Van Man Der Houn's Mantastic Journeys

It's been awhile since I revisited this travel blog. I haven't gone anywhere, though, so I guess it's fine.

Soon to change! In September, I'll be traveling to the UK for Kate and Dom's wedding at Orchardleigh Estate. I haven't been and have been scouring the web for travel deals. Not successful yet.

We want to visit Paul and Katrina in Dundee while there, so it's going to be a little complex to plan. Get a car, don't get a car, get a hotel, don't get a hotel, drink beer--oh wait... there is one certainty.

The other trip is New Year's in Miami and then a Caribbean cruise for my brother's 13th birthday! Should be so much fun - I have been jonesing for a tropical vacae - bathing suits, muscles, tans, drinks, swimming, sand, ahhhhh.

I really can't wait for either trip and hope I can scrape enough cash together. The recession has finally reached its bony, gnawed on hand into my shallow, holey pockets for my last bits of silver.

If I type fqst, this is zhqt you get; The keys on the french co,puters qre qll ,essed up: So,eone should report this:

Getting reqdy to boqrd111

See you soon1

We had a very uneventful flight into Paris, taxied to our hotel. I showered, we cracked the champagne in the mini bar, and then we went in search of dinner. It was already 8ish, so we weren't being fussy. Well, I was being annoyed; we hadn't eaten in 8 hours and I am sick again (still).

We ate at a French/German place. We ordered cheese with onions and bacon, thinking the bacon came on the side so I could stay true to my non-meat ways. It came smothered in ham. I picked it off and ate the cheesy bread onion thing. Then, we had french onion soup (oops - may have had beef broth) in France! How can you not? Finally, being full, our entrees came. I had salmon, Craig ordered a roast. He thought it was beef, but it was a giant leg of ham. He hates ham. It was accompanied by a mountain of sauerkraut. lol

I was crashing hard, so we went to the pharmacy for more medicine and lozenges. We decided to sleep and get up early to see the Eiffel Tower before heading to the airport.

Being sick sucks.

We left the ship and went to the airport. We hoped to check in and leave our bags, to get lunch on La Rambla before our flight (6 hours). They wouldn't take our luggage until 2 hours before the flight, so we just stayed at the airport. I bought something to color, candy and some trashy magazines that show Amy Winehouse's boobs. (That's not why I bought it, although I cant remember the reason now).

We are so sad the cruise is over. Once we got past the campiness of some of it, we really enjoyed it. And I have to say... Royal Caribbean is VERY organized. They turned that ship over in one day after all 3,000 of us left to take another 3,000 to the Canary Islands. Some guests from our cruise enjoyed themselves so much that they were trying to book that one to extend their vacation. We thought about it for a minute and then remembered our cats, jobs and bank accounts. We had a jolly laugh over that one, we did. (yeah, that was my attempt at a British accent. haha. Almost as good as my rendition of Careless Whispers in Rock-a-Rokie on Wednesday night. Tragic.)

I guess I have picked up some interesting phrases and words along the way. Mostly British things - our dinner table was Scottish, British and Irish. I suppose it was inevitable that us Americans would get picked on a little and I shouldn't have been so impatient with poor Margaret. She's sweet.

Off to Paris!

We packed up our things and decided to do as much as we could. We ate, drank, went to a magic show (I could totally see Jamie Allen go into his pockets - I have video), gambled, tipped people out, got emails from people we met, sang karaoke, ate again, tried for the Bingo jackpot, and tried to go to the disco, but fell asleep. My cough has come back and I'm sick again. It's no wonder - everyone smokes in Europe and breathing the damp Med air isn't helping.

The waves continue to rock the boat today, although not so badly. I can't wait to be on land again.