Erika and Jason's Travels

Trip Completed

2007-05-01T15:22:00.000-04:00

I finally arrived in NYC around 12:30 this afternoon. Only one more notable experience, which involved clearing customs in NY. My temporary passport prompted several questions and an intense examination of the security features built into the passport. It seems the customs agent was not satisfied, so I was taken to another room where my passport was examined further, and I was asked several more questions.

The final question the customs agent asked me was: "What have you learned from this?", to which I promptly replied: "Keep good track of this baby [pointing to passport]". Finally satisfied, I collected my luggage and headed straight to work.

USA, I missed you. We will follow up with some links to some pictures, if I can ever get them off the camera. Adios, until next trip!

In Flight

2007-05-01T04:16:00.000-04:00

Well, the checkin process was NOT smooth, but everything worked out. We are moments away from take-off, and the next entry will be from the good ol' USA.

Please make sure your tray tables are in their full upright and locked position. Enjoy the flight.

US Consulate

2007-05-01T04:12:00.000-04:00

It seems like every vacation has a bonus day. Today started with a trip to the small branch of the US Consulate in Barcelona, about a 10 minute cab ride from Brits apt. To be honest, I was a little disappointed. Jack Bower could have taken this consulate with both eyes closed and a broken leg. Security was light (though I did have to enter thru double locked doors and a metal detector) and the building itself was quite modest. Inside was a group of lost souls. Mostly elderly (making me feel even more lame) or special circumstance people trying to figure things out. I came prepared with recent photos (brittney's idea) and all the proper paperwork and answers, so I was out of there rather quickly with a temporary passport. Jack B. would be proud, since I conveniently fit this episode into an hour window.

After securing my passport I headed to the beach. Weather was great, brit was at work, erika was in providence, so I had some free time. Before I met up with brit to help with day 2 of the move and dinner, I journeyed down to the Forum stop - and explored 'something de Abrl'. This was an annual three-day carnival with food, games, more food, a ferris wheel, tents with food, and tons of people.

Dinner was at Arwad, a libanesa restaurant in a different part of town. We met up with 8 of brits other friends, each of whom shared many years of travel experience between them. US folks just don't travel like the rest of the world.

Well, that's it. If all goes well, and I can keep track of my passport for the next 12 hours, I will be bound for Nueva York manana! Hopefully you've enjoyed the trip...we've enjoyed sharing.

Departure Day?

2007-05-01T02:56:00.000-04:00

Never underestimate the need for a passport, especially when traveling internationally. We woke up early Sunday morning to catch our flight back to the USA, when I realized I could not locate my passport. We searched high, low, up, down, under unmovable objects and inside unused drawers.

We went to the airport anyway. Armed with a NY State drivers license, credit cards, and a passport photo copy, I was optimistic, that with a little sweet talking, I would be singing Stars and Stripes in no time. Airlines do have some flexibility - but apparently not with US immigration. So, I said goodbye to Erika, and made my way back to Barcelona.

Fortunately, Brit was all to happy to have me, for she needed moving help and her boyfriend had conveniently had some flight trouble. Am I making fun of someone for flight problems? So, after figuring out that a trip to the US Consulate (conveniently located in Barcelona, inconveniently closed on Sunday) was necessary, I made the best of the situation, and headed off to the Picasso Museo.

Picasso, as you already know, is one of the worlds most renown artists. And he better be, otherwise the hour wait to get in may not have seemed worth it. Inside, Picasso's life was timelined and outlined in great detail. The 'early years', 'the blue years', 'cubism', are just a few of the distinct time periods that saw growth, and creativity, and helped establish Picasso as serious artist.

After the museo, Brit and I searched out a place to eat - 5J, or in Spanish, Cinco Jhota. Great spot, muy espanol, and that ended the evening. It was unexpected spending so much quality time with the hermana of mi novia - but it was quite fun! E...why did you leave me??? Hopefully, I will see you soon.

1992 Summer Olympics

2007-04-29T07:59:00.000-04:00

(April 28th) “He shoots...he scores!!”

A little trip down memory lane: The Dream Team, consisting of professional athletes (basketball players) who were first allowed to compete in these Olympic games, easily took the gold metal, helping the USA lay claim to over 100 medals. Take that, Spain, with your paltry few 22 medals. (www.wikipedia.org)

Take yourself back 15 years to the 1992 Olympic Games. The energy, the athletes, the excitement. Today we toured the Olympic Village, and saw the place where dreams came true. Even today, you can appreciate the awe of the stadium, pool, gymnasium, and everything built for the worlds greatest athletes.

After finishing the 10K, we paid our euros to enter the Pubelo Village. The intrigue of this small village lays in the architecture. Each of the small buildings or shops represent a unique period and style of Spanish design. While it may sounds exciting, we really focused on the dining and shopping.

One shop, where we had selected several items for purchase, was run by a loco old Spanish women whose demeanor and communication was so difficult, we actually threw our hands up in disgust and left the store. One might argue WE were the ones that could not communicate - but this lady was actively refusing payment. Sorry Mom's - but that's where we had selected all these beautiful souvenirs for you.

Once back at the apartment - we had an issue. No hot water, or "no tengo agua caliente", as I was forced to describe. Considering the service-less European way, we had a repairman fix things in about an hours time. Not fast enough for Erika, who was already dressed and planned on docking a days rent from the bill, but pretty darn fast. And E did come around.

Dinner was back in the Born Barrio, one of our favorites. We ate at a decent enough Italian place, for what will be our last evening in Barcelona...

ADIOS AMIGOS & FAMILIA!

Montserrat

2007-04-29T06:20:00.000-04:00

Today (April 27th) we took another day trip into the mountainous region of Montserrat. The train took us most of the way - but we had to transfer to the Funicular for the final stretch. Funicular is the spanish word for gondola, so it seems.

The weather held up for most of the day; only towards the end of our hike did we start to see some rain. The hike up the mountain trail took us almost 2 hours, though we stopped occasionally for photos, games (roll the rock down the path), and something called 'energy rock' (you'll have to ask Brit about that).

For dinner we walked (and walked and walked) to a restaurant right out of south beach, Miami. Trendy, small portions, high prices - it was the perfect reminder of a place I call home. Only one more action packed day planned...

Cafe Roy

2007-04-27T13:48:00.000-04:00

Today we hit the beaches of Sitges (pronounced 'see-chiz'). Now you can appreciate the rhyme. We motivated early and jumped a train with Brit-who took the day off to join us- north of Barcelona about 45 minutes.

The beaches were heavenly. We ate a great breakfast right in the narrow streats of Sitges. What type of place? An outdoor cafe, of course!

After a thorough burn on the beach and a quick lunch of bocadillos and fries (hey Spain, where's the ketchup?) we headed back into town for shopping. After much deliberation, Erika made a bold purchase of a beautiful painting, depicting the small town of Sitges. The cafe in the painting, Cafe Roy, was a pleasurable dining experience in real life. We took several photos, portraying the same scene as in the painting, so we can compare and contrast the two for years to come.

Dinner was also in Sitges, though surprisingly at an <b>indoor</b> italian place. It was getting a little cool out, so erika allowed the change. The wine was as cheap as the pizza was good - and we headed home after. Buenos notches, Sitges!

Gaudi's Pink House

2007-04-26T17:07:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, we made up for some lost time. We explored the Sagrada Familia, which, ironically, Gaudi neither began nor complete during his lifetime. In fact, looking at the current state of the construction, its doubtful the masterpiece will be completed in my lifetime.

We then went over to explore Park Guell ("park gerrr", as erika calls it), which is described as being "lifted straight from a fairy tale". Mostly what I recall is Gaudi's house-now-turned-museum. And what color would one of the most enigmatic, brilliant architect's house be painted? Bright pink, of course.

Then, we met the Brit for a late lunch at an outdoor (surprise) cafe in barrio eixample, at a place called Dap. Muy Bien. As an irrelevant side note, my spanish is coming along quite well. Muchas gracias.

Before heading to alexs apt. for dinner, we stopped off at a bakery to select a dessert and wine. The owner was muy helpful, though she gave me some special instructions regarding the desert cake I could not understand. Something about keeping it cold? Regardless, we had no trouble devouring it. Dinner kept us late - so we didn't do much after...big day tomorrow, too...

Many Plans, Few Actions

2007-04-25T13:52:00.000-04:00

The title almost reminds me of the typical work day. Aaaargh, the "w" word. Anyway, today we had several items listed on the well-planned itinerary, including Sagrada Famalia, Placa Catalunya, and Barri Gotic.

Unfortunately, we did not motivate from the apartment until almost noon - at which point we went for a run then marinated on the beach for the remainder of the afternoon.

After getting a solid sun burn (I've stopped asking erika if I'm getting burned, since the answer is always no), we met up with brittney and alex for dinner in Plaza Real. Dinner, at a place called Les 15 Nits, (and of course the sangria) was excellent - though we have officially revoked erika's permission to order. There are simply too many questions, none of which are clearly asked or answered. Sorry E, but the decision was unanimous!

We ended the evening with a stroll down Las Ramblas; I even bought a 40 to carry around, as is the local custom. So...we may not have gotten thru everything, but this is our vacation-give us a break!

Winery Bike Tour

2007-04-23T18:56:00.000-04:00

We woke up today earlier than many of the native spaniards, so that we could navigate the metro and trains to Penedes for an all-day wine bike tour. And our guide read us like any good guide would, keeping the biking to drinking ratio at about 1:4.

The area has an amazing history, only some of which I will bore you with. The areas wines are now appreciated all over the world, and date back as far as 6th century BC. Many of the wineries have adopted an organic biodynamic approach, avoiding herbisides, pestisides, and other harmful or man-made chemicals in favor for alternate natural methods. Either way - we loved it.

The 2 wineries we visited - Massana Noya and Jean Leon both had an impressive history and story. We were the only 2 people in the tour, so blending into the pack wasn't much of an option. Each winery gave us a personal tour, which always concluded with the tasting. We purchased a few bottles of wine, to bring a little taste of Catalayna (sp?) back to the states. Unfortunately, we just finished drinking 2 of those bottles tonight at dinner.

Which brings us to dinner; we went shopping and erikas sister offered to cook us dinner-at our apartment! While it seemed to good to be true, it was actually a great meal.

Just 1 final note. We celebrated a local tradition, St. Georges day, where a girl receives a rose and the guy receives a book. Pretty lame, but when in rome...

Jeans on the Beach

2007-04-23T03:47:00.000-04:00

Still feeling the effects of yesterdays sangria, we were forced to request a late checkout. The weather was brilliant when we finally met up with our tour guide and her boyfriend - both of whom were dressed for winter, not summer.

After a paella-filled breakfast/lunch at an outdoor restaurant, we checked into our apt in the barcoleneta area (near the beach). Now here's a question for you: how many flights up would you guess the fourth floor is? In the US, that would be 4. Not in spain. Ours is 6 floors up. The spanish are apparently very creative when numbering floors, in fact, one elevator had the number -1. But I digress...

The beach was awesome. And I'm not just saying that because of the topless ladies everywhere. Actually, the 5th grade jason would have fit in quite well with his mullet and jeans. Even alex had adapted to spanish custom and wore his jeans to the beach. After a heavy mist rolled onto the beach we headed back (after a quick nacho snack) for dinner.

Relentless steadfast determination was the best way to describe our quest for a dinner place. We spent an hour walking the streets of the Born Barrio for a restaurant that, as it turns out, had gone out of business. Thanks frommers. We ended up at a great, traditional tapas place before getting some gellato and calling it a night. After all, we had to wake up early for tomorrows big trip...

Buenos Dias!

2007-04-22T06:08:00.000-04:00

We arrived without complication yesterday morning. Our tour guide (erikas sister) prepared a comprehensive day-by-day laminated itinerary covering our entire week. Quite impressive. Dont worry, we already threw in a few audibles.

For example, we got lost following idiot-proof directions and ended up in the wrong building, knocking on random doors and asking, in english, if anyone knew where our friends lived. No one did.

Or, at the cafe, we decided to move one of the outdoor tables around the corner into the sunshine (guess whos idea that was). Even though our spanish is very weak, there was no mistaking what the cafe owners were saying.

Finally, we searched high and low for a hotel with the required pool amenity. We found one (SOHO Barcelona) - with 50 degree water - that didnt really satasify.

After checking in and a short nap, we headed out to dinner with
Alex and brittney. Dinner consisted of tapas at a great place called Sinatra, near las ramblas. Then, there was the sangria. We had more pitchers than i care to recall, even later that night at the next bar as well. Before long it was 3am, and we were beat, so we left the rest of barcelona partying as jumped a cab back to the hotel.

A new chapter - 4 days 'till Spain

2007-04-16T15:38:00.000-04:00

I won't lie. I don't know who Susan Heller is. I really don't even care. But I do know one thing - she offers some great travel advice.

"When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money." ~Susan Heller

Erika, are you reading this? Because, inevitably, I will be your Sherpa - carrying tens of kilograms (go metric system) of cloths you will never need, shoes you will never wear, and books you will never read - only to be your personal ATM machine when passing by a new shoe store! I'm kidding of course - if memory actually serves me correctly, I think I out-packed you last trip. Yes, very embarrassing. Let's never speak of this again.

Nonetheless, we are very excited about our trip and leaving this miserable weather behind. We've packed plenty of Canadian garb, because being American apparently isn't that cool anymore. I asked Erika to bone-up on some international law before we left - just in case...

Back in the USA

2006-09-10T15:07:00.000-04:00

Just a short note to let everyone know we landed safe and sound! We had an amazing trip - and we will follow up with some final thoughts, some trip cliff notes, and a few links to vacation pictures.

We hope everyone is doing well and has enjoyed sharing our adventure.

Rome in a Day

2006-09-10T15:02:00.000-04:00

Our final day was spent in Rome, several kilometers from downtown in a supposedly excellent hotel - Sheraton Golf Parco de'Medici. After checking in and requesting non-smoking accomodations, we were quite surprised to find ashtrays and a stale cigerette odor in our room. As it turns out, this was only the beginning.

After being moved around 3 times, the power went out in the room. Two calls to the reception desk later, the power had been restored, but our confidence was failing fast. The hotel designates a room "non-smoking" simply based upon guest request as opposed to actually forbidding smoking in the room. The second room smelled of cheap perfume masked over a stale cigerette odor, an odor more foul than the first room. Ok, rough start, but we shook it off and went golfing.

The highlight of the golfing experience was finding several new golfballs in our rented golf bag. We both managed to get par too! I should clairify that, we both managed to get par on two different holes. Mr. L would not have been very impressed with the course's unkempt appearance, but it was more than satisfactory for our, uhhh, semi-professional play.

After arriving back at the hotel room and losing power a second time, we decided enough was enough. A short discussion with the hotel mananger didn't necessarily solve any of our problems, but at the very least it provided an opportunity to vent. And, as it turns out, the hotel agreed our situation was most irregular, and comped the nights stay.

That evening we visited Warner Villiage, which can best be described as an American strip mall that collided with a European cafe. I hope you're confused, because we still are, too. But we found a great place to eat and enjoyed walking around. Our last day in Europe...we were sad to be leaving, but realized that all good things must come to an end.

Sailing + Bonus Day

2006-09-08T18:33:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we went on a 5 hour sailing and dinner tour around the island of Santorini. Technically, very little sailing took place, as we were on a 50 foot catamarenan, but the experience was amazing nontheless. The boat stopped in several places, including one spot where lava flowed close enough to the water surface to produce a warm springs. I did get spoken to about jumping off the roof of the boat - but it made for an exciting entry into the sea.

And today was bonus day. I'm not talking about that dollar suppliment to your salary. We woke up today at 5:30 am and had a cab scheduled for the airport at 6:00 am. Waking up was particularly hard for some of us who may have consumed a little too much last night (you know who you are). So we were quite excited - well, dismayed then excited, when the hotel manager informed us that our reservation was not over. It turned out our flight was not until tomorrow morning. After confirming our error (looked at the plane ticket), we gratefully went back to sleep for 4 more hours.

We spent the remainder of the day reading some books, and getting that extra bit of sun that should make all our friends and co-workers extra jealous. For dinner, for the first time this trip, we went back to the same resturant we had previously dined at. We really love the Sphinx and recommend it if looking for an enjoyable dining experience.

Pool Day + AAA

2006-09-06T17:23:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone its erika again. We had a great day in santorini. We spent some time at the pool (I really love pools bc there is no shark risk) and then I browsed through some of the jewelry stores in town. Santorini jewelry is well known but I thought a lot of it looked touristy. They do have a beautiful and unique brushed silver here though.

Next, we took the 4 wheeler to Oia. We got so much dust in our contacts but really enjoyed the views. I love greek food and I have started eating meat again. Had the best lamb chops! I'm half albanian (albania borders greece) so I am familiar with the food and I thought they would consider me a long lost greek or something but come to find out greeks hate albanians soooo much. So needless to say I had to let that deam die.

On the way back from oia we did some pr work for the american image. We stopped not once but 2x for fellow 4 wheelers that were broken down. We went and got gas for one couple. They didn't speak english and jason and I are rusty with our korean but we communicated somehow!

No real incidents lately. However, jason has a weird habit of pulling apart air conditioning units to increase their efficiency. It never works and he broke the wall control in rome.

We'll be back soon and I can start cleaning the streets of criminals!

Red Beach + Wineries

2006-09-05T20:25:00.000-04:00

Today we jumped on our trusty 4 wheeler and cruised down to Akotiri to check out another popular beach - Red Beach. Erika even did some driving (which scared me, but this arrangement seemed to work best).

Red Beach gets its name, aptly enough, from the giant red lava rocks that line the shore. We stayed on the beach so long that Erika sought shade - a first in my book.

We figured we should rehydrate after several hours in the sun, so we stopped by the nearest winery - Boutari - to replenish. We enjoyed 5 good sized samples (mainly white wines, due to geographical limitations) and met a couple of other manhattanites. We ventured to another winery with our new friends and enjoyed several more tastings and a free tour of the winery.

After exchanging emails with our new pals, we took off back to our hotel, arriving just in time to watch another perfect sunset.

Kamari Beach + Laundry

2006-09-04T17:35:00.000-04:00

Our first black sand beach. Kamari, about 10 actual minutes away (and about 30 meandering jason/erika minutes), is one of Santoris most popular beaches. I bought some sun tan lotion that was SPF 3, which I thought was interesting. I also forgot to apply said lotion to my face, which is now quite red and burnt. Erika was feeling stressed since she was running low on clean cloths (see below), so I treated her to a short beach massage.

The rest of the day really revolved around doing laundy. Now, I can't really understand Erikas obsession with laundry, but I guess I shouldn't complain too much, since I usually benifit with clean cloths myself. Long story short, we found a "ma and pa" greek laundry mat that fulfilled our needs.

Since erika is still a bit shaken up from the near injury scooter crash, we decided to rent a different type of vehicle to get around the island - a 4 wheeler. (I just told her about the time I flipped Grandpa Farrell over when I was driving, so I may have shaken her confidence a bit). Nonetheless, we're confident this method is bit safer. Let's hope so!

It's All Greek To Me

2006-09-03T18:59:00.000-04:00

We've taken leave of Rome and started our final [vacation] descent into Greece. Rome still seems like a bit of a blur - the Colloseum, the Palentine Hill, the Vatican, Saint Peters Basillica, the Trevi Fountain, wining & dining, metro & hiking - but we were ready for a lot more R&R, and a bit less running around.

Our flight connected in Athens before finally arriving in Santorini. I could babble on about how beautiful or unique this island is - but suffice it to say that we are very excited about our next 5 days here. We expect less 'incidents', less pictures, and maybe even a few less blog entrys.Fear not, however, because we will make up for these losses with more pool time, more beach time, and more boozing.

Our hotel (at least for this evening) had a small booking snafoo, so we were upgraded to a huge suite, on the house. Hotel Arresana has a decent view of the village and is extremely service oriented. I can't wait for a few drinks poolside tomorrow (think SoBe, but without the attitude)...

And a message to the scooter company: watch out for any Lazars in Barcelona that might be tring to rent, as well. They are a very dangerous bunch, and should be charged an insurance premium.

A message from E

2006-09-02T05:08:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone it's Erika. Jason is insisting I do a blog and its pretty weird to write on his blackberry. Right now we are standing outside the vatican waiting with our tour group. We love rome so far. Saw the ancient ruins yesterday and we learned about the lion attacks at the colloseum. In fact, sometimes they would jump into the crowd.

Ok, so let me give everyone the real scoop on this trip. Jason is hilarious in europe. He runs around all day typing into his blackberry. He also takes a ridiculous amt of pics on his 10 megapixel camera (he frequently mentions that it has 10 mp's). He also learned how to do little voice comments for each pic so now when we look back at pics j's voice will come up saying "erika on palentine hill". As for me, I am a walking disaster in europe. I use words that I don't even use at home to try and explain myself and no one understands me. Food is another issue. Lots of times I get something diff than what I thought I ordered like the time I almost got a chicken head!

We are having the most amazing time though! Yesterday we walked around with 2 other americans and I read from my frommers and ran a mock tour all day! Some of my latin even came back. Oh yeah, dad I am sorry for making fun of you with your guidebooks. I live for this thing.

All right, time to enjoy the vatican. Bye everybody!

When In Rome...

2006-09-01T19:10:00.000-04:00

Ahhh, an expression that can never get old. We rolled into Rome about 7am this morning, blurry eyed and a bit groggy. A couple we met on the train advised us how to navigate the metro, and before we knew it, we were in the heart of ancient Rome.

We found a real gem for a hotel (well, the credit goes to Erika). Beautiful hotel near the plaza de spana, room with a balcony, too.

Today we visited so many places my head (and legs) hurt Well have to update later with all the sights.

Move Over Doug Henry, Here Comes Erika

2006-08-31T19:37:00.000-04:00

Who is Doug Henry? Glad you asked.

Henry was a three time AMA Motocross national champion in the 90's. After retiring from motocross, he became a premier Supermoto rider, rising thru the ranks to become one of the elite riders in the world. But enough about Henry.

Today we rented powerful 50cc scooters to travel around the French Riveria. Erika took to the scooter like a kid takes to christmas. That was, before the "incident". After a short scoot, we found a beautiful beach with tiny stones (so close to our dream of a sandy beach). Upon exiting the parking lot, an errant turn/brake combination sent Erikas scooter flying, while a distressed Erika jumped off in bewilderment. Once again, no loss of life or limb, but several telltale scrapes, dents, and cracks will forever remain on the once beautiful scooter. (Erika was fine - not a scrape on her. But she just hasn't been the same rider since.)

Our scooter journey took us close to a town called Eze which is perched high above the surrounding villages and the sea. I'm sure the photos won't do justice to the beautiful surroundings and landscaping, but we tried anyway.

We conclude our evening today in transport from Nice to Rome. We are traveling over night, for the next 8 hours until we arrive around 7 am. With our hotel nearly booked and our italian itinerary in the works, we are excited about our continued adventure...

Jason Wins Grand Prix

2006-08-30T20:03:00.000-04:00

For those of you who are familiar with formula one racing, you may have already guessed that our travels took us to Monte Carlo (in monaco) today. What you may not have guessed is that I completed one lap of the actual race course driving a Ferrari 348 Spider! Yes, skeptics, you read that right. I handed over my license (no background check required), and Ferrari Tours handed me the keys.

Prince Albert was not available to personally greet us when we arrived at his palace, but he did record a brief message for us on the audio guide we paid several euros for.

Monaco, especially around "the" casino and the Hotel de Paris, appeared to be hosting an exotic car show. The opulence and weath in such a small area is really amazing. One of the casinos would not let me in (I think the word was out about how dangerous I am at the blackjack table) citing a dress code violation. The other casino would overlook the dress code, but I didn't feel comfortable playing many hands at the 200 euro minimum.

We had a few manhattan priced drinks at the cafe de paris (right near by) before we jumped our train back to Nice. Once there, we ate outside at at cool little pizza/italian place. We even paid the homeless guitar player a couple of euros for adding a little unexpected ambiance.

As a side note, I realize the blog is becoming a little jason-sided, so I've asked erika to chime in a little more. So be ready...

Nice Beaches

2006-08-29T17:54:00.000-04:00

Well, pretty nice. The beaches are actually all large stones (no sand) so laying down comfortably was pretty much out. But the ocean water was amazing and so was the weather. We needed a break from the travel and tourism, and we also needed some sun. After just catching the tail end of our hotels brunch (Hotel de Fleure), and taking a short run on promenade des Anglais, we settled in for a long day of beaches. One one minor incident arose - Erika was thrown around like a rag doll as she tried to enter the ocean. Again, no loss of life or limb, but several telltale scrapes on elbows and knees remind her the ocean is boss.

Today we met one interesting fellow from Queens, NY at dinner. He teaches karate, bla bla, and was here to meet a blind date from Russia. Needless to say, things didn't work out, and this guy was our 3rd wheel for the evening.

After dinner in a rather quaint restaurant, I was going to try my luck at the casinos - but I couldn't really work myself onto the blackjack table (our new friend Frank went with us, too). There are 2 casinos in town, and they aren't really geared up like a Vegas or an AC. Erika, however, got her gamble on, and spent several harrowing minutes on the French slots. Oh, that reminds me - another incident! The slot machine Erika was using only took 0.20$ coins. We figured, if we put in a 1 Euro coin, we would get 5 plays. After casino security and the technician came over to fix the machine, we realized this was faulty logic.

So concludes another day in paradise...

Au Revoir Paris - Bon Jour Nice

2006-08-28T20:54:00.000-04:00

Parting is such sweet sorrow. But it was time to say goodbye to 2 million Parisians and join up with the 341,000 very nice people.

But before we left, a couple of mini-situations arose. On the way back from church (Cathedral de Notre Dame), Erika decided to test how hard subway doors close. As it turns out, they close quite hard. While there was no loss of limb or life, a telltale scrape will remind her the test was a failure.

And when it comes to catching flights, we both have pretty lousy track records. So it will come as no surprise that we missed our 5pm flight to Nice. But, the delay was almost worth it - as we were dining in the highly recommended Laduree resturant when we lost track of time.

We were wondering if 5000 Euro-calories equal 3000 American calories. We hope so - especially after tonights dinner at Baccocca (sp?) in vieux Nice. The atmosphere was almost mardigras like, sans the beads. There are some casinos in town, too, so I'll probably bet the vacation budget on red. Come on...free vacation!

Long Live Louis XIV

2006-08-27T21:20:00.000-04:00

Waited on hand and foot. Carried to any destination. Lived in the most beautiful palace in all of France. A wife and many misttresses to cater to every, err, manly need. Victorious in scores of battles. This was the life of King Louis XIV.

Our 4 hour tour of the Palace at Versailles taught us this and so much more. For example, did you know that the amount of tulips (45,000) kept in the south garden was so vast and costly, that even today it's not economically feasible to reproduce?

We also re-visited the tomb of Napolean. Sorry Grandpa - but I could only get so close to the tomb before security would step in. The tomb was massive; I hope my tomb is as impressive someday.

We finished the evening at dinner in a romantic (i hope none of my friends are reading this) resturant called Le Tostevin. Amazing food, but the desserts? To die for.

Lessons Learned

2006-08-26T18:10:00.000-04:00

Today we learned many important lessons. In no particular order:

Lesson 1) Do NOT rely on Erikas internal alarm clock. "It's failsafe" - according to erika. Meanwhile, when I woke up and the clock read 12:00, my doubts were confirmed.

Lesson 2) When running late, don't plan a leisurely lunch at the cafe. Erika, now a vegetarian (a piece of meet she ate tasted 'foreign'), indulged in a cheese and tomato sandwich, while I had a delicious french onion soup and 2 glasses of wine.

Lesson 3) The Louvre takes more than 30 minutes. While we did get a chance to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo, we missed everything else. Closing at 6pm means just that.

Lesson 4) If an exhibit/museum closes at 7pm, do not show up at 6:30. This was the case at Napolean's Tomb. Beautiful grounds and building, but that's as far as we got.

Lesson 5) Leave plenty of time for the Eiffel Tower. Fortunately, the tower didn't close till midnight. Lines sucked, but the view inspired.

Lesson 6) Just because Jason is the 'guy' doesn't mean he is better with directions. Without Erikas uncanny navigation of the Paris metro, we would still be at the airport.

Bienvenue vers Paris!

2006-08-25T19:34:00.000-04:00

After getting to the airport and practically stripped searched by security, we were on our way. Flight was smooth, and we arrived into Paris around 8 am local time.

The first challenge, claiming luggage, got us off to a rocky start. After waiting at the luggage carousal for more thant 10 minutes, we realized we were at the wrong one.

Finally, we arrived at the hotel. After a quick lunch and nap, we were off to explore!

Today we started out in concorde and snapped a few shots of the obelisque. We then hoofed it down avenue des champs elysees - a gorgious tree-lined street with cafes and shopping galore, leading straight to our destination: Arc De Triomphe.

We did the tourist thing and paid our monolopy money for the right to climb the stairs leading to the top of the arc. The arc, whose construction began in 1806 by Napolean was not completed until some 30 years later. Its actually the largest triumphant arc ever created. Yippy.

Dinner was at a quaint little cafe on Champs Elyesees we found in the guide book. A few glasses of wine and a couple hours later - we were exhausted. Perfect end to a long day.

NOTEABLES:

1) Listening to erika explain to the receptionist we wanted a fan. Awkard, and funny.

2) Europeans smoke a lot, are not rushed, hardly ever honk their horns,are not as rude as expected, and don't have dogs.

1 day left in the USA

2006-08-23T14:23:00.000-04:00

In a bit of unrelated news, my sister just got engaged!! Yes, I have a sister. I won't go into the details about the proposal ('cause it creeps me out a bit), but we are all very excited to welcome Dale into our family. 'Nuff said.

In more unrelated news, Ryans Tacoma made its last trip. This puts to rest one the greatest chapters in automotive history. A brief moment of silence, if you please.

Air travel has always perplexed me. Our flight has a 1.5 hour layover in Boston before departing to Paris. Erika lives in Boston. This is perfect - she can just skip the first part of the journey and get on when the Plane lands in Boston. No way - not allowed. Interesting. We look at direct flights from Boston to Paris. The flight is available and costs hundreds of dollars more than the NY -> Boston -> Paris flight. Anyone?

So, we're going to wing things a little more that we had originally planned. Which is fine for me, but I fear for Erika. While she's usually pretty flexible, this could be too much unknown for her to handle.

Hold down the fort for us. The next posting will be from Paris!

5 days left in the USA

2006-08-20T12:09:00.000-04:00

We are in the final stages of preparation. We have booked 1 hotel for 2 nights, have no idea how to get around Europe, and can't even ask "where is the bathroom?" in any language other than English.

To capture the trip we spared no expense when purchasing a state-of-the-art digital camera. Although the camera is now three days old (and hence, no longer high tech) we hope the 10MP resolution will allow for mural sized photos. How did I include a photo of the camera - you ask? I'm just that good.