Things I do in Europe that I don’t do here

      Eat pastries at breakfast. I don’t do that in Seattle, in fact don’t even eat bread in Seattle.

    

     Totally cock up my coffee with a ton of sugar. Here I drink coffee black during the week, then have soy latte’s on the weekend, but in Europe I want cappuccino, espresso and I want all sorts of sugar in it! And I want lots of them in one day….. LOTS OF THEM!

Go without my phone. This is sort of by force because we Americans are so lame when it comes to global phones and phone services. Our carriers suck and our phones (except really new ones) aren’t compatible with the global systems. This is one area where America is completely out of the loop. Get it together USA! But, it’s sort of a good thing, I get to UNPLUG and be unencumbered by technology – light as a feather – not a care in the world. Some guys I know in Italy used to say “travel with no problems, no worries, like young boys”. That’s me, like a young boy. What?

 Walk walk walk walk walk walk. I walk a bit more now that we live downtown but frankly most of my time coming and going to work is in the car. And to get anywhere from the farm is by car. So the greatest thing about being on vacation and in Europe is the amount of walking we get to do. Walk to shop, walk to eat, walk to get ice cream, walk to coffee…walk to run errands, walk to see the sites.  Also, we have a few days in Frankfurt where we will have lovely walks along the Rhine to get to the old city. Check out our hotel - Gerbermuhle Frankfurt.

Have before and after dinner drinks. I usually don’t do this in America, but in Europe I think it’s completely reasonable to have a glass of Port or Vin Santo or something after dinner and even have something before and during dinner. And you know what else I’ve noticed – you can drink loads of wine in Europe and not wake up with a hangover. Hmmm, why? But it’s true. Yes, I’ve tested it many many times. Occasions when I should be face down in my pillow in the morning after a boozy wine dinner, and I feel like a million bucks. I’m a complete mess after 2 drinks here – why not in Europe?  

     

     Only possible explanation: Europe is awesome and nothing bad happens to you there.

 I’m sure there are more things that I’m not thinking of – but I’ll leave it at that for now. Just about non-stop thinking of vacation at this point – and when that happens – friends - we call it WORKATION. That means  I am actually at work, but I’m really not working, I’m in full-on vacation mode counting down the days. Heading to the drugstore next for supplies and travel size goodies. Love getting ready for trips. 

Plan(e) of Attack

We’re getting all the last minute things done for our Croatia trip – which means finding the fishing pole, getting out the snorkel gear, the water shoes, the motion sick meds, the “whatever elses”  we could possibly need. But first things first – this time – way in advance – I tried really hard to book the best possible seats for the long haul of our trip – which is the leg from Vancouver BC to Frankfurt. This is the plane:

So we are sitting in 35K and 35H. The row with just 2 seats, should be pretty undisturbed, not too close to the snack area or the bathrooms, no touching of other people, just us and only us – well except for the entire planeload of others. I booked similar seats for the trip back too. My only worry, someone will screw it up and we will get to the check in area and our seats won’t be our seats. Then I will have to get all ugly and rude. I really really don’t want seats other than in the side row where there are only 2 seats. And no super fat strangers taking up my personal space. Thank you!

Why I have PTSD about this:  Once on a flight from Rome to Detroit I got seat 2 in a 5 seat row, leaving only the aisle seat available for someone else. The someone else showed up and to my joy was a normal sized person. But, sadly, before I could blink, the normal sized person jumped up and changed seats with someone else so he could sit with his wife and the person who ended up next to me was no less than 400 pounds. NO LESS THAN 400 POUNDS!! And she had a pretty tough time getting into her seat and then proceeded to hang WAY OVER into my seat space, making me have to lean at a 45 degree angle in the other direction for the rest of eternity. In fact, I’m still leaning to the right. Then, this happened: Our flight sat on the runway for 4 whole hours before we even took off – due to a strike of some kind….. thank you Fate, you’re so nice. Before we even left the ground I was already dying of back break-ache. I worked up the nerve to tell the woman that she was making me uncomfortable and asked if she could please move over and that she needed to stay in her space. She said to me, “Well, I ain’t very comfortable neither!” – and that was our entire conversation for the rest of the 10 hour flight. Not awesome! I even went to find a flight attendant to see if I could maybe move seats – thinking there must be something – and what if… dare I dream…. Something in business or first class – ha – “oh, sorry”…. ZERO available. So I then asked, “could you maybe handle this situation, I’m not getting anywhere”, maybe the flight attendant could make sure she isn’t in half my seat, and she said “oh, I’m not allowed to discuss a customer’s weight problem with them, but you are welcome to talk to her about it!” Great, thanks lady! )

So, the moral of the story is to plan way way way ahead, get good seats, don’t share even one armrest – and then hope for the best. Oh, and do all the things that they say you shouldn’t do on the plane, avoid water, drink a thousand cocktails, eat all their food – and wake up in Frankfurt fully hung over, dehydrated and completely jet-lagged. So excited for vacation! (I really am! Not even joking - despite the hassles, I still super excited to go!)

Craigslist - What's Old?

Here are a few more craigslist items worth getting that I saw this week in the Seattle version. All you need is a little DIY love and these things will be great. This is exactly why I need to become an upholsterer. Take a look:

Chair pair $99

Old chair $85

Dresser $35

Side table $50

Cute Italian tables $75 for the pair

Wood lamp base $45

Car Rental in Croatia

Yesterday we (the Croatia group) had our last organizing phone call before we all meet up in Dubrovnik in a couple weeks. We were trying to make sure we all had tabs on each other for arrivals into Dubrovnik and if we had all booked the same hotel, and how we were going to get up to Split on the day we needed to. 

We decided that we'll rent a car (for 7 of us) to drive the coastal road (D8) up from Dubrovnik, through the small portion of Bosnia and onto Split. I think Google says it's like a 3.5 hour ride, but reality is that on a coastal road in the tourist season (or just after) it will be probably more like a 7-8 hour adventure. And, knowing our group, we'll want to stop a lot for pics, snacks, adventures. I was trying to get familiar with various bloggers ideas of how easy/hard the drive was and the transition through the border at Bosnia, but sounds like no big deal. I then read about how the road is all small and hairpin turns and super dangerous, blah blah, so I just stopped reading that - I really don't need to hear that - seriously. 

And, how fast and hairpin-y do you think we'll go in this thing (see below). Looks like this is our choice of "sweet ride" for accommodating 7 adults. Now sing: "every day I'm shuf-ful-in".

I hope we can fit all our crap in this thing. The more I read about fun things to do there, the more I want to bring - like snorkel gear, kayaks, water shoes, floaty devices, extra long camera lenses, fishing poles.... good lord, we'll need a sherpa. I'm sure we can rent some of that stuff as needed.

Just over 2 weeks away, and we are getting really really excited. If you have recommendations for restaurants and/or fun things to do for any of these spots, let me know. We are going to try to make it to Bisevo, Lastovo, Scedro, Vis, Hvar, Brac, Korcula and Mljet, Orebic, and Trogir on the way back to Split. 

How long can you live without a modern convenience?

Well, apparently, a long time. Today, finally, the repairmen are coming to fix our Viking fridge at the farm. You would think that Viking means awesome, special, high end, excellent. You’d be wrong. Viking means – we break down, we don’t do refrigerators well, and our other stuff isn’t that great either. And it also means that in January when the company was sold to Middleby Corp. that there would be delays and delays and no shipment of parts for as long as it takes any Viking customer to wish they had never set sights on a Viking appliance in their lives.

VCBB5361L

In June (June 8^th, to be exact), we got out to the farm to find that the refrigerator/freezer had stopped completely. Finally got a repair person to come out 2 weeks later to look at it. And they said, ya… it doesn’t work, we need a part…. So they ordered parts – which never shipped never shipped never shipped. We had to finally call and ask WTF? Where is our part? And why haven’t you called?  Oh, sorry, ya, Viking sucks, and they won’t ship parts – some sort of buyout has created some problems there… We’ll let you know. So, they eventually let us know, they could fix our fridge on August 15^th. No biggie, just, what…., over 2 months without a fridge right through the heart of summer. Nice.

So today, the hubby is out there all day, trying to work from the farm, while not just one, but 2 repair people are fixing the fridge. The problem has something to do with the copper pipe that brings water into the fridge and how it gets cold and water condensates on it, and then it gets corroded and leaks out all the refrigerant. The guy just rolled his eyes, oh ya, this happens all the time with these….. blah blah blah. And it has to be 2 guys to come because they have to drag it out from the wall and there is soldering and whatnot, and we get the “opportunity” to pay some astronomical rate of like $900 bucks to have a working Viking fridge. Not awesome.

The upside? We have a really great appreciation for block ice from the olden days. For over 2 months, we’ve been going super old school, filling the freezer drawer with block ice to keep whatever little bits of food cold for the weekend. I wonder how much we’ve spent in block ice since June. I’m thinking about charging Viking for my pain and suffering.

Based on this experience: DON’T BUY VIKING APPLIANCES! We bought the farmhouse with them already installed, so this fix will be good until the warranty is out, and after that, anything but Viking. Once we started having problems with customer service and the parts, we did some searches on Google and found that it’s not just us. People around the country are even more fed up than we are. Viking, you have a lot of work to do to get people back on your side. 

BFF's

Updates from the weekend! While too lazy to actually take a lot of pics, I think these pretty much sum up what we did: eat, drink, play cards. Excellent time - laughed our heads off. So much fun!

A Word about Girlfriends

This weekend the gals are coming out to the farm for some chick time. I am SO EXCITED! We will have so much fun laughing and eating and drinking and hanging out. 

How lucky am I to have some of the nicest friends ever? SUPER SUPER LUCKY! One friend is in town from Sun Valley, another one is on the way out of town for a long stay in Italy, another friend just got back from almost 9 years living abroad - and another one is a transplant here from Memphis. So, this is our first time all back together in a long long time, and we're pretty whipped up about it. 

Here's a thing about chicks. If you meet women who don't have women friends - watch out for those ladies. Something is NOT right about that. All the good gals have good gal friends. I have lots of different groups of friends, and they all have good girlfriends too - good chicks attract other good chicks. If you meet someone who wants to be friends, and you find out that they don't have other friends - it better be because they just moved to your town. If they have no friends but have lived in your town their whole lives - be very suspicious. 

To you men out there - DO NOT date or marry a gal that doesn't have her own friends. You'll be sorry. Healthy relationships are made of lots of other healthy relationships. Men need men friends, women need women friends, men need lady friends, ladies need men friends, men and women need gay friends, young people need old friends, humans need animal friends - and everyone should be friends with bacon. Follow that reasoning, and your life will be happy.

Have a good weekend. Go make a new friend!

Oh, ps. Last night we hosted an alumni cocktail party event for my husband's high school. It was for all the people who live in the Seattle area that went to this particular boarding school back in New Hampshire. I got to meet a whole bunch of really nice new friends, who are you going to meet this weekend?

Another Thing that Bugs Me

A couple of weeks ago there were a bunch of fabulous photo’s taken of Sharon Stone for New You Magazine (see below). They were posted and reposted all over the internet. Sharon Stone looked fantastic. Here’s the part that bugs me.

Quotes from Sharon (from the article) are mostly about how great she feels and how it’s ok to age and how it’s sexy to be who you are! So, why are the “fabulous” shots of Sharon all airbrushed and retouched so that she looks wrinkle-less and fresh in a way that only a magazine photoshop editor can manage? And everyone is all awww, ohhhhh, wowwwww, so pretty. C’mon people, you can look like that too if you have a “team” at a photo shoot to capture you in a great setting, blow your hair back, and then blur out the lines, brighten up the white teeth and eyes, etc. She is a very pretty woman, super pretty in fact, and in her mid 50’s! Can we not show the super pretty pictures of her that are real? I found some photos below, including the photo below of her taken recently at Cannes – and this is probably a paparazzi or media photo, so printed before it’s all touched up and ok’d for publicity.  She is gorgeous. And she has a few well-earned wrinkles. Again, let me repeat, SHE IS GORGEOUS!

 

This is the Cannes shot - Getty Image

Also a Getty Image from an event where she looks real (and great)!

Again, a real photo - sorry - don't have a credit for the pic

I think it’s a big huge fucking dis-service to all of us that we now think that even the “gorgeous” people have to have all their soul scrubbed off before they can make the cover of a magazine. Hey Oprah, you too lady!!! Yes, I’m talkin’ to you. Years of acceptance of who you are, we are, all of us are, and you still have to have every single cover of O Magazine turn you into a completely photo-shopped angelic version of yourself. Sick of it. And you, Oprah, more than any other woman in the world, probably have enough power to say "hey, make me look good, but not like someone that looks like a pretend version of me and about 20 years younger!"

And, yes… I know… nobody wants to buy magazines with covers that make people look like crap – we see those people and ourselves every day – but can we at least find a happy medium somewhere? Am I crazy here, what do you think, is this bugging you too? 

The Great State of Alaska

Our very good friend Jim invited us to his company fishing lodge in Alaska over the weekend. Well, let's call it a long weekend. We shot out of Seattle Wednesday night for Anchorage, stayed a night there in my old hometown - which was an eye opener - then headed out to Dillingham, Alaska and up to the lodge on Thursday morning for a great Alaskan fishing experience. 

The lodge is owned and operated by a large Alaskan corporation, so no expense is spared in making guests feel comfortable. All the gear necessary for fishing, boating, skeet shooting, paddle boarding, kayaking, etc... is there and available. There are guides provided for every activity too.

Most guests are there to salmon fish, but we were between the King Salmon run and the Silver Salmon run, so we mostly fished the river and lake for smaller fish like Trout, Arctic Char and Grayling, all catch and release. We had the best time, didn't see any bears, but still.... amazing!

These trips are generally for clients and employees, so we were super lucky to be invited, and I so so so hope we get to go again someday. 

And still trying to work off the chocolate chip cookies!

Oh, back to Anchorage for a sec. I grew up there - and it was good. But not having been back to Anchorage except maybe 3 times in the past 25 years -well- it's looking a little shabby. I have a feeling that maybe Anchorage was always somewhat shabby, but my younger self was more forgiving. Anchorage may possibly have the worst urban planning in the United States. You should see the number of crappy strip malls with crappy stores, and there isn't a sidewalk to be found anywhere. Thank God there is snow covering it up most of the year, cuz it ain't pretty. 

We took a little tour past the house I grew up in - still looks exactly the same. Drove past my high school - which sort of resembles a large prison - ahhh.... again, not so charming or attractive. But, there you go! We are all who we are and where we came from - so as we drove around, we just laughed and thought about how great it was to visit and not still live there. We did get to meet up with some old friends before we flew back to Seattle, so that was a really great part - I still have some good friends up there - and they are all super happy to live in Alaska still. See, Alaska is great for some, not great for me! 

Mt. McKinley - or Denali (if you so choose)

The Goose that took us from Dillingham to the lodge

The Dining Cabin

Our front porch

Our lovey rustic bedroom

Our cabin

Shooting Skeet

Me shooting Skeet - not exactly by the book 

Getting the dry suits for kayaking

Alaska version of Paddle Boarding - with a dry suit!

Bears!

My big catch

Juvenile eagle