Scotland Day 3,4 and 5 - Around the world in search of a nap

I have a proper, no holds barred, kick you in the head cold. I go back in forth between feeling marginally ok and wanting to crawl under a rock and die. It has been a blessing and a curse. I have slowed down considerable from my usual explore every nook, cranny and alley way of a city approach to traveling. So, I will not see everything I want to see, but on the other hand I am choosing my activities wisely and standing more time simply spending time talking to my friend Sharon. So, a blessing and a curse.

On Sunday I did not leave the apartment at all. I watched TV, played on the computer and whimpered a lot.

Yesterday, I was feeling even worse, but being the glutton for punishment that I am I went out anyway. After a overly long (at least to me), wheezy walk to the city center we went to Boots pharmacy and I bought 20 quids worth of drugs and cold related paraphernalia which made it possible to enjoy the day without passing out. We went to the tourist office and booked a tour of the borders for Thursday and the graveyard tour for tonight. After that we went on a city bus tour and made a loop around the city hearing history and fun city facts. We got off at Hollyrood palace, which is where the royal family lives when they are in Edinburgh, and the palace many of the kings and queens of Scotland lived. After the palace we got back on the bus and finished the tour. By the end of the tour I was absolutely smashed, so we headed home. We watched a movie and hung out. I Went to bed about midnight, only feeling a little better.

This morning we slept in and didn't leave the apartment until 1pm. We went to the neighborhood pub and had lunch after which we walked further towards downtown and went to the movies where we say "The Devil Wears Prada" It was a cute movie. After the movie we left the theater, it was raining, the first rain since we have been here. We walked home through the wet, glossy streets. About 8pm we will be heading back out for our Graveyard tour, I will be bundling up, the last thing I need is to get more sick, just when I am beginning to feel better.

Scotland Day 2 and 3 - Edinburgh Castle and the Highlands

10/13
After the luggage fiasco, I was ready to get out and about and see a little of the city. We started out about noon and walked to the city center. It was about a fifteen minute walk, but me being so out of shape, it felt like 10 miles. About half way there, Sharon spotted a Starbucks. Sharon is a little obsessed with Starbucks. She actually squealed when she saw it. We stopped and had a drink, which was ok with me since I was sweating like a pig and needed to take a breath. After Starbucks we headed up the street and as we turned a corner, there it was, Edinburgh Castle, perched up on a high mountain in the middle of the city. A very impressive sight, I can see why it was built there. It is a very Strategic and beautiful spot. But, this spot causes a problem for the tourist...high hill means climbing up steep stairs to the top. Jeesh, didn't the kings and queens of Scotland have any sympathy for the poor tourists of the future? Selfish bastards!

The Castle is a gray/brown stone and all the Buildings are built for protection against attacks. All the outer buildings in the complex are built to protect the inner set of buildings which consist of the church and the palace where the royalty lived.

We toured all the buildings that where open to the public. The war memorial that used to be the church, the royal apartments which included a pretty thorough history reason regarding the Scottish royal family. We also got to see the Scottish Crown Jewels, which there were not much of, but considering how many times this country has been conquered and plundered, I was pleased this much had made it home. One of the high lights in the "Stone Of Destiny" which is the stone that all the Scottish kings and queens stood on when they were crowed. The English stole it and kept it for over 700 years, before finally returning it in 1998. How generous of them.

After the castle we meandered down the Royal mile to the Ensign Ewart pub for lunch. It was one of those pictures perfect pubs with old photos and mementoes on the walls and a very impressive crowd of regulars. It was the kind of place you could spend the whole afternoon at and be quite content. But no, we had more shopping and sight seeing to do. We left the pub and wound our way down the hill to Princes Street in "New Town" where all the newer shops are, stopping and shopping along the way. Princes street has all the modern, up to date shops and was very crowded. We lost interest after about half an hour and decided to go to the tourist office to book a tour to the highlands the next day. We got our tickets and decided to go home for a few hours to rest before going out to celebrate Alex's birthday.

After resting a bit we went out to look for a Neighborhood pub. There quite a few, but the forest one we went into was too packed so we headed for the one across the street. It was better. We had a few beers, talked and people watched for a few hours and then decided to call it a night since we had to be at the bus stop for the tour at 7:45 in the morning. On the walk home we saw a sight you see in every city at 11:30 on the Friday night; the drunk that is being roused/arrested by the police and paramedic. Just isn't a Friday night without that!

10/14
I got up at 7am and really didn't want to be awake. It was one of those mornings where it is still dark and you just want to curl up and pull the covers over your head. But we had already paid for the tickets and besides, if I had come to Scotland and not seen Loch Ness I would never have forgiven myself.

The taxi dropped us off at the Waterloo Place bus stop and we waited about 15 minutes with the other about 30 people. The little mini bus arrived and we all squeezed on. It was fully packed. I ended up in the middle seat of the very back row. It was the worst seat on the bus. Crammed in with a person either side of me, no air and having to try to take pictures over and around people's heads. Right before the lunch stop the lid next to me started to cry and look a little sick. I couldn't understand what he was saying to his father in German, but everyone knows the signs of a car sick kid. All I could think was this is last thing I need, a kid throwing up on me. Luckily we stopped for lunch and afterward he looked much better. Alex was also nice enough to trade seats with me so I could have the window. The tour took us up to the highlands, past castle, Ranoch Moor, pretty hills and to Glen Coe, and finally up to Loch Ness where we went on an hour long boat ride out on the lake. Unfortunately we didn't see the monster (if you don't count the wire mesh statue) but it was beautiful and peaceful. Our drive back passed through the mountains and then over the very impressive Forth Road Bridge back into Edinburgh. We were totally exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go to bed when we got home. My whole body ached from the long bus ride and all the walking the day before. We watched a little TV and it was off to bed.

this morning I woke up with a little bit of a soar throat and it was Alex's last day with us, so we decided to take it easy and just stay home. I am drinking tea, eating cough drops and watching TV. I am feeling better and should be ready to go tomorrow for more sight seeing and, of course, shopping.

Scotland day 1 and 2 - 7 Dalry Gait and the bag that has seen more of the city than I have

Well I made it.

The flight was pretty uneventful except that I upgraded to business class and went from dreading the flight to anticipating it. I sat next to German man who had been in San Francisco on Business and was now flying to London on business as well. That was pretty much the end of our conversation and at that point we both put on our noise canceling headphones and ignored each other for the rest of the flight.

I arrived at London Heathrow Airport on Thursday morning and was forced to go through security AGAIN, which meant consolidating down to one bag and throwing away my water. I am just glad I didn't buy anything liquid in the duty free shop or I would have had to throw that away as well. Once I was on the plane to Edinburgh me and another man found out that we both were assigned to the same seat. Luckily the plane was not full so they found him a new seat and all was well. Upon arrival in Edinburgh I went to pick up my luggage and, of course, it was not there. After watching every last, lonely piece of luggage slowly ride past me on the belt for the tenth time, I gave up and went to the lost luggage department. The lady was very nice and informed me that my suitcase was still vacationing in London and would be sent up on the next flight and would be delivered to me at my flat that afternoon. Never trust the nice lady when she tells you everything will be OK!

After that I went to catch a cab to my flat. I asked to go to 7 Dalry Gate (7 Doll-Ree Gate) No, it is pronounced (7 Dal-Ray Gate) Thanks cab-man now I wont look like an asshole every time I try to get home.

Driving through the neighborhoods to get to my flat I remember saying to myself more then once; "oh, no, don't let this be it!" But when we finally did arrive I was very pleasantly surprised. It is in a nice courtyard cul-de-sac with modern apartments, I'm sorry, flats, all around. I arrived at 11am. I was supposed to be met by Lorraine, on of the people from Shortbreaklets. By 11:30 she had not shown up and I began to panic. It is at this point after traveling for twenty-four hours and having your luggage lost that paranoia starts to set in. All the worst case senarios start flashing through your head. The worst being that I was scammed by these people, who took my money and are now off in Spain while I am stuck, homeless and luggageless for my whole vacation! After a few cleansing deep breaths I called her and left a message on her mobile phone. Only about one minute later she replied all apologies and saying she was caught behind an accident on the motorway and she would be there in about 10 minutes.

The apartment in gorgeous and I want to live here forever.

My friend Sharon and her boyfriend Alex arrived about 1pm and we settled in to talking and cathing up (or in the case of Alex and I, getting to know each other).

By 8 pm my bag had not arrived the BMI office had closed, I was angry to say the least. At 9pm I received a call saying the driver had tried to call me, but had not been able to get through and that they would have to deliver the bag the next morning. ARRRGHHHH!

This morning I woke up at 9:30 am and started my vigil all over again, staring at my cell phone, looking out my window and silently cursing BMI for "ruining" my vacation. At 10am I got the call and my bag arrived at 10:15. Yeah, I have never missed a piece of luggage so much.

Well today is Alex's birthday, so we are planning on going out and doing some sight seeing and then having a nice dinner followed by a night at the pub. I'll let you know how it goes.

Juanes
February 11, 2006

I don't usually get all crushy on rock singers, but there is just something about this guy that does it for me.

I went to this concert with my friend Lita and two of her friends. It was really a lot of fun and we got to get our rock on in a big way. I was only disappointed that I did not see any of my "Rock en Espanol" buddies from the old days there. Oh, well, maybe next time.

Here are the rest of the photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayitaazul/sets/72057594063502562/

Aerosmith
Lenny Kravitz
Oakland Arena

I went with Tina to see Aerosmith. Well, they are not on my top band list and I probably wouldn't have gone if Tina didn't like them so much. But I look at it as they are one of those iconic bands that you need to see at least once. Ok, so now I've seen them, I will admit I was surprised how much energy these old guys have got. They were an hour late starting because they flew into Oakland directly from the Grammys. It also didn't hurt that Lenny Kravitz was opening up for them, so it was not as bad as I thought it would be.

I haven't updated in a while so here is a rundown of what I have been up to:

I went camping with Row in the Santa Cruz mountains, it was cold and wet and very beautiful.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayitaazul/sets/72057594061416530/

I went to see the musical Lestat with Row, it was fun, lots of singing and stuff...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayitaazul/sets/72057594061416831/

I went to a Sharks game with Lita, they lost to the Mighty Ducks...Bummer.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayitaazul/sets/72057594061415656/

I went to see my mom in San Jose, we went to look at the new city hall that is based on the Reichstag in Berlin. Very cool building:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayitaazul/sets/72057594061419685/

and I saw a killer sunrise by my house!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayitaazul/97294852/

that is all for now!

I went to see the new Cirque du Soleil show "Corteo" in San Francisco with Row, her father and Stepmother on new years eve. It was beautiful, as is expected from the Cirque. Go see it if you have a chance.



















As well here are some pictures of the New Year's fireworks over San Francisco bay.

I had post Christmas ennui, I needed to be cheered up so I went to a few antique shops here in Alameda. I found a few things that made me smile:


These are the most hideous/fabulous lamps I have ever seen. The remind me of 70's superheroes.

















I also found this totally awesome guide to being a valley girl. Furr Shurr!

Lets just say every fucking thing that could go wrong on my return trip to California did.

They couldn't print me a receipt for my rental car (they are supposedly mailing it to me),

My plane was delayed by an hour leaving Seattle,

I had to sit next to an approximately 7 year old boy that made farting noises the whole flight,

and to top it off, while I was waiting for my luggage, a stranger whispered in my ear that I had toilet paper sticking out of the back of my pants!

Welcome Home!

But here is the thing that made up for everything; When I got off the plane and was on the way to get my luggage, I heard an announcement over the intercom:

"Paging Mr. Ben Dover, paging Mr. Ben Dover, Mr. Ben Dover please pick up the white courtesy phone."

Oh, and I was back in love with the world again!

This is my last weekend in the Seattle area so I decided to do a few things I had not gotten to do so far here.

Saturday, Mhairi (my co-worker from the UK) and I went into Seattle to go to the Aquarium. We wanted to see the new baby Sea otter. It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. The rest of the aquarium was a lot of fun as well.

Here are the pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayitaazul/sets/1610643/


On Sunday we drove about 2 and half hours out into the mountains to Leavenworth, Wa. It is a little town in the middle of nowhere that in the 60's was doing very badly and decided to give itself a facelift. It totally remade itself into a copy of a Bavarian village. We had a great time shopping and walking around in the snow. It was really cold, but that didn't stop us from having a fun day out.

and here are the pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayitaazul/sets/1610581/


So, it is back to work tomorrow and my last week here. I will miss this area, but I am ready to go home. See you all soon!

I think we are all friends here.

So, I'd like to make a confession:

I am driving an SUV and I like it.

I am probably going to go to environmentalist hell just for saying it, but there it is, out in the open.

Forgive me.

Ok, I feel so much better now.

Today I had the day off and decided to go out to a botanical garden in the near by town of Bellevue. I know that most people wouldn't think of going to a garden in winter, but it actually was very beautiful. There were an abundance of winter berries and evergreen plants as well as a lot of birds and squirrels.

Here are some pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayitaazul/sets/1505178/

After the garden I went into Seattle and went to Pioneer Square to go on the Underground Tour. It was a lot of fun, the whole tour is underground (of course) on the old street level. There were a lot of fun and interesting stories about the founding and past of Seattle. It was a real behind the scenes look at the city. I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Seattle.

Here are some pictures of Pioneer Square and the tour:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayitaazul/sets/1505240/

After the tour I did some shopping and had dinner at the underground cafe of the Elliott Bay Bookstore. This is a great bookstore with a little of everything and a great friendly atmosphere.

Back to the grind tomorrow...Oh well, I had fun today.

This past Monday I drove out to Snoqualmie Falls. I got lost getting there so it took me about an hour and a half to get there (and only 40 minutes to get back) but it was a nice drive. The falls are really beautiful but it was colder than a witch's tit out there! I swear I got a minor case of frost bite. I am leaving my scarf, hat and gloves in the car from now on just in case. Here are some pictures of the falls.
















On a whiter, fluffier, even colder note, it has finally started to snow here in Renton. It started to snow in other areas yesterday. Today it was mostly snow that turned to rain as it fell, but there is rumor of a heavier fall tonight or tomorrow. I went this afternoon and traded in my Chevy Impala for a Ford Exlporer. It makes my feel safer and if I decide to trek out to the wilderness at any point I want to be prepared. I will keep you updated!

Those of you that know me well know I like a good challenge. So, I decided about a month ago that I would teach myself German. Ok, I know it is almost impossible to teach yourself a language if you don't have anyone to talk to and you are learning it through German TV shows and music. But all I can say is...I am having a great time.

In my quest I have bought German language CDS, dictionaries and verb conjugation books, but the most helpful things I have bought so far are a variety of German phrase books. They give me a great overview of the language as well as giving me actual phrases to practice. To be honest I don't know if I am saying the phrases right, but at least it makes me feel like I am accomplishing something.

In the interest of sharing the wealth I would like to share with you what I have learned from my various phrase book that might be helpful if you ever travel to a German speaking country.

Fertig? (Ready?)

First, it is important to be VERY honest about your identity to everyone you meet:














Second, it is important to know what topics of conversation to avoid, here are my suggestions of things NOT to talk about:


















If, however, you end up engaged in a conversation about these topics, here are some suggestions of phrases to use during the ensuing argument:
















If you manage to make it out of the argument without getting your ass kicked, you might even make a friend. Then you and said friend can go out and party it up a little, or a lot, if the following phrases are any indication:




















































On one of these exciting nights out you will invariably meet other human beings. Maybe one of these people will be interested in you in more that a "friendly" way.

Some of these people you will not be interested in:
















Now, telling people that you are an accountant will definitely scare off all but the most hardy of suitors, but if that does not work here are a few alternatives that should do the trick:

Ich bin ein teufelsanbeter (devil worshiper)
Ich bin ein terrorist (just what is looks like)
Ich bin ein republikaner (republican)

On the other hand, you might like someone and want to make your intentions known:













which leads to:













Which leads to:

NOTE: The following phrases should be MEMORIZED before they are needed. It would be extremely distracting to have to find and look up the phrase "Fuck Me Harder" while engaged in the actual act.

















This will lead to the need for the following phrases:













Oh, yes, how many times have I said "That was weird" after sex? Too many times, my friends, too many times.

Here are some additions phrases that should get you through almost any social situation:


At the hairdresser:













At the dentist:













And finally at the park (hopefully accompanied by a baby or child)













So there you go, all you need to know to travel the world!

Good luck with that....

Here are a couple odds and ends that I have been collecting.

Enjoy!

Here is a book I found that is a lot of fun. I have been having a great time reading it.

















And yes, it is a book about bastards throughout history.


And here is a great dedication in a little park in my home town of Alameda, CA.
Oh, if only I had friends that loved me this much...
(if you can't read it well, it says; "In Memory of My Dumb Friends")

Rob Thomas
Paramount Theater

We almost didn't go to this show, which is a huge thing for us since we love concerts. We were both SO exhausted from traveling, work and the NIN concert the night before that we almost decided to skip this one. We actually flipped a coin. Heads we go, tails we stay home. Flip. Heads. So off we go.

We had a bitch of a time finding parking since the theater is in downtown Oakland. But we finally found a spot and headed to the theater. We had purposely headed out late since the opening act was Anna Nalick and neither Tina or I like her.

Believe it or not I had not been to the Paramount theater before, I know, a theater that I had not been to? Yeah, I was surprised too. This a great place with an old fashioned charm. It is beautifully restored and done in the art deco style.

I am really glad we decided to go. Rob Thomas was really on that night and played a really rocking set. He played all his new stuff with some Matchbox Twenty songs thrown in for good measure. His band was great and he was as cute and charming as ever. We even got see two ladies almost throw down in our ails during the show...Not what you expect with this crowd...How exciting! :)

Fun stuff and I went home even more tired, but happy.

Nine Inch Nails
Queens of the Stone Age
Oakland Arena


We were supposed to see NIN on September 29th but it was postponed until November 19th because the drummer was having heart problems, so I was very excited to finally be seeing them. We had seem an abbreviated show of theirs at Coachella and I had really liked it. I had not been a huge fan before then, I had know their main hits but did only owned one CD. After seeing them live I went out a bought everything I could get my hands on and have been listening to them ever since.

Tina came and got my about 7:30 and we headed out to the arena which is only a few miles from my house. When we got there we started looking for the special "Spiral" entrance for fan club members. After a few false starts we found it at the side of the Arena. We got our tickets at will call and headed in. I am really glad I remembered my ear plugs, this was an especially loud show. QOTSA were already playing. I am not a huge fan of this band and it didn't help that live them kind of played like a jam band and would play the same song for 15 minutes with instrumental parts for about 10 of those minutes. Not my style at all. We did have a good time looking at all the people and reading all the t-shirts. It was like band t-shirt heaven.

Finally NIN came on. All I can say is it was a fantastic show. Very straight ahead, little on theatrics and big on the rock! They had a cool stage set and a curtain that would go down in front of them at a point in the middle of the concert when they were playing some of their slower songs. It was almost see through so you could still see the outline of the band but see the images that were projected onto the screen. It was really cool. They played about 5 songs like that with images of flocks of animals and people flowing into images of was and destruction. It got the message home without saying a word. I was very impressed. Trent was also much more animated during this show than I remembered him being at Coachella. He danced and moved around the stage a lot more. That was great to see. Trent didn't talk much, which is what I expected. There were only a few thank yous, fuck yeas and he did thank us for coming back and apologized for the concert delay.

I left there exhausted, my back and knees were killing me from standing on the cement on floor, but I was so happy to finally see this band in a full concert.

I have been in the Seattle area working, and I will be here until the end of December. I had my first day off and decided to go to the wharf and to Pike's market. I had a nice day, excluding the part where I got lost in downtown Seattle. I went to Ye olde curiosity shop on the wharf which mostly has crappy souvenirs, but does have a weird little section at the back with real shrunken heads, two modern mummies (mummified by natural causes) and a fine selection of other animal and human freakage. I bought some very fun mummy and shrunken head floaty pens and took a few pictures. I then hiked up the hill to Pike's market. This is a very nice market with every imaginable food stuff and lots of crafty stuff to buy. I bought some amazing pears and raspberries that tasted like the were grown in the summer. I then went out of the market to the street and bought handmade cheese and fresh bread to make a proper feast. I decided to go home at this point so hiked back down the hill to my car and drove the 20 minutes back to my hotel.


Here are some pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayitaazul/sets/1442624/

I went to my first Sharks game in two years tonight. I was so happy that hockey was back on after the last season being cancelled. When I lived in San Jose my friend Lita and I would go to up to 10 games a season, so I have been missing my Sharks.

The Sharks were playing the Minnesota Wild. The Sharks lost 3-1. Bummer. But I had a great time with my friend Lita and got out a lot of aggression yelling at the teams and cheering on the fights. We also had our great seats again (about 20 rows up from the penalty box on the lower level) So even though they lost I left the arena very happy.

GO SHARKS!

Here are some photos I took at the game:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayitaazul/sets/1442487/

October 28 2005
Hot Hot Heat
Weezer
Foo Fighters

I have been a fan of the Foo Fighters for a long time now and have seen them twice, but only at festivals where they only played for a limited amount of time, so I was thrilled to hear that they were touring and would be literally right around the corner from where I live, at the Oakland Arena. I was also totally stoked to have floor tickets. I was less thrilled that they were on a double bill with Weezer. Don't get me wrong there are a few songs on each of their albums that I like, but as a whole they just don't do it for me. But I was willing to give them a chance to see the Foo Fighters.

First up were the Hot Hot Heat. We had seen them twice before as well at the same festivals that we had seen FF. They are always a lot of fun and have really catchy tunes. But the best part of this band is the lead singer's absolutely spectacular white man fro...Fabulous!

Ok, I will admit it....I actually enjoyed Weezer. I ain't going out and buying all their CD's or anything, but I did enjoy their live show and actually knew a lot more of their songs then I thought I did. But the best part of show was the last song when six strippers came out on stage and danced in their underwear with each letter of weezer's name across their chests. It was hilarious to see these buff naked men dancing in front of possibly the nerdyist band ever. Pure genius.

The Foo Fighters were even better than I remember. One thing I really love about this band is that they seem totally tireless. They almost never stopped playing for the full time they are on stage. They pretty much only stopped to change instruments, to let Dave and Taylor change places for a song and for Dave's hilarious rambling. In referring to the strippers he said the words "hot cock" about 20 times. You can never here those words too much. He also told the crowd that the best part of being in your thirties is that you can hold your Jeagermeister and have finally learned how to eat pussy. Oh my! I just felt sorry for anyone that had brought their teenagers to the concert thinking; "This band will be safe, they don't swear too much in their music." He also made the whole crowd say "Hi Mrs. Grohl!" to his wife who was sitting in the back of the floor seating area. They played all their oldies but goodies as well as songs off their new double album. They had a great stage set and made the show a lot of fun.

We had a great time, enjoyed all the music and it only took three days for me to be able to hear again!