan of this museum but you might be!)
Imperial War Museum (forget where this is, and got no interest in going to it again, but it's also free and it is a really good museum)
British Museum (it's got the Rosetta Stone!)
Tait Modern (art)
National Portrait Gallery (I have spent multiple occassions wandering through there at Trafalgar Square while waiting for someone... have also napped there because I was tired and someone was running late!)
Tait Britain (not sure if I've gone in there and forget where it is!)
Big Ben and Westminster Abbey (exterior, you have to pay to go inside Westminster)
London/Tower Bridge (everyone wants to see London bridge, but really, they're thinking of Tower Bridge because London bridge is in either Arizona or Arkansas! The one in London is preeeeetty boring)
The Thames
All the parks (Regent's Park, Kensington, Hyde Park, St. James - if you're a good long walker I can take you for a nice long hike/walk starting at Leicester Square or Trafalgar Square and go for a walk through St. James (with pelicans!) to see Buckingham Palace, then through a bit of Hyde Park and then through Kensington. Or, alternately, start at Kensington and go through until you're in Trafalgar Square where there's a nice little pub and lots of places to eat around there!) (But Regent's Park is my favourite one because Queen Mary's Rose Gardens are gorgeous)
Baker Street (pay to go into the museum which I've never done, but I just like walking past 221B Baker Street as I go to Regent's Park!)
Camden Market (it's gorgeous!)
Portobello Road Market (this is my favourite and only open on weekends.. it's an antique market and I go there for 9am to beat most of the crowd!)
Borough food market (yummmmmmmm)
Globe Theatre (can actually get fairly well priced tickets there, but you can see it from the outside even if you don't go in or to see a play!)
King's Cross Platform 9 3/4 (I still haven't found that. I went when they were doing construction and got soooooo lost LOL)
British Library (it's huge!)
Harrod's (Ok. So it's very expensive inside Harrods. but the food halls are amazing and it's fun to play "find the price tag!" in the women's clothing section. But there is a very annoying perfume section RIGHT at the door that is near the tube station, so be prepared to cover your nose and follow me through that section asap!)
Checking out various neighbourhoods

Things in London that cost money:

- Brick Lane Curry (if you come to London with me, this is an experience. It is deeeellliiccccious and if you don't like spicy, korma is very sweet and I almost always get it with coconut rice because it is JUST SO GOOD). It's a great street with loads of really good (and cheap!) curry houses. And if we go and have dinner at a more traditionally North American time of around 5pm, we'll get better deals because it's not busy then ;) Never go in unless they offer you at least a free app and a free bottle of wine between two people. At LEAST.
- Tower of London (no way around that one... can't see too much from the outside)
- going into Westminster Abbey
- London Eye (I will refrain from doing that with you, but Southbank is one of my most 'home' areas and I will gladly chill on the bench near the buskers... or go have a nap in the RFH - which I have done many, many times.....)
- Theatre (but, if you go and just get tickets in Leicester Square you can usually get pretty cheap ones, and who doesn't enjoy going to see at least ONE play while in London?!)
- going inside St. Paul's Cathedral (I think. I was only inside for Christmas carols one year)
- seeing the prime meridan costs money to go stand on it - can't get inside. But you can see it. And Greenwich is quite lovely!
- Jack the Ripper tour

Eeerm. Other things which really cost money I've forgotten about. haha.

Places Outside of London for day-trips if desired:
- Stonehedge
- Bath (honestly, the Roman Baths are awesome, but this is such an adoreable city and it has got my favourite restaurant in it - a tapas bar! I love it!)
- Brighton
- Oxford (I went to visit Kenneth Grahme and C.S Lewis's grave. There's also the Eagle and Child where CS Lewis and Tolkien went a lot. It's cute. I have not yet gone to visit Tolkien's grave as I've only spent a day there and it was further out. ALSO there is a very lovely pub which I'd HAVE to go back to. Yes. I went to two graves, two pubs, and went to see some really cool temp science display in my day there)
- Cambridge (I've not been there yet actually, so no idea)

Anyway.

Those are the sorts of things I can think of off the top of my head currently. Can usually get a lot done in a day in London if you're awake early and ok with a good chunk of walking. I usually opt out of the tube if I can help it, but I can obviously adapt myself to that!)
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Theis2
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by Theis2 » Sat Jun 22, 2013 6:03 am

[mod="lingrem"]I've stolen Theis's post with permission. His original message is at the very bottom![/mod]

I'm going to use this thread as an organization tool.

Interested Parties In Attending:
Lingrem
Wears
Gathers
Theis
nikohl +1
Karen
JibJib
Thinks
Bob
Henna
Asks


Preferred Month:
July -
August -

Likely Length of Stay:

Relatively Local: nikohl, jibjib
Month +: lingrem
1-2 weeks: Theis2 depends mostly how long you guys are there.


Preferred Sleeping Arrangements:
Hostel (Shared Room):
Hostel (anywhere):
Separate from Group:
Other: nikohl (localish), jibjib (localish)

Interested Activities:

Costs definitely involved Somehow:
Lingrem-organized Pub Crawl: lingrem
Jack the Ripper tour: lingrem
Brick-Lane Curry: lingrem
Theatre: lingrem

Free or Spend If You Want:
Portobello Antique Market: lingrem
Camden Market: lingrem
Thames Walk (going from Borough Food Market past Globe Theatre to Tate Modern and St. Pauls): lingrem
Regent Park visit (includes Baker St): lingrem
Natural History/Science/V&A Museum: lingrem
Park-Hike between Trafalgar and Kensington (includes Buckingham Palace, St. James, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens for sure. Takes a while): lingrem
Harrod's Hide n' Seek: lingrem

Interested Day-Trips:

Bath: lingrem
Oxford: lingrem
Scotland (multi-day): lingrem


Not Gonna Happen:
London Eye: lingrem
Imperial War Museum: lingrem
Tower of London: lingrem
Theis wrote:Kill! Burn! Destroy! Pillage!

Sorry ancient dane reflex when talking about visiting England.. Second half of july sounds good to me as I will most likely have finished my exams at that point. Completely blank on what to do once over there :P
Last edited by Theis2 on Mon Jul 29, 2013 2:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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lingrem
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by lingrem » Sat Jun 22, 2013 6:08 am

Id on't think you need to worry about that :P And when are exams typically done for uni in your country? We can definitely work around school schedules as they're by-far the most inflexible!
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by nikohl » Sat Jun 22, 2013 6:34 am

Presuming I haven't moved house in the next year, which I don't plan on doing - I live about an hour's train journey or a couple of hours' drive away from London, and if any of you guys arrive in this country I will definitely come down to see you all.

I also don't have enough space to host a whole contingent of people, but I have a couple of spare bedrooms and sofas and things, so if anyone can/would come over for a day or two but budget constraints mean they can't do hostels or hotels - especially if you could technically come but can't because of accommodation costs - I can offer a place to stay. My house isn't in a particularly touristy area, but if I'm already driving/getting the train to visit London to meet up with the group, anyone who needs to stay on my sofa can obviously travel down with me :)

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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by Just Karen » Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:00 am

I like this idea, though I likely wouldn't spend more than an evening grabbing dinner/whatever with everyone - too many people for too long brings my aspieness to the fore. Plus my wife will be along with me on the trip, and she has no interest in meeting most of the people I know online (our ex-guildmates notwithstanding).

We've been planning a UK / Europe trip of unknown timing for a while now, though.

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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by Jibjib » Sat Jun 22, 2013 12:57 pm

Theis wrote:ancient dane reflex
:lol:

If anybody really wants to visit Stonehenge I'm only about 10 miles from there if my house was needed as a base :)
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by WearsHats » Sat Jun 22, 2013 1:18 pm

I'm in. I mean, this sounds awesome and I'll do my best to make it. I would probably find my own place to stay, just because of all my sleeping issues. But I'm sure I could find a room not too far from wherever you guys end up.

I'd also be interested in seeing more of the UK. Seeing London again would be cool and all, and it has been over 20 years since I was there, but I've never been to Scotland or Ireland or even northern England. (IIRC, the furthest north we went was Stratford On Avon.)
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by thinkslogically » Sat Jun 22, 2013 1:20 pm

If you guys fancy a trip to Scotland, it's only a 4.5 hour train ride from Euston to Glasgow :)

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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by lingrem » Sat Jun 22, 2013 5:43 pm

I figure London's a good base to meet up in and if people split off to do their own holidays after meeting there for a little bit, it'd be great. :)
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by I'mBob » Sun Jun 23, 2013 1:10 am

I hope I can get enough money for a ticket... Which probably wont happen because I already have a trip to Bulgari this year. And it's also on July-August. So even if I have money, I can't be there.
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by thinkslogically » Sun Jun 23, 2013 3:44 am

The UK trip isn't until next year Bob (2014) so hopefully you'll have time?

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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by Just Karen » Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:26 am

thinkslogically wrote:If you guys fancy a trip to Scotland, it's only a 4.5 hour train ride from Euston to Glasgow :)
When I go I plan on hitting as much of the UK as I can. I don't expect to be back more than once; it's just too expensive, and my list of "I'd like to see before I die" regions is moderately long. (China*, Japan, Australia, Germany, Moscow*, Washington DC, NYC, Alaska, Various places in Mexico*, Egypt*, Peru*, Israel*/Gaza*, Iran*, New Zealand, Spain, Italy, Greece*, Turkey, Saudi Arabia*, Ireland. The * indicates areas that I will not visit until or unless there are major societal and/or governmental changes.)

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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by lingrem » Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:50 am

Karen - I've got a big list too. :) But since London's like home to me, if I go to Europe I will always spend some of my time in London. Not sure where I'll combine London with next summer. Possibly Germany or Italy as I've yet to go to them.
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by I'mBob » Sun Jun 23, 2013 12:09 pm

thinkslogically wrote:The UK trip isn't until next year Bob (2014) so hopefully you'll have time?
Ooooh! Well that's a lot of time, so we will see. I hope I can, but a ticket is still a pricey thing especially in the summer. I will see.
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by lingrem » Sun Jun 23, 2013 12:18 pm

You're preaching to the choir Bob ;)

It takes me 2 days to get from where I am to England, and a crapton of money... and I can only travel during the most expensive travel periods (Christmas and summer!). I can never, ever, get a good deal on travel.
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by GathersIngredients » Mon Jun 24, 2013 1:40 am

Count me highly interested on this. If I can manage to organize it into the rest of my life at all, I will be there, come hell or high waters. But no volcano erupting lots and lots of ashes, because that shut down the air plane traffic for good last time... :lol:
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by HennaGaijin » Sat Jun 29, 2013 12:42 am

As another Englander who may or may not be around next summer, I'm definitely intested in being involved in this if I can!

I would offer up my place as spmewhere to stay, but unfortunately it's actually my parents place and my mum would freak out about me meetong people online!! Also i live a couple hours away from London...

However, if anyone comes across late from France on the ferry to Portsmouth I could definitely help out finding a place to stay before the hop up to London or meet to help people find the train station or whatever :)
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by lingrem » Sat Jun 29, 2013 5:24 am

You're in Portsmouth? That's on my "to go" list someday.
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by Jibjib » Sat Jun 29, 2013 3:21 pm

In that case, I'm about 12 miles from you HG :P
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by askstoomuch » Sun Jun 30, 2013 12:59 am

ok i'm in !
first up whats an oyster card ?
second I need to figure out how to get there by train I assume, cause I can't do flying just yet
so well it would be euhm train to France from France to England mainland then train to London
maby by boat would be cheaper ?
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by Jibjib » Sun Jun 30, 2013 1:11 am

Certainly if you book the cross channel trains well in advance, the tickets are about half the price. If memory serves, booking them five months in advance got me a return for about £65... compare to if you bought them for tomorrow which would be £145 according to the website :P

An oyster card is a cheaper way of buying tickets, basically a pay as you go card for public transport I believe :)
Psychosis is such an ugly word... I prefer Internalised Reality Warping.

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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by askstoomuch » Sun Jun 30, 2013 1:17 am

why does it take 16 hours to go to england by boat and cost me 200 bucks
wait now there 80 bucks I don't get this is :|
edit now it's 30 , what the hell is going on
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lingrem
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by lingrem » Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:40 am

Honestly Asks, I've got no idea :P

But yes, if you were to go to France you can easily get a train from France straight into London - it'd take you to King's Cross station. I've never taken the train out of England, so I am not as familiar with that.
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by askstoomuch » Sun Jun 30, 2013 6:15 am

and now there 122 and only last 8 hours, 132 if I bring don't bring a car, why do I have to pay more for not having a car

aghh I don't get this side, I'll jut go by train

how is evreybody else going
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Re: The Great Goblin Invasion (aka Goblinites Invade England

Post by Theis2 » Sat Jul 13, 2013 8:32 am

Lin totally took my first post here and filled it with nonsense! :O
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