Paris

Saturday, June 28, 2008
From MARK:

We landed at the Charles de Gaulle, Paris airport on Tuesday, June 24 at 5:20pm with partly cloudy skies and a pleasant 70F temperature. We had pre-booked a hotel room we found on the internet, cleverly named Hotel de Paris so our only mission for the evening was to make it to our hotel for the night. The Metro system in Paris is phenomenal to say the least!

We took the light blue coded "B Line" RER train from the airport and transferred at Gare du Nord to the orange, number five metro system. It's easy to remember which line you need (from the number or color), but the two way system requires that you know the end stops to identify your direction. You must do this quickly and efficiently in the midst of hundreds of people bustling in the underground tunnels trying to get to their next connection (*stopping to stare in bewilderment at this moment may result in being shoved to the ground, trampled to a pulp, and if your lucky, spit on). Lets see, we needed to go in the direction of "Bobigny," NOT "Place d'Italie," and our stop was "Porte de Pantin". My mind quickly comes up with "Bob" getting off a boat at in my home town of "Port Lavaca." With well over 200 stops we came up with a variety of other mental links for names including "Odeon" and "Rivoli". We used the Metro extensively to jet our selves across the city and even performed a football defensive drill in order to squish ourselves onto an already smooshed full car. I also realized after a day of sightseeing that we too, added to the bountiful B.O. smell that seems to take over the train car once you step on.

I can't help but remembering a commercial (years ago) with a little old lady who claimed to have waited all her life to have her photo taken in front of the Eiffel Tower. She goes on to share the photo (this was back in the days of having film developed, so you watch the scene transition from a negative to a photo) after returning from her dream trip only to display the Eiffel Tower with half a wad of little-old-lady gray hair in the lower corner. It made me laugh just looking at the tower in Paris, and thus you see the photo above.

Speaking of photo taking, we literally battled our way through the Louvre against various groups of people taking photos with, next to, as close to, around, behind, and otherwise beside various artifacts and items. At one point we watched as two little women climbed up ON the "Winged Victory" statue dating back from 190 B.C. as they ignored security and smiled at partners urging them to click away while gaurds pulled them down. Either way, our entry fee was well worth what we saw on the inside. We managed to catch a glimpse of DaVinci's Mona Lisa (apparently along with another 6 million people per year), who seemed to be doing quite well behind her thick plate glass, and also saw works by Michelangelo and the lady statue Venus de Milo.

We spent time at a few cafes and relished our few meals out, as they generally seemed to cost three arms and a leg. On Thursday we made it to the Versailles palace, created by King Louis XIV (located about an hour train ride outside of Paris). While walking through the palace, gardens, and various retreats built on the Chateau I tried to think of how best to describe the massive area. First, the palace alone is gi-normous! However, when you add the gardens and buildings meant as get-aways, it becomes hard to imagine, let alone write about. I first thought of the mall in D.C., but that's way too small. Theres a canal/lake that's one mile long, which was created to replicate the feel of Venice. As you walk the gardens you stumble on what seem to
be little villages, but turn out to actually be houses used by the king. We completed a triangular walk which took us over an hour and that barely covered one quarter.

The Most Expensive Movie Ever

El Incidente/Phenomenones/The Happening

We have been on the road for some time now and sometimes you just needa sense of "normal". For us, this has been seeing a movie. In Barcelona we saw Indy, in Casablanca, Casablanca, in Portugal we watched some not very good JohnTravlota movie on tv, and in Paris we went to see The Happening.

Paris, in general, is very expensive. Everything has been nearly twice the price as in other places we've been. So, we made our way to the theater with the english version of the movie that we have seen posters for in many languages. We were very excited because we have liked previous movies by the writer/director. This movie, however, cost us 20 Euros to enter and then with snacks...we were hoping for something great. Instead we sat in our cushy seats wondering when the action would start. If you haven't seen this movie please, at least, wait for rental! Oh, if you did see it, let us know where your version ended. We're curious if several versions were made or if we were just lucky.

Surprisingly, we still hope to see Wanted and Batman, depending on their European release dates. We head to Ireland in a couple of days so at least we won't have to search out theaters with the version originale.

Traveling Tip 1

We found ourselves with some extra time one hot evening (in a park in Spain), and I couldn't help but notice the wonderfully fresh looking, just-out-of-reach oranges in the trees above our heads. I love oranges, and nothing was better than the thought of having a mouth-watering, complimentary all natural snack. Dani didn't think it was a great idea and said so by sitting on a park bench just far enough away to claim she didn't know who I was. I first tried jumping straight up from the ground, but eventually came to a combo bench-seat-jump in order to hurl myself high enough into the tree to grab at one of the oranges. It was at some point in mid-air that I realized Dani might have been right, and by then my persistent hand wouldn't let go of the orange which finally gave way after releasing a maddening amount of tree sap all over my shirt and back. Then looming similar to a Ghostbusters "sliming", I held my glorious prize up high into the air with a feeling of victory, only briefly noticing Dani's new look of disgust. After an easy de-peeling, I hesitated at my first bite into the sumptuous fresh orange as I was anxious to reap the benefits of my hard labor (and sap covering). The first (and only) taste was something like putrid orange peel and I couldn't even fake an expression of delight as I spit the remains out, coughing and seeing Dani's grimace turn to a chuckle. She knew that if could of mustered a mild grin after the bite I would of likely said that it had a unique taste and would of suggested a sample. We both had a good laugh, and needless to say, don't bother with the wild oranges!

Porto, Portugal

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

From MARK:
We caught a four hour bus ride from Santiago, Spain to Porto, Portugal on Saturday, June 21. Other than the duely noted one hour time difference, the ride was uneventful (something we've come to appreciate). Porto has been quite unique, and I might describe it as 75% Spain-feel with a 25% complete feel of it's own. We've used the days for some much needed rest, although we did attempt to play at a local mini golf green, but apparently the semi-pro's had the course this past weekend (these guys had their own clubs and sweepers!). Oh well, maybe next time?

We departed the bus in Porto, Portugal to a wonderfully cool yet sunny town (the Atlantic breeze and temperatures reminded me of Hawaii if you closed your eyes) and walked a good distance to the Tourist Info (TI). People were friendly and while English is used, I was completely incorrect in thinking my Spanish (which all came back to me the moment we left Spain) would be useful in this Portuguese speaking country. While the two languages have some similarities, they're about as close as Spanish and French. Needless to say my Portuguese accented Spanish didn't get me far. We picked up our flagship sayings of "cheers" and "thank you" and have been doing quite well. The abundant cobblestone streets and square, marble, hand laid sidewalks give a European feel, and when walking through the central neighborhoods you can sense a tinge more distress than that of Spain. You'll see a handful of boarded windows and note a few buildings that might need some extra paint. We passed a plethora of shops each offering walls filled with a variety of sunglasses.

The TI told us we were lucky to be in town on Monday, as it was the annual celebratory day of St. John the Baptist, complete with free concerts, midnight fireworks, and local customs.

The Euro 2008 soccer championships are also under way (think of the Super Bowl times 100). EVERYONE has been watching the playoff games with acute intensity (men, women, and children), and we'll have to agree, they're quite amazing and FUN to see! Due to Porto's festivities already under way, they've been showing the games on a HUGE screen TV in the central square, so we indulged the other night in watching Spain beat Italy in "sudden death" after double over time. The final game occurs next Saturday (when we'll be in France) between
the winners of Spain vs. Russia and Turkey vs. Germany. I'm rooting for Spain since it has been our home for a majority of the trip thus far.

Last night we had a late dinner of ribs, fries, kababs, Fru-Tea, and chocolate mousse, then went to hang out in the central concert area. The annual tradition that accompanies this day is quite unique. They sell large plastic hammers and hand out free, smaller ones which have accordion-like heads that squeak when rapidly compressed. The tradition encourages tapping each other on the head with these hammers to ensure good luck. So, we proceeded to watch the free concert while being pelted with plastic hammers over the head with a squeak to go with each hit (and some even obliged us by bowing for a return good-luck bop which we heartily delivered). The much loved Portuguese band "Anjos" played local favorites with girls screaming near stage (while the singers simultaneously shook their hips, did squats, and clapped overhead) as kids ran by for quick hammer taps as if trying to set a new record. Everyone was all smiles and laughing, including little old ladies and kids hoisted on shoulders to better reach with their plastic hammers.

Vendors sold freshly made cotton candy, beer, and popcorn; the smells combined with a wildly random scene made you want to stay, however the mist and spittle of the evening eventually drove us back to our room. We watched the fireworks show on TV accompanied with Ghostbusters, Mission Impossible, and James Bond music and then drifted off to sleep in our small family run hotel room.
*We did try the port wine, which was quite good but a little too sweet for our tastes.