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.