Adventures on Vacation

Leftover Lingering Impressions

2006-10-12T19:19:00.000-07:00

I just got off the phone with my good friend Jeannette, and I realized I didn't say this in the blog, so I'm saying it now.

I'm experiencing some interesting after-effects of this trip.

Together with a new-found confidence, from knowing I can navigate around and have fun doing it (even when things don't look the way I want them to), I also have a new body confidence.

In France, women walk with confidence, and their beauty comes from that. Also, they don't use a lot of makeup or whatever, they just *are* beautiful. It's a way of being. I have adopted that for myself, not sure if it's intentional, but so it is. I now live in a world where I am beautiful. Not perfect, not slim (yet), but I'm great, just the way I am. The voices in my head that constantly tell me how not-enough I am, these voices have dissipated greatly, much like when you take the lid off a pot of boiling pasta.

In Germany, I felt at home (Provence too). It's a feeling at home that transcends language. The people there, I fit in with them, I felt like I belonged there, like I come from there (there's a bunch of German in my bloodlines). I felt like the swan who, after living with ducks and other animals, finally comes to live in the land of swans and sees himself as one. I am stocky, made of good beer wench stock, and I no longer apologize for who I am or who I am not.

I also have a lot less patience for people's bullshit.

Also, my senses came alive while traveling. I haven't done much with photography in recent years, but on this trip I was inspired. Now, I see beauty everywhere I go, even along the streets I drive every day, I'm noticing newly. Along with that, my appreciation and love for the sensuality of life has blossomed.

Jazz suddenly sounds better, sounds in general are more pleasing. The way my body feels, I'm more aware of how everything feels. I realize that a large factor in my overweightness is being cut off from being aware of how my body feels and what it needs. I move to nurture myself, to give my body what it needs ---instead of needing to fix, the torture cycle of no pain no gain where I go do my time at the gym as if it's a prison and then I beat myself up for not enjoying it. Life's too short. I'm more aware of finding things that I enjoy doing, and enjoy doing them. Such as, I want to learn German, so I found a class that I'll take for that. I want to dance more, so I'm looking at possibilities for that. And so on. I'm reading the book "French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret for Eating for Pleasure." I feel like someone finally gets it...this is why I hate diets.

Food is more enjoyable, and I take more care in eating, and I notice that I enjoy better food better. Junk food is unsatisfying, or what satisfaction it provides is fleeting. Flavorful, healthy food is simply more enjoyable and more satisfying. Or the really good croissant is more satisfying than a bag of chips, etc.

I know now that I can do what I want to do..if I can get myself to France, I can do anything I set my heart and mind to.

Lessee, confidence, a new appreciation and enjoyment of beauty, an awakened sense of sensuality and joy of all senses. Yup..that's pretty much it. I've got to take long trips more often.

And one of the sweetest things is being able to share this with the people in my life - I'm finding out new things after I talk to each person. The sweetness of living is sharing it with others :-) That's one of the best things about coming home.

Sionara, Arrivederci, A bientot, Auf Wiedersehen, until later....

Final Thoughts and Photos

2006-10-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

I've finished uploading my photos. I've organized them by city. If you don't want to look at all of them, look at my "Favorites" album instead.

Some final notes, upon returning to the states:

I love Europe. I miss it already.
Grocery stores here are weird and synthetic, in comparison.
I already picked up a book to learn German. That, in addition to my language software.
I want to return to Munich, Provence, and Salzburg, in addition to the other places too. Those three are my favorites.
My Neuschwannstein tour was fun, I forgot to take a picture of my tour guide. He's got a cool website: http://www.munichclark.com/
It's been tough returning to work and the politics etc there. I still have to do my laundry, and I still have lots of Burning Man supplies to clean up in my garage.
I can't wait to travel again. I love being able to see new things. Next time, I'll be sure to set up some connection points, people in cities I know I can visit with.
Digital cameras rock.
I've noticed that there are many people with opinions, some of them think of themselves as authorities on Europe, and they don't hesitate to tell me how it is over there, just after I've returned from there myself. I don't pretend to know it all about Europe, I just know what my experience was.
There's something to be said for taking on a dream and making it happen. Even if it doesn't turn out quite the way you wanted it to, it still is entirely worth it. I had a lot of fun, and knowing I can travel solo and visit countries where I can't speak English is a great bit of confidence I can now walk around with.
I learned from French women how to dress and be noticed and be okay with it. I look forward to learning the German language, and studying where to go next.
Now I know why, when people return from Europe, they become food snobs. Now, I'm into finding really good ingredients. I haven't yet found French butter, but I found some from Devon that is quite good. And I'm trying to find the Nyon olives like we had that one day. I've found some, but they're not the same.
So far, I've had lots of Mexican food. I think tonight I'll go for some Japanese food. I missed those on vacation. I think I became addicted to pastries. The German ones were my favorites.
It's Sunday, the jet lag is somewhat abated, although my sleep patterns are still annoyingly erratic. My sinuses think they're still in Europe, I think.
I finally figured out how to configure the blog so anyone can leave comments. Feel free to come and say hi, I love hearing from folks.

PHOTOS:
For a quick look, view my Favorite shots:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=leq600x.96i9d4ul&Uy=-j8lydt&Ux=0

Here are the photos, organized by area:

Paris:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=leq600x.7qoegwwt&Uy=4dzbco&Ux=0

Provence:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=leq600x.2ovf4yl9&Uy=-dwjqk2&Ux=0

Cannes, Nice, and Monaco:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=leq600x.a9r9crz1&Uy=-mg612q&Ux=0

Furth and Nuremburg:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=leq600x.cf3ucv4d&Uy=y8xrl8&Ux=0

Austria:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=leq600x.ampvb2kt&Uy=-46lr0n&Ux=0

Munich:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=leq600x.3byqxq25&Uy=7o6w4&Ux=0

Beeeeeeeeeer makes everything better...that, and pizza

2006-09-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

Oof. It was really hot out at Oktoberfest today. I got back to my hotel room, took a bath, and tried napping. Unsuccessfully. I am on the ground floor, and outside is a seating area, and all afternoon a bunch of Germans were laughing and talking. I think I got dehydrated, cuz I was feeling kinda ill for awhile, but then remembered Burning Man and realized it was probably just dehydration. After I drank water, I felt a little better. My clothes are still really damp, oh, and they smell soooooo not good. (febreze to the rescue!)

I found a supermarket just up the street, and got more snacks, because tomorrow is sunday and probably everything is closed. Then I found a little italian place and managed to find one guy there who spoke a little english. Easy on the eyes, he was, and very nice. Best margerhita pizza I have ever had. The beer helped too. (a margherita pizza is just cheese). I realize that most of german food is not my favorite. Once in awhile in the winter, it is tasty. The german pastries (I want to call them Danishes, but that seems weird) are really good. Not too sweet, just right. French pastries are very sweet and decadent.

Remember the scene in the Horse Whisperer, near the end, where Robert Redford ties one of the horse's legs back, so it can only walk on three legs? That's kinda what it feels like out here. A command of the English language is my strong suit, and not being able to talk to people is crippling. But, it's also an interesting adventure, and gives me new inspiration to learn other languages.

While I was eating my delicious pizza, MTV was on, and I couldn't help but laugh when a video by David Hasselhoff came on. Mr Knight Rider and Baywatch was singing, something about looking for freedom. And that was pretty much the entire content of the lyrics. The sight of him singing, was, well, priceless. I had previously heard that he was big in Germany. I do not understand why. This, from the country where I can see naked women on tv (more about that in a minute), where ...well darn, I'm forgetting what else I can give as defense for Mr Knight Rider. I just had hoped the Germans would have better taste. But who knows, there's a bunch of crap on the radio back home, for sure.

Beer and pizza. Perfect combination wherever you go. I felt a lot better after dinner.

I keep forgetting to mention that the richest guy in Austria is the head dude at Red Bull. No kidding, I had no idea that Red Bull is Austrian.

When I was lying down, watching tv in my hotel room, debating on whether to go out, it was the Dukes of Hazzard in German that did it. That was too much for me, I had to get out. I also saw that they had the dude with the afro teaching painting. So, even the Germans have bad tv.

Oh yeah, back to the naked women, for my manly friends. There was this interview of two naked women who go to a nude beach, you could see them running into the water, playing volleyball. I think it's a Brazilian wax they had, I think that's what it's called. I was amazed that I could see this on regular tv. We Americans are prudes when it comes to sex, compared to the Europeans.

Tomorrow I will see that big castle built by king ludwig, who sparked this whole oktoberfest thing. I am looking forward to being home, seeing my friends again, and studying German and improving my French.

Part of me thinks I should be out partying with all those germans and italians, but most of me says I don't feel safe doing so. If I were with a group of friends, maybe. Being around a bunch of groups of drunk men is not my idea of a good time. One man, maybe. ;-) depending on circumstances.

I finished my book. It was really good. It is nice to finally have time to read. I didn't realize how busy busy busy I am at home. I don't have much time to get bored at all, there are always a bunch of things to do. I miss being able to have my own computer, my cell phone, my car, my books, my yard, my house, my friends, etc.

My mini bar in my hotel has reasonable prices for drinks, just a few euros each. How nice for a change. I would have stayed longer in Munich, 2 days isn't much, but this was the only place that was available, three months ago when I made the reservations. And 190 euros a night is pretty steep. This is also why I am not going out to fancy restaurants. Not to mention, I am tired of eating out. I want to eat at home, and not have to wait forever for the bill.

okay, I have to get up early in order to get ready, have breakfast, and walk to the Hautbanhoff (train station) to catch the tour. The tour lasts about 9 hours, so I will see plenty of the countryside.

tomorrow is Sunday, I leave Monday. I have to get to the airport by 9:30am. I am trying not to think about how much fun it will be sitting on a plane for 18 hours.

oktoberfest

2006-09-30T05:38:00.000-07:00

beer beer beer sunshine people beer beer sunshine people people people people people people people beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer people sunshine people people people beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer sunshine beer beer beer sunshine beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer people beer beer beer people people beer people people beer beer beer people people people people people beer beer beer people sunshine people beer beer beer beer beer beer beer sunshine beer beer beer beer beer beer people people people beer beer beer beer people people beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer people people people people sunshine beer beer beer beer people people people beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer people people people people beer beer beer people sunshine people people beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer beer
sunshine

you get the picture.

hot day here in München, it is Saturday. The hotel concierge told me they don't let people into the beer tents after 1 or 2, so I got over there quickly.

lots of lots of people. drunk people. drunk germans, drunk italians. some people bring their children. many men wear leather lederhosen, and women wear those german dress things -- by choice! A lot of them look totally ridiculous, a precious few look good.

I managed to squeeze into a beer-only line, and get a beer. The tall Germans and Italians are a force to be reckoned with. I managed to get a beer-- it must've been a liter. I talked to one german guy, he said he was confused that you could take it away, normally you have to drink it there. I wasn't the only one confused. I ran into some folks from Georgia, they were also having a hard time getting through the line. Finally, I got the beer, then got a hot dog, and sat down. These 3 young kids next to me had driven down from Frankfurt and spent the night in their car. One of them, a young guy, said he's not fond of big festivals with people walking around drunk and all that. He also wants to learn Chinese, he thinks that's the language to learn. He already knows French and English in addition to german. cool kid.

I drank about 3/4 of my beer. Being solo, I have to be able to make it home. It is really quite sunny and beautiful--meaning hot. I still haven't peed yet, so I have to make this one short so I have time to walk back to my hotel. It's like, quite a number of blocks, I can't count that high right now.

Drunk people walking around in the sun at noon. Lots of them. Lots of amusement park rides, lots of kids. I got a banana strawberry smoothie (it was tepid, it wasn't cold, but it tasted good), and I had to drink it there. Germans are really good about recycling, they have 4 different kinds of garbage/recycling here. There was some broken glass on the ground, and this was only at 1pm. I left about 2, after buying some souvenirs.

Walking is difficult. Besides being a little bitty tipsy, the amount of people means you are constantly playing Frogger to get anywhere, which can be intellectually taxing.

Germans have amazing endurance. They can drink beer in the middle of the day, drink lots of it, wear leather lederhosen or multiple layers of fabric in their dresses, be out in the hot sun, and still have a good time. When I arrived in town, there were already groups of men singing in the train station. I decided early on that I would leave before it got dark. Even though there is hardly any crime in Germany and it is very safe to walk around, drunk people are still drunk, and I am travelling solo.

I'm dripping with sweat, it is so hot, and the beer, uh, well, it warms up the soul too. I will see Neuschwannstein, that big castle that Disney copied, tomorrow, it's most of the day. I may walk back to Oktoberfest, or I may walk somewhere else, who knows.

There are some tshirts that say "I survived Oktoberfest". I see what they mean. Very fun, I think it would be way more fun with a small group of folks that included Jeremy and Janna and Brent and Alyssa, even though she's not a big beer fan. No, I did not see any wine at Oktoberfest. Tequila, shnapps, yes. It would be fun to come as a group. You have to get your butt over to the tents early, or somehow magically make a reservation, otherwise it's total chaos to try and get into a place to sit down.

Auf Wiedersehn to Austria

2006-09-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

Today, I walked to the train station, looked at the train times, and decided to go to Vienna. One thing I really like about travelling solo is that I don't have to make plans ahead of time. I can decide on the spot. I love it!

I thought the train was going to be 2.5 hrs to Vienna, I thought I'd have lunch, stroll around some, and come back (I woke up late). The train actually took more like 3.5 or 3.25 hrs. The trains here are soooooo smooth, it's like being cradled like a baby and hushed to sleep. It is so peaceful. And Germans and Austrians, I've noticed, are very quiet. I got to Vienna by 3pm or so. On the way there, I did some great iPod listening and napping. On the way back, I made great headway in the book I'm reading (On Beauty, by Zadie Smith).

I walked into a nearby restaurant that advertised menus in other languages, including English. Picture a dive bar, people smoking and drinking beer in a place about as big as the Starbucks at San Pedro and Santa Clara streets in San Jose. (If you don't know it, just imagine about 300 sq ft). An old lady gives me a menu, she has thick coke bottle glasses and does not speak English. I order a fried fish dish, I am tired of meat and the smell of it.

Now I have learned the European way of eating, which means everyone takes their time. A long time. Normally, on this trip, it's been really neat, as a change of pace. Today, I had an hour or so in Vienna, I wanted to eat and go. No one there seemed to speak English. A couple came in and sat nearby, they spoke Russian--and I only know that because they asked for the "Russe" menu.

I eat my food, which is surprisingly good. The potatoes are sliced as if they were au gratin, but instead they are cooked in a light butter lemon sauce, very tasty. I finish, which for me means that there is still food left on the plates. The old lady shuffles by (she's a slow walker), takes my food, says something like "finito?" and I say yes. She proceeds to give someone else their check, talks to some of the guys in the bar, gets a couple people their drinks, and sits down to eat some soup. Sweet lady, but I miss the American style of waitering. I get up and give her 15€, which is more than enough for the meal. I saw Danke Schun, and leave. I now have about 30 minutes, and I'm mildly pissed off. Next time, I'm learning some of the goddamned language, I hate not being able to talk to people.

I walked up to the next block, and realized I just wanted to go back to the train station. I could tell that Vienna is much bigger than Salzburg, and like most big cities, the heart of it is probably far from the train station--which meant that it was out of my reach.

But train stations here are amazing, they are so much fun to people watch. I saw a couple men in lederhosen, they must have been on their way to working the Oktoberfest or something similar, they were hot. I never, ever, ever thought I would think that a man wearing lederhosen was hot, but..they are.

In Salzburg, there are tons of bicycles. Everyone rides a bike. It's like Burning Man, but without the dust, the nudity, and the weird costumes.

I rode in the 2nd class train on the way to vienna, and rode in the 1st class train on the way back. People commute a long way to work in Vienna, looks like some of them may stay the week in Vienna. There was one businessman who rode the whole way, which I hope is not a daily commute for the guy.

I got back into town about 8:30. I just was not in the mood to sit alone in a restaurant, and I considered dining on the peanuts and crackers I have in my hotel room. I settled on a piece of pizza and a half liter of Steigl, the local beer. Someone told me that german beer doesn't give you as bad as hangovers. I don't know yet about that. Oktoberfest is tomorrow.

I leave Salzburg tomorrow morning. I am hoping to get into a tour of Neuschwannstein, and then just focusing on shopping and drinking afterwards.

I love how time expands while on vacation. An hour of doing whatever I want to do seems so much longer than an hour spent at home. Here, I am not worrying about what I have to do next, all my overflowing to do lists, all the things I'm not doing, etc. With all of that out of my head, time frees up and stretches out like taffy.

Ever seen the movie, Wings of Desire--the original German one? Walking through crowds of people speaking German feels that way, a bit.

Austrians are like Germans, with a little bit of French style added on.

One of the really cool things I am learning is that I can handle what comes. I can navigate the train stations, I can get myself from place to place. It may not be graceful or comfortable at times, but I can do it. And practicing that belief that I can handle anything is the real essential joy of travelling. That, and the people watching.

People smoke more in Germany and Austria than in France, especially in the internet cafes.

Auf Wiedersehn, Austria! I will see you again sometime.

--kimberly

Kimberly von Trapp says... Salzberg Rocks!!

2006-09-28T10:34:00.000-07:00

Aaah... much better. One thing I've learned that works really well when you're travelling solo-- have a hotel that's right in the action. I think that is what was missing in Fürth. Otherwise, I think it's too slow-- we need more action when flying solo. My current hotel is fantastic, totally located in the central part of town. thank goodness to my travel agent, I think I remember her saying it was a good location.

Salzberg totally rocks. I took the cheesy Sound of Music tour this morning. Our guide was Günther, and our driver was Heinz--or was it Hans? Günther first had a couple of the youth-hostelers skipping down the road, just like Maria did in the movie with her guitar and satchel.

He later had us yodeling along with the song on the bus. You just haven't lived until you've sung along to the Sound of Music tunes on a bus in Austria. i haven't laughed that hard in weeks. We also did sing-a-longs to "16 going on 17", Edelweiss, Favorite Things, and a couple of others. No kidding.

Günther used to be a mechanical engineer, and has worked in India, the states, the Himalayas, and Africa. He even speaks Chinese and Korean. Any tour guide that can get complete strangers to skip together and sing together is a master tour guide. He looked like an Austrian version of Paul Newman.

One surprise was that we got to go down this toboggan run. Wayyyyy fun! I didn't use my brakes until the very end, I actually bumped into the couple in front of me. Luckily, they were fine.

There was another solo traveller on the tour, she was originally from Brisbane, Australia, but worked in London. She was on a business trip, and took a day off to see the sights. She is a mystery shopper for Visa. Before that, she was a private investigator.

There was a couple from Florida on the tour too, they were hilarious. It's those little witty jokes that can make a huge difference when travelling. That, and the yodeling.

The weather here is perfect--sunny and warm, but not too much so.

I walked up the gazillion stairs to the 1000 year old fortress today, I got a great view of the city. My legs were shaking when I got back, and my shirt was soaked with sweat. I bought some Febreze today, so that I won't smell too bad on the way home.

I had cheese and herb dumplings for dinner, and a 1/2 liter of beer. verrry good.

Mozart apparently invented chocolate, from the looks of the stores. There is Mozart chocolate everywhere. Last year was the 250 anniversary of something related to Mozart, I think they still are selling the extra supplies.

While walking around in one of the squares today, there was a guy playing a small grand piano (mozart, of course) I could even hear him from the fortress, midway up. It was a really nice sound.

Today I finally got to do something I'd been hoping to do while I was on vacation--absolutely nothing. I did that for 30 minutes, while waiting for the tour to start. I sat on a bench, nowhere to go, nothing to do, but people watch and take pictures when I felt like it. It's the kind of thing I'm always longing to do at home, but I never seem to have the time. It seems so simple, but I have to get out of town in order to be able to do it. I think I looked at my watch every five minutes, and it was the longest 30 minutes I've had in a long time, but it was also the best.

Tomorrow, I'm not sure if I'll take the train to Innsbruck, or see more of Salzberg. I'll figure it out in the morning.

Salzberg tv has a lot of shows on the Oktoberfest. It looks really fun. I'm going to try and go to Neuschwannstein on Saturday, and then the rest is for shopping and drinking.

Auf wiedersehn for now...

Meat, meat, meat....

2006-09-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

These countries eat a lot of meat. Or they serve a lot of meat. I don't know how vegetarians survive around here.

I had Austrian sausage, sauerkraut, and potatoes for dinner. And Salzberg beer, Spiegl? I think it's called. It was a half liter, so...it was good and it made me forget the name.

I signed up for the Sound of Music tour, otherwise known as the Super Silly Tourists Being Tourists tour. Heh heh, it'll be fun.

In the internet cafes and shops, I can hear a lot of american voices. I didn't know this place was so popular.

4 more days. I think I'll go to Innsbruck on Friday. I have a 5 day Eurail Pass (3 countries), and I think Salzberg is pretty but I've also heard Innsbruck is cute too. And they have some museum or something for Swarovski crystal.

Austrian sounds a lot like German, but slightly different. I ate my first dinner alone tonight, the beer is a good companion. Two ladies were sitting behind me, I think they were portugese. Spanish, but different.

I turned on the TV, caught a show about Munich's oktoberfest. In the Munich train station today, I saw some folks walking around in costume. They looked really funny.

Travelling alone is fun, and I can do whatever I want whenever I want however I want. The freedom is nice. The loneliness, however, is a little tough. To compensate, the internet cafe is good, and I take pictures of people.

There was a guy playing the accordion today in the square. His face looked like that was the only job he could do. I dropped some coins in his basket. I couldn't bear to take his picture, and exploit his suffering. The fact that he played music was nice enough. I have seen a few beggars or very poor folk here, which surprises me.

The taxi driver was the nicest I've met so far in Europe. Not only did he talk to me, which is a first, but he spoke great english, and pointed out that my hotel is right downtown, and he told me I can walk across the river and be in the main town center area. Very sweet. It's amazing what a difference a taxi driver makes.

I have 4 days left, after today. The c0untdown is on. How much fun can I have in that period of time? Okay, I have to qualify it - without Jeremy, without Alyssa, without Stacey, without Jeannette, Russ, Denice, and so on and so on and so on.... I'm excited about Oktoberfest. A whole bunch of drunk Germans in silly costumes. Sounds like a good time.

The trains here are soooo smooth and quiet, it's amazing. The countryside around here is really pretty. It being Austria, they have these big things called mountains. I wonder how high you have to be to graduate to Alp status?

Mozart apparently made chocolate here. There are whole stores dedicated to mozart chocolate. I didn't know that he invented chocolate, in addition to composing a bunch of music.

ok, the smoke in here is enough, and the beer is wearing off. auf wiedersehn until tomorrow...

--kimba

Austria!

2006-09-27T07:16:00.000-07:00

I took the train today from Fürth to Nüremberg to München to Salzberg, the first city without umlauts. I love it already! The taxi driver was the nicest so far, he suggested a couple spots to go see. The weather forecast is supposed to be for sunshine 25 degrees tomorrow. Most Austrians speak English. My hotel room is my favorite so far, roomy and nicely decorated. (I have taken pics of all my hotel rooms)

My tour guide in Fürth/Nüremberg was not a local, and he didn't know Nüremberg really at all, I ended up finding our way around better than he did. I did not go see Rothenberg ob der Tauber, I will have to come back and see it. It is supposed to be a cute town. Yesterday was a lazy day. I had a late start, then found my way to the internet cafe in downtown Fürth. I edited Mike's cover letter, he is trying to get a job. His english is okay, he is mostly good spirited. I paid for all our meals etc, which I think started getting on my nerves. But, all in all, it was nice to have someone to show me around, I was really lost, without knowing German. I think the areas that get more tourists are better with the English.

We saw Ich, Du, und der Andres, which is the German dubbed version of You, Me, and Dupree. I got the basic plot (there isn't much there), it was fun. Their movie theaters are really nice. You are assigned a seat (that German orderliness thing, I guess), the seats are coupled, so every other one has an armrest. If you bring in a drink, it's in a glass. And you can bring in beer. But no butter on the popcorn, but you can get salt or sugar. 30 minutes of commercials beforehand! And I saw a Marlboro ad, havenn't seen one of those in a long time.

I'm glad to be in a new city. Salzberg is really pretty. I will probably go on a Sound of Music tour.

Oh, I posted some pictures, on another site. Just a sampling so far:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingReg.jsp?Uc=leq600x.b2fyxwr1&Uy=-poam4b&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=311334013922_292966451405

Navigating the trains today was fun, a little challenging because it's all in German. The trains here are so nice and smooth, I fall asleep instantly.

Salzberg is the town of chocolate, Mozart, Sound of Music, and I forgot that Austria is the home of Riedel wine glasses. Good thing I already have some of those at home, schlepping those on the plane would be a pain.

That's pretty much it so far. I have three nights here, which seems like forever. Time has stretched out to be super long. I feel like I've gone for a really long time. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends again.

Ciao - Au revoir - Auf Wiedersehn - Cheers,

kimba

Achtung Babz

2006-09-26T02:34:00.000-07:00

Today is Tuesday, 26 September.

This is my last full day in Fürth, pronounced FyuurT. Rhymes with yurt.

It´s raining today, which is fine. I´ve been feeling a little tired, and the rain slows everything down.

Today, I am giving up feeling bad or frustrated that I do not speak German. I will enjoy what I can while I am here. I find that my favorite thing is just to watch people, and take pictures. I don't want to do too much shopping here, as I have to schlep my stuff on the train tomorrow. I will be buying beer steins in Müunchen, I know.

My friend Mike directed me to this internet cafe, it is way cheaper than the other ones. This one is about 1 € an hour. Others have been more like 4€, and in the hotel in Provence it was 8€ (but it had an American keyboard)

So far, for dinner I have eaten thai food and Chinese food. It was reallz funny trying to decipher the chinese menu last night. I don´t normallz think of chinese and german going together. The options were not, imho, normal chinese. i think they make it to appeal to the german palate. Not much spice, meat and rice mostly. My new friend and tour Guide Mike does not like German food. I think tonight I am going to eat German food for dinner, even if it means I eat alone. I am helping him practice his English. He wants to get a job in IT in the states, I told him I'd do what I can to help.

I really want to come back here after I have learned German. My hotel is on the outskirts of Fürth, near the sheep-shit smelling fields, and the bus ride in is good. Very nice folk on the bus. Old ladies, young mothers, and others, I haven't found one yet who speaks English. There were two high school boys, they spoke a little. Each day I take the little piece of paper that the lady at the hotel wrote down for me, a really long word that means day ticket or something. I live and die by that little piece of paper, it feels like.

Yesterday I saw the museum just outside of Nürmberg, where Hitler created his base of operations. Very good museum. I didn't know that Hitler was such a popular guy with the ladies, for example. He used architecture, art, myth, eloquent speaking skills, etc to do what he did.

There is no crime, or very very little. I remember from my old friend Monika who is from München, she told me that everyone is very clean and follows the rules, and there is a lot of pressure to adhere to the rules. Lots of stress. It is weird to walk around and not worry about pickpockets etc, especially after all the stories I'd heard about Paris. On the tour, we were always warned about pickpockets.

Jdawg was right, I look like people here, I fit right in. And no, I'm not going to Amsterdam in this trip. Next one, I'd like to see it.

I really like the German folk. They seem kind of exasperated with my ignorance of German, but other than that they are very nice. Or maybe their exasperation doesn't so much relate to me, it's their already-existing stress--these are the bus drivers, the workers in the stores.

The men here are built the way I prefer. I'm noticed here more by the men than the ones at home, I think. That's a nice combination of factors :-)

In travelling, I'm noticing that it has me think about the dust bunnies of the mind and heart--those things I normally push aside and forget about. I am also noticing how I orient to the world, as it's a lot easier to notice that outside of my normal context.

I am very concerned with what people think. I am trying constantly to be kind and polite, and trying to figure out what the rules are. I am trying to win at the game of being in Germany, just as I tried to win at the game of visiting France. I did okay in France, I got some compliments on my French. The French really don't like to speak english. Here, when I find someone who does, they don't seem to mind.

In the back of my mind, I wonder if people are going to be telling me what I should've done instead, if i was stupid and missed the biggest thing there is to see. It's like I think there's a certain way to have a good vacation on one's own. The crazy thing about it is that drive myself nuts thinking this way. It's impossible to live entirely by other people's rules. I can use what manners I have, but it's better that I be with my vacation just as it is. Big expectations are exhausting to carry with me.

People smoke in Germany, more so than in France. On Sunday, when I was walking around in search of food, I came upon a number of automatic machines that sell cigarettes. I haven't seen such things in the states since the 70's or 80's.

There was a shirt in a store that I walked by this morning, it said "Fuck Heidi." I got a good laugh out of that one. I think I know my way around enough to find it again--if the rain subsides, I can take a picture.

I turned on the tv for a bit this morning. Little House on the Prairie works really well in German. Another channel was an animal vet show, and I saw two large German women doing rude things to cows. It took me awhile to figure out it was an animal doctor thing. I was afraid that regular farm folk did that to their animals.

I found four channels showing soccer. CNN here is in German. Some version of CSI works very well in German, I think it might be Miami or Chicago version.

I ate bratwurst and onions yesterday for lunch. With a coke that is orange flavored, it sounds weird but it's really quite good. In the Metgerai (butcher), there were only women. I'm not sure what that says about German culture...

I have not yet had German dessert, I will try that today. Lebkuchen is favored here. I had a pretzel with brie for a snack yesterday, it was the closest thing I could point to in the pretzel stand. I think I can now say 1, 2, and 3 in German.

Because the internet is so cheap here, I will try to upload a couple of photos. I will surely share the photos when I get back in town.

Nice and Cote dÁzur

2006-09-25T01:53:00.000-07:00

Some final thoughts on France...

I prefer Provence. We saw Cannes for an hour or two, and I can see why its sister city is Beverly Hills. Two days in Nice after that. We had a dinner in Monaco, and gambling for 45 mins in Monte Carlo. I can now say that I lost 40 € in Monte Carlo. We did an excursion to St Paul de Vence, a very cute little town up in the mountains. It´s where Chagall is buried. I recognized the sounds of Danish, there was a Danish tour group. I like being able to guess the language.

Nice is very big and tres chere. The beach looks just like it does in the travel agencies. I didn´t go in. There´s one nice long wide street next to the beach, it´s fun to walk down. Other than that, Nice is just okay. Too busy and expensive for my tastes. Plus, both nights I was there there was a music concert right across the street. Bad music still sounds bad from far away, and there´s something even comical about bad French music.

It turned out to be nice to have the companionship of the tour group. It was also nice to have them there as an empowering context, to offset the super-thin, super-prettiness of all the French people.

Two more nights now in Furth/Nurnberg, then 3 nights in Salzberg, and then the final 2 nights in Munchen. By that time I will really want a big beer.

Furth in Germanz

2006-09-25T01:31:00.000-07:00

Holy cow, I´m in Germany. Different keyboard yet again, this one is not as bad. They´ve switched the z and y keys, plus some things with umlauts etc.

I got here yesterday, the cab driver got lost because my printout had only "2" as the street address, and it was really "222". And then the concierge person wasn´t there in person, by telephone only. Lonely, alone, and a little freaked out. I don´t speak any German, all my friends said I´d do fine without knowing any German, everzone speaks English over here. Not so.

I came in Sunday evening. Everything is closed on Sundays. I walked around trying to find somewhere to eat, all two choices were closed. I am on the outskirts of Furth, and the smell of sheep shit is in the air. I am not in the city.

I walked around, and asked for help from one person, she didn´t speak English. She was asking me something, holding a 10 spot, with her dog in tow, I have no idea what she wanted, the context did not help. I asked this other guy, he said he was new here too. I figured I´d go back to the hotel and suck in my pride and ask for help.

I hate being helpless and ignorant, that part of this is not so fun. I leave in a week, and I´m looking forward to coming home. Part of me is embarassed that I am one of those ignorant, rude Americans who thinks the whole world speaks English.

I chatted with an older Swiss gentleman on the plane from Nice to Zurich. He had started his own shipping company, and now he has offices around the world. We talked in English and French, he complimented me on my French. He noticed my watch is Swiss, he asked how much my trip cost, he was impressed when I said my father used to be a professor. He thought he had paid for this trip, and he was surprised that I´d paid for it myself. (I´ll continue paying after I return). All in all a nice man, a little focused on money, but very sweet. As he left the plane, he said ´may all my dreams come true.´ I forget if he said it in English or German.

I already notice I fit in better here, despite my ignorance of the language. Germany, or at least this part, does not hide its fat or ugly people. There are beautiful people too, but these folks are generally more sturdy. The men certainly are --the men in France were pretty and fairly thin, they look more like men here.

The second person I asked for help from turned out to be a new friend. Originally from Cameroon, he´s been studzing IT in Hamburg then doing some studies or work at Siemens. We are able to talk in English and French. He walked me into the city center last night, where we found Thai food. My first meal in Germany was Thai, and I´m not sure what it was. Beef with veggies. I wolfed down an OJ and then sipped a light beer.

We chatted a bit as we walked. He was impressed that I´d taken a database design course. I tried to say that it was just one course, but he was still impressed. He has a couple days off, he is going to show me around Nurnberg today and possiblz tomorrow. Thank goodness, cuz I am lost.

Thank god for yogurt, my Ipod, my Dansko shoes, and nice people. Without any of those, life would be a lot tougher.

Breakfast this morning was, uh, interesting. Goodbye croissants, hello unknown meat spreads. I tried one, it looked like the baby food I normally won´t go near at baby showers, but it was okay. It´s a good thing that I like liverwurst. Bread and yogurt and ham are good too.

Mike had to leave me at dinner ,but he drew me a map of where to take the bus and how much it was. I got on okay, it took longer than I thought, and there was a moment where I worried if I didn´t find my spot, I´d be totallz up the creek, wandering on a German bus. But, thankfully, the universe was kind to finally take me to where I needed to go. It was very helpful that I´d already walked around the town, and I could recognize home.

The weather here is perfect, a little warm. Very much like San Jose. There are lots of bikes around, and fields too.

I took a long nap in my hotel room yesterday after I arrived. I realized later that I was dehydrated. Because it´s a little tricky to find somewhere to use the toilet, I´ve been avoiding drinking too much. But, then I remembered a tip a friend said -- drink a lot of water in the morning and in the evening.

It´s funny, as I walk around, I keep thinking of when Jdawg came to Europe a couple of years ago. I find myself thinking, "What would J do?" And then I have to laugh...it´s my own incarnation of the WWJD movement.

It is really toasty in this internet cafe.

Leaving Provence

2006-09-21T23:57:00.000-07:00

I had to get online to get an address (thanks to Evite!), so I figured I'd do a quick check-in.

I heard Imogen Heap on the stereo here at the hotel in Provence :-) Alison, it's like you're here with me!

I'm getting a little tired of some of the ladies who talk to much (2 of them). The big scuttlebutt is that one lady who uses a walker refuses to admit that she needs help. Folks on these tours are supposed to be independent, and she chewed out the tour guide about something the other day. She's unclear on the concept, I think. No one likes to be dependent on others, I'm sure, but there's a time and place for everything.

I'm gravitating towards the New Yorkers on the trip, they're hilarious and witty and fun to talk to. There's a lady Nancy from Kentucky, she's 80 something and uses a cane, but she is a hoot. She laughs at herself and her age all the time, it's so fun to be around.

I love Provence, it's great here. We go to Monte Carlo this evening, staying in Nice for two nights, then it's Germany. I'm looking a bit forward to being on my own.

I didn't realize how boring my life is back home - it's been just over a week, and it feels like forever that I've been gone.

My one connection, my life supply, is the computer. I sent some postcards today, I bought them in Paris. I'll probably make it home before they do, but who knows.

I really am interested to know what the french do to stay so beautiful and thin, especially with this cuisine. i haven't seen any acne on the teens. I haven't seen a lot of old folks here either, not sure where they're hidden away.

my time's running out for my 15 mins on the computer. gotta run.

A bientot,

K

I've hit the wall...

2006-09-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've hit the wall..my stomach cannot take any more cream or butter or heavy food. Last night we ate at Les Deux Garcons in Aix-en-Provence, and the dessert sent me over the edge. Think of sex on a plate in chocolate and cream.

Tonight we went to a hip place called the Rotunde (smirk), I felt at home immediately when I noticed the DJ playing some stuff. I had a light meal, some provencal stuffed veggies, then cockles and linguine with zucchini, then for dessert a very light yogurt-like cream thing with fresh berries. My stomach thanks me.

I don't know what I'm going to do in the Land of Big Greasy Sausages. Muesli and sauerkraut will be my new friends, and bread.

Today we visited Baux de Provence, and then Arles. In Arles I saw the cafe that Van Gogh painted in his famous Cafe Terrace at Night painting (I have it in my house, behind the front door). It was really funny, a bunch of us thought it was this other cafe because a tourist tram had stopped in front of it. We didn't notice that it looked nothing like the painting. The Tourist tram was there for the amphitheater we were seeing, apparently there are a bunch of sites in the area that VG painted.

Today is Thursday, the tour ends Sunday. I wasn't originally going to go to Monte Carlo, it's an optional excursion on the tour, but I changed my mind. I probably won't have the opportunity to go again anytime soon.

My stomach still hurts. The town here is gorgeous, as are the people. Even the garbage men are gorgeous, young and tan. They must hide the ugly people away or something.

Tomorrow we're off to Nice.

I mailed home some souvenirs today, a whopping 70+ Euros. Next time, I won't come by myself or I'll just come to provence, so I don't have to worry about schlepping another suitcase by myself. This way I have room for steins.

I had beer tonight with dinner, much better. I'm looking forward to Germany.

My itinerary

2006-09-20T23:31:00.000-07:00

I realized I didn't post my itinerary. Here's what I'm doing next...

Today is Thursday, 21 Septembre. We're off to Arles, and then hopefully back in time for shopping.

Friday 22 Sep - drive to Nice. We're two nights in Nice, and we get to also see Cannes and Monte Carlo.

Sat 23 Sep to Sun 24 Sep - Nice.
Sun 24 Sep - fly to Nuremburg, there for 3 nights. (Mon 25 Sep, Tues 26 Sep)
Wed 27 Sep, Thurs 28 Sep, Friday 29 Sep - Salzburg, Austria
Sat 30 Sep Sunday 1 Octobre - Munich. the big castle and Oktoberfest. I can pronounce the name of the castle, but I can't hope to spell it.

I return late evening on 2 Oct, back at work on the 4th.

Ma coeur est francais...et De Nimes et Genes

2006-09-20T23:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was fabulous - we saw the bridge at Pont du Gard, strolled and shopped in Avignon, and then got a tour and wine tasting at Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The wine was sooooooo good, it's torture that they don't ship to the US. They refuse to add sulfites, per US requirements.

You cannot irrigate your vines in France, you depend on the soil and the underground tributaries.

Turns out denim comes from "de Nimes", a town here in the south. It was exported out of Genoa, Italy, because the taxes were less, and in French it's pronounced "Genes" and if you don't know French you pronounce it like "jeans". That's where denim jeans comes from.

I love this place, I'm already trying to figure out when I can come back, possibly for a couple weeks. In the winery, the smell of olives, lavender, and wine was just so pleasant, it's like paradis here. I've got to find olives from Nyons back home, they are the best olives.

I'm using the computer in the hotel, twice the price but an American keyboard. Aah...

Travelling on a tour is turning out to be nice. The wine tour was fabulous yesterday, shopping in Avignon was great. I picked up some nice jewelry made with Swarovski crystal, it's wayyyy cheaper here than in the states. I spoke entirely in French to the saleswoman, she asked where I was from, was I a student? I'll take the compliment on my speaking where I can get it. I can easily roll off simple sentences, and I've turned into a bit of a translator for the folks who don't speak French.

These folks are great. There's a couple, Ellen and Norm, from Long Island, they already feel like family. He composes music for schools, she's a physical therapist. There's another couple from Brooklyn, they're hilarious. There's another couple from Vancouver, very nice. There are also other Canadians, Kiwis, Australians, also people from Kentucky, Oregon, Florida, etc.

Travelling with older folks is nice and refreshing. One told me that the older you get, the less you care about what people think. I like hanging out with that vibe.

This one lady from Connecticut (30 mins from Niantic, mom) is married and also has an apartment in Washington DC, because that's where the stimulating conversation is. She says that she thinks she knows what my issue is with men - they're intimidated by my brilliance. I'll take the compliment, c'est la vie. Not sure what else to do with it.

I had the most painful check-splitting experience last night -we ate at Les Deux Garcons here in Aix-en-Provence. We ended up splitting the check 6 ways, it was sooo painful. I left an extra big tip to make up for the hassle. Some folks here, they don't pay attention to stuff as I would. My new friend Jan from Oregon (she's on vacation from taking care of her mom who has Alzheimers) and I were horrified at the inconvenience. One woman thought she had paid for one sixth of a bottle of wine.

Today we're off to Arles, where we'll drive by Cezanne's house, see the Cafe where Van Gogh painted his Cafe Terrace at Night painting and see where he painted the Sunflowers. Sunflowers are not currently in season, bummer.

I'm finding so many of the things I love here, they're all in one place. The plants are very similar to home. The weather is fabulous, just like home.

Oops, 5 mins to the bus ride, gotta go...

They don't hate us, really.....

2006-09-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention something that I learned--the French don't hate us, as I had thought. They are not necessarily rude, they are just not overly concerned with being polite, such as the Brits and us. All this time I thought they were being rude to me as whatever I am. It turns out they're just being French.

C'est tout pour maintenant,

Kimberly

En Provence

2006-09-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

Hello, mes amis! Je suis en Provence aujourd'hui. Yet again, the keyboard sucks.

I have a little more time today to write. I'll start at the present, and work my way backwards, while trying to avoid words using w, m, z, q, and periods and commas.

We arrived in Aix-en-Provence today, and I immediately fell in love with the city. I am at home here, the weather feels like Scruz or Berkeley or San Josay. The walls of the buildings have that unique color yellow that seems unique to Provence. The air is clear, the sun is shining, and I am happy.

Sunday night I met my tour group, and at first I felt like killing my travel agent (now it's fine). All I could see where the gray haired bitties. Not that I'm ageist (sp?), but I had been hoping for peeps my age or something, maybe something in the male persuasion. I am the youngest, and in the small group of solo travelers, I am the skinniest. If nothing else, it's good for my ego.

It turns out the bunch are really quite fun, the first night I think I sat next to my two least favorite. Also, the first night the table got into a discussion of Medicare, I thought my vacation fun had left the building, and certainly hopes of meeting anyone. One lady eats with her mouth open and is extremely fussy and picky, maybe she shouldn't be traveling. Another lady has difficulty shutting up, nor can she listen. But everyone else is quite sweet. I just keep coming back to the idea that there must be something here for me to learn.

Today I discovered a new drink - a Monaco. It's beer, lemonade, and grenadine. It sounds weird, but it's really quite tasty, especially in the delicious sun of Provence. (but maybe, in this weather, anything tastes good)

I'm taking lots of pictures. At the last internet café, I tried to upload a photo or two, but it kept timing out. I'll try again soon, we're here in Provence for 3 days. I am very pleased with my new baby, my digital camera. I've taken a whole bunch already, and used a surprisingly small portion of my new é gb memory card.

The butter here is better than anything I've tasted. It is like the word douce, which in French means soft, but without the furriness of the f in soft. It is smooth and silky, just like the word. And I recently saw a show about French butter (Fine Living channel), and the quality of the butter is why the bread, croissants, etc are so much better here.

Parisenne women are beautiful and slim, it's probably quite a feast for the eyes for the guys. They don't wear much makeup, their hair looks natural. The men are more coiffed than the ladies, by far. The men look delicious, most of them are slim yet manly, and of course they are stylish. No silicon valley geek wear here.

There is no word for home in French, other than to refer to a specific place. You can say chez moi, but there is no way to say I feel like home here. Alors, je le dit en Français. It is sooo nice to finally be able to speak the language I studied for so long, and so long ago. I had made a promise to myself a long time ago that I wouldn't learn another language until I went to France. Now, I can learn German or something.

3 of the other solo women and I had dinner together last night, it was fun. I learned I don't like gizzards. They are kind of like paté, but, uh, chunkier. The gizzards, I mean ;-)

Paris has the worst traffic, yet people don't get upset about it. They just continue on. In New York, they'd be yelling and gesturing with their hands. I guess the Parisens are used to it. The cars are ridiculously small, where do the tall and fat people go?

I noticed this morning that I have a long way to go before I come home, it feels like I've been gone a long time already. A woman who travels a lot, Patty from Oklahoma, said that that means I'm not having fun. Sigh. I am, it just looks a lot different than I had dreamed of. C'est la vie, n'est-ce-pas? Now that I'm in Provence, I find I am much happier. I'm a country girl, I suppose.

Tomorrow we go wine tasting at Chateauneuf-du-Pape. It's rough out here ;-)

The French are infatuated with bread. I see people walking down the street, eating a baguette right out of the bag. What is it with the bread? What do I not know about empty carbs?

Breakfast has been coffee, croissant, yogurt, butter and jelly --oh, the coffee is sooooo good here, like nothing else. San Francisco comes close. Actually, Paris reminds me of San Fran a lot, except that it's flatter, is older, and has more cool statues. Oh yeah, and they speak French.

Is it a coincidence that the Rue des Invalides is right near the Rue to Franklin D Roosevelt?

I went to the 2nd floor of La Tour Eiffel, saw about an hour and a half of the Louvre. It was so hot there, that was plenty, plus my back was bugging me from all the standing around.

There is a chain of restaurants in France called the Hippopotamus. I have no idea why they think that's a great animal to eat with/around, but you never know with the French. Elephant Bar is good, but hippos? It wouldn't fly back home.

My first hotel was a two star job near the outside of Paris. Apparently, there are a lot of conventions in town right now, all the hotels are booked, and my original hotel moved me. My hotel on the tour in Paris was a beautiful 4 star, a place that normally goes for €500 a night. Right near the Champs-Elysées. Very nice, to say the least. The hotel I was supposed to have been in was in the Montparnasse district, which I really liked. Artisty, with lots of cute shops I would have liked to have visited.

The hotel here in Aix-en-Provence is also a 4 star, though not as super deluxe as Paris, but I can easily make do.

We took the TGV from Paris to Marseille, it runs as smooth as butter at about 200 mph. I love the train.

The Barenaked Ladies' new album is my new favorite on my Ipod, along with some Gotan project. The first BL song, Adrift, and one of the later songs, Everything Has Changed, resonate particularly well right now.

A few of us had a drink and snack in an outdoor cafe after getting a quick tour of the dowtown area. And when I say quick, I mean quick-- try 20 mins at an old lady pace, and we reached the end of downtown. I wished the waiter was part of the menu. The men here look more attractive than in Paris, but maybe that's my prediliction for casual wear.

Our tour guide totally reminds me of the candlestick in Beauty and the Beast. I don't think I'll tell him that, I have a feeling that he wouldn't like to know that. His job is a tough one, no wonder he smokes. There are 41 of us, and only a small handful know any French.

A bientot,

kimberly

in france

2006-09-18T08:28:00.000-07:00

okay, I am here. dream come true and all that.

french keyboards suck. the french are fun to watch. this is really slow typing, for some reason they decided to move the m, a, w keys. the last shop i was in wasnt like this.

a friend of a friend bruno showed me around paris, i think i saw all the arrondissements. we had crepes for dinner friday night, and saturday night we ate in Bercy where the locals live. i still want to know how the french stay so slim with this food.

yesterday i walked around and people watched. it is tricky to find places to go to the bathroom, so i have had to strategize. my french is already better. i can talk as well as a child now, without tricky verb tenses.

i am the youngest in my tour group, i freaked out at first. i feel like an american bridget jones, it is so funny. the folks are nice, no one near my age.

Holy Crap I'm here

2006-09-15T02:21:00.000-07:00

I'm here! it's foggy, sweaty, and generally gray here today. I just had my first cafe and sandwich, for about 10 euros. I splurged and took a taxi to my hotel, which ended up being about 50 euros, parce que de la traffique.

Traffic = traffique. Not too different.

I asked the cab driver "Est-ce qu'il ya pleurer aujourd'hui?" He replied "Pleuvoir? Peut-etre ce soir."

I asked him if he was going to cry today. I mixed up the verb to cry with the verb to rain. Oy vay.

So far, the cars are all a lot smaller than back home, they look like they belong in a Wallace and Gromit show. I haven't had to use English yet, but I haven't been talking much yet.

I never would have thought an internet cafe would make me so happy. I feel very alone here. After I'm done with the computer, I'll call Bruno, a friend of a friend who lives here. (he's also a Landmark grad, which is an extra bonus).

I studied French so long ago, I can't talk very fast. I'm accustomed to being quick-witted, I don't like looking like a dumb tourist. Maybe my international karma points are unknowingly going up because I can speak and somewhat understand the language here, but so far, no feedback from the people.

It smells of diesel and cigarettes, and that mugginess that accentuates all smells. This place looks and feels a lot like San Francisco, except with a nicer accent and presumably better style. Or maybe I need it to look familiar, because otherwise it's so overwhelming.

I'm finding I'm desperate to fit in, I don't want to look like a tourist, although there are a lot of them here.

Breakfast on the plane was a doughnut and coffee, the worst breakfast for me and my hypoglycemia issues. Once I finally got to my hotel and put my bags in storage, first thing was food. I had a sandwhich that was swiss cheese, ham, butter on a baguette, and a great cup of cafe with milk. I'm partially awake now.

I still have to figure out how to use the camera. Ooh, I see the USB port on the front of this machine. I'll come back tomorrow or the next day with some pics.

This is supposed to be the city of romance, and already I feel like an outsider due to that - gotta give that one up. This is the kind of place many honeymooners come to, I presume. I'll enjoy as much as I can while I'm here. As I left the cafe and walked away by myself, I felt good being able to walk by myself, I can go whereever I want however I want. But I miss the companionship that a partner would bring. Ah well, the next trip. C'est ma vie.

I like being able to mostly understand the folks. When they talk really fast, I can pick up phrases, and there are a lot of words I still don't know the french equivalent for. I have a long way to go to think in French. I have to practice my conversations ahead of time.

For reading on the plane, I'm reading Christopher Moore's book called Lamb. Stacey recommended it to me, it's hilarious. It's about the mythical friend of Jesus, named Biff.

My first hotel (el cheapie 2 stars) is in the Montmartre arrondissement. I'm going now to see what the rest of the area looks like.

Next time I come overseas, I want my butt to be smaller, it was somewhat a tight fit in the teensy international coach seats. I wonder who offers the best international coach seating? US Airways, maybe not, I'm not sure. They were nice though.

Camera Attachments

2006-09-13T23:55:00.000-07:00

I bought a digital camera Tuesday evening, never thought I could make a decision that fast(*) The new thing is so small. I almost started tearing up when I realized I wouldn't be bringing my celluloid SLR, my Pentax ZX-5 with a 28-200 zoom lens. I've taken a lot of good photos over the years with that camera, it's served me very well, and I still enjoy it.

But I must enter the digital age. It isn't always practical to carry around a large camera. Sniff.

This new thing, a Canon Powershot S3 is really nice, and very small. I miss having a large lens to grab a hold of, it seemed so much more substantial. I feel like I'm cheating on my old camera, like I'm abandoning it or something. I find myself making promises to myself like, I'll go out and take some real photos when I get back - as if it's a kid I'm not taking to the circus or something.

I guess I forgot how much photography means to me.

I went out today and ka-ching ka-ching, got a lens adapter so I could fit my new puppy with a UV filter and a polarizing filter. I just couldn't bear the thought of this new thing not having any protection. And I can't imagine not using a polarizing filter in the sunshine, it just would be too painful.

I am clearly in the deep end.

Someday, I want to get a nice digital SLR with big lenses. For now, this itty bitty thing will do. But I still love my Pentax.

Oh god, and don't even ask what I did to the Nikonos III underwater camera I had. I took it on a kayaking trip last year, and ended up ruining it. I should've guessed when I had to get two strong men to open it that gee, the o-ring maybe needed lubrication. I didn't think at all, I was so distracted. This year I finally (yes, more than a year later) I finally got up the nerve to take it into a shop. And their answer was exactly what I feared. It was dead, it couldn't be fixed.

And I still have an underwater flash unit to use with it. Not like I've gone scuba diving anytime recently, it's been, what, six years or so. But I want to get back into it, someday. Sigh. I have to use that damned flash system. Another camera stupidity, I brought it with me the last time I was in the Caribbean, and I couldn't figure out how to connect it to the camera. I thought a part was missing. When I got home and searched online, it was embarassingly simple. Ugh, the shame of it. I lugged this suitcase-size thing all the way down to Cozumel and didn't use it.

Next stop, underwater photography. But first, Europe. :-) I leave in the morning.

(*)Wednesday afternoon I learned I wasn't going to be able to borrow my mom's digital camera. She was going to have to make a special drive up from Mexico to give me hers, and it was crazy to do that. It's just as well, I've been resisting the digital world for too long now anyway.

Serendipity etc

2006-09-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

I walked into the TravelSmith outlet store in Palo Alto, and their in-store stereo was playing Morrissey's "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want." I couldn't have said it better myself.

I've been eating my leftover Burning Man food this week (I way overpurchased). They don't taste much better at home than they did on the playa, and the dried fruit in mass quantities still seems unappealing.

It's a good thing I live alone, I've been eating Tasty Bites for dinner and the air around me at home has been unseasonably toxic.

You'd think I'd be way excited at this point, thrilled to get up early and start packing or whatever else I need to do. Not so. I've been weirdly down. Maybe it's my nesting instinct taking over, I feel like growing roots to my house. It's like when you board a roller coaster for the first time, and you're sitting there, waiting for it to start, and part of you is asking yourself "Why did I do this? Am I nuts? I should get off this thing." I'm not budging, but man, that's the voice that's going on. I'm clinging on to my house, my couch, my yard, afraid that if I let go I'm going to fly away like a balloon, I'll be so high and excited.

Fear, plain old fear, I guess. I'm afraid of having to watch my bag and my back at every moment. I'm afraid of not having enough fun, and regretting what I did or did not do. I'm afraid of being lonely out there. I'm afraid of missing a train or a plane. I'm afraid of stressing out.

I'm also afraid of how much fun it's going to be. I've lived in the world that I can't have what I want for soooooo long, it's gotten very comfortable and familiar. This new world of being able to have what I want, it's foreign and new, a little scary. How does the rest of my life work in this new world? I'm xenophobe to my new self.

This must be a little bit like what it's like to get married. I don't like having just one project going on in my life, I need another to focus on so I don't go completely nuts and become irritatingly boring to my friends. Or more so than I already am. When I return from my trip, I'm going to work on Feng Shui'ing my home, cleaning my closets and garage, being more organized with my finances, catching up with friends more, getting in better shape, dating, and figuring out what my long-term career road map.

When I was in that travel store, two women were talking in French. One was clearly American who had not mastered the accent, but I could understand them. :-) I love that.

blog time suckage

2006-09-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

okay, gotta watch the blogging. Too much time suckage! I just spent almost 3 hours computerizing, when I have a lot of other stuff to do.

hmm, I think when I'm in Europe I'll blog every other day. or every third day. I'll make notes on the side too.

boing boing boing happy happy joy joy

Wide Angle Context

2006-09-10T06:35:00.000-07:00

I was driving around yesterday, doing some shopping, and got to thinking. You, whoever you are reading this, may not realize the context of this trip and why I'm blogging.

Welcome to the World of Kimberly. Find yourself a comfy seat, have a satisfying beverage, and put the rest of the world aside for a few moments while you chill out with me. Oh wait, don't sit there, you'll be tickled. Sit over here, on the furry chair. A purple furry chair. (no, I don't have one in real life- this is the world where Imagination rules).

I usually consider blogs to be self-important boring things, useful for the occasional side trip while I'm waiting for something at work to finish. I read only my close friends' blogs, and occasionally trip over other people's. (ouch, that hurt!)

I'm doing the blog for a few reasons:
a) to keep in touch with my family and friends while I'm away so that they know I'm still alive,
b) to have somewhere to write to while I'm gone,
c) to have a vessel to record my adventures so I can be entertained by them later ('look how stupid I was the first time I went to Paris!' ;-)
d) because my friend Jeremy insisted that I do :-) He's in my creative writing support group (Word!).

In addition to those reasons, there are some other bonuses..
1) I can take on writing without hiding myself, so people get to know me in a way I usually let only those really close to me know,
2) my friends and family can travel with me at no cost,
3) I have an outlet for anything I need to say in English while I'm in the land of French, German, and Austrian,
4) I'll notice more about what I'm seeing and perceiving as I go - I'll see more of the lens I look through,
5) I can look important in a European Internet Cafe,
6) I can look like everyone else in a European Internet Cafe,
7) I can pretend I'm a travel writer but one who helps you understand the people not just the hotels.
8) I can feel like I accomplished something without doing much at all ;-)

I initially booked this trip for a few reasons:
a) I've wanted to go to France for at least 15 years. I had wanted to do the live abroad program in college, but I let my insecurity and a large earthquake get in my way. I've wanted to go many times since, the conditions were never right - not enough money, not enough time, no one to go with, the boyfriend couldn't go or wouldn't go (depending on who it was), I couldn't go with the friend I wanted to go with, or I was just plain scared.

b) I LOVE languages and accents. French literature was my minor, I read large books and understood small amounts of plot in my college days. When I was 15 my folks and I drove across country, and I took a tape recorder into all the restaurants to record those weird accents we found along the way. I realized that in Texas, "y'all" is really a form of speech, it wasn't just something I read about in books. Now I use it too ;-) When I meet someone with an accent, I play a game to see if I can figure out where they're from. Or, if they're speaking a foreign language, I try to figure out which one it is. I've been able to distinguish a New Zealand accent and a Danish conversation about Victoria's Secret before. (Yes, there is a connection between men and accents - it's one of my weaknesses.) A New Zealand accent has subtle differences from an Australian one. Danish sounds a lot like German, but it's got some French-like noises in there, plus some unexplainable glottal throat noises I still cannot comprehend--it's all those Danish movies (Lars Von Trier, anyone?)

c) I was in a seminar and I took on booking this damned vacation as my project, and I swear it's the hardest project I've ever had to do. One woman Kathy told me she'd support me in doing my project in being a committed listener (someone who's committed to listening me as my project getting complete - it's a Landmark thing), and she said "...even though it's a little like being a committed listener for chocolate." I had the hardest time doing this because I had to deal with all my conversations in my head about it. Do I deserve to go? Have I earned it? Maybe I should continue waiting, the timing's not right. I should lose weight first, I shouldn't go right after Burning Man, maybe I shouldn't go to Burning Man at all. yadda yadda yadda, etc etc etc. My friend Jim threatened to take 30 of my DVDs away until I went and talked to the travel agent, and that's what finally got me moving. I just had to open the door and walk in and say hello, how hard is that? For me, to start making a dream come true that I've wanted for so long and I've thought I couldn't have, it was way harder than I thought. But I didn't want to part with 30 of my DVDs (did I mention I'm a movie hound, in addition to a bookaholic and a music lover? my bookshelves are full, let's just say). I can still remember how easy it was to push open the door and say hi, and how nervous I was. How silly..(see below for kudos for my travel agent)

About my travel agent (I put this in a separate paragraph because I was becoming James Joyce in the other one)
I found a great travel agent, based on how she decorates her office. Anyone who decorates their office by themselves in paper mache mermaids has good to be good. And she's been great (Robin Clever @ the Clever Traveler). She even gave me some shopping advice and what kind of purse to bring (thanks to the TravelSmith outlet in Palo Alto, I got a great one for $20 that has wire in the straps so it can't be snipped). Robin was always willing to answer my many questions and allowed me room to make my own choices, and she has a great sense of humor too. I never thought I'd be a wuss and use a travel agent, but I am *so* glad I did. She has been incredibly helpful in helping me figure out where I want to go and how. For example, originally I was going to take the train everywhere on a Eurail pass. But then, we looked at the map, and getting from Nice to Nuremburg isn't easy or quick. So she found me a cheap flight. And I'll get to say I've been in Switzerland, as I'm taking Swiss Air and changing planes in Zurich.

And big thanks to my other travel agent, Mr JaeTee...
JaeTee is a friend of Alison's, he was born in Nuremburg, and he's responsible for helping me with my Germany itinerary. He and his wife Lori are fabulous people, and he takes fantastic photos, and he's a stupendous DJ (when I think of music at Burning Man, I think of JaeTee).

And while I'm thanking folks, thanks to my friends and family who helped make this trip and Burning Man a reality: (in no particular order)
Mom, Dad, Jimba, Kate, Madeleine, Kathy N, Jeannette, Stacey, Brent, Alyssa, Kai, Jeremy, Russ, Denice, Scott, Alison & JP, and everyone in the Love Puddle.

Thanks also to Jimba and Stacey for being my airport chauffeur and taking care of my house while I'm gone.

Additional reasons I'm going to Europe:
1) I can start learning other languages! I promised myself I wouldn't learn another language until I got to France. Now I can learn German. Other languages that would be fun to learn: an African dialect, Portugese, Greek, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Chinese (not sure whether Mandarin or Cantonese), Japanese.

2) This is the Line of Demarcation for the next phase of my life. I can now have what I want (if I'm willing to do the work and enjoy the consequences). After this trip (or maybe during, who knows), I'm taking on getting my body back into a state of health and fitness where I can be free to do most anything I want to. In going on this trip, I'm noticing and appreciating the skills, talents, and random stuff I bring to the table. I'm welcoming in some love and romance, and I have no idea what it looks like yet - I just know that lately I say I want it but I do nothing to allow it in. I'm also letting go of who and what I need to let go of. Maybe while I'm on my trip I'll have an epiphany about where the next phase of my career should go. I'd like to find out what my Dream Job is, I still have no idea. I want to do so many things, I can't seem to narrow it down to just one job.

3) Everyone else has gone, why shouldn't I?

4) So I can say "I've been to Europe."

5) So I can show my folks how fun it is to go - we all went to England a couple of times back in 1990 or so, they haven't travelled off the continent since then. (work work work).

6) So I can get out of town and get away from everything and everyone without having to move. I know I'll get homesick after a week or two, but I need a break. I'll miss my house. Okay, okay, I'll miss my friends and family too, but I can email you guys.

7) Because I got a lot out of my friends' emails/blogs when they travelled, and I want to return the favor.

8) I've never travelled by myself, it sounds like fun. No messy arguments, fewer compromises. I get to live the challenge of 'how do I go to the restroom and hold my table at the same time?'

9) Why did the chicken cross the road? Same reason. That's where there was to do. I will probably eat le poulet for dinner while in France, and that will be one of the easier meals to digest, I'm sure.

10) Because I can.

11) (it goes to 11!) If I allow my dreams to come true, I'm a better/happier person and I can make more of a difference in the world. Even if my trip is a disaster, I'll still be happy for having taken the risk and challenge of going over there.

no, no more. please. this is wayyyy too long already. I'm surprised you got to the end, I don't think I would have.

12) Who am I if I'm not my job, my home, my language? Who am I when I'm in another country away from friends and family? Who am I without the usual definitions and categorizations? Who am I without a cell phone attached to my hip?

Post-Burn

2006-09-06T16:26:00.000-07:00

Oof. Still recovering from life on the playa. Dust, dust, everywhere. I've taken 5 showers so far, and my skin is still pretty dry. My fingernails are finally clean, and so is my hair.

What am I left with, other than playa dust, after leaving the playa behind?

What I liked most, and probably had the hardest time adjusting to, was how nice and welcoming everyone is out on the playa. I felt loved, accepted, and welcomed wherever I went.

There was the guy in the camp next door, Andrew, with his punk mohawk, who JP and I were talking to while working on the shower. JP asked Andrew, "Why do you come to Burning Man?" And Andrew said "To be loving to people." Then the two dudes hugged.

Or the people Srin and I met on our way back to camp late Thursday night/Friday morning. Srin would stop complete strangers and just say hi and start talking to them, and they welcomed the conversation. That happened more times than I can count. (okay, my ability to count was somewhat impaired from having partied too much, but still, it was a lot).

Yes, there are naked folk there, and lots of them, and they come in all shapes and sizes and colors. Not a big deal.

The interesting part to notice is how comfortable people are with themselves, in whatever they are or are not wearing.

It's the Friday morning after, and I'm just now getting my energy back. I don't know if it's the altitude, the sleep deprivation beforehand, or the heat and dryness during, it's probably some combination of all those factors.

Readjusting to "normal" life has sucked. Politics at work - ick. I've just hunkered down at my cube and focused on my work.

Now, I'm focusing on Europe! I leave in less than a week. I'm not fully ready, I never will be. I wanted to learn German before I went, I just didn't study these CD's I got. Some of my dreams have been in French. I'll post again before I leave.

Pre-Trip Yips

2006-08-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

I've got, as they say apparently in golf, the "yips." I'm stressing out a bit about all the details for my two upcoming trips. I leave for Burning Man in one week, and I leave for Europe in something like 3 weeks.

It's my first time to Burning Man--yup, I'm a burner virgin. Not for long.

Why am I going to BM? What is it? Some people ask me one or both questions. I'm going for a number of reasons. I'm going to go, because a bunch of people I know have gone and had not only great times but seen themselves and the world in a whole new way afterwards. It's something I used to think, "oh, I can't do that." I'm changing what I think I can and cannot do, and part of that is testing the boundaries. I'm going with a great bunch of friends, so I know I'll be okay.

I'm going to play, to see how I can be with a bunch of strangers, how I can rely on myself and others in whole new ways. I'm going to participate in the spirit of giving, and try giving up for a week the capitalistic and selfish notions that usually underly most interactions with strangers.

I watched Ewan McGregor's DVD flick "Long Way Round" and was captivated. It's a cool documentary about Ewan and his best friend Charlie riding their motorcycles around the world. When I watched the trip planning segment, I felt better - I'm not the only one who wigs out about a big trip when you've been looking forward to it your whole life.

I've been wanting to go to BM for about a year, curious about it for longer. I've been wanting to go to Europe ever since college, which is about 15 years (geez, I *really* feel old now). I was going to go live abroad in France my junior year, but this pesky earthquake came to town instead, and my then-job at the insurance office was quite busy. I gave up on filling out the application to live abroad.

I had fun buying clothes in a goodwill-type store. When you don't have to choose based on the usual set of rules, shopping for clothes is a heck of a lot more fun. I found a fur stole, a zebra print jacket, some hot pink pants, a few pairs of shoes in a variety of styles (all covering the foot, so as to avoid the dreaded Playa Foot). Some scarves and other things with pretty colors, I'm set. No real costume per se, but it'll be fun. I have a yellow outfit, even. I never wear yellow, it looks bad on me. Who cares.

I didn't realize that planning for BM would take so much time and money. Granted, I'm buying some stuff I don't *really* have to have, but it'll be nicer and easier that I have them. Plus, I love to go camping, so now I'll really be set.

And getting 20-odd peope together to agree on what we're doing and we all bring everything and have fun doing it - no simple feat. Fun and challenging it's been, though.

This is kind of like living your own reality show. I'm watching myself in all these interactions, doing new things, being new ways, and I'm watching myself watching myself and seeing who is there. Trippy. I notice that I can lead people more than I thought I could. I notice I love being around men, particularly those who build things (being a new homeowner, I have extra appreciation for that skill now). I love being around colors, and I love laughing. I enjoy chillin' with da women and hanging with the dudes. And I worry about all the details, and if everyone has what they need.

Stop that worrying, I realized this past week. My coworker said to write it down, which I did. I started a draft email in my gmail, so that every time I was at work and thought about something BM or for Europe that I didn't want to forget, I put it in the email. The list is long, and my mind is lighter.

Okay, back to work. Gotta test build my tent, organize my office, do some shopping, some laundry, and chill out a bit today. ciao.

2006-08-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

This was a pic from my bday partee back in April. It was miraculously sunny, amidst a very rainy winter and spring.