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