Dave and I checked out of our little inn in Bray yesterday morning after a continental breakfast of strong coffee, flaky warm pastries, fruit compote and artisanal yogurt. We were sorry to go but had to zip back to London to relieve our dog-sitter!
I got quite a shock at checkout when the inn presented a bill for roughly £1,300. I thought, holy cow -- what on earth did we buy? Looking it over I realized the culprit was a glass of 1965 armagnac Dave ordered after dinner the night before. I specified something "not too expensive" to the waiter, who showed me a menu price of £54 for the glass. In the spirit of Dave's birthday I choked back my miserly instincts and said sure. Dave was shocked it cost even that much. Lo and behold, upon checkout, the price appeared on our bill as more than £700! That's right, more than $1,200. For a glass of brandy.
I explained to the woman at the desk that there's no way that price could be correct. She double-checked and said it seemed to be, but I firmly said no. (I'm guessing that's the price for the bottle?) I explained I'd been quoted a price of £54 by the waiter.
To her credit, she changed the price to the one I expected, and we paid. I mean, what do I look like, a freaking hedge fund manager?!
Aside from this minor snafu, The Waterside Inn was wonderful and we definitely plan to return.
I spent the afternoon continuing to clean out my photo albums. I have eliminated many books so far by throwing away substandard photos and scanning others. I'm saving prints only if they're good quality and they're favorite shots. It feels great to lighten this load!
(Photos: Two more shots from Bray. These are both hdr, which means they're composites of three separate exposures to capture a fuller range of light in the sky and in the light and dark areas.)
Yikes. That price thing would have freaked me out, too! Can I just tell you that I'm so intimidated by what you can and can't do with digital photography -- I think you'd probably make a wonderful teacher. Have you ever thought about that?
ReplyDeleteI would have had a heart attack if presented that bill.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think that Elizabeth has a great idea!
Thanks for the vote of confidence, but HDR really isn't all that complicated. My camera has an HDR setting that takes the photos in rapid succession and layers them automatically. I don't do anything except set the camera. (There are also various filters so you can enhance colors and that sort of thing. I usually stay away from those.)
ReplyDeleteEven some Apple iPhones have an HDR setting, and maybe droids too -- I don't know.
Fascinated with HDR, have seen some amazing shot of Venice but it was more complex than just a setting on camera...you have a fancy pants camera! 54 quid for a glass of brandy...ow!
ReplyDeleteHoly cow, that price tag would have given me quite a scare.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos!
I would have had heart failure!
ReplyDeleteMy iPhone has HDR. Some of the pictures are more successful than others - I have trouble holding still for even that brief moment :)
Ouch! Glad you got that straightened out...
ReplyDeletethose images are seamless! and glad you got the price straightened out. I can't even imagine what a $1200 glass of brandy would taste like.
ReplyDelete