Let's begin at the beginning

Our first stop was Milan, and the first place we went to visit was Milan's Duomo. It took centuries to build, and it's HUGE! Some estimates put its capacity at 40,000. Now that would be quite a crowd.

Aside from its size, the architecture and sculptures throughout the cathedral (that's what "duomo" means, by the way) are amazing. I couldn't get a shot of it from the front--to show you the whole thing--because it was covered with scaffolding. This, apparently, happens regularly enough. I guess a building begun in the late 1300s needs some upkeep.

To share some of it, I'll post some photos of particular elements. There are more to come, but let's start with these...


Click on the photo to see some of the detail better.


This actually isn't the Duomo. It's across from it. It's the front of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. I'll post some inside shots in another post. For now, I'll just tell you that it's the most spectacular shopping mall I've ever seen (a shopping mall built in the 19th century).


More of the outside of the Duomo.


The line for the elevator to the top of the Duomo.






The scene behind us while standing in line for the elevator. Nothing special, but I thought I'd share it anyhow. :)

I'm sure I've said this before (regarding other photos), but let me know if there's one you like and would like full-size. These are greatly reduced.

Okay, that's it for tonight. More soon!

A few photos to start things off

I've got a lot of photos to go through, so this process may take a while. In the meantime, I've skipped ahead and plucked out a few photos from the Paris leg of our trip. It wasn't the first stop, but it certainly provides some of the most stunning (and most recognizable) sights. So here are the first few photos I'll be posting from this trip...


I know this type of shot (the Arc de Triomphe at night, in a long exposure to blur the lights of traffic) has been done by lots of people before me. Even so, I love doing night shots, and I wanted to take a stab at this myself.


Hotel de Ville. Does your city hall look like this?


The Hotel de Ville from another perspective.

I like those first two shots so much that I already printed them at 13"x19" and will be sending them home with Marc's mom (since she immediately expressed a desire to have them). I may get them printed at 20"x30" or 24"x36" and have them framed. Before I do that, I need to see what else the trip has yielded. (I also have to think carefully before making more prints--we're running out of wall space!)

St. Paul's Cathedral

Today is our last full day in London and the last full day of the trip. After breakfast tomorrow, we'll head to Gatwick for our flight home. One of our stops today was St. Paul's Cathedral. Marc and I been there in February, but we thought his mom might like to see it. Also, we hadn't paid the entrance fee back then, so we hadn't gotten to explore the best parts of it.

The place really is amazing. At 28 pounds for the three of us, it wasn't cheap (that's about $52), but I wasn't disappointed. We've seen some amazing places during this trip--places that are inspiring to behold--but St. Paul's really holds its own. The size of it is impressive, but so is the quality of the work that went into it. It's magnificent.

In addition, for a history buff like me, it sure has a lot to offer. Many of the greats of Western history walked in its aisles, and several notables are entombed in its crypt.

I found it interesting that the poet John Donne had served as Dean of St. Paul's. A work of his that I (and many of us) learned in school was actually a sermon, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions XVII, in which he counseled that we must remember that we are all part of a greater group: "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." Speaking of the bell that would be sounded for someone who had taken ill or died, in words often misquoted (by me as well as others), he said, "never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

His sermon is worth the time to read today as much as it would have been if you had lived almost 400 years ago when he gave it to his congregation. I don't mean that in the religious sense, for it certainly is a call to devotion to the church, and I'm not even a Christian. I mean, rather, that it's an excellent linguistic work, as well as a passage in which we each may find some meaning. If you'd like to read the whole thing, you may find it here.

London

Where should I start? No idea.

My mother-in-law was practically suicidal in her approach to traffic in Milan and Paris. Granted, that's not hard to do, considering how people drive in those cities. But when we got to London, we really were on edge. Now the traffic would be coming at her from the opposite direction!

So far she hasn't gotten herself run over, although last night held some adventure. She loved the place we took her for dinner. In the middle of the road, she decided she needed to turn around make note of the name of the restaurant, so she'd have it for her journal. When we looked back (our mistake to let her fall behind) and saw her there--with traffic approaching--we both yelled, and she scurried to safety. How she lived this long is beyond me, but someone must be watching out for her!

Other than that, she's starting to adjust to life on the road (after a week and a half). She actually showed some smarts in navigating her way out of the London Underground today (too long of a story for here, but we were proud of her).

We've spent frightening--but not surprising--amounts of money, but I don't think we'll have a single regret. She'll always remember this trip fondly. That's already clear.

We bought ourselves a few gifts, as well as some for our nephews and niece. Also, we bought a good friend a gift, but that's a secret for now!

We've been less successful on the postcard front. We sent a couple, but I couldn't find the address of a certain blogger (who might possibly go by "Coffeedog"). So she was kind enough to e-mail it to me. I'm waiting on one more piece of info (sorry!!! Chalk it up to early senility!), and then I can send the card. (Update: she sent the info. Thanks!)

Marc is making notes, so he should have plenty of blog fodder of his own when we return. He'll even have lots of photos from the Canon camera. I'll share a few from my SLR, too.

Okay, he just questioned me about sitting here writing a blog entry, so I'll wrap it up. After all, his mother is tucked safely in bed (well down the hall this time, thank you very much--not that we'd ever let her hear a thing, Ms. Tuna!), and we need to get back to our room and continue our efforts to make a baby!

Look at that S-Car go!

Yes, I did it. I ate snails. I figured, when in Rome Versailles, etc...

They had escargot on the menu as an appetizer, and I'd just read that they're really just a vehicle for transporting garlic butter to one's mouth, so why not?

They weren't bad, but I'm not in a rush to try them again.

As for the rest of this leg of the trip, it has gone very well. The train trip from Geneva to Paris via TGV was lovely. The French countryside had Marc's mom enthralled. The next day, we took her to the Palace at Versailles, and today it was the Louvre, Notre Dame and some shopping.

We spent way too much money, but we're having a blast. Also, the food, not surprisingly, has been wonderful. I'm not normally into salads, but I am when I'm here. All of the vegetables are fresh and delicious, and I love them! If the stuff we buy at home (or got in restaurants) tasted like this, I'd eat salads all the time.

Anyhow, Marc is bitching at me about how much this Internet connection costs (the hotel really is screwing us on this, and there's no Internet cafe near here), so I'll sign off.

More when I have a chance!

Leaving Milan shortly

First of all, to Epi for his last comment... :P

I mean, I can at least check e-mail and leave a quick post! I'd head your way to give you a spanking after you got home, but I think we'd both enjoy that too much! ;)

For your information, young man, we've been enjoying the sights. We've seen lots of things, including lots of Italians who are quite easy on the eyes. Really! Of course, I knew that I'd see handsome Italians here, but the sheer volume of drool-worthy boys is staggering.

Speaking of such things, I'm happy to report that having my mother-in-law in the next room hasn't cut into the vacation fun. In fact, my honey has been quite frisky. We've just had to be quiet! ;)

Today, we take Marc's mom on a train ride through the Alps to Geneva. It's an area I've never seen (none of us have). I saw some of the Alps from the plane and also the foothills of the Alps when we were at Bellagio (Lake Como) on Monday, but I'm hoping that this will be quite stunning.

Lots of fun, so far. More when I again find a few minutes at an Internet cafe somewhere. Photos will have to wait until I get home (need to put them on the computer, sort them, etc.). Actually, nothing too stunning so far. At least, I don't think so (again, I really need to see them on the computer). We shall see.

Bye for now!

Having a great time

We're in an Internet cafe, have been having a great time and Marc will kill me if I sit here blogging. We need to go grab dinner!

Just wanted to report in. Tons of fun so far. More another time--with photos, eventually.

Stay out of trouble while we're gone! ;)

Leaving for a bit

I don't know if I'll get to post anything while we're in Europe. If not, I'll catch up with everyone in a couple of weeks.

Be good, kids! :)

Huh? My Sears card? WTF?

If you work in healthcare, you get (or should) regular training in infection control. One of the main lessons is that you have to keep your hands clean. Transmission by contact is one of the main ways disease spreads.

Even before I got into this field, I was big on cleanliness, but now I'm even more concerned. So when I grabbed a pole in the subway tonight and felt something sticky on it, I immediately wanted to wash. At Penn, there was a line for the Men's Room, so I went to Plan B.

There's a Kmart in Penn, and they have a pharmacy section. Since Plan B involved getting some Purell waterless hand cleanser, I headed there. I quickly grabbed a small bottle of Purell and headed for the checkout. When I got there, my purchase came to $1.72 with tax.

"Do you want to put that on your Sears card?" Huh? I'm not sure if it was how she spoke or pure confusion, but I had to have her repeat that.

My Sears card? At Kmart? I guess I missed that announcement. More to the point, when I'm already holding out two dollar bills to pay, why would she want to waste the time of everyone behind me by getting me to charge $1.72?

Yes, I'm sure she was told to ask, but shouldn't common sense come into things at some point?

Speaking of sticky poles (or potentially sticky), I'm on my train home now, and I'm sitting across from a guy whose pole I'd like to see! We've exchanged pleasantries, and my gaydar tells me he's definitely a teammate.

He's not my usual type. He has a shaved head (not normally my thing, but sometimes--like on him, where it just works) and big arms. He also had a tattoo on one bulging bicep. I'm not usually into tattoos either, but, again, it works for him.

I guess the main thing is that he has a nice smile, and he has been friendly. Honestly, I've always been a sucker :-) for a nice smile. *sigh*

"Hey, Bokey, he followed me home. Can we keep him?" :-D

They've got to be kidding

Just when I thought members of the U.S. Congress couldn't be a bigger bunch of useless phonies comes this crap. $100 rebate checks to offset higher gas costs? And let's try to sneak through drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge while we're at it.

I suppose it's too much to expect them to take real steps to foster energy alternatives.

The United States Congress: the best representation money can buy (today's money brought to you by the big oil companies).

Running

The audiobook to which I'm currently listening is Peter Mayle's French Lessons. In it, he tells of a rather unusual race called the Marathon du Medoc. Yes, it's a race, but it's really more like a party. There are regular stops for wine tastings, and people dress up in costumes (many in drag!) for the race.

Now that's what I call a marathon. What drove me to write this post, however, was his comparison of this event in the Bordeaux region of France to what he normally sees on the faces of runners.

He described "earnest joggers" as showing "all the signs of joy you’d expect to find in torture victims." And isn't that a great description?

Years (and a large number of pounds) ago, I was pretty seriously into cycling. I remember being 30 miles into a ride, and I'd pass a jogger. As rung out as I'd sometimes feel, I knew I didn't look as bad as the average jogger. I never could fathom the means by which anyone was attracted to running. Just the looks on runners' faces was all I needed to see!

A good afternoon of shopping

We decided that we need a new piece of luggage for the upcoming trip. One old piece is too big to take on the plane without paying an oversize fee, so we're not using that one. Another piece won't hold what we need. So we went shopping.

Macy's was our first stop, since they have a great luggage selection and often run sales. Sure enough, they had the type we wanted (Atlantic Luggage's 29" "Suiter"--the smaller 21" version can be seen here). It has a thick 1600+ Denier outer skin and is expandable. We got it at a very good price, since it was 50% off list price (which, of course, no one ever pays), and then 10% off for using my Macy's card and another 10% for taking one of the ones that was on display--which was fine, since it was spotless.

After Macy's, we went to Petco for dog food, since the kids are running low. Then we went to Barnes & Noble, where I spent gift cards I'd gotten for my birthday, as well as buying a bunch more than the cards covered--this is what happens when I'm let loose in a bookstore.

After Barnes & Noble, we went to the south shore to visit a nursery Marc likes. Aside from their usually having good plants in stock, Marc called ahead and found that they had the type of peach tree he wanted (from the grower he wanted--my other half knows his stuff!).

With all of that done, we started to head home. By then, it was about 7pm. Around that time, my cell phone rang. I was driving, so Marc answered it. It was a friend of ours.

We'd completely forgotten a plan to meet five friends of ours for dinner at 6:30. Oops! They'd gotten drinks and appetizers and were wondering where we were. We don't usually run late. It's a good thing they called, or we'd have forgotten until it was too late.

So we headed over to the restaurant. It wasn't too long of a drive, and they hadn't finished appetizers by the time we got there. We had a great time, despite the delay, and then we headed home.

Here, in the rain, we unloaded the day's acquisitions. We each took some of the flats of impatiens out of the truck. Marc put the peach tree on the outside patio area behind the garage, and then I went and lifted it out of the box it was sitting in, so the box wouldn't be out in the rain (it's in a pot--the box was just to keep dirt from getting loose in the truck).

I brought in the books and the luggage, and now we're relaxing. I'm in Mandy's chair (well, she thinks it's her chair), and it's nice to be home.

Hope you're all having a good weekend!

All we are saying is...

Give peas a chance.

This message brought to you by the United Pea Growers Association.









Yeah, that's all you get. I feel like a neglectful blogger, but life's just too busy! Between trip prep and the craziness of work these days, there's just no time. On the bright side, the big trip is only ten days away. Woo hoo! :)

A day to remember

One hundred years ago tomorrow. That's when it hit. April 18, 1906.

It was very early in the morning when the fault let loose. The earthquake that resulted wasn't the most violent in American history. Not even close. Compared to the 1964 quake in Anchorage, it was a lightweight.

It was, however, one of the most devastating natural disasters in American history. The city would rebuild, and the people--those who survived--would go on. But it was a horrible calamity at the time. The earthquake was followed by a fire that burned much of the city to the ground.

Planning

Two weeks from now, barring any problems, we'll be in Milan. This isn't just any trip. The purpose of this trip is to bring Marc's mom on her first trip outside the United States. She turned 80 this year (Marc is the baby of the family), and she's never set foot on foreign soil.

Well, that's about to change. By four weeks from now, she will have been to Italy, Switzerland, France and England. I'm sure she'll be overwhelmed (but in a good way).

The problem right now is that I'm the one who is overwhelmed--although Marc is helping with that. Months ago, I bought books on each place, to help with the planning. Also, we've been to London and Paris before (two of the key stops), so that's easier to plan. Milan and the lakes of northern Italy, on the other hand, have been more of a challenge. For the entire trip, there are so many possibilities that it's hard to choose what to do.

Fortunately, Marc, who is a great organizer, is now in full planning mode. He grabbed a couple of the books last night and started discussing options with me.

I'm sure all of this will come together. These things always do, but I've been a bit worried lately, since this is a rather large (and expensive!) trip that I want to make as special as I can. After all, this literally is going to be a loved one's "trip of a lifetime." So that's a bit of a burden. On the other hand, if it goes more-or-less as planned, we'll really give her a time to remember!

Wish us luck! :)

Zay Harding

I like travel shows. They help me plan future trips, show me places I might not visit and remind me of places I've been.

So it was natural that I was drawn to an episode of Globe Trekker (despite the name immediately setting off a song pun in my brain--the Road Runner theme song with the words "Globe Trekker" substituted for "Road Runner." Yes, that's life inside my head). :)

So I started watching an episode on Southeast China. The host is a young American named Zay Harding. A photo of him can be found here.

None of the photos I've found online really do him justice. He doesn't have the looks of a model--which is a plus for me--but he's handsome and quite charming. Above all, he has a nice smile and seems like a fun guy. He's not a kid, but he has a boyish charm.

Oh my. As I'm typing this, he has taken off his shirt. He's trying his hand at making some pottery, and he claims that he took off his shirt to keep it clean. Um, yeah. If I had a chest like that, I'd look for excuses to take my shirt off, too! Not that I'm complaining!

Now it's time to get back to watching TV! ;)

----------------------------

An update (over two years later): I've come back to this post so much later, because I found myself posting about Zay yet again. If you found your way to this post and want to see a few photos, then go here.

Not that I had any plan to go to Kentucky

Some One of our best friends are is from Kentucky, but that doesn't do much for my feelings for Kentucky at the moment. Actually, I probably shouldn't condemn the whole state. Just the asshole governor, Ernie Fletcher, who went out of his way to strike protection of gays and lesbians from the state's affirmative action plan.

He went out of his way to kill an anti-discrimination provision. People like this defy understanding. Where do they come from? What's wrong with them? Why are they so full of hatred?

Busy

There just hasn't been much time to blog this week. Even today, we had lots of things to do. One of those things may spawn some photos worth posting, but that will come in a later post. The photos were from a flower show. We'd gone to this show, held at a nearby university, in prior years. This year, instead of being free, they charged $8 per person. In exchange, they had a lot less to look at. So who worked out that plan?

In other news, I went for an exam at the optometrist. This is part of the process of deciding whether I'm a good candidate for LASIK (so far, it looks good). Then I have to decide if I want to go through the very expensive process of getting my eyes fixed. The surgeon we'd be using is supposed to be one of the very best, so that's good. Also, they guarantee to get it right. Since I have astigmatism as well as being nearsighted (I almost typed bearsighted, but let's not go there), it's a little more complicated than some but apparently nothing they can't handle.

I'll keep you updated on what I wind up doing. Whatever I do, I think it will wait until after our big trip to Europe (three weeks from now).

Other things to mention today: one of the unions where I work is giving out flyers about a "National Day of Action Rally for Immigrant Rights" on Monday. They're asking people who attend (this rally is at City Hall in Manhattan from 3-7pm, if you're in the area and want to go) to wear a white shirt. That's an interesting "sign of peaceful protest," as their flyer calls it. It should make a great visual, if everyone does that.

That's about it for now. I have to get back to my chores!

I hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Photos from yesterday's party

The main birthday cake--there were five cakes in total, and they all got devoured


Some hors d'oeuvres with 4 of the 5 cakes in the background


Me and my wonderful partner


Michael & Greg


Steve & Jeff


A terribly flattering shot of Jase


One of the wonderful ladies Marc hired to help with the party--they really did a great job!


Tom & Jeff


Michael, as inspired by a scene from Jaws


Various relatives and friends getting food in the kitchen


Michael again, this time with cake--how does he keep getting in these photos, anyhow? There were lots of other people! Just a camera hog, I guess!


Jase, another one who keeps throwing himself in front of the camera! :)


Patrick & Michael re-installing the pink flamingoes on the lawn. When we had our housewarming party last year, they bought these and stuck them on the lawn. Yesterday, they searched the house until they found them (in the furnace room) and then put them back out front. One of our neighbors was seen with a stunned look on his face! :)


The most wonderful man in the world


Patrick & John


And again


What was left of the five cakes. Even with 40 people here, I'm amazed they ate so much cake.


My younger brother and his youngest son (who just reached one year of age). Like his shirt?


Dodger taking a break outside


And Miss Mandy


Mandy keeping John company--yes, she thinks she's a lap dog. She's just a huge lap dog! :)

I hope the photos were enjoyable. The party sure was! I had a great time! Thanks to everyone who made the day special!

FABULOUS DAY! (a/k/a Happy Birthday to Me!)

Today is my 40th birthday. My wonderful partner Marc threw quite a party. About 40 friends and family members came over, and we had a fabulous time! I also got some fabulous gifts!

Photos were taken, but I'm not taking the time to post them just now (sorry!). There's fun remaining, courtesy of my other half. So I shan't dawdle here.

More when I have time...

:)