Europe - Venice - Day 2

Friday July 28, 2006
Our current location is Frankfurt, Germany.
Our destination is Venice, Italy.
The tank is full with petrol.
The iPod is working.

Our trip finally began with an eager need to get to Venice as quickly as possible. This is the autbahn, so we kept on the pedal doing 160km to 220km. I love these roads out here. They were designed for high speed traveling. There isn't a better feeling than flying on the road for your first time on the autobahn and everyone is getting out of your way. Just like the States. ;)

We split the driving up by segments of 2-3 hours. The wonderful thing about it all was being navigated by the woman in our life right now. She's the best. As Jeanne would say, "I heart Navi." Miguel bought the unit in Germany, but her English accent gets us every time. She will calmly guide us through the dark night with comforting whispers of "Continue for 26 miles on the A4." or "Please make a sharp right in 600 yards." haha. She's great.

With our tour guide at hand and people dropping off the autobahn due to the late hour, we quickly hit the boarder of Italy and Austria. We were about to drive through the hilly wonderland of Austria. I swear to anything holy that I was going to see little red riding hood or another fairy tale character. Austria is strewn with gorgeous hills and mountains of tall pines and beautiful wood cabins. There is very little within eyesight that screams modern. If I was a writer, I would be able to put a picture in to a thousand words. However, you have to deal with my fairy tale description.

We stopped in Innsbruck to stretch our legs and take pictures of the town. The only other people around were three older Austrians chatting it up near their old school mini and having coffee. They were straight out of the 60/70's. It completed the picture perfect setting in Innsbruck.

Now it was time to come down into the hills of Italy, which were adorned with Summer yellow villas and vineyards older than America. We didn't have much to say, since we were too busy staring out the windows in awe of how spectacular Northern Italy is. However, we pushed on to Venice with a new level of excitement. We were finally in Italy and only an hour away from the waters of Venice!

We decided to head straight for Venice and deal with the hotel later. We parked in a structure right across the street. From the top, we were able to see all of Venice and it was awesome. It is too surreal to be looking down on Venice and watching the water taxis and gondolas going by. This ain't Disneyworld, peoples.

We reached the waterfront and saw a series of bridges and alleyways that we knew would consume our afternoon before we saw everything that there is to see. We were ok with this. Getting lost in the street of Venice is half the reason why you come to this place.

The first half of our day started off very well. We were confident that the second part would be even better.

Europe - Germany - Day 1

Wednesday July 26 3:30am was the beginning to my European vacation whether I liked it or not. I had much anxiety walking back to my place from 13371 after a kickass run in DOA4, because I knew I was getting up at 7:00am to rush to the office and pick up my FedEx Overnight Birth Certificate.

The day I am scheduled to fly out at 6:45pm is the same day I was heading downtown to get in line and hope the fine personnel at the D.C. Passport Agency would/could hook me up with a new passport. I'll save you the long winded story of how I lost my passport, but CSI has nothing on the level of detail I went through when searching for my old passport in my house. It's lost.

Sleep deprived and worn out from a weekend of anxiety, I succumbed to the fortune, or karma, of me using up my last hours of the day to get the most important aspect of my flight. I have to say that the D.C. Passport Agency is thorough and quick...when you are forced to throw a lot of money their way. I was finally out of there by 2:30pm. This gave me a comfortable 2 hours and 15 mins to arrive at IAD.

Jeanne was a sport. A true trooper. Any other Leave it to Beaver swell terms I can use? She got me to the airport on time and listened to my neurosis in the car. My neurosis are a different topic all together. I will skip any explanation for now.

I was happy to have made it to the 250 person queue at United Air International check-in. I didn't care how long I had to stand in that line, because I was making it on that plane.

2 1/2 hours of sleep and one viewing of Cindrella Man and I was landing in Frankfurt International. So, to start off my trip in Germany I was working off of a couple hours of sleep and coming down from my passport experience. It was all good though, the weather was a cool 73 degrees and the airport's security was pretty relaxed. Odd thing was, there were only about 15 people waiting for luggage at the baggage claim.

Miguel picked me up in his sweet, new ride which is our chariot throughout Europe. A very comfortable and speedy Volvo T5 with A/C! I love me some A/C. We were off to jump on to the autobahn for my first time and we were doing 160kms by the time we got on to the on-ramp. I love this country already.

After a day of relaxing and doing some errands, we were ready to start our road trip. We drove in to Frankfurt for dinner at a place called Flipper. The restaurant is a lot nice than the name. I got my first Liter of Vetlin. The mug is as big as my face. After looking at the menu, they had meatloaf with eggs and home fries that looked pretty damn good...in my mind.

They brought out my dish and it was spam on steroids. It was one massive slab of ham with two eggs on top. This piece of "meatloaf" was so big that the eggs did not droop over the edge. I divided and conquered and was very happy with this particular German dish (We opted to stay away from the traditional German dishes).

Now it was time to hit the road and begin our 8 hour drive to Venice. It was about 11:00pm and our plan was to drive through the night. Miguel bought a navigation system for our drive. Let me tell you. If you are driving by car in Europe, a navi system is top priority. Every time she says, "Now turn left in 600 yards." I instantly say, "I love you!"

My first day in Germany was a little rough due to the lack of sleep, but we were underway and I was very excited. We set the navi to point us to Venice and I tried to sleep as much as possible, because the next day was going to be very long.

One of thing that made me laugh while in Germany:
1. "Ausfahrt" - this means exit, but the way I read it, it means a completely different kind of exit.

That's it for day 1.

Wawa on the Seventh Day

If there was a Wawa around when God created the universe, he would have gone to it on the seventh day. This place has everything a normal person would want. Let's face it, this world is chock-full of very interesting people that want a lot more than the normal person. These are the kind of things that Wawa may not be able to sell due to morals or legality. Think of the establishment that is polar opposite of Wawa and owned by Quentin Tarantino. I'll leave you to your imagination.

I digress.

So my normal friends and I decided to make a run to Wawa last night, because they are open 24/7 baby! Very exciting times in Gainesville. Very exciting times for everyone within a 15 mile radius of Gainesville. And how very special for us, since we just happen to live 15 miles away. Do the math and come up with special = exciting. I will try to contain my excitement. I just may have to make another trip after I am finished with this post.

When you walk into this little slice of heaven, you will find a deli that is computerized to let you choose your choice of tasty sandwich from a touch screen. The excitement and range of selection can be easily compared to a fat kid in a candy shop. I was skeptical of the set up at first, but I succumbed to its brilliance and ordered a junior cheesesteak. It doesn't get any closer to a an authentic Philly cheesesteak, considering they serve your sandwich with Amoroso bread. The best sandwich bread on the East Coast.

So, friends, family, and strangers that have stumbled upon my site, I highly recommend you pay a visit to the nearest Wawa.

AC Baby!

Atlantic City, that is.

A group of us decided to take a trip up to AC Monday for a little gambling and a little fun. We stayed outside of the city in a Comfort Inn which helped knock off about $200 on the room. We were not planning on staying in the room much, anyhow.

Our first order of business was the Borgata Buffet. This buffet is worth every penny. The food was superior to any other buffet I have ever had. There was plenty of quality seafood, pasta, Chinese, and good ole' American entrees that would tease every mood you may have when at home and trying to decide what to eat. This was so great, because you could walk back to your table with every option piled high. Needless to say, our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. However, who could resist a couple plates of Borgata dessert and Borgata Gelato!

I ate so much, I had a headache for the rest of the evening. Oh man, what a great headache it was.

As we started to walk out of the Buffet, we decided to hit the main strip and try our luck at the cheaper tables. Haha, let's not deny the fact that most of us working at See Jee Aii ain't making enough to afford the $25 or higher tables.

We walked in like high rollers into Caesar with our American Eagle cargo shorts, target flip flops, and printed tees. Clearly we took the connecting bridge to another fine establishment. You may have heard of it, Wild, Wild West. The fake wooden waterwheel exudes riches beyond your wild, wild imagination. In addition, there was a donkey statue near the water of the wheel. I proceeded to say in my best Mexican accent (you heard me right), "Burrrro!" I was embarrassed and pleased to say that the Latin family standing right next to me didn't turn to see who was faking a Mexican accent screaming out donkey.

Our first victim was this dealer that had to be new to gambling and math. She worked at a snail's pace and 2 + 2 does equal 5 in this casino. She had to be corrected by the players a number of times. It went something like this:

Dealer has 17
Jack Bauer has 18
Dealer proceeds to take Jack Bauer's chips
Jack Bauer must educate Dealer that 18 is higher than 17 and the chips stay.
Jack Bauer reminds Dealer who Jack Bauer is and to not let it happen again or she will be placed in Federal custody for terrorist behavior.

Well, as some of group was being killed softly by the Blackjack dealer, C Yeah and Lil' Jon headed over to the roulette table to show everyone how it's done when betting on numbers. Between the two of them, they came out around $300 ahead! That's pretty damn good for roulette in one hour of play. Lil' John could've played it cool and said he knew what he was doing, but he accidentally mentioned that he left his betting chips on number 26, while it hit three times in a row! I am rich, biyaatch!

I myself played a very important role in the evening of gambling. I was the chickenshit daredevil. I bounced between the Blackjack table and roulette table watching and encouraging those playing to win. As I encouraged those playing, I vicariously played their hands either saying to myself, "I would've been up if I had that hand or damn, I am glad I didn't play." It was a tough job, but someone had to do it.

However, after my endless role playing, it was time to take a breather and walk the plank, matey! Atlantic City has really cleaned up the boardwalk. It isn't shady any more. I only saw two hypodermic needles! Way to go Jersey. They had this Beach Bar that was right off the boardwalk and the music was jammin'. Apparently, it was noticeable that I wanted to go dance, because I was making a fool of myself and those innocent bystanders near me. Sorry, C Yeah. It's not the good kind of dancing either. Come on, you all know the typical white guy dance where the arms and knees do more moving than Uhaul does in a year.

Well, the rest of our crew were mentally beaten down by playing math teacher to their Blackjack dealer and decided to join us on the boardwalk. Our evening of play was over and it was time for some french fries and apple pie from McDonald's. High Rollin', baby!

As quickly as we rolled into AC with our dashing good looks and bankroll that can choke a donkey, we quickly departed with our overstuffed, haggard looks and bankroll that now can only choke a mouse. Ah, gotta love AC for what it does to the mind and body. Good times.

Our next point of interest was an exciting one for me. We planned on heading into Philly to have some seriously authentic Mexican food. I am serious peoples, this establishment was straight out of Mexico and the food was the best Mexican I have ever had on the East Coast. Every time I go to Philly now, I will pay a visit to La Lupe's next to Pat and Geno's. Superb.

The point of going to AC was two-fold. We were there to lose our ass and lose a friend. Ok, a little dramatic. C Yeah was on her way to New York City for permanent relocation and a kick ass job that inspires most of us to quit our job to do what we always wanted to do. However, our final departure from Philly was a sad one, because we left her behind since she was going the opposite way...this time. Jeanne had to say her goodbye quickly, otherwise C Yeah would have been drenched.

Now we have a reason to visit NY! Rooooad Trip!

Hillary Duff is singing in AC late August, any takers? haha. Personally, I will hold out for more talent, like Ashlee Simpson. ;)

Hope everyone enjoyed their Fourth of July!

Eighth Wonder of the World

I finally have air conditioning in my house!

I was scheduled to have the A/C company come in and give me an estimate and then schedule a time for repair. My roommate wasn't having it. She wanted it fixed now. So did I, but I was at the mercy of the all powerful A/C man. Sorry, A/C person. Let's get really PC, Heating Ventilation & Air Conditioning Technician.

This guy comes in and right off the bat I knew I was going to like him. As I was describing what the previous Heating Ventilation & Air Conditioning Technician called a "freon leak in the high pressure copper line," the new guy promptly said, "shoooot, we'll see about that."

This guy exuded honesty. Maybe even a little too much. My favorite thing he said was, "Heck, we don't need to pull the blower out to torch that line! I just need to make sure I don't torch the fiberglass installation or I'm gonna burn this place down. That'll be real bad. haha."

Needless to say, he fixed the problem on the spot without setting up another appointment and saved me some $$$.

Another wonderful benefit of A/C that I am realizing now is that it dehumidifies as well. A house, or dwelling, can really begin to smell funky without proper circulation and control of moisture in the air. haha, anyone up for hanging out at my place now?!