Despite the fact that they're mice, they still manage to get longer rides than I ever did in Costa Rica. Hmmm... I suppose there is always something to aspire to. :)
Steph says that perhaps I should try riding at their level...not sure exactly what she is implying.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
US makes it to stage 2 of Soccer World Cup
It has been years since I followed any sort of sporting event. However, this year, I've began watching some of the FIFA World Cup, taking place this year in South Africa.
Today's big news:
Despite being a forgotten sport in the US, our Soccer team has made it to the second stage of the bracket. The deal was sealed today after the US narrowly defeated Algeria (1-0) in the final minutes of play. Now, the US will face Ghana in the round of 16.
In other news, the French team was eliminated earlier this week and there seems to be a whole debacle surrounding it that I don't fully understand. At any rate, it makes for fun conversation and seems to get people a bit riled up.
Today's big news:
Despite being a forgotten sport in the US, our Soccer team has made it to the second stage of the bracket. The deal was sealed today after the US narrowly defeated Algeria (1-0) in the final minutes of play. Now, the US will face Ghana in the round of 16.
In other news, the French team was eliminated earlier this week and there seems to be a whole debacle surrounding it that I don't fully understand. At any rate, it makes for fun conversation and seems to get people a bit riled up.
Friday, June 18, 2010
The Garden...
I love experiments, but hate moderation for some reason. We have an entire field below the house, so when it came to rototilling time, it seemed like a good idea to keep making the "garden" area a little bit bigger. It's a bit hard to get scale, but the main section is about 40ft x 60ft, with a long area for all the melons, artichokes, etc.
When I went to buy potato starters, I didn't speak French at all. Our friend Patricia had told me to buy "a little box" of starter spuds, so I went down to the local gardening store (by myself). It was prime potato buying season, so there were 10 different varieties, all of which came in "little boxes". Not being able to read the labels, I just more or less blindly picked one and returned home after much bumbling about at the cash register. When Patricia saw the box she laughed...I had unwittingly purchased 100 starter spuds, which turn into about 250 kilos (500+ lbs) of potatoes!
Needless to say, I pawned a few of the spuds off on her and planted the rest... about 75. Now the spuds have all come up and are flowering (pictured above). Who knows what we'll do with all the taters...I'm guessing a lot of fries, gnocchi, and random potato gift baskets to friends. Maybe we'll have Mr. Potato Head decorating contests...
Our very first bean, beets, radishes and pumpkin and watermelon plants which have begun flowering.
Getting pepper plants started has been hard...I just finally moved them into the garden. Just in time for it to be rainy and cold for an entire week. To compensate, Patricia and I built a really ghetto shelter out of scrap wood and pallet plastic wrapping that seems to be working ok to help keep them a little bit warmer.
I also found a French gardening book that had some cool, innovative tricks in it. This one is to bury a perforated container next to the plant and simply pour water into it. It allows the water to penetrate quickly and easily to the roots, making watering a ton easier overall. This method also seems to waste less and is considerably quicker.
You can use any number of containers, but I have been using old 2 liter plastic water bottles. I punch a few holes in them, then bury them next to the root ball of the plant. Thus far, it has been very effective and most people seem to think it's a cool idea. However, one French guys scoffed at it and said I would never get any tomatoes if I tried to do it this way. He was adamant that I should build a Roman canal irrigation system in the garden instead. I think there may be some downfalls, but I'm fairly certain the idea will work well for the most part. As for tomatoes....
Tomatoes seem to grow really well here. It was like a giant tomato plant swap a couple of weeks ago and somehow I ended up with 30+ plants (after giving away about 20). Many of the plants are starting to get fruit and I'm psyched for the salsa this summer.
I totally mixed up the seeds of several plants, so thought I was planting Cantalope ("melon" in French) when actually it was Zucchini... To make it more amusing, I gave a random assortment of people some of these super quick growing "melon" plants, so now a bunch of people have stray zucchini plants where they don't want them. Patricia has dubbed zucchini the "melon Americain" in my honor.
Eggplant and a small glimpse of a whole lot of lettuce plants crammed into a really small area. After losing the entire first planting of lettuce to snails and slugs, I went overboard and planted way too many seeds. Now we have a smashed salad party in half of the garden that needs to get resolved soon.
Travel back to France, Take 3 (Epically long Entry for an Epically Long Trip)
As I laid down in bed yesterday evening around 9:30pm (France time) I couldn't help but review the past few days of travel/attempted travel that I had experienced. It all started last Monday, June 14. I had just spent the most incredible day ever with 2 of the best ladies on the face of the planet in Chicago. With tears in our eyes and heavy hearts we said good bye as my mom and I dropped Holly and Stephlo off at the airport to head back to Denver. I had to be at the airport just a couple hours after that, so my mom and I went to get some lunch while waiting. Finally, it was my turn to head to the airport.
Stand By Explanation: I was flying stand by back to France. When flying stand by on international flights one must arrive and check in with the ticket agents no more and no less than 4 hours (2 hours for domestic flights) ahead of one's scheduled flight time. You do this to be signed in as one of the first on the stand by list. However, in the world of stand by passengers I travel what used to be known as a D3 status (not sure what the name of this status is these days). There's D1 (highest stand by priority) D2 (2nd) and D3 (last). So all D1s and D2s get on the flights before D3 no matter what time they sign in.
Back to the story, my mom lovingly dropped me off around 12:30pm and I waited for a half hour to check in at one for my flight that left at 5pm. I always have multiple books with me on my carry on for when I travel, but often times there's also much entertainment to be had just watching other people in the airport. So after watching a whole police/fireman/ambulance scene transpire right before my eyes (my eyes pretended not to watch so I wouldn't make the disoriented lady feel self-conscious, but I have to admit that I was side-watching out of the corner of my eyes) and reading my book for 6 1/2 hours (the flight was delayed) my flight was finally boarding. The flight was PACKED. While waiting to board I get the instant play by play from my mom, and it was looking grim for me. It was oversold and there were 25 stand by passengers in line ahead of me. Needless to say I didn't get on the flight.
No problem, I'll just collect my baggage and go to my folks house and try again tomorrow (or so I thought). Turns out that collecting your baggage as a stand by who didn't get on a flight takes FOREVER. To top it off there were a plethora of cancelled flights that day, so it ended up taking 3 hours to get my bag back from the baggage claim area! I had time to finish my book and start another one.
At 9pm that night we drove back to Naperville. Whew! Having looked at the stand by list for the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, etc.... my mom let me know that it was not looking good for flights out of Chicago. So we had to change our game plan. I took Tuesday off, and chilled at my folks house to recoup and then retried on Wednesday. Here was the plan:
1) Take an 8am flight to LaGuardia Airport in New York
2) Pick up luggage in LaGuardia
3) Find and take a shuttle from LaGuardia to JFK Airport in New York
4) Wait around till the 5:45pm flight from JFK to CDG Airport in Paris
5) Arrive in Paris and get bags at 7:30am and wait around till my flight from Paris to Toulouse at 1:50pm
6) Meet Cam at the Toulouse airport at 3:15pm and drive an hour home
All almost went to plan, I woke up at 4:15 am to get to the airport by 6am to check in for my flight at 8am. Only, I didn't get on the 8am flight to LaGuardia! No fear, for there was another flight at 8:45am, so I ran over to that gate...couldn't get on that one either. It's OK, there was another flight at 9:30am...NO ROOM ON THAT FLIGHT EITHER! After checking in with my mom, we decided it might be a better idea to fly to Dallas and then take a flight from Dallas to Paris. I went to speak with a ticket agent to see if they could switch me over, and he informed me that my bag had already been put on a flight to LaGuardia. So, scrap the Dallas plan.
The same agent then took pity on me (I must have looked a little frazzled) and told me to go check in at a different gate quick because there was a plane leaving right now that could take me. I sprinted over to that gate, my backpack bouncing on my back like it did when I was in grade school and I was going to be late for recess, but when I got there the screen read "Boston flight 343". BOSTON?!?!?! I didn't want to go to Boston, my bag was in New York...WHAT THE HELL? Then I overheard the ticket agent say the flight was full to top it all off. I ran back to the other gate pushing fellow travelers out of my way, and told the original ticket agent that I wanted to go to LaGuardia, not BOSTON. He said, "Ya, go back to that gate, they'll take you!" in a nice way, so I realized I must have read the screen wrong.
One final sprint took me back to the "Boston" gate (which still said it was going to Boston) but by this time I wasn't sure which way was up or down so I checked in at the gate. I told the new agent "I need to get to LaGuardia", she said "Ya" and took my name and started typing. She was not the talkative type, so I realized I was going to have to make every question count. As she was printing me off a boarding pass I asked one final time "Is this flight going to LaGuardia?" "Ya" she said curtly...so I got on the plane and hoped to god that I got to where my luggage was.
2 1/2 hours later I flew into LaGuardia. I found my bag which had arrived there 2 hours ahead of me, and I found the bus to JFK in record time. Arriving at JFK I then had 6 1/2 more hours to wait till my Paris flight. No worries, I was armed with a murder mystery book...super creepy and interesting (it's entitled: Still Life with Crows...very good, thanks Elise!). Finally, 7 hours later (the ticket agents were late) it was time to board the plane. I was the 2nd to last passenger put on the plane (for those of you that know my planning ahead type personality, you can only imagine the lessons I've learned through traveling stand by).
When I got on the flight I realized that my radio didn't work. "No worries" I thought, "I'll just read". 5 minutes later they turned the lights off on the flight, and my personal overhead light didn't work either. Stuck in the dark with no headset to watch the movie, I decided that this was a sign that I was supposed to sleep, and so I tried to sleep (I definitely woke myself up once with a snort, so I at least got a couple minutes sleep). After a 7 1/2 hour flight we arrived in Paris, I picked up my luggage and then went to wait for another 6 hours to take my flight from Paris to Toulouse. My eyes were having trouble staying open, I was almost to the point of sleep walking.
However, there was an outrageous occurrence as I checked in for this flight. A lady was wearing a short miniskirt, and must not have been thinking because she bent over from the waist to get something out of her bag and flashed her wedgy to the whole line behind her! The two guys next to me thought it was great...poor lady!
To end this incredibly long entry, I finally got to Toulouse. After waiting for an hour for my bag to arrive (which was pretty hilarious because we watched a bunch of French people get irate and almost crawl into the baggage loading area while yelling at the bag handlers-who were probably on strike due to the new retirement age law), Cam and I were finally able to head home!
One LONG ASS trip to add to my collection!
THE END
Stand By Explanation: I was flying stand by back to France. When flying stand by on international flights one must arrive and check in with the ticket agents no more and no less than 4 hours (2 hours for domestic flights) ahead of one's scheduled flight time. You do this to be signed in as one of the first on the stand by list. However, in the world of stand by passengers I travel what used to be known as a D3 status (not sure what the name of this status is these days). There's D1 (highest stand by priority) D2 (2nd) and D3 (last). So all D1s and D2s get on the flights before D3 no matter what time they sign in.
Back to the story, my mom lovingly dropped me off around 12:30pm and I waited for a half hour to check in at one for my flight that left at 5pm. I always have multiple books with me on my carry on for when I travel, but often times there's also much entertainment to be had just watching other people in the airport. So after watching a whole police/fireman/ambulance scene transpire right before my eyes (my eyes pretended not to watch so I wouldn't make the disoriented lady feel self-conscious, but I have to admit that I was side-watching out of the corner of my eyes) and reading my book for 6 1/2 hours (the flight was delayed) my flight was finally boarding. The flight was PACKED. While waiting to board I get the instant play by play from my mom, and it was looking grim for me. It was oversold and there were 25 stand by passengers in line ahead of me. Needless to say I didn't get on the flight.
No problem, I'll just collect my baggage and go to my folks house and try again tomorrow (or so I thought). Turns out that collecting your baggage as a stand by who didn't get on a flight takes FOREVER. To top it off there were a plethora of cancelled flights that day, so it ended up taking 3 hours to get my bag back from the baggage claim area! I had time to finish my book and start another one.
At 9pm that night we drove back to Naperville. Whew! Having looked at the stand by list for the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, etc.... my mom let me know that it was not looking good for flights out of Chicago. So we had to change our game plan. I took Tuesday off, and chilled at my folks house to recoup and then retried on Wednesday. Here was the plan:
1) Take an 8am flight to LaGuardia Airport in New York
2) Pick up luggage in LaGuardia
3) Find and take a shuttle from LaGuardia to JFK Airport in New York
4) Wait around till the 5:45pm flight from JFK to CDG Airport in Paris
5) Arrive in Paris and get bags at 7:30am and wait around till my flight from Paris to Toulouse at 1:50pm
6) Meet Cam at the Toulouse airport at 3:15pm and drive an hour home
All almost went to plan, I woke up at 4:15 am to get to the airport by 6am to check in for my flight at 8am. Only, I didn't get on the 8am flight to LaGuardia! No fear, for there was another flight at 8:45am, so I ran over to that gate...couldn't get on that one either. It's OK, there was another flight at 9:30am...NO ROOM ON THAT FLIGHT EITHER! After checking in with my mom, we decided it might be a better idea to fly to Dallas and then take a flight from Dallas to Paris. I went to speak with a ticket agent to see if they could switch me over, and he informed me that my bag had already been put on a flight to LaGuardia. So, scrap the Dallas plan.
The same agent then took pity on me (I must have looked a little frazzled) and told me to go check in at a different gate quick because there was a plane leaving right now that could take me. I sprinted over to that gate, my backpack bouncing on my back like it did when I was in grade school and I was going to be late for recess, but when I got there the screen read "Boston flight 343". BOSTON?!?!?! I didn't want to go to Boston, my bag was in New York...WHAT THE HELL? Then I overheard the ticket agent say the flight was full to top it all off. I ran back to the other gate pushing fellow travelers out of my way, and told the original ticket agent that I wanted to go to LaGuardia, not BOSTON. He said, "Ya, go back to that gate, they'll take you!" in a nice way, so I realized I must have read the screen wrong.
One final sprint took me back to the "Boston" gate (which still said it was going to Boston) but by this time I wasn't sure which way was up or down so I checked in at the gate. I told the new agent "I need to get to LaGuardia", she said "Ya" and took my name and started typing. She was not the talkative type, so I realized I was going to have to make every question count. As she was printing me off a boarding pass I asked one final time "Is this flight going to LaGuardia?" "Ya" she said curtly...so I got on the plane and hoped to god that I got to where my luggage was.
2 1/2 hours later I flew into LaGuardia. I found my bag which had arrived there 2 hours ahead of me, and I found the bus to JFK in record time. Arriving at JFK I then had 6 1/2 more hours to wait till my Paris flight. No worries, I was armed with a murder mystery book...super creepy and interesting (it's entitled: Still Life with Crows...very good, thanks Elise!). Finally, 7 hours later (the ticket agents were late) it was time to board the plane. I was the 2nd to last passenger put on the plane (for those of you that know my planning ahead type personality, you can only imagine the lessons I've learned through traveling stand by).
When I got on the flight I realized that my radio didn't work. "No worries" I thought, "I'll just read". 5 minutes later they turned the lights off on the flight, and my personal overhead light didn't work either. Stuck in the dark with no headset to watch the movie, I decided that this was a sign that I was supposed to sleep, and so I tried to sleep (I definitely woke myself up once with a snort, so I at least got a couple minutes sleep). After a 7 1/2 hour flight we arrived in Paris, I picked up my luggage and then went to wait for another 6 hours to take my flight from Paris to Toulouse. My eyes were having trouble staying open, I was almost to the point of sleep walking.
However, there was an outrageous occurrence as I checked in for this flight. A lady was wearing a short miniskirt, and must not have been thinking because she bent over from the waist to get something out of her bag and flashed her wedgy to the whole line behind her! The two guys next to me thought it was great...poor lady!
To end this incredibly long entry, I finally got to Toulouse. After waiting for an hour for my bag to arrive (which was pretty hilarious because we watched a bunch of French people get irate and almost crawl into the baggage loading area while yelling at the bag handlers-who were probably on strike due to the new retirement age law), Cam and I were finally able to head home!
One LONG ASS trip to add to my collection!
THE END
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Cam's Science Experiments
I must confess: I love experiments.
In fact, I'm fairly certain that my life is a long series of trial and error events that frequently lead somewhere other than the expected result. Many of my experiments have become passions while others have fizzled into unrecognizable blobs, destined to be cleaned up one day (like my truck). While most of you have been around for many of the things, here are a few that I have been reflecting on recently while meddling with my latest experiment...Gardening.
Cooking:
Hypothesis: Edible nourishment can be created by combining various "food" items and using "modern" technology like ovens, spatulas, and 200hp deluxe food processors.
Method: Open refrigerator, grab minimum of 5 ingredients, prepare in the quickest possible way that requires the least amount of energy.
Observations: Food seems to burn unusually easy; may be a glitch in the cooking methodology (see following). Step 1. Put all items in skillet and place on burner. Step 2: stir occasionally. Step 3: Cat knocks something over and breaks it. Step 4: chastise the cat, clean up the broken object, do internet research for cat shock collars. Step 5: Turn off smoke alarm, return to skillet of charcoal briquettes that were once recognizable as pieces of food.
Result: Mediocrity bordering on an ongoing stomach ache.
Conclusions: If you can find it in the kitchen, I can overcook it. Greatest success found with foods that start with "Mexican" and end with "spicy".
Foosball:
Hypothesis: If you devote a ridiculous amount of time to something that requires fine motor skills and physics (like batting a little red ball back and forth), you will eventually learn profound things about yourself.
Method: Quit climbing, going outside, and all activities in general. Buy a foosball table. Spend 8-12 hours per day doing the same thing over and over, hoping that the result will be different "next" time.
Observations: Small, seemingly imperceptible changes in direction can have very profound results on the eventual trajectory of objects. Understanding the game, the variables, strategy, and being capable to "execute" your plan will allow you to have greater chances at success, but will not guarantee it. There is always a random and unanticipated element to the game that can define whether you win or lose; often this element of chance surfaces at the most important times and can either leave you feeling uplifted and relieved, or crushed and discouraged.
Result: A very mediocre foosball game full of faults, tells, and frustration, but a new understanding and method of approaching the game.
Conclusions: Without a doubt, foosball was one of the most beneficial and profound experiments I have ever done. It was also a great way to get tendinitis in wierd places and be ruthlessly mocked by all non "foos" friends.
My Truck:
Hypothesis: Every object has a purpose...even the ones that some would deem as "Trash".
Method: Insert gas, change oil occasionally, but only clean truck when ABSOLUTELY necessary, which is essentially never.
Observations: On a long enough timeline, in the right environment, plastic will begin to decompose. Biological waste on the other hand, generally breaks down much faster -- except for baby clams (anonymously duct taped into the door panel...Matt) and stashed cans of tuna, which fester and create an ungodly nauseating stench that never really goes away.
Result: Thousands of miles and memories. There's always something to write on and you can use an assortment of random objects to McGuyver just about anything...like a Slim Jim to break into your own truck after you lock the keys inside. Scraps of paper that remind you of cool people you met 3 years ago and lame people you left behind in high-school.
Conclusions: Don't clean the car. You're being environmentally responsible by starting (and perhaps finishing) the decomposition process. Think of it as mobile composting, one step closer to sustainable living. You could also take it to the next logical step by planting a small pine tree in your compost on your bumper. I've heard there have been studies that show pine trees thrive with increased CO2, so it would be a perfect way to reduce emissions while fully maximizing your car's potential.
The current experiment:
The Garden....Pics to follow....
In fact, I'm fairly certain that my life is a long series of trial and error events that frequently lead somewhere other than the expected result. Many of my experiments have become passions while others have fizzled into unrecognizable blobs, destined to be cleaned up one day (like my truck). While most of you have been around for many of the things, here are a few that I have been reflecting on recently while meddling with my latest experiment...Gardening.
Cooking:
Hypothesis: Edible nourishment can be created by combining various "food" items and using "modern" technology like ovens, spatulas, and 200hp deluxe food processors.
Method: Open refrigerator, grab minimum of 5 ingredients, prepare in the quickest possible way that requires the least amount of energy.
Observations: Food seems to burn unusually easy; may be a glitch in the cooking methodology (see following). Step 1. Put all items in skillet and place on burner. Step 2: stir occasionally. Step 3: Cat knocks something over and breaks it. Step 4: chastise the cat, clean up the broken object, do internet research for cat shock collars. Step 5: Turn off smoke alarm, return to skillet of charcoal briquettes that were once recognizable as pieces of food.
Result: Mediocrity bordering on an ongoing stomach ache.
Conclusions: If you can find it in the kitchen, I can overcook it. Greatest success found with foods that start with "Mexican" and end with "spicy".
Foosball:
Hypothesis: If you devote a ridiculous amount of time to something that requires fine motor skills and physics (like batting a little red ball back and forth), you will eventually learn profound things about yourself.
Method: Quit climbing, going outside, and all activities in general. Buy a foosball table. Spend 8-12 hours per day doing the same thing over and over, hoping that the result will be different "next" time.
Observations: Small, seemingly imperceptible changes in direction can have very profound results on the eventual trajectory of objects. Understanding the game, the variables, strategy, and being capable to "execute" your plan will allow you to have greater chances at success, but will not guarantee it. There is always a random and unanticipated element to the game that can define whether you win or lose; often this element of chance surfaces at the most important times and can either leave you feeling uplifted and relieved, or crushed and discouraged.
Result: A very mediocre foosball game full of faults, tells, and frustration, but a new understanding and method of approaching the game.
Conclusions: Without a doubt, foosball was one of the most beneficial and profound experiments I have ever done. It was also a great way to get tendinitis in wierd places and be ruthlessly mocked by all non "foos" friends.
My Truck:
Hypothesis: Every object has a purpose...even the ones that some would deem as "Trash".
Method: Insert gas, change oil occasionally, but only clean truck when ABSOLUTELY necessary, which is essentially never.
Observations: On a long enough timeline, in the right environment, plastic will begin to decompose. Biological waste on the other hand, generally breaks down much faster -- except for baby clams (anonymously duct taped into the door panel...Matt) and stashed cans of tuna, which fester and create an ungodly nauseating stench that never really goes away.
Result: Thousands of miles and memories. There's always something to write on and you can use an assortment of random objects to McGuyver just about anything...like a Slim Jim to break into your own truck after you lock the keys inside. Scraps of paper that remind you of cool people you met 3 years ago and lame people you left behind in high-school.
Conclusions: Don't clean the car. You're being environmentally responsible by starting (and perhaps finishing) the decomposition process. Think of it as mobile composting, one step closer to sustainable living. You could also take it to the next logical step by planting a small pine tree in your compost on your bumper. I've heard there have been studies that show pine trees thrive with increased CO2, so it would be a perfect way to reduce emissions while fully maximizing your car's potential.
The current experiment:
The Garden....Pics to follow....
Sunday, June 6, 2010
The Nakeds
Picture this...you're walking down the streets of Barcelona...
Wall to wall people: look left- there's a mass of German tourists straight of the bus, look right-there's an even larger mass of Japanese tourists shooting pictures blinding you with their camera flashes. Everyone looks the same: heads, shoulders, arms, legs, hair or no hair, glasses or no glasses, clothes....
or no clothes?????
Eye stimulation was everywhere. Cam, Elise and I had spent the past two days walking around the city gathering an arsenal of beautiful pictures of all that the city of Barcelona had to offer. Between the enormous market just off the side street of the Ramblas and the Sagrada de Familia- the church that Gaudi designed and is under permanent construction to be finished in the distant future- our heads were overflowing with Catalunyan culture! It was spectacular.
At the particular moment referenced above, we had just spent an entire day walking all over the city. Our brains were saturated, and brain function took a couple seconds longer to process than normal. Elise and I were walking next to each other with Cam trailing a few steps behind (although Cam can out-hike most people on any mountainside, when you get him traveling he walks slower than any snail I've met). ;)
We were walking down the Ramblas (a famous tourist street in Barcelona) and I was observing all the funny fellow tourists around me, when I noticed a couple of men that somehow just didn't fit in with the rest of the crowd. Focusing in on them, I wondered, "Hmmm....something is different about those guys. What is it? It looks like that old man has a lot of tattoos...is that it? No, though old guys with lots of tattoos aren't totally normal, there's something even stranger about these guys." As I reflected on why these two men struck me as looking so strange, it hit me like a ton of bricks...: "I see their penises!!!! They have no clothes on!" Then I realized that they had no body hair either...they had definitely prepared for this moment for a while! I knew there was something different about them! There was an older man and a young man just trompsing down the most crowded street in all of Barcelona totally buck naked!
Suddenly, when I realized what was happening, I turned to Elise, "Elise, do you see their weeners??? They have no clothes on!" Of course, Elise had realized this fact without my help. After the initial shock waned I noticed that there was a crowd of people following the naked men snapping pictures of the onlookers (Elise and me included), who must have had their jaws fully ajar coupled with hilariously shocked expressions on their faces. I immediately picked my bottom jaw up off the ground and passed the "Nakeds". I had to get just one more glimpse after I had passed them (I mean how often do you get to see two naked, completely shaved men walking down the middle of the street) and noticed the old man had what looked like the butt of a swimming speedo tattooed on his butt! At least he covered his bottom for us all, how proper of him.
Needless to say, Cam, Elise and I laughed the whole way home remembering that scene...crazy naked people in Barcelona! ;)
Wall to wall people: look left- there's a mass of German tourists straight of the bus, look right-there's an even larger mass of Japanese tourists shooting pictures blinding you with their camera flashes. Everyone looks the same: heads, shoulders, arms, legs, hair or no hair, glasses or no glasses, clothes....
or no clothes?????
Eye stimulation was everywhere. Cam, Elise and I had spent the past two days walking around the city gathering an arsenal of beautiful pictures of all that the city of Barcelona had to offer. Between the enormous market just off the side street of the Ramblas and the Sagrada de Familia- the church that Gaudi designed and is under permanent construction to be finished in the distant future- our heads were overflowing with Catalunyan culture! It was spectacular.
At the particular moment referenced above, we had just spent an entire day walking all over the city. Our brains were saturated, and brain function took a couple seconds longer to process than normal. Elise and I were walking next to each other with Cam trailing a few steps behind (although Cam can out-hike most people on any mountainside, when you get him traveling he walks slower than any snail I've met). ;)
We were walking down the Ramblas (a famous tourist street in Barcelona) and I was observing all the funny fellow tourists around me, when I noticed a couple of men that somehow just didn't fit in with the rest of the crowd. Focusing in on them, I wondered, "Hmmm....something is different about those guys. What is it? It looks like that old man has a lot of tattoos...is that it? No, though old guys with lots of tattoos aren't totally normal, there's something even stranger about these guys." As I reflected on why these two men struck me as looking so strange, it hit me like a ton of bricks...: "I see their penises!!!! They have no clothes on!" Then I realized that they had no body hair either...they had definitely prepared for this moment for a while! I knew there was something different about them! There was an older man and a young man just trompsing down the most crowded street in all of Barcelona totally buck naked!
Suddenly, when I realized what was happening, I turned to Elise, "Elise, do you see their weeners??? They have no clothes on!" Of course, Elise had realized this fact without my help. After the initial shock waned I noticed that there was a crowd of people following the naked men snapping pictures of the onlookers (Elise and me included), who must have had their jaws fully ajar coupled with hilariously shocked expressions on their faces. I immediately picked my bottom jaw up off the ground and passed the "Nakeds". I had to get just one more glimpse after I had passed them (I mean how often do you get to see two naked, completely shaved men walking down the middle of the street) and noticed the old man had what looked like the butt of a swimming speedo tattooed on his butt! At least he covered his bottom for us all, how proper of him.
Needless to say, Cam, Elise and I laughed the whole way home remembering that scene...crazy naked people in Barcelona! ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)