Rules of the Road

I will admit that I have a bit of road rage. I'm not sure who is giving out driver's license to the stupid, the blind and the clueless but I would like to have a discussion with them. If I were in charge of handing out licenses, these are the rules you'd have to pass:

1. Yes, please slow down when you're about to make a turn. But ACCELERATE THROUGH THE TURN. Trust me, you will not flip your car, you will not die. If a NASCAR driver can do it @ 100mph, you can certainly make the turn @ 10mph instead of 2mph.

2. Left lane = fast lane. Left lane = passing lane. It is NOT for you to cruise in. You pass those people who are going slow on the right, and then you mosey on over in front of them. Allowing those who wish to go faster than you, to pass you.

3. If you cut someone off (it happens to the best of us) in order to pass the jackass in front of you going 5 miles under the speed limit, please accelerate quickly to the appropriate passing speed. Do not get over and then proceed to go the same speed as the car that you were trying to pass.

4. When merging, and there is a lane, please utilize that to accelerate to close to the speed limit. People will be more likely to let you in if you're going a speed close to what they're travelling. They will NOT let you in if you're at a complete stop at the end of the lane, with your turn signal on and your head turned backwards (exorcist style). Trust me.

5. If you're sitting in traffic, do NOT try to weave through the cars. You're really not getting there any faster, and the likelihood of you causing an accident is much greater. I'm not trying to sit in more traffic because you were an impatient douche who couldn't wait your turn.

6. When there is a situation where another lane is merging in (i.e. you're sitting in traffic because of a lane closure and people in the "closed" lane need to get in your lane), it's every other car.  Don't be a jerk and not let people in. Don't be a jerk and try to slip in. It just causes more problems, and maybe even an accident.

7. ALWAYS check your blind spot. There are other cars on the road. They do travel in lanes next to you. This is not your highway to do what you please.

8. Pay attention to the signs posted. If it says the lane ends in so many feet, get over. I (as most people) will NOT let you over if you've had 2 miles to merge and then at the last second realize your lane is ending and your about to meet a concrete barrier. Pay attention.

Those are really just ones that I can think of off the top of my head. Please let me know in the comments section if you think I've missed anything.

European Tour: Sorrento, Italy

The first stop on our "Southern Trip" was Sorrento.

We jumped right into the sight-seeing by heading to famous Pompeii. We got on the train and headed straight there after dropping our bags off in the hotel. The first thing you see when you walk into Pompeii is that there are still houses and structures standing. As we walked through and our tour guide explained the things to us, I was in awe that the Romans had come up with all of these things that seemed like "modern" inventions.

Pompeii

The last picture on the top right is the grooves they made for the chariot wheels. The next picture (first picture on the second row) is remains of things that have been demolished. Second picture is the amphitheater where Frank Sinatra and Pink Floyd have both performed. The third picture is how they marked where the "Brothels" were. If there was a penis on the sidewalk, you knew where you could go...they also had pictures on the wall that demonstrated the positions and how much they were. The first picture in the third row is looking down the streets of Pompeii, you can still see where the houses lined the streets. The second picture, third row shows the crosswalks of Pompeii and the grooves for the chariots not to get stuck in the mud. The third and fourth pictures show actual bodies that were preserved by the ash. Most of the people of Pompeii didn't die of lava but it was from the ash in the air and the damage it did to their lungs. And the last row of pictures comes from our impromptu photo shoot (yes, we had lots of those) when we were lolly gagging around, waiting to get back on the train.

Positano

Once we got back from Pompeii, we changed into our swimsuits and made our to the bus that took us to Positano. It's a beach town, that sits on a cliff-side. After the long bus ride, we made our way down to the rocky beach where we got bottles of Corona from a local pub, sat on the beach and enjoyed some quiet time. Well, as quiet as it gets when 20 people are hanging out. After the beach, we climbed back up all the stairs, and the big hill to get back on the bus.

The next day we all loaded onto a big boat the took us across the water to Capri. Whatever you have heard about Capri, it's absolutely breath-taking...it's been used as a resort spot ever since the Roman times and definitely for good reason. Capri is the main part of the island, but you can take a lift up to Anacapri, which is the highest point that overlooks the water. We did that, enjoyed the wonderful views (and of course took pictures). Then, we made our way down to the beaches of Capri. Which are rocky and no sand. Imagine the comfort of trying to lay down on jagged rocks...but the scenery made it all better.

Capri

From left to right, and top to bottom...

Picture 1: Steph and I, on the boat to Capri. It was a little chilly.

Picture 2: Standing on Capri 

Picture 3: View of the water 

Picture 4: Town of Capri 

Picture 5: the lift up to Anacapri 

Picture 6: view from Anacapri

Picture 7: The boys on the top of Anacapri

Picture 8: the girls on Anacapri

Picture 9: Most of the Riva group on top of Anacapri

Picture 10: Kathryn and I on Anacapri

Picture 11: Megan, Kathryn and I on Anacapri

Picture 12: Molly, Me, Katie, Kathryn and Steph on Anacapri

Picture 13: View from Anacapri

Picture 14: Kathryn, Molly and Me

Picture 15: On the way down on the lift

Picture 16: the beaches of Capri

Picture 17: beach bar

Picture 18: laying on the beach

Picture 19: Kathryn and Steph on the beach

Picture 20: View from the beach

After our long day out in the sun, G-Rod gathered us back up to go to dinner and then set us loose for the night. We went to a local bar that was a few steps away from the hotel and hung out for a bit...then went to bed to get ready for our trek to Rome.

 To be continued...Next Up: European Tour: Rome

Busy Weekend

Friday was Richie's Birthday but he also had to work. He works at our old High School as a security officer. So one of his duties is going to the football games to make sure those crazy kids stay in line. We joined him, and ended up posting ourselves at one end of the field for pretty much the whole night.

Going back to my old high school is so weird and definitely brings back nostalgia. I just look at all the kids who think that every bit of drama in their life is important. I remember those days and kind of wish I could go back and tell myself that it will be okay. That in 7 years I won't even remember who went to Homecoming, and who got to choose where we ate dinner. I'll just have vague memories of the good times I had with friends.

On Saturday, I went to Puppy Kindergarten with Christy. We were standing in the little gated area, letting the puppies play and get their energy out. All of a sudden, something flies @ Christy's shoulder and it hit her really hard. I was standing next to her and still heard it bounce off her. We both look over @ the guy standing across from her, thinking he had turned up with a slingshot to throw acorns at people. He was grabbing his head though. A murderous squirrel had thrown an acorn from high up in the tree, it hit off this guy's head and smacked Christy right in the shoulder. They'll probably both have bruises. But it was so funny! I had to try and contain myself, because the "adults" there did not think it was as funny as we did.

After driving back to Arlington, I went with Susan and Sarah to get our nails done. Came home, showered and got ready to go to Oktoberfest. The German Embassy hosted an Oktoberfest like shin-dig with good food, German entertainment and of course beer. 

I do have to say that the Embassy was not at all like I would expect. When I think Embassy, I think something that looks like the Capitol building, or a museum. This actually looked kind of like a high school gymnasium. But the food was really good, the beer was even better and we of course shook our groove things on the dancefloor (once the DJ came). So all in all, a good experience, I had fun and I'm glad I did it but I'm not too sure I would do it again.

Sunday morning, I got up (too early for my liking) and headed over to Aunt Sue and Uncle Joe's for some Pumpkin Patch time. We (read me and the kids) got to go down slides, go through the corn-maze, take a hayride, pet some farm animals and get pumpkins. I love making memories like this with my nephews, and I honestly can't wait to have kids of my own so I can start making family traditions with them :)

Happy Birthday!

Instead of including a long explanation of just how funny/goofy Richie is (and why he's one of my BFF), I thought I'd let the pictures say it for me....

Happy Birthday Richie!

Happy Birthday!

And even though he doesn't read my blog, Happy Birthday Kenny! 

I love you more than I could ever express and I'm so proud of everything you've accomplished so far. I can't wait to see what the future holds. 

Thanks for being my love and my best friend.

Love you :)

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Natalie! 

One of my best friends for almost 10 years (how scary that is to say)! Thanks for always having my back, giving me advice and making me laugh. Love you!

Me and Natalie, at her wedding - Summer '07

European Tour: Barcelona, Spain

The Barcelona trip was a "non sponsored" trip. Meaning we had to figure everything out on our own.  We quickly figured out that Europe has an airline called Ryan Air. You can fly on it for practically nothing, and the only you can take with you is a carry-on. We booked our flights on that, and booked a hostel and were on our way to Barcelona.

The only qualm I have with Ryan Air is that it doesn't fly into the major airports (cuts down on their costs). But it adds to my cost, as well as the travel time when I have to take a train to the outlying airports. After taking 3 hours just to get to the airport (walk to train station in Capalago, take train to transfer point, take train to airport station), we checked in and were ready for Spain. I was half expecting to have to kick start the plane Fred Flinstone style, but we were actually on a HUGE plane, the one that has 3 rows of 3 seats. It was an uneventful ride until the lady sitting next to me, looked @ me and in Spanish asked me to hold her baby. At least, I think that's what she said because I didn't have any time to think about it before a 6 month old was being pushed into my lap. Good thing that baby was golden because she was in my lap for a good hour. When it came to the landing, that wasn't so smooth. We landed and it was almost like the pilot overshot the turn where we were supposed to go because he WHIPPED the plane so suddenly I thought I had whip-lash.

After we were safely on the ground, we unloaded from the back (so smart) and got on a bus (another outlying airport) that would take us into the city. After walking around for a bit, trying to find the hostel we finally found it. We freshened up a bit, and then went out to find dinner. We called it an early night so we could be ready for sight-seeing the next day.

City Park in Barcelona

The first day of the trip is completely lost, at least in pictures. First, we stopped by Barcelona's Arc De Triomf, which looks very similar to the one in Paris. Then we made our way over to the city park where we waited for about 2 hours while our friend Megan tried to rendezvous with her friend Anne-Marie. After finally meeting her, we walked around the park some more.  We found a beautiful sculpture/waterfall that had us all boggled. We had never seen such a thing at any park in the US. On our way out of the park, we stopped by the zoo but decided against it when admission was $20. We walked down towards the beach, where we stopped for lunch. I had a "Bikini" it's the Spanish version of a ham and cheese panini and it's SO good.

First up on our agenda for the day was Bodegas Güell. It's a "city" that was designed by the famous artist Gaudi. It has a lot of crazy architectural designs, and a lot of the mosaics that Gaudi was famous for. He has a "park" where there are mosaic benches that overlook the city, he has a couple of different houses and a "town center" where the business of the town would be conducted. The city was never brought fully into fruition, so you can really only see bits and pieces of the dream Gaudi had for the artistic city.

We then decided to walk from Bodegas Güell to the Sagrada Familia. It's another one of Gaudi's famous projects that was started in the 1800's and isn't supposed to be completed until 2026. It's definitely a sight to look at, even a little creepy with the combination of the Gothic architecture and the texture of the materials used. There is a lot of intricate figure work as well...and the figures themselves give off kind of a creepy vibe. It was hard to take a nice looking picture because of all the construction going on and all the cranes and equipment hanging around. So we settled for a group shot...

After stopping in a local cafe for lunch, we headed back to the hostel to take a nap and get ready for dinner/going out that night.

2 of our group (Molly and Katie) stayed at a different hostel. So the water fountain in the middle of Barcelona became our meeting spot since it was 1/2 between our hostels as well as being near everything. The first picture is us waiting for Molly and Katie, and taking pictures in front of the fountain. We walked down Las Ramblas (the main street in Barcelona) and picked a restaurant that looked good yet wasn't too crowded. From what I remember, it was excellent food...again, hard to mess up food when you're in Spain. After dinner, we started walking down Las Ramblas again, we were handed flyers for bars that had drink specials. One of the bars was right near where we were at the time, so we decided to head over there and try out their special. It was free Tequila Sunsets. I had never had one, but one was plenty...it wasn't very good. We stayed there for awhile and then decided to find some other night life. As we walked down Las Ramblas and then over the bridge, we were handed all kinds of flyers that had drink specials on them.

The first up was another Irish Pub, where we had drinks, sang Karaoke and ended up dancing on the couches. After that we went to a nearby "dance club" but after a few minutes we realized there weren't that many people there and it wasn't really our kind of crowd. We moved onto another "club" where things were a bit more "hopping" and the crowd started filing in around midnight.

Around 2 am, Megan and I decided to take one of our friends home...she had had enough partying for one night. The crazy thing was that people were JUST getting to the Club then, everyone would be like "Where are you going?" as we passed them, leaving. I don't know how they all do it, maybe it's the siestas, but they are literally out until 6 o'clock in the morning.

The next day started off a little bit later than the first day. We once again, waited for Molly and Katie at the Water Fountain and then made our way back down Las Ramblas. The street performers were out and we took our time strolling in and out of shops and stopping to watch them. We stopped by a local church that had just let out, all the people had gone straight from the church to a little square and their were people playing music and dancing all around. We took some time out to hang out there and watch everyone.

We slowly but surely made our way to the beach, where we lounged on the chairs (until we were told you had to pay for them) and then lounged on the sand. It was awesome to be able to go the beach, and be completely warm in late October. After sitting on the beach for awhile, we started making our way back down Las Ramblas. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed back to the hostel to pack up and get ready for our VERY early flight the next morning.

Barcelona was definitely one of my favorite cities that I went to while I was in Europe. It had the beach, the big city yet it was laid back. Also, since I had taken 7 years of Spanish...I could understand a little bit of what they were saying. I say a little bit because they speak Catalan Spanish which is different than the Spanish I learned throughout school. Barcelona is on my list of places I want to go back to someday.

To be continued...Next Up: European Tour: Sorrento