Wandering North

Europe France

Bon Voyage

Greetings, all.
Today is the day of our greatly anticipated journey to Paris. Both Betty-Lou and I are sorely in need of a vacation (I to recover from the assault of law school and Betty-Lou to escape the chaos of home renovations – Thank you to Ron for keeping watch at home.)
Finally I will have the opportunity to discover how well my eight years of French education has served me. Betty-Lou is already sporting her beret and has grand plans to develop a taste for wine and Gauoilses. Between the two of us, i believe we have six guidebooks, so we are well prepared.
We do plan to chronicle our (mis)adventures, so check in for updates.
Bon Voyage!

Dale & Betty-Lou

(wandering norths)

North America USA

The Happiest Place on Earth

It has been a bit of a break since my last post, but i have been in Orlando. We left on Friday and returned late last night.
We started our theme park extravaganza at Islands of Adventure, which has some of the best rides and rollercoasters i have ever experienced. The Hulk and Duelling Dragons are amazing! Dawn and i have been before, but this time it was even better as we could enjoy the water rides on which we got completely drenched (the last time we were there it was January and it was too cold).

After that we went to Universal Studios, which i hadn’t been to since i was little. The Jaws ride is still awesome and the new Mummy rollarcoaster is fantastic.

On Sunday we went to The Magic Kingdom (aka Disney World). It was amazing. I ran around like a kid, hopped up on sugar and glee. The Main Street USA section is incredible; it is an America that never was, where barbershop quartets sing and tapdance on the street corners, there are marching band parades and for no apparent reason men and women dressed in 1930’s attire break into song and dance routines in the middle of the street. Included in their repertoire was a high-spirited rendition of the Trolley Song from “Meet me in St. Louis” (you know it: “clang clang clang went the trolley! ding ding ding went the bell…”). I was in heaven.

Adventureland was also a favorite. The Pirates of the Caribbean ride is every bit as awe inspiring as i remember and i loved the Jungle Cruise and the silly Tiki Room. We went on Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain, during which i insisted on speaking in my best old west voice, saying things like “Dag nabbit, that there was the best ‘coaster I’ve been on since them claim jumpers done stole my horse!” I’m sure people looked at Dawn with sympathy and thought “How nice of that girl to take her mentally retarded sister to Disney”.

I was reluctant to go on It’s a Small World, but Dawn insisted and it was great! It is so old, but in a completely charming way. We also watched this 3D movie which includes bits from Disney movies. It even did the Be Our Guest number from Beauty and the Beast, but wait – it was more than 3D, my friends! When Lumiere presented delicious dishes, waves of aroma exploded in the audience. A 3D apply pie appeared, and you could smell it. During the Fantasia bit, when the buckets of water were overturned, we were splashed with water! It was magic, i’m telling you, pure magic.

Sadly, i didn’t get any photos with any of the Disney characters. They were all there, but the lines to be photographed with them were super long and i was too overstimulated to stand and wait. I DID get to see Belle though. She did a story time thing for a small audience of children, their parents, and me. She retold the Beauty and the Beast story with volunteers from the audience playing the different parts. I waved my hand in their with great enthusiasm, but, sadly, she didn’t pick me. Damn kids get to have all of the fun. Frankly I think the boy playing Gaston didn’t really understand his character and wasn’t really “in the moment”, but perhaps i am being too critical.
Disney is also a great place to witness first hand the epidemic of obesity in America. Rotund children and their gargantuan parents waddled around the park, gasping for air and squeezing themselves into seats on rides built in an era when people came in smaller sizes. There were many people so huge that they opted to rent wheelchairs and motorized scooters to enable them to move about the park without suffering heart failure. It is so different to be back in South Beach where the only thing big about the people are their biceps and breast implants.

So now it is Monday and Dawn has dropped me in South Beach for a long day of sun, smoking, and wandering. It is hot. At 10 am it was already 89 degrees. I had some fruit and a cigar while reading the paper and i shall continue my wandering. I plan to go to the Wolfsonian, an excellent design and art museum, and i also will check out the World Erotic Art Museum, the largest of it’s kind in the country.

So, in summary, here is my new life goal: I plan to move to Disney World and live on Main Street USA, land of genteel shop keepers and and balloon salesmen, where Broadway shows erupt every 20 minutes. I shall practice law there, but it will be a quiet practice, as nothing bad ever happens. I will start a book club with Belle and take my vacations at the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. It will be grand.
d

North America USA

Odds & Ends

A couple of things I forgot to mention in last night’s long but hurried post:

The gun totin’ turkey shootin’ family from Ocala said Grace before dinner. They actually said Grace (Does one capitalize grace?) They held hands and everything. I don’t know if I have ever seen that outside of church camping trips as a child.

In case I haven’t been clear about this: South Beach (Lincoln Road in particular) is one of the greatest places in the world. I could honestly just sit and wander around all day looking at all of the beautiful, muscular, silicone-enhanced people rollerblading and walking impossibly tiny dogs. Then one can walk a few blocks over and hang out with thugged out guys in classic pimp attire – and some of them actually will be pimps! (Need I remind you that it was once on Washington Avenue here in South Beach that Dawn and I once met and “chilled” with the (in)famous pimp Bishop Magic Don Juan. I’m not sure that’s really something to brag about, but I like saying his name.)

The weather: So great. It is stupidly hot and humid and I am loving every second of it. It is like walking around in a warm cotton-candy soup and it would be unbearable if it were not for the salvation of the ocean breezes which easily make their way inland over and around the 3 storey, pastel, deco buildings, sitting like little confections along the sea.

Today. Slept in. Dreamed that one of my law profs (I will not say which one) was exacting physical torture sessions on his (or her) students each night. Hung out with the sister, went to the gym, ran errands. Dawn is presently writing her final exam in Calculus or Algebra or one of those frightening classes. I am going to go hang out and smoke and read tonight while she teaches her class. It will be a low key evening, as tomorrow we head to…Orlando, where I plan to stalk and get my photo taken with Belle from Beauty and the Beast, which will undoubtedly result in me trying to impress her with my knowledge of all the songs in the entire show – until Dawn punches me in the mouth and asks with irritation, “Man, why you sweatin’ Belle?!”. I can’t wait.

North America USA

Final Destination: Florida

Greetings from South Florida!
After 12 hours of travel (3 flights + layovers) i arrived at the underwhelming Fort Lauderdale airport – underwhelming that is until i saw a blonde vision in active sportswear: my sister (and her faithful companion, Giovanni). My flights, while long, where supremely relaxing. I read, completed a sunday NY times crossword and listened to Company, Sweeney Todd and My Fair Lady on the ipod.

I got in late, so Dawn just drove me to her new residence in the schmancy gated community known simply as “The Resort”, complete with 3 swimming pools, gym, hot tub, tennis courts and security guards (no need to pack heat here).

We watched “Final Destination 3” (creative, gory death scenes) and retired.
Today she was busy teaching classes, so i spent about ten hours on South Beach. “Bliss” would not be too strong a word to describe my mood as I strolled beneath the palms in the uber-humid Florida weather. I smoked three cigars over espresso and salad, went shopping and visit some old haunts, like the South Florida Art Gallery. Little changes here (I even saw some of the same colorful homeless people I recall from when I lived here – if you have to be homeless, this is the place to do it). My favorite cigar lounge has closed, but there are countless other satisfying venues in which to enjoy a double corona, so I am not too broken up about it.

As I was on my own today, I had many interesting conversations with people. One fellow, at the Hustler store sighed fondly when I said I was from Canada. “I’ve never seen snow”, he said. He told me he grew up in Fort Lauderdale and moved to Miami and has never been anywhere else. Ever.

At dinner, on Lincoln Road at World Resources (i had a fabulous Thai curry) I chatted for about an hour with a family and their friends who are 7th generation Floridians from Ocala – super rural Florida with horses and citrus farms. They had crazy fake-sounding southern drawls and told me all about how they love to go hunting for turkeys and hogs, except they pronounced it “howgs”. It seems that it takes a surprising amount of cunning and ingenuity to outsmart a turkey. I also learned all about Florida gun laws and it seems that it is quite legal to carry a gun with you at all times (except in court, at football games and in clubs), provided that said gun is in plain sight. (You can carry a concealed weapon, but you have to take a four hour course to qualify.) So if you want to drive with your 45, you have leave it in your lap, not tucked under your shirt.

Anyway, I had a fantastic day. When I come here, I can’t remember why I ever left. The beach, the weather, trees filled with coconuts and green parrots are so seductive. Like I said, it is bliss.

Now I am back at Dawn’s place and we are going to watch a horror movie about a killer ventriloquist’s dummy.
Enough rambling.
Good night.
d

North America USA

Blog! The Sequel

I cannot make any promises. Like most sequels, this Florida installment of the blog may prove to be entirely tedious compared with the original – Russia/Europe chronicles. I am, however, willing to take the risk. I enjoyed doing the “travel blog” thing and it seemed as though people enjoyed reading it, so i thought i would give it another go. Of course, this time around, I will not have Betty Lou with me to correct my numerous typing and spelling errors, so i apologize in advance for types to come.

I leave tomorrow (Tuesday) morning and fly to Florida via a ridiculous route, taking me from Vancouver to Seattle to Salt Lake City to Fort Lauderdale – 10 hours and 20 minutes in all. It was the only way i could get a flight for less than $1000.

I am very excited to see Dawn and visit the Magic Kingdom (that’s where the magic lives), swim in the ocean and smoke cigars on Lincoln Road. I’ll try to do something blog worthy, as daily entries describing the cigars i have smoked and the crossword puzzles I have done will make for some painfully dull reading.

I don’t know how often I’ll post, but check in occasionally and perhaps there will be something worth reading.
Adios, Amigos.

Europe Netherlands

Home from Amsterdam

We are home…at least I am. Betty Lou will return to Summerland tomorrow.

The last leg of our journey took us back to where we began: Amsterdam. We didn’t do much with the evening (dinner & bed), but had a lovely day today (at least I think it was today…it feels like yesterday).

We visited the Anne Frank house/museum, which was very moving and certainly worth a visit. After that we walked along the canal to the flower market, had a bit of lunch and returned to the airport.

The flight (10 hours, I think) went by remarkably quickly, considering that neither of us slept.

And now we are back. I’m not sure how I feel about that, but then again, I am so tired I cannot really evaluate my feelings about anything.

It was an excellent trip and neither of us could have asked for anything better.

Thank you again for taking the time to read about our adventures.
Dale & Betty Lou North

Europe Finland Russia Trip 2007

Helsinki: Day Two

Our first full day in Helsinki was a busy one.

Dale at Helsinki Cathedral

We visited the Helsinki Cathedral (the big white one that overlooks Senate Square) and the Uspenski Cathedral – you would think we would be burned out from visiting so many churches at this point, but we’re not. We went to the market which occurs every morning down by the water. It is sort of like a temporary Granville Island – people selling produce and fish and handmade items, souvenirs, etc. There was live music (which included one man using a moped as a percussion instrument) and the weather was most agreeable.

We had coffee on the Esplanad, which is basically a pedestrian street/park which is lined with cafes, shops and public art installations. For those of you who know South Beach, it is sort of like Lincoln Road. We had coffee and watched a marching band parade around the area. We don’t know what the marching was all about, but it felt festive.

We checked out some of the shops in the Design District before hopping on the number 3T tram, which winds a figure eight through the city in about an hour and goes past most of the sights. We hopped off after a full loop and visited the Kiasma museum of modern art, which is a truly stunning structure, slightly reminiscent of the Guggenheim from the inside, but with quite a different exterior. The art was interesting, the best exhibit being one from Asia, which depicted mostly disturbing installations and sculptures inspired by political upheaval and poverty.

We had a fabulous dinner at a classic Helsinki restaurant…the name escapes me, but I suppose it doesn’t matter.

Today has been more leisurely. Slept in until 7am (yes, for us that is sleeping in), went out for breakfast and then took the metro up to another market, which was not too different from the one we went to yesterday, but it did get us to another part of the city and to another church (quel surprise).

Today is especially warm and sunny and it seems that every Finn is out with their dogs and strollers. They are sunning themselves on lawns and benches and every sunny cafe patio is packed. We did manage to find a place to enjoy the weather a bit as well.

We went to the Design Museum today, which we both enjoyed quite a bit. It had a history of Finnish design and an impressive exhibit by Finnish design students. After that, I napped on a park bench while Betty Lou read Chekov and ensured that no one mugged or molested me.

We may take in a movie tonight, as there is a cinema near our hotel. In Russia the American movies were all dubbed into Russian, but here they are in English with Finnish subtitles.

Tomorrow we fly back to Amsterdam. I shall be sure to double check our departure time to avoid another error.

We will be home very soon. I can’t imagine how anyone can be missing us, with our daily blogging, but hopefully some of you will be pleased by our return.

Ok, that’s all for now.
Good evening, faithful readers.
Until next time,
Dale & Betty Lou

Europe Finland Russia Trip 2007

Wandering (Farther) North

Good morning from beautiful Helsinki.

We arrived at the ferry terminal in Tallinn one hour before our supposed departure only to find…our ship had sailed. I pride myself on being a bright girl- i’m in law school for crying out loud – and yet, I cannot tell time. I’ve never been particularly good at reading clocks, but I get by. One thing I have never been able to sort out is the bloody 24 hour clock. I had our confirmation which said we were leaving at 13:30, but somehow it had registered in my brain as being 3:30, not 1:30. I am retarded. Fortunately there was another ship leaving at 4:15 (sadly though this one did not have a cigar lounge). The ship was large and well-appointed and quite comfortable. The ride took 2.5 hours.

We arrived and a taxi driver with a penchant for “Cosby Show” analogies whisked us to our new abode: Gasthaus Omapoja, which is terribly charming and as our taxi driver noted, when I asked if it was a good location, “It is in the heart of the centre of Helsinki”. This may be our nicest lodging yet (with the possible exception of Amsterdam).

Due to the ferry mishap, we arrived a bit later than anticipated, so we simply went out for dinner and walked around the city a bit. Our location is truly excellent and both Betty Lou and I are quite excited to see what a beautiful city Helsinki is. There is much to see, so i’ll sign off here and get to seeing things.

Näkemiin (goodbye)

d/b

Estonia Europe Finland Russia Trip 2007

Countdown to Helsinki

We have been wandering around in the Old Town this morning. Had coffee and a cigar in the warm sun in the town square. Betty Lou bought a lovely painting from an artist set up in one of the alleys. I bought some (more) liquor and chocolates. I now have vodka from Russia and some Estonian liquor (which i’m sure will be disgusting, but it is the national drink or something), and a bottle of absinthe, which may get taken from me by Canadian customs, but it was so inexpensive I couldn’t help myself.

The opera last night was wonderful. Exquisite sets and costumes and, of course, beautiful singing. It hadn’t occurred to me beforehand, but the surtitles were in Estonia, so we had to make up our own dialogue, but with opera it isn’t too difficult.

We will catch a taxi to the ferry terminal in about an hour and a half and then it’s up to Finland. The trip takes about three hours and it is a beautiful day.

We will probably post tonight.

Happy Thursday!

d & b

Estonia Europe Russia Trip 2007

Afternoon in the Town & A Night at the Opera

Another day in Tallinn. Walked around the town some more. We went to the St. Nicholas Church – a medieval structure that has been repeatedly rebuilt following fires and bombing by the Nazis. It was quite lovely; very simple.

We also went to an old monastery – the oldest structure in the city supposedly. It was beautiful.

We had more coffees and snacks and then walked atop the remaining portion of the city wall, which afforded us beautiful views of the town and its red rooftops. The wall walk also allowed access to four towers, which one reached by climbing perilous, spiral stone staircases, which were dark and guarded by territorial pigeons.

We had lunch in the town square. It is beautiful and sunny today, but the odd gust of cold wind reminded us that we are in fact quite far north. After lunch/dinner Betty Lou joined me in a visit to the cigar lounge I found on our first day here. It was wonderfully relaxing.

Strolling along we stumbled upon a row of artisans selling their wares – mostly of the knitted variety. I purchased a lovely linen sweater and scarf. Finally something new to wear! (my existing outfit is growing a bit stale).

This evening we shall attend an opera at the national opera house. It will be a production of La Traviata, which neither of us have seen, but we both enjoy the music.

Time for us to go ready ourselves for the evening’s events.
Tomorrow we are off to Helsinki on a 3:30 ferry.
Until tomorrow,
dale & lou