Mark's Musings

Jinx?

2012-01-16T09:12:00.000-08:00

I'm starting to think that maybe my vacation choices are becoming a jinx: Last year, I put down my deposit for the Egypt trip on 13 January, and 12 days later the revolution started in Cairo. This year, I put down my cruise deposit on 10 January, and on the 13th we had the Costa Concordia incident. Hmmmm....

The Next Trip

2012-01-10T17:09:00.000-08:00

Well, my lament about having no idea when or where my next trip would be didn't last long! This morning I had a couple of free minutes at work, so I checked on upcoming holidays, only to see that the 4th of July is on Wednesday this year. Argh, it cannot get much worse than that, which meant that I almost certainly would take off the following Thursday. Once I did that, it only made sense to take off Friday and make it a five day weekend. Now, however, just take off two more days and have nine off.

So, in the blink of an eye, I convinced myself I would take off the entire week, but what would I do? It was too long to sit at home, but not long enough to hop on a plane and take a serious overseas trip. I decided to check on cruises out of Seattle, and there were several leaving for Alaska that week. I asked my normal vacation warehouse, Affordable Tours, for a quick quote, and it turns out a seven night cruise would cost me less than $1500 total for the room, single supplement, tax and port fees. Sure, there are other incidentals ($10/day for tips and a little extra for drinks or premium dining if I were to choose to do so), but the net of it is that seven nights, total cost, would be about what one night in the Savoy cost me!

As convoluted as the logic above may be, I put a deposit down on a seven night Alaska cruise on the Star Princess, a 2600 passenger ship which was renovated just three years ago. Granted, Alaska would not be my first choice of destinations, but the idea of an easy and affordable "real" cruise (versus a Nile cruise) sounds very exciting. If I try it and it is not something that appeals to me, I will have lost only a relatively small amount of time and money, but if it is something I enjoy it opens a whole new avenue of choices for me. So, at present, it looks as if I will be cruising from 1 July to 8 July, with possible ideas below.

Shore tours:

Juneau walking tour
Vancouver shuttle

Dinners and Food:

Steak House 1-2 nights, $25 to $34 (chop one night, lobster the other)
Italian 1-2 nights, $20
Chef's Table (very limited so book early)
Portofino or Capri other nights
Caviar in Promenade
Wheelhouse Pub, which offers a complimentary British style lunch on sea days

To do on ship:

Yoga
Jog
Casino
The Sanctuary

And it is over...

2012-01-03T09:26:00.000-08:00

It's Tuesday 3 January 2012, and I am back in the office, weeding through literally over 1000 backlogged emails. As much as I dreaded the thought of a 36 hour trip home, it was done in a blink. On my arrival home, Melba met me at the airport, a fitting end to the holiday.

I am trying to live up to the notion of losing the weight I packed on these last few weeks, though every time I pass by one of the kitchens there is chocolate or cheesecake somebody has brought in from home...I am OK with temptation when I cannot see it, but put it in front of me and any semblance of willpower disappears.

For the first time in I cannot remember how long, I don't have a vacation on the books, so I have no idea when or where my next trip will be. I am even toying with the idea of spending next Christmas at home, with a Christmas tree, though I think that will surely not be the case. For now, I close out the London/Egypt trip, saying the memories for this one are especially strong and fond. Now, on with 2012!

Final Legs

2012-01-02T05:03:00.000-08:00

The final legs of the journey home went well, scoring myself a MacRoyal in both Cairo and in Madrid (with the second being far better, but I'll never complain about a MacRoyal!). Just a tad better (and literally ten times as expensive) was some caviar at the Caviar House/Prunier in Heathrow.

Also, I was able to find a Harrods in Duty Free which carried chocolate truffles, so I did pick up an assortment for Melba, as we ran out of time to do so in London.

I'm in Heathrow Terminal 5, about an hour and a half from takeoff on the last leg home. Melba will be there to meet me.

Next Vacation

2012-01-01T06:27:00.000-08:00

For the first time ever, I can honestly say I don't have a clue when my next vacation will be or where to. First of all, there are many odds and ends I need to figure out in "the real world" before I make any plans, and I want to sort that first so it is resolved before taking any more trips. Implicit in that is not knowing what time of year my next trip will be. So with that in mind, my rambling thoughts are something like this:

As I said before, I don't have any immediate desire to return to Egypt; I'm ecstatic I did this, it was essentially a perfect vacation and I may well return some years later (in particular heading for Mount Sinai), but for now I feel I have seen and experienced what I need to here. As mentioned before, though I felt safe the entire time, it is a third world country, so it is not the normal tourist destination. You do have to use common sense, such as not grabbing the bare electrical service lines feeding the building!

As for the rest of Africa, the only parts I would potentially be interested in seeing would be South Africa or the Serengeti, but they don't rise to the immediate "must do" level.

I would love to see Israel, Jerusalem in particular, though I think it would feel quite a bit like this trip, so I believe I will defer that one for a little while, until I feel more like taking on another rustic vacation.

Having been to South America I have no real desire to return, unless as a jump-off to Antarctica to complete my seventh and final continent, but when I do that one I want to have some extra time buffered in so that if the scheduled landing on the Antarctic shelf is missed, I might have an opportunity to try a second landing. I'd hate to travel that far, and spend that much money, only to be blocked from that final continent by a bad weather day!

I have a friend who has offered a week-long trip to Costa Rica, and as much as I would like it the timing is not going to work out in that I would need to go this March, way too soon from the work angle.

Russia is a country I should see, especially given my former Air Force/NSA life, though for some reason I am simply not champing at the bit to do it: I think the rudeness of the culture would be annoying to me.

I've also had many friends suggest either Thailand or Cambodia, but I just don't have the burning in the belly to go there.

I probably should try a real cruise ship some time to see how it compares to the Nile version; unless I do something really cheap such as Carnival, everything I have heard tells me the real ocean cruise will be much more elegant than the one I just completed. Bryan and Nancy suggested I might look into Cunard as they do a bit more of the formal type, and as long as I am going for the fantasy I might as well go all the way.

Montenegro is possible, though I need to decide if I truly am interested or if the "Casino Royale" Bond movie just hooked me on the idea.

Mexico, though close, is a place I visited many times in my childhood (growing up in Southern California), so it does not seem to hold a great deal of excitement for me.

At this rate, I may actually be considering a continental US trip for the first time in ages. Discounting very short weekend trips to Reno or Vegas, my last US vacation was Zion and Bryce back in the very early 90s. There are only a few US cities I would be interested in, with New Orleans and New York being the only two which come to mind at this moment.

Last Few Hours in Cairo

2012-01-01T00:19:00.000-08:00

It's shortly after 10:00 AM on New Years Day. I am still in my room at the Marriott, and I will check out at noon, then kill time till 8:30 PM for my pickup ride to the airport. Fortunately I have the Kindle and laptop fully charged, plus two old-fashioned "real" books should batteries start dying on me.

It is a beautiful day today, with none of the haze which prevailed for the last two. It's a bit of a shame that I cannot get out and enjoy it, but I feel a bit foggy headed and also don't want to spread myself too much since I will not have a room in a bit.

As much as I enjoyed this trip, I am ready to leave Egypt. Twelve nights here was comfortable, but at this time I am OK heading back to the real world. Unfortunately, the afternoon seems to be dragging on, as I am now approaching 3:30 PM, which means I have spent four hours in the lobby, and still have five more to go before the lift to the airport. Then it's a four hour flight to Madrid, arriving about 3:00 AM, with a five hour layover there while waiting for my flight to Heathrow. A few more hours in LHR and a nine hour flight should get me home. I'm going to be wiped by the time I complete this one!

I did have the thrill, however, of handing my carry-on bag to a uniformed washroom attendant who dutifully held it while I did my business...the novelty of such a thing was worth a five Egyptian pound tip.

Also, in a surprise "victory" of sorts, I have been able to coax slight smiles out of two (yes, two) of the young women serving me Cokes in the lobby. I guess after seeing me for this long they have realized I am not a Western threat. As trivial as it sounds, just something as "normal" by western standards as this is a significant change after nearly two weeks. You can't really understand it till you live for for some time.

Cairo at Midnight

2012-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Cairo
1 January 2012

As it turns out, the casino was not the place to be for NYE…they had a number of the machines shutdown in preparation of an upgrade to come later. It seems odd they would start this on New Years Eve, so from that I gathered the tiny casino was not the place to be, and I decided to hang out around the hotel.

Tahrir Square was, of course, where most people were to be found, but I was not about to try to push my luck with that. When midnight did finally come about, there were barely any fireworks at all, and the sound was more of a dull roar than the sharp, noisy cacophony of sounds you normally associate with an NYE gala. The dull roar continued for about three hours, fading away shortly after 3:00 AM. So, as for great cities in which to welcome in the new year, Cairo is not one of them!

The Cast

2011-12-31T07:17:00.000-08:00

Rather than waiting till the very end, I thought I would take the last few hours of 2011 to introduce the cast of the Nile River Cruise. This truly was an excellent group of people, without exception, and I feel very fortunate to have had the chance to meet and travel with all of them.

Mohamed, our Guide

Meredith

Katie and Pam (can you tell which one is the mom?!)

Maria and Linda

Katie

Collin

Gail

David

David and Gail

Nancy and Bryan

Nancy

Maria

Cairo NYE

2011-12-31T07:14:00.002-08:00

Cairo
31 December 2011

It’s 7:00 AM on New Year’s Eve, with 2012 just a handful of hours away. My cold is almost entirely gone (and this time I really, really mean it!). One pleasant surprise was to receive email from Nancy and Bryan, two of the passengers from the ship. I plan on trying to stay up till midnight, possibly in the casino (albeit a small one!). My flight tomorrow is not until 11:30 PM, so check-out at noon will be the thing that paces my early morning activities. Last year in Venice I fell asleep a scant 10 minutes before the stroke of midnight, so I don’t want to make that mistake again.

As with so many other people, New Years Eve is an introspective day for me, a chance to look back at the last year, to take stock of what went well, what did not, and to try to decide what to do differently this next year. The thing that makes this upcoming year so challenging for so many people is that with the economy where it is, few seem to have control over what is happening in their lives. The world always seems to be in chaos, though it does seem even more unstable now than in the past: Economic and financial volatility abound throughout the world, the Eurozone crisis lingers on (along with talk of another recession to come), the US economy and housing market continue to languish, the Egyptian situation has yet to play out, Syria is in turmoil, the very recent death of Kim Jung Il brings a completely unknown leader to power in that country, Iran is on the verge of nuclear armament, not to mention that we will finally get to find out if the end of the Mayan calendar really means anything, or if the scribe simply resigned and the Mayans elected to leave the position unfilled.

I have nothing on the docket for today, and in order not to risk a resurrection of the cold I am going to stay close by the hotel, maybe going to Hard Rock but otherwise working on notes and emails.

One interesting thing I found out yesterday from my guide was that the reason we were on the boat with Germans (and a few Japanese) was by design, not chance. I knew that there were a number of other nationalities here, in particular Russians, as I heard the very large tour groups all throughout the Karnak and Luxor temples, so it seemed odd that there were none on the boat with us. The tour guide explained that is by design as Americans, Germans/Austrians and Japanese seem to “play” well together, but Russians are not a good part of the compatibility mix. After thinking back over the times I’ve been barreled over by large Russian tour groups in places such as Florence, it makes sense: The culture is very different, and they are used to a more “in your face” type of crowd management. While Germans may not be overly warm, they do respect the space of an individual, but a group of Russians, heading from point A to B, will take the direct route, with no attempt to deviate in the slightest if you happen to be in their trajectory. Probably this grouping was a wise choice, and I am glad they thought of it!

This has been an unusual vacation for me in some intangible sense, very educational and enjoyable in a way I have not really experienced before. Part of it may have been the stark contrast of the first three days with what was to follow: To begin in a Savoy suite in London, with unparalleled comfort and luxury, only to be followed a short flight later by a third world country, was in and of itself a mindbender. Also, spending the Christmas season in a Muslim country was odd, in that even though the ship and hotel had decorations and music playing to note the season, you realize that to them it is at best a foreign anomaly, if not something that a number of them disdain to some level.

Another “challenge” for me has been to avoid showing the soles of my feet, something highly offensive in the Muslim world. Especially when typing on the laptop, I tend to cross my right ankle over my left knee in order to make a comfortable “table,” but such an act would be poorly received here. The couple of times I have started to do so, I was fortunately able to catch myself quickly.

I took a short stroll, ostensibly to see if the Hard Rock is reachable on foot. Unlike the southern (upper) part of Egypt, being a Westerner in Cairo is simply a curiosity warranting an occasional glance, not a blank check for the taking by each and every man (or boy) on the street. In any case, after about a 30 minute walk I was unsure which way to go (and it was too hazy to see in the distance), so I returned to the hotel and inquired about a cab ride. Now for the supreme disappointment: There is no Hard Rock. The Cairo location of the ubiquitous oasis for Western travelers worldwide was shutdown last year. I am surprised my guide did not know that, though in fairness to him it is still showing up in most web searches as being open, but the Concierge was certain it is no longer. So, with the biggest vice I can possibly pull off being a little gambling, I’m going to head off to the casino for a warm-up prior to tonight’s Bond adventure.

Cairo Giza

2011-12-31T07:14:00.001-08:00

Cairo
30 December 2011

The extra sleep was exactly what I needed yesterday, as this morning I feel much better, almost back to 100%. I’ll be leaving shortly for the Giza and Sphinx tour, which is a great way to wind up the trip. Tomorrow (New Year's Eve) there is nothing planned, and then on New Year's Day I catch a very late (11:30 PM) flight back home.

The Marriott is definitely a strange hotel, with the grounds being 5 star but the rooms more like 3. I mentioned earlier that the grounds looked palatial, and as it turns out that is spot on, with this having been a palace built by Mohammed Ali in the 1800s. Unfortunately the rooms are average, and the staff, while helpful, adds to some of the mystique: When I had my coke and pizza delivered yesterday, I asked the server for a bottle opener as I did not want to have to fish through my luggage to find mine. He did not have one on him, apparently the room does not have one, but he readily obliged by popping the top off with his teeth! Not exactly something I would envision seeing in a true 5 star hotel!

The TV is an old CRT type, which is very surprising given how long flat screens have been out now and how low they have dropped in price.

Sheiks do abound here, and it is a rather odd feeling to get off the elevator while a sheik stands by waiting to get on, or to play in the casino next to one. (OK, the term "sheik" does not necessarily imply an incredibly rich man, yet it is an honorific title for an Arabic leader or elder, so it certainly is not the type of person you bump into regularly in the US.)

I’ll do a more complete summary later on, but for now I have to say that even with perfect hindsight it is difficult for me to imagine how this trip could have been much better. Three nights was too short a time in London, but then again given the price of the Savoy suite, that is all I could do and still feel OK, without the economic cost exceeding the benefit. (I could, literally, have stayed three weeks at my usual place, the Strand Palace just across the street, for what the three nights at the Savoy cost me.) Egypt has been fascinating, and I am very glad to have done the trip now since it is difficult to say what the situation will be a year from now. Normally, extremist parties will mitigate their actions when faced with real world events, but should the Islamists prevail in the ongoing elections, I am not sure they will do so. Even though tourism accounts for about 12% of the Egyptian economy, I have a funny feeling that the Islamists would willingly cut that off if it were to suit them politically. In short, it is difficult to say what Egypt will be like come the end of 2012; most likely, it will be the same as it is now and it will still be a vacation option, but there is a non-negligible chance that it will become more closed and inaccessible.

Having said that, even though I enjoyed the trip and even if it does remain an open vacation destination, I am not in a big hurry to return. With a couple of days in Cairo and a few days on the Nile, you have a very good feeling for what this country has to offer. There are literally thousands temples so it is not as if you can ever see them all (in fact, the archeologists don’t even bother excavating most of them, as there are too many), but after you have seen a few and know what to look for, you have a good knowledge of what the layout and pictographs will be. Also, if you do come to Egypt, remember that it is a third world nation, so it is quite a shock when you first visit something this primitive and dirty. I’ve been to places such as Panama, Brazil and India before, so I know what to expect in a third world situation, but if you have not done so before then you really need to assess if you are ready before venturing there…the poverty, the dirtiness, the crude, almost primitive, lifestyle can be a shock.

As for current affairs, there is a great deal on the TV this morning about Egyptian police raiding a number of charities. Also, as for Tahrir Square, it truly is a “made for TV” matter, in that Friday is the Islamic day off, so Friday is when the large crowds gather and when the news crews pull out their cameras. For the next six days, the shots from that Friday are what the world will see on TV. The rest of the week there is nothing else happening at the site, with (literally) only three or four people sitting underneath the banner, yet the world is fed the daily image of throngs of protesters stirring the air with tension.

It’s a very cold and dank day, especially by Cairo standards, and the jacket was required all day long. The first stop was at the Sphinx and Giza Pyramids, little doubt the most well-known symbol in all of Egypt, and the only remaining member of the original Seven Wonders of the World. Next was Imhotep and Saqqara, where something unusual may have happened—see below. After that, it was Mit Rahina Museum and Memphis.

Being a Friday, it was the Muslim day of rest, so traffic was unbelievably light, but my guide stressed, repeatedly, that I should not go near Tahrir Square. I had been toying with the idea of going by to see the “one day a week revolution” in full swing, but beyond any fear of direct physical harm, my loathing of the numerous “I told you so” chidings I would receive should something go amiss kept me away.

As for the unusual excitement at Imhotep/Saqqara (also known as the Stepped Pyramid), it was odd in that it was so obvious. My guide and I were walking around the area, a little off the beaten track since it was just the two of us and we both were quite agile. We stopped by what appeared to be a pit, with a fair amount of trash gathered in the bottom, and I noted what looked like a small (5 foot long) sphinx. What struck me as odd and caused me to take a picture was the irony of plastic bottle trash around what appeared to be an ancient artifact, and that evidently was indeed quite unexpected as my guide indicated when he saw it. He went down to the sculpture, and as best he could tell it was authentic. We went to get the on site Antiquities director, who said he had never seen it before, and he too agreed that it looked authentic. It’s probably not that big a deal even if it is authentic, but it is amazing to me that something this much in the open could be unnoted by the conservators. It’s remotely possible that it was a hoax, but it was solid and very heavy (several hundred pounds), which would have required a very dedicated prankster to pull off the stunt for no apparent gain.

The guide and driver took me back to my hotel, and I tipped them very well in an effort to make up, in some small way, for the lack of tourists. The beef burger I had for a late lunch left much to be desired (way too lean to be tasty). Though I felt very good first thing this morning, the dank weather today has brought back some of my ailment later in the day. The cold has definitely moved from the chest and I am not nearly as achy as before, but now it is that annoying “gotta sneeze but cannot do it” sort of thing. Gonna try a nap…

Nap didn’t work…of well, maybe that’s why the next entry sounds a bit cranky!!

One thing that both did and did not surprise me was the chauvinism in this society; it is well known that in this part of the world the genders are separated, and only in a place such as a 5 star hotel would a woman bartender dare speak to a man. In some regards, though I expected it, this is one of the most amazing and disappointing aspects of the society. It’s difficult to believe that in a country such as this, in the 21st century, such jingoistic attitudes could still prevail. Social conservatism is certainly understood, but a virtual apartheid between the genders is a completely different matter, no different and no more justifiable in my mind than racial segregation. Again, when it is convenient or economically viable such as in the hotel bar, such attitudes can be put aside, but not in the society as a whole. Also, even in a 5 star hotel with the women in very Western wear, the contact is very limited: The woman barmaid would look me in the eye, but she definitely would not smile, and no female hotel employee walking down the hallway would even consider looking me in the eye as we passed.

My guide from today’s tour did point out to me where the local Hard Rock is, and I might make that my target for tomorrow as I have nothing else on the docket other than staying up till midnight and playing Bond in the Casino, rubbing shoulders with the sheiks.

Cairo Return

2011-12-31T07:13:00.002-08:00

Cairo
29 December 2011

We docked in Luxor overnight and left the boat this morning, catching an early flight to Cairo. Unfortunately, this is where I leave the group, and I spend my last couple of days alone in Cairo. I cannot stress how glad I am to have had a great team of people to spend this last week with, and I am grateful for how they integrated me into everything they did; I never felt lonely or on my own with them. We literally had everything from a seventeen-year-old to those in their seventies.

The flight back to Cairo was uneventful, and I was checked into the hotel by 1:30. I ordered a pizza, and then was in bed at 2:30 still owing to the sniffles…I definitely want to be up-to-speed tomorrow as it is Giza Day!

Nile River Cruise Day Seven

2011-12-31T07:13:00.001-08:00

Nile River Cruise Day 7
28 December 2011

It’s the last day on the ship for us today, and it is a travel day without any sites to visit along the way. That actually turns out to be a good thing for me, as the sniffles I mentioned before have become much worse, and I would not have been able to do any touring. It was a perfect opportunity for me to draw the black out shades and sleep in. We will be spending the evening on the ship tonight, docked at Luxor, then disembark tomorrow morning to catch a flight back to Cairo.

Nile River Cruise Day Six

2011-12-27T08:17:00.000-08:00

Nile River Cruise Day 6
27 December 2011

The ship is still docked at Aswan this morning, and a number of the group took out for an optional flight to Abu Simbel (another site that was relocated when the dam was built), but I opted to stay on board and relax, plus get caught up on blogs, emails, etc.

I was able to meet “Cleopatra” from last night (Martina in real life), and she sat with me for an hour and a half as I showed her the Kindle and how it worked—she (like most who see it) was fascinated that you could get the Internet on it, with Facebook being the thing that excited her most. That made for a very interesting chat, between her broken English and my broken German, but we befriended each other both in the real world and on FB. It turns out this is her first vacation in eight years, and you could tell from her enthusiasm about everything that she was taking nothing for granted. It was quite a novelty for me: Sitting on a cruise ship in the Nile, talking with a beautiful Austrian in an orange string bikini. I could learn to like this!

One thing I cannot learn to like is the incessant hustling from virtually any person who sees you on the street. (Note that this applies to the south or Upper Egypt; Cairo and Lower Egypt are different and are explained a few days later). I expect and accept hustling when I walk into a shop, I am somewhat understanding of it when walking through street merchants, but I am getting very annoyed by being hit up by virtually anybody who sees me on the street, or those who tie up small boats alongside the cruise ship and try to sell to you as you are cruising! I cannot go for a walk without taxis and horse carriage drivers trailing me. Yesterday I went for a walk and a taxi driver not only pestered me about a ride, but he even knew the ship I was on. Several hours later that night, I walked the dock, and he remembered and yelled at me from the upper street, reminding me “Tomorrow maybe” in terms of taking a ride with him. This morning when I was on the ship’s sundeck he spotted me yet again and reminded me he was there to serve my needs. I understand this is an impoverished area, a matter that has only been exacerbated by the recent plummet in tourism, but I do get very frustrated not being able to walk along a street without being approached by essentially anybody for anything, from rides to trinkets to cigarettes (especially since I don’t smoke!). It’s not a matter of feeling unsafe—I never believe they would cause me any harm—but it is annoying.

As it turns out, we will be setting sail today, back to Edfu (Kom Ombo), where we will be spending the night. There are many more people on the ship right now, which is a mixed blessing: It feels more lively, like a real cruise, but it is also taking more time to get through the dinner line, etc. Given a choice between the two, I prefer having more bodies as it is now, but I am not sure what it would be like if we were to reach full capacity (I think we are about half full right now).

I’m getting to know my fellow Trafalgar passengers much better, and I continue to be pleased with how well the group is balanced and how comfortable everybody seems with each other. I’ve been welcomed by all of them, far, far better than the Italy “tour from hell” some years back when it was a different class of passengers, about 75% of whom were, to put it simply, rude and tacky. You never know with escorted tours, as your companions are essentially determined by luck, but in this case fate worked in my favor.

We shoved off about 2:30 PM local time, and I was coming down with a little bit of a sniffle, so napped until about 5:00 PM.

I also found out that one other “benefit” of being an Insight passenger is that the ship’s tips are included in the price, so in theory I don’t have to tip at the end, though they have been so awesome I think I will do so a second time. The suggested amount is $5 per day, which means that for seven days we are looking at $35 or just a tad over 200 Egyptian pounds. It is such a small amount for us, but it seems to be so necessary for them, especially in light of the lack of tourists.

I had a bit of the sniffles today, but after sleeping in a bit this morning and catching a short mid-afternoon, I feel pretty much back to normal. We’ve been passing this low grade ailment around the entire group, but fortunately it does not seem to be too strong a bug.

Nile River Cruise Day Five

2011-12-27T08:16:00.002-08:00

Nile River Cruise Day 5
26 December 2011

The day starts off with us docked in Aswan. The first site was the Philae Temple, very unique in that it actually was moved to a higher elevation over the course of seven years while the Nile High Dam was being built. As amazing as the temples are in their own right, picturing how a site such as this is broken into 1200 pieces and moved a kilometer or so makes that feat even more amazing in its own right. Also, the temple required a boat ride to reach, making it unique in another sense.

Next was the Aswan Dam, which supplies power for half of Egypt. As such, you can imagine security was tight, with tanks (literally tanks) and machine gun-toting soldiers guarding the dam and the surrounding substations.

After the dam we went to the Unfinished Obelisk, which would have been the largest in the world, but it was cracked during an earthquake while still on its side being built and today lies horizontal in its ceased state of construction.

Following that, we toured the Aswan Botanic Garden, which was not all that remarkable to me, other than to note it odd to find such an oasis in the middle of a barren land.

In the afternoon I went on an optional tour of a Nubian Village taking an hour long boat ride down the Nile to where the Sahara Dessert actually begins. It's quite a bit different as you go further south in Egypt: Around Cairo, most of the people could easily be mistaken for Greeks or Italians, but as you go further south the skin color definitely becomes darker, more what you think of in terms of African people. We arrived at the village to tour a “normal” family home, complete with crocodiles caged up in the welcome room! I got picture of myself with one of the baby crocs around my neck, and I think that will become my new profile picture.

On the way, our boat was “attacked” by a ten-year-old boy who was drifting on a board and then latched on to our moving boat, belting out songs for the next three minutes or so. We were all shocked by the rather daring display of bravery. I felt sorry for him and gave him ten pounds, and the mom with the children did so as well, so he made off very well financially for his few minutes.

A video of his exploits can be found here.

Most of the tours today included boat rides, albeit on tiny vessels. One was a sailboat of sorts, while the others were motor boats, but all had one thing in common: We had to embark and disembark via a tiny plank, barely a foot wide. This was challenging enough for me, but for some of the older passengers it must have been very frightening. As in Australia and Venice, I was to be the unofficial helper who escorted them on and off.

Then, there was the High Tea Crisis! As mentioned earlier, I was the only passenger with this group booked on an Insight Vacations tour, while the rest were booked on a Trafalgar tour….same parent company, and essentially the same itinerary, but I apparently received a few extra perks since I paid a bit more (note to self for next time!). Mohammed, our tour guide, announced to the group at the start of the day that I would be leaving the tour today. This certainly was a shock to me, and I’ll even say I felt a sense of surprise and disappointment from the other passengers. After a few minutes, he clarified that I would “leave” the tour that afternoon for an English High Tea, something not included in the other tickets, then return (in other words, it was not that I was getting kicked off the tour!). Unfortunately, all day long the juggling of this High Tea caused problems, to the extent that on the ride back from the Nubian Village, after a phone call from the tour directors, that they stopped the boat and were ready to make a special detour back to the river hotel where the tea was held in order to drop me off. I finally convinced them I would be more than happy to waive the tea, and it was a running joke from that point on with my fellow tourists.

The weather today was warm but windy, so not many were sunning up on deck.

Also, I noticed that while nobody in my group had been posting rooms keys when leaving the vessel, the Germans seemed to do it without fail…just another cultural difference to keep in mind if you want to blend in countries in Europe, and apparently Egypt as well.

Egyptian humor does exist, both in Mahmoud , one of our very playful and prank-laden waiters, and in Mohammed, our tour guide. Mahmoud for example, likes to jokingly reply “no” when a simple, straightforward request is made, and Mohammed loves to point out anything and everything sexual in any of the pictographs, especially when an erect male organ has been chipped off by jealous “little boys.”

We had another special event tonight: Belly-dancing in the bar after dinner, along with one of the spinning Dervishes, and as a special nod to national pride I did indeed shutdown the Germans in the bar tonight! I also bumped into “Cleopatra” from the night before, and I rattled off what seemed to be a rather fluent “Sie waren sehr schoen gestern Abend” which seemed to flatter her.

Nile River Cruise Day Four

2011-12-27T08:16:00.001-08:00

Nile River Cruise Day 4
25 December 2011—Christmas Day
We started the day docked at Edfu with a buggy ride to the Edfu Temple. (Click here for a video of the ride.) By this time, many of the temples are starting to look the same and with similar stories, so at some point you actually do start picking up on the subtleties that were novel just three days back: You recognize Horus, you know where the Holy of Holies is, you know to look for a secret crypt where the treasures could be stored in case of attack. I am not complaining at all about the repetition, but quite the contrary I am pleased that things now seem to be “sticking” and will be something that I remember in the years to come.

I did decide to get into the “game” of haggling with the street merchants, so I spent half an hour walking from shop to shop, ostensibly looking for some treasure or trinket. I finally settled for a $3 wooden “Key of Life,” and even at that price it was probably overpriced, but I view the money well spent on the experience, with the cheap wooden trinket simply being a reminder of the event.

We set sail at 10:30 AM, and I spent the better part of the afternoon getting some sun. Today was perfect weather on the sundeck, very nice after the too cool breeze yesterday, and while I received a slight redness it was far short of a burn.

We reached Kom Ombo (The Crocodile Temple) at 4:30 and took a quick tour, then cast off again at 6:00 PM for Aswan where we will dock for the next two nights.

There are a number of Germans/Austrians on the trip as mentioned before, and as usual they seem to know how to enjoy life far better than do we Americans. Both genders seem very comfortable in their skin, so they are not the least bit hesitant to don the swimsuit and soak up the sun. (It’s funny, but as I have mentioned in previous trip blogs the women actually seem sexier in their bikinis than when totally naked at a spa such as Therme Erding, but that is a different story for a different time.) The point to be made is that even with some extra fat and bulges, none of them seem ashamed or embarrassed to enjoy life, even if it means walking about in public in their (often skimpy) swimwear. I think I am the only American who showed up in a swimsuit.

On a side note, the Kindle has been perfect the whole time. This thing works for me in Egypt, China, South America, and Europe, allowing me not only to read my purchased books but also to get my news downloaded and to check my email. Too bad Amazon failed by dropping the 3G open connectivity from the new Kindle Touch line. I’ll keep my keyboard version as long as I can, then when it dies I most likely will go to a non-proprietary eReader since without the full 3G experience the Kindle is just another reader, but your books are looked to one platform. That, too, is a different matter I will lament elsewhere, but I note it here as what Amazon developed last year was the perfect device…too bad they caved.

In any case, the boat is currently underway for Aswan, where we should arrive at approximately 10:30 PM.

Tonight was our special Egyptian Highlight dinner, and while most of the people were in Egyptian garb, I chose instead to go with my Giorgio Armani. My suitcase is stuffed to the gills, and if I were to purchase the robe-like outfit, I would simply have to leave it behind. The mother and her daughter looked incredible, especially when you take into account one is 51 and the other 19 years old (you honestly could have mistaken the mother for an older sister). One of the Germans had his 45th birthday and we chatted for a bit, and I was able to sit with an Egyptian newlywed couple who, by chance, used to work in the Microsoft phone support center.

Nile River Cruise Day Three

2011-12-27T08:11:00.000-08:00

Nile River Cruise Day 3
24 December 2011—Christmas Eve

Today we started off by driving to the Valley of the Kings from our “floating hotel” in Luxor. The story behind the VK site is interesting: The whole world knows of the Pyramid of Giza and the Sphinx, as they were deliberately built to be very visible signs to the world, demonstrating the wealth and power of the Pharaohs buried inside. With this public display of wealth, however, came tomb robbers who stripped the tombs of their treasures. Future rulers, not wishing to face the same fate, moved their burial grounds to a very remote, desolate area hundreds of miles to the south, a place known as the Valley of the Kings. In this location, no visible landmarks were erected, so ostentation was replaced by discretion in order to prevent theft.

The most famous of the Pharaohs, King Tutankhamin (“Tut”) was buried in the Valley of the Kings, in one of the smaller, less elaborate tombs. His fame in the modern world is not due to the grandeur of the treasures in his tomb, but instead to the fact that his resting place was the only one discovered intact, allowing us to see an undisturbed burial site. Virtually all of King Tut’s treasures were moved to the Egyptian museum, and his ancient resting place currently is very barren, consisting solely of his mummy and one (of his many) caskets. Incidentally, it cost an extra 100 Egyptian pounds (about $16 USD) to see it; from the “last dollar” economic principle this was not a wise investment, yet it would be one of those regrets to be that close to the famous site and not shell out the few extra dollars in order to see it.

From that point we went on to see The Temple of Hatshepsut, which was part of the larger Deir el-Bahari complex, that felt far more isolated and barren to me than any other we have seen so far. The bleakness, the utter dryness, made this place seem remote even by Egyptian standards.

Returning to the ship for lunch, we finally set sail just before 1:00 PM. I sat on the sundeck for a bit, (though it was too windy to change into swim attire), then did some group yoga, as well as a short sprint on the treadmill and the “vibrating platter” (which by now was much easier to use than my first attempt).

I never could get used to the irony, seen everywhere from Luxor on South, of seeing houses made of mud bricks with thatch roofs all sporting satellite dishes. Evidently this is provided as a service by the government, but the pervasiveness of the scene never failed to amaze me.

We passed through locks south of Luxor, where we were “attacked” by the street sellers with the novel attempt of tossing the goods on to the boat so that we could see them up close, with an unwritten honor system that said we would toss them back if not interested in purchasing. (To be clear on this, we did not even ask for them to be thrown over, but were pelted nonetheless.) More than anybody else, the German women seemed to get into it. One of the “salesmen" politely said to me “Obama not a good man” after I tossed back one of his garbs. I would like to have had a chance to understand that better, but the boat was rising at that time in the lock.

For dinner, I wore my dark Armani Collezione (ironic I have to go on vacation to dress up, but that is a different story), and we were treated to a special Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve since the next night (Christmas Day) was to be our Egyptian Highlight dinner. After dinner, I took most of the group down and hosted drinks for them in the bar, with a vain attempt to convince them that it was a matter of national pride (us versus the Germans), but my traveling companions did not buy it, and they stopped after a single drink.

We docked at Edfu sometime that night, after we had all gone to bed.

Nile River Cruise, Day Two (continued)

2011-12-23T07:13:00.000-08:00

Friday 23 December 2011

In the evening, a subset of the group (myself, the mom and her two children) set out for a lightshow at the Karnak Temple. Unlike the iconic Giza Pyramid Light Show in Cairo, the Karnak show is a walkabout, and it has a more modern feel to it, focusing less on the history and more on the emotion. At the end, we sat in an outdoor stone amphitheater, with the hills of the Valley of the Kings lit up and the distance, and even a shooting star zipping by at just the right moment. Yes, I did make a wish!

Nile River Cruise, Day Two

2011-12-23T07:05:00.001-08:00

Friday 23 December 2011

This is our second day on the boat, and we are still docked, taking a bus to the Dendera Temple today rather than floating up the river (again, due to the low water level). There seems so be uncertainty over when we set sail, with the Tour Guide stating Sunday (Christmas Day) and the Registration Desk saying tomorrow, Christmas Eve. In any case, it is still a very enjoyable time, and I am very pleased to say that my traveling companions are all still well-suited to this sort of thing. Yesterday’s cadre of Germans has disembarked, but a new group of them has arrived in their stead.

We drove along the “main highway” to the Dendera Temple, and all along the two lane road the scene was very much the same: Medium-sized masonry homes, with palm branches serving as thatched roofs, along with rebar and satellite dishes on the top. The satellite dishes are either free or low-priced and without monthly service charges, supposedly providing 600 or so channels. (I find this hard to believe, but our Tour Guide seems to be accurate in most of the things he states.)

The rebar sticking up from the roof is interesting and is a result of the strong family ties in this region: When children are born, the extra “floor” is started on top of the home for their future use, but it is left unfinished so the children may complete the work when they start their own families.

Though many look at Egypt as poor and economically depressed, it is not nearly as uncomfortable to me as other impoverished areas I have visited such as Manaus (Amazon, Brazil) or Bangalore India. In a strange sense, I feel very comfortable in this place of the world, which is odd not only because of the povverty but also in light of the current tensions between Muslims and the Western world, The governmental elections are ongoing, and while many things are up in the air there is no feeling of unrest in my mind, even with the small number of protesters still sitting in Tahrir Square.

Dendera Temple is very interesting in that it begins showing the Greek influence, something we did not see yesterday. For the Egyptians, the human body as depicted in their pictographs was very straight and smooth both in front and in back, but the Greeks added bulges to the pictographs showing both buttockss and bellies. Also, the Greek columns were more ornate, showing flowers and more decoration than the rather plan early Egyptian sites.

Though this is a very different world, I have not for a single moment felt unsafe or threatened at any point on this trip whether it be in Cairo or down here in the middle part of the country. The only tiny twinge of uncertainty I briefly felt was when I went for a walk, alone, in the very slummy neighborhood near the ship’s dock and got lost. (Yes, as I have said many times, I can get lost in a backyard.) Many of the locals noted me or tired to communicate with me, but after a few minutes I found my way and was no worse for the wear. While I cannot recommend a lone American get lost in a slummy Egyptian neighborhood, I can say that at most I was a curiosity to them, or perhaps a chance to obtain an Egyptian pound or two.

Nile River Cruise, Day One

2011-12-23T07:04:00.001-08:00

Thursday 22 December 2011

We left for Luxor on an 8:45 AM flight from Cairo, aboard Egypt Air. Security was very light since it was a domestic flight, and safety was similarly lax with them seating me in an exit row, even though I do not speak a word of Arabic; additionally, the flight took off while the safety video was still playing. Nonetheless, it was an eventless journey, and we arrived well before noon.
After the flight we boarded the Nile cruise ship MS Miriam for seven nights. This is a welcome treat as it gives me enough time in one location to unpack my suitcase and not have to live directly out of it!

Since I was the only Insight Vacation tourist, the company thankfully combined me with a larger group from Trafalgar (which I believe has the same parent company), so there are a dozen of us in the same group—which means I don’t have to dine at a table alone, since they group us at meals by the tour company we are with. I cannot tell how many total passengers are on the boat, though I do know there is a large number of Germans, many of whom leave tonight.

Owing to low tide, we cannot travel north on the Nile, so we will be docked for the first three days as we visit Luxor, Karnak, the Valley of the Kings and Dendera before sailing south on Christmas Day.

The docking arrangement of the ships is a bit odd, with literally six of them lined up side-by-side, which means that in order to board or disembark we walk through five (currently unused) ships before getting to ours.

The ship itself would hold over 100 passengers were she fully loaded, and it has the traditional sundeck on top, with a large bar, small fitness center, and gift shops below deck. There’s even a pool table, so I might give that a shot. Though it claims to be a five star establishment, it certainly falls short of that in most marks. It is clean and pleasant, and I have no regrets about being aboard it, but to call this a five star is silly enough to begin with, and downright absurd after just having spent three nights at the Savoy in London. The rooms have newly installed toilets, bath tubs and counters in the bathroom, but in all other regards this looks like a twenty-year-old ship with the expected wear and tear: Neat and clean, but far from elegant. Tissues in the rooms are displayed in their original cardboard boxes (not in a sleeve or cover), the pens in the room are clear plastic sticks, and the Ship Directory is a paper folder, not a leather binding. Again, I am not disappointed, but the description is definitely misleading. On the plus side, the prices of the things that are not included are very reasonable, such as $6.50 for a glass of liquor or about $4 for a glass of wine.

I should also point out for anybody who has ever been on an ocean-going cruise ship that the dining process is different on a Nile ship: Food is presented buffet style, and you serve yourself, with waiters there to clear tables and take drink order but not to serve your meal.

Another bonus: Since the ship is only partially booked, the tour company upgraded me from a single cabin to a larger double, and by cruise ship standards these really are quite large, with total area over 200 square feet. I have definitely stayed in far smaller rooms in Tokyo and Europe.

The passengers are fully spread across the spectrum, from a (married?) woman with two teenage children up to people well into their retirement years. There’s a female Navy Lieutenant Commander (O-4) plus her retired school teacher mother, and the tour guide is Mohammed, a retired archeologist who took up tourism as a profession because it pays better! No major issues seem to be in this area, for which I am thankful since small boats like this get even smaller if you need to avoid certain people with whom you feel uncomfortable.

Our first visit around noon was a bus ride to the Karnak Temple, a huge site, complete with an obelisk (which I believe to be the companion of the New York City monument). In the evening, we went to Luxor Temple which is much more famous, and in this case housing the companion of the French obelisk. After that, there was a quick stop at a Papyrus shop (where I bought a painting of Horus and Hathor), and finally back to the boat for dinner.

One of the things I am finding out about Egypt that I did not expect beforehand is that the number of ancient sites available for touring is huge. I expected a handful of the well-known sites, but in actuality there are more than I can begin to count, and to visit all of them would literally take months. Additionally, there are subtleties at each site that I would not begin to understand without a very observant tour guide such as Mohammed to point them out.

Pyramid Light Show

2011-12-21T04:06:00.000-08:00

It's the end of the first full day in Cairo, and we have just returned from the Pyramid Light and Sound Show. I went with a couple who were on a different Insight Vacation tour, and it was a welcome reprieve to have somebody to talk with. The show is literally unchanged from its presentation in the James Bond movie "The Spy Who Loved Me," with the same tacky soundtrack you hear in the movie. In a way, though, this quaintness just added to the experience, and it should not go without notice that for Egypt, a country that epitomizes timelessness, this foot in the past seems appropriate.

Though I did not know this at the time, as it turns out I sat in front of, and briefly conversed with, a mother and son (Nancy and Bryan) who would later be some of my shipmates on the Nile cruise.

Cairo Safety

2011-12-21T04:00:00.000-08:00

Given all the news about violence in Cairo for this last year, more than one friend suggested I was crazy to visit at this time, though I actually feel very safe and not the least bit worried about the situation. I might feel differently if somebody else were here with me, but what I have seen is not the least bit frightening at this time. Seeing the shell of the burnt out National Democratic Party Major Office, I am sure the situation was different in the past, and that it could erupt again, but at this time all seems under control.

This does, however, rekindle in my mind a discussion Melba and I had but three days ago about hosting ancient artifacts such as the Rosetta Stone or the Elgin Marbles in a safe but foreign environment such as the British Museum versus hosting them in their native land. At the time, I could see both sides, but after seeing this morning how the Egyptian Museum is situated between Tahrir Square and the charred shell of buildings, I have to say that there is a pragmatic merit to the foreign land argument. I'll fill this thought out more completely at a later date (I'm terribly behind on my posts so am focusing on the current ones at this time so I don't lose the train of thought while on the Nile...more later.)

Citadel and Egyptian Museum

2011-12-21T03:59:00.000-08:00

I’m seated in one of the Marriott restaurants, “Roy’s Country Kitchen,” trying to get caught up on some badly neglected notes before taking out early this evening for the Light Show at the Pyramids. I’ve also just enjoyed one of the most incredible beef fajitas ever, one that put the US versions to shame. It looks as if by the time this trip is over, I will again have the pleasure of needing to lose again all that weight I was so proud of shedding this last year…argh.

On more relevant matters, the day started at 8:30 with a tour of the city. I should explain, first off, that due to the security concerns caused by recent events, I am the ONLY person on the Cairo portion of the tour with Insight Vacations. Tomorrow I will fly south to Luxor to join the cruise which will undoubtedly have others, but for this portion I have a private tour, with a guide and driver all to myself. A bit strange, especially that I don’t feel unsafe, but nonetheless this is undivided attention.

We first drove by the old Islamic center and into the City of the Dead, a very large expanse of graves with “caretaker squatters” who live on site, caring for the tomb and receiving reasonable donations from touring relatives who drop in. The guide explained one of the cartakers woud make, perhaps, $100 USD per day, a good amount by Egyptian standards, especially given that they live rent free.

We next went to the Citadel of Salah Al-Din, an ancient fortress (with a beautiful mosque built by Mohammed Ali in the 1800’s). Unlike most mosques, which by definition are plain, this one contained ornate architecture, including stained glass, to make the Coptic Christians feel at home.

The guide also covered the story of Saladin, voted by Time as one of the “Men of the Century" during his 100 year century.

Our next stop was at the Egyptian Museum. The guide had warned me that depending on the protest situation that museum might be closed, but as it turns out that was not an issue. Tahrir Square, literally across the street from the museum, had but a handful of protesters, all very peaceful and quiet. I knew ahead of time that the museum was next door to Tahrir Square, but what I did not realize was that it was also adjacent to the burnt-out National Democratic Party Majority Office, meaning it is sandwiched between two of the most violent areas during this last year’s protests.

The one and only replica that museum hosts is of the Rosetta Stone, which ironically Melba and I had seen the original of just three days earlier in the British Museum. We had a discussion at the time on the tradeoff of housing artifacts such as that in a foreign albeit safe land versus at home; at the time I could see both sides of the argument, but after this morning I have a more concrete opinion---more on that thought in the ensuing post.

Overall, the museum had more of a feeling of a warehouse than of a museum, especially given what we had just seen in the UK. In Egypt, the descriptive signs were tacky, typed on (honestly!) a typewriter—and that’s if there was anything to explain what you were looking at.

Cairo Preview

2011-12-20T21:53:00.000-08:00

I awakened right at 7:00 and went down for breakfast. As is so often the case, you often want that which you know you cannot have, so I truly missed my pork sausage, but acquiesced to the notion that for the next two weeks or so that would not be in the mix.

The hotel had at least two 24 hour banks staffed with people...at 4:00 AM in the morning, it was entirely possible to walk into a bank and deal with a teller, in addition to the ATM option in the lobby.
To put the timing of my trip and the news in perspective, just three days previously there was a flurry in the news when the police attacked a woman protester, and there are a multitude of protests today highlighting that very event. Things were turbulent, but as it was to turn out the volatility never interfered with my trip in any way.

To set the tone of what is to come: This morning I will be seeing the Citadel, followed by the Egyptian Museum. The mid-afternoon will be free, followed by a light show at the pyramids.

Tomorrow morning it's a plane ride to Luxor to catch the Nile River Cruise, at which time I'll have a better understanding of the itinerary for the rest of the trip.

Arrival in Cairo

2011-12-20T21:51:00.000-08:00

Having never been in Egypt (or even Africa) before, I had no idea what to expect, so it was one of those arrivals which is etched on my mind.

The flight arrived at 10:30 PM, in what was absolutely perfect weather, neither too hot nor too cold. A representative from the tour company (Insight Vacations) met me inside the Customs area, literally seconds after I entered the building. We very quickly got through Customs. (I had acquired my visa beforehand, though it was possible to get it on the spot.)
The guide and driver took me directly to my hotel, the Cairo Marriott, in about thirty minutes.

Along the way we passed Mubarak's palace, something the guide pointed out to me along with saying he "was not a good man." The elections were midway complete during my time there, and as I was to find out the people in Cairo were very much in favor of change, while those down south would prove to be more conservative, less concerned about change than surviving.

The hotel was very secure, with bomb guards and cylindrical hydraulic road bollards in the driveway, dogs sniffing all arriving vehicles, and metal detectors at the lobby entrance.

Even though I had my second wind and wanted to explore the grounds, I gave in to reason and went to bed by 2:00 AM so that I could be ready to wake up at 7:00 AM.

The Departure and on to Cairo

2011-12-20T21:50:00.000-08:00

Our last few hours together in London were short, as we hopped into a chauffeur-driven S-Class Mercedes for Heathrow, where Melba was to board her BA flight home, and I was to get on Iberia for my journey on to Cairo. Since Melba was ill (with still no voice!) I upgraded her to Business Class for the trip home. We went our separate ways, with Melba promising to pick me up when I returned home.

The flight to Cairo (with a stop in Madrid) was rather uneventful, other than that a young Muslim woman offered me her dinner when she saw how quickly I had devoured mine! My next stop would be arriving in Cairo at 10:30 PM, for a world totally different than what I had just experienced with Melba in London.

The itinerary for the Egypt portion of the tour is as follows:

The Third Day in London

2011-12-20T21:49:00.001-08:00

Owing to our late night and early morning wanderings, we did not awaken until well after noon, and we headed out for a late lunch. Unlike the previous two days which had been dry, today was damp, so we did not go far. We stumbled across a fantastic restaurant, Bella Italiano, and had our fill of carbohydrates.

After the late lunch, we strolled along the Thames briefly, taking in the site of the London Eye, Parliament, and Big Ben. The drizzle was just perfect, adding a very memorable feel to the walk, but not so bad that we got terribly wet. Even though it was barely 4:30, darkness had prevailed, adding even more to the memory of that stroll.

We wound up taking a dinner in The Wellington, sharing a very large Fish and Chips along with Sea Bass. It really was perfect in that the upstairs restaurant portion was only about a quarter full, making it a perfect last dinner for us.

As our final event in London, I took Melba by the Strand Hotel where we had a drink in The Mask Bar, another of the more memorable haunting places from my previous trips. Then, all too quickly, our third day drew to a close, and we retired for our last night in the suite.

The Second Day in London

2011-12-20T21:48:00.000-08:00

Melba and I both agreed we would not follow a rigid agenda for the three days, with only a few things being "must do's." The meeting with Anita and Fiona was one, and the British Museum was the second.

Melba "thought" she had been to the British Museum before, but she was not certain, so I made absolutely certain to get picture of her in front of the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles.

We walked back from the Museum to the Strand, and found a very private and cozy cubbyhole (aka "snug") in The Lyceum, where we had some interesting conversations! After that, we went back to the Savoy, Melba took a nap, while I tried to get caught up on some odds and ends, as well as finding the local market in the Charing Cross Railway Station where I stocked us up on some crackers, cheese and drinks. I figured Melba wasn't going to feel like going out for dinner: She had no voice (at all!) after having spent the previous day with the sisters.

We had the snacks in our room, some conversation, then we took a short nap before I awoke at 4:00 AM in the morning with the insatiable desire to hit one of my favorite places: The McDonald's right by Charing Cross! Though I was quite capable of doing so on my own, Melba insisted on going with me to "keep me safe..." In any case, it brought back fond memories of many of my previous trips when late night arrivals meant the McD was my only dining choice!

The First Day in London

2011-12-20T21:47:00.000-08:00

Actually we only had half a day since we arrived at the Savoy at 2:00 PM, but we squeezed in a whole day or more, covering way too many things in that short a period of time!

The Sisters

As it turned out, two of Melba's friends (the sisters Fiona and Anita) were in London that weekend, so at 3:00 we met them in the Savoy Lobby and headed out to my favorite pub just across, the street, The Lyceum. We spent the next two and a half hours with them, and let's simply say getting the three of them together is not for the faint of heart ("Why buy the pig when you can get the sausage for free" was one of the more memorable quotes, and while I will not put it in context, it is as salty as it sounds!).

The Savoy Grill

I've always wanted to dine in one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants, and as it turns out The Savoy Grill is located in the hotel proper. Melba and I went there for an incredible dinner, with a lobster bisque that is beyond description! My steak was excellent, and Melba had the lobster thermidor. The only downside was that by this time, we were both getting incredibly tired, but we had a dinner that will never be forgotten.

Legally Blonde

As tired as we were, and as tempting as it sounded to nap, we went off to the show in the Savoy Theatre, Legally Blonde, and it was better than I had anticipated. I deliberately chose that show since it was in the building and I did not want us to have to travel far on our first night since I figured we would be tired, though Legally Blonde would not have been my first pick otherwise. In any case, it was hilarious, and even as a heterosexual male I enjoyed every moment of it.

The Sisters Again (along with their cigarettes!)

After the show, we met up with Fiona and Anita again, this time in Covent Garden, where we were rather abruptly asked to leave as the three of them were smoking "inside" the building. (OK, it was deceiving: It was a courtyard, and it felt as if we were outside, but since there was a roof way overhead it was considered inside.) In any case, we were able to avoid any run-in with the London legal system, and took our leave sometime after midnight.

The Beaufort Bar

Not wanting the night to end, Melba and I decided on a nightcap before retiring. The well-known American Bar was actually closed by the time we arrived (odd for a Saturday), so we settled for the Beaufort Bar instead, which as it turned out had a much better feeling to it anyway. After a drink each, we had had enough and (finally!) retired for the evening to our suite.

Savoy Reception

2011-12-20T21:44:00.001-08:00

To put it mildly, the reception at the Savoy blew both of us away, and it alone is worth an entry in its own right.
I should point out that in virtually of my previous London trips, I have stayed at the Strand Palace, a well-priced and clean hotel in the heart of the West End, but not luxurious. I've always enjoyed that hotel and consider it a real bargain, yet many a time I would look out at the Savoy--literally
across the street--and long for the time I could call it my temporary home away from home. Without going into detail about how and why I elected to do so, let's simply say that this trip I decided it would be time to live out that fantasy. Also, rather than simply choosing an ordinary room, I splurged for an Art Deco suite, including separate living room and bedroom, along with butler service. My expectations had been running high for months, as this was literally a dream about to come true.

When Melba and I arrived at the Savoy, the doorman immediately opened the doors and took our bags, as you would expect. He also inquired as to my name, and I pointed to it on my luggage tag. All seemed more or less as expected, with the doorman holding our bags as we checked in. So far no big surprises, but walking into the hotel brought something we were not expecting.

After navigating the revolving doors (which are only large enough to accommodate one person at a time, not two as we tried), we walked into a rather medium-sized lobby, though splendidly decorated for the season. We were both taking in the site, trying to orient ourselves, when a very well-dress man and woman walked directly up to us. The man extended his hand, and welcomed me by name, even pronouncing it correctly. I was, to say the least, shocked as to how he knew who I was, but before my surprise had time to register, he inquired if I had been there since the renovation. (There's no way I was going to tell him this was my first time in the hotel, so I simply and truthfully answered that yes, this was my first visit since restoration.) He then gave us a complete overview of the lobby and the associated shops off to the back, before calling our butler who took us directly upstairs to our suite. Be mindful, we had not even officially checked in at this point.

The butler (would it be presumptuous to say our butler?) then took us upstairs to present our room and to orient us with it. Much to our mutual surprise, we walked in through the foyer and found what looked like a living room, albeit with two twin beds in it. Not wanting to seem naive, I tried to remain calm as I pondered the matter (I definitely had not ordered any extra beds, and was fully expecting a King in the bedroom, not a pair of beds in the sitting room.) After a few moments, perhaps sensing my surprise, he inquired if I had not ordered extra beds, to which I emphatically replied I had not...he apologized, and immediately phoned housekeeping to have them removed. At this time, he to showed us around the rest of the suite (which thankfully did include a King-sized bed in a separate room), and he also gave us a brief orientation from everything from the location of the wardrobe to how to use the thermostats and how to dial for butler service.

There were a handful of minor disappointments, the worst of which was that we surprisingly had a horrible view, especially since we were the only people on the entire floor (as confirmed by our butler).

Other minor shortcomings could be pointed out (such as not telling us where the 110 volt outlets were or forgetting out complementary fruit "amenity" until I phoned them for it), but dwelling on that is to miss the point:

Other than these few minor nits, this was the most incredible hotel experience that can be had. I will not say how much three nights cost me (other than to confirm the expected "bundle"), and I doubt I will ever indulge such as this again, but for a once in a lifetime experience this was incredibly pleasant and luxurious.

At the Airport

2011-12-20T21:42:00.000-08:00

Melba's sister and brother-in-law took us to the airport and dropped us off, well in advance of our departure, which was very important to us since I wasn't sure if Melba and I could get seats together. The problem was, the tickets were booked at different times and on different airlines but under a codeshare: While I was on an Iberian ticket, and Melba was on a British Airlines "native" ticket, we were both on the same BA plane, but knowing how fare rules are I was afraid this would be a trying matter. I figured it might be a bit complicated to be seated together under such a circumstance, so it seemed by getting to the airport early we would improve our chances of traveling side-by-side.

When we arrived for check-in, the queue was empty, which seemed like a good sign, and I explained the situation to the agent who initially indicated it should not be a problem, only to discover that there was an issue: While the codeshare per se was not insurmountable, unfortunately I had booked myself in "normal" economy, but I had purchased Melba's ticket for premium economy, and it was not possible to upgrade me to that same class. My only option was to upgrade both of us to business class, something that--given the festive feeling of the season--I very quickly agreed to in spite of the financial hit. Granted, it was only a nine hour flight and a pricey frivolity, but somehow sitting in different parts of the plane just did not feel right. In any case, it gave us a chance not only to sit together, but to face each other since this was one of those counter-facing couchette situations. There was a small divider between us that we could have pulled up had we been strangers (and yes, it was way too intimate to sit that way staring at somebody you did not know or care about), but it was actually quite enjoyable traveling that way with a companion. Besides, we also were able to sit in the Club Lounge before departure, and given our early time of arrival at the airport, we were the only ones in there for the better part of two hours.

The flight itself was enjoyable, without any major issues or problems, and we arrived at LHR right on time.

Unfortunately, the ride I had booked from LHR to the Savoy was definitely not up to expectations, with a driver who not only could not find the hotel, but who also became snappy when I tried to help. After realizing he was lost, I tried to point out a few well-known nearby landmarks such as Trafalgar Square, but each time he snapped back that he knew where the hotel was. Unfortunately, the GPS was giving him directions that led him someplace in Holborn and he elected to believe the box rather than what he claimed to know or what I was telling him. Why thinking human beings would choose to follow a silicon box that is known to be in error is a question in and of itself, and it was not until he phoned the Savoy directly that he was able to find the hotel---and even then he drove right past it until I pointed out the overshoot.

In any case, we arrived at the Savoy right at 2:00 PM as I thought we would. The next part would not be totally anticipated, in a good sense.

Off to London...

2011-12-16T12:30:00.000-08:00

It's shortly after noon on 16 December, and Bond Girl will be at my place in less than two hours to pick me up for our ride to the airport. We have an overnight flight, leaving at 6:15 PM and arriving in London about 11:30 AM. If things go smoothly, we'll be through Customs and at the Savoy before 2:00 PM. Hopefully we will not be too jet-lagged, as Melba has a pair of friends (sisters) who will be meeting us at 3:00 or so. At 6:00, it's dinner in Gordon Ramsay's Savoy Grill, after which we will be seeing "Legally Blonde" at the Savoy Theatre. The show will be over about 10:30, and we'll see what we are up to at that time.

London is very cold this time of year, and combined with the possible jet-lag the idea of not having to leave the hotel that first evening is appealing, though if we are still up to it after the show, Covent Garden is only about a five minute walk from the Savoy. We'll play that by ear, as the first day after an international flight is always a bit uncertain: Sometimes it's no problems, others it's a real pain.

I've been to London many times, at one point a few years ago travelling every six months or so. I always before stayed at the Strand Palace, a moderately-priced hotel right across the street from the Savoy. If you want to stay in London, this part of the West End is without a doubt in my mind the best possible location, just a few minutes walk from theatres, Trafalgar Square, the Thames, and almost anything you can imagine or want in London. I used to look out my Strand Palace window at the Savoy and dream of staying there one day; finally, that day has arrived! To make it even better, this stay will be in a suite, with a butler, and even more amazingly with Bond Girl! The only downside is that it is only a three night stay...but it's going to be an incredible three days!

On the Road Again...

2011-12-15T16:33:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas time, which also means it is time for my Winter Holiday 2011. I always love these trips, but this one will be extra special as my favorite Bond Girl, Melba Lee, will be with me for the first three days. Specifically, I (we!) are leaving on Friday evening, 16 December, for three days in London, where we will be staying in an Art Deco Suite at the Savoy! On Tuesday 20 December, Bond Girl boards her plane back to the States, while I board one headed for Cairo. (Yep, the place that has seen all the unrest this year!) I'll be meeting an escorted tour there, spending two nights in Cairo, then boarding a cruise ship for seven nights on the Nile. After the river cruise, I have three more nights in Cairo, including NYE in the Marriott right by Tahrir Square. This is going to be interesting!

More details tomorrow...for now, time to finish packing!

Next Vacation

2011-06-15T11:59:00.004-07:00

My next vacation will be something completely new for me: A Nile River cruise in December/January. This actually should be an excellent opportunity for me, as it combines both the desire to travel when work is slow (Christmas time) with the desire to travel when the weather is nice (which, of course, is inverted in Egypt). It is an escorted tour, but since we will be on a ship for much of it (with a short land portion), I think I will still feel that I have the autonomy of an "on your own" vacation (i.e., if I want to sleep in, I won't have to worry about the bus leaving me behind, at least not for most of the trip).

So, while I know my next Christmas vacation, the unknown is my vacation after that. I am inclined at this moment to return to Germany, this time staying in one place for the duration so that I do not have to go through the hassles I did with the transfers this time, If, however, I am to do this, I am vowing that I will only do it in late Spring or Summer, and only if I do indeed take the idea of relearning German seriously. At least at this moment, I am inclined to stay in one place, preferably in a large city.

Post Mortem

2011-06-15T11:59:00.003-07:00

In hindsight, this was an enjoyable and memorable trip, though candidly not the best I have ever taken. There were several areas where it could have been better, some of which I could have foreseen, others not.

For the things I could control, first off and on a positive note, I am glad I chose late spring, as the weather was great, unlike my winter vacations when it is freezing around Christmas time. There was a bit of rain in both Milan and Munich as well as thunder in Munich, but then again in Europe that is to be expected all year around so you just live with it. The Christmas time vacations are better from the work perspective (I dread thinking about how many emails I will have to catch up on, versus only the small number over the Noel time!), but in Winter it is cold and snowy enough that I need to remember to keep that tradeoff in mind when planning my next trips. My frozen days in Berlin from a year and a half back are still vivid in my memory, as well as some cold-broken blood vessels in my face that I swear are still there to this day.

One concern I had when booking this vacation was that I was, perhaps, trying to fit too much travel into a ten night trip, and that seems to have been borne out. I never quite seemed to hit the right pace for optimum enjoyment on this one:
• Flying from Seattle to CDG, then traveling several more hours to get to Beauvais that same night (to be in place for an early morning flight to Milan) was a difficult way to start. Add to that the unexpected hassle of getting from the "airport" hotel to the airport proper the morning of the flight, and it all added up to a tense beginning.
• The Ryan Air trip from Beauvais to Milan was the most efficient of all, leaving at 8:30 AM and getting me into the Hub Hotel by 1:00 PM, well in advance of the 2:00 PM start for the Monaco Grand Prix.
• Five nights in Milan actually was a bit too long for what the city had to offer. I saw the highlights, Duomo and "The Last Supper, within my first 48 hours of arrival. I did not find the Hop-on/Hop-off bus until my last afternoon (that was dense of me as I usually do that at the start), and the HOHO bus led me to the part of Milan I enjoyed the best, namely the downtown area around Lima station. It was crowded and lively, even though many shops were closed the day I was there (Liberation Day, 2 June).
• An early morning flight from Milan to Munich was not only inconvenient, but it literally took the whole day, with more than a six hour layover in Vienna. I woke at 4:00 AM, and did not arrive in my Erding hotel till after 5:00 PM. In short, a totally wasted day.
• Two days in Erding (Munich) to see Therme Erding was about right, as truth be told I was kind of bored with it (naked young German women included) by the end of the second day.
• The trip from Munich to CDG was also a completely lost day. Granted, this flight did not leave until 3:00 in the afternoon so I did not have to wake up early, but due to unforeseen delays by the German Air Berlin, my already tight connection time of 70 minutes got squeezed even tighter, and I did not arrive at my hotel until 7:30 PM…I had but a tad over four hours to squeeze in my last day of Paris Springtime (which, if you remember, was the original theme of this entire trip!).
• In short, about two and a half of my ten days were spent traveling inside of Europe, and that does not include the time at the beginning and end for the Seattle/CDG flight.

The really inconvenient and extraordinarily long travel times between cities struck me as odd for Europe, where my previous experiences have always been the more anticipated model of efficiency. Though these cities were all only a few hundred miles away, flights with layovers took the better part of a day, and trains, believe it or not, were even less convenient given the locations. Perhaps I just selected a bad combination of cities to visit, but I was amazed given the size of all of these hubs how hard it was to get between them.

In general, my hotel selection was disappointing. Though I received good prices, all (except the last night in Paris) were "in the sticks" and away from the action; none of them had the "walk out the door and be there" experience I seem to enjoy so much more. I expected so much in Erding given that my goal there was to visit the Therme resort, but I was a bit disappointed in Milan and in Beauvais (Paris). I guess in some regards this did not feel much like a trip to Europe as I was never really engrossed in the environment as I have been on my previous trips. Aside from a few hours on my last afternoon in Milan and the short evening in the Millennium Hotel near CDG, I just never found that high energy excitement that makes international travel to major cities such an addiction for me.

One benefit of all the hotels is that they provided free Wi-Fi, something we need to start demanding in the US. In America, it is even backwards, with some of the cheaper hotels providing free Wi-Fi but the more expensive, business class hotels charging for access, presumably because most of their travelers are on expense. Also, most European hotels still either provide little shoe shine kits in the room, or the big machine. Kind of a nice, quaint touch. Of the two, I'd lobby the US for the free WiFi first.

The Armani travelled well, scarcely showing a sign of wrinkle. No snags, cuts or damage as best I can tell.

I really, really need to relearn my German and possibly my Russian. As bad as I felt for not being able to say much in French or Italian (save for "Sei molto bella!"), it would not have been that bad if I at least felt conversant in the other two tongues I have actually studied. I think one of the key things I need to remember for my next trip is to prepare for it well in advance by coming up to speed in German; in fact, I need to follow-through on my earlier goal of making this relearning an ongoing effort. To tell the truth, I can read German pretty well, and I can speak it well enough that the Germans think I am Dutch, not American (which is a bit of a relief), but I still regret knowing quite a bit about those languages yet feeling so much like an illiterate. My Russian is perhaps a bit rustier since my Cyrillic is rusty, but that, too, would come back if I were to devote the effort to it on an ongoing basis.

The most positive note of the trip: I will always remember the French cabbie on that first day who went out of his way to help me on my way to Beauvais, declining even a symbolic two Euro token thank you. Stereotypes die hard, but at least in my mind this one gentlemen's act will always and forever go a long ways to causing me to dispute the "French are rude" axiom, in both myself and others. I am kicking myself for not getting the phone number or name of his company so I could send a thank you note.

The Trip Home

2011-06-15T11:59:00.001-07:00

In order to say a vacation was better than most, that implies that some others have to be "nicht sehr gut." While I am never going to regret a vacation, and I don't want to call this one the vacation from hell, truth is this trip just kept running into unpleasantries up until the last moment.

The fight home, of course, was on Iceland Air and reversed the route over, meaning I flew from CDG to Keflavik, then on to Seattle. The flight was scheduled to leave CDG at 2:15, arriving in the late afternoon in Seattle after a short layover in Keflavik. I figured that in order to avoid feeling rushed, I would get to CDG early, and took the Black (shuttle) bus at 9:45 AM. I think I got on a bus that had literally just picked up an entire Japanese tour group,since they all had on similar name tags, but it was the most crowded, uncomfortable sardine fit I can remember in the last ten years. In any case, I got to the Terminal 1 and was about to head upstairs to check-in, when security stopped us and would not let us proceed: Some idiot had left a violin case at one of the gates, and for the next 30 minutes we were all stopped at the foot of the elevator till they cleared the situation. As you can probably guess, after blocking off entry to one of CDG's main terminals for half an hour, the result when things were reopened was explosive, with people literally clawing their way to get up the (non-functioning) escalator. In any case, I made it up, found the hall, but alas--there was no Iceland Air check-in counter to be seen. I'm not saying the counter was there but unstaffed, instead I mean there was no sign of the existence of an Iceland Air counter. I double checked the departure board, and it indicated the flight was departing on time, and that i was in the right hall, but Iceland Air wasn't there! I finally found a real person at an information desk, and she confirmed the hall was correct, but that Iceland Air would not be there until about two hours before the flight.

Anyway, once I got on the flight, both legs were uneventful. We arrived in and left Keflavik within a few minutes of schedule. I arrived at SeaTac, so did my bags, and I cleared Customs without incident.

Now this is normally where you say the trip ends and you move on to the wrap-up. Not so with this…this maybe really was the trip from hell.

Upon exiting Customs, I pulled out my wallet to find my claim check for the offsite parking. I know it had been there as recently as that morning, but somewhere between CDG and SEA that little claim ticket fell out. OK, now you can't really image that would be a big deal, I mean people do lose claim tickets, so I'll just call up the lot and work it out. But wait, what _was_ the name of that cheap parking place? It something park, or park something, but damn if I could remember! And without the claim check, I wasn't even sure how to find them. Fortunately, I still had the directions on my computer, along with the name, so I went to the pick up area, found their name, and dialed 71. An automated system answered, and asked me to put in my claim check number, which of course I did not have. They provided no option to get to a real person. I hung up, and figured I would call them on their real number using my cell phone; battery was dead. Maybe I could find an antiquated payphone, but wait, I had dropped all my US coins into one of the charity bins on the start of my trip. Now I was starting to panic a bit, as in addition to having my car, they had my keys to my condo, so even if I were to take another means home, I could not get in. I went back to the phone, redialed 71, and when asked for my five digit claim number, I started putting in random numbers! Guess what--after a relatively few tries, it (the automated voice) said thanks, we'll be right there. When I got to the counter, I showed my ID and was done.

Last Night

2011-06-15T11:58:00.002-07:00

My last night, in an airport hotel near the CDG airport.

The end of a vacation is always a downer for me. I can't call it bittersweet, as quite the contrary it is simply a downer, regardless of whether the trip was awesome or less than perfect (as in this case). I truly love travel, virtually any place in the world, and to have to put that dream on hold for a bit till my next trip is unpleasant.

In any case, the Millennium Hotel does, indeed, offer free airport shuttle service rather than shuttle service at the cost of taxi service. Since I could not find the shuttle at the airport going to the hotel, I at least figured I could use it the next morning returning to the airport. In this sense, unlike the German notion of a hotel shuttle that costs as much as a taxi, it is at least the thought that counts.

The Hotel Millennium was but a short, 10 minute ride from CDG (less had the driver actually had a clue), but it actually turned out to be a pleasant surprise. A bit older, with a slight musty smell which you were able to ignore after a few minutes, this is a large hotel, with a formal restaurant and an Irish pub bar. I decided to have one truly nice dinner out, so I had a small split of white wine with a very interesting meat platter appetizer, and a chicken breast with mushroom sauce and green beens. Surprisingly, all of it was very good, though I am not sure what the meat appetite platter really was (three meats, one proscetta, one some unknown spiral half dollar sized meat, and a huge pate block). Regardless of what it actually was, the dinner was very tasty, moderately priced at 40 Euros (a relative bargain given what I perceived the place to be worth). I do, however, need to get my friend to instruct me on how to properly savor a meat platter; being alone in a nearly empty restaurant, I could take certain shortcuts, though I am not sure they would meet with Emily Post approval. Make a note to myself to take her to a nice French restaurant so she can instruct me.

So, as the last night draws to a close, I finished dinner and then had a vodka tonic in the Irish pub on Monday evening, while watching a soccer game between France and the Ukraine. After that, I retired to my room, ordering a bottle of Muscadet while continuing to watch the game. In hindsight, I probably should have gone with my original idea of simply spending the whole 10 nights in Paris, as there is some noise, attitude and liveliness here, something I really have not felt on this trip, save for those last few hours in Milan. Tonight, though, I shall (will) get to bed no later than midnight so I can awaken at 9:00, leave the hotel at 10:00 and catch a 2:15 flight to Keflavik, then on to Seattle.

Munich to Paris

2011-06-15T11:58:00.001-07:00

Munich to Paris

When I originally booked it, the flight from Munich to Paris was a bit of a concern for me, both from the time involved (taking essentially the whole day to go such a short distance), plus the fact I had booked a ticket on eDreams (a Spanish travel agency I knew nothing about), not to mention that it was an Air Berlin/Air France transfer ticket with just an hour and 10 minutes layover in Dusseldorf. Still, as I have said before, this was actually a better option for me than taking a train (I still can't understand that…), so I decided to give it a try.

It's ironic that a distance this short should take the whole day, but since it was a 3:00 PM flight, I felt I decided to leave the hotel at noon, meaning there was not enough time to do anything that morning other than sleep in a bit. On the arrival side, it was scheduled for 6:40 PM, which I predicted would mean that I would be in the hotel about 8:00 PM. Train alternatives, as mentioned earlier, were surprisingly no better, and at least this option would get me directly from one airport to the other, without the Beauvais risk at the start of the trip. Oh well, another day shot to travel. Then again, though the layover was tight, this should not be too much of a problem as I was flying on a German airline leaving from a German airport into Dusseldorf, to connect with a French airline; by all conventional wisdom, my German flight would be on time, if not early, while the French would be late.

Well, as this trip seems to have shown me, what should make sense does not. I arrived at the Munich airport over two and a half hours early, only to have the flight leave 35 minutes late, with no explanation. Though we made up some time in the air, my 70 minute layover (tight to begin with) was well less than an hour when I landed. And, to add to that, since I had to transfer airlines, I had to leave the secure area to checkin at the front counter, then go through screening again. I figured if I made it on time, my checked bag certainly would not. Fortunately, I arrived at the gate as boarding was in progress, the plane left early, and we all (check in bag included) made it to CDG right on time. French airlines 1, Gemans 0.

One quirky side note: Like most men's rooms in Europe, the Munich airport had a vending machine for condoms. Not much of a surprise, except that in addition to the anticipated European version of Trojans, this sported a completely different option: Die Künstliche Vagina (Travelling Vagina, http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Künstliche_Vagina) in the condom machine. I wish I had had the four Euros in coins in my pocket to buy one of those, purely as a novelty item! (No, plastic substitutes for the real thing never interested me even a little bit, whether we are talking blow up lovie dolls or giant dildos!)

In any case, delays and provocative plastics offerings notwithstanding, I did indeed make it into CDG as scheduled, and in fact my bag actually rolled out as one of the first three on the carousel. (Granted, that probably meant it was one of the last ones thrown on the plane in Dusseldorf, but I'll take that as perfectly fine under the circumstances.) Upon leaving baggage claim, there was a sign clearly marking which exit to use for the hotel shuttles (2D, exit 9). Unfortunately, the buses were not provided this information, so after being unable to see any hotel buses at all, I hailed a cab, thinking it could not be that difficult or expensive, and I did not want to waste my last few hours in Paris looking for a presumably free ride to a nearby hotel.

I hailed a cab, and though just as in Beauvais I gave the cabbie the exact address and the phone number and the GPS coordinates, he was clueless as to the location. (This guy, however, did not even try punching the numbers in the GPS!) After asking two other cabbies and asking me in broken English to look for the hotel sign, he (actually I) did manage to find the location, and I managed to check in at 7:30 PM, half an hour earlier than I had projected I would.

Erding and Therme Erding

2011-06-15T11:57:00.002-07:00

Erding and Therme Erding

Quick summary on Therme Erding: One of the main things I wanted to visit Therme Erding was to see if it was as I remembered it from nearly three years ago. Surprisingly it was as I recalled, and even more surprisingly at this point I have gotten so used to Germans and their attitude towards nudity that I was a bit underwhelmed with it; I can't believe I am saying this, but after just a short period of "refamiliarization," I became bored with the naked young German women. Yes, after a short time, I had seen so many beautiful young naked German women that I no longer seemed to notice, and if I did want titillation, then I went to the swimsuit required part of the park, where leaving that little bit to the imagination was actually more erotic than knowing it all. I'm not at all adverse to nudity, but quite the contrary I think the Europeans really do understand that it is something adults can handle. More of an elaboration below.

The hotel was nothing special either way. I had a true single room (i.e., single bed, one towel, one packet of coffee), albeit large enough they could have made it a double. The sloped ceiling was odd, in that over half the floor space was unusable as I would run my head into the roof! The sauna downstairs was boring to the point I did not even use it, and the bar was marginal; a young dark-haired bartender named "Kim" worked it, and on the third and final night, when it was slow and quiet, she actually befriended me a bit, plus by this time I felt a bit more comfortable using (and stumbling with) my German. One complaint is that though the hotel dubs itself as an "airport" hotel, and the entire place is in an airport theme, their Best Western logoed airport shuttle costs 28 Euros, as opposed to the 32 Euros I paid for a private Mercedes taxi. I would expect a self-proclaimed airport hotel to offer very cheap, if not free, service to the airport. Then again, the Germans do seem to know how to milk an extra Euro out of everything: Therme Erding charged me 1.10 Euros (about $1.50) for ice on top of the cost of my bottled water. (Arghh, ice still seems to be a commodity Europe just cannot understand.)

As is usual, my German was very poor the first day, then started getting progressively better as I felt more comfortable and my ear came back. Unfortunately, I was here for less than 72 hours, so just as I felt a bit of confidence, it was time to leave.

In a little more detail, Theme Erding is a spa, unlike anything in the United States. This is a huge "amusement park" like setting, about 45 minutes outside of Munich proper (which is why I opted to stay in the small town just a 10 minute walk away). The spa consists of three more or less distinct parts:
▪ Water-slide area for youngsters
▪ Mixed use sauna, spa and pools for all ages
▪ The sauna are, for adults (which in Germany means 16 and older) since it is "Textilfrei."

I've not actually seen the water-slide area since it is for families with small children. It looks very much like something you would find in the US, with plastic type slides for the youngsters and their families.

The mixed use area has a little bit of everything, and is open for people of all ages. Swimsuits are required (no nudity allowed), and you can take your choice of dry saunas, wet saunas, mineral/calcium/salt pools, and plain water pools. This in itself is not like anything I have ever found in the US, and just this area alone would make for a full day.

The real draw for me, however, is the more regal sauna area, open to 16 years old and up since it is nudity required (textile-free). Note that this is not the same as clothing optional, but instead this means you must disrobe and enjoy the facilities in the buff. OK, technically when you are walking about you are supposed to wear a robe or a towel, but this is generally not enforced except for in the restaurants. When in the saunas or the pools, however, you are required to be naked, with the stipulation that in the saunas you need to sit on a towel for hygienic reasons. The best way I can describe this is regal: There is an elegance and classiness about it that is palatial, elegant, luxurious. The nudity, rather than weedy, really does at some point reduce the sexual tension. It's difficult to describe for Americans, but after the initial few moments, walking around and seeing others, of both genders, in the buff is far less titillating than wearing a swimsuit. In a swimsuit, even the most revealing string bikinis that I find so nice on a curvy MILF, there is still a mystique, an unknown, about exactly what is underneath. Granted, you have a pretty good idea of what is there, but the exact details are still a bit of a mystery, so close but out of reach. Take the suit off, however, and all doubt is gone.

For the most part you walk into one of the two dozen or so differently themed saunas and sit at your leisure, with temperatures from about 50 Celsius up to 80 Celsius, possibly hotter. In a few of them, however, they occasionally offer "Aufgass" which is a short (10 minute or so) period when a guide comes in, cranks up the heat, and dumps water on the stones to increase the humidity. Most of these also feature some quirk, such as the guide providing you with various lotions or solutions to smear on your body: Salt, ice, honey, yogurt with strawberries, even chocolate mousse. In one case, they actually bake bread in the oven while you sit in the room, and afterwards you are offered the carbs for your patience. In the 70 Celsius range and hotter, this can be either enjoyable or unbearable, depending on your physical condition and other things. For the most part, I was able to sit through even the hottest Aufgass, save for one time on the last day when I had to bail.

Milan to Munich

2011-06-15T11:57:00.001-07:00

Milan to Munich

Unfortunately, the city transfers are very difficult for me during this trip, and the Milan to Munich one was doomed to be a pain from the start, yet got even worse in actual practice.

I knew when I booked this flight that something felt bad about it, given that it was from Malapensa (outside of Milan) at 8:30 AM, and not arriving in Munich until well after 4:00 PM, thanks in large part to a six hour layover in Vienna. That was bed enough, but having "enjoyed" the night before in the heart of Milan, my somewhat hungover body was not really ready for this transfer. I woke up (not really sure if I ever really went to sleep!) at 4:00 and arranged for a ride in the hotel shuttle to Bovisa, a local station, where they had the Malapensa Express. This is partly my fault, but I had assumed this was a bus, since a bus service by the same name left Milano Centrale; as it turns out, however, after spending nearly two hours in the rain under a bus stop where the driver had let me out, I finally managed to get my question across to another patron, who pointed out to me that the Express was actually a train. Though I had gotten up four and a half hours before the flight, my time was now getting tight. I had an unused metro/rail ticket in my pocket for just such an emergency, so I ran to the train and got on board. When the conductor came through, he asked for my ticket, which as it turns out was not valid on this particular train. So, even though in this case I had consciously bought an extra ticket the day before, it turns out I had to buy one, and pay a 5 Euro penalty, on the train. In any case, it got me to the airport in enough time that I was able to scarf down a quick breakfast (and beer) before it took off for Vienna.

The landing, unfortunately, was on time in Vienna, meaning I had nearly six hours to kill in the local airport. Since I was already a bit "worn out" from my previous night, I knew I could not spend the entire time in a bar, even with food, so I instead tried to look around for shops to occupy my time. Unfortunately, I managed to find Wolford, which is the European equivalent of a Victoria's secret. Since there is actually a young lady in my life at the moment, I managed too spend too much time, and too many Euros, buying items for her. (The sales lady did not help one little bit, only adding to the suggestions when I needed very little encouragement!) In any case, I'll forego the details, other than to say that after too many hours, too many stocking/garter purchases, and too many drinks, I managed to survive long enough to make the flight from Vienna to Munich.

Upon arriving in Munich, things went well. Although I could not find the Best Western airport shuttle, I decided to take a taxi from the airport to my hotel in Erding, a small town outside of Munich. As it turns out, this was not much of a loss, as I would find out on my departure that a taxi ride was barely any more expensive than the airport shuttle.

I arrived at the hotel about 5:30 PM, and though I was able to walk around the corner and see Therme Erding in the distance, I was too tired to try to make a quick trip. Instead, I had a couple of drinks and made it an early bedtime so I could get up the next morning and hit the world's greatest spa at opening time.

Milan

2011-06-15T11:56:00.002-07:00

Milan Itself.

I spent a total of five nights in Milan…in hindsight, that was more than I should have.

Sunday: Monte Carlo Grand Prix, then got ripped.

Monday morning, Duomo bright and early and still boozed from the night before. Took a 30 Euro cab ride in so I could catch it as the sun came up. Awesome sight, but I started crashing when I could only find carbs, no protein, for breakfast. Went back to the hotel, found the awesome spa area upstairs and kind of enjoyed that. Went to bed at a reasonable time, had a couple of drinks, woke up feeling fine next morning.

Tuesday: Last Supper at 11:15. Tried to buy a Coke at the Supermarket, evidently used the wrong line. Helpful two women and nun. Walked around the ritzy areas, saw the department store, saw Duomo again (this time actually understood it). Got boozed up again that evening.

Wednesday morning: Hung over, spent first half of the day in the spa (really hot Italian rubenesque girl in black bikini), went in to town for a short tour that afternoon. Drinks in first bar was fun, rip off at pasta place.

Thursday morning: Leonardo Natural Science Museum. Later that afternoon, found Castle and ultimately the Hop On Hop Off tour. Got plowed on Lima exit, nice guy who owned bar and wanted to talk, got to use my "Sei molt bella" on his wife as a perfect exit. Got plowed enjoyed lots of appetizers, bought lingerie for my friend, stayed up too late in light of my Friday morning early departure for Munich. Gave Sara 50 Euro tip (found out what I had been leaving on credit card was not given to her.) Got ripped.

Frdiay morning: Got up at 4:00 AM, with very little sleep, but ready for my trip to Munich.

Hookers (three total, lots of used condoms). Weird area: Lots of building going on in anticipation of the Trade Fair Center, but at this time rough. Not unsafe, but not pleasant, certainly not a place you enjoy walking. Good 20 minute walk, once you know the route.

Hub Hotel and Milan

2011-06-15T11:56:00.001-07:00

If my fears and trepidations about the first leg of the trip were founded, any concerns about the second leg were not borne out in fact. Once I actually made it to the Beauvais airport, everything else started falling in place. I had some concerns about the flight itself on Ryan Air, a discount airline in Europe, but actually it went very smoothly, from check-in through boarding through disembarkation. (BTW, even though it is a bargain airline and the goal is to save a little money, I highly recommend paying the few extra Euros for the premium boarding. Much like Southwest's cattle call, you can pay a tad more upfront and be one of the first on the plane, or save and fight with the crowd. In this sense, at least, I am not a fighter.)

I was not 100% sure how i would get from the Bergamo airport to my hotel, but as it turns out they actually sold tickets on the flight itself for the bus ride from the airport to Milan Centrale. From there, it was an easy (one stop) metro ride to the urban train, and from there an easy ride to the station nearest my hotel. Being a Sunday, there did not appear to be any taxis standing by, so I bought an espresso in one of the bars, then had them call the hotel for me, and they quickly sent their van to pick me up. The irony is that this was one of the easiest transfers I have ever made, and it was one with the least thought. I felt I could relax and that my vacation had truly begun.

That brings me to a side thought, namely the types of trips you can plan. At least when I go to Europe, I see three options:
1) An escorted tour (e.g., last Christmas)
2) A self-tour, highly planned (e.g., this one)
3) A self-tour, unplanned (e.g., the one I took nearly three years ago to Germany)

More on this later, though for now let's say that the self-tour highly planned was starting to sound like the least desirable of the three.

The Hub Hotel itself is incredible. Normally, when writing a review, you put down the good things then the "could be better" parts. In this case, I'll do it backwards, listing the one drawback: It's on the outskirts of town. OK, that is not great, but they make up for. The night prior, I stayed at a hotel in Beauvais which I liberally labelled "the boondocks," and the difference is that while The Hub is out of town as well (in what is an industrial area), their liberal use of vans (such as picking me up at the train station) makes this a relatively minor issue. Yes, I didn't have the freedom of walking out the door at any time of day and being in the heart of it, but given the price and the quality of the hotel, I thought (at least for the moment) that I would take that as a compromise. The place is new, modern, open and airy. There is a great fitness area, with a pool, spa, wet and dry sauna. Free WiFi (only drawback: Limited to one IP address). The drinks in the bar were very stiff, with my vodka tonic being over 50% alcohol. (Good thing I saw him poor it so I knew to take it slowly--it's hard to tell with VTs by the taste which way they went.)

My timing, though not intentional, could not have been much better, with the Monaco Grand Prix running the very afternoon I arrived. I've always heard Italians love Formula 1, and I asked the bartender; he very candidly and quickly answered yes, then went on to express the regret that the last couple of years Ferrari had been doing poorly. Nothing artificial, he spoke of it as simply as an American would of baseball.

Also, as I have noted before in Italy, in the hotels at a minimum English seems to be a standard skill. The receptionist at check-in (Amanda) had incredible skills, the bartender (Pietro) was almost as strong. After not being able to exchange virtually a word with anybody in France outside of Paris, this felt like being home! Candidly, comparing Paris to Milan is link comparing Venus to Mars: In Paris, I have never felt at home or relaxed. Whether it be the language, the rudeness, the attitude, or just the vibe of the city, Paris always seems like a rude, impersonal woman: Beautiful, yes; intelligent, yes; yet the lack of warmth, the lack of approachability, make her (the city or the woman) very ugly on balance. Milan, on the other hand (in fact all of Italy I have ever seen) is much the opposite: Maybe not as strikingly beautiful, maybe even not quite as cerebral, but a charm and warmth that make it feel like home, wherever and whenever you are there.

Anyway, back to the Grand Prix. (And, in the sense of full disclosure, I have had two of those vodka tonics I referenced above, so with the time change, tiredness, lack of food, and all else combined, I am feeling rather toasted as I write this!). Anyway, watching this run on the streets of Monaco, a place I visited only a year and a half ago, is a trip in itself. I actually remember the streets, and of course the harbor, and to see it transformed in this way is mind-boggling. There is some ineffable incongruity between the elegance of Monte Carlo and the gritty, oily image of Formula One cars tearing down the boulevards. And, I should point out, that advertising really DOES work, in that I am now switching midstream from vodka tonics to Red Bull and vodka. (Nothing worse than a middle-aged guy buzzed but awake! Oh well!). Anyway, the bartender, the consummate Ferrari fan, is really into this, which means that if I feign to watch it I actually have to remember who is ahead at all times…geeze, what a chore: Unlike football or even baseball when you kind of know something has happened, lead changes are more subtle and unannounced in Formula 1. In any case, it's a real fight between Vettel, Button and Alonso--not that that normally makes sense, but given that Alonso is the Ferrari guy (and I AM in Italy), he is naturally the "favorite" in my mind, as well as the guy who keeps feeding me these rather strong drinks. BTW, though I will read this after I sober up and before I publish, I promise not to change it so that you get the raw feelings (i.e., the words of a true boozed up bug!).

On a non-Form 1 note, OMG!! Bright sunlight! This is not the Seattle BS about it being a nice day just 'cause the clouds are gone and you can see the glowing mass of helium, but instead this is a beautiful, SoCal envious day. I want to finish the race (lap 60 of 78), then I am debating whether to go outside, or hit the whirlpool/hot sauna/dry sauna. And, in any case, I am following my own advice in that I have purchased another bottle of "Wodka" and will have a glass with me whichever way I go. OK, so this was from Duty-Free rather than a supermarket, but the principle is the same, sort of!!

BTW, Sara and Pietro your English is very good.

CDG to Beauvais

2011-06-15T11:49:00.000-07:00

From CDG to Paris Beauvais

As stated earlier, the flight landed in CDG just a couple of minutes before 1:00 PM local time. So far, the trip had been very predictable and uneventful; that was about to change.

My plan was to spend the night in a small town just outside of Paris, a place called Beauvais, in order to catch an early flight out of the Beauvais airport on Ryan Air to Milan. All that was required for me that first afternoon was to make it from Charles de Gaulle airport to the hotel i had booked online previously, one which was on the outskirts of the Beauvais airport. Since I was basically traveling from one major airport to another airport in the Paris area, I looked online for the best way to do it, and no less than two separate sources said to take the RER (metro train) in to Gare du Nord (one of the main Paris train stations), then from there take the regional express train to Beauvais, and then catch either a taxi or the shuttle to the town center. Easy. Right.

Finding the RER in the CDG airport was no problem, and I avoided the game that they had played with me at the ticket machine during my last trip (yes, it takes, credit cards, but only European ones with an embedded chip, not the US type with the magnetic strip; yes, it takes cash, but only coins, not paper Euros…). I boarded it only to sit…and sit…and sit. A number of us were on the train, motionless, for about half an hour when an announcement, which I definitely did not understand, caused the entire train to run off, up the stairs, and across the station to another train. Though generally not a lemming, in this case I followed the crowd, and a few moments later the train departed. I still have no idea what the delay or commotion was about, but in any case I was shortly in Gare du Nord. At this point, I was to find the TER (local express train), which was not terribly easy given the size of the station, but in a relatively short time I had found it upstairs, and boarded the train. Unfortunately, I had not been able to find the ticket machine for this part of the trip, but I was tired, and I felt it worth running the risk of being nabbed for fare dogging (besides I could always pull out my RER ticket and give them the dumb, confused American look).

After an hour, the train pulled to a stop at the end of the line, and I (along with a horde of 40 or so children) exited, only to be stopped at the exit machine when our tickets did not let us out. Fortunately, one of the adult leaders for the group of children convinced the overwhelmed ticket agent to let us pass, and I managed to blend in with the crowd as we exited. Don't get me wrong, I would gladly pay the fare for any trip like this, but meet me halfway and show me where the ticket machine is. In any case, I did find the taxi stand right outside the station.

Note that I said I found the taxi stand, not that I found a taxi. Unlike in the US, French taxi stands do not come equipped with taxis. After a protracted wait, it became apparent no cab would be pulling up, and contrary to the online travel guides there was no shuttle bus available to the airport either. I walked about the local area to try to find a cab…no such luck. I attempted to ask for an Internet cafe to call a cab, even paying him a couple of Euros, but I was not able to get my need across to the clerk. Eventually, I ventured back to the station in an effort to see if the ticket agent (yes, the one who had been overwhelmed and let us all escape just a short time earlier) could help me, but he spoke no English. I was beginning to feel I would have to board the train back to Paris and regroup, thinking that I would at least be on familiar turf with a few people around who could speak some English. Fortunately, right before I was about to give up and board the train back to Paris, a reserved taxi pulled up for a customer who had called in, and though the cabbie could not take me due to his prior passenger commitment, he did call a cab for me. (Actually, he spent a great deal of time with me, watched over me carefully to make sure the cab did needed show up, and then refused my offer of a few Euros for his help. While the stereotype of the French as rude is pervasive, and often justified, this cabbie proved just the opposite.)

I handed the driver who just pulled up my very detailed hotel directions, which included not only the name, address and phone number, but even the exact GPS coordinates of my destination. Unfortunately, French GPS systems don't seem to be able to comprehend precision, and after several minutes he tossed the unit back in his glove box, only to "wing it" in the general direction of Beauvais. After forty minutes, and 80 Euros, he did manage to find my hotel.

I'll point out that with only a limited number of Euros in my wallet and no idea what the ride would ultimately cost, I was very much afraid of running out of cash, with no ATM machines around save for the airport (which at this point was much more of a fantasy than an actual reality).

In any case, we reached the hotel, and I had enough Euros to cover the cost, with a few extras left in my wallet to cover the evening. By this time, I had been up for over 24 hours (I could hardly nap on the way over), so I was tired, thirsty, hungry, and achy. As I had ventured through the trip from CDG to Beauvais, I had been constantly promising myself, even fantasizing about, a nice dinner in the hotel and a few drinks in the bar, but it quickly became apparent that this hotel had neither. Rather than a business class hotel, this was a roadway inn, designed for families who pull up in minivans and want to eat at the McDonalds across. the street. In fact, the hotel and McDonalds were the only two establishments in the area, save for an American wanna be restaurant, "Buffalo Grill." While I was close enough to the airport that I could see planes landing and taking off, I was stuck out in "the boondocks," with nothing other than a road hotel, McD, and this restaurant. Additionally as mentioned previously, after paying 80 Euros for my cab ride I was running low on cash, but according to the front desk clerk there was no such thing as an ATM machine in this part of the woods; the nearest cash machine was at the airport. Not to worry, however, as it turned out the Buffalo Grill did take my credit card, and the trip to the airport, I was assured, was cheap and easy: The front desk informed me I could take a taxi, or the shuttle. Not their airport shuttle, mind you, but the public shuttle which was just around the corner.

I went to bed about 8:00 PM, exhausted, but thinking that the worst part of the trip was behind me. Truthfully, before the trip began I had had some premonition about this first part of the trip, a tad concerned that the two leg flight overseas, combined with getting from CDG to Beauvais and then from the train station to the hotel, might be a bit taxing. While my concern seemed to have been borne out, I also felt the worst that could go wrong was behind me: I could see the planes in the distance, and per the assurance from the front desk I had two means to get from my room to my flight. OK, so one other minor glitch was that this cheap hotel did not provide wake up calls, nor did it trust us with an alarm clock in the room, but in any case I had many electronic devices with alarms, and given the timezone change I woke up before my alarms at 5:00 AM. I felt I could relax a bit, as all I needed to do now was to get to the airport for my 8:30 flight to Milan.

Upon waking, I quickly showered, then left my room for the front desk, where I figured I could get them to call me a cab. Unfortunately, little did I realize that in the boondocks, even the front desk deserts town at night, and they would not be back until 7:00 AM. Since I had to be checked in to the flight by 8:00, I felt it was cutting things too tight to wait for them to call a cab, for it to show, then to make it through the checkin line, so instead I figured I would call for a cab myself. The number was on a placard by my phone, and I was able to decipher that to dial out I need to press "0" first. Yes, the outside line came through for me, but the number, apparently, was bogus because it did not call anybody for me. I considered going on Skype to place the call (yes, the free WiFi actually DID work out in the boondocks!), but instead I opted for the shuttle, concerned that even if I did get through to the taxi that I would not be able to communicate where I was or where I want to go. So, with that I opted for the shuttle. Or, at least, I attempted to opt for the shuttle.

After a short walk, I did find the stop, but it was on the wrong side of the road, and since it would arrive at 6:56, that too was going to be too tight for me should it turn out not to be heading in the direction I wanted to go. Again, just as the day before, I was growing frustrated at how difficult a seemingly simple task was turning out to be. At this time, I remembered a third option nobody had mentioned: My bipeds. Yes, since I had seen planes landing in the not-too-distant-far, I felt I could venture off on foot, and as it turned out that was my best of the three. It was a two kilometer walk but within 20 minutes I was there, and checked in.

On a balancing side note, I really shouldn't lament that few people spoke English at this part of France, just outside of Paris. I admittedly felt rather bad that I knew nothing of the French language; for some reason, though I have a natural ability with some tongues (German, Russian, Spanish, even Italian), French totally escapes me. I can read a bit of it, but I cannot aurally comprehend it, nor can I speak it. In any case, language difficulties and boondocks notwithstanding, I had managed to readh the Beauvais airport, and Ryan Air, for my morning trip to Milan.

Paris in Springtime

2011-06-15T11:48:00.000-07:00

Springtime in Paris. The phrase is famous, and back in October 2010 I decided to make the plunge and actually book a vacation to Europe during the Spring when the weather is perfect, rather than during the Christmas holidays when work is slow but the weather is gloomy. I figured that if I could not take off a week or so with better than half a year's notice, something was wrong, both with Microsoft and with myself. So, with that, prior to Halloween I booked a roundtrip from Seattle to Paris on Iceland Air. Over the next few months I planned many different variations of the trip, from spending the entire time in Paris to visiting Amsterdam, or Hamburg, or Poland, or Spain, or Greece, or any other number of European stops. Finally, I decided upon a Paris in Springtime trip that actually had little to do with France, but was a balance between places I had, and had not, been before:

• One night in Paris at the Inter Hotel City (actually just outside Paris, in a town called Beauvais)
• Five nights in Milan at the Hub Hotel, a city I have never before seen
• Three nights in Erding at the Best Western Airport Hotel near Munich, a city I have seen before and actually did not want to revisit, save for the incredible Therme Erding spa
• One final night in Paris proper at the Millennium Hotel, near the CDG airport.

The trip started off rather uneventfully, leaving work at noon for the Seattle airport. The only cause for concern was that I was flying Iceland Air, through Keflavik, and just the week before another volcano had started erupting. This eruption, fortunately, was not as disruptive as the one from the prior year, so it did not impact my flight. I left Seattle more or less on time, there was actually more room in economy than on some of my previous flights, and I arrived in CDG a few minutes ahead of schedule. So far, smooth sailing.

BTW, I'll point out that while I was in Europe in addition to the volcano eruption, the great German E. Coli scare also erupted (starting in Hamburg, first blamed on Spanish cucumbers, then on German bean sprouts, then retracted a second time and assigned to ???). In any case, I am glad I ultimately opted not to travel to Hamburg during this trip, and also that true to my carnivore roots I avoided all green vegetables, save for some cooked green beans on my very last night in Paris.

In any case, having arrived in Paris, my next my goal was to travel from CDG to the town of Beauvais for the evening, in preparation for an 8:30 AM flight to Milan the next morning. According to the Internet, an easy thing to do; reality would be different.

Back Home

2011-01-08T12:05:00.000-08:00

2 January 2011

I just returned home…technically it is after midnight and thus today really is 3 January, but let’s go with the second for continuity. For the first part of the trip home, all was uneventful, in fact even pleasant: The local airport hotel idea was wonderful, with the last day being a fantastic chance to unwind and enjoy a typical (“non-tourist”) point of view. The flights were uneventful, until Vancouver (i.e., Venice to Frankfurt was fine, Frankfurt to Vancouver was fine, save for being a few minutes late). Unfortunately, Travelocity did not allow enough time for the connection in Vancouver, which combined with the delay meant that I missed the flight from Vancouver to Seattle. That should not be a big deal as this happens every day, and I figured that a quick call to Travelocity would make everything right, as their ads proclaim. Instead, Travelocity gave me nothing but bullshit. Travelocity, in three separate calls, did not do one thing to help me with the rebooking, and in fact one of the three agents said they would charge me a minimum of $280 for a change fee, for a flight that THEY booked for me, and which I missed through no fault of my own. In any case, at the suggestion of—get this—one of the Air Canada reps, I took a bus from Vancouver to SeaTac, then Shuttle Express on home. Kudos to Shuttle Express for being there for last minute bookings, even as midnight approached.

Needless to say, I will never use Travelocity for any of my travels again. Their complete disregard for a customer of 10 years is unforgiveable.

Final trip thoughts: Well, I’m tired and will most likely have more thoughts in a day or so, but I do have to go back to what I said last year and push myself to remember that travel to Europe in December is risky, best case. Don’t get me wrong, this Mulligan turned out well, and I truly enjoyed the group I was with, so on balance I would give the trip very high marks, but I do have to recognize and remember that if I am going to travel in December (due to work needs), then I really should shoot for something in the southern regions: Middle East, Australia, South America.

At this time, I have a trip to Paris on the books for late May, and I will need to start planning that.

New Year's Day in Venice

2011-01-08T12:01:00.000-08:00

New Year's Day, 1 January 2011, Buon Anno

I did not quite see the new year in last night...we had our farewell dinner, which I did attend and had an awesome time, as well as giving the congratulatory toast for our guide. After that, we arrived back St. Mark's square around 9:00 PM....I walked around until about 11:30 PM, when I went up to my room and fell asleep. I did awaken at midnight thanks to the noise, so I was able to "hear" it in if not "see" it in.

Plastic bags are illegal in Italy as of today. At a minimum, those that are considered non-biodegradable are outlawed. I will be watching the situation, in the hope I can spot irregularities and thus claim the trip be a humanitarian tax-deduction.

I have to make my pilgrimage from Venice the island(s) to Venice the mainland in a few hours. Many of the tour group have already left, and that makes the hotel seem empty, for example, the Catholic family my room was "sandwiched" between appears to have gone, and it wouldn't be right to stay here any longer and see others in "their" room!

The weather has been cool, single digit celsius, but dry (no planks on St. Mark's Square), and nothing like the cold of five years ago. Still, this is the coldest part of the trip, as you would expect.

My New Year's resolutions revolve around drinking nothing for three months, eating less, and exercising at least a bit then evaluate if I do indeed feel better by the first part of April.

I have to look back and think on the children/young adults of the trip, and wonder, if not hope, that there is a sleeper effect….I am certain that for many of them, this was not especially fun--certainly not as awesome as, say, skiing or Disney World, yet I want to believe that in 3, 5, or 10 years they will look back on this and that the wanderlust will set in.

I took a 1.5 hour boat ride from Venice proper to the airport hotel, arriving at 2:00 PM. In many ways this is perfect: More of a "normal" Italian hotel, one that a family would stay in, not the large tourist type, but still had a couple of English TV channels, WiFi (10 Euros for 5 hours, a 5 Euro shuttle to the airport, a large sitting area, wine that can be purchased from the front desk, and--get this--an ice machine! This is the one and only place during this entire trip that I could get ice, yet I left my half empty bottle of vodka at the hotel in Venice proper. The hotel is in more or less a residential area, though there are a few eating places and even a supermarket (albeit most of the are closed today for the holiday. I did find one little bar/cafe open and am having lunch there. Yes, this is the best way to wind down the vacation far better than getting up at 4:00 AM with a hangover to get on the water taxi to catch the flight out.

I'm always vacillating on the merits of an escorted tour versus an autonomous one. This tour actually turned out well, in large part because it really was an awesome group, everybody well-behaved and respectful of each other---a far cry from the group of five years back. These tours certainly get better financial bargains than you can get on your own, they "know the ropes," and can get you in many of the venues before the normal opening time, thus avoiding the queues and crowds; the Sistine Chapel, for example, was with only about a hundred or so people. Still, there is something to be said for the self-guided autonomous tour, the freedom it brings, and the feeling of accomplishment when you do it all on your own. There is certainly no right or wrong here, and I will undoubtedly alternate between both types, with my trip to Paris this next May being on my own.

This is causing me to think about that upcoming trip and debate whether I want to spend the entire time in Paris, or possibly other places: Spain, Czech Republic, Milan? One of the few things about this trip that was not perfect was that I had seen all of these cities before five years back, though I certainly was not able to experience them due to the illness.

New Year's Eve in Venice

2011-01-08T11:59:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve, Friday 31 December 2010, Venice

Nothing is planned with the group today, save for the farewell dinner this evening, and I might even bail on that as true "good-byes" are not a favorite of mine. The Globus itinerary has, for the most part, been well planned, albeit a bit slow for my liking, and I do regret that we did not make a swing back south through Naples, Capri and Pompeii. I remember it well from last time (one of the few things I do remember clearly since my illness was essentially cleared by then), but it is unfortunate that so many of the others who have never been to Italy before will miss it. The family from New Jersey will be staying a week and making the swing.

So today the tour is over, and tomorrow night I have my post-night at the VCE airport hotel. The accommodations work out well for me in that tonight's hotel is right in back of the NYE festivities at St. Mark's Square, and if I am a bit hungover tomorrow morning, all I have to do all day long is to figure out how to get from Venice proper to the airport hotel, with an eye on my flight home Sunday morning. Surely, even if I am a bit "under the weather" tomorrow morning, I can figure out how to make the short migration over the course of the day! Tomorrow night will be a bit melodramatic, bringing the trip to a slow wind-down rather than a crescendo. Still, it is far preferable to the alternative of (attempting) to stay up until midnight, then needing to awaken at 4:00 AM to catch a water taxi to the airport for a 6:30 AM flight.

As always, New Years Eve is a time for reflection and introspection, and being in a foreign country, with a quiet agenda for the day, certainly drives that home. It's 8:30 AM local time, and I am not yet sure what I will do with the day. This evening, I would like to take advantage of being so close to St. Mark's Square and see the new year in, though I have been falling asleep fairly early all trip long, probably due to the cold. (I'm not sure if it is a hibernation instinct or not, but cold weather usually has a somnolent effect on me.) More than likely, I will read the second Bernard Haisch book a bit, then have a couple of drinks and take a nap mid-day, with the hope that will tide me over till midnight.

I find these trips a bit odd at this point in my life: I'm by no means the oldest, and in fact I am probably still below the median age, yet it is bittersweet to see the young people--high school and college age---realizing they could be my children, yet also feeling it was only a short time back that I was that age. The youngsters are friendly enough, though somewhat shy and awkward at that age, so conversing with them only comes in short soundbites. With that in mind, I do look back at that young American woman in the Rome bar with awe, her confidence apparent, yet also very approachable and receptive. She will be one of those unexpected gems I remember for the rest of my life, one which no tour itinerary can ever promise as a highlight.

I'm more convinced than ever that I would truly enjoy living in Europe (or at least having a job that requires extensive travel), yet I am not sure how to make that come to pass. Add to that the notion I have not one but two properties in Washington at this time, plus the fact this is not a great time to sell, and it makes the European connection seem even further off. I still remember having the special visa for the UK (the HSMP visa), and the decision I had to make: Living for at least a year in the UK, possibly even becoming a UK citizen, or moving to Seattle and keeping the dogs. In hindsight, I do not regret the decision to keep "the boys," though I definitely wonder what my life would be like at this time had I gone the UK route instead. Possibly, it would not be all that different, in that I might not have been able to find work and could well have wound up needing to return to the US at the end of the year. Of course, there is no way of knowing what would have transpired had I gone with the other choice, with the only certainty being that it was one of those handful of truly strategic decisions we make in our lives. Sure, job choices and the like do ultimately have an impact on the future, but few junctures are so sharp, so poignant, as deciding whether or not to migrate to a foreign land. Along that same line of briskness: Buying a business, (which I actually do regret, though had to do) joining the military (which I have never doubted) and getting married (which I have never doubted).

Venice

2011-01-08T11:55:00.000-08:00

Thursday 30 December 2010, Venice

The day started off with a glass blowing tour early this morning---these tours definitely like to take you into the high end shops for a "free" tour, yet I am certain there is some sort of an arrangement back to them for whatever a member does buy. As with the leather shop in Florence, this was definitely on the pricier end of the Venetian shops.

We also saw Doges Palace and Bridge of Sighs, from the inside looking out (not much of a view!)

Boat ride to and lunch in Burano; very colorful and brilliant town, I had never heard of before.

Spent a great deal of time on the boat ride back from Burano talking with an Army major and his girlfriend/fiancee. People really have been very friendly in this group, something which does not always happen.

Bought a (small) bottle of Absinthe and drank half of it...no real impact on me, but that is really nasty tasting stuff!

Florence to Venice

2011-01-08T11:50:00.000-08:00

Wednesday 29 December 2010, Florence to Venice

We stopped in Verona (as in Romeo and Juliet) on our way to Venice, and I was able to find "the" balcony, as well as a chance to rub Juliet's right boob, something of a tradition which is supposed to bring good luck (the bronze boob was literally a different color than the rest of the statue due to all the fondling!) Additionally, in Verona, I saw the Arena, their version of the Colosseum. This is our last day on the bus, so at the end of the ride I gave the driver a 20 Euro tip.

Venice:
Hotel: Residence Palazzo Selvadego
Hotel location is awesome, literally right in back of St. Mark's Square.
Cold, even had to pull out this skull cap, but not as bad as that time five years ago.
This is like the hotel "annex" and not as nice as the main one, but it is fine, and location could not be better. First time on this trip I have had a real "single" room, though it is not terribly small (albeit view is of a wall). My room is sandwiched in between the two rooms housing the Catholic family I had dinner with on the first night, three kids in one and the parents in another.
Also, right by the Hard Rock! Had the steak and mashed potatoes, incredible, hostess was cute and friendly, quizzed me on how much Italian I knew, and I did finally get to use "Sei davvero bellissima."
No WiFi available! Kindle works fine, albeit drops to GPRS.
Prices vary widely paid 4 Euros and change in a very nice place, with waiters in tuxedos, for coffee and whiskey, then 8.50 Euros in a tacky American Snack Bar.
Bought a bottle of vodka for the room (will store it on the window ledge since ice cannot be had). 14 Euros in one store, 28 in another.

Florence Day

2011-01-08T11:35:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 28 December 2010, Florence

We had a tour of the Florence Museum today, with a chance to see David, followed by a short walk around the old part of Florence. The tour was over by noon, and the rest of the day was on our own. We had to find our way from the end of the walking tour back to the hotel on our own, and this is one of those cases, again, where having the hotel along the riverside has been a real advantage. You can't get too lost if you just need to find the river then turn the appropriate direction till you get home.

Florence is known for leather goods, so I did pick up two jackets at a very good price of around a couple hundred Euros each. The leather goods store that the tour brought us into was very expensive, with jackets going for around 550 Euros, compared to about 200 Euros for the same product in most other places. There has to be some sort of a kickback scheme in place for the shops that provide "free" tours for groups such as this.

I also decided to try something I never did before, stopping in a real haberdashery, where I bought three dress shirts and two ties. The prices were a bit high (OK, very high, at 70 Euros apiece for the shirts!), but the experience, the way I was treated, was worth the money. The proprietor took a real pride in his business, spending a great deal of time with me, insisting I try on the shirts to make sure they fit well. This isn't simply a financial matter to people such as this, but truly a matter of pride. BTW, European-cut shirts are much trimmer than their US counterparts. In this style, I take an 18" neck, but the body is tapered perfectly for me with a great fit; in the US, an 18" neck would mean that you would be wearing a tent around your waist.

General thoughts on the tour and Italy in general:

• Tour pace is slow as I have mentioned before. I'm not complaining, but I think the next time I book one I will select something that is a bit more "go" oriented.
• Pizza: Single topping, thin crust pizza seems to be the norm. You can, occasionally, find a pizza with a couple of toppings, but you cannot find the "mega everything" type that you can in the US. The tour guide confirmed this, and she said that in Greece pizza was more like what we were used to in the US.
• Pay toilets seem to be the norm in most public places.
• Weather is not bad last two days: single digit Celsius, but sunny with no rain.
• Group in general is much better than the trip of five years ago.
• Shutters and laundry hanging on balconies
• 4% unemployment in Venice, 25% in Naples

Assisi to Florence

2011-01-08T10:56:00.001-08:00

Monday 27 December 2010, Assisi to Florence

We had a very short ride (just over a couple of hours) from Assisi to Florence, arriving at the Starhotel Michelangelo around 11:00 AM. The hotel is a much more modern version of theie Rome counterpart, with this one done in a book scheme (yes, coffee table type books all over the lobby and bar lounge). There's actually a coffee maker in the room, and again I have a double room (all three hotels so far have given me a double, not a single). Believe it or not, there is an ashtray in the room--how quaint!--though I cannot smell any cigarette smoke. The only downside appears to be the location, in that we are on the very outskirts of town, on the southwest side along the river. When I handed the bus driver a map and asked him where we were, it actually took him five minutes (no exaggeration!) plus the help of the GPS to locate us. I have no idea how he can drive this huge bus around without incident, yet he does not know where we are on the map; this might be one of those mysteries best left unanswered.

It's kind of a slow day, with the pace of this tour very much on the "plenty of free time" side rather than the "cram in as much as you can" type. The only thing we did as a group was a tour to San Gimignano castle, a real fortress, about 45 minutes outside of Florence proper. I had a late lunch in a real Italian restaurant--not a tourist type establishment, but rather a small place on a side alley where they did not speak English, and where they did not seem thrilled with a real "Americano" amongst their ranks. Maybe I'm a bit paranoid, but it is the one and only place thus far that I felt a palpable resentment. Most places are very welcome of tourists, worst case neutral, so the attitude here is a bit surprising. Oh well.

We arrived back from the castle in the late afternoon. Back in the hotel bar I had a few drinks, and I have noticed that a small tip leads to huge gratitude. I realize tipping in Europe is not a prevalent as in the US, so even with a 1-2 Euro tip, the waiters seem to treat you like a king.

Boxing Day 2010

2010-12-26T09:50:00.000-08:00

Rome to Assisi, 26 December 2010 (Boxing Day)

The rain is gone as we leave Rome. The Tiber has risen several feet; initially there was a walking and jogging trail visible along the waterway, now they are completely gone.

Assisi is beautiful and peaceful, though this is really some place you need to share with another; Rome, Florence, Venice have an energy about them such that you can enjoy them as a solo traveller, but Assisi is much more tranquil and subdued. The Basilica of St. Francis, in my opinion, is actually far more beautiful and spiritual than the Sistine Chapel, with a true peace befitting of the man's legend.

St. Francis of Assisi spoke of the vow, the desire, for poverty, both as an individual as well as for the church. What a concept, especially after just having come from the Vatican, where you can see the immense wealth of the church's museum, while outside just a few feet away crippled people beg for charity. I don't mean to single out the Catholic church since most other religions do the same thing, namely preach of helping others while ignoring those who are--literally--on their doorsteps. Similarly, I have to question the US missionaries who venture halfway around the world to help others, while there are people in their US home city who are hungry, cold and homeless. I realize no single religion can solve hunger and poverty, but I would be so astonished, so pleased, if religious orders simply started helping those in their own neighborhoods.

On an entirely different chord, the Amazon Kindle works very well in Italy, both in Rome and Assisi. Any place I have tried to get a signal I have received one, checking email is no problem, neither is getting my blogs delivered. This is quite an ice-breaker, as I cannot count how many people have stopped me on this trip to ask about the device. Though it does not have a color screen, the (free!) 3G feature makes it one of the most exciting electronic devices I have ever owned. Yes, I can carry around a library of literally a few thousand books, and yes, I can check the Internet and email, and yes I get my blogs delivered anyplace in Europe or North America.

Hotel Windsor Savoia in Assisi

WiFi: 10 Euro for 24 hours, or 1 hour for 3 Euros or 4 hours for 6 Euros. That is reasonable, you can go for short time if that is all you need.

The odd thing is I don't mind paying 10 Euros, as long as I know I have other choices in the matter.

Overall, Assisi is much cheaper than Rome: Coffee + whiskey + bottle of water = 3 Euros. I thought it was a mistake, but the woman assured me that was the price for all three; it would have been well over twice that much in Rome.

Tomorrow, we are off to Florence where we will spend two nights before moving on to Venice, our final destination. It goes without saying, these trips always pass too quickly. I'm finally unwinding from work, regaining my sense of sanity, purpose and direction. I do have a trip to Paris on the books for this May, with the airline tickets already purchased, though at this moment I am tempted to get off the plane and get on a train back to Italy!

Starhotel Michelangelo, Rome

2010-12-26T09:48:00.000-08:00

Globus selected Starhotel Michelangelo as our hotel in Rome. For the most part, it was a good choice, and I would opt to stay there again; here are the pluses and minus.

While certainly not luxurious, the rooms are clean, showing a little wear here and there but overall comfortable with nothing terribly objectionable.

The hotel is a bit hard-to-find, and to that end even the Resort Hopper shuttle service got lost. If you were to stay here, I'd recommend you print the driving directions (from the airport to the endpoint) and give them to the driver. Alternatively, you can try it own your own, using public transit, but just make sure that you realize the nearby train station is NOT the Metro but rather is the FM train. The Metro stops on the other side of the Vatican, which would be a very long walk with luggage, not to mention that the directions would be hard to follow. Having said that, once you know where the hotel is, this is very easy to access in that all you need to do is take transit or a taxi to the Vatican, and it is easy to get home from there.

There are a couple of mini markets nearby, so you can get snacks/drinks (or even alcohol) rather than paying the full hotel price. A 750 ml bottle of whisky is 15 Euros in the mini mart, while a shot of whiskey in the hotel is 12 Euros. The math works in your favor very quickly.

The (included) breakfast was very good, in fact a notch above most others, including meats, hot eggs and bacon. plus the normal continental items such as fruit and breads. I did not take lunch or dinner in the hotel. Room service has very limited hours (when the restaurant is open), so it really won't help any at all if you get the late night munchies (again, this is where stocking up with a few supplies from the local mini mart is a good idea).

Staff was hit and miss. Most were helpful enough and understood English well, but occasionally you would find one who didn't want to talk, such as when I asked for a Metro map and she dismissed me with a "No." She was the exception, though unfortunately those are often the ones we remember while forgetting those who were helpful.

TV channels were limited, and most of the time I could not find anything in English. If you really need your daily dose of CNN, this place most likely will not work for you.

Since there seems to have been some ambiguity online, I will say they do have in-room safes, large enough to hold even a reasonably sized laptop.

No ice machine, which unfortunately is typical of European hotels. You can try to get some from the bartender for your room, of course this is a problem in that the quantity is limited, as well as the available times.

I won't mention the excellent location in terms of the Vatican as that has been stated about 10,000 times by now, but I will point out how close the hotel is to Trastevere, a beautiful part of Rome most tourists never see. It is "quaint" without any true historical highlights, and for that reason tour buses do not venture there, yet it is a fantastic area to walk by foot, and it is easy to find from the hotel: Head towards the Vatican (you can't miss it as St. Peter's Dome is clearly visible), turn right at the Vatican, walk for about ten minutes (through the tunnel), then turn right at the Tiber River. Walk for 15 or so minutes along the Tiber, and you will be in the heart of Trastevere.

The biggest rip-off and disappointment with the place: WiFi is 22.00 Euros for 24 hours in the hotel. Signage all over the hotel claims WiFi is only 11.50 Euros per day, but my check-out bill clearly charged me 22; there must be a secret such as buying it from the front desk or for multiple days rather than ordering it on your computer. It is too bad a hotel such as this has to go for the ripoff, spoiling what would otherwise be a very pleasant memory of the establishment. Here is the best advice I can give you, and you can save a great deal of money with it: Buy a 10 Euro dinner (or even just a drink) at one of the local bars, and get the WiFi for free. There were at least four places in the immediate area that offer free WiFi for customers.

One great place for food, drink and free Internet is:

All Brothers Cafe

Via Delle Fornaci n8/10

Christmas Day 2010

2010-12-26T09:40:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day, 2010

Much to my surprise, the tour group had nothing planned for today, either as part of the package or as an option, save for a dinner later in the evening which I decided to pass on, so instead I spent the day solo. Rain was on and off, though not nearly as hard as the day before. It's a shame that yesterday's weather made it difficult to enjoy the walking tour of the old section of town, yet at least it was warm enough that the temperature was not an issue.

I was concerned that Rome would be "locked down" on Christmas, much as London which essentially goes entirely dark for the holidays, so to my pleasant surprise I found many places were open, including restaurants and bars of all styles and sizes, gift shops, the local food shop, and the Hard Rock Cafe.

I was debating between attending the Papal Blessing or taking another tour of the city since the hop-on/hop-off buses were running. I decided to take the bus tour, since I had already received the blessing from the Pope during the audience with him on the previous Wednesday. (Surely I don't need two Papal blessing a week, do I?) The Wednesday audience was much smaller and "more personal," compared to the attached picture from the media which shows St. Peter's Plaza to be packed.

Surprisingly, the Metro was closed and the tour bus did not stop anywhere near the Hard Rock, so for my "pilgrimage" there, I had to take a taxi both ways. Normally, I eschew taking taxis as I think public transit will serve the need for a far better price, not to mention it is more rewarding to figure out than simply taking a cab, but with the Metro shut down I did not have much of a choice. The classic cheeseburger was pure heaven for me, as I have not had a "regular" meal in several days now. Yes, this was definitely better than the "special" seafood dinner I had planned and tried a couple of days prior. In some regards, Hard Rock is always that oasis in a foreign city, a place an American can go and get known food, wait staff with flair, and a predictable decor.

I was very tired in the late afternoon, I guess the weather and dampness got to me, so I took a three hour nap until 8:30 PM then went back to see my waitress with an attitude friend. Surprisingly, many places were still open, so even in the late evening on Christmas Day it was quite possible to find whatever

My waitress with the attitude: Xhefka Fernanda (Turkish); she actually read the above and insisted on typing her name in for me…and she swears that is really the way it is spelled.

Christmas Eve, Group Day One

2010-12-26T09:27:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve 2010.

I found myself wide awake at 2:00 AM this morning, so I took a quick walk around the area, hoping to stroll through the Vatican during the peace and quiet, but, much to my surprise, the Vatican shuts down and--literally--locks its gates at night! Perhaps the "country" was open had I walked around to the other side (what a strange thing to say), but I didn't feel like venturing that far in the cold and drizzle.

One thing that struck me, symbolically, was a single white dove flying over St. Peter's Basilica all by himself; he would soar into the wind, then float back a bit, all the while hovering over the dome of the basilica. In some ways, it felt very much as if the dove was doing the bird equivalent of my human stroll. Unfortunately, he was a bit too far off to photograph with my camera, but it would have been an incredible picture or video if I could have recorded it.

The group met in the morning, and we went through the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, the Forum and the Colosseum before lunch. Seeing the basilica, in particular, was amazing on Christmas Eve morning, as they were busily putting the finishing touches on it for that night's ceremony; we were there but a scant twelve hours before the show went live.

In the afternoon, we went on a walk to the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona (Christmas Market) and the Spanish Steps; unfortunately, it was raining, heavily, the whole time we were walking, so it was hard to take it in and enjoy. I certainly don't want to complain about something as wonderful as walking about Rome, and in fact the prior week the cold had been so severe that the fountains froze over, so in hindsight this was preferable, yet it did seem too bad that the days immediately before, and the days immediately after, were either dry, or worst case carried with them very light rain.

The Christmas market at Piazza Navona was a bit disappointing compared to, say, the markets in Germany. The German markets are more quaint and pleasantly decorated, while the Italian markets were more commercial, selling cheaper toys and trinkets than the German goods. As much as I hate the German Gluewein, I will drink a glass of it as part of the festivities, but there is no corresponding thing in Italy.

Our group dinner was held this evening (Christmas Eve), and I sat with a wonderful Catholic family of five: A husband, a wife, a son just starting college and majoring in Business, another son just starting high school, and a strikingly beautiful and brilliant young woman who was a senior in college, majoring in Math and Theology (along that line I recommended Bernard Haisch's "The Purpose-Guided Universe" to her). I have to ask: Where were these young women when I was in my early 20's? Seriously, it is a different crowd than when I was that age, much more urbane, cerebral and spiritual than what I knew in college and early adulthood.

After dinner, I walked over to the Vatican with a senior woman to watch (on an outside TV screen) the mass from St. Peter's Basilica. It was cool and damp, but the rain had subsided to the point I could easily tolerate it without a jacket or an umbrella, and I stood there for an hour with no discomfort.

This tour is pleasant, though the pace is, perhaps, a bit slow for me, in that I enjoyed the previous tempo of the trip five years prior: The drives were a bit longer, not to mention that in the same number of days we included a trip back down to Pompei, Naples and Capri, something we will not be seeing on this trip. Still, it is far, far better this time without the food poisoning or whatever it was that knocked me down five years ago!

Tweener Day

2010-12-26T09:26:00.000-08:00

23 December 2010

Yesterday was devoted to the Vatican, namely the Papal audience and the Vatican Museums, so today (23 Dec 2010) I ventured out to the heart of Rome on the Hop On/Hop Off bus. As is typical, it is a great and easy way to get a quick overview of the city, even if the recorded narration leaves a great deal to be desired. It is odd, this was a two hour loop, yet for the entire trip I was the ONLY person on the bus…I'm not sure why, as other vehicles from other companies seemed to have people on board, but in any case I was able to get the top deck, front seat which is always highly coveted. The weather could not have been better, even to the point that I was perfectly comfortable in a simple long sleeve shirt, with no jacket.

In the evening, I met the group I would be touring with, and we received an overview of what to expect, starting with a tour of the Vatican the next morning.

For dinner, I went to one of the nearby restaurants and found what I can only label a waitress with a (fun) attitude…definitely not as spiritually and cerebrally exciting as the American woman last night, yet this one had "the attitude" that so many men (myself included) find intriguing---in limited doses Yes, it would get old very quickly if you had to deal with it regularly, yet for a fleeting encounter such as this, I always remember the waitress who just seems to know how to pull it off. And I saw her again a couple of days later, more in that day's entry.

Pope Day

2010-12-26T09:10:00.000-08:00

Wednesday 22 December 2010

Today I had the audience with the Pope! Now, lest you think I am joking, please understand this was an audience of a couple of thousand people ("Pilgrims"), not a 1.1 with His Holiness. Nonetheless, it was incredible, literally bringing tears to my eyes a couple of times.

For background, I emphasize what I have said earlier, namely that I am not Catholic. For that matter, I am not religious in the dogmatic sense, preferring what I consider a scientific approach to the subject of creation, which actually does lead me in a spiritual direction, but that is a different discussion for a different day. In any case, to continue with the audience, every Wednesday the Pope holds a general audience to which anybody may be invited, simply by asking in advance for a free admittance ticket. The attendance at this week's event was very low (about 3000 people by my estimate, or a tad over half of what the capacity appeared to be). The clergy in the audience were surprised at the low numbers, but that notwithstanding, it was an incredible event for many reasons:

I was 150 feet away from the Pope, closer than I ever imagined I would be.

The Audience Hall was a bright and cheery environment, not the dark, drab, cold chamber I had feared.

There are two types of Swiss guards, the colorful Michelangelo uniforms we all know so well, and the Secret Service types, complete with the ear tubes and speaking into their shirt sleeves! The second type was clearly visible before and during the ceremony, and I was told by a priest in the audience they carry guns.

Nigeria was there and rocking! When the English speaking bishop introduced his pilgrims, he introduced, among others a group of about 300 Nigerians who burst out in a unified song. It was odd in that I never considered Nigeria an English speaking nation, but to my surprise that is their official language, and the song carried by so many was incredibly moving, literally bringing me to tears.

As is usually done, the audience included a special place for Newlyweds, with most of them dressed in their wedding attire. One young couple, who actually were brought up to meet the Pope after the ceremony consisted of a woman in a street type dress and a man in jeans. I thought that incredibly tacky, until a woman next to me explained this was unexpected for them: One of the guards heard them mention that they were newlyweds (presumably lamenting they did not know about the possible special seating arrangement), and as such he invited them into the special section and to meet the Pope. I'm assuming this sort of directive came from Benedict himself, and if so I do consider that impressive: Some guy in jeans is unexpectedely meeting the Pope!

Afterwards, I quickly saw the Vatican Museums, with the Sistine Chapel as the highlight as a "warm-up" to the group visit which would be held the next day.

My special dinner sucked!! I had decided some months back that I wanted one very nice dinner in Rome, and for some reason I felt seafood would be appropriate, so I tried the outdoor area of one of the places near the Vatican. The prawns were way overdone, tough, and essentially inedible as in Paris a bit back. Additionally, rather than asking about the wine price, I let the waiter bring me a bottle of mediocre white, only to find out later it was 25 Euros. Oh well, if every dinner risk were to turn out perfectly, it would be boring.

Unlike five years ago, this trip there are no titties on Italian TV! My last trip, it seemed that late at night most stations turned to the equivalent of US paid programming, and it usually always consisted of one or more young women topless, accompanied by a toll free number of some sort. I must not have the equivalent of cable that I had last time!

Oddly, as for the language, I often find myself defaulting to German, asking, for example, for a "vodka und tonic. or saying "bitte" rather than "per favore." Part of it, I think, is my belief that another continental language is perhaps a bit more widely used and understood than is English, and part of it is simply a feeling that speaking English everyplace in the world is just wrong. Even if I don't know the Italian phrase, or if it does not come to me immediately, trying in German seems a bit more altruistic. Then again, it might be nothing more than jet lag and confusion...

At dinner time, I met an Asian couple and their daughter in one of the restaurants, and we chatted about our military histories (the husband too had been in the service, as had I many years ago). They had a young daughter, college aged, and the three of us encouraged her to try out her operatic voice (it actually did not require much pressuring---she seemed to be longing for an audience). She did extremely well, with her voice filling the entire restaurant, They left, I had a few more drinks, and the owner went so far as to go next door to get more ice for my vodka tonic. (Ice is still treated as scarce in Europe--go figure!) By that time, I was feeling very generous, so I gave the owner 100 Euros for my 20 Euro dinner and asked him to apply the balance to a young couple who were dining there; I'm sure it covered their bill and left him a tidy tip as well. When I went back a couple of days later, he remembered me and greeted me fondly!

After dinner, I went back to the "All Brothers" cafe, and had a few drinks. One should not get drunk in public in Italy as open intoxication is not welcome, and I was certainly pressing the limit, but it seemed OK in this particular environment, with the shopkeepers appreciative of my patronage (and tips!). After I was a bit too tipsy to remember everything clearly, an incredible college-aged American woman who was studying in Rome walked in the cafe; she knew the owners and the regulars very well, she befriended me, and she chatted with me for quite some time, discussing questions about the language, religion, and the Middle East with me. I was unbelievably impressed with her maturity yet also her warmth and intelligence. I told her as I left, and still believe at this moment, that she needs to be in charge of the UN in 30 years--if only we had that caliber of clear-headed, reasonable leaders. And, to be totally honest, if I were still in my 20's, I seriously doubt I would have left the cafe without proposing to her!

Tomorrow: I go for the hop on/hop off bus tour, then a walking tour (if I am up to it), then I meet the "group" at 6:00 PM.

When in Rome..

2010-12-26T09:07:00.000-08:00

Arrival, Tuesday afternoon, 21 December 2010.

Hello Rome, I am back for the Mulligan from 2005. This time, no food poisoning, or whatever it was you did to me five years ago!

There's a bit of time dilation going on with the blog; I meant to fill in the story as I flew over, but travel inconveniences got in the way so I miraculously went from "six days before" to "here I am." Actually, the trip from Seattle to Rome was fairly uneventful, simply the typical pains that go along with a three leg trip. (Damn, I miss living in the Bay Area where most of the world was a non-stop away!) The Air Canada flight on an Embraer (Brazilian) jet was the only real "highlight," with the passenger entertainment system indicating we had traveled over 24,000 miles in four hours. That, if true, would have made us better than twice as fast as the publicly claimed speed of the SR-71, but the flight attendant admitted it was a known software bug, and they were waiting for the patch. Thankfully the cockpit software seems to have been better tested and more accurate.

The only other point worth mentioning during the trip was my leg in Copenhagen, where snow had been extremely pervasive these last few days. When I arrived, three and a half hours before the connecting flight into Rome, I went to the transfer desk to get my boarding pass for the last leg, only to find out I was customer 171 while they were on number 76…understandable, except that they only had two (2) agents working the backlog; somehow, I (and others) thought SAS would have thrown more meat into the problem given all the publicity about the weather those prior days. In any case, I ignored that queue, went to the indicated gate for my flight into Rome, and was boarded in time for the flight without any drama. So, all in all, a rather monotonous, and lengthy, flight from SEA to YYZ (Toronto) to CPH (Copenhagen) to FCO (Rome).

Having said all that, I have just arrived in Rome, and I am in one of the local "bars" with free WiFi. I'm tired, and it is approaching 9:00 PM local time (which would mean I have been up for well over 24 hours in SEA time). I took a quick pass by the Vatican to pick up my ticket for tomorrow's audience with the Pope, and I also made a quick run through the Trastevere district to see what it had to offer. More thoughts on both of those tomorrow, when I have a chance to regrow a few of the missing braincells.

(Almost) On The Road Again

2010-12-14T17:26:00.000-08:00

It's 14 December 2010, and in less than six days I am off, again, to Italy. For those who have known me for a bit, this is a Mulligan, a do over, of the trip I took five years ago, the one I became very sick on during the first few days. This is essentially the same thing, namely Christmas in the Vatican, New Year's in Venice (rather than Naples in 2005/2006), with Assisi and Florence in between. Full details can be found on my itinerary page by clicking the title link above. More updates as I get closer, but for now I just wanted to set the upcoming stage!!

Future Travel Thoughts

2010-01-05T19:46:00.000-08:00

I've been home for 48 hours now, and am over the jet lag finally...It's odd in that I virtually never suffer from it, but for some reason with this trip it did hit me. Perhaps it has something to do with the cold, and not being able to walk around but rather spending more time indoors than I normally would on a vacation. In any case, after one more good night's rest I should be entirely back on the right clock.

I've already started daydreaming about my next trip, though I am not sure where to go. I do have a few ideas, as well as a few things I want to remember the next time I plan a vacation, so more or less as a reminder to myself I am going to paste them below. The list is pretty much self-explanatory:

Places you have not been but would like to see:

New York
Greece
Spain
Middle East, say Israel?
Egypt---especially Nile River cruise
Antarctica combined with someplace in South America
Ocean cruise

Places you have been and would like to see again:

London
Paris
Monaco
Italy

Things to look for in a Hotel:

Check easyHotel
Check Novotel
Free internet
Guest Laundry for longer trips

Remember:

Take seasonal weather into account: Freezing is no fun, even if you get the trip at a bargain in a place you like. Same with too hot. It's easy to say cold is "no problem" when booking a vacation in July, but look at the actual temperature you will be facing and decide objectively if you want to take the risk. Upon arriving in Berlin, for example, it was literally -9C (about 16F) and snowing...if you decide to travel next December, Egypt or Australia probably should go towards the top of the list. BTW, a really cool place to check archived weather is: http://www.eurometeo.com/english/. You can search by city and by day/hour!
I love cities which have ancient history, not large bedroom communities such as Munich or Berlin. Perhaps, as you get older, this is because you appreciate the importance of something which has permanence rather than fleeting in time. Whatever the reason, keep in mind that you want to see what mankind has brought forth in this world; sitting under a palm tree and sipping a beer would be fun for 15 minutes, but you would be going bonkers after that.
Maybe it is time to try an escorted tour again rather than going solo. Escorted tours are hit or miss, depending on the tour guide and your fellow travelers, so consider it but do not decide right now.
Check into Boingo for Internet access...I was amazed at how much I had to pay for access in the hotels, and Boingo seems to have fairly good coverage at a decent price. Short of that, consider leaving the netbook home and checking email, etc., in Internet cafes. Gotta think this one through, as the idea of being without a computer for a couple of weeks is a bit hard to imagine!
Cut back on the drinks in hotel bars: Nurse one or two at most, or buy a bottle in a supermarket if you want more (or, even sneak it in to the bar and replenish the drink you ordered!). Drink prices, with a couple of snacks thrown in, can come close to doubling the hotel bill....ouch!

Travel as a Political Act

2010-01-02T12:58:00.000-08:00

I once attended a talk by Rick Steves, the travel guru, and he suggested that we think of travel as a political act, a way to broaden our minds with new ideas and experiences. Since that talk, I have considered travel a way to expand what we know and think, a way to look at things differently and to question the status quo.

To that end, there were, of course, homeless people in all of the cities I visited (save for Monte Carlo). In all cases, the picture was the same: A homeless man or woman sitting on the ground, draped in a blanket, more often than not with a dog as his or her only companion. They would often be reading, or writing, or in some cases staring at the ground, but never aggressive or troublesome to those of us passing by. Often I would drop in some change, with a feeling of powerlessness to change what was just in front of me.

In London, I walked by a man, a typical homeless person, who was sitting on the ground, reading a book, with his dog cuddled up with him, blanket over both of them. I did not give this particular scene any special thought, until I was returning back and passed him again a few minutes later. This time, a female bobbie was standing over him, talking with him. I could not help but wonder what she was discussing, since he had not been causing any trouble so I could not fathom why she would be bothering him. To my surprise, a little eavesdropping revealed that rather than harassing, she was suggesting alternatives to him over sitting on the street. She appeared to be offering places he could go to be warm, and she most certainly was not doing this in a threatening manner, but rather one of empathy. I didn't stay long a it was a very strong scene, though I did manage to snap a picture.

I should point out that I do not follow any one political party line, but I instead make my decision on any single issue based on the merits of that particular case. In some situations I am very conservative, in others very liberal, but when it comes to social matters I firmly believe it is a travesty that we have people starving on the streets, cold, homeless, alone, when we squander our taxes (10% sales tax in WA state alone) on bullshit such as ensuring that salmon can spawn. I don't care to hear about the sustainability theory: That argument is meritless when you compare it to the need to a person--not a salmon, but a person--who is in crisis and in urgent need. I have nothing but disdain for our politicians of either party who turn their backs on people while grandstanding for politically correct environmental issues. Let people starve while spending taxpayer money to ensure that fish can f*@k...yes, it is nothing short of disdain that I feel for that sort of lunacy. In that sense, I can say that this one street scene was, indeed, travel as a political act for me.

Overall Trip Thoughts

2010-01-02T12:52:00.000-08:00

Berlin--

In hindsight, Berlin was probably not the greatest choice I could have made, as it really feels more like a flat city than a true historical spot. I thought that with it being the 20th anniversary of the fall of The Wall that there might be a special spirit in the city, but it was not there. Berlin, and Munich for that matter, are not really cities you can dislike, but they are rather boring in that they lack the excitement of Rome, Paris, London, Tokyo, Hamburg or Koeln. Berlin felt like a large bedroom community, nothing wrong with it per se, but just not as vibrant as I had been led to believe.
The Crowne Plaza City Center hotel was actually overpriced for what it offered, and the absurd practice of nickel and diming to death was irritating: They charged me, as a hotel guest, 8 euros to use the 8x10" sauna in the basement, while you could alternatively go to a local neighborhood sauna and pay a little over 20 euros for an all day pass in a full spa facility. I've had good luck with other Crowne Plaza hotels (the Rome St. Peters is a gem!), but the Berlin City Center was a disappointment, especially as I spent six nights there.

Paris--

As I mentioned before, my one and only previous trip to Paris was disappointing, so I was very surprised that I enjoyed this trip so much. My biggest complaint would be the cold, which of course should be expected when traveling to Europe in winter. The Parisians, while still rude, did not really bother me. The beauty, the history, and the novelty of the city, however, stuck me much more than the last time. I feel I would like to return again, to spend a longer time when the weather is warmer.
The Paris hotel, Hotel du Square d'Anvers, was indeed spartan, but it was clean enough, and the location superb. I might stay there again, though it would be tempting to look for a hotel which is a bit nicer, assuming price is not an overriding concern. It was two stars, but price and location were superb.

Monte Carlo--

The highlight of the trip. As much as I enjoyed it (and the relative warmth), I am not sure that I would spend much more than three nights there at a stint, at least not without expanding the exploration to include Nice or Western Italy. The overwhelming oppulence is mind-boggling, yet after a bit feels almost like a prolonged stay at Disneyland: Incredible for a short while, but not enough diveristy for a long vacation. Still, nothing compares with living out the Bond fantasy....
I can't say enough for the Monte Carlo Novotel hotel. It was moderately priced (about $200 per night if you pre-purchase and agree to the no cancellation/no refund risk), yet it was also very clean, bright, modern and well-located. The only complaint is that the techno music in the bar is a bit much if you listen to it for too long (as in taking all your meals there), but that notwithstanding it was a great environment. You don't get the oppulence you would at, say, the Le Meridien, but at one-third the price, and at a better location, I highly recommend the Novotel---and the sauna was free!!

London--

I won't bother saying anything about London because I could go on non-stop about this town! That has been many vacations in and of itself for me, and it will be one again relatively soon. Let me simply say it truly is a homecoming for me. To paraphrase the saying, a man who is tired of London is tired of life.

In short:--

While I don't regret the experience, if I had known awhile back what I know now, I would have skipped Berlin and extended the stays in Paris and Monaco, or I would have substituted Rome for Berlin. Still, it was an incredible trip. Also, if my situation were to permit, I would like to return to Europe in Spring or Fall rather than in winter; should my professional career continue to restrict my vacations to the Christmas season, then perhaps I should consider a Nile cruise or a return to Australia for the next one. All in all, though, weather complaints are relatively minor in the course of memories.

BTW, for hotels in the Heathrow area, I should point out the National Express "Hotel Hoppa" bus which runs from the terminals to all the nearby hotels. If you stay in Central London, transit from LHR to Zone 1 is easy via the tube, the Heathrow Express, or numerous other options, but you don't have these choices if you are staying in the immediate Heathrow area. I paid 20 pounds for a taxi (one way) only to find out later that afternoon that the Hotel Hoppa provides service for 4 pounds. It is a bargain to keep in mind for any LHR area hotel, and it is not well-publicized on any of the hotel websites.

Special mention to the Doubletree Airport in Seattle for a $39 upgrade to a suite on my first night! Granted, it was an opportunistic chance, and it was not guaranteed save for availability at check-in, yet for the cost of three drinks it was an amazing way to start the trip.

Also, while I did not try it on this trip, I heard of and will check out easyHotel for future vacations. This is along the line of easyJet, easyEverything (Internet cafe) and all the related serial entrepreneur attempts: Clean, cheap, no-frills. The handful of hotels they have look incredibly well-priced for their locations, so I am making a note to myself to try them at my earliest chance.

Internet access throughout Europe was very expensive, and spotty in two of the hotels (Crowne Plaza and Hotel du Square d'Anvers) even when paying over $20 per day. What is most annoying is that in many hotels in the US---including the cheapo places I care not to admit having patronized, wireless access is free. while Europe seems to have done a much better job settling on phone cell standards than have we in the US, broadband access, at least for tourists, is a letdown.

Saturday Night in London

2010-01-02T12:47:00.000-08:00

Since my trip to Monaco required that I fly in and out of Nice, a rather small airport, flights were not available for an early morning return home, so instead I arranged to travel from Nice to Heathrow on the second to the last day of my vacation. In addition to the pragmatic consideration, this also had the advantage of allowing me a short afternoon/evening in London, my favorite city in the world. Make no mistake about it, when I first planned this vacation I had initially booked two solid weeks in London, but upon further reflection I thought it best to try to branch out a bit, so instead I did the Berlin/Paris/Monaco route instead. Nonetheless, even though this afternoon was just for a few short hours, landing in Heathrow truly felt as if I had come home.

Since I had such a short time in London, I felt it best just to touch upon my sentimental favorites, and they were, of course, as I remembered them: The Strand Hotel looked unchanged; my favorite pub, the Lyceum, was unchanged save for a a new sign out front; my favorite restaurant, Little Italy, had changed names to "La Piazza," but otherwise appeared to have the same menu; the street performers in Covent Garden were still perfomring the same act; the Upper Crust in Charing Cross was still open; and the Adelphi was of course still providing theater, with "Chicago" having moved on to a different venue and "Ratpack" playing in its stead. All in all, home seemed to be unchanged.

I chuckled at myself when I stepped off the Picadilly Line in Covent Garden, and immediately felt that I knew the area far better than Seattle, where I have lived for over five years now. A couple of young women, noticing my "Hard Rock" jacket asked me if the establishment was in the neighborhood, to which I was able to reply quickly, that no, it was near Hyde Park. An elderly man asked me where the Adelphi was, and to my joy and amazement I knew and remembered quite well where it was. If you were to ask me where the Act Theater is in Seattle, I would be reaching for the GPS, but in London I just remembered the location.

While Monaco had been far warmer than either Paris or Berlin, London had the same numbing, bone-chilling cold, so I was only able to walk about for a short bit. In a way, I was glad the weather in London was no warmer than other parts of my trip, else I might have regretted not spending more time in the city. As it is, this is a good time to head back home and to plan on returning when the weather is more conducive to walking and admiring this incredible place.

So it is now my final night, and I am spending it at the Crowne Plaza near Heathrow. The terminal conversions are still in progress, but I believe I fly out of terminal one tomorrow morning. Vacations are always bittersweet at the end, and this is no exception. At some point, I really would like to make Europe a part of my daily life rather than a vacation spot. For now, though, I should be turning in shortly rather than dreading my return home.

Blue Moon New Year's Eve

2010-01-02T00:58:00.000-08:00

So I did manage to pull off the James Bond fantasy on New Year's Eve...the tuxedo, the Grand Casino, a Cuban cigar, and far too many vodkas. But enough about the fantasy (at least for a public blog)...

The Grand Casino was different than the other, surrounding casinos. This one consists of three different "levels" if you will: A free area which is slots, a 10 euro surcharge area with card game and slots, and an additional 10 euro surcharge area for those who are willing to don a jacket and live in the most secluded region.

I arrived at the casino just before 8:00 PM and immediately headed into the "middle" level, paying my 10 euros to have a vodka rocks in the bar. The casino was very nearly deserted at this early hour, but it did give me a chance to walk about and get familiar with the layout. In the front of this middle area is a bar, a (very expensive) buffet, and a restaurant. There were, of course, table games, and a large slot area off to the side, only this slot area was far different than what I had seen the night before. Imagine a cathedral full of slot machines, with the noise there but turned way down. Unfortunately pictures were not allowed, but it truly did seem to be a very incongruous blend, with vegas style slots in what would otherwise have been pure opulence.

I had to try the more exclusive area as quickly as possible, so I paid my extra 10 euros and entered the innermost sanctum. In this area were more tables and a bar, but virtually no patrons, just numerous employees dressed in tuxedos.

Throughout the evening I vacillated between the two areas, and though the crowds did pick up as the evening went on, neither ever become terribly crowded--in fact, the inner sanctum was virtually deserted even when I left at 11:30. I lost a couple hundred euros playing roulette (unfortunately, playing "7" in that sense did not pay off at all). I did get to witness an older Japanese businessman playing thousands of euros at the table, and though I could not tell whether he came out ahead or behind, it certainly did not matter to him: He was the consummate high roller, and was treated as such.

As the mood in the casino was somber and quiet, at 11:30 I decided to leave and see what the outside was like. This was far more in line with what you would expect for NYE: Large, noisy crowd, champagne bottles, "Bonne Annee" in the air. I spent the next half hour there, enjoying the intensity with the crowd. Though not as intense as, say, NYE in Naples, there was in any case an excitement and hope as the new year rolled in. Bonne Annee!

Monaco Thoughts

2009-12-31T05:17:00.000-08:00

As for the Monaco casinos, they are more like the US than I thought, just no free drinks. Slots are exactly the same and make the same noises, table games look the same with a few minor variations (Just a “0” on roulette tables, no “00.”). Save for the Grand Casino, most others will allow casual clothing. I don’t gamble much, but I will give it a shot tomorrow…besides, my nemesis is not here: Cocktail waitresses. Truth be told, for a heterosexual male, it just doesn’t get any better than a beautiful young woman in a short skirt bringing free drinks. How do you concentrate on the table with that distraction at your side?

One of the things I wondered about most when I decided to travel to Monaco was whether the prices would be exorbitant, and surprisingly no, they are essentially in line with what you would expect to pay in Europe. Certainly, there are pathetically expensive options, such as $20,000 per night hotel suites in the well known Hotel de Paris, but there are more “normal” prices here than I imagined. Supermarket prices (yes, I found one almost immediately) are essentially in line with what I saw in Paris, and casual restaurants offer pizzas in the 10 euro range.

The difference between Monaco and the rest of the world is that (literally) a few feet down from the “normal” pizza place is a small storefront, plain-looking in its own right, which sells customized corporate jets, and displays in its front window a plastic mock-up of an Airbus outfitted with couches, reclining chairs and beds. What a convenience, you go out for a quick bite at the local pizza joint, and you can stop in and check on the status of your corporate Airbus right afterwards.

Monaco is, of course, synonymous with the Mediterranean seacoast, and the harbor is one of the city’s most renowned vistas. To be certain, walking past, literally, dozens of yachts is an experience beyond words. A large percentage of these come from Georgetown (Cayman Islands), though you will also find vessels from many other cities such as London.

It is coming on towards mid-afternoon, and the hotel has just dropped off their New Year treat, so I think I will take a short nap so that I can awaken later and become…..Bond, Mark Bond.

Paris Thoughts

2009-12-30T13:53:00.000-08:00

I’m a bit out of order here as I am actually in Monaco yet publishing some more thoughts on Paris. I also acknowledge these thoughts are not fully polished, but I wanted to get the ideas down while fresh, then clean them up in the future.

Overall, I was very pleased with Paris and had a far better time than I thought I would. I knew, of course, that Europe at this time of year would be chilly, and the weather did indeed provide a bone-chilling cold. It warmed up a bit on day four in Paris (though it was raining) Unlike Berlin there was never any snow or ice on the ground, yet the weather was cold enough that it limited the time you could spend outside. Even with my thermal long-johns, and skull cap, and gloves, after eight or nine hours outside I would come back to the hotel room with a bone-chilling, painful ache that made me very tired. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really find any way to beat it: Walking around was painful, but sitting on the tour bus (even downstairs in the enclosed part) literally hurt. In short, the cold severely limited the time you could spend outside site-seeing to about eight hours at most; after that, you want to spend time in the hotel room and take a nap or stay close by in a local restaurant/brasserie. It really was too bad in that I truly enjoyed seeing the city, and I would specifically have liked to spend more time on the Left Bank. One advantage to the weather: I could buy meats or other refrigerated products and keep them outside on the window sill without any concern they would spoil!

The hotel was very warm, which given its budget price of just over $100 per night was a pleasant surprise, though in many other ways it lived up to its budget promise:

• No cable TV, aerial only, and they are still showing Michael Jackson tributes!!

• Pathetically dinky elevator, the type that I have only seen before in France. I could literally rest my back against the wall and easily reach across the longest span with my arm.

• Metal window shutters: What are they for? I don’t think it is for hurricanes, but am guessing it it perhaps to lock heat in?

• Rude hotel attendant: When asking for my key (they do make you post), I offered to show him my passport, and he snapped “Why are you doing that?” I guess I'm getting better handling snobs, in that I retorted that the better hotels required ID in such cases. This seemed to have worked in that he is a bit nicer to me from that point on. Unfortunately, it was one of those cases in which it was better to meet the rudeness with rudeness.

Though very much a tourist area, many of the shops in the Anvers area sell dirt cheap clothes, stacked in bundles, with people literally diving through them to find what they want. I’m not sure if this is a local, regional market or not, but it is odd to see so many Parisians – literally – doing headstands to dig through the clothing.

As for the language, I have never studied French and cannot understand any of the spoken word (even when looking at what is written, such as station announcements on the Metro), but I have remarkably good luck figuring out written French: Its roots must be close enough to English that I can quite often translate what is written, and I have verified this in more than one case with side-by-side translations.

Paris restaurants were better than what I experienced many years ago, perhaps because I have a better idea what to look for. Unfortunately, as is well known bread is a staple in French food, and I am definitely not a dough-head. Nonetheless, I did try real fondue (which was not as great as I expected---it’s definitely something that has a better appeal than is justified in reality), and I was surprised and pleased to see that most Paris restaurants will give you a chilled bottle of tapwater rather than making you pay for bottled.

I did find what I believe to be the perfect Paris restaurant; and it was literally right next-door to my hotel: L Table d'Anvers, http://www.latabledanvers.com/ . It was very clean and had an earth-tone modern feel to it. The food was excellent, and it was very moderately priced, especially for the region. I also splurged my last day and tried $65 glass of Cognac: You could tell the superior difference and quality, though admittedly it will only be a once or twice in a lifetime event for me.

Much to my surprise, there were only a handful of Starbucks in Paris, certainly not the one on every corner situation you expect to see in the rest of the world. While I hate to admit it, I can only drink cappuccinos for so long, and was pleased to stumble across Caffee Americano.

As in Germany, the meal “doner” (shaved lamb) is also very big in Paris. I personally don’t care for it so did not try it, but it appears to be the exact same as the German version.

Wireless Internet access was very spotty in both Paris and in Berlin, something that I found extremely surprising in this day and age. In both hotels, the throughput was very slow (as confirmed by the “very low” wireless signal level), and even after cold boots and ipconfig tweaks, login attempts usually required half a dozen or more efforts. I even tried restoring my system to a week earlier just in case something changed, but to no avail.

Monaco!

2009-12-30T07:16:00.000-08:00

It's the 30th of December, I just flew in from Orly to Nice, and I have checked in to the Novotel in Monte Carlo. This is incredible, almost a fairy tale type of place! I'll make this entry short as I want to do some exploring, but let's just say it is absolutely the highlight of the trip. Berlin was a bit disappointing, Paris was much more fun and enjoyable than on my visit a few years ago, and Monaco is over the top. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and the tux arrived safely with me (in fact, not even wrinkled, much to my surprise!)

The Novotel is fantastic, modern and trendy. I'd go so far as to say that the website, for once, does not do the property justice!

The Ultimate Mulligan Fulfilled

2009-12-27T16:03:00.000-08:00

I did finally resolve one of the more silly mistakes in my adult life, in that this last Sunday (27 Dec 2009) I visited the Louvre. As I mentioned previously, I missed it some years back during my first trip to Paris (it was closed on Tuesday, my last day in the city), and in fact this "do-over" was the main reason I retunred to Paris. I spent the better part of the day in the Louvre, and while I am by no means a student of art history, nor do I profess to understand the time periods, this was incredibly fascinating and overpowering beyond words. The Mona Lisa, Venus, and all the treasures under one roof are enough to boggle the mind. The Italian painting gallery alone is something you could spend a day wandering through, mesmerized, even if you are not an oil painting fan.

I plan to spend Monday (and perhaps Tuesday) on the hop-on/hop-off busline. More later.

The Rest of the Paris Story

2009-12-26T17:33:00.000-08:00

So there is no doubt about it, not everything with the Paris trip has gone 100% smoothly. As that well-known journalist would say,here is the rest of the story:

The Journey from Orly to Paris: While the flight from Berlin to Paris was more or less uneventful (save for forgetting to remove my shoes at the security checkpoint, which terribly upset one Teutonic security guard), there was “a challenge” at the RER ticket machine. I flew into Orly, which compared to CDG was, indeed, a blessing, and I took the automated tram to the RER line for what should have been a 20 minute ride to Gare du Nord. When I left the tram, I noticed that the automated gateways required an RER ticket, so I stepped up to the machine to purchase one. Very quickly, I was able to determine that the cost was 9.85 in Euros, and I was pleased to see that the machine would accept credit card, or paper Euros, or Euro coins. I first attempted to pay with three different credit cards, but after trying all four orientations for each one (12 total), I realized that my cards, blessed only with the magnetic strip, would not work in a machine which expected a smart card, in essence the same contact set as is in a SIM card (the little gold contacts on the front of the card). No problem, I had thought ahead and had over 200 Euros on me. First, I tried to insert coins, but I found that I was about one Euro short of the necessary fare (somewhat akin to an old Father Guido Sarducci SNL skit, for those old enough to remember). No problem, I tried to insert the paper bills, but no slot on the machine was physically capable of accommodating paper money. I noticed, however, that there was what appeared to be a change machine, some beast which would accept my paper money and give me coins in return--except that this device was completely inoperative, even when I repeatedly tried to insert my paper into what was the obvious slot. Finally, when I was about ready to board the train back to Orly in defeat, I noticed that another machine did, indeed, have a paper bill acceptor. Had it not been for that I might have been stuck on “the MTA” (for those of you, older than myself, who recognize the song title).

Hygiene: In the interest of full disclosure, I point out upfront that I am a single heterosexual male who lives alone, so cutting corners on household hygiene is not unheard of. Yes, my body is always clean as are my clothes, but an un-vacuumed rug or plates in the sink are to be expected. With that in mind, it is somewhat disconcerting when I ordered a vodka tonic (my signature drink), only to find a "floatie" of undetermined nature in the glass. I had noticed in Germany, as well as in France, that rather than relying on Hobarts and the like, glass washing in bars consists of a quick dunk in the sink full of (warm) sudsy water, followed by an equally quick dunk in a sink full of "clean" water (water which in theory was clean, but had been compromised after repeated dunks from the first, sudsy sink). I was debating with myself how big an issue to make of this: I did not want to sound like a wimpy American complaining about something that any European would consider silly, and given that French is far from my strong point, I did not even know how to broach the subject with the bartender. With that in mind, and also knowing that the alcohol in the drink would sanitize any floatie, regardless of its origin (which I elect not to guess), I was consoling myself to accept the notion that I should discreetly "fish" the floatie out with my finger and continue with the drink. No problem, except that as I was attempting to quietly move the object from the glass, a beautiful 100 pound Rottweiler who had been quietly lying behind the bar decided to jump up on the kitchen counter and say hello. I am, of course, the consummate dog lover, believing that they not only have souls but that they are more perfect than are we humans, yet somehow the notion that a dog was hopping upon, and slobbering upon, a food bearing surface was a bit much for me. (I started at that point having visions of the origin of the floatie….) Fortunately, though, I was able to remove the floatie, while one of my dining companions casually tossed the dog a french fry, which he caught in mid-air and gobbled down, as he then removed his front paws from the counter. Floatie fished out, dog on the kitchen floor, “alles gut” as they say.

Found the light switch: OK, so the hotel does, indeed, have lights in public places, but alas they are only on for a few minutes after pushing the on-demand button, before they hibernate. Still, I might be able to retire the penlight.

Hacked my blog: This one irritates me: Not only did the hackers manage to infiltrate my email account and spam my friends, colleagues and jilted ex-lovers (you know I don’t really mean that!), but they also managed to hack this very blog, putting an entry in with a URL to what Google flagged as an "attack site."

QWERTY Not: I wish that the world would settle on one $&(#*) keyboard layout. Sure, when you have different languages (e.g., Cyrillic) I can see why the layout would need to be altered, but French keyboards have many of the keys in the “wrong” place, not to mention that you have to select caps to get numbers and the “period.”…..arghhhh. Normally this would not be an issue as I would use my own netbook, but given the hack above, I am trying to rely on wired lines, which means Internet cafes. (BTW, the availability of Internet cafes is in and of itself a great pleasure to be found in France, unlike Germany where they no longer exist.)

Escargot: OK, put some pesta on it, and give me a shot of vodka, and I can wash almost anything down…actually, it was not all that bad, if you just imagine it grew on a tree rather slithering through the ground.

Fergie is Married: The latest edition of Cosmo, sitting in the hotel lobby, highlights on its front cover a picture of BEP Fergie with a title: “Her Naughty Honeymoon Surprise.” I can’t quite bring myself to read it, lest I spend the rest of my life regretting not being on the receiving end, but I can say that for all those other articles (“HIS #1 SEX WISH” and the like), Cosmo could not be more wrong. Also, why would you want to get rid of “Muffin Top?” Playboy visualizes the average woman sitting on a piano, sipping wine in a corset while fingering herself, and Cosmo does likewise to the male image. Geeze folks, get a life and find out what a real person is like.

Deutsch ou Russki? I often am able to pass myself off in a foreign land as either a German or a Russian (though there are places such as Berlin where I have to default to Aussie as they will see right through either of the former), and I am finding that ability convenient in France Granted, the anti-American sentiment is not so great as it was during the start of the Gulf War, but somehow Europeans seem more tolerant of fellow Europeans who do not speak the local native language than they are of Americans who do not speak the language. Don’t get me wrong, I kick myself for not having continued to work on foreign language skills, yet there is some truth to the idea that English, though a de facto universal language, is still despised by many. Much better to be a German-speaker in France than an American-speaker in France: “Danke” is cool, “thanks” is not. BTW, I seem to be able to do a decent job _reading_ French, as I can usually trace it back to roots and figure out the meaning, but the spoken word skips by me every time, even if it is just listening to a subway platform announcement.

Note to self: When paying by credit card in a restaurant, tell the waiter/waitress the tip upfront, before they run the card through, rather than afterwards….Bill is “neun,” so say “zwolf” and they will write it that way. It cannot be changed after the fact.

From Berlin to Paris

2009-12-26T10:42:00.000-08:00

I am way behind on my trip posts, so let me try to catch up quickly then possibly fill in some more details later on.

It's Saturday 26 Dec, and I have flown from Berlin to Paris. Much to my surprise, Berlin turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment, while Paris (at least initially) seems to be far more exciting and enjoyable for me. The five days I spent in Berlin were, to put it succinctly, uneventful and sterile, something that was just the opposite of what I had anticipated. I chose to spend the first days of my vacation, Christmas in particular, in what I had heard was a high energy city. While I really cannot find any specific fault with Berlin, it was very flat, sterile, sparse, almost a bedroom community, similar in many respects to Munich: Nothing to dislike, but not a place that seemed to bring about any excitement. To be fair, I arrived late on Sunday night, and the first two days were cold and snowy, so the weather certainly put much of the damper on things in and of itself. I spent the first day doing the hop-on/hop-off tour bus and was able to see the major sites: Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, Checkpoint Charley, etc. After that, since it was literally too cold and snowy to walk about, I spent Monday and Tuesday in the sauna (Therma am Europa) across the street from the Crowne Plaza City Center. The spa, again, was a disappointment: Small and dingy, nothing at all like the grandiose Therme Erding I visited 16 months ago. I did get to see the Christmas markets, but again, nothing really jumped out at me as being a highlight.

Also, for one of the few times in my travelling career, jet lag caught up with me, and I spent virtually all of Wednesday in bed. This is odd in that normally jet lag is a non-event for me; I think it goes hand-in hand with the ho-hum feeling I had towards the city.

Paris, so far, has been a far more pleasant surprise than I remembered or expected. I was last here several years ago at the start of the Gulf War, and while the city itself had an appeal, the attitude of the Parisians soured me quickly. Perhaps I have grown more accustomed to foreign travel in those ensuing years, but while the simple rudeness is still apparent, I am able to brush it off and enjoy all the other things the city has to offer: It is lively, even though still cold outside and even though it is Boxing Day. The streets are very crowded, the shops old and helter-skelter, far from the sterile, spacious atmosphere of Berlin. Also, Paris definitely has the cosmopolitan, world mixing bowl feel of say London, Rome, Hamburg or Koln; panhandlers abound, street merchants try to sell cigarettes and perfume to you as you walk past, and chestnuts were roasting from many "merchants" pushing them about in shopping carts. One very vivid difference is that in the five full days I spent in Berlin, I only saw two Blacks, with everybody else begin Caucasian; yes, lots of Russians, but still a very fair-skinned city. Paris, of course, has every race and ethnic group imaginable.

In short, and in hindsight, I probably should have reversed Berlin and Paris, spending Christmas in France rather than in Germany.

As for the people, as I noted before, the Parisians do seem to live up to the stereotype of being rude; Berliners (and Germans in general) are far from kind, but more brisk and professional than openly rude. Granted, this may partly be due to my own behavior, in that my German is actually fairly good (at least after a few days of refreshing), while my French consists of half a dozen words. (And that assumes you count "si vous plais" as three words; if you consider it a single entity, then my French vocabulary is down to four words.)

One thing that has been problematic during this trip is Internet access, in both Germany and France. Many wireless vendors offer services, at ridiculous prices such as $15 for two hours, and as bad as the price may sound, what is even worse is that the service is terrible: Slow if it works at all, often requiring you attempt to access a page three of four times before it finally renders. I do, of course, live by the web, so having to struggle to access something that I normally take for granted is unnerving.

Also, to add to the Internet woe story, I was hacked in Berlin: Presumably somebody intercepted my cell signal while I was checking email, and thus every contact in my address book received an email from "me" sending them to a pharmaceutical drug site. On the bright side, it did result in a few replies from many people I had not heard from in years, so it was a very welcome chance to say "Happy Holidays" when I responded with the apology for spamming them!

The one itinerary item high on my list for Paris is the Louvre, as I missed it the last time I was here. (I had planned to visit it on my last day, only to find out it is closed on Tuesdays!) More than likely I will do that tomorrow, with Monday and Tuesday being free and up in the air.

The hotel in Paris ("Hotel Du Square D'Anvers) is not so nice and modern as the Crowne Plaza in Berlin, but the location is fantastic, within easy walking distance of the Gare du Nord. It's older but clean, though many of the enhancements have been made by a person whose carpentry skills are below mine: I measure once and cut twice, though this person seems not to own a tape measure and eyeballs the cut, with noticeable gaps in the woodwork an acceptable end result. Also, the hotel doesn't seem to believe in turning on lights---I'm glad I tucked away a small penlight, as I literally would not be able to walk up the stairs without it! As simple and odd as it may sound, the Parisian hotel has a reasonable public sitting area, something that was lacking in Berlin, so I can sit in public as I type my thoughts rather than being squirreled away in my room.

The Supermarket and the Christmas Market

2009-12-21T13:12:00.000-08:00

One of the first things I do any time I am visiting a foreign country is to find and check out a local supermarket, with the reasons being twofold:

I like to "see how the locals live." Most local people don't live at the tourist traps, so I very much like to go to their equivalent of a Safeway or Albertsons to see how the normal people live, what is in their market, and to try some of their food.
On a pragmatic level, though I don't intend to save money when I travel, I do enjoy finding a way to avoid being taken by the hotel and normal tourist traps. In the picture to the left, all the food and alcohol cost me just a tad of $30 US, which may not sound all that great until you realize the the bottle of vodka ("wodka") cost me no more than the cost of one vodka tonic at the hotel bar. Granted, saving money on a trip is not my first goal, but to avoid getting taken is a nice benefit.

On a different note, Germany has always been famous for its Christmas markets, and while Berlin is no Bavaria, the Christmas market fever is in full swing here. With the snow on the ground and the chill in the air, this is an almost magical place just four days before Christmas--save for that "Gluhwein" that they are trying to push. I'm not exactly sure what it is; Wikipedia only defines it as a "muled wine" and explains that

"Historically, wine often went bad. By adding spices and honey, it could be made drinkable again"

When I find out what that really means, I will post it, but for now say let's just say that something that sounds wonderful and happy is abyssmal--and I am not sure I agree with the "drinkable again" comment.

Beyond that, I spent the day doing the "Hop-on/Hop-off" bus thing, partly to get a quick overview of Berlin, and partly to avoid the unbelievable, record-setting cold we are seeing. More on that tomorrow.

The Christmas 2009 Odyssey Begins

2009-12-18T16:35:00.000-08:00

It's a week before Christmas, and my vacation has just officially begun. It's back to Europe, this time for two weeks, with---

Six nights in Berlin
Four nights in Paris
Three nights in Monaco (including New Year's Eve!)
One night in London on the way back

I decided to start the vacation in the Seattle Airport Doubletree the night before my flight out...I was worried about snow (which turned out to be a non-issue), and I also did not want to hassle with the early morning wake up and drive in from home. Upon arriving at the hotel, I was very pleased to find that I had been upgraded to a penthouse suite, something I have never tried before but definitely could get used to: A corner suite with a sitting room, a bedroom, a huge bathroom with soaking tub, a balcony (which wraps around the building), and (of course) a separate wet bar.

Tomorrow morning I start out flying from Seattle to SFO, from SFO to Heathrow, and from LHR to Berlin. I'll be arriving about 6:30 PM on Sunday evening. More updates to follow....

A Philosophy to Live By...

2009-09-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

I was curious about steak tartare, so I looked around for a recipe the other day, and I was surprised--and pleased--to find the below. For those who don't know, steak tartare is beef that is mixed with other ingredients (egg, capers, onions, anchovies, or other items of that nature) and served raw. It was very popular many years ago (my childhood or earlier), but has since fallen out of style for health reasons.

The site I found allowed comments, and people were arguing back and forth on whether or not one should eat this dish due to the health concern. The reply below, IMHO, was spot on, and beyond applying it to steak tartare, it can be equally well applied to so many other things in life when one person attempts to interfere in another's life. Read the below, enjoy it, and remember it can be easily applied to so many other arguments in this world.

"Wow. The world has really come to the point of insanity when people have nothing better to do than argue about a freaken recipe.

"Uhm...if you don't like or trust the idea...here's an idea: DONT EAT IT, FOOL! For the flip side people: Who CARES what the anti person thinks? Either eat it or don't. Nothing else matters but what YOU do when it comes to your life.

"Seriously. This is not rocket science, people. Either eat it, or don't. Problem. Solved.

"Just weird, man. In a feeble attempt to thwart anyone from wasting their valuable, precious time on responding to this...don't bother. I won't see it. I got the recipe, saw this lunacy and decided that it boggled my mind so much I had to "comment."

"Anything further is a waste of my time.

"Suggestion...? Find a new hobby rather than fighting with complete strangers on the Internet. Trust me, they are not worth your time. You'll miss your time when it's gone. Spend what little you have on people that matter.

"Later."

Google's "Tribute" To D-Day

2009-06-06T08:07:00.000-07:00

6 June 2009 was the 65th anniversary of the D-Day Normandy landing. The search engine Bing.com marked the sacrifice of the 10,000 fallen heroes with a photograph of one of the beaches. Google celebrated the day by marking the 25th anniversary of Tetris.

Choose your search engine.

Never Regret Something That Once Made You Smile

2008-12-27T20:27:00.000-08:00

As I've gotten older, I think I have followed the pattern many others have followed: I've tried to "mellow," and to some extent I have succeeded. Unlike others my age, given my circumstances, I may have held on to a few of the more liberal tendencies longer than have my contemporaries, but in any case I have made it an effort to learn, to grow, even if it is not always linear. To that extent, I have cut back on my drinking in recent years: I never let alcohol get too out of control, I've never been arrested or faced a DUI or anything of that nature, yet in years gone by I have to admit, I could put down a few and come back for more. As I have aged, my alcohol consumption has gone down a bit, and most likely will continue to diminish. So what that means is that when I do choose to drink, there is a bit more meaning behind it than when I was a youngster.

Tonight, I had a few. I did not get plowed, I did not drive, but I did feel relaxed when I decided to call it quits and go back to my hotel room (a quaint cottage in Oregon off of Highway 58, The Cascade Motel). The bar was a dive bar by any account, young Oregonians playing pool and music and smoking inside (yes, evidently that is still allowed in parts of the US). I was about to leave, when I noticed a number of coasters tacked to the wall behind me, all of which had various words of wisdom penned to them. Some were absurd, some less than what I would like to post here, but one stood out for me:

"Never Regret Something That Once Made You Smile"

I'm sorry that I could not read the author's name, yet I have to admit it struck me nonetheless. "Never regret something that once made you smile." How simple, yet how beautiful. How many times have we done something we enjoyed, something that made us feel happy, something that made us feel connected with the world or with another person, only to be told later that we should regret what we have done? How many times has religion, or friends, or some notion of "ethics" told us after the fact that what we did was remiss, regrettable, wrong?

I'm not proud of every decision I have made in my life. Like all human beings, there are things in my past which are checkered, things which would not stand up as G-rated in Disney court, mistakes I have made, yet what does that matter? I can truly say that in my entire life, I have never forced anybody in to anything he/she did not want to do, and with that in mind, why should I regret something I have done in the past? Why should I regret something that in the moment was right for both of us?

People will judge us--me in this case--by their own standards. I had two professionals this last year who felt they were anointed by God himself to decide what was right or wrong, yet all I can say to that is rubbish. (Actually, my choice of words is stronger, though again, as I get older, I regret when I must choose profanity to express my point.) Why do others feel they have a right to judge what happens in an individual's life or in his heart?

I've done some things in my past that made me smile and yet which, if I were to explain them here, would not sound G-rated. So what? I can honestly say that I have never done anything against another's will, and with that in mind, I'll choose not to regret those things that have made me smile.

Bush Does Something Right

2008-12-24T11:17:00.000-08:00

As you can probably tell, I'm definitely not a huge fan of George Bush Jr., but IMHO he did something right yesterday. On 23 Dec 2008, Bush pardoned Charles Winters. Most of us, myself included, have (had) no idea who Charles Winters was, but something in the headline enticed me so I clicked it. Winters was born a Boston Irish Protestant who went on to become a produce exporter. No big deal, except that along the way he also supplied three B-17 bombers to the fledgling state of Israel, bombers which by many accounts were key to allowing Israel to win the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Winters was later convicted of violating the US Neutrality Act, and served 18 months in federal prison, after which he went on to live a quiet, anonymous life until his death in 1984. You can read more about his story elsewhere, but there are two points that fascinate me:

How did an ordinary man, a John Doe by any account, pull off such an accomplishment? Arguably, what he, along with two others, did turned the tide in the war for an independent Jewish state. These were ordinary people, commoners not famous or rich or powerful, yet the three of them may very well have had a pivotal role in the birth of a nation.
How can something this miraculous not be better known? I admit, I don't always remember all the historical facts I would like to, but I usually at least vaguely recall hearing of things such as this, even if I do not remember all the details, names or dates. For that matter, even Winters's own son did not know about his father's accomplishments until after his death.

I'm not going to begin to say that I can understand or answer either of the above. In particular, the second question is one which I have long pondered: How can history be so selective in terms of what it chooses to herald or to bury?

Everybody has heard of Francis Gary Powers, the CIA U2 pilot shot down in 1960 over Sverdlovsk, smack dab in the middle of the Soviet Union. Virtually nobody, however knows the story of McKone and Olmsted, the two survivors of the Soviet shootdown of an RB-47 in international waters just one month after the Powers incident. In both cases, the survivors were held and interrogated by the Soviets then released many months later.

Why is it that one of the stories is known by every schoolchild, yet the second one, almost identical, is an enigma? The only key difference I can see is that Powers was "caught red-handed" in the sense he was clearly over the Soviet Union, while the RB-47 was shotdown in international waters. Aside from that, the stories are almost identical. In any case, I'll use this chance to herald in my own way three unknown heroes: Charles Winters, John McKone, and Bruce Olmsted.