Tuesday, December 2, 2008
So Ashamed!
No posts since June??? I'm so ashamed. So much has happened since Mary and I got back from our honeymoon. I will post an update soon. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Monkey See. Monkey Hear. Monkey...Ate MY TRAIL MIX!
Out of all the excursions in all the world, the only one I refused to miss was the tour of the Rock of Gibraltar. As a young boy growing up on the streets of Valencia (and by streets, of course I mean a nice house on a cul-de-sac), all I ever wanted was a monkey. I didn't want a pony or a fire truck like the other kids. So, when I heard that the top of the Rock (Gibraltar) was the only place in Europe that played host to wild monkeys, I said to myself (and to Mary) numerous times, "I have got to see the monkeys!" "I HAVE GOT to see the monkeys!" "I HAVE GOT TO SEE THE MONKEYS!"
Now, when you hear that there are monkeys, you think zoo. You think cages; you think plexi-glass, you think safety. That would have been fine with me. Afterall, monkeys are monkeys whether in a tree, behind plexi-glass in a cage, or even chasing me down the road for my bag of trail mix. :) My dreams had finally come true. To say that these glorious animals were close would be an understatement. You'll have to see the pictures to believe me when I say that I could have spanked any number of monkeys at any given point in our tour.
From the moment we exited the cable car at the top of the Rock, it was apparent that we were the visitors to their world. They owned the Rock and we were lucky to be allowed up. There were monkeys everywhere walking among the "visitors" looking for food. If no food was visible, then they would push you aside to search elsewhere. If still nothing, sunbathing was their activity of choice. All anyone had to do was ruffle a plastic bag...and the chase was on. Those little suckers were relentless, not giving up until they got what they were after.
We saw older monkeys, younger monkeys, and baby monkeys still hanging on to mama monkey for dear life. It was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had with wildlife. I think Mary enjoyed it too.
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, let's quickly recap on our adventures in cruising. I last left you on the day we boarded the ship. Here's the update:
May 27: We docked in Livorno, Italy, the gateway to Tuscany. We decided on a walking tour of Florence and Pisa (as if we hadn't done enough walking in Rome). We boarded a bus to Florence and arrived after an hour and a half. The city is absolutely amazing. However, our walking tour quickly turned into a jogging tour as we raced from monument to monument. Mary and I decided we'll definitely have to come back here. Our next stop on the tour was Pisa. For those who haven't been, Pisa's tourist attractions consist of one small area that holds a large church, a large baptistery, and of course, the leaning tower of Pisa. For a still unknown reason, we were given an hour and a half to spend looking at these three attractions which were literally all within spitting distance of each other, but we had to run through Florence as though we had robbed a bank; as if the leaning tower would have fallen if we hadn't gotten there right when we did. Our suggestion, save yourself time and money; look at our pictures; skip Pisa if pressed for time and focus your visit on Florence.
I would be amiss not mention this one nugget of observation. We passed a U.S. military base on our way from Pisa back to the ship. Not only did we pass the base, but we also passed "professional ladies" lining the street opposite the base. This base is out in the middle of nowhere on a very straight and narrow road. Instead of corners, these "professional ladies" had their own trees. It was truly a sight to behold. Each of them wearing high heels and not much else on a dirt road, evenly spaced about every 100 yards. It almost seemed like someone took out a measuring stick to mark the distance between each one. The lazy (or busy) ones even brought folding chairs.
May 28: We docked in Cannes, France, and took a tour of Monte Carlo (an entirely different country). It was pretty, but we spent way too much time there. The Monte Carlo casino was quite a disappointment with only about 6 gaming tables in all. However, Mary won her entrance fee (10 Euros) back on slot machines. To add some excitement to our trip, our bus almost broke down on the trip back to the ship. That's all I have to say about that.
May 29: Today, we docked in Barcelona, Spain. We did a bike tour of the City and we both fell in love with it. We'll definitely come back here.
May 30: Day at sea. Art auction. No purchases.
May 31: Gibraltar. Please read passage above. In addition, we say WWII caves, St. Michael's caves, and the top of the Rock. Oh, did I mention we also saw MONKEYS???
June 1: Casablanca, Morocco. Not exactly like the movie. Everything was closed because it was Sunday. We recommend taking a tour if you visit. We probably won't come back here.
June 2: Cadiz, Spain. We read a lot about Seville which is about an hour outside of Cadiz, but we ended up staying in Cadiz. We took a bus tour of the city on our own and pretty much saw the entire city. We'll definitely do Seville next time as part of our tour of Spain.
June 3: Lisbon, Portugal. Very pretty city. We took another walking tour. They had an earthquake on November 1, 1755 and they're really passionate about St. Anthony, the patron saint of the city. I think I counted 18 mentions of the earthquake and 20 mentions of St. Anthony. St. Anthony wins.
June 4: That brings us to today. We're docked in Vigo, Spain after an extremely bumpy night on the angry Atlantic Ocean. Since we didn't sleep during the night, we chose to sleep once we docked. The city looks nice from the bar and as with all cities in Europe, churches appear to be plentiful.
We have a sea day tomorrow, we're back in France on Friday, and then we travel home on Saturday after a visit to Stonehenge in England. We're having a great time, but I think we're both ready to be back on solid ground.
Ciao - Eric.
Now, when you hear that there are monkeys, you think zoo. You think cages; you think plexi-glass, you think safety. That would have been fine with me. Afterall, monkeys are monkeys whether in a tree, behind plexi-glass in a cage, or even chasing me down the road for my bag of trail mix. :) My dreams had finally come true. To say that these glorious animals were close would be an understatement. You'll have to see the pictures to believe me when I say that I could have spanked any number of monkeys at any given point in our tour.
From the moment we exited the cable car at the top of the Rock, it was apparent that we were the visitors to their world. They owned the Rock and we were lucky to be allowed up. There were monkeys everywhere walking among the "visitors" looking for food. If no food was visible, then they would push you aside to search elsewhere. If still nothing, sunbathing was their activity of choice. All anyone had to do was ruffle a plastic bag...and the chase was on. Those little suckers were relentless, not giving up until they got what they were after.
We saw older monkeys, younger monkeys, and baby monkeys still hanging on to mama monkey for dear life. It was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had with wildlife. I think Mary enjoyed it too.
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, let's quickly recap on our adventures in cruising. I last left you on the day we boarded the ship. Here's the update:
May 27: We docked in Livorno, Italy, the gateway to Tuscany. We decided on a walking tour of Florence and Pisa (as if we hadn't done enough walking in Rome). We boarded a bus to Florence and arrived after an hour and a half. The city is absolutely amazing. However, our walking tour quickly turned into a jogging tour as we raced from monument to monument. Mary and I decided we'll definitely have to come back here. Our next stop on the tour was Pisa. For those who haven't been, Pisa's tourist attractions consist of one small area that holds a large church, a large baptistery, and of course, the leaning tower of Pisa. For a still unknown reason, we were given an hour and a half to spend looking at these three attractions which were literally all within spitting distance of each other, but we had to run through Florence as though we had robbed a bank; as if the leaning tower would have fallen if we hadn't gotten there right when we did. Our suggestion, save yourself time and money; look at our pictures; skip Pisa if pressed for time and focus your visit on Florence.
I would be amiss not mention this one nugget of observation. We passed a U.S. military base on our way from Pisa back to the ship. Not only did we pass the base, but we also passed "professional ladies" lining the street opposite the base. This base is out in the middle of nowhere on a very straight and narrow road. Instead of corners, these "professional ladies" had their own trees. It was truly a sight to behold. Each of them wearing high heels and not much else on a dirt road, evenly spaced about every 100 yards. It almost seemed like someone took out a measuring stick to mark the distance between each one. The lazy (or busy) ones even brought folding chairs.
May 28: We docked in Cannes, France, and took a tour of Monte Carlo (an entirely different country). It was pretty, but we spent way too much time there. The Monte Carlo casino was quite a disappointment with only about 6 gaming tables in all. However, Mary won her entrance fee (10 Euros) back on slot machines. To add some excitement to our trip, our bus almost broke down on the trip back to the ship. That's all I have to say about that.
May 29: Today, we docked in Barcelona, Spain. We did a bike tour of the City and we both fell in love with it. We'll definitely come back here.
May 30: Day at sea. Art auction. No purchases.
May 31: Gibraltar. Please read passage above. In addition, we say WWII caves, St. Michael's caves, and the top of the Rock. Oh, did I mention we also saw MONKEYS???
June 1: Casablanca, Morocco. Not exactly like the movie. Everything was closed because it was Sunday. We recommend taking a tour if you visit. We probably won't come back here.
June 2: Cadiz, Spain. We read a lot about Seville which is about an hour outside of Cadiz, but we ended up staying in Cadiz. We took a bus tour of the city on our own and pretty much saw the entire city. We'll definitely do Seville next time as part of our tour of Spain.
June 3: Lisbon, Portugal. Very pretty city. We took another walking tour. They had an earthquake on November 1, 1755 and they're really passionate about St. Anthony, the patron saint of the city. I think I counted 18 mentions of the earthquake and 20 mentions of St. Anthony. St. Anthony wins.
June 4: That brings us to today. We're docked in Vigo, Spain after an extremely bumpy night on the angry Atlantic Ocean. Since we didn't sleep during the night, we chose to sleep once we docked. The city looks nice from the bar and as with all cities in Europe, churches appear to be plentiful.
We have a sea day tomorrow, we're back in France on Friday, and then we travel home on Saturday after a visit to Stonehenge in England. We're having a great time, but I think we're both ready to be back on solid ground.
Ciao - Eric.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Adventures in Honeymooning
Well, we're already 4 days into our cruise, 9 days into our honeymoon, and 14 days into our marriage. The good news is that we're still talking, the bad news is that I'm missing the Western Conference Finals (I suppose she's worth it). I apologize to our rabid fans for my lack of postings to this blog, but I'm a little forgetful. So, let me recap...
May 15, 2008 - We were Maui'd in a beautiful ceremony at 5:30 PM Maui time at the Four Seasons in Wailea. We ate dinner at a wonderful steakhouse called Duo. Thanks to all who were able to share in the very special occasion with us. To those that weren't able to make it, pictures to follow upon our return to the States.
May 16, 2008 - We snorkeled. Mary, or "eagle-eyes Goldberg" as she'll now be called, spied an enormous sea turtle who came up for air within inches from my head. Goosebumps ran down my spine in fear that he might gum me to death at any moment. Luckily, nobody was harmed.
May 18, 2008 - Arrived back in LA at about 5 in the AM after a very bumpy, unrestful red-eye flight. This was our first time at home as Mr. and Mrs. Goldberg.
May 21, 2008 - Awoke at the early hour of 3 AM to get to LAX for a 6 AM flight to Rome. We ran into my family as they arrived back from Maui, which was great to be able to say goodbye as we flew off to Rome to begin our Honeymoon.
May 22, 2008 - Arrived in Rome at 7 AM after a short stop in New York the night before. Now, as I told my parents (and anybody else who would listen), the best way to get over jetlag in a new country is to NOT go to sleep when you arrive, but to stay awake until nighttime...no matter how tired you may be. So, of course, we ended up taking a "nap" as soon we got into our room...
May 23, 2008 - We woke up. Yep, I definitely live in a "do as I say, not as I do" world. Once we wiped the crusties out of our eyes, we hit the ground running. You'd be surprised how quiet Rome is before 7 AM. Turns out that none of the tourist spots are open until 9, so we walked...and we walked...and then we walked some more. By the end of the day, we say the Roman Forum and the Colloseum. We saw the Jewish Ghetto and the Pantheon. We saw some churches and a lot of stuff made out of marble. Boy, how the Romans loved their marble. We learned that the Roman Empire was built on the backs of the Jewish slaves taken from Jeruselum (nice handy work by the way), and that the Catholic Church stole, er...recycled, much of the marble used to build structures such as the Colloseum, et al, to build the Vatican. I'll tell you now that it was absolutely worth it. St. Peter's Basilica was extraordinarily beautiful.
Since we're accountants, I need to mention a little tidbit that we picked up about the marble used in the Vatican. These guys went all the way to Egypt to find a purple marble that is apparently the rarest marble in all the world. This stuff is so rare, it costs a mere 20,000 Euros, or about $38,000 per square inch. I guess what I'm saying is that the stuff ain't cheap and it's everywhere in Vatican City.
May 24, 2008 - We got up early again and watched the 2nd half of the Lakers game (live). Mary wants me to mention that this was at 4 AM Rome time. Later on, we decided that we had done a little too much walking the day before, so we bought tickets for a "hop on, hop off" open-air tour bus for the day. We boarded the motorcoach for the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, which were both stops past the Vatican bus stop. This is also the day that we actually made it to the Vatican, so you can now understand why I told you about the order of the bus stops. All-in-all, we rode around the entire city (of Rome) twice in order to the hit the Vatican on the 2nd trip around. What I didn't mention yet was that the Sistine Chapel was closed for the day by the time we finally made it over there (no wonder the lines were so short, Mary).
May 25, 2008 - Since the Sistine Chapel was closed yesterday, we got up early to stand in line for it today. "But Eric," you say, "isn't the Vatican Museum closed on Sundays?" You'd be correct for 3 out of every 4 Sundays of any given month. However, in their infinite wisdom, the Museum/Sistine Chapel is open on the last Sunday of every month (except July). Not only is it open, but it's free of charge to enter. Bonus for us. It seems that poor planning and dumb luck have once again worked in our favor. For those of you who have not gone to see the Sistine Chapel, it is similar to the search for the Holy Grail. You're pretty sure it exists, but there are many, many twists and turns along the way. I'm not kidding, we almost gave up after looking for the "Candid Camera" cameras. We were sure they were watching us going, "ho long until those dumb Americans realize there is no Sistine Chapel?" We finally saw it, it was amazing, yadda, yadda. As we were set to leave the next day for the cruise, we wanted to finish off our Roman holiday with a true Roman experience. So, we went to see the new Indiana Jones movie in English at an American theater owned by Warner Bros. All I can say about the movie is, "eh."
By the way - Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad. We love you.
May 26, 2008 - Mary and I decided to make an adventure out of getting to the cruise ship in Civitavecchia. Instead of paying Princess $75/person to get us there, we did some recon and found out there was a train that would take us directly to the port for only 9 Euros all-in. What a racket Princess has going. Mind you, I did get a little nervous when we pulled up to the last stop and no cruise ships were in sight. Luckily, we found the free port bus as soon as walked out of the train station, and we were in our cabin within 20 minutes. I'm skipping our encounter with the rude embarkation agent because...well, it's my blog and Mary still sees red whenever I mention her. Once on the ship, we had some drinks, some food, and then it was off to dreamland.
That's all I have for today. Keep checking this blog for future installations chronicalling the life and times of Mary and Eric.
May 15, 2008 - We were Maui'd in a beautiful ceremony at 5:30 PM Maui time at the Four Seasons in Wailea. We ate dinner at a wonderful steakhouse called Duo. Thanks to all who were able to share in the very special occasion with us. To those that weren't able to make it, pictures to follow upon our return to the States.
May 16, 2008 - We snorkeled. Mary, or "eagle-eyes Goldberg" as she'll now be called, spied an enormous sea turtle who came up for air within inches from my head. Goosebumps ran down my spine in fear that he might gum me to death at any moment. Luckily, nobody was harmed.
May 18, 2008 - Arrived back in LA at about 5 in the AM after a very bumpy, unrestful red-eye flight. This was our first time at home as Mr. and Mrs. Goldberg.
May 21, 2008 - Awoke at the early hour of 3 AM to get to LAX for a 6 AM flight to Rome. We ran into my family as they arrived back from Maui, which was great to be able to say goodbye as we flew off to Rome to begin our Honeymoon.
May 22, 2008 - Arrived in Rome at 7 AM after a short stop in New York the night before. Now, as I told my parents (and anybody else who would listen), the best way to get over jetlag in a new country is to NOT go to sleep when you arrive, but to stay awake until nighttime...no matter how tired you may be. So, of course, we ended up taking a "nap" as soon we got into our room...
May 23, 2008 - We woke up. Yep, I definitely live in a "do as I say, not as I do" world. Once we wiped the crusties out of our eyes, we hit the ground running. You'd be surprised how quiet Rome is before 7 AM. Turns out that none of the tourist spots are open until 9, so we walked...and we walked...and then we walked some more. By the end of the day, we say the Roman Forum and the Colloseum. We saw the Jewish Ghetto and the Pantheon. We saw some churches and a lot of stuff made out of marble. Boy, how the Romans loved their marble. We learned that the Roman Empire was built on the backs of the Jewish slaves taken from Jeruselum (nice handy work by the way), and that the Catholic Church stole, er...recycled, much of the marble used to build structures such as the Colloseum, et al, to build the Vatican. I'll tell you now that it was absolutely worth it. St. Peter's Basilica was extraordinarily beautiful.
Since we're accountants, I need to mention a little tidbit that we picked up about the marble used in the Vatican. These guys went all the way to Egypt to find a purple marble that is apparently the rarest marble in all the world. This stuff is so rare, it costs a mere 20,000 Euros, or about $38,000 per square inch. I guess what I'm saying is that the stuff ain't cheap and it's everywhere in Vatican City.
May 24, 2008 - We got up early again and watched the 2nd half of the Lakers game (live). Mary wants me to mention that this was at 4 AM Rome time. Later on, we decided that we had done a little too much walking the day before, so we bought tickets for a "hop on, hop off" open-air tour bus for the day. We boarded the motorcoach for the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, which were both stops past the Vatican bus stop. This is also the day that we actually made it to the Vatican, so you can now understand why I told you about the order of the bus stops. All-in-all, we rode around the entire city (of Rome) twice in order to the hit the Vatican on the 2nd trip around. What I didn't mention yet was that the Sistine Chapel was closed for the day by the time we finally made it over there (no wonder the lines were so short, Mary).
May 25, 2008 - Since the Sistine Chapel was closed yesterday, we got up early to stand in line for it today. "But Eric," you say, "isn't the Vatican Museum closed on Sundays?" You'd be correct for 3 out of every 4 Sundays of any given month. However, in their infinite wisdom, the Museum/Sistine Chapel is open on the last Sunday of every month (except July). Not only is it open, but it's free of charge to enter. Bonus for us. It seems that poor planning and dumb luck have once again worked in our favor. For those of you who have not gone to see the Sistine Chapel, it is similar to the search for the Holy Grail. You're pretty sure it exists, but there are many, many twists and turns along the way. I'm not kidding, we almost gave up after looking for the "Candid Camera" cameras. We were sure they were watching us going, "ho long until those dumb Americans realize there is no Sistine Chapel?" We finally saw it, it was amazing, yadda, yadda. As we were set to leave the next day for the cruise, we wanted to finish off our Roman holiday with a true Roman experience. So, we went to see the new Indiana Jones movie in English at an American theater owned by Warner Bros. All I can say about the movie is, "eh."
By the way - Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad. We love you.
May 26, 2008 - Mary and I decided to make an adventure out of getting to the cruise ship in Civitavecchia. Instead of paying Princess $75/person to get us there, we did some recon and found out there was a train that would take us directly to the port for only 9 Euros all-in. What a racket Princess has going. Mind you, I did get a little nervous when we pulled up to the last stop and no cruise ships were in sight. Luckily, we found the free port bus as soon as walked out of the train station, and we were in our cabin within 20 minutes. I'm skipping our encounter with the rude embarkation agent because...well, it's my blog and Mary still sees red whenever I mention her. Once on the ship, we had some drinks, some food, and then it was off to dreamland.
That's all I have for today. Keep checking this blog for future installations chronicalling the life and times of Mary and Eric.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
I've decided to start a blog so that our family and friends can keep up on what's going on in our lives. Hopefully someone will find this interesting. If not, at least we'll have a record of our new life together.
So many changes, so little time.
After almost a year of planning, the big day is almost here. We leave for Maui in sixteen days and there are only nineteen days to go until we finally tie the knot. Over the past week or so, both Mary and I have decided to leave KPMG after eight years with the firm to pursue other opportunities. As if a wedding and new jobs weren't enough changes in our lives, our lease in the Marina is up at the end of July, so we're beginning to think of making our first home purchase. All of these changes are really exciting and somewhat nerve racking.
Honeymoon Plans
Although we'll be in Hawaii for about a week for the wedding, our honeymoon plans take us East to the Mediterranean. We're flying to Rome on May 21 to spend four days sightseeing before we hop on a cruise ship on May 26 for a 13 day cruise around Western Europe. We're really looking forward to both trips and we're just really excited about what the future holds for us in our new life together.
So many changes, so little time.
After almost a year of planning, the big day is almost here. We leave for Maui in sixteen days and there are only nineteen days to go until we finally tie the knot. Over the past week or so, both Mary and I have decided to leave KPMG after eight years with the firm to pursue other opportunities. As if a wedding and new jobs weren't enough changes in our lives, our lease in the Marina is up at the end of July, so we're beginning to think of making our first home purchase. All of these changes are really exciting and somewhat nerve racking.
Honeymoon Plans
Although we'll be in Hawaii for about a week for the wedding, our honeymoon plans take us East to the Mediterranean. We're flying to Rome on May 21 to spend four days sightseeing before we hop on a cruise ship on May 26 for a 13 day cruise around Western Europe. We're really looking forward to both trips and we're just really excited about what the future holds for us in our new life together.
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