the traveling bug, or how I spent a month away

Dearest All,

As many of you know, I spent the past month traveling. Cayman Islands, New York City, France, Ireland, Paris, New York City, Connecticut, New York City, back to Texas. It's absolutely impossible to try to capture what was a tremendous month of work and play. And quite frankly, I'm still a bit exhausted by living out of a suitcase for 28 days. But rest assured, this past month may be the best I've had, start to finish, in a long while. And this includes my 25th birthday month back in 2001 (ye-ouch! that was a while back!)

In lieu of the blow-by-blow (as my mom derides me and my brother's stories), I thought it might be nice to tell you one experience from the entire trip that succinctly sums up the whole shebang...

Once upon a time, traveling through the City of Lights, I got the great idea to take some long exposure photographs of various cultural highlights: the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Les Grand Palais, the River Seine, you get the idea. Being that the French like sub-compact cars (as evidenced by the singular Citroen) that seat at least six, there was plenty of space for my mini-tripod and my growing fear of near-fatal car crash. We hustled 10 minutes into the center of the city to catch the Eiffel Tower's light show, but sadly there were no places to park. Solution: Park at a bus stop. As Fabien P., recently married to the Virgin Islands' own Emily P. nee S. said as a response to my concern of our "Twingo" being towed, "of course it's fine! We are in Paris!"

That, in a nut shell, is France. Centuries old buildings and streets, the art and churches, the gardens, the food, the architecture, the streets, and the je ne sais quoi of the people. No matter how the French are perceived or categorized, I just love them. I had more trouble talking to waiters in Ireland. In Paris, no matter how I tried to work my small grasp of the local language, they immediately switched over to English, which both made ordering easier and dinner more fun.

Of course, France is nothing without its people and their cultural mores. I know us Americans like to either snigger or giggle (or is that the same?) about French and their tolerance of sex in all its forms. You expect the nudity on the television after 11pm. You may even plan on it (I didn't, I swear). But you don't expect: 1) a lady openly browsing the airport porn rack prior to departing from JFK. and you DEFINITELY don't expect: 2) a guy openly carrying a porn DVD onto the metro (their subway) during the morning rush hour. But that's how they roll. There is something, I'm sure, to be said for it. And it might explain why they smoke so much.

All in all, I had a great time in Paris. And though I understand the point that "you can do Paris when you're older, so go to some third world place when you're young", I disagree. Paris needs to be done in your youth. Then you build in time to go back later. It's just that beautiful a place.
And besides which, as I hurtle towards my latest birthday (31...where oh where has it all gone!) I might already qualify for the above point. Damn!

Stay well, be safe, and embrace love this spring and summer 2007,
goose

THE SHOUT-OUTS (JUNE 2007! Edition):

Guinness Is Good For You! Shout-Out to Dublin, The Guinness Brewery, the people of Ireland (especially the bartenders and waiters), and of course Guinness beer. If Paris left me starry eyed, Dublin was for sure just as fun. Any country who has their largest brewery double as the number one tourist attraction is fine with me. And to think that the best weather I had in Europe (I had good weather follow me from the Caymans all the way back to Texas) was in Dublin. Though there is no such thing as a warm rain there. Brr!

Happy Graduation Shout-Out to cousin Leah K. of Cheswick, PA! Further proof that I'm getting old. Unfortunately, there's been no confirmed reports on her matriculating university, but I'm certain she'll do well.

Happy Moving Day Shout-Outs to: 1) Clayt and Kim L. of Juno Beach, FL nee Erie, PA and 2) T3 and Joy S. of Austin, TX nee Jersey City, NJ. I'm doubly excited for their move, though Clayt will have to try hard to score as nice a backyard as he had in Erie. And with T3 and Joy so close, they should start expecting to spend more time with me! It's like we planned this!

Happy Summer Semester Shout-Out to all my fellow students and academics. Summer means travel, and that includes Dr. LW of Riverside, CA (who was fishing with family last weekend), and D. Mike of Cambridge, MA who somehow got to Germany. Throw in my trip and Brother Euge's trip to England and Finland, and its a wonder how the Monastery scored a cumulative 4.0 this past year. And word on the street is that my summer traveling hasn't even gotten started...

June Birthday Shout-Outs to: My Aunt Helen, D.Mike and Beth (and Garfield), Brother Euge, and oh, I don't know... hmm... who could it be?!!! (You definitely should get to Texas for the party, kids...)