A yellow gellato spoon. I bought gellato several times while in Rome. It was blisteringly hot that week.
\nA tiny padlock and key, I believe it was in a christmas cracker from the london centre, They bought posh ones.
\nTiny clissone pin that says “Roma” on it, depicts a bull and the initials SPQR. SPQR is an initialism from a Latin phrase, Sen\u0101tus Populusque R\u014dm\u0101nus (“The Senate and People of Rome”,<\/p>\n
A 125ml bottle that useta hold Pear juice. I got it on the Air France flight from Chicago to Rome (with connections in France at the Charles de Galle airport.) It is labeled “Pera” and the brand is “Yoga” Subtitled “Succo e polpa.”\u00a0 It no longer smells of pear juice and inside is a ring made of foil, probably from a stick of chewing gum.\u00a0 I don’t remember putting it in the bottle. I think the juice came with the pancake and Nutella breakfast we had on that flight.
\nA battery powered set of Christmas LED lights. They do not light up. I don’t recall where I got those or if I ever wore them. The battery is so dead even LEDs won’t light up.
\nA cork from a bottle of wine that Bart and I shared with Professor Yuenes at a street cafe in Rome somewhere between the Pantheon and the Coliseum.\u00a0 Its marked “Poire-06-2001.” As it was the first real wine I ever drank I can’t tell you if it was a good year or not. It was 2001 when we drank it if memory serves me. That’s probably not enough info to identify it but its a real cork not a rubber one which is supposed to be a good thing and that’s all I know about wine.
\nA receipt from the GNER (Great North Eastern Railway) its thermal paper and faded beyond readability. I rode the GNER up to Petersborough on one of my failed attempts at single’s dating. I had a good meal though.
\nBritish Rail pass: Standard single from Inverness to Edinburgh (March 10th, 2000) \u00a329.90p.\u00a0 This must have been on the return from Loch Ness.
\nA “Wilts & Dorset” Explorer pass. (March 8th , 2000) Needed to get from the train station at Salisbury to Stonehenge and back.
\nA receipt from “Littlejohn’s.”\u00a0 (March 9th, \u00a328.70) an excellent restaurant in Inverness where the chicken tagliatelle was so good April went to the kitchen and proposed to the chef. She was jet-lagged at the time.
\nAnother one for Littlejohn’s for the next day. We went back for lunch.
\nReceipt for “The Official Loch Ness Exhibition” (Not to be confused with the “Loch Ness 2000 Experience”) in Drumnadrochit; the village next to Loch Ness. March 10th, 11:47am.
\nTravel ticket receipt, March 11th, 2000. \u00a358.00 London Euston station to Edinburgh.
\nSuperAdvance\u00a0 return ticket\u00a0 London Terminals\u00a0 to Edinburgh. March 9th, 2000. \u00a361.00 .
\n2 gold and pink crepe paper crowns such as you get inside Christmas Crackers. I had very limited experience with them at the time but they’ve become my second favorite thing about Christmas in England. Right behind Christmas Puddings!
\nA Sacajawea dollar minted in 2000, a quarter from the same year, with South Carolina statehood celebrated on the back.
\nThree Lire bills in 1000, 5000, and 50000 denominations.\u00a0 Which if the Lira was still a valid currency would be roughly worth $37.50. I remember giving beggars in Rome the largest coins I had which were 500lire and feeling bad about it. I think 500lire was equivalent to 37 cents at the time. While there I bought a “diesel” brand backpack for 65,000 lira. I don’t think I was ripped off. Much.
\nA box that useta have a Fisher “space pen” in it. The box is in great shape. I don’t know whatever happened to the pen. Nor do I remember ever owning one. Has a cool picture on the front of the lunar lander and the moon buggy. I might have kept it just for that. (Kids ask your parents.)
\nTicket stubs for various movies:
\n“Galaxy Quest” Wimbledon Oden May 1st, 2000.
\n“”Bridget Jones” Wimbledon Odeon “April 16th, 2000.
\n“Billy Elliot” (Clapham Screen 1, May 5th, 2000.) Liked it a lot, thought it could have been grimmer. Didn’t know about the musical back then though.
\n“Enemy at the Gate” (Wimbledon Odeon, March 19th, 2001.)\u00a0 I recall not liking this movie. I don’t remember what my complaint was.<\/p>\n
British Rail ticket: Std return (March 8th, 2000.) From Wimbledon to Salisbury. \u00a320.40p You can’t get a train to Salisbury for that price these days, not even 1 way. I first thought this was when Tymme came over to geocache at Salisbury and Cardiff but what is more likely that it was part of my daughter’s visit during which we went from London to Salisbury to London to Inverness to Loch Ness and back via Birmingham.
\nTourist Pass: “Your Passport to Glastonbury” includes “Glastonbury Lake Village, Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset Rural Life Museum and the Chalice Well.\u00a0As in Holy Grail. Not valid with any other offer and oddly “Not valid at the issuing attraction.”
\nExcess travel\/ticket Croyden to Gatwick \u00a34.80.
\nRandom other receipts that don’t indicate where they are from.
\nPizza Express: Wimbledon High Street.\u00a0March 7th, 2000. \u00a318.50
\nJessop Photo Centre, Salisbury. \u00a317.75 March 8th, 2000<\/p>\n
A small pamphlet advertising the Mac G4 Cube in Italian. I picked this up at the only store in Rome that sold and serviced Apple products. Or so they told us. It was 2001 though and we were lucky to find one that was able to help us. It was also lucky that the shop’s assistant manager spoke Italian and German and Bart spoke German and English.\u00a0 I think I saw this skit on the Andy Griffith show…<\/p>\n
Withdrawal: Royal Bank of Scotland. \u00a350.00 March 10th, 2000.
\nDixons:\u00a0 Waterloo Station Branch for Polaroid\u00a0 600 double glossy.\u00a0 \u00a317,99. “thank you for your custom”
\nClogs and Gaucho: Priory Square, Birmingham. \u00a314.98
\nOasis, Birmingham. March 11th, 2000: \u00a3114.98 for two pair of Doc Martens. My feet hurt so much and were so swollen that I ended up with a size too big.
\nBus pass for the Midland Bluebird LTD. \u00a342.00. Cause we missed the bus from Inverness to Drumnadrochit.
\nMarch 10th, 2000: “What Everyone Wants, LTD.” Glasgow, Scotland. Pinstripe Trousers, Ribbon Top, Frilly 3\/4 sleeve blouse,\u00a0 Frilly edge Skirt. I think this was Scotland’s answer to “Everything for a dollar” stores. Thank you for your custom.
\nReservation Confirmation for Edinburgh to London Euston. 11:55pm Caledonia Sleeper.\u00a0 March 10th.
\nDay single rail pass Woking to Wimbledon. 27 Feb (or FBY as it says on the ticket.)
\nDay return: March 8th, 2000 Wimbledon to Salisbury.
\nLondon terminals to\u00a0Birmingham stations.\u00a0 March 11th, 2000 \u00a329.
\nMarch 6th, 2000: Gatwick Airport to Gipsy Hill ( I think an alternate station instead of Wimbledon…Crystal Palace is near there..)
\nMarch 9th: Scottish City link: Edinburgh to Perth. A 4 hour or more bus ride.
\nMarch 8th, Wimbledon to “London Fulham Broadway” A short trip on the Tube. Not sure where I was going… Geocaching maybe?
\nMarch 11th: Birmingham to London terminals.
\nTramlink: Church St (Croyden) to Wimbledon.\u00a0 Feb 13th, 2001 2 tickets.
\nAdmission ticket to Natural History Museum, November 1st, 2000.\u00a0 Cromwell road,\u00a0 London
\nLondon Bus rte 200 : Runs from Mitcham to Raynes Park. Probably more Geocaching travels, area just south east of Wimbledon. I think there was a cemetery there with an ‘angel’ themed mystery cache.<\/p>\n
Business Cards:
\n“Wimbledon Palace” Peking and Szechuan Cuisine. Opposite Wimbledon Theatre. Which is probably where I was going after the chinese. I saw a live performance of Rocky Horror there. A different look to it than on the movie screen but just as rowdy audience.
\nA business card from Star Straf:\u00a0 “A Sirius Commitment” address in Lawrence KS.
\nBrian Roe, Exec Producer of “Babylon Park.”
\nBusiness Card: “L’Angoletto Ristorante”\u00a0 Piazzo Rondanini, 51 (Pantheon)\u00a0 See Wine Cork elsewhere herein.
\nComfort Suites Terre Haute, In.
\nRichard Jervis, Other World’s Library. didn’t recognize a business card with my name on it.<\/p>\n
Ambassador Cinemas (in Woking)\u00a0 Film guide for September 22-28. Featuring Space Cowboys, Me. Myself and Irene, Snatch, Shaft, Keeping the Faith, , Scary Movie, My Dog Skip, Stuart Little, Chicken Run, The Cell, Gladiator and X-men. Had to have been one of the last three, I haven’t seen the others.
\nBus schedule for Edinburgh. We missed our connection by minutes thanks to a rude dustman. I didn’t know the main contents of this box would include that trip to loch Ness, it was better described elsewhere. I will find it and post it here. Suffice to say that I heard “Oh you just missed it mate!” more than once that weekend.
\nA small flier for a band called “The Great Lakes” appearing at the Spitz.\u00a0 Old Spitalfields Market,\u00a0 London.
\nCustom made Father’s Day card. And a second one from April specifically.
\nTiny screwdriver with two bits from a Christmas cracker.
\nEmpty mailing sleeve postmarked from Wimbledon to Indiana Bill in Michigan City.\u00a0 I’m on the wrong end of the delivery to have this. It was padded and the custom sticker is gone so who knows what I sent him and why I kept the receipt.
\nTour pass to Hampton Court Palace on April 10th, 2001. I took two house guests there. Enjoyed it but I recall my foot hurt so much I skipped some of the tour and sat in the tea house till they were done.
\nA tiny blue plastic coffee stirrer shaped like a canoe paddle. From that Air France flight I believe. Also have one from United (it has their logo.)
\nTiny cutout teddy bear as if from a paper punch.
\nZipper tag from that Diesel Backpack.\u00a0 They all fell off in a few weeks of use. Still loved the bag though.
\nReceipt for “Ryeford Bed&Breakfast” in Inverness. Where a lovely lady took us in after we missed the connecting bus to Loch Ness. Room was tiny and April couldn’t sleep because she was jet lagged and because I snore. I think she hit me with a pillow.
\nA large brochure on how to enjoy the “Caledonia Sleeper” via Scotrail.
\nA brochure from the Victoria and Albert museum’s exhibit “Brand.new” Ran Oct 19th, 2000 to Jan 14th, 2001. Its in a plastic sleeve and folds out. I remember seeing an Apple newton and several other computers.
\nDeposit slip for ND credit Union on June 20th, 2001. Must have been home on vacation.
\nPacket of “Dietor: doclificante ipolcarico”\u00a0 Italian Artificial Sweetener.<\/p>\n
Emergency contact card for the London Centre (laminated)
\nMap of Rome. Folded so show the Vactian on top. I’ve never been there.
\nLabel from a Itallian bottle of “Pepsi Light” featuring soccer player Filippo Inzaghi.
\nID card from\u00a0 IOM Casino, Douglas, Isle of Man.\u00a0 I played nickel slots. Then was barred because I was wearing trainers.
\nFoil wrapper for a large chocolate coin featuring Notre Dame Cathedral. I’ve never been there either. This came from my friends who visited me in London after their stop in France.
\nA receipt for joining the English Heritage fund. March 8th, 2000. Two adult admissions to Stonehenge. If you buy a year’s membership you get\u00a0 free admission to al their sites for just 8 pounds. I should have done that. I would have save money on all the stops at Stonehenge alone.
\nPass to the Tower of London, March 7th, 2000.
\nFoil wrapper from a “Thorntons Continental Diplomat”\u00a0 re-wrapped around a two-pence coin to preserve its shape. “Sugar roasted almonds and crispy hazlenuts, cushioned in smooth praline and encased in Thorntons continental chocolate.”\u00a0 There was a Thornton’s chocolate shop in the Wimbledon Mall. I sometimes treated myself on the way home from work.
\nDiscover Stonehenge brochure. Woefully out of date now.
\nNew Year’s eve whistle that no longer makes noise.
\nTicket stub for the Bluebell Historic Railway from Kingscote to Sheffield Park.\u00a0 Dated August 18th, 2000. My birthday!
\naccompanied 30th anniversary ticket.
\nEmpty sweetener packet from Harrods.
\nPay as you go card with chip from BT. Valid until 12\/2002
\nTicket from London Terminals to Petersboro on November 9th.\u00a0 WAGN railway. I enjoyed the ride but it was the first long distance solo trip out of London for me. A bit unnerving but I survived.
\nTicket stub for Chalice Well and Glastonbury Abbey.
\nTicket to the “Wimbledon Windmill Museum.”
\nPass to London Aquarium, April 1st, 2000.
\nFour matchbooks, unused from “Heaven on Seven” 600 N. Michigan Avenue 2nd Floor Chicago, IL 60611 Went there with a friend to sample their wall of hot sauce.
\nBaggage ID tag for United Airlines.\u00a0 I don’t fly them anymore.
\nA coin the size of a quarter marked ‘no cash value’ probably from the Isle of Man casino.
\nA lid to something called Mercier Champagne. Possibly associated with the cork I found earlier. Which would mean it wasn’t wine after all.
\nRemember this list is from a single box about half the size of a normal shoebox.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Gemini offered this summation:<\/p>\n
The heat of Rome, the taste of fruit, and the chaos of translation.<\/i><\/p>\n Note to self:<\/b> The Vatican map is still folded. I saw the Pantheon and the Coliseum, but saved the Pope for another life.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Loch Ness, jet lag, and the hospitality of strangers.<\/i><\/p>\n The “Almost” Ticket:<\/b> Scottish Citylink (Edinburgh to Perth). 4 hours on a bus.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Ryeford B&B Receipt:<\/b> The “lovely lady” who saved the night after a rude dustman caused a missed connection.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Proposal:<\/b> Littlejohn\u2019s Restaurant, March 9th. April loved the chicken tagliatelle so much she proposed to the chef.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Doc Martens:<\/b> \u00a3114.98 from Oasis, Birmingham. Bought a size too big because my feet were so swollen from walking the Highlands.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Stonehenge, London ghosts, and Geocaching.<\/i><\/p>\n Stonehenge:<\/b> March 8th, 2000. Used the Wilts & Dorset Explorer pass. (Note: Should have bought the \u00a38 membership!)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The “Space Pen” Box:<\/b> No pen, just the box. A souvenir of the Moon Landing era kept for the art.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Wimbledon Rte 200:<\/b> A bus ticket to a cemetery mystery cache. Looking for an “Angel.”<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Thorntons Wrapper:<\/b> Re-wrapped around a 2p coin. The taste of “Continental Diplomat” pralines on the way home from work.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n What we watched when we weren’t walking.<\/i><\/p>\n Galaxy Quest<\/b> (May 1st, 2000) – By Grabthar’s Hammer, what a savings.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Billy Elliot<\/b> (May 5th, 2000) – Liked it, but thought it could be grimmer.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/li>\n X-Men \/ Gladiator \/ The Cell<\/b> – One of these was playing at the Ambassador in Woking (Sept 2000).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n A collection of tiny, useless, wonderful things.<\/i><\/p>\n A tiny padlock and key (The “Posh” crackers).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n A tiny screwdriver with two bits.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Two gold and pink crepe paper crowns (The second-best thing about a British Christmas).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n A New Year’s whistle that has finally gone silent.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n The 12\/2002 BT Pay-as-you-go Card:<\/p>\n This represents the era of the phone booth\u2014standing in the rain with a piece of plastic, trying to call home before the credits ran out. It’s a fossil of a pre-smartphone world.<\/p>\n Would you like me to “deep dive” into one of these specific trips\u2014like the 2000 Highland journey\u2014and help you write out the full story of the “Rude Dustman and the Marriage Proposal” for a physical journal?<\/b><\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I just opened a time capsule.\u2028 It didn’t look like one from the outside, it looked like a box that originally contained a pay as you go phone from BTcellnet. Model M3588 made in Germany.\u2028 The duct tape holding it together (doesn’t everything get held together with duct tape eventually?) kept one end closed but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","category-writing","missing-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pDxlf-1hh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4915"}],"version-history":[{"count":76,"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13971,"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4915\/revisions\/13971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\n
\n Artifact<\/strong><\/td>\n The Memory<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n\n \n Yellow Gelato Spoon<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n Purchased in a “blisteringly hot” Rome. A small plastic relic of survival.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Yoga “Pera” Bottle<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n 125ml. From the Air France flight (Chicago -> Paris -> Rome). Contains a mystery foil ring.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n “Poire-06-2001” Cork<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n Shared with Bart and Prof. Yuenes. Likely a sparkling Pear wine (Perry), not a grape wine.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n G4 Cube Pamphlet<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n A souvenir of a three-language translation “skit” in a Roman computer shop.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 50,000 Lire Note<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n A “Diesel” backpack cost 65k. A reminder of a currency that no longer exists.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n \n
\n🏴 Section 2: The Highlands & The “Missed Connection”<\/h3>\n
\n
\n🏰 Section 3: The English Heritage Trail<\/h3>\n
\n
\n🎞️ Section 4: The Marquee (Now Playing)<\/h3>\n
\n
\n🎄 The “Christmas Cracker” Corner<\/h3>\n
\n
\n🔍 Analysis of the “Mystery Item”<\/h3>\n
\n
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