... because it has been months since we've heard about her.
We were at dinner the other night, and somehow the conversation turned to elementary school. She and I had the same 2/3 teacher. We had the same teacher 2 years in a row. We had the same experience - she liked this teacher up until middle school, then it seems like we had 2 different teachers. I like the lady. My sister despises her. She was the GATE teacher, gifted and talented education teacher. She came into the picture and suddenly my sister brings up how this woman hated her, sister hated her back, told my sister she would never be sucessful; and I know that's not the case. I remember she made a prediction my sister would be a writer when we were in elementary school because my sister would always brag about it.
A few minutes later my sister tried to tell me that I was not as smart as her because I was not in the GATE class. I reminded her this teacher was the GATE teacher. My sister then said I obviously didn't sign up. I told her no, I didn't sign up, would I sign up to do that? No, my parents signed me up. My sister told me it was obvious I was not a true GATE student. I told her I was in the class. I was successful. She told me her class was obviously taught at a different level, and that she was smarter. She said that because I wasn't gate I didn't know big words like her, that's why I like fashion, gossip, and entertainment. I would have been more successful had I been in GATE in elementary. I did stand up for myself at that point.
She then began about her other elementary teacher, her 4/5 teacher. This was full of lies and was her sensationalized school experience that suddenly has come to fruition. She said that this other class was so advanced they had half the day to goof off and would play poker and the teacher would read Harry Potter to them. Did my sister ever mention anything about that when she was in this class? No. Would my parents have ever stood for that? No. It was always MATH in the afternoon, science experiments, art, and social studies. Oh, and best of all, this teacher read through Harry Potter Book 6 with them. And of course since we were checking my sister's memories I had to google to see if her memories were accurate. Book 6 was released in 2005 when she a freshmen in high school or 8th grader; one of the two.
I was just floored by this. I was kind of pissed off because these were blatant lies. Why talk about this faux world that you've created?
Friday, June 29, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Visiting Friends
My BF was gone all last week, but I was pretty much over at his house to sleep since I was tired of people at times.
So here's a look at what I did do during my week.
I visited the chiropractor. I lunched with Blondie. I had some car maintenance done.
On Thursday I hung out with The Guy. It was good times. I had to take my car to get some repair work done on it. I shopped around at different dealers, and the dealer by his house is my preferred dealer because my mom knows everyone there, and we have bought 2 cars there before. I texted The Guy on Tuesday because I knew I'd be there all day with nothing to do. He told me to come on over to his place. Thursday morning came, he texted to be sure I was on my way. He had to go to work, so volunteered to come get me, picked me up, and then we went to his office. We chatted in the car mainly about the bus monitor incident, cars, and hybrids. He sets me up in an office while he fixes a printer. We head off to lunch after at the salmon place. We go to buy wine next door, and he ends up with an $80 bottle of wine that matched the wines/kitchen in his wine rack. We pick up the food, and meet his boyfriend. We eat lunch, make random chat, and then watch the Windows 8 keynote and keynote for the tablet with a keyboard they are putting out. We did that until my car was ready about 3:30, then he took me over to get it. We hugged and I said goodbye. I get my car, run into a girl who had my mom about 10 years ago when she was in middle school, and was so excited.
I go to the mall to shop, and run into someone else my mom knew from work. I pick up Mike at 6 - a few minutes late - because I ran into that lady at the mall. We go to dinner at Chevy's to catch up. He makes fun of The Guy, his boyfriend, and myself for being such nerds.
Spent the night together Thursday.
Friday we hung around together. He had a really bad day at work. His coworker made a huge screwup. We go to Lay-z-Dog Cafe. That may be our new hangout. Delicious happy hour. Great pizza.
We woke up and had some fun on Saturday - me laying on top of him. Saturday we visited our friends J & B. We stop at the mall I was at the day prior - I found some $220 Armani sunglasses for $48. I also saw some Prada ones that were $400 for $80. I may go back and buy them. Back to J & B. We went to their house, debated about the beach, ended up at their favorite fish restaurant. We had happy hour foods, discussed our vacation and thoughts on the cruise. We went to Cost Plus after where we ventured through the aisles, then off to another bar. We had 1 margarita each, then B figured since we were both on break we should have 3 mojitos to celebrate. They were good - and I don't like mojitos - I'm no rum fan. I really didn't like the rum the next day. I remember I paid for the drinks. I remember we went to Staters. I didn't remember we went to Trader Joe's, I vaguely remember my head out the window as I'm about to throw up. I remember being on the porcelain throne for a while throwing up. I remember Mike telling me a couple times that J&B were quite honored I was to this point, and it was only my 2nd time. Mike was asleep when I finally felt better, and went in to sleep with him.
I woke up Sunday feeling fine, yet extremely tired. I got up, showered, chatted, and didn't have a headache. Mike told me to go back to sleep while J and him went to get breakfast fixings. I slept for 2 hours and woke up to eat as they were finishing up. We chatted about hangovers and Mike's lost sunglasses that he ended up leaving in J's car.
I slept as Mike looked for his sunglasses, and we stopped at Nordstrom Rack where I found some $179 shoes for $19.
Back to Mike's where we lounge and he makes a delicious chili for dinner. Chili with potato. Hmmm.
Monday morning I have the dentist appointment. Damn hygenist was sick. Again. They only took xrays. I was elated, but Mike made me realize I should have been mad because that was a wasted visit.
I go home to visit the family where everyone is arguing and cleaning. I clean the bathroom, cut down a plant with my dad, and the hallway. My mom didn't tell me Linda and her friend Shana was coming over. She assumed I knew, so there was disagreement over dinner. I'd planned to eat with Mike. I think he was a little upset I didn't, but I was being guilted to stay because both of them wanted to see me. Oh, and then there was another issue. My sister's auto insurance is through the roof. Mike couldn't believe how much it was when I told him. I couldn't believe it either. It'd skyrocketed. Mine had went way up because of a ticket too. I am now paying nearly $1,200 every 6 months. I got a price quote with another insurance company and may be switching. I was subjected to the lecture too about money/insurance even though I give my dad money for mine. I'm hesitant to switch insurance companies because I'm happy with the one I have, but Mike assures me his insurance company, which happens to be the cheapest, is a good one. I go over to his house in the evening after Lind and Shana leave. Mike spends the evening packing.
Tuesday was good. I detailed Mike's car, got some car cleaning products at WallyWorld, and he took off for his flight before this. It'll be a surprise for him to see the car. I plan to whack the backyard later this week if my allergies permit. Family was in a better mood. Met up with them for dinner. Sister was a loon as usual. Creating false memories about the past. Belittling me for being stupid. I just pointed out to her that wasn't the case.
Today I'll help my dad in the yard and probably go over to the house to sleep.
So here's a look at what I did do during my week.
I visited the chiropractor. I lunched with Blondie. I had some car maintenance done.
On Thursday I hung out with The Guy. It was good times. I had to take my car to get some repair work done on it. I shopped around at different dealers, and the dealer by his house is my preferred dealer because my mom knows everyone there, and we have bought 2 cars there before. I texted The Guy on Tuesday because I knew I'd be there all day with nothing to do. He told me to come on over to his place. Thursday morning came, he texted to be sure I was on my way. He had to go to work, so volunteered to come get me, picked me up, and then we went to his office. We chatted in the car mainly about the bus monitor incident, cars, and hybrids. He sets me up in an office while he fixes a printer. We head off to lunch after at the salmon place. We go to buy wine next door, and he ends up with an $80 bottle of wine that matched the wines/kitchen in his wine rack. We pick up the food, and meet his boyfriend. We eat lunch, make random chat, and then watch the Windows 8 keynote and keynote for the tablet with a keyboard they are putting out. We did that until my car was ready about 3:30, then he took me over to get it. We hugged and I said goodbye. I get my car, run into a girl who had my mom about 10 years ago when she was in middle school, and was so excited.
I go to the mall to shop, and run into someone else my mom knew from work. I pick up Mike at 6 - a few minutes late - because I ran into that lady at the mall. We go to dinner at Chevy's to catch up. He makes fun of The Guy, his boyfriend, and myself for being such nerds.
Spent the night together Thursday.
Friday we hung around together. He had a really bad day at work. His coworker made a huge screwup. We go to Lay-z-Dog Cafe. That may be our new hangout. Delicious happy hour. Great pizza.
We woke up and had some fun on Saturday - me laying on top of him. Saturday we visited our friends J & B. We stop at the mall I was at the day prior - I found some $220 Armani sunglasses for $48. I also saw some Prada ones that were $400 for $80. I may go back and buy them. Back to J & B. We went to their house, debated about the beach, ended up at their favorite fish restaurant. We had happy hour foods, discussed our vacation and thoughts on the cruise. We went to Cost Plus after where we ventured through the aisles, then off to another bar. We had 1 margarita each, then B figured since we were both on break we should have 3 mojitos to celebrate. They were good - and I don't like mojitos - I'm no rum fan. I really didn't like the rum the next day. I remember I paid for the drinks. I remember we went to Staters. I didn't remember we went to Trader Joe's, I vaguely remember my head out the window as I'm about to throw up. I remember being on the porcelain throne for a while throwing up. I remember Mike telling me a couple times that J&B were quite honored I was to this point, and it was only my 2nd time. Mike was asleep when I finally felt better, and went in to sleep with him.
I woke up Sunday feeling fine, yet extremely tired. I got up, showered, chatted, and didn't have a headache. Mike told me to go back to sleep while J and him went to get breakfast fixings. I slept for 2 hours and woke up to eat as they were finishing up. We chatted about hangovers and Mike's lost sunglasses that he ended up leaving in J's car.
I slept as Mike looked for his sunglasses, and we stopped at Nordstrom Rack where I found some $179 shoes for $19.
Back to Mike's where we lounge and he makes a delicious chili for dinner. Chili with potato. Hmmm.
Monday morning I have the dentist appointment. Damn hygenist was sick. Again. They only took xrays. I was elated, but Mike made me realize I should have been mad because that was a wasted visit.
I go home to visit the family where everyone is arguing and cleaning. I clean the bathroom, cut down a plant with my dad, and the hallway. My mom didn't tell me Linda and her friend Shana was coming over. She assumed I knew, so there was disagreement over dinner. I'd planned to eat with Mike. I think he was a little upset I didn't, but I was being guilted to stay because both of them wanted to see me. Oh, and then there was another issue. My sister's auto insurance is through the roof. Mike couldn't believe how much it was when I told him. I couldn't believe it either. It'd skyrocketed. Mine had went way up because of a ticket too. I am now paying nearly $1,200 every 6 months. I got a price quote with another insurance company and may be switching. I was subjected to the lecture too about money/insurance even though I give my dad money for mine. I'm hesitant to switch insurance companies because I'm happy with the one I have, but Mike assures me his insurance company, which happens to be the cheapest, is a good one. I go over to his house in the evening after Lind and Shana leave. Mike spends the evening packing.
Tuesday was good. I detailed Mike's car, got some car cleaning products at WallyWorld, and he took off for his flight before this. It'll be a surprise for him to see the car. I plan to whack the backyard later this week if my allergies permit. Family was in a better mood. Met up with them for dinner. Sister was a loon as usual. Creating false memories about the past. Belittling me for being stupid. I just pointed out to her that wasn't the case.
Today I'll help my dad in the yard and probably go over to the house to sleep.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Car Goal
We know I'm a goal oriented person, so I'm always breaking things down, thinking about things in term of what I can do to accomplish them.
So my new goal is a car.
We know that a couple months back I was thinking about a car, and have sort of actively been pursuing one. I was thinking of giving up on the thought of a lease recently and just getting a car and having a few thousand dollar loan on it.
I debated about one of the most popular hybrids on the road, the Pre-us, or a sexy luxury car.
I explored recent graduate incentives for luxury models, and found 1 car company with several great different offers whether I went for a new or used car.
So here's what I discovered. The Preus' hybrid acceleration was whacko. I got over that you just sort of gun the engine, but I guess what drove me crazy even more were the brakes. I did not like the brakes. The brakes felt super spongy and I could just picture myself sliding into someone.
So I explored other models and came to a realization I want a sweet luxury car that is Honduh's high end car maker. I explored new/used prices. I discovered that as much as I like the thought of a new car, it is much more sensible if I want one to buy used, plus it'll come with a 6yr/100k warranty, plus they're about $8k cheaper.
So after talking with my BF and his anti-Honduh stance, he said he knows I will do it if I have a goal in mind. So I'm officially saving a small portion of my check a month for that to be able to go buy a used one in a year or so. And I'll rub it in his face how sexy it is, and he'll tell me how wrong I am.
So my goal is $100 a month for the next 12 months in addition to what I've already been putting aside, which is about $5,000, plus my current car.
I am having a newfound love affair with my current car at the moment.
So my new goal is a car.
We know that a couple months back I was thinking about a car, and have sort of actively been pursuing one. I was thinking of giving up on the thought of a lease recently and just getting a car and having a few thousand dollar loan on it.
I debated about one of the most popular hybrids on the road, the Pre-us, or a sexy luxury car.
I explored recent graduate incentives for luxury models, and found 1 car company with several great different offers whether I went for a new or used car.
So here's what I discovered. The Preus' hybrid acceleration was whacko. I got over that you just sort of gun the engine, but I guess what drove me crazy even more were the brakes. I did not like the brakes. The brakes felt super spongy and I could just picture myself sliding into someone.
So I explored other models and came to a realization I want a sweet luxury car that is Honduh's high end car maker. I explored new/used prices. I discovered that as much as I like the thought of a new car, it is much more sensible if I want one to buy used, plus it'll come with a 6yr/100k warranty, plus they're about $8k cheaper.
So after talking with my BF and his anti-Honduh stance, he said he knows I will do it if I have a goal in mind. So I'm officially saving a small portion of my check a month for that to be able to go buy a used one in a year or so. And I'll rub it in his face how sexy it is, and he'll tell me how wrong I am.
So my goal is $100 a month for the next 12 months in addition to what I've already been putting aside, which is about $5,000, plus my current car.
I am having a newfound love affair with my current car at the moment.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Useless random babble
I think I need an iPod touch to go next to my bed so I can stream pandora radio. I often fall asleep listening to the radio or TV.
I just recently learned how to use the sleep function on the TV.
I can fall asleep without those vices, but there are nights my mind wanders.
I want to go line dancing.
I need new t-shirts. I buy tons every year only to dislike them after wearing them a couple times.
Tshirts just seem to wear out.
I went to Nordstrom Rack the other day and found several 7 Diamonds shirts I wanted for only $34 (regular $75-100), but they were all smalls.
I went to the Rack closest to my house - 30 miles close - and they had none. Pobrecito.
My dad thinks I should hyphenate my last name. I've always gone by my last name, as my mom, and sister. He says given my interest in Spanish culture I should do it. I already think I have the coolest last name, so that would be really uncool doing that. FYI in Spanish culture it is the father's last name + the mother's last name.
I had a convo with my bf about last names the other day and he said it would have to be his last name and then mine because of the flow. He wasn't too keen on my last name though, but it is awesome sauce, so I don't know what he's talking about.
I loathe hot weather.
I am so grateful I have an awesome car dealer who did some "warranty work" for me on my car even though it is out of warranty.
TV Land seems to be putting jingles on all their shows, and while they're harsh, I like the thought.
Oh, and I love the new ABC 7 Eyewitness News iPhone alarm app. Alysha, Garth, Phillip, and Leslie are waking me up every morning.
I just recently learned how to use the sleep function on the TV.
I can fall asleep without those vices, but there are nights my mind wanders.
I want to go line dancing.
I need new t-shirts. I buy tons every year only to dislike them after wearing them a couple times.
Tshirts just seem to wear out.
I went to Nordstrom Rack the other day and found several 7 Diamonds shirts I wanted for only $34 (regular $75-100), but they were all smalls.
I went to the Rack closest to my house - 30 miles close - and they had none. Pobrecito.
My dad thinks I should hyphenate my last name. I've always gone by my last name, as my mom, and sister. He says given my interest in Spanish culture I should do it. I already think I have the coolest last name, so that would be really uncool doing that. FYI in Spanish culture it is the father's last name + the mother's last name.
I had a convo with my bf about last names the other day and he said it would have to be his last name and then mine because of the flow. He wasn't too keen on my last name though, but it is awesome sauce, so I don't know what he's talking about.
I loathe hot weather.
I am so grateful I have an awesome car dealer who did some "warranty work" for me on my car even though it is out of warranty.
TV Land seems to be putting jingles on all their shows, and while they're harsh, I like the thought.
Oh, and I love the new ABC 7 Eyewitness News iPhone alarm app. Alysha, Garth, Phillip, and Leslie are waking me up every morning.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Snippets from my life
1. Tagalong made me feel better by calling me at 10:30p.m. tonight asking if I could help her with a project, and in the process just calmed my nerves, and reassured me she is fighting for me to have the same prep as I did this year.
2. Lunch with Blondie is always fun - and we can mostly manage to not talk about school even!
3. Olive Garden twice in one day is sometimes good.
4. Jack Off Buddy's expertise has been interesting, especially with his insights about the dreams I've been having about work.
5. I have found my dream small car - if I were rich.
6. I found some really cool t-shirts on Nordstrom's website that have pictures of popular literary works on clearance that I'm tempted to buy, but can't bring myself to spend that amount. And there's even phone cases to match!
7. I start physical therapy soon for my leg - it turns out there is something wrong - Kaiser misdiagnosed when I initially saw the doctor. The doctor only did an x-ray, but should have done an MRI as that si the only way a torn meniscus can be detected. My BF's friend encouraged me to ask about that, and sure enough. I start physical therapy for it soon.
8. The chiropractor is fun. He's cool to talk to, love a nice massage before being twisted and cracked in several different directions. My neck always feels so good after. The gal who I had last week who did my massage is on the verge of amazing. She found so many knots I didn't even know I had.
2. Lunch with Blondie is always fun - and we can mostly manage to not talk about school even!
3. Olive Garden twice in one day is sometimes good.
4. Jack Off Buddy's expertise has been interesting, especially with his insights about the dreams I've been having about work.
5. I have found my dream small car - if I were rich.
6. I found some really cool t-shirts on Nordstrom's website that have pictures of popular literary works on clearance that I'm tempted to buy, but can't bring myself to spend that amount. And there's even phone cases to match!
7. I start physical therapy soon for my leg - it turns out there is something wrong - Kaiser misdiagnosed when I initially saw the doctor. The doctor only did an x-ray, but should have done an MRI as that si the only way a torn meniscus can be detected. My BF's friend encouraged me to ask about that, and sure enough. I start physical therapy for it soon.
8. The chiropractor is fun. He's cool to talk to, love a nice massage before being twisted and cracked in several different directions. My neck always feels so good after. The gal who I had last week who did my massage is on the verge of amazing. She found so many knots I didn't even know I had.
Airport Shuttle
Haven't blogged much about my BF and I, but we are doing well.
He ventured off Monday morning for a long week in his home state. I spent a good deal of time at his house mowing, pruning bushes, and stuff like that. He got back Saturday night. I picked him up at the airport. We tried to do dinner with our friends J&B, but it didn't happen. Instead we drove over to South Coast Plaza to try to go to an italian place there, but it was a 75 minute wait. We drove back our way, stopped at Olive Garden for some nom.
I left last night, Father's Day, around 5pm to go see my BF again and take him to the airport. It was our weekend getaway. We had a blast exploring Downtown LB. Saw lots of interesting people and stores. Tried an awful mediterranean/Lebanese place. I love me some tabbouleh, baba ghanoush, or hummus, but this stuff was smokey and had hardly any flavor. This was a highly rated place on yelp with an incompetent hostess who we saw doing anything and everything in the restaurant from sweeping it, to wiping tables and setting them, to dropping off checks and swiping ATM cards. She was so disorganized and all over - had she not been doing all that we may have been sat 20 minutes earlier.
After a disappointing dinner we ventured into the LB to visit downtown for Pinkberry - unfortunately it was 10 and they were just closing. We found an In-N-Out for milkshakes and went to the hotel where we watched TV and played around. I really enjoyed feeling his body next to me. I slept really well. I was up at 5 to take him to the airport, then back to the hotel to get caught up on the morning news shows, then took off about 8 for breakfast, a look at Bellmont Shores, and other neighborhoods in LB.
This is his busy season and he will be traveling a lot over the next several weeks, so soon we will have some time to ourselves. We have dinners planned this weekend with friends. Woo!
He ventured off Monday morning for a long week in his home state. I spent a good deal of time at his house mowing, pruning bushes, and stuff like that. He got back Saturday night. I picked him up at the airport. We tried to do dinner with our friends J&B, but it didn't happen. Instead we drove over to South Coast Plaza to try to go to an italian place there, but it was a 75 minute wait. We drove back our way, stopped at Olive Garden for some nom.
I left last night, Father's Day, around 5pm to go see my BF again and take him to the airport. It was our weekend getaway. We had a blast exploring Downtown LB. Saw lots of interesting people and stores. Tried an awful mediterranean/Lebanese place. I love me some tabbouleh, baba ghanoush, or hummus, but this stuff was smokey and had hardly any flavor. This was a highly rated place on yelp with an incompetent hostess who we saw doing anything and everything in the restaurant from sweeping it, to wiping tables and setting them, to dropping off checks and swiping ATM cards. She was so disorganized and all over - had she not been doing all that we may have been sat 20 minutes earlier.
After a disappointing dinner we ventured into the LB to visit downtown for Pinkberry - unfortunately it was 10 and they were just closing. We found an In-N-Out for milkshakes and went to the hotel where we watched TV and played around. I really enjoyed feeling his body next to me. I slept really well. I was up at 5 to take him to the airport, then back to the hotel to get caught up on the morning news shows, then took off about 8 for breakfast, a look at Bellmont Shores, and other neighborhoods in LB.
This is his busy season and he will be traveling a lot over the next several weeks, so soon we will have some time to ourselves. We have dinners planned this weekend with friends. Woo!
Sunday, June 17, 2012
It's Father's Day
And I came home to visit. My dad has been laying on the couch all day sleeping as he had a late night out at a ball game. How boring. He already saw the gift I got for him in the garage under a tarp, so I was disappointed and it was anticlimactic giving it to him. He was like "oh, thanks."
So here's some of the scary stuff my dad sings constantly. Like where in the hell did he ever learn these 2 songs? Where did he come from?
Update: Me asking a question became a disagreement because I guess he didn't like the question - what time was he going to want dinner, so he went to get Jack in the Box for the family instead. Guess we're having a late dinner. He's been asleep on the couch all afternoon.
So here's some of the scary stuff my dad sings constantly. Like where in the hell did he ever learn these 2 songs? Where did he come from?
Update: Me asking a question became a disagreement because I guess he didn't like the question - what time was he going to want dinner, so he went to get Jack in the Box for the family instead. Guess we're having a late dinner. He's been asleep on the couch all afternoon.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Catchiest song hooks
I have been eating up VH1's new countdown of the 100 hottest hooks. They've featured songs like Rehab by Amy Winehouse, So What? from Pink, and Live Your Life from Rihanna.
What song would you say has the hottest hook?
There's so many catchy ones, but there's a few that really stick to mind for me:
Lady Antebellum's Need You Now
Amy Winehouse's Rehab
Superbass by Nicki Minaj
I'm Yours by Jason Mraz
Anything Kesha
I tended to stick to pop songs like they did, but there's many catchy country songs too.
And I am that good where after hearing the first few chords can identify the song going to be played.
What do you think some of the catchiest song hooks are?
What song would you say has the hottest hook?
There's so many catchy ones, but there's a few that really stick to mind for me:
Lady Antebellum's Need You Now
Amy Winehouse's Rehab
Superbass by Nicki Minaj
I'm Yours by Jason Mraz
Anything Kesha
I tended to stick to pop songs like they did, but there's many catchy country songs too.
And I am that good where after hearing the first few chords can identify the song going to be played.
What do you think some of the catchiest song hooks are?
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Stalked to get together
After trying for nearly a month I finally tracked The Guy down. I pinned him pretty well on Monday and we agreed on today.
Hung out about 1 until 5. How was it? Great! I really missed his insight and conversation. We picked up right where we left off and talked about iOS6, Mountain Lion, our boyfriends, how he feels about his boyfriend moving in/where they're at, how things are going for Mike and I about moving in, his dealer, him living within his means and only spending 1/4 of what he did when he was with Josh, and how successful I've been. We are hoping to hang again in the next week or so...
Hung out about 1 until 5. How was it? Great! I really missed his insight and conversation. We picked up right where we left off and talked about iOS6, Mountain Lion, our boyfriends, how he feels about his boyfriend moving in/where they're at, how things are going for Mike and I about moving in, his dealer, him living within his means and only spending 1/4 of what he did when he was with Josh, and how successful I've been. We are hoping to hang again in the next week or so...
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
International Traveler
The past 3 weeks have been amazing!!! In the course of nearly a month my dream to Spain unfolded. I was looking at cruises a few months back, found a cheap one, and encouraged my bf we should do it. We looked at other cruises and didn't really find a good one. We talked about it, and decided that we would do it. I would pay for the cruise, which was about $50 a night for a 7 night cruise, and he would cover airfare. The planning began, and I mapped out all the cities, landmarks, and restaurants we needed to eat at.
Took an 8 day cruise on one of the world's largest cruise ships - it was the largest at induction in 2001. Info about the ship/people:
So here's what we did-
Left for Spain on a red eye out of LA. Landed in NY in the morning and spent Memorial Day in NYC doing what New Yorkers do - going to GMA, Coney Island, Little Italy, and then headed to the airport for a red eye to Madrid.
Woke up in the morning in Madrid where we spent some time debating how to use the Metro to get to the hotel. The maps weren't as easy as provided, but thanks to some experimenting we sound discovered we were on the right track. What a beautiful Metro.
Got to the hotel and saw how voyeuristic the room was - the shower was in the middle of the room - that was hot to watch btw.
So here's the highlights and important things from Spain in the order we did them:
- Parque Retiro
- bus tour
- Fountain de Cibeles
- Gran Via
- Museo del Prado (So cool to see artwork I'd studied)
- Plaza Mayor
- Palacio Real
- Walked through the gay area/party area, Chueca
- Salamanca, the ritzy area
- Mall in Salamanca
(Photo of Parque Retiro)
Some tidbits about Madrid
- Cheap wine was good
- People were somewhat unfriendly
- Couldn't get used to flagging down a waiter, flagging to get our bill, almost felt as if we were intruding
- Food was not good - everything was served on bread, icky calamari everywhere with no taste
- Ate thai when we couldn't take more bad tapas - not what I'd pictured
- Madrid people looked down on my Spanish until I got differences in basic words (bano vs. aseo) etc. - we found a charming bar we went to 2 nights with friendly people, which was nice.
Went to a coastal city where we saw the following:
- Roman ruins (INCREDIBLE!)
- Really old churches
- Good food
- fun outdoor cafes
- Picasso's boyhood home
Tidbits about coastal city:
- Friendly people
- Good food
(Picasso's boyhood home)
- British like their sun
- Speedos on skinny guys are sexy
- The service on the ship was atrocious due to a language barrier between the staff and people on it
- The cruise catered to an English crowd at times too much, and to Spanish too much at times
- Awful cruise director who seemed like a game show host
- Good wait staff only in the dining room
- Some not so friendly bartenders - but nicer the longer they had been around on the ship
- Room steward and all service staff had a language barrier understanding basic things we were asking whether we asked in English or Spanish
- Dumb cruise ship policies especially towards gratuities
- Friendly Americans
- We were placed twice at a Spanish speaking dinner table, and I felt soooooo bad and offered to switch tables many times for my bf so he could have interaction because I knew he wanted it, and so many days he had only spoke to me.
- A big promenade instead of a nice walkway for seating was interesting, but took away from the intimacy, but on such a large ship it was necessary it seemed
The stops:
- Loved Valencia - very old, good food, nice people
- Rome - soooooo many people everywhere, which detracted from it making it feel very touristy and blah (so many people like NYC x3)
1 more day when it was not so busy would have been nice
Saw Trevi fountain, Vatican (so different than we expected), Coliseum
- Florence - charming city! Friendly people! Great shopping - watches and suits! Loved Il Dumo, the big river, the trees, the city smelled wonderful
- Corsica - unfriendly French, expensive prices (4 euros for a soda), we had a definite language barrier, and I felt helpless, as did Mike. We couldn't even get one dude to give us a menu in a restaurant... obviously we weren't that hungry. Saw Napoleon's boyhood home, found a French cafe on the water with friendly Spansih and we dined on 2 bottles of wine and tapas
Back to Spain for a day, then off to Switzerland for the night, Germany, and back to LA!
It was honestly the trip of a lifetime as cliche as that sounds - and I love my boyfriend is so agreeable after a little convincing.
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