Why not report the abduction at the Tapas Bar rather than Main Reception?

[gilet]

Have you got a stretched screen?  One that is wider than average?

Sadie, could you possibly do a description of the route you took, then I will do a GE image. The image will only take seconds if I have the route.

[gilet]

Agreed there are three possible short cuts two of which go around or across a circular green, only Matthew and Gerry know which one they took.  So let's get this straight.  There is only one entrance to the pool area, gardens and tapas from the street and it is through the small reception building located just down from the McCanns apartment.  It was open as clients were walking through it in order to do their checks.  So are you saying that there was no staff in this reception?  Could anyone wander through it unchallenged?

Sadie who was there for an evening meal at one point has posted this as a fact.

[sadie]

First thing

When I visited the tapas restaurant and had a meal I had to pass thru the tapas twice, once in and once out.  Maybe an hour and a bit between hgoing thru

There was no sign of anyone on duty there.  No-one at all.  This was in June/July 2010

Heri or Registrar might have been there too.  Maybe it was just during the day that a receptionist was there to keep strangers away from sharing the guests facilities, the pool etc..  I wouldn't know that.

[sadie]

OK gilet has said tat she will help me post this route for Icabod and anyone else

So here are the instructions:

Basically

1)  I cut diagonally across the road from 5A gate to close to the corner of the little car park opposite the tapas reception,

2)  Then I went eastwards until i came to the long alleyway, noth -> south and turned south

3)  Then I turned left and took the pathway immediately below the round green lawn, cutting off the westrern corner.

4)  At the end of that I turned right in a southerly direction  and keeping really close to the corner, left and I went straight to the reception

That is about 2/3 of the distance north-eastwards across the south-eastern face of the building and actually on the main road. 

I took the shortest way that i could, not wasting any steps

I think it actually was 268 yards but I rounded it up to 275 yards.
Just over a minute for a decent runner

Part of the path may, or may not be, across private property but I cant remember any gates.and I cant see any on GEarth either.  I think it might all be part of OC because the long N-> S alleyway is Aldeamente Ocean Club.  That name used to be on GEarth but mysteriously vanished along with all the other raod names in that vicinity.






I also wonder if the first half of this route is as described  by the Carpenters as they made their way home from the Tapas ... and heard the name Madeleine Madeleine murmured/whispered.

[gilet]

Is this the actual route Sadie? It seems to match the distance you quoted and is significantly less than the 350 metres going round the main road.

275 yards is in fact 251 metres.



And OC reception is on the front of the building here.



not at the Palm Bay door around the corner next to the car park as indicated by another poster.

[gilet]

I have added more points to the path which allows for better cornering which a person in a hurry would certainly do.

The comparison between the two distances is very interesting.

In fact if Matthew knew of this shortcut then the difference between reporting at the Tapas bar and at Reception
would be only 194 yards or 179 metres

268 yards against 72 yards. 

245 metres against 66 metres.

[AnneGuedes]

http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/BEACH_OUTING.htm

[sadie]

I have added more points to the path which allows for better cornering which a person in a hurry would certainly do.

The comparison between the two distances is very interesting.

In fact if Matthew knew of this shortcut then the difference between reporting at the Tapas bar and at Reception
would be only 194 yards or 179 metres

268 yards against 72 yards. 

245 metres against 66 metres.

Actually gilet, I think you can add another 15 yards for the distance to the tapas.  I think that it is unlikely that any outside line telephone would be in the outside restaurant, because it is only a temporary type structure.

Cant say for certain but I would expect a proper land line (if there is one) to be inside the properly constructed Tapas bar and restaurant.

So that means that the distance to the properr Reception is 268 yards and to the Tapas bar is 87 yards, meaning a difference of 181 yards or 165.5 metres.

And how do we know if Gerry considered the reception people to be more on the ball than the restaurant people.  We cant knowthe answer to that. 

Almost certainly the reception will have been manned by fluent English speakers, whereas restaurant staffs English is often restricted to the sort of words used about contents of meals etc. ... or so we have found on holidays abroad.

I think Gerry made the right choice.  Go to the top, to people who are used to dealing with emergencies and speak both langauges fluently.

[gilet]

http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/BEACH_OUTING.htm

Thank you for that.

It indicates very clearly where Reception is.
Though why the PJ should call it the side of the Reception Building is a bit baffling when even their own photo makes it clear that it is the front. Could another translation be "the arcade running alongside the reception building" and that explains it?








The children's club which is above Reception is accessed via this pathway.

[sadie]

I must say this sadie ...  I don't need to do calculations  ( or be an engineer )  to see that the distance between the McCann's apartment and the main reception is more than four times the distance of that between the apartment and the tapas bar

It is immediately clear at a glance of the  map

Icabod, I would very much like your apology

That was a sneering comment and an attempted put down.  I have proved you got it wrong

Perhaps YOU would benefit by being an engineer ?

[John]

So Gilet was wrong after all...now that's funny. 

This now brings me back to my original question of two days ago when I asked if anyone knew if the covered walkway can be used to gain access to the steps which go up to the Mini Club.  I will repost the photo which I took down earlier when Gilet wrongly inferred that the entrance to the childrens club was through the Main Reception on Rua Direita.

I have also checked the footpath distances as requested by Sadie this morning and I can confirm that the Tapas Bar is 71 metres away from the patio belonging to apartment 5a and the Mini Club is 250 metres away by shortest route known to us at this point in time. 

[Benice]

I've lost track of what we are trying to prove here.  Can someone remind me please?

[John]

I've lost track of what we are trying to prove here.  Can someone remind me please?

We have to understand the distances involved before we can consider the question.  We started out when someone posted a photograph of the Ocean Club sign attached to the resort wall which announces that Main reception is 400 metres away. We now know from going through this exercise that this is misleading.  Main Reception is only 250 metres away by the shortest route.  Another myth, albeit a trivial one,  dispelled.

To answer your question Benice. We are trying to establish why Matthew had to spend some 20 valuable minutes running up and down to the main reception when someone in charge in the tapas could have done all of it instantly by telephone?

[Benice]

We have to understand the distances involved before we can consider the question.  We started out when someone posted a photograph of the Ocean Club sign attached to the resort wall which announces that Main reception is 400 metres away. We now know from going through this exercise that this is misleading.  Main Reception is only 250 metres away by the shortest route.  Another myth, albeit a trivial one,  dispelled.

Thank you John.

[sadie]

So Gilet was wrong after all...now that's funny. 

This now brings me back to my original question of two days ago when I asked if anyone knew if the covered walkway can be used to gain access to the steps which go up to the Mini Club.  I will repost the photo which I had took down earlier when Gilet wrongly inferred that the entrance to the childs club was through the Main Reception on Rua Direita.

I have also checked the footpath distances as requested by Sadie this morning and I can confirm that the Tapas Bar is 71 metres away from the patio belonging to apartment 5a and the Mini Club is 250 metres away by shortest route known to us at this point in time.

John have you read the above posts and also a VERY early post?  Here gilet clearly proves that HER distance of 275 yards is correct, in fact she got it down to 268 yards by very careful measurement.  Other people wre saying 400 metres

Gilet WAS correct ... NOT wrong.  She was talking about the distance to the main reception NOT the distance to the mini club

Where has the min club come from?