I arrived at the Best Western Linton Lodge, in which we would stay three nights. I received our luggage at the front desk - it wasn't carried to our room. When we entered the room, I found a slip of paper on the table. It said that the Oxford Half Marathon would be held on Oct. 7th and the access to the hotel would be restricted from 8 am to 2 pm. I was supposed to return my car, which would be rented on the previous day, at 10 o'clock on 7th. Would I have to check out by 8 am and kill time until 10 am?
I searched for the detailed information on the route on the net and found that we would be able to go out of the area of the marathon until 9:15 am. I asked about the marathon route at the front desk in detail. Then, to my surprise, the detailed route map, which I found on the net, was already delivered to the hotel. I told the hotel person, "If you had known the information, you should have told us the correct and detailed information in advance." She arrogantly and with a heavily thick accent answered that she wouldn't be responsible if I could go out of the route or not. I didn't want her to be responsible for my escape from the marathon area, and just wanted to know the accurate announcement from the organizer of the marathon. Was she an idiot?
I'll show you the slip of paper from the hotel and the route maps (overall and localized ones) below. Our hotel was located on Linton Road and within the loop of the route. According to the map, we should be able to go out of the loop at F point from 8 to 9:15 am and 11:15 onwards. In spite of this notice, the hotel told us that the traffic would be regulated from 8 am to 2 pm. Their poor and rough service was unacceptable.
We took dinner in a restaurant in the hotel. The taste was awfully terrible. You might not think so from the following picture, but the medium-roasted beef steak was hard and sounded like it was made from oily clay. What's more, a large amount of plain-tasting potato. I didn't want to make leftovers for the chefs, and ate them, but needed much water to wash them down. Digestive drugs from Japan were helpful. The dinner price was more than 20 GBP and almost criminal. The chefs should come to Japan and try Japanese beef steaks.
(Vocabulary)
thick 〈言葉のなまりが〉 強い
He spoke with a thick accent. 彼は強いなまりで話した．
clay 粘土
三晩投宿するベストウエスタン・リントン・ロッジに到着した。フロントで荷物を受け取り(部屋に運んでくれていなかった)部屋に入ると、1枚目の写真のチラシがテーブルの上に置いてあった。なんと、出発の日にオックスフォード・ハーフマラソンが開催され、8時～14時までホテルが封鎖されてしまうらしい。この日は前日に借りる予定のレンタカーを10時に返却することになっているのだが。食事を済ませて8時前にはホテルを出て10時まで時間を潰さなければならない？
すぐにネットで調べると、9時15分までは出られるとのこと。フロントでこの件を尋ねると、僕がネットで見つけたコースマップがフロントにも有り、9時15分までは出られると書いてある。わかっていたのなら正確な情報を教えてくれるべきだとフロントのスタッフに話すと、8時～9時15分の間に出られるかどうか責任が持てないという。それも訛りの強い英語で。一番年配に思えた(それでも若い)高慢なスタッフが言うのだが、僕はホテル側にそんな責任を負わせるつもりはなく、大会運営者からの正確な情報を伝えてくれさえしたら良かったのだが。マラソンに関してのクレームをホテルに言うわけないではないか？この女、もしかしてアホ？
夕食はホテル併設のレストラン。非常にまずかった。写真を見たらそうは見えないかも知れないが、硬い、合成したのか思われるような不味いステーキに大量のポテト。残すともったいないので全部食べたが、吐き戻しそうだった。念のため持参した消化剤が役に立った。日本円で２０００円以上の料理なので、この味では犯罪的だと思った。シェフは一度、日本のステーキを食べてみるべきだ。
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