I Am Stupid

I know that some of you already know that I can be stupid but here is more proof. Last night I had written out a whole, juicy blog finishing up the France leg of our trip and our getting into Germany. In my infinite wisdom I deleted the whole thing. Not the first time and it won't be the last. I also know that many of you can relate and understand how unmotivated you are to retype the whole flippin' thing. So, my backup blog is to link to some pix and give you the story behind them. OK? OK!

This is a movie going down the elevator from the 3rd to 2nd story on the Eiffel Tower. It was very cool!

As much as I hate to follow the crowd, I will admit to falling in love...with the Eiffel Tower.

The neighborhood bakery that makes the best sandwiches! You can see the proprietress watching these crazy American tourists.

The Orangerie Museum and Monet's water lily paintings. I never knew how huge they really were. He was suffering from cataracts when he painted them. So beautiful.

Castle in Sedan in the Champagne region of France. A small town where the castle is its only claim to fame- the largest medieval castle in Europe.

Hey! another castle! Remember, we don't have castles in America. This one is in Belgium, a few kilometers away from Ann-Flore's house. While there we were lucky enough to catch a falconry exhibition in French and Dutch.

Back in the French countryside with Ann-Flore. She took us to view WW II bunkers which made me think a lot about America and war, considering we haven't had one in our own back yard like Europe, literally.

Reims (pronounced "rance" as in "france") also has a beautiful Notre Dame cathedral. Smaller but feels much taller. Spent about 12 hours here waiting for the midnight bus to Munich. What do you do in a foreign town but join locals and other tourists for a drink! Tristian, sitting next to me in the pic, saw that Froody was online near Reims and offered to meet for a drink and dinner which we accepted. He was hosting a group of people from the Czech Republic as well. We left his flat around 11pm and found our bus stop.

Won't say much about that bus ride except that it did not sit well with my nor my stomach. :-( Anyway, got to Munich and caught a train to Landshut. A very crowded train. We went to this small town to meet this guy, Andres, who organized what is now the biggest slackline event ever! Andy graciously let us spend Friday and Saturday night in his flat where he was already hosting a group of slackliners from Austria including this guy, Bernie, who is absolutely amazing at what he calls the free-style line, a slackline that is set up with a lot of slack. Of course, we went so that Froody could do stuff like this. I had a good time, too, even though I am not a slackliner. But, by the end of the day I was able to get up on the smaller lines all by myself and take a couple of steps.

Well, there you have it. Remember, you can always check out all the pix by clicking on the album and date links above the photos.

Paris, France--Days 1 and 2

If you ever get the chance, fly Air India, as it is an experience unto itself. Obviously, almost everyone onboard is from India. Women are wearing saris and sandals, everyone has tons of luggage full of gifts for back home, and you get free earphones. We were on a red-eye flight so weren't expecting much by way of food, but not only did we get a snack (drink and crispy/spicy bagged snack), but dinner as well. You even get a choice of entree as they wheel by. I got chicken and it was all right; much better than whatever you get on AmericanAirways. Then there's the inflight entertainment- an American movie and Indian tv. Another surprise was the light breakfast of fruit and croissant and coffee before landing.

So marked the beginning of the longest day ever. I think we both managed to catch a couple of hours of sleep but were still a bit tired when we got off the plane and found our hostel- the Montclair in Paris' Montmartre neighborhood. We got there about noon and checked in, but couldn't get into the room until after 3pm. No problem! We found a bakery where we bought some sandwiches (this place made the best sandwiches we found during our stay) and managed to find a park to sit and eat. As far as I can tell, parks in Paris have nice trees, playgrounds, plenty of benches, but you are supposed to keep off the grass! All the grassy areas have fences around them. I guess that's one way to maintain your landscaping. Also, French sandwiches are very nice- all made with a baguette and most come with cheese and/or meat. Some come with lettuce and tomato.

We continued our wanderings, slowly making our way to the Sacre-Coeur. When there, I got my first look at the whole of Paris. I don't know what I was expecting, but not just a big, sprawling city. :-( Then we climbed higher and into the basilica proper and caught a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower which made me gasp--I was really in Paris! Afterwards we made our way back to the hostel, settled into our room, and decided that an early dinner followed by early to bed was in order...

...Only to discover that there's no such thing as an "early dinner" in Paris (or the rest of France as we've just learned from our Couchsurfing hostess). After reading countless hand-written signs that service didn't start before 7pm we decided to do the French thing and sit and have a drink before dinner. I managed to order a glass of white wine with my horrible French and Froody ordered a beer. I will say that I do enjoy lingering at a cafe; so much more relaxed and civilized than back home. Following this we did find a restaurant (not full of other international tourists) and had a very good meal.


Next day we slept in and awoke to a perfect day- mostly sunny, cool breeze, no humidity. In fact, most of our days in France were pleasant and not hot at all. We took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe. I was impressed by it! Luckily the line for tickets was very short and after walking around it, climbed the steps inside. I was greetd by another wonderful view of Paris, only this one included the Eiffel Tower. :-) From the Arc, the Sacre-Coeur was a lovely object, sitting on top of the tallest (only?) hill. Below Froody and I marveled at the traffic surrounding the Arc. Sheesh! Sometimes cars or even buses would just stop, waiting for an opening in the next "lane." A tour guide later told us that insurance companies will not cover an accident in that particular round-about and I could totally see why.

Of course, we had to walk down the Champs de Elysees. Midway we stopped at a cafe about a block away and I got to order another coffee and milk in French. More lingering, but this time with a purpose. We needed to find out how to pay the bill! The day before we just left money on the table, but since everyone lingers and talks over coffee and wine it took a while before we finally saw someone leave. I guess we did it correctly, but if we ever need change, Lord help us!

Continued our walk and found the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais. Entered the Petit Palais and both of us loved the building. It's really one of the most beautiful places around. And it's free! Made it to the end of the Champs de Elysees and the Place de Concorde, the Jardin Tuileries, and the Louvre. Rested by the glass pyramids and decided not to go in. I know, I know, you're sitting there and can't believe we're not going to see some of the world's most important pieces of art. But it was really busy and we just didn't have the time this trip to see the Louvre.

Back to our own neighborhood and went shopping for dinner. I think having small specialty stores is very nice: handmade pasta from the pasta shop, onion and tomatoes from the produce store, and pastry from the bakery. Discovered that the hostel kitchen is very poorly set up with one functional burner, one knife, a couple of forks and spoons, and tons of plates! Oh, and one collander.

From Gloucester to Middletown

(Please note: I'm writing this post on our new computer, a tiny Eee, so who knows what might happen!)

Gloucester, MA
Jane and Tom left for a weekend in DC, George and Jose picked up Jaeda for the weekend as well, so that left us all alone in someone else's house. It was nice to have some quiet time together after spending so much of it with friends and family, or walking about being all touristy.

Saturday brought us to Gloucester, MA, a place i've been very curious to see ever since working with crazy folk from there. :-) Actually, Kacy isn't crazy, but there's a something about her that i don't recollect ever encountering before. In a good way, of course.

Anyway, i was looking forward to seeing Kacy and she was real nice in wanting to see me after about 10 years of silence. She has an awesome kayak/snorkel shop and froody and i joined her 10am tour. Neither of us had ever snorkeled in New England so we didn't know what to expect. The algae was neat, no big forests but a healthy curtain over the hiding places of a million crabs and lobsters. I really liked all the "new" species of colonial tunicates and large solitary sea squirts. Not too many fish, but Kacy pointed out a flounder and some sand dollars (live!) and an urchin barren. Afterwards we lunched on some tasty striper and i caught up on all our friends.

Medford, MA
On Sunday we spent the day with Froody's parents and Jaeda. We helped teach her to ride her bike, played in the pool, and rode bikes some more. She really is a cutie-pahtootie, i tell you what! And full of energy-froody, his dad, and i all had to take turns running alongside her.

Middletown, NJ
Our final stop on the US portion of our trip. Froody wanted to visit a very good friend, who I like too, so getting up early and riding the train to the chinabus back to NYC and walking to the ferry station and the hour on the ferry and taxi ride to her home was not a problem. really. :-) Shannon graciously opened her home to us including her roommates Erika and Brian. Erika's sister, Sam, doesn't live there but hung out with us at dinner that night and all the next day. Redbank is a nice town which at first reminded us of our home in Carp. But the many high-end shops was more in line with Santa Barbara.

***bleh. something is being really slow so will link to all related pix later, so check back!

Eating Chicken Feet

My mother used to tell us, when my sisters and I were little and determined NOT to eat whatever veggie was on our dinner plates, how she used to eat chicken feet when she was a girl and how lucky we are to be eating the dinner we have.


Ha ha, Mom! Now I've eaten a chicken foot and can say it wasn't that bad. Just a lot of bones, though. (dim sum with Chris)

Medford, MA

After spending one night in New York City we checked out of the Chelsea Star Hotel and went in search of a sit-down place for breakfast suggested by the desk clerk. Well, to us a sit-down place is a diner or restaurant where someone takes your order and brings you your food. All we found after following his directions was a bagel counter with chairs. Granted, it was a big bagel place with lots of seating so we ordered bagels with stuff, sat down, and ate while figuring out which train to take to Chinatown and the bus.

This was to be our second time using a Chinatown bus. Apparently, there are bus companies that drive between the Chinatowns of Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston. The ones that we took were great and everything Froody wanted: cheap and fast and comfortable. Fast because they only go from chinatown to chinatown unlike Greyhound which stops at all the towns in between.

Anyway, we've been in Medford, outside of Boston, staying with family and getting some last minute stuff done before we leave America for a year (OMG-it's starting to sink in that I won't be home or in familiar surroundings for a whole year)!! We got our last shots, picked up some board shorts and a belt for Froody, and got substitute rings.

Tomorrow I hope to see an old friend who is nice enough to want to see me after not hearing from me for years. Then we'll spend Sunday with Froody's parents, Monday we take the china bus back to NYC and ferry into New Jersey where we'll spend the rest of the day with a friend of Froody's and fly. out. to. Paris. Tuesday.

I think both of us feel that our trip will REALLY begin that day.

For more pictures, click on the links below. Froody has them arranged by dates (month, then day). Click on each thumbnail to see all the pix of the day!

*Last days of June, still in California and with my family

*Beginning of July, in DC and with Froody's family

First Hurdle Jumped

Washington, DC
Froody and I have just left Washington, DC. After spending 5 days there I'm amazed by how much we didn't see. There's so much to see and do in our nation's capitol; you need to go there. Go there now! Anyway, we did enjoy some free music at the Folklife Festival at the Mall, caught an Imax about aqatic dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum, got a short tour at the Library of Congress Madison Building, and really had a blast at the A Capitol Fourth. Not only did we manage to get in to the free concert on the lawn of the Capitol, but we got to see it all from the steps which turned out to be the best seats in the house since it rained for about an hour while we waited for the show to begin. We both thought that the concert would just be some symphony but it was a real shabang! Jimmy Smits was the emcee and the opening act was Huey Lewis and the News. Man, I so loved their music back in the 80's. There were some other performers, some that we didn't know, but the last one before the National Symphony Orhcestra and the military drum and bugle band was Jerry Lee Lewis. Froody and I got up and danced to his classic hits and I guess we were well received by the rest of the crowd. His last song was "Great Balls of Fire" and, surprise surprise, the fireworks began. I can't describe how it felt to be there watching the fireworks above the Washington Monument. Of course, we weren't alone. Guesstimates of about 200,000 people on the mall is what we heard. So, lots of people, some good music, a bit of rain, fireworks, and free water! I was really impressed how smoothly it all went.

Today we said, "Good-bye" to our friend, Chris, who very graciously put us up in his small apartment. We shared the livingroom with his massive collection of action figures (Japanese and American) and were comforted by their cool, green glow at night. We met him for a farewell lunch at DC's China Town after finding out that our reservations for the china bus to Philadelphia didn't go through. The 3 pm bus was full as was their 9pm bus. After this minor setback, Froody and I went to a Starbucks to formulate Plan C. Luckily, meeting Chris was a pleasant diversion and he took us to a dim sum restaurant. Neither Froody nor I had ever had dim sum so it was quite an adventure in dining! They roll tasty food in little carts and when one goes by you point to whatever looks good and that is what you get. We went through a lot of little plates: shrimp dumpling, trip, chicken feet (yes, the feet not the drumstick), duck, sesame balls, and more food. Sooo good!

At My Mother's House

After much packing and moving and cleaning and throwing away and garage saling and driving, Froody and I are done!!! We're here at my mom's house, visiting family I haven't seen in years, only see annually, and won't see for at least 12 months. I do love my family and will miss them. It'll be a bit hard come Thanksgiving and Christmas, but at least I won't be alone. I'll have Froody.

These past couple of days have been very nice and relaxing. We've just been sitting around a lot and playing with our niece and nephews. It's way too hot here to do much outside other than a neighborhood walk in the evening.

Tonight we leave for Washington, DC. I'm looking forward to checking out the monuments and museums and seeing my friend Chris. It's sure to be a good week.