As promised (a while ago)...

I wanted to share some more pictures, especially since I've been going through them so much. These pictures are from our day at the Oceanario. I wrote about it here.

My favorite animal is a penguin. I just think they are absolutely adorable and full of spunk. Narrowing down the penguin pictures from the trip was probably the hardest part for me.













You'd be amazed to know that the black and white images do not come from the same color images. Penguins in captivity don't tend to move around all that much.

The next six pictures are from different parts of the aquarium. Some are outside (the first three) and then some are of underwater life.













You're halfway there! But they are just pictures, easy on the eyes (hopefully). The next six pictures are all from the downstairs display of Indian Ocean life.













As you can see, I did edit a couple of the pictures. Nothing too crazy, just lightened a few that were dark (no flash photography allowed) and then I cropped a couple. Sometimes I would remove the color. There are only a few pictures that I did anything too crazy. The king crab above was one that I added red tones to. I wanted to display some of the color. In the next photos, there is one I did something pretty wild to change the image. It is a chrome effect. Let me know what you think of it. The original picture was nothing to write home about.













I hope you liked the pictures. Let me know what you think. I am also finishing up the last post that details our adventures in Portugal. That should be up by the end of tomorrow night.

Alone Time

Tomorrow I will go back to work. I did take some time off because of my grandma. I saw my mom and others in my family a few times this weekend, I've written this already.

Today was my day. It was just for me to sit back, relax, and find what I need. I scrapbooked a little, not too much. I listened to music on iTunes all day long and I went through pictures from Portugal, getting them ready for developing. DM and I chatted on MSN for a little bit and I ate dinner (homemade chicken salad - Mom's recipe. I had it on the terrible white bread that Johnny tells me not to eat. But I didn't have too many pieces.)

I decided I wanted to get out of the house for a little bit and went to see a movie. Going to movies is one of those things I have no problem doing on my own. Working nights makes it a bit harder to catch as many flicks on the silver screen, I do wish movie theaters would have more midnight shows during the week.

By the time I decided to actually go to the movies (the theater is less than a mile from my apartment. Actually, it's a block away,) it was late and my choices were pretty narrow. I knew I had no interest in The Amityville Horror (hate scary movies), House of Wax (really dislike Paris Hilton and throwing in the fact it's a horror movie, really not interested), A Lot Like Love (Ashton Kutcher - no thanks), The Pacifier (why is Vin Diesel a movie star? Can someone actually answer this question), and XXX - State of the Union (the first was bad enough, why torture us with a second? Even if Ice Cube is much cooler than Vin Diesel). This left me with The Interpreter (Nicole Kidman), Kingdom of Heaven (Orlando Bloom), Sahara (based on a Clive Cussler novel), and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (please don't make me put a description. If you don't know what it is, go see it.)

I've seen Sahara and THGTTG, but those were my top two choices. I don't really care that much to see The Interpreter and I don't actually enjoy Orlando Bloom all that much. Plus, both of those movies seemed a bit too serious for my mood. That's strange, since I normally love dramas and have enjoyed epic war movies in the past, but not tonight.

I ended up going to see Sahara again. It's not an Oscar-worthy movie by any means, but it is fun. Dirk Pitt, the main character, is a bit like an Indiana Jones that really loves water.

This post is not to give a review of a movie (I'd say 3 out of 5 stars if you really want to know, I'll probably buy it when it comes out on DVD). It's more to talk about my experience at the theater.

Tuesday night movies are good if you want some alone time. I was the only person in the theater watching the movie. In fact, I had to remind the manager of the theater to have someone START the movie.

I have to say, having an empty theater is pretty nice. I rather enjoyed sitting and losing myself in the story. There were no bratty kids, no creepy men, and no couples adding dark movie theater to their list of places they've had sex.

Being in the theater alone brought me back to my pool hall days. Every Monday, I had nothing to do and the crew wouldn't show up at Bugs until late, so I would stop for a movie at this theater. I saw a lot more movies in those days and had no problem going out by myself.

That's really all I had to say. This was not meant to be profound. My day was just for me.

"Nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah!"

The profound words of DM have struck me.

Google does not hate me and I've been approved to have Ad Sense on my site. Do you see it? It's fun and in the sidebar.

All proceeds from Ad Sense go directly to bringing Johnny to Minnesota in August. We have other plots in the works (any interest in buying magnets with pictures of Portugal on them?)

I think I may convince my mom to have a garage sale too.

So, Johnny, hate me yet? DM and I do not give up.

I should probably title this post. Any ideas?

You know what? Tom Jones STILL rocks. Actually, I don't know about new songs by Tom Jones, but his old stuff is AWESOME. Only in recent years have I realized how much I enjoy his music.

Really, that has nothing to do with this post. I just had Delilah playing on iTunes.

I had to go to the dentist today. Dr. Tom, my regular dentist (yes, the dentists refer to themselves as Dr. Tom and Dr. Joe - this makes me want to gag, but unfortunately they usually have metal instruments and torture devises attached to my mouth and gagging is hard to do), was not in for the week, so Dr. Joe worked on this tooth I had a root canal on years ago and should have had a crown put on it at THAT time.

The needle with the horrible novocaine went into my mouth and my cheek, tongue, and lower jaw was numb for five hours. The work today was not bad. All they really had to do was pull this cover (some type of glue) from over the tooth and then fit me for the crown. They took some impressions (which made me want to gag more than calling the dentist Dr. Joe) and I get to go back in two weeks.

The good news? The next appointment SHOULD be the last appointment for quite awhile. (Like 6 months.) The insurance money has just about run out.

In the past four months, I have spent many a Monday at the dentist office. I'm cursed with poor enamel in my genetics and I have just started to accept this fact. No matter what I do, I will have some problems with my teeth. My addiction to Coca-Cola only increases the regularity of these problems. Oh well. But I do have to say, after all the pain and all the hours in the chair, I am very happy with the work my dentist has done. I feel good smiling again. There was a time I didn't.

I know, this was not an overly exciting post. But it is something that was on my mind. And I was taking a break from photos and scrapping.

Pictures!

The last day of our trip to Portugal, DM and I went to Belém and Alfama. Both are parts of Lisbon and are filled with fantastic sights and MUST-SEE images. We did cram quite a bit into the last day and I’ve written a post already about all we did. Today I wanted to share some of the pictures of the Sé, the cathedral in Lisbon. It has a Rose Window that is stunning to view and worth walking inside to see.

Here is the post I did about the last day in Portugal.

The Anti-Mother's Day Post

Just kidding. I do love my mom very much and I could write really sappy things here, but everyone else has done it already. Instead, I leave you with a couple of links about stories of my mom.

The first story in this post is about her.

A message on my phone from my mom.

A sweet story about my mom.

I have also been quite busy with the photos from Portugal. Do you know how long it takes to load over 4,000 pictures onto an iPod? About an hour. Geez, it's only 6 GB! But now my iPod has all the pictures from Portugal on it and they are right at my fingertips!

In the hopes of developing pictures without breaking the bank, I made two CDs with pictures of different days. Each has under 150 pictures on them. I still have about 3,000 pictures to go through and pick which to develop, but hey, it is a start! I have cropped some of the pictures already and also changed some to black and white images.

All on for karaoke tonight too. My plans for the day include going to my dad's and having dinner with him and my paternal grandparents. I am sure they want to see pictures from the trip and get stories. I was pretty out of it when they picked DM and I up from the airport. Then I need to pick up DM (I should call her, I need to get her earlier than normal) and be in Coon Rapids at 9 PM on the dot. This will be when Tom gets off work. I am picking him and Char up for karaoke. After karaoke, I will take DM home, then grab food with Char and Tom, and then take them to the airport. They are leaving for a one week vacation to Jamaica.

It is also Matt's birthday today. We are seeing him at karaoke. Happy Birthday Matt!

Mom's House

Without the requirement of having to work today, I went over to my mom's. I wanted to see how she was doing with the fact Grandma passed away and she wanted to make me dinner. After a delicious meal of BLTs, heavy on the bacon, we sat around talking. She is doing pretty good and I expected she would be. Our family is known for mourning pretty heavy the first day and then recovery usually comes pretty quick. We try to find good things to remember and it usually works.

I had my camera and much attention and time was spent with the pets. I also took pictures of the flowers that Scott, my mom's boyfriend, gave her. They were originally for her rough time at work, but they were delivered on the day of Grandma's death. I wanted to share some of the pictures from the day.


The crab apple tree in the front yard is at the end of the bloom. When the winds kick up, the tree will lose all of the pink, but for now it still shines.


Our family loves this tree. It is a highlight of spring each and every year.


The flowers that Scott got my mom are on the kitchen table.


This is detail of one of the flowers.


Smoke, aka Vicious Killing Machine, gets caught yawning.


Taco and Chip rest together. They have always been the best of brothers to each other. Chip adores Taco more than anything else in the entire world.

Alice Marie Kempe Bowers Will

I wrote yesterday about my grandma's passing. I love her very much and I do miss her terribly already. I spent much of yesterday in a sad state, crying at times I did not think I would. That is to be expected.

But I was prepared for Grandma dying. She had been ill for a bit of time before it happened and had been moved from the hospital to a nursing home. There are some ill feelings in the family about the nursing home (lack of care) but also we all knew that Grandma did not want to be there. I am sure that she decided it was her time to go and she did not want to be in the home any longer. She had been praying the night before when my aunt, Lollie, was there, asking God to take her to Him.

The fact that Grandma was in pain for the last month of her life and the fact that she was ready to go makes it easier to deal. She had a wonderful 90 years before the last month and that is what I am choosing to hold onto. The life was filled with love and happiness. Even in hard times, she always found a way to smile, something could always cheer her up.

I was very sad yesterday and cried a lot. My eyes burned from all the tears.

When I awoke today, I had a new decision. Instead of mourning her passing and her decision to leave, I want to celebrate her life. She earned it and she deserves smiles to be passed on in her name. She loved happiness and hated people who were sad and I will celebrate her.

In my teenage years, I became quite interesting in genealogy and was fortunate enough to start collecting stories at a young age. I interviewed many of the family members, my grandma being one of them. Her sisters gave me stories and I documented them all. I have to get a disc out of storage and scan some more pictures, but I do intend on sharing the stories about my grandma here. It makes me feel better and the stories are uplifting. I am also a bit of a pack-rat and I think I have most of the letters Grandma ever sent me. Once I have gathered them, I will create a scrapbook of her. In memory of her.

There will be no immediate funeral. She lived in Arizona and will be buried (after cremation) in Maysville, Wisconsin. Her tombstone will be finished and she will be laid to rest next to her first husband, my biological grandfather. Their plot is next to the plot of my grandfather, her second husband, and his first wife. This will happen sometime this summer and there will be plenty of notice so those in the family who wish to go can take off time from work. We did this when my grandpa passed away. It was the last time the family got together.

My grandma was a devout Lutheran in her life and had a wonderful outlook on the world. Her humanity shone through in all her actions and I admire her. I always will. My mom said something about her yesterday that resonated with me. Mom said, "If the Lutherans had a Pope, and it could be a woman, she would have been in the running." And it is very true.

Grandma had a fantastic life and that makes her passing much easier to deal with. I am taking some time off from work to mourn her and also to get things in order to celebrate her.

News

When I got up for work today, I found my phone had a two calls and two messages. The second means very little. The first message was about something I knew was coming soon, but the reality was far away in my mind.

My grandma died this morning. She had been in the hospital for a couple of weeks and then in a nursing home for 11 days. She was 90 years old and one of the best people I've ever known in my life.

Grandma had a kind soul and a big heart. The worst thing I ever heard her say about anyone was, "That poor soul." Now she has gone. She believed in God and believed that she lived a good life. If she was right, she is with God now.

Grandma was terrified about ending up in a home. She had two husbands in her life and took care of each of them until the days they died. She raised five daughters and lived during the Depression. She ran her own business until 1975 when she retired and moved to Scottsdale, Arizona. Her life gave her many curve balls and many adventures. Her life also allowed her to see love all around her.

I mentioned the nursing home. Mom figures that Grandma realized she was in a home and hated every moment of it.

That's all I can really write at this time. I love my grandma very much. I miss her already.

These are some pictures of her, throughout her life.


Alice Will, I took this picture when I was about 11 years old.


This is my grandpa, Jim, and my grandma right after they moved to Arizona.


Grandpa and Grandma again. Taken during the late 1980's.


Grandma and her five sisters. She is the one in the back row on the right.


Grandma with her family. She is the second to the left in the front row.

Okay

As bread and butter carrying Americans in Portugal, DM and I had a habit of responding to information by saying, "Okay." Johnny pointed this out and found it hilarious. (HI-larious is when it is even better than hilarious.) She asked a few times if this was an American thing or a Minnesotan thing.

Because of Johnny pointing this out, I am much more aware of it. I have been hearing it in conversation much more frequently, except I have noticed it in a different category of people than just Americans or Minnesotans. It seems to be a bit more specific.

I did not notice it at karaoke. I didn't notice it when hanging out with either of my parents. Okay was not a frequent word at the pool hall. Tom does not say it repeatedly. The people at NABABNA do.

That's right, I hear it constantly at work. I listened to some of the quality assurance calls for our team and one call I heard the banker say, "Okay," to use active listening skills at the beginning of the call. In the first minute of the call, I heard, "Okay," 9 times. We end up using "Okay" instead of other words because it is considered more professional than, "Yep," or "Uh-huh." Phrases like, "Got it" or "Sure" seem to take longer to say and since time is a factor, those who have worked for NABABNA for a bit of time use "Okay" quite regularly.

That's where I think I've picked up this word. So when you tell me something, I will probably respond, "Okay."

Why do they call it back to the grindstone?

Shouldn't they be referring to brimstone?

In fact, going back to work after a 17-day holiday was not horrible but I felt completely lost for most of the day. There was good news (and a bit of bad news) at work. The day was a low productivity day for me, but then most of my job involves just talking to people. I guess I did talk to a lot of people and maybe I could consider it productive.

I am only writing about the job because of a couple of things that I wanted to share. Every time I take a vacation where I actually leave the state, our team seems to lose an employee. It happened when I went to Vegas and it happened again while I was in Portugal. There was a guy on our team that I had asked to help out while I was gone, trying to put faith into him and make him smile, but I guess he lost his job the first Monday of my extended absence. I am slightly disappointed in him, especially for the reason he no longer works for NABABNA.

But I did come back to work to find that our team had a fantastic month in quality, the area that I am in charge of coaching. Our team was a 5 in the category, which for non-NABABNAians (I may as well make up a word here) means we did really well.

We also got a new banker the day I got back, a transfer from another team. I found out that we have a couple of people in training too, this is good news since our team got a bit small recently.

I had fun conversations with the team and other managers in the center. I was able to get one feedback session done, read over 115 emails, and catch up on my voicemail. After work, I went out with a couple of the girls to IHOP for mediocre pancakes (the cook had called in). I met up with Char and Tom for pool at RC's (ladies night = FREE), and then headed to Fridleykins for a salad, Coke, and company. The server, Jen, wanted to see the pictures of the trip and had asked me to bring them back the next time I showed up. She had asked this on Monday night. The pictures were a big hit all day and night long and probably the main reason why I did very little at work.

Although a good day at work, it was not exciting as being in Portugal. I think I need a vacation already...

Walking Tour and Jewish Karaoke

DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH COCA-COLA COSTS HERE?!?

So, Coke comes in cans that are 330 ml. The cans are a bit smaller than what we get back in the States, but I can live with that.

What was a shocker was the fact that to buy 24 cans it cost over 22 Euros! Yes, that's right. A case of Coke cost over 22 Euros! And the Euro is stronger than the dollar.

Holy cow!

The Coke adventure came after our fun-filled day and educational evening.

When Deya and I awoke today, we had plans to visit Bairro-Alto and Alfama, old time parts of Lisbon. We got ready and headed to the Metro station to catch our trains. Again, I was able to buy the tickets from the machine again and we were on our way. We headed to the Baixa-Chiado station and then switched lines (linhas) from green (verde) to blue (azul) and rode one more stop to Restauradores.

Once we exited the station, we found ourselves in an open area with lots of people wandering back and forth. A map was sighted and I headed for it. Deya was stopped by an older woman and she called me back. I had tried to avoid being pressured into purchasing anything from street vendors, but Deya had attracted this woman to her and called me back. The woman gave us stickers with carnations on them and then had to pay the woman 4 Euros! Well, at least we have something for our scrapbooks now (as if we didn't already have enough!)

Today was the 25th of April, Portugal's independence. It is called the Carnation Revolution because of the peaceful way the revolution happened. The people put carnations into the barrels of the guns to signal a peaceful independence. I think it is a lovely piece of history.

Once in the square, Deya and I spotted a familiar sight and had to head over for some food. On the way, a little gift shop was calling to us and we purchased more post cards that we had originally planned. But we will have charming additions to our scrapbooks!

The sight that had drawn us to the other side of the avenue was a golden circle with English words, prompting images to "Save the Planet" and of classic guitaring. That's correct, we found Hard Rock Cafe. I don't know what it is about Hard Rock, it is a horrible cliché but I still adore it.
Inside, we had a little table surrounded by rock artifacts and the music was blaring. Deya kept a list of some of the videos playing, this way we can make a CD of the day, a little soundtrack to our adventure. Life always has a soundtrack to me. I adore music and so Hard Rock is a place I enjoy, even if the food is nothing sensational.

Our waiter helped us out quite a bit and spoke some pretty decent English. Since neither of us were going to be driving in Portugal and we were not in Vegas, we both ordered an alcoholic drink to go with our massive meals. Deya got a Pina Colada and I had a Hurricane. The souvenir glasses were washed out and given to us at the end of the meal.

We had ordered an appetizer for the meal, a large thing called the Jumbo Combo and it had just about anything you could want in an appetizer. Deya had a classic burger and I got chicken fajitas for our meal and we could barely make dents in them after the Jumbo Combo. But we did have a decent meal and our full stomachs were ready for the walking we would be doing soon.

There was another server there, a petite woman running around full of spunk. Watching her enhanced our experience at the restaurant and we certainly enjoyed her singing at the top of her lungs with the videos playing on the big screen next to us. We wanted to get a picture of her, so she reached over and grabbed my sunglasses from my shirt and posed with each of us.

Hard Rock is always full of memorabilia and the Lisbon Hard Rock is no exception. Deya enjoyed seeing k. d. lang's guitar and I liked being able to check out Seal's guitar. We hit up the gift shop as well. I bought a t-shirt, a hoodie (which came in a lot of handy once my long sleeve shirts ran out), and a couple of shot glasses (one is a gift). Deya got an adorable little shirt for her nephew, Josh, that says, "My first Hard Rock Cafe shirt." He's going to be a rocker. A stop was made at the restroom and I checked out a phone on the wall with email capability. It was pretty cool.

Now that our stomachs were full, it was time to take a walk. The Elevador de Gloria was nearby and we paid the 1,10 Euros to ride the furnicular up to the top of the steep, steep hill. At the top, we started to follow Rick Steve's advice (a tour guide book) and found it to be a great walk through the older part of Lisbon. We turned right and entered the Miradouro de Sao Pedro Alcantara (I no longer have a foreign keyboard to add the correct accents). In English, this is San Pedro Park belvedere. There is a magnificent view of the city from this park, views of the castle and the cathedral and authentic Lisbon buildings. Rick Steve's is great in pointing out that the rest of the walk is all downhill from this point, a plus in our books!

We followed the main street down, looking at and taking pictures of the old tile work and iron railings on the different buildings. One of the stops I had wanted to make was at Sao Roque Church, unfortunately we got there a bit late and missed going inside. In the little square in front of the church, we saw many pigeons and other touristy views. We kept moving, following Rick Steve's advice, and found ourselves in the Largo do Carmo. The Convento do Carmo had closed already (actually, it may not have been open at all that day due to the national holiday), but we were able to see through one paneless window the remains of arches supporting nothing but the sky. During Lisbon's earthquake in 1755 the church was destroyed. Marques de Pombal directed that the Gothic arches should remain to remind everyone of the event. (Rick Steve's gives a bit of history in the guide book. I would recommend him to anyone traveling to Europe. But avoid his pronunciations in the different books for phrases.)

There is a one block uphill part of the tour, but it brought us by a theater that had a play about Einstein (and others I think) going on. There were Einsteins all around the building, one was riding a bicycle on Christmas lights. We crossed the street and found a nice place to rest, right next to a building with fantastic tile work depicting Terra and Aqua. I had the impression that the women in the tiles were to signify Mother Earth and some goddess of water. Don't worry, we got pictures!

Continuing down the hill, we found a pedestrian zone on the Rua Garrett. The zone was packed with people, hustling and bustling in their daily lives. We saw the Cafe a Brasileira and saw the statue of poet Fernando Pessoa sitting in the square, next to the tables full of caffeine junkies. A man was playing an instrument in the square and we decided it was time to catch the Metro back to Johnny's. Alfama would have to wait for another day (which we did get to on the last day there). Before hopping back on the tube (I just like the term Johnny used for it), we did see the lampposts that depict the symbol of Lisbon. It is a ship, carrying the remains of St. Vincent, and two crows (or ravens). I have a fantastic picture of this, complete with a woman peeking out the window off to the corner of the image.

The walk through old Lisbon was fabulous and an experience I will cherish. We rode the subway back to Johnny's (the stop had four separate escalators to get into the depths of Lisbon) and got ready for the Seder.

We met up with Johnny and we headed to the synagogue. In Portuguese the word is synagoga. Deya and I both enjoyed recognizing a word. Deya wrote a great post about the evening, It's Jewish Karaoke, and I am not going to repeat everything she wrote. I especially enjoyed helping sing the songs in Hebrew. Johnny helped us out by writing some of the lyrics out phonetically for us and we loved it. The food was an experience. I found it amusing after the ceremony to see the Rabbi smoking under a Nao Fumar sign. We both snapped pictures of the synagoga after the ceremony and then we all headed back to Johnny's flat.

There was one quick stop on the way back to a petrol station (BP - we were able to share that it stands for British Petroleum with Johnny). That is where I bought the most expensive Coca-Cola of my life. Heck, the shoes I bought the last day of the trip were cheaper than the case of Coke. We also got some batteries for Deya's camera, her charger had been too heavy for the adapters and that didn't work on this trip.

Back at the flat, we rested up, watched Kingpin on TV, a horrible movie that I love probably because it is about bowling. Johnny headed to bed and Deya and I watched VH1 again. I got caught up on emails and then we headed to bed.

Our Monday in Portugal was a great day, full of exercise, fantastic views and photos, and the opportunity to see a Jewish ceremony. I also enjoyed the fact that besides being called bloody Anglos, Johnny called us bread and butter carrying Americans. What can we say? Bread and butter tastes great!

The beginning of this post was written while in Portugal, however time constraints made it have to wait until I got home to finish it up. I did want to share the story while it was still fresh in my memory. I also have notes about our adventures on Tuesday which I will share within the next couple of days.

Losing Points in Originality

Back into the swing of life, I decided leaving the house sounded like a good plan when Char called tonight. She suggested grabbing some food up at Tom's work and then agreed that shooting some pool would be fun. In no time at all, I had my pool cues slung over my shoulder and I was walking into RC's, a sports bar that emphasizes billiards more than it emphasizes liquor.

Pool is a passion in my life, I enjoy the feeling when I make a good shot or watching another player improve. It is a game against oneself mostly. No one can change the way you play. Being that I enjoy the game so much, I liked being back in the pool hall, laughing with Char and Tom.

It was a slow night up there tonight. Only three other tables were lit up, making the green felt glow. Pool halls are typically filled with men and classy is not a word I would usually use to describe the majority of them. It is a boy's club, yet I have always enjoyed getting a table and doing a bit of showing off.

As we were playing, a man, whom Tom has deemed "The Drifter", decided that he would stop over and introduce himself. Except he didn't introduce himself, he just wanted information. He approached Tom, trying to buddy up to him. He was not a hustler, he was a sleaze. I was taking a shot as he talked to Tom and he made the comment, to both Char and I, "You've got a nice rack."

My first thought was, "Oh. Baby. Oh. How original. Making the comparison to my chest and the triangle of balls in a pool hall. Yep. You're a winner." The man got the 'You are waste of flesh' look. The man asked Tom, "Who are your friends?" complete with the cocky eyeing us up and down look.

Now, Tom is a fantastic guy. I do not ever feel worried if Tom is around. He can judge character well and his loyalty to Char is superb. If Char is in a tough situation, which she can handle all on her own, Tom will be there, backing her up. He knows when to step in and he knows how to handle men whose talent in life seems to be honing in on "nice racks". The first words out of Tom's mouth were, "This is my wife, Char." He also introduced me as a friend of theirs. The man looked me up and down and I gave him the eye roll.

Luckily, the man had a bit of a clue and did wander away from our table. I knew that if he tried anything, Tom would make sure both Char and I were perfectly safe.

The hall was closing so we gathered up the balls and paid up our bill. When we got outside, I hopped behind the wheel as "The Drifter" was leaving with his friend. He looked at me, focusing about a foot lower than my face, and did the complete sleazeball signal. He cocked his head to the side, pointed his finger at me, and did that stupid half grin where he makes that dumb sound with his mouth. You know the look. The "I think I'm hot stuff and you should automatically jump me" look. I didn't buy it. I pulled out of my spot, glaring at him, and sad that I couldn't run him over with my car.

Tom termed him "The Drifter" because he was new to the place and didn't seem to have others to converse with other than his traveling drifter. They were driving a van and just had that auroa to them. I am glad this was all the problems we had with him. But hey, I have a nice rack. Joy. I am so glad that this man told me. I would have never known otherwise.

Feels Like Home

Sunday night was the first time I truly felt like I was home from Portugal. DM and I headed off to the Chalet for karaoke, loaded up with 160 of the 4,000 pictures from our trip. We parked the car and headed inside the familiar bar. The first person I saw was Bobby and I felt like I was home.

Some people stole our table. It was horrible! We have claimed the three tables set up in the middle of the bar right in front of the stage (and Bryan working at the karaoke machine). The tables close to the windows are crowded and have a draft, so we sit and freeze when we are there. The tables closer to the bar are WAY too close to the bar, we get hit by passerbys and feel like we're sitting on top of other tables. We had to take the tables by the windows last night and hated it. But we loved being at karaoke.

Bryan showed up (a bit later than normal) and got the show started. The place was packed last night, we each sang four songs. (I sang, "Son of a Preacher Man," "Your Little Secret," "Bring Me Some Water," and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love.") When Bryan started singing, I almost started crying. I adored being in Portugal. There were comforts of home I missed, but they were minimal. The one thing that I know both DM and I missed the most was karaoke. We missed listening to Bryan sing and missed our friends from the Chalet. Hearing Bryan belt out the different songs he sang reminded me why we love karaoke so much. It was like hearing it again with new ears. So, so beautiful.

We gave out the gifts we had brought back for everyone. We also had the pictures to show off. Liz sat with us last night, even with our horrible seats, and she kept asking us about the holiday. Char and Tom were there and we enjoyed their company. James showed up and we had fun talking with him and he loved the gift that DM picked up for him. He was happy that she thought of him while on vacation.

At the very end of the night, we were able to show Bobby and Bryan the pictures. Both were working so we had to wait. Bryan made some wonderful comments about the photos. He was extremely impressed with what we had brought in. He actually wants a few of the pictures sent to him (which I am going to do). He actually said as we were leaving, "Most times I look at people's vacation photos and don't care. These were wonderful pictures." He kept complimenting the detail in the photos and the beauty held within them. I know we both feel good about the images we chose to develop right away.

We took over 4,000 pictures there (which Liz did the math, she figures we took a roll of film an hour while we were there). Going through the images, I would say we have 500 magnificent pictures, 1,500 great picture, 1,000 pretty good pictures, 500 good pictures, and 500 pictures that are decent. There are a few to delete and we're not going to develop all of them, by any means, but it is worth having them.

On a side note, the boy showed up last night. Pete was there too, but luckily, I never actually had to talk to him. The boy joined our table and found it incredible that we had been in Portugal. He liked the pictures, looking over Liz's shoulder and then asking me to show some of them to him. Char and Tom enjoyed his company (DM and Liz didn't really want to talk with him much) and Char made sure to embarrass the hell out of me, slipping comments in that were a bit dirty. (Because, hey, it's great to bring up the subject of oral sex over and over.)

It was great to see Bryan, Liz, Bobby, James, Char, and Tom last night. It felt like home.

While we were gone, Rob Thomas released his solo album. I had been worried, since the single sounds very pop and Justin Timberlake-like, but the rest of the album is fantastic. The last song is slow and accompanied by the piano. I have most of the lyrics and I do love the song. The album is worth the money.

This is the last song on the album.

Now Comes the Night
Rob Thomas

When the hour is upon us
And our beauty is surely gone
No you will not be forgotten
And you will not be alone
No you will not be alone

And when the day has all but ended
And our echo starts to fade
No you will not be lonely
And you will not be afraid
No you will not be afraid

And when the fog has finally lifted
From my cold and tired brow
No I will not leave you crying
No I will not let you down
No I will not let you down
I will not let you down

Now comes the night
Feel it in the wind
And the soul underneath
Is it all that remains
So just slide over here
Leave your fear in the ***** (This is the only word I cannot figure out)
Let us hold onto each other
Until the end of our days

And when the hour upon us
And our beauty is surely gone
No you will not be forgotten
And you will not be alone
No you will not be alone

Projects...

"No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one." ~ Elbert Hubbard

So, so true.

I mentioned before that we have over 4,000 pictures from the trip. I am in the process of uploading pictures onto flickr.com and creating another site full of images. It is NOWHERE ready to publish yet. When it is better, I will put a link on here.

Dana and I picked out some of the best pictures yesterday and had them developed. There are 160 of them. After getting them developed, we stopped at my mom's to show her and her boyfriend. In the evening, we went out to a movie with Char and Tom and then to Perkins with Char and her friend, Betsy. We did show off the pictures, of course!

I tried to change the picture in my sidebar. I think after I publish this post it will show up. It is me with my feet in the ocean. I also changed my links a bit. Johnny is now in the real life friends section. It is so exciting to be able to say I have actually met her. I also added a link to Mark's site, Meandering musings muster madness. Check him out. He's got some fantastic posts.

We are going to visit my dad this afternoon, get feed some pretty good food, and then it will be karaoke time. My Sunday usually involve visiting my dad and then going to karaoke, so this really feels like the end of the holiday and back to my regular life. While we were in Portugal, I was able to chat with my dad online at the time I would have normally been at his house. That was really nice, it helped keep the missing home to a minimum. Dana and I both missed going to karaoke a lot. It was probably the hardest thing to give up during our trip. It feels good to be going back and visiting with our friends.

That's about it. The movie we saw last night was The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It was pretty cute and fun. I enjoyed it and Dana really liked it. She has read the books and said they did a pretty good job of sticking to the story.

Running Around Town

DM and I are now home, as I wrote before, and we're rested up. We ended up crashing at about 8:30 Minnesota time, the jet lag kicking us down and the fact we'd been awake for nearly 40 hours with only a couple of minor naps on the planes. We figured out that we had taken over 4,000 pictures in Portugal. Yes, we may be a bit insane, but our scrapbooks are going to be killer.

One of the first projects we started once we got back was to figure out which pictures to get developed right away. These are the ones we want to have to show everyone that we see over the weekend and the next couple of weeks. We did narrow it down to 165 images. I have a disc sitting next to me labeled Best Pics of Portugal 2005 and we're going to head down to the photo developing place soon to get two copies of each picture and then grab some food.

Going through the pictures just kept reminding us of how utterly fabulous this trip was. I don't know if I could say enough how wonderful the time was. Little moments piled together to create an adventure of a lifetime. We met a fantastic person in real life, we experienced a different culture, and we lived out a dream. As hard as it was to believe that we were actually there it is now just as hard to believe we're home.

Here are five more pictures from the trip, ones from the disc of best pictures that we are developing.


Ocean Coast


The Ocean


Johnny at the cafe


Beth at the ocean


Beth and Dana at the Ocean

Back to the Hustle and Bustle

We made it home. I have notes about the flights and still a couple of posts to write about different days, but we're home. A teary goodbye was said and we made it onto our flights.

It is good to be home, although bittersweet. There is always an upside and a downside. I just want to thank Johnny yet again for the time of our lives. Dana (Deya, DM) and I had a fantastic time and we will cherish the memories forever. The invitation always stands for you to visit. The end of August would be a great time, hint hint again.

Now it is back to our lives. We each have a few more days off to recover (DM goes back on Monday, I go back to work on Tuesday). There will be karaoke this Sunday and many more days and nights of adventures, but none with quite so magnificent of a background as Lisbon.

Kisses.

I Bought Boots!

Our final day in Portugal was a busy one. There were a few sights left we wanted to make sure to see before we left the country. The alarm was set again for us to get up, but not as early today. We heard the beeping of Johnny's mobile at 10 am and we did have the option to snooze a bit. By 11:30, we were ready to go!

It was the same walk to the Metro and we bought the tickets, boarded the train, and headed to Rossio, a stop on the green line. The stop opens up onto a square where hundreds of pigeons walk around amongst the people rushing to catch the subway, trolleys, cabs, and buses. I watched as Deya found herself surrounded by the birds. A few started flying around, circling the square, and I briefly saw myself in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. The taxi stand was on the other side of the square, so we headed over, pausing to watch the man feed the birds, and asked the driver, without using English, I might add, to bring us to Belém, a district in Lisbon (Lisboa) where we could see the St. Jerome Monestary, catch a glimpse of the Monument to the Discoveries, and hopefully see the 25th of April bridge, the Cristo Rei, and the Torre de Belém.

The driver brought us to the monastery, and it was magnificent. The architecture is amazing and the building goes on and on. Deya's camera was sans battery power today, so we have pictures from my camera. The day itself was over 500 pictures! Don't worry, they are not ALL the monestary, I will also share what else we were able to see.

After leaving the place of worship (where we saw the devil, standing with his red face and smoking! Inside a holy place! I have a picture), we wandered past a public gardens to see if we could catch photos of the bridge, the Monument to Discoveries, and hopefully the Torre de Belém and the Cristo Rei. We saw the Monument, it is large and near to the monestary. Views of the bridge and the statue of Christ were a bit more difficult, but we do have a few images of each from different days. We skipped walking down to see the Torre de Belém, mainly because the day was our last and it was a long walk! We wanted to get as much of Alfama in as possible and maybe do a bit of shopping. There were still a couple of gifts to pick up.

We caught another cab and asked the driver to take us to Alfama. The man was very helpful and even told us about where to go from where he dropped us off. The Porties are extremely helpful and have made our stay a dream come true. We decided against visiting the castle, only because it was an uphill walk. There was a little kiosk with sandwiches and soda where we stopped and of course, we had to have a bite to eat. The "Coke" was not as advertised. But the sandwiches were fairly good and Deya had a blast hand feeding pieces of the bread to a little sparrow who kept flying over to us. We would watch the sparrow fly off to a tree and return again and again. The tree was a part of the amazing view we had of Alfama. The red rooftops showed us the classic character of Lisbon and kept screaming Europe to each of us. Even now, as we are just a few hours from leaving, we still find it hard to believe we are actually in Europe. Maybe I am just a silly American speaking, but traveling to another continent is a fascinating experience.

Pictures were taken at the different overlooks and our path headed down a steep hill. We found an open door and a friendly elderly man offered us to enter the church. It was the Chapela de Santa Luzia and he walked us to the different displays and statues. The chapel was small and in comparison to the monestary, not what I would call extravagent, but utterly charming. Deya and I both agreed, the man showing us the different things made the chapel amazing. His smiles and excited voice tone was terrific.

We kept wandering down the hill, making our way to the Sé, famous in Lisbon for its Rose Window (I will get to that), and we found a couple of little souvenier shops. Of course we stopped to buy those last minute gifts. Satisfied with what we are going to share with everyone back at home, we continued on and found the side of the Sé. Walking around to the front, I captured the moment on film and we headed inside.

The Rose Window is a large, round stained glass window, vibrant with color. It was stunning. I would call it a highlight of our day. There was a man outside, selling watercolor pictures as we exited the cathedral (the Sé is a small scale cathedral). Both Deya and I bought some of the art, continuing my tradition of buying art while on vacation. It happened in Vegas and now Portugal. Luckily, this is a little smaller and actually FITS in my suitcase.

All the walking, viewing, and Lisbon sun made us both thirsty and when we saw another little café, we stopped in for Coca-Cola, the real kind in a red and white can. There were some pastries in this restaurant and it was a sweet treat for our palettes before we tried to find the Metro again.

There is a tram that heads up and down the hill of Alfama. Trams have tracks on the street. We used this as our guide to find the Metro station. On the way, the buildings and windows called out to us to check out the different items being sold inside.

Along the street back to the station, my attention was stolen by a shop selling fantastic shoes! I bought two pairs of lovely high heel tennis shoe boots. They were under 15 Euros each!

Deya and I got back to the subway station and took a crowded ride back to Johnny's. Once off the Metro, we stopped at a little park on the way to Johnny's that we visited each time returning or going to the subway. It is a small little escape from all the buildings and hectic nature of a big city. There are only three benches in the park and the common area is covered in cobblestones. Trees and bushes line the outer rim, providing a bit of shade to weary passerbys.

Tonight was our last time to stop in this place, a place we've come to identify as a special part of our trip. There were four children playing in the park with a few parents on the nearby bench. The youngest one, a girl that had to be under three years old and still wearing a diaper, was climbing a portable slide and sliding down the plastic, again and again. Watching her was a pleasant experience. The other three children were sitting on the ground near a part of the cobblestone that is open to dirt and ground. The eldest boy was clacking two rocks together, over and over, and the other two were watching fascinated. Then he made all of them smell the rock.

Deya and I looked at each other, trying to determine if smelling rocks was a Portie custom (which we figured it was not) or just something children were doing. The kids got up and ran around, picking up sticks, pestering the parents for newsprint, and pulling bits of dry grass up to use as thatch. Great! We were watching Portuguese children try to make a fire.

The parents sat idly by as the kids kept trying to create a spark onto their pile of burnable items, but we never did see them make a fire. Deya and I were both happy to know that the children, curious but maybe a little bit misguided, were unable to start a fire in our presence.

We got back to Johnny's and packed up our stuff. In about two hours, we will be heading to the airport and starting our 13-hour journey home.

During the day, Deya and I made a top ten list of what Portugal was to us. This is list is in no way complete, to share all the joys of Portugal, we need more than 10 spots. But these are some favorite moments.

10. My boots. (For Deya, it was having a sparrow take food right out of her hand)
9. The Rose Window at the Sé
8. The Oceanarium
7. Finding out how friendly Porties truly are and how helpful (the fact that we could holiday here without speaking the language)
6. Évora, the bone chapel, the Roman temple of Diana, and lunch
5. The Monet at the Gulbenkian Museum
4. The Monestary of St. Jerome
3. JIP, Hum-Hum, and Papoila
2. Seeing and playing in the ocean
1. Meeting Johnny in real life

It is sad to leave. There are many things about home that I do miss, but this has been a fantastic vacation and meeting Johnny was worth every moment of planning, running around, worry about travel, and traveling itself. Our homes are open to her to visit any time, we are hoping she will come to visit in late August (when Minnesota is not unbearably chilly).

Life may not provide material for daily updates when we get back, but I am sure the daily grind will still show us fun times and good people. I am going to miss Johnny, JIP, Hum-Hum, Papoila, and the amazing country. I am thankful for the time I was able to spend here and the friend that I have finally met. The next time I will be writing, I will be back home, sitting at my computer desk and dreaming of Portugal.

Oh, and it was the worry about the vacation that caused my eye to twitch. I just noticed now that it has not twitched in over a week. I did need the break from real life.

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As I was typing this post, we discussed the Portie children and the fire. Here is Johnny's direct quote: Any self-respecting Portie should be an accomplished pyro-maniac.

Time Keeps Marching On

It can't be true. We can't be down to 28 hours left in Portugal. What? We have to sleep for part of it? This can't be true.

The last few days have been absolutely jam packed. I have been taking notes galore of all that we're doing, but I have not had much time to blog. I haven't had time to read blogs either. Believe me, when I get home, there will be a ton of catching up to do!

I still have notes and partial posts written about Monday and Tuesday, but I do want to share a bit of what we did today.

The alarm on Johnny's mobile was set for 7 am. Did you read that correctly? 7 AM! I have gotten over the jet lag and my body has settled into its natural time zone. Night owl. You would think a 6 hour time difference would put me falling asleep at "normal" people hours, but no. I am back to my work schedule. But I don't have to work, so being awake at 3 in the morning does me no good here.

Deya and I got up when the alarm went off. I got ready quickly and Deya hopped in the shower. We were ready to leave Johnny's flat by 8:15 to hop on the Metro and get to Oriente station (the last stop on the red line). We had plans to visit Évora today, a walled city a two-hour + train ride from Lisbon. Évora is in Central Portugal and this was exciting for us. All of our other adventures have been in Lisbon itself.

Once at the Oriente Station (built for the World's Fair in 1998), we figured out that the train station is just two stories above the Metro! This was awesome, since Deya and I are terrible with directions. We bought the tickets to Évora and boarded the train. We had a transfer at Casa Branha and managed to get on the other train successfully. The second train was much bumpier and my notes from the ride are all over the page. We watched as the Portie country side sped by outside our windows. I made use of my iPod again, jamming out to Bryan's CD yet again.

The train arrived in Évora and Deya and I stopped at a little café next to the station for Cokes. Once we were refreshed (Beba Coca-Cola), we headed up the Avienda to the center of town. Our cameras got a work out today, there are actually over 1,000 pictures between the two of us from our day trip. Don't worry, we will be consolidating once we get home. The beauty of digital cameras is the fact we can just keep snapping and snapping, not worrying about the bad pictures at the time. It saves holiday time and let's us make sure the perfect shot is obtained. We'll pick through the pictures for the best ones to post on our sites and to put into our scrapbooks (although there still may be many, MANY scrapbooks).

Inside the city walls, we found ourselves wandering through a public gardens and ordered, can you guess, Coca-Cola from the little kiosk (spelt much differently than we are used to in English). That Coke did not taste as good and after I found a spider crawling on me (freaking me right the heck out of my skin, at least I didn't scream. I jumped out of my chair and danced around, shaking out my clothes, but I didn't scream. It was only a minor public distraction) we left the park and headed to the Church of St. Francis.

Évora closes up all the churches, museums, and chapels during lunch time and we were there at the perfect time for lunch, so Deya and I found a charming little restaurant just off to the side of the Church of St. Francis. Now, I know the question burning on your mind. 'Did they serve Coke at this little restaurant?' You bet they did!

Our server was a young boy (probably about 22) and absolutely darling. He was wearing blue jeans and we had a table right near the stairs he had to keep climbing to get in and out of the kitchen and Deya may have snapped a picture of his bum. Yes, we're terrible. The food was delicious though.

After lunch, the church was open and the main attraction was ready for viewing. We bought our tickets (1 Euro each) and paid the ,25 Euros (I love that they use commas instead of periods for cents in currency) to be able to take photos. The chapel is made of human bones. Three Franciscian friars dug up bones from different graves around the city to build this chapel, hoping that people would worship and find a way to be humble surrounded by death. The chapel is über-creepy and yet, I found it utterly fascinating. I do have many pictures (as does Deya) and we will be putting some up in a few days (once we're back in the States).

We checked out the sanctuary of the church and again was surrounded by beauty. Then we got completely lost.

Want to know how to get lost in Europe in 5 easy steps? I can tell you.

Right foot forward. Left foot forward. Stop to take a picture. Walk three more steps. There, you're lost. Évora is a small city, it is HARD to get lost in it, yet we managed. Jeez, you would think that large landmarks like cathedrals, massive museums, and Roman arches should have helped us! No, no they didn't. We joked that it was like the Hokey Pokey, put your left foot in, put your left foot out, put your left foot in and shake it all about. You know what you get? L.O.S.T.

To add insult to injury, we got lost on an uphill direction. So every step in the wrong direction exerted extra energy! We were puckered completely out. Then we saw a Gelatto shop. Time for ice!

The gelatto was delicious. We both had a scoop of caramel. Deya had a scoop of cinnamon and I had a scoop of mulberry. I. Heart. Gelatto. The water closet in the shop was also quaint. Deya will probably post another bathroom adventure (including the water closests from the trains! Yuck!)

As we were wandering the streets of Évora, completely lost inside the walls of the city, Deya started getting attacked by little bugs. I do not even know what kind of bugs they were, but they loved her. We both wore sleeveless shirts today, but I brought a hoodie with me for the day. Deya had on capris (to my blue jeans and boots) and with the extra skin from the arms, she was a target for a bug fest. I felt so bad for her. She also managed to get a bit of a sunburn from wandering around the city. Her arms are a bright pink, still much later in the evening. The back of her neck is a red color and I can imagine how bad it feels. My face is a little pink, but not bad. It actually just looks like I'm wearing blush.

The streets in Europe are much more narrow than back at home. This goes double for Évora. Europeans drive smaller cars, I love this, and even the smallest vehicles were tight fits down some of the corridors. There were times when Deya and I found ourselves hugging the walls (hey, we're wall-hugging hippie freaks! Adds a bit more than the tree-hugging kind!)

We found ourselves in a dead end and kept trying to go. Deya suggested we try to ask the first person we saw for directions. At the bus stop, there was an elderly man wearing all black (in that heat! Oh, it still makes me feel uncomfortable, wondering how much he overheats). Deya approached him to ask the question.

Now, we speak about 10 words of Portuguese and they are not very helpful in asking for directions. Being able to say the equivalents of "Hello", "Rat bastard", "Thank you" and "You're welcome" does not tell us to turn right or left. The man did not speak a word of English, but seemed excited to point at our map and point down the hill to the right. Then he made circle gestures with his hands. The man was very friendly. I figured he told us to turn right, spin in circles and then pick another direction!

By heading right, we did find another little café and they sold, we all know by now, Coke. The server spoke English rather well and was able to point us in the right direction so that we could find what we were looking for. Our destination was the Temple of Diana, a Roman temple still standing by a nearby cathedral.

It took resting a couple of times, but we finally made it to the cathedral. I wanted to check around the corner, hoping that a large Roman temple would be easy to spot, but it waited until we rested. After the break, I walked 10 paces to see the magnificent structure standing, pillars reaching the sky.

A hundred and five pictures later (no, I have not counted them, but this is probably not an exaggeration. Actually, it may be a conservative figure), we were ready to find a taxi to take us back to train station, which in turn would provide the train to take us back to Johnny's flat.

How does one find a taxi in Évora? One asks the absolutely gorgeous cop! He told us something in Portuguese, but pointed us in the correct direction. We walked a bit, downhill this time, and found a post office. Oh, that might be a good place to get directions!

Inside, a woman was willing to help us find the taxi station. She directed us outside (away from the nice air conditioning inside the post office) and told us where to go in Portuguese. After a few blank stares, she listed off different languages that she spoke. I recognized Deutsch and told her in my broken German that I spoke a little of the language. Fortunately, it was enough to recognize left, right, street, and numbers (how many streets). The charades helped too.

We followed the directions and found the taxi stand. The cabbie was helpful and figured out where we needed to go. Quickly, we were back at the train station, an hour early for our departure.

With an hour to kill, what else is there to do than order those precious red cans of cola and watch a bit of C.S.I. with Portuguese subtitles in the bar off to the side of the station. Unfortunately, the little red cans were NOT Coca-Cola, but a "drink" called, "Snappy Cola". It was advertised as "Novo" or new. I can say this, the cola? I don't think "snappy" would be a word I used to classify it.

While watching C.S.I., we noticed that DNA is abbreviated as ADN in Portuguese. We learn something new every day.

The train rides back to Lisbon were peaceful, we watched the sunset and arrived in Lisbon to see the city lit up.

I do have to say, Évora was charming and fascinating and an adventure, but give me the grid system back! I am horrible at directions and having roads that do not follow blocks throws me off way too much. If anyone does visit Portugal anytime in their lives, I do recommend a trip to Évora. It is worth your time.

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While I was writing this post (and battling Blogger!), this is the conversation between Deya and myself:

We are watching VH1 Classic Hits (pleases me for music, Deya likes the music and sometimes watches the videos). A Rolling Stones video from 1981 starts to play.

Deya looks confused.

B: It's the Rolling Stones.

D: Yeah, I guess I never noticed how much they all look like roosters.

VH1 classic hits is a joy.

Olá

I have notes for two separate posts saved on Blogger, but the time to write them is scarce. I would do it tonight, however we are planning on visiting Evora tomorrow and need to go to bed early. There's an odd thing for me to say. Going to bed early.

I will write up these posts soon. I promise. Mainly for myself. I am finding that blogging our experience is a great way to keep a travel journal.

We had a busy day, again, and I filled up almost ALL of my memory cards for my camera today. We went back the ocean. Can you blame me for filling the cards? I think not.

Got to get ready for bed! More posts coming, I promise.