Ahh...

What a relaxing vacation! The resort we stayed at on Roatan was remote and sparsely populated. I had lots of time to catch up on reading, listen to the ocean and experiment with my camera (I recently took a photography class and learned a bit more about it). It was all very refreshing.



I enjoyed taking pictures of the different creatures we saw as well, and Kelley and I sat at the table by the hummingbird feeder every meal we could. At night, the bats would come and finish off any sugar water the birds had left.




And I was thrilled to get to meet the little girl at the local orphanage that I am mentoring through an Austin-based non-profit.


We also enjoyed snorkeling -- so many different fish! -- kayaking, and enjoying the sunsets.

Cuidad de Mexico

Just a quick post from my quick visit to Cuidad de Mexico. I arrived here yesterday to meet up with my cousin Kelley who has been living as an ex-pat here for three years. We had a lovely dinner last night in a local restaurant, although we had difficulty talking over the tremendous storm. The "rainy season" just began, which usually entails 2-3 hours of rain in the late afternoon. Last night was the storm to end all storms, beginning with a clap of thunder that nearly had me diving under the table. I swear, it sounded like a bomb had just leveled a nearby building. After the thunder, it proceeded to POUR down small hail for at least an hour. Rain was also coming down in torrents. We took our time through our meal and hung out until the rain was just a drizzle. Walking back to my cousin's place, we watched people sweeping the hail off the sidewalk.

Today, we headed to the center of town and toured the national palace, where the president still works. To celebrate Mexico's 200th year of being a country, there are several exhibits in the palace, including one on the history of the country and another which features the bones of the heroes of the revolution. Yep, we got to see bones. The bones haven't always been well taken care of, but in honor of the anniversary, they were restored as much as possible and presented to the public for viewing. Each hero is honored by a small chest which is partially open (all encased in glass). By the small opening, you can identify some bones -- in some cases, a skull, in others, a vertebrae or rib. I thought I would be weirded out, but the scientist part of me took over and just had fun identifying the bones. At one point, I said to my cousin, "here's a femur!"

The national palace is also adorned with incredible murals by Diego Rivera. I took many pictures, the best of which I'll share once I'm home. There were also different policia, army and some guys in ninja-turtle-like armor. We had to go through a cursory screening to get in (no fee), and they took away our pens. I figured it was a small price to pay for all we saw.

Tomorrow morning, we leave uber-early to the airport to fly to El Salvador and then on to Roatan, Honduras. I don't know if I'll have internet access, so the next post may be after I return home.

Just Breathe

I'm finally back on my current time zone. I had a tough time while in Paris, waking up most nights for an hour or two. And returning stateside, I was in Austin for less than 12 hours to unpack and repack for a business trip to Seattle. I was completely jetlagged in Seattle, and the project demanded overtime. I did get one evening with my aunt, uncle, cousin and her new fiance, which was very enjoyable. And then as soon as I landed in Austin, I was off to ballet practice to pick up niece & nephew, Anna & Colin. I stayed with them for the weekend while my sister and bro-in-law had a weekend away with friends.

Whew! Catching my breath now, enjoying snuggling with my cat and sleeping in my own bed.

I haven't yet downloaded the pics from Paris. Will do soon...

Paris, Revisited

Paris is gorgeous, as always, but the weather has been drippy gray and I've been slowed by a cold. As usual, I've been pushing myself to go-go-go, and I'm quite exhausted. Yesterday and today, I walked and walked, taking pictures of buildings and scenes that caught my fancy, stopping to eat when I got hungry, and seeing as much as possible. The people I've met have been very forgiving with my French, and the food has been divine.

The apartment I'm renting has a computer (awesome!) with a French keyboard (frustrating). It's mostly similar to an English one, but has a few differences that slow me tremendously and force me to "hunt and peck." If I were to type as I usually do, here's how this paragraph would turn out:

The qpqrt,ent Iù, renting hqs q co,puter 9qzeso,e1à zith q French keyboqrd 9frustrqting0: Itùs ,ostly si,ilqr to qn English one; but hqs q fez differences thqt sloz ,e tre,endously qnd force ,e to hunt qnd peck: If I zere to type qs I usuqlly do, hereùs hoz this pqrqgrqph zould turn out:

So, this post will be short! :-) I look forward to sharing pictures when I get back stateside.

Travel Time

It's been a relatively quiet 6 weeks so far in 2011 with only a couple brief trips. But the next couple weeks will be on the road. Tomorrow, I go up to Chicago for the day. This means a 6:30 a.m. flight out and coming back around 10 p.m. A very long day.

On Thursday, I leave for Paris. Yep, going back again! I just love that city, as well as my friends there. I'm looking forward to a few days off and just enjoying everything Paris has to offer.

I get back on a Tuesday evening, and take a 7:00 a.m. flight out the next day to Seattle for work. I'll only be there a couple days, and I wish I could stay the weekend to visit my family up there, but I've already committed to staying with my niece & nephew, Anna & Colin, while their parents have a weekend getaway.

And then it will be March! Does anyone else feel like time is flying by as if we're on a rollercoaster? I'm enjoying the ride, though!

Some are Gold

Anyone else remember this song from Girl Scout days?

"Make new friends, but keep the old,

Some are silver and the other gold."

I had an amazing time visiting with some great friends yesterday. First, I flew up to Dallas for a few hours to reunite with my gal pals and have our belated Christmas Lunch Bunch. One of them said we've been doing this for 13 years or so now, and because of my insane travel schedule in December, I had to push it to January. But we wished each other a merry Christmas anyway and had a lovely time visiting and catching up. It's always interesting to me to hear what everyone is doing with each at different stages of our lives: one is actively raising 3 little ones while another is about to send her second to college and one is about to get married (time for a shower to celebrate!). Lots of joy, and I value our strong friendship bonds.

Facebook is great to catch up with people from years past. Of course, there's always the ones I don't remember (we went to high school together? And you remember that?), but many people I've enjoyed catching up with and seeing what they are up to now. One former colleague who actually did go to high school with me (although we didn't know each other then), emailed to ask if we could get together while she and her husband were in Austin this weekend. So after landing, I met up with them for dinner. We had a great visit and caught some live music that Austin is so famous for on 6th Street. I got home after midnight with a full heart.

Paris!

I'm in Paris! A couple months ago, I got an email from Delta about their fare sales, and I wrote to my girlfriend Irish Parisienne who lives here. When she said she would be around for New Year's, I booked the trip.

Irish Parisienne and I met through our blogs, and we estimate we've been reading and commenting on each other's dating odysseys for 3-4 years. When I met her in person back in April (my first ever trip to the City of Lights), we instantly clicked and solidified our friendship. Since then, she's been encouraging me to come back, and as I find New Year's Eve depressing on my own, I decided this was a good occasion.

Today, being my first day here, was a bit rough from the jet lag. Although I got a few hours sleep on the plane, it always catches up to me my first day here. I'm renting a lovely little studio apartment from a friend of IP's, and the comfy bed and shuttered windows were ideal for an afternoon nap.

Every meal I've eaten in Paris has been delicious, and today was no exception. For lunch, I had a quiche lorraine, and dinner was exquisite: pumpkin soup with a creamy blue cheese for starters, and beef tenderloin cooked to medium perfection with baby potatoes and a scrumptious wine reduction gravy. And French wine, of course!

Now it's off to bed for me. I'm too tired to tell you the rest of the story, but there's more... :-)

Abandoned, but only temporarily

No, I haven't given up on the blog. I just haven't had time or energy to write. I've been working an insane amount -- work/life balance what? -- and since I don't write about work and haven't been doing much else or had time to do much else...the blog suffered.

Beginning with the second week of November and on through December, I've travelled every week except the week of Thanksgiving and now this coming week, the week of Christmas. While business travel sounds interesting to those who enjoy travel and don't do it for work, it is actually quite draining and you see very little of the places you visit. I generally end up working more hours on the road, since I don't have my recorded shows or family or friends to catch up with in the evenings, and lately, I've had to work until the wee hours just to keep up with the overwhelming workload.

Where've I been? Chicago three or four times, Boston twice, NYC twice (forgive me, jman, I didn't have time to catch a drink), Indianapolis and Houston once each. I've reestablished my priority status on at least one airline carrier, and I've also racked up my loyalty programs with hotels and rental cars. And I'm exhausted.

Meanwhile, as readers of my sister's blog will know, my longtime companion -- my 17-year-old cat Sabrina -- broke her leg Thanksgiving night. I'm still not sure exactly how it happened, but I think she was startled and bumped into her water bowl and then slipped on the tile. The result was a break in her femur, which required surgery. It was extremely stressful for her, and pretty darn stressful for me, too. The worst was having to leave her for two weeks after her surgery. Thank God for my sister Dr. Jenn and her caring staff. We kept her in a kennel at the clinic, even though the clinic doesn't do boarding anymore, and that helped to keep her calm and still and allow the bone to begin to heal. For the last week, she's been recuperating at home with a petsitter visiting daily. And she's starting to use the leg a bit and is happily purring beside me as I write.

So again, I apologize to my loyal readers and thank you for coming back! I do enjoy blogging and enjoy having a life for that matter, doing more than just work. I know we can never go back, but I want to have more balance like I did a few months ago, so I'm taking steps to make that happen.

Basel, Good Friends & Good Food

I can't believe it's been a week since I posted.

The rest of my time in Europe flew by, with days beginning at 6 a.m. and finishing around midnight. I barely saw any of Basel. It was one of those typical business trips: airport -- hotel and prepping for meeting -- client's -- airport. So my pictures are quite limited: there's a view of Switzerland from the airport, the display celebrating the World Cup in our hotel's lobby, and the delicious cheese fondue I shared with colleagues over dinner.


I got back state-side Thursday afternoon and started packing in earnest for my upcoming move. I've also been seeing friends and saying goodbyes, with nearly every lunch and evening booked until I leave.

One fun night I'd love to do all over again was with two friends who are also from Texas. I met Beka at a doctor's office, but we only recently started hanging out. She introduced me to her roomie Houston, and I just love spending time with them. They each have helped me by taking care of my cat Sabrina while I was away on recent trips, so I took them out for dinner at Sushi Samba -- one of my all-time favorite restaurants.


We got a fantastic seat on their second floor balcony, overlooking 7th Avenue, and enjoyed some tasty beverages. Beka had never tried sushi before but was a great sport, although she was doubtful that some of the rolls would fit in her small mouth!


We finished the night by getting our palms read by a local psychic in Soho. It was entertaining!

As Long as I'm Here...

I feel like my head is spinning lately. There is SO much going on, I can barely keep up.

My Internet access at home has been out for a WEEK. It's so frustrating. When I called last Sunday, they said the first available appointment was on Friday. So I wasn't thrilled but of course I took it. When the guy came out, he switched out my modem but was unable to fix the larger issue which seems to be how the signal is coming into the whole building. He called the main office, but as it was 5:20 p.m. on Friday, no one answered. They said it should be fixed by Monday. We'll see.

I've been trying to finalize movers and an apartment in Austin, and starting to pack up my stuff. That always makes me purge more, too, so I've got some bags ready for the Salvation Army.

Meanwhile, I'm in London! Last week my presence was requested for a big client meeting with some of my UK colleagues. I got in this morning, will meet with my colleagues tomorrow at the London office to prepare for the meeting. On Tuesday, we all fly out to Basel, Switzerland. Our meeting is Wednesday morning, then it's back to London late Wednesday and back to NYC Thursday morning. A very quick trip for such great cities. But I came in today so I could get adjusted. Jet lag is such a drag! I tried sleeping on the plane but only got a couple hours. I did have to take a nap this afternoon but tomorrow should be good.

Since I was here on Sunday, I decided to head over to St. Paul's Cathedral for a service. The concierge at my hotel said the service started at 12 noon, so I got there on time...and realized it actually started at 11:30. I walked in during the sermon. But I was still able to enjoy the last 60 minutes of the service, including incredibly beautiful choir music. I couldn't see them from where I was sitting, but the marble floors and domed ceilings produced a beautiful echo effect. The altos sounded a bit immature to me, but the sopranos were pure and perfectly pitched. Their high voices soared in the cathedral. When I got up for communion (the program said anyone who takes communion at their home church is welcome), I saw the choir for the first time: they were all men and boys! That explained what I had heard in the alto and soprano voices.

Later, I walked across the Millennium Bridge and visited the Shakespeare Globe Theater museum.


I had dinner at a tasty Indian restaurant, and when I left, the waiter gave me a single rose! Then I walked up to Westminster, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament to walk off the food and lager a bit and enjoyed the sunset light on the buildings.


I just wish I had more time to take a quick trip North to see my family! But I have to get back to NYC and finish packing. Looks like the July 4th holiday weekend will be my best opportunity.

A Day in London

We arrived to a cloudy, rainy day in London (is there any other kind?) although the sun poked through the clouds a few times to make for some great pictures. Having just the one day and one night in the city, we limited our expectations to Harrods, Kensington Park and Hyde Park.

Our hotel was in Kensington, located next to the park, and I captured these pictures of the Prince Albert Memorial, Kensington Palace and the Park to and from Harrods.




Although I've been to England many times, it was my first time to Harrods. The complete-shirt bib and the polite sign about carding minors gave me a chuckle.


Dinner was a delectable treat at a fancy Indian restaurant that came highly recommended by all of the hotel's concierges. The chef combined Indian favorites with skills he learned in France and Italy, and we left very satisfied.

And then my vacation was at an end. I came home exhausted but refreshed. I definitely will go to Paris again (so much more to see!) and of course, with so many loved ones in England, I will also be there again in the future, although probably not London. I think I'm done with Amsterdam, at least for now. And I still have to update you all about that.

Party in Amsterdam

After a peaceful and beautiful train ride through France and Belgium, we arrived at Amsterdam Centraal Station around mid-day. We checked into our hotel and had a delicious lunch at a cafe on Museumplein, seeing preparations already underway around the city for Queen's Day (April 30), the biggest national holiday in the Netherlands to celebrate the Queen's birthday. Originally our plan was to hit the Van Gogh museum after lunch, but my travel partner said she was tired and would prefer to do the Heineken museum.

I like the Heineken museum. First, because they give you two beers as part of your tour, and second, they've done a great job incorporating multimedia elements to bring the beer brewing process to life. We enjoyed it.

The next day we went out of the city to Keukenhof Gardens, known for its beautiful tulips. I had first heard of Keukenhof nearly a year before, and when we planned our trip for April, I knew the tulips would be in full bloom. They did not disappoint. Tulips in every color were a feast for the eyes. I couldn't stop taking pictures! They were so beautiful.




Then we went to the Anne Frank Museum -- amazing and moving -- and took a canal cruise. And that night was the eve before Queen's Day. Festivities were already underway, and we enjoyed the music and laughter on the Leidesplein. And I had fun dancing with this adorable guy.



The next day was Queen's Day, and everyone was wearing orange. It was amazing how many people were in the streets. There were street fairs and carnival booths and concerts. Everywhere you went there were crowds and a party. To escape that for a bit, we toured the Van Gogh museum, always amazing, although I missed Starry Night this time. It must have been out on loan to another museum. We didn't really engage in Queen's Day. NM really didn't like the crowds, and we were both tired from all the activities we'd been packing into each day. But we did see entrepreneurial kids -- not selling lemonade -- selling Heineken! I had to take a picture.


And the next morning we flew to London for a one-day stopover.

Paris...Ooh La La!

Paris was absolutely gorgeous! The city is beautiful, and the weather was idyllic with highs in the 60's and 70's. There is so much to see there, and while we crammed in as much as possible, there are still more places that I want to see on my next trip.

We arrived so early on Saturday morning, most everything wasn't yet open. We walked down to the Champs Elysees and saw the magnificent Arc de Triomphe that Napolean had built to celebrate his troops successes. We found coffee -- I LOVED their coffee, so strong and smooth -- and walked down to the Seine and past the Eiffel Tower, although we saved going up for another day. That first day, we also took a lovely boat cruise, which provided me with a good basic understanding of how the city was laid out. We had a fantastic dinner that night in the Latin Quarter, but the beef left me with a massive tooth ache where the temporary crown is. I drugged myself up for the night and was able to keep it from getting that bad again by only chewing on one side of my mouth for the rest of the trip.


On Sunday, we went shopping, and we enjoyed exploring the little boutiques on Rue de Temple. I navigated the subway system to get us there, and I was impressed with its cleanliness, smooth ride and frequent trains. It was a very easy system to manage. After shopping, we toured Notre Dame, and we were allowed access even though a service was being held. We quietly walked around and respected the sanctity of the church, only taking photos without flash inside. Then we headed over to the Eiffel Tower, where after a quick line for tickets and a cursory look in our bags, we were whisked up to the incredible views of the city. We met some other Americans there, including two women from Houston and a family from Las Vegas, who are in Paris for a year to "learn the language." I envy them!

On Monday, we went to the Museum d'Orsay, but it was closed. And unfortunately, we ran out of time to go back. We walked over to the Louvre, which was open. The garden was fantastic, and I remembered my sister Steph mentioning to me how much she enjoyed it. The Louvre is absolutely massive, so we saw the two pieces we most wanted to see -- the Mona Lisa and the Venus di Milo -- and enjoyed several other pieces to get to those and back.



Monday night we had an amazing dinner at a restaurant that was recommended to me named for the chef, Jacques Cagna. Every course was a delight, but I especially enjoyed the escargot, which were served in mushroom caps and small boiled potatoes, and the crab bisque. After dinner, I was pretty tuckered out, but NM wanted to get a drink at the hotel bar. I started talking to a couple of men beside us, and played "wingman" for her, talking to the late-40's English married guy so she could flirt with the young French guy. I had a good conversation at least, but our whole party was repeatedly interrupted by this obnoxiously drunk Australian woman, who was draping and pressing herself against the two guys. Her friends tried ineffectually to pull her away, but she kept coming back. The young Frenchman was sweet and tried to calm her down when she got to the point of tears. The woman was really embarrassing herself. It was pathetic. But I did get a cute picture out from the evening:



Tuesday, our last day in Paris, we went to Sacre Couer, which is high on a hill in the Northern section of the city. There are many steep steps to get to the cathedral, and on the steps were mimes, sketch artists and musicians, along with groups of tourists enjoying the view. After a moving walk around the sanctuary and taking pictures of the gargoyles on the exterior, we walked down to the Moulin Rouge.



Back to the Champs Elysees for lunch and some shopping, we headed over to the Arc de Triomphe again to walk up 284 more steps to reach the summit and enjoy the view.

But the highlight of Paris for me was getting to meet and hang out with Irish Parisienne, my fellow singleton blogger and virtual friend for the past three years. It was exciting to meet her in person, and we hit it off immediately. She brought along a friend of hers (a girl originally from San Francisco) and we were joined by another Irish guy, and much later her boy-of-the-moment Frenchman. Irish Parisienne and I could have talked all night, filling in the details for each other about our blog stories, but out of respect for the others, we joined the larger conversation. Still, she asked me to regale them with a couple of my stories, and they responded with the appropriate exclamations and laughter.

The next morning, we headed to the train station, on our way to Amsterdam.