Today as we sat on the Metro, exhausted but also excited about our great day in Barcelona, I apologized to Sammie that we had come so far, spent so much money, gone through so much trouble, made so much effort, and my favorite memory of the trip was going to be his strut around the pool doing the moonwalk, lawnmower, and sprinkler. As I sat by the side of the pool watching the first contestants, I reflected that I had NO idea what Sammie was going to do. I just knew it would be funny. When he broke out into his super-cool dance moves, I was the only one by the side of the pool not clapping and cheering—because my head was between my knees, trying not to fall off from laughing.
Today at lunch I asked him why, in our almost 4 years of marriage, I never knew he could do the moonwalk, the lawnmower, or the sprinkler. He replied that the moment had never come when he thought the best way to strengthen our marriage and deepen our relationship was to break out in the moonwalk. I asked him if everything he did, then, was to strengthen our marriage and deepen our relationship (if you read this blog with any sort of regularity, you know what a scary thought that is!). I asked him where he learned that stuff. He then told me all about the break dancing lessons he had in 3rd grade. Apparently he can also do the backspin. Sure would have been nice to know all this about 4 years ago…
ANYWAY… Barcelona is awesome! Sammie said it very well on the bus back to the port – the geography of Barcelona is not as scenic as Monaco or Tuscany, but it’s PACKED with culture! We began the day (and I made Sammie leave the boat early so we’d have lots of time!) by walking up Las Ramblas (or, in some guidebooks La Rambla). It’s a wide, tree-lined street running up the middle of the city and filled with all sorts of shops, markets, and street performers. Actually, most of them don’t really perform. They dress up and pose as “live statues.” It’s pretty cool. We’d been told we could buy almost anything on this street, including squirrels. I proposed buying a squirrel for Phoebe and letting the two of them loose in the basement. We never found squirrels, but we found baby chipmunks and lots of mice, hamsters, chicks, birds, etc. (No, we didn’t buy one for Phoebe.) We veered off the street at the Mercat de la Boqueria. It’s a crowded, crazy market that included entire dead pigs. My already queasy stomach lurched a few times at the meat stands. Back on the street, we wound our way through the Gothic Quarter towards the Picasso Museum. Barcelona is OLD! The Gothic Quarter has old houses with narrow, windy cobblestone streets. In fact, the Picasso Museum is in one of these old houses. On the way to the museum, we stopped for a while in another market—this one medieval. The vendors were dressed in period costumes and they were selling medieval items—pottery, herbs (culinary and medicinal), calligraphy, all sorts of meats and cheeses, perfumes, etc… And Belgian Chocolate! A medieval band strolled through while we were browsing. We intended to go back later in the day to buy souvenirs and see some sword fights, but we didn’t make it back.
The Picasso museum is awesome! I’ve never paid much attention to Picasso. I’m not a huge fan of modern art. I love the stuff right before modernism—impressionism, post-impressionism, expressionism, and even some early cubism. After that, it just gets too weird for me. But this museum focused on Picasso’s early development as a painter and I was struck with his early styles. A lot of his early work resembles van Gogh and some of those guys that I like. (And he was influenced by them while he was in Paris.) It was interesting to see the evolution of his work.
After Picasso, we sat down for lunch at a sandwich shop. We had yummy sandwiches and sat for a while, resting. Unfortunately, we both got off the ship with stomach aches (maybe a little sea sick from our day at sea) and by lunch also had headaches. I remember on previous trips abroad when I would run around hot and humid cities all day for days at a time and hardly feel it. Getting old… (Joe reminded me on my last birthday that I am now as close to 40 as I am to 30. Thanks Joe – you wanna die, clown?)
After lunch we walked through the City History Museum. It was basically a walkway and audio tour through Roman ruins that have been excavated underneath the city. What I liked most about it was the explanations of different occupations in the city. For example, while we looked at ruins of the local laundry and dye place, we learned that they used urine to disinfect their clothes. In fact, the launders paid a city tax so that they could put buckets out for people to urinate in so they could use it for the laundry. The doctors in my family have always tried to tell me that urine is sterile. But my definition of something that is sterile, laundered, or in any way considered clean, is that it doesn’t have urine on or in it. Call me OCD… Anyway, we also learned how to dry fish to make a popular fish sauce and how to make wine. It was a very interesting museum.
Our next stop took us an hour to walk to. The guidebook said it was the MUST-SEE of Barcelona and we took their word for it. And boy were they right! La Sagrada Familia is a big—no, enormous—Cathedral that has been in progress for over 100 years and won’t be finished for another 20-30 years. Its main architect is Gaudi, a popular and innovative Spanish artist who made this Cathedral his life’s work but, unfortunately, died while working on it. It’s based on traditional Gothic cathedrals but with a modernist twist. For example, the shape is a Latin cross, and it has the traditional facades, naves, apse, cloister, etc., but they’re modern rather than gothic. Two facades are completed, one representing the passion and, the other, the nativity. The passion façade is very stark and bare—symbolic of death—with scenes from the crucifixion—beginning with the Last Supper and ending with the burial. The sculpted figures are almost cubic—very angled and stylized. But the effect is staggering! Inside, the columns are made to look like tree trunks and the tops of the arches spread out, not into a typical vaulted ceiling, but into what looks like tree branches! So as you sit in the Cathedral (and it can hold up to 10,000 people) you feel like you’re in a forest and can quietly meditate. It’s amazing! The nativity façade, in contrast to the passion façade, is filled with all sorts of signs of life—flowers, plants, animals, etc. It celebrates Joseph and Mary as well as Jesus and assigns each of them a virtue—charity to Jesus, faith to Mary, and hope to Joseph. The first thing I was struck by when we finally found the Cathedral was its height. But the main tower, which has not been built, will rise quite a bit higher than the 8 already built. I think I’ll need to return to Barcelona to see the completed Cathedral. Anyone wanna come?
We hopped on the Metro after leaving La Sagrada Familia and then had a ways to walk, back down La Rambla, to catch the shuttle bus back to the port. La Rambla was chock full of people. Of course, it was 8:00 on a Saturday night by this time. There was some kind of a parade with lots of traditional dancers. That was fun to watch, but also made for a lot of crowd-jostling. We also saw some of the more colorful aspects of Barcelona—including 3 local cross-dressers out for an evening stroll. (I joked with Sammie that they made me nostalgic for my mission—I met a lot of transvestites in Campinas).
We got back to the ship just before 9:00, had a yummy Italian dinner, then made it an early night. In fact, Sammie is in bed next to me snoring, already—his red hair beginning to stand on end in preparation for the morning and his toes wiggling where his feet are sticking out of the covers. (He’s cute!)
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
5.22.09 Day at Sea
When one’s motivation to get out of bed is derived primarily from the fact that the breakfast restaurant will close in fifteen minutes (at 10:30), one knows that one has had a good night’s sleep. We wandered up to breakfast and sat there for quite a while just looking at the sea going by. After the busy days that we’ve had at port, I’m glad that we have a day at sea. We need to relax. I think I’m at a point where I know where everything is on the ship and I don’t have to ask questions about where something is or how to do something (like laundry, internet, etc).
After breakfast we changed into our swimming suits and went up the top deck and lay on the beach chairs by the pool. After about an hour I decided to go get my hat – the sun had come out (it was slightly overcast) and my sunglasses weren’t enough to keep the sun out of my eyes. When I came back, I heard the tour director say something over the PA (for just the pool area) that only 4 people had signed up and he wanted more. I got to where we were sitting and before I could ask Melba what people were signing up for, she told me that I needed to go sign up for the belly flop contest. Sure, Melba. I remember somebody saying earlier in the day that the ship was going to have ‘Pool Games’ at 1:30 – I guess this is what they were talking about.
Now, I’ve belly-flopped before and I know that it doesn’t hurt if you do it right – that’s the trick. If you do it wrong, it hurts. I was in the contest with 5 other people. Once it started, we were told that they would play music for each of us – and we had to strut/dance around the pool and then belly-flop. The first guy didn’t do much dancing, did an OK belly-flop and got a nice reaction from the crowd. The second guy was somewhat goofy while strutting to the jump point and got a really big reaction from it. I decided then that the key would be a goofy dance. I went fourth – I moonwalked for a little ways, then I did the sprinkler and then the lawn mower. I stuck my tummy out as far as I could for the crowd and then jumped.
I got up from the water and the tour director, who was the MC for this event, looked at me and said, “That was a REALLY loud pop.” The guy after me didn’t do much dancing, but did a really big and loud flop. The MC said that we were going to have a tie-breaker between me and the guy who jumped after me. Great – I didn’t really want to do another belly-flop. The first one kinda hurt. I went first and did some more goofy dancing and jumped. The next guy did basically what he did before. The MC said the winner would be determined by crowd noise – the other guy got noticeably louder cheers and applause. (Of course, I leaned over to him after it was done and pointed out that I had all of the high-pitched voices cheering for me – meaning I won the female vote. ) It was fun. 2nd place in a belly-flop contest will make today memorable.
Everybody who participated got a free drink – rum lemonade. I politely told them I didn’t drink and they walked me to the bar to get a soda. I asked for 2 since I got 2nd place and they said that was fine. So Melba and I each got a free soda from it all. They were barbequing out on the deck (REALLY good steak) so it made for a nice lunch.
We swam for a little while and then I came back and got ready for dinner. Melba stayed a little bit longer at the pool. As I was leaving to go down into a lounge to get better internet reception, Melba came back. I did some emailing and came back for Melba. Tonight is a formal night so I was in a suit and Melba was in a dress. This is the first formal and there will be two more. (The other nights are ‘smart casual’ meaning no shorts or jeans.) It was nice to dress up – that made for a fun evening. We had lunch with the 4 sisters we met on the shuttle in Livorno. They are a really fun group of people. We’ve seen them a few times on the ship and had a lot of fun talking to them. These 4 sisters act the way Melba and her sisters would be acting if they were to be on a ‘girls only’ cruise together. (Of course, Melba says this would never happen because if all of the sisters went on a cruise together they would want Larves to come along – so it wouldn’t be all sisters – and then they would also want Joe to come along. He probably wouldn’t, though.)
I had lamb with mint pesto for dinner – delicious. We left dinner and went to the 8pm show. It was much better than the one we saw 2 nights ago. It was called “Ballroom Blitz” and mostly dancing with a little bit of singing. The dancing part of the show was pretty good, but the singing screwed it up. But it was still enjoyable.
Melba has a fun day planned for us tomorrow in Barcelona. We’re heading to bed early so we can get up early and make the most of the day.
When one’s motivation to get out of bed is derived primarily from the fact that the breakfast restaurant will close in fifteen minutes (at 10:30), one knows that one has had a good night’s sleep. We wandered up to breakfast and sat there for quite a while just looking at the sea going by. After the busy days that we’ve had at port, I’m glad that we have a day at sea. We need to relax. I think I’m at a point where I know where everything is on the ship and I don’t have to ask questions about where something is or how to do something (like laundry, internet, etc).
After breakfast we changed into our swimming suits and went up the top deck and lay on the beach chairs by the pool. After about an hour I decided to go get my hat – the sun had come out (it was slightly overcast) and my sunglasses weren’t enough to keep the sun out of my eyes. When I came back, I heard the tour director say something over the PA (for just the pool area) that only 4 people had signed up and he wanted more. I got to where we were sitting and before I could ask Melba what people were signing up for, she told me that I needed to go sign up for the belly flop contest. Sure, Melba. I remember somebody saying earlier in the day that the ship was going to have ‘Pool Games’ at 1:30 – I guess this is what they were talking about.
Now, I’ve belly-flopped before and I know that it doesn’t hurt if you do it right – that’s the trick. If you do it wrong, it hurts. I was in the contest with 5 other people. Once it started, we were told that they would play music for each of us – and we had to strut/dance around the pool and then belly-flop. The first guy didn’t do much dancing, did an OK belly-flop and got a nice reaction from the crowd. The second guy was somewhat goofy while strutting to the jump point and got a really big reaction from it. I decided then that the key would be a goofy dance. I went fourth – I moonwalked for a little ways, then I did the sprinkler and then the lawn mower. I stuck my tummy out as far as I could for the crowd and then jumped.
I got up from the water and the tour director, who was the MC for this event, looked at me and said, “That was a REALLY loud pop.” The guy after me didn’t do much dancing, but did a really big and loud flop. The MC said that we were going to have a tie-breaker between me and the guy who jumped after me. Great – I didn’t really want to do another belly-flop. The first one kinda hurt. I went first and did some more goofy dancing and jumped. The next guy did basically what he did before. The MC said the winner would be determined by crowd noise – the other guy got noticeably louder cheers and applause. (Of course, I leaned over to him after it was done and pointed out that I had all of the high-pitched voices cheering for me – meaning I won the female vote. ) It was fun. 2nd place in a belly-flop contest will make today memorable.
Everybody who participated got a free drink – rum lemonade. I politely told them I didn’t drink and they walked me to the bar to get a soda. I asked for 2 since I got 2nd place and they said that was fine. So Melba and I each got a free soda from it all. They were barbequing out on the deck (REALLY good steak) so it made for a nice lunch.
We swam for a little while and then I came back and got ready for dinner. Melba stayed a little bit longer at the pool. As I was leaving to go down into a lounge to get better internet reception, Melba came back. I did some emailing and came back for Melba. Tonight is a formal night so I was in a suit and Melba was in a dress. This is the first formal and there will be two more. (The other nights are ‘smart casual’ meaning no shorts or jeans.) It was nice to dress up – that made for a fun evening. We had lunch with the 4 sisters we met on the shuttle in Livorno. They are a really fun group of people. We’ve seen them a few times on the ship and had a lot of fun talking to them. These 4 sisters act the way Melba and her sisters would be acting if they were to be on a ‘girls only’ cruise together. (Of course, Melba says this would never happen because if all of the sisters went on a cruise together they would want Larves to come along – so it wouldn’t be all sisters – and then they would also want Joe to come along. He probably wouldn’t, though.)
I had lamb with mint pesto for dinner – delicious. We left dinner and went to the 8pm show. It was much better than the one we saw 2 nights ago. It was called “Ballroom Blitz” and mostly dancing with a little bit of singing. The dancing part of the show was pretty good, but the singing screwed it up. But it was still enjoyable.
Melba has a fun day planned for us tomorrow in Barcelona. We’re heading to bed early so we can get up early and make the most of the day.
5.21.09 Monte Carlo
Melba and I have found a new place to live and it is Monte Carlo, Monaco. This place is gorgeous. We slept in this morning because people with excursions (a paid tour the ship does) got priority so we knew we wouldn’t get off of the ship until later in the morning. We were anchored and therefore had to take a boat into the port.
We had breakfast in the dining room (no room service this morning because we didn’t know when we would wake up). We filled our Camelbacks and went down the main deck. The tender ride was in a life boat with a motor – they had lowered several of them into the water and were shuffling people back and forth all day. I don’t think I could’ve ever been a sailor because even though the ride was pretty short, I got a little bit sea-sick as the waves (which weren’t big at all) tossed our little boat around.
Monte Carlo is one of those picturesque towns on the Med that looks EXACTLY like what you see in the movies. Except, it’s everywhere – and I mean everywhere. I had absolutely no need for a viewfinder on my camera because anywhere I pointed was a good picture. Our map showed us some museums and gardens within walking distance from the port so we decided to go on foot today. We walked up lots of steps and inclines to the main area where the museums were.
Along the way we saw plenty of street vendors selling shirts, hats, programs, etc for the Grand Prix. Turns out that the Monte Carlo Grand Prix is tomorrow (I think) and the cars were racing today for pole position (I think). What I mean is that the cars were out racing full speed today through the city – certain streets were closed off to make the track – and I know it wasn’t the real race and I heard that it was for pole position for tomorrow’s race. Grand Prix racing is a big event in Europe and the Monte Carlo race is perhaps the biggest. We weren’t able to dock at the port because so many people had brought their boats in to watch the race. We got a glimpse of the cars racing – they were going really fast and it was fun to watch. After about 3 minutes, though, it got really anti-climactic because it was just loud cars going really fast through the streets. We stopped watching to go do other things, but there were TONS of people trying to get a glimpse of the cars.
We strolled around looking at the Med and the beautiful countryside of Monaco. (Monaco is a microstate on the Med in between France and Italy.) We walked through a palace/castle where the royal family of Monaco lives, and has lived for hundreds of years. It has obviously changed over the years, but the style of the home was stunning – not only a sign of money, but of power and legacy. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures. Our ticket got us into a museum about Napoleon Bonaparte as well. It was pretty lame. There were a few items that belonged to Napoleon, but other than that it was pretty lame.
We then walked down to the side of the mountain that was on the Med – there was a huge garden there for people to walk through. It was so relaxing to stroll through the trees and flowers while overlooking the Med. It was hot outside, but these gardens had a nice breeze blowing through them. (Speaking of being hot, our Camelbacks are a lifesaver – not having to buy bottled water in cities designed to overcharge tourists is nice. It’s also nice to carry around snack bars to keep us from getting too hungry.)
On our way out of the garden we did a quick walk through the cathedral. Lots of nice artwork – similar to the other cathedrals we have seen. They have also buried some of the royal family here. Nothing spectacular, but for some reason it always nice to take a quick stop at a cathedral.
We stopped for lunch at a sandwich stop. The sandwiches, no surprise, were delicious. Very similar to what we got yesterday. We walked back into the gardens, sat at a bench and ate lunch. For dessert, we bought a grilled Nutella sandwich – a bread roll with Nutella spread in it and grilled. A seagull landed on a fence right next to us and stared at me while I ate. I assumed it was waiting for me to drop some bread or something. Melba pointed out that this bird was our “European Phoebe” – she is referring to how our dog, Phoebe, always sits by me while I eat steak knowing that I’ll eventually give in to her begging and give her a piece. So as we left the bench I looked over at the bird and said, with a twist, what we always say to Phoebe when we leave her alone, “Bye, bye, Phoebe. Be a good bird.”
We headed back to the tender pick-up point around 3pm. The last tender would leave at 4. We could see from where we were standing that the line was really long (but I was sure that as long as people were in line, they would keep running the tenders until everyone got back on board). We got back on the ship around 3:30ish and went swimming. At 5pm we got the announcement that all of the tenders had returned and we were heading out.
As the ship started sailing away, Melba and I went down the 3rd deck and admired the French Riviera. Wow. That’s all I can say. Hard to take a bad picture here. Well, the sun was setting right in front of me and there was some mist so the pictures didn’t end up as nice as I would’ve liked, but they’re not bad. By the time we got to Nice, we could see the French Alps in the background. I know now why so many people long to live here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying anything nice about the French – I’m just acknowledging that the geography upon which they happen to be located has a very high level of aesthetic beauty.
The performance the ship had tonight had us laughing our heads off. (Last night’s performance had us laughing, too, but tonight’s was intentionally funny.) The comedian, Richard Gauntlet, was very witty and dry – what one would expect from British humor. He started out with some simple jokes about getting a call to do this show while he was “in a dirty, mining area west of England called Wales.” Someone came in about 10 minutes late and he looked right at them, smiled and said (in a very polite British way), “Oh welcome, welcome, come right in – please sit down. Can I get you anything? Like a watch?” He mumbled the last line under his breath. It was really funny.
Tomorrow is a sea day so we get to sleep in. Sleeping in is easy when you don’t have a window – the room stays dark and you can just keep sleeping. Going to port is fun, but it is a bit tiresome with all of the walking. I’m looking forward to staying on the ship and relaxing all day.
Melba and I have found a new place to live and it is Monte Carlo, Monaco. This place is gorgeous. We slept in this morning because people with excursions (a paid tour the ship does) got priority so we knew we wouldn’t get off of the ship until later in the morning. We were anchored and therefore had to take a boat into the port.
We had breakfast in the dining room (no room service this morning because we didn’t know when we would wake up). We filled our Camelbacks and went down the main deck. The tender ride was in a life boat with a motor – they had lowered several of them into the water and were shuffling people back and forth all day. I don’t think I could’ve ever been a sailor because even though the ride was pretty short, I got a little bit sea-sick as the waves (which weren’t big at all) tossed our little boat around.
Monte Carlo is one of those picturesque towns on the Med that looks EXACTLY like what you see in the movies. Except, it’s everywhere – and I mean everywhere. I had absolutely no need for a viewfinder on my camera because anywhere I pointed was a good picture. Our map showed us some museums and gardens within walking distance from the port so we decided to go on foot today. We walked up lots of steps and inclines to the main area where the museums were.
Along the way we saw plenty of street vendors selling shirts, hats, programs, etc for the Grand Prix. Turns out that the Monte Carlo Grand Prix is tomorrow (I think) and the cars were racing today for pole position (I think). What I mean is that the cars were out racing full speed today through the city – certain streets were closed off to make the track – and I know it wasn’t the real race and I heard that it was for pole position for tomorrow’s race. Grand Prix racing is a big event in Europe and the Monte Carlo race is perhaps the biggest. We weren’t able to dock at the port because so many people had brought their boats in to watch the race. We got a glimpse of the cars racing – they were going really fast and it was fun to watch. After about 3 minutes, though, it got really anti-climactic because it was just loud cars going really fast through the streets. We stopped watching to go do other things, but there were TONS of people trying to get a glimpse of the cars.
We strolled around looking at the Med and the beautiful countryside of Monaco. (Monaco is a microstate on the Med in between France and Italy.) We walked through a palace/castle where the royal family of Monaco lives, and has lived for hundreds of years. It has obviously changed over the years, but the style of the home was stunning – not only a sign of money, but of power and legacy. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures. Our ticket got us into a museum about Napoleon Bonaparte as well. It was pretty lame. There were a few items that belonged to Napoleon, but other than that it was pretty lame.
We then walked down to the side of the mountain that was on the Med – there was a huge garden there for people to walk through. It was so relaxing to stroll through the trees and flowers while overlooking the Med. It was hot outside, but these gardens had a nice breeze blowing through them. (Speaking of being hot, our Camelbacks are a lifesaver – not having to buy bottled water in cities designed to overcharge tourists is nice. It’s also nice to carry around snack bars to keep us from getting too hungry.)
On our way out of the garden we did a quick walk through the cathedral. Lots of nice artwork – similar to the other cathedrals we have seen. They have also buried some of the royal family here. Nothing spectacular, but for some reason it always nice to take a quick stop at a cathedral.
We stopped for lunch at a sandwich stop. The sandwiches, no surprise, were delicious. Very similar to what we got yesterday. We walked back into the gardens, sat at a bench and ate lunch. For dessert, we bought a grilled Nutella sandwich – a bread roll with Nutella spread in it and grilled. A seagull landed on a fence right next to us and stared at me while I ate. I assumed it was waiting for me to drop some bread or something. Melba pointed out that this bird was our “European Phoebe” – she is referring to how our dog, Phoebe, always sits by me while I eat steak knowing that I’ll eventually give in to her begging and give her a piece. So as we left the bench I looked over at the bird and said, with a twist, what we always say to Phoebe when we leave her alone, “Bye, bye, Phoebe. Be a good bird.”
We headed back to the tender pick-up point around 3pm. The last tender would leave at 4. We could see from where we were standing that the line was really long (but I was sure that as long as people were in line, they would keep running the tenders until everyone got back on board). We got back on the ship around 3:30ish and went swimming. At 5pm we got the announcement that all of the tenders had returned and we were heading out.
As the ship started sailing away, Melba and I went down the 3rd deck and admired the French Riviera. Wow. That’s all I can say. Hard to take a bad picture here. Well, the sun was setting right in front of me and there was some mist so the pictures didn’t end up as nice as I would’ve liked, but they’re not bad. By the time we got to Nice, we could see the French Alps in the background. I know now why so many people long to live here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying anything nice about the French – I’m just acknowledging that the geography upon which they happen to be located has a very high level of aesthetic beauty.
The performance the ship had tonight had us laughing our heads off. (Last night’s performance had us laughing, too, but tonight’s was intentionally funny.) The comedian, Richard Gauntlet, was very witty and dry – what one would expect from British humor. He started out with some simple jokes about getting a call to do this show while he was “in a dirty, mining area west of England called Wales.” Someone came in about 10 minutes late and he looked right at them, smiled and said (in a very polite British way), “Oh welcome, welcome, come right in – please sit down. Can I get you anything? Like a watch?” He mumbled the last line under his breath. It was really funny.
Tomorrow is a sea day so we get to sleep in. Sleeping in is easy when you don’t have a window – the room stays dark and you can just keep sleeping. Going to port is fun, but it is a bit tiresome with all of the walking. I’m looking forward to staying on the ship and relaxing all day.
5.20.09 Livorno, Florence and Pisa
This morning we had breakfast delivered to our room. This is a free service on the ship. I don’t know how I’m going to go back to not being pampered like this. We headed out around 9:30ish and took a shuttle into Livorno where we would grab a train to Firenze (Florence). We met 4 sisters on the shuttle (all in their 60’s) who were planning on doing the same, but had no idea how. I told them to just follow us and I would take care of it. The shuttle took us to the city and we grabbed a bus to the train station. From there Melba and I bought tickets to Firenze and the 4 sisters bought tickets to Pisa. Pisa was along the way so we took the same train – it left at 11:11am.
These four sisters fell in love with me (according to Melba). Getting around town isn’t that difficult, but it sure helps that I know the local customs, language, how the buses/trains work, etc. This is the first real day of the cruise and I’m sure these sisters liked having a ‘personal tour guide.’ It was really easy for me to just tell them to follow us, but I know that it made a big difference for them.
Melba and I filled our Camelbacks and loaded them with granola bars before we headed out. My Camelback has a leak on the top (near where you fill it up) so I can’t set it down without having some water leak out. Now that I know that it makes using the Camelback much more enjoyable. Our train ride into Firenze was 80 minutes long so we didn’t get in until 12:30pm. Our plan was to see some sights there, eat lunch, hop on the return train, get off at Pisa, run and see the leaning tower of Pisa, then hop back on the last train heading to Livorno where would catch the last shuttle back to the ship.
We followed a map to the Duomo – it is beautiful. There was a long line to get inside (not sure why) so we waited about 20 minutes before getting in. Most of the things we wanted to do cost money (that’s not always a given when things are inside of a Church) and I had run out of Euro. I talked with a local who directed me to a bank and I pulled out some more Euros. I think the exchange rate has gone down slightly – but I’m not certain. I like being able to speak Italian because the directions to this bank were somewhat complicated and I don’t think I could’ve found it had I not been able to speak Italian.
€8 per person to climb the 463 stairs of the Duomo and look out at Firenze. Absolutely gorgeous. I looked out at the Tuscan country side and it was just beautiful. I haven’t seen anything to compare it to. Red rooftops throughout the city, the Churches stand out, and it all continues to the green mountains which have houses built up on them. Just amazing. I was no longer bothered that Melba chose to take me to Firenze (instead of spending the day in Pisa). We spent about 20 minutes at the top taking pictures and joking about when we would move to Tuscany.
We left the Church and looked at the doors of the baptistery opposite the Duomo. There were made by Berghini a long, long time ago. 3D gold carvings (not real gold – that was just the color). We actually looked at replicas of them because the real ones are being restored. There were 8 square carvings – 4 on each door – and each one depicted a story from the Bible. All of them were very well done with lots of detail.
As we worked out way back to the train station we stopped at a sandwich shop for lunch. Melba had prosciutto and mozzarella and I had tomato, basil and mozzarella. The food here is just so good. It was simple, but good. We ate quickly and made it to the train station with some time to spare.
Melba slept most of the way back – I needed to stay awake because I was worried about missing our stop at Pisa. I later learned that Melba was really hot. The train was hot, but I was sitting by the open window and had a breeze blowing on me – I was unaware that Melba wasn’t getting any of it. I would have gladly witched seats with her had I known.
We got off of the train at Pisa at 4:30pm. I checked the schedule and saw another train going to Livorno at 5:34pm – this gave us just over an hour to walk over a mile to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, see it, take some pictures and walk back. Sounds easy, but Melba wasn’t feeling well and had a headache due to the heat on the train. We also didn’t know exactly where we needed to go. We got to the Tower shortly before 5pm. It’s pretty cool. It actually leans quite a bit more than I thought would. Melba’s Lonely Planet guide says there are always lots of tourists taking pictures with their hands positioned to look like they are either supporting or pushing the Tower – yup, that’s exactly what we saw. We took a couple of pictures and worked our way back.
I bought Melba some gelato hoping it would help her feel better. We ended up getting back to the station in about 20 minutes so maybe it worked. After walking over a mile each way (plus the walking in Firenze and climbing 463 stairs) my legs were dead – as were Melba’s. But we had done everything we wanted to do at this port. And now we were rushing to make it back to the ship. We got to the station with about 15 minutes to spare. The train arrived on schedule and thank goodness I remembered the name of the Piazza where the shuttle would pick us up. We got on the shuttle around 6:10 – not bad considering the last shuttle was scheduled to leave at 6:30. We made it back safely to the ship.
We were covered in sweat so we headed back to our room to take showers before going to dinner. I think today was one of the funnest days of my life. When I was a missionary I always thought it would be fun to come back to Italy as a tourist. I also thought it would fun to cruise Italy with my future wife. Here I was doing it. I knew the language, customs, etc and we were having a blast. The day ended up being everything we wanted it to be. When I got back on the ship I had a hard time speaking English to everyone because I was used to speaking Italian. I will miss being able to speak Italian to so many people once I get back to the States. In fact, I think I am going to miss Italy like crazy once we get back to the States – there are so many things that I love about Italy from being a missionary here and I had forgotten most of them. Now that it’s all coming back to me I can understand why it took me so long to ‘come home’.
Tomorrow we arrive in Monaco. We will be anchored, not docked. We were told that people who have paid for shore excursions will be the first ones to be tendered to land. (I think that’s the verb I should be using). We’re going to sleep in and leave later in the morning. There are some museums and such within walking distance of the port. My feet are feeling better after all of the walking today so I hope I can handle a day of walking tomorrow.
This morning we had breakfast delivered to our room. This is a free service on the ship. I don’t know how I’m going to go back to not being pampered like this. We headed out around 9:30ish and took a shuttle into Livorno where we would grab a train to Firenze (Florence). We met 4 sisters on the shuttle (all in their 60’s) who were planning on doing the same, but had no idea how. I told them to just follow us and I would take care of it. The shuttle took us to the city and we grabbed a bus to the train station. From there Melba and I bought tickets to Firenze and the 4 sisters bought tickets to Pisa. Pisa was along the way so we took the same train – it left at 11:11am.
These four sisters fell in love with me (according to Melba). Getting around town isn’t that difficult, but it sure helps that I know the local customs, language, how the buses/trains work, etc. This is the first real day of the cruise and I’m sure these sisters liked having a ‘personal tour guide.’ It was really easy for me to just tell them to follow us, but I know that it made a big difference for them.
Melba and I filled our Camelbacks and loaded them with granola bars before we headed out. My Camelback has a leak on the top (near where you fill it up) so I can’t set it down without having some water leak out. Now that I know that it makes using the Camelback much more enjoyable. Our train ride into Firenze was 80 minutes long so we didn’t get in until 12:30pm. Our plan was to see some sights there, eat lunch, hop on the return train, get off at Pisa, run and see the leaning tower of Pisa, then hop back on the last train heading to Livorno where would catch the last shuttle back to the ship.
We followed a map to the Duomo – it is beautiful. There was a long line to get inside (not sure why) so we waited about 20 minutes before getting in. Most of the things we wanted to do cost money (that’s not always a given when things are inside of a Church) and I had run out of Euro. I talked with a local who directed me to a bank and I pulled out some more Euros. I think the exchange rate has gone down slightly – but I’m not certain. I like being able to speak Italian because the directions to this bank were somewhat complicated and I don’t think I could’ve found it had I not been able to speak Italian.
€8 per person to climb the 463 stairs of the Duomo and look out at Firenze. Absolutely gorgeous. I looked out at the Tuscan country side and it was just beautiful. I haven’t seen anything to compare it to. Red rooftops throughout the city, the Churches stand out, and it all continues to the green mountains which have houses built up on them. Just amazing. I was no longer bothered that Melba chose to take me to Firenze (instead of spending the day in Pisa). We spent about 20 minutes at the top taking pictures and joking about when we would move to Tuscany.
We left the Church and looked at the doors of the baptistery opposite the Duomo. There were made by Berghini a long, long time ago. 3D gold carvings (not real gold – that was just the color). We actually looked at replicas of them because the real ones are being restored. There were 8 square carvings – 4 on each door – and each one depicted a story from the Bible. All of them were very well done with lots of detail.
As we worked out way back to the train station we stopped at a sandwich shop for lunch. Melba had prosciutto and mozzarella and I had tomato, basil and mozzarella. The food here is just so good. It was simple, but good. We ate quickly and made it to the train station with some time to spare.
Melba slept most of the way back – I needed to stay awake because I was worried about missing our stop at Pisa. I later learned that Melba was really hot. The train was hot, but I was sitting by the open window and had a breeze blowing on me – I was unaware that Melba wasn’t getting any of it. I would have gladly witched seats with her had I known.
We got off of the train at Pisa at 4:30pm. I checked the schedule and saw another train going to Livorno at 5:34pm – this gave us just over an hour to walk over a mile to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, see it, take some pictures and walk back. Sounds easy, but Melba wasn’t feeling well and had a headache due to the heat on the train. We also didn’t know exactly where we needed to go. We got to the Tower shortly before 5pm. It’s pretty cool. It actually leans quite a bit more than I thought would. Melba’s Lonely Planet guide says there are always lots of tourists taking pictures with their hands positioned to look like they are either supporting or pushing the Tower – yup, that’s exactly what we saw. We took a couple of pictures and worked our way back.
I bought Melba some gelato hoping it would help her feel better. We ended up getting back to the station in about 20 minutes so maybe it worked. After walking over a mile each way (plus the walking in Firenze and climbing 463 stairs) my legs were dead – as were Melba’s. But we had done everything we wanted to do at this port. And now we were rushing to make it back to the ship. We got to the station with about 15 minutes to spare. The train arrived on schedule and thank goodness I remembered the name of the Piazza where the shuttle would pick us up. We got on the shuttle around 6:10 – not bad considering the last shuttle was scheduled to leave at 6:30. We made it back safely to the ship.
We were covered in sweat so we headed back to our room to take showers before going to dinner. I think today was one of the funnest days of my life. When I was a missionary I always thought it would be fun to come back to Italy as a tourist. I also thought it would fun to cruise Italy with my future wife. Here I was doing it. I knew the language, customs, etc and we were having a blast. The day ended up being everything we wanted it to be. When I got back on the ship I had a hard time speaking English to everyone because I was used to speaking Italian. I will miss being able to speak Italian to so many people once I get back to the States. In fact, I think I am going to miss Italy like crazy once we get back to the States – there are so many things that I love about Italy from being a missionary here and I had forgotten most of them. Now that it’s all coming back to me I can understand why it took me so long to ‘come home’.
Tomorrow we arrive in Monaco. We will be anchored, not docked. We were told that people who have paid for shore excursions will be the first ones to be tendered to land. (I think that’s the verb I should be using). We’re going to sleep in and leave later in the morning. There are some museums and such within walking distance of the port. My feet are feeling better after all of the walking today so I hope I can handle a day of walking tomorrow.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
5.19.09 Boarding the Ship
We had breakfast at the hotel and I’m really glad it was covered with the room fee. €27 per person – that’s about $40. The breakfast was good – I’ve come to expect nothing less from the Italians. We packed up our belongings and head out the door.
The front desk called us a cab to take us to the train station. I began talking with the guy on the way to the station and he said he would be willing to drive us all the way to Civitavecchia for €70. Hmm, tempting. I did some quick math and figured that we would spend about €50+ to go by train (including cab fare to the station and then to the boat) so we told him to take us to Civitavecchia. It was a lovely ride. Our cabbie was a good, honest Italian. He has been married for eight years, has a 3 year-old son and another on the way.
Looking at the hills and trees while riding up along the coast of the Med reminded me a lot of California. The biggest difference was that the homes were all Italian Villa style. In California a home like that would cost millions, but the cabbie told me it was very inexpensive to live there compared to Rome. Funny how that works.
The cabbie took us all the way to the check-in point. His meter was up to about €150, but he stuck to his word and didn’t ask for anything more than what we agreed to. I paid him €75 and thanked him for his hospitality. He was sure to caution me that if I took a cab ride back that I would have to pay a lot more than €70 – I would get charged whatever was on the meter. He was a really good guy and put both Melba and I in a really good mood. This was an excellent way to start our cruise.
We boarded around 11:30 (left early not expecting a ride all the way there) and our rooms weren’t going to be ready for another 2 hours. The ship directed everyone to a dining room with buffet-style lunch foods. We weren’t very hungry so Melba had a salad and I ate a sandwich. All of the food is really good and it’s all covered with the cost of the room. The only catch is that we have to pay for all of our drinks (except for water). All things considered, that isn’t too bad – I just don’t like being nickeled and dimed. Oh, well.
About an hour later we saw two people we met at the airport while waiting for our bags. They are a retired couple from Arizona. We talked to them for about an hour yesterday and they sat with us at lunch while we waited for the rooms to be ready.
Lots of retired couples on board. I think Melba and I fall amongst the youngest people on board. If I were create a normal distribution of age on the ship, we would be around the first or second percentile, I'm sure. That said, we’re very glad that this isn’t a ‘party boat’. Everyone is quiet, respectful and friendly. If there were a bunch of undergrads running around on the boat creaming, yelling and getting drunk all of the time, this would be a rotten cruise.
Dinner was excellent. We have what’s called a flex-dining plan which means we can eat anytime between 5:45 and 9pm. The other option would be to have a fixed time to eat every night – it’s mostly groups who prefer that option. Tonight we ate with a retired couple from Vermont. He had recently sold his share of a Pharmacy business to his partner. We have a delightful time talking to them over dinner. It’s weird to me to think that Melba and I can each order appetizer, soup, entrée and dessert all for free. The serving sizes are moderate – enough to fill you up and nothing more. The quality of the food, I think, is similar to a nice restaurant. Not something like Ruth’s Chris, but it’s still nice. There is food everywhere and it’s all free – we just have to pay for the drinks.
Right now Melba and I are planning out the day tomorrow. I kinda want to go to Pisa and see the sites there, but Melba wants to go to Florence and see the artwork. I think she is going to win out on this one. She’s already seen Pisa. We’re listening to a talented string quartet. I write the journal while Melba reads Lonely Planet to decide what tomorrow’s plans are. We’re heading off to a theater in a couple of minutes – the actors are doing an interactive production to introduce the passengers to what the nightly productions will be for the rest of the cruise.
Perhaps we’ll know by tomorrow if we’re going to go to Pisa or Florence. While I want to go to Pisa, I must admit that after Melba read to me what she wants to do in Florence I’m bothered that we can’t do both.
UPDATE - She talked me into Florence. More tomorrow.
We had breakfast at the hotel and I’m really glad it was covered with the room fee. €27 per person – that’s about $40. The breakfast was good – I’ve come to expect nothing less from the Italians. We packed up our belongings and head out the door.
The front desk called us a cab to take us to the train station. I began talking with the guy on the way to the station and he said he would be willing to drive us all the way to Civitavecchia for €70. Hmm, tempting. I did some quick math and figured that we would spend about €50+ to go by train (including cab fare to the station and then to the boat) so we told him to take us to Civitavecchia. It was a lovely ride. Our cabbie was a good, honest Italian. He has been married for eight years, has a 3 year-old son and another on the way.
Looking at the hills and trees while riding up along the coast of the Med reminded me a lot of California. The biggest difference was that the homes were all Italian Villa style. In California a home like that would cost millions, but the cabbie told me it was very inexpensive to live there compared to Rome. Funny how that works.
The cabbie took us all the way to the check-in point. His meter was up to about €150, but he stuck to his word and didn’t ask for anything more than what we agreed to. I paid him €75 and thanked him for his hospitality. He was sure to caution me that if I took a cab ride back that I would have to pay a lot more than €70 – I would get charged whatever was on the meter. He was a really good guy and put both Melba and I in a really good mood. This was an excellent way to start our cruise.
We boarded around 11:30 (left early not expecting a ride all the way there) and our rooms weren’t going to be ready for another 2 hours. The ship directed everyone to a dining room with buffet-style lunch foods. We weren’t very hungry so Melba had a salad and I ate a sandwich. All of the food is really good and it’s all covered with the cost of the room. The only catch is that we have to pay for all of our drinks (except for water). All things considered, that isn’t too bad – I just don’t like being nickeled and dimed. Oh, well.
About an hour later we saw two people we met at the airport while waiting for our bags. They are a retired couple from Arizona. We talked to them for about an hour yesterday and they sat with us at lunch while we waited for the rooms to be ready.
Lots of retired couples on board. I think Melba and I fall amongst the youngest people on board. If I were create a normal distribution of age on the ship, we would be around the first or second percentile, I'm sure. That said, we’re very glad that this isn’t a ‘party boat’. Everyone is quiet, respectful and friendly. If there were a bunch of undergrads running around on the boat creaming, yelling and getting drunk all of the time, this would be a rotten cruise.
Dinner was excellent. We have what’s called a flex-dining plan which means we can eat anytime between 5:45 and 9pm. The other option would be to have a fixed time to eat every night – it’s mostly groups who prefer that option. Tonight we ate with a retired couple from Vermont. He had recently sold his share of a Pharmacy business to his partner. We have a delightful time talking to them over dinner. It’s weird to me to think that Melba and I can each order appetizer, soup, entrée and dessert all for free. The serving sizes are moderate – enough to fill you up and nothing more. The quality of the food, I think, is similar to a nice restaurant. Not something like Ruth’s Chris, but it’s still nice. There is food everywhere and it’s all free – we just have to pay for the drinks.
Right now Melba and I are planning out the day tomorrow. I kinda want to go to Pisa and see the sites there, but Melba wants to go to Florence and see the artwork. I think she is going to win out on this one. She’s already seen Pisa. We’re listening to a talented string quartet. I write the journal while Melba reads Lonely Planet to decide what tomorrow’s plans are. We’re heading off to a theater in a couple of minutes – the actors are doing an interactive production to introduce the passengers to what the nightly productions will be for the rest of the cruise.
Perhaps we’ll know by tomorrow if we’re going to go to Pisa or Florence. While I want to go to Pisa, I must admit that after Melba read to me what she wants to do in Florence I’m bothered that we can’t do both.
UPDATE - She talked me into Florence. More tomorrow.
5.18.09 Arriving in Rome
I’ve spent enough time on airplanes to don’t want to be on another one for a long time. I clearly remember laughing (at my expense) several times throughout the duration of the flight – I feel bad that I’m too tired to remember what she was laughing at.
We got off the plane and went straight to baggage claim (what else were we going to do?) When we checked in at Atlanta we were told that our bags had made it to Atlanta and would be on our plane. We started to get nervous about an hour after the flight when we had no bags – except a lot of people from our flight were still waiting for their bags. At around 10am (our flight landed at 8:20sm) we were told that all bags had made it to baggage claim. Welcome trial number 1. Neither Melba nor I had a bag. Long line at customer service with people from our flight who didn’t have bags. I had grown sick of the clothes I was wearing (hadn’t changed them for three days) not to mention that I was really nervous about what we would do if we had to board the ship without out bags. Then we found out that our bags had made it on the flight from New York last night. So we have our bags and we’re sitting in the hotel – a very nice hotel.
Trail number 2 was learning that our port is over 100km away from Rome and it could easily be a €150 cab ride – that’s over $200. Well, Italian hospitality is among the best. The concierge printed off the train schedule and found us a much less expensive way to get there. He said the cab ride to the train station would be about 35 EUR and the train tickets will be €4.50 each. He even told me how to use the bus (instead of a taxi) and it would cost €1 each – but I it will be too crowded and I’m not that desperate. This is real Italian hospitality – it’s easy to find, but you have to look for it somewhere devoid of street vendors.
I was kinda bummed when we had to stay in Atlanta on Sunday because I wanted to go to Church in Rome. However, I don’t think we could’ve made it through Church yesterday. We were both so tired when we got to the hotel that we went straight to bed and slept for 2 hours. Well, Melba slept for 3.
I have really lost a lot of my Italian skills. I’m doing OK with getting around and chit-chatting, but I don’t think I could hold a full discussion like I could when I was a missionary. Bummer. Maybe I’ll start to get some of it back over the next couple of weeks. We’ll see.
As easy as it would’ve been to stay at the hotel – we were both really tired – we went ahead and bought bus tickets into Rome. I had forgotten how much I loved Italy until I got into the city. There were several little things that I had forgotten like how cars know to stop if you jump into the crosswalk – although it took Melba a little bit of time to develop that level of faith… We didn’t have much time and all of the museum were closed (we slept until about 3 and the museums close at 4) so went to Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City and walked around. No crowds anywhere and I was somewhat, but pleasantly, surprised to not see and Gypsy’s or street vendors. We stopped at a gelateria along the way and had some real Italian gelato. Buonissimo. We loved sitting on the street in the middle of Rome, eating gelato and looking at the people walking by.
The Basilica is beautiful – the way I remember Italian Catholic Cathedrals. The first thing I saw when I walked in was a sculpture of Mary holding Jesus after He had died. I will admit that I choked up when I first saw it – I had never seen a sculpture so beautiful. I could have looked at it for an hour. Melba then told it was the Pieta. It all made sense at that point – Paul O’Neill (Producer of TSO) said that great art will give an emotion that someone has never felt before and used the Pieta as an example. He said that someone who has never had a child can look at that sculpture and know what it is like to have one who dies.
We walked around the rest of the Basilica, stopped at a store to buy some bottled water and then ate dinner at an outdoor restaurant. Service was great and the food was really good. We split a Pizza Margarita (crust, tomato sauce, basil and mozzarella) and then each ordered a plate of pasta. I had four-cheese gnocchi and Melba had a sausage, sage, and butter pasta. Both dishes were good but Melba’s was incredible. We brainstormed how we would imitate it when we got home.
We went back to the bus pick-up spot and went home. I had a really bad headache. We were both really tired, got home and went straight to bed.
I’ve spent enough time on airplanes to don’t want to be on another one for a long time. I clearly remember laughing (at my expense) several times throughout the duration of the flight – I feel bad that I’m too tired to remember what she was laughing at.
We got off the plane and went straight to baggage claim (what else were we going to do?) When we checked in at Atlanta we were told that our bags had made it to Atlanta and would be on our plane. We started to get nervous about an hour after the flight when we had no bags – except a lot of people from our flight were still waiting for their bags. At around 10am (our flight landed at 8:20sm) we were told that all bags had made it to baggage claim. Welcome trial number 1. Neither Melba nor I had a bag. Long line at customer service with people from our flight who didn’t have bags. I had grown sick of the clothes I was wearing (hadn’t changed them for three days) not to mention that I was really nervous about what we would do if we had to board the ship without out bags. Then we found out that our bags had made it on the flight from New York last night. So we have our bags and we’re sitting in the hotel – a very nice hotel.
Trail number 2 was learning that our port is over 100km away from Rome and it could easily be a €150 cab ride – that’s over $200. Well, Italian hospitality is among the best. The concierge printed off the train schedule and found us a much less expensive way to get there. He said the cab ride to the train station would be about 35 EUR and the train tickets will be €4.50 each. He even told me how to use the bus (instead of a taxi) and it would cost €1 each – but I it will be too crowded and I’m not that desperate. This is real Italian hospitality – it’s easy to find, but you have to look for it somewhere devoid of street vendors.
I was kinda bummed when we had to stay in Atlanta on Sunday because I wanted to go to Church in Rome. However, I don’t think we could’ve made it through Church yesterday. We were both so tired when we got to the hotel that we went straight to bed and slept for 2 hours. Well, Melba slept for 3.
I have really lost a lot of my Italian skills. I’m doing OK with getting around and chit-chatting, but I don’t think I could hold a full discussion like I could when I was a missionary. Bummer. Maybe I’ll start to get some of it back over the next couple of weeks. We’ll see.
As easy as it would’ve been to stay at the hotel – we were both really tired – we went ahead and bought bus tickets into Rome. I had forgotten how much I loved Italy until I got into the city. There were several little things that I had forgotten like how cars know to stop if you jump into the crosswalk – although it took Melba a little bit of time to develop that level of faith… We didn’t have much time and all of the museum were closed (we slept until about 3 and the museums close at 4) so went to Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City and walked around. No crowds anywhere and I was somewhat, but pleasantly, surprised to not see and Gypsy’s or street vendors. We stopped at a gelateria along the way and had some real Italian gelato. Buonissimo. We loved sitting on the street in the middle of Rome, eating gelato and looking at the people walking by.
The Basilica is beautiful – the way I remember Italian Catholic Cathedrals. The first thing I saw when I walked in was a sculpture of Mary holding Jesus after He had died. I will admit that I choked up when I first saw it – I had never seen a sculpture so beautiful. I could have looked at it for an hour. Melba then told it was the Pieta. It all made sense at that point – Paul O’Neill (Producer of TSO) said that great art will give an emotion that someone has never felt before and used the Pieta as an example. He said that someone who has never had a child can look at that sculpture and know what it is like to have one who dies.
We walked around the rest of the Basilica, stopped at a store to buy some bottled water and then ate dinner at an outdoor restaurant. Service was great and the food was really good. We split a Pizza Margarita (crust, tomato sauce, basil and mozzarella) and then each ordered a plate of pasta. I had four-cheese gnocchi and Melba had a sausage, sage, and butter pasta. Both dishes were good but Melba’s was incredible. We brainstormed how we would imitate it when we got home.
We went back to the bus pick-up spot and went home. I had a really bad headache. We were both really tired, got home and went straight to bed.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Sammie Meets his Trash-talkin' Match
In his last post, Sammie told you about our adventures trying to travel abroad. Since we were flying out of Dulles airport on Saturday, we drove down to northern Virginia on Friday and stayed with my cousin Cate for the night. (Sammie didn't mention the part where, 45 minutes outside of State College, I asked him if he had his camera and he didn't. We went back for it. 90 minutes later, at the same spot we realized we didn't have the camera, we realized we didn't have our swimming suits. We didn't go back for them...)
Anyway, I knew that at Cate's house I'd have a lot of fun seeing her, her husband Mike, and their awesome kids. I knew we'd have a comfortable place to sleep in their beautiful home and a hot breakfast. I didn't expect to laugh harder than I have in a really long time. (Well, since my Mom came to town...)
Cate and Mike's 3rd kid, Nathan, is 8 years old. He's 45 pounds and probably just under 4 feet. When he steps on the Wii fit, he registers UNDER the underweight category. His BMI is something like 9 or 10.
Sammie, on the other hand, will be 34 in August. He's 6' 1" and, while I won't disclose his weight, I'll mention that he would definitely not fall in the underweight category. Basically, he's over 4 times Nathan's weight and age.
It started with Sammie and Richie (Nathan's older brother, who is 13, tall, and athletic) playing tennis. Nathan, who had asked to play the winner, sat on the sidelines commenting that their game looked like the ladies' championship game. Then it was his turn to play Sammie.
"Come on! Hit like a man!" says 45-pound-8-year-old Nathan. "You hit like a girl!"
"Is that as hard as you can hit the ball?" "Come on! You can give me a real serve!"
Richie and I were on the sidelines suffocating from laughing. And the best part was that Nathan was scoring hardly any points against Sammie.
Sammie started coming back with, "Well, if you can't hit it like a man, at least hit it like a boy!"
Nathan started jumping up and down, expending some pent-up energy. Sammie asked, "Dude, do you have to go to the bathroom?"
Nathan won the next point.
Sammie said, "I should fill my bladder. Maybe I'd start playing better."
After Sammie won the tennis match, they went on to baseball. Sammie's strategy became to lift Nathan up with one arm and pitch with his other arm, so Nathan couldn't hit the ball and struck out.
We ended with a rousing boxing match. It was disturbing to watch Sammie's Wii character beating up on Nathan. But Nathan won--knocked Sammie out twice!
Anyway, I knew that at Cate's house I'd have a lot of fun seeing her, her husband Mike, and their awesome kids. I knew we'd have a comfortable place to sleep in their beautiful home and a hot breakfast. I didn't expect to laugh harder than I have in a really long time. (Well, since my Mom came to town...)
Cate and Mike's 3rd kid, Nathan, is 8 years old. He's 45 pounds and probably just under 4 feet. When he steps on the Wii fit, he registers UNDER the underweight category. His BMI is something like 9 or 10.
Sammie, on the other hand, will be 34 in August. He's 6' 1" and, while I won't disclose his weight, I'll mention that he would definitely not fall in the underweight category. Basically, he's over 4 times Nathan's weight and age.
It started with Sammie and Richie (Nathan's older brother, who is 13, tall, and athletic) playing tennis. Nathan, who had asked to play the winner, sat on the sidelines commenting that their game looked like the ladies' championship game. Then it was his turn to play Sammie.
"Come on! Hit like a man!" says 45-pound-8-year-old Nathan. "You hit like a girl!"
"Is that as hard as you can hit the ball?" "Come on! You can give me a real serve!"
Richie and I were on the sidelines suffocating from laughing. And the best part was that Nathan was scoring hardly any points against Sammie.
Sammie started coming back with, "Well, if you can't hit it like a man, at least hit it like a boy!"
Nathan started jumping up and down, expending some pent-up energy. Sammie asked, "Dude, do you have to go to the bathroom?"
Nathan won the next point.
Sammie said, "I should fill my bladder. Maybe I'd start playing better."
After Sammie won the tennis match, they went on to baseball. Sammie's strategy became to lift Nathan up with one arm and pitch with his other arm, so Nathan couldn't hit the ball and struck out.
We ended with a rousing boxing match. It was disturbing to watch Sammie's Wii character beating up on Nathan. But Nathan won--knocked Sammie out twice!
Adventures Abroad (but not yet)
At the last minute, Melba and I decided to go on a Mediterranean Cruise to celebrate graduation. We left yesterday for Rome to spend a couple of days there, go on the cruise, and then a couple more days in Rome, and then back home. Here are the Top Ten best parts about traveling yesterday:
1. Having our flight out of Dulles delayed an hour, the gate attendants telling us that the screen is wrong and our flight isn't really delayed, then telling us all on the plane that we will be delayed for more than an hour.
2. Getting off the plane in JFK to find out that our flight to Rome has left and stand in line with a bunch of angry people while we wait to be re-booked. (FYI -- airlines aren't run like McDonald's so don't think that if you're really rude to someone you'll get free fries. Be nice to them and they will reciprocate it back to you.)
3. Being told by the nice girl helping us that the flight to Rome was at the gate right next to the one we entered in on -- and that if we had have gone straight there we would've made it.
4. Being re-booked to Atlanta, and knowing that we'll have to stay the night there and then go to Rome in the morning -- and because delays are due to weather, we have to pay for the hotel out of pocket.
5. Boarding our 6:45pm flight to Atlanta at 7pm (it was delayed, too) and then sitting on the tarmac for 3 hours and 15 minutes before taking off. And it's only a two hour flight.
6. Learning at baggage claim (at 12:30am) that because Atlanta is not our final destination, we won't be getting our bags until we get to Rome.
7. Finding a nice hotel at a low rate -- and I'm not kidding. Upgraded to a king size bed in a suite, being given a 2pm check-out time, free internet, free full breakfast and friendly service all for $59.
8. Calling Marriott and learning that I can change my booking there at no charge (that was a relief).
9. Sleeping in until 9am, going to breakfast, stuffing myself with loads of good breakfast, then going back to bed.
10. Being on vacation with Melba. Yup. Despite all of the troubles we had flying yesterday, it's nice to be on a vacation with Melba. We're heading off to Rome now -- direct flight to Rome out of Atlanta. Hopefully our bags will make it.
We'll try and keep a running blog of all of our fun adventures in Rome and the Mediterranean. Check back soon for more updates....
At the last minute, Melba and I decided to go on a Mediterranean Cruise to celebrate graduation. We left yesterday for Rome to spend a couple of days there, go on the cruise, and then a couple more days in Rome, and then back home. Here are the Top Ten best parts about traveling yesterday:
1. Having our flight out of Dulles delayed an hour, the gate attendants telling us that the screen is wrong and our flight isn't really delayed, then telling us all on the plane that we will be delayed for more than an hour.
2. Getting off the plane in JFK to find out that our flight to Rome has left and stand in line with a bunch of angry people while we wait to be re-booked. (FYI -- airlines aren't run like McDonald's so don't think that if you're really rude to someone you'll get free fries. Be nice to them and they will reciprocate it back to you.)
3. Being told by the nice girl helping us that the flight to Rome was at the gate right next to the one we entered in on -- and that if we had have gone straight there we would've made it.
4. Being re-booked to Atlanta, and knowing that we'll have to stay the night there and then go to Rome in the morning -- and because delays are due to weather, we have to pay for the hotel out of pocket.
5. Boarding our 6:45pm flight to Atlanta at 7pm (it was delayed, too) and then sitting on the tarmac for 3 hours and 15 minutes before taking off. And it's only a two hour flight.
6. Learning at baggage claim (at 12:30am) that because Atlanta is not our final destination, we won't be getting our bags until we get to Rome.
7. Finding a nice hotel at a low rate -- and I'm not kidding. Upgraded to a king size bed in a suite, being given a 2pm check-out time, free internet, free full breakfast and friendly service all for $59.
8. Calling Marriott and learning that I can change my booking there at no charge (that was a relief).
9. Sleeping in until 9am, going to breakfast, stuffing myself with loads of good breakfast, then going back to bed.
10. Being on vacation with Melba. Yup. Despite all of the troubles we had flying yesterday, it's nice to be on a vacation with Melba. We're heading off to Rome now -- direct flight to Rome out of Atlanta. Hopefully our bags will make it.
We'll try and keep a running blog of all of our fun adventures in Rome and the Mediterranean. Check back soon for more updates....
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Adoption
So, I think all of you that read this blog know that Sammie and I are trying to adopt. I haven't really mentioned it here because, well, you can probably guess why. I won't go into a lot of details, but I'll give a quick update. We've had some success getting in contact with potential birth mothers and hearing of situations that could work out for us. Unfortunately, though, nothing has worked out yet. In fact, we've had two adoptions fall through.
So... we're still searching! Following are three links to our online adoption profiles. This is just a reminder... if you hear of someone who is thinking of placing a baby for adoption, keep us in mind! We'll name the baby after you. (Okay. We probably won't. That was my one weak attempt at humor for this post.)
Here's our old LDS Family Services profile. (I don't know when they are officially changing from the old to the new.)
Here's our new LDS Family Services profile.
And here's our Parent Profiles profile. (department of redundancy department)
So... we're still searching! Following are three links to our online adoption profiles. This is just a reminder... if you hear of someone who is thinking of placing a baby for adoption, keep us in mind! We'll name the baby after you. (Okay. We probably won't. That was my one weak attempt at humor for this post.)
Here's our old LDS Family Services profile. (I don't know when they are officially changing from the old to the new.)
Here's our new LDS Family Services profile.
And here's our Parent Profiles profile. (department of redundancy department)
Meanwhile, back on the ground...
Okay, I still get a stomach ache when I look at the video of Sammie jumping out of the plane. Here are some pictures of us on the ground before he jumped - with the jump master and with me trying to talk him out of it. :)
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
At Least the Parachute Opened...
Last week, I saw a bumper sticker that read, "If at first you don't succeed, maybe skydiving isn't for you."
Fortunately, Sammie's parachute opened. Unfortunately, he threw up on the jump master on the way down and then sprained his ankle while landing.
But the parachute opened!
And I learned exactly how long 30 seconds can feel: as I see a small speck that I know is my husband falling or jumping or whatever out of a plane 10,000 feet above my head and wait for the parachute to open. That 30 seconds may have been the longest of my life and the shortest of Sammie's as he fell through the air with a jump master and parachute (that opened!) strapped to his back.
Once the parachute opened (and it did open!) Sammie got sick to his stomach. The instructor turned the chute so he could throw up. He said it just kind of dissipated into the air. (My mom later commented that she wasn't very comforted thinking about people flying above our heads, throwing up on us.) When he landed, he twisted his ankle and has been hobbling around ever since. Actually, he thinks it's the perfect injury because he needs to stay off it and keep it elevated. That translates to no dishes, no walking the dog, no cleaning. He needs to sit in the arm chair with his feet elevated, watching sports, while I supply him with bottles of IBC Root Beer.
At least the parachute opened.
Fortunately, our brother in law Ben had thrown up on his jump master and our other brother in law Luke had provided us with an appropriate line for the awkward situation of having your throw up all over a stranger's clothes. "Well, at least the parachute opened!"
Sammie's note: Watch closely as I jump out of the plane and you'll know why I was throwing up 30 seconds later!
Melba's addendum: It's a testament to Sammie's wonderfulness that, even with his sore ankle, I came home from orchestra rehearsal last Monday to find the dishes done, the garbage emptied, and the dog walked. Sammie knew I'd reached my stress limit and sacrificed his ankle for my happiness. When I came home, I was touched and emotional:
M: Sammie, I feel really bad. You didn't have to do that!
S: I'm sorry you feel bad. I won't ever do it again.
M: I know you won't.
At least the para... you get the idea.
Fortunately, Sammie's parachute opened. Unfortunately, he threw up on the jump master on the way down and then sprained his ankle while landing.
But the parachute opened!
And I learned exactly how long 30 seconds can feel: as I see a small speck that I know is my husband falling or jumping or whatever out of a plane 10,000 feet above my head and wait for the parachute to open. That 30 seconds may have been the longest of my life and the shortest of Sammie's as he fell through the air with a jump master and parachute (that opened!) strapped to his back.
Once the parachute opened (and it did open!) Sammie got sick to his stomach. The instructor turned the chute so he could throw up. He said it just kind of dissipated into the air. (My mom later commented that she wasn't very comforted thinking about people flying above our heads, throwing up on us.) When he landed, he twisted his ankle and has been hobbling around ever since. Actually, he thinks it's the perfect injury because he needs to stay off it and keep it elevated. That translates to no dishes, no walking the dog, no cleaning. He needs to sit in the arm chair with his feet elevated, watching sports, while I supply him with bottles of IBC Root Beer.
At least the parachute opened.
Fortunately, our brother in law Ben had thrown up on his jump master and our other brother in law Luke had provided us with an appropriate line for the awkward situation of having your throw up all over a stranger's clothes. "Well, at least the parachute opened!"
Sammie's note: Watch closely as I jump out of the plane and you'll know why I was throwing up 30 seconds later!
Melba's addendum: It's a testament to Sammie's wonderfulness that, even with his sore ankle, I came home from orchestra rehearsal last Monday to find the dishes done, the garbage emptied, and the dog walked. Sammie knew I'd reached my stress limit and sacrificed his ankle for my happiness. When I came home, I was touched and emotional:
M: Sammie, I feel really bad. You didn't have to do that!
S: I'm sorry you feel bad. I won't ever do it again.
M: I know you won't.
At least the para... you get the idea.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Facial Hair
Sammie recently started shaving with cream and a razor, rather than with his electric razor. I LOVE how smooth his face is afterwards. :)
This morning, I had just rolled out of bed and was still in my just-out-of-bed state of thoughtless stupor. I watched as Sammie squirted blue shaving gel into his hand then lathered it into a white foam on his face. He turned to say something smart alecky to me and I replied, "Whatever you do Sammie, please don't grow a long white beard with blue highlights."
Sammie came back with, "What about when I'm old and fat?" Only a slight pause, and then, "And do a reunion tour with the P-funk?"
Later, I was getting ready to take a very anxious and excited Phoebe on our morning walk. I was distracted though, by Sammie's clean-shaven, smooth (and very cute) face. I got carried away rubbing my cheek on his while Phoebe danced around us, trying to get me out the door. Finally Sammie said, "Sorry Phoebe, you have too much facial hair. I get all the attention!"
This morning, I had just rolled out of bed and was still in my just-out-of-bed state of thoughtless stupor. I watched as Sammie squirted blue shaving gel into his hand then lathered it into a white foam on his face. He turned to say something smart alecky to me and I replied, "Whatever you do Sammie, please don't grow a long white beard with blue highlights."
Sammie came back with, "What about when I'm old and fat?" Only a slight pause, and then, "And do a reunion tour with the P-funk?"
Later, I was getting ready to take a very anxious and excited Phoebe on our morning walk. I was distracted though, by Sammie's clean-shaven, smooth (and very cute) face. I got carried away rubbing my cheek on his while Phoebe danced around us, trying to get me out the door. Finally Sammie said, "Sorry Phoebe, you have too much facial hair. I get all the attention!"
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
If you're averse to potty humor, you may want to skip this post
Sammie says there's enough "potty humor" on our blog and I shouldn't post this. But I think it's funny so I'm going to.
Recently, I played in a concert with the Nittany Valley Symphony. Among the pieces on the program was Mendelssohn's 5th Symphony called "Reformation." The last movement is the theme of the hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." Mendelssohn is brilliant and I love playing his music.
I wanted Sammie to be able to pick out the hymn in the symphony, so before the concert, I prepped him:
M: Sammie, there's something I want you to listen for in the concert. Do you know what a movement is?
The look on Sammie's face said, "So many jokes, so little time."
S: You mean what I do in the bathroom 2-3 times a day?
M: (laughs) You know when you're watching a symphony and they play a really long piece and the conductor stop between sections and nobody claps? Well actually, a few people clap but you're not supposed to. (symphony snobs love to look down on between-movement-clappers, by the way.)
S: (face contorting with laughter as he tries not make any more poop jokes) yeah.
M: Well, that's a movement.
S: (unable to control himself any longer) So I shouldn't start clapping if I go to the bathroom in the middle of your concert?
M: (rolling her eyes) The fourth movement of the first piece we're going to play is the melody of "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."
S: So after I go to the bathroom for the fourth time during your concert, you guys are going to start playing "A Mighty Fortress is our God"?
Many of you know that our nickname for each other is "poopoohead." Well, for the next few days, Sammie became "movement-head."
Recently, I played in a concert with the Nittany Valley Symphony. Among the pieces on the program was Mendelssohn's 5th Symphony called "Reformation." The last movement is the theme of the hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." Mendelssohn is brilliant and I love playing his music.
I wanted Sammie to be able to pick out the hymn in the symphony, so before the concert, I prepped him:
M: Sammie, there's something I want you to listen for in the concert. Do you know what a movement is?
The look on Sammie's face said, "So many jokes, so little time."
S: You mean what I do in the bathroom 2-3 times a day?
M: (laughs) You know when you're watching a symphony and they play a really long piece and the conductor stop between sections and nobody claps? Well actually, a few people clap but you're not supposed to. (symphony snobs love to look down on between-movement-clappers, by the way.)
S: (face contorting with laughter as he tries not make any more poop jokes) yeah.
M: Well, that's a movement.
S: (unable to control himself any longer) So I shouldn't start clapping if I go to the bathroom in the middle of your concert?
M: (rolling her eyes) The fourth movement of the first piece we're going to play is the melody of "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."
S: So after I go to the bathroom for the fourth time during your concert, you guys are going to start playing "A Mighty Fortress is our God"?
Many of you know that our nickname for each other is "poopoohead." Well, for the next few days, Sammie became "movement-head."
Friday, March 13, 2009
Melba early for something? And that's what got me upset?
For Spring Break, Melba and I decided to head up to Niagara Falls and then to Palmyra. I have never seen the falls so it is now one more place that I have scratched off of my 'To-See" list. It was cold and windy, but we still had loads o' fun. We left home much later than we wanted to and by the time we got to the falls it was dark and there was too much mist to see them. The next morning, however, we could see them clearly. We ate donuts from Tim Horton's (tasted like a mouthful of sugar - literally), saw a life-size stuffed moose toy that sells for $15,000 (only about $12,000 USD) and then decided there was nothing else to see (everything is closed at Niagara for the winter season) so we left for Palmyra.
Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center currently has a Sister Missionary from Brazil and one from Italy. Melba and I spent much time talking to them in their native languages. Then we went to a local BBQ joint in Phelps, NY (it was pretty good) and went back to the hotel to relax. We both had achy feet after all of the walking we did at Niagara.
And then it happened. We looked at the news and found out that if Melba would have been two hours late in getting ready like she normally is -- well, we would have seen someone take the plunge over Niagara Falls and live. Seriously. We left Niagara around noon and some dude jumped around 2:15pm from the Canadian side right by the Horseshoe Falls which was right where we were -- there was hardly anybody there so it wasn't hard to stand at that spot for a while.
Well, it would have been traumatizing to see and maybe I could have caught it on camera which might have made me slightly more famous than I already am for having once played a gig with the former drummer of the P-Funk -- but at the end of the day, I think it would have been just traumatizing. I still would have liked to see it, though. After all, the dude lived so it would've ended up a happy story.
Here's a link to the story. TWO HOURS!! We missed it by only two hours!
Melba's note: I'm not "usually" two hours late. Only sometimes. I'm "usually" about 15-20 minutes late. Just wanted to clarify.
For Spring Break, Melba and I decided to head up to Niagara Falls and then to Palmyra. I have never seen the falls so it is now one more place that I have scratched off of my 'To-See" list. It was cold and windy, but we still had loads o' fun. We left home much later than we wanted to and by the time we got to the falls it was dark and there was too much mist to see them. The next morning, however, we could see them clearly. We ate donuts from Tim Horton's (tasted like a mouthful of sugar - literally), saw a life-size stuffed moose toy that sells for $15,000 (only about $12,000 USD) and then decided there was nothing else to see (everything is closed at Niagara for the winter season) so we left for Palmyra.
Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center currently has a Sister Missionary from Brazil and one from Italy. Melba and I spent much time talking to them in their native languages. Then we went to a local BBQ joint in Phelps, NY (it was pretty good) and went back to the hotel to relax. We both had achy feet after all of the walking we did at Niagara.
And then it happened. We looked at the news and found out that if Melba would have been two hours late in getting ready like she normally is -- well, we would have seen someone take the plunge over Niagara Falls and live. Seriously. We left Niagara around noon and some dude jumped around 2:15pm from the Canadian side right by the Horseshoe Falls which was right where we were -- there was hardly anybody there so it wasn't hard to stand at that spot for a while.
Well, it would have been traumatizing to see and maybe I could have caught it on camera which might have made me slightly more famous than I already am for having once played a gig with the former drummer of the P-Funk -- but at the end of the day, I think it would have been just traumatizing. I still would have liked to see it, though. After all, the dude lived so it would've ended up a happy story.
Here's a link to the story. TWO HOURS!! We missed it by only two hours!
Melba's note: I'm not "usually" two hours late. Only sometimes. I'm "usually" about 15-20 minutes late. Just wanted to clarify.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
This is a Boring Post
I have a practical question for anyone who reads this blog. What is your system for organizing and filing paper at your home? I have a folder for everything--insurance, credit cards, tax receipts, etc--but they're not AT ALL organized. And then I have a folder labeled "103 Lincoln Ave" with random utility bills, homeowners info, and I-don't-know-what-else. I know that some of you are obsessive about organization (Hi Julie! Hi Cath!), and all of you are probably more organized than I am because it would be pretty hard not to be, so give me your tips...
Thanks much!!!!
ps - quick update - warm weather...spring break this week...going to Niagara Falls and Palmyra for a couple of days...started the process to sell our home...sad about leaving State College...Sammie's red hair still sticking straight up every morning...life is good!
Thanks much!!!!
ps - quick update - warm weather...spring break this week...going to Niagara Falls and Palmyra for a couple of days...started the process to sell our home...sad about leaving State College...Sammie's red hair still sticking straight up every morning...life is good!
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Someone Has a Crush on Phoebe
Phoebe loves to give kisses. We're pretty tolerant of her licking our hands or feet (although that can really tickle) but don't really like her to lick our faces. That doesn't stop her from trying, though.
Phoebe and I also love to walk together. There's a little dirt road by our house with a young calf in a very small fenced-in area. I usually try to keep Phoebe away from the calf, so she won't scare it, but the other day I let her creep close so I could see what would happen. Phoebe pranced over to the calf's cage, nose in the air, tail wagging, very curious, eager to make a new friend. The calf saw Phoebe approaching and began to lower her head and move closer, also curious and anxious for a buddy. They slowed down as their noses neared each other's, inching closer and closer. They were timid at first but soon warmed up. Finally, the cow reached out her long pink tongue and gave Phoebe a huge slobbery kiss across her face!
Friendship aborted.
Phoebe turned with a shudder and ran away. I followed laughing and said, "It's not so nice, is it Phoebes?"
ps - I think Phoebe's tendency to "kiss and run" stems from her father. :)
Phoebe and I also love to walk together. There's a little dirt road by our house with a young calf in a very small fenced-in area. I usually try to keep Phoebe away from the calf, so she won't scare it, but the other day I let her creep close so I could see what would happen. Phoebe pranced over to the calf's cage, nose in the air, tail wagging, very curious, eager to make a new friend. The calf saw Phoebe approaching and began to lower her head and move closer, also curious and anxious for a buddy. They slowed down as their noses neared each other's, inching closer and closer. They were timid at first but soon warmed up. Finally, the cow reached out her long pink tongue and gave Phoebe a huge slobbery kiss across her face!
Friendship aborted.
Phoebe turned with a shudder and ran away. I followed laughing and said, "It's not so nice, is it Phoebes?"
ps - I think Phoebe's tendency to "kiss and run" stems from her father. :)
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Using up more of my allotted 15 minutes...
Well, it certainly wasn't like playing a gig with the former drummer of the P-Funk, but this time I had a slightly bigger audience. My good friend Mike asked me to do some voice over work for a video last week. That was all I knew about it at the time. Turns out that Mike' wife, Laura, works for the University and her office was responsible for producing a video for the PSU website to celebrate the sesquicentennial anniversary of the first day of classes at Penn State. Below is the press release which includes a link to the video. Enjoy...
On Feb. 16, 1859, classes began at Penn State for the very first time, with 69 students enrolled in a course of studies designed to prepare them for careers in the agricultural sciences. The campus' location in rural central Pennsylvania offered few amenities, and the physical plant was largely incomplete. As University President Graham B. Spanier notes in a brief video commemorating that historic day 150 years ago, "in spite of the primitive conditions they faced, those early students realized that a Penn State education offered them practically limitless opportunities. Opportunities to gain and create new knowledge, to develop character and personal values, and to serve society in leadership roles." To watch the video, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn6QmdTkduU
Well, it certainly wasn't like playing a gig with the former drummer of the P-Funk, but this time I had a slightly bigger audience. My good friend Mike asked me to do some voice over work for a video last week. That was all I knew about it at the time. Turns out that Mike' wife, Laura, works for the University and her office was responsible for producing a video for the PSU website to celebrate the sesquicentennial anniversary of the first day of classes at Penn State. Below is the press release which includes a link to the video. Enjoy...
On Feb. 16, 1859, classes began at Penn State for the very first time, with 69 students enrolled in a course of studies designed to prepare them for careers in the agricultural sciences. The campus' location in rural central Pennsylvania offered few amenities, and the physical plant was largely incomplete. As University President Graham B. Spanier notes in a brief video commemorating that historic day 150 years ago, "in spite of the primitive conditions they faced, those early students realized that a Penn State education offered them practically limitless opportunities. Opportunities to gain and create new knowledge, to develop character and personal values, and to serve society in leadership roles." To watch the video, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn6QmdTkduU
Thursday, February 12, 2009
This is why you're fat
My dear friend, Mike, sent me this link right before our Insurance class today. The lecture, well, let's just say it created a prime opportunity to have a look at this site. If there ever was a student who obviously wasn't taking notes on his computer -- it was me in Insurance today. I thought I was going to bite my tongue off. And Paul (who sits behind me) was laughing just as hard as he looked over my shoulder.
I don't know why I think this site is so funny. Maybe it has something to do with how many years I spent as a bachelor. And I think that I know people who approach this website as an elevated degree of culinary inspiration. These people have big problems (no pun intended). I, on the other hand, don't find a sloppy joe inside of a Krispy Kreme donut appetizing -- I just find it funny.
http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/
There are 6 pages of pictures -- just keep clicking next at the end of each page, if you can handle it.
For the record -- I never ate stuff like this. I would get compliments from the female cashiers at the grocery store for how nutritious my shopping cart was -- especially compared to other guys.
My dear friend, Mike, sent me this link right before our Insurance class today. The lecture, well, let's just say it created a prime opportunity to have a look at this site. If there ever was a student who obviously wasn't taking notes on his computer -- it was me in Insurance today. I thought I was going to bite my tongue off. And Paul (who sits behind me) was laughing just as hard as he looked over my shoulder.
I don't know why I think this site is so funny. Maybe it has something to do with how many years I spent as a bachelor. And I think that I know people who approach this website as an elevated degree of culinary inspiration. These people have big problems (no pun intended). I, on the other hand, don't find a sloppy joe inside of a Krispy Kreme donut appetizing -- I just find it funny.
http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/
There are 6 pages of pictures -- just keep clicking next at the end of each page, if you can handle it.
For the record -- I never ate stuff like this. I would get compliments from the female cashiers at the grocery store for how nutritious my shopping cart was -- especially compared to other guys.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Go Steelers!
For me, the best part about the Superbowl usually isn't the football. It's all the hype surrounding the event--trash talking, getting together with friends, the great commercials, bingo...
Trash Talking:
Sammie and I aren't huge Steeler fans, but we'd be tarred and feathered here in State College if we didn't cheer for them. My little sister Anna lives in Arizona and caught the Cardinals spirit. She called Sammie on Saturday just to tell him that Chipotle (Sammie's favorite burrito place) was giving away free food to anyone wearing red. Between the biting, chewing, swallowing, lip-smacking, and finger-licking she put Sammie in his trash-talking place. Following are some of the highlights of the conversation (which took place on speaker phone, so I got to listen in and laugh).
Sammie: It's bad enough that you guys have a Chipotle that you can just go to whenever you want. But FREE CHIPOTLE!?!
Anna: Don't feel too bad Sammie, until a few months ago, I didn't even know Arizona had an NFL team.
S: Yeah, well I wouldn't expect a University of Utah fan to know that much about football.
Melba: (loud laughter)
A: Yeah that's right. Now, remind me Sammie, how did the season end for the U?
I was very proud of my little sister. Sammie, on the other hand, threatened to block her calls.
Bingo:
The local newspaper printed Superbowl Bingo cards and I cut them out and took them to our Superbowl party at Todd and Donna Fuller's (school friends). It put a different spin on the game to cheer for something besides a stuffed pig skin. When the Cardinals challenged the Steelers' first touch down, some people in the room cheered: "Oh good! Coach's challenge - I have that one!" When a player would near the sidelines, Kelly would yell, "Trample somebody on the sidelines!" And when the ball went out of bounds, Shawn exclaimed, "A redheaded cheerleader!" We also searched for a coach covering his mouth so that spies couldn't red his lips, lip-readable cursing, an end zone dance, "D fence" sign, and a sleeping kid with a team jersey on. Shawn and Lauren ended up winning. I gave them a box of orange sticks as a prize.
Trash Talking:
Sammie and I aren't huge Steeler fans, but we'd be tarred and feathered here in State College if we didn't cheer for them. My little sister Anna lives in Arizona and caught the Cardinals spirit. She called Sammie on Saturday just to tell him that Chipotle (Sammie's favorite burrito place) was giving away free food to anyone wearing red. Between the biting, chewing, swallowing, lip-smacking, and finger-licking she put Sammie in his trash-talking place. Following are some of the highlights of the conversation (which took place on speaker phone, so I got to listen in and laugh).
Sammie: It's bad enough that you guys have a Chipotle that you can just go to whenever you want. But FREE CHIPOTLE!?!
Anna: Don't feel too bad Sammie, until a few months ago, I didn't even know Arizona had an NFL team.
S: Yeah, well I wouldn't expect a University of Utah fan to know that much about football.
Melba: (loud laughter)
A: Yeah that's right. Now, remind me Sammie, how did the season end for the U?
I was very proud of my little sister. Sammie, on the other hand, threatened to block her calls.
Bingo:
The local newspaper printed Superbowl Bingo cards and I cut them out and took them to our Superbowl party at Todd and Donna Fuller's (school friends). It put a different spin on the game to cheer for something besides a stuffed pig skin. When the Cardinals challenged the Steelers' first touch down, some people in the room cheered: "Oh good! Coach's challenge - I have that one!" When a player would near the sidelines, Kelly would yell, "Trample somebody on the sidelines!" And when the ball went out of bounds, Shawn exclaimed, "A redheaded cheerleader!" We also searched for a coach covering his mouth so that spies couldn't red his lips, lip-readable cursing, an end zone dance, "D fence" sign, and a sleeping kid with a team jersey on. Shawn and Lauren ended up winning. I gave them a box of orange sticks as a prize.
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