Friday, July 5, 2013
The Letters - posted Oct 29, 2010
It’s that time of year again. No, not that time of year when the leaves start changing. Not the time of year when strangely dressed little kids whose parents are perfectly capable of providing them with food come knocking on your door begging for candy. Not the time of year when Christmas decorations find their way into a store near you along with cheesy music like Winter Wonderland which you can’t get out of your head for months. Not the time of year when you start pricing tickets to the BCS Championship game so that you can go support your Longhorns as they play for the national championship (wait….) I’m not referring to any of this. I’m talking about the time of year when in Addison Place residents can be found on ladders above garages, with hammers around gutters, with paint cans near door trim. Because we all just got “THE LETTERS”….
“The Letters” come out once a year. Normally we get them around the July time frame, this time it wasn’t until late September. I’m not sure the reason for the delay, but I suspect it took that long to type up everything in every letter for every resident. This year, “The Letters” were particularly ridiculous.
“The Letter” starts like this:
“As you may know, the Architectural Standards Committee of your Homeowners’ Association makes periodic surveys of our neighborhood. One of the Committee’s objectives is to make homeowners aware of conditions on their property that may detract from the overall appearance of Addison Place….”
It’s at this point that I start to feel like I’m a kid who just got in trouble at school. “The Letter” goes on to detail the results of the inspection of my property and the areas where I was found to be in violation of rules and regulations put in place by my HOA. It also says it is the owners’ responsibility to comply and they hope this can be resolved without a “formal enforcement” of rules and regulations. I had 30 days to address my violations, or I could request a hearing before the board.
So with letter in hand, I walk around my property to check out my violations.
1) Repair roof over garage – tile slid
Standing outside the garage in the alley, I glance on the roof to see this:
Can you see the offending tile? It was hard for me to find too. Nevertheless, it seemed an easy enough fix. So a few days later I bribed David Jones to get on my roof and slide the tile back up. That should hold until next years’ inspection. One down, four to go.
2) Replace torn screen – rear of house
I strained my neck and squinted my eyes and still had trouble finding this one. So I called my HOA and they sent me this picture (magnified about 10,000X)
Upon further investigation of the HOA rules, I found that I am not even required to have a window screen covering a window that doesn’t open to the outside (which this doesn’t), therefore this window screen isn’t even required. So again I bribed David Jones to get on my house and he took it down. However I am having to prove that to the HOA by taking pictures from the inside that prove the window cannot and is not intended to open. Right now my case is pending. Say a little prayer for me.
3) Repair mailbox numbers
This is an interesting use of the word “repair.” I mean how do you repair mailbox numbers? After contemplation, I took this to mean “drive to Home Depot and buy decorative number stickers that don’t appear to be gradually fading and stick them on your mailbox over the ones that are there.” That set me back about $1.25 plus gas, but I sure am glad to get that out of the way.
4) Repair trim around the front door
I have several feet of trim around the front door, so again I didn’t really know what the specific issue was here. So the HOA sent me pictures of this one that showed some wood cracking and peeling off at the bottom. Repairing this would prove to be a bigger challenge, and one in which I would have to solicit help from (aka bribe) several people to pry off existing wood and replace. The Lowe’s adventure that ensued in buying this wood was exhausting. First, 30 minutes or so of meticulous measuring – height, width, and depth of multiple pieces of wood that made up the door frame. Then probably 45 minutes or so of evaluating different cuts of molding at the store trying to perfectly match the dimensions. Then buying paint (by the way – the HOA limits to specific brand and colors the paint you can use, but since my house was painted long before I moved in and I didn’t know the color, I had to go through all the approved paint samples to try to find the one that matched). Finally trying to figure out how to get 10 foot pieces of wood in my Honda Accord.
I painted the molding, but that’s about it. I may have to ask for an extension on this one. One suggestion was to just squish some play-dough into the cracks and paint it the color of the trim. I wonder if anyone would notice?
5) Install screen for small window – south side
This one took 10 minutes on the phone with the HOA to figure out. I have several windows pointing to the south, and it took a while to find the one they were referring to. Turns out it’s a small stained glass window overlooking my neighbors’ front porch. Again, the rule is if the window opens to a common area it must have a screen. So if ever I decide to crawl on top of my countertop in my bathroom and reach up above my head to open the window, I should make sure to protect myself from bugs flying in. So David Jones and Billiam got the honor of making me a window screen and popping it up there. Mission accomplished.
So I’m still working on getting myself in compliance, but is it just me or is this whole thing a little ridiculous? On the one hand, I appreciate that my HOA has a nazi-ist interest in keeping up the community. They told me out of 174 homes, 169 of them got “The Letter” this year for at least one violation. On the other hand, is this not a little overkill?
I’m pretty sure my next door neighbor to the north is on the Architectural Standards Committee and made sure to find me a nice assortment of violations. This is the neighbor who, about a year ago, got ticked off when one corner of my mailbox came loose and caused a slight tilt. I got a letter in my mail that said “Please fix your mailbox.” No friendly greeting. Not even a signature. I’m surprised she said “please.” Two weeks later I got another letter, “Second notice – please fix your mailbox.” So one night about midnight I took a hammer out and just started banging on the mailbox trying to nail it back in. When she came out to see what was going on I simply explained I was fixing my mailbox. She didn’t seem pleased, but I guess now I shouldn’t be surprised I’ve been cited for so many “violations.”
The last several days in particular have been a frenzy of home repair here in Addison Place. I’ve seen all kinds of repair trucks, painters, and guys on ladders. I wonder if these guys are in kahoots with “The Letter” senders. This could be a very successful business strategy.
So here I am, trying to be a handywoman, bribing dudes to help me (beer seems to work), and doing the bare minimum required to avoid “formal enforcement” of HOA rules. If I’m successful, I will have done just enough to get by for the next year. Until then, “The Letter” is going in the trash.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Top 10 things to do during a weekend in Bangkok (in no particular order):
1. Watch the reaction (aka faces of disgust) of the staff at the five star luxury Sheraton Grande hotel when you are dropped off at the valet in a tuk tuk
2. See how long you can eat the Tom Yang Koom Doi Kham soup without taking a drink of water, and take bets on whether the spiciness of the soup has permanently burned off the lining of your stomach
3. Try to get the guard at the Grand Palace to smile (note – it’s easier in Bangkok than in London and Prague)
4. Try to learn how to say the official name of Bangkok
"Krung-thep-maha-nakorn-boworn-ratana-kosin-mahintar- ayudhya-amaha-dilok-pop-nopa-ratana-rajthani-burirom-udom-rajniwes-mahasat-arn-amorn-pimarn- avatar-satit- sakattiya-visanukam."
5. Drink all two ounces of coconut juice out of a coconut shell
6. Try not to puke when, while with your father, some dude tries to convince you to go see a live show where naked women shoot ping pong balls out their hoo-ha
7. Endure a massive rainstorm that leaves your jeans dripping wet three days later while visiting Grand Palace – seek dry land by hiding under a monkey/demon carving (FYI – demons have shoes, monkeys do not) but get soaked anyways
8. Get yelled at by three monks when, while taking a picture with them, you attempt to wrap your arms behind their backs just like you would for any group picture (apparently monks aren’t supposed to touch females)
9. Lighten the mood during the constant, horrific, heavy traffic by joking that you are “all Thai’d up”
10. Find this poster, and take this picture
1. Watch the reaction (aka faces of disgust) of the staff at the five star luxury Sheraton Grande hotel when you are dropped off at the valet in a tuk tuk
2. See how long you can eat the Tom Yang Koom Doi Kham soup without taking a drink of water, and take bets on whether the spiciness of the soup has permanently burned off the lining of your stomach
3. Try to get the guard at the Grand Palace to smile (note – it’s easier in Bangkok than in London and Prague)
4. Try to learn how to say the official name of Bangkok
"Krung-thep-maha-nakorn-boworn-ratana-kosin-mahintar- ayudhya-amaha-dilok-pop-nopa-ratana-rajthani-burirom-udom-rajniwes-mahasat-arn-amorn-pimarn- avatar-satit- sakattiya-visanukam."
5. Drink all two ounces of coconut juice out of a coconut shell
6. Try not to puke when, while with your father, some dude tries to convince you to go see a live show where naked women shoot ping pong balls out their hoo-ha
7. Endure a massive rainstorm that leaves your jeans dripping wet three days later while visiting Grand Palace – seek dry land by hiding under a monkey/demon carving (FYI – demons have shoes, monkeys do not) but get soaked anyways
8. Get yelled at by three monks when, while taking a picture with them, you attempt to wrap your arms behind their backs just like you would for any group picture (apparently monks aren’t supposed to touch females)
9. Lighten the mood during the constant, horrific, heavy traffic by joking that you are “all Thai’d up”
10. Find this poster, and take this picture
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Eurotrip 2009
This is a recap of my summer 2009 adventure in Europe. Posts are in chronoligical order - oh - and pics are posted on Facebook.
June 25, 2009
In three days I will embark on an adventure. My blue neck pillow, Us Weekly magazine and I will board an American Airlines flight to Frankfurt, Germany where I'll begin my two and a half week trek through Eastern Europe. This will be, undisputedly, the longest vacation I've ever taken. I've been on long trips, but they always included an element of work or school. Sure study abroad doesn't usually include much "studying," but at the end of the day I still had to prove to that smelly chain smoking American-hating French lady I could correctly compute the Weighted Average Cost of Capital. This vacation will have none of that - it's simply four cities, three countries, in 16 days. To that I say, bring it.
My itinerary is loosely structured in some areas, and planned to the minute in other areas. The whole basis for this trip is that the sanctuary choir at my church (of which I am a member) and a choir from another church in Dallas are performing Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass at the International Haydn Festival in Vienna. For about a week of my trip I will be stationed in Vienna with the other choir members, following an hour by hour itinerary that includes rehearsals, concerts, castle visits, city tours, and hopefully, wienerschnitzel. However I decided to take advantage of the fact that I will be in a part of the world I have never visited before and tack on some travel time before and after. So other than the week long minute by minute schedule I will adhere to while in Vienna, I don’t have much planned other than a plane ticket (thank you 60,000 AA miles) and a hotel reservation or two. Here’s my schedule:
June 29: arrive in Frankfurt, train to Salzburg, Austria
June 29 – July 1: explore Salzburg (the main purpose for this visit is to go on The Sound of Music Tour)
July 1 – July 7: Vienna, Austria
July 8 – July 10: Budapest, Hungary
July 11 – July 13: Prague, Czech Republic
July 14: train to Frankfurt, return to US
This particular trip has been years in the making. The planning started almost two years ago, and given the fact that I was using miles for my plane ticket and was concerned about availability of seats, my flight was booked in August of 2008. But the real preparation for the trip only recently began. My renewed passport arrived a couple of months ago. For the past couple of weeks I’ve been busy researching hotels, making lists of stuff to bring, shopping, and looking for my darn travel converter bag with all the different outlet adapters for all the different countries (where the heck is that thing!?!?!?) A key part of my preparation has been research – I’ve thumbed through the eight guidebooks I have, I am re-viewing The Sound of Music and will be doing the same with the movie Amadeus before I depart, and I spend time every evening Wikipedia-ing the cities I will be visiting to learn about their history and culture. But don’t ask me how to speak the language or how the currency works – for that I’ll just wing it.
Some of you balked at the revelation that, with the exception of the Vienna portion, I will be traveling alone. I will remind you that I invited you to join me, and your responses ranged from “In This Economy?” to “Budapest? WTF?” to “Let me think about it” and I guess you are still thinking. It’s not too late to join me! But even if you can’t, I will remind you that some of my most interesting and vivid memories from trips I’ve taken were experienced when I was traveling alone. There was the time in Munich when I joined a beer tour and became fast friends with some Australians and a family from Russia while eating this:
There was the time I was in Beijing (where I discovered the culinary excellence of a green bean flavored popsicle – that’s sarcasm) when it took me a couple of days to figure out why people were always staring at me. Turns out it was because I have blonde hair. Some people even wanted to take a picture with me.
Then there was the time in Taiwan when I serenaded the karaoke bar with my rendition of Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain.” All GREAT memories – in all cases there was not another American I knew in sight.
So who knows what this trip will hold? I’m going to try to blog about my experiences on kproc.com, and I’ll post pictures on Facebook as often as I can. So stay tuned…
June 28, 2009
Location: Dallas
2:30PM Texas time
9:30PM Germany time
I just boarded my direct flight from DFW to Frankfurt, Germany. I’m seated in the window seat of my choice, next to Moses, who I recently discovered is a student at Dallas Theological Seminary, but is originally from Africa. I want to ask him what he’s going to Europe for but I figure it’s a nine and half hour flight, so I’m sure we’ll get to it eventually. I took some cough syrup my doctor prescribed last week when I started to feel sick, so it’s only a matter of time before I zonk out. Feeling sleepy already.
P.S. The guy in seat 33A just stuffed a giant pimp hat (the furry, feathery, purple one like you see in New Orleans) in the overhead bin.
June 29, 2009
Location: Frankfurt en route to Munich en route to Salzburg
2:05AM Texas time
9:05AM local time
I exited the plane, took one deep breath, and was sure my plane landed where it was intended. The unmistakable smell of Europe was in the air – overwhelming body odor plus cigarettes (even though it’s a non-smoking airport according to signage. I like that word – signage. I’m going to try to work it in more often). I headed towards customs and made a pit stop at the ladies room where I was entertained by three Japanese women struggling to figure out how to get the water to turn on. Then I went through customs (trying not to cough or sniffle – they tend to not let you in if they think you have Swine Flu), claimed my bag, and followed the signage (hee hee) to long distance trains. I bought a ticket to Salzburg (changing trains in Munich), a journey which would take about five and a half hours. Before boarding the train I stopped to grab a luke-warm coca lite (aka diet coke) from a juice stand. I handed over my 2 Euro, and the attendant working exclaimed enthusiastically “Welcome to Germany!” I didn’t tell him I wasn’t staying.
So now I’m on the train, having flashbacks to my time in college when my group would take over one entire car then send someone to the snack car to grab a bunch of Toblerone’s. Who can I send to get my Toblerone today? I’m sure one of the four Japanese guys sitting in front of me would be eager to do such a thing.
P.S. Moses was just connecting through Frankfurt. He’s heading to Johannesburg to visit his family before returning to Dallas in the fall to continue school. I told you we’d get to it.
June 29, 2009
Location: Salzburg, Austria
10:30AM Texas time
5:30PM local time
I’m making myself stay up until at least 8:30PM tonight to try to combat jet lag. So when I arrived at my hotel in Salzburg, I showered to wake up. It’s amazing how good actually being clean feels – I may try to make a habit of it. My hotel is very modest, but clean with a bed, private toilet and shower, and helpful staff. What more could a girl traveling on a budget ask for? The man at the front desk sold me a Salzburg card (covers entrance into all major tourist sites and use of public transportation for 48 hours) and signed me up for the Sound of Music Tour tomorrow. Then I hopped on a bus and headed to Old Town in hopes of finding Mozart, or at least his birthplace. I found it, and I went through the tour of the house, getting in trouble only once for taking pictures.
I then strolled around Old Town looking for a place to eat (my last meal was a croissant and yogurt on the plane at 6AM). Currently I’m sitting at an outdoor café and Mozartplatz (outdoor plaza) drinking a beer and eating….what else? Sausage. Although I would describe this as hot dogs. The mustard on the plate kind of looks like doodie, and the wieners are pale, but it came with a nice pretzel. All in all, I find it tasty, in an Austrian hot dog sort of way…
Three more things:
I have been taking a lot of pictures of stuff that I have no idea what it is. But it looks important (and old), so I figure I’ll look it up and learn about it later.
I went into a souvenir shop named after Mozart, selling nothing but Mozart paraphernalia, and guess what they were playing as the background music? The Four Tops. Go figure.
I see lots of women dressed very traditionally – you know the long patterned busty dresses (and LOTs of shops seem to specialize in this style). All they’re missing is a few beer mugs, some braided pigtails, and a breast enhancement. I’m not sure if these women are performers in some show or if this is their normal dress? Regardless, I’m really trying to work up the nerve to ask one of them to take a picture with me.
P.S. I went in an H&M for the first time ever today. It was everything I thought it would be and more. I bought two shirts (despite my lack of packing excess) and almost bought a romper. Yes a romper Leslie. Cute romper, good price, but at the end of the day I just didn’t think I could pull it off.
June 30, 2009
Location: Mondsee, Austria
12:30PM local time
No longer care what time it is Texas time
Mondsee is a small town about 30 minutes outside Austria. I am here because it is a stop along The Sound of Music Tour; The wedding scene was filmed inside a chapel here. We made our way up here on a bus with about 40 people drinking Austrian beer and singing along to The Sound of Music soundtrack. I can’t help but think that this is how Rodgers and Hammerstein intended for us to enjoy The Sound of Music. I met a nice couple from California – Emily sings along to every word of every song while Eric drinks a lot of beer. I get the feeling this is kind of how the relationship goes. I have a nice arrangement with them – I take pictures of them that will probably end up on a Christmas card and they take pictures of me acting out Do Re Mi hand signs. We are stopped for lunch now, but I can’t wait to get back on the bus because I think the Do Re Mi song is next in the singalong.
P.S. Our tour guide is one of those typical funny guy tour guides. He asked how I enjoyed the tour so far, I said I loved it, and he said “If you marry an Austrian you can stay.” I think he was trying to hook me up with the bus driver, who seems nice, but is lacking one too many teeth for my taste.
June 30, 2009
Location: Salzburg, Austria
11PM local time
After The Sound of Music Tour, I went to visit Mozart’s Residence (where he lived for seven years in a larger house than his birthplace – his family gave concerts here). One of the cool things about both Mozart houses is that they had live entertainment – people playing Mozart on the instruments in the rooms of the houses. I then did some souvenir shopping and grabbed a latte at Café Bazar (a place our tour guide said would help us to stay up for three days straight).
After the caffeine jolt, I headed over to the world famous Salzburg Marionette Theater for a performance of what I would describe puppets on crack. The show was none other than The Sound of Music (I just couldn’t get enough today). Choreographed marionettes singing and dancing their way through a shortened version of the musical – I couldn’t help but wonder how uncomfortable this would make Reagan (more or less uncomfortable than ordinary musicals? I just don’t know).
P.S. My favorite part of the puppet show was when a dancing platter with legs tap danced onto the stage and the top popped off to reveal an also dancing schnitzel with noodles. Genius, pure genius.
July 4, 2009
Location: Vienna, Austria
11:15PM local time
It’s been a few days since I’ve updated but that’s because I’ve been really busy! This Vienna portion is a group tour with the church choir. The good thing about a group tour is that things are generally planned out for you. The bad thing about a group tour is that you have to wait for an English as a second (or third or fourth) language tour guide to herd 35 slow Americans around a giant city where people in cars don’t really honor American rules like “Pedestrians have the right of way.” So I have found it necessary in some instances to break off from the group and take advantage of my own free time. Much of this free time was spent on a guided bicycle tour through Vienna. It was about three hours, and very informative, but one thing I can definitively say is that Vienna has more horse poop than any city I’ve ever seen. I spent much of the three hours on the bike trying to avoid the horse droppings that seemed to be equally spread horizontally across the entire street. Horses are kind of a big deal here (lots of significance with royalty and such) so there are lots of people dressed in period clothes waiting for some tourists to pay many Euros to jump in their buggy and go for a ride. Thus the horse crap all over the street.
One thing I learned (especially on the bike tour) is that Vienna is definitely a museum city. I’m not huge on museums (one large painting of a former Emperor looks just like another large painting of a former Emperor), so I am content learning the significance and history by staring at the front of the building a few minutes then peddling on to the next tourist attraction. So in Vienna in between rehearsals and concerts I have been catching a few sites here and there, and wandering the streets the rest of the time. Case in point: one of the coolest things I’ve seen anywhere is in front of Town Hall. During the summer there is a huge video screen (probably four stories tall) in front of which they set up chairs/bleacher seating for a couple thousand people and show different operas every night. (It’s like the outdoor movies they show in Dallas times 10 or 15, but with opera). In the park there are also food and drink vendors, each featuring cuisine from a different country. I got some stuff from the Greek stand and some Iranian beef, grabbed a beer, and sat down and enjoyed a bit of opera on the big screen. It was totally cool. Except that I got scolded in German for trying to take food and drink onto the bleachers. I’m always getting in trouble for something over here.
One night I checked my guidebook and found a place recommended for its good Mexican food and margaritas. I had to check that out, so I dragged Sara along and we went in search for Austrian margaritas. We had already eaten, which was a good thing because by the time we got to the place it had turned into a full fledged bar blaring Prince on the speakers with 20-somethings spilling out into the street. We went in and ordered a couple of margaritas (which were surprisingly okay) and socialized with a few locals.
There are several other things I have seen/done while I’ve been here: Belvedere Palace, Royal apartments, Hundterwasser, tour of the opera house, toilet of modern art, opera toilet, and of course, Weinerschnitzle. (See pictures on Facebook). Oh yeah, we did a little singing too. We performed tonight as the final performance of the International Hayden Festival in Vienna’s Konzerthaus. That was pretty cool too.
Backing up a few days – I took a train from Salzburg to Vienna last Wednesday. On the train I sat in the same car as a group of 12 and 13 year olds from Vienna returning from a class field trip. I ended up having a three hour conversation with several of the kids, who had about a million questions for me: “What kind of animals do they have in Texas?” “Do you have brothers and sisters?” “What kind of job do you have?” “Are you on holiday?” “Do you speak any other languages?” “Do you like American football?” “Do you like Rihanna?” “Have you read Twilight?” and so on and so forth for three hours. I’m not sure whether they really cared about the answers to the questions or just wanted to hear me talk in my funny accent. They were awfully giggly about my responses. When I got off the train I, the freak show from Texas, got to meet their moms, dads, brothers, and sisters. It was a fun way to pass three hours, and I was feeling a little charitable since I got to help them somewhat with their English (which was quite good for 12 year olds).
More sightseeing in Vienna tomorrow and Monday, then it’s off to Budapest. Stay tuned – again.
P.S. Leslie – I went to another H&M and found the aforementioned romper, but the smallest size would have swallowed you. Sorry! Maybe in Budapest or Prague…
July 6, 2009
Location: Vienna, Austria
10:15PM local time
On our second to last night in Vienna, the tour company had planned a traditional Viennese dinner for all the festival participants (who all happened to be American). We went to a cute little restaurant and winery and stuffed ourselves. There was also musical entertainment, a guy with a violin and another with an accordion roaming from table to table. This atmosphere, probably with encouragement from the wine, led the Americans into a sing-off. A quartet from Highland Park started with some barbershop stuff, then were answered by the University of Michigan Women’s Glee Club who sang some of their school songs. Of course we had to get in on the action, so someone started The Eyes of Texas. Even the Aggies joined in!!!! It was amazing!
Today was our last day in Vienna and we went away from the city a bit and hit up Eisensctadt (where Haydn lived) then headed to a little town called Rust where we had a Hungarian lunch and walked around the little town, which was winery after winery after winery. Unfortunately they were all closed in the middle of the day (kind of like Spain!) Then we rode a few miles over to the Hungary/Austria border and took some pictures with our passports and the border patrol police before heading back to Vienna.
P.S. Tonight, on our last night in Vienna, Sara and I ate at a Chinese restaurant.
July 7, 2009
Location: Budapest, Hungary
1:50PM local time
The whole train thing from Vienna to Budapest was a mess! I ran into the train station trying to catch a 9:50AM train with only 5 minutes to buy a ticket and board. There was a long line for tickets, so I just assumed I would have to wait two hours for the next train – a pain when you are carrying 6 tons of luggage (2 tons more than when I left Texas – thanks to H&M!) The guy I bought my ticket from 10 minutes later said that the train was delayed and leaving in two minutes, and if I ran I could catch it. So I ran – and I caught it. Except I took the first seat I found when I boarded, only to be kicked out of it by the person who reserved it.
Three hours later I was in Budapest, and since I was already at the train station I decided to go ahead and buy my ticket to Prague. Since I would be taking a night train, I thought I should go ahead and reserve a spot in a sleeper car. So I went to the ticket counter and was told to take a number and wait. I got number 436. Guess what number they were on? 652!!!! I didn’t see 784 people waiting for the agents, so I thought that maybe they do the numbers different or don’t circle all the way through 999 or something. So I waited. And I waited. And about an hour and a half later I got my ticket and reservation. I’m thinking I’m starting to get too old for this whole “backpack across Europe” thing. I don’t remember it being this hard when I was 20.
P.S. I just re-read this and it was boring. Sorry.
July 7, 2009
Location: Budapest, Hungary
6:15PM local time
I’M EATING CHIPS AND SALSA RIGHT NOW!!!!
The last time I ate was about 9AM when I grabbed half a pastry from the hotel as I was running out the door to catch the train. My guidebook recommended an American/Tex-Mex place so I came here, ordered a coke light, chips & salsa (you have to pay for them but they’re cheap!) and fajitas. I must say it’s not bad – the setup is very similar to the US. Fajitas come on sizzling skillet, with flour tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, pico, rice, & beans. The only thing is that the meat isn’t really spicy, even though I ordered the spicy beef. It’s almost teriyaki-ish but I spiced it up with a little salsa. It is definitely an honorable attempt. I think it’s closer to real tex-mex than that crap I got in Michigan the summer I lived there. Bravo, Budapest. Bravo.
I told my waiter I was from Texas and missed tex-mex food. His response was, “You’re from Texas? So is THE MAN!” I must have looked confused (which I was) because he said, “The ONLY man in Texas…Lance Armstrong.” He then reiterated over and over again what a huge fan he was, and I thought he was going to ask me for my autograph when I told him I saw Lance at a Sheryl Crow concert.
All in all, this restaurant is pretty cool. Sure, there’s no Mexican music or strolling mariachi band, but I’m okay eating my teriyaki fajitas to Frank Sinatra and Abba.
Later tonight I’m going to a Hungarian folk concert – traditional Hungarian dance and music. Should be fun!
P.S. My hotel room is super nice (thank Barb!) with a park view. I’m taking full advantage of the marble tub by washing nine days worth of dirty clothes in it.
July 7, 2009
Location: Budapest, Hungary
11:30PM local time
After the Hungarian folk show (which was pretty cool, by the way) I decided to further my Hungarian culture immersion by stopping in a Belgian bar on the river to grab a beer. I ended up with a beer called Belgian Peches, which had a picture of Manneken Pis on the front of the bottle (the famous statue in Brussels of a little boy peeing). It tasted like peach beer. Very refreshing.
P.S. The menu listed all the Belgian beers with an English description. My favorite description was for a beer called Cuvee Des Trolls. The description was half a page long, and ended with the following:
“It is definitely good to be a troll where troll-beer is so delicious. If we take a look in the mirror the following day after drinking it in an excessive way, we can see an interesting creature. A gigantic, or quite the contrary, dwarfish sylvan with a wrinkled face and projecting ears.”
Mmmm….I’ll have that.
July 8, 2009
Location: Budapest, Hungary
10:45PM local time
It has been a LONG day! I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to walk tomorrow. I woke up this morning and walked down to market hall which is kind of like a farmers market with fresh produce and meat. I ate raspberries and bananas for breakfast while browsing the souvenir stalls. Then I headed to meet my bike tour. I was the only one, so I got a private tour (complete with yellow safety vest). I soon found out why bike tours aren’t so popular in Budapest – one part of the ride was straight uphill! It was like three hours of spin class and I thought I was going to die! I did get to see some cool stuff and work off all the Wienerschnitzel from Austria.
Afterwards I could’ve collapsed, but I didn’t want to waste the day so I walked to this cool island park called St. Margaret’s Park, walked around a while, then took a nap in the grass (don’t worry – I’m not the only one that did this!) The people who weren’t napping in the grass were making out. Making out seems to be a very popular Hungarian pastime.
Now I’m at this jazz café eating Goulash (which is really just vegetable beef stew) and listening to some jazz. It’s a good way to end the night!
P.S. I’m having trouble getting the clothes dry that I washed in the tub. I’m making good use of the hairdryer.
July 9, 2009
Location: Somewhere between Budapest and Prague
8:30PM local time
As suspected, I could barely move this morning. I was aching all over from the bike adventure yesterday. So I started the day by getting on a bus. A bus that took me to a really weird place, described as a communist theme park. Basically after communism ended in Hungary in 1990, they took all the statues that had anything to do with communism and moved them out of the city then starting bussing tourists and charging admission to see them. So I rode the bus and paid my 4000 forint (that’s about $20) for the trip. It was strange.
I came back to the city and walked over the Gellert Hotel. Budapest is apparently known for their thermal baths and Gellert Hotel has some very fancy ones. I did not bring my bathing suit on this trip, and I was not about to rent one (which is an option), but I did want to see what they looked like. So I went to the hotel and bought a visitors pass, which basically enabled me to walk up and down the hallway and take a picture through the glass of one pool. Not very exciting at all. But on the way back I found this church built into a cave, so I went in and checked it out, so it wasn’t a completely useless trip.
Probably the highlight of my day was the 30 minute foot massage I got from some Thai Massage place. It was AMAZING and just what my tired feet needed! If they’d taken credit cards, I would have spent more time there. But I was leaving Budapest in a couple of hours and had planned my cash to where I had just enough, so 30 minutes was going to have to be all the pampering I could afford.
It is worth noting that there were two H&Ms within about three blocks of each other near my hotel, but I did not purchase anything at either. I am out of room in my suitcase, and am stuffing small souvenirs I keep buying into any crevice I can find.
Now I am on the train to Prague. They normally shove 6 people into the sleeper cabins, but I am the only one in mine!!!!! Yay!!!!! I thought I was going to be with a bunch of crazy American college students taking advantage of their Eurail pass – you know, me 10 years ago.
P.S. Hungarian souvenir shops had a lot of nesting dolls (hand painted wooden dolls that fit one within another). My favorites were the ones painted like real people – I saw Barack Obama, George Bush, John Kerry (I almost bought that one for my grandma – if only there was room in the suitcase), Madonna, and of course, Michael Jackson.
July 11, 2009
Location: Prague
11:30PM local time
I’ve spent the last two days here trying to figure out what this city is about. I spent much of the day yesterday wandering around to whatever statue or square my guidebook led me to. I did some people watching along the way, I was entertained by street performers (one in particular was a Dixieland Band that would put any New Orleans street band to shame), and found my way into an organ concert in an old church.
Today I spent much of the day in the Prague Castle area. Late in the afternoon I joined a bike tour that went (uphill of course) to some parks and other areas that offered a great view of the city. The company that did the bike your also runs the “Official Pub Crawl of Prague.” Seeing as how drinking is pretty much what you do in Prague, I had every intention of tagging along after the bike tour. I never planned to get sloshed, but I certainly wanted to at least see what happens on the Official Pub Crawl of Prague.
But as I rolled my bike back into the shed I saw a long line of people waiting to pay their 390 Kcs and get their wristband (and free t-shirt!) and I started to have doubts. One girl (who was already half naked) was taking pictures of her cleavage. Another guy with a Mohawk and what appeared to be a Sharpie mustache was telling someone else he had been on the pub crawl the night before and it was “totally rad.” I asked the bike tour guide how many people they usually have and he said that tonight they were expecting about 200. WHAT!?!?!? Ten years ago I could have done this and I would have had a blast. But tonight, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
So I took a 30 minute stroll back to a cute little area we passed on the bike tour, found a Greek café with live music, and ordered an excellent meal with a beer! Around the corner I stopped in a bar/club recommended by my guidebook as an expat scene and had a drink there. I don’t know if there were expats there or not, but the crowd was a little more relatable. Regardless, I was tired, so I had one drink then caught a cab back to the Botel (that’s where I’m staying – it’s a hotel on a boat – thus a Botel). So turns out I did do my version of pubbing and clubbing, I just didn’t have to pay someone to lead me on a crawl.
P.S. One of the many street performers I saw today was singing “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” No joke – video to follow.
July 12, 2009
Location: Prague
7:45PM local time
Today I wandered around a while and came across this thing called The Brick Project. For about $5 or so you can buy a brick and paint it then they add it to their wall of bricks. The project benefits people with mental disabilities. I can now report that kproc.com (along with the Texas Longhorns) is proudly represented on one of the busiest streets in Prague. Now if only I could get some Czech person to sign my guestbook!
Then I made my way to Vyshyrad – an area that used to be a fortress. I ate some Czech goulash (which I thought was rather tasty) and just kind of Czeched things out (get it? Not checked by Czeched? I can’t really take credit – it’s all over t-shirts here that say “Czech me out!” Hehe). I then headed to New Town where I found an English language bookstore filled with Americans. I got a 500 page book since I have an 8 hour train ride tomorrow, and a 9+ hour flight on Tuesday (supplemented with a 2.5 hour layover in Chicago), so a 500 page book might come in handy. Then I ordered a Coke lite in the coffee shop in the bookstore and listened to some women from California talk about the houses they left behind and how they were really nice houses on a nice piece of land, not like in a place like Dallas where they are built too close together (they really said that – having no clue the person two feet away from them was from Dallas!) I just sipped my diet coke and pretended to read an OK! Magazine while eavesdropping on their convo (yes I just said convo).
Afterwards I went to an English language church service at Prague Christian Fellowship, chatted with a Mexican, an Australian, a couple of Czechs, and a couple of Americans then set out for dinner.
(Pause: The girl sitting next to me just took off her shoes, took a picture of her feet, then laughed – not sure what’s going on there.)
I was planning on heading back to the main square in Old Town and getting a table facing the square so I could do some people watching. When I got here there were all kinds of food and drink tents and a giant stage set up – sooooo apparently there is a jazz festival going on. So I got a grilled sausage on a bun, a beer, and found a curb where I’ve perched myself, listening to some Swedish chick named Josefine Lindstrom perform, while trying not to notice the girl next to me taking pictures of her feet and giggling. Interesting way to end my last day here.
P.S. I just sneezed and giggly photo feet girl said “bless you.” I think she’s American.
July 12, 2009
Location: Prague
10:15PM local time
Moments after writing the last entry, giggly photo feet girl struck up a conversation with me. We ended up talking about two hours on the curb while the jazz played on. It was a very interesting discussion. I thought I was independent and adventuresome but she puts me to shame. She is definitely what you would call a free spirit. Her name is Nicole and she’s a 29 year old bartender from San Francisco. She got to Europe in April by taking a train across the US (which takes 5 days), then a boat across the ocean (11 day trip). Since April she has been jumping from town to town on a Eurail pass, never knowing where she’s going next or how long she will stay. She’s trying to make her budget last until August, but isn’t quite sure how or when she’ll return to the US. She’s done some crazy things while she’s been here – she told a story of how she randomly ended up getting invited to and attending a Moroccan wedding in Antwerp. This girl is like a movie waiting to be made.
P.S. When discussing the different options for traveling across Europe, she said she preferred to travel by train because she smokes pot and it’s much less of a security hassle to go by train. I guess I’ve never really considered the optimal way to transport pot across Europe. I politely declined her offer to get high tonight – then headed back to my botel.
July 13. 2009
Location: Frankfurt, Germany
To be clear, I am not visiting Frankfurt. I merely took a train here today from Prague, and I’m staying at a little hotel near the airport, all for the purpose of catching a plane back home tomorrow. But now that my trip has come to a close, time to reflect.
Two and a half weeks is a long time. I have enjoyed my trip, but am definitely ready to come home. I have decided that this will probably be my last “backpack across Europe” trip. No I did not literally backpack – I took a rolling duffle bag – but I think I’m too old to hop trains from city to city and stay at cheap hotels and try to change cities every three or four days. I managed it this time, but I think next time I’ll stay put in just one (or two places) and splurge a little on the hotel. My hotels in Vienna and Budapest were really nice, and it definitely made a difference. It’s not that the Salzburg and Prague hotels were bad, it’s just that you never really know what you are going to get when you book $50/night rooms. And I personally like to be able to shave my legs in the shower, a task that is difficult when the shower is so small you can’t move without knocking over the shampoo (which sits on the tile floor, by the way, because there is no shelf). I’m okay with my backpacking days coming to an end, because I’ve seen most of the cities I want to see in Europe and no longer feel the need to string three or four or more together when I visit.
So, I know you will all be asking “What city did you like best? Least?” Etc. So here’s my city by city recap.
Salzburg: This was a great place to start off my trip. I really liked the smaller town feel of this place. There were lots of tourists, but it was up in the hills, away from a giant European city, and the culture was fun. I did enjoy the Sound of Music Tour and all the Mozart stuff. I do, however, think that Salzburg (and to some extent Vienna) is made to be visited over Christmas. They make a big deal about Christmas (there were even quite a few Christmas stores open in June) and have great Christmas markets and stuff like that. With the music and the culture, I can see Salzburg being a really great place for that time of year. Sure, it will be cold, but I think it will be worth it. Maybe you can even go skiing!
Vienna: This part of the trip was seven days with a tour group. You’d think there would be some more cultural presence (with all the music history and composers and such) but I saw Vienna as more of a giant European city. I was expecting the charm to be some old town stuck in the 1800s still living off the glory of the old composers, but actually Vienna was more cosmopolitan than I thought it would be. In a lot of ways it reminded me of Uptown in Dallas. The way things were set up and people were lounging around, it was like one giant scene. I did have a great experience though with the choir, singing at the Koncerthaus and participating in some of the group stuff they had planned for the festival participants (traditional dinners, concerts, etc.) But I only got to experience those things because of the festival which was the whole reason we were there. So I think if I had just gone to visit Vienna on vacation I would have been disappointed.
Budapest: I LOVED Budapest! I think this was definitely my favorite place (with Salzburg a close second!) It just seemed different than all the giant European cities I’ve visited. I think because it’s further east in Europe than I’ve ever been, so I could definitely see some Turkish and Russian influence here. The culture was just totally different than the rest of Europe. The people were friendlier (they actually waved you across the street if you were waiting in the crosswalk instead of running you over!), and the atmosphere was lively (interesting street performers and good people watching) but laid back. I just really enjoyed Budapest and am SO GLAD I added it to my itinerary! I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone and I will definitely go back!
Prague: I’ve decided that Prague is the New Orleans of Europe. It’s funny because I bought a guide book, but there’s not a ton of stuff to “See” here (with the exception of the castle area). My guidebook would lead me somewhere, then say “Now look at the statue. A lot of people find the tail of the horse to be a good meeting point.” But there is a lovely town square with lots of cafes and street performers and stuff that was very enjoyable. There was a band playing that New Orleans jazz music and they were probably better than any band like that I’ve seen in New Orleans. Throw in the horse drawn carriages, the souvenir shops, and the drinking and being in Prague is just like being in one giant Bourbon street city. I really should have gone there 10 years ago though. I fear my pub crawling days are behind me, and I think I really would have had a lot of fun if I’d visited Prague when I had the stamina to stay out all night!
All in all, it was a great trip with no real catastrophes. Though I’m not sure how long it will take me to recover! Jet lag, aching feet and legs and back – I’m an old lady! I can’t wait to get back home now to the things I’ve missed the most: good tex-mex, country music, weekends at the lake or by the pool, So You Think You Can Dance, and friends and family!
P.S. I was listening to my Itunes on the train, and when Willie Nelson came on, I got a little tear in my eye!
June 25, 2009
In three days I will embark on an adventure. My blue neck pillow, Us Weekly magazine and I will board an American Airlines flight to Frankfurt, Germany where I'll begin my two and a half week trek through Eastern Europe. This will be, undisputedly, the longest vacation I've ever taken. I've been on long trips, but they always included an element of work or school. Sure study abroad doesn't usually include much "studying," but at the end of the day I still had to prove to that smelly chain smoking American-hating French lady I could correctly compute the Weighted Average Cost of Capital. This vacation will have none of that - it's simply four cities, three countries, in 16 days. To that I say, bring it.
My itinerary is loosely structured in some areas, and planned to the minute in other areas. The whole basis for this trip is that the sanctuary choir at my church (of which I am a member) and a choir from another church in Dallas are performing Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass at the International Haydn Festival in Vienna. For about a week of my trip I will be stationed in Vienna with the other choir members, following an hour by hour itinerary that includes rehearsals, concerts, castle visits, city tours, and hopefully, wienerschnitzel. However I decided to take advantage of the fact that I will be in a part of the world I have never visited before and tack on some travel time before and after. So other than the week long minute by minute schedule I will adhere to while in Vienna, I don’t have much planned other than a plane ticket (thank you 60,000 AA miles) and a hotel reservation or two. Here’s my schedule:
June 29: arrive in Frankfurt, train to Salzburg, Austria
June 29 – July 1: explore Salzburg (the main purpose for this visit is to go on The Sound of Music Tour)
July 1 – July 7: Vienna, Austria
July 8 – July 10: Budapest, Hungary
July 11 – July 13: Prague, Czech Republic
July 14: train to Frankfurt, return to US
This particular trip has been years in the making. The planning started almost two years ago, and given the fact that I was using miles for my plane ticket and was concerned about availability of seats, my flight was booked in August of 2008. But the real preparation for the trip only recently began. My renewed passport arrived a couple of months ago. For the past couple of weeks I’ve been busy researching hotels, making lists of stuff to bring, shopping, and looking for my darn travel converter bag with all the different outlet adapters for all the different countries (where the heck is that thing!?!?!?) A key part of my preparation has been research – I’ve thumbed through the eight guidebooks I have, I am re-viewing The Sound of Music and will be doing the same with the movie Amadeus before I depart, and I spend time every evening Wikipedia-ing the cities I will be visiting to learn about their history and culture. But don’t ask me how to speak the language or how the currency works – for that I’ll just wing it.
Some of you balked at the revelation that, with the exception of the Vienna portion, I will be traveling alone. I will remind you that I invited you to join me, and your responses ranged from “In This Economy?” to “Budapest? WTF?” to “Let me think about it” and I guess you are still thinking. It’s not too late to join me! But even if you can’t, I will remind you that some of my most interesting and vivid memories from trips I’ve taken were experienced when I was traveling alone. There was the time in Munich when I joined a beer tour and became fast friends with some Australians and a family from Russia while eating this:
There was the time I was in Beijing (where I discovered the culinary excellence of a green bean flavored popsicle – that’s sarcasm) when it took me a couple of days to figure out why people were always staring at me. Turns out it was because I have blonde hair. Some people even wanted to take a picture with me.
Then there was the time in Taiwan when I serenaded the karaoke bar with my rendition of Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain.” All GREAT memories – in all cases there was not another American I knew in sight.
So who knows what this trip will hold? I’m going to try to blog about my experiences on kproc.com, and I’ll post pictures on Facebook as often as I can. So stay tuned…
June 28, 2009
Location: Dallas
2:30PM Texas time
9:30PM Germany time
I just boarded my direct flight from DFW to Frankfurt, Germany. I’m seated in the window seat of my choice, next to Moses, who I recently discovered is a student at Dallas Theological Seminary, but is originally from Africa. I want to ask him what he’s going to Europe for but I figure it’s a nine and half hour flight, so I’m sure we’ll get to it eventually. I took some cough syrup my doctor prescribed last week when I started to feel sick, so it’s only a matter of time before I zonk out. Feeling sleepy already.
P.S. The guy in seat 33A just stuffed a giant pimp hat (the furry, feathery, purple one like you see in New Orleans) in the overhead bin.
June 29, 2009
Location: Frankfurt en route to Munich en route to Salzburg
2:05AM Texas time
9:05AM local time
I exited the plane, took one deep breath, and was sure my plane landed where it was intended. The unmistakable smell of Europe was in the air – overwhelming body odor plus cigarettes (even though it’s a non-smoking airport according to signage. I like that word – signage. I’m going to try to work it in more often). I headed towards customs and made a pit stop at the ladies room where I was entertained by three Japanese women struggling to figure out how to get the water to turn on. Then I went through customs (trying not to cough or sniffle – they tend to not let you in if they think you have Swine Flu), claimed my bag, and followed the signage (hee hee) to long distance trains. I bought a ticket to Salzburg (changing trains in Munich), a journey which would take about five and a half hours. Before boarding the train I stopped to grab a luke-warm coca lite (aka diet coke) from a juice stand. I handed over my 2 Euro, and the attendant working exclaimed enthusiastically “Welcome to Germany!” I didn’t tell him I wasn’t staying.
So now I’m on the train, having flashbacks to my time in college when my group would take over one entire car then send someone to the snack car to grab a bunch of Toblerone’s. Who can I send to get my Toblerone today? I’m sure one of the four Japanese guys sitting in front of me would be eager to do such a thing.
P.S. Moses was just connecting through Frankfurt. He’s heading to Johannesburg to visit his family before returning to Dallas in the fall to continue school. I told you we’d get to it.
June 29, 2009
Location: Salzburg, Austria
10:30AM Texas time
5:30PM local time
I’m making myself stay up until at least 8:30PM tonight to try to combat jet lag. So when I arrived at my hotel in Salzburg, I showered to wake up. It’s amazing how good actually being clean feels – I may try to make a habit of it. My hotel is very modest, but clean with a bed, private toilet and shower, and helpful staff. What more could a girl traveling on a budget ask for? The man at the front desk sold me a Salzburg card (covers entrance into all major tourist sites and use of public transportation for 48 hours) and signed me up for the Sound of Music Tour tomorrow. Then I hopped on a bus and headed to Old Town in hopes of finding Mozart, or at least his birthplace. I found it, and I went through the tour of the house, getting in trouble only once for taking pictures.
I then strolled around Old Town looking for a place to eat (my last meal was a croissant and yogurt on the plane at 6AM). Currently I’m sitting at an outdoor café and Mozartplatz (outdoor plaza) drinking a beer and eating….what else? Sausage. Although I would describe this as hot dogs. The mustard on the plate kind of looks like doodie, and the wieners are pale, but it came with a nice pretzel. All in all, I find it tasty, in an Austrian hot dog sort of way…
Three more things:
I have been taking a lot of pictures of stuff that I have no idea what it is. But it looks important (and old), so I figure I’ll look it up and learn about it later.
I went into a souvenir shop named after Mozart, selling nothing but Mozart paraphernalia, and guess what they were playing as the background music? The Four Tops. Go figure.
I see lots of women dressed very traditionally – you know the long patterned busty dresses (and LOTs of shops seem to specialize in this style). All they’re missing is a few beer mugs, some braided pigtails, and a breast enhancement. I’m not sure if these women are performers in some show or if this is their normal dress? Regardless, I’m really trying to work up the nerve to ask one of them to take a picture with me.
P.S. I went in an H&M for the first time ever today. It was everything I thought it would be and more. I bought two shirts (despite my lack of packing excess) and almost bought a romper. Yes a romper Leslie. Cute romper, good price, but at the end of the day I just didn’t think I could pull it off.
June 30, 2009
Location: Mondsee, Austria
12:30PM local time
No longer care what time it is Texas time
Mondsee is a small town about 30 minutes outside Austria. I am here because it is a stop along The Sound of Music Tour; The wedding scene was filmed inside a chapel here. We made our way up here on a bus with about 40 people drinking Austrian beer and singing along to The Sound of Music soundtrack. I can’t help but think that this is how Rodgers and Hammerstein intended for us to enjoy The Sound of Music. I met a nice couple from California – Emily sings along to every word of every song while Eric drinks a lot of beer. I get the feeling this is kind of how the relationship goes. I have a nice arrangement with them – I take pictures of them that will probably end up on a Christmas card and they take pictures of me acting out Do Re Mi hand signs. We are stopped for lunch now, but I can’t wait to get back on the bus because I think the Do Re Mi song is next in the singalong.
P.S. Our tour guide is one of those typical funny guy tour guides. He asked how I enjoyed the tour so far, I said I loved it, and he said “If you marry an Austrian you can stay.” I think he was trying to hook me up with the bus driver, who seems nice, but is lacking one too many teeth for my taste.
June 30, 2009
Location: Salzburg, Austria
11PM local time
After The Sound of Music Tour, I went to visit Mozart’s Residence (where he lived for seven years in a larger house than his birthplace – his family gave concerts here). One of the cool things about both Mozart houses is that they had live entertainment – people playing Mozart on the instruments in the rooms of the houses. I then did some souvenir shopping and grabbed a latte at Café Bazar (a place our tour guide said would help us to stay up for three days straight).
After the caffeine jolt, I headed over to the world famous Salzburg Marionette Theater for a performance of what I would describe puppets on crack. The show was none other than The Sound of Music (I just couldn’t get enough today). Choreographed marionettes singing and dancing their way through a shortened version of the musical – I couldn’t help but wonder how uncomfortable this would make Reagan (more or less uncomfortable than ordinary musicals? I just don’t know).
P.S. My favorite part of the puppet show was when a dancing platter with legs tap danced onto the stage and the top popped off to reveal an also dancing schnitzel with noodles. Genius, pure genius.
July 4, 2009
Location: Vienna, Austria
11:15PM local time
It’s been a few days since I’ve updated but that’s because I’ve been really busy! This Vienna portion is a group tour with the church choir. The good thing about a group tour is that things are generally planned out for you. The bad thing about a group tour is that you have to wait for an English as a second (or third or fourth) language tour guide to herd 35 slow Americans around a giant city where people in cars don’t really honor American rules like “Pedestrians have the right of way.” So I have found it necessary in some instances to break off from the group and take advantage of my own free time. Much of this free time was spent on a guided bicycle tour through Vienna. It was about three hours, and very informative, but one thing I can definitively say is that Vienna has more horse poop than any city I’ve ever seen. I spent much of the three hours on the bike trying to avoid the horse droppings that seemed to be equally spread horizontally across the entire street. Horses are kind of a big deal here (lots of significance with royalty and such) so there are lots of people dressed in period clothes waiting for some tourists to pay many Euros to jump in their buggy and go for a ride. Thus the horse crap all over the street.
One thing I learned (especially on the bike tour) is that Vienna is definitely a museum city. I’m not huge on museums (one large painting of a former Emperor looks just like another large painting of a former Emperor), so I am content learning the significance and history by staring at the front of the building a few minutes then peddling on to the next tourist attraction. So in Vienna in between rehearsals and concerts I have been catching a few sites here and there, and wandering the streets the rest of the time. Case in point: one of the coolest things I’ve seen anywhere is in front of Town Hall. During the summer there is a huge video screen (probably four stories tall) in front of which they set up chairs/bleacher seating for a couple thousand people and show different operas every night. (It’s like the outdoor movies they show in Dallas times 10 or 15, but with opera). In the park there are also food and drink vendors, each featuring cuisine from a different country. I got some stuff from the Greek stand and some Iranian beef, grabbed a beer, and sat down and enjoyed a bit of opera on the big screen. It was totally cool. Except that I got scolded in German for trying to take food and drink onto the bleachers. I’m always getting in trouble for something over here.
One night I checked my guidebook and found a place recommended for its good Mexican food and margaritas. I had to check that out, so I dragged Sara along and we went in search for Austrian margaritas. We had already eaten, which was a good thing because by the time we got to the place it had turned into a full fledged bar blaring Prince on the speakers with 20-somethings spilling out into the street. We went in and ordered a couple of margaritas (which were surprisingly okay) and socialized with a few locals.
There are several other things I have seen/done while I’ve been here: Belvedere Palace, Royal apartments, Hundterwasser, tour of the opera house, toilet of modern art, opera toilet, and of course, Weinerschnitzle. (See pictures on Facebook). Oh yeah, we did a little singing too. We performed tonight as the final performance of the International Hayden Festival in Vienna’s Konzerthaus. That was pretty cool too.
Backing up a few days – I took a train from Salzburg to Vienna last Wednesday. On the train I sat in the same car as a group of 12 and 13 year olds from Vienna returning from a class field trip. I ended up having a three hour conversation with several of the kids, who had about a million questions for me: “What kind of animals do they have in Texas?” “Do you have brothers and sisters?” “What kind of job do you have?” “Are you on holiday?” “Do you speak any other languages?” “Do you like American football?” “Do you like Rihanna?” “Have you read Twilight?” and so on and so forth for three hours. I’m not sure whether they really cared about the answers to the questions or just wanted to hear me talk in my funny accent. They were awfully giggly about my responses. When I got off the train I, the freak show from Texas, got to meet their moms, dads, brothers, and sisters. It was a fun way to pass three hours, and I was feeling a little charitable since I got to help them somewhat with their English (which was quite good for 12 year olds).
More sightseeing in Vienna tomorrow and Monday, then it’s off to Budapest. Stay tuned – again.
P.S. Leslie – I went to another H&M and found the aforementioned romper, but the smallest size would have swallowed you. Sorry! Maybe in Budapest or Prague…
July 6, 2009
Location: Vienna, Austria
10:15PM local time
On our second to last night in Vienna, the tour company had planned a traditional Viennese dinner for all the festival participants (who all happened to be American). We went to a cute little restaurant and winery and stuffed ourselves. There was also musical entertainment, a guy with a violin and another with an accordion roaming from table to table. This atmosphere, probably with encouragement from the wine, led the Americans into a sing-off. A quartet from Highland Park started with some barbershop stuff, then were answered by the University of Michigan Women’s Glee Club who sang some of their school songs. Of course we had to get in on the action, so someone started The Eyes of Texas. Even the Aggies joined in!!!! It was amazing!
Today was our last day in Vienna and we went away from the city a bit and hit up Eisensctadt (where Haydn lived) then headed to a little town called Rust where we had a Hungarian lunch and walked around the little town, which was winery after winery after winery. Unfortunately they were all closed in the middle of the day (kind of like Spain!) Then we rode a few miles over to the Hungary/Austria border and took some pictures with our passports and the border patrol police before heading back to Vienna.
P.S. Tonight, on our last night in Vienna, Sara and I ate at a Chinese restaurant.
July 7, 2009
Location: Budapest, Hungary
1:50PM local time
The whole train thing from Vienna to Budapest was a mess! I ran into the train station trying to catch a 9:50AM train with only 5 minutes to buy a ticket and board. There was a long line for tickets, so I just assumed I would have to wait two hours for the next train – a pain when you are carrying 6 tons of luggage (2 tons more than when I left Texas – thanks to H&M!) The guy I bought my ticket from 10 minutes later said that the train was delayed and leaving in two minutes, and if I ran I could catch it. So I ran – and I caught it. Except I took the first seat I found when I boarded, only to be kicked out of it by the person who reserved it.
Three hours later I was in Budapest, and since I was already at the train station I decided to go ahead and buy my ticket to Prague. Since I would be taking a night train, I thought I should go ahead and reserve a spot in a sleeper car. So I went to the ticket counter and was told to take a number and wait. I got number 436. Guess what number they were on? 652!!!! I didn’t see 784 people waiting for the agents, so I thought that maybe they do the numbers different or don’t circle all the way through 999 or something. So I waited. And I waited. And about an hour and a half later I got my ticket and reservation. I’m thinking I’m starting to get too old for this whole “backpack across Europe” thing. I don’t remember it being this hard when I was 20.
P.S. I just re-read this and it was boring. Sorry.
July 7, 2009
Location: Budapest, Hungary
6:15PM local time
I’M EATING CHIPS AND SALSA RIGHT NOW!!!!
The last time I ate was about 9AM when I grabbed half a pastry from the hotel as I was running out the door to catch the train. My guidebook recommended an American/Tex-Mex place so I came here, ordered a coke light, chips & salsa (you have to pay for them but they’re cheap!) and fajitas. I must say it’s not bad – the setup is very similar to the US. Fajitas come on sizzling skillet, with flour tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, pico, rice, & beans. The only thing is that the meat isn’t really spicy, even though I ordered the spicy beef. It’s almost teriyaki-ish but I spiced it up with a little salsa. It is definitely an honorable attempt. I think it’s closer to real tex-mex than that crap I got in Michigan the summer I lived there. Bravo, Budapest. Bravo.
I told my waiter I was from Texas and missed tex-mex food. His response was, “You’re from Texas? So is THE MAN!” I must have looked confused (which I was) because he said, “The ONLY man in Texas…Lance Armstrong.” He then reiterated over and over again what a huge fan he was, and I thought he was going to ask me for my autograph when I told him I saw Lance at a Sheryl Crow concert.
All in all, this restaurant is pretty cool. Sure, there’s no Mexican music or strolling mariachi band, but I’m okay eating my teriyaki fajitas to Frank Sinatra and Abba.
Later tonight I’m going to a Hungarian folk concert – traditional Hungarian dance and music. Should be fun!
P.S. My hotel room is super nice (thank Barb!) with a park view. I’m taking full advantage of the marble tub by washing nine days worth of dirty clothes in it.
July 7, 2009
Location: Budapest, Hungary
11:30PM local time
After the Hungarian folk show (which was pretty cool, by the way) I decided to further my Hungarian culture immersion by stopping in a Belgian bar on the river to grab a beer. I ended up with a beer called Belgian Peches, which had a picture of Manneken Pis on the front of the bottle (the famous statue in Brussels of a little boy peeing). It tasted like peach beer. Very refreshing.
P.S. The menu listed all the Belgian beers with an English description. My favorite description was for a beer called Cuvee Des Trolls. The description was half a page long, and ended with the following:
“It is definitely good to be a troll where troll-beer is so delicious. If we take a look in the mirror the following day after drinking it in an excessive way, we can see an interesting creature. A gigantic, or quite the contrary, dwarfish sylvan with a wrinkled face and projecting ears.”
Mmmm….I’ll have that.
July 8, 2009
Location: Budapest, Hungary
10:45PM local time
It has been a LONG day! I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to walk tomorrow. I woke up this morning and walked down to market hall which is kind of like a farmers market with fresh produce and meat. I ate raspberries and bananas for breakfast while browsing the souvenir stalls. Then I headed to meet my bike tour. I was the only one, so I got a private tour (complete with yellow safety vest). I soon found out why bike tours aren’t so popular in Budapest – one part of the ride was straight uphill! It was like three hours of spin class and I thought I was going to die! I did get to see some cool stuff and work off all the Wienerschnitzel from Austria.
Afterwards I could’ve collapsed, but I didn’t want to waste the day so I walked to this cool island park called St. Margaret’s Park, walked around a while, then took a nap in the grass (don’t worry – I’m not the only one that did this!) The people who weren’t napping in the grass were making out. Making out seems to be a very popular Hungarian pastime.
Now I’m at this jazz café eating Goulash (which is really just vegetable beef stew) and listening to some jazz. It’s a good way to end the night!
P.S. I’m having trouble getting the clothes dry that I washed in the tub. I’m making good use of the hairdryer.
July 9, 2009
Location: Somewhere between Budapest and Prague
8:30PM local time
As suspected, I could barely move this morning. I was aching all over from the bike adventure yesterday. So I started the day by getting on a bus. A bus that took me to a really weird place, described as a communist theme park. Basically after communism ended in Hungary in 1990, they took all the statues that had anything to do with communism and moved them out of the city then starting bussing tourists and charging admission to see them. So I rode the bus and paid my 4000 forint (that’s about $20) for the trip. It was strange.
I came back to the city and walked over the Gellert Hotel. Budapest is apparently known for their thermal baths and Gellert Hotel has some very fancy ones. I did not bring my bathing suit on this trip, and I was not about to rent one (which is an option), but I did want to see what they looked like. So I went to the hotel and bought a visitors pass, which basically enabled me to walk up and down the hallway and take a picture through the glass of one pool. Not very exciting at all. But on the way back I found this church built into a cave, so I went in and checked it out, so it wasn’t a completely useless trip.
Probably the highlight of my day was the 30 minute foot massage I got from some Thai Massage place. It was AMAZING and just what my tired feet needed! If they’d taken credit cards, I would have spent more time there. But I was leaving Budapest in a couple of hours and had planned my cash to where I had just enough, so 30 minutes was going to have to be all the pampering I could afford.
It is worth noting that there were two H&Ms within about three blocks of each other near my hotel, but I did not purchase anything at either. I am out of room in my suitcase, and am stuffing small souvenirs I keep buying into any crevice I can find.
Now I am on the train to Prague. They normally shove 6 people into the sleeper cabins, but I am the only one in mine!!!!! Yay!!!!! I thought I was going to be with a bunch of crazy American college students taking advantage of their Eurail pass – you know, me 10 years ago.
P.S. Hungarian souvenir shops had a lot of nesting dolls (hand painted wooden dolls that fit one within another). My favorites were the ones painted like real people – I saw Barack Obama, George Bush, John Kerry (I almost bought that one for my grandma – if only there was room in the suitcase), Madonna, and of course, Michael Jackson.
July 11, 2009
Location: Prague
11:30PM local time
I’ve spent the last two days here trying to figure out what this city is about. I spent much of the day yesterday wandering around to whatever statue or square my guidebook led me to. I did some people watching along the way, I was entertained by street performers (one in particular was a Dixieland Band that would put any New Orleans street band to shame), and found my way into an organ concert in an old church.
Today I spent much of the day in the Prague Castle area. Late in the afternoon I joined a bike tour that went (uphill of course) to some parks and other areas that offered a great view of the city. The company that did the bike your also runs the “Official Pub Crawl of Prague.” Seeing as how drinking is pretty much what you do in Prague, I had every intention of tagging along after the bike tour. I never planned to get sloshed, but I certainly wanted to at least see what happens on the Official Pub Crawl of Prague.
But as I rolled my bike back into the shed I saw a long line of people waiting to pay their 390 Kcs and get their wristband (and free t-shirt!) and I started to have doubts. One girl (who was already half naked) was taking pictures of her cleavage. Another guy with a Mohawk and what appeared to be a Sharpie mustache was telling someone else he had been on the pub crawl the night before and it was “totally rad.” I asked the bike tour guide how many people they usually have and he said that tonight they were expecting about 200. WHAT!?!?!? Ten years ago I could have done this and I would have had a blast. But tonight, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
So I took a 30 minute stroll back to a cute little area we passed on the bike tour, found a Greek café with live music, and ordered an excellent meal with a beer! Around the corner I stopped in a bar/club recommended by my guidebook as an expat scene and had a drink there. I don’t know if there were expats there or not, but the crowd was a little more relatable. Regardless, I was tired, so I had one drink then caught a cab back to the Botel (that’s where I’m staying – it’s a hotel on a boat – thus a Botel). So turns out I did do my version of pubbing and clubbing, I just didn’t have to pay someone to lead me on a crawl.
P.S. One of the many street performers I saw today was singing “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” No joke – video to follow.
July 12, 2009
Location: Prague
7:45PM local time
Today I wandered around a while and came across this thing called The Brick Project. For about $5 or so you can buy a brick and paint it then they add it to their wall of bricks. The project benefits people with mental disabilities. I can now report that kproc.com (along with the Texas Longhorns) is proudly represented on one of the busiest streets in Prague. Now if only I could get some Czech person to sign my guestbook!
Then I made my way to Vyshyrad – an area that used to be a fortress. I ate some Czech goulash (which I thought was rather tasty) and just kind of Czeched things out (get it? Not checked by Czeched? I can’t really take credit – it’s all over t-shirts here that say “Czech me out!” Hehe). I then headed to New Town where I found an English language bookstore filled with Americans. I got a 500 page book since I have an 8 hour train ride tomorrow, and a 9+ hour flight on Tuesday (supplemented with a 2.5 hour layover in Chicago), so a 500 page book might come in handy. Then I ordered a Coke lite in the coffee shop in the bookstore and listened to some women from California talk about the houses they left behind and how they were really nice houses on a nice piece of land, not like in a place like Dallas where they are built too close together (they really said that – having no clue the person two feet away from them was from Dallas!) I just sipped my diet coke and pretended to read an OK! Magazine while eavesdropping on their convo (yes I just said convo).
Afterwards I went to an English language church service at Prague Christian Fellowship, chatted with a Mexican, an Australian, a couple of Czechs, and a couple of Americans then set out for dinner.
(Pause: The girl sitting next to me just took off her shoes, took a picture of her feet, then laughed – not sure what’s going on there.)
I was planning on heading back to the main square in Old Town and getting a table facing the square so I could do some people watching. When I got here there were all kinds of food and drink tents and a giant stage set up – sooooo apparently there is a jazz festival going on. So I got a grilled sausage on a bun, a beer, and found a curb where I’ve perched myself, listening to some Swedish chick named Josefine Lindstrom perform, while trying not to notice the girl next to me taking pictures of her feet and giggling. Interesting way to end my last day here.
P.S. I just sneezed and giggly photo feet girl said “bless you.” I think she’s American.
July 12, 2009
Location: Prague
10:15PM local time
Moments after writing the last entry, giggly photo feet girl struck up a conversation with me. We ended up talking about two hours on the curb while the jazz played on. It was a very interesting discussion. I thought I was independent and adventuresome but she puts me to shame. She is definitely what you would call a free spirit. Her name is Nicole and she’s a 29 year old bartender from San Francisco. She got to Europe in April by taking a train across the US (which takes 5 days), then a boat across the ocean (11 day trip). Since April she has been jumping from town to town on a Eurail pass, never knowing where she’s going next or how long she will stay. She’s trying to make her budget last until August, but isn’t quite sure how or when she’ll return to the US. She’s done some crazy things while she’s been here – she told a story of how she randomly ended up getting invited to and attending a Moroccan wedding in Antwerp. This girl is like a movie waiting to be made.
P.S. When discussing the different options for traveling across Europe, she said she preferred to travel by train because she smokes pot and it’s much less of a security hassle to go by train. I guess I’ve never really considered the optimal way to transport pot across Europe. I politely declined her offer to get high tonight – then headed back to my botel.
July 13. 2009
Location: Frankfurt, Germany
To be clear, I am not visiting Frankfurt. I merely took a train here today from Prague, and I’m staying at a little hotel near the airport, all for the purpose of catching a plane back home tomorrow. But now that my trip has come to a close, time to reflect.
Two and a half weeks is a long time. I have enjoyed my trip, but am definitely ready to come home. I have decided that this will probably be my last “backpack across Europe” trip. No I did not literally backpack – I took a rolling duffle bag – but I think I’m too old to hop trains from city to city and stay at cheap hotels and try to change cities every three or four days. I managed it this time, but I think next time I’ll stay put in just one (or two places) and splurge a little on the hotel. My hotels in Vienna and Budapest were really nice, and it definitely made a difference. It’s not that the Salzburg and Prague hotels were bad, it’s just that you never really know what you are going to get when you book $50/night rooms. And I personally like to be able to shave my legs in the shower, a task that is difficult when the shower is so small you can’t move without knocking over the shampoo (which sits on the tile floor, by the way, because there is no shelf). I’m okay with my backpacking days coming to an end, because I’ve seen most of the cities I want to see in Europe and no longer feel the need to string three or four or more together when I visit.
So, I know you will all be asking “What city did you like best? Least?” Etc. So here’s my city by city recap.
Salzburg: This was a great place to start off my trip. I really liked the smaller town feel of this place. There were lots of tourists, but it was up in the hills, away from a giant European city, and the culture was fun. I did enjoy the Sound of Music Tour and all the Mozart stuff. I do, however, think that Salzburg (and to some extent Vienna) is made to be visited over Christmas. They make a big deal about Christmas (there were even quite a few Christmas stores open in June) and have great Christmas markets and stuff like that. With the music and the culture, I can see Salzburg being a really great place for that time of year. Sure, it will be cold, but I think it will be worth it. Maybe you can even go skiing!
Vienna: This part of the trip was seven days with a tour group. You’d think there would be some more cultural presence (with all the music history and composers and such) but I saw Vienna as more of a giant European city. I was expecting the charm to be some old town stuck in the 1800s still living off the glory of the old composers, but actually Vienna was more cosmopolitan than I thought it would be. In a lot of ways it reminded me of Uptown in Dallas. The way things were set up and people were lounging around, it was like one giant scene. I did have a great experience though with the choir, singing at the Koncerthaus and participating in some of the group stuff they had planned for the festival participants (traditional dinners, concerts, etc.) But I only got to experience those things because of the festival which was the whole reason we were there. So I think if I had just gone to visit Vienna on vacation I would have been disappointed.
Budapest: I LOVED Budapest! I think this was definitely my favorite place (with Salzburg a close second!) It just seemed different than all the giant European cities I’ve visited. I think because it’s further east in Europe than I’ve ever been, so I could definitely see some Turkish and Russian influence here. The culture was just totally different than the rest of Europe. The people were friendlier (they actually waved you across the street if you were waiting in the crosswalk instead of running you over!), and the atmosphere was lively (interesting street performers and good people watching) but laid back. I just really enjoyed Budapest and am SO GLAD I added it to my itinerary! I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone and I will definitely go back!
Prague: I’ve decided that Prague is the New Orleans of Europe. It’s funny because I bought a guide book, but there’s not a ton of stuff to “See” here (with the exception of the castle area). My guidebook would lead me somewhere, then say “Now look at the statue. A lot of people find the tail of the horse to be a good meeting point.” But there is a lovely town square with lots of cafes and street performers and stuff that was very enjoyable. There was a band playing that New Orleans jazz music and they were probably better than any band like that I’ve seen in New Orleans. Throw in the horse drawn carriages, the souvenir shops, and the drinking and being in Prague is just like being in one giant Bourbon street city. I really should have gone there 10 years ago though. I fear my pub crawling days are behind me, and I think I really would have had a lot of fun if I’d visited Prague when I had the stamina to stay out all night!
All in all, it was a great trip with no real catastrophes. Though I’m not sure how long it will take me to recover! Jet lag, aching feet and legs and back – I’m an old lady! I can’t wait to get back home now to the things I’ve missed the most: good tex-mex, country music, weekends at the lake or by the pool, So You Think You Can Dance, and friends and family!
P.S. I was listening to my Itunes on the train, and when Willie Nelson came on, I got a little tear in my eye!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Clearly, I Made A Mistake
A couple of months ago a friend of mine, Aarturo* showed up for a casual game of volleyball with an unusual orange tint. I innocently asked Aarturo if he had been to the beach, and he unapologetically and unashamedly shared that the glow was due to spray tanning. Now, Aarturo is a somewhat normal, heterosexual, professional 20-something male. I was intrigued, so I inquired as to why he voluntarily stood naked in a pod while a machine showered skin dye over him. His response was something to the effect of, “Well lying in the UV bed is bad for your skin so I decided I wasn’t going to do that this year.” This response piqued my curiosity and led me to conduct my own unscientific social experiment, quizzing male friends and co-workers on the topic of fake baking. Turns out male tanning is much more prevalent than I originally would have thought. But while the guys seemed to own up to it, it always came with an excuse. “Oh my buddy owned a gym and he asked me if I wanted to test out the new tanning bed he put in.” Or, “My wife and I were going on a cruise and she suggested I go for a few sessions so I wouldn’t fry myself on the ship deck.” SSSSUUUURRRREEEE……. At least Aarturo was man enough to admit he did it because “Tan fat looks better than white fat.”
I was curious as to the sociological thought process that would drive a male to the local tanning salon, but it is important to note that I am not anti-fake-baking. I became a pro at it myself back in high school, where I would wait 45 minutes for one of five or so beds at the local hole-in-the-wall-only-one-in-a-ten-mile-radius-I-can’t-even-remember-the-name tanning salon, slap on my playboy bunny sticker, and bake for 20 minutes at a time. This continued off and on for the next 10 years or so. In college I dedicated a portion of my “entertainment allowance” to achieving that healthy glow. In post college years I tanned on, culminating in the grand finale – my high school reunion two years ago. All the while roommates and friends warned me about something called “skin cancer.” Clearly that made a huge impact on me.
(Sidenote – Aarturo would like to interject that the clearly orange tint was due to the fact that spray tan was acquired over lunch time and guidelines of showering 4-6 hours following spray tan were not followed. I will admit that within a day or so the orange tint faded and Aarturo’s skin turned to a nice shade of Panamanian-baby.)
At Palm Beach, we were each asked to provide our license (our drivers license, not our license to tan – we asked) and Reamona, Kaythleen, and I forked over $54 each for four VersaTan sessions plus an amplifier packet. Kaythleen asked for a receipt, which led to a discussion of exactly what occupations would be justified in expensing tanning services. Conclusion: strippers, hookers, and apparently ministers (though Kaythleen insisted the receipt was for her personal record keeping – RIGHT!). We were each required to submit fingerprints for identification, a task Reamona walked us through like a pro. Then our Fabulously hot tanning instructor Gaylord (this is how Reamona likes to refer to him as she wonders why all the hot tan ones are gay, noting that Aarturo is clearly the exception) walked us through the process, demonstrated the poses (The Claw, pivot to right Stop Sign/Right Egyptian, pivot to left Stop Sign/Left Egyptian, and Backward Flex – just like yoga), explained how to avoid a Ross situation, and gave instructions for follow up care for our spray-on self esteem. Reamona recalls this lecture, “I know that I can barely remember choreography for one eight count, so this demonstration paired with instructions for accelerator and blending cream instilled a little panic in this citrus-tinted non-diva.” Kaythleen remembers being terrified during this speech with so much to remember, especially when distracted by thoughts such as “Hot gay guy though…why does his fake tan look so nice, and should we invite him to volleyball?”
A couple of observations during tanning: The mist and the subsequent air dry were COLD! It’s a darn good thing we decided to tackle this project in the middle of May instead of the middle of winter. While I, due to previous mystic tanning experiences, have a habit of holding my breath throughout the entire process so as not to inhale the chemicals, Reamona took a different approach. She reported that she forgot to stop breathing when the mist covered her face, “So i'm sure my lungs are looking freshly bronzed like they just got back from Cancun. Lucky bastards.” Whoever said beauty was skin deep hasn’t seen Reamona’s lungs.'
The three of us came through the process like champs, and didn’t endure any staring or gawking the rest of the evening, leaving us to wonder whether we’d done it right. Our tanning instructor advised that we could wait to shower until the morning, so long as we weren’t worried about anything rubbing off on our sheets. Luckily my sheets are bronze already, so I slept like a baby. But when I awoke the next morning, disaster struck. The tan had set in, and I was a nice shade of California, until I saw it. “It” was a spot on my upper right thigh where the tan was literally peeling off my body. Then I noticed a second “It.” Another spot on my lower right leg. Each spot a couple of inches in diameter, each spot an ever expanding starburst of hypercolor skin.
I had been looking forward to wearing a skirt to work, but my plans quickly changed. It would have to be pants this day and every day until the VersaTan was gone. I emailed Kaythleen, Reamona, and Aarturo to report my clear malfunction. Reamona and Kaythleen had mostly positive results (Kaythleen reported some orange splotchy-ness but no peeling, Reamona’s apparently turned out perfect), and Aarturo showered me with questions and accusations (“Did you use lotion? Did the skin actually peel off? I bet it’s because you played volleyball afterwards”) and suggested I request a refund. All balked at the clearly disgusting picture of my right leg. With this peeling phenomenon demanding all my attention, I almost overlooked the splotchy-ness of the application in the areas where my skin wasn’t flaking off. If tan fat looks better than white fat, then where does multicolor fat fall?
So here I am, hiding my $15 sporadically tinted shedding skin under layers of concealing clothing, just waiting for my entire epidermis to disappear while Reamona and Kaythleen are probably sipping martinis on a patio in Uptown in Gucci sunglasses looking fabulous while discussing the latest developments in plastic surgery. Hopefully in three to five days I can join them, and I’ll look forward to my next VersaTan experience. You better believe I’m not letting the next three tans go to waste!
Finally I’d like to leave you with a quote from Reamona, who summed up our experience nicely:
“Doing stuff like this makes me think of how we scoff at old beauty rituals... like corsets or wigs or stuff like that... we do the same thing... we're just hotter.”
*Names have been changed to protect privacy
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
10 days for 10 dollars - Namaste
As some of you know I’ve amped up my workout routine over the last few months. But I’m one of those people who get bored with the same old thing, so I’m always looking for new ways to burn a few calories. My default workout is a standard gym workout – 30-45 minutes on a cardio machine, upper body weights, crunches, etc. But despite my stellar I-pod workout mix (who WOULDN’T want to work out when J-Lo, Kriss Kross, and Barry Manilow all make the same mix?), I’m constantly trying to throw in other random activities here and there to keep things interesting. I’ll do step aerobics, spin class, hip hop, kickboxing, double step aerobics (two benches), and anything else that looks new and different. (I’m still looking for a tennis partner!) My yearning for variety has driven me to desperation - for the past few weeks I’ve even incorporated a weekly run around the neighborhood. I have always said the only time you’ll see me running is if a maniac is chasing me with a butcher knife. Maybe one day I’ll get to the point where I don’t have to pay that guy to chase me with a butcher knife.
So knowing all that, it should come as no surprise that I decided to try yoga over Easter weekend. This is not my first yoga adventure, but it’s been years since I last tried it. So when I went to Sunstone Yoga (shout out to all my Sunstone peeps – holla!!!!) I was signed up for the $10 for 10 days introductory offer. I had really only intended on going that first time, but since I got another 9 days for free, I ended up making a bit more use of the free pass. I have no idea what the difference is between Fire and Wood and Earth and Metal and all the other classes – to me it’s all hot yoga. But I’d still like to share with you all my amateur experience:
Class #1
Saturday April 11, 10AM
60 minutes Earth Series followed by 30 minutes Wood Series
Temperature: 90 degrees
Humidity: 50%
Here are the sequential thoughts that ran through my head:
1. Sick! It’s like 500 degrees in here and reeks of smelly feet!
2. I hope I don’t fart
3. What’s up with this music? Can I get some Justin Timberlake up in here?
4. I wonder how much weight I’m sweating out (see footnote A)
5. I wish someone had told me to not wear a white tank top. This isn’t Spring Break in Cancun
6. Never regaining feeling in the top of my left knee after surgery 10 years ago is making this position very uncomfortable
7. When will this end????
Footnote A: The phrase sweating profusely definitely applies here. My scientific experiment showed (measured via weigh ins before and after) that I shed 1.5 to 2 pounds each class. Contrary to yoga instructors’ advice, I tried to avoid drinking water (or any other liquid) so as not to regain water weight, but found that no mater how much liquid I drank the rest of that day, it was 8-10 hours before I had to pee again.
Class #2
Monday, April 13, 5PM
60 minutes Fire Series
Temperature: 98.6 degrees
Humidity: 60%
Here are the sequential thoughts that ran through my head:
1. Sick! It’s like 400 degrees in here and reeks of smelly feet!
2. Oh look – that guy on the front row works at TI. Awesome.
3. Note to self – must remember to breathe very noisily in yoga so as not to look like the “new girl”
4. I’m pretty sure I saw that little guy in the speedo in Cirque Du Soleil
5. Why is there no music in this class? Not even that cheesy massage parlor Enya crap?
6. That little guy in the speedo was DEFINITELY in Cirque Du Soleil
7. I wonder if the instructor always says she likes the energy in the room or if today’s energy is particularly inspiring?
8. A 44 ounce diet coke with double limes would be REALLY good right now
And this is where I’ll insert the “discussion” I had prior to class number three. I was in the locker room kicking off my flip flops when the following conversation occurred with a woman who was completely naked
Naked Woman: You need to spit out your gum
Me: Oh I always chew gum when I work out. It keeps the saliva going in my mouth
Naked Woman: It’s not good for your facial muscles and mind
Me: Well I really just come to burn some calories
Naked Woman: You won’t get the full relaxation benefit if you chew gum
Me: Relaxation? That’s what happy hour is for!
She did not appear amused, and suspecting at this point that she might be the instructor (which she was), I swallowed the gum. Those yoga people are so serious!
Class #3
Wednesday, April 15, 6AM
60 minutes Earth Series
Temperature: 90 degrees
Humidity: 50%
Here are the sequential thoughts that ran through my head:
1. Sick! It’s like 300 degrees in here and reeks of smelly feet!
2. Ooh – I really like that guy’s tats. Especially when they are glistening.
3. I wish I were chewing gum right now
4. I should really blog about this (followed by trying to remember every thought that ran through my head during this class and every prior class)
5. Whoa! I can do this pose? I should definitely show some dudes.
6. I wonder how critical it is that my foot be exactly at a 45 degree angle. This looks more like 42 degrees. Can I get a protractor?
7. Ahhh – ending with the Happy Baby. I love this one. It feels like I’m in a giant amniotic womb.
An out of town wedding took me away for a few days, but I managed to get one more class in before my 10 days for $10 was up.
Class #4
Monday, April 20, 5PM
60 minutes Fire Series
Temperature: 98.6 degrees
Humidity: 60%
Here are the sequential thoughts that ran through my head:
1. Sick! It’s like 200 degrees in here and reeks of smelly feet!
2. I wonder if second-degree burns due to sunscreen malfunction over the weekend will make this class more painful than usual
3. This gum is good
4. Holy cow I totally thought that lady was a man until just now
5. Yeah – this would be less uncomfortable without a sunburn
6. I need a pedicure
7. My new favorite quote: “A tight body is a light body!”
8. I’m so over this
Surprisingly I did seem to adapt to the heat okay. With each class the room felt less and less suffocating-ly hot. But after every class, when I stepped outside into 65-70 degree temperature it felt like I was jumping into the Antarctic Ocean. Definitely a weird feeling. I only came away with one battle scar – a towel burn on my right kneecap that makes it difficult to shave. Aside from that (and the gum incident), it was an overall semi-pleasant experience. I don’t think I’ll be participating in the 60 day yoga challenge, but I think I may definitely drop in on a class from time to time. For those of you that haven’t tried yoga before, it’s not for everyone, but I would definitely recommend giving it a shot. And just when you think you can’t take anymore, remember there is a light at the end of the tunnel – curl up and suck your thumb and get ready for Happy Baby!
Namaste.
So knowing all that, it should come as no surprise that I decided to try yoga over Easter weekend. This is not my first yoga adventure, but it’s been years since I last tried it. So when I went to Sunstone Yoga (shout out to all my Sunstone peeps – holla!!!!) I was signed up for the $10 for 10 days introductory offer. I had really only intended on going that first time, but since I got another 9 days for free, I ended up making a bit more use of the free pass. I have no idea what the difference is between Fire and Wood and Earth and Metal and all the other classes – to me it’s all hot yoga. But I’d still like to share with you all my amateur experience:
Class #1
Saturday April 11, 10AM
60 minutes Earth Series followed by 30 minutes Wood Series
Temperature: 90 degrees
Humidity: 50%
Here are the sequential thoughts that ran through my head:
1. Sick! It’s like 500 degrees in here and reeks of smelly feet!
2. I hope I don’t fart
3. What’s up with this music? Can I get some Justin Timberlake up in here?
4. I wonder how much weight I’m sweating out (see footnote A)
5. I wish someone had told me to not wear a white tank top. This isn’t Spring Break in Cancun
6. Never regaining feeling in the top of my left knee after surgery 10 years ago is making this position very uncomfortable
7. When will this end????
Footnote A: The phrase sweating profusely definitely applies here. My scientific experiment showed (measured via weigh ins before and after) that I shed 1.5 to 2 pounds each class. Contrary to yoga instructors’ advice, I tried to avoid drinking water (or any other liquid) so as not to regain water weight, but found that no mater how much liquid I drank the rest of that day, it was 8-10 hours before I had to pee again.
Class #2
Monday, April 13, 5PM
60 minutes Fire Series
Temperature: 98.6 degrees
Humidity: 60%
Here are the sequential thoughts that ran through my head:
1. Sick! It’s like 400 degrees in here and reeks of smelly feet!
2. Oh look – that guy on the front row works at TI. Awesome.
3. Note to self – must remember to breathe very noisily in yoga so as not to look like the “new girl”
4. I’m pretty sure I saw that little guy in the speedo in Cirque Du Soleil
5. Why is there no music in this class? Not even that cheesy massage parlor Enya crap?
6. That little guy in the speedo was DEFINITELY in Cirque Du Soleil
7. I wonder if the instructor always says she likes the energy in the room or if today’s energy is particularly inspiring?
8. A 44 ounce diet coke with double limes would be REALLY good right now
And this is where I’ll insert the “discussion” I had prior to class number three. I was in the locker room kicking off my flip flops when the following conversation occurred with a woman who was completely naked
Naked Woman: You need to spit out your gum
Me: Oh I always chew gum when I work out. It keeps the saliva going in my mouth
Naked Woman: It’s not good for your facial muscles and mind
Me: Well I really just come to burn some calories
Naked Woman: You won’t get the full relaxation benefit if you chew gum
Me: Relaxation? That’s what happy hour is for!
She did not appear amused, and suspecting at this point that she might be the instructor (which she was), I swallowed the gum. Those yoga people are so serious!
Class #3
Wednesday, April 15, 6AM
60 minutes Earth Series
Temperature: 90 degrees
Humidity: 50%
Here are the sequential thoughts that ran through my head:
1. Sick! It’s like 300 degrees in here and reeks of smelly feet!
2. Ooh – I really like that guy’s tats. Especially when they are glistening.
3. I wish I were chewing gum right now
4. I should really blog about this (followed by trying to remember every thought that ran through my head during this class and every prior class)
5. Whoa! I can do this pose? I should definitely show some dudes.
6. I wonder how critical it is that my foot be exactly at a 45 degree angle. This looks more like 42 degrees. Can I get a protractor?
7. Ahhh – ending with the Happy Baby. I love this one. It feels like I’m in a giant amniotic womb.
An out of town wedding took me away for a few days, but I managed to get one more class in before my 10 days for $10 was up.
Class #4
Monday, April 20, 5PM
60 minutes Fire Series
Temperature: 98.6 degrees
Humidity: 60%
Here are the sequential thoughts that ran through my head:
1. Sick! It’s like 200 degrees in here and reeks of smelly feet!
2. I wonder if second-degree burns due to sunscreen malfunction over the weekend will make this class more painful than usual
3. This gum is good
4. Holy cow I totally thought that lady was a man until just now
5. Yeah – this would be less uncomfortable without a sunburn
6. I need a pedicure
7. My new favorite quote: “A tight body is a light body!”
8. I’m so over this
Surprisingly I did seem to adapt to the heat okay. With each class the room felt less and less suffocating-ly hot. But after every class, when I stepped outside into 65-70 degree temperature it felt like I was jumping into the Antarctic Ocean. Definitely a weird feeling. I only came away with one battle scar – a towel burn on my right kneecap that makes it difficult to shave. Aside from that (and the gum incident), it was an overall semi-pleasant experience. I don’t think I’ll be participating in the 60 day yoga challenge, but I think I may definitely drop in on a class from time to time. For those of you that haven’t tried yoga before, it’s not for everyone, but I would definitely recommend giving it a shot. And just when you think you can’t take anymore, remember there is a light at the end of the tunnel – curl up and suck your thumb and get ready for Happy Baby!
Namaste.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Security Is Everyone's Business!
Well I’m sure I’m not the only one whose workplace feels a little different these days. With the current economic state there are a few less heads around here and a few less orders to fill. Earlier this week I saw a pin-stripe-suited-woman in the hallway rummaging through an unattended, trash-filled janitors’ bin pulling out bubble wrap. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. But I can say with confidence there is one thing my company isn’t scrimping on these days, and that is security. Since the beginning of April I have received three “Security Awareness Notices” in my office, two of those coming in the last three days.
From what I gather, security walks the halls peeking in people’s offices looking for anything left out that someone could steal. Apparently my personal cell phone qualifies, so I end up with a “ticket” with my name, office location, and signature of the security officer indicating a security violation due to “unsecured cellular phone.” (Note that two out of the three tickets have my first name spelled wrong, despite the fact that my name is prominently displayed with correct spelling on the nameplate outside my office AND the only way the security officer would know my name to write it on the ticket would be to read it off the nameplate).
From what I gather, security walks the halls peeking in people’s offices looking for anything left out that someone could steal. Apparently my personal cell phone qualifies, so I end up with a “ticket” with my name, office location, and signature of the security officer indicating a security violation due to “unsecured cellular phone.” (Note that two out of the three tickets have my first name spelled wrong, despite the fact that my name is prominently displayed with correct spelling on the nameplate outside my office AND the only way the security officer would know my name to write it on the ticket would be to read it off the nameplate).
On April 1 I (or should I say Kelley) received my first notice, citation number 26623 (I thought it was an April Fools joke, but I was wrong).
On April 7 I receive citation number 28818
On April 9 I (again addressed as Kelley) received number 30986
Does this mean that between April 1st and April 7th 2,195 citations were written and between April 7th and April 9th (TWO DAYS) 2,168 citations were written? You’d think the economy would result in less work to go around, but seems like security is working hard and earning their paycheck!
I polled the office, and it seems that I’m not the only one who has been affected. One co-worker got a notice for a purse left out, another for a laptop, and another for leaving a calculator similar to this on her desk.
I guess she’s supposed to stuff it in a drawer every time she walks down the hall to go to the bathroom?
Then I wondered (silently, of course, I don’t want people to think I’m weird!) why does security think that my cell phone is the thing in my office most attractive to thieves? Surveying my area, I found several other things I would think would be even more susceptible to disappearing, including (but not limited to):
- A photo calendar with pictures of a snowman pez dispenser stationed in front of famous landmarks (April features Mr. Snowman Pez in front of Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires, Argentina)
- A set of 8 pound weights I use when a report is taking a long time to run on my computer
- A plaque recognizing me for outstanding effort in the area of Probe Cost Reduction in 2004
- Various loot from career fairs, including race cars and beanie babies covered in company logos
- A real stamp (like stamp and ink pad) with my name on it
- An HP DeskJet printer that I swear is from 1992 that sounds like it’s going to die every time I turn it on
- A proudly displayed newspaper article listing The University of Texas as the 3rd biggest party school in the nation
- About a dozen or so pictures, most of me with a group of girls at a baby shower, wedding shower, or wedding (these have been known to disappear from time to time, later to be found in perverted male co-workers' offices)
- A white pom pom, orange beeds, and Rose Bowl National Championship pennant from when Texas won the BCS title in 2006
- And last but not least, a chicken catapult that you shoot down the hall and it clucks when it hits the wall (GREAT for stress relief! Annoying for co-workers)
I decided to visit our Worldwide Security & Emergency Services home page to learn more about this hard working organization. Some highlights from the webpage: Security & Emergency Services and Worldwide Security have recently merged. Yay (I think)!!!! There have been 12,053 site visits in some unspecified time frame. There are three different security phone numbers you can call (not to mention emergency contacts for every site) depending on whether it’s an emergency or non emergency. And the praise and recognition section touts that three employees have passed the Opacity Smoke School (I’m not sure what that is but it sounds like it might violate the company drug policy) and the badge room completed over 5000 DART gold passes. Congrats everyone!
Then I found the Security Awareness Program section of the website. First thing I see is that “Security Officers perform patrols after normal business hours and during the weekends and holidays in search of unsecured items in the workplace.” (If 9:18AM on a non-holiday Thursday is “after normal business hours” then I am going about this work thing all wrong.) The site also says that the notices do not have any disciplinary consequences associated with them. Phew!
A little later I came across a section of the website entitled “Traffic and Parking.” Uh oh - this opens up a whole other can of worms. You see, another hard working employee who NEVER slacks on his job is my friend JC. JC is about 85 years old (if I had to guess) and he drives a golf cart around the parking lot outside Wing A of the building. To give you a little context: there is virtually no parking outside Wing A. There are several visitor spots (must have a visitor decal to park here!), a few spots where you can park no longer than 60 minutes, and just a few free-for-all spots. So if you work at the south end of the building, unless you get to work at 7AM, you will not be able to park legally anywhere near your office. You are expected to park at the North end of the building, then haul your laptop, purse, lunch, 44 ounce Sonic diet coke with extra limes, and whatever else you have with you for the day on your 10 minute walk down the long, long hallway. This is not fun first thing in the morning (or in new heels)! And to prove that I’m not the only one who thinks this – every year as part of a United Way fundraiser Visitor Parking Passes are auctioned off for winning bids of hundreds of dollars. (In total, the company raised $5,065 last year in the auction of 22 Visitor or Authorized parking permits that hundreds of people bid on)
So to keep us all honest, JC spends his days (5 days a week) driving around the south parking lot and writing parking tickets. Now I no longer work in Wing A, but I did for about 4 years. Many of you know I am not a morning person, which means I usually roll into work about two minutes before my first meeting, which leaves me no time for the bag-lady stroll down the hallway. So I had to learn to adapt to this parking nazi-ism, and I did learn a few tricks (I no longer work in Wing A, and therefore no longer have to compete for parking, so I’m not above sharing this information with fellow co-workers at this time)
- The 60 minute parking spaces are individually painted. So that means you are limited to parking 60 minutes in one spot (not the entire row of 60 minute spots). Since there are multiple spots, this means that at 9AM you can park in one 60 minute spot, then at 9:59AM you can move your car to another 60 minute spot (if it’s available), then at 10:59 move again, and so on and so forth. You can spend the whole day parked in the 60 minute parking row, but TECHNICALLY you are not violating the 60 minute parking rule.
- JC works the pedestrian gate at lunch from 11AM to 1PM. So if you park your car in a 60 minute spot at 10:01AM, you can actually leave it there for two hours and 58 minutes (until 12:59PM) because he won’t start writing tickets again until 1PM.
- JC leaves at 3PM every day. So if you park your car in a 60 minute spot no earlier than 2:01PM (or in any visitor spot at 3PM or later) you are safe
- Employees are supposed to have parking decals. I lost mine years ago and never got another, so I don’t have one. But don’t worry – JC still knows who you are! The parking office will look up your license plate through TXDOT to know what employee is parked illegally. This means that if you are in a rental car you are golden! Also I would suggest purchasing a new car while you are working in Wing A. JC can’t trace dealer plates back to the employee, so I think my dealer plates stayed on my car about four months while I enjoyed premium parking.
- If you do get a ticket – DO NOT THROW IT AWAY!!!! Save it, not only for your scrapbook, but also because you can put it back on your windshield the next time you are parked illegally and maybe, just maybe, JC will think he already ticketed you that day.
Despite these genius efforts, I still did occasionally receive citations. (And by occasionally, I mean I’d guess I received about 100 tickets in 4 years).
I told you, JC is very serious about his job. For example, one former co-worker remembered she’d left her car in 60 minute parking too long when she saw JC in his golf cart parked outside her car scribbling on his citation pad. She ran out and frantically explained she was just about to move her car and there was no need for him to give her a ticket. But he said that since he had already started writing the ticket, he had no choice. She pleaded with him, promising that no one would know if he tore it up. JC’s response? “God will know.” Touché, JC, touché.
Why did we care so much? Well the rumor was that if you had more than three parking tickets in a year, disciplinary action would be taken, aka, you could be fired. So after you got two tickets, not only did you get a pink slip on your windshield, but an email went to your boss (and sometimes your boss’ boss) notifying them of the infraction. Of course when you don’t know the system this can be intimidating. But come to find out, I don’t think I ever had a boss that cared. So in my 4 years in Wing A, I TRIED to follow the rules, but the truth is I didn’t try TOO hard!
I’m sure that JC misses me. Some former Wing A co-workers joked with me that JC is bored now that I’ve moved offices. Oh well. I think I’ve found my new BFF in security officer J. Williams. If only I could get someone to steal my work telephone so people would quit calling me!
So what is your company doing to ensure an equitable parking environment at work and keep you and your possessions safe? Remember, Security is Everyone’s Business!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
NKOTB Review - October 19, 2008
The best place to Cougar hunt Sunday night wasn’t Duke’s or Martini Park or even Down Under Pub. It was American Airlines center, where amid crimped hair, gigantic buttons, and lots of bright pink and green, a few friends and I went back in time about 16 years (at the very reasonable price of $90 per person) to enjoy a night with our onetime FHs, The New Kids on the Block. There weren’t many teenagers (and the ones that were there appeared to be with their mother’s) and there weren’t many men (though Donnie praised those that were there as being smart and declaring they would definitely “get some” tonight). There were so few men, in fact, that the men’s bathrooms had been converted into additional facilities for the ladies. Of course the one time I visited the men’s room, I nearly gagged at the unmistakable stench of urine, but hey, it’s the thought that counts.
I can basically sum up my demeanor last night in one word – giggly. I think I laughed throughout the entire concert I was so giddy. I wasn’t expecting quite the reaction I had, although in hindsight it makes sense. I mean the New Kids really are the only good memory I have of junior high (other than the time the radio station came to school and I got to spin the wheel and won a gift certificate to the movie theater). And I was surprised that all the words to every song came back to me so quickly – I should have never doubted myself. I remember very clearly a debate I had with my mother around age 11 over the overall impact of our favorite boy bands. Somehow I don’t think I ever got her to come around to my way of thinking:
“Oh Kelly we totally felt that way about the Beatles when we were your age.”
“No Mom – this is WAY bigger than the Beatles! This is NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK!!!!”
The guys don’t really appear to have changed much. Joey is still adorable. Donnie is still ghetto (in a super hot way). Jordan still has a ridiculous falsetto voice. And Jon and Danny were still merely backup singers. One noticeable change is that the guys (especially Joey) are no longer boys. I’m pretty sure that “Please Don’t Go Girl” was dropped about five keys since apparently, Joey went through puberty sometime in the last 16 years. But boys or men, 1992 or 2008, there will always be some definite crotch grabbing, and I mean that in the least perverted way possible.
One of the highlights came when the band disappeared from the stage and reappeared on an elevated rotating platform near the back of the floor section. With my seat one level off the floor near the back, this put me probably the closest I’ve ever physically been to Joey, my favorite New Kid. They performed four of five songs on this platform, including “Tonight,” a song they wrote near the end of their glory days that referenced several of their early hits. It was at this point that some woman threw her bra onto the stage. Jordan playfully picked it up and swung it over his head like a lasso, just as he had done countless times decades ago.There were a few songs that allowed the guys to showcase their solo careers. While Joey’s song was most likely to be featured in a cheesy Kate Hudson/Matthew McConaughey movie, Jordan garnered much attention when while standing over a wind machine he flipped his white button up shirt back to expose a pleasantly surprising chiseled chest. And what did Donnie do at the end of his song? Pull his pants down below his boxers, duh.
(I must say that I did have a revelation last night – “I’ll Be Loving You Forever” is possibly the best first dance wedding song ever written. “There’s just so much that I want to say but when I look at you all my thoughts get in the way.” I mean seriously, how come that doesn’t get more wedding play?)
Last night I flashed back to memories of attending New Kids on the Block concerts in elementary and junior high school with friends I can’t even remember the names of, though I do remember one of the guys took off his sweaty shirt and threw it to someone in my section. I’m pretty sure I cried. It also brought back memories of the night I spent in the Four Seasons hotel lobby hoping to get a glimpse of NSync (Joey Fatone said hi to me!). Basically the whole evening reaffirmed my love of boy bands. I mean any boy band will do. Pair Zac Efron with the Jonas Brothers and I’ll buy the CD, a concert ticket, and I’ll probably join the fan club too.
The finale was the ultimate culmination. Fifteen thousand adult women waving their hands back and forth to “Hangin’ Tough,” diverting for a while into Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” then back to “Hangin’ Tough” supersized with electric guitars and sparkly lights. I’m not kidding when I say two EMTs had to come down to our section to ask if one woman was okay. But the thing about fifteen thousand 30-something year old women with fully developed lungs – well lets just say my ears are still ringing.
I, on the other hand, didn’t spend the whole night screaming at the top of my lungs, and I didn’t throw my bra on stage, but did I throw my hands in the air and wave them like I just don’t care when prompted by Donnie? Why yes, I did.
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