Mm, Frappuccino

It's funny how these silly little quizzes can be pretty accurate. I think this one comes close! Plus, it thinks I'm a frappuccino, and I love to drink frappuccinos! Speaking of which, I just tried the new Orange Creme Light Frappuccino and it was really good (and the light version is only 2 weight watcher points!).

You Are a Frappacino

At your best, you are: fun loving, sweet, and modern At your worst, you are: childish and over indulgent You drink coffee when: you're craving something sweet Your caffeine addiction level: low

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofcoffeeareyouquiz/

Congratulations!!

Congratulations John!! My brother graduated this weekend from Washington State University with a degree in Electrical Engineering. It's been a long, hard road but he made it! Yay John! And in honor of him I will say one thing I rarely say... Go COUGS!

Hm

I woke up this morning with the song Motownphilly stuck in my head. Why, I'm really not sure. Often I will wake up with random songs in my head but usually I can trace it back to something - I heard it the night before, it was on the radio when I woke up, it was in my dream but not this time. Don't get me wrong, I like the song, just can't quite figure out why it was stuck in my head. Really, no explanation.

The Big 3-0, it's official!

It must seem as if I've been celebrating my birthday for awhile now. Probably because I started celebrating a month in advance! But as of 12:54 PM on April 29th I have officially entered into my 30's! I celebrated all weekend - and ate my through the celebrations!

After all the anxiety I had about turning 30, when I woke up on Sunday it was just another day. The hardest moment I've had with my new age was at the gym when I had to enter it in on the elliptical machine and I couldn't put 29 anymore and instead entered 30. But I'm slowly moving past the whole shock of being 30 and instead will focus on enjoying the next decade of my life!

Wanderlust

Main Entry: wan·der·lust
Pronunciation: 'wän-d&r-"l&st
Function: noun
Etymology: German, from wandern to wander + Lust desire, pleasure: strong longing for or impulse toward wandering

It doesn't take knowing me long before you realize how much I love to travel. I try to go on at least one (sometimes two) week long vacations each year. In fact, it's usually not to long after I get back when I start planning for the next one. This year, however, I'm taking it to another level! Hm, I wonder if it has anything to do with turning 30! Or more likely, my avoidance of accepting the fact I'm turning 30. This year I've haven't been able to stay in one place too long before the need to travel wells up in me. It was probably only a week or two after I got back from WDW that another trip presented itself and here I am preparing to leave again. At the end of May I will be going to Spain and Portugal (Madrid and Lisbon, specifically) with my friend Jana. I will probably have another 2 trips (Cabo in September, Europe in November) along with at least one or two Houston trips to visit my Houston family. I am suffering from some serious wanderlust this year.

Tiptoe through the Tulips

Yesterday I traveled up to annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. This has become an annual pilgrimage since I moved back to Washington. Tulips are my favorite flower and to see them in so many colors and spread out in fields for as far as the eye can see is truly a glorious sight to behold. The other fun thing about the tulips is they are great models for me to practice my photography skills, or lack thereof, on. As usual, some turned out, some didn't. I've posted a few of my favorites. The rest can be seen at: emily77.shutterfly.com/action/?a=8AZuG7Nu2aOHWQ

Bonn/London March 2007

I was in Bonn, Germany & London for work. I'll just share a couple of the highlights.

Our German colleagues were great hosts, taking us to some really good restaurants. Sunday night we went to Indochine, an Asian fusion restaurant. Monday night we went into Cologne to eat at a brauhaus. I had a dish called Heaven & Earth and I'm still not sure exactly what it was - some type of sausage and potatos - but it was really good! Tuesday for lunch we had Italian, and I of course had my staple, margerita pizza. And Tuesday evening we left Bonn and headed to London.

We checked into our hotel and headed up to our rooms. This is probably one of the most interesting hotels I've ever stayed in. All the hallways were narrow and twisting going up and down stairs. And this was before I got to my room which was extremely small. The roof was sloping down. I nicknamed it the "Harry Potter" room as it reminded me of the room under the closet Harry had in the first book. We went to dinner at a Greek restaurant down the street.

The next night, after our conference, we went to see Wicked. I've never been a huge fan of the Wizard of Oz but had heard good things about Wicked. It was amazing!! I loved the story (which is told from the Wicked Witch of the West's point of view) and the songs were great. The lead actresses were excellent.

Friday we toured around London. After beautiful weather in Germany and even our first few days in London we were hoping it would continue but Mother Nature had other ideas. It was overcast and before long it started to rain. But you've got to expect rain in London!

Saturday we split up and I ventured out to Bletchley Park, where codebreaking was done in WWII. I had wanted to see it since I saw the movie Engima, which takes place at Bletchley Park. The house is an electic mix of different architectural styles - the original owner got ideas from places he had traveled to and incorporated them into his house. The lady who gave my tour actually worked at Bletchley during the war and one of the women on our tour did as well. It was neat to hear their stories. It's unfortunate that Bletchley is not a government-run museum, it's funded entirely by donations, as it lacks the efficiency and organization you normally find in a museum.

Sunday we left and came home.

Happy Birthday to ME!!

This honestly needs to start with once upon a time as it was once upon a time Michelle and I decided for my 30th birthday we should go to Disneyworld. So without further ado, once upon a time in Houston, Michelle & I were talking about our mutual love of Disney and the fact I'd never been to Disneyworld. And so the plan was born that in 2007 we would go to Disneyworld. As the time got closer we began planning and decided to go in March. I'm still not sure how it got to be 2007 but it here it was 2007!


My dad had United Airline miles he wanted to use up and so offered them to me to use on my birthday trip. I was grateful for the free plane ticket even though it meant a red eye flight connecting through LAX. Diane met me at my house and my mom drove us to the airport. We landed in Orlando a little after 6 a.m. on March 17th (St. Patrick's Day!). I'd planned ahead and worn green. I find it funny that so many grown-ups will wear green on St. Patrick's Day. It can't be fear of being pinched, can it? But I digress. We made our way through the airport. Because we were staying at a Disney property we were able to use their Magical Express service which meant we didn't have to pick up our luggage and they took us straight to our hotel. We were pleasantly surprised when the hotel had a room available for us. After showering we headed to Downtown Disney in search of breakfast and coffee. We had breakfast with the Earl of Sandwich, however we never found coffee. Where is a Starbucks when you need one? Shopping beckoned after breakfast and then it was back to the hotel for a little nap that turned out to be a little longer than 40 winks. After we woke up, we headed to the Magic Kingdom. Walking down Main Street a huge smile started at my mouth and continued to my toes! It really is the happiest place on earth. In a bakery on Main Street our quest for coffee ended successfully. Not quite Starbucks but it definitely hit the spot. We started off in Adventureland, fastpassing the Jungle Cruise (one of my favorites) and waited in line for Pirates of the Carribbean (another favorite - in fact you should probably get used to me saying such and such is my favorite as I say it about a lot of things). Big Thunder Mountain Railroad had a 50 minute wait so we decided to go for it and wait in line. About an hour and 15 minutes later we boarded our out of control train. We were trying to decide what to do next when Michelle called to let us know they had landed and were on their way to the hotel. Not knowing how long it would take us to get back to the hotel we set off. Walking through the masses of people, green was the predominant color of choice. Again, it's funny to me how you are never to old to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. On the bus ride home we learned that Daisy Duck has three neices - April, May and June which is something I never knew.


Not to long after we got back to the hotel, Michelle, Stacy & Bailey arrived. We had dinner at our new favorite spot, The Earl of Sandwich and then dessert at Ghiradelli's. Yum! After we got back tothe hotel Janette arrived (Michelle's mom) which was wonderful as we weren't sure when she was going to make it with the winter storms in the east.


Magic Kingdom Day! Angie met us at the hotel & we set off. After breakfast at the bakery while watching a mini parade, it was time to begin. I had gotten a button that said it was my birthday and one of the park workers told me happy birthday. When I said thank you he told me to get used to it and he was right! Everyone told me happy birthday that day, including people standing in line with me. The day started in Fantasyland on the Winnie the Pooh ride. Pooh and the gang are probably my favorite group of Disney characters. It was on this ride we discovered my ride karma as it stopped a few times. Snow White was next, followed by It's a Small World, and then another favorite, Peter Pan! I think part of the reason I love the Peter Pan ride is flying over London. We then went to one of my new favorites, Philharmagic. It's a 3-D experience with lots of songs which of course I sang along too! With Fantasyland basically complete it was time for lunch in Tomorrowland. We split up after lunch. Seeing that Space Mountain had a huge line Diane and I fastpassed it and went to check out Buzz Lightyear. It was a very fun ride, but once again the ride stopped in the middle, which allowed us to rack up a lot more points. We then hurried over to Adventureland and Splash Mountain with a stop at the teacups. Splash Mountain and I have a love/hate relationship. I hate the anticipation of the drop but I love the ride and at the bottom I'm always glad I did it. It had gotten hot by then so the splash was actually a good thing. It was time to meet up with Michelle, Stacy and Angie for Haunted Mansion where once again the ride stopped in the middle. As I was the common denominator on the rides that stopped we figured out it was my ride karma. We headed back to Tomorrowland to use our Space Mountain fastpasses but before going on Space Mountain we rode on another new favorite of mine, the Blue Line ride or the Tomorrowland Transportation Authority. What was so great about this ride? You got to sit down and relax! Before getting on Space Mountain we pastpassed it again for that evening. After Space Mountain we headed back towards Main Street to watch the nighttime parade before watching the firework show above Cinderella's castle. I took probably about a gazillion photos in hopes a few would turn out - and I think some of them really turned out well. It was Magic Hours that night for Magic Kingdom which meant we could spend an extra 3 hours at the park since we were staying at a Disney property. I immediately spoke out and said "oh, there is no way I'm going to be here until 2 a.m." So when we left the park at really close to 2 a.m. I had to eat my words but the extra time was worth it! We rode Space Mountain, the teacups, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Carribbean without really waiting in line at all before doing a little shopping. By the time we got home it was after 2 and by the time we were asleep it was probably closer to 3! Climbing into bed, I felt like my body was still moving and I was still on some sort of ride.


Considering the night before (which overflowed into this morning) we were not the most animated group as we left the hotel. But we did manage to make it to breakfast with Winnie the Pooh! Yay! Pooh was there along with his pals Piglet, Tigger & Eeyore. Why Rabbit got left out? I'm not sure. He probably was working very hard in his garden. Breakfast was very fun! We took the monorail from the Magic Kingdom (where breakfast was) over to Epcot. Our first ride was another ride where it stopped in the middle. However, the folks behind us had a plausible explanation (as opposed to Emily's ride karma theory) which was that on the continuous moving rides, when someone with a disability gets on they have to shut down the ride in order to help them on. From there we ventured over to the Nemo ride where we got to ride in clammobiles!! I don't know why but the clammobiles cracked me up! We then waited for Turtletalk with Crush, however due to technical difficulties they had to cancel the show. We tried to fastpass Soarin' (a hang-gliding adventure over California) but all the fastpasses had been distributed for the day. So we fastpassed Test Track and started our journey around the world. In Norway, we went on a Maelstrom, a Viking adventure. We continued on our journey when we landed in Italy, just in time for lunch. Yummy!! After lunch we did Test Track before splitting up - Michelle, Bailey & Janette headed back to the hotel to get some rest while Angie, Stacy, Diane & I finished up our tour of the world where I learned that apparently you don't have to be in France to take a gazillion photos of the Eiffel Tower! We also celebrated a wedding in Morocco (between Angie & the Genie from Aladdin). Unfortunately (or fortunately!) it was only valid in Morocco and as soon as we were in France it was null and void. We finished up in Canada and we really began to feel the effects of the night before and so we too called it a day and headed back to the hotel. Thinking it would be just as quick to head to Downtown Disney and visit the Earl for dinner as it would be to grab some food from the store at the hotel Diane and I headed out. It was just as quick to get there, however, it was the getting back part that took awhile. We sat and waited and waited and waited for our bus back to the hotel. Granted the hotel was not that far away, but it was dark and we knew if we tried to walk, we'd probably end up lost so it was easier to wait. But finally the bus came and we were able to go home and get some much needed sleep!


Today was Animal Kingdom day. After the Magic Kingdom, this was the place I was most excited to visit! Angie was spending the day with her family and Diane left that morning to visit her family in Georgia so it was a smaller crew that set out that morning. I was definitely not disappointed by Animal Kingdom - they really did an excellent job with that park. We started off the day exploring Mt. Everest where we met a Yeti Monster!! Oh no!! The Yeti ripped up our tracks so we couldn't go forward. But thankfully our train was able to backtrack and take us down the mountain away from the Yeti. We fastpassed the safari adventure and watched the Lion King Festival which was amazing!! Very colorful and of course filled with the songs from the movie. The safari was fun - I couldn't believe how close the animals were! It had started raining so we hurried to It's Tough to be a Bug (a 3-D adventure with Flick) inside the Tree of Life to get out of the rain. It was really starting to rain and so we broke down and bought a Mickey poncho - of course, after we bought our poncho, the rain stopped. After lunch we watched the parade, watched the Finding Nemo musical, got scared by a Dinosaur and said good-bye to the animals before heading back to the hotel. That night Michelle, Stacy & I met up with Angie and her sister Mary to explore Pleasure Island. We had dinner at an Irish Pub and then went to an improv comedy club.


We made it to Wednesday!! Our day of rest!! And boy did we need it. Stacy spent the day with her brother, Angie with her family, and Diane was in Georgia. Michelle and I started off the day with a massage. We walked over to the spa and were surprised to find out when we got there we had the time wrong and so missed the first part of our massage. Bummer! Oh well, but at least we still got close to an hour (it was originally scheduled for 90 minutes) and some massage is better than no massage!! After the massage we were feeling quite relaxed and headed over to Downtown Disney for lunch & shopping. Several hours later, and many shopping bags later, we needed a pick-me-up and stopped by Ghiradelli for a sweet treat! Michelle, Stacy & I had dinner at the restaurant at the resort and then headed back to Downtown Disney and met up with Angie & Mary to watch a Cirque du Soliel show (La Nouba). I had never been to a Cirque show before and I was very impressed! Starting with the first act I thought it would be my favorite but then the next act would start and I was sure it was going to be my favorite. Even now, I'm not sure I could pick one act that was my favorite - they were all so good!


Today was Disney-MGM Studios day. The park was designed in the fashion of old Hollywood in the 1940's. I loved it!! We headed directly over to the Tower of Terror, Michelle's favorite ride. Based on the Twilight Zone, it drops you 13 stories. Sometimes having an active imagination is a good thing, sometimes it's not. Had we visited MGM earlier in the week I might have attempted the ride, however having many days to think about it, as well as seeing how tall the tower was from the road, my imagination took over and I pysched myself out of doing it. So while Michelle, Stacy, & Angie were being braver than me, I went and got us fast passes for the Rockin' Rollercoaster. I'm very glad to say Michelle, Stacy & Angie survived the Tower of Terror and we made our way over to the Great Movie Ride which took us through the sets of several movies, including two of my all-time favorites, Singin' in the Rain and Casablanca. We then made our way over to see the Playhouse Disney show where we sang along with several Playhouse Disney characters including Bear in the Big Blue House. Diane arrived at MGM while we were at Playhouse Disney and just in time for our fast passes on Rockin' Rollercoaster. Now this is another one where I wasn't completely sure I wanted to try as it goes upside down but upside down wasn't as scary to me as dropping 13 floors so I sucked it up and I was glad I did. I kept my eyes tightly shut so I wouldn't see when they flipped us upside down and that seemed to work. Lunch was next on the agenda and we had it at the Prime Time Diner. It was a really neat place, decorated like a house from the 1950's. The waiters/waitresses treated us as if we were like family, including telling us to sit up straight and get our elbows off the table. When they found out we were there celebrating my birthday, our waitress, Aunt Elaine, brought out a cupcake. I made a wish but before I blew out the candle Aunt Elaine said my wish wasn't going to come true so I should wish again. Darn! And I had thought it was a good wish. After lunch we headed over to the Drew Carey show which was in total darkness for part of the time. I do have to admit that I closed my eyes for just a second (or maybe a couple of seconds) and was on my way to sleep. When we emerged from the show it was time for Angie to leave to go to her nephew's birthday party. The rest of watched the afternoon parade. After the parade we boarded Star Tours, for a trip to Endor. Diane, Michelle, & Stacy went back to ride Tower of Terror (since Diane missed it in the morning) while I once again chickened out. Afterwards we split up with Stacy, Michelle, Janette & Bailey watching Beauty & the Beast live and Diane & I watching the High School Musical pep rally. We met back up and made our way over to Lights, Motors, Action, an extreme stunt show, where we were all entertained by the hero trying to make his escape from a town on the coast of France. We took a quick trip to New York and San Francisco (by way of movie set magic) before taking a backlot tour. At the beginning of the tour they warned us that people sitting on the right may get a little wet. I was sitting on the left so felt safe, until they said the next thing, which was people sitting on the left will get soaked! Meandering our way through the tour we came across a canyon. Nothing bad ever happens in a canyon, right? Once the train was inside the canyon we were subjected to all sorts of movie magic, including tons of water coming straight towards us! I did get a little wet, but not soaked. Whew! By this time it was getting close to the start time of Fantasmic, a light show on the water. The first time I went to Disneyland, my mom and I stumbled across this show and were amazed! I was very excited to see it again, and to see if it was as good as I remembered it. And it was! I think this show is one of my favorite things to see at a Disney park.


Our last day! The week had gone by so fast. We decided to split up with a plan to meet up later. Diane, Stacy & I started out at Animal Kingdom since Diane had missed it. We fastpassed the safari and watched the Lion King Festival. When we emerged from the Lion King Festival it was time for our safari. Even more animals were out on this safari - we even saw an elephant taking a bath!! We then went back to Mt. Everest where that silly Yeti was still ripping up train tracks. Diane & I headed over to the Dinosaur ride but as we got to the entrance there was a huge stream of people exiting. The ride was broken. But it wasn't my fault this time!! I wasn't even on the ride at the time. We waited for 5 minutes to see if it would open but when it didn't, we left and met up with Stacy at the front of the park. We got on a bus and headed over to the Magic Kingdom. It was at the Magic Kingdom we decided to see if we could visit all 4 parks in one day. With that goal in mind we got our picture taken on Main Street as photographic evidence. The only problem with this was that we hadn't done it at Animal Kingdom. Too bad, if only we had thought of it earlier in the day. After a quick snack at the bakery we made our way over to Toon Town to meet Mickey!! We toured Minnie's house and then headed over to Mickey's and we met the Mouse himself! We had fastpassed Space Mountain and still had time so we headed over to the barn to meet a few more characters - Minnie & Goofy. We still had more time and took a ride on Goofy's plane. Goofy wasn't the greatest pilot and the plane went through a barn before landing us on the runway. It was time for our fastpass so we left Toon Town and headed to Tomorrowland. We did a bit of shopping before saying goodbye to the Magic Kingdom and hello to MGM. After we got our picture taken we headed for the Rockin' Rollercoaster but all fastpasses had been distributed and the line was long. We were feeling "lined" out and decided to skip it. We we went on the Great Movie Ride and walked around before heading over to Epcot. We made our goal of all 4 parks in one day! At Epcot we met up with Michelle, Janette & Bailey to watch IllumiNations. Disney definitely knows how to put on a fireworks show!! Epcot had late Magic Hours so we thought we would hit Soarin', Test Track and Mission Space. Soarin' and Test Track still had long lines so we headed to Mission Space. Once again, I chickened out. Mission Space is a spinning ride and those who are claustraphobic are warned not to ride it. Every once in awhile I get very claustraphobic so I opted out. A group of high schoolers had just finished the ride while I was waiting and several were very sick, and one even needed a wheelchair to leave so I felt validated in my decision not to ride it. Feeling tired, and realizing how much packing we had left to do, we headed back to the hotel.


Diane had a very early flight the next morning. Originally I was on the same flight but instead of flying home I was flying to Germany to meet with co-workers before heading to London for training. So we said goodbye. Stacy left to spend the day with her brother. I did laundry most of the morning and finished up packing before Michelle, Janette, Bailey & I headed to the front of the hotel to wait for my bus to take me to the airport. We said goodbye and I left on the Magical Express bus.


What a wonderful birthday trip!! Thanks to everyone who made my birthday trip so special!!

Back in the US of A

I am back at home after a long 2 weeks of traveling that had me in Orlando, Bonn (Germany), and London before finally heading back to Seattle. Pictures & trip report to follow but it might be awhile.

And on a "shoulda hada V-8" note, my VCR decided it knew better than I did about the time change with daylight savings and changed the time on me so I'm not sure that any of my shows were recorded while I was gone. Just another reason why I need to join everyone else on the planet and get a DVR!

Procrastination

I leave for WDW in about a day and a half and instead of madly packing, which I should be doing, I am watching 102 Dalmations with Chloe (it's really Chloe who is watching - she enjoys barking at the dogs). I always end up packing and repacking and then unpacking and packing once again. What will eventually be the contents of my suitcase are currently spread out across the floor, some in my suitcase, some on the chair. Next commercial I am definitely going downstairs to finish packing!! Really, next commercial.

Countdown

Emily, you're turning 30 this year, what are you going to do next? I'm going to Disneyworld!! That's right, a mere week from today I will be leaving on a jet plane to go visit Mickey Mouse. This trip has been planned for probably close to 4 years so it's a little hard to believe it's really happening. With it only a week away, the official countdown has begun. 7 days and counting!!

It's March BABY!

NCAA, NC 2A, NC Double A - however you say it, it is tournament time! I love college basketball which makes March one of my favorite times of the year. Every year as I sit through nail-biter games, and the eventual loss of my team, I wonder why I continue to put myself through the ecstasy and agony every year. It has been awhile since my team has won the championship, it’s actually been several years since they’ve made it past the sweet sixteen.

Heading into championship week it looks like Duke will make the tournament, even with only a .500 record in the ACC. The (Washington) Huskies will most likely only make it if they win the PAC 10 championship. Gonzaga looks to be in, even if they were to lose the WCC championship. And, surprise of all surprises, the Cougars are not only a lock to get in but a potential 3 seed! 3 seed and Cougars is something I never thought I would say in the same sentance. Normally the Cougars wouldn't really even be on my radar considering I'm a Husky at heart, but my brother is in his final year at WSU and so I've temporarily set aside my cross-state rivalry prejudice towards the Cougars.

So what will this March bring? Who knows? But one thing is for certain, I will be watching!

London P.S.

I realized I had left out a very important part of my trip to London!! The ghost!! Or the psycho TV!! Take your pick. Saturday is when the trouble began. I was watching TV before we left for dinner and the channel changed all by itself. I didn't pay too much attention to it as I figured I had just inadvertently pushed a button. Later that night it happened again. Not a big deal, I just switched it back to the program we were watching. The problem started when we went to bed and the TV turned itself on not once, not twice but 5 times!! Granted, after the first time I should have turned it completely off rather than just hitting the power button but I was warm in my bed and didn't feel like getting out of bed to walk over to the TV. The first time I really noticed it was a little after midnight (midnight:20 to be exact). I made an empty threat that I would unplug the TV if it happened again. The second time was 2 hours later at 2:20. I thought to myself it must be on a 2 hour timer and it was probably near 10:20 when the channel switched. I didn't think on it too much and went back to sleep. The next time was at 3:45 so there went the whole 2 hour timer theory. The next time was sometime after 4, again just turned off the TV and went back to bed. The last time I had apparently gotten used to it and didn't wake up that quickly. It woke Jana up that time but it hadn't woken her up the two times before that. I was fed up with it by that time, fed up enough to get out of bed and turn it off completely. Before we went back to sleep we joked that it must have been the ghost from the castle that had followed us home. The rest of the night passed peacefully until of course the alarm clock went off, but that's another story.

Capachala

The theme for this long weekend became capachala. I was trying to describe the absurdity of a situation and words failed me. What came out was a series of sounds that formed "capachala". Jana thought it was too good to pass up and so the word for the trip became capachala.

With the President's Day holiday coming up, Jana and I decided to make a long weekend of it. And what better place than London? Since we have both been there several times before we wouldn't need to spend a lot of time orienting ourselves.

With the where and when decided, the how came in to play. Normally, I always fly British Airways to London as they are the only ones who fly direct out of Seattle. However, there was a potential for a cabin crew strike when I would be flying out and if that occurred most likely my flight would be cancelled. Not wanting to deal with the potential for a strike I explored other options and settled on American. I kept waiting, though, in hopes the strike would be called off, but I ended up booking at what I considered my last minute as the trip was getting close. Of course a day or two after I booked with American the British Airways strike was called off. With this news came the debate of do I cancel my (nonrefundable) American flight and just book the British flight or do I suck it up and take the American flight? My more economical side won out and I decided to stick with American.

Before I knew it, the trip had arrived. I was dropped off at the airport Wednesday morning for my flight to NY where I would catch another flight to London. I had a little over an hour connecting time in NY (I flew into JFK) which I thought would be plenty. Not long after take-off the pilot came on and made what I thought would be a pretty routine announcement so I tuned him out until I caught the part about weather issues but they were still allowing planes to land. Not worrying overmuch, I went back to my book. When the second announcement came on and again there was mention of weather and not allowing planes to leave, I sat up and tried to listen, realizing maybe there was more to this than I thought. Turns out there was a huge storm in New York! We had just about reached New York and the pilot came on again to let us know that we could land and they were allowing planes to take-off as well. We landed right about on time, which meant I had a little over an hour to get to my connecting gate. The plane taxied toward the gate and pulled up short and sat. Another announcement - this time to let us know there was a plane sitting at our gate and it was having issues pushing back due to the ice. So we sat, and sat, and sat some more until finally the other plane was able to push back and we could pull in to the gate. By the time I got off the plane I had less than 30 minutes to get to my next flight. At this time they were telling us that the flight was leaving as scheduled. The instructions were to follow the signs, however after the first sign, there weren't really any more, at least any more clearly marked. When we had to go out through baggage I started doubting I would make it as I realized I would have to go through security again. Waiting in line at security I made friends with a few other passengers who were trying to make it to my same flight. One of them had talked to an agent and as there were several of us, they were holding the flight for us. After I got through security, I didn't even bother to put my shoes back on. I grabbed all my stuff and ran! I arrived at the gate slightly out of breath to find out the flight was delayed for 15 minutes. I asked the agent exactly how long until boarding and he told me they were still catering the plane. Realizing I had a few more minutes I used the restroom and bought a bottle of water. I got back to the gate just as they announced pre-boarding. I waited my turn and boarded when my group was called. I settled into my seat and flipped through the magazine to plan out the movies I wanted to watch. The woman sitting next to me had flown in that morning from Argentina and had been trying to get a flight out all day. All other flights to London had been cancelled except this one. Hmm, well at least this flight was leaving, and only a little behind schedule. An hour passed and we were still sitting at the gate. The pilot finally made an announcement to let us know they were having issues with the cargo being loaded but they were still hopeful we would be able to leave. Another hour passed. After we had been waiting for over 2 hours, they turned on the inflight entertainment on the main channel so we would have something to occupy us while we waited. Another hour passed, and another annoucement. They were still having issues with the cargo but if they needed to, they would forego loading the cargo but rest assured our luggage was on board (if I had been paying attention I would have realized this was the foreshadowing part of the story). Finally after 4 long hours we pulled back from the gate only to sit on the runway waiting for the de-icing truck. It was close to an hour before the truck came and de-iced us. So when it was all said and done we were over 5 hours late in taking off. But never was I so happy to taxi down a runway!

The travel woes continued when after the first movie the entertainment system stopped. And all we got for breakfast was a crossaint - it didn't even come with jam or orange juice! Now, I know airplane food isn't great, but still, couldn't we at least get some fruit or some juice with breakfast?! We ended up circling around Heathrow for awhile (along with several other planes which we could see out the window) until we finally got the okay to land. I made it through passport control and headed to baggage. As the conveyor started slowing down and my suitcase had still not appeared a horrible feeling came over as I realized my suitcase was not there. I joined the growing line of passengers at the customer service counter. It was another hour or so before I reached the head of the line to find out my suitcase was back in NY. Now I realize these things happen, but come on! We were SITTING at the gate for over 4 hours!! How did they manage to forget to load not only my bag, but the bags of the 20 or 30 other people in line with me? At this point I was about ready to cry. I made my way to the Heathrow Express and 15 minutes later I was at Paddington Station. Not willing to deal with people on the Tube in my tired and cranky state, I got a taxi and headed for the hotel.

After checking in, I realized just how hungry I was. I really hadn't eaten since the morning before (the croissant didn't count). By this time I had met up with Jana and so we headed out to grab some lunch. There was a cute thai food place not too far from our hotel. Unfortunately, it was probably the worst thai food I ever had.

Our hotel was just off of Kensington High Street, one of many shopping streets, which was a nice location especially since I needed to go shopping because my suitcase was in NY. We walked around and I bought only the necessities to get me through the night and the next morning as I was hopeful I would get my suitcase the next day. We were both pretty tired and so grabbed dinner and headed back to the hotel.

The next morning we went The Muffin Man, a cafe near our hotel. It was really cute and the food was really good! After we finished eating we made our way to Waterloo train station to catch a train to Hampton Court Palace. Hampton Court Palace was one of Henry VIII's residences. One of his wives is even rumoured to still haunt the palace. There were several people dressed in costumes milling about the palace. We toured the different rooms before heading towards the gardens to the maze. I couldn't remember if in a maze you are always supposed to turn right or turn left. We heard someone else in the maze talking and they said turn right so we followed that advice and made it to the center.

We got back to the hotel and there was my suitcase sitting in the room! Yay!! I wouldn't be wearing the same clothes the entire trip. For dinner we decided to we wanted pub food. We asked the hotel concierge if there was a pub to which he answered "Of course" and directed us to the Britannia, the best pub in the neighborhood. There weren't any seats up front so we ended up sitting in the more restaurant area. Because we were sitting in the restaurant area we had a different menu so didn't end up eating normal "pub" fare but the food was still very good. The lights kept dimming and then getting brighter. We wondered if there was a fight over the lights. Jana figured out the kitchen staff (we were sitting near the kitchen) would raise the lights when the food was up and the waiter would dim the lights after he picked up the food.

Breakfast the next morning was once again at the Muffin Man. The weather was really nice so we decided since neither of us had been on the London Eye it would be a good day for it. Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea and the line was extremely long so we decided against it and ended up just walking around and doing some shopping. I went to Harrods as I can't seem to go to London and not stop by Harrods.

Sushi was the choice for dinner tonight and so we asked the concierge again to recommend a sushi restaurant. He directed us to Church Street where there were two different sushi restaurants. We found the first one fairly quickly but it didn't look like what we wanted so we kept walking down the street. We walked all the way to the end of the street and never found the other sushi restaurant. However we passed by several Italian restaurants and ended up at a very inviting, homey restaurant. We made a good choice - the food was excellent! We got the tiramisu for dessert and it was the best tiramisu I have ever eaten!!

Another place neither of us had been to is Greenwich, where the prime meridian line is (the 0 longitdue line). And after we had breakfast at, yes you guessed it, the Muffin Man, we set off for Greenwich. The clock and the line were up at the observatory at the top of a short, but very steep hill. After looking around the observatory we climbed back down the hill and visited the Queen's House, now converted into a museum. Many of the paintings were of ships and after awhile we got bored and hungry and left. We ate lunch at a pub and this time had very traditional pub fare - fish & chips!

We got back into London as it was getting dark and decided to try the London Eye again. This time the line was manageable and we climbed aboard a flight pod. It was getting dark and everything was lit up. It was really neat to see the city all lit up! The view of St. Stephen's Tower (aka Big Ben) reminded me of Peter Pan.

Dinner was at the Italian restaurant we had discovered the night before. The waiters welcomed us back and sat us at our same table. We got to dessert and got terrible news - they were out of tiramisu! We tried another dish, which was good, but not as good as the tiramisu. Walking back to our hotel, we realized we hadn't gotten the waiter's name so we decided he needed a very Italian name and so he became Frederico.

The next morning it was time to say goodbye. The flight home was as uneventful as the flight over was eventful. And when I arrived in Seattle my suitcase was waiting for me!

Until next trip!!

Chloe's New Sweater

Chloe's cousin Sadie sent Chloe a very stylish new sweater made by Sadie's mom. Doesn't she look cute?

Where I've Been

I saw this on my friend's website. I've actually been looking for something like this to map out where I've been. As you can see, there is a lot more of the world left for me to see!



create your own visited countries map

And here's just the good ol' US of A. The west coast I've visited, the rest of the country I need to work on.



create your own visited states map

New York, New York!

I was thisclose to reaching elite status with Continental for 2007 (you need a total of 25,000 miles flown). All I needed was one more plane ride before December 31, 2006 and I would be at 25,000. Would it be worth a quick trip somewhere? The main benefits, for me anyway, was getting my luggage first and being able to board the plane whenever I wanted. The newest perk I discovered, and what turned out to be the deciding factor, was being able to bypass the normal security lines and use the "Elite" Security line. Security lines at SeaTac can be horrible and with the ability to avoid the mian security line for another year just a plane ride away I decided to go for it!

The next question was where should I go? This wouldn't be a long trip at all, in fact it might just be going somewhere only to turn around and come back. I also had to keep in mind how many miles I needed to fly to get the Elite status. Continental doesn't fly to many places direct out of Seattle so I really had a choice of Houston or New York. Neither was quite enough miles by itself, however if I flew Seattle to Houston to New York to Seattle it would be enough. So I was going to New York by way of Houston. I had never been to New York and here I was going for just a couple of hours. Would I have enough time to go into the city before coming home? Which is how the trip evolved into an overnight trip. When my brother heard I was going to be in New York for a half a day he decided it would be fun to go as well. So this quick trip was quickly gaining a life of its own. We would arrive in New York right around noon and we would fly out the next morning which gave us several hours to explore.

The flight to Houston was a red-eye, leaving just after midnight. When I got the airport I discovered I had been upgraded (thanks to my Elite status in 2006), which validated my decision to go on this crazy journey. And most people who know me can tell you I need validation on most decisions so this was a good thing. I boarded the flight and sat back to wait for takeoff. I heard a voice of one of the passengers and I realized I knew that voice! It was Kathy, one of my very good friends - not only was she on my flight but she had also been upgraded to first class and was sitting right behind me!! What are the chances?! This trip was definitely off to a good start.

I did not get upgraded on the Houston to New York leg, and was stuck back in economy (sardine) class. It was about this time when I really started question my sanity to do this. I was able to get some sleep which did help. We caught a bus into the city which let us off at Grand Central Station. My brother really wanted to go the Empire State Building so we set off. The line to go up to the top was huge so we decided to keep going. We passed by Macy's and headed towards Times Square. I have to say I wasn't as impressed with Times Square as I thought I would be. I was expecting more of a square rather than a street with lots of advertising. But we did get to see the New Year's Eve countdown and ball which was really cool.

We continued on to Rockefeller Center. The Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center was the one thing I really wanted to see and it did not disappoint! The tree was huge and all lit up - it was beautiful! We bought our tickets to go up to the Top of the Rock. We had about an hour until we could go up so we visited St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was still decorated for Chritmas. The nativity scene was beautiful. After visiting the cathedral we walked back towards Rockefeller Center stopping to see the ice skating rink. It's really small!! There was just a mass of people crowded around the rink.

The line to get up to the Top of the Rock was deceptively long. It didn't seem long at all until you got past security. But they did have videos playing to entertain you while you waited. We finally made it up to the top and the view was incredible!! We got a great view of the Empire State Building all lit up. After admiring the view, the lack of sleep started to catch up with us and we decided to make our way to Penn Station to catch a train out to Newark Airport. Our flight left out of Newark and so I had gotten us a hotel near the airport. I do have to admit walking back through Times Square at night made it a little more appealing with all the lights.

We made it to Penn Station and caught the train out to Newark before catching the hotel shuttle. The next morning came very early and we caught the shuttle back to the airport. I was again upgraded to first class (yay!) while my brother was still stuck in sardine class.

All in all it was a very exhausting trip, but it was fun! And now I can say I've been to New York. I will be making a return journey sometime as this visit whetted my appetite to explore this city.

New Year's Resolutions

Any accountant whose company is on a calendar year-end knows not to make New Year's Resolutions until AFTER the books are closed. Otherwise, they will be broken in a matter of days, hours, or possibly minutes depending on how good the day is going. As it's starting to slow down I've turned my attention to 2007 and my New Year's Resolutions. But before I make my 2007 resolutions I wanted to look back at my 2006 resolutions.

#1 Go someplace new. Done!! I went to Copenhagen in May, Chicago in June, and New York City (for one day) in December.

#2 Do a triathlon. Done!! I finished my first triathlon in August.

#3 Exercise more, eat right. Eh, I'll give myself a B on this one. Could I have eaten better? Yes. Could I have exercised more? Of course. But overall I did okay on this resolution.

Looking back at my 2006 resolutions I think I will keep them the same for 2007.

Paris & Rome 2006

Finally!! I'm posting my trip report from November. Enjoy!!

Day 1

The flight into London was uneventful. I was able to fall asleep fairly soon after dinner and snooze off and on. Arriving in Heathrow, I made my way to the departures area (my bags were checked all the way to Paris). But to get to departures, I had to go through security again. No problem, I thought, after all I didn’t even have to switch terminals, it is only security. Boy was I wrong! The security line was enormous! Good thing my flight into London had landed early as I had a feeling I might need the extra time. The line stretched around the corner and down the corridor as far as I could see. I got in line and finally turned the first corner and then when I turned the second corner I began to feel hope the end of the line was near. But around the second corner my hopes were slightly dashed as the line didn’t end there but zig-zagged (think Disneyland). The harried airport staff was trying to keep the line moving and allowed several people to branch into another line. Several women who were not allowed to branch off started arguing with the airport staff saying it wasn’t fair those others got to change lines. The staff person let them through so they would stop arguing. However the line they argued to be in was longer than their original line and I felt a perverse pleasure in the fact they were still in line when the people behind them in their original line made it through security. Seeing that, one of the women re-cut back into the original line. Apparently there is no way to make some people happy. Finally I made it through security and to departures. To stay awake I walked up and down the terminal. My flight was called and I boarded the plane. My eyes were closed and I was dozing as soon as I sat down. Thinking we were sitting an awful long time after everyone had boarded, I dismissed this thought due to my half-awake state. But as it turned out, we were sitting. One passenger did not show up for the flight so they had to find their bag and take it off the plane. Once the bag was off we were further delayed as we had missed our chance to go and had to wait for air traffic control to assign us a new time. All in all, we were probably delayed about 30 minutes in taking off. However we landed nearly right on time so we must have made up time in the air, or they build a lot more time into those flying estimates in case things like this happen!

After clearing passport control and collecting my bag it was time to head for the hotel. I figured the easiest way would be either by bus or train and then by metro. I found the train first and bought my ticket. When I realized I would have to switch metro lines twice, I decided to get off at the first major train station and take a taxi the rest of the way. The taxi line was almost as long as the security line at Heathrow! But I wasn’t about to get on the metro so I stood in line. Finally it was my turn and I gave the address of the hotel to the taxi driver and we were off. After we turned the corner the taxi driver pulled over to look at a map. I was torn between being glad at least she was looking at a map and being dismayed she was looking at a map. She found it on the map and maneuvered back into traffic. I had forgotten how crazy Paris drivers can be! I reached the hotel and Jana was waiting in the room. We walked around the neighborhood and found a restaurant for dinner. Our waiter was very odd and there was a dog under the table next to us. After dinner we walked around a bit more and discovered how close the Eiffel Tower was as we looked up and there it was right in front of us.

Day 2

We decided that today we were going to take a train somewhere - either Reims (pronounced Rance, like France) or Troyez. We got to the train station and found out we couldn't use our credit cards in the machine. It has to have a special chip in it to be used to buy tickets, so we got in line to buy tickets. The ticket agent discouraged us from going to Troyez and suggested Reims, except the train to Reims wasn’t leaving until 11 (it was 9). We didn't want to wait around so we said we'd go to Troyez. But before we could buy tickets he again discouraged us and gave us another medieval town to visit but we couldn't buy the tickets from him - we had to buy them from another ticket counter across the train station. We walk over to the other counter and try to find the other city mentioned in Rick Steve's book but it wasn't there and since we really did want to Reims we decide to go have breakfast and then buy tickets for the 11 o'clock train to Reims. We went to a little cafe near the train station for breakfast and once again we got a weird waiter. Back at the train station we get in line to buy the Reims tickets. Our first ticket agent sees us and looks at us questioningly to which we reply we decided we wanted to go to Reims after all. Ticket in hand we validated them and climbed aboard the train and 90 minutes later we were in Reims.

I had used our time on the train to consult with Rick to figure out what to see and how to get there. Our first stop was the cathedral, which looked a lot like the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. In fact it was also called Notre Dame, complete with gargoyles. After the cathedral we started walking towards the champagne house we had decided to tour (there were several in the town). We figured on the way there we would find a restaurant to stop in for lunch. However, it was not to be as it was later in the afternoon and most of the restaurants were closed until dinner. We did find a little bakery which was still open and got a sandwich and a soda and found a bench nearby where we had our first lunch in France.

The champagne house was not much further up from where we had lunch. We arrived just in time for the tour in English. The champagne house used to be an abbey and the abbey was founded on ruins left by the Romans. We walked down 70+ stairs into the caves where the champagne bottles are stored. The guide explained how they make the champagne and then insert the carbonation to make it fizzy. After the tour we got to walk back up the stairs (our first stair of the trip) but the reward at the top was a taste of the champagne and it was good! After we finished our sample we headed back into town.

We had already bought our tickets home and still had time before the train came so we decided to visit the Museum of the Surrender. This was Eisenhower's headquarters and where the Allied forces accepted Germany's surrender in World War II. On the map it didn't look to far away from the train station or too far away from where we were at the moment. We made our way back to the train station, passing by a scrapbook store! It is always good to know where the nearest scrapbook store is, in case I wanted to start on my trip book a little early! :) The museum was close to the train station, if you were a bird and could fly over the fence and the train tracks. We had to go up the street, over the bridge and back down the street to reach it. Inside was the actual table where the surrender was signed. It was really dark by the time we left the museum and we made our way to the train station and back to Paris.

Stair count - 70+ up from the champagne caves

Day 3

I have wanted to go to Versailles ever since I can remember but each time something has happened each time that has prevented me from going. Last time I made it all the way out there to find out there was a strike and it wasn’t open. I was determined to make it there this time. The train left from the metro/train station near our hotel. After breakfast of croissants (yum!) we made our way to the train. We arrived in Versailles and stopped in the tourist information office to make one of the most important purchases you can make in Paris - a Paris Museum Card. This pass not only gets you into a lot of museums for free or a reduced rate, it also lets you skip entrance lines! It would come in handy many times on our trip. With our Museum Pass in our hand we walked into Versailles. What an incredible place! Unfortunately, the hall of mirrors was under renovation and so we weren’t able to see it. Oh well, it just means I’ll have to make another trip there.

We ate lunch in the café and then started exploring the gardens. Given that it was the end of November, most of the trees and plants were bare, but you could imagine the gardens in all their splendor during the summer. It was a very nice day out and the sky was very blue and the clouds looked like clouds in a painting. We walked along the path to the Grand Trianon, a smaller palace on the grounds. Apparently, as the popularity and fame of Versailles grew, the royal family tried to get away and continued to build further out from the main palace. From the Grand Trianon we went to the Petit Trianon, which as the name suggests, was a yet even smaller palace. Give me the Petit Trianon any day!

The last thing on the map we wanted to visit was called the Queen’s Hamlet. We weren’t sure exactly what this was but since we were there we wanted to visit. It turns out this was a model village Marie Antoinette had built so she could have a village of her own. It seems that France wasn’t enough for her! It was a very cute village and had lots of animals around.

We walked back through the gardens and to the train station and headed back to Paris. We decided since we had bought the 2 day Museum Pass and as the Louvre was open late tonight we would head directly over to the Louvre. It was still crowded even though it was in the evening. We hit the high points (Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa) as well as the foundations of the Louvre (it used to be a palace) before deciding to find dinner. We had originally thought to eat in the café but the choices weren’t all that great. Trying to find the metro to head back towards our hotel and find a restaurant there, we came across a food court! I don’t know if it was we because we were hungry but that dinner was one of the best dinners I’ve had!

Stair count – No official count today, but both Versailles and the Louvre had a lot of them!

Day 4

We started off early Saturday morning with a list of places we were going to go to that day. The first stop was the Rodin Museum, not far from our hotel. The museum had just opened in the morning and already there was a line. One of the staff came out and asked if anyone had a Museum Card, which we did, and so we were able to jump the queue and go right in. The first thing we came across was probably one of his most famous pieces, if not the most famous, The Thinker. It is always amazing to me how much detail they can portray in what started out as a hunk of stone.

From there, we made our way to the D’Orsay Museum where once again the Museum Card let us right in ahead of the line. And the line to get in was quite long. We made our way through the museum up to the top floor which is the Impressionist floor. The impressionist style of painting is my favorite. I just love Monet, Manet, Degas, and Renoir so I was happy as a clam strolling through the rooms filled with their paintings. We had lunch at the café and finished our tour.
Leaving the D’Orsay, we strolled along the Seine. The streets along the river are filled with booksellers and souvenir stands selling just about anything you could want. We passed by Pont Neuf (the New Bridge), which is my favorite bridge in Paris. I don’t know why I like that bridge, but whenever I think of Paris I think of the Eiffel Tower and that bridge.

We crossed over another bridge to the island where the ancient city of Paris originated. Our first stop was Sainte-Chapelle which has amazing stained glass panels. It was remarkable with only a little daylight - on a sunny day it must be breathtaking. A little ways down the street from Sainte-Chapelle is the Conciergerie, a former prison. Many of the prisoners in the French Revolution were kept here, including Marie-Antoinette, before being carted off to the guillotine. From there we continued on to Notre Dame Cathedral and were able to hear the bells.

By this time it had gotten dark. We took the metro over to the Arc de Triomphe. A military ceremony was taking place when we got there - we were there near Armistice Day (Veteran’s Day in the US) and the Arc houses the Tomb of the Unknown Solider. We couldn’t find the elevator and so we started up the winding staircase up to the top. 284 steps later we emerged at the top and gazed at the view. At night you can really see why Paris is called the City of Lights - it was all lit up. The Eiffel Tower was easy to spot as was Napoleon’s Tomb. I looked down the Champs Elysees toward the Place du Concorde and the Lourve.

We headed back down the stairs started towards the Eiffel Tower, looking for a place to eat dinner on the way. We ended up at a pizza place recommended by Rick. The waiter saw my Rick Steves book and pointed out the poster he had in the window of Rick’s book. When we looked above our table we saw several postcards - one from Texas and one from Seattle - very appropriate for one Houstonian and one Seattleite. After dinner we walked a couple more blocks and looked up and there was the Eiffel Tower! It had just started to sparkle! I’m not sure when the twinkle/sparkle lights were put on the Eiffel Tower but I love it. It’s magical to see those lights twinkling. There was only one elevator working so the line was long. We went all the way up to the top and saw Paris from another viewpoint, again, all lit up. The Arc de Triomphe was visible and finally I found Notre Dame in the distance.

Stair count - 283 up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe

Day 5

This was our last day in Paris. We started off the day trying to find the Harley Davidson store. We were successful, except for the fact the store was closed. Oh well, on to the next thing which happened to be the Catacombs. These underground tunnels became an official ossuary. Bones are stacked high for miles in the tunnels. These tunnels were used in Victor Hugo’s novel Les Miserables, as well as by the French Resistance in WW2. Apparently they’ve had problems with people stealing bones. What I want to know is, what would you do with a stolen ancient bone?

Sacre Coeur was next. One of my favorite words to say is funicular (a cable railway) so what better way to visit Sacre Coeur but to take the funicular up the hill? However, we approached Sacre Coeur from the wrong side and so we climbed up to the top via the stairs. Mass was being held inside the church as we entered so we sat and listened for awhile.

We went back down the stairs and made our way toward the metro stop only to find the nearest stop closed. We walked toward the next stop, which was on the border of the red light district.

For dinner I had heard about an American ex-pat who held Sunday dinners at his Paris apartment and we had decided to try it out. We got off at what we thought was the closest metro stop. Emerging from the metro station, the age old question arose - right or left? Getting to the right street wasn’t a problem, it was what to do after we got to that street - did we go up it or go down it? Inevitably, I would choose the wrong way and we’d go a block before realizing it was back down the other way. Trying to prevent it from happening again, we stood off to the side and looked at the map to orient ourselves. A very nice old French man came up to us to ask if we needed help and I showed him on the map where we needed to go. He started looking for his glasses so I asked in which direction the church was and he said it was up the street. We thanked him and continued on our way. We found his apartment and punched in the code and were again faced with a right or left decision. Fortunately for us, a resident came in (who was also American) and asked us who we were looking for and took us to the right apartment. There were a lot of people there!! There were not a lot of seats so we ended up standing in a corner that wasn’t occupied. We had a glass of wine and an appetizer and talked with a Frenchman before deciding it really wasn’t our cup of tea and headed back to our apartment. Besides which, we needed to pack for our flight to Rome the next day.

Stair count - 80+ up from the catacombs, 150+ up to Sacre Couer

Day 6

The next morning came to early and we were off to the airport. We said au revoir to Paris and Buon giorno to Roma! The taxi dropped us off right in front of our hotel which was on a little side street down from the Colosseum. The room in Paris was on the small side, but it was extremely roomy compared to this hotel room! One of the comments on Trip Advisor had warned off the Tiny Tim rooms but we had liked the location and the price and decided to go ahead and book it. The hotel itself was nice, the location was great and we survived the tiny room.

After freshening up, we ventured outside and found a café for lunch. I love Italian food in Italy. Italian food in the US is good, but it doesn’t compare to a nice pizza margherita in Italy. Granted pizza margherita is your average cheese pizza, but it tastes so much better in Italy. We finished lunch and walked down the street to the Colosseum and up towards the Forum. To our surprise, there was a gate in front of the entrance to the Forum and the guard was not letting people in, which was not how either of us remembered it, and certainly not what Rick had in his guide book. Nevertheless, the Forum closed at 4:30 and you could not enter after 3:30. Before we figured this out we walked up the hill to see if we could enter up there. It ended up being a dead end, but at the top of the hill was a picturesque little church which we stopped to admire before climbing back down. From there we walked over to the Pantheon and then stopped for gelato. Yum, gelato!

To make sure this would not be our last trip to Rome our next stop was the Trevi Fountain. Legend says if you throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain, you ensure a return trip to Rome. I’m not sure why you throw the coin standing backwards - if it was part of the original legend, or if it was added after the movie “Three Coins in the Fountain”. We sat at the base of the fountain for awhile people watching and taking numerous pictures for ourselves as well as for others. It was starting to get cold so we headed back towards our hotel. We stopped at a restaurant up the block from our hotel. The waiter greeted us with a friendly “Hello ladies”. This would become our “place” as we ate dinner here several times.

Stair count - You know I don't think we climbed anything big today. It was just a normal stair day.

Day 7

The theme for today ended up being St. Peter. We started off the day visiting St. Peter in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains). This church was built to house the chains that held St. Peter. It also holds Michelangelo’s Moses statue.

Continuing with the St. Peter theme, we made our way over to St. Peter’s Basilica. I’m always in awe of St. Peter’s, and there is this sense of peace there. Prior to visiting St. Peter’s both of us said we were tired of stairs and that we didn’t want to climb up to the top of the dome. However it was such a nice day that both of us thought why not climb to the top. After all we were there, the dome was there, and it would be a nice view. There are two options to climb to the top of the dome, you can take the stairs all the way up, or you can take the elevator to the base and then climb 320 stairs to the top. We opted for the elevator and then the stairs. After the elevator you walk through the church and can look down on the altar. It’s amazing the amount of detail in the mosaics on the wall! We started up the stairs. About halfway up you really start to notice you are climbing stairs inside of a dome as the walls are really tilted. That was the most difficult part for me because I started feeling a little dizzy and walking while slanting sideways did not help the situation. Pretty soon it was back to normal stairs, and then another spiral staircase and then daylight! The view was incredible and well worth the climb! It was very crowded at the top and hard to maneuver around but after circling the top we decided to head down. We exited and looked back up at the imposing dome. And then I made a discovery!! There is a gift shop at the base of the dome! Now I have, in the past, had problems with finding the actual Vatican gift shop and so to turn around and find one at the top was a great discovery! We decided against waiting for the elevator to take us back down and instead took the stairs. They weren’t stairs as much as a big hill with little stairs every couple of feet, but in any case I was still glad we took the elevator on our way up.

There are secret tunnels that run between St. Peter’s and Castel Sant’Angelo, but we had to go the normal route and walk down the street. We walked through the castle which has had many uses over the years. It was first built by Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum. It was used as a mausoleum, holding the ashes of several Roman emperors. It was later a military fortress before being converted into a castle. By the time we got to the top, it was dark so we could see St. Peter’s in the distance all lit up.

We debated going back to the same restaurant for dinner but decided to try someplace new. Too bad for us, we chose a restaurant close to our hotel which catered mainly to tourists. The food wasn’t bad, but the service was horrible. We asked for the bill and after 30 minutes it still hadn’t come so we asked again. When it still hadn’t arrived and it looked like we would be waiting for another 30 minutes we added up what we thought the bill would be and left the money on the table before walking out. One of the waiters saw us leaving, glanced at our table and saw that we had left money and went about his business. I have threatened to do that before but never actually done it!

Stair count - 320 up to the top of St. Peter's Basilica, but the view was worth it!! Not to mention all the stairs in Castel Sant’Angelo and the stairs up to St. Peter in Vincoli!

Day 8

We decided to take a day trip to Florence. It’s only an hour and a half train ride on the Eurostar. We ended up just missing the 9:30 train as the ticket machine wouldn’t issue tickets for that departure time as it was too close. So we bought tickets for the 10:30 train and arrived in Florence a little after noon. We made our way toward the center of town and had lunch. After lunch we visited the Duomo before heading towards the Accademia to visit David. I don’t think I will ever get tired of seeing David. I think his hands impress me the most – all the tendons and lines of his hands. Michelangelo was an amazing, amazing artist. We meandered back through the city over to Ponte Vecchio. From there we wandered through the market, buying all sorts of treasures. After our pocketbooks were significantly empty we decided to go visit Santa Croche as we still had time before our train. Santa Croche is the finally resting place for the who’s who of Italy – Michelangelo, Galileo, Dante and Machiavelli are all buried there. It was starting to get late so headed back to the train station.

We arrived back in Rome and got a call from Jana’s friend Fabrizio. Arrangements were made to meet later for a drink. After last night’s dinner disaster we decide to go back to our restaurant. We were again greeted by a friendly “Hello ladies” by the same waiter. We finished dinner and Fabrizio picked us up. He had brought a couple of friends along – Mateo and Massimo. We went to Trastevere, an up and coming neighborhood across the Tiber River.

Stair count - Another normal stair day!

Day 9

I woke up the next morning and decided to visit the Forum since it was so close. On my way over I saw a group of gypsies attacking a tourist. I had never seen it that blatant before. He got away and I went the long way to avoid them. It’s so horrible that they live this way and then they bring their children with them who learn the same behavior. Talk about a vicious circle!
The gate was no longer up in front of the Forum and I was able to walk right in. I always think of Rome as this giant onion. Peel back a layer and you find another element of history. Walking through the Forum is like stepping through the pages of a history book. My active imagination can hear the sounds of the Forum in its heyday.

Walking up from the Forum to the Capital Hill area I pass by a souvenir stand. In this age of digital cameras I thought to myself I wonder how much film they sell when I noticed they now sell both film and memory cards!

At the top of the Capital Hill I debated walking down and then walking back up to the Victor Emmanuel II monument. However, Rick described a short cut through the church that led right onto the top of the monument. Hooray! I don’t think I’ve ever been at the top of the monument. I’ve walked by it enough, but I’ve never walked to the top. Fabrizio later told us that after the statue was finished 12 people had dinner inside the horse’s stomach. It was a large statue up close so it was certainly possible – but why would you want to?

After lunch we got on board the metro and headed for Ostia Antica, the ancient town of Ostia. Ostia used to be a bustling port city but with the fall of the Roman Empire, it was abandoned. Silt from the river eventually buried the city, protecting it throughout the years. Walking down the main street it could be Any City, USA, except for the fact it is in ruins and of course in Italy – maybe a better description is Any City, Italy. There was the business district, the theater, the health club, the local bar, apartment complexes and the government buildings.

Fabrizio picked us up at our hotel. We then picked up his friend, Bruno, who was joining us for dinner. So now we have met a Mateo, a Massimo and a Bruno, and of course Fabrizio. How much more Italian can you get than Massimo and Bruno? We went again to Trastevere for dinner. The restaurant was a bright, cheery place with maps on the wall. The menu was mainly in Italian so Bruno asked "Do you trust me?" When in Rome, right? "Yes, I trust you." He ordered dinner and we split 2 pasta dishes. Both were really good. However, my trust was a bit shaken when later he ordered broccoli, which didn't look (or taste) like broccoli at all but rather spinach, and ate that for dessert. It was funny to watch Fabrizio and Bruno talk as they were so Italian – always using their hands.

Stair count - Ah who know?! There were a lot of them!!!!

Day 10

Last day in Roma! I wandered aimlessly for awhile before meeting up with Jana for lunch. I passed by part of the construction taking place for the 3rd metro line. But in true Italian fashion, no one is certain when construction will be finished.

At lunch there were a couple of Asian girls sitting near our table and in stereotypical Asian fashion they were taking pictures of everything. When their cappuccinos were brought out we both said “I’ll bet they’ll take a picture of their cappuccinos” which they did. However, we had to eat our words when our cappuccinos were brought out and we saw the foam had two hearts in it. So of course, we had to take pictures of our cappuccinos as well! Hello, pot? It’s the kettle calling. With our bill the waiter also brought us two roses, which we took pictures of as well.

We were visiting the Cappuccin Monks and their ossuary today. We visited the church upstairs before heading down to the crypt. Standing in line, waiting to enter, a pushy American came in behind us and started making a fuss that we weren’t moving. I’m not sure if he didn’t see the line or was just cranky or what. The line started moving and he moved ahead of us and was stopped again as the line wasn’t moving all that fast. I’m not sure why he was frustrated but we were all waiting in line. Fortunately he was really the only “ugly” tourist we ran into and he was really only ugly to other tourists, that we knew of anyway.

The bones in the ossuary were artfully arranged, much different than the catacombs we had visited in Paris. Written in the crypt was this warning “We were what you are…you will become what we are now.”

Up the street from the Cappuccin crypt was Santa Maria della Vittoria which houses Bernini’s St. Teresa in Ecstasy. Unfortunately the sun wasn’t shining so we didn’t get the full effect of the statue’s placement. Across the street was Santa Susanna, the American church in Rome. After admiring the artwork in Santa Susanna we walked toward the Baths of Diocletian. Only a few buildings are open, one being the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. We walked in and I was surprised at how big it was - it didn’t look that big from the outside.

For our last dinner we again went to our restaurant. The waiter again greeted us with a friendly “Hello ladies” and seated us next to a table with a couple of priests, as well as a lay person. The waiter had by this time remembered our drink order, which wasn’t that hard – still water and red wine. Halfway through our meal the one of the priests breaks out into the Hallelujah chorus. Jana and I just looked at each other and tried not to burst out laughing. Only in Rome…

After dinner Fabrizio picked us up and we went to Trastevere. It was Friday night, so cars were not allowed into areas of Trastevere and we drove around for awhile trying to find parking. We did finally find parking – which was near the top of a hill. While driving around we got several fantastic views of Rome. We walked down the hill into Trastevere and ended up at the bar we had been to a few nights ago. After we finished we began the climb back up to the car. After all, we hadn’t climbed nearly enough stairs that day!

Stair count - Once again, not sure on the actual number but there were a few going down to Trastevere and of course climbing back up.

Day 11

Fabrizio dropped me off at the airport the next morning. I flew into Heathrow but this time I had to actually transfer terminals and I think actually transferring terminals, which involved taking a bus, took less time than moving within the same terminal at the beginning of the trip. Go figure! Before I knew it, it was time to board and it did not take long before I was asleep. I arrived back safely in Seattle, ready to start planning my next trip!!