Hiya there folks:
As we are all preparing to spend the holidays with friends and family I wanted to get this off to all my people.
Just to start off I had a nice relaxing weekend after the horror that was Marseille, I say this is jest, surely... Friday night I met Montse and Carlos at my house where we then headed to an art/culture exhibit on Pompeii. Now the question I'm still asking is where is Pompeii? It was a lovely exhibit but we were surprised how small the hall was. I got to see pottery and images of the volcano erupting.... who knew??
Once we toured around the hall we decided to indulge in a Starbucks coffee, or at least I wanted to. Montse and Carlos both got a chocolate FRAPPUCCINO in the middle of winter!! Although they tell me that that is the custom for Spaniard's to order a frapuccino anytime they go to Starbucks, its like their candy shop. I was appalled for sure. But I enjoyed my latte, even though I am sick of cafe con leche when its 10% coffee and 90% milk! I want to some good old Pete's Moka Java or some Dunkin Donuts. Now many of you probably are disgusted that I would actually ask for DD Coffee, but honestly the saying is true, you don't miss something til its gone! You know I thought I would miss friends and family, but ¡Hombre! I need my coffee!! But in reality of course I miss everyone and just wish that we could talk more. I knows its tough with the time change, but you are more than welcome to jot me a quick email or a comment here on the blog! I don't bite....
Sigo...
After a nice coffee we again thought to kick the cold with a nice meal and where did we go, you ask?? Good Ole' TGI Fridays of course. Its where all the cool people hang out! The meal was good and we had an awesome time watching the world cup of extreme lifting. These huge guys lifted cars and pulled big trucks and stuff, I must say it was a great way to finish off the work week.
Saturday I just chilled out at home doing some house work... Yes I do SOME cleaning once in a while. When Gina finally got up she told me that Carlos didn't have work so therefore I should call him because we both had nothing to do. Well Gina called Carlos's landline only to be answered by his mother, Who he had told that he was having lunch with Gina, when instead he was at his bfriends house! Yikes! But thankfully Gina has a quick memory and just made up an excuse. As soon as she finished with the mother though she called Carlos as fast as she could to warn him what she told the mother so they could corroborate their stories. PHEW!! it was close though. Gina is certain that the mom must think that Carlos and Gina are seeing one another because she is his wing girl.
Anyway though... when we finally got through to him he suggested that he and go to this interactive game place where you yourself play the game and climb over things and stuff. Like Lazer Tag but you have to answer questions and pass test before advancing to the next level. As you can imagine, I lost pretty quickly but Carlos had helped me on a few of the questions. It was really cool because the scenario was that you are a prisoner and you are trying to escape from jail, although Gina and I think its more like an asylum rather than a jail.
But I had an awesome time. That's what I like about Carlos, he is such a kid at heart, he loves any games so we always have a great time with him.
Then Sunday we had planned to go shopping but only us girls wanted to go so we changed our minds and decided to play mini golf instead at this cool mall. The previous evening Carlos was describing the mall to me and began talking about the cafeteria where you can buy any kind of food and then you all eat in the middle. Now I thought he meant a buffet style where you can choose any cuisine you like. BUT... he meant a FOOD COURT!! He thought it was the coolest invention ever and totally gets overwhelmed with so many choices. We had to nix the mini golf because Hugo was going to get out of work later than expected and then we wouldn't have anytime to play so we continued our Sunday movie night tradition and saw 1408.
But before I get into the movie... the other totally sweet thing was that there is an INSIDE SKI SLOPE!! How cool.... People were having a ball in the enclosure. When asked if I knew how to ski I said no, but couldn't resist telling them about my first time on ski in NH when I was five I think. There DAD was with the video camera glued to his eye while I sat crying my eyes out because I had fallen over and couldn't get up, like a turtle. The instructor said that I had to get up on my own, so I sat there tears and all while Dad continued to videotape the rest of the Zambizee sisters. I think that's why I don't cry anymore... I let it all out at the age of 5!
I'll continue... When we entered the food court everyone ran around checking out what there was to offer and we grabbed a table. The food was OK, not that food from a food court is that great anyway, but we made due. Finally when Hugo arrived we made out slips for "amigos invisibles" AKA Secret Santa. I was filled with anticipation about who I would get and hoped that it wasn't Gina because then I would get a challenging person to buy for. Well luck was on my side and I got Montse. Although I'm not sure what to get her just yet, but I've got time since we are not doing it until I get back from London on Jan. 5. Plus was is nice is that therefore I will be in Madrid for 3 Kings Day, which is like their Christmas. I hope we have a party or something...
Well again I want to wish everyone a GREAT holiday and a Happy New Year. I hope to talk to many of you over the vacation. I will have a phone card ready and waiting for me upon arrival. I will have my cell phone but I am not sure if it will work. But keep in touch and I don't care if you don't do anything for the holidays... but I better get pictures anyway!!!
I will stalk you during the entire new year if I don't get pics. Everyone takes some pics around the holidays, so make sure I get them. My Spanish friends have been warned too, so don't think you are getting any special treatment!
Miss you all
Felices Fiestas y Prospero Año Nuevo
Em
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
Parle voius frances?
I have no clue what has happened to the kind, gentle girl I used to be after this long weekend with the Meghans, and thank goodness I survived, barely...
SO you ask yourself, How did this trip come about? I don't even think I know what came over me, but my friend Meghan aka Brennan called me up on a whim and invited me to Marseilles France for the long weekend we have in Madrid. I agreed upon it, I'm not sure at this point if I should have, but hey lets say for the sake of arguement, that I did.
Well I had to call the airline company Wednesday morning to change the names on the tickets, because there was a mixup and Lawler, the other Megan, goofed. That in and of itself was nerveracking beacause I was left to deal with Ryan Air to get it taken care of. And I did.
I met Lawler and Brennan at the Barajas airport for a short, 2 Hour plane ride and we arrived in France, calmly and without problems, yet....
The coolest part was, Did we have a map? No, did we know anything about Marseilles, nope, but we went with it and it was AWESOME...
We arrived on Wednesday afternoon/evening to see the main street lit up with lovely Christmas lights, and wait for it.... A Christmas Market!!! Hooray!!! The Meghans jumped for joy to see and SMELL the portside harbour. You know me, no big whoops on my behalf. But then again it was nice to see water again, and the salty, freezing, kind that you shall uncover over the course of the longest blog entry known to man!
The first stop was our luxioury 2 Star Hotel, which Brennan has upgraded to a Five star, Hotel Europe. Now an inside look into who Lawler is... she lives in style and likes to have a nice warm, quite room to sleep in after a long, long day of treasure hunting. The hotel was wonderful. As soon as we entered the building, after figuring out how to open the locked door, we were greeted by Stephan, a tall nerdy frenchman. He was very nice and helpful, including when Brennan shouted with delight, OMG Is that a real dryer I smell?? We spaniards don't have the awesomeness that is heat to dry your clozes (as Stephan pronounced it). The room was big but with your typical paper thin walls and a showerhead that trickled like a dryed up brook. There was no contest who I got to spend my three nights with in that room, each even playing a friendly game of turtle. Oh and it was not friendly at all, the French know how to upset some people and not by the name... But I recovered quickly until te following night with Brennan, no hard feelings, eh?
Once we checked in and got settled we were famished with hunger and chose to go for a jont around town. We we came upon a humble little abode called, Le Suffren and I think we would all say we definately suffered through that meal. Thankfully Brennan knows, un pur of French and man are we greatful. Except the French apparently don't care if we are Americans and when asked if the waitor speaks English, in French and scoffs Brennan off and says you must speak to me in French. We thought it was quite rude especially because as Lawler and I ordered, in English he had no problem. Huh... The food was half way decent but the crappy waitstaff outweighed the food. From there we headed out for a walk around the town. We headed immediately for the Christmas Market with all the quiosks filled with French cookies, jewlery, crepes, mulled wine, teas and such. It even had a Merry Go Round!! We resisted the temptation to hop on for a ride since we had just eaten adn figured we'd save it for another day. From the market we walked along the water front which we can only imagine must be overrun with people and boats in the Summer. In December though not as much, I don't see why....
Over the course of our walk we stumbled upon this huge Fort the overlooked the port (Vieux Port is the name of the area we were in). The Meghans grabbed me by the arm and yanked me up on the top of the wall overlooking the water for a nice view and time to relax. Altough I fumbled through it, it was all worth it. We were checking out where we would head out the following day. Thankfully like most citites in Europe there was a cheap Bus tour that takes you around the town.
Day Number 1:
Once on the bus we met a cute French boy who was all about foreign girls and he came to check on us frequently, we agree that he had a thing for Brennan, and she milked it for all it was worth. After the bus tour Brennan decided to go back and "get some work done for school" plus she was really tired from a long week of hosting guests. So Lawler and I headed off to explore the city. We walked around to this huge, elaborate Church in the middle of the city, which was being restored or something and we were not allowed inside but it has the typical old town charm that many Eruopean buildings and churches have. From there we headed to this park that looked quite big on the map, but the cartogrophers took some liberties with the representation. There was a large fountain in the middle, but you could tell that it has been some time without use. The group of us had decided early on in the trip that we would attempt to take a day trip to Tolousse, which had been recommended to us by another girl in the program. Well we quickly found out that Tolousse is not as close to Marseilles as we thought. So we then decided that we would try Nice for a day, but later also found out that the train would be too expensive.
To finish out the day Lawler and I hopped back on the bus tour and headed to the big Chapel and statue that is situated at teh highest point in Marseille. It was really beautiful, except for the gale force winds that we encountered. While we were there we met these two French men that we had seen before at a coffee shop. We all share our love for coffee and averaged three cups a day, but we still think Spanish coffee is better. Anyway, the two guys told us about a short boat trip to some neighboring islands where you could disembarque and explore the island. Lawler and I thought it was a great idea and planned that the following day we would be "pirates" and explore the islands as a group. Well these two french guys heard that we were American and invited us to dinner. We were a bit sketched out but agreed that we would meet them later at the, "Quality Burger" Restaurant located near our hotel. Well on the walk down we realized that this was not the best idea we had and decided that we would grab Brennan when the time came and made a run for it. Yes I realize that this is not the nicest thing to do, but hey we are three nice American girls and didnt want anything funny business.
We grabbed Brennan and headed off for the near Irish Pub, called O'Malley which I think its safe to say that we are now part of their regular crowd as we spent each night there having grand ol time. O'Malleys was a great pub and we even got to hear some authentic Irish music, but oh wait... they sang it in French.... Lawler is a big fan of the jig and Irish music so we got the real thing thanks to her. While we were having some drinks we met a nice guy, Georges, who immediately came over to us to chat. The kind waitress tried to give us a warning signal and not waste our time but we let him come over anyway. Well Georges is now a great friend and we actually saw him a few more times over the course of the weekend. After a fantastic tutorial on the Irish Jig from Brennan we stumbled home, with Lawler's sore back because she tried to do a back handspring but landed on ehr tummy. The poor girl, but she laughed it off and we made it home fine.
Day number two:
The boat tour that was recommeded to us was a short twenty minute ride to the island of Frivole. We immediately ran for the upper deck to get a great spot. Well did I mention that it had been raining all morning so it was jsut us on the boat. We met our new best friend, Jean Marie, aka Gus from Cinderella who kept us intriguied with conversation on the trip. Brennan speaks a bit of french from highschool and we depended on her to keep conversation rolling. Well Brennan took a break from translating and decided it was a good idea to feel the sea breeze on the other side of the boat. What she didnt expect was to get soaked with the crashing waves becuase the water was choppy. We laughed with her as we approached the island. Now again the weather was not great, per the gale force winds again that were hitting the city, but we didnt let that stop us. Now over the short time we were in Marseille at that point Brennan had been commenting that she must go swimming because heck when you see the Mediterreanean you gotta take a swim. Well she wasnt fooling around.
After a jont around the island we all decided it was about time to test the waters. Oh and it was Freezing!! We all put our feet in for a photo op beause when will we ever be in the French Riviera and be in the Mediteranean again.
As Brennan's mom, Mary J. would say to Brennan as a child, don't be a dog and go jumping in without thinking first. Well Brennan gave herself the speech, but still ended up being the dog and went head first into the Mediteranean with her clozes on!! It was absolutely ludicrous!! We were prepared and gave her some warm clothes. But she kept saying that her mom says alls you need is a hat to cover your head, but we didnt want to risk it. When everyone was warm agian we continued on our adverture and found a great Spideman shot. There were these two rocks that intersected with a cool opening in the middle. SO we figured it was a good idea to get some pics of us in the hole. It was soooo scary but hella cool.
BTW: Expect Lawlers pics to come shortly. Mine are not as good as hers and she was the designated photogropher for the weekend. She got some amazing shots.
When we realized that the boat was going to leave shortly we hightailed it back only to see Jean Marie again who then invited/just brought us up to the Capitans booth for the trip home. Now we are still unsure if he even asked the capitan if it was allowed but no one said anything and we got the capitans view of Viex Port in style.
Next we headed out for a bite to eat and again stumbled upon a great little dinner spot called, Pain and Coe. It was great the prices were reasonable and we each got a huge salad. It was delectable. We then returned there for one meal a day for the rest of the week. THe waitor was great and of course spoke a little English which was a god send becuase poor Brennan was exhausted from all the translating.
After dinner we stopped by O'Malley agian for a drink. While we were chillin out we met more English speakers two guys were from Spain too here on holiday and one from Portugal. We even elaborated our vocabulary with a new Spanish word, "Calienta Pollas" which is not really appropriate for some of you but it basically talks baout a girl who comes to flirt with you and then leaves you high and dry. Who would've thunk in France we could improve our Spanish vocabulary?
Day number 3:
After a long nights sleep we got up for our morning cup of coffee and figured we would give Nice another try and headed for the train station to buy our tickets. Well did you know that ATM cards here must have a chip in them to finction? Well I certainly didnt and Lawler and I spend a good twnety minutes trying to buy tickets to Nice when the card didnt work. Of course our luck ran out when we missed the train to Nice and then it was going to be outrageously expensive. So she and I headed back out to meet Jean Marie for another trip to teh island to check out hte other side. But the cool thing was that this day the weather was great, but they had roped off the upstairs seating due to rough water. Well being our new best friend, what did Jean Marie do for us, he brought us up to the capitans deck again adn this time we got to sit outside but had to hide from the other passengers. We were living on the edge!!
This trip we headed for the castle. Well I felt like Brave Irene trying to walk against the winds on teh mountain. When we got to the castle we encountered a real moat and drawbridge so we climbed up the wall and walked around the castel for a better view. Lawler was the brave one who tried to jump over a missing part of the wall. I chose the easier route and walked around the wall again, but it was exhilierating to say the least. From there we continued onour way and came upon what we have decided was a WWII encampment. It had bunkers and barracks, I even bit the bullet and climbed into one for a photo op. It was totally awesome but a bit spooky too.
We had a difficult time walking back through the wind but stayed close to teh side of the walls for protection. After teh boat it was off to Aix en Provence a little village about forty minutes from Marseille and only cost 5 Euros. It was fantastic.
In Aix, as they call it for short they were hosting another wonderful Christmas Market with lgihts and quiosks. This one was much bigger than the one in Marseille. There were handcraftted childrens toys, carollers, candies and much more. We tooled around the stalls for a while and got a bite to eat at yes, another Irish Pub... do you see a theme here....
When we got back to Marseilles we HAD to make one last stop at our favorite watering hole. We were enjoying our Bulmers cider, when who walks in but Georges.... and Mr. B who we had met the other night at O' Malleys. What a small world!! We had a great time and even met a nice British girl who joined us for a pint too. It was soo much like a movie to me to meet all these nice people in aforeign country. I dont know what's come over me!!!
The FINAL day:
Well we said that we couldnt leave Marseille without stopping at our favorite restaurant one last time for a traditional French croissant. We had planned to meet Becky there that morning to say good bye and wish her safe travels, but as we walked in sadly she wasnt there. So we go to grad a table and see some strange man fold over his newspaper, and guess who it was.... GEORGES!! We could not belive that he remembered we were going for bfast. IT was such a treat. We said our goodbyes and took photos for our albums and headed back for our luggage before the flight.
Well to get to the airport you ahve to take a shuttle bus. Now over the course of hte weekend Lawler kept saying oh our flights not until 2 so we can take our time and at least we'll get home in time to do laundry and get ready for school. So we are on the bus adn I am beginning to doze off as I am known to do, when I here, Uh guys we just missed our flight!
Our flight was NOT at 2 but at 11:45! So.... we take a deep breath and remain calm until we get to the airport. And of course the best news of the day is that there is only one flight to Madrid on Ryan Air daily which we were not on because, "The plane left without us" says Brennan.
Rethinking our options we decide to check out other flights from Marseille to Madird but they came up too expensive and we really really wanted to get home on Sunday.
So.... what would any rationale person do.... RENT a car!!!
Lawler was the bright one with that idea and shuffled off to Hertz to check the rates. Well to drive from Marseilles to Madrid we were told was about 1,ooo KM and we could do it in jsut over 8 hours. Lawler was up for the challege as she is the only one who can drive a stick so we piled into the Peougot and headed off.
We only got lost twice and as Brennan said over and over, "Its like Kidnergarten, it always easier the second time around". Which proved true.
As we continued on our adventure Lawler pipes up with the profound comment, "If Napolean could go over the Pyranees on foot, well i sure as heck can do it in a car!" And we did.
The long of the short of it.... 14 HOURS later, and 1,500 KM we finally arrived in Madrid. Oh and did we ahve a map?? NO... we are rock stars or as the Meghans now call themselves, TEAM AWESOME!!
THe funny thing is that when we entered the airport Brennan turns to me and asks, Hey Em were going to Portugal on Friday, Wanna come?? What do you think my answer will be....
Photos to come shortly... Have fun and Viva le France!
SO you ask yourself, How did this trip come about? I don't even think I know what came over me, but my friend Meghan aka Brennan called me up on a whim and invited me to Marseilles France for the long weekend we have in Madrid. I agreed upon it, I'm not sure at this point if I should have, but hey lets say for the sake of arguement, that I did.
Well I had to call the airline company Wednesday morning to change the names on the tickets, because there was a mixup and Lawler, the other Megan, goofed. That in and of itself was nerveracking beacause I was left to deal with Ryan Air to get it taken care of. And I did.
I met Lawler and Brennan at the Barajas airport for a short, 2 Hour plane ride and we arrived in France, calmly and without problems, yet....
The coolest part was, Did we have a map? No, did we know anything about Marseilles, nope, but we went with it and it was AWESOME...
We arrived on Wednesday afternoon/evening to see the main street lit up with lovely Christmas lights, and wait for it.... A Christmas Market!!! Hooray!!! The Meghans jumped for joy to see and SMELL the portside harbour. You know me, no big whoops on my behalf. But then again it was nice to see water again, and the salty, freezing, kind that you shall uncover over the course of the longest blog entry known to man!
The first stop was our luxioury 2 Star Hotel, which Brennan has upgraded to a Five star, Hotel Europe. Now an inside look into who Lawler is... she lives in style and likes to have a nice warm, quite room to sleep in after a long, long day of treasure hunting. The hotel was wonderful. As soon as we entered the building, after figuring out how to open the locked door, we were greeted by Stephan, a tall nerdy frenchman. He was very nice and helpful, including when Brennan shouted with delight, OMG Is that a real dryer I smell?? We spaniards don't have the awesomeness that is heat to dry your clozes (as Stephan pronounced it). The room was big but with your typical paper thin walls and a showerhead that trickled like a dryed up brook. There was no contest who I got to spend my three nights with in that room, each even playing a friendly game of turtle. Oh and it was not friendly at all, the French know how to upset some people and not by the name... But I recovered quickly until te following night with Brennan, no hard feelings, eh?
Once we checked in and got settled we were famished with hunger and chose to go for a jont around town. We we came upon a humble little abode called, Le Suffren and I think we would all say we definately suffered through that meal. Thankfully Brennan knows, un pur of French and man are we greatful. Except the French apparently don't care if we are Americans and when asked if the waitor speaks English, in French and scoffs Brennan off and says you must speak to me in French. We thought it was quite rude especially because as Lawler and I ordered, in English he had no problem. Huh... The food was half way decent but the crappy waitstaff outweighed the food. From there we headed out for a walk around the town. We headed immediately for the Christmas Market with all the quiosks filled with French cookies, jewlery, crepes, mulled wine, teas and such. It even had a Merry Go Round!! We resisted the temptation to hop on for a ride since we had just eaten adn figured we'd save it for another day. From the market we walked along the water front which we can only imagine must be overrun with people and boats in the Summer. In December though not as much, I don't see why....
Over the course of our walk we stumbled upon this huge Fort the overlooked the port (Vieux Port is the name of the area we were in). The Meghans grabbed me by the arm and yanked me up on the top of the wall overlooking the water for a nice view and time to relax. Altough I fumbled through it, it was all worth it. We were checking out where we would head out the following day. Thankfully like most citites in Europe there was a cheap Bus tour that takes you around the town.
Day Number 1:
Once on the bus we met a cute French boy who was all about foreign girls and he came to check on us frequently, we agree that he had a thing for Brennan, and she milked it for all it was worth. After the bus tour Brennan decided to go back and "get some work done for school" plus she was really tired from a long week of hosting guests. So Lawler and I headed off to explore the city. We walked around to this huge, elaborate Church in the middle of the city, which was being restored or something and we were not allowed inside but it has the typical old town charm that many Eruopean buildings and churches have. From there we headed to this park that looked quite big on the map, but the cartogrophers took some liberties with the representation. There was a large fountain in the middle, but you could tell that it has been some time without use. The group of us had decided early on in the trip that we would attempt to take a day trip to Tolousse, which had been recommended to us by another girl in the program. Well we quickly found out that Tolousse is not as close to Marseilles as we thought. So we then decided that we would try Nice for a day, but later also found out that the train would be too expensive.
To finish out the day Lawler and I hopped back on the bus tour and headed to the big Chapel and statue that is situated at teh highest point in Marseille. It was really beautiful, except for the gale force winds that we encountered. While we were there we met these two French men that we had seen before at a coffee shop. We all share our love for coffee and averaged three cups a day, but we still think Spanish coffee is better. Anyway, the two guys told us about a short boat trip to some neighboring islands where you could disembarque and explore the island. Lawler and I thought it was a great idea and planned that the following day we would be "pirates" and explore the islands as a group. Well these two french guys heard that we were American and invited us to dinner. We were a bit sketched out but agreed that we would meet them later at the, "Quality Burger" Restaurant located near our hotel. Well on the walk down we realized that this was not the best idea we had and decided that we would grab Brennan when the time came and made a run for it. Yes I realize that this is not the nicest thing to do, but hey we are three nice American girls and didnt want anything funny business.
We grabbed Brennan and headed off for the near Irish Pub, called O'Malley which I think its safe to say that we are now part of their regular crowd as we spent each night there having grand ol time. O'Malleys was a great pub and we even got to hear some authentic Irish music, but oh wait... they sang it in French.... Lawler is a big fan of the jig and Irish music so we got the real thing thanks to her. While we were having some drinks we met a nice guy, Georges, who immediately came over to us to chat. The kind waitress tried to give us a warning signal and not waste our time but we let him come over anyway. Well Georges is now a great friend and we actually saw him a few more times over the course of the weekend. After a fantastic tutorial on the Irish Jig from Brennan we stumbled home, with Lawler's sore back because she tried to do a back handspring but landed on ehr tummy. The poor girl, but she laughed it off and we made it home fine.
Day number two:
The boat tour that was recommeded to us was a short twenty minute ride to the island of Frivole. We immediately ran for the upper deck to get a great spot. Well did I mention that it had been raining all morning so it was jsut us on the boat. We met our new best friend, Jean Marie, aka Gus from Cinderella who kept us intriguied with conversation on the trip. Brennan speaks a bit of french from highschool and we depended on her to keep conversation rolling. Well Brennan took a break from translating and decided it was a good idea to feel the sea breeze on the other side of the boat. What she didnt expect was to get soaked with the crashing waves becuase the water was choppy. We laughed with her as we approached the island. Now again the weather was not great, per the gale force winds again that were hitting the city, but we didnt let that stop us. Now over the short time we were in Marseille at that point Brennan had been commenting that she must go swimming because heck when you see the Mediterreanean you gotta take a swim. Well she wasnt fooling around.
After a jont around the island we all decided it was about time to test the waters. Oh and it was Freezing!! We all put our feet in for a photo op beause when will we ever be in the French Riviera and be in the Mediteranean again.
As Brennan's mom, Mary J. would say to Brennan as a child, don't be a dog and go jumping in without thinking first. Well Brennan gave herself the speech, but still ended up being the dog and went head first into the Mediteranean with her clozes on!! It was absolutely ludicrous!! We were prepared and gave her some warm clothes. But she kept saying that her mom says alls you need is a hat to cover your head, but we didnt want to risk it. When everyone was warm agian we continued on our adverture and found a great Spideman shot. There were these two rocks that intersected with a cool opening in the middle. SO we figured it was a good idea to get some pics of us in the hole. It was soooo scary but hella cool.
BTW: Expect Lawlers pics to come shortly. Mine are not as good as hers and she was the designated photogropher for the weekend. She got some amazing shots.
When we realized that the boat was going to leave shortly we hightailed it back only to see Jean Marie again who then invited/just brought us up to the Capitans booth for the trip home. Now we are still unsure if he even asked the capitan if it was allowed but no one said anything and we got the capitans view of Viex Port in style.
Next we headed out for a bite to eat and again stumbled upon a great little dinner spot called, Pain and Coe. It was great the prices were reasonable and we each got a huge salad. It was delectable. We then returned there for one meal a day for the rest of the week. THe waitor was great and of course spoke a little English which was a god send becuase poor Brennan was exhausted from all the translating.
After dinner we stopped by O'Malley agian for a drink. While we were chillin out we met more English speakers two guys were from Spain too here on holiday and one from Portugal. We even elaborated our vocabulary with a new Spanish word, "Calienta Pollas" which is not really appropriate for some of you but it basically talks baout a girl who comes to flirt with you and then leaves you high and dry. Who would've thunk in France we could improve our Spanish vocabulary?
Day number 3:
After a long nights sleep we got up for our morning cup of coffee and figured we would give Nice another try and headed for the train station to buy our tickets. Well did you know that ATM cards here must have a chip in them to finction? Well I certainly didnt and Lawler and I spend a good twnety minutes trying to buy tickets to Nice when the card didnt work. Of course our luck ran out when we missed the train to Nice and then it was going to be outrageously expensive. So she and I headed back out to meet Jean Marie for another trip to teh island to check out hte other side. But the cool thing was that this day the weather was great, but they had roped off the upstairs seating due to rough water. Well being our new best friend, what did Jean Marie do for us, he brought us up to the capitans deck again adn this time we got to sit outside but had to hide from the other passengers. We were living on the edge!!
This trip we headed for the castle. Well I felt like Brave Irene trying to walk against the winds on teh mountain. When we got to the castle we encountered a real moat and drawbridge so we climbed up the wall and walked around the castel for a better view. Lawler was the brave one who tried to jump over a missing part of the wall. I chose the easier route and walked around the wall again, but it was exhilierating to say the least. From there we continued onour way and came upon what we have decided was a WWII encampment. It had bunkers and barracks, I even bit the bullet and climbed into one for a photo op. It was totally awesome but a bit spooky too.
We had a difficult time walking back through the wind but stayed close to teh side of the walls for protection. After teh boat it was off to Aix en Provence a little village about forty minutes from Marseille and only cost 5 Euros. It was fantastic.
In Aix, as they call it for short they were hosting another wonderful Christmas Market with lgihts and quiosks. This one was much bigger than the one in Marseille. There were handcraftted childrens toys, carollers, candies and much more. We tooled around the stalls for a while and got a bite to eat at yes, another Irish Pub... do you see a theme here....
When we got back to Marseilles we HAD to make one last stop at our favorite watering hole. We were enjoying our Bulmers cider, when who walks in but Georges.... and Mr. B who we had met the other night at O' Malleys. What a small world!! We had a great time and even met a nice British girl who joined us for a pint too. It was soo much like a movie to me to meet all these nice people in aforeign country. I dont know what's come over me!!!
The FINAL day:
Well we said that we couldnt leave Marseille without stopping at our favorite restaurant one last time for a traditional French croissant. We had planned to meet Becky there that morning to say good bye and wish her safe travels, but as we walked in sadly she wasnt there. So we go to grad a table and see some strange man fold over his newspaper, and guess who it was.... GEORGES!! We could not belive that he remembered we were going for bfast. IT was such a treat. We said our goodbyes and took photos for our albums and headed back for our luggage before the flight.
Well to get to the airport you ahve to take a shuttle bus. Now over the course of hte weekend Lawler kept saying oh our flights not until 2 so we can take our time and at least we'll get home in time to do laundry and get ready for school. So we are on the bus adn I am beginning to doze off as I am known to do, when I here, Uh guys we just missed our flight!
Our flight was NOT at 2 but at 11:45! So.... we take a deep breath and remain calm until we get to the airport. And of course the best news of the day is that there is only one flight to Madrid on Ryan Air daily which we were not on because, "The plane left without us" says Brennan.
Rethinking our options we decide to check out other flights from Marseille to Madird but they came up too expensive and we really really wanted to get home on Sunday.
So.... what would any rationale person do.... RENT a car!!!
Lawler was the bright one with that idea and shuffled off to Hertz to check the rates. Well to drive from Marseilles to Madrid we were told was about 1,ooo KM and we could do it in jsut over 8 hours. Lawler was up for the challege as she is the only one who can drive a stick so we piled into the Peougot and headed off.
We only got lost twice and as Brennan said over and over, "Its like Kidnergarten, it always easier the second time around". Which proved true.
As we continued on our adventure Lawler pipes up with the profound comment, "If Napolean could go over the Pyranees on foot, well i sure as heck can do it in a car!" And we did.
The long of the short of it.... 14 HOURS later, and 1,500 KM we finally arrived in Madrid. Oh and did we ahve a map?? NO... we are rock stars or as the Meghans now call themselves, TEAM AWESOME!!
THe funny thing is that when we entered the airport Brennan turns to me and asks, Hey Em were going to Portugal on Friday, Wanna come?? What do you think my answer will be....
Photos to come shortly... Have fun and Viva le France!
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Three Wild and Crazy Gals!
So you will never beleive what I am doing over the weekend!
I have been invited to take a trip to Marsielle, France with my friends Megan and Meghan. I received a phone call this morning for Meghan Brennan, who unfortunately just broke up with her boyfriend, and now had a space open in their trip for another person. Of course I feel really bad about her breakup, and its been hard on her, I can only imagine. Well I accepted the invitation and had to make some changes to my school schedule for tomorrow, but I am all ready to go.
The ONLY problem is that I have to go to the airport tomorrow morning at 8am to change the name on the tickets. I am nervous that they won't let me change the names because I was not the person who made the flight arrangements, but I'll give it a try.
Wish me luck!
I will give folks a call on Sunday when I get back. If you wanna chat send me an email and I'll get back to you when I get back. See ya....
I have been invited to take a trip to Marsielle, France with my friends Megan and Meghan. I received a phone call this morning for Meghan Brennan, who unfortunately just broke up with her boyfriend, and now had a space open in their trip for another person. Of course I feel really bad about her breakup, and its been hard on her, I can only imagine. Well I accepted the invitation and had to make some changes to my school schedule for tomorrow, but I am all ready to go.
The ONLY problem is that I have to go to the airport tomorrow morning at 8am to change the name on the tickets. I am nervous that they won't let me change the names because I was not the person who made the flight arrangements, but I'll give it a try.
Wish me luck!
I will give folks a call on Sunday when I get back. If you wanna chat send me an email and I'll get back to you when I get back. See ya....
Monday, December 3, 2007
A chill weekend
Hey peeps!
Wanted to give you a glimpse into my relaxing weekend, again. Well last week was a great week. I had a blast with the third graders who are working on their acting skills, by portraying different emotions. They were hilarious, although I had to ban the "happy" emotion from the group because every other one was happy. It was really fun. And you all know what a talented actress I am!
For the weekend I hadn't planned anything special. So we had the group over for a fun night inside. The weather is getting cooler each passing day. However, I have nothing to complain about since I hear its getting into the low thirties in Boston. I finally met the "famous David" another VIPS character who is a total hoot. We first had drinks at this little bar downtown which was nice. I chose to play it safe and just have a non alcoholic Pina Colada. Court I know you had a wonderful time in Cabo with the alcoholic kind, but not for me chica. From there we decided to come back to our house and safe some money on a dinner out. Well we had to go the OpenCor, which is like a big Tiger mart that sells overpriced goodies because they are open til 2in the morning 365 days a year. Before we could go in we must have driven around in circles for twenty minutes waiting for a parking spot. Miraculously a car finally pulled out, and guess where? Right in front of the shop, What luck!
After we got provisions we strolled home to get ready for the movie, Lucky Number Slevin. And I must say don't waste your time on it for a second. While we were watching it Carlos, who talked us into the movie in the first place had to explain the plot like three times. David was super funny because at one point Carlos received a phone call from his mom, complaining that he had forgotten to feed the dog, and David rushed to the machine to tell us to turn off the movie. Somehow something about the situation reminded me of someone I know....
Anyway after the dullest two hours of my life, we had a great discussion about what people think is attractive. Our debate became if people go first for the physical appearance of someone or their attitude. Well Montse brought up that you have to go for looks first, because that is what calls your attention to the person in the first place. Then someone brought up whether its true in the states if when people first meet one another then you plan a date for a time and place to have your first date. I realize this may sound weird but they honestly thought it was strange that we choose a place and time for a date. Apparently here they figure the first time you meet the person a first date. Weird huh? Of course I was not able to put my two cents in since I haven't had one yet, but got a kick out of the question. And then ironically what movie was on this Sunday?? 50 First Dates! HAHAHAHA.
Somewhere in the conversation/debate I jumped in a said my peace. But wow did I get put on the spot. When I began to talk, Gina practically feel off the couch to make everyone else SHH so I could talk. It was really strange but funny. Like a miracle happened or something. I told them the trick is to get a charged conversation on and at some point I would jump in. The hard part about the group is that its hard to find a place to jump in. Between Gina who reminds me of Laura Sutherland and her cackling and a chatterbox as that and Carlos who just says silly stuff. Have I told you that they have actually had a conversation about what a fish thinks while its inside its tank. I cant believe it either.
So class in back in session today, but boy oh boy did I get a surprise! Upon entering the second grade today, I opened the door to find another teacher in the room. It official that Gloria the teacher has officially left for Maternity leave. I am quite sad that she won't be here for the rest of the year. Additionally the teacher that's replaced her looks like he just got out of school. Not to mention he was wearing a TOOL shirt and faded blue jeans. The kids seem to like him and spent each afternoon with him last week. I could tell he was a bit overwhelmed. Plus the kids were off the wall because Gloria was gone. I felt bad for him because the students were unusually loud and nor he or I could get a full hold on the class. I hope tomorrow is better. But I miss Gloria! But I have plenty of other teachers to help me, which I am fortunate for.
Well wish me luck this week as I finish my seminar class on Wednesday and then have the rest of the week off for the "puente". But I plan to spend most of my time creating my unit for next term when Kellie Jones, from Simmons comes to join us in February. We'll see if I actually get it done.
Have a great week and let me know what kind of trinkets people want from Spain. I plan to go to the Flea Market on Sunday. Get your bids in now!
Give me a buzz over the weekend anytime, since I've got plenty of it!
Ciao!
Wanted to give you a glimpse into my relaxing weekend, again. Well last week was a great week. I had a blast with the third graders who are working on their acting skills, by portraying different emotions. They were hilarious, although I had to ban the "happy" emotion from the group because every other one was happy. It was really fun. And you all know what a talented actress I am!
For the weekend I hadn't planned anything special. So we had the group over for a fun night inside. The weather is getting cooler each passing day. However, I have nothing to complain about since I hear its getting into the low thirties in Boston. I finally met the "famous David" another VIPS character who is a total hoot. We first had drinks at this little bar downtown which was nice. I chose to play it safe and just have a non alcoholic Pina Colada. Court I know you had a wonderful time in Cabo with the alcoholic kind, but not for me chica. From there we decided to come back to our house and safe some money on a dinner out. Well we had to go the OpenCor, which is like a big Tiger mart that sells overpriced goodies because they are open til 2in the morning 365 days a year. Before we could go in we must have driven around in circles for twenty minutes waiting for a parking spot. Miraculously a car finally pulled out, and guess where? Right in front of the shop, What luck!
After we got provisions we strolled home to get ready for the movie, Lucky Number Slevin. And I must say don't waste your time on it for a second. While we were watching it Carlos, who talked us into the movie in the first place had to explain the plot like three times. David was super funny because at one point Carlos received a phone call from his mom, complaining that he had forgotten to feed the dog, and David rushed to the machine to tell us to turn off the movie. Somehow something about the situation reminded me of someone I know....
Anyway after the dullest two hours of my life, we had a great discussion about what people think is attractive. Our debate became if people go first for the physical appearance of someone or their attitude. Well Montse brought up that you have to go for looks first, because that is what calls your attention to the person in the first place. Then someone brought up whether its true in the states if when people first meet one another then you plan a date for a time and place to have your first date. I realize this may sound weird but they honestly thought it was strange that we choose a place and time for a date. Apparently here they figure the first time you meet the person a first date. Weird huh? Of course I was not able to put my two cents in since I haven't had one yet, but got a kick out of the question. And then ironically what movie was on this Sunday?? 50 First Dates! HAHAHAHA.
Somewhere in the conversation/debate I jumped in a said my peace. But wow did I get put on the spot. When I began to talk, Gina practically feel off the couch to make everyone else SHH so I could talk. It was really strange but funny. Like a miracle happened or something. I told them the trick is to get a charged conversation on and at some point I would jump in. The hard part about the group is that its hard to find a place to jump in. Between Gina who reminds me of Laura Sutherland and her cackling and a chatterbox as that and Carlos who just says silly stuff. Have I told you that they have actually had a conversation about what a fish thinks while its inside its tank. I cant believe it either.
So class in back in session today, but boy oh boy did I get a surprise! Upon entering the second grade today, I opened the door to find another teacher in the room. It official that Gloria the teacher has officially left for Maternity leave. I am quite sad that she won't be here for the rest of the year. Additionally the teacher that's replaced her looks like he just got out of school. Not to mention he was wearing a TOOL shirt and faded blue jeans. The kids seem to like him and spent each afternoon with him last week. I could tell he was a bit overwhelmed. Plus the kids were off the wall because Gloria was gone. I felt bad for him because the students were unusually loud and nor he or I could get a full hold on the class. I hope tomorrow is better. But I miss Gloria! But I have plenty of other teachers to help me, which I am fortunate for.
Well wish me luck this week as I finish my seminar class on Wednesday and then have the rest of the week off for the "puente". But I plan to spend most of my time creating my unit for next term when Kellie Jones, from Simmons comes to join us in February. We'll see if I actually get it done.
Have a great week and let me know what kind of trinkets people want from Spain. I plan to go to the Flea Market on Sunday. Get your bids in now!
Give me a buzz over the weekend anytime, since I've got plenty of it!
Ciao!
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