With Love

I got mini bottles of port wine, for you Mom and Dad, while in Porto and I have been schlepping these things across Europe and now halfway across the world. They walked with me to metro/bus/tube stations, flew with me, rode the train through Tuscany, got cried on in Naples, on my arm for a scooter ride, through Italian, British and Canadian airports. All the while I worried that they wouldn't let me take them. I've been teased at security that I was going to have to drink them before going through (which I had totally prepared myself for that possibility). I always have to make sure they're upright because they leak and I'm not even sure if they're any good but I feel a certain bond to them...is that weird?

On the road again...

Time to come home, looks like it'll take about 15ish hours. Love the in flight entertainment system! I watched 3 movies Hot Tub Time Machine, Iron Man 2 and The Back Up Plan. I had to use the restroom and can someone tell me how or why there is s#$t smeared all over the toilet seat! Disgusting and reaffirms my fear of public restrooms. I took one look and found a different bathroom after alerting the staff. Ewww, whose job is it to clean that up anyway?

Fancy Food

Tracy and I get to go on a dinner date to a fancy restaurant. I'm not as excited as she is because you could spend $2 on Taco Bell to fill me up and I'm pretty sure this is going to have a couple of zeros. She books it on Top Table which is a handy website that gets you 40% off at certain restaurants, this one happens to be her favorite. I don't know have the stuff on the menu but order the lobster tail, carrot compote with citrus and vanilla infused flavor and honey glazed veal sweetbread. I will admit that it tasted fantastic but I made the mistake of googling sweetbread because it didn't look or taste like bread...it's some sort of throat, thymus or pancreas that is breaded and fried...why did I ask?! Even though we had 40% off the total was still 100 pounds! Only once my friends.

Premature Alhiculation

My last Saturday in London and I feel the need to "get after it" or party a little bit. Giuseppe will go to dinner and a bar but not a club. I whine about having not been to one single club my whole trip to no avail. Tracy even has a friend (Jenny who came to my birthday and cooked us a propa British meal at her home), who has a boyfriend, who has a brother that manages an exclusive members only night club. Another new concept to me but apparently there is too much money in London to have normal night clubs. Oh well dinner and drinks it is, the babysitter is only there until 12:30 and that's when everything starts opening up anyway. Needless to say I was a little disappointed...until Tracy hooked it up. Jenny asked if I wanted to go without Tracy and (sorry Tra) I don't have a baby waiting at home for me, so I jumped ship. I didn't think I needed to pace myself for the whole night so my alcohol level was almost at capacity. I meet Jenny in front of the club, so excited to get after it. Her boyfriend orders me a drink, I ask for Captain and Coke and he kind of scoffed and said they had better rum than that. Slightly offended but not deterred from downing the drink that was almost all rum and a spritz of coke, we head over to VIP. Apparently there is an American actor here, can't remember the name but he was in Fantastic Four. This is everything I wanted, sigh. Oh they are bringing bottles to the table and pouring me a glass of chamagne, exciting! One sip and I knew that if I didn't get out of there soon I was going to have to grab one of the cups off the table and puke in it. Aaaaa I'm a total liability(that's what they call drunk people in London) So I ask for water and hope that they would bring it discreetly, but no, everyone sees and I get crap for it. One guy leans over and asks me "Have you traveled much?" and I ask "Besides here?" to which he responds "Wait a minute where are you from?" I say U.S. and he hands me more water and goes on to tell me how British girls are all alcoholics. At this point the water is not really helping, I'm really trying hard to focus on not being a D-bag, falling over or the dreaded yakking. Jenny looks concerned and asks me if I'm ok, I don't really want to admit the answer is no...I'm shammered and I didn't think that I drank that much. I tell her that I should probably go and that I've had a lovely time. Obviously I can't hang with the big kids. She negotiates with the club car to drop me off for free but it's a shared ride (I think they paid) and the gut drops me off 3 blocks away. Not a big deal except for the 7 inch heels and the unfortunate condition my stomach was in. Thought process: It would be kind of an awesome London experience to yak in the street. I don't remember these sidewalks being a switchback. Oh there's a wobbly bit, is it me or the sidewalk. Which I might add is a logical question considering that many sidewalks have wobbly panels. Alas I didn't yak in the street and I buzz the flat. Tracy says over the intercom, "What are you doing here, you've only been gone an hour!" In my defense it was two hours and then I yakked in the toilet and crawled upstairs to bed.

Dirrrty 30, Yikes

I wake up August 5^th to Tracy telling me "Good Morning and Happy Birthday!" and I start crying a little. "Oh my god I'm 30! I have no job, no husband, no children, no assets, nothing to show for 30 years!" Yes, between yesterday and today, panic has set in and I'm having a mini meltdown. To which Tracy responds with "Remember your life five years ago," I groan in remembrance, "remember how much things have changed and what you've accomplished," I nod a little, "many people live their lives in a sucky situation and never make any changes. You had the courage to change your life and get an education. I'm very proud of you and you should be proud of yourself aaaaand we have a wonderful day planned which includes a pedicure in 1950's shop." Oo, I'd briefly forgotten about The Powder Room (and to be proud of myself.) So I dried my eyes, popped open a Mtn. Dew and put on my London dress (according to Tracy). The day was nice and the Powder Room girls were adorable. We got ready to meet Jenny and Krista for happy hour and dinner. If things weren't ok before they definitely were after one of those pink drinks that tasted like a popsicle. I had to explain what a popsicle was, I guess they're called fruit lollies here. Followed up with dinner at a Lebanese restaurant it was a good day and my panic had subsided. (I have trouble arranging pics on here and don't want to figure it out.)

Traveling vs. Tourism

I lie low for a couple of days in London, just processing all that I had done and resting. I have time to contemplate what traveling means to me. I have wanderlust by nature but do not consider myself a tourist (at least on this trip). Here's why: When I travel, I don't have my normal defenses. I have to rely on other people and communication isn't always through speech. When I am alone, in a foreign country and without means for transportation I have to trust a voice on the end of the phone line, or a map, or a stranger and my instincts. At home I have a car, my familiar places, language and people. Almost nothing is uncomfortable. I use travel to make myself uncomfortable so that I can grow as a person. I learn to trust myself and my instincts. I learn that there is more good than bad and I have real experience instead of something I read or someone told me. It makes me feel strong and accomplished. Some people like to test themselves by surviving in the wilderness, I like to test myself in foreign countries. Of course I have some security by traveling with or to friends. I feel grateful to travel and to have friends.

Back in London

I arrive at Tracy's at 3am after a train and taxi from the airport, my flight had been delayed and I missed the direct train. Poor Tracy was worried for a little while, I assured her that if I could make my way through a non English speaking country by playing Charades I could navigate an English speaking country. I'm exhausted. Allie is much bigger than when I saw her last.

Wild West

Aaaah I've been dreading going back to Naples. People have said there are things worth seeing in Naples but it's scary and I don't like it. I'd planned on taking my power back from those dodgy taxi drivers, I know I have lumped them all together in a stereotype but it's more accurate than not. After a discussion with Mama Maria I learn that they shouldn't charge more than €10-15 to take me from the port to the airport and that they will try to get more. By the way there is a ferry from Positano to Naples for €14. After a relaxing ferry ride I hide all my cash and go the the taxi stand with 15 in my pocket. I ask how much and the guy tells me 35, I ask him where the bus stop is (in Italian), he offers 20, I show him 15 and say I don't have anymore, he shows me the way to the bus stop. I started walking away with some dignity this time, at least I didn't cry. Lo and behold they yell for me to come back and the guy further down the line will, guess what, take me for 15. Triumph! Although when we got to the airport the meter said €12.85. Bastards! Oh well, I'm getting out of here.

Ischia

We took a ferry to the island of Ischia for what we thought would be a like a spa with thermal baths. It wasn't really like the spas we are accustomed to in the States. The water comes out of the ground at 320 degrees and is then cooled to varied temperatures for public use. We went to a place called Negambo, it is kind of like a water park but wasn't like anything I'd seen before. They had a Japanese bath, a corridor with rocks on the floor, filled about to the knees with water that was really hot on one side and freezing on the other. There was a Turkish bath, holy hell that was so hot and steamy I felt like I was being suffocated and had to get out of there. There was a pool called Life Source and I guess these springs are supposed to have healing powers but my calves still hurt from God's Path. It was a strange experience but I liked it.

God's Path

While in Positano we set out on a whim mid-morning for God's Path. The other women are more athletic than I am and I didn't quite realize the commitment I was making, so we take the bus to a starting point and hike. There were breathtaking views and I know now why they call it GOd's Path. We hiked about 2 miles in, turned around and hiked back out. This would have been fine, maybe a little sore for a day but then we took the stairs back to Positano....1700 of them. This ruined my legs for the rest of the trip, I thought they were going to fall off. I don't know when I'll have pix of this because we used Melanie's camera.

Capri-Costumi de Bano

We booked a boat tour to Capri. It was awesome! Mama Maria got us a deal; it was still kind of expensive, but worth it. I wore my fabulous Italian costumi de bano (swimsuit), it's white with silver circles on it and a chain of rhinestone rings to connect the top to the bottom, yes I believe it could be categorized as a mono-kini, and a sheer white skirt to cover the brazilian cut bottom (yikes! I know, I'm in denial). We boated around islands and along beautiful coastline before coming to a cave, the captain told us we could jump off, swim through and he'd pick us up on the other side. I don't have a pic of this moment but it was amazing. I cannon balled of that boat and started swimming through, after a stop for some high fives we continued through the cave. Now I need to back up a moment to when I bought the swimsuit...I asked the store keeper if it could be used in water, I know it seems silly that a swimsuit could be made that can't go in the water, but it seemed suspicious. My suspicions were a reality when I hopped back on the boat only to realize that my beautiful, Italian, white mono-kini was...transparent! Yes you could see through it. A few choice words came out about how much I'd spent for a useless swimsuit as I dove for a towel. Luckily it dries fast and was back to opaque quickly. Capri was busy and touristy but we saw pix of tons of famous people, I guess Jessica Simpson was there right before us doing the exact same stuff. It was her birthday, looks like we both like to celebrate by taking European vacations; I never thought Chicken of the Sea was chicken though.

Bellisimo

Positano is the most beautiful town I've ever seen. The houses are set into the cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The roads are narrow and wind along the cliffs and through the town. It was worth all the troube to get here. I can't even describe it so I'll put a few pics up but they don't do it justice either.

Travhell-ish

The way I tried to get to Positano, Italy from Porto, Portugal was ridiculously complicated to say the least. I started in Porto at 7:30am by walking to the metro (note to self: 50ft monuments are not as close as they appear.) I tried to save money by flying to Pisa on RyanAir but I don't think I would do it that way again. From Pisa I took a train (5hrs) to Napoli (Naples) which in itself was not difficult and quite pretty. The route is down the coast and through Tuscany. Naples is about where I thought I was out of options, still about an hour away from Positano and to late to catch the bus (it was about 9pm) the taxidriver was telling me he'd take me for €180, to which I responded by crying. I know, not the appropriate reaction when you're trying to negotiate but thank goodness he called my hotel and tried to get her in on the scam by charging my credit card and giving him the cash. Mama Maria got me on the phone and told me to get out of there and take the Circumvesuviana (inner city train) to Sorrento and then take a SITA bus to Positano. I yelled "No bono!" at the taxi driver and ran off to the subway. This entry is getting tedious so I'll skip ahead to getting off at the wrong bus stop and asking around about a taxi to which an Italian on a moterscooter told me he would take me; this was one of those moments where instincts kick in and information is processed in a split second. Here is the thought process...This guy is dressed in a pink button up shirt, white linen pants and a perfectly arranged white scarf around his neck, he's probably not a murderer. Holy hell I've been traveling for 15 hours and I need a ride...I've always wanted to ride a scooter. I guess if he tries to kidnap me I could jump off. "What about my suitcase?" I said and he put it on the footstep, his friend handed me a helmet and I hopped on. Five minutes later I was at my hotel, politely declined a dinner invitaion and said good-bye. Now I get to see Melanie and meet two new women that I'll be spending the week with.

Porto, Portugal

Portugal is awesome, pretty, nice people and super cheap. Jana and I started our first day armed with a map and a bus/metro pass. I'm not sure what happened to me because normally I don't like public transportation but when I travel I love the adventure. We made it to the city center and checked out the sites, did some shopping, picked up a portugese handbook so Jana could practice and went on a river cruise. The next day we went to the beach; the Atlantic is too cold but the sand is perfect because it consists of small, smooth pebbles and shells that just brush right off. Another day we took a wine cave tour to taste some port. Did you know that is the only place that produces it because the Douro(sp?) region has the perfect climate and rock/soil mixture? We couldn't find the proper bus so we sat down in the square with some boys that had a guitar and Jana played a little song, met a guy dressed like a picnic tablecloth (he was a street performer from Italy), we talked about how European guys seem gay which the boys thought was hilarious and continued to hug and sit in each others laps (I know it seems gay, right? Apparently it's just European, not gay.) The boys went on their way to Lisbon, not before showing us the station we needed to get back.

Hung Over in Holland

Getting to Eindhoven from Pescara was easy and Jana's brother Nate came to pick me up, little did I know that my future travels would be quite complicated. After some time with the Italian family I was ready to meet up with Jana. We only had one night in Holland together so we decided to stay up until much later than people who have to get to the airport early should. Ahhh, Sangria how you go down so smooth like grape juice. Side note about the culture, everyone rides bikes and they even sit on the back to "carpool." It's really cute and I wouldn't mind spending more time there and checking out Amsterdam. So after staying up until 3am we got up at 6am to go to the airport. It was a long day.

Almost on the road again.

Today is my last day in Vasto. Tomorrow I'll head to Eindhoven and Wed. to Porto, Portugal. The time difference in Italy is 9 hours ahead of Pacific Standard time. I'm not sure about the other places. London is 8 hours ahead. I've adjusted to the time, I guess, but not sleeping very much. Vasto has been a whirlwind, tons of food, beach and a little bit of shopping. Lino and Amalia have been taking great care of Tracy, Allie and I. I'm spoiled now and will have to bring the life style down for the next leg of this trip. I saw my first man thong the other day, trauma.

Poco Mangiare

I am having the same problem this time as last time, real Italians eat tons of seafood with the head and eyes still attatched. Not only is it difficult to figure out what part and how to eat it but it's disconcerting when my food has eyes! Lino, Giuseppe's dad, apologizes for me not eating much so I told them I was vegetarian but I'll eat some meat while I'm here. Scusi poco mangiare. I took pictures for dad.

Aqualand

Our first day in Vasto we went to Aqualand, which you can probably figure out is a water park. When in line Italian kids can be compared to scooters or motorcycles in traffic, they can weave in and out of the bigger cars and SUV's to make their way to the front. This is quite annoying for this car so I would stick my butt in front of them and, to my amusement, one of them ran into it with his head. There aren't as many regulations here and you can go down head first, it also seems that the slides are faster than the ones back home. This, however, is not the most amusing part because most of the guys here wears Speedos and for me it's like watching a car wreck, I can't look away. I guess with girls you can tell if their boobs are bigger but you don't know what's going on downstairs. You can see everything though when a guy wears what we have been calling "marble sacks." I wonder if I'll get used to it over the next couple of weeks.

Allie's 1st International Trip

I have limited access to internet since leaving London so I'll add a few but posts will be more sparse.
After 9 hours of packing for 9 pounds of cuteness we were on the train to Stansted, a London airport that is an hour train ride away, one of many firsts, it was Allie's first train ride. We checked in to the Radisson which would have been ordinary but there was a 40ft wine tower surrounded by glass walls with a trapeze artist inside. She had a couple feet of clearance between the wine and the glass and some sort of system would pull her up and down the 40 ft while she did her tricks. (pix to follow when I get back to London.) We were up at 6am the next morning to get to the airport, tiring day. Everything went smoothly, we had to taste all 6 bottles (they only allowed 100ml in each) when we went through security. Allie slept the whole flight and 2hrs later we arrived in Pescara, Italy, just about an hour drive from Vasto. Vasto is East of Rome on the Adriatic Sea, Mari de Adriatico. Giuseppe's parents are welcoming as always and dote on the baby like she's royalty.

I'm with the DJ!

Went out last night and was inspired enough by London fashion to don a one-sie. (Let's see if I can figure out how to upload a pic.) We took a cab over to Camden Town and went to a bar surrounded by a hippie commune, letting their kid hang on a market stall frame and changing the baby's cloth diaper(called a nappy here). Did I mention that she breast fed him at the bar? Usually if you see a boob in a bar it's for a different purpose. After a drink with no hielo we went to The Roundhouse, a venue hosting the Itunes concert series, and asked for them to let us in. Needless to say I'm with the DJ and we got to see Nationals, it's ok I have no idea who they are either, for free. There was a drunk couple there doing a most awkward little mating dance, I was embarassed for them but it was entertaining. Jet lag has been most difficult today but I got up at 8am and made myself stay awake. It helped to have a nice date with Tracy and the baby, dim sum and sparkling wine at Regent's Park and a walk through the rose garden, reminded me of Portland a little.

How come every time I come around my London London...

So I've been in London a couple of days now and it is amazing. First of all it's hot, second the people and the fashion are inspiring. There are people everywhere. I know we are right in the city and people put more effort into their appearance but my goodness girls in your fancy dresses, glad I brought a couple myself, and boys in your business clothes all busy and going somwehere. Until the evening when they all merge outside of pubs, sitting in their fancy clothes on sidewalks drinking beer and laughing loudly.

Cheers!

I arrived in London yesterday and succeeded in not getting lost although dragging my suitcase around the tube (subway) and the city was a pain in the fanny. Just kidding, you can't say fanny here becuse it means vagina.
Jet lag is just about as bad as a hangover. Tracy's apartment is cool, they are the only tentants in a cosmetic surgery clinic. (No I haven't signed up for anything yet.) Of course Allie is darling and she pooped on Tracy this morning. Sleeping has been wierd so I took the 5am feeding this morning. We are getting ready to go out now.

P.S. Dad- it was a 747, a bunch o feet of wingspan and tall too. Sorry, can't remember the footage but every seat had a personal entertainment sytem where you could watch movies, TV and listen to music.

Blame Canada!

So my adventure begins in Canada. Single people are easier to bump off of flights than families. Things are looking up though; I missed out on the flight with two screaming kids wearing leashes to a flight that leaves 3 hours later, got $500 future travel on Air Canada and $10 in airport food. Yay? Sure, why not, I'm traveling for fun, no deadlines, schedules or screaming kids on leashes.