As some of you may know, Gina and I purposely did not purchase many souvenirs on our around-the-World trip this year due to the limited space we have at home. Instead, we opted to procure a Christmas tree ornament from each country visited to add to Gina's collection of travel ornaments that she began when we first started seeing one another. Gina finally finished decorating the tree this morning, and needless to say, we looked at one another and agreed we'll need a larger tree every year until the day we die to accommodate our growing collection. We wish everyone a [View Full Entry]

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Well, it finally happened. Gina and I had discussed the possibility and almost accepted its occurence with finality before departing the US.I awoke on the houseboat we're renting in Amsterdam at 5AM this morning to take a pee. As I crossed the hallway from our bedroom to the bathroom, I turned to notice a shadow lurking in the kitchen clutching something. It took a few microseconds before consciousness hit me and I realized the baseball cap wearing prick was holding my laptop and camera. Naturally, I did what any person would do in the situation -- I yelled "HEY!" and started [View Full Entry]

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Hi All. Gina and I just wanted to put up a quick note to let everyone know that we're alive and well. We have obviously been falling further and further behind on the blog. The past month has been a whirlwind, taking us across 8 countries and several thousand kilometers. We just spent an amazing 10 days with Gina's brothers and their significants in Greece, followed closely by a 3 day trip to Ibiza. For those of you who don't already know, we'll be returning home to Chicago in mid-October, and will likely be writing blog entries into the end of [View Full Entry]

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Hi Everyone. Even though we're running a month behind, Gina and I really are trying to catch up with the blog. Since we hit the European continent, our days have been marathons and we're very sorry that the entries have been slow going. We promise to have at least 2 up in the next day -- Gina has even been typing in the car as I drive. We've done about 3300 Ks (~2000 miles) since June 21 and are still having a blast. We miss you and hope all is well. [View Full Entry]

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“What do you mean the rate isn’t available?” I fumed. The balding Spanish man standing behind the desk had just informed us that the reservation I placed on Hertz.com a month earlier couldn’t be processed. “I have a confirmed reservation for 2,464 Euro from June 21 to October 10!” I assured him. “Do you have a print of the reservation?” he inquired through unpracticed English. “No, but I can show you on Hertz.com. Do you have Internet access?” The accelerating pace of my counterattack must have confused him. “Inter [View Full Entry]

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On our way to the internet café in the morning, I ducked my head into a hair salon to see how much it would cost to die my Raggedy Ann hair back to brown. As soon as I walked through the door, I knew I would again be employing my pigeon Spanish when all four female beauticians stopped what they were doing to focus their attention on me. “Hola! Habla Ingles?” I questioned with a cheery smile on my face. Unfortunately, my friendliness was greeted with a big fat “NO.” I felt like the subject of some psychology experiment as everyone [View Full Entry]

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The last thing Gina or I wanted to contend with after a rough night’s sleep was the winding 4-hour bus ride to Seville. To make matters worse, a fireworks grand finale had started brewing in my stomach by the time we reached the Algeciras bus station that morning, and it wasn’t long after procuring our tickets that I found myself frantically scanning for the closest baño. The seatless toilets that greeted me as I pushed open one stall after another were anything but welcoming; I had no choice. Finding Gina curled in the fetal position when I returned to the terminal [View Full Entry]

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Of course Gene would insist that we catch the first ferry out at the crack ass of dawn. To top that, Nervous Nancy felt the need to set the alarm clock for 5:00 a.m., two hours prior to the departure of the ferry for Spain. Good thing my husband is so punctual - we arrived at the port promptly at 6:00 a.m. to find the ticket office closed. The look on my face said it all. Gene, ignoring the fact that we didn’t have so much as a place to sit, suggested “we” grab some coffee (I don’t drink coffee) while [View Full Entry]

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Planning for a down day, Gene and I had the luxury of sleeping in. We felt no need to scurry to breakfast seeing as our morning meal was made available to us at our convenience. Revitalized, we headed up to the terrace where the cook dawdled in anticipation of our arrival. Almost as if he had been awaiting our company, Fred turned the corner with a cup of coffee in hand as soon as we took our seats. Happy to see his smiling face, we welcomed him to take a seat next to us. Our conversation picked up where it had [View Full Entry]

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“OH MY GOD!”, Gina shouted frantically while pointing at the bloody camel head adorning the front of the butcher’s souq. We had been pushing through the crowded medina on the coattails of our guide for the better part of the morning by the time Gina made the astonishing discovery and gawked openly for a few seconds. She visibly squirmed before moving on, as I fumbled for a quick photo knowing it would make good blog material. The butcher caught on quickly and jumped from behind his counter to demand money, but I turned and lost myself in the crowd before he [View Full Entry]

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