Thursday May 19, 2011

Well this has been a great week in Amsterdam and surrounding areas. After Saturday with the Eurovision I thought it was going to be better and better.. Well it was, but it had a funny bump or two. On Sunday, it was typical, cool and damp weather and I had forgotten my jacket in Philly. I didn't need it in Paris... but sure did here. So I thought on Sunday I would just go buy one. I also wanted to buy a bag.. man purse.. or whatever you want to call it, but it was a shoulder bag, small for phone, wallet, keys etc. so I don't get pick pocketed again. A lot of men in Paris and Amsterdam and I am guessing in Europe in general carry them.. so I am quite in fashion.

First we were walking thru the city, and we passed this thrift store so I thought that would be good idea to buy a jacket somewhat cheap and yet maybe funky. Well I got those 2 points on the head. I found this great Netherlands Football (Soccer) team jacket from Utrecht which is another city near Amsterdam. There was the leam logo on the chest.. FC Utrecht Football Club.

Well Also on Sunday unbeknownst to us, there is a HUGE football game going on with Amsterdam's team.. (not sure what the team was called but they were red and white as their colors) with some other team. There were so many guys (otherwise known as hooligans by the locals) at every pub they were hanging outside and in the street. There are pubs every 4 doors down in the cit. Well it was more hooligans that I have ever seen in my life. Guys, drinking beer, and watching football ... all wearing red and white.. ok.. there were plenty of women and kids as well.. but they weren't drunk and no one called them hooligans.

So when they won, the city was A BLAZE in excitement.. and they were off to Museum Square in the city. Museum Square is a big park near the museums. There were so many people heading to the square from all directions. it was getting a little dicey as we passed the square. You could tell that there were too many people, drunk and wildly excited for winning. Something was going to happen. They even had the riot police out in drovers too.. so they were expecting some shannigans from the hooligans..

Well here we go a walking thru town showing me around etc.. when there were 4 guys in a car drinking and partying etc.. and one of them saw my jacket. He got out of the car and started yelling at me in dutch about liking the Utrecht Football Team. He was basically asking me "you really like them? REALLY!?!?!.. I got kind of nervous and kept walking. I did turn the lapel down and held on to it so you couldn't see it. Little while later I got yelled at again by a group of guys.. So NOW I just took off the jacket, and turned it inside out JUST in case. Was so wild. Well we finally got thru the massive crowd and back close to the house and we were at the food store. I thought it was ok to put it back on.. I was cold. Well there was this yuppie couple in the mild section.. and all of a sudden he just LOOKED at me.. and I thought .. OH NO!!! Well I yelled at Carl and told him to explain to this couple that I was basically a nice guy, don't hate anyone and that I had no clue that Utrecht was the most hated team ... It was really like wearing a full outfit of the Red Sox to a Yankees game in NYC.

Well that coat has been sitting in the closet all week.. I will wear it at home tho. Now I want to buy a AEGON t-shirt in Red and white.. just because..

I also bought this brown vinyl bag/man purse and got it 1/2 off and that was a good deal. It is big enough for all my things including maps.. :) handy while in a foreign city.

On Monday, I got up and got dressed, and thought what am I going to do? Well I decided to start walking the city. Had my bag full, my borrowed coat a little too big on, and off to the big city. Amsterdam is a great city.. It is a city of bicycles... has a million of them, their own bike lanes which is bigger than the sidewalk in some cases. It has a lot of canals that run everywhere thru the city so it was a little confusing since the streets/canals all look alike. There are signs on the buildings of the streets and the canals so that was handy. However the dutch language is not the easiest language and so that was a little confusing. I started looking for landmarks. A couple of things you will notice right off the bat.. They have a thing for pot. They have stores, coffee shop, general shops, and all kinds of other stores all to do with pot. So that is kind of crazy. Also in the coffee shops where they smoke the pot, you can't smoke cigarettes. That was a little strange. You also smell the pot all over in general. The other thing is the red light district. They have these cubicles RIGHT on the street with glass doors and women all in their doors lit up in red mostly wearing skimpy outfits.. underwear mostly. Now there are all types.. young, older, every nationality, MOST of them have big breasts... and I can almost say that I am pretty sure they are augmented in some way. I asked Carl if anyone had natural breasts? He said that if they do, they have certificates from their Dr!!!! :)

So Monday I thought I would walk by the Anne Frank House. It had been crowded on the weekend when we walked by. But Monday it was hardly any line so I am guessing the rain and cool tempuratures kept the tourists away. So I got in line for the house. I am not sure if you all have read the story of Anne Frank like I did way back in grade school, but I remember reading that book. This was one of the things I really wanted to do while in Amsterdam. The story is a true story and so unbelievable in so many ways. However to go thru the house/museum, see the exact space they occupied for 2 years, saw her actual diaries, it was one of the most moving times of my life. The had an exhibit of Margo Frank (Anne's sister) as well which was very nice as well. She had diaries too, but they were never found. They also had an exhibit of short vidoes of some kind of issue from around the world and had a question if something was correct to doing what they were doing. The subject was all around the Freedom of speech etc. Each one had their own issue and was very hard to really tell which was right.. but you had to put what you thought yes or no on each one. 2 of them were easier for me.. one had to do with a political party in Hungary (which reminded me of the tea party sect of the republican party), and one had to do with an issue in public schools and a particular item of clothing. So that was a little easier for me as well. They then gave us the results of the visitors THAT day, yes and no percentages, and then of all visitors. Sitting there watching and responding I started to talk to this young woman, 26 and from Australia but living in Germany on some of the issues we were watching. We then started talking of some issues that were relevant today but getting 2 different perspectives .. hers and mine, different ages, different nationalities, with different thoughts. We talked for about 30 minutes. We both had a great time, and both said thanks for sharing some of our time in our lives. It was really a perfect ending of that 1/2 day. Monday night Zuling made a great dinner.. went to a bar in town.. and had a great first weekday here.

On Tuesday my highlight of the day was my massage. I had gone on line on the weekend to try to find a massage therapist. I went to Gay Massage in Amsterdam via Google, and found this one that worked from his home. He had big arms, a great website, and was very cheap. So I thought why not. I had emailed him for a few questions etc. Oh, also .... his name was Craig.. :) Craig Riches (www.bodyworkmassage.nl) lives in West Amsterdam. I had to get on the Tram (first time for that) on the 14, transfer to the 12, and then get off and walk a few blocks to his house. It was kind of raining and cold again.. typical for this time of the year. I left early figuring it was going to take extra time since it was my first time on the tram here in Amsterdam. I find that it always takes extra time even for the easiest thing in a foreign country. I also figure correctly that since he works from his home, that there was not going to be any retails nearby. Well I stood underneath an awning of a "Oriental Restaurant" (it did say Oriental) listening to my music and watching the world go by. These folks even ride bikes in the rain, in some cases carrying umbrellas..

Well I got there at 10 minutes to 11.. 4th floor walkup in what looked like a blue collar neighborhood. His place was immaculate, beautiful, and he was pretty hot too. He was a native of Great Britain. All I can say is he was AMAZING!!!!! one of the best massages ever. He started off with a little Shiatsu, mixed in with some stretching, then some swedish deep tissue, mixed in with a little Eastern Holistic massage. I did a 90 minute with Craig. Technically he was GREAT. But there were some things that were a little unique that has never happened before. So not sure if it was unique to Craig, or the Netherlands. I have another massage tomorrow with Simon (later on for that story) so I may be able to tell more then. The 2 things that he did was... 1, when working on my back, he straddled my body and really worked on my upper butt (which is where my back issue really was), which was amazing.. at all areas from the upper butt to my neck. The women in Manila consistently straddle my body in their massages. Craig is my height, but had a very nice muscle body obvious that he spends a lot of time in the gym. The 2nd thing which started out to be a little weird, but turned into AMAZING very quickly, was when he was done with my backside, he put his legs on my legs, and started to basically roll on top of me. He rolled completely on my body with his body. He was basically laying on top of me.. including putting his head on my head. Now at first I thought this could be kind of sexual/sensual, which it really wasn't, then thought it was a little weird, BUT then.. his weight felt so good on my body, and then I could feel this heat from his body going thru mine like this personal heating blanked. It felt like he laid on top of me for about 30 to 45 seconds... it was AMAZING!!!!!! Then he rolled off which I didn't even feel.. and I turned around and he worked on my front side. Over all it was the BEST massage ever. The cost you ask? 50 Euros. CHEAP!!!! I gave him 60. Unfortunately he wasn't available the rest of the week.. so this was one time deal at least for this trip. People here were kind of amazed that I from a different country, found this massage therapist on line, just got on the public transport, went to his house in a residential neighborhood and just went in upstairs, walked in and got naked on his table. :) I found it not at least weird. :)

Tuesday night I met a friend of Carls.. Alex, he was born in Texas, but his whole adult life has worked in Europe. He is presently in Austria during the week, while his swedish boyfriend works in Germany. They are together on the weekends. We went to a chinese restaurant which was great... and then we decided to go to a bar called Queens Head. Well we got there and they have their Hysterical Bingo on Tuesday's. The evening was hosted by a woman that was kind of dressed like a drag queen, with her husband that had a long wig and a white suite with .. the red and white AEGON football shirt. Well the hostest had a thing for Carl and kept asking him how do you say things in swedish.. like 69?? She also said that I looked like a dutch cartoon from the 70's named Niels.. Me and cartoon look a likes.. last time was a french cartoon.

The bingo was a little crazy.. we finally understood how they were playing by the end of the first time period. At intermission the husband had to sing We are the Champions for the football game on Sunday.. and oh yea there was some comment about Utrecht.. Again I was being haunted by this other team that I now own the team jacket :)

We left and called it a night.

Wednesday was another great day of doing nothing.. I walked around the city..

I am getting the hang of this place, looking less at my maps etc. The only unique thing of the day worth telling was I wanted to go buy some tulips for Carl. Well as you can imagine they are really CHEAP here... :) I went up to this young woman and was trying to understand the signs and was asking her some questions. (Everyone speaks english very well and with no hestiation). In fact I guess I really look american... even though I wasn't wearing my red sox ball cap, OR wearing my white running shoes. I thought I was blending in nicely.. but guess not. She was so nice.. but we weren't really communicating very well in the beginning. She apologized for that but then I said that if anyone was to blame, that it should be me. I was the visitor to her country and I should be speaking her language instead of the other way around. I said in other countries I have visited my little french, my little Filipino, my more spanish can get me thru quite nicely. But I don't know one word of dutch which then I apologized. She said for her dutch and german and english were the ones she knows. I said they were the hard ones.. which she commented that she thought french, and spanish were the hard ones. Well after our little love fest for each other she gave me 2 free bunches of tulips to add the 3 I was buying.. So all in all I have about 45 to 50 tulips for 5 Euros.. ($7.50). So we have them in the bedrooms, on the eating table. beautiful purple tulips.. Carl only has one vase so we put 2 small bunches in beer glasses. Which reminds me.. I should take some pictures.. RIGHT NOW!

Wednesday night Zuling made a wonderful Italian dinner, and told us how to made soup with egg in it. Was great. We had 2 "oriental dinners" this week so that is why he made Italian. After dinner we went to a bar called Cozy. Cozy is owned by a guy names Anthony and a friend of Carls. He is 1/2 dutch and 1/2 american was born in Arizona. He was a great guy.. Cozy is a cute bar/lounge and it is very cozy. He had massage night.. :) So Simon a massage therapist which Anthony had gone to for 2 years was there with his chair, and for 10 Euros, would give a 20 minute massage and Anthony would give a free drink. So I said... why not. He was pretty good.. and so then I asked if he was available on Thrusday which he wasn't. But since I was leaving on Friday, he was willing to squeeze me in on Friday morning. So now I can see how he does it and then compare. :)

The friends we met this night.. again a little international group. We met a friend of Carls named Ruut, a dutch guy, cute and very nice works for KLM, then we met a dutch friend of Zulings name Yens... very cute and nice. Then we met 2 others.. Simon, a dutchman,,, cute and his friend Bobby from Louisiana but living in Oklahoma City, OK and is in the Air Force. He was cute and quite animated and with the mix of this group, we had ONE GREAT EVENING at Cozy's. Bobby and Simon met in Curacao few years back.. and were kind of boyfriends. Simon now has a dutch bf and they are just friends.. but I could feel a huge chemistry between them still. I have a feeling that the distance is what did it for them. However after being here 1 week, I have met so many international couples living in all kinds of arrangements... and I believe that they should just face the reality.. but who knows.

So that is it for now.. I will describe today and the rest of the week next time. I go back to Paris tomorrow afternoon, and then return back to Philly on Saturday. I do know that this vacation was so much more than sightseeing 2 wonderful cities, seeing my friends and spending time with them. I have met so many people and have done more than I had ever expected. I think the European way of life is a wonderful one.. and would love to one day live here. Probably won't happen.. but I am not adverse to the possiblity...

Til Next time..

May 15th, 2011

Well I have been having so much fun haven't been writing much. Let me see if I can catch you up on my travels and fun.

On Wednesday the 11th it was Versailles Day. Le Chateau de Versailles to be exact. I got up early and got on the train to Versailles. It is rather close to Paris metro ... I guess they didn't want to travel too far for their summer jaunts. I think it started out to be a hunting lodge that just got way out of control. The subway really takes you to the town of Versailles and then a short walk to the Chateau.

It is one of the biggest tourist attractions and it was quite busy. Again the weather was great. Sunny and warm.... which eventually turned into Hot which is is nice. I had done my homework coming here and the best way to approach this was thru the Guided Tour. With the extra charge you do get to see the King and Queen's private quarters, the Opera House and you don't have to wait in any lines. That also includes the audio guide, and the gardens, and the other houses the Trionon's and Marie Antoinette's house as well. I spent the entire day going thru it. The main Chateau is very nice, large, beautiful, and there is so much history which I now know some of it. I ended up walking all thru the gardens to go see the rest of the places on the other side. It was quite a place.

Wednesday night brought another dinner in a great restaurant and also meeting some new people. I met Stephanie who is 30 and just moved/transferred to Paris a few weeks ago. Her mother Ann was visiting from Seattle as well. Stephanie works with my friend Rosemary's son's mother in law and that is how we all got connected. Dinner was great but the best part is they have travelled to South Africa, and Dave and Rosemary has lived there so we got on to talking about that. They had been on a great tour with a local that really took you to the local parts and really got to see the real deal... www.ilovecapetown.com Selwyn is his name. So I have contacted Selwyn now and have a great connection for when I go to South Africa with Tim in July. They were both very nice people. Little envious of Stephanie... 30, single and just decided to jump, transfer and move on to a new chapter of life. Something I would have done given the opportunity when I was younger. Well got home late again and off to bed for another fun filled day.

On Thursday, it was the Eiffel Tower Day. We also had dinner plans on Thursday night at the Shangri La Paris as well which I had to coordinate getting my gift certificates etc for that night. So I went on line and their website was down. You can only do this the day you are going to use them so this one I couldn't do ahead of time. So in light of this situation, I felt that the best thing to do was to go over to the hotel in person. I went over and explained this to one of the front people. Again, the people at this Shangri La as in Manila, were very good. They took my info for my account and said that they had to call Hong Kong and they would call/email me that day. Went back to the house, had my coffee and then headed to the Eiffel Tower. Another nice sunny day. Was pretty sure it would be a little chilly up on the tower but was so sunny and blue skies.. Perfect for picture taking. Again got the reserved ticket ahead of time for 11:30 and I was up on the top in 20 minutes after getting in line. I walked outside and just took alot of pics. Had a couple of me taken and even tried to take self portraits which worked out pretty well. I took the lift to the next floor below which was good. I got some lunch, and then walked around. They have 2 interesting and fun things on that floor as well. They have signs with the history of building the tower with many facts. They also have historic sites where they show you where they are, and also some history as well of those. Some you can see, and some you can't :). Then I walked down to the first floor and took more pics. So when I was done I had pics of the view from 3 different heights. I walked down to the ground and relaxed. By that time the Shangri La did get back to me and all was set for what was going to be a spectacular dinner later on.

Dinner at the Shangri La... hmmmmmm Ahhhhhhhhh.. to remind folks that is the hotel I stay in when traveling to Manila for work. It is a very nice hotel (5 star) and this is the same. The decor is very french. It consists of 2 buildings, 6 and 7 floors. The original building was the home of the nephew of N. Bonapart. The government added the other building around 1900 I guess and now it has been completely renovated into a beautiful 81 room/suite luxury hotel. The spa/pool aren't done yet. They just opened in December. So the staff had all the details, sat us and the event began. We started off with Champagne of course.. This which we didn't think about or include on the price when I took out my points for dinner. Then we had appetizers. Dave had Froi Gras, Rosemary had Beef Curry Salad, and I had green and white asparagus with leek cream sauce. For main meal, Rosemary and I had the Steamed cod which they served in a peanut sauce in one bowl, a rice bowl, with 3 kinds of condiments. Dave had a meat dish. It was so good.. we ended up with 2 pieces of art, Strawberry Shortcake (their style) and I have no idea what Dave had.. but it looked beautiful. Then I had ice cream... vanilla and black licorice. We had a very nice bottle of wine as well. The service was IMPECCABLE!!! Well I ended up having to pay extra because of the champagne. The total bill was 455 Euros... which equates to $705.00. I had taken out $600 in points for dinner which would have been perfect if not for the champagne which was $50.00 a glass. A big glass and VERY GOOD!! so all in all was 100 dollars and a wonderful evening. But wait... there is more.... :)

Since the hotel is near their house, near the Eiffel Tower, we took a stroll down to the tower to see it all lit up. On the hour for 5 minutes each night, it goes off like sparklers. It is very cool to see on a nice nice after a great dinner. Rosemary was going to help me buy some keychains from the South African men at the tower. She was 1/2 way thru the negotiations, when the police came thru... and these guys flee like there is no tomorrow. Rosemary had 20 in her hand and hadn't paid for them yet. We tried to find him but couldn't. So we did buy 30 more from someone else... and got a REAL GOOD DEAL for the 50 of them. Got home late and another long and FUN Filled day.

Friday I finally got to sleep in.. was so NICE. The only thing on the agenda was to be a "lady who lunches" ... kind of.. Rosemary belongs to a touring club and every Friday they go on a tour with this guide named Jean Manual. Today's tour was close by in this Naval Museum. The exhibit that we were going to see was on the old France. This was s cruise ship from 1960 that was then owned by the French Government. They now have in process a new ship also called the France which is due to be finished in 2015. They are trying to get people interested in the old ship so they will then help support the new one coming. It was a fascinating story of cruise ships, the France, the history of the ship, the times 60's to the present time etc. The exhibit was very good. It had great pictures, and items from the original ship etc. Jean Manual was informative, and very entertaining. I want to belong to a Friday Tour Club.... Ahhhh to be a kept woman... take classes, join clubs, and make life beautiful for your spouse.. HARD WORK. Ann (Stephanie's Mom) also joined in as well. After the tour we went to lunch, Rosemary, Ann, Judy (I had dinner with her and her husband Gary on Monday night), Karen and her 90 yr father which was visiting from the States as well. Lovely lunch and now it is 4 PM. Well Ann and Rosemary went shopping and I went back to the apartment to rest, and gather things together for the departure the next day to Amsterdam. We had a nice evening in light dinner, I got my things together and was in bed about midnight.

Saturday morning, got up and basically out the door at 9. Dave dropped me off at the train station which was great since I didn't really want to cart my suitcase thru the metro/train stations. I had plenty of time to people watch at the train station and knew that since this was my first time, always have extra time so I can learn what I am doing. It was quite easy.. the seat has a coach and seat number assigned. I even had no one sitting beside me which was nice. Saw some interesting and fun people... on the way Carl had texted me and asked me if I would meet a co worker in Brussels at the train door to pick up an Ipad he had left there this last week. It fell so like a European Spy film from the 60's and I was Grace Kelly meeting Henrick the Swedish spy to pass along info at a train door on the stop which lasted about 4 minutes. :) We even had a password Carl and I to chat with. His last message even had the message that this would self destruct in 5 seconds... :) My phone even smoked a little.. :) Met Henrik, got the Ipad and woosh.... we were off to Amsterdam. 3 countries in 3.5 hours. NICE.

Got to Amsterdam around 1:30.. sunny but cool day. Amsterdam is much cooler than Paris and forgetting my jacket will be an issue here. I will borrow one from Carl until I buy one. Carl for those that don't know is my friend that I met about 4 years ago in Philly when he was working for Ikea. He is Swedish by origin and a great guy. We have had some fun over the years in Philly. He took a job with Ikea Global last summer and moved to Amsterdam. It has been good for him for professional reasons and also for personal reasons. His European friends can see him much easier here than in the states. He had gone to school here for 1 semester and knew that one day he wanted to come back and just live here as well. He now has a new boyfriend named Zuling Li. Zuling has been here for about 4 years and he is originally from Hong Kong. Zuling (also called by Li) is a great guy. So for Carl life is good which is great and well deserved.

Carl met me at the station platform and walked me back to his place which is near by. He commutes by train 1 hour to get to work, but also travels a lot around in Europe for work as well. Carl's flat is in a low rise building, 2 floors and very cute. Amsterdam is a city of bikes and canals... It is a wonderful city so far. Well we took off walking for lunch and found this great cafe. It got kind of chilly and we got home just in time for Zuling to arrive, and then we had to get ready for a party at a friends house for the final of Eurovision.

Ok.. Eurovision.... Every year for about 55 years now, Europe has individual country competitions for their group/person to represent that country for Eurovision. They all sing/dance etc... the week leading up to the finale. On Saturday they final consists of the top 25 countries (out or 43 total) that are voted by the people watching as well as by the countries themselves bases on the people voting for the top choices. Each of the 43 countries get to give points 1 thru 7 to seven countries, and then 8, 10, and 12 points to the top 3 countries of their choice. So here we are in this fabulous apartment of 2 guys Nardis (from South Africa) and Gordon (from the UK) and about 25 other X pats from all over the place. We had a couple of other Americans, France, couple from South Africa, Poland, Germany, Hong Kong, Sweden, of the ones I can remember at this hour. Now I told you before Amsterdam is a city of bikes and canals. So our mode of transportation for the night and was about 2 miles or 3 KM's, was by bike. We had 2 bikes for 3 of us.. :)

So off we go, Carl driving the bike, me riding on the back with both legs on each side sitting on this little luggage rack feeling like a 5 year old going thru the streets of Amsterdam which Zuling had the other bike, with a big bag of the goodies that we all brought. They asked everyone to bring goodies from their own countries or something unique. I brought 3 different items from Paris/France. I brought these macarons.. little cookies with filling in the middle, some cookies from Mont St Michel, and then some meriranges. It was very different feeling than I remember riding on the back of a bike. Adults to it here all the time.. so I was feeling very Dutch .. all the while feeling pains where I had never felt pains before. :) nothing to bad and it was really fun to see the sights along the way. We got to the party around 7:30 or so, and oh what a night. !!!!

They had a great apartment, great hosts, had great food and drink, and I met some of the nicest people from literally all over the world. The show as about to begin. We were eating and drinking. We put the 25 competing final countries in a bowl, and for 2 Euro you could buy a country. The money went to the winner that had drawn the country that was going to win. I had the UK... which was the best of them all but didn't win. More on that a little later. So now.. we had 2 hostesses, and 1 host. It was televised in Dusselforf since Germany has won last year. The winning country hosts the next year. I found it is a little American Idol, A little Miss Universe pagent with politics thrown in. Those politics.. they get in everywhere even in other parts of the world.

They basically go thru the 25 groups, have some bio's before hand. The stage for this years show was a football (Soccer) stadium that seated 50'000 people and they made this the coolest stage with a spectacular setting, lights, sound you name it. They even showed a 90 second film clip of a high speed transformation from Football Stadium, to major concert venue. Very cool.

The show began.. There was about 25 of us there and most was there when it started. It felt like a Club 511 night but with a definite international flare. They all know each other basically as they are all X pats living here now. Everyone was so nice, welcoming, and I had one of the greatest nights of all times. Being my first Eurovision Final and being in Europe for it, I will never forget this evening ever. Along with getting to know a lot of the folks, sharing stories, great food, wine and some very entertaining songs/routines.. it was GREAT. Well we got thru to the end. I was so excited that I had the UK... since they were the best. 4 men (HOT MEN all of them in a very different way), great song, great performance etc.. I thought I was a shoe in for the Euro's. Well those politics got in the way. How the voting for the finale goes, ALL 43 countries get to put in their votes.. 1 to 7 points to 7 countries, and then 8, 10, and 12 points to their top 3 countries based on all the texts from the people of their respective countries. So each country came on a split screen and gave us their votes for. Well the countries give their top 3 choice votes as well as the other 7 choices based on their neighbors, or countries that they are connected to for some reason politically, or just based on ... WTF? So it is really NOT based on the quality of the song, performance, or the routines/what they are wearing etc. So UK came in like 14 or so out of 25. We then just partied at the house.. listened to great music, kept eating and drinking til about 4:30 in the morning. We finally left and off we go into the night the 3 of us on the 2 bikes, sans the bag of goodies. This time Zuling was my driver and we were off. The city by night was just as beautiful. It started to rain 1/2 way thru and yes we did get a little wet. It was cold, a little windy, and now wet.. but it was a perfect ending to a perfect day. I finally got to be a little after 5, blinder on, and snuggled warm and dry in bed. Life is so good..

Slept in today til about 11... and now coffee, juice, little music, breakfast coming.. and a day of rest, and just the afterglow of a great day.

Not sure what the week will bring... not as action packed as France was, but some fun things. I have a massage scheduled on Tuesday.. his name is Craig too.. back has been hurting me for some reason.. so it will be good to get that worked on. I am here til Friday which I return back to Paris, and back to the USA... Home is what people call it... on Saturday. I am only home for a couple of weeks which at that time I go back to Manila for 3 weeks.

Sunday, sunny, and in Amsterdam with an old friend and a new friend... can life get any better? Think Not!!! So wherever you are, with whomever you are with, enjoy this Sunday... and have a great day !!!!

P.S. I have all my France Pics on Facebook.. so if you are not on facebook, email me cthomas59@hotmail.com.. and I can see what we can do.

To all ... have a great Sunday where you re

Saturday May 7, 2011

After a very crazy day on Friday, I got to the airport and off to Paris for a week. The flight was good, seemed so short after the 18 hours to Manila.. and that is just flying time... 7 was nothing. But that Valium still worked well. I met this great woman named Mary Ann.. we had a lot in common.

Well I got to Paris on Saturday morning and as expected I had 2 pickups at the airport. it was a miscommunication which to Marc I appologize. My neighbor who I am staying with picked me up and then at the last minute I chatted with Marc and then I had that feeling. I felt great Saturday morning... took a shower and then was told to pack my back for a weekend away. We had plans to go to Mont Saint Michel later on in the week but that didn't work out for Dave. So off we went Rosemary, Dave and I to Mont Saint Michel. This is a walled small town with an abbey at the top. It sits off on the west coast in this inlet. You have to google it and read all about it. It was beautiful. I had seen a picture book when I was a small child and ever since then I have wanted to go. So here it was.. a 45 year old dream.. who knew then that the world would change so drastic for me that it was becoming a reality.

It was about a 3 hour drive. Great day for a drive.. sunny and nice. They made plans to stay in a hotel outside of Mont Saint Michel in a small town 9 Km away called Ducey. It was a cute little town.. We checked in and off we went to the Mont. We drove in, parked the car and found out the tide was not going to be an issue for this day for parking. You park in the flats of the sand. We had this great lunch in town below the abbey. I had mussels with smoked salmon and of course a glass of champagne. I have drank so much champagne since touching down here in France. I love the French customs. The weather at the Mont later on was a little cloudy and we did get some sprinkles but it added to the atmosphere of the locale. Then Dave and i did a tour of the abbey which was great. We did the audio guides which are always so good. This one was no exception. I took so many great pics which I will get eventually posted. It is so strange but I haven't had a free minute to do any logging in the blog. It is now 1:17 AM local time and I am trying to get the 1st 3 days written down.

For Dinner we went to this great hotel restaurant in a small town next to Ducey. Again Champagne.. I had this appetizer of cured ham and salad...and cheese. It was so good. For my entree I had grilled Lobster.. OMG!!!!!! it was great. for dessert I had raspberries with this pistachio merrienge cookies and some creme fresh. Funny thing Rosemary had the same thing and realized we ordered the wrong one when the raspberries came.. and we wanted this strawberry thing. Oh well.. it was still GREAT!!!! We drove back to the Mont after dinner to see it at night time. The whole Mont is lit up and you can see it from quiet a aways away. It was beautiful at night as well. We got to bed late... (everything here is late)..

Sunday May 8, 2011

The next morning we got up and had breakfast at the hotel, packed our bags and we were off to Dinan. By the time we got to Dinan it turned out to be a sunny and warm day. Dinan is a cute little town south of Mont Saint Michel. We got out and went thru this beautiful church and this old cool building of Art Expos. It was all very different and not expensive.. I was so tempted to buy something but didn't. I am sure I will live. We finally got on the road but we had to get gas. Stopped at this gas station that had a fast food restaurant there. They had this huge chicken and hamburger sign post. So I had to take that picture. The drive back was a little longer than the ride out.. Traffic is pretty bad getting back into Paris. Well we got home, and a light dinner of crackers, cheeses, radishes and of course champagne. Next thing you know it is like 1:00 AM. I stayed up an hour longer to try to get some things for this week's schedule arranged.

Now most websites here in France that are tourist related are in English. However they are set up with a different train of thought. They are a little confusing. Rosemary and I kind of planned out my schedule and I finally gave up and went to bed and said I would finish it the next morning with the help of Rosemary. Day 2 closed again way after midnight.

Monday May 9, 2011

This morning Rosemary and I got on line and tried to buy as much as I could ahead of time for tickets for things. Again working with those websites... was crazy. All of a sudden it was 1:00 and Rosemary's friend called and asked if they were on for 2 PM? So we hurried and cleaned up, I got out of there and finally got my day started. Today was planned to just roam the streets. Again weather was Sunny and warm and perfect for walking around. I went to the district of Marais... it is a section on the right bank (north of the Seine river) which City Hall (Ville de Hotel) is located along with the gay district. When Rosemary and Dave moved to Paris a few years ago, I had found this box of tour cards.. it is a really cool thing. it has a map of the area and is drawn out so you know where to go on one side, but the other side describes what to do or see etc. Marais had 3 separate cards. Rosemary loves them and I do too. So I did a little shopping, had this smart little lunch in a cafe, (water this time - no champagne).. bought a shirt, a gift for a friend of mine... I could have spent so much money in a very short time .... but didn't.. at least on clothes. I am spending enough money on the vacation alone ... which is worth it.. but don't need the clothes anyway. And so many scarves.. but so far I am winning Craig 1... scarves 0.

Had a great day.. didn't take many pictures.. you can take so many street scenes.. i travelled by the Metro which is very good. It goes EVERYWHERE.. along with the trains it is very easy to get around. So finally came back to the house about 7:30.. stopped off at the Eiffel Tower (that is Thursday) and took a picture. I got home and Rosemary was playing Majong with her 2 friends. I realized on my way home that I had forgotten per my plan to stop at the Shangri La here in Paris to check it out for our dinner for Thursday. So I trucked on over.. not too far away. I was kind of curious to see what it was going to be like compared to the Shangri La in Manila.

Well it couldn't be more different. This is very French.. and very beautiful. It is actually 2 buildings.. one 6 floors, 1 7 floors. The 1 part is the original house of the nephew of Napoleon Bonapart. Then the French government took over and added a whole building to it years ago and used it as offices. and Now after a major renovation... it is now the Shangri La Paris. It couldn't be more different in build as well as the local and culture. But the people treated me the same. No one to open my door for me.. automated... no bomb sniffing dogs, in fact I didn't see any security at all. I think I saw 5 people total form the time I walked in to the time I left. That would have been 30 in Manila.

I was trying to get reservations for Thursday at the restaurant by using my points. They have only been opened since December and this restaurant has a great chef and has been booked for months. We are going to the lesser restaurant (same chef) which is very lovely. Of course we have a combo of french and asian menu to pick from. The pool will be in indoors, and will have a spa and a gym eventually. not to many rooms it sounds like compared to 28 floors total in Manila. I took a few pics there and got back to the house. Judy's husband Carl joined us, Dave came home from work and we were off to dinner to an italian restaurant. Was pretty good and the waiter/owner was cute and funny. Again.. another late night. Got home and then got things ready for tomorrow.

Tomorrow's is Champagne day... I am taking the train to the town of Reims. It is pronounced like Rance (rhymes with France).. don't see that one. So I am going to do some sightseeing and then try to get in to a tasting. There is a small one GH Martel but I got an email saying that you can only book by phone. so I will try to call in the am for tomorrow afternoon. Tattinger didn't reply and Vueve-Clicquot said week ahead. So i am going to just show up to Vueve and see what I can talk my way into.. But hopefully I will get some champagne tomorrow. 2 AM... and my phone is going off at 7. I am already to go.. so won't take me long to get going. So far vacation is great....

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Today was Champagne Day... I tried to make plans for different caves/champagnes, but you had to call and I didn't have enough time or talking in french just wasn't going to work. Reims is 45 mins away by train and I had to get to the train station by the metro. So I gave myself a little extra time to make this all work. Well I got up and got out the door on time. I got to the train station with no issues. After living in Boston for 20 years I know I can get around subways. Well here I am at the train station. I had a problem getting my ticket to print from the Kiosk. I pushed the english flag and it was english but the way they program these things ... well it is just different than we would in America. I tried to go to the Tourism office and she was in there but wasn't open. So I thought to myself.. IF this was the amazing race, what would I do? Well I went back, played with again.. and eventually I got it to print. Still on time for the train. But then I was thinking sometimes the people on Amazing Race are so stupid. But in reality, they are just in a hurry, and not thinking, or haven't traveled and have no clue. So I guess they are not so stupid afterall..

The train ride was a cinch. Got there and it was 80 degrees and sunny. Reims is a quaint little town which shops, and this great blvd when you get out of the station. I walked to the tourism office near the Cathedral. I finally met my first French person that gave me grief with english vs french. I asked her if she spoke English and she said no. I went to another person in a different section. Got what I needed and she told me that peer would take care of me. I asked her if she spoke english... (the same person mind you) and she answered with no hesitation.. oh yes. Well I went back... basically she knew I wanted her to call the winery for me which he reluctantly did. She gave it about 3 seconds and hung up and basically said Sorry. I left. you could just tell that she was a bitch.. but AT the Tourism office of all places?

I walked up to GH Martel and they said I could get in at 3 for a 1 hour tour. GREAT. That was my first choice. I then went to Vueve-Clicquot.. they said I could get in at 2 but it was an hour and half. That wasn't going to work. I went to Tattinger and they got me right in at 11:30. It was a great tour and learned a lot. After the tour I went back to the Cathedral, went thru that and it was beautiful. I even got to hear the organ play for the first time .. usually they are never there and just an empty church!!!

I went back to GH Martel and had another great tour. It was just 5 of us.. a couple from Melbourne, and a couple from Northern England. They were so great... I then took a taxi back to the train.. I had been walking all day. I got on the train, and another incident of no french.. but I got thru it. However suffice it to say NOW.. I can maneuver train stations in France, kiosks for tickets... and getting great at the Metro.

I got home back to Dave and Rosemary's about 7.. played with my computer, (pictures are on facebook) and we had dinner eventually and now again it is 12:09 and I am beat!!!! tomorrow is another day.. I am going to Versailles - the Palace.. can't wait.. should be fun. I see weather wise cool, cloudy and possibly rain. So we will see. But for now.. another day..

So off to bed..

Enjoy life one and all.