Back from Europe
Happy Tiger Pride Day to all! Yes, my beloved Boys have finally come to Oakland for a three-game series, and what do you know, I somehow managed to get back from Europe juuuust in time. I wonder if that was plannnnnned. . . .
I know I should write lots and lots about the cool stuff in Europe but I'm thinking I will wait until I get all my pictures, and then I can do a sort of photo-infused recap. Or maybe I'm bored and I'll start now.
Anyways, the reason I didn't post in Europe was because the Internet access in the first two places we stayed was ridiculously expensive (around $10 for half an hour!) and nonexistent in the third. My friend Melissa and I left on June 19 at noon Pacific time and arrived at Gatwick Airport in London at nine England time. Which was weird, needless to say. (Note: I went with Melissa because this trip was actually her graduation present--she's a real live teacher now--and I got to tag along.)
We got the Gatwick Express to London Victoria station, which was a great trip as the English countryside is incredibly beautiful. I was very pleased by the many ponies and also the very plentiful English flags hanging out of people's windows in support of the football team. We actually made it to the hotel (the Langham--SWEET place, thank the gods we were on a tour cause you know if I'd booked the hotel we'd probably have ended up in some hooker hotel like Oklahoma but with no Sooner Hotel to bail us out) before the rest of the tour group, who were getting picked up at Heathrow.
Our tour had about 38 people on it, most of them old. However, there were three girls besides us and two cute boys (my gay friends will be pleased to know that they were both hot and also set off my gay-dar). The girls were Miriam (one year behind me in school; we hung out with her the most), Maggie (12 years old), and Hannah (I think about to be a senior in high school). The boys were Jordan (two years behind me) and Chance (rising senior). We went on a big whirlwind tour on the motorcoach after a little bit of lunch; many of us were falling asleep because we were hella jet lagged.
I fought off the jet lag that night and made my way to The Old Explorer, a nearby pub. But not, of course, without the requisite getting lost, which always happens to me in a new city (without fail!!!). See we had to have the opening night dinner with the rest of the tour group, which took a ridiculously long time and made me miss the first half. But I did meet a lovely Kiwi named Jim who became my buddy for the tour, and he, Miriam, and her grandma said they'd come with me and Melissa to the pub. So we got ready real fast and were down in the lobby waiting, and of course I was practically going insane because I knew the second half had already started, etc etc, and anyone who has met me knows I have this thing about being really really early to sporting events (and pretty much everything else) and hate being late. So once Jim showed up, the two of us set off to go to the pub and said we'd meet the rest there. And then I got us lost. Veeeerrry stupid, me. However, it was kind of fun, now that I think about it.
Once we had figured out we were lost, we popped into the first pub we saw (there are so many pubs! I was in heaven) and asked where The Old Explorer was. The Aussie bartender (HOT) did not know, but he did know that England were winning 1-nil on a beautiful goal from Joe Cole. We wandered around some more, were still lost, and so popped into another pub. At this one, the game was on, and while we were finding out the bartender didn't know where our pub was, Sweden scored to tie it up and I was most unhappy. Finally, after we had wandered all the way to Oxford Circus, we found a newspaper stand and asked the guy there if he knew where the pub was.
"Sure I do," he replied. "It's my local." Yes! I thought. Success! I smiled expectantly, then became confused as no directions were forthcoming.
"I'm not gonna tell you," he said with a wicked grin. "I'm bored, I need someone to talk to." After suitably freaking me out he then told us exactly how to get there and we arrived in time for me to get a little half-pint of Guinness, gag repeatedly, and see my beloved Stevie score a goal to put us ahead. Our tour director, Bill, was there and informed me that Owen had gone down in the second minute, and as an Owen fan (I was wearing my Owen jersey) I probably did not want to see it. I of course did see it, repeatedly, on every highlights show. As you probably know the game ended in a 2-2 draw, but at least it meant England won the group and would face Ecuador, not Germany, in the Round of 16. And I had accomplished most of my mission. (The mission, on this trip, in case you didn't know, was to 1) Go to an English pub; 2) Drink Guinness in pub; 3) Watch a World Cup game in said pub involving England; 4) Eat fish and chips, also in said pub.) The fourth component was completed the next day for dinner/lunch.
More detailed escapade descriptions to follow, for now a brief recap.
I definitely liked London the best of the three cities, followed very closely by Amsterdam/the Hague in second, and very very distantly by Paris in third. I was in heaven in London, with the accents and the football and the marvelous taxis and doubledecker buses and old things that really ARE old (i. e. Windsor Castle, started in 1066!). I, unlike the vast majority of our tour group, was quite satisfied with the food but then again I don't have very sophisticated tastes. The hotel served tritaters at breakfast, which got lots of brown points with me, but lots of demerits with everyone else. And I had lots of fish and chips.
Paris, like the other two, had lots of narrow streets and tall pretty buildings, but unlike the other two, made everything feel very claustrophobic. And where the English statues/monuments/embellishments were very beautiful and fit perfectly with everything, all the same stuff in Paris seemed like they came to the line of being tasteful and then joyously crossed it. Everything is dripping with gold and other stuff; it just seemed overdone.
Amsterdam felt like a fantastic college town. Melissa and I were almost run over by all of the following: Bikes, trams, and taxis. I fell in love with the canals immediately and think many cities would be improved by having canals. We met up a couple times with Louky, an old friend of my Dad's who he met when he lived in Amsterdam a long time ago. She was so tickled to see us and took us out for all sorts of food and cool stuff. We stayed at a little b & b right across from the Rijksmusem (Amsterdam was our add-on, not part of the tour; so no more swanky hotels, lol). It was very nice and homey. The WC really WAS a WC, with a plug you pull and everything. And everyone in the Netherlands spoke English fluently, unlike France; however if I ever go back, which I hope to do, I will learn at least a little Dutch. It is WAY harder to pronounce than German. I mean, if you think German is guttural, then Dutch is just off the charts. We went to all the places we wanted to including the Anne Frank House and watched several World Cup games (in several different languages). Oops, Mom's home, time to go!!!! More later!!!
I know I should write lots and lots about the cool stuff in Europe but I'm thinking I will wait until I get all my pictures, and then I can do a sort of photo-infused recap. Or maybe I'm bored and I'll start now.
Anyways, the reason I didn't post in Europe was because the Internet access in the first two places we stayed was ridiculously expensive (around $10 for half an hour!) and nonexistent in the third. My friend Melissa and I left on June 19 at noon Pacific time and arrived at Gatwick Airport in London at nine England time. Which was weird, needless to say. (Note: I went with Melissa because this trip was actually her graduation present--she's a real live teacher now--and I got to tag along.)
We got the Gatwick Express to London Victoria station, which was a great trip as the English countryside is incredibly beautiful. I was very pleased by the many ponies and also the very plentiful English flags hanging out of people's windows in support of the football team. We actually made it to the hotel (the Langham--SWEET place, thank the gods we were on a tour cause you know if I'd booked the hotel we'd probably have ended up in some hooker hotel like Oklahoma but with no Sooner Hotel to bail us out) before the rest of the tour group, who were getting picked up at Heathrow.
Our tour had about 38 people on it, most of them old. However, there were three girls besides us and two cute boys (my gay friends will be pleased to know that they were both hot and also set off my gay-dar). The girls were Miriam (one year behind me in school; we hung out with her the most), Maggie (12 years old), and Hannah (I think about to be a senior in high school). The boys were Jordan (two years behind me) and Chance (rising senior). We went on a big whirlwind tour on the motorcoach after a little bit of lunch; many of us were falling asleep because we were hella jet lagged.
I fought off the jet lag that night and made my way to The Old Explorer, a nearby pub. But not, of course, without the requisite getting lost, which always happens to me in a new city (without fail!!!). See we had to have the opening night dinner with the rest of the tour group, which took a ridiculously long time and made me miss the first half. But I did meet a lovely Kiwi named Jim who became my buddy for the tour, and he, Miriam, and her grandma said they'd come with me and Melissa to the pub. So we got ready real fast and were down in the lobby waiting, and of course I was practically going insane because I knew the second half had already started, etc etc, and anyone who has met me knows I have this thing about being really really early to sporting events (and pretty much everything else) and hate being late. So once Jim showed up, the two of us set off to go to the pub and said we'd meet the rest there. And then I got us lost. Veeeerrry stupid, me. However, it was kind of fun, now that I think about it.
Once we had figured out we were lost, we popped into the first pub we saw (there are so many pubs! I was in heaven) and asked where The Old Explorer was. The Aussie bartender (HOT) did not know, but he did know that England were winning 1-nil on a beautiful goal from Joe Cole. We wandered around some more, were still lost, and so popped into another pub. At this one, the game was on, and while we were finding out the bartender didn't know where our pub was, Sweden scored to tie it up and I was most unhappy. Finally, after we had wandered all the way to Oxford Circus, we found a newspaper stand and asked the guy there if he knew where the pub was.
"Sure I do," he replied. "It's my local." Yes! I thought. Success! I smiled expectantly, then became confused as no directions were forthcoming.
"I'm not gonna tell you," he said with a wicked grin. "I'm bored, I need someone to talk to." After suitably freaking me out he then told us exactly how to get there and we arrived in time for me to get a little half-pint of Guinness, gag repeatedly, and see my beloved Stevie score a goal to put us ahead. Our tour director, Bill, was there and informed me that Owen had gone down in the second minute, and as an Owen fan (I was wearing my Owen jersey) I probably did not want to see it. I of course did see it, repeatedly, on every highlights show. As you probably know the game ended in a 2-2 draw, but at least it meant England won the group and would face Ecuador, not Germany, in the Round of 16. And I had accomplished most of my mission. (The mission, on this trip, in case you didn't know, was to 1) Go to an English pub; 2) Drink Guinness in pub; 3) Watch a World Cup game in said pub involving England; 4) Eat fish and chips, also in said pub.) The fourth component was completed the next day for dinner/lunch.
More detailed escapade descriptions to follow, for now a brief recap.
I definitely liked London the best of the three cities, followed very closely by Amsterdam/the Hague in second, and very very distantly by Paris in third. I was in heaven in London, with the accents and the football and the marvelous taxis and doubledecker buses and old things that really ARE old (i. e. Windsor Castle, started in 1066!). I, unlike the vast majority of our tour group, was quite satisfied with the food but then again I don't have very sophisticated tastes. The hotel served tritaters at breakfast, which got lots of brown points with me, but lots of demerits with everyone else. And I had lots of fish and chips.
Paris, like the other two, had lots of narrow streets and tall pretty buildings, but unlike the other two, made everything feel very claustrophobic. And where the English statues/monuments/embellishments were very beautiful and fit perfectly with everything, all the same stuff in Paris seemed like they came to the line of being tasteful and then joyously crossed it. Everything is dripping with gold and other stuff; it just seemed overdone.
Amsterdam felt like a fantastic college town. Melissa and I were almost run over by all of the following: Bikes, trams, and taxis. I fell in love with the canals immediately and think many cities would be improved by having canals. We met up a couple times with Louky, an old friend of my Dad's who he met when he lived in Amsterdam a long time ago. She was so tickled to see us and took us out for all sorts of food and cool stuff. We stayed at a little b & b right across from the Rijksmusem (Amsterdam was our add-on, not part of the tour; so no more swanky hotels, lol). It was very nice and homey. The WC really WAS a WC, with a plug you pull and everything. And everyone in the Netherlands spoke English fluently, unlike France; however if I ever go back, which I hope to do, I will learn at least a little Dutch. It is WAY harder to pronounce than German. I mean, if you think German is guttural, then Dutch is just off the charts. We went to all the places we wanted to including the Anne Frank House and watched several World Cup games (in several different languages). Oops, Mom's home, time to go!!!! More later!!!