ice cream is less asinine at 0300

If you were on the receiving end of one of my drunk dials last evening, my formal apologies. I had planned to go and drop off the perfect travel gift to John as he is now managing my bar and then head to the movies, in and out, no drama. Even for a brief appearance with the person you are madly in love with, the proper outfit, make-up, and hair need to be taken into consideration. Luckily I got my hair cut yesterday and the outfit looked as cute on as it did in my head, I felt fantastic. So off I went in the rain, under my Chanel umbrella towards my bar. I said hello to my favorite bartender, Heather and asked for John, he wasn’t working. Damn it! I choose Starbucks next and then went to see Before the Devil Knows Your Dead at the local, independent theatre. The movie was fantastic and let out around 2130. The rain had stopped and been replaced by a warm fog so I set off towards home with ice cream in mind. I got to the door of Baskin and Robins (which does not have 31 flavors out here- rip off) and decided that a glass of wine had fewer calories and my cuteness needed to be appreciated by more than the ice cream guy. I headed off to this place recommended by Lynne. As I walked in, I felt like I was transformed back in time to an old movie. The guy was in the corner playing the piano, Christmas decorations were lit up, the bartender was an older gentleman in a bow tie, and the crowd was very “Rat Pack” era. I ordered a glass of Chianti and sat alone with my thoughts feeling very rejected. I wasn’t there to make friends as I normally do; I just wanted to wallow in my loneliness. As my glass was being emptied, Eddie told the bartender to fill it up and began chatting with me. It must have been the loneliness because I engaged him in conversation and even agreed to grab a bite to eat with him. He took me to this place he claimed famous people go and ironically when we got in the car, the dj was also talking about this place. We walked into another nostalgic bar and had a glass of wine and then he decided he wanted to smoke a cigar so off to another club we went. Another glass of wine and apps and then we headed to the oh so -dead MPD where they were filming a movie at Buddhakon so we went to Buddha Bar. I convinced him to take me to Cafeteria for a real meal and then home. Around three am the loneliness came back and I cried myself to sleep. Should have had the ice cream.

fco minus turkey

The night before was spent partying with beautiful people at a table at Marquee. When the phone rang at 1000 announcing my airport alert assignment, it didn’t surprise me, as it was the holiday week. I was wondering where I would be spending the Thanksgiving holiday as it is my second favorite and I wanted to get myself in the mindset of being away or at home. I took my computer, which I never do, to play on the internet and perhaps watch a movie during my four-hour duty. For two and a half hours I sat there, ate subway, shopped and bought a bed online, and started on a resume for a bartending job I saw. The phone rang and I walked up when I heard my name called. “Okay this is just a maybe that you will go since the person is late coming in. So head to the gate and it won’t be official until the door closes.” “May I ask where I may be going?” “Sure, it a 5 day trip to Rome.” Holy Shit! Please don’t let this lady show up is what I was thinking as I made my way to the gate along side my former roommate, Missy. I get onboard this super senior flight and do what I am supposed to do. The door closed, I called scheduling, and now I am sitting in Roma on Thanksgiving Day. The ironic thing is that the movie I choose to bring with me was Roman Holiday; I think this was meant to be.

Day one
Since I was off the clock when it came to sightseeing, a. because I had been here previous on holiday and b. I had three, count them, three days to explore, I spent the afternoon catching up on my rest. The remaining crew met at 1830 to join for dinner and celebrate Thanksgiving with our make shift family. There are no turkeys over here so we settled for an amazing restaurant a cab ride away. Our captain was Italian and ordered tons of appetizers and kept the wine flowing. We ate mussels, calamari (fried and steamed), fried stuffed fish, prosuttio and mozzarella, bread and olives. An hour of eating and then we ordered dinner. I spilt the veal with a coworker and then came the tiramisu and cappuccino. We laughed and chatted away for hours as the Europeans do over dinner. Then we caught a lift back and ended our night with pistachio gelato. In true Turkey Day form, I was stuffed to the gills as I headed to bed. Tomorrow we set off for the south to explore. My favorite person thus far on this trip is Ramona, a senior flight attendant whose seniority is 280 and mine, well mine is 8700. She is fantastic!!

Day two

The plan was to go to Pompeii via train with Jan and see the ruins. Instead we were able to talk two more people into going with us and managed to hitch a ride. We met in the lobby at 0630, however I had been up since 0230. A two and half hour car ride with way too much information in the form of conversation lead us to a train station where we made our way to the base of Mt. Vesuvius. We were guided through the ancient ruins with stories and mostly awe for the way they lived and how advanced their society was. The city existed from 800 BC until 79 AD when the volcano erupted and buried the city. It took two hundred years to excavate. It was absolutely amazing to walk through history. After we jumped on a train and headed north to Naples, as we exited the train a black lab was in the station so of course I petted the dog and it then proceeded to follow us up the escalator and through the city. We ate lunch at the city credited for inventing pizza while my faithful dog, named Metro Napoleon, sat beside me (I insisted on outdoor dinning). Metro shared my pizza and then kept with us as we walked through the city that was actually really dirty. Sadly we lost her in the protest but it was probably better that way since she wouldn’t have fit in the cab on the way back to the train. My long day ended with a small picnic in my room. In true Italian style I ate bread, salami and cheese with some wine.

Day three

I woke up early and grabbed a cappuccino then made my way to the Vatican were the line stretched for easily a half mile. I was just taking photos since I have gratefully already visited. From there I headed to an area suggested by a local flight attendant but after two hours of being next to it but not able to figure out how to get the area, I gave up. During my wrong way, however I did manage to get to the tallest point in Rome and see the city as a whole. I ran into another lost American and we talked for a bit then I decided to turn left and kept seeing all of these priest and bishops. I unsure what was going on but perfectly safe walking down that street. I came upon a crowd and what I first thought was St. Peter’s Basilica but I wasn’t sure. Thousands of people were standing around and more and more church heads were exiting. I went into a shop for water and asked what was going on but the guy said he didn’t know. I stood to watch and the thunder and lighting started. It was kind of a “Godly experience” for lack of a better description. Thankfully I packed my umbrella because the heavens opened and dumped rain. The twenty-minute walk back to the hotel was done in ten and a nap soon followed. Feeling guilty about not seeing the cliché Rome, I took the Metro to the other side of the river and walked around. It was over running with people so I grabbed a slice of pizza and headed back. Watching the news I found out that the crowd was there to watch the Pope create 23 new bishops.

I have packed up and can actually say that I am ready to go home. It has been a great little holiday, a Roman Holiday.

prg

With a four day weekend on my hands and, may I dare to say, getting tired of exploring NYC, I set off for a city that has nothing but rave reviews. It is Sunday morning here in Prague and the only people wandering the streets are a few old people, the Japanese, and myself. I wandered into a previous internet cafe to find people still drinking beer at 0900. I heard the party doesn't even get going here until 0200. I am offically an old lady on this trip as I was in bed by then. Because time is so precious and there is so much to see in this outstanding city, I refrained from the temptation to go and party.
I arrived yesterday via FRA and wandered the cobblestone streets looking for accomadation. I ended up at this adorable boutique hotel next to the Old Town Sqaure. It is so amazing here, that words don't even begin to describe the beauty of the architecture, the amazment of the history, and the peace that comes from being here. They have an old Czech saying that where beer is brewed, life is good. That couldn't be more true here.
My obstacle of trying to convert the currency according the sign at the airport made for a bit of hillarity at the souviner shop as I was mentally a decimal point off. Well, at least people are getting nice gifts! I have also found the lack of coffee shops here since I am running on seven hours total sleep, I have been seeking them out only to find bars. And it seems perfectly acceptable to have a beer with your breakfast.
I am now off to a tour of all the must see things, off to explore on my own after, lunch, a nap, maybe a ghost tour, and then meeting up with some new friends and pulling an all nighter. My taxi arrives at 0330 to begin my journey back home.

day two

My short time in Prague was exactly what I needed to clear my head and heart whilst momentarily living among centuries of history. I elected to take a walking tour to ensure I saw the highlights of the city plus it is always great to hear the history and some antidotes. I met the group under the horse statue and we were off, immediately a girl befriended me and we hung out the whole journey. Her name was Linda from Australia. That is what I love about traveling is meeting new people and even though I wanted to be alone, it was so nice to have another half for the day. We learned about the communist area, the protest, the conditions, and the overturning. It was strange to think that it was in my lifetime. We learned about the astronomical clock, the beginning of Protestants, the Jewish quarter, we took a river boat cruise and looked at the city whilst drinking a beer, ate goulash for lunch and then we walked across the St Charles Bridge and up to the Prague castle for the changing of the guard. Our tour guy was fantastic and funny. Six hours of walking around in the freezing cold warranted a nap. After Linda and I met up for the ghost tour, which was free with our journey and certainly not worth paying for. A small dinner and then we chit chatted in my room over beers until the wee hours. After pulling an all nighter, and switching planes in FRA, I made it home. Sadly my peace was distributed with the finding of the roommate, a dirty bathroom, and my missing pita chips. Sometimes I think I should just get a boyfriend to have somewhere else to go, today it wouldn’t have mattered who the hell is was as long as they had quite, warmth, and something to eat.

wandering the city

The beginning of November is a wonderful time to be in NYC. The leaves are changing, there is a chill in the air that calls for a jacket, beautiful new boots make their debut, and the tourist sector dies a bit. I have been up early this week and enjoying the fall by taking a long walk with my coffee either to the park, in my neighborhood, or adventuring to another. I am working on a Christmas present for John of photos of things he loves in New York. This journey took me down to Union Square and over to the Village. From there I wandered around and found a delightful place to have lunch on Bleeker and then proceeded to walk uptown with point of winding up at Tiffany. So I walked, and walked up 60 blocks while people watching and popping into a store here and there. I made my purchase and a guy came up to me asking me if I was buying something for myself. I replied it was a gift and we started chatting. He told me to meet him for drinks and I agreed. I walked the rest of the way home and changed. We met at Scalinatella for dinner. He was very nice and I think I accepted the date as thankfulness that someone was aggressively interested in me. Christina rang up and wanted to know if I wanted to join her in the quest to get into the infamous Rose Bar. My date and I met her there after getting into four wrong cars. A few drinks there and my date had to go, so off he went and on our night continued. We went to Tao’ where the Knicks were having dinner and chatted with a few gentlemen before we headed off to Bruno’s. We arrived without a member and they let us right in. It was there fifth anniversary and I think they needed ladies to balance out the crowd. We danced and hung out with filthy rich men until it was time to throw in the towel for the evening and make it home. A nice guy walked me home and with one stop at a dive bar, I was headed to bed around 0500.

Today, still not working, I met a friend from the Late Show for lunch and then walked all over SoHo and Little Italy. I am all about checking out my beautiful city, but this girl is ready to work and check out the other fab cities of the world!

turtles

“Slow and steady wins the race.” This is what was spoken to me yesterday while on the topic of a relationship with my guy. It seems appropriate considering the NYC marathon is happening right outside my window.
My weekend has been outstanding and I am hoping to keep under the radar for the rest of the day work wise and finish it out. Friday was spent alone in my apartment catching up on Grey’s and me time since my hangover finally wore off from Halloween. Saturday was spent cleaning the house, laundry, and preparing for Ducks football. I got a text from John that he was in my shirt and off the wagon and to meet him. I text him that I couldn’t drink because I was on call and where should I meet him. I figured out that he was at a bar called Off the Wagon and when I walked he was proudly wearing the Oregon football I gave him. A few pictures of beer while the Notre Dame game was on and conversation about us and everything else lead us to another bar to watch the Oregon game. Today I ate breakfast with my boy and then got bundled up to watch the marathon. It was such a powerful thing to walk next to and to see the thousands of people who worked so hard for this day was a bit ah inspiring. I have a friend that was running and I was actually able to see him. Now I am relaxing at home on Sunday afternoon the crisp breeze is coming through the window. The cheers are still present as people make there way to the finish line.

one bar marathon

Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. I am sure my need to dress up each year steams from the lack of dressing up as a child. I planned the whole month around having the day off and much of it was needed to prepare for our entry into the city. Seeing how we live in nanny, rich, old neighborhood our mid-driffs and long legs were met with some looks from the ladies and head turns from the gentlemen. As we road the subway more and more costumes came on until we exited at Union Square. I swear we posed for fifty pictures as we tried to make our way to the parade. Not sure of a true schedule and letting the night take us were it may, we grabbed a drink at Republic and then decided to stop in and see John (read: get free drinks and let him see me in my hot outfit). We had invitations to Plumm and to the playboy party at the Empire State Building. Our one drink turned into God knows how many while we hung in the corner with the firemen. They were eating wings and thought is was funny to put them in my basket with my dog. I don't remember much after that besides sitting on the sidewalk puking and Christina dragging me out of the cab on the way to our door. We awoke the next morning her sox on my pillow, my clothes everywhere, her shoe on my rollerboard, my basket in the hallway with chicken bones on the floor.