I'm living in the dark ages

Okay since we have gotten home...James has started work (he is bored at work, surprisingly these bosses don't expect him to finish a years work in two months, rather they are surprised by how fast he works....he has become the new wiz kid at work), we have moved into a new house (a cute house and its not falling in to the ground like our last house, no slanted floors in the new house) and I'm some what working at a sno-cone hut (I know, what a great job, I have a college education, and I'm making sno cones...)

but I forgot to tell you about the house...
no cable (like i care), no phone (again not a big problem), no Internet (okay slight issue)...I'm officially in the dark ages, and enjoying it...I get to read...whoo hoo to that..

Home

We are officially at home...and bored out of our minds....Its kinda sad when you go from seeing new things everyday to sitting around the house because you are jobless, broke, and living at home (okay, I'm jobless, broke, and bored)...sob...Chicago was fine except for the SNOW IN APRIL!! So instead of actully going into town, we sat around my Grandmother's and played a hell of a lot of cards...Right now we are living at Jamie mom's house and trying to plan a wedding....sob...I'm one of those brides who never wanted to plan a wedding...I get sick at the thought of it...in fact I was sick yesterday from either a 24 hour bug..or stress...or both...There is a reason why James has been called the "Bride" for 3 years...

Hope all is well

All my love!!
Jeannie

Dublin

Please no more pints....anything but more beer...between the Czechs, the Germans and the Irish...I can't keep up...and trust me I've been trying....

London

I'm sunburnt in London...ironic...usually it rains in London. We have been having a good time, despite the fact that everything is twice the price (the dollar is a little over Two to One pound...sob) so We blew the budget...hum...all those presents for people (HAHA, we didn't blow it all on Scarves...I know what you are thinking....thats just mean, if you think I have too many scarves...) According to Jim (James Step-Dad) My Scarves are like Shoes to other women...so sad and so true! And I have very sad news...I can't find the Jimmy Choo's store...And ITS NOT LIKE I HAVEN'T TRIED...I think James has been detouring my search...and thats just mean...

Almost home

We are almost done with the Europe part of this trip...sob...there goes my vacation....

Just for Mr. Ellis

One: Your new condo. ....Do you need anything?
Two: Let me explain Amsterdam....the bar downstairs had two for one Jack and cokes the whole time we were there....and lots of beer....
Three: the reason he forgot most of Amsterdam...is I was sleeping when he wrote the blog and he needed help remembering it (he never writes anything down, when we are in the city...its always on the train or in the next city)
Four: WHERE ARE MY WALL POSTS???? you big jerk

Paris

ah....I finally make it to Paris...and it rains, sleets, and wait....Is windy as hell....good times. The "perdu" sun decided to come out and play today...good timing because we went to the Effiel tower. I did not climb the tower (ARE YOU KIDDING, with all those damn Italian teenagers visiting!) Instead, I laughed at James and his jeans. If you didn't know...and you should...James (Montana, as I refer lovingly to him) has an issue with jeans. Well I should say that most jeans have an issue with him. He abuses them. Between lost crotches (oh yes, you can loose your seat...did you know) and the random tear at the ankles, this boy never seems to have a decent pair of jeans...well today...I didn't help the situation....whoops....See James had a loose piece of jean hanging around his shoe...and my oh-so bright mind, though "He could get that caught in the escalator" (its happened before...Truth) so I decied to step on it, in hopes that it would just tear of clean....oh my...instead the leg of the jean split clear up to the knee....I was crying and laughing so hard....poor james was walking around with one leg as a skirt....ah the adventure... see what you miss when we aren't around...SO again instead of helping him...I hindered and took pictures...I'm so mean

So we have to buy a new pair of jeans....

All my love

jeannie

Am I really lost

So am I really lost if the country I'm in understands...je suis perdu...but what if I'm not really perdu as much as laughing contastantly at James for his oh-so smart moves...and the split jeans....smooth.....so am I lost

Rotterdam

So much nicer of a city than the name sounds...something about Dutch makes my ears hurt between the hacking and the purring of syllables...I can't decide if I like the language...but I do like the city!! We have spent most of our time wandering around looking at architecture...Well in actuality James is looking at Architecture...I'm some what staring off into space, sleeping in the sun, or looking at things in windows...Best part about this city is the obscure cuisine...James had Dutch Apple Pie (his new favorite dessert), we had a Crepe with Bacon for Breakfast, and Doner Kabab is a new lunch favorite....and the national snack of French Fries is always nice but without the mayonnaise...

It's the little things in life

I am blowing the budget on a bath tub...Our *New* Hotel (NOT the House Boat, that was originally planned) is much nicer and has a beautiful thing in the bathroom...A tub...if you didn't know it, our last house had only a shower...so last night, after a very crappy travel day (the morning train to Rotterdam, the adament no to the house boat, the rain while wandering the city in search of a hotel and the massive amount of luggage to tow) I found myself fully enjoying the nice warm bath with my crappy minibar red wine....Ah the little things...

What is that smell

Please explain to me...Why do most young adults...ie my age...feel the need to gather in Amsterdam to loose the last of the Brain cells they had to begin with....humm....why is that I wonder...

Rotten in Denmark

Too hell with Copenhagen...Could it be any more expensive!!! I blew my budget on this city...and not in a good way!!! I could starve in this city...Even Burger King was to expensive!! I had an okay time...I really didn't care for the city...I mean the walking around was nice but other than that, the only thing that can explain this city to you..Is that the Sweds come over on the train to go to all the clubs...This is their Disney land....great!!! I was happy to leave...I refuse to live there!!! And I will never understand thier currency exchange...(What the hell is a two kroner worth??) The best part of the trip, was that James and I went to an English speaking movie in the Theatre...the Dans do not dub the movies (except for children's movies) Which allowed the large english speaking crowd to go out to the movies....it was a nice change in our day..besides He hasn't taken me to a movie since Nov.

All my love and I miss you terribly

jeannie

last of Berlin

Whoo...Its been to long since I've written on this thing...I'm sorry...the internet is hard to find in hotels and especially free internet access is hard to find! We had such a good time in Berlin (go figure that one) I know I'm a romantic for Italy and Southern France...But I was so surprised by Germany!! It was and is really cool! James and I walked around just about everything we could think of to see...I broke down at the Jewish Memorial...I'm a sap...AND I LIKE BEING A SAP....I cry at An Affair to Remember and I cried at the Jewish Memorial....could you really blame me...on to happier things...According to James, I will never starve as long as the city has at least an Italian or Chinese resturant...so sad...I can't wait to get home and actually cook somthing...I think when we hit Chicago..we might overtake my grandmother's kitchen and cook for the time we are there..both James and I miss it...ug eating out all the time gets old fast...now the real big question is...Will Customs stop James for carrying over a half pound of Italian spices into the US...or do you think we could get away sending it in the mail....humm...We get to find out real soon....Wish me luck!!!

I miss you so much!! All my love

jeannie

Berlin

We almost lost the ugly hat today....It blew away from its owner about 2 this afternoon...best part of the day..seeing James run after his hat...did I stop to help him...of course not...I stopped to take a picture of the hat escaping...

sad sad thing

I can't express how sad I am...I'm done with another book...geez...here is the list
Well I started with Jane Eyre (what a fabulous book...story...movies...Im an addict if you didn't know...I own about 7 versions of the movie...its bad...really bad), then I read the abridged Count de Monte Cristo (whoo hoo for that, the real book is bigger than the bible), then I read Sense and Sensibility (ah, girly books!!), then I tried to read In Cold Blood (but since the book was so bad, I gave up and donated it to the hostel in Rome, should any fool want to read it...I wouldn't wish that book on anyone...its right up there with Conrad...and we all know that I just love him....heart of bloody darkness is the bane of my existence)...moving on, I read the Historian (very good...very cool and very fast), then I read Kiss the Girls (James recommendation...not bad..fast and easy...not a lot of thought involved...nice), after that I read Dracula (I got this far in life without reading that story...and somehow I now wished I hadn't...its any wonder Ive never heard of another Stoker book *even though he wrote at least two others*...Dracula is just boring as a book...really dull...good movie though) after that I had to buy two more books...I'm a reading machine on this trip...I almost wish I hadn't read all of the Peabody mysteries...that would have made excellent trash novels for the trip (I'm not saying the books are trash...I'm saying that they are easy thoughtless reading material...geez...I'm cynical this evening) 7 books in 5 countries...wow...i must be bored on the trains

Prague

Okay...so I really can't speak Czeck..German..Dutch...Danish...hummm how am I to survive...We just finished our stay in Prague..which was really quite nice..and thankfully because of the mass amounts of tourists the Czechs speak a lot of English...whoo hoo...Don't I feel dumb for never learning a foreign language! (the joke is on you, if you thought I could speak french...) We had a nice enough time, we got shipped off from one hostel (crappy Italian hotel!!! and the hotel manager was a jerk!!!) to a really nice hotel closer to the central part of the old town...I guess it was luck...We walked around the old city most of the time, and we climbed the mountain to get to the castle...(I still can't figure out what attracts James to massive hills). I had a good time though but that could have been the massive quantities of beer, that we insisted on drinking...did you know that the Czechs consume more beer than any other nationality...hummm I would too at 99 cents per PINT!!! oh wait...I did....hehe....Other than the occasional refreshment, we did see some art...some not a lot...much to my disappointment...a rather nice Muncha exhibit and a Dali print exhibit....(have a soap box, against the Dali exhibit but James says I'm being a snob...so I wont bore you with it...but the Dali exhibit wasn't even worth the money...geez if I wanted to see prints of his works...Ill buy a book!!! okay I'm better now) Other than that and the weird guy from Amsterdam on the train...Prague was fun and relaxing...exactly what I look for in a vacation spot....oh and in cause I forget...the Prague Dixieland Band...was...well unique...I had to restrain James from buying a CD...We you get the chance...I believe Thank yous are in order..because I just saved your souls from torture...

Venice

Hello all of you
This is my new home!! Leave me here! Despite the tourists and the pigeons (the rats in this city!)...this is truly a cool place! There is not much to say about Venice that hasn't been said...but i will say this I'm going back for a more serious art excursion...James got tried of going from church to church in Rome so as a nice reprieve we stuck mainly to the big areas and the buildings...BORING....but i love him....We had an awesome B and B, with this fabulous girl running the show...Amanda (American from New York) and her baby Giacomo (James in Italian)...I think we hit it off nicely...it was nice to have someone other than James to talk too...don't get me wrong..James and i are never boring together...but ever once and a while a girl-talk is nice...and holding her baby boy makes me miss my nephew Cooper so much...The kid is going to be crawling by the time I get home!! Ah I miss everyone!!

All my love

jeannie

Ps the Prague train at night was crappy!! Between the stupid Americans next to us (I never thought I would say this, but I am amazed they made it this far in Europe, truly dumb, so dumb that the Italian talking to them, came up to James and said ªYour friends not so brightª...and James replied ªNot my friendsª) and it must be my dumb luck, because between James snoring and the Japanese girl snoring (OH MY GOD) I didn't sleep...

Roma

Hey Guys and Girls!!
I'm so sorry that its been so long...I'm in love with Italy despite the funky Italian boys...We arrived in Roma, somewhat early...and stayed in a funky retro outfitted hostel..all they were missing was the shag carpet...The boys that ran the hotel were really sweet Italians (well one was Italian, the other moved to Italy via New York via Israel) I'm in love with these kids!! They did everything they could to be friendly and helpful...I need to email them and send the photo of James stuck in the elevator!! Our first couple of nights were rough because James got sick again...this time just worse than Florence...he has his deep voice again (according to the boys, he was practicing for Italy, with his Mafia voice) I am upset about one thing though...No Vatican Museum again this time...(damn the tourists!! the line was backed up TWO MILES and the other time we tried to go, the guards said it was closed, NOT FOR ANOTHER THREE HOURS...I want to say something nasty about him but I don't want my mother email me about my language!! although if Mom was there she would have said something nasty too) So again no chapel on this trip...I did however get to see some fabulous Bernini, Caravaggio and I dragged (literally) to see Julius tomb and Moses...Poor James...bored again...oh and sad news I am not sharing any of the twelve scarves I now own....its an addiction....a bad addiction

Hope you are all well!
All my love

jeannie

Stuck in Europe

Hey....I'm sorry that its been over two weeks since the last note...I have to much to tell...We have been to Roma, Venice, and now in Prague...which thankfully has the internet! So hopefully after James updates the SOM people, I can get back on and write more information....

All my love! and I hope this finds you healthy and missing me!

Jeannie

Roma II

If i forgot to mention how bad my Italian is, let me take this opportunity right now...On one of the nights James was sick in Rome, he sent me out for food...okay in all fairness, he went out for take out when i was nasty sick in Florence, but somehow I still don't think this was fair of him...our location in Rome was crappy, we were by the train station...and sick James told me not to be long because he would worry about me the whole time...So I went to the McDonald's in the train station (close and cheap, so lets just pass it off this one time...I hate McDonald's) My Italian must be horrible or the chick behind the counter was just mean, because I order a number 3 and a number 5...I got THREE NUMBER FIVES...witch....I don't eat your crappy hamburgers!!!! ug...so that's my Italian...truly bad...

Roma

I'm sorry this took so long to post...but we have to pay for internet...and we are on a budget...so this got put on hold...if you didn't know it already...the pope is not dead...so the first pope's death I blame Mom....(well not really) Everything is perfect as it should be...and I'm loving the atmosphere...and James is staring at me for the computer...so I have to end this note
I'll write later, and tell you every thing about Roma


All my love,
Jeannie

Florence II

My valentine's day was rather boring...I hope yours was better! Since both James and I have head colds, we ended up having a quiet dinner (nothing fancy, just pizza and pasta, but hey it beats McD's) and for my V-Day gift, James bought me the Lady Eve...now if you didn't know this already, I am a huge nerd for old movies (I completely blame my parents for this, of course....My mother quotes Gigi and others, and my Dad is a mystery-action-John Wayne movie fan) I was so excited (NERD!!) So the cold got put on hold, so I could watch it!!! James feel asleep during it (but I had to forgive him, nasty cold...besides its a bit of a girly movie).
So as of right now, I'm in the hotel room in the dark (James napping, I always seem to be typing while he is napping/snoring), I ventured out this afternoon (into the big city, by myself), but that didn't last long...I'm too much of a chicken for one, and two, I got followed (note to self, big camera, says I'm a big tourist...duh)...I hate weird italian boys who think that they can just come up to a girl and start talking or following her...ug...this girl has no problem hitting boys, biting, spitting or running away!!! Me and my over-active imagination had to dodge one this afternoon, actually it was kinda funny...I stopped to take a beautiful photo (because all my photos are beautiful, didn't you know) and I resumed on a path when I noticed a white hat (ie ski hat with the puff ball on top) along side me...See this is where my feet speed up...and again Stopped to take yet another photo (in door way, away from central walking path) and bouncy white hat walks by, stops a few feet ahead and looks back towards me (duh can see through view-finder, geez, what an idiot!) So instead of walking via his direction...I stepped across the plaza, half-way through, I glance back...and Bobble head is waving, smiling and making eye contact (ug!!!!) Now I could have either chalked all this up to paranoia and stopped to take another photo, but somehow I didn't want to risk it...single girl, big camera....hummm nah...so I continued walking.....jerk!!! Made me miss a lot of really good shots...ug!
So I'll just have to wait til tomm when James feels better (he feels okay today, but I had to make a faramacia run because he eat all of my meds I packed...Note to self, pack more than just a weeks worth of meds next time. At the time of the packing it made sense because I was the one with the cold and the most likely of the two of us to get a cold. The kid has the consitution of a horse, but then again, I've been wrong before...)
And that was my adventure for the day...boring....


Hope your day was better!!!
All my love

Jeannie


oh and as parting gift...guess this movie quote...."I'd kiss you but I just washed my hair." (I love you, Mom)
If you need help answering that quote, I strongly suggest Bette Davis films and talking to Momma

Florence

Okay so we missed Siena, but since its only an hour train ride, we might take a day trip later in the week. The Italians much like the Spanish, have all the time in the world it seems...We were late getting into Milan, late getting into Florence, and of course missed the train to Siena (bummer) but since both of us are developing Colds (head crap) we decided to sleep in Florence (for that night and most of the next day...okay all of the next day) SO we are in our orginal planned hotel for Florence, James is napping and I'm updating everything...We have a flickr site with some of the photos uploaded but I don't know if the link on this will work...http://www.flickr.com/photos/jameyer/....lets see if that works...
So other than the head cold, we are fine, and just a little tried, but we have been traveling nonstop so a nice week break will help..

Hope all is well with you...
All my love

Jeannie

Ps before I forget...
One: James thinks the toilet paper in this hotel smells like Strawberries (I told you, he had a cold....)
Two: Earlier today, while having tea at an outdoor cafe, a pigeon came really close to his foot, and with out thinking he looked at me and asked if he could throw his tea bag at the bird....humm tea-bag a pigeon....somthing is really wrong with that expression.....I'm telling you, when he gets sick, he gets loopy

Morning in Nice

Its less than an hour to when we are suppose to wake up to get to the train station and to Italy today. I couldn't sleep for some reason, and spent the better part of the time awake writing nonsense down. Lets sum it up to being to old for my age and having concerns to early in the morning.

Hope all is well with you and that sleep better than me
All my love

jeannie

Damn the man

Damn the Man who created Heels...I say its a man because he doesn't have to wear them....I had to buy shoes today, and not heels, but in this town (Nice) all they seem to have is heels...What person in their right mind would walk all damn day in heels, oh wait thats right...A European....ug...Oh and in case I forget to tell you, if buying shoes in Europe (and you are female), don't expect a shoe size over 8.5 (what are all these people midgets....) should you require a shoe larger than 8.5, shop in the mens (the only sensisable shoes in town....funny James keep picking out mens shoes for me....)The shoes I brought with me, died a horribly death, but when you abuse them as I did, then you can understand. According to "mon petit ami" (the boy) We walk an average of 6 miles a day...and in Spain it felt like 10...so there went the shoes and the quest for new ones was on....I ended up with some nice mens shoes (they look girly enough, Men in france are so weird....hehe including the French man who is dating one of my best friends....) So that was the adventure today (boring!)

I'm feeling a little under the weather today, but don't be alarmed its just fatigue (between the train rides, the size of my massive suitcase, the walking and having to keep up with James....I'm tired...and this was suppose to be a vacation!)

Whine whine whine....geez I'm a whinner in this note......
Off to pass out, after eating some good chinese food (if its not pasta, I'm eating Chinese....)

All my love

jeannie

Books

Oh by the way I finish Sense and Sensibility on the Train between Barcelona and Nice....Working on In Cold Blood...but after that I'm out of books again...bummer.....ug the idea that I have to ship these home is just repulsive right now, Maybe I should just stick to writing my own thoughts on the train and save some money....Nah, too boring.....I could chat with James.....Nah, I need an escape from him....


Nice.....

Nice

Well Nice is nice (god thats cliche) I'm in the hotel room on the first full day in France....Whoo hoo somewhere new...And for all of those who thought I could speak french...Sad news...Its bad...really bad, so bad that if a nice lady on the train to Nice, wouldn't have helped James and I communicate with the conductors, well we might have ended up in Marseilles for the night...I bless every older french lady that can understand English as well at this moment....
SO the day, was fine and beautiful, we are talking about 60 and Sunny on the beach....Aren't you jealous....sorry I couldn't resist....Barcelona was great, I really enjoyed it...but Nice is so much better....Call me selfish, because my name just happens to be french, I find the French coast awesome....the old city, the plage (beach), the parks, the people, the Casinos (what spend Daddy's money, oh no I would never do that....besides I only spend money on a sure thing...like Shoes, clothes and of course Scarves)

However, at dinner tonight, My big mouth just happen to say this about our waiter tonight, "Has the attitude of a frog......And I don't mean that because he is french....He is just sour....Shut up James, stop laughing at me"
Insert foot into mouth....

In two days we venture towards Italy and a new language...If you had any thougths about how James is communicating, let me say this, Spanish was kinda cute in a crude way, French is out right hilarious because he hates how it sounds, and Italian, well, its all about the hand gestures, right....the other languages, well, We are screwed...especially Czech

Hope this finds all of you well!!!
All my love

jeannie

Barcelona III

Oh man, I don't understand the Spanish (sung just like the Gigi song, "I don't understand the Parisians"), if they are not spending money, smoking like chimneys, or drinking something, then it must be a bad day. Heaven forbid, they have a non sunny day....Okay I'm grouchy because my feet hurt...I know whine whine whine, "Your in Europe complaining about your feet..." well if you climbed the hill I tackled today, I wouldn't begrudge you a little complaining either....Lets just say I climbed the Spanish version of a Mountain, they so lovingly call a street....damn them all....all that effort for a park....Architecture is the bane of my existence...The park was nice....nice not amazing....and the cafe I had at the park tasted like horse piss but after that hill, it was like drinking liquid gold....I'll never do that again, to both the crappy cafe and the hill...I don't care who designed the damn park, if I have to climb a hill again, the architecture kid is on his own....leave me and my lazy butt at the bottom of the hill, happy and content to watch you walk up.
On a brighter note, I've spent the whole day just being lazy (despite the damn hill, it really wasn't a hill, I climbed a mountain side! I've skied things less steep). Good food, cafe and taking lots of pictures...my kind of day....to bad the bubble will get popped as soon as I get back to the states....ug who wants to work after having a trip like this....I'm debating the idea of not having to work, but somehow I don't think that will fly with James the slave driver....sob....how sad is the life I lead (I say this with complete sarcasm)

See right about now is where my mom would scream "A topaz in my jewels, are you mad?", but thats only to continue with the Gigi train of thought....

I watch way too many old movies.....and for those who haven't seen the movie, well than your missing out on some great lines.....


All my Love to everyone

Jeannie

Barcelona II

If I ever recover feeling to my feet it would be short of a miracle...ug I'm tired. We offically walked the entire city of Barcelona today...one big circle after another...James claims a great sense of direction but between you and me...the kid would be lost with out me....and I mean lost...We walked to Sagrada Familia today (Gaudi's incomplete church), most impressive! Should any of you make it to Barcelona (well worth the trip) So include this in your plans...although try and not be as tacky as James and I, who ended up in the Starbucks across the street, so I could use the restroom...you wanna say tacky tourist, yep! I doubt I will ever be able to forgive myself for it. But tomm is another day....
For now we are debating what to do tomm...I have a great idea...absolutly nothing...I want to sit in a cafe, veg out and be a lazy american in the way of Hemmingway and all those other ex-patriats....well I still miss home unlike some of those writers....

Hope all is well, and all my love

jeannie

and just this thought before I forget....Starbucks has invaded Europe just as well as the plague of Mcdonalds.....sad but true....

Barcelona

I've never truely understood the way men shop....I sent James to get me some oj and instead of getting a small bottle, I get a liter of Oj....hum never thought I could drink that much.....geez If I sent him out for pizza, he might come back with toilet paper....but what can I say I still love him....

First of many

I'm lost in Europe with my fiance....oh god save me now.....

Valencia

No sight so sad as that of a bug in your beer!!

Hello folks,

Still in Espana....we leave for Barcelona tomm, and are there for about five days. Sorry, I haven´t written recently but the internet in this hotel is one communal computer and gaining access is just as difficult as speaking the language. So the above qoute is from the other night, when James discovered a bug in my beer before I got to drink it....I can´t express how funny the situation was to you without facial expressions. Between the waitor looking at James as if he placed the bug in the beer just to get a new one and James using hand signals to express that the bug dropped into the beer, along with the language barrier....I was giggling.....Okay, things I have learned about the Spanish, one they have a fetish for footware I will never understand (and it isn´t just the female gender), the siesta is mind boggling (from my last experience with a city shutting down, you would have thought the pope died again in the middle of the day), I doubt I will ever truly learn the language, and the train stations are the highlight of my days (just because James trying to communicate is so funny!!!) Oh and Spanish men above the age of 60 can be expected to serenade the entire train at any moment (counting two so far!! and we still have more train rides!) I am again with out a novel to read (thats how eventful the trains are!) finished the Count of Monte Cristo and am working on Sense and Sensiblity (but after that I´m in need) Go figure the Spanish bookstores would have limited supply of English novels. My choices were Jane Austin, Joseph Conrad (whoo that was leaping off the shelf, really who reads that for enjoyment, If I had my way that would be one of the books I burned after high school....evil Catholic Schools) and also Hemminway (well if you know me, than you know my abohorence for Hemmingway.....the man was a devil as well as hiding in the closet, but I´ll get off the soap box.....bastard......I´m done) So I ended up with Jane.....I´m waiting until Barcelona to look again for a new novel.....

Okay now that I´ve bored you and told you nothing of the city of Valencia (which is really beautiful, but other than architecture, parks, and shopping, oh and the beach (too cold) thats it to the city and Í´m bored.....James isn´t though, but he is easily amused....yep show him a bridge and he could spend all day staring at it.....BORING!!!)


I love you all (I refuse to write yáll)
Jeannie

Cordoba

Good Morning to you all,

We are finally out of Madrid and made it to Cordoba. Madrid is nice,
but the hostel was horrible. Not in the sense that it had bugs,
smelled or lack running water, oh no it was packed with lots of
obnoxious tourists (Spanish, German and French) At 6:30 in the morning
when you went to bed at 2, I thought the normal world would be
respectful of others in the hotel...silly me....I was raised with
MANNERS!! ug I never thought I would cuss another language but at that
moment, I cursed every Spanish speaking person around me (namely the
whole city!) We took the earliest train ride out of there....8:30 this
morning. Cordoba is everything I picture when I think of a Spanish
town. Its a beautiful mixture of old and new. And the mosque, we came
to see is absolutely beautiful. And I like these people a lot more
than the people of bigger cities like Madrid. There isn't a whole lot
to see but since James is working on urban space, the parks, river
bridge, mosque and other shopping centers have made this trip worth
the effort. The next trip is out to Valencia via Spanish train (a
running pattern with us) As soon as we get there I'll send another
email. At the moment that is all I have to say. (whoo hoo short
email!)

all my love
jeannie

Madrid

Hey Guys and Dolls

I am missing my tail feathers right now, because its under 0 degrees
Celsius ....I thought flying south, is the idea of avoiding cold
weather....Okay so Bilbao was beautiful (what we saw of it, we kinda
took like a 4 hour nap in the middle of the day, jet lag, kicking me
while I'm down), we did land safely, in Spain (in cause I forgot to
mention it), now after a 12 hour train ride, we are in Madrid hiding
out in our hotel room...The original time for the train ride was
suppose to be......2 hours.....30 mins.......obviously the Spanish
have nothing to do all day on a Sat. The train, (damn the train) was
stuck because of snow (snow in Spain you say, oh yes in the mountains
we found snow!!) for about 2 hours, then we had to connect to a
different train (Palencia, Spain, now try finding that on the map) So
I have finished Jane Eyre that I was hoping to last most of the trip,
and I am in need of a new book because we have at least 4 more Spanish
trains to ride before we are out of this country. Yippee....James is
bored out of his mind, because neither him nor I can really
communicate with these people, and yet they still try to talk to
him...It must be because of his ugly orange hat. (Dutch would be
proud, this is a major golfing hat!) An ugly plaid orange hat....Now
you would think that he had important ideas he should be considering
for this competition that he won....Nope, dumb as a rock. I keep
telling people I'm the brains and he is the eye candy....one of these
days somebody might believe me....And OH MY GOD STEVEN STEGALL in
Spanish on the TV, well I can't pass this up, Its so bad.....yet I
can't look away....gotta go and laugh my self silly now

I hope this finds all of you well
ALL MY LOVE

jeannie

Ah Sunny Spain (third email)

Greetings,

Well leave it to me to travel halfway around the world to eat Chinese
in Bilbao, Spain. Hows that for ironic, a chinese spanish speaking
waiter.....humm.....not surprisingly niether James nor I are aware of
what we actually ate...but it looked like chicken and curry....Okay
the flight from nasty New York to Madrid was fine (I hate take-offs
and landings, had I the presence of mind to think of it, I would have
snagged a few misc. pills from my brother in law who hates to
fly.....then I might have actually slept on the damn plane.) Bilbao is
quite beautiful, but cold (not nearly as bad as New York). Tomm bright
and early we have to catch our first train. SO I hope this email finds
all of you well!!

All my love
Jeanne

The JFK airport (second email)

Despite the fact that he was my least favorite president, this airport
is just plain nasty....and in a chaotic way....I have to sit around to
check in because we got booted out of our hotel room 2hours before we
even had to be at the airport...Ah New Yorkers....I can't for the life
of me think of another set of people just as rude....This even beats
the French (well for the time being, we still have to go to France).
We leave for Spain today in case any of you lost the iten. Its Bilbao
first, then Madrid, Cordoba, Valencia, and Barcelona....Whoo I'll be
glad to have 8 hours of nothing to do but sleep on the plane!! Oh and
of the possible places to live after James decides what he wants to do
with his career New York is way out of the question, who can sleep
with taxies honking at 3am.....

Okay so I love you all
jeanne
(the future grand-daughter, daughter in law, niece, and the coolest
person you know....hehe)


PS Maggie, sweetie I love you but maybe you should take a break from
planning my wedding until I get home because we don't even have a
date, much less a season....

Also, should anyone have any questions referring to the special
occasion please defer them to my (lovely) bride James.....humm....I
don't have to do anything, that sounds fabulous! ahhhh!

Ahh (first email sent)

I hate being rushed to write emails especially on a crappy keybored...Okay so New Yorkers are the rudest people alive..If i get pushed one more time me and my southern accent are going to to exchange some words. Allright dispite the cold I'm having a good time but this is going to be a short email because I got hosed by James on the time for the email...so if there are typos I blame him! When I get to sunny spain I'll upload some photos but until then I don't have time or the money to spend trying
I LOVE YOU ALL
Jeanne
psThank you for all the congrats....and no We are not getting married in europe...I would get disowned by my father if we did....
I love you daddy! Send me money!!!

New York

These people need to understand the difference between good coffee and Starbucks....oh my god....that coffee house chain has invaded every corner block of this damn city....what the hell...I died and gone to crappy coffee hell....send me to Europe fast because this part of the US is so jacked up on caffine that they forget to breath between their coffee and cigarettes....If I am forced to live here...I would gladly sell my soul like Thomas Kincade in order to escape this hell hole.....