Wednesday 15 October 2008

Quick Oktoberfest Blog!

Ariel has puyt up a few pictures from Oktoberfest, including one very unflattering one of me. It happens. You can see them at

http://twoblackshoes.blogspot.com/

more later, I promise.

Tuesday 14 October 2008

If You Hate Gloating, Don't Read This Post.

My traveling companions and I lay on the beach and bobbed around in the Mediteranean all afternoon. Then we stayed up late last night, drinking sea-foam green margeritas and eating chicken roulade stuffed with zucchini, spinach and chevre. We couldn't find limes or triple sec or good tequila or a shaker or ice that didn't come in 5 pound blocks, but Ben managed with unsweetened lime juice and blue curacao and crummy tequila and a tupperware and ice shards that Evan chipped off of the 5 pound blocks.

I am going to go read chick lit in the sun and then we are going to have polenta and possibly duck confit for lunch. After that, we are going back to the beach.

I keep putting on too much sunscreen and therefore have not tanned AT ALL. I am a little miffed at that.

But there are worse things.

Sunday 12 October 2008

So, Hey For The Sunscreen

I am in Nice! Which is a beach town! That makes me miss Santa Cruz! It's warm and dry and we spent 4 hours sitting on the beach today and we are going to do it again tomorrow. The next day we will do tourist things.
We just came from Rome, which was nice. There are lots and lots of ruins in Rome. There are also all sorts of buildings that were dedicated to the old Roman Gods. For example, the Temple to Venus which stands next to the Coliseum. Vatican City is also in Rome. It never occured to me that Rome is the seat of 2 major religions, one old and one newer. I suppose the old Roman religion maybe only became major when it became a mythology. Then people painted all of those damned paintings, hundreds and hundreds of them, dedicated to the same Glorious Moments in Roman Mythology that all hang in the Prado. It's also hard to wrap my head around all of the things that people did because of religion (I am talking art-wise, not crusades-wise). All of the cathedrals and paintings and stained glass windows etc. that non-Europeans travel to Europe to see. But then, I am kind of an atheist, so if i am ever uplifted or inspired to do something it is usually because there is cake at the end of it. I do like cake.
A note on Venice, where we were before Rome: it's kind of an adult Disneyland. It feels pretty damn artificial. Even the water in the canals is milky and fake green. There is no where on the island where you can go to escape the tourism. What do the locals do? Do they all live or work or play on the mainland to avoid the toursit prices? Is there a special Venice card that you get if you live in Venice for more than 2 years? I don't fit Venices demographic. It's for people who want to genteely eat overpriced spaghetti next to a smelly canal and listen to accordion players play cheesy music. I am nasty because it doesn't appeal to me, though it may appeal to other people.
I will write about Oktoberfest next... it desrves its own post.

Wednesday 8 October 2008

Bedbugs!

Eeeeeeeeeewwwwwwww! Popped one with my t-shirt and it ws full of blood.
When Ariel told the hostel people that our room had bedbugs, they weakly told us that we must have brought them with us. But, they didn' exactly put up much of a fight.
We're moving to another room.