Destination Europe: Are You Ready?

Friday 14th August 2009: Shetland Islands

Jeremy English - the presenter of Destination Europe - was standing outside of the large, old yet still modern Sumburgh Hotel. Despite being built in the late 1860's, the Sumburgh Hotel still boasted modern facilities, which Jeremy and the producers had really liked when initially looking for a hotel for this special night. The hotel had appealed because it was very close to Sumburgh Airport, the Airport from which all fifteen of the contestant's would be arriving at shortly. Another thing that intrigued them was the loud, disco music that started playing as soon as they went on the website home page. It wasn't until a few minutes later that they realised the music was infact coming from a pop-up advertising a poker site, but this didn't matter, they wanted to host the launch party at this hotel.

He looked at the cameramen all around the site, the poor buggers. If the viewers thought that the contestant's were in for a bad ride, boy were the cameramen. CSE Television Studio's had hired literally hundred's of cameramen to capture every single moment of Destination Europe, this involved hiring lots of them, and placing them all over Europe, some of them who would wait weeks to record a few days footage. In all of their contract's was a clause that they had to stay within a mile radius of their designated Airport, waiting for the contestant's to arrive. This was to be made even more complicated thanks to the confusing way the competition was thought up, meaning one 'team' of contestants could arrive a week before any of the other 4 'teams' did. Jeremy never felt happier that he was the young, rich and handsome presenter he was.

The cold wind started biting viciously at his face. "The one time where I actually have to location shoot, it has to be the bloody Shetland Islands. When you told me it was called Destination Europe, I was expecting France, Italy, Spain, even Germany, not an island north of bloody Scotland!", Jeremy shouted towards his director. But before his director could shout back, they both noticed a set of taxi's pull round the corner of the road. The cameramen all instinctively shot into action, one of them nearly falling over in the process.

Ten minutes later...

"Hello and welcome to Destination Europe, I am the host, Jeremy English".

"All fifteen of you applied to take part in a reality TV program that involved traveling around Europe in a race, with the winners collecting a prize fund of €1,000,000. As with all reality TV shows, we didn't tell you the exact details, because that would run the fun!"

"Before we get into more details, I would like to take this opportunity to split you into your five teams of three. You will be competing alongside the other two people in your teams, so lets hope you all get to know your team members and become the best of friends over the next ten months or so."

[u][color=black]Team 1: Team Oceania[/color][/u]

Lower League's Rule
PluckaDuck
Whoopy D
[u]
Team 2: Team North American Coffee[/u]

spartans5
rancer_890
Kenco
[u]
Team 3: Team CSE FMO

[/u]PaulHartman71
Robert_296
Ridleys

[u]Team 4: The Dark Horses

[/u]jack.browne
super_lampard
tomsmith1989

[u]Team 5: The Late Entries

[/u]roberto922
joetheref
brettney1980

"Now, for the drawing of the clubs. For this we have waited especially for you all to arrive, as even I myself, at this time do not know who has drawn which clubs. Here is a list of all of the clubs and their selective number".

1    AC Milan
2    Arsenal
3    Ath. Madrid
4    Barcelona
5    Chelsea
6    Fiorentina
7    Inter Milan
8    Juventus
9    Liverpool
10   Manchester City
11   Manchester United
12   Real Madrid
13   Roma
14   Sevilla
15   Valencia

"The following number will represent which club each person has. For example, if the number '2' is drawn first, AC Milan will go to PluckaDuck. Basically, we work down the above list alphabetically, on each club we draw a number based upon your order in the 'group' table. "

9
2
11
8
12
13
7
4
1
5
3
15
14
6
10

"If you don't understand that, I apologize on behalf of the creative team who said that for legal reasons we had to do it this way. However, here is a full draw, showing the group's, and the club's each person has".

[left][u][color=black]Team 1: Team Oceania[/color][/u]

Lower League's Rule    - Liverpool
PluckaDuck             - Arsenal                                              
Whoopy D               - Manchester United

[u] Team 2: Team North American Coffee[/u]

spartans5                - Juventus
rancer_890               - Manchester City
Kenco                    - Sevilla

[u] Team 3: Team CSE FMO[/u]

PaulHartman71    - Inter Milan
Robert_296       - Barcelona
Ridleys          - AC Milan

[u]Team 4: The Dark Horses[/u]

jack.browne      - Valencia
super_lampard    - Ath. Madrid
tomsmith1989     - Chelsea

[u]Team 5: The Late Entries[/u]

roberto922      - Fiorentina
joetheref       - Roma
brettney1980    - Real Madrid
[/left]

"So gentleman, now that you have been placed into your groups of three, and each given a club there is very little left for you to do tonight. In-fact, there is absolutely nothing. As tomorrow is the official start of the show, the remaining rules will be explained exactly then. For now, you can enjoy all that this hotel has to offer, get to know each other, especially the other two in your team. Have a good night lads!"

Thankyou Mr. English, I'm very much looking forward to my stay at the Sumburgh Hotel!!

Mon Team Oceania (I love the idea between keeping us together geographically along with the yanks). I'm sure I can work with my Kiwi counterparts, for now and forever. Bahhhhhh!!

Great OP Paul

Was scrolling through the draw hoping I'd get Man Utd so glad that worked out. Another 2 big English clubs in our team as well, seems the draw etc couldn't have gone better, except for being teamed with PluckaDuck Not sure I can forgive him for calling me a kiwi

What you like me to call you??? An expat

Or have you moved back to the UK now???

Nah still in NZ, a resident as well now so I guess Kiwi is almost accurate.

On topic, I think it's tight between Team Oceania and Team CSE FMO (fix? ) for the best team.

I agree, I couldn't believe it when I saw those three were together...

Great opening posts .. and great draw can't complain about drawing "Los Galácticos".

Oh yeah and go team "Late Entries"

Late Entries FTW

Saturday 15th August 2009: Shetland Islands

"Hello again everyone, if you can remember anything after last night's booze-fest, then I hope you remembered my name. It would have been wise for our North American and Oceanic friends to have gotten an early night, since I doubt that any of you have adapted to the new time zone yet. It would also have been wise for everyone else to get some sleep, but judging by the now emptied Tassimo machine in the hotel's reception, it seems at least one person didn't get any, I'm looking at you Kenco!"

"Now, lets talk business. I know that a lot of you are still not really sure about the rules, or what this reality TV show involves you guys doing. Below is a list of rules and regulations"

Saturday 15th August 2009: Shetland Islands

"Hello again everyone. I must hurry this, I have a flight leaving very soon and want to get back to my home in Miami as soon as possible. In case you are all wondering, in future weeks you will receive the results of the gameweek's via your group's Blackberries. Below are the result's for the first gameweek".

[b]Chelsea   [/b]  2-0 Burnley
Hull        1-1 [b]Arsenal[/b]
[b]Liverpool [/b]  4-0 Sunderland
[b]Man United[/b]  0-1 [b]Man City[/b]
[b]AC Milan  [/b]  1-2 [b]Roma[/b]
Chievo      1-0 [b]Fiorentina[/b]
Genoa       2-2 [b]Inter Milan[/b]
[b]Juventus[/b]    3-0 Bari
Mallorca    2-0 [b]Sevilla[/b]
[b]Real Madrid[/b] 4-0 Malaga
[b]Valencia   [/b] 0-2 Valladolid
Zaragoza    4-1 [b]Ath. Madrid[/b]
Tenerife    0-2 [b]Barcelona[/b]

"Below is a table showing all 5 of your group's and the money that you all now have at your disposal. I really must be leaving you now, so goodbye and of course, good luck!"

[b]Gameweek 1[/b]


[left][u][color=black]Team 1: Team Oceania[/color][/u]

Lower League's Rule    - Liverpool        [b]300[/b]
PluckaDuck             - Arsenal          [b]100      [/b]                            
Whoopy D               - Manchester United  [b]0[/b]

[b]Total:[/b] 1,000 + 400 = [b]1,400[/b]

[u] Team 2: Team North American Coffee[/u]

spartans5              - Juventus         [b]300[/b]
rancer_890             - Manchester City  [b]300[/b]
Kenco                  - Sevilla            [b]0[/b]

[b]Total: [/b]1,000 + 600 = [b]1,600[/b]

[u] Team 3: Team CSE FMO[/u]

PaulHartman71          - Inter Milan  [b]100[/b]
Robert_296             - Barcelona    [b]300[/b]
Ridleys                - AC Milan  [b]     0

Total: [/b]1,000 + 400 = [b]1,400[/b]

[u]Team 4: The Dark Horses[/u]

jack.browne            - Valencia      [b]0[/b]
super_lampard          - Ath. Madrid   [b]0[/b]
tomsmith1989           - Chelsea     [b]300[/b]

[b]Total: [/b]1,000 + 300 = [b]1,300[/b]

[u]Team 5: The Late Entries[/u]

roberto922             - Fiorentina     [b]0[/b]
joetheref              - Roma         [b]300[/b]
brettney1980           - Real Madrid [b] 300[/b]

[b]Total: [/b]1,000 + 600 = [b]1,600[/b]
[/left]

Now understand the concept much more, is a brilliant idea!!!

1.4K for the Oceania is not to bad, Arsenal's draw to Hull is inexcusable, but I curse WhoopyD for letting his Manchester United lose the cross-town rivals. I reckon Tevez scored the winner! Simply can't wait to get out of Shetland, Aberdeen, here... we... come!!!!

The only win on our team :/ Should have won Paul and James. James especially needs to win a lot because he needs to pay for two extra seats. Start pulling your (considerable) weight!

I'm afraid I could be the weakest link with Sevilla.

I love those Tassimo machines!!

Not really much of a dark horse, starting with a 4-1 defeat

Saturday 15th August 2009: Shetland Islands (Destination 1 of 40)

Lower League's Rule: Just had a word with the chick at the checkout, best deal is 187.00 per person.

Whoopy D: Crikey, that's a whopping deal mate! How much is that for all three of us?

Lower League's Rule: 561.00, but the earliest they can get us is tomorrow at quarter to five. The flight's an hour long.

Whoopy D: Back to the hotel then mates?

PluckaDuck: Sweet as mate! Sweet as!

Loving the updates so far KUTGW.

Pretty gutted about that loss to Man City but our team is strong enough to cope with one of it's members losing.

Great to see this underway. Hoping the Dark Horses can pull it out. The teams we've been drawn certainly stick with the group 'theme'. Well maybe not so much Chelsea. Good job one of us made some money eh, lads?!

That is awesome Paul Great so far

I've now got a system where each 'Destination' has a number in the update, which will match with their number in the original map. This will hopefully avoid confusion between 'Destinations' and 'Gameweeks'.

This looks a cracking sign-up here Paul, hopefully it is seen through to its conclusion

1 week in and I have already had it away with a checkout girl

But a loss at Valencia meaning I don't earn points for the team

Thank god for tomsmith!

Brilliant update Paul, good to see we're all on the same flight.

There's certainly a bit of Amazing Race about this, I'm loving it already :)

Oh Paul this is brilliant, and I am sure the Oceanic Team can lead the way with Style, happy with Liverpool, and even better to see two other big names in England in the club.

Great updates so far, I completely get the idea now and I love it. Great win over Sunderland to lead the side, and great to see that we clearly know what we are doing with everyone following us.

Lets go Boys!

Thank god for tomsmith!

That's right.

Sunday 16th August 2009: Aberdeen, Scotland (Destination 2 of 40)

Ridleys: I bloody hate flying, do we really have to leave for Belfast tonight?

PaulHartman71: Are you honestly saying you want to STAY in Scotland for any longer than you need to?

Ridleys: Well no, but-

Robert_296: It's not like Northern Ireland is any more exciting than Scotland to be fair.

PaulHartman71: Well it's too late now anyway, I've got the tickets and it's okay James, we're not leaving tonight. We leave tomorrow at 9am, fly to Birmingham, then get on another flight which takes us to Belfast, should arrive at around half one. Only just managed to afford it.

Ridleys: Why does flying have to be so difficult?

Woohoo one falls behind early in the race, lets go boys part in Aberdeen, if any of you miss the flight I am going to have to whack you over the head.

KUTGW Paul this is awesome.

Another great update Paul.

Birmingham...

Not going from Aberdeen

Im such a player

Not going from Aberdeen

Im such a player

You need to focus more on your management! £14 short. Oh dear.

Soo excited, out of Aberdeen already... oh well, Us Oceanic's will live up the nightlife while we can!!

KUTGW Paul!!!

The Oceanic Six? Haha.

We suck at this Everyone else moving on except us

Another win , Kenco, you wanna do something besides drink coffee? Like, maybe, win a game?

No extra wins Spartans its still week 1, just destination 2 haha.

My point still applies

Kenco just needs to learn his geography...don't call a Canadian a Yank.

We tried to make you Yanks and failed because of the Brits

The Brits.

Us Canadians are Americanized enough anyways.

1-0 Galaxy in MLS Cup at halftime.

Calm down my North American buddies, I think you need a decaf

Coffee puts me to sleep

Looking good so far for the Late Entries ... Great updates.

Although I'm not a prt of this sign up, I must say this is looking good Paul

I love the story setup and the idea ;D

KUTGW

The Brits.

Us Canadians are Americanized enough anyways.

1-0 Galaxy in MLS Cup at halftime.

Shame they lost on penalties tho HAHAHA

Shame they lost on penalties tho HAHAHA

Becks had an injury and played through it the whole game.

Donovan's PK was brilliant. Maybe he thought he was kicking a field goal...

Saturday 24th August 2009: Blackberry Message!

"Hello guys! If you are reading this then that means that my messages have all been sent correctly. I hope you are having fun in Northern Ireland (Destination 3), or Scotland (Destination 2) for the 3 lucky boys that stayed for an extra week. Attached should be the results from today's matches, which will ultimately decide your fates for this week. Have fun guys, much love!"

[b]Arsenal         [/b]0-1 Wolves
Burnley         1-4 [b]Manchester United
Manchester City [/b]2-0 Blackburn
Portsmouth      0-1 [b]Liverpool
[/b]Sunderland      1-3 [b]Chelsea[/b]
[b]AC Milan        [/b]4-0 Cagliari
[b]Juventus        [/b]4-2 Palermo
Napoli          2-0 [b]Inter Milan
[/b]Udinese         2-1 [b]Fiorentina
Roma            [/b]4-1 Sampdoria
[b]Barcelona       [/b]0-1 [b]Ath. Madrid
[/b]Sporting        1-1 [b]Sevilla
Real Madrid     [/b]3-0 Villarreal
[b]Valencia        [/b]4-2 Getafe

[center]     [b]Gameweek 2[/b]

[left][u][color=black]Team 1: Team Oceania[/color][/u]

Lower League's Rule    - Liverpool          [b]300[/b]
PluckaDuck             - Arsenal            [b]  0      [/b]                            
Whoopy D               - Manchester United [b] 300[/b]

[b]Total:[/b] 86 + 600 = [b]686[/b]

[u] Team 2: Team North American Coffee[/u]

spartans5              - Juventus         [b]300[/b]
rancer_890             - Manchester City  [b]300[/b]
Kenco                  - Sevilla          [b]100[/b]

[b]Total: [/b]286 + 700 = [b]986[/b]

[u] Team 3: Team CSE FMO[/u]

PaulHartman71          - Inter Milan      [b]0[/b]
Robert_296             - Barcelona        [b]0[/b]
Ridleys                - AC Milan  [b]     300

Total[/b]: 86 + 300 = [b]386[/b]

[u]Team 4: The Dark Horses[/u]

jack.browne            - Valencia      [b]300[/b]
super_lampard          - Ath. Madrid   [b]300[/b]
tomsmith1989           - Chelsea       [b]300[/b]

[b]Total: [/b]739 + 900 = [b]1,639[/b]

[u]Team 5: The Late Entries[/u]

roberto922             - Fiorentina     [b]0[/b]
joetheref              - Roma         [b]300[/b]
brettney1980           - Real Madrid [b] 300[/b]

[b]Total:[/b] 286 + 600 = [b]886[/b]
[/left]

[/center]

A brilliant week for The Dark Horses! That will certainly get us on our way again. Well done boys. I think we'll definitely be seeing Team CSE FMO in Northern Ireland.