Brains, Brazilians & Boxes!

Troubling Trends, Schlepping Boxes and Welsh Rarebit!

Pre-Blog Note:

Tomorrow I enter my final month on this adventure; Monday August 28th I fly back to Dallas. I’m running out of weekends, and with a trip to Dallas stuck in there I figure I’m good for about three more blog entries (40 is a nice round number). In many ways I will miss journaling my random thoughts and experiences, and I hope you have enjoyed reading them (or just looking at the pics). Although, it would seem you all (collectively) are ready for a break if statistics are to be believed. My last four entries have been my least read, and there has been an average month-over-month decline of 15% in total pages viewed for each of the last three months. What the f*ck is wrong with you people, this is high quality stuff! :-) Maybe I need to factor in seasonality, and that there is a slight possibility that in the Summer time you have better things to do that log on and read my ramblings about my adventures (nah!). Come on everyone three entries to go … you can do it!

The Weekend!

I did a little traveling this weekend, but not much because after a week of group dinners and entertaining several execs and employees from Dallas I was really tired on Friday. Saturday I went up to NW London and helped SarahJane move into her new place. We didn’t do badly; three people and a Ford Fiesta managed the move in 4 runs. I was only involved in the lugging of boxes and stuff, and was spared too much of the packing (which is a beat down). Anyway, after dinner I was making my way back to Kensington and I realized that I hadn’t done anything remarkably blog-worthy … can’t have that! So before I went to bed I did some planning of a long day trip…

Madonna & Brazilians in the land of Catherine Zeta Jones!

”How do you get two whales in a car? … Down the M4 and across the Severn Bridge!"

Get it? ... Two whales … to Wales (hahahahah). I guess it’s funnier as a spoken joke. But anyway I skipped the M4 and just took the train to Cardiff the capital of Wales. I needed to pick up Wales to complete the full UK set. I’m sure Sj will tell me that Cornwall is a country, but she will be wrong ;-)

Anyway, I went to bed early last night and was up by 7:00a.m fully rested. I was off to Paddington to catch the train to Cardiff. The train was packed but I was early so I got a good seat at one of the 4-seat booths with a table. Shortly after I sat, I was joined by two women (both strikingly beautiful) and a guy wearing a cowboy hat (?) They started talking in Portuguese but with an accent that was uniquely Brazilian. 10 years ago I spent a couple of months in Brazil and had taken an immersion language class in Rio. So this meant … absolutely nothing (didn’t understand a word)! However, I was cornered in the booth and these women were attractive enough, and the group seemed fun enough that I had to try. I slowly remembered enough Portuguese to say “you are Brazilian, yes?” Predictably they said “Sim” and then I laid it on them in my best Brazilian I said “I am from the United States; I don’t speak much Portuguese, but I studied a little in Rio” which comprises 90% of all the words I know. The two women shrieked with joy at my efforts, and said in Portuguese “you speak very well” … then they all started talking to me, and I had to cut them off … “you lost me after two words” (heavy laughter) then they all switched to English (they spoke with English accents). We didn’t trade names but they were journalists for CNN and a Brazilian news outfit. They were going to Cardiff for the Madonna concert. I didn’t know it was going on; thought about scalping a ticket, but they told me there were no hotel rooms in the city, plus I have to be at work tomorrow. So I wandered the streets of Cardiff, which is a beautiful town. It has the obligatory castles and cool old stuff, but tons of really cool modern buildings and architecture. It reminded me of South Beach with all the freaky looking buildings along the water front. I’ll let you look at the pictures and spare you the description.

On a less happy note, my train home was delayed by two-hours because Police had found a body on the tracks in Maidenhead. Don’t know if it was suicide or what, I’ll have to read the news papers tomorrow to see. A drunk Welshman sitting behind me was going off about this in a strong welsh accent “Killed himself? Selfish bastard! Why can’t he just hang himself in private and not take it out on the rest of us!” This was mixed with looks of disgust and laughter (I wont’ tell you which group I fell in)

:-) Have a great week everyone!

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