HandyNZL 1 Report post Posted May 18, 2013 Happy Birthday Mr Grab ye Thaw and Slay ye Hammer. May ye Hammer find ye Gifts worth Slaying!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quiet One 15 Report post Posted May 18, 2013 Ah, the man with a plan custard-filled tire keeps getting older and older. Have the best of days, good friend! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Angellica 0 Report post Posted May 19, 2013 Happy birthday to you, I hope you have/had a good day Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BradSpeedMan 6 Report post Posted May 19, 2013 Happy Birthday Grab, hope you had a great one! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Massa 0 Report post Posted May 19, 2013 Craig either is the first person to discover the forum calendar, or has these people added on that Myspace kind of stuff. The latter would be less interesting than an unloved forum feature getting attention, so it's probably that. Hope you had a pleasant day. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grabthaw the Hammerslayer 4 Report post Posted May 19, 2013 Thank you all. Decided to have a long weekend in Rome, only has ended up being a bit longer than anticipated as Mrs Grabthaw was mugged on the train from the airport! She's fine but we lost money, Cards, passports and her phone. So 4 police stations, and 3 hours of form filling later we got to our hotel last night at 7pm and was told we had been double booked and then had a 20 min taxi ride to the other side of Rome to another (actually nicer) hotel. There was a sense of humour failure.... Anyway today has been lovely, nipped down to see the Pope... walked back past all the designer stores and went into the Ferrari store. Took a pic of the 1994 F1 car on display and after seeing that a key ring cost 58 euros left rapidly... Mrs Grab and I OK, but have several hours more form filling tomorrow (had to stay a day longer as the British Embassy shuts on weekends (yes, you heard that right! The last bastion of our empire still going strong) before we can exit clutching a temporary passport in our sweaty mitts. Aside from the thieving b@st@rds, Roma is splendido. Got to go now to have dinner on the rooftop terrace Ciao and grazie... Grab Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Shadow 0 Report post Posted May 19, 2013 Sorry to hear about the mugging Hope the rest of your year goes well. Have a nice smooth year from your fellow custardian! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rainmaster 7 Report post Posted May 19, 2013 Yes, sorry to hear about that but sounds like you didn't let it ruin your trip which is good. Happy birthday. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Insider 0 Report post Posted May 19, 2013 Shocking news about the mugging - I wish you both well. Belated birthday wishes though, Grabbers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HandyNZL 1 Report post Posted May 20, 2013 Yup...I can use the calander feature...obviously no-one else does/or can though considering.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Angellica 0 Report post Posted May 20, 2013 So sorry to hear about the mugging, that's nasty. I hope your wife wasn't too traumatised by it. It's good you still managed to have a good time I'm sure the Pope appreciated the visit from you, did he give you a cuppa How much for a keyring? I assume it was solid gold or something! I hope you can get everything sorted out and both get home safely now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grabthaw the Hammerslayer 4 Report post Posted May 20, 2013 Hi all thanks for your kind comments. Got temporary passports and coming back this evening. Embassy staff could not have been more helpful. We're OK but it was a bit stressful. Yesterday allowed us to relax and we had a nice day. Sat on the hotel's roof terrace currently chilling. We've met a few more victims of mugging here and it appears commonplace, especially on public transport. Two groups robbed on tube, one women outside the main station had a necklace ripped off her neck and another couple had a bag stolen from the rack above their heads on a train from Florence to Rome. The embassy say they get 4 or 5 people a day who have lost passports. This is one embassy for one country and does not include all those who lost just money or belongings. They also say the thieves are only interested in cash and get dozens of passports handed in by members of the public finding the discarded bags. Suffice to say we're getting a taxi to the airport! So if coming to Italy my advice is keep your passports in bags that are not easily stolen or on your person. I've already ordered b@st@rdo-proof bags from www.pacsafe.com The Ferrari store was a bit of a shrine, but a simple leather and metal key ring for 58 Euros was excessive as was the 303 euro slippers, esp. as they probabky cost 2 euros to make and were all made in China!!! So sadly guys and gals you won't be getting these in your Xmas stocking. Rome lovely apart from that and despite everything I am quite chilled. Grab Share this post Link to post Share on other sites