4 Months Later

Hey there,

So here's an update on the past 4 months since returning to the US.

Got tenants in late April. Finally got some renters through the property management company we're using.

Got a new job. Working for Orval Kent Foods doing HR stuff. Out of the 250 employees there, 80% speak only Spanish so I get to use and improve my Spanish speaking skills. At the same time I am learning all sorts of interesting things about the world of HR. I really really enjoy it and I like the people I work with.

Drove to Vegas for the first time, that was fun. Actually it's only about 4-5 hours away depending on traffic. Totally worth it if you ask me to save a ton o' money on a flight.

Two weddings in June. Probably the least number so far since graduating from college. I love weddings, but not when I have to go 5 in a year.

Went to Disneyland, California Adventure and the San Diego Zoo. Southern California is the amusement park mecca. I had more fun this time at Disneyland with Megs than I ever had as a kid. Plus we went on a Monday in May and there was no one there.

We finally don't have any plans the rest of the summer. Seems like we've been gone every weekend. It'll be nice to just relax now.

The life of a landlord...

So I was informed today that we FINALLY have tenants at our place in Hillsboro. Whew! That takes a load off for sure! It will be nice now to have someone paying our mortgage for the next year...

Madrid!!!

Stricken with food poisoning and/or stomach flu didn't keep me from thinking that Madrid must be the greatest city in Europe. This place is just FANTASTIC!

Carla and I arrived at 8:30AM in Madrid. We found our hotel which was on a main street across from the Prado Museum. But when we arrived it was...not so nice. It looked like someones apartment. And they weren't too happy that we were there so early. So we said we would go to a museum for a bit then come back in a couple hours, and they said that would work.

We walked around the Prado museum and saw some great works of art. But I was so tired from waking up so early, and I just wanted to sleep for a couple hours. When we returned to the hotel, they still didn't have our room. Then they said they were waiting for the boy to come to take us to our room in another building. WHAT?! What boy? And we have to move to another place? Huh? The "boy" arrived, he was from Brazil and I guess takes care of the other apartment, which, by the way, was a major dump. We walked in and it was stuffed with old dusty furniture, old carpets, stuff on the walls, dusty fake flowers, and the smell...was...just...old. At the original hotel the guy told us that we had our own bathroom with a shower and toilet. Um, not so much. For one thing, the shower didn't work, then there was no toilet, just a bidet. But luckily there was a shared bathroom across the hallway from us. They gave us a matrimony bed which just means instead of two beds we had to share a big one, but it wasn't very big. I told Carla not to spoon with me. We unpacked a bit then went to explore some more of the city. We were hungry so we went to a small cafe and had some quesadillas and sangria!


The first 2 days and nights we were there I did limited sight seeing because I just didn't feel good. It has been 10 years since I had the stomach flu, and lucky me it happened while on vacation. Poor Carla, such a ball of energy and ready for anything and I was curled up in the fetal position on the bed most of the time. We did go out to a really nice restaurant and had some good paella. I love paella by the way. Yummy.

We decided on Saturday to leave the city and visit one of the small towns nearby. So we hopped on a train and went to Segovia. Segovia is famous for its aqueduct and castle. The first thing we saw was the aqueduct which was really really cool. Apparently it was made without any mortar at all which is impressive considering how big it was.

We wandered through the city to the main square where we saw the huge cathedral. We went inside where it was freeeezing but amazingly huge. It has 27 chapels inside but since there was no flash photography allowed we couldn't get good pics. We got to the end of the city walls to the castle. I love castles but I always get disappointed by how simple they are inside. I guess I expect the interiors to be really lavish but instead they are usually quite plain. This one was plain inside but the outside was cool.
We got back into Madrid that night just in time to shower and get ready for a long night of partying. First we went to the Museo del Jamon for tapas. I tried the famous Serrano ham which tasted a lot like my beloved Prosciutto Crudo. By the time we finished it was time to find Kapital, this club that Carla heard about.

We only waited in line for about a half hour. This club was amazing! It had 7 floors full of lounges and dance floors. There were about 5 different types of music being played. They had an incredible techno floor which would shoot down a blast of cold air every few minutes. It was so strong that you actually couldn't see anything for those 2-3 seconds while it cooled everyone down. They also shot out confetti and bubbles. Typical Euro-techno stuff. I LOVED IT!!

We danced until the club closed at 7 AM and headed back to the hotel. Carla changed and grabbed her bags since she had to catch her flight back to Switzerland at 9 AM.

Later that day after catching some sleep I wandered around Madrid taking it in. I went to the museum that had Picasso's famous La Guernica. It's so big! The museum also had an incredible Dali exhibit.

I spent some time at the city park called El Parque del Buen Retiro. Everyone and their mom was there too, but I did manage to find a patch of grass to lay down on and enjoy the sunshine. It was such a nice day. I also ventured the other side of the centro to see the palace of the king. But just walking around in downtown Madrid is a treat because the buildings are so elegant and massive. The city is clean and the people are friendly.

I was genuinely sad to leave Madrid. I didn't feel like I got to see enough. Although Madrid is a touristy city, it didn't feel that way. When I was in Barcelona you didn't have to speak Spanish, you could get away with any other language you spoke. And when you spoke to them they would usually answer you in English, even if you tried to speak Spanish. In Madrid, you can speak to them in English, and they will answer you in Spanish. They appreciate any attempt you make to speak Spanish and to be a part of their culture. In Barcelona they treat you like a tourist. Madrid is by far better.

I LOVED THIS CITY!!!

Switzerland

I arrived in Lausanne after making a stop in Stuttgart then Zurich. The interesting thing about that journey was when I went to buy lunch in the Zurich train station. I was able to order what I wanted using all 3 languages I knew. I asked the girl behind the counter in English if they took credit cards, she responded in English. Then I asked what was in the sandwiches in Italian and she responded in Italian. Then while I was looking at the menu, she asked me in Spanish if I wanted anything to drink. I don't know how she knew I spoke Spanish as well but it worked out in the end. Pretty cool.

Carla lives in a beautiful lake side town (Lake Geneva) that has spectacular views of the Swiss and French alps. On the other side of the lake is France and the mountains look like they just plunge right into the water. The hillside of Lausanne is covered in vineyards. I tried the local white wine of Lutry, it was really great!

The first night I was there, Carla's stepfather Andre, made incredible fondue. I hadn't eaten fondue for years and never cared for it. But now I know what I've been missing out on. Carla's mother, Rita, doesn't speak English, and neither does Andre. But the beauty of it all was that Rita spoke Italian. I was able to fully communicate with her and listen to all her stories about her life and about Carla's childhood. Hehe.

The next day Carla had to give a presentation, so I spent the entire day with Rita and Andre. We went to the mountains, Chateau D'oex, or something like that. Normally there is 10 feet of snow but I guess they had a bad year, so there wasn't very much at all. It's still beautiful though. We ate lunch at this place that makes their own cheese. We watched as they filled this cauldron with 200 liters of milk, heated it up and eventually pulled out all the curds to form the cheese. We even got to help a bit!

The following day Carla and I walked around the downtown area of Lausanne. It's a really cute little town with curvy streets and hills. Later that night we met up with a couple of her friends for dinner. All her friends were able to practice their English with me because let's face it, I can't even pretend to speak French.

We called it an early night because we had to get up at 3am the next day for our flight to MADRID!!!!

"Home" sweet "Home"

Well I'm back in the great USA. I spent about 30 hours in Chicago and saw my sister Kelly as well as my niece Sofia. I had a great time and Kelly helped me acclimate back to the US by taking me to Taco Bell and getting a mani/pedi.

Nate picked me up at the San Diego airport and I was so happy to be back on the west coast again. Our apartment is nice, we have a great view and I like the floor plan.

Once I get all my pics from my laptop to the desktop I can do some more posts about the end of my Europe trip.

Can't wait to see everyone again!!

München!

I knew almost instantly that I was leaving Italy when I waited in line to check my bags at Rome's airport. My first indication was that there actually WAS a line instead of a corral by the counter. My second indication was that the plane left on time and my third was that the airline magazine was wrapped in a plastic bag.

I arrived around 10:30 PM in Munich, Thorsten was at the airport to pick me up. Munich's airport was cleaner than most hospitals I've seen, and there was virtually no one there. We drove along the highway where there was no speed limit, pretty cool.

Thorsten lives practically in the city center of Munich, so I was expecting tall claustrophobic buildings, small streets packed with parked cars and noise. But much to my delight there was none of that. Sure there are tall buildings, but they are more spread out (and modern) and there are lots of open spaces. His apartment building itself is old but his apartment feels modern and new, at least more modern and new than my apartment I was living in.

On Friday we woke up late and headed towards downtown which was just a short walk away. I saw many sights but don't know the names of them and won't try to attempt to spell and/or pronounce them. I would like to say that my German is terrible but by saying "my" German makes it sound like I know a little, which I don't really. Just a few words here and there. The most important being "bier" and "schnitzel". And I ate strudel too, yum!

I ate a schnitzel sandwich for lunch, then had schnitzel again for dinner. And of course beer. We went to the Hofbrau Haus where all the tourists go for those big liters of beer. It was awesome, there was a band and loads of drunk people. Thorsten said he was glad I was there because he was curious about that place but was too ashamed to go without someone who wasn't German. We shared a table with 2 other parties, a really nice German couple then some German kids. The couple wasn't from Munich, so they were tourists as well.

On Saturday we headed out to see the fairy tale castle built by King Ludwig II called Neuschwanstein. Sooooo coool. We really had to climb quite a bit to get to the entrance, but it was worth it. Then afterwards we went to Mary's Bridge for an even better view of the castle. It was also great to see some of the German countryside to and from. On the way home we stopped at this monestary where they had good beer and had a drink in the tavern. Those monks sure know how to brew!!

On Monday I left for Lausanne to visit Carla. That's where I am right now but you will just have to wait for details on that trip.

I'll post some pics when I can access the internet from my computer.

My last 24 hours

In my last 24 hours in Italy/Roma I...

Watched an FC Barcelona-Liverpool match and drank a Guinness with two of my Canadian buddies (Nima and Kamen)

Ate my last cornetto con Nutella

Drank one cappuccino, 2 espressos

Watched Chips and Knight Rider in Italian

Visited Piazza San Pietro

Climbed 551 steps to the top of the Cupola for an astounding view of Roma

Strolled through the Vatican Basilica (it's huge and amazing)

Helped an Egyptian with which bus to take

Ate lunch while looking at the Roman Forum

Ate: Prosciutto crudo, Grana Padano and Nutella flavored gelato

Carried almost 40 kilograms of luggage to the train station/airport

Sprayed myself with Chanel Allure at the Duty Free in Fiumicino (my new favorite perfume)

Only showed my ID once at the airport, when I checked my bags, not when I went through security or when I got on the plane (scaaarrry right?)

Heard at least six languages

Thought about how much I like Rome....