Furbabies

Before J left there was a lot of back and forth about what to do with the dog we had rescued together.  She already had one dog that she rescued prior to us dating and started to wonder if two would be too much by herself especially since both dogs have such different personalities and needs.  I don't know what made me do it.  My grandma wanted a new dog so I used that as a reason but I think ultimately I didn't want to lose everyone in our little family if I didn't have to.  So there I was, picking her up from the babysitter and taking her to a new home for both of us.  At first I thought she was the house dog so her crate and she would sleep in the main hallway but she wouldn't have it.  She barked and cried till I came to get her and moved her into my tiny room.  I didn't realize we both would prefer it this way.  There was comfort knowing she was there in the dark with me.

#2 Paris

London

Paris

Brussels

Amsterdam

Berlin

Dresden

Prague

Vienna

Florence

Rome

Athens

Crete

Barcelona

Dublin

London

I haven't had much chance to talk about Paris.  It really does feel like a magical place.  The look of the city is beautiful and classic.  Actually our tour guide said that whenever something is built that doesn't fit the look of the city, the locals get upset.  For example, the pyramid within the courtyard of the Louvre.  Everyone dresses well.  Rarely did we see anyone in shorts, work out clothes, or anything other than nice jeans or slacks, great shoes, and something way more fashionable than my Columbia hiking clothes and Reebok Nanos.  

The people weren't as bad as friends had warned.  The only hint of rudeness I could sense was when the cashier didn't smile while ringing me up.  They probably just were glad to have me out of there and I'm ok with that.  I did my best to say bonjour till we realized bon soir was good evening.  There's no other telltale sign that someone isn't from around here when they say "good day" late in the evening.  

I think I could have spent more time in Paris, weeks maybe.  Everywhere there are things to explore whether it was more of the Louvre, which is a labyrinth of art and artifacts, or just walking through town browsing at shops.  There are countless bakeries selling the same things but I had to rein myself in not to try every one.  

We had a hard time with J's celiacs though.  Not enough research.  I realized, much later, it is to both our benefit if we research a list of gluten-free places before we get to a city.  Most of these places still do regional food, just with options that are safe for her.  It's still a win win, I get to try the local cuisine while she feels safe.  I forget how important that is for her to feel safe with what she is eating.  It brings us both down and ruins our plans for the day if she gets "gluten'd".  So while in Paris we attempted to be thrifty by eating cheap lunches of things we collected at the grocery store such as tuna, apples, and cheese and in the evening attempt to go somewhere and try something new.  J wasn't so impressed with her options at most places so as an attempt to console her we ate quite a few meals at MexIndiana, a Mexican Indian restaurant close to our AirBnb and whatever Indian place we could find nearby.  I love Indian, but I wish I had more chances to try French food but this is the give and take of relationships, I guess.  Who knows maybe I'll be back someday.

Mexindiana was interesting.  The men running it appeared to be Indian and friendly.  Their menus were in French and Spanish so we could recognize what most things were.  The guacamole was surprisingly good and came in a tortilla shell bowl.  We ate well, it just felt peculiar to be in France and eating guacamole.

As I'm writing this I'm on the flight to Barcelona from Athens.  We've loved where we've been and the people have usually been friendly and welcoming.  But there's one thing I've learned.  Groups of middle aged women are either very rude, loud, or annoying or some mix of all those things.  Such as this flight.  We have the unfortunate luck to have seats stuck in the middle of a large group of women.  They talk a lot, and loudly, and enjoy standing up in the aisles so they can talk to their friends.  But if this is my biggest complaint then it's still pretty good.

Back Home

I recently described the last two months as a whirlwind.  So many cities, languages, cultures, foods, people, it almost all blends together.  When people ask what was my favorite I can't really do it. If you ask me what was my favorite thing from a particular city that's a little easier.  

Being back home it's been one errand after another trying to get J ready to leave for the east coast.  Sorting, packing and playing car Tetris, which I'm a pro at.  I've been throwing into the wind emails in response to craigslist ads, and contacting any business near where I'm going to stay to see if they're hiring.  All I need right now is something part time so I'm not dipping deeper into my savings.  But preferably something I'll enjoy.  I don't want to be back in the same position I left.  I jumped off the cliff in search of something new and I'm definitely getting it.  It's scary.  It's exciting.  I feel like I'm bobbing on the waves of my emotions.  The highs of "you can do this!  anything you put your mind to!" to "oh my god I'm gonna hate this job if I get it.  They're never going to hire me."  

I want to take the time to thank everyone for their support.  I got a lot of people saying how great it was that I was doing this.  Even people we met abroad.  I'm staying with gracious friends who trust me with their pup.  And I'm even grateful for the insurance check that's coming for my stolen phone.  Things aren't the settled safe routine that they used to be but I'm good.  I have everything I need if I need it and I'm grateful for that.

#12 Crete

1. England
2. Paris
3. Brussels
4. Amsterdam
5. Berlin
6. Dresden
7. Prague
8. Vienna
9. Florence
10. Rome
11. Athens
12. Crete

I'm writing this from our small hotel on the beach on the Greek island of Crete.  You can google it, we found it on TripAdvisor, it's called Hotel Caretta Beach.  We're maybe one of five groups here.  A 45 minute taxi drive from Chania airport and we are what feels like the middle of nowhere.  It's a really tiny town, about 100m down the road each way is a small market.  There's another, slightly larger hotel next door where we've been going for lunch, cause they have a menu and ours doesn't do lunch.  Caretta Beach is run by two women and apparently caters to a German crowd.  The welcome booklet is in German and English, the list of kitchen supplies in our kitchenette is in German, there's a few German channels on the TV, and the women who run it also speak German.  There's one long bar that is the center of the hotel, we've never seen the lobby I don't think anyone is in it.  You can order simple drinks and if you ask they'll make you a snack, like the Greek salad they made The Girlfriend when we arrived.  Dinner is only one thing and they let you know what it is the day before or that day.  Tonight was a nice beet salad and tomatoes with pesto as a first course, braised lamb with crispy chunks of baked potato and a warm cabbage salad, and dessert was yogurt with honey.  It's all delicious and feels way more homemade than the place next door which I appreciate, and for 3 courses pretty cheap.  The beach is right there, we can see it from our room and I can hear the water right now while I type this.  Today was pretty much eat, beach, eat, nap, beach, eat, and now maybe a game of rummy.  We have two more full days of this.  I'm ok with that.  It's nice not running around trying to figure out how to meetup with a tour or find this monument or a bus, a subway, or a train.  Right now is relax time, and try not to burn too much, already burned my upper back a little.

Next stop, Barcelona.

#8 Vienna

I have no idea how The Girlfriend is sleeping.  We're at our AirBnb in Vienna and decided to sleep in a bit more then all of a sudden it sounded like someone was jackhammering the room above us.  There's construction across the courtyard and above us and now I don't feel so bad about running the washer after 10pm.  I gave up and decided to eat my breakfast, joyously eating the leftovers of my doner kebab dinner and some chocolate ceral.

#4 Amsterdam - First Impressions

We arrived in Amsterdam today.  Here's some first impressions:

1. I giggle whenever I hear Dutch because it makes me think of the Swedish Chef.
2. Amsterdam feels like a European Vegas.  There are small casinos everywhere, neon lights, tons of bars and clubs, prostitution, drugs, debauchery, etc.  Such a stark contrast to the small and quiet Brussels that we just left.
3. Lesbian bars are the same everywhere - hard to find, tiny, and crowded.  We thought we would venture out since we just got here and it's our only chance to check out the weekend nightlife and went hunting for a bar that The Girlfriend found online.  Walking through the alley where it should have been there was nothing.  We found a gay men's bar and asked them if they knew where it was and they said it closed down recently.  They gave us a map and recommended a lesbian bar.  We found it and it was a tiny little box so full of people so bad that we didn't even try to go in.  Sad face.
4. Everyone speaks some English, I feel guilty that I know nothing about Dutch.
5. We can barely read the street names here.  Examples: Oudezijds Armsteeg, Heintje Hoekssteeg, Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal
6. If you go outside the city, like where we're staying, it's beautiful.  There's canals, woods, and blue skies.
7. The coldest weather we've encountered so far, in the 40's.  Today I wore almost one piece of every type of clothings I brought.  Shirt, long sleeve shirt, sweater, rain jacket, beenie, gloves, scarf, pants.  My knees were freezing.  Another contrast from the day I wore shorts and a shirt in Brussels in the 70 degree weather.
8. From what I read, the street food to try here is raw herring covered in raw onions... it sounds like a joke but knowing me I'm going to have to try it.

We'll see how the next 5 days go.

View from the room in our AirBnB

#1 London, England

*Note: I'm actually currently in Brussels but didn't have the chance to blog yet.

While The Girlfriend naps (we do a lot of napping), I'm going to recap a little.  Unfortunately, I only have a few pictures, since I switch between my phone and my point and shoot camera and sometimes she will snap some and I don't feel the need to repeat pics.  So hopefully some of you will have the attention span to read this (which is probably my family) but I'll try to throw in a photo here and there for the rest of you ;)

Things we've learned in Europe: a draft post that i decided to post after more than a year

1.  Europeans like to sit outside for long periods of time.  Parks are filled with people just sitting, either with food or not and groups or single, and it doesn't matter what time of day it is.  It's also been great weather since we got here.

2.  Canned tuna tastes better.

3.  Eggs are treated differently and can be kept outside the refrigerator.

4.  People dress better.  Everyone has decent shoes, and fashionable clothing.  No one walks around in shorts, tennis shoes, or flip-flops.

5.  We look like tourists, you can mostly tell by the shoes.  We've started playing a game called "spot the tourist" when we stop anywhere.

6.  There's more asians than I expected.

7.  So far French people have been nicer than what we were warned.

8.  Goji berries are big here, or at least bigger than in the US.

9... Always have a backup plan.

#2 Paris - Bonjour!

Today was our second full day in Paris.  I had some anxiety coming to France.  Most people I talked to said that people would be rude here and I felt some hesitation to talk to anyone,  but so far it hasn't been bad.  Sometimes they don't smile or they respond in short quips but some do smile and even make small talk. When we first arrived we spent some time relaxing in the park waiting for our AirBnB host.  I decided to go explore while The Girlfriend watched our luggage.  A playing toddler ran up to her and his brother tried to retrieve him but he wouldn't go.  The mother came up to The G and asked her if she spoke French.  In English she said "He didn't want to leave you."  And then a woman with a newborn baby sat next to her and chatted for a while.  That's a pretty nice first impression of the French people.

A friend in London recommended the Fat Tire Bike Tours, no relation to the beer unfortunately.  We signed up for a day tour and a night tour for our first full day.  It gave us a chance to stay active, see a lot of the tourist sights at once, and get a little bit of a history lesson.  It was also refreshing to be in a group that spoke English.  I don't know any French except the basic words that are common knowledge or you hear on TV.  I'm picking up a few things here and there but I wish I had given it some time or at least learned how to sound out the words.  Anyways, the day tour was a great experience!  I highly recommend it and we're planning on doing the sister tours in Amsterdam, Berlin, and London.

 The park across the street.

A random fancy cheese shop we found and bought the gooiest soft cheese I've ever had.

For our second full day we realized we were pretty tired and decided to call it a rest day.  We slept in without any alarms, which ended up being past noon, and made up an agenda on the fly.  I made a breakfast of fried eggs and a wedge of cheese we bought at the local convenience store and we ventured off in search of the Marche des Enfants Rouges... The market of the red babies?  Apparently one of the oldest open air markets in France it was made up of a cafe, several ethnic restaurants, wine shops, and a couple of produce stands.  I thought it would be bigger but it was nice for a late lunch stop.  We also passed a large tent of protestors at the Republique train station.  To finish it off we followed the European tradition of sitting in a park for a long period of time to people watch, then walked around the Marais, the gay district. While wandering we found a couple gay bars full of men and posters for leather, bears, and more men.  Even in France, the lesbians are harder to find.

Tomorrow we plan on going early to the Louvre, then possibly a nice dinner at a restaurant my coworker recommended.

Here's to many more pleasant days in Paris till we leave on Monday, and for all the croissants and cheese I've been eating to melt away with all the walking we're doing.

Travel WODs

Sitting at my AirBnb, enjoying breakfast as we chat with our host.  Super gracious woman who offered snacks and tea.

Very British sounding "Let's have a proper brew".

This morning we got up around 8am with the sun shining through the window and did a small workout in the grass outside.  I've been trying to do something everyday.  First day I did a WOD based off of Team's:

"If it was anyone else..."

"... I would think this was rushed."

I wanted to tell you all months ago but knew I had to wait.  For years I told friends I was going to quit my job and teach English in Japan and it never happened.  I was scared.  Every time I started researching teaching jobs the anxiety would build and I would end up on the floor trying to meditate and calm myself.  I wasn't willing to jump off this cliff on my own.

Then I met The Girlfriend.