Ptown Pics

No surgery. I'm beyond bummed. I just want it over with. It's now resked for the 5th of Sept.

In the mean time, here are some pics form Ptown:








The Ptown Monument!














The view from the Boatslip at the end of T-Dance!














Hotties at the T-Dance.




SuperLawyer and Me at the Boatslip!
















More hotties by the pool!





















Hotties from the Carnival Parade. And if I had an ass like that I've walk around in ass-less chaps all the time!























Some of the guys from my guest house in the Carnival Parade!






Me at the Boatslip! Do you notice a trend?

If It Weren't For Bad Luck . . . . . .

So I have strep. No fever, no irritation in my throat, but I do have strep. Which means that my surgery for tomorrow is probably off. I won't know until tomorrow AM. FU&K! I am not happy. And apparently my GP talked to the surgeon on call since mine was out and said they had a case where someone had strep and when they intubated him, they pushed the strep from the throat into the lungs and then he developed pneumonia and spent a week in the ICU. So that would suck.

Speaking of sucking. 3 units in my building were broken into this afternoon. Mom may have actually seen the guy. Just not good at all!

Again, if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.

Wigging Out

So I'm wigging out pretty bad right now.

I've done something to my neck/throat. It almost feels like I've pulled a muscle in my throat. It hurts to swallow, but not in the sore throat way. But it's definitely NOT RIGHT.

And of course I'm going in for surgery TOMORROW! So I'm wigging. Big time.

I'm going to my GP after lunch and hopefully she'll be able to calm me down. If something's wrong and they have to postpone my surgery, I'm going to freak.

Mom's here. She flew in last night with no problems. We're going to do a dry run drive to the hospital this afternoon. I haven't told her about the neck/throat problem yet. No need to worry her. Right?

I Don't Want To Be . . . .

I may not know what I want to be when I grow up, but I can tell you who I don't want to be . . .

1) I was at a conference this AM and I was probably one of the youngest men in the room. The DoD contracting world is full old white men. And I don't want to be that. I don't want to be doing this in 20 years. I want to work hard, and then I want to semi-retire when I'm like 50 and then go do something I will enjoy that may not pay well, but maybe will make a difference. Like go the non-profit route. If I'm still doing this crap when I'm 60, please shoot me.

2) So I've got a new person I work with in the government who is ALWAYS in a bad mood. This person starts off in the pissed position, and then it goes down hill from there. Never a smile. Never a friendly comment. Always a curt word or a snap, when there's not table banging to make their point. And if something doesn't go as planned, then more frustration displayed loudly to all around. I can't imagine being like that. Isn't it tiring to be THAT angry, ALL the time? I'm surprised they don't have ulcers by now. If you are THAT unhappy, ALL the time, then go do something else!

Ugh. Long day and Mom arrives tomorrow. I need to go de-gay the condo. I'm not totally de-gaying it, just moving the porn, etc. I'll keep the "Sorry Girls I'm Gay" poster on the fridge. She can deal.

The Burden of Beauty

So instead of trudging through the sand and marsh to get to the beach, I opted for the Boatslip again. It was a crystal clear day with a beautiful sky, but the wind was whipping. I was scared that it might be cold, but it was my last day and I was going to take advantage of it. Of course I got there early and got a spot by the rail hoping it would shelter me from the wind a bit. And it worked, sort of. So the thing about the Boatslip is that in the AM, they align the lounge chairs to be perpendicular with the water, but around 1PM the chair master (or chair Nazi as I call him) blows a whistle and everyone rotates their chairs 90 degrees to better catch the sun.

So after the chair rotation I am now next to two guys. Two incredibly hot guys. One is tall, white but with a nice tan, muscled in a swimmer type way, short hair with a little bit of grey. Just too sexy. His BF? Shorter than him, latino, dark bronze, and muscled in a good way. It's just unreal. And no, I'm not bitter. Anyways, as I sit there reading my book, I just become stunned by what happens next. Remember the study that said that you have a better chance of being fat if you have fat friends? Well I definitely believe that. I always thought all of the pretty boys hung out together, like they were all part of some secret club that only they knew the secret code word for. As I sat there, at first reading my book, but then just holding my book as I listened to the conversations. Random hot guys would walk up to the couple and just start chatting them up. And no, it's not like they knew each other.

"Hey dude, how's it going? Did I see you last night at Paramount?"
"Hey dude, great suit? Where'd you get it?"
"Hey dude, you look familiar. Did we meet at the White Party in Miami this year?"

I guess if you are hot, then you just have to expect other hot guys coming up to you and start chatting you up. I guess that's just the curse of being hot.

end bitterness.

Anyways, we haven't talked T-shirts yet. I love Ptown for the t-shirts. A couple of good ones:

"My Dick Would Make a Better Vice-President"
"MANWICH" - stretched *tight* across a huge muscled chest
"There's no need to be pessimistic, it wasn't going to work out anways."
"Sure, I've got 5 minutes."
"Define Girlfriend"
"I Don't Date Republicans"

Ptown Update!

Still here, still having a blast. And the sprained ankle is getting better! So let's see, where were we?

So on Wednesday, SuperLawyer left and it was probably good timing. The big event for Wednesday is Drag Bingo! And I don't think that's really his gig. Our whole house was going, so I agreed. But no, I didn't do drag. The theme for Carnival is Fairy Tales, so I was one of Goldilock's three bears. I just had to wear a harness, so no big deal. About an hour before the bingo actually started, we hit Commercial St to parade around. It kind of reminded me of the High Heel Races in DC where all of the contestant/guys in drag would go around and "work" the crowd. And like in DC, half of the crowd was straight, and a lot had children with them. It really was quite amusing to see. We got stoppeed several times by people wanting to take our photos.

Despite the fact that I actually won $50 during drag bingo, it really wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. Dixie Longate did such a good job entertaining us during the drag bingo on the cruise that I was expecting some fun, catty, quips to entertain us between the calls, but not so much. Plus they were on a mission. We had to be out of there by 930PM, so they were motoring. After bingo, I changed clothes and went out to drink my winnings. Well, I did have a couple of drinks.

Thursday was another glorious day in Ptown. After getting up late, I walked down to the BoatSlip to lay out in the sun. It was packed with guys in tiny little bathing suits. So nice. I'm actually getting a good tan here, which is definitely a hard thing for me. So now if I could just be tall, have a small waist, and a ripped chest I'd fit right in! ;-) Afterwards I went back to the house to change and grab my camera for the Carnival Parade. Again, a lot of people in drag and costumes walking up and down the street showing off and getting their pics taken. And yes some of the drag is amazing and some of the costumes are funny, but most of my pics were of guys in pirate outfits where they basically wore shorts and boots. The parade was kind of like a Pride parade, but with a fairy tale theme to it. We had the city council, the Massachusetts Democtratic Party ("Equal Rights are NOT a Fairy Tale", and then a lot of the shows and guest houses had floats. My house did a DreamGirls theme thing. It was cute. Jeff Stryker came by on a limo wearing some entiretly too tight pants. So there's basically no need to see that show. And still, not my thing. He does look good for his age, but between the pancake make up and the 1980's haircut, it all looks just odd.

After the parade, I went to T. Me and the rest of the town. But I've got to give huge props to DJ Mary Alice! She played a killer set. T actually went till 9 and I think I spent three hours on the dance floor. It was just so awesome. And hot. So yes I danced with my shirt off. After the last song played and they were kicking us out, I noticed a hottie giving me the eye. Of course I thought someone was behind me, but nope, he must have been looking at me. So I looked back. We did the whole exchange glances thing and then I finally went over to chat with him. We were having a good time until the lady sitting next to us turned and proceeded to hurl. So we took that as our cue to leave. We were walking back to his place when we ran into one of this friends. And I'm not sure if it was a friend or a "friend". But let's just say that I ended up going home alone.

Friday I awoke to clouds and an overcast sky. Not happy. This was my day to go to the beach. So I hung around the house and then finally decided to just walk around. But as I was leaving the house, I looked up and I almost saw the sun. So I decided to risk it. I changed into my beach gear, I borrowed a bike, and I headed out. The bike ride was okay and the ankle was feeling pretty good. I got to the trailhead, locked up the bike, and then started the walk against the tidal flats. The tide was out, so while some of the flat was wet, I wasn't wading through the water. That would come later. The walk was okay, but tiring. I finally found my spot in a little area on top of a dune, spread out my blue beach blanket and proceeded to lay out. And then it started. The attack of the bugs. I couldn't take it. After about 5 minutes of continuously slapping at flies and other bugs, I bailed down the front side of the dune closers to the water where there was a bit of breeze. The sun finally did come out and it was glorious. I sat there and basted in the warm sun and watched the guys go by. I also finished book #2, so I'm right on track from that perspective. Around 3PM, I started the hike back. But the tide had come back, so I ended up wading through most of the tidal flat. By the time I got back to the house, I was exhausted which was perfect for my massage. After the message I felt great, changed into my T dance attire and headed down to the Boatslip. Do you see a trend here? T was great. After T I did a little bit of window shopping. A storm came up with lighting, thunder, and a little bit of rain. It was quite pretty. But it passed quickly and then I headed out for the evening.

A Day In Ptown

SuperLawyer and I slept in till almost 830AM. Quite decadent really. And then it was just so sunny and pretty outside we decided to walk around and find a place for a real breakfast. The streets were packed, with delivery trucks, as we made our way down Commercial St. One of the things I love is the alternating rainbow flags and American flags that cross Commercial every 100 feet or so. It's the Ptown tolerance and openness mixed with the New England sense of patriotism. It's just great.

We did find a place for breakfast. Downstairs from where Jeff Stryker's show is! But the food was good. And there was plenty of it. Eggs, sausage, potatoes, and blue berry pancakes! Yummy! We walked a bit after that and then headed to the Boatslip to lay out. We got there at 11AM and not a minute too soon. The place with packed. We ended up getting a spot next to the bar (good thing!) and the bathroom (not so good thing). And let me tell you, you've never seen so much spandex and lycra in your life wrapped around tight, hard golden bodies. Note to self: Must start diet when I get back! So many hotties. And so many guys who are definitely older than me in such good shape. I can do it!

Okay, the drink of the day? Key West Lemonade with Abolute Ruby Red. YUMMY!

And the song of the day:



Can't wait for the T-Dance!!!

"Life Is Not a Porn Movie"

So said SuperLawyer as I was pointing at some really hot guy walking by with six pack abs while lamenting my lack of hotness.

Yep, I'm back in Ptown and while I love it, I really do, I just wish that I could come here sometime with a waist. Anyways.

So I get off the ferry on Sunday AM and I start my walk to my guest house. I love Ptown. Such a great mix of people, very friendly, and it's such a cute little town. And the weather is just fantastic. So I'm in this great mood trying to drink all of it in as I pull my suitcase down Commercial St dodging cars, bikes, and other pedestrians. All while checking out the local scenery. Which means that I'm not really paying attention to where I am walking and WHAM I pop my ankle. Well let me tell you, I was not a happy camper. I managed to limp down to the Boatslip where I laid out in the sun with a nice bag of ice on my ankle. As I was waiting for Superlawyer to arrive, I bought an ankle brace which helps. But still sucks. So needless to say a hike through the dunes to the beach is not on my agenda any time soon.

So SuperLawyer and I leave the guest house to go walk around and two guys dressed in IDENTICAL white dress shirts, white shorts, white socks, and white tennis shoes go running by. And not like running obviously, but they are scampering quickly:

SuperLawayer: I know they are together, but do they have to dress exactly the same.
Me: And in white? What's with that?
SL: Maybe they are getting married?
Me: And they are both wearing white? Puh-lease.
SL: Well maybe they couldn't decide on who should wear white so they both did. Or maybe they are both bottoms.
Me: Then why are they getting married. Wait, why would the bottoms be wearing white anyways?

See, I could never have this conversation anywhere except Ptown.

Speaking of porn, apparently Jeff Stryker is doing some sort of show here. And no, not THAT kind of show. Apparently it's one hour and 11 inches long. Ba-ding! The pics of him aren't the greatest. I think he would look better if he lost the cheesey 1980's hair cut, but this way he looks like his movies. Either way, not interested. I just think it's all kind of sad.

I've never been here during Carnival week, so it should be fun. Definitely looking forward to it.

More later!

Metro or Sauna?

So I had to take my car into the shop. I'm hearing this weird noise and I don't want to put off getting it looked at. I'm gone next week, and then when I get back Mom arrives on that Wednesday in preparation for the surgery. And I don't want to have her driving my car if there's a problem. So anyways, I take the car to the shop and then I catch the metro from East Falls Church into Rosslyn.

Okay, I'm not normally a metro person. I usually drive because I have to go to meetings at random times to places that are not metro accessible. And taking a cab is not an option. So I'm not used to the swarms of people trying to pile into the metro car at 7AM. It's kind of odd. And kind of bad since there is no AC. After about 20 minutes, it became clear who thought deodorant and cologne was option. Yes, what a wonderful melange of smells to enjoy. But I make it to Rosslyn without hurling.

Meeting at the puzzle palace this afternoon. Walk from my office to the Metro, starting to feel the sweat build up. Get into the metro, again, no AC. Not as crowded, but still hot. I was definitely sweating up a storm by the time I found refuge in the AC of the puzzle palace. The ride back was just as enjoyable.

When I get back to my office, I find out that the shop doesn't hear the noises I'm hearing. And no, these aren't voices in my head. I had other people in my car and they were asking WTF. So they want to keep my car overnight. Not sure why, but the thought of a long metro ride back out to East Falls Church does not appeal to me.

So I walk back up the hill to the metro to go home. Again, the metro has no AC. Plus now it stops randomly in the middle of the tubes. Not once, but several time. I'm wearing my laptop backpack and I can feel it start to melt into my back. I finally escape the metro and then walk the 7 blocks home.

When I get home, I have to peel my dress shirt off my body. Just totally disgusting. And I get to look forward to using it again tomorrow. I'm not sure I could do this every day. I think I'd have to wear shorts or something and bring a change of clothes with me.

Gouting Again

And it's really getting old. Wait, maybe that's me.

So when I wake up in the middle of the night and my heel hurts, that's a pretty good sign of my gout coming back. So limped around on Friday and I thought it was getting better (I was taking my drugs), but on Saturday I was hurting bad. Like almost crying bad and I've got a pretty decent threshold for pain.

But nothing less than death was going to keep me from SuperLawyer's 40th birthday bash. He so rocks. He had it catered from Red, Hot and Blue in the a ga-thousand degree heat. Oy vey. It's not like I wasn't in pain already, but then add the heat. Ugh! And he had a great mix of people, young and old, gay and straight, just very cool. So it was fun.

What was not fun is that he had a poster board of pics of him and one of them included me. I looked so good then. Dear lord, what has happened to me. Of course I cried while holding a delicious cupcake that he had made. And with the gout it's not like I could do some manic, obsessive exercising. Nope, it was just home and bed.

I did limp to church today, but that's it. Well I did limp over to Whole Foods to get some blueberries. I've read that they are like a homeopathic cure for gout. I hope so. And for $4 a pack for blueberries, I think my medicine is cheaper!

Copenhagen-Warnemunde-At Sea

So I land in Copenhagen a little after noon and head immediately to the ship. Check in is the usual organized chaos. The good thing is that it is frakkin hot in the check in area. Yes the weather has changed and it is sunny and gorgeous. What a great change! So while I’m waiting for my turn to be processed, I check out my fellow shipmates. I do see some people I know who were coming on the trip. The average age is a little bit higher than average for the usual Atlantis cruise. I’m thinking it was more upper 30s-low 40s. Let’s be honest, the cruise isn’t cheap, plus airfare to Europe, so it’s not going to draw the twink crowd. Which is fine by me. Plus it only makes me feel younger!

I check in, get to the room to find my luggage already there and to find a note from Atlantis about the rules of engagement when doing a share. So yes, I was doing the share program and I knew the name of the guy sharing the room with me, but that was it. Anyways the letter recommends spending some time to get to know each other before deciding on how to split up the room, who gets what bed, etc. So I just pulled my luggage into the room and decided to roam for a bit until my roomie showed up. Now this is actually the same ship that I did my first Atlantis cruise on. So I basically knew the floor plan. Anyways I headed up to get some lunch and then to just wander. So it’s hard to explain just how relaxing it is on board the ship. It really does remind me of bring in Ptown. Where everyone is relaxed, in a good mood, happy to be on vacation. So there’s very little attitude. Which is great.

I hook up with the couple I met on my first cruise and have my first cocktail with them. Then it’s back down to the room where I find my roomie. So in it’s a small world after all, my roomie is from Tulsa and friends with the guy I did a share with during the med cruise last year. Just too funny. So we had a good time as we chatted, unpacked and prepared ourselves for the cruise. After the mandatory boat drill (does this big orange life vest make my butt look big? Bigger?), it was time for the ship to set sail to Warnemunde Germany. So we did the sailaway happy hour and toasted our cruise as we left Copenhagen! That night we had our first dance at night club on the ship called “The Bar At the Edge of the Earth.” Let me tell you, it became a running joke on how badly you could make fun of that name. But DJ Abel kicked of the entertainment with some great vocals and I finally got a chance to get my groove on.

The next AM, I think over half of the ship boarded trains to take a 2 hour ride to Berlin. Not me. Today was my personal day. While we did have one day at sea, I was afraid that it was going to be cold, so while we were in port, I just wanted to camp out by the pool, read my book, and have someone bring me my cool frozen drinks. And let me tell you, it was just the most perfect day. Warm, almost hot in the sun. There were enough guys left on the ship to make the scenery interesting. And I felt like it was the first time I really got to decompress while on vacation. Part of me felt guilty about not getting off the ship at all. Warnemunde looked like a cute little German town. Apparently it was where the big whig members of the East Germany communist party would go to vacation. So it didn’t have that overcommercialized feel. Or atleast it didn’t seem that way to me. They brought an Oompah band onto the ship to play on the pool deck which isn’t exactly music to relax too, but they did serve some great bratwurst and pretzels for lunch that day. So I did get a taste of Germany.

After a very strenuous day of tanning, I figured it was time for a disco nap, then the singles dinner, and then time for entertainment. Well the Berlin crowd didn’t get back till late and they said that they all had a great time. But I’m sorry, 4 hours in a train is kind of hard core for me. I’ll get there (again) some day, not on this trip. So the theme party for the night was the Kit Kat Club to kind of play off the night club scene in the Weimar Republic days. Now in addition to the fact that I had the whole weight issue with my luggage. What exactly were they wearing in the Weimar Republic days. I keep thinking about Cabaret and I think of black skimpy outfits (not for me thanks) and black uniforms. Well some people live for the theme nights and there were some good costumes. Since we were at sea for the evening parties and the weather was a bit too windy/cold to have the dances on the pool deck, all of the dances were inside at the Bar at the Top of the Hill Overlooking the Ocean. Which was fine, but my attempts to take pictures were hindered by the fog machines that diffused the flash and washed out the pics. But I tried. DJ Warren Gluck spun that night and it was great. Plus I could stay up late because we were at sea the next day.

Now I love sea days. There’s no rushing to get breakfast before your excursions. There’s no rushing at all. Get up when you want. Do you own thing. Just kick back. And despite my fears, the weather was again amazing and even with the ship underway it was quite pleasant laying out on the pool deck. Now I did go to the gym first, but then it was back to my lounge chair Olympics. And I was burning through some of the books that I had brought. And every once in awhile I would take a little stroll around the pool deck and the solarium to check out the scenery. It was really quite nice.

And you’ve got to give it to Atlantis for their entertainment. It rocks. After a good 4-5 hours of laying out, I headed down to Dixie Longate’s Bingo Extravaganza. Bingo you’re thinking? Yeah, not so much. But I love Dixie. She’s just hilarious and it was worth it to listen to “Oh-69” to hear her vicious and amusing quips. One of my favorite lines, “I’ll beat the bleach off your teeth.” Just too funny. She rocks! And she’s apparently going on a national tour so I definitely want to get a group together for when she comes to DC.

After Dixie it was time for the traditional Dog Tag Dance. Now, this is always one of the best dances on the ship. Lots of opportunity to flirt and to check out who’s single, who’s partners, and which partners are willing to play. So lots of fun and finally some good pics of the hot guys on the ship.

That night, it was the Atlantis Comedy Showcase with Jim David, Shann Carr, and Alec Mapa. Now Jim and Shann are regulars on the Atlantis cruises and are just hilarious. Both had great new material. Apparently Shann got asked if she was from “that ship” in Warnemunde. So apparently the local folk do know we are coming. But Alec Mapa was the hit of the evening. Just too funny and I loved some of his jokes, but they are definitely NSFW. He did make the comment that he was originally afraid to come on a gay cruise. That it would be this floating orgy and that he’d be stuck in a hot tub with some cracked out porn star who was deep in a K-hole. It was just too funny. After that, I caught the tail end of the dating game starring some guy from DC. Who apparently confirmed to the whole ship that he’s basically a slut. Hey, truth in advertising I guess. I'm sure he won't be lonely.

And then finally it was time for the Conquest party at the Bar Around the Corner On Top of the Island in the Middle of the Ocean. So you were supposed to dress up as Vikings, Cossacks, kings, or serfs or just whatever you wanted to wear. So seriously, what does a Cossack wear? I’m just not that gay. I wore shorts and a tank top. I figured that was good enough. DJ Abel again who killed. I think I made it to 2AM before crashing. I had a relatively early tour in Tallinn the next day.

Over Sharing

So I've got a new "friend" at the gym. Well let me clarify that. So I knew this guy like 4 years ago who went to my gym when I lived in VA. And when I say knew him, I mean the nod your head, ask about the weather, more like a familiar, yet random, acquaintance. I guess he moved away, then moved back, and now goes to my gym. And suddenly we are like BFF.

Now first of all, I'm not a BFF type. At all!

Secondly, I'm not all chatty Cathy at the gym. I'm not saying that I'm anti-social, but I'm there to suffer, preferably in silence or listening to my nano, and then I want to go home. Okay, so maybe I am anti-social.

So to sit on the bike and just chat for 3o minutes is so not me.

And then, dude, I'm so NOT your BFF. Stop telling me stuff. I don't know you. You don't know me. I don't care about your friend who's addicted to Tina. Or what your friend's psychiatrist said. Or the time you put this guy on all fours and pounded away.

Please stop. Oh, dear Lord. Please stop. I don't want to know. I don't need to know. You must stop sharing. It's wrong. Very, very wrong.

Amsterdam

Well I won’t bore you with the details of my time in Paris. Going to play tennis in the rain with my niece & nephew. Or going to an air show in the rain. Or walking around Paris in the rain. Basically I’m saying it rained. A lot. But I’m over that. I swear.

Anyways, the real adventure started when I left Paris to go to Amsterdam and then on to my Baltic cruise. I was really excited! Now I like to think of myself as a good traveler (though GreekBoi will disagree). And I am. Well sort of. I’m good with arranging flights, trains, getting from destination to destination. But there is a bit of me that isn’t good with the actually traveling part. The waiting for a connection part. Anyways I got to Gare du Nord rather early and then basically camped out waiting for my train. While this wasn’t my first train ride in Europe, it’s been awhile. And I was lugging two huge pieces of luggage. But the train ride was fine from Paris to Amsterdam. Still overcast and grey, but there was nothing I can do about that except complain. I did run into a group of American teenagers back packing through Europe. I find it hard to believe that I was ever that young, or that stupid. Playing drinking games at 11 in the morning? Bad. Bring drunk and loud on the train. Worse.

Arriving in Amsterdam Central Station, I took the tram towards my hotel which is on one of the main streets. Unfortunately the road was under construction so that was a bit of a haze. My room, a single, was about the size of my closet at home. And I think the bed in my room was smaller than the one I had on the ship. Just too funny. And no clock in the room? Anyways, after I had gotten settled in I walked around town to get a feel for my neighborhood, try to find out where I was going to go out that night. There are different gay sections or mini-gayborhoods in Amsterdam. So I wanted to check them out. But I’m not sure if it was just a Wednesday night thing, or if I was just tired and I can’t stay out too late, but I didn’t really hit any wild and crazy places. Which was fine. I had a full day of sightseeing planned for the next day.

So I got up on that cold and overcast day and ate the nice breakfast that came with the room and then headed out to explore the city. I first head to the famous flower market and I’m a bit disappointed. Well, it’s the wrong time of year for tulips. You need to be here in April-May. Not July. So there were all of these tulip BULBs if you wanted to buy them, but no tulips. (Well I found a few hot house tulips). Taking pictures of the bulbs didn’t really cut if for me, but I did get some pics of other flowers. Anyways, I continue my wandering as I head to the Rijksmuseum. Now I’m wearing the one sweatshirt that I brought, so I keep taking little detours into stores to see if I can find a long sleeve shirt because I’m now convinced that I’ve completely packed the wrong clothes for the cruise and I’m going to freeze to death. Oh, I’ll look good, but I’ll be blue from the cold. Anyways, I make it to the Rijksmuseum which I like. Mind you I’m not a big fan of Rembrandts. Too many portraits of pasty, fat people. I do like the landscapes. And I’m loving the audio guides and the little interesting facts. In one portrait there is a little girl who is restrained in straps so she won’t move for the painter. And oddly enough that reminded me of my niece! Anyways, the Rijksmuseum gets a thumbs up, and then it was on to the Van Gogh museum.

So interesting trivia fact, apparently Van Gogh shot himself and then it took TWO DAYS for him to die. Dude, try again. I can’t imagine suffering for 2 days like that. I’d be like, give me the gun again! Again, love the audio tour. It’s interesting that a lot of the paintings at the Van Gogh museum have glass on them compared to the Rijksmuseum. I’m not sure what that means. I’m listening to the audio tour and they reference Claude Monet’s trip to the Netherlands where he describes “a typical dutch sky, grey and lined with clouds.” Amen! And then all of the comments about the “amazing light” in the Italy makes sense. Summers in Italy just have the clearest skies and I can imagine that all of the northern European painters were just enthralled with the light and weather of Italy.

After the Van Gogh, I continued shopping and finally found a shirt. Now Amsterdam must be filled with anorexics because I’m a medium-large in the US, but in Amsterdam I’m an XL-XXL. Just not right. Of course, everyone here walks and bikes so no wonder, but still. Oh, and everything is so expensive! Thank you W for a weak dollar! After my museum, shopping, and various wanderings, I make it back to my hotel for a disco nap. The sun is up till 10PM, so it’s weird here. But I try to nap despite the jack-hammering in front of my hotel. I do make it out that evening and I go to a bar/lounge place called Arc. It’s one of these places that’s so hip it hurts. Twinks galore. All blond of course. But the problem is that if you’re not drinking (which I’m not) or not smoking (ugh!), then you kind of stand out. But it was good people watching. There was supposed to be a night club next door and I wanted to get my groove on, but it didn’t open till 11PM and people didn’t really start going to it until 1AM. Ugh. I’m still not ready for that.

The next day, I go to Mike’s Bikes and rent a bike for half a day. They give me a route that takes me south of town along one of the rivers that feed into Amsterdam. The weather is finally turning nice and the bike ride is just amazing. It was surprising how quickly the city ended and the countryside began. I rode down to a little town about 10 miles south of the city where I got to see my first honest to goodness windmill. Cute little town and then on the way back I stopped at a riverside café and had lunch. The only problem (I know, complain, complain, complain) is that my allergies have kicked into overdrive. I mean 6-7 sneezes in a row. Sneezing so much that I was getting light headed. And no, I didn’t have a beer with lunch. Anyways, my weird allergies would pop up periodically throughout my trip. Anyways, by the time I get back into town, it’s actually hot!

I then head over to the Anne Frank’s House. A long line, but so worth it. A lot of people use the word evil to describe various things. But it really needs to be used when describing the Nazis and what they did. There’s a great quote in the museum that’s I’ll try to paraphrase: “Anne Frank put a face on the victims of the Holocaust. But she was just one. If we learned all of their stories we might not be able to bare it.” Too true. After walking around some more, I find a Mexican restaurant and have a chimichanga for dinner. Or course some stoners have to be sitting by me on the deck over looking that canal and have to light up. Ugh!

So that’s my issue with Amsterdam. I’m not into the drug scene. And for those who aren’t, there’s still a pretty rowdy party scene. And the British come here to party hard and they are not pretty/friendly drunks. So not a lot of fun. And needless to say the red light district wasn’t a big draw for me either. I think once you get away from the main tourist areas it’s really pretty, but the downtown is really over-commercialized I think. Anyways, at this point, I’m ready to get on the ship and relax. But I've got to deal with the luggage weight limit on my SAS flight. Inside Europe, you can only have a max of 20KG for your luggage. every KG over is 10 Euro. Can you sa ouch!

I get up early, catch the train to Schipol, and then check in pretty early. I’m over the weight limit for my luggage, but the check-in lady lets me pass. Waiting in the terminal, I see some of the A-list gays waiting for my flight. I think they are American’s, but I’m not sure. Anyways, it’s on to Copenhagen and the cruise!!!

Why I Love Jon Stewart (Reason #45342)

So I'm catching up with the madness of Washington politics using the only sane method possible. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Here's his description of Albert Gonzales just pathetic appearance in front of Congress:

"So what Albert Gonzales is saying is
That there are problems,
of which he cannot speak,
for which he is responsible,
yet not to blame,
and that he is the only one who could clean up the mess
that he can neither confirm nor deny exists."

Funny, and yet sad.

On a more positive note, it looks like there are still some honorable men in the U.S. military that are fighting the Gitmo trials and have caused the Supreme Court to re-look at the legality of the trials down there.

After reading about the continuing lies and cover up regarding Pat Tillman's death and then the Austalian government's legal review of the mockery of a trial at Gitmo, I needed something a little positive to make it through the week.

They don't hate us . . . . . .

So I'm still working on my vacation trip report, but something got me thinking about a very strange common thread wherever I went. I would talk with people, at bars, or cafes, or on our tours, etc. And it used to be the most people in other countries didn't know or care about U.S. politics. And they wouldn't bring the subject up. Boy has that changed. I can't tell you how many conversations I had about US politics while I was on vacation in Europe.

The guy manning the desk at the hotel in Amsterdam at 10PM at night as I was leaving for a evening out wanted to know what the word "commute" means. As in Bush commuted Libby's sentence. He was a smart guy and spoke English very well, but it was such a random question.

As I was sitting in a cafe in Tallinn, the lady sitting next to me heard my English and asked if I was American. I said yes and she asked me why Congress couldn't stop the President from continuing the war in Iraq. I tried my best to explain.

And even on the cruise where there were guys from other countries, a question about US politics came up. It was all very odd.

But thankfully, while they really don't like the U.S., they don't hate us. I think they can separate the individual people from the policies of the U.S. government.

I've travelled a lot overseas and it's sad to see America's reputation as tarnished and sullied as it is now.

Vacation - All I Ever Wanted!!

So I'm back! And jet lagged beyond belief. I woke up this AM at 0130. Rolled into the office around 530AM, and then hit the wall around 3PM. It wasn't pretty. But, the trip was a blast. After all of the crappy weather in Paris and Amsterdam, I finally got beautiful sunny weather in the Baltic!! We so lucked out.

A full trip report with lots of pics to follow.

Oh, and guess who was our special guest on the cruise??

Belinda!!!

Au Revior Paris!

So I leave tomorrow for Amsterdam. Today after the tennis excursion in the rain, I went on a walk about. Up to Victor Hugo, down to the Trocodero, down under the Eiffel Tower, and then I walked through the Invalides till I got the St. Germain and then I crossed over the Seine and walked throught the Twilleries and up the Champs and then down Foch till I got back sister's place.

It was a good walk. But I must have opened and closed my umbrella a dozen times, and put my sweatshirt on and off and dozen times. A little bit of rain, a little bit of sun, a little bit of clouds, a little bit of rain. It was all such a tease.

I did do some window shopping. It's Soldes time in France. So you're only allowed to have "sales" in France in July and January. But I was having a hard time finding my inner shopper. I don't care if they are Dolce and Gabbana underwear. Even at 30% off, 60 Euros is just insane for underwear. I'll tell you what. If you can guarantee that I'll look like the guy on the cover. Or,if you can guarantee I'll get laid every time I wear those underwear. Then yes, I will buy them. But get real!

The other problems is that while I did find a couple of good deals, I really don't need anything. Do I really need another pair of khaki cargo shorts? No. And I've got he weight issues for what I have right now. So it just wasn't happening. Oh well, I'll save it up to spend once I get on the ship.

I thought about going out tonight to a bar or something, but I'll have plenty of time to do that in Amsterdam, so it was a psuedo quiet night at home. We walked to get ice cream and then my sister, my niece and I went back to Trocadero to watcht the Eiffel tower sparkle which was nice.

Anyways, off to Amsterdam tomorrow AM!

Uncle Trey Brings the Rain!

So the first time I visited my sister and her family in Paris it was for Thanksgiving. The first day I arrived it was sunny, but a bit chilly. And I was jet-lagged so I didn't care. But then it rained and was overcast for the next 6 days. Ok, it was winter time and that's to be expected. The next time I visit it's March and again it was okay for the first day, and then rain, overcast and grey for the next few days. But it was spring time, so I'm like okay. Okay, it's FRAKKN JULY people! Where is the sun? I was really hoping to get some good photos but the weather has not cooperated at all. While the BnL takes the kids for their school physicals, I think I'm just going to brave the weather and do a walk about and take some photos. Of Paris on a cold grey summer afternoon.

So far we've gone out to a French air base to see an air show, in the rain. It was a haze getting there and the weather sucked. Then yesterday we went to the pool which was fun. The sun did peak out a couple of times, but mostly it was passing rain showers. And cold rain. Not pleasant at all. I did get to swim some laps and I ran yesterday, so I don't feel too guilty about the pan au chocolat that I had for breakfast. Today in the light misting rain, we went to some tennis courts so the kiddos could hit some balls. It was okay and I actually borrowed my niece's racket when she stopped for a juice box to get a couple of swings in myself. It's been years since I played tennis and I should probably take that up again. We'll see.

I'm off to Amsterdam tomorrow AM. Hauling my two huge suitcases through the Metro. So the deal with my luggage. I'm gone for two weeks and I over packed. Which is bad because I'm going to have to pay out the nose for the luggage since within Europe you only get 20kgs. About 44 pounds. Anything over that, you have to pay for. 10 Euro for for every extra KG. Since I had to pack for 2 weeks, and two different climates (or so I thought at the time) it was not good. Of course, it's on the flight over that I realize that I should have just packed for one week and then when I get on the ship pay to have my laundry done. It's not like the laundry is going to be more expensive that paying the extra weight for the luandry. Oh well, live and learn. It's just money (he says as he grinds his teeth). And seriously if this is the major drama I have on this trip, then in the grand scheme of things, it's no big deal.

Bon Voyage!

Off on vacation tomorrow. Which is good because I'm about to collapse. Pretty much been working non-stop for the past 2-3 weeks. Just insane. And I'm leaving at a bad time for one of my projects but I can't help it. I so need a break.

National to Philly. Philly to Paris. Visit niece and nephew.
Paris to Amsterdam. A couple of days there.
Amsterdam to Copenhagen to catch the cruise.

Stockholm to Chicago.
Chicago to National.

I'll probably blog from Paris and Amsterdam. And I'll do a post cruise report with lots of pics using my new camera.

Ciao!

Game of Life in Bikini Bottom SpongeBob SquarePants Edition

So I did a quick search and destroy mission to Toys-R-Us today to find gifts for my niece and nephew. Uncle Trey can't show up empty handed. My job is to spoil them rotten.

But as I quickly strolled the aisles of Toys-R-Us, I firmly said no to any more Legos. I'm tired of putting those things together. Yes I'm 40, but some of those kits are insane and my nephew loses patience at piece 148 of a 200 piece Lego. So Uncle Trey has to finish them.

So I continued searching till I got the board game area and I say YES!!!! A new board game or two would be perfect. Especially because if I have to play one more game of Candy Land or Chutes & Ladders there won't be enough wine in France for Uncle Trey. Anyways, I picked up these new editions of games, the SpongeBob edition of "Life" and the Spiderman edition of "Sorry." Of course my sister, such the kill joy, told me they already have Sorry. So I'll have to return that once I get back from Europe. They will have to make do with the little stuff ponies, two DVDs, and the board game that I got them. ;-)

Oh, and to carry on a recent theme, do you realize the Paris Hilton did more time in jail than Scooter Libby? Let's see, she was arrested for for driving with a suspended license. And he was arrested for lying to a grand jury about outing a CIA agent who's husband exposed the lies and mis-information about the reasons why we went to war in Iraq. Yep, apparently Justice is blind. And she's crying right now.