[Rhodes22-list] What I did on my summer vacation

[Rob Lowe]

It does sound wonderful.  I don't dare forward this to my wife (she's not on
the list) or she'll be wanting us to go! - Rob


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Tonjes" <johntonjes at earthlink.net>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2003 2:12 PM
Subject: RE: [Rhodes22-list] What I did on my summer vacation


> Slim,
> Sounds like a great trip. I've always wanted to go to Amsterdam, sounds
> like a great place. Thanks for the details, I'm sure you had fun.
>
> Rummy
>
>
> > [Original Message]
> > From: Steve Alm <salm at mn.rr.com>
> > To: Rhodes <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > Date: 7/9/2003 12:54:31 PM
> > Subject: [Rhodes22-list] What I did on my summer vacation
> >
> > Hi everybody.
> >
> > We just got back from Europe and here's how it went.
> > Trip overview:
> > 3 days in Amsterdam: 3 days in Paris; 6 days in Lisbon; 2 days in Tavira
> > (southern Portugal); 3 days in Seville, Spain; 2 days in Ericeira, Port.
> >
> > Details:
> > In Amsterdam, we immediately took to the streets and started just
walking
> > around, enjoying the sights--and what great sights they were.  The
canals
> > are loaded with every kind of boat you can imagine.  Even tall-masted
> > sailboats that were stranded between two low bridges.  Many were
> old-wordly
> > looking lap strake vessels with big, fat, high bows. We took a boat tour
> > around the canals and went to the house boat museum where we saw
> everything
> > from old to new, inhabited and abandoned.  The people that still live on
> > their boats often sit out on their canal side decks and greet you as you
> > boat by.  People were very friendly and inviting and most spoke English.
> >
> > Our favorite part of the city is an area called Leidesplein, with very
> > narrow cobblestone streets lined with shops, restaurants, night clubs
and
> o=
> > f
> > course the famous =B3coffee houses.=B2  We ate most of our meals at
> sidewalk
> > cafes.  They arrange the seating so everyone faces the street.  It=B9s
> like
> > sitting and watching a movie.
> >
> > We visited the Rembrandt Museum where we saw, among others, the
wonderful
> > =B3Night Watch.=B2  I=B9ve only seen pictures before and they hardly do
> justice t=
> > o
> > the real thing.  We also went to the van Gogh museum and ditto to that.
> > Mary Ann is something of a painting historian so it was nice to have my
> own
> > personal docent.  I learned a lot as we both gazed in amazement at these
> > extraordinary works.
> >
> > And speaking of gazing in amazement, we also toured the red light
district
> > and saw the hookers in their little street-side windows in various
states
> o=
> > f
> > undress, waiting for customers.  One simply walks up to the window,
slips
> i=
> > n
> > a 50 euro note and gets invited in for about fifteen minutes.  Not very
> > romantic but, well...enough said.
> >
> > They say there are more bicycles in Amsterdam than people.  They have
> > parking ramps for bikes instead of cars.  There are no ramps for cars.
> Eve=
> > n
> > older men and women all dressed up for work in coats and ties or even
high
> > heels are riding around on bikes.  The public transportation is
> incredible.
> > trains, trams, metros, busses, you name it.  It=B9s very easy to get
> around.
> > Nonetheless, we got around mostly on foot and by the third day we had
> > blisters, shin splints, aches and pains galore!  We bought foot powder
to
> > soak our feet at night and I broke down and bought a funky, old
walkin=B9
> > stick.  More about my cane later.
> >
> > We said goodbye to the land of tulips and took the high speed Thalys
train
> > to Paris.  We arrived at the train station and took the metro from there
> to
> > the city center near our hotel in the Latin Quarter.  Upon emerging from
> th=
> > e
> > underground, my first glimpse was Nortre Damme!  Whew!  We checked in
and
> > hit the streets.  Mary Ann lived in Paris years ago, so she knew her way
> > around and speaks French.  Dining was the first priority so we found a
> cute
> > sidewalk cafe and indulged.
> >
> > Napoleon mandated that all buildings be the same height, so all you see
> are
> > six story (the attic is actually 7, but that=B9s typically reserved for
> the
> > servants) structures with all that frilly French design.  Again we, the
> > intrepid walkers, wondered around the narrow streets, stopping for
snacks
> > and wine whenever our feet got too tired to go on.  These rest stops
> seemed
> > to get more and more frequent.
> >
> > We went to the modern Pompidoa museum where they had paintings by Dali,
> > Picasso, others.  At the Louvre, there was a special Leonardo deVinci
> > exhibit that was utterly wonderful.  deVinci only painted 30 something
> > paintings, but he filled up pages and pages of little technical drawings
> of
> > everything from human anatomy to flying machines.  Absolutely
fascinating.
> > We decided not to stand in the long line to see the Mona Lisa which is
in
> > its own room.  What bothered me about the Louvre is that the labels next
> to
> > the artwork are only in French.  You=B9d think that they=B9d have
several
> > languages like they do everywhere else, but no.  Nortre Damme was
perhaps
> > the highlight for me.  I had no idea that the place is actually still
open
> > and free to all.  Not only do they still give Mass there (with the
> Cardinal=
> > ,
> > no less, presiding) but they still play the pipe organ which we got to
> hear=
> > .
> > I was profoundly astonished.  It blows my mind to think that before it
was
> > built in 1133, some architect had to put pen to paper and say, =B3I
think
> we
> > should build it this way.=B2 and that the people responsible for
> approving it
> > said, =8CYeah, that looks reasonable.  Go ahead!=B2
> >
> > Paris is extremely expensive so we tried to shop at grocery stores and
> brin=
> > g
> > food back to the hotel whenever practical--  baguettes, cheese, sausages
> an=
> > d
> > wine, but it was hard not to stop at the creperies and various other
> > sidewalk eateries.
> >
> > I know you=B9re probably curious how we were treated by the French.
More
> on
> > that later--let=B9s go to Lisbon.  Our friend, Eddy Goltz, has been a
> > professional musician there for 20 years.  He stays with us once a year
> whe=
> > n
> > he comes home to see his family so it was cool to do the reverse.
Lisbon
> i=
> > s
> > a beautiful and very old city.  Founded by the Phonecians thousands of
> year=
> > s
> > B.C. and subsequently inhabited by Celts, Romans, Moors, Safardic Jews
and
> > Portuguese.  The antiquity of the place is hard to wrap your mind around
> > when you come from a neighborhood that was built in the 1930=B9s.  One
of
> the
> > best natural ports in Europe, Lisbon is a bustling shipping and
> > boating/sailing haven.  We saw everything from full rigged tall ships to
> > kayaks; ocean going container ships to PWC=B9s.  There are aquaducts, a
> middl=
> > e
> > ages castle, monuments and cathedrals abound, and of course, sidewalk
> cafes=
> > .
> > We took a double decker bus tour where we got to see the sights and get
> > ourselves oriented to the city.  There are many lovely beaches along the
> > coast but the Atlantic is pretty cold so we only waded a bit which felt
> > great on our sore feet.
> >
> > I got to play three gigs in Lisbon.  The first was a jazz big band that
> > played for the Lisboa Escola de Danza (School of Dance).  They were
doing
> a
> > show featuring various selections from American musicals ranging from
> > Cabaret to Chicago.  The band was pretty good but the dancers were
> > fantastic.  The other two gigs were in nightclubs.  One was a
trio--myself
> > and two other Portuguese dudes who spoke little English and didn=B9t
know
> my
> > arrangements very well but we managed to speak the international
language
> > pretty well.  The last gig was a quintet with Eddy and Mary Ann on the
4th
> > of July and us Yanks rocked =8Cem good.  Tons of fun!
> >
> > We left Lisbon to go to the southern Portuguese area called the Algarve,
> > known for its quaint villages and beaches.  After quite a mixup in the
> > bus/train ride, we finally got to Tavira at about 11 at night.  They
> > happened to be celebrating San Pedro that weekend so the town was all
> > dressed up and decorated with flowers.  The whole town was out dancing
in
> > the streets to the various bands, eating sardines and snails and
drinking
> > beer.  It was really very sweet.  We took the water taxis to the beaches
> > which were beautiful indeed but too windy to enjoy for long so it was
back
> > to the sidewalk cafes for more beer.
> >
> > We took the bus to Seville in Spain.  Wow, what a fantastic city--my
> > favorite of the trip.  Everything is clean and well kept.  We stumbled
> > around a little and found a hotel, checked in and then, you guessed it,
> hit
> > the streets on foot.  What a beautiful and enchanting city!!!  It
wasn=B9t
> > long before we happened along a group of people at a bar who had spilled
> > into the street, all singing in harmony, dancing and playing
> > guitars--Flamenco Sevillana!  It was just wonderful.  I=B9ve seen
Flamenco
> > performances in the States, but like pictures of great art, it=B9s a
> whole ne=
> > w
> > experience when you=B9re there where Flamenco was born.  We went to
> several
> > other Flamenco shows too and they were all fabulous.
> >
> > We found the double decker bus tour here as well and the sights were
> > spectacular.  The Moorish Alcazar palace from the 900=B9s, the Cathedral
> of
> > San Cristobal (where Christopher Columbus is buried)--almost as
impressive
> > as Nortre Damme,  fortresses, a whole modern area built for the world
expo
> > in 1992 to celebrate 500 years after Columbus discovered America, and
yep,
> > sidewalk cafes.  We ate lots of tapas and gaspacho to die for.  The
> sights,
> > sounds, smells, and tastes of Seville are truly a delight for the
senses.
> =
> > I
> > can=B9t wait for my next visit.
> >
> > We bussed back to the Lisbon area and spent our last two nights with two
> > newly acquired friends Stephen and Vanessa who are transplanted from
> Belfas=
> > t
> > and London.  They live in the little fishing village of Ericeira, out on
> th=
> > e
> > coast northwest of Lisbon.  Very charming and down scale.  Crab dinners
> and
> > lots of Irish whiskey.  It was nice to cap the trip off with a couple of
> > relaxing days on the ocean front.
> >
> > People and attitudes:
> > There is no shortage of anti-American sentiment in Europe.  Virtually
> every
> > person we spoke to felt the same about Bush.  Fortunately however, they
> wer=
> > e
> > able to distinguish between American foreign policy and us two travelers
> an=
> > d
> > the image of me in my Panama hat and cane gave most the impression I was
a
> > Brit or a German--fine with me.  Nobody gave us a hard time about it
> > although they all wanted to talk politics.  Most agreed that if there
had
> t=
> > o
> > be just one major super power in the world, better the US than Russia,
> > China, Japan, or any one else.  In Amsterdam, the folks were very
friendly
> > and affable.  In Paris, they were just being Parisians--they hate
anything
> > that=B9s not French and they=B9re pretty snobby about it.  But I
didn=B9t
> get the
> > feeling they were singling out America as the center of their hatred for
> > things not French.  In fact President Chirac just gave an address urging
> > people to smile and be nice to Americans because they=B9re losing too
much
> > money in tourism.  Americans are staying away from France in droves.
The
> > Portuguese people, on the other hand, make the French seem like happy
> littl=
> > e
> > school girls.  They=B9re truly horrid people, especially the Lisboans.
> > Portugal is the most backward country of western Europe and it gives
them
> a=
> > n
> > inferiority complex.  They have few natural resources in their little
> > country and they view themselves as have-nots.  They take every
> opportunity
> > to be indignant and sour.  They=B9re not outwardly rude, but if you go
> into a
> > restaurant, the waiter will look at you as if to say, =B3What are you
> doing
> > here?  Can=B9t you see I=B9m busy being miserable?=B2  The Spanish were
> just the
> > opposite.  They=B9re happy and glorious.  We were treated like the king
> and
> > queen.  I just can=B9t say enough about Seville.
> >
> > I took about a hundred and fifty pictures with my trusty 35 mm.  After
> much
> > debate, we decided against a digital camera so we can put the photos in
an
> > album and pass it around, rather than trying to get everyone to gather
> > around the computer.  I=B9m having them put on a disk too but I don=B9t
> have a
> > web site or anything to post them on.
> >
> > So there you have it.  It was a great trip with many new memories and
> > friends........and I=B9m thrilled to be home!
> >
> > Slim
> > S/V Fandango
> >
> > __________________________________________________
> > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list