Barcelona

I met two American girls on the night train from Sevilla to Barcelona. Which was not odd, since you tend to meet a lot of people when you travel. But they were intending to sit on the beach all day for three days while in Barcelona.

Meh.

So, I never did meet up with them... for even tapas. And I'm glad I didn't because I met some much more interesting people while in the city by the sea. The first thing you notice is the language. Everything is in Catalan, then Spanish, then English. Catalan is a sort of mixture of Spanish and French, although it's decidedly more French than Spanish and it is its own language, just like Basque. For example, the difference between "please" in Catalan and Spanish is miles apart. Spanish - por favor. Catalan - si us plau. But then again, you have other simple words which are exactly the same.

I arrived at 8am and sought the hostel, which is a less than desirable neighborhood, but the hostel was fantastic, albeit a bit pricey. But what isn't pricey in a large city like BCN? Well, the beer, but we'll get back to that. You can't check in until 11, so I had lots of time to eat some breakfast and sleep on the little futon in the common room. But I also saw Cassie (from couchsurfing) who sort of works at the hostel and she told me about some fun activities that were going on. So, I signed up for a bike tour and a cooking class. And that night, she said a bunch of her friends were going to an open air movie on Montjuic (Mountain for the Jews). "Corpse Bride" was playing in original English and it would be shown on a screen next to the Montjuic castle\fort. Four Euros and you bring your own food and drink? I'm there!

But first, I slept on my really high bunk bed made of metal, had a shower and met two Portuguese guys also in my room. Guy and Fernan from Rio. Great guys! Covered in tattoos and really energetic people. They were only around for one night, before heading off to Ibiza to party.



Here's Guy and me at Parc Guell....

Parc Guell was owned by the Guell family, who were quite wealthy. They loved Gaudi and asked him to start a housing project on a hillside. Well, it never got finished (like everything else Gaudi touched) and was made into a park instead. You might remember some of Parc Guell if you ever saw the final episodes of ANTM when they came to Barcelona. It's where they did their advert and runway show. I totally recognized the place, although I said ABSOLUTELY nothing to Guy and Fernan.



And from the top of the Parc Guell hill, you could see great views of the whole city, although the only good picture I could get was of the Sagrada Familia construction site....



...all the other pictures were kinda hazy since the city is just that big.

The bike tour is run by a really cool Aussie guy who moved to BCN a while back. All the people who work there are international types who like to travel and meet new people, so I was game. But the bike tour was Saturday morning at 11am, which not many people could make. For obvious alcoholic reason the night before. So, our tour was four Americans and Laia, our tour guide. She's from Barcelona, so it felt like our guide was not just telling us rehearsed lines, it felt like she knew her city and just wanted to share.

If you must know, I didn't fall off once, nor did I hit any passing pedestrians! I triumphed and got sunburned! A pyrrhic victory I must say....



He gave two kids a ride on his chopper.... His bikes were very cool and I felt extremely cool while riding them. :)

On our tour, we stopped at the Christopher Columbus statue, which although points towards the water, isn't pointing towards America.... it's actually Africa he's pointing to, but if he was pointing the correct way, he'd be pointing towards land... and he was a sailor. So... yeah...

We also stopped at the beach and had lunch!



And we stopped at the bullring, which had its last fight ever the day after our tour. Catalunyans don't believe that bullfighting is part of their culture, it's Spanish culture, so they voted to have the fights stopped for their inhumane treatment of the bulls. Nobody ever goes to the fights anyway in Barcelona, except perhaps tourists. So, they'll make the bullring into a shopping plaza.



I invited Laia out for tapas that night, and we met up later, walked down....



...La Rambla...



to a very nice tapas bar, where we ate to our hearts' content. Man, I was stuffed!

The next day, I went back to Sagrada Familia (it was on our tour) to go inside and get better pictures. I met a new room addition, Guy (again!), from Israel, Tel Aviv to be exact.



The Nativity facade done by Gaudi....



...such great detail, right?

But the other facade was done by a Cubist artist - the Passion. It was eerily creepy the way the sculptures looked...



...these are the three women weeping over Jesus' dead body, once cut down from the cross. They totally look like the hooded black ghost things from LOTR, right?

And Judas didn't fare any better. Although, this sculpture doesn't creep me out as much as the three women...



...the cryptogram (is that what they're called) is for the number 33, which is the age Christ was when he died.

And inside the cathedral is just as interesting. The way the columns are shaped, the fact that they're using computer programming to hasten the building process... it's kinda cool to have seen older cathedrals and know that they were built over hundreds of years. (Example: Cologne's cathedral was built in about a thousand years because money would run out and then additions would occur, etc.) Well, Sagrada Familia is the modern-day version of that process. And it's paid for not by the state or city, but by the admission ticket prices and private donations. It's how the project started way back in 1882 and that's how the Catalunyans want to finish it. So, it's worth the eight Euro just to know that you're building a cathedral.



Great guy, Guy was, but his Spanish was just dismal. So, we went to Sagrada Familia together and talked about the history and architecture of Gaudi and after taking lots of pictures, which do no justice as you can see, walked to Parc de la Cuitadella and had an ice cream. After that, it was time for my cooking class....



I have recipes for paella, gazpacho, sangria, flan, and tapas. The huge irony of the class? All these recipes originated in Andalucia.... :) I know - irony is a part of my life, so I'm used to it.

But I met some fun people at my table...



...I have their names somewhere in my journal, as well as their emails.

That night I went home relatively early and slept well, since I had to wake up early ro catch a bus to the airport. Then.... Germany. Sigh of relief. My feet were definitely anxious to be pampered! Michelle welcomed my into her little apartment, but I'll wait to post that until a later date... The photos of Spain will have to tide you over until then. :)

Sevilla and Cordoba

Well, my plans changed once I met Aoife, as I have written before. Instead of Madrid, which I've heard conflicting reports on, I went to Sevilla and Cordoba. Cordoba was a quick morning trip from the bustling city of Sevilla. Sevilla is by far the most typically Spanish city you'll ever come across. Bullfights, flamenco, sangria, colonial passageways, winding roads in the Jewish quarter, short siestas, paella... the list goes on and on.

It was once again very hot, since this is still Andalucia. But somehow, maybe I'd just gotten used to it already, but it seemed a tad cooler. Sevilla boasts the largest Gothic cathedral on the planet and the third largest cathedral in the world, all rolled into one. It's massive and you feel very humble. Even the builders, way back when, stated that they'd build a cathedral so big people would say they were mad. They're words, not mine. This cathedral fits into the landscape of Sevilla, however. Unlike the mismatch of Granada's Renaissance cathedral which the mighty Alhambra overlooks.....

Sevilla's streets all seem to blend together as well, which is why we got lost finding the free flamenco bar. Well, the flamenco was free, not the bar. Please, people, this is Spain! People still pay for alcohol! But I must say that Sevilla's nightlife is less energetic than Granada's. Granada is a small city, whereas Sevilla is a bit bigger, making it easier for good tapas bars to be far apart from each other.

The hostel in Sevilla was also a really good find, both for location and price. They didn't have any activities, but you met a LOT of great people. Aoife and I met lots of Aussies, mostly from Melbourne. We went out as a big group the first night we were there, did flamenco as a smaller group the second night. Lots of fun, except for the feet, which had to remain unhappy until I got to Bonn last week. Man, I don't think I've ever had so many blisters or raw skin in my life. But at least I didn't have bugs after me. Aoife had that honor!

So... pictures!



Here is colonial Sevilla in her subtle beauty. A totally different feel from Granada, which still had tastes of the Moors everywhere you turned. Sevilla had more time to be christianized I suppose....



The mighty Gothic cathedral! I really couldn't get a good picture of the whole thing since it's that big. And there isn't a big front door or facade either. The inside was half under construction, but it didn't matter. There was still sooooo much to see.



Like this! This is the main nave (?) of the cathedral, which was just kilometers long it seemed.



Holy golden high altar, Batman!



The streets in the Santa Cruz (tr: Holy Cross) neighborhood are sometimes so close, that they are called kissing streets. The Santa Cruz used to be the Jewish Quarter. Then they changed the name to Santa Cruz and took down a lot of religious work done by the Jews, set up plazas inside some of the narrow streets to erect crosses and.... suddenly, nobody was Jewish anymore! Voila!



Aoife and I were so tired after the long cathedral march (you'd think large stone walls would keep out heat, but no), so we sat down (ironically at a Irish pub, we didn't know it until you got inside) and had tapas. We had tortilla espanyola and papas arrugadas. The papas are actually little new potatoes that you dip in a spicy red sauce. The sauce itself needs mixing or else the oils are all you get. Well.... Aoife found this out the hard way. :)



At the free flamenco, there was a semi-drunk sitting next to our group, as well as a really arrogant couple who I think were from Madrid. The arrogant man of the couple kept smoking a cigar, which is prohibited while the flamenco is going on. But oh - how maginificent the flamenco was! Just pure energy coming from the dancer, hypnotic singing and masterful guitar playing..... It was really hard to get a good photo, but I think I got a good enough one. Sometimes flamenco is sung only, sometimes a dance accompanies. The finale was a song and dance about Sevilla the city. Sevilla as a city is a flower, always blooming. Sevilla is a little child, always making mistakes. Sevilla is the center of the world, sometimes nothing at all. It was beautiful. Really inspiring.... made me want to pay money!

Our morning trip to Cordoba proved tiring (we were just worn out by then) and awesome at the same time. We shared an audioguide and found the nearest bench to sit down on while listening, before moving on to the next sight to see. But literally, La Mezquita is one giant mosque-cathedral-hall. It had three separate additions by both Muslims and Christians.



The columns were re-used from the Roman walls around the city, as well as the red and white bricks. The first part of the mosque was built in only 70 years and it's roughly the size of half a football field!



The two religions come together in a way I've never seen before. If I went to Israel I might see something comparable, but the cathedral is in the middle of the mosque actually. This wall hides the royal chapel of the mosque. And then a fourth and final addition to the building centered itself on building chapels surrounding the cathedral. So, you're walking around with the red and white arches above you with chapels flanking your walk towards the mihrab, which is the most holy corner of a mosque because it point the way to Mecca. History and religion and culture in one giant hall..... crazy cool!



Here is the inner part of the mihrab, and it definitely reminds you of Granada, right? But the fourth and more christian addition of the building left the mihrab off-centered, so... the building feels a bit unfinished. :(



Every cathedral has a Treasury and this is one of the treasures in Cordoba. It is literally carried - yes, carried - through the streets on a specific day of the Catholic calendar. I can't remember exactly the holiday, but throngs of people line the narrow streets and give praise to a certain saint, while carrying the burden of the treasures of the church. This thing must weigh... too much, that's for sure!



The tower not only has bells, which the Christians added, but it was originally a medina, where the Islamic prayers of the hours were called out. Sevilla has a tower as well, which Aoife and I went up. It's not steps, but ramps up to the top, wide enough for a man on horseback to ride, in order to call the prayers or ring the bells.

After two nights in Sevilla, and a morning trip to Cordoba, I left Andalucia with anticipation. I skipped Madrid, but I wasnæt about to ignore Barcelona, the second largest city in Spain. It sprawls out in a valley by the Mediterrean kinda like Los Angeles. With sights like Sagrada Familia and other Gaudi creations, I was NOT missiong out on that for anything.

"and really bad eggs"

If this computer had the PC hidden from view, then I wouldn't get my hopes up, thinking that I could upload pictures from either my camera or memory stick. Alas, the PC is in clear view and has USB access. And yet the computer does not recognize anything used in the USB ports.

Sigh.

And so, there are no photos still to be seen from my fabulous time in Europe so far. But this I know - Oslo has a computer which I can use as long as I want! I know this because it will be at the YFU offices and have used it before! Happy days!

Sigh.

Can you hear the difference between the sighs?

In other news: No more heat rash on my upper left thigh....Seeing the new Harry Potter tonight in original English....Going shopping at the Birkenstock outlets tomorrow

Quick News Update: Liz Still Alive

Like all good travellers, I am having too much fun! This also means however, that finding time to put photos and longer posts on my blog is difficult. Also, the free computers I using at the hostels don have access to a USB cable, so... there is that as well.

I flying to Germany on Monday, so hopefully I will be able to find a wonderful internet cafe with access to a USB cable. But here is a quick run-through of what has happened since my last Granada chapter.....

The Alhambra was really gorgeous and I met Aoife, an Irish girl. Followed her to Sevilla and skipped Madrid all together. Sevilla provided me with great company at the hostel, as well as very good (and free!) flamenco and an enormous Gothic cathedral. A quick morning trip to Cordoba left me breathless - La Mezquita should be a must for anyone in Andalucia! As well as the Alhambra of course! The train ride to Barcelona was uneventful, but met some fellow American girls. They were going to hang out on the beach all the time, so I doubted I would meet up with them over the weekend. The hostel in Barcelona was great and I met Cassie, also a couchsurfer. She let me in on some of the activities in BCN, which I will partake in, including a bike tour of the city and a cooking class for Sangria and Paella! Totally yummy!

That is it so far, but photos and little tidbits to come, of course! I am in love with Spain (yes, even the rude people who try to run you over in the street) and am for sure coming back one day soon! Viva España! Viva Catalunya!

Besos!

Granada: Chapter Two (lots of photos)

Wow! I am seeing a lot of Granada and it´s almost over. Which is sad because it´s one of the most interesting and beautiful cities I´ve been to yet. Yesterday, I walked around the Albayzin, which is the old Moorish quarter. The streets are very narrow, with lots of shops and tea houses. I stopped in one tea house and had some jasmine tea. Delicious, and just the thing when it´s blazing hot outside. Because the tea houses are cool and dry.

I did the Alhambra this morning. You can enter the park anytime after 8am, but you have a specific time to enter the Palacios Nazaries, which is the most stunning part of the Alhambra. Essentially, the Alhambra is the old royal city of the Moors. If you don´t know what a Moor is - look it up. There´s so much history. I spent the entire six hours of my allotted time in the Alhambra, walking around the gardens, and taking so many pictures (I had to delete some of them). I also met Aoife (said: Efa), from Ireland. She´s travelling around Spain and doing volunteer work with WOOF. Again - look it up. And since meeting her, my travel plans have changed. That´s how well we get along. So, instead of Madrid - I´m going to Sevilla. :) And then Barcelona.

But OK - the pictures! ...



This is the important place to start. If you can see the wiggle that looks like the letter W - that's the symbol for ALLAH in Arabic. And it's written over 9,000 times throughout the Palace alone! Must be an important guy....



Doorways and archways like this are commonplace for the royal palace. The insane amount of detail is astounding! And the sort of stalactite carvings that hang from a doorway or arch are typical of the Nazarine reign.



Here's some more detail for you....



Water was incredibly important, not just because it's blazing hot in southern Spain, but is the Islamic faith as well. So were the colors of gold, red, green and white. So, little spaces like these are inside every archway, for water jugs to be placed. You could not only clean your hands or feet, but praise Allah for his many gifts, including water. The act of cleansing is also important during prayer, so you see also many little alcoves used only for prayer, including a place for water to either be held in a jug, or flow from a fountain.



In the middle of the breathtaking details are sometimes latticed windows. This is so women could peek in on the meetings or going-ons of the menfolk without the men having to see them in return.



This is the throne room. I tried taking a picture of the ceiling, which is the better feature of the room. It is supposed to resemble the heavens and how humble man must feel in sight of Allah's creations. When you look up, you feel very tiny. Not because it's such a large ceiling, but because of the concave effect the ceiling has on you. The room is a perfect cube and the ceiling transforms fron cube to octagon to cube, towering upwards, with gold detailing to create the "stars" and "planets" in the skies. It's a shame I don't have a picture, but the room itself is awe-inspiring and no photo could capture that feeling.



This walkway surrounds the lion fountain, which was quite a feat in its day. Twelve lion sculptures held up a massive fountain, which worked as a clock. Twelve hours per half-day (as well as the twelve tribes of the Jews?). Water would flow from a lion's mouth each hour to signify the time. Christians came and tried to take the damn thing apart to see how it worked. Guess what hasn't worked since then? Silly conquering Christians.... They have people working on both the giant fountain and the very large royal family room (so to speak), so no pictures of the royal family. This would have been a unique thing, since depictions of man was not a regular occurence, according to Law. Allah's inscriptions were much more important, so why make a mosaic of your immediate royal family when they are insignificant in the grand scheme of things....

There was one room, which I don't have a good photo of, where an entire family was slaughtered by opposing political factions. Boabdil's entire family was wiped out and their heads were cut off and left to drain into the fountains, causing the water to turn red with blood. But Boabdil still became the next Nazarine caliph! Ultimately, Boabdil was pushed out when Christians conquered Granada in 1492 - the Alhambra was the last seat of power to fall to the Christians, after both Cordoba and Sevilla.

King Charles the Fifth then built his own (really monstrous looking) "palace" nearly on top of the Nazarine Palace, blocking what once were spectacular views. This was the time of the Renaissance, so there was a lot of really plain walls and heavy wood ceilings and doors. In comparison, it looks practically primitive.

Anyway, back to the good stuff. Even though Charlie did build icky looking buildings, there were still great views to be had and of course, the caliph's private castle and gardens.



Here's a view of the Albayzin (old Moorish quarter) and the Sacromonte (the hillsides where the Roma live). The Albayzin is where the town of Granada originated outside of the Alhambra walls. They built everything on the hillsides for defensive purposes, since the outlying plains are distinctively flat and hard to defend from a very high outcrop like the Alhambra. The typical white coloring of the houses made for somewhat sooler living spaces in the hot summers, but the green you see between the buildings is a modern occurence. Back in the day, there would have been no trees lining the narrow pathways, as water would have been preserved for more important things like feeding animals, people, crops, and of course, during prayer. The Sacromonte is mostly the steep hillsides and cave-dwellings. You can see a few of the little holes in the hills where the cave openings are. They don't like to be called gypsies, which refers to Egypt (and they clearly aren't from Egypt), so they are called Roma. The women like to shove twigs of herbs in your face as you pass them on the street. Just ignore them, even if they shout after you!



A view of the massive Renaissance Cathedral from the Alhambra... That part of Granada wasn't built until Charlie came in and decided to christianize everyone. Even all the local mosques in the Albayzin were converted to churches to placate the local public. If there's no mosques, how can you practice Islam, right? Well, that's what Charlie thought anyway.



Underneath all of the beauty are storage rooms, and apparently, this one is built in a way that you can hear whispers, even from across the giant stone walls. Aoife and I tried it out, but... it's also such a small room, that you can hear each other anyway.



These low windows were built so that one could lounge on a pillow on the floor and look out onto the landscape. What landscape you ask? Yes, well, there's Charlie again, building things in front of the original views from the Palace. So, now instead of seeing the beautiful hillsides of the Sacromonte and Albayzin, you see redwoods. Charlie's garden. It pales in comparison to the gorgeous Generalife gardens of the caliph, which Charlie kept as was.



A walkway in the gardens of the caliph. It smelled fantastic, between the roses and the myrtle.... simply heavenly!



Again, water playing a central role. Except this time, it looks a little bit more... European? Still, it was really hot and this place offered little shade. That is until you found...



...this little oasis! Palms like this are not actually that common, but it helps to have a nearby stone edifice to keep away the sun.



Nice little private getaway in the middle of the gardens. Very simple in comparison to the opulate details of the royal palace. Here, the sultan and the sultana could while away the hours of blistering heat in total bliss and privacy. It really was quite lush in its simplicity.

I had a picture of another garden leading up to the higher point of the private palace, where the remains of an ancient tree stand hanging over the garden. The tree when ripe and flowering would have had a sheltering effect, and its said that the sultana carried on secret meetings with a Christian knight under that tree. Sadly, my picture got accidentally deleted. Boo.



Another water decoration. This time in the form of a stairway that leads to a great view of Granada atop the private palace. Three sections of stairs with water running down both sides. With both the running water and the wind in the trees, it was definitely a calming effect to walk around in.

Also situated in the Alhambra is the old soldier fort, the Alcazaba. It sat on the foward most part of the hill, of course to be able to see approaching enemy forces. They had great views from the bell tower, which locals can ring on the day of something-or-other, when Granad gained independence from... somebody. But its nice to be able to know that locals are involved in the history of the city.



But here's the view from that tower...



A view of the soldier walkway from within the bell tower. And when I say bell tower, it's not like that of a church steeple. No, it's more like a large tower with a roof, where soldiers could watch, as well as stand in formation while ringing bells to warn the caliph.



Yes, yes. My four nights in Granada were well worth the heat! It's one of the more beautiful cities in Spain, even if I've only been to four cities total. Don't care. It's got its own charm, which probably dates back to the time it was founded, before even the Moors came to settle in Andalucia. I adore the tiny winding streets, the excellent wine and tapas, the lazy yet energetic atmosphere. I just don't want to ever come back in the middle of July! :)

Granada: Chapter One

Mom - Dad - I´m coming home a lot smaller. I´ve probably sweated off about ten pounds in my first two days in Granada. If you understand Celsius - it´s 40 degrees right now and it´s eight o´clock in the evening!!!!! No wonder everyone stays out until 2 or 3 in the morning.

:) Which is exactly what I will be doing tonight! My friend Sarah, who is touring some high schoolers around Spain, is in Granada until Tuesday. She met some locals (David et al), who in turn would like to hang out with me and teach me Spanish. I´ve been speaking Spanish pretty much all day today! Between that and the sweat, I´m ready for a shower and a nap before going out tonight.

No pictures yet of anything worthy of this blog. But I thought I would update people with what´s happened so far: tapas, tinto de verano, shewermas, cerveza, and coffee. :) Got all that?

I didn´t think so. Tinto de verano is a great red wine spritzer they drink only in the summertime (de verano). It´s wine, but it doesn´t taste like it. It´s great when you´re really tired and hot and you need to sit down and relax. Cerveza is good for that too, but tinto de verano is special. The tapas are very yummy. Tortillas español - deliciosas!!!

So, hopefully I´ll have some fun pictures and some tourist pictures from tonight and Tuesday (the Alhambra). :) Other than that, I´m enjoying the little streets (that I haven´t got lost in... yet) and the company of warm-hearted people like Randi (who took me into her home while I´m here), David and Sarah.

That´s about all for now!! Time for sweaty Liz to melt away.....

Wisconsin/Illinois

I have no chapters for this part of my trip, since I leave tomorrow and have the time now to post my entire visit to the Midwest.

So, Wisconsin and Illinois are very humid and hot in the summer. Who knew. Basically, I got in to Midway around midnight and would have been sweating if Emily hadn't have been right there as I walked outside. We got back to her place around 2am and poor Shayne had to be up for work at 4am, so by the time I woke up at 11am, he was already back from work. Emily and I went out for the afternoon and he went back to bed for a long nap. :)

Sunday: Emily and I picked up her friend, Amanda. We drove up to Milwaukee to go to a craft fair. But this was no gray-haired doilies and quilted mitten craft fair... Oh no! This was a fair I could sink my teeth into. And did! (Sorry wallet...) They had really cool printwork, either on clothes or buttons or tableware. There were jewelry makers, made from iron or bronze or tin. There were the organic candle people. There was a co-op clothing rack. There were really funky laptop bags that looked like furry monsters. Awesomeness all around. I spent fifty bucks, which is so easy to do at a fair like that, it's really not funny.

I bought a T-shirt and a headband. The T-shirt is brown with a yellow print design on the front. But the shirt fabric is really soft and I could see myself walking around Spain with this T-shirt on. The headband is blue print fabric, but what impressed me was that the band didn't feel tight at all. It was just enough pressure that I could remember I was wearing a headband, but not so much pressure that I had a headache in five minutes. Both the vendors were really sweet and I got cards, if anyone's interested in their stuff. Amanda also bought a headband and some buttons. Emily bought a coinpurse and a T-shirt.

Then, we headed back to spend some time in the pool. Sigh. Genius idea and totally worth it since it was... hot and humid like always.


The three girls in the pool. I had to buy a new swimsuit because I forgot to pack one!

Then, after a nice dip in the not-so-cold water, we went over to Progress Days. Now, in the country (and I do mean country), towns like to have little summer festivals. Singing, beer, brats, carnival rides, baseball games, fireworks, etc. Well, Progress Days is this region's version of that. :) We basically sat in the beer tent (more like a hay-holding structure) and listened to country music (sung by a blond ten year old) and watched the baseball game and cracked jokes.


I had to drink Mike's Lemonade because the only beer they had was Miller. Ugh.


Emily scarfing down a funnel cake. I stuck to the fried potatoes.


This was the blond high-pitched girlie who "sang" country. But then again, novelty goes a long way and people loved her. Except our table. :)

After the fireworks (dejavu?), we dropped Amanda off at her house before heading over to Lumpy's. Yes, I said Lumpy's. It's the bar Emily and Shayne like to hang out at. Should we have gone to Knockers? They're real thinkers around these parts when it comes to bar names. Anyway, my mission was to drink Shayne under the table. Well... it sorta happened. I definitely held my own. But I was drinking much thicker beer than he was. He had like five Miller's to my three Hefs. But maybe that makes us about even. And we each had three Jaegerbombs. Needless to say, I got sloshed. But at least Shayne was the only one to get up and do karaoke. Giggle.


I love how I look better in this picture. Kidding Em!


Emily won a free drink and a hat after correctly guessing who sang "Wishing Well" and "Sign Your Name". Any takers?


Could Shayne be anymore Joey Tribbiani-esque? How YOU doin'?

We slept off our respective drunken tendencies. No hangover on my side of the fence. But then again, I've been blessed in that arena. Yesterday, we woke up late and decided not to go into Chicago, which was probably wise. We drove over to Silver Lake since it was hot again. But while we were there, the sky started to get a little too dark for our comfort.


This little guy stopped by and stayed for like... thirty minutes. He's my new pet. I will squeeze him and love him and name him George!


Notice how nobody is in the water behind us. They pulled everyone out since thunder and lightning were on their way.

We spent the brunt of the rain and wind and thunder in Emily's car eating Dairy Queen. I heart Wisconsin. We then got dry and dressed and went to see "License To Wed". I adore John Kraczinsky, but Robin Williams kinda fell flat. John stole a lot of scenes actually. But the credits were worth it - all kinds of bloopers. Great stuff... After that, dinner at Applebee's. Shayne and I discovered that we don't want our danglies to be in our crumblies. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, that's very OK and probably better for your sanity.

Then, we went bowling. Oh, the tragedy! My worst bowling scores to date: 74 and 65! Dismal indeed, but I did beat Shayne in the first game. :)


I think Shayne caught Emily looking at my ass. Can't blame her...


I had to have the shoes with the neon green laces. En fuego!


Here's Emily trying out a little rumpshake before bowling. It didn't help her game.... :(

What's on the menu for today, you ask? Sushi. We're going out to lunch and then hitting up Wal-Mart (against my better judgment) for all my purchasing needs. It kinda sucks, but where else am I going to find batteries, a Nalgene water bottle and chapstick? In Wisconsin no less. Then, I leave tomorrow for Frankfurt and the adventure continues....