Still wading through the ~1000 photos combined from Bill and my camera's of the wedding and honeymoon. So here's just another quick peek.... :)
Any guesses where we spent the honeymoon?
Bill and I took the weekend before the 4th as an opportunity to go for a small roadtrip. I had to be back at work Monday (well, I didn't, but I'm saving the vacation days for later this year - something about a wedding....), so we only travelled Saturday and Sunday. I used to live in Killeen, TX back when Dad was stationed at Ft. Hood, so we used that as our midpoint of the trip. Wanted to see the old HS, the old house, etc. I can only say - you can never go home. Killeen has only gone downhill since we left in '88. That, or I just have much better memories of what the town was like. But still, I'm glad we went.
We decided to take only backroads for the trip and I have to say, that was the best decision. We saw such pretty country-side, lovely little towns, stopped at a yard sale, etc. Below the fold are the best photos that came out of the camera on the trip.
Bill and I beside Lake Whitney on Sunday. Lovely lake with lots of campgrounds around it - we'll be going back there!
The first stopping point on Saturday was when we passed by a park for the Chisholm Trail. Of course we had to turn around and snap some photos! Unfortunately, this is my best one:
Further on, shortly before leaving the complete edge of the Ft. Worth suburbs, we saw this water tower. It's just so odd, I had to snap a photo:
We stopped for a late lunch/early dinner in Hico, TX. What a little gem of a town! There is the cutest little store on their main street: Western Otter. The owner is friendly, funny, and quirky. Her husband prints up funny little sayings on tshirts and they sell an array of quirky items. Stop in if you're ever in the area!
The Koffee Kup has awesome desserts! And the food isn't bad either. :)
We spent the night on Ft. Hood in the guest lodging there - one of the benefits of having a retired military personnel as a fiance. ;) Sunday morning we drove around the base trying to find familiar things, but other than the 1st Cavalry Division Museum, not much was familar. A lot has changed in 18 years, including my memory. LOL. Anyway, one of the newer monuments was for fallen soldiers of the Iraq War.
We drove through Crawford, TX on our way back on Sunday. Yes, the "hometown" of President Bush and family. Population 705. We're not sure if that includes the Secret Service or not. ;)
This is Main St., Crawford, TX. Three storefronts (all selling Bush paraphenalia), the police station, and a barber shop. Across the road (where I'm standing) is a brand spanking new bank and to the left is a gas station. That's it.
We actually drove past his ranch. It's in the middle of nowhere and if there wasn't a HUGE black trailer across the road (gee - wonder who that was?) and two big orange signs in front of the drive stating "NO STANDING, NO PARKING", you wouldn't know it was their ranch. The huge plus of driving by there? Getting "lost" in some really pretty farm land like this:
Finally, a baby cactus on the shore of Lake Whitney.
Bill has more photos from the trip. I'm jealous of some of his shots. I have to remember that my shots only come out good when I focus in on one aspect of something instead of the larger area - that would be user error, not camera error - the camera (a new Panasonic FZ7) takes awesome photos. I'm working on it.
Hello All! I'm finally settling in here. I had my quiet time (ha!) in Florida with the family, and then my pre-step-mom time with Bill and his son for two weeks here. This last week has been all about getting caught up on the email, mail, starting the job process, getting situated, etc. So now I'm at a point where I feel I can chit chat on the blog again. :)
Joe and I had a really good time driving around the lowlands in Scotland. After a bumpy start - arriving at close to 11pm with no hotel reservation and then discovering that every hotel room in Glasgow was full (UN conference, huge concert, and Special Olympics)! - we had a great time. We drove around Ayr, the Isle of Arran, up around a couple of Lochs, and spent an afternoon in Glasgow. We decided it would be best to avoid Edinbourgh because of the UN conference and all the protesters. Besides, Joe just isn't a big city person. I wanted to see more of Glasgow, but he decided an afternoon of shopping was enough. That just gives Bill and I more to explore on our own when we go there together. :)
Coming back into the states was pretty uneventful. Joe and I had the emergency exit row with lots of leg room and and extra seat next to us. So we were pretty comfortable. The only annoying part was the security when we came into Orlando. I swear I'll never complain about the security at NJ/NY again. We had to wait forever for the one (!) agent assigned for Americans. Which I really shouldn't complain, I mean we don't have to get fingerprinted or photo'd like non-Americans do. But still, more than one agent for returning Americans should be a no brainer. Anyway, after that we had to pick up our luggage, put EVERYTHING - hand luggage, checked luggage, duty free, etc - through a HUGE xray machine and then hand it all back off. See we still had to go through the monorail system at Orlando and they didn't want us lugging all the luggage everywhere. Fine. But then, we get to the top of the stairs and have to go through another security check! With the metal detectors and x-ray machines for hand luggage. Complete with removing laptops and shoes. Okay, it's not enough that we had to go through two security checks (one normal, one for flights to the US) back in Germany - for each leg of the flight, but now we have to go through it twice AGAIN? After that long ass flight? I don't know what Orlando Int'l Airport is thinking, but it's just bad planning. And no notice either. Argh.
I had a nice three weeks with my family. The drama of the one brother who can't keep his life straight; the lovely visits, trips and excursions with the nieces and nephews; starting the wedding planning with Mom; finishing asking my bridesmaids to be my bridesmaids; seeing friends; helping get ready for the engagement party; picking Bill up from the airport and seeing him for the first time since Jan. 2nd!; taking our engagement photo; the engagement party and seeing lots and lots of friends that I haven't seen in a while. It was all fun. And frustrating. And fun.
My nieces and nephew are all growing up. Johnathan is starting to be a little man and trying to distance himself from his little sisters. And a good little worker at school. He likes math, reading, and science. :) Emilie is a little doll, but she knows it too. Reminds me a lot of me. The fact that she looks a lot like me just re-inforces the impression. :D And little Miss Kaitie is just the cutest little girl. Poor thing has a lot of respiratory problems because of her premie birth, but she just sits there and takes her medicine very patiently. She actually seems to like it. Odd.
My ride from Florida to Texas started off in a very Anna fashion. I met with one of my friends for lunch. She's a couple hours into the drive, so it was a nice easy start to the day. We sat for lunch and chit chatted and then I started off on the road for real. Around Tallahassee I decided to fill up, pulled over and discovered I left my wallet back in the restaurant. It had been a good 2.5-3 hour drive already. Fortunately I had $4 cash on me and I have a Hybrid car. I put 1.7 gallons in the car (probably bringing the total to 3 gallons) and turned the car around. With my mothers help, I eventually managed to get ahold of my friend and the restaurant. They agreed to let her pick the wallet up (it was still there!) and she agreed to meet me about an hour north of where we'd originally met. I figured I had enough gas to get that far. Up till then I'd been driving between 74-78 and getting a mpg of around 44. On the drive back, I set the cruise control at 65 mph and averaged about 56 mpg. It was perfect - I figured I had about enough gas to go another 20 miles longer, but that was pushing it. I treated my friend and her husband to dinner and thanked them profusely for meeting me there. Sigh.
I had originally planned on stopping in New Orleans for the night and exploring a little bit there, but that little adventure used up all my extra cushion time. So I leasurely drove straight through. I actually arrived in Dallas two hours earlier than I needed to, which gave me enough time to find the apartment, unload the car and relax for about 30 min before I had to go to the airport and pick Bill up. He was at training that week.
This should give you guys enough to chew on before my next entry. Maybe even with photos!
Oh - my household goods arrive tomorrow, so I'll finally have my stuff! Yea!
This weekend I am travelling to Hamburg. A city in Germany I have not visited yet, and is on the list of cities to see before I leave. The only other "big" city in Germany I haven't visited yet is Hannover, and I don't see it happening. Oh well, just a reason to go to CeBIT next year! :)
Anyway, I'll be meeting Kimberly and possibly Josie there. We'll be visiting a yarn warehouse (oh mama!), and then just sight seeing. As a happy co-incidence, Hamburg is having their Long Night of the Museums on Saturday, so we'll be doing that too.
Any other suggestions for what to do in Hamburg? I'll be staying until Sunday evening, so I've got all Sunday to roam around too. Speaking of....I have to go book a hotel room now.
I just bought my return ticket to the States.
Now, don't get me wrong - I love my man, I love my family, and I'm actually looking forward to embarking on this new adventure. However, it was actually hard to push the "go" button on the website to buy the ticket. It was the point of no return to this plan. The point where I couldn't go back. Not that I want to. Just, you know, a turning point.
In other news, my youngest brother is coming to visit/help me move/travel with me in a month for the entire last month. We're going to go to Dresden/Poland/Berlin (one weekend), various small German towns (the second & third weekends), and then travel for 4-5 days in Scotland. Speaking of - those are the next tickets I have to book. Before the RyanAir prices go up.
Anyway, I was totally surprised when Mom said Joe initiated the idea to come visit me. He got a little taste of travelling around Germany two years ago - he spent 6 weeks with me in the midst of my "I've just moved, have no money, my company has just declared bankruptcy, I haven't been paid in 5 weeks, I'm searching for another job - ACK!" Munich whirlwind job/vacation/experience of a lifetime. I guess he wants to take advantage of having a guided tour while I'm still here. :) Besides, Joe & new places & public transportation don't mix very well. So he needs the guide who knows what she's doing, or can fake it really well, to get around.
Other news? I've been crocheting like a mad woman (see "avoiding searching for a new job/car/buying ticket home"); started selling, or trying to sell, various bits I'm not schlepping back with me; and desperately trying to catch up on the West Wing and CSI episodes (shh!). Oh, and it seems Germany has finally decided it's summer (~80F) - practically skipping over spring - so I spent a good portion of Saturday afternoon hanging out in a nice park in the middle of Frankfurt. It reminded me a bit of the English Gardens in Munich. Nice relaxing weekend.
That's the news for now.
Hi All!
No, I didn't stay for the royal wedding, I actually came back on Monday. I just was feeling a little down this week. And then Thursday evening & Friday it got really bad - Mom went in the hospital. Everything seems better on that front, and I've had a very relaxing weekend, so now I'm going to post some photos from my London trip - I hope you think they're worth it! :)
The weather was wonderful for the entire time I was there - sunny, warm, nice. The weather kept saying it would rain, but that held off until I left Monday morning. Okay - to recap from where I left off:
Saturday evening - I went to Leicaster Square & found a club that had some comedy acts performing. I'd just missed the first guy, but got in just as the second one was starting. He was okay - his act was funny things in the news. The funniest part of his act though was the drunk guy in the audience who was heckling him. The guy HAD to react to him and his reactions were funnier than his prepared act. The third guy was more well known (but I still didn't know him). He was genuinely funny. After the acts we could get in for free to the disco part of the club so I went in there. It was still early there - about 11pm - so the party wasn't even getting started. I hung around for a few minutes but decided sleeping would be a better use of my time. LOL.
Sunday - went on another London Walk - this time the highlights tour. We met in front of Big Ben, walked around Parliment & West Minister, down to Buckingham Palace, over to St. James Palace (where Prince Charles lived until the Queen Mum's death), through some alleys to Piccadilly Circus and then ended at Trafalgar Square. Our tour guide was funny. She was such a little lady (shorter than me & slim) but she had about three bags wrapped around her body. Also, she had a tendency to talk to us with her eyes closed. Like she was looking into the sun, except she hardly ever was. As a result all her mascara was on her cheeks under her eyes instead of on her eyelashes. She was chock full of information though.
After the walk I had an hour and a half until my London Eye "flight", so I sat down and ate lunch - pizza. (I didn't have any typical English food the entire time I was in London. ) Then off to wait for 40 minutes in line to get on the Eye - yes, even though you have a "reserved" time for your "flight", you still have to arrive 30-40 minutes beforehand and wait in line to get onboard. It takes 30 minutes to make a complete rotation. About 15 people fit in a pod, and they have a bench in the middle to sit on. It's really funny - everybody rushes in to sit down and then spends the entire time walking around the pod looking out the window. The only thing missing from my flight was Bill. I would have loved to kiss him at the top. Guess we'll have to go back before they dismantle it. Okay, Bill? ;)
Afterwards I walked back to Trafalgar Square and then made my way over to the Tower of London via bus. Even though the Tower was open for another hour, there were no more guided tours and most of the attractions inside were closed. So I decided it wasn't worth the 14pound entrance fee just to rush inside to see the jewels and bought a 3.5pound book about them instead.
Since I couldn't do the tourist thing, I went off to Oxford Street for some retail therapy! I'd looked up some places to buy yarn while in London and John Lewis was mentioned as a place & I knew their address on Oxford Street, so I headed there first. I was expecting an upscale yarn store and was surprised to find out it was a mid-class department store. However, they're yarn department is upper class! Full of Rowan, Debbie Bliss, Noro, etc. All lovely lovely yarns. My only complaint is that it was 100% geared towards knitting - no crochet hooks, crochet books, nothing. BUT the yarn more than made up for it. I bought four balls for a scarf swap I'm doing. After John Lewis I bought a couple books (a humourous book about the Underground & the 25th Anniversary edition of The Princess Bride) and the second season of Roswell on DVD. Fortunately for my bank account, the stores closed at 6 so I couldn't find other lovely things to spend money on. :(
To finish off the night I went to Waga Mama for dinner - a lovely Japanese noodle restaurant and then went back to Leicaster Square to watch a movie. I watched Be Cool in a HUGE theather there - it held 1344 seats! Yes, I asked. I calculated that my movie ticket ended up costing me about $20, but I think it was worth it. Just to experience a movie theater that big & in London. Oh, the movie was good too. Not as good as Get Shorty, but funny anyway. :)
That was essentially the end of my trip. I tried to go to Wimbeldon Park Monday morning for my brother, but their museum opened about the time I needed to leave for my plane. I still went hoping to find a store selling tshirts or something by the tube stop, but it turns out they hold exclusive rights to that, so you can only buy souveniours there. Sigh. So my brother will have to be happy with my tube ticket that says Wimbelon Park & a photo of the tube sign. :)
Here's a teaser photo. Go to the extended entry to see the rest of the photos.
These are mostly in order of how I took them. Most of them can be clicked for a larger version.
The view of Piccadilly Circus from Burger King. Notice the Reduced Shakespeare Theater where I took in a show the first night (an hour after I took this photo).
The Angel of Eros in Piccadilly Circus.
A cute house stuck in amongst a row of townhouses across from my hotel.
Earl's Court Tube Station.
The famous Camden Market at Camdon Lock. I thought this was it. Nope - you go outside this area & there are two or three other areas just as large as this.
The London Eye aka Millennium Eye aka British Airways Eye.
The Tower Bridge and City Hall caught in the reflection of another glass building.
The Tower Bridge & waterfront
Me in front of the Tower Bridge :)
A Statue of Queen Anne in front of St. Paul's.
Underground Sign in front of Parliment (station Westminister)
Big Ben, The Eye, and Parliment
Wimbledon Park Tube Station
I just thought these pint milk jugs were too cute - photographed in a Marks & Spencer. Which by the way, I could totally get used to shopping in - lovely grocery store.
This cracked me up. I've heard about this show (Extreme Makeovers) in the US, but I didn't know it was in the UK. And this billboard ad is just too funny.
Caught in the pizza bathroom. Apparently you chew on these little toothbrushes & they clean your teeth for you - but don't swallow! Weird.
Ow ow ow. My feet hurt. I think I have three blisters. On each foot.
I started the day off up in Camden Town. My walking tour was to start at 11am, and I got there at 10am. At first I thought I was in Ghettoville, but after awhile the place grew on me. Again, I did the wander around the square bit for an hour. Picked up three books for £5, wandered through what I thought was Camden Market & drank a Machiatto. Then the tour started. If you are ever in London, I highly recommend taking a London Walking Tour. Our guide lead us through little back roads of Camden and was chock full of information about the section of town, personalities from the area (current & past) and gave it all in a very engaging story telling way. The tour ended at the real Camden Market. HUGE! And it just kept getting bigger the more you walked! I limited myself to buying a pretty amber ring ( I seem to be obsessed with green amber lately). I saw several pretty crocheted items too, but I'll describe them later & on my crochet board.
The afternoon was filled with walking around the Milliumum/London/BA Eye, reserving my "flight" for tomorrow, taking the tube to London Bridge & doing the Tower Bridge Experience. I thought I'd make the London Tower to see the jewels, but it was too late.
Hopped a bus, got off at St. Pauls, tried to go inside to light a candle & pray for the pope, but the church was closed. :( So I wandered around praying for a Tube stop. Now I'm here. :) I'm going to my hotel room to drop off these heavy shopping bags & put plasters/band-aids on my feet (ow ow). Then I'm off to find some entertainment for the evening. :) Hopefully a comedy club or another play (I know, I know - I'm not doing much forward planning here).
Just some quick highlights (this computer is in a McDonald's and the keyboard is ICKY ICKY ICKY!)
Flight was delayed, my luggage took forever, but I got to my hotel by 6pm.
Big City! Lots of people, lots of nationalities. And they're friendly! I LOVE it.
Staying around Earls Court (which has special meaning to me because of the Neil Gaiman Gaimen novel Underground Neverwhere, so it's really cool).
Been to Picadilly Circus. Bought a ticket for a play right off - the Complete Works of Shakespeare by the Reduced Shakespeare Company. It started an hour later, so I literally walked around the "square" there just doing shopping & a quick bite at BK (I promise to eat non-American fast food for the rest of the trip!! But I only had an hour & it was there!). In the hour I managed to pick up a new bracelet, a pair of socks (weird, I know), and the 4th season of West Wing. Woo hoo! I almost picked up the first season of CSI, but they only had the second half of the first season, not the first half. It was reduced (£19.00), but the second half w/o the first is pointless. So I picked up an interesting book instead. :)
The play was hilarious. Just these three guys laughing with/at the audience and doing ridicoulously shortened versions of 37 plays. The first half was 36 plays, the second half was Hamlet with audience participation ( we all played Ophelia's id, super-id, and ego). A laugh riot. :)
Afterwards I walked from Picadilly Circus to Leicaster Square and back. Tonight is clubbing night and the beautiful people are out in force (in very skippy cloths too) and the people with led screens on their chests handing out "exclusive" invitations to clubs to lure them in. I'm not dressed for it and I'm tired. So I'm heading back to my hotel room with my Dr. Pepper (!) I found and some candy to curl into my book for awhile. I plan to get an early start tomorrow - need to reserve tickets for the London Eye & then I'm going on a London Walk through Camden at 10:30.
Toodles! :)
Okay. I have a week vacation coming up at the end of April. I was hoping Janine and I could meet up somewhere, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. I AM taking this vacation. I want to go somewhere relaxing and warm. Somewhere I haven't been before, but I don't have to really do much.
I'm thinking Greece. Or the Greek Islands. Or Athens and the Greek Islands. Or Grand Canaria. Or Turkey - though maybe that not alone.
Any ideas? Suggestions?
I'm going to London for four days at the beginning of April. Any suggestions on things to see? Yummy yarn shops to visit?
I NEED A VACATION. These last two weeks of 14+ hour days are NO FUN.
Sigh.
Yesterday I went off to Stuttgart to meet a new online friend, Marvie. (She wrote about our adventure here.) We had so much fun!
Click on the extended entry to read all about it! Lots of pictures there. :)
My day started with me struggling to get up (I went to another Lesbian Disco the night before), finally managing it, catching the last possible Sbahn I could and still make the ICE train. Even then I had about 4 minutes to get from the Sbahn platform, up two flights of stairs and all the way across the hall to my ICE train platform. I was SOOO out of breath when I got on the train! BUT, I made it with a minute to spare! :)
Once I caught my breath, I started working on Janine's purple boa scarf. The scarf I've started and ripped out, and started again about three times now. Trying to find the right combination of stitches and hook size to make a decent scarf. :) I've got it right now, and did about half of it on the train ride (1.5hours).
When I got in, Marvie and I picked up a tourist guide and map from Tourist Information and set out. She had addresses for two yarn stores that she wanted to visit, but other than that our plan was open. So off we went!
We wandered around awhile down the main shopping street and then decided to stop in a cafe across from the Neu Schloss to warm up with a coffee. It's a pretty cafe, but the service was horrible. I was really surprised when the lady asked us if we wanted to pay after thirty minutes. That is really un-typical in Germany. Usually they wait for you to ask for the bill. You could sit there hours and not order anything else and they won't bother you. And this cafe was less than half full. I don't know, maybe it was because we were speaking English.
Anyway, afterwards we wandered across to the Neu Schloss and took pictures.
Across the street from the Neu Schloss is the Alte Schloss. The Alte Schloss looks like a fortress! We wandered into the inner courtyard and discovered this horse and knight statue (I didn't look to see who it was):
I love how the copper is stained with rivelts of "sweat" on the horses leg:
And then, just because I thought it would be a funny photo:
There is a clock on one of the towers that has to rams that headbutt to create the chimes of the hour. Neat, huh?
After wandering through a flea market next to the Alte Schloss, we went off in search of the first yarn store. After getting a little turned around and asking directions, we finally found it. I forget the name of the store, but it was a nice yarn store catering to mostly knitters. She had lovely yarns in there! 100% silk (20Euro a skein! ouch!), Cashmere, Angora, linen/cotton, etc. All very nice. I picked up some lovely Noro yarn from Japan - only 10Euro a skein! The long thin stuff is called "Tape" and looks almost like hemp. It was so interesting, I had to buy it. No idea what I'll make with it though. Not yet. The other one is called Silk Garden and is a wool/silk mix. I love the colors. Marvie said it should felt up nice, but I don't know if I should make my first felted project out of such expensive yarn!
We wandered around more and found the second store- Wool und Tee. Lovely store! Much more affordable yarns, but still very nice and a huge selection. She also sells tea (hence the Tee) and fiber so you can spin your own yarn. I'm not ready for that, but Marvie picked some up. I picked up some teal yarn for a shawl I'm going to make myself and a couple of other novelty yarns.
Afterwards we eat lunch at Sofie's Brauhaus. It's a kind of kitsch-y tourist-y brewery/restaurant. I introduced Marvie to Flammkuchen (a thin crust with a sour-cream sauce, bacon and cheese - very pizza-like) and I had the Kase Spaetzle. Mmmm....yummy! :)
Afterwards we started back through the shopping district (oops - found another yarn store, had to stop in!) and made our way back towards her house. Halfway there Marvie blurts out "doesn't it look like they're having sex?" Um, huh??? She was talking about a stone block in the middle of the walkway that I hadn't seen until she said that. And well.... you decide. ;)
At Marvies house we had fun winding my new teal yarns into center pull skeins with her yarn winder. That was worth some laughs! On the other hand, that is one nifty tool! I might have to pick one up sometime. :)
Her husband cooked us up some ribs, rice and beans. Yes Mom, I ate ribs! They were beef though, not pork, and no, I didn't use my hands. I used a fork and knife. I guess I'm becoming too Germanized, huh? In any case, they were good! Really good.
Oh, and finally, I bought her sons portable PS1 off them. I now have Crash Bandicoot, two Harry Porter games, a collection of old Atari games, and a Sorcerer game. Too cool!
I got home around midnight and after talking to Bill on the phone for an hour, I crashed! Getting up was soo hard this morning.
Now if you excuse me, I have some yarn that is begging to be played with. :)
Thank you for all the well wishes & congrats! I promise to respond to everybody personallylater. I got back in this morning, dropped my bags off at home, showered and came into work. Even though I get 25 days vacation a year, I have to apportion them out! ;-)
Once I get home for real and download my photos and unpack and SLEEP, I'll write more.
I have to say though, I was soo glad to walk in my front door this morning. Visiting family & friends is nice, but coming home feels great too. Just Bill is missing.
Hi All - I'm safe & sound here in Florida, ensconced in my parents home. Tuesday was a looonngg day. I woke up at 6 am after 4 hours of sleep - had to finish packing & play with the new iPod. :-)
My flight ended up leaving 3 hours later than scheduled. Not because of any problem on the Frankfurt end though. No, it left Newark 3 hours later that scheduled, so it arrived 3 hours later. Sigh. My plane was one of two that were delayed that morning. However, I have to say that everybody was really laid back about it and the Continental staff were very friendly. I even managed to catch my connecting flight in Newark. We arrived with about an hour and a half before it left, which was just enough time. Time to go through customs, pick up my bags, get back in line to hand the bags off again, go through security (taking off the shoes & belt this time) and walk back to a gate that was six doors down from the gate I came in just as they were calling my row to board. Again, everybody was really friendly, so the process was smooth. One Continental flight attendant was very nice & retrieved my duty free shopping from the previous plane for me - I forgot it in the rush of getting off! That was very nice of her.
Arriving in Florida was great - warm balmy air. One of my suitcases didn't get on the plane, but it arrived on the next one and they delivered it to the house the next morning.
So I'm in Florida, enjoying the warm temperatures - low 70's F (~22 C), sunshine, and big open blue skies. I haven't seen my two middle brothers or their kids yet, but that'll change this evening. And tomorrow is Christmas eve, so I'll get an overdose of nieces & nephews then. I love visiting my parents! :-)
I'm travelling to the US to visit family & friends & my man (!) starting next week Tuesday. Thinking about the trip has me thinking a lot about the last time I took this trip two years ago. I've lived in Germany for almost three years, and this will be my third trip back to the States. In 2002 I went home for nearly three weeks at Christmas time, doing the exact opposite of this trips plan. In 2003 I didn't go home at all. This year I went to the States in March for my Grandma T's funeral and now I'm heading "home" for two weeks of Christmas cheer.
As I said, this trip has me thinking a lot about the last trip. Last time I visited friends, heck, she's practically family, in NJ for a few days and then continued on to Florida for the rest of the time. This time it's opposite. I'm travelling first to Florida for a week and then visiting Bill at the "in-laws" and Janine in NJ.
Last time I went to NJ for a very special reason. First, I lived there for five years & wanted to see my friends. Second, my friend Donna was very very sick. I was afraid if I waited until another trip to visit her, or wait for her planned trip to Europe the next year, I wouldn't get to see her again. She had cancer and it was bad. I really really wanted to see her. I stayed with her & Janine for about three days. Even though Donna & I didn't do much together on that trip - she was staying mostly in bed at this point - it was great seeing her at Christmas time and being with her. Janine & Lisa swear she brightened up for those three days and did a lot better while I was there. I glad I brightened up her life. She was like a second mother to me.
Okay, I didn't mean to get all maudlin. I was going to write about Janine, Erik, and my trip into NYC two years ago - that's the big "got lost in Queens" story, Shelby - but I got sidetracked. I miss Donna. Travelling back to the States at Christmas time & all the crocheting I've been doing lately has me thinking about her - she encouraged my crocheting, gave me tips, and in fact, gave me the hooks I'm using now. Sorry, Janine, I know you're missing her too and this post will just make it worse.
I'm off to crochet some more before bed. I need to see if I need to buy more yarn tomorrow for this one project.
God bless you Donna. Love you.
Man, the Dollar ($) just keeps dropping against the Euro (€) -- 1€ = ~$1.34 right now. On the one hand, I can only hope it stays this low for another three weeks. It'll make my vacation at Christmas that much cheaper! On the other hand, ouch! This is not good for the US Economy. Or maybe it is? Greenspan and the other Bankers don't seem to want to do much to reverse this trend.
The Zurich Hauptbahnhof (Main train station). The statue is of Alfred Escher, a founder of the Swiss banking industry and the initiator of the train system in Switzerland. The inside of the train stain is imposing - lots of open spaces with shops and restaurants enclosed on the sides. There is a large shopping area underground though.
Continued in the extended entry. Go on. Click. You know you want to.
I took a city tour that drove us around the city pointing out places of interest. After that we drove along the Zurich Lake, past the Lindt factory (the locals close their windows in the summer because the smell of chocolate is too strong), and finally stopping at the picturesque town of Ripperswil. Our tour guide walked us up to the castle where Polish works of art were kept for several centurys in order to protect them. There's a permanent exhibit there now of Polish art. (I didn't go in Mom.) Half the tour went on to Lichtenstein for a tour of Heidi country, but I opted to walk around town and take the Sbahn back to Zurich. Here are a couple of photos from there. The view towards the lake is beautiful.
And they are known for their roses - they create a new type every year. Hence the two roses on the city flag. The other flags are the Swiss flag and hotel flag.
Back in Zurich I walked down the famous Bahnhofstrasse. It's the shopping street in Zurich. Towards the Bahnhof it's more pedestrian, more common shops - Esprit, Claires, a couple of books stores, and department stores. At the other end, towards the lake it's the more upscale stores - Cartier, other jeweliers, upscale designer clothes stores, etc. Between the two ends is the famous Sprungli cafe. I went inside Saturday to buy their Luxemburgli confectionaries to share with my co-workers and returned Sunday afternoon to have a coffee and cake in the cafe. More on that later. Oh, in the foreground is one of the many streetcars/trams of Zurich. I nearly walked in front of two or three of them. Sigh.
After buying my Luxemburgli I wandered towards the waterfront and came upon an enclosed gazebo decorated like a candle. Now, I love candles. And there were lots of people hanging around this place, so I decided to check it out. This place is a charity organization that sets up every year at Christmas allowing you to create your own beeswax candle. There are about ten open vats of hot liquid beeswax, lots of string pieces, a couple of sheets of instructions (also in English!), a couple of volunteers and about a hundred children running around. It was great fun. You dip your string in, wait two minutes, dip it again. As the candle increases in thickness you have to wait a little longer between dips so that the wax cools enough to semi-harden. Children would come in, dip their candle two or three times, hang it up and run outside to play. Some of them had really thick (rather phallic looking, erm) candles. At the end a volunteer takes your candle, trims it up, decorates it as you wish, and then you pay about 4 Swiss francs per 100g of beeswax. Pretty cheap, you have lots of fun making them, and it's all for a good cause. The money goes towards a charity helping mentally challenged adults.
After playing with beeswax I found a Fondue/Raclette restaurant for dinner. I ended up meeting two really interesting other Americans at the table next to me, so dinner turned out wonderfully. The other two had met on a tour earlier in the day and decided to have dinner together. I thought they were on a date, but she said they weren't. I think he thought/hoped they were. ;) Anyway, she's a doctoral student studying cranial formations and had spent the whole week buried in the University library. He was a lawyer for a US/International Pharmeceutical Company. We had a great time talking about places we'd individually been and gave each other tips on places to see. They were both going on to Germany the next day - she Frankfurt, him Munich/Nurnberg - so I gave them some tips on what to see/do in Germany. Oh, the food was good to, but my scarf smelled like burnt cheese for days afterwards! Lol.
Saturday evening I went out looking for a nice bar/disco to hang out in. Zurich has a big nightlife - lots of trendy restaurants, bars, discos. I was looking for a place where I wouldn't feel out of place alone, but could people watch and enjoy a drink or two. Each place I came upon just didn't seem right though. Too crowded, too trendy, too loud, too quiet, etc. Just as I was about to give up and call it a night, I rounded a corner and came upon Cafe Odean.
To quote Goldilocks, it was juuust right. Not too happening, good atmosphere, nice crowd. So I went in and ordered a drink. After about five minutes I noticed there was something a little...different about this bar. First off, most of the people were guys and they seemed to be paired off in twos. Okay, nothing odd, except their body language was a little more than two guys hanging out. The big tip off though was the guy at the other end of the bar. Older gentleman, sharply dressed, short hair cut, he looked like he'd be perfectly at home in an upper class Boston country club. Except....the rhinestone bow tie, necklace, braclets and rings. Hee hee. Really, I wasn't uncomfortable, I just had fun people watching. As I'm sure they were watching me. Before I left I asked the bartender about an art deco print that looked like it was a drawing of the bar. She confirmed that it was and was an original print. The bar is 93 years old and used to encompass the entire ground floor. They're trying to re-aquire the space that the pharmacy has so they can return to their former glory. And she confirmed the bar is mainly a hang out for gays. It's also a known hang out of James Joyce and Lenin. Do I have taste or what? :)
Sunday I wandered around and went into a museum. There was an exhibit about Sports Design and another about False Chalets. That last one was really interesting. From the end of WWII until about 10 years ago, the Swiss Army built and maintained about 100 bunkers scattered throughout Swiss countryside. In order to conceal them, they built them to look like Swiss chalets, even though most of the outside was simply painted on to look real. And they did look real. A passer-by who didn't look close would never realize the windows or balcony were painted on. Very interesting.
Finally, I went back to the Sprungli cafe to pass away the time until my train left. I thought I would calmly drink a coffee and write some postcards. Didn't happen. Instead, I met these two lovely, very interesting older ladies and spent two hours chatting with them. One is a 97 yr old twin and her twin is still living. I would never have thought she was 97. 80 maybe. She is so full of life. The other was a 75 yr old lady. She has had some real reversals of fortunes in her life - from houses with servants to having to work as a school teacher to pay the bills. We had so much fun just chit chatting about life. I am so glad I went there and met them. They were honestly the highlight of my trip. The twins did an interview with a German magazine last month, so I'm going to keep my eye out for the article. If I find it, I'll link to it or post a photo/scan of it.
That was my trip to Zurich. All in all, it's a nice place to visit, but probably much nicer 1) with somebody else and 2) in the spring/summer. I was disappointed in the shopping hours - they're shorter than in Germany! I did have a nice time though. :)
Ow, ouch, ow. My ankle *hurts*. Somehow, I don't know how, I did something to the back of my ankle. Sometime between sitting in a famous cafe in Zurich chatting with two old ladies and getting on my train to come back home. First it was just a little sore and I thought not walking (ie, sleeping) would help it. Nope, Monday it was a little worse, but not bad. Okay, maybe a bath and sleeping more will help it? NOPE. Today I really hurt it just walking down the two stairs we have in the middle of our office (the car tunnel is right underneath us, so there's a "hump" in the middle). I tried being careful, but a couple of times it twinged even more and just now taking my ankle boots really wasn't a pleasant experience.
Time to call the foot doctor for the third time in a year. Sigh.
Zurich's Grossmuenster Church by day:
... and again, by night:
This is THE largest landmark in Zurich and the building most often featured on it's postcards.
Sorry, no update again today. Busy at work putting together a presentation (again - still at work). I have pictures though! Pretty pictures!
Okay, okay, I'll post one (or two) before I go to bed. Promise.
and at work. Still (It's 8pm here). And tired.
So, while I have lots of great things to say about Zurich - or rather, the people I met there - I am whooped. Getting in at 11:30pm, chatting with my babe for half an hour and then crocheting for another hour while finishing the audio book I was listening to, does not make for much sleep.
I am going home. Eatting a tasty fast food dinner from a big chain, then going home, then sleeping. No computer tonight. Sorry, but I'm whooped.
Zurich, here I come! I purchase Bahn (train) tickets to Zurich last night. I'm leaving Friday directly after work and coming back Sunday night. And because I have a Bahn 50 Card (ie, I've already paid so flipping much for the discount card, I get all tickets for half price!), it's only costing me 93EUR.
I already have a recommendation from my boss on a sweets shop to visit and bring something back! Anybody been to Zurich? And good tips on places to see/things to do/restaurants to visit? I'll be searching around online all week but it's always nice to get recommendations from people who've been there.
So, suggest away!
Yesterday Sandra invited me to Darmstadt for breakfast and some sightseeing. I'd offered to make pancakes before, so she suggested I bring the mix along to make for brunch.
I have to say I had a wonderful time! Cooking the pancakes and the breakfast conversation between Sandra, Bea, and I was great. We covered everything from Walmart, the eatting styles of left handers, their Australian trip (they took off for a year and camped around Australia), milk containers & styles in Germany/America, and hair products. A wonderful breakfast!
After breakfast Bea let me borrow one of her bikes and off we three went. We rode through Darmstadt and visited the Russian Kapelle, the Hochzeitsturm, and the Hundertwasser Waldspirale (also here). All wonderful buildings/places in Darmstadt that I never knew were there.
Sandra and I took lots of photos. Unfortunately, I left my camera cable at work Friday. So, I'll retrieve it tomorrow, download and share the photos then.
I'd been in Darmstadt a couple of times before, but I just wandered around the shopping area. I didn't know anybody in the area and was new to the Frankfurt area anyway. Frankly, I didn't find Darmstadt that interesting before. Now, I have to say it's a lot more interesting. I'll have to visit again!
Afterwards we went to a nice cafe for Kaffee und Kuchen. Mmm, gibt's lecker kuchen dort! (Delicious cakes there!) I'll have to ask Sandra for the name so I can recommend them.
Finally, Sandra and I sat in her apartment, listened to music and flipped through 1000 Places to See Before You Die while waiting for the time to come for my train. We discussed places in the US, in Asia, trips we've taken, places we want to see. Time flew by.
I had such a good time! Thanks for the invite Sandra! :)
Oh, I liked the "1000 Places" - I'd seen it before and my friend Janine talked about it - so I went and bought it from Amazon.de. It'll probably arrive in a couple of days at work.
A few photos from my trip this last weekend. More later.
The hotel I stayed at in Cologne. Yes, that is the shower right behind the bed. The room was very small and the bathroom was on the stairway landing, down a half floor. Not a problem, but it was 55Euro/night. And the wardrobe flyer said that it's normally 90 Euro/night. The first price was already about 20 Euro too much. But, they sent me my keys. Nice, small, but expensive.
The Cologne Hauptbahnhof.
The next photo is after I spent a few hours at the Haus der Geschichte in Bonn. They didn't allow photographs, so nothing from there. This museum has a wonderful exhibit on the German history from the end of WWII to the fall of the wall. It's really quite excellent. It covers the German struggle to deal with the horror of the war, rebuild their infrastructure, rebuild their government, deal with a split Germany and become a strong proud economic power. I highly recommend visiting it. Bonus: it's 100% free.
An announcement sign with clock in the Bonn Ubahn.
The front of the Bonn Hauptbahnhof.
The lovely lounge atmospheric cafe where I allowed myself to indulge in a delicious meal. Chicken stuffed with spinach and cheese, covered in a wine sauce. On the side were augratin potatoes and artfully cut, perfectly done zuchini and carrot pieces. Together with a glass of Chardonnay and followed afterward with a milch cafe. Ah, perfect.
I was bored while waiting for the train to arrive for the trip home. So I about 10 around the Bahnhof. This is one of two that I liked.
This weekend I went to Köln and Bonn. And I had a lovely time in both places - thank you Sandra! However, the real adventure started when I got home. I got off the Sbahn at my homestation and thought "Let's get my keys out." The thought immediately after that was "Oh Sh*t. NO! Wait, let's look."
Early Sunday morning I took the keys out of my backpack and placed them on the bed. I was thinking - "I'll need these later, and having them all the way on the bottom of the bag does no good. So I'll put them somewhere near the top." Except, I couldn't remember putting them back in the bag. Sure enough, they weren't in the bag. And a call to the hotel confirmed they were there. In Köln.
I have an extra set of keys and my loving boyfriend suggested putting them at work. I was going to do that last week. I just, well, never did.
Fortunately a call to Stefan solved the immediate problem of where to spend Sunday night - thank you Stefan! And thanks to my overpacking tendencies, I had enough unmentionables to make it another day. [Silly enough, I forgot my tooth brush though. Rinsing and brushing with your finger and lots of minty gum helps that problem though. ] And a few calls around to the Hausmeister and the Apartment Management got me the number of my landlord. Which I have! Funnily enough though, inside my house. Which I couldn't get into.
It all ends happily though. My landlord had an extra key and was going to be in the area anyway for an Apartment owners meeting, so I got into my house. Yea! And my regular keys are on their way here via Deutsche Post. They will hopefully arrive at work tomorrow. Whereupon I'll simply leave the extra keys there.
I'll post some photos with trip commentary tomorrow or Wednesday.
I decided yesterday, somewhat abruptly, that I was going to visit Bonn this weekend, specifically Sunday. I've never been there, it's not that far away (maybe two hours), and it used to be the West German capital. So, decision made, I asked Sandra for recommendations of what to do there - she's from a city in the area called Cologne/Köln.
I hardly had the words out of my mouth and she's offering to drive me there and pick me up. She's visiting a friend in Köln on Saturday. Okay, fine, I leave Saturday, save the price of a Bahn ticket and now have to pay for a hotel. Cool.
Then today Sandra says her friend has an extra ticket for a Caberet show for Saturday and I'm welcome to come along if I want. Okay, I'm flexible, and it sounds fun.
Right now the plan is to leave Frankfurt tomorrow at 1pm and spend the afternoon and evening in Köln with Sandra and her friend. Then, find a hotel in the area to spend the night. On Sunday I'll take the train to Bonn, wander around, take photos, and then come back by myself on the train in the evening. Plans of course subject to change as whims hit me. :)
My Prague Photo Album is finished! Click here to view it and then come back here to leave your comments.
Oh yeah, Bill and I watched XXX (Triple X) last night with Vin Diesel. I'd seen it before, but Bill hadn't. I am soo glad we went to Prague. 80% of this movie is filmed in Prague, or has scenes from Prague, and it was soo cool to recognize the buildings. I don't know how they managed to film that last scene on the Charles Bridge though - that bridge is always packed with tourists and artistans (and pickpockets).
Update: Okay, it's just occured to me that maybe it's not 100% clear how you're supposed to navigate through the photos. I mean I looked at my stats and 21 people (actually about 18, since I've looked at them 3 times myself) have looked at the start page, but only 5-7 people have looked at individual images. And only two comments!! Hmmm.
Sooo.....click here, and then click on one of the square thumbnails. Once you're on an individual image's page, then there are arrow's to navigate to the next/previous image. Does that make it clearer?
Bill rented a car this weekend so we could travel around a little. Since we never made it to the correct Rothenburg last year, we decided to try for it again. We made it!
This town really is a picturesque town. And surprisingly, there weren't too many tourists today. And more German visitors than I expected. We walked around, ate lunch, walked some more, took pictures, and took a nap in the sun.
In the late afternoon we went for a 30 min buggy ride throughout the city. It was supposed to be bi-lingual, but after the buggy driver heard me speaking both English and German to my neighbor's he said "You can probably translate better than I can", and from then on, I was the English part of the program. I should have asked for my buggy fee back! :) It was really a lot of fun though. I was having a really good conversation with one of the German ladies and it was fun being the center of attention because I knew German.
A funny truism I said to Bill this afternoon: "The best German ice cream is Italian." So true!
Ducky enjoying a fine Pilsner Urquell beer in Prague. Seriously, this was a good beer. And I don't usually like beers. But this one was good! And if you're ever in Prague, this restaurant is right across the street from the Spanish Synagogue (very beautiful inside!), and is a good place to eat.
Alright, I'm going to work on a travelogue/photo diary of our trip in Prague this week. If you're really lucky, I'll finally post the one I made of our Paris trip (it's almost done)!
Bill and I are back from Prague. This was a lovely trip for us. I'll do a trip update later, right now I'm just going to rest my feet and continue trying to contact my parents.
I did manage to get through to my youngest brother's cell phone this afternoon (morning his time). He said everybody was okay, the house was okay and my oldest brother left with his family to go back to their house yesterday. Some branchs came down in the yard and one tree in the back, but that was mostly because of the wet ground, not wind. They cut down two bigger trees that were close to the house a couple of days ago - better for them to do a controlled fall then allow Frances to control the fall. However, my brother isn't the most talkative of people and especially not at 7am. So I'm still trying to get ahold of my mom to get the scoop. The house phone still gets the "difficulties" message and the cell phones of my mom, dad, oldest brother and his wife either go straight into voice mail or give another variation of "not available, please try later".
If anybody (in Florida, with electric, reading this) manages to get ahold of them, let me know please. And let them know that I'm trying to get through. :) Thanks!
p.s. One thing this trip and this hurricane have brought home to me is how sadly many numbers are missing from my cell phone. I need to bring my online address book and cell phone up-to-date. I tried a palmPilot for a couple of years, but that lasted until I moved here, the batteries died and I realized I didn't have the correct connector for the sync cable on my laptop. My brother now has that device. And anyway, it was an expensive phone book (I didn't use any of the other functions).
Bill and I are having a lovely time in Prague. The city is lovely, and surprisingly, very quiet on the weekend. We did a walking tour (ouch ouch) and a folk dinner evening on Friday. Yesterday we just wandered around and did some tourist shopping. Today we're going to look at the Jewish quarter and maybe a museum before flying back to Frankfurt this evening.
Mom and Dad and Amanda - if you have power and can read this, I hope you are okay. I tried calling the house and Mom's cell a couple of times yesterday evening, but it said that the telephone lines were having "difficulties". Sigh. From looking at a couple of news sites it looks like Frances is north of Tampa now and just dumping rain on Florida now, but that's still a lot. And Ivan is on the way.
Anyway, call me if you can. I'll try again later this afternoon.
Bill and I are going to spend the Labor Day weekend in Prague! (Oh, crap, I have to update my Places Visited list.) We were just looking at hotels there and found a Hotel Anna (unfortunately not available one of the nights); a Hotel Art Prison - an old convent that was converted to secret police interrogation rooms and is now a hotel (too weird); and a Hotel that is a boat permanently docked on the river - 116 rooms! Crazy. We found a couple of cute hotels and a couple of small corporate hotels and asked about availability. We'll see who responds tomorrow and decide then.
We're back from Ireland. We're travelled out. And Mom and Dad still have to fly home tomorrow!
For a recounting of what we did, visit Mom and Dad's Travels. Mom is in the middle of uploading pictures and narrative of our adventures. I'm working.
Oh, and I had a wonderful Birthday. :) Thank you to Mom and Dad for my trip; Bill for my canisters, blouse and perfume; and my co-workers for two cool new kitchen Gadgets from koziol. They're cute. :)
More much much later.
My parents and I are leaving for Ireland tomorrow and coming back late Monday. It's my birthday present! :) Actually, just having Mom and Dad here is a present. Sure they get on my nerves by trying to talk to me first thing in the morning, but having somebody to come home to and talk with and play cards with is nice.
[A little side note: I used to think I was a morning person until I came back home for extended vacations. I guess that hour or so by myself in the morning is enough for me to become pleasant. However, when visiting family (or when they visit you), you don't have that option.]
So, not that you'll notice any change from the last two weeks, but I most probably won't be blogging until we get back. Probably not until after my parents leave on Wednesday next week. I'll try to post enough to keep the blog from going black though. :)
See you next week!
My parents have arrived! Picked them up at the airport, picked up the rental car, got to my house, and unpacked them. :) We're going to go grocery store in a little while.
Well, my parents are officially on their way to see me. And my house is 80% clean. The 20% is the stack of papers on my desk that I kept meaning to get too and just decided to stack higher. I'll get to it while they're here.
I was starting to get worried. Mom said my younger brother would call me when they took off. That was supposed to be thirty min ago. Nothing. So I started checking websites for delays. However, while their airline site will tell me lots of non-interesting information about their flight it won't say whether or not it's actually taken off, on time, whatever. And the airport website has "Live" data of departures - two hours old. And even though it's an international airport, the "Live" data only seems to list Continental Flights. Sigh. So I call my younger brother - oh, they took off, he was just waiting until he got home to call me. Oh, but he had to stop at a department store on the way home to look at chainsaws. Arrghh. Little brothers. Penny-pinching-part-Polish little brothers. :P
I'm off to bed.
We're back. We've all made it home safely to our respective houses. We all had a good time. Despite the fact that the weather reports I read prior to going said it would rain and possibly snow the entire time, we actually had pretty good weather. It did rain, but mostly late in the evening and early morning. Other than that, it was either a little overcast or sunny. We did see snow - and played in it too! - when we went to the top of Jungfraujoch, also known as "Top of Europe".
That trip was interesting. The day started out very overcast and drizzly. But we were determined to go. So we paid for the expensive two train ride up the mountain. And went up. And up. Changed trains. Went up some more and then finished the last 30 min of the trip in a tunnel (that went up more). The entire time it was gray, cloudy, and before we went in the tunnel, it started snowing. However, about 10 min after we got to the top and went out on the observation deck of the Sphinx, it all cleared up! Bright sunshine and it got warm! That didn't stop us from throwing a couple of snowballs at each other though! :) The most beautiful part of the trip happened up there when Bill said he wanted to show me something and then slipped a very pretty white gold friendship/promise ring on my pinkie. I admit, I cried. :) I love this man soo much!
Oh, what about the bike ride? I know you are all dying to hear if we crashed. Sorry to disappoint, but we didn't. Bill's son did take a little tumble (lost his balance) at the very beginning of the day, but the biggest injury was to me when I knelt in the grass to retreive his water bottle - a blade of grass cut me. It looked horrible - bled down my leg - but it was fine. We rode a couple of kilometers to some waterfalls that are inside the mountain - very pretty! - and then we took a cable car up to a small little town halfway up the mountain. From there we rode down. And I have to say, I'm grateful Bill's son was with us. That forced us to go slower than we would have with out him and take frequent brakes. Which made me feel good since I didn't have to gaspingly ask Bill to stop so I could catch my breath. :) The first half of the ride was really easy - just brake, brake, brake. We got a good five minutes of actual riding in before we crossed the river and the trail started heading back up. So we had to walk the bikes - trailing a nine year old doesn't allow you to pick up enough momentum to bike up the trail. When the trail did head back down, it was so steep and rocky, we had to continue walking the bikes. In fact, the trail signs said you had to walk your bike! Finally though we got to a good easy sloping downhill were we could ride down without breaking too much. That was really fun! And the ride back to the campground was along the river. Very scenic and a fun ride. We all slept like logs after that though! :)
Okay, enough. Time for me to empty out my bag and go to bed. I would post a picture, but it seems I've left my camera cable at work, so you'll have to wait for them.
Thursday morning I take off with my bike to meet Bill, his son, and their bikes for a train ride to Switzerland. We're headed to the Jungfrau region for the weekend. The plans include some hiking (easy), walking around a glacier, taking cable car rides, and riding our bikes down the mountain. However, a weather forecast I looked at earlier today was saying temps in the upper 60s/low 70s, rain, and possibly even snow - most likely at the upper altitudes. We'll see. We're sure to have fun anyway.
Isn't this photo lovely? Bill took it after our dinner River Cruise on the Seine. He gave me permission to use any photos of his that I liked in my photo gallery that I'm putting together. I mentioned tonight how lovely this image is, how much I like it, and he said "oh, did you like that one? I didn't think it was so good". It's LOVELY! Don't you agree?
I'm working on putting together a photo gallery of the photos I took while in Paris. It's a bit of a job though - I took 160 photos. I have to select which ones I want to show, right all the vertical photos, clean up the contrast, etc. Step one is done: I've chosen about 70 to share. I've finished steps two and three on about 25 of those 70. Then I have to figure out how to make a gallery of the photos that will allow me to write little notes underneath each photo. Photoshop has a gallery creation feature which I will probably use and then just modify the HTML it generates. That's my plan so far. Stay tuned.
Bill and I standing on top of the Arc d'Triumph with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Like my gypsy look?
This is the reason I went to Paris. To have a lovely weekend with the guy I love. And we did. :)
The Hunchback Ducky of Notre Dame. Ducky is very adventuresome.
Okay, that's it for Ducky photos. There's a couple more but he's out of focus or just a part of the photo, not the focal figure. I hope you've all enjoyed my and my family/friends small obsession with my little travel partner. :)
Ducky, the lush, enjoying some red wine on the Dinner River Cruise of the Saine.
Update: Throughout the dinner, I had Ducky sitting around our table number, facing away from the table. Nearly every single waiter had to stop by our table, point at Ducky and say "Hey! Your Mascot?" :) Ducky got laughs and attention everywhere he went.
Ducky enjoying a Cafe au Lait and a Croissant or two. ;) First morning in Paris, before the Eiffel Tower. Had to build up his energy, you know. :D
Bill and I are back, safe and sound. :) Here's a picture to tide you over until this evening. Part one in a series, "Ducky does Paris". :)
Just sayng a quick Hi from Paris -- all the keys are in the wrong place!!!!! we leave at 10:50 this evening
I am off for a three day romantic trip to Paris with Bill. Ah, gay Paree! :) So, needless to say, posting will be either non-existant or very sparce until Tuesday. So, have fun you guys! We sure will!
Okay, here's the Heidelberg Adventure story. Sorry about the delay. Had a mild depressive fit and listened to three hours of Metallica while cleaning (and not eating). Eventually the not eatting got to me, so I ate, watched mindless TV for three hours and now I'm better. :)
Anyway, I was supposed to meet a new friend in Heidelberg yesterday. Bill and I met her and her fiance a couple of weeks ago and had dinner a couple of times. Both of us were at loose ends, so we decided to meet in Heidelberg. I got her handy number beforehand so I could call when I got to the Hauptbahnhof there and make sure we could find each other. Only, when I called it while enroute, her fiance answered. Hmm....this is going to be interesting. I waited around the train station for an hour, watching three trains from her town pull in and leave with out her. So, I called her fiance back and told him that I was going to wander around on my own. He was worried and told me if I saw her to have her call home. A couple of hours later she called, sounding distraught - she had decided to drive instead of taking the train and the car broke down after twenty min. on the road. Not fun. But at least she was okay. :)
To back up a little, I have to tell a small story about the train ride to Heidelberg. I took a slow Regional train so it took just over an hour to get there. I sat down across from two guys and it was pretty obvious they were American. They weren't speaking yet, but I could tell. Then immediately after I sat down, this African lady sat down with her two small boys. One was two and the other was five or six. And such BRATS. The two year old was in a stroller and didn't want to get out, so she wedged it in between the seats. Then he started pushing at the seatbelt bar like he wanted to get out, so she unlatched it. Waaahh!! No! He wants to stay in! Okay, re-attach it. Repeat. Finally she gets him out and starts singing to him. He doesn't like that. So he slaps her. She does NOTHING. Doesn't say anything to him. The other boy starts playing with him, he crys and slaps his brother. The mom tells the two year old to ignore the older boy, he's just jealous of her son. Huh? This goes on for 10-15, then they decide to visit the bathroom. Ah, silence for 10 min or so. Talk to the American guys across the way about how bratty they are and they compliment me on my patience. Then they come back for 10 min. and then disappear off to the bathroom again. The older boy comes back after 5 min., rifles through his mom's purse, and then goes to play on the seat behind me. The mom and the other boy never return. I figured out that they were in the next car over after awhile. I guess she decided not to inflict the little one on me anymore. Whatever. A stop before Heidelberg, the two American guys got off with some other ladies. I was pretty sure they didn't mean to get off there, but they were really confident, so I didn't say anything.
Okay, back to Heidelberg. I wandered around the downtown area all afternoon just shopping. The variety of stores and the general atmosphere is soo much nicer in Heidelberg. I've seriously thought about living there and commuting to Frankfurt, but I'd only ever see the city on the weekend. My working hours wouldn't allow much enjoyment of the city outside of that, so I stay put here. Anyway, after wandering around the stores, I wandered up to the main church and started playing shutterbug. I've been to Heidelberg so many times, but never taken photos there. I took some photos in the square around the church and then backtracked to the bridge so I could take photos of the castle from there. I'm sure I was on that bridge and walked the alleyway up to it from the square when I lived here as a child, but I forgot it. It's really lovely and very fairytale Germanish going that way. I took a lot of photos up to the bridge and from the bridge - I'll post some later.
About this time it was around 5 or 6. I thought I'd check out the movie theater, see what was playing, and if it was anything interesting, catching a movie. If not, I'd just head back. However, on my way there, I heard somebody say "Hey there!". I turned around and there are the two guys from the train! They invited me to sit and enjoy a beer with them, so I did. Turned out to be the best decision all day. We sat there talking for a couple of hours, people watching and drinking a couple of beers. One of the guys is in town for a conference and his buddy flew over to sightsee while he's working. Turns out I was right about them getting off at the wrong stop - they had to wait thirty minutes before the next train came by so they could get to Heidelberg. They asked me for some suggestions of things to do in Frankfurt and what would be a good day trip for the one guy. Later in the week they're heading off to Rome.
We asked the waiter if we could buy the mugs our beer was in - they were nice German Hefeweisen beer glasses with Heidelberg written on the side. He said that they used to sell them, but they ran out of the glasses too fast doing that, so they stopped. One of the guys asked if we could just take them and the waiter said he hadn't heard that. So naturally, when we paid the bill, we just slipped the mugs into our bags. :)
Really not much else to the story. We went back up to the bridge to get photos of the castle in the light of the setting sun and then we wandered back to the train station for our return ride. They had bought a Schoenes Wochenende Ticket - on Saturday and Sunday, for 30Euro, up to 5 people can travel on the ticket anywhere in Germany on the slow Regional trains - so I asked if I could travel with them on their ticket back. They were totally okay with that.
So, from a crummy start to the day, it really turned out for the best. :) And that's the way traveling ALWAYS works with me. If I just go with the flow, everything works out in the end and I end up having a better time because of it.
I'll post some of the photos of the day tomorrow or Tuesday.
This is an interesting sculpture that I saw in Heidelberg yesterday. The plaque next to it doesn't make any sense (even in German) so I went looking on the internet and found this explanation. Apparently there has always been a monkey on this bridge, and that is the only significance. Quirky and cute.
I have much to write about my Adventure in Heidelberg yesterday, but it will have to wait a couple of hours. I'm going to go try enjoying some of the sunshine outside. Maybe try to kill myself on my rollerskates along the waterfront.
Update: Here's the two mouses mice that sit next to the Monkey. They are the artist's signature. According to the info link above, there used to be only one mouse, but he got stolen, and these two are the replacement.
I took a nap for a few hours and now I feel refreshed. Time to start putting stuff in suitcases for tomorrow.
Grandma's house does not have an Internet connect. Heck, she didn't have cable or a VCR! Sigh. We're going to try seeing about getting a dial up ISP for a couple of weeks. If we're successful, I'll post here. At the least I'll probably find an internet cafe sometime in the next few weeks.
So, until the next time I post, I leave you Ducky and Pluto. This was taken on the bus trip from Reus to Barcelona. Enjoy!
I am home. And I am sick. I starting sneezing something fierce yesterday evening and my throat felt funny. And I'm having digestive problems. Yuck (I know, TMI). Nice vacation present, huh?
Bill and I enjoyed our trip though. It was so nice to explore Barcelona with my honey by my side. Made the trip very memorable and nice. My best memory is laying on the hotel bed, with our feet up in the air against the wall, and talking. Lots of other memories too, but I know that one is going to stick around forever.
I'm going to go make myself less miserable. Take medicine, drink fluids, read a book, snuggle under the covers. If I'm feeling more human later, I'll post more. Maybe some photos too! [I have ADORABLE photos of Pluto and Ducky from the trip.]
Bill and I are returning to Frankfurt in about 11 hours. My feet are killing me. We walked a lot this last two days and went up a LOT of stairs in one of the church spires. Lots of good pictures (120+ and counting!). Write more later.
Adios!
Bill and I are alive and well in Barcelona. :) We've spent the day walking around the central area and we went into the Picasso Museum. Now we're at an Internet cafe printing out his final exam and checking email.
Yesterday morning was an adventure in getting to the plane. Frankfurt Hahn, where Ryan Air flys out of, is just over an hour away from Frankfurt by bus. So Bill and I met at the Frankfurt Airport to catch the 7am bus from there. We waited exactly where the schedule said the bus would leave from, but it didn't show up. However, at exactly 7am, we saw it drive by. It had been waiting four or five stops down from where we were and we hadn't seen it. Argh. So we went back to the Main Train Station and took the 7:45 bus from there. I thought that bus might be cutting it close for the final check in time, but it was just perfect. We got there 25 min before final check in. Whew!
We were sooo tired. Both of us has a combined eight hours of sleep in the last two days. I tried sleeping a little on the bus, but managed to just rest. When we finally got into Reus, then took the hour bus to Barcelona and found our hotel, we just collapsed. Took a 3 1/2 hour nap. Woke up around 7:30pm and then went out exploring. Wandered down La Ramblas - a big wide pedestrian street that leads towards the water and is full of performance artists. Found a buffet, ate dinner, and wandered back.
Okay, I'm going to let Bill have a turn now. This place allows me to download my photos, so I might do that tomorrow. Don't have that many yet.
Adios!
Less than five days left before Bill and I head to Barcelona. This is my birthday present to him. :) Yes, I told him. Last weekend he started prying and after giving a couple clues of the variety "No, it's not an island", I shut up. Told him at least twice that if he wanted me to tell him, I would, but he's the one who wants it to be a surprise. He finally caved and asked, so I told him. We're both so happy! He lived in Madrid, Spain for a few years and he always talks about it like it was a wonderful period in his life. He never made it to Barcelona, so I decided to take him there. We leave Thursday morning.
I have a guide book about Barcelona, and I'm really looking forward to visiting this city. It looks like it will be a very beautiful city. Bill and I are really looking forward to exploring it with each other. I'm looking forward to giving Bill a relaxing and enjoyable trip. He deserves it. :)
Happy Early Birthday Bill!