A few pics that I promised...

Hello All:

it has been since last Friday that I have had a chance to write in my blog. The time in Cape Town has been a fast but slow world wind of a time. I am not sure if I said what Tim was doing here but let me give a short synopsis. This Education International Congress was a group of educators, mostly unions or where countries didn't have or don't allow unions, the countries themselves getting together to discuss education issues. There were approximately 155 countries represented with very diverse opinions on the same issues. It is also a congress that lends support to those countries that don't have it as good as other countries like ours. I met a lot of folks from a few different countries as well as I saw a lot of folks from the NEA that I have known as well as new folks as well. We did go out to dinner at night in groups and or partied the night away in local clubs which was fun.

Saturday I got up and had breakfast and then went to start to tour the city of Cape Town. They have this bus tours both red and blue that go to different routes. I got both tours over a 2 day period which gave me a discount. The Red Tour goes on 17 different stops. You can get on and off at your leisure which was a great way to see the city. I have posted 4 sets of pictures already on facebook. I would suggest going there and seeing them all there. I will post some here to give you a few of the best shots. One of the stops was Table Mountain. Table Mountain is a huge flat mountain that sits and looks down on Cape Town. The unfortunate thing for me is that the cable car to the top of Table Mountain was closed from July 18th to the 31st. My trip to Cape Town was from July 20th to July 30th which meant if I was going to get to the top of Table Mountain this trip, I was going to have to hike up to the top. You can hike up there and it takes about 2.5 hours each way. The bad thing is since the cable car was not running to due annual maintenance, the shops and restaurants and bathrooms etc.. were also closed. Saturday I didn't have time to hike up there or was I prepared to do so at that time. So I kind of thought that instead of doing the Blue Tour on Sunday, I would go back to Table Mountain and hike up to the top. The Red tour takes you on the tour of the Cape of Good Hope and also to Cape Point which is stunning views.

I got back after a good day of touring.. the weather was GREAT. This is winter here in Cape Town which usually brings cooler temps and RAIN!!!! But this winter has been perfect for tourists... warmer temps than usual... and Sunny skies. Saturday night the EI Congress had this huge private catered dinner even planned for us at this amusement park. This park had a huge entertainment area kind of in the style of a dinner theater. They had it covered with these big tent like tarps... with heat lamps.. it kind of reminded me of a Hawaiian Luao ... the food was great, with some local flair and some great local entertainment. I had ostrich that night for dinner which tastes like.. NO not chicken... but it did taste like beef :) We had 2 groups for entertainment... 1 was a mixed group of local music/dancers with horns .. they were very good. The 2nd group were 3 women called "3 Tons of Fun" They came out in red sequin gowns and blew the crowd away. It was a night of letting loose and just having fun. This was one of the nights that I was able to talk to people and get to meet some from other countries. It was a great evening. Then the guys went out to the local clubs and had more fun after that.

Sunday ......

My goal was to get back on the red tour and get back to the base of Table Mountain and go hiking. I didn't have the proper clothes really but I did the best I could. I wore layers, wore my running shoes and had a scarf, jacket, gloves and borrowed a back pack which I took water, some apples and made sure I had a big breakfast. I thought I am going to need everything I had to make it to the top. This is not up some hill.. The problem was .. this was the day the winds came. Cape Town has Table Mountain, another peak called The Lions Head, and then these other peaks called the 12 disciples. In reality, there are 17 peaks not 12. Well the winds are quite common that come down the mountains and thru the peaks right on into the Atlantic Ocean. It had not been windy as well as not cold and not rainy up until this day. Now when I say windy.. it was on average I would guess to say 50 mph. I was determined to get to the top of Table Mountain. I got on the red line and go to the base where the cable car is located and was going to go. Now on Saturday there were a lot of folks hiking up to the top of Table Mountain. They say that you should never go alone, take water, sunscreen etc.. Well here I was very determined to go and I started. Now up until this moment I wasn't sure what the terrain was like on this path. They have 3 types of paths from rough to what they called stairs. Since it was so windy.. I thought best that I take the best path. Now this day at the base it had to be more than 50 mph.. it was hard to just stand still let alone hiking up to the top. On top of everything there was NO ONE hiking that day.. not one person did I see which was not a good sign. Well I went to the base of the path.. which was basically steps of rocks.. rocks of all sizes, some sturdy and secure into the ground and some loose. The only shoes I had to wear was my running shoes which are great for running but not for hiking up a hill/mountain. I was still determined. I took off against all common sense and away I went. I was careful but the rocks were loose and I was getting blown around and I had to stop a few times and rethink this decisions. I was so determined.. here I was this close.. and yet so far away. I would say I got a 1/4 of the way (of the bottom part of the climb) and said to myself.. at best I am going to twist my ankle, or break a leg... or at worst I am going to get killed hiking to the top and not to mention getting down. I sat there for about 10 minutes.. arguing with myself on going, wanting to go.. and the thought of being so close and yet so far away. Common sense won out, and I went to plan B... which was the original plan A and got on the Blue Tour. The Red and Blue tour have some joint stops and since I had the the 2 day ticket for both tours, I could get on and off either tour at any time on Sunday.

However I did say to myself, that I am definitely coming back to go to the top of Table Mountain some day. The Blue tour was also great fun and it went to a few different places outside of Cape Town the city. One of the highlights of the Blue Tour was that it took you to the wine country. I went thru to 2 places and did a wine tasting at Eagles Nest winery. I am not so keen on whites like I am red wine. However I have to tell you the white wine of South Africa is WONDERFUL. It is so refreshing, light and very tasty. Don't get me wrong the reds were great as well. But I was pleasantly surprised that the whites were as good as they were. I plan on looking at whites from now on from South Africa. My friend David Hokey had said that the same thing... in fact he has his favorite white shipped from here now.

Sunday night we went to a wonderful dinner with some folks from the NEA. It was a fun filled evening with various personalities. We went to this wonderful restaurant on the waterfront. Now one thing I didn't mentioned is that at 2 restaurants they had on the menu for starters Chicken Livers which you rarely see on menu's in America. This menu had about 3 to 4 items on each section that I wanted. I don't remember having such a hard time choosing my meal. I went for the scallops and mussels in 2 different sauces instead of the chicken livers... which I was kicking myself. however I had a great meal of Cod and Seafood chowder along with scallops and mussels. For desert I had this Cream Caramel which was to die for.. along with great wine. We got back from dinner and we hung out at the bar at the hotel and more people came up to me and asked me how the climb went that day. I had to tell them I didn't make it and was quite disappointed. People that I knew as well as I didn't know said to me that they were concerned for me since it was so windy that day. Sometimes you just don't know the impact you have on others.

Monday

Monday brought another day of sightseeing. The day was sunny and somewhat warm, and NO wind.. I could have tried to do Table Mountain but I slept in and then timing was bad... and I thought I would save it for the next time I come back. I ended up walking around town and scoping out the neighborhoods downtown and near by. I went to the waterfront and also Green Point. I got back Monday afternoon late. I did some running in the gym at the hotel. That night was the EI awards ceremony and dinner night. They awarded 2 teachers with 2 awards. A french woman from Quebec won one of them and she was there to accept her award and the 2nd woman was a teacher from Turkey. That country is not so good and she had been arrested for going against the government and wasn't able to leave the country. She is awaiting her last appeal which will take place in September. 2 of her colleages were there to accept the award. This dinner was basically the entire congress and was quite a dressy affair. Some of the countries in Africa have some wonderful native dress up clothes. I really felt like I was a part of something so much bigger than just America... that we are part of the world.. and it was a wonderful feeling to be able to talk to folks, and learn a little bit of their world and culture of their country. That night the guys and I went out to the clubs for some fun. Only a few brought what we were calling the + ones.. spouses or boyfriends etc. I had kind of started joking to other NEA folks that I was going to start a caucus for + ones... it kind of took a life of it's own when strangers that I didn't know started calling me + one. One of the NEA wives which is also a teacher was with me and you never know.. maybe one day there will be a real caucus of the NEA for + ones.. with Diane and I as co chairs!!!!. One of the highlight of the dinners was the entertainment for the evening. They had these 4 black men called Gugulethu Tenors which sang. You can search on You Tube for them. They were MAGNIFICENT!!!! They brought the house down... standing ovations... One thing about these dinners... they had top notch professional local entertainers that were the best ever in this country.

Tuesday

Tuesday I started my day with a quick breakfast and a 2 hour massage at this salon. The Taj Hotel where we were staying was a little expensive and I had found this salon a few blocks away on the weekend but it was closed. So Monday I made an appointment for Tuesday AM. It was supposed to be a 90 minute massage but it turned out to be a 2 hour one after all. The guy that did the massage was named Bulond. He was a young guy of 1/2 Turkish and 1/2 greek decent. If he was 30 he was a day. His face was a ruggedly masculine face but his body and personality was very boyish. Now like all foreign countries I am never surprised at anything that doesn't happen quite like it does in the United States. So here I go.. very nice place.. hair salon that does everything else etc.... I go upstairs into the little massage room, and he says that i can take off my clothes and start on my front. ok.. I say... the same as what I am used to. Well the unique thing was that in this case he didn't cover my body up with a sheet or a towel. I was just laying there naked. I thought ok.. lets see how this goes. Well he had a touch that was so wonderful. He was strong in spots and then so tender in others. I was putty in his hands. The way he massaged was more left side/right side but also firm but yet soft and tender when it came to my feet and hands. He also had a technique that was sensual but not sexual... I was in heaven. Well then it came time to turn over... and still no covering. At first for about 5 seconds it seemed a little weird... but then that feeling went away. After 2 hours I was MUSH!!!!! it was only 500 Rand which is about 80 dollars which is pretty cheap for a 2 hour massage. I also had a manicure which I needed and that was great and cheap at the same time.

I got back to the hotel at noon... but not before I made another 2 hour massage appointment for the next morning. :) A few of us had lunch at noon time and then we went to the 6th district Museum here in Cape Town. Up to now I haven't talked about the history of Cape Town, or South Africa for that matter which I will towards the end. The 6th district (which you can google I believe) was a part of the city pretty near the center of the city. The subject of Apartied is a huge piece of their history which was one of the worst periods of our time. To make this a shorter story.. the 6th district was a part of the city that maybe lived about 60,000 people at one time. They had a vibrant commercial district, movie houses, stores, and many streets of homes. This was a predominant section of town of black people. To this day there are black people, colored people (mixed races basically) and of course the minority white people. Well back in 60's the minority white people were in power and they basically made the 6th district a white person district and slowly over time forced people out of their homes and businesses and forced them out to the suburbs which were mostly into the townships. A lot of people took money to leave but nothing what they deserved. They had grown up in this district over generations... families, friends, churches their lives were in this district. Once they were being displaced they were going to all sorts of places where they had no history, not connections, and in some cases didn't know anyone. Not all left on their own free will (with some forceful ness behind it) and eventually the city literally bulldozed down the entire section block by block, building by building with the intent of building a new section for whites only. The only thing was the indignation of the people of the area, the continent as well as the world made them change their plans. For many years since aparteid ended, they have left that district the way it was left.. which now is an vast open area of grass, some trees, weeds to remember the atrocity of what happened to so many. A couple of side stories.. They tore down all the buildings and some were many stories, and a downtown section etc.. along with many homes on many streets... but one thing even the white government couldn't do was to destroy any churches. There were 3 churches and 1 mosque i believe that was not torn down and still stand today. One of the churches is the 6th district museum today along with another building 2 blocks away. There is a long and interesting story of the 6th district along with somber story of so many lives that were displaced, and in some instances that died... all because they weren't white. I encourage everyone that reads this to do some reading on the 6th district history and stories. One other story I read about in the museum was about this family of a man and wife and 2 small children. He had means to go to a suburb and not to a township and bought a small house. He also had 50 homing pigeons when he lived in the 6th district. He took all 50 pigeons with him to his new house. Eventually it came to the day to let the pigeons out of their cages. He wasn't sure they were going to come back to this new house after so many years of living in the 6th district. He let them out.. and they didn't come back... not even one. After being forced to leave the 6th district he used to drive thru the area on his way to work. A couple of days later after the release of the pigeons, he drove by the plot of land that his house where he lived once stood. That morning there they were ... all 50 pigeons on the plot that plot of land...... with a look in their eyes of not knowing what had happened. That was one of the many stories I read about on Tuesday.. so many more of lives torn apart, some destroyed, some forced to townships where there were gangs, no water, or electricity and in a lot of cases deplorable conditions. To this day there are townships that don't have electricity or running water. This is 2011 and all because of the color of their skin. Now today there are plans.. slow and in political quagmire of rebuilding the 6th district. The ones that didn't take any money have been promised a new house on their old land. I met a man on tuesday that is in that situation... but they built a technical college back in the 70's that started out for whites only but today is for all that is where his house stood. They have promised him a house somewhere else. So far they have only build 13 houses, a couple of apartment buildings and there still stands in the center of the city near downtown.. a barren piece of land that still stands starkly reminding the city, country and the world what happened in history. Oh and that man I met.. has no idea when that house the government has promised him will ever come to being. He had to be at least 70 years old and what a story he told... and the stories I am sure he could tell for hours and hours.

It was one of the most moving afternoons I have had in my life. Like my times in the Philippines as well as here it is one of the most moving times to be physically in a place where history that effected more people in a negative way took place in my life time. You look around and talk to people, see people how they live today and hear and get to know the stories of their lives and the experiences they went thru to get here in 2011..... and not be moved, not be grateful for your own life... because I don't know too many people in my life that have gone thru so much just to live their lives like I have lived mine. No matter what we have, what we don't have, what we have gone thru in life..... there is no way to compare the differences of my life and some of the people that I have met and know today in these countries. I come away being grateful for everything I have, and also a renewed energy to always treat people the way I want to be treated... to give back to the world thru any means possible and to just think of helping someone else in the world. It doesn't have to be across the world in a different country, it can be someone in our own cities. look around and give a dollar, an hour, but try to think of helping someone else have a better time at life. One more thought which I will share after I talk about Thursday that relates to this feeling.

Tuesday Night we went to the NEA dinner. The NEA probably was the biggest group of people out of all the different groups at the congress. They held a dinner at the Bay View Hotel on Tuesday night. The Bay View Hotel is a big beautiful hotel on the water over in Camps Bay I believe. I had driven by a few times and thought to myself what a wonderful place to stay during the height of the summer. Little did I know that I would actually get to go inside. They had this rotunda for a dining room.. a huge beautiful chandalier.. and draped in white clothes from the ceiling to the floor but draped on the ceiling and hanging down from the walls.. it was a magical setting with an outdoor area for opening cocktails on the water at sunset.

The guys went out Tuesday night but I stayed in and packed and got all my stuff together since were were checking out the next day and going to another hotel for the rest of our stay.

Wednesday

Wednesday I started a little earlier, to make sure I got a good breakfast... and off to Bulond for another 2 hour massage. This time he was a little firmer on the firmer parts and more tender and sensual in those times. I felt almost like he was taking my body and making it a part of his as one. It is an experience that I can't describe and doubt I will ever have again. I felt the same way but in a much different way of Craig the massage guy I had in Amsterdam back in May. Got back to the hotel and it was a bevy of people leaving, checking out... saying good bye etc. All of the NEA delegation and staff stayed at the Taj Hotel. The Taj hotel is a great hotel that has been opened for only about a year. It is a 5 star hotel that was an old bank building that also had a tower of floors built on top of the original bank. Now that I have been living in a 5 star hotel in Manila, I had something to compare it to. There were some things I liked better and then there were somethings that they need to work on. The staff was the best and had no complaints. A couple of the folks I interacted with were of the best quality when it came to service. On my survey I gave them my constructive criticisms as well as commended both Faud and Chantelle. Over all though I gave them a 9 out of 10 and a few places on how to improve. Overall it was a WONDERFUL stay.

That afternoon Alicia who is a woman that is Argentinian, and John a NEA staff person and his wife, Tim and I went to Signal Hill. Signal Hill is one of the highest areas that you can see a 360 degree of all of Cape Town. Table Mountain and the Lions Head are in the background. It was one of the most stunning views I had seen. We spend the afternoon doing that and a couple of things that we hadn't seen in Cape Town. One note on Alicia, she was a foreign exchange student from Buenos Aires in high school to a town in North Dakota... some 40 miles from the Canadian border, some 20 to 30 years ago. Met this guy in high school and eventually married, moved to this town in North Dakota and now is a mother of 4 and a wife of a farmer.. She still misses Argentina as well as loves her life.. quite a story..

Wednesday afternoon we moved to the Glen Boutique Hotel over in Sea Point section of the city. It is one of the coastal parts of the city...more of a ritzier section and they have this promenade on the water where it is a runners and walkers paradise. It is a gay B&B and since it is winter here.. very cheap. We splurged and took room #1, the biggest suite with a balcony and everything.. Wednesday night we had a final farewell dinner with the guys ... friends from NEA that are all gay, and that we had been hanging out with. I know most of them and also met a couple of new ones. We had a great dinner, and talked about the week and just had a great time.

Thurday..

Today we got up and had tickets to Robben's Island. Robben's Island is an island that was used for a maximum as well as regular prison during the Aparteid era. Nelson Mandella spent quite a few years here along with other prisoners. Ironically the political prisoners were the ones that spent time in maximum area where the regular prisoners (murders, rapists, theives etc) were in the other parts. There was also a man that was detained for years there way back in the beginning also. Our tour guide on the island was a former prisoner from 1986 to 1991 that was a political prisoner. The story he told was first hand... which makes the story so much more real. Again I can't go into all the stories but I encourage everyone to research and read on your own. A couple of stories. They had a section between the maximum prison yard and the other side that was about 4 to 6 feed wide that they had dogs patrolling at times. The dog kennels were bigger than the cells in the maximum prison cells. This was again was a prison during aparteid for black people only.

Now the story that I want to mention that I referenced back when I went to the 6th district museum is this. Aparteid years when the minority white people ruled the government and the country, as well as this city, life was not fair to non whites... not only not fair, but was cruel and unjust, destroyed lives and broke spirits and all kinds of negative things that I can not put to words that even come close to the reality of what happened and why. But one thing I am in awe of.... is this. Cape Town is one of the most beautiful places on the earth that I have ever been to. Table Mountain, The Lions Head, the 12 Disciples, natural beauty as far as the eye can see... the ocean, animals, flowers you name it.... with all the awful negative things that happened to so many people I can't help but think that God gave these people a view every day so beautiful that gave them a small something so wonderful to help them get thru the day. A small view that no matter what people did, or took away from them.... they could never ever take that view away from them. I have always thought that no matter how difficult life is, or gets, or the negative things in life that happens, there is always a positive spot somewhere... maybe in some cases it is the smallest thing... and in some cases.. we really have to look high and low for those positive spots, but I think that if we just look around in the darkest of dark times, there is always a light of hope, the thought of freedom from our burdens and troubles that will help us get thru those times. That is what I think of now when I see Cape Town and that is what I will remember long after I am gone from this city.

Now... we have one more day to go.. we have a tour with our tour guide Selwyn (www.ILoveCapeTown.com) and he is taking us to his township for the day. I have a feeling that this will be another day in my life that I will never forget. Oh yea I forgot to mention, Wednesday night after we checked in to the Glen Boutique Hotel, I walked the Sea Port Promenade for about an hour at sunset.... and tonight I ran on the Promenade at Sunset... A run I will never forget as long as I live.

So I end this entry which was a long one.. which I apologize for... we have one more day and then back to my life.. one I am ever so grateful for... can't wait to see my friends, my neighbors, Molly big time.... and keep living life....

Til the next time... live life as if it is your last.. make the moments count!!!

Friday July 22, 2011

Today was kind of a down day. After travelling for 2 days and then a full day of touring around.. I was beat last night. I did get a good night sleep last night and was going to get up early and eat breakfast with Tim at 6:30…. But it just didn’t happen. I did sleep in until about 8:30 which was great. I went to the gym and walked my 3 Km which felt great. I had breakfast downstairs and then came up and tried to work with my computer and the electrical differences.

After a little work and a new adapter it was working just fine. The one issue I have with this hotel is they provide 30 mins free in a 24-hour period. Otherwise it is approximately 10.00 per hour which is pretty high. So I haven’t done much for facebook or my blog. I did get a good blog entry up yesterday and tried to get my pics uploaded to FB too. But I just heard there is a NEA rate of 125 Rand for 24 hours.. so that is much better. 125 rands is about 22.00 US.

Eventually I got up to the convention center by noon and had lunch with Tim and a few others. I had a Mozambique Peri-Peri pan fried chicken livers. Peri-Peri is a chile sauce usually pretty spicy. This was prepared in a more mild version. It was pretty good. I have had the opportunity to each so many things from so many places lately. I am just adding to that good fortune.

I came back thru the shopping outdoor mall back to the hotel. I am planning on taking it easy.. maybe take a nap, then go running in the gym, and then go to a reception back at the convention center. There are 155 countries represented at this Education International conference and so it will be a great opportunity to meet some people from other countries. I didn’t do much after all. I did meet Tim back at the convention center where they had this reception for all the delegates. It was more like dinner and drinks and entertainment along with a lot of talking to people. It was a free meal for me since I am on vacation… The entertainment was great. They had a group of South African dancers and muscians. The things that these dancers did.. was almost homoerotic… The food and drink was abundant and free for all the delegates. I have a visitors badge which affords me almost anything a regular delegate is afforded.

A little about this conference. There are 155 countries represented from around the world. They are mostly teacher union related and where the few countries that don’t have the union, the country themselves is represented. They have issues and resolutions that they discuss and vote on. I am thinking it is a huge network on education related issues. I have met a few people from Europe as well as Africa and of course met the NEA folks that I have known, as well as have met some new folks.

Got back to the hotel and partied in the bar a little and then finally went to bed.

July 21, 2011 Well I got here last night after a very long 29 hour of travelling door to door. Of all my tips in the last year this was the worst for a few reasons. The first reason is because there is only a 6-hour time change. The 2^nd is the duration of the trips. I flew from Philly to Detroit, 2-hour layover, 7-hour trip to Amsterdam (which is when I should have slept), 2-hour layover, and then 12 hours to Cape Town.

Well it was nighttime and so I thought I would naturally sleep and since it was only 7 hours total, didn’t want to take any Valium. Well the flight had 2 babies that cried the entire way to Amsterdam. They were both in my row and the row behind that one. I also had a small child that kept kicking my seat as well. I spoke to the father a couple of times but he wasn’t too bright either.

Well then go to Amsterdam and we took off at 10 AM and wasn’t going to get until 12 hours later at 10 PM and since were flying due south… there was no time change. I didn’t want to sleep all day or I would have been up all night etc.

I sat with 2 women, Ruth Ann which was going to the EI conference. She is from DC and is on the ESP staff. (32 yr old lesbian). Then there was Natalie who is a native Cape Town person. (42 yr old mother of 3 kids and a wife of a German national). And then there was me.. I ended up watching 2 movies, some reading, some talking etc.

I got in around 10 and to the Taj Hotel by 11 and after a quick shower met Tim and company at the Bronx 22 a gay bar in the city. Luckily I was home in bed by 12:30 to die a quick death in that bed. The Taj is a nice hotel. Since it is a 5 star hotel (Indian chain), I was comparing it to the Shangri-La Makati in Manila. They are comparable in that they are both beautiful. The Taj is a much smaller hotel, and there fore the main things are much smaller as well. The shower door is a poor design, and the picture window from the bedroom into the bathroom is kind of weird. They do have a blind you can pull down for some privacy. It reminds me of the old room I had in Vegas at Caesars with a mirror above the bed and the round Jacuzzi at the foot of the bed. Oh well. It is very nice..

Got up this morning and we had breakfast which is part of the room rate which is nice. Since I am paying for this trip, I am making sure I eat there when I can! Today we had a full day with Selwyn (www.IloveCapeTown.com) and we did the Eastern and Western Cape. Here is a synopsis of the day….

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Peninsula Tour

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Let me start by telling you that this is MOST CERTAINLY a Cape Peninsula

Tour with a difference. See why when you read the itinerary.

Selwyn collected us at the Taj Hotel and we started off on a

Peninsula tour. Note there are quite a lot of stops on this route so as to

stretch legs, walk around and take in the beauty of the areas around one.

Leave for the southern suburbs.

Travel via Cape Town centre, Woodstock, Observatory, Claremont, Constantia

and Boyes Drive to Muizenberg. This is all part of an inland drive towards

the sea through a very "leafy" and green suburban area.

From Muizenberg move on to Kalk Bay. This part of the journey was all along

A most beautiful coastline.

From Simonstown we traveled to Boulders Beach so as to see its special secret

viz. the penguin colony.

After our visit to the Boulders we returned to Simonstown (3 km away)

where we took some free time to browse around and enjoy this quaint

Naval village; saw sights and had fun. We stopped in at a little coffee shop called Sweet Nothings where we purchased some local pies and pastries. From Simonstown we traveled on to a VERY SPECIAL spot that Selwyn found that he labels "the best restaurant n the world". At this spot we sat down and enjoyed our pies and pastries in what just has to be the best setting for any restaurant anywhere in the world. A Beautiful park on the water!!

After lunch at our special spot we traveled to The Cape of Good Hope

Nature reserve and then up to Cape Point. I felt energetic so I walked

up to the top however Tim and Selwyn took the funicular up the very steep hill.

At the top of the point we saw the incredible overview of False Bay.

From Cape Point we traveled on to the wonderful scenic coastline of

Scarborough & Kommetjie. We then traveled via the magnificent Chapman’s Peak, which was one of the highlights of the day

Drove on to Hout Bay.

From Hout Bay we paid the luxurious area of Leeukoppie a visit so as to see

how the super wealthy live in South Africa.

We then traveled back to the city via the Atlantic seaboard towns of

Llandudno, Camps Bay.

Unfortunately we were unable to ascend Table Mountain and take in the special Cape Town view. It is undergoing maintenance the entire time of our trip. One disappointment but I am sure I will live.

Selwyn dropped us off at the restaurant called Beef Cakes which is basically a Hooters but instead of girls, the waiters are boys in tank tops which then eventually they come off. One of the key fun things to do is a shooter on one of the boys of your choice. They pour a shot of your choice on the boy’s chest and stomach and then you proceed to lick it all up. There was also a drag show and a show of a drag queen singing as well. It was a great way to end a perfect day. The weather was perfect… sunny, blue skies, great sunset and just the right temp.. better than usual at this time which is nice.

Now it is about midnight.. off to bed. Tomorrow somewhat relaxing for me. Early Breakfast, then the gym later on and maybe running outside and coffee with Natalie from the plane. But it will be a low-key day.

P.S. pics of the trip today are on Facebook.

Until next time.

Tuesday Morning local time.. Well I am here.. 29 and 1/2 hours door to door.. This trip was by far the easiest so far.. Maybe I am getting used to it.. or it was easier. Due to the Earthquake / Tsunami in Japan back in February, I had to fly through Hong Kong instead of Japan. I also got to fly on Cathay Pacific vs Delta Airlines. I was kind of looking forward to this trip since I had heard that Cathay did a great job as an airline, and I also wanted to see Hong Kong. Of course there is always a downsize, and it is with Delta I got points.. and now I am a new member of World One which is Cathay and American Airlines among others. I think I will have to check out the airlines they are on before I choose my next vacation.. :)

I left Philly and it was fine. A short trip to Toronto. Toronto is a newer airport and quite easy to navigate through. The issue was there was NO ONE in the airport. It was a ghost town. I asked someone and they said that it is busy in the afternoon but in the winter it is reverse and it is busy in the morning. Took US Air to Toronto but they did check my luggage thru to Cathay all the way to Manila.. so that was good. I did do a double check in Toronto tho just in case. Sometimes you have to get your luggage, go 50 feet and then hand it back in for the other airline. But it was very smooth. Had lunch at Toronto... had a egg and ham sandwich on a croissant and they served it with french fries. So I confess.. I had more than 2.. but didn't eat them all. I figured my eating habits will be different here (for the better) so I indulged a little. After lunch I went to the gate, and found a seat with a plug and started to waste the few hours I had to go before I got on the plane.

Well I got on the plane to Hong Kong and it was not a full flight. In fact I was in the window and there was no one in the middle or the aisle. It was a very comfy flight... This leg was going to be almost 16 hours.. so I was thrilled when I had no seat mates for this long leg. I didn't do much, ate, slept, read, watched a little of the Green Hornet.. I can tell how it ended.. but now I have to see it somewhere. hopefully on the way back I will watch the ending. Before you knew it i was arriving in Hong Kong.

This airport is very modern.. easy to get through and I had a few hours to look around. You can get a ferry boat right at the airport for Macau.. very handy, you can also get to the mainland and the transfer to the Manila flight was so easy. I now have dreams to come back to Hong Kong and Macau for a vacation.. So I just need to find someone that wants to go on an adventure.. and do some research on these 2 places. I got to the plane for Manila.. and had no one next to me on that flight either. So this was such a great trip, just very long. I met a young woman on the flight and we talked. She was born in HK, lived in Canada most of her life and now lives in HK, and Dubai as well. She works as a consultant in the rail industry. She was coming to Manila to bid on a MRT route. We talked the whole way and now have a friend in Dubai. :)

We landed in Manila.. and it almost felt like coming home.. so strange when you are somewhere a lot, it feels like home. Tonight though was the worst for immigration lines. I think 4 or 5 planes came in at once.. and we unfortunately weren't the first. It took us over an hour to get thru the line. This was the same way coming from Paris a few weeks ago in Philly.. that day it took me 1 hour and 1/2 to get thru the line. Well I said my farewell to Janet, and will try to email her and maybe see her while I am here. I got out thru the gate and there was Narcisco and the Shangri-La folks to help me with my bags, and get me out of the airport to the hotel.

Coming back to the Shangri-La was great. I knew all the folks out front, and most of the front desk folks. It is a nice feeling when they say it is good to see me and I know on some level they are not saying it because they have to. The people here are the nicest people and it was truly good to see them. So here I am getting unpacked, clothes pressed and put away.. I turned on my switch B mode and slowly getting back into that mode of timing. I was going to go in to the office for a few hours, but I find myself a little more fatigued than I thought I would. So I think I will rest up, get to the gym at 5, and get back on track for walking, running and then get a good night sleep for tomorrow nights work.

So that's it for now.. I am here, and again.. feeling like one lucky guy. I do miss home, Tim, Molly and friends and neighbors.. But you have to enjoy life as you get it.. and know that what is back home is always going to be there.

June 5, 2011

Well I never did finish out my European trip.. Sorry about that. I got back from Amsterdam on Friday, and then had dinner with Rosemary that night. and packed and went to bed.

I took the train to the airport on Saturday and that was so easy. I met this Pakistani man and we had a very stimulating conversation to the airport. Met this older couple from Maine and all the man could say was how Delta lost his luggage on his flight to Europe which had been a month prior. He did say he washed his one shirt constantly and wore it most of the trip. Was kind of weird.

Now today is Sunday June 5th.. I am off to Manila again in the morning. Due to the radioactivity in Japan, we can't fly there. So tomorrow a new flight pattern which I am sure will bring new adventure. I fly USAir to Toronto, have a 4 hour layover and then Cathay Airlines to Hong Kong with a puddle jumper to Manila. I get in Tuesday night 10 PM.. which is EST 10 AM on Tuesday. So it will be about a 30 day door to door.

I will go to the hotel, unpack, and get all settled and then get to the office for a good 1/2 day of work. I got my new computer finally, but the tech that did the data transfer was less than stellar.. and so now I have my new computer.. but it wants some kind of Network Login with an ID and password.. Never had that.. So that means at this moment.. I can't get into my computer at all. So I am sure that will get fixed.. but not quickly.

So tomorrow. another day, another trip and I am hoping that it will be another adventure..

I will be writing in the blog for the next few weeks while I am away.

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