I almost wet my pants.
We got up this morning and prepared to leave for the drive home, and in the haze of fatigue and pain (I swear, those damn pants rubbed a friggin hole in my leg!) I made a rookie mistake before we hit the road. I chugged an entire 16 oz bottle of water before we left the hotel room for the last time. We went to the shop in the lobby and I purchased a 16 oz bottle of protein stuff for breakfast (easier to handle in the car than food) and a 12 oz cup of iced coffee. I was finished with both before we had made it out of Orlando proper, and didn’t think anything of it until we had been driving for about 45 minutes and my body (as it does) reminded me that I can’t hold that amount of liquid forever.
Trouble was, see, was that we weren’t exactly in a place where relief was possible. The joys of driving on the interstate, no? Oh, and we hit a traffic slow down just about that time as well, so even if there had been an exit just up ahead, it wasn’t one we would have reached in a timely manner. So I persevered. It didn’t take long, however, until the situation became somewhat urgent. Steve accidentally missed the exit that would have provided relief, and then we hit a section of road under construction, and then there wasn't another exit for miles!
I don't know if you've ever had to turn calmly towards your spouse and say "You know, I'm probably, actually, going to wet my pants and I apologize that you'll have to see me like that." If not, you have not lived the humiliation I had to undergo at that moment. Y'all, we drove, and drove, and droooooooooooooooooove, and I forced myself to exercise a level of control over myself that was, heretofore, only known to some subsets of Shaolin monks in the very highest and most isolated of mountain caves. I honestly began to weigh the pros and cons of jumping out of the car and trying to find sufficient coverage in the roadside brush, but thanks to the Lord, Steve's driving skills through clogged traffic, and the Florida DOT, we finally found a turn off and a restroom. Whew.
At this same stop, we managed to also find some locally made marmalade, oranges, horrible local souvenirs, AND an entire taxidermy alligator! One stop shop, indeed!
After that, we went on our way, thankfully able to stop as the spirit, and our bladders, moved us. We stopped at one Florida welcome center that warned us against venomous snakes! There was another place called the Magnolia Plantation in Georgia that has very nice bathrooms and excellent peanut brittle. We got hit by a swarm of biting gnats at yet another Georgia rest area, and stopped at IKEA for lunch. Well, we actually stopped at IKEA to get something for Anthony, as a thank you for making sure the neighborhood stray cats didn't go hungry in my absence, but we ate in their cafeteria.
I actually like road trips, and this one (save the bathroom situation early on) was fairly smooth. Once we made it back to Alabama, we had to make a stop at a Wal-Mart to get bread so we'd have sandwiches once we got home. I was unprepared for the emptiness I was faced with once we got there, but apparently people don't like bread with seeds in it, so we did manage to get something to carry home. Yikes.
We made it home at about 9:00 PM, and Simba was very glad to see us. Apparently he thought he'd been abandoned, and needed about an hour of sitting directly on my body before he was convinced we were actually home.
It was a long, but very good trip, all things considered. I'm glad we're home, though, and I'm ready to sleep in my own bed. Now, let's see what will happen from here!
Stay safe and healthy, you guys.
Showing posts with label Blogged Along the Way. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogged Along the Way. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: ORLANDO, FLORIDA, MARCH 13, 2020
Ok, hear me out...
We went to Disney World today. It was one of the things that we’d
planned to do, the tickets were bought, and it’s literally Steve’s
favorite place on earth. That’s not an exaggeration. It holds a lot of
sentimental value to him and the trip there meant a lot to him. I felt
very weird about going, but I didn’t want to disappoint him. So we went.
I expected that it wouldn’t be crowded, because things have been
getting hairy with COVID-19 since we left Huntsville last Sunday and people were being told to stay home. I’d
hoped that, if it weren’t crowded, then we wouldn’t be in as much risk.
As it turns out, I was very, very wrong.
People won’t go to work. People won’t go to school. People won’t go
to church, the grocery store (except to hoard toilet paper for some reason), or to the mall. But people will
absolutely go to fuckin’ Disney World. They will go and take their kids,
their tiny babies, their old grandmothers and pawpaws. It felt like the
whole state of Florida was in those parks with us not giving one damn
about anything else going in right now. It was crowded beyond anything
I’ve ever seen when I've been there. It blew my mind.
I’d like to think it was society
bravely giving the finger to danger, but what it really is, is misplaced
priorities and bad judgement. I include us in that statement.
I can’t really throw stones, since I was there too, but I genuinely
thought more people would have better sense than to brings kinds and
elderly people into the parks, but I give people too much credit.
Look, I enjoyed the day as much as I could. It was hot, crowded,
and loud, but it was fun watching Steve have fun, and he (knowing DW is
not at all my favorite place to be) wanted so badly for me to have fun
with him that I did my best to oblige. We rode in the Millennium Falcon
and had blue milk in Galaxy’s Edge, we went all around the world in
Epcot, and we went into the miserably packed Magic Kingdom and only
managed to get on one ride before we had to leave. I did begin to lose
my sense of humor about being there around the time I got packed into a
queue line with roughly a million other people to ride Pirates of the
Caribbean, and that was the end of our day. I just couldn’t deal
anymore. We made one last stop at a shop and then hopped a bus back to
the car to drive out to our final hotel near the airport.
I had fun, I truly did, and I am so glad Steve had fun, but I’m not
going to lie: I felt like an asshole for going to that theme park. I
knew I was exposing myself to a potential illness that I could pass on
to someone else, and it seems so dumb in hindsight. Earlier in the week,
I didn’t feel so much that way, but after being inundated with
everything going on in social media, and people getting asked to stay
home from, well, everything, and finding out even Disney would be
closing next week, in the end, I really, genuinely felt like an asshole
for the possibility of what could happen. I still do.
Ah well, nothing can be changed now. I’ll have to deal with the
fallout if it happens. I don’t expect sympathy if it does. Maybe I
really am just an asshole.
Two funny things happened: 1) Steve and I were riding the sky
bucket/gondolas things from one park to another, and four other people
got into our pod. Since we are in the South, of course pollen was super
thick there. I have awful seasonal allergies, and had taken medicine to
help, but I got a tickle in my throat while in that pod. I knew if I
coughed, it would scare those folks, so I had to stifle it. Have you
ever tried not to cough? It is impossible! I finally had to turn to the
people (who were eyeing me quite warily by this point) and say “Sorry!
Don’t be scared! I swear I’m just allergic to pine trees!” They laughed
and seemed to relax, but I felt so bad! 2) Steve and I had lunch at the
Rose & Crown restaurant, which is located in the UK part of EPCOT.
(Aside: will they remove England from that part of EPCOT after Brexit?)
It was hot, and we were pretty dehydrated by that point, but I ordered
something called a Welsh Dragon, which was electric green and mildly (I
thought) alcoholic. Apparently, being dehydrated and drinking booze is a
bad mix. By the time we were done, and in the Canadian pavilion
“Circlevision” show, I almost lost the ability to stand under my own
power. Luckily, though, I got a hold of myself before face planting in
the theater. Also, just FYI, being slightly (or more) tipsy makes Disney much more
fun! Hehe!
One very not funny thing happened and it was possibly karmic in
nature. I wore a pair of baggy linen pants to the
park. During the course of the day, they got wet (as pants do in theme
parks with water and such) and I don’t know if it was a problem with the
inner seam, or because of the way they fit, or what, but they chafed my
legs so badly that it drew blood! Oh, dear heavens, I’ve never
had that kind of pain with walking in my life before! It was like
walking with knives stabbing me right in the thigh! If you ever want to know about places
your body rubs up against itself that you had no idea about, let me know
and I’ll let you know where to get pants like that! Youch.
Tomorrow we drive home. I'm going to miss being in Florida, but I think I"ll feel better not having to go out into crowds for a bit until all the craziness dies down.
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: TAMPA, FLORIDA, MARCH 12, 2020
I decided that I was going to hang out at the Hotel today instead
of driving anywhere on my own. It’s a combination of laziness, not
wanting to drive in Tampa traffic (which is nuts), and not really
knowing what I’d do once I was out there anyway. My main plan was to go
to the beach, but since we went yesterday, and since I couldn’t really
swim or have a place to clean up or anything, I’m cool not going. Plus,
it means Steve will have the car instead of calling an Uber, so he can
have a little more freedom while he’s at his conference. When I first
decided not to go anywhere on my own, I felt like I was being cowardly,
but after some internal searching, I realize I just want to be on my own
today. I’m feeling hermity. Hehe.
I think it’s great that Steve got invited to speak at this event.
He is considered a cyber security expert, so not only will he speak, he
will be on a panel. I’m actually curious to see if many people will be
there after all, though.
I spent the day in the room watching Amazon Prime stuff, mainly. I
did go to the vending machine at some point, but mostly just enjoyed
myself in the room in various ways until Steve texted me with plans for when his
conference would be over.
The only thing of note that I did today was go have dinner at a
swanky hotel restaurant with one of Steve’s coworkers and his wife,
which was a lot of fun. It was the hotel where the New York Yankees and the Detroit Lions were staying during their spring training. Unfortunately, they had all gone by the time we got there because of their training being cancelled. BOO!!!! But we had some good food, fun conversation, and beautiful
scenery anyways.
Not a bad way to end the day!
Monday, March 16, 2020
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: TAMPA, FLORIDA, MARCH 11, 2020
Today we didn’t know what we were going to do. Steve had to stop by a convention for a bit. He is due to speak and be on a panel discussion about Cybersecurity tomorrow, but he needed to meet with the lady who set up the conference to get some information. They have no way of knowing if people who signed up to be at the conference will actually come a5 this point, but the show must go on, I guess.
Since I’m going to be on my own for most of the day tomorrow, I asked Steve to go with me today after his obligations were fulfilled, so I’d know where the beaches are, in case I decide to drive out there myself while he was at his thing. I know that is what GPS is for, but I didn’t think it could hurt to have a dry run!
We drove over Tampa Bay and into St. Petersburg. Well actually, we ended up in a place called Treasure Island, but I never found out if that was a town, or the name of a neighborhood. It was so cute! There were a lot of very well preserved, old hotels along the beach, maybe from the 50’s or 60’s? I dunno, but we drove around until we ended up in Madeira Beach, and Steve and I took a walk so I could find some seashells! That is one of my very favorite activities, so I was excited to do it. I found my firs pieces of urchin shell in the wild, and a few mostly whole pin shells! We walked for about an hour and then drove around some more. We looked for cheesy beach shops to see what kind of awful souvenirs that were out this year, but surprisingly, we didn’t find much. I guess St. Pete must be a nicer sort of place? Eh, oh well.
Steve had a phone meeting to attend, so we came back to the hotel to get cleaned up, because after his meeting, we indeed went back to the Colombian Restaurant! We weren’t just going back for the food, but we were also went back to see the Flamenco show they have. It was so cool! It doesn’t look like a hard dance to learn, but I think that’s the trick. I know I’d never be able to do it! The dancers were very good, and we had a great time. The food was still excellent, although I ate way too much -but who can resist churros?- and I’m very glad I was told about the place!
By the time we got back, again, we were so tired that we went straight to bed. However, we both woke up in the middle of the night. Not cool. Save the first day, this whole trip has been a series of being tired, and not being able to sleep well, which makes us tired, but doesn’t let us sleep well. It’s weird. It also doesn’t help that since I’ve been up, I’ve been inundated with panic posts/articles about the Coronavirus and now I feel guilty for not being home, hiding in my house. I’m stuck between wanting to be careful and wanting to live my damn life. Ugh. Well, we’ll be living our damn lives this week. People will probably think we’re a couple of assholes for that, I guess.
Sigh.
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY ORLANDO TO TAMPA, FLORIDA, MARCH 10, 2020
Ok, first off, do not judge me.
Colleges are stopping in person classes in favor of online work.
Conferences, concerts, and other large group activities are being
cancelled left and right. People are now being urged to work from home.
We’ve had friends lose hundreds of dollars by simply not going to events
that they’ve already paid for because there would be a crowd of people
in one place. It’s kind of crazy, but an understandable kind of crazy,
because right now, no one really knows the scope, incubation, and
transmission rate of the Coronavirus. All of this makes sense to me. But
guess what we did today?
Universal Studios.
Shut. up.
Ok, hear me out... yeah, I really don’t know why we did this either, but damn the torpedoes, I guess.*shrug*
If it sounds weird that we took a day in the middle of a work trip
to go to a theme park (during a budding pandemic, no less) it all came
down to timing. Originally, Steve was going to fly down here today, and
so had no work planned. At the last minute, a meeting with a client got
added On Monday, so we drove down on Sunday, and with that out of the
way, we had Tuesday (Today) free. Get it? Got it? Good!
You’d think that, with the afore mentioned pandemic, places like
Universal Studios would be much less crowded. To be fair, maybe it was,
but it didn’t look like it. We didn’t have to wait in extremely long
lines, but there were still a lot of people there. I spent a great
amount of time trying not to touch railings, handles, and surfaces, and I
took the chance to wash my hands whenever I could, but let’s face it. I
was at a theme park in Florida. If I don’t come home with Coronavirus,
there is a good chance I got measles or second hand syphilis from
someone we stood next to in line. I don’t know. Half of me is horrified
that we went, and half of me knows you can’t live your life terrified of
what ifs, and the other half of me (I’m a big woman, so yeah) is
wondering if I’ll get sick and die myself, or accidentally kill someone
with germs and knowing I’ll never forgive myself if it happens.
We actually had fun, all things considered. We rode the rides, we
visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (my fave) and just enjoyed
the day. The weather was amazing, the park had a Mardi Gras celebration
going on, and we got to eat at an award winning theme park restaurant!
Hehe, yes, that is what the sign said! My food (I ordered gnocchi
bolognese) was not so great. It tasted EXACTLY, and I mean exactly, like
canned ravioli. This leaves me with two unsettling possibilities: 1) We
paid theme park food prices (stupid high) for canned Italian food in a
fancy plate. Or 2) If a trained chef, or cook, or whatever, wins awards
for making food like that, we have not been giving Chef Boyardee enough
credit for his excellent food!
I was completely exhausted by the time we were finished for the
day, so we stopped by Voodoo Donuts for some sugar and caffeine, and
then it the road for Tampa, where we will be for the next couple of
days.
We finally got there (it seemed to take forever) and then took some
excellent advice and had dinner at the Columbia Restaurant, which is
the oldest restaurants in Florida. It is family owned and serves Spanish food. It was delish, and we already think we will go back tomorrow
to try some other stuff and watch the Flamenco show!
Now we’re back and I’m so tired and ready for bed!
Sunday, March 15, 2020
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: ORLANDO, FLORIDA, MARCH 9, 2020
Steve had to go to work this morning. I was awake while he got ready, and so he explained Uber to me since I’ve never used it, in case I wanted to go somewhere. We are basically across the street from UCF, and maybe some shops, but I couldn’t think of anywhere around here I wanted to go that couldn’t wait until he got back. Once he was gone, I Basically I spent a cozy, sleepy, even slightly hedonistic morning buried in puffy hotel blankets and fifty giant pillows. Like God intended.
Ok, actually, my hedonism got a little out of hand. I fell asleep again until almost noon. I regret nothing. I finally made myself get up and shower, so I could go get something to eat. I wasn’t hungry, but I knew if I waited, I’d end up hangry, and no one wants that. Steve actually got finished with his work for the day just after 1:00, so he and I had lunch together and came back to the room so he could finish some work stuff before a deadline.
Ok, actually, my hedonism got a little out of hand. I fell asleep again until almost noon. I regret nothing. I finally made myself get up and shower, so I could go get something to eat. I wasn’t hungry, but I knew if I waited, I’d end up hangry, and no one wants that. Steve actually got finished with his work for the day just after 1:00, so he and I had lunch together and came back to the room so he could finish some work stuff before a deadline.
After he was done, we took a drive around where we are staying. Ostensibly, we were looking for a Publix so we could get a toll pass (hastared toll roads are everywhere) but we also stopped at a place called Kung Fu Tea and got boba. What I really wanted to do was go find the gift shop for UCF so I could buy a sweatshirt, but we never found it! If we did find it, we never found where we could park. It was so freaking frustrating. I mean, the campus is basically a series of concentric circles, so it shouldn’t have been hard, but it was. We basically followed the rule of “don’t make it hard for us to spend our money at your establishment” and we gave up.
Today ended up being very chill and uneventful, but I didn’t mind. This isn’t a normal vacation, after all, and we have other stuff planned for the week, so it will get more exciting, I think!
Addendum: My allergies have kicked in high gear. I don’t know what it is I’m allergic to, but I’ve been sniffing, sneezing, and coughing all day. I’m afraid that I’m going to get tackled by strangers and taken to a CDC facility before I can explain that I’m just allergic to the outside.
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: ORLANDO, FLORIDA MARCH 8, 2020
Since mid February, Steve has been traveling for work quite a bit. He was in California for a couple of weeks (he finally got to go to the OG Disneyland!) and was scheduled to fly to Orlando, FL last Sunday for a job that would keep him there for a week...as well as give him a chance to go to Disney World. Let’s not pretend that wasn’t on the table. Hehe
I did consider not going along, to be quite honest. When Steve goes out of town, there are certain activities I enjoy having the freedom to do. I can watch whatever I want on TV, eat when and what I feel like, go to bed at 7:30 just to watch Netflix under the covers until I fall asleep, as well as other stuff that I guess would fall under the category of guilty pleasures, but let’s be real, I don’t ever feel guilty about the things that give me pleasure! :) I’d even sent some feelers out to a friend about getting together, but hadn’t heard back from them yet. Sometimes it’s nice to have the house to yourself for a couple of days, but also, I do love a good road trip! I also love to visit other places and try new stuff, and although I would be visiting Disney World (*Forrest Gump Voice*) AGAIN, I decided that a trip was just what I needed.
Of course, we all know the panic the US has been living under for the past few weeks about COVID-19, and how the idea of flying has been collectively giving us all the willies, so as Steve was beginning to pack for his new trip, I casually mentioned that it was too bad he wasn’t driving. He’d done it before, lots of times, and although it’s a roughly 9 hour and change drive, he never seemed to mind it. Plus...being in a car alone reduces the chances some germ laden stranger would cough on him. I also, just joking, said that if he drove, I could go too!
To my surprise, he warmed to the idea! Well, we warmed to the idea of driving, and almost immediately decided that would be what he’d do. Then, slowly, we started circling the idea of me going as well. Going along on someone else’s work trips can be a bit tricky. They will be working, which leaves you on your own during the day, usually without a vehicle. Plus, if there are meetings, or client dinners, that can cause some issues after work hours. We talked about me going along for while and, although he seemed amenable to the idea, I asked him Pointedly if he wanted me to go to make sure I wouldn’t be in the way, and he said “You can do it if you want.”
Ok, let me stop here for a moment and go on a tangent. If there is a phrase used in the process of making plans that I hate more than just about anything, it’s “you can if you want to.” That is as frustrating and non-commital as you can get, and if a person (like myself) wants to know how someone else feels about a particular idea, that phrase is completely loaded. Of course I can go if I want to. We live in America! I can do almost anything I want! However, I want to know if YOU want me to do something, and that is a completely different thing. I recognize that the other person is giving me the freedom to make a choice, which is good, but I also need feedback. I live in perpetual fear that I am going to end up someplace where I’m not wanted. That is not a joke. It is one of those weird glitches in my brain, but I have an actual, deeply instilled fear of intruding into things/getting other people involved in things they don’t want to do. I may be one of the few people in the world where you can say you don’t want me someplace who won’t get wildly insulted. Seriously, about ten years ago I went to a wedding that I asked if I should come, was told “you can come if you want to” and against every instinctive had, I went, and I haven’t ever been able to shake the feeling I crashed it. You can ask the groom if you don’t believe me. It plagues me!
Anyways, Let’s circle back to the subject. Hehe!
I did consider not going along, to be quite honest. When Steve goes out of town, there are certain activities I enjoy having the freedom to do. I can watch whatever I want on TV, eat when and what I feel like, go to bed at 7:30 just to watch Netflix under the covers until I fall asleep, as well as other stuff that I guess would fall under the category of guilty pleasures, but let’s be real, I don’t ever feel guilty about the things that give me pleasure! :) I’d even sent some feelers out to a friend about getting together, but hadn’t heard back from them yet. Sometimes it’s nice to have the house to yourself for a couple of days, but also, I do love a good road trip! I also love to visit other places and try new stuff, and although I would be visiting Disney World (*Forrest Gump Voice*) AGAIN, I decided that a trip was just what I needed.
So that is how I found myself in the passenger seat of a rented Camero, driving south, and on an adventure! The drive somehow felt simultaneously fast, and as if it took forever. With our busy Saturday and losing an hour, I was running on three hours of sleep and in a state of half asleep almost the whole way. We stopped quite a bit for different reasons, and of course we washed our hands at every place we visited. My go to washing song is the chorus to”The Gambler.” If sung at tempo, it lasts 23 seconds, which gives you time to rinse! I was going to learn “Jolene” but that song makes me too angry. Gurl, if your husband is in love with Jolene, it’s your husband you need to talk to. Oy.
By the time we got to our hotel, I was on the edge of exhaustion. We went out for dinner (at an excellent Mexican restaurant with a mariachi band, and while the music was great, it was so loud. The trumpet player was right by our table, and I felt like he was slapping me with music!) and came back to the hotel* and went to bed. It was a long, but fun, day!
*The family in the next room have what sounds like twelve screaming kids in there. We called the front desk and complained because we could clearly hear everything they were saying through the walls. I felt like a jerk to complain, but it was either that, or try and sleep while their three year old screamed directly into the vent that went between our rooms. Thankfully, after someone from the front desk went to talk to them, they quieted down. Whew.
Thursday, July 19, 2018
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: BONJOUR! EDITION: JUNE 19
You know, I never-ever say this when I'm on vacation, but I think I'm ready to go home.
Don't get me wrong, I've had an absolute blast on this trip, and I love exploring new places and trying new things, and I genuinely like the people I'm here with, but I'm ready to not be doing any of those things and not being around these people for a while. Well, except for Steve, but that can't be helped.
I've come to this conclusion because I heard Steve chew today and wanted to shove him off of a building. Actually, I think I'm just ready to have some time to myself for a bit, back in my own house, maybe go to a store without an entourage, and not wear pants for longer than an hour at a time. It is possible to be genuinely fond of the people you are traveling with and be sick to death of being with them every hour of ever day. I think that's where I am right now. No malice intended, just...tired. Luckily for all of us, this is our last full day on the trip, so hopefully the feeling of slight irritation we have with each other will get no worse.
Having said that, though, today has been a lot of fun! We only had a couple of places we were scheduled to be today, so we took our leisure in getting up and having breakfast this morning. You know how I said the children were out of control yesterday? They were worse today. I don't think they are bad kids, but they are with parents on vacation who seem to have 100% checked out of parenting them and they are just running buck wild. Oy. At any rate, we got all that taken care of and jumped back on the subway to do a bit more site seeing. Oh, we've finally figured out how to use the subway! You can't look for where you want to go, but the terminus of the line you want to be on. It's all very backwards, but makes sense when you look at the maps.
Today we had tickets to the Eiffel Tower! Woot! We were actually scheduled to go at a certain time, but our usual group decided to head out there early to take some photos and see what is around. There is a lot of construction around the base of the tower. They are building some kind of safety wall or barrier around it that is bullet proof. It's a shame that something like that is necessary, but that is the world we live in right now, I guess. We stopped along the street in front of the tower and had a fun little photo shoot.
Don't get me wrong, I've had an absolute blast on this trip, and I love exploring new places and trying new things, and I genuinely like the people I'm here with, but I'm ready to not be doing any of those things and not being around these people for a while. Well, except for Steve, but that can't be helped.
I've come to this conclusion because I heard Steve chew today and wanted to shove him off of a building. Actually, I think I'm just ready to have some time to myself for a bit, back in my own house, maybe go to a store without an entourage, and not wear pants for longer than an hour at a time. It is possible to be genuinely fond of the people you are traveling with and be sick to death of being with them every hour of ever day. I think that's where I am right now. No malice intended, just...tired. Luckily for all of us, this is our last full day on the trip, so hopefully the feeling of slight irritation we have with each other will get no worse.
Having said that, though, today has been a lot of fun! We only had a couple of places we were scheduled to be today, so we took our leisure in getting up and having breakfast this morning. You know how I said the children were out of control yesterday? They were worse today. I don't think they are bad kids, but they are with parents on vacation who seem to have 100% checked out of parenting them and they are just running buck wild. Oy. At any rate, we got all that taken care of and jumped back on the subway to do a bit more site seeing. Oh, we've finally figured out how to use the subway! You can't look for where you want to go, but the terminus of the line you want to be on. It's all very backwards, but makes sense when you look at the maps.
Today we had tickets to the Eiffel Tower! Woot! We were actually scheduled to go at a certain time, but our usual group decided to head out there early to take some photos and see what is around. There is a lot of construction around the base of the tower. They are building some kind of safety wall or barrier around it that is bullet proof. It's a shame that something like that is necessary, but that is the world we live in right now, I guess. We stopped along the street in front of the tower and had a fun little photo shoot.
Oui, bitches.
Lots more photos were made, just not with my phone. I wish I had them, but I'll have to wait until we get around to sharing them, I guess! We walked through the park and went ahead and got in the security line so that we could be searched and whatnot. They don't let you take much up there! It was too early to get in line (as we had a scheduled time to go) so we hung out underneath the tower for a while.
This feels uncomfortably like an upskirt photo. My apologies, tower!
I had already known that the Eiffel Tower had only been intended to be a fancy showpiece for the 1887-1889 World's Fair, but what I didn't know was that it's pieces were all made someplace else and just assembled at it's current site. So basically we were standing in line to be carted up with hundreds of other people onto the world's oldest IKEA coat rack. Yeah, that made me feel safe! Haha!
The view from the second level was amazing. I took a few photos, but mostly just looked. You can really see everywhere from up there, so if you get a chance, you should go up there! I know it seems hopelessly touristy and maybe a little cheesy, but still...it's worth it!
We left the tower and headed to the only other thing we had on our list to do today, and that was take a cruise down the river Seine. For some reason I thought it was a dinner cruise, but no, it was just a nice drive down the river. We sat inside the boat instead of on top, so I didn't get any photos, but it was nice just to rest our feet and enjoy the ride. I have no idea how long the trip took, maybe an hour or so, but it was a fun way to see the buildings along the river. I think the original idea had been to do this particular tour at night, but we went ahead and did it during the day. No city of lights for us!
After landing, we walked around a bit more. We had dinner at a very French outdoor cafe (making up for Five Guys the day before.) We found a small chocolate shop and bought a few things, wondered along several streets just looking about, and then headed back towards our hotel so that we could go back to the creperie that we'd gone to on our first day in the city! I didn't take any pictures of what I ordered, but it was full of ice cream and chocolate and pears, and although that combination sounds gross, it was not! That was really a great way to end our trip, by the way. Relaxing in a cute shop that sold delicious things. Every day should end like that.
We finally had to come back to the hotel and get everything organized for the trip home tomorrow. I wish this was a place I could come more often and see more of, because even though I'm ready to go home, there is still so much I'd like to see here. Eh, that just means I'll have to come back! No problem!
Heh, I did a weird thing on the way back to our room. Someone had ordered room service and had left the tray outside of their door when they were done. I saw some little bottles on the tray and wanted to know what they were, so I snagged one as I passed by. It was a cute little jar of mustard! I love tiny condiments! I didn't want to linger and make anyone who saw me think I was eating off of the tray, so I took it with me and now I'm not sure what to do with it. I mean, it's unopened, so I guess I'll take it home? Is that weird?
Damn, I'm tired.
Monday, July 16, 2018
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: BONJOUR! EDITION: JUNE 18
EEEEEEEEEE!!!
OK, before I explain that, let me be normal. Did you know this hotel has very good breakfast? I mean, there are a lot of hotels that have breakfast in the morning that is just fine, but breakfast here is good in particular. Also, the children in this place are getting out of hand. That probably sounds a lot like an anti-child "Get-off-my-lawn" statement, but I promise it isn't. Well behaved kids, or even kids that are just acting like normal kids are fine. The children here are BADLY behaved and no one does anything about it! Steve got water thrown on him in the lobby, and there are a lot of kids just screaming and running around unsupervised. I'm glad we didn't have to hang around the hotel much today!
As much as I enjoyed Spain, I'm think I'm enjoying Paris just a bit more. Mainly it's because every minute of every day hasn't been planned out for us. We do have things planned for is, but it's all very only-if-you-want-to-go-or-not and I appreciate that. Today we had a tour bus and a tour guide for a bit, which was nice. There are lots of things to do in the city, but walking everywhere takes so much time and it's a pain to try to find everything on your own. The only problem I had today was that as we were being taken around the city in the bus, I got TERRIBLY car sick. It was bad. I didn't actually puke, thank goodness, but I had to close my eyes and keep my head down almost the entire ride so I didn't actually see many of the things that we were being shown. I'm such a weenie dog. Oy.
By the time that we made our first stop, I was feeling a bit better. We stopped at, well, I don't know what it is called, but a big touristy area between two museums where you could see the Eiffel Tower and take some pictures!
That seems to be a very gloomy photo of a beautiful monument, but we got back on the bus and drove around to the other side of it and this was the view:
Weird.
The tour bus took us into the heart of the city so that we could see Notre Dame. It was very crowded, and we didn't go in, but it was amazing to see it up close!
After we left, Anthony, Steve and I went to a restaurant to kill some time. I had the weirdest experience in the bathroom. (No, not like that!) I went down to use the facilities and put my coin in (blast those pay to use toilets!) opened the door, and immediately hit someone on the other side. Of course, my first reaction was to say "SORRY!" and I let the door close. Damnit! That was the only coin I had! The door opened and a lady was in there and she said "Oh, it's alright!" and I noticed that it wasn't just a single bathroom, but a small bathroom with two stalls. OK, then. She let me in and I went to do the thing, and I thought she'd left, but when I opened the door to the stall, the lady was standing there with her top off! WTF?! She said "Oh, I'm sorry! I haven't put my shirt back on yet." and I just hid in the stall again until I was sure she was gone. I literally have no idea what was going on, and I don't want to know, but I hope that doesn't happen again.
We got back on our bus about an hour later and (dun dun DUUUUUUN) we were taken to the Louvre! EEEEEEEEEEEE! I have always wanted to go to the Louvre. As someone who studied a LOT of art in college, I can't explain how much I had been looking forward to actually being in front of all of the cool stuff I'd only seen in books! Our tour guide, Oxan, split us up into two groups and we were on our way. Now, I was thrilled to be inside the Louvre, and I knew that there would be a lot of people in there, but I was not prepared at all at the sheer number of people that we saw inside that day. I mean, I don't think my hometown has that many people in it. Holy smokes. We were shunted from side to side, and had to dodge huge tour groups. I know that part of the issue was because our tour leader was taking us to see the most famous exhibits there: The Venus de Milo (Aphrodite de Milo, we were told is the correct title), Winged Victory, and the Mona Lisa! *heavy breathing*
I couldn't get a good picture of the Mona Lisa because people are rude and that one room was packed from one side to the other with people who didn't have any manners.
Y'all, I about peed my pants. I genuinely don't think you understand how overwhelmed I was to be in the presence of these things. Actually, I was overwhelmed to be in the presence of a lot of what I saw, but I have read and studied and learned about all of this stuff and I never once thought I'd actually get to see any of it in person. I only wish I could have gotten nearer to them, but that was impossible. My favorite by far was Winged Victory, because seriously, that thing is made of marble. MARBLE! Look at how it flows and folds, and you can see details of the body underneath. Can you imagine the skill it took to carve something so fluid and with so much movement?! You can almost feel the wind that blows the tunic around the figure. Something about standing right there and looking at such an amazing, ancient creation made fighting the crowds completely worth it. I'd give anything if I could go back sometime when it wasn't so crowded and get my fill of looking, but who knows if that will ever happen. This was truly a mind blowing experience for me.
I had a very bizarre issue being in the Louvre, though. I couldn't put my damn phone/camera down. I was in, arguably, one of the best museums in the world and I kept taking pictures of what I was looking at instead of actually looking at the pictures. I had to keep making myself put my phone away and then I'd pull it out and take another picture of what I was looking at. Why was I doing that?! I can find pictures of the things in there online, I don't need to take pictures, but I did. I finally decided to just leave my phone in my purse and actually experience what I was seeing, which made the rest of our visit enjoyable. I did take out my phone and take a few more pictures, but only if I had my absolute fill of looking at the thing first.
OK, before I explain that, let me be normal. Did you know this hotel has very good breakfast? I mean, there are a lot of hotels that have breakfast in the morning that is just fine, but breakfast here is good in particular. Also, the children in this place are getting out of hand. That probably sounds a lot like an anti-child "Get-off-my-lawn" statement, but I promise it isn't. Well behaved kids, or even kids that are just acting like normal kids are fine. The children here are BADLY behaved and no one does anything about it! Steve got water thrown on him in the lobby, and there are a lot of kids just screaming and running around unsupervised. I'm glad we didn't have to hang around the hotel much today!
As much as I enjoyed Spain, I'm think I'm enjoying Paris just a bit more. Mainly it's because every minute of every day hasn't been planned out for us. We do have things planned for is, but it's all very only-if-you-want-to-go-or-not and I appreciate that. Today we had a tour bus and a tour guide for a bit, which was nice. There are lots of things to do in the city, but walking everywhere takes so much time and it's a pain to try to find everything on your own. The only problem I had today was that as we were being taken around the city in the bus, I got TERRIBLY car sick. It was bad. I didn't actually puke, thank goodness, but I had to close my eyes and keep my head down almost the entire ride so I didn't actually see many of the things that we were being shown. I'm such a weenie dog. Oy.
By the time that we made our first stop, I was feeling a bit better. We stopped at, well, I don't know what it is called, but a big touristy area between two museums where you could see the Eiffel Tower and take some pictures!
That seems to be a very gloomy photo of a beautiful monument, but we got back on the bus and drove around to the other side of it and this was the view:
Weird.
The tour bus took us into the heart of the city so that we could see Notre Dame. It was very crowded, and we didn't go in, but it was amazing to see it up close!
After we left, Anthony, Steve and I went to a restaurant to kill some time. I had the weirdest experience in the bathroom. (No, not like that!) I went down to use the facilities and put my coin in (blast those pay to use toilets!) opened the door, and immediately hit someone on the other side. Of course, my first reaction was to say "SORRY!" and I let the door close. Damnit! That was the only coin I had! The door opened and a lady was in there and she said "Oh, it's alright!" and I noticed that it wasn't just a single bathroom, but a small bathroom with two stalls. OK, then. She let me in and I went to do the thing, and I thought she'd left, but when I opened the door to the stall, the lady was standing there with her top off! WTF?! She said "Oh, I'm sorry! I haven't put my shirt back on yet." and I just hid in the stall again until I was sure she was gone. I literally have no idea what was going on, and I don't want to know, but I hope that doesn't happen again.
We got back on our bus about an hour later and (dun dun DUUUUUUN) we were taken to the Louvre! EEEEEEEEEEEE! I have always wanted to go to the Louvre. As someone who studied a LOT of art in college, I can't explain how much I had been looking forward to actually being in front of all of the cool stuff I'd only seen in books! Our tour guide, Oxan, split us up into two groups and we were on our way. Now, I was thrilled to be inside the Louvre, and I knew that there would be a lot of people in there, but I was not prepared at all at the sheer number of people that we saw inside that day. I mean, I don't think my hometown has that many people in it. Holy smokes. We were shunted from side to side, and had to dodge huge tour groups. I know that part of the issue was because our tour leader was taking us to see the most famous exhibits there: The Venus de Milo (Aphrodite de Milo, we were told is the correct title), Winged Victory, and the Mona Lisa! *heavy breathing*
I couldn't get a good picture of the Mona Lisa because people are rude and that one room was packed from one side to the other with people who didn't have any manners.
Y'all, I about peed my pants. I genuinely don't think you understand how overwhelmed I was to be in the presence of these things. Actually, I was overwhelmed to be in the presence of a lot of what I saw, but I have read and studied and learned about all of this stuff and I never once thought I'd actually get to see any of it in person. I only wish I could have gotten nearer to them, but that was impossible. My favorite by far was Winged Victory, because seriously, that thing is made of marble. MARBLE! Look at how it flows and folds, and you can see details of the body underneath. Can you imagine the skill it took to carve something so fluid and with so much movement?! You can almost feel the wind that blows the tunic around the figure. Something about standing right there and looking at such an amazing, ancient creation made fighting the crowds completely worth it. I'd give anything if I could go back sometime when it wasn't so crowded and get my fill of looking, but who knows if that will ever happen. This was truly a mind blowing experience for me.
I had a very bizarre issue being in the Louvre, though. I couldn't put my damn phone/camera down. I was in, arguably, one of the best museums in the world and I kept taking pictures of what I was looking at instead of actually looking at the pictures. I had to keep making myself put my phone away and then I'd pull it out and take another picture of what I was looking at. Why was I doing that?! I can find pictures of the things in there online, I don't need to take pictures, but I did. I finally decided to just leave my phone in my purse and actually experience what I was seeing, which made the rest of our visit enjoyable. I did take out my phone and take a few more pictures, but only if I had my absolute fill of looking at the thing first.
A legit Da Vinci - John the Baptist!
Ancient Grumpy Cat
Really Old Coke Advertisement
THAT GIRL!
We left the main gallery and went to the ancient Egyptian section (that's what I recommended and the people with me either didn't care what else they saw, or likes ancient Egypt as much as I do) and after we walked along a bit more, we left the Louvre and walked out into the city.
By now we were properly hungry and trying to find a place to eat, but we had no idea where we were. At any other time that we'd walked around, we'd be within 20 feet of a cafe, but not here. There was hardly anything around that wasn't a fancy restaurant, and so the longer we walked, the more people whined about being hungry, and after a few "I don't want to eat theres" everyone else made the decision that we'd go an eat at Five Guys. I mean... Look, I'm not a snob, and probably the closest thing that I have to a guilty pleasure is a Five Guys burger and fries, but...we were in freaking Paris. On the Champs Elysees no less. I'd have rather found a cafe or something like that, but no, we ate at a Five Guys. Oy. Well, at least everyone stopped complaining. I also thought it was kind of funny that on the famous "Most Beautiful Avenue In the World" and in between Tiffany's and Co. Cartier, Louis Vuitton, and things like that, there is a Five Guys. Ah well, silver lining is that they had proper American style bacon, so who am I to complain?
We continued our walk to the Place de la Concorde (which is apparently where a bunch of people got guillotined during the French Revolution) to take some pictures.
From there we decided to head back to the hotel and rest a bit. We were hot and tired, and we'd been on quite an adventure so far that day. We figured that we'd get back together later on in the evening and try to decide what else to do.
Unfortunately, that didn't happen. We fell asleep! It was only supposed to be a nap, but the nap raged out of control. I've woken up for a bit, but I'm going to go back to sleep here soon. Eh, we still have another whole day in Paris, so I'm not going to complain. Bonsoir from our boudoir!
Thursday, July 12, 2018
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: VIVA...I MEAN, BONJOUR! EDITION: JUNE 17 - PART 2
Wow, sorry about that. The day was so long that it felt like two completely separate eras. I call them BN and AN (before nap and after nap.)
OK, so I left off where we had reconvened with our friends back in the lobby. We decided that before we did anything else, we needed crepes. I mean, we NEEDED them. So we set off and found a delightful little creperie (which is too a word, stupid spell check!) down the street from our hotel called Les Embruns. We proceeded therein to eat many crepes and have coffee. I got one that had dark chocolate and coconut on it, and almost had to be restrained from rubbing it all over my body in sheer delight due to its deliciousness. It had been a while since I'd had a crepe, so I can't tell you for certain if it was the best place for crepes in all of Paris, but it had to be pretty darn close. This place was also the site where the first picture of me on this trip that didn't make me look like a dehydrated sea witch was taken.
OK, so I left off where we had reconvened with our friends back in the lobby. We decided that before we did anything else, we needed crepes. I mean, we NEEDED them. So we set off and found a delightful little creperie (which is too a word, stupid spell check!) down the street from our hotel called Les Embruns. We proceeded therein to eat many crepes and have coffee. I got one that had dark chocolate and coconut on it, and almost had to be restrained from rubbing it all over my body in sheer delight due to its deliciousness. It had been a while since I'd had a crepe, so I can't tell you for certain if it was the best place for crepes in all of Paris, but it had to be pretty darn close. This place was also the site where the first picture of me on this trip that didn't make me look like a dehydrated sea witch was taken.
Oh, coffee, you're so funny! I love you.
After we left, we went to the Gare de Lyon train station and got three day passes for the subway (underground?) so we could get to where we needed to go. Trouble was, once we got into the station proper, we could not read the map. Now, some of you may have been in Paris before and probably thought that it was easy to get around, but not us. I've been on several different subway systems in my life and had no trouble getting from place to place, but to me the map of the Paris subway looked like a wind shield that someone smashed their head into.
Imagine this in all different colors and in a language you don't speak. Easy peasy!
We did meet a nice lady that got us started on our way (bless you, random Parisian!) From there we made our way to the Sacre Cour! We had to climb, like, four thousand steps to get up to it, but it was worth it! It was an absolutely beautiful church with a breathtaking view of the city below.
It was very crowded there and we didn't attempt to go in, but that was fine. We enjoyed looking around outside! After taking some pictures, we walked over to a street in Montmontre that was lined with souvenir shops, bakeries, restaurants, and it had a square that was where a lot of artists were selling their work! I bought a lot of art, you guys. Like...a lot. For all I know they have little sweat shops at home where people make this stuff and they sell it here and pretend to be artists, but I didn't care, it was real art and nothing massed produced! I was so excited! This is what I'd been looking for!! We also saw a lot of artists doing sketches and caricatures of people right there, but we didn't want to stop and have anything done, because it would have taken too long. Plus...I don't need a picture of myself to hang anywhere. I can look at myself in a mirror anytime I want! :)
We walked around some more and I bought some kind of...well, I don't know what it is, exactly, but it is delicious. They are some kind of cookies or cakes or something like that from a place called the Biscuiterie de Montmontre. That website doesn't tell me what I bought, and I can't read the label. For all I know the're for dogs, but they taste good and I don't care. I have a feeling that I'm going to fall in love with these things and never be able to get them again, which sucks, but as far as that goes, it just means I'll have to appreciate them (i.e. not share them with Steve) more. We stopped at a cafe at the end of the street and had dinner outside. I got a croque madame, which is basically a fried ham and cheese sandwich with an egg on top. Sorry for talking about food so much, but this is the first time in months I haven't worried about what I was eating, so humor me this time, please!
Mrs. Sandwich, if you're nasty.
From there we walked a ways until we came to the Moulin Rouge! It was located in a section of town that seemed a lot like a clean Burbon Street. I know it isn't the original building and all of that, but it was still fun to see in person!
Lot of nipples around this place, too.
It was finally sort of getting dark by this time (although I'm not sure when the sun goes down here.) So we decided to end our day and headed back to the hotel. I have no idea how long we'd been up by this point, but it felt like days. I know I keep talking about how tired I am, but this is a new level of tired for me. I think that maybe I'll survive it, though. At least I hope so. I want to see if Spain makes it to the World Cup Finals! Shut up, I'm invested now.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: VIVA...I MEAN, BONJOUR! EDITION: JUNE 17 - PART 1
We didn't go to bed last night.
OK, see, this is where I'd normally talk about going home after our trip to Spain, but NO! We didn't go home! We went to Paris! The one in France, not Texas! Yay! We had the chance to add on a short jaunt to France with a few others from our group and we took it!
HOWEVER...getting there was not a lot of fun. In fact, up until a little while ago, this part of the trip was a huge cluster-fark. There were about 30 of us from the band going on the Paris trip, and for some reason we had to leave the hotel at 3:00 AM to make it to the airport in time for our flight. That would have been fine if the gate agents could find our reservations. They could not. Apparently there was a glitch that didn't show any of the people in our group having a reservation on the plane. We were told that nothing could be done until the office agent showed up for work. Greeeeeeeeat. So we sat in the floor of the Malaga airport for a long time until the unfortunate agent came in. I say that they were unfortunate, because a lot of the people we were traveling with were the kind of people who didn't have much of a sense of humor about being delayed. Simply put, they were pissed. Not only were they pissed, they were indignant! Luckily (for all of us) it turned out to be an issue with Delta, and after some finagling they found our reservations at the very last minute that it would matter. Oy, vey. We almost had to run to make it to our gate, and we got there about 20 minutes before we started to board. It was tense and we were so tired.
The flight out was fine, except that I fell into another one of those half-sludgy sleeps that are neither restful or useful, but by the time we got to Paris to deplane, I was fairly awake. The next problem we had was trying to find our tour bus. We couldn't. I don't know how long we waited, but one of the men with us got tired of waiting and went on a quest to find the one bus that looked like it might be ours, and as luck had it, it was. Thank goodness, because the older people in our group were being kind of hateful and had we not gotten our bus, I am pretty sure that there would have been a riot.
Oh, but it didn't stop there. The bus driver spoke zero English and had no idea where we were going, so he took us to the wrong hotel. Luckily, before we all got out and removed our luggage, someone at the hotel we stopped at could speak enough English to tell us) where we were supposed to go! HOWEVER...when we got to that hotel, it was too early to check in, so we had to leave our luggage and either get out of the place or sit in the lobby for several hours. SIGH.
Five of us, Steve, myself, Anthony, Kayla and Katie, decided that we didn't want to hang around and be grumpy, so we set out to explore a bit before our check in time. We are currently in Gare de Lyon, which is right next to an enormous train station and seemingly in the middle of Paris. We wanted to find a place to eat, and there were a lot of choices. We walked and waffled around for a bit before we finally just decided to pick a place not far from the hotel, which was a pizza cafe. It wasn't very "French" in the way you think of a Paris cafe, but the food was good and the waiter was quite charming. Everything was decorated for the World Cup, which I find very fun! As an aside, I have enjoyed watching the bits of soccer games that we have managed to see. I think I'd like soccer pretty well if I could watch it with people who could explain what is going on! I'm still cheering for Spain, though. They're hanging in there!
Afterwards, we walked around some more! We didn't find anything particularly interesting right away, so decided to go back to the hotel and wait until we could get into our rooms and then we'd regroup. There were still some of the older people from our group standing in the lobby, pacing back and forth and looking pissed that they couldn't get to their rooms right away. Come on, folks.
I am not too proud to say that I fell asleep for a few minutes in the lobby, which was no small feat because the place was infested with children. That sounds rude, so let me 'esplain you (as Pedro says.) Apparently our charming little hotel lets children stay for free, and apparently every parent in Europe who is visiting Paris this week are staying in our hotel. I've heard children complain in about 11 different languages today. Whee.
We finally got to our room! It's very nice, even if the glass walled shower is right next to the bed. Oh, la la!) Heh, the glass wall has this button that you push that makes it almost opaque, which is nifty and I played with it more than a grown woman probably should have. I didn't get a video of it (because I was in the shower when it was on and you guys don't need to see that) but I found a gif that shows what I'm talking about:
via GIPHY
Just imagine a naked person in that instead of a Pepsi can, and that was what it was like to take a shower! We (again) took a nap and regrouped with our friends after about an hour. We wanted to explore the city!
I'mma stop here for now, because I am tired. That seems to be a trend on this trip. But we had a great rest of the day! More soon.
OK, see, this is where I'd normally talk about going home after our trip to Spain, but NO! We didn't go home! We went to Paris! The one in France, not Texas! Yay! We had the chance to add on a short jaunt to France with a few others from our group and we took it!
HOWEVER...getting there was not a lot of fun. In fact, up until a little while ago, this part of the trip was a huge cluster-fark. There were about 30 of us from the band going on the Paris trip, and for some reason we had to leave the hotel at 3:00 AM to make it to the airport in time for our flight. That would have been fine if the gate agents could find our reservations. They could not. Apparently there was a glitch that didn't show any of the people in our group having a reservation on the plane. We were told that nothing could be done until the office agent showed up for work. Greeeeeeeeat. So we sat in the floor of the Malaga airport for a long time until the unfortunate agent came in. I say that they were unfortunate, because a lot of the people we were traveling with were the kind of people who didn't have much of a sense of humor about being delayed. Simply put, they were pissed. Not only were they pissed, they were indignant! Luckily (for all of us) it turned out to be an issue with Delta, and after some finagling they found our reservations at the very last minute that it would matter. Oy, vey. We almost had to run to make it to our gate, and we got there about 20 minutes before we started to board. It was tense and we were so tired.
The flight out was fine, except that I fell into another one of those half-sludgy sleeps that are neither restful or useful, but by the time we got to Paris to deplane, I was fairly awake. The next problem we had was trying to find our tour bus. We couldn't. I don't know how long we waited, but one of the men with us got tired of waiting and went on a quest to find the one bus that looked like it might be ours, and as luck had it, it was. Thank goodness, because the older people in our group were being kind of hateful and had we not gotten our bus, I am pretty sure that there would have been a riot.
Oh, but it didn't stop there. The bus driver spoke zero English and had no idea where we were going, so he took us to the wrong hotel. Luckily, before we all got out and removed our luggage, someone at the hotel we stopped at could speak enough English to tell us) where we were supposed to go! HOWEVER...when we got to that hotel, it was too early to check in, so we had to leave our luggage and either get out of the place or sit in the lobby for several hours. SIGH.
Five of us, Steve, myself, Anthony, Kayla and Katie, decided that we didn't want to hang around and be grumpy, so we set out to explore a bit before our check in time. We are currently in Gare de Lyon, which is right next to an enormous train station and seemingly in the middle of Paris. We wanted to find a place to eat, and there were a lot of choices. We walked and waffled around for a bit before we finally just decided to pick a place not far from the hotel, which was a pizza cafe. It wasn't very "French" in the way you think of a Paris cafe, but the food was good and the waiter was quite charming. Everything was decorated for the World Cup, which I find very fun! As an aside, I have enjoyed watching the bits of soccer games that we have managed to see. I think I'd like soccer pretty well if I could watch it with people who could explain what is going on! I'm still cheering for Spain, though. They're hanging in there!
Afterwards, we walked around some more! We didn't find anything particularly interesting right away, so decided to go back to the hotel and wait until we could get into our rooms and then we'd regroup. There were still some of the older people from our group standing in the lobby, pacing back and forth and looking pissed that they couldn't get to their rooms right away. Come on, folks.
I am not too proud to say that I fell asleep for a few minutes in the lobby, which was no small feat because the place was infested with children. That sounds rude, so let me 'esplain you (as Pedro says.) Apparently our charming little hotel lets children stay for free, and apparently every parent in Europe who is visiting Paris this week are staying in our hotel. I've heard children complain in about 11 different languages today. Whee.
We finally got to our room! It's very nice, even if the glass walled shower is right next to the bed. Oh, la la!) Heh, the glass wall has this button that you push that makes it almost opaque, which is nifty and I played with it more than a grown woman probably should have. I didn't get a video of it (because I was in the shower when it was on and you guys don't need to see that) but I found a gif that shows what I'm talking about:
via GIPHY
Lieutneant Dan! Magic Glass!
Just imagine a naked person in that instead of a Pepsi can, and that was what it was like to take a shower! We (again) took a nap and regrouped with our friends after about an hour. We wanted to explore the city!
I'mma stop here for now, because I am tired. That seems to be a trend on this trip. But we had a great rest of the day! More soon.
Friday, July 06, 2018
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: VIVA ESPAÑA EDITION: JUNE 16
Today was so much fun!
This has been the first day that we've had to ourselves, which was very, very nice. We didn't have to rush to have breakfast and then run off anywhere. We just got to do our own thing until the evening and that was great! The only sad part is that it is our last day in Spain. *sniff*
After we got up this morning, Steve and I walked down to the beach. It was still early, and not many people were out, so we had the beach almost to ourselves. We were told that the water would be warm, but that was a filthy lie! I tried to walk into the surf and immediately ran out, because it was freezing cold. It was also very windy and a little chilly, so walking around was a bit uncomfortable at first, because we were wearing shorts and tee-shirts, as you do. The main thing I wanted to do, as I do whenever I'm on a beach, is look for shells, but there were hardly any there at all. We found a few, fairly large in-tact arc-like shells, but they were few and far between. What we did find a lot of, though, were rocks. Seriously, chunks of marble, I think, were everywhere. So we picked up pretty rocks as well as the few seashells we could find! Our luggage is going to be very heavy, I bet!
The beach was pretty. The sand was coarse and dark, so nothing like the sand in the gulf, but I didn't mind. We walked for a bit, and then lay down in a couple of the sun chairs that lined the beach. We thought that they must belong to our hotel, since they were right in front of where we were staying, but we had only been there a little bit before someone came and asked us for money! Oops. We hadn't brought any cash down to the shore, so we had to give up our chairs. Boo!
We headed back to the hotel to choose what to do with our day, and Steve decided that he wanted to sit next to the pool. I didn't mind, but it felt kind of silly to lie next to a swimming pool when we had the Mediterranean Sea right in our backyard, but I only gave a token protest. We texted Anthony to tell him where we were and lay down for a bit. The sun was bright and hot by this time, so we managed to get some sun. The pool area was really crowded, and so when Anthony and a couple of other people we knew came downstairs, I decided to abandon my chair and go back to walking on the beach. I left Steve in his chair because I was kind of bored. :) The rest of us walked around for a while, picking up more rocks and stuff, until Steve met up with us and we were ready to walk down the street and look in the shops.
I'm glad to know that cheesy beach culture is international. We found some really cute stuff and some really awful stuff, but it was a lot of fun to go in and out of the souvenir shops. We also had such at a local place while we were out. Somehow we ended up eating in an English pub not far from the beach. It was weird and out of place, but we ate there. I joked that I went all the way to Spain to eat in an English pub, where I ordered a hamburger called a "New York" burger that had Irish bacon in it. It was...not good, but we had fun and I didn't mind.
We also watched part of the World Cup with some guys from England, and in light of full disclosure, I felt kind of dumb. Our tour guide had been talking about wanting to see the Spain and Portugal football game for several days. I had no idea he was talking about the World Cup. I thought it was just a regular game, so when we got to our hotel and two huge ballrooms had been set up with chairs and televisions, I thought "Wow, these people take soccer seriously." While we were at the pub, Anthony had to explain to me the significance of the game (France and...Egypt, I think) and what was actually going on! So, you know, now I know why it's such a big deal. Oy.
After we left, Steve went back to the hotel, but Anthony and I decided to go back to the beach for a bit. As we walked around, I started noticing that a lot of the ladies on the beach were topless! (No pictures of that, perv.) You know, I had read about that being a thing here before we left, and even joked about it on Twitter, but honestly, I had forgotten all about it until right then. Once I noticed, it was difficult for me not to stare a bit, because seriously, just...nipples everywhere! I feel bad about being caught so off guard, and it isn't that boobs are a foreign commodity to me or anything, but I'm not used to seeing them out in the wild like that. I got over it fairly quick and didn't stare long, though. In fact, I was a little jealous. It looked so comfortable and free and none of those ladies gave one fuck about it, either. I wished I could have done it too, and I suppose I could have, but I didn't for a few reasons. #1- a lot of the men we were with had zero chill about the topless women. They were not catcalling or anything like that, but they were taking pictures and making comments among themselves and that's just gross. I was traveling with these dudes and I didn't want them seeing me like that, because I had a feeling it would get brought up in some kind of uncomfortable way later on.* Yuck. #2- I was with Anthony, and as dear of a friend as he is to me, he is not the kind of friend I even talk about boobs with, much less show mine to...so, no thank you. #3, and this one is a bit more internal than the others, I REALLY have to trust a person before I can be that vulnerable around them. I don't have a great track record with people who have seen them on purpose. (I say on purpose, because the girls do "slip the surly bonds of earth" from time to time on accident.) Not that there have been many, mind you, but most of the ones who have tend to...not ever talk to, or want to see me again. So...yeah, I have issues. Having said that, I think I could have done it if none of the band people or Anthony had been there, though, because no one else cared or even paid attention. I was also gratified to know that you didn't have to be young, thin, or attractive to be topless. What I'm trying to say here is that I saw several people's grandma's bare breasts, and I can never unsee that, but good on them. Anyway...lots more boobs than I thought I'd see on this trip.
Other than that, Anthony and I rented some beach chairs and just chilled out for a few hours. I actually fell asleep, and the sun shifted, so half of my body got burned and half didn't, so that'll be some fun tan lines!
Later that evening, we had one more trip to make, which was to a swanky hotel up in the hills where we were given a reception. It was better than the reception we had in Ireland, because there was actual food there and it was fantastic! The view from the front of the building was amazing as well.
We had a lovely dinner and a lot of fun. This was a great way to end our trip to Spain!
*Yeah, I made the right call about the not-going-topless-in-front-of-these-men thing. One guy, who was more creepy than the others, approached me and another woman later and got weird about the topless ladies he had seen on the beach. It was one of those conversations where you start looking around for an adult, because you get that uncomfortable.
This has been the first day that we've had to ourselves, which was very, very nice. We didn't have to rush to have breakfast and then run off anywhere. We just got to do our own thing until the evening and that was great! The only sad part is that it is our last day in Spain. *sniff*
After we got up this morning, Steve and I walked down to the beach. It was still early, and not many people were out, so we had the beach almost to ourselves. We were told that the water would be warm, but that was a filthy lie! I tried to walk into the surf and immediately ran out, because it was freezing cold. It was also very windy and a little chilly, so walking around was a bit uncomfortable at first, because we were wearing shorts and tee-shirts, as you do. The main thing I wanted to do, as I do whenever I'm on a beach, is look for shells, but there were hardly any there at all. We found a few, fairly large in-tact arc-like shells, but they were few and far between. What we did find a lot of, though, were rocks. Seriously, chunks of marble, I think, were everywhere. So we picked up pretty rocks as well as the few seashells we could find! Our luggage is going to be very heavy, I bet!
Take a good look at my Lunch Lady Ankles!
The beach was pretty. The sand was coarse and dark, so nothing like the sand in the gulf, but I didn't mind. We walked for a bit, and then lay down in a couple of the sun chairs that lined the beach. We thought that they must belong to our hotel, since they were right in front of where we were staying, but we had only been there a little bit before someone came and asked us for money! Oops. We hadn't brought any cash down to the shore, so we had to give up our chairs. Boo!
We headed back to the hotel to choose what to do with our day, and Steve decided that he wanted to sit next to the pool. I didn't mind, but it felt kind of silly to lie next to a swimming pool when we had the Mediterranean Sea right in our backyard, but I only gave a token protest. We texted Anthony to tell him where we were and lay down for a bit. The sun was bright and hot by this time, so we managed to get some sun. The pool area was really crowded, and so when Anthony and a couple of other people we knew came downstairs, I decided to abandon my chair and go back to walking on the beach. I left Steve in his chair because I was kind of bored. :) The rest of us walked around for a while, picking up more rocks and stuff, until Steve met up with us and we were ready to walk down the street and look in the shops.
I'm glad to know that cheesy beach culture is international. We found some really cute stuff and some really awful stuff, but it was a lot of fun to go in and out of the souvenir shops. We also had such at a local place while we were out. Somehow we ended up eating in an English pub not far from the beach. It was weird and out of place, but we ate there. I joked that I went all the way to Spain to eat in an English pub, where I ordered a hamburger called a "New York" burger that had Irish bacon in it. It was...not good, but we had fun and I didn't mind.
We also watched part of the World Cup with some guys from England, and in light of full disclosure, I felt kind of dumb. Our tour guide had been talking about wanting to see the Spain and Portugal football game for several days. I had no idea he was talking about the World Cup. I thought it was just a regular game, so when we got to our hotel and two huge ballrooms had been set up with chairs and televisions, I thought "Wow, these people take soccer seriously." While we were at the pub, Anthony had to explain to me the significance of the game (France and...Egypt, I think) and what was actually going on! So, you know, now I know why it's such a big deal. Oy.
After we left, Steve went back to the hotel, but Anthony and I decided to go back to the beach for a bit. As we walked around, I started noticing that a lot of the ladies on the beach were topless! (No pictures of that, perv.) You know, I had read about that being a thing here before we left, and even joked about it on Twitter, but honestly, I had forgotten all about it until right then. Once I noticed, it was difficult for me not to stare a bit, because seriously, just...nipples everywhere! I feel bad about being caught so off guard, and it isn't that boobs are a foreign commodity to me or anything, but I'm not used to seeing them out in the wild like that. I got over it fairly quick and didn't stare long, though. In fact, I was a little jealous. It looked so comfortable and free and none of those ladies gave one fuck about it, either. I wished I could have done it too, and I suppose I could have, but I didn't for a few reasons. #1- a lot of the men we were with had zero chill about the topless women. They were not catcalling or anything like that, but they were taking pictures and making comments among themselves and that's just gross. I was traveling with these dudes and I didn't want them seeing me like that, because I had a feeling it would get brought up in some kind of uncomfortable way later on.* Yuck. #2- I was with Anthony, and as dear of a friend as he is to me, he is not the kind of friend I even talk about boobs with, much less show mine to...so, no thank you. #3, and this one is a bit more internal than the others, I REALLY have to trust a person before I can be that vulnerable around them. I don't have a great track record with people who have seen them on purpose. (I say on purpose, because the girls do "slip the surly bonds of earth" from time to time on accident.) Not that there have been many, mind you, but most of the ones who have tend to...not ever talk to, or want to see me again. So...yeah, I have issues. Having said that, I think I could have done it if none of the band people or Anthony had been there, though, because no one else cared or even paid attention. I was also gratified to know that you didn't have to be young, thin, or attractive to be topless. What I'm trying to say here is that I saw several people's grandma's bare breasts, and I can never unsee that, but good on them. Anyway...lots more boobs than I thought I'd see on this trip.
Other than that, Anthony and I rented some beach chairs and just chilled out for a few hours. I actually fell asleep, and the sun shifted, so half of my body got burned and half didn't, so that'll be some fun tan lines!
Later that evening, we had one more trip to make, which was to a swanky hotel up in the hills where we were given a reception. It was better than the reception we had in Ireland, because there was actual food there and it was fantastic! The view from the front of the building was amazing as well.
We had a lovely dinner and a lot of fun. This was a great way to end our trip to Spain!
*Yeah, I made the right call about the not-going-topless-in-front-of-these-men thing. One guy, who was more creepy than the others, approached me and another woman later and got weird about the topless ladies he had seen on the beach. It was one of those conversations where you start looking around for an adult, because you get that uncomfortable.
Tuesday, July 03, 2018
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: VIVA ESPAÑA EDITION: JUNE 15
Oooh, y'all...
Last night when I finally took my shoes off, I saw that my feet and legs were swollen up to where they didn't even look like people feet anymore! It was so gross! I don't know if it was because of walking so much, or because I have gotten stuck not being able to move my feet and legs for hours at a stretch on the bus, but yuck. I'm too cute to have feet that look like that!
Anyways, today we would be traveling to a new destination, which I was very excited about! We headed to the Costa del Sol in Malaga, on the coast of the Mediterranean sea! I was going to stand on the coast of an ocean that I'd never seen before! Neato! But first we had to get there, which was a day long situation. It involved a lot more sitting in an uncomfortable bus, and a lot more falling half asleep as we drove through more farmland (still very beautiful) and rural areas. Actually, during my awake moments, I really thought the drive was lovely. We saw what I assume were a lot of independent farms, more sunflower fields, and fields of some kind of bright yellow flowers that looked like mist. It was so pretty.
On the way, we stopped in a town called Ronda, which is in Malaga, Spain. We didn't learn very much about the place, other than being told that it was a tourist stop, so the Wikipedia page can tell you way more about it than I can. When we got there, we had to walk a long way to the place where they wanted to let us loose, which happened to be next to the oldest bull fighting ring in Spain. Steve, Anthony, and a woman named Kayla that we'd been hanging out with, all decided that they wanted to tour the ring, but I demurred. I don't approve of bull fighting at all. I mean, you guys know I'm not a vegetarian, and I'll eat beef all day and all night, but just the idea of someone stabbing a poor bull to death with spears for fun gives me the heebies.
I told them to go ahead without me, which apparently made me seem like a party pooper, but screw that. I'm not going to pay to go into a bovine colosseum! I didn't tell any of them why I didn't want to go, just that I'd rather look around, which I did. Ronda is a very pretty city, and had a lot of beautiful buildings. I also found out that Earnest Hemmingway and Orson Wells spent summers in Ronda, so...neato, I guess. I walked along the shopping streets and looked around a bit. I met everyone back at the bull ring gift shop, so I wasn't alone for very long.
We had lunch at a little cafe where we got churros and hot chocolate! YUM! YUM SQUARED!
After we left Ronda, we made our way to the coast, and it. Took. Forever. Exclamation Point.
We were told it would take about an hour to go from one place to another, but it actually took three. Our tour guide, bless him, really underestimates how long it takes to get places. It was a beautiful drive through the Montes de Málaga Natural Park (I think) though, so it wasn't that bad, but I was very tired of being in the bus by then. Oy.
We finally made it to our destination and got checked into our hotel, which is supposed to be some kind of resort place, but it is...kind of a nightmare. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice enough hotel, but it is so damn full of people that trying to do anything is uncomfortable. There are screaming children everywhere, and even trying to get dinner in the hotel restaurant was difficult! I was so tired, and my feet were swollen up again (WHAT IS MAKING THEM DO THAT?!) and I was tired of being around people. We were supposed to go to a flamenco show tonight, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I just wanted to be in some quiet for a while. I felt bad because Steve was looking forward to the show and was kind of bummed that I didn't want to go, but I knew I wouldn't enjoy myself. I told him to go ahead and I'd just stay in the room and rest. So that's what I did. I took advantage of the quiet and not-being-around-other-people, which was nice. Steve came back a couple of hours later and showed me his pictures and that's how we ended our day. Tomorrow we get almost the entire day free, which I'm looking forward to. It'll be nice not having to go anywhere. I'm tired, yo. Still having a blast, but very tired. Goodnight!
Last night when I finally took my shoes off, I saw that my feet and legs were swollen up to where they didn't even look like people feet anymore! It was so gross! I don't know if it was because of walking so much, or because I have gotten stuck not being able to move my feet and legs for hours at a stretch on the bus, but yuck. I'm too cute to have feet that look like that!
Anyways, today we would be traveling to a new destination, which I was very excited about! We headed to the Costa del Sol in Malaga, on the coast of the Mediterranean sea! I was going to stand on the coast of an ocean that I'd never seen before! Neato! But first we had to get there, which was a day long situation. It involved a lot more sitting in an uncomfortable bus, and a lot more falling half asleep as we drove through more farmland (still very beautiful) and rural areas. Actually, during my awake moments, I really thought the drive was lovely. We saw what I assume were a lot of independent farms, more sunflower fields, and fields of some kind of bright yellow flowers that looked like mist. It was so pretty.
On the way, we stopped in a town called Ronda, which is in Malaga, Spain. We didn't learn very much about the place, other than being told that it was a tourist stop, so the Wikipedia page can tell you way more about it than I can. When we got there, we had to walk a long way to the place where they wanted to let us loose, which happened to be next to the oldest bull fighting ring in Spain. Steve, Anthony, and a woman named Kayla that we'd been hanging out with, all decided that they wanted to tour the ring, but I demurred. I don't approve of bull fighting at all. I mean, you guys know I'm not a vegetarian, and I'll eat beef all day and all night, but just the idea of someone stabbing a poor bull to death with spears for fun gives me the heebies.
Ole, bitches!
I told them to go ahead without me, which apparently made me seem like a party pooper, but screw that. I'm not going to pay to go into a bovine colosseum! I didn't tell any of them why I didn't want to go, just that I'd rather look around, which I did. Ronda is a very pretty city, and had a lot of beautiful buildings. I also found out that Earnest Hemmingway and Orson Wells spent summers in Ronda, so...neato, I guess. I walked along the shopping streets and looked around a bit. I met everyone back at the bull ring gift shop, so I wasn't alone for very long.
We had lunch at a little cafe where we got churros and hot chocolate! YUM! YUM SQUARED!
After we left Ronda, we made our way to the coast, and it. Took. Forever. Exclamation Point.
We were told it would take about an hour to go from one place to another, but it actually took three. Our tour guide, bless him, really underestimates how long it takes to get places. It was a beautiful drive through the Montes de Málaga Natural Park (I think) though, so it wasn't that bad, but I was very tired of being in the bus by then. Oy.
We finally made it to our destination and got checked into our hotel, which is supposed to be some kind of resort place, but it is...kind of a nightmare. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice enough hotel, but it is so damn full of people that trying to do anything is uncomfortable. There are screaming children everywhere, and even trying to get dinner in the hotel restaurant was difficult! I was so tired, and my feet were swollen up again (WHAT IS MAKING THEM DO THAT?!) and I was tired of being around people. We were supposed to go to a flamenco show tonight, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I just wanted to be in some quiet for a while. I felt bad because Steve was looking forward to the show and was kind of bummed that I didn't want to go, but I knew I wouldn't enjoy myself. I told him to go ahead and I'd just stay in the room and rest. So that's what I did. I took advantage of the quiet and not-being-around-other-people, which was nice. Steve came back a couple of hours later and showed me his pictures and that's how we ended our day. Tomorrow we get almost the entire day free, which I'm looking forward to. It'll be nice not having to go anywhere. I'm tired, yo. Still having a blast, but very tired. Goodnight!
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