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Our trip to Europe.

10/27-10/28

Flight from LAX to Heathrow left an hour and a half later than planned since British Airways misplaced some of their flight crew in Los Angeles. Those Brits know how to party! Plane had a little problem with ground power, too, so interior was a balmy 103 until they got the engines started (we had been seated for about 45 minutes). Sitting next to us was Leslie, a rather hysterical refrigeration engineer from Newcastle, near the Scottish/English border. He was returning home from Auckland, and was pretty pissed about the delay and cabin temperature. I only bring this up because he sounded just like our one L, Alison, so I knew what he was saying about fixing the bloody A/C or opening the fookin' window.

BA, much to their credit, declared open bar, so Leslie and I had a great time with Sir John Walker, the nobel Scot. Marianne just had a glazed look as I learned that he was in a club that was restoring a WWII Catalina flying boat. I mentioned 914's, so we definately had a common language. The word fookin' came up often, and I now know to check the hellhole in a Pratt and Whitney radial.

Seating was interesting. So close you couldn't quite get your tray table down, and when the guy in front of you reclined his seat his head ended up right on your spotted dick. Leslie liked that, saying it's better than all those fookin' sheep in New Zealand.

Anyay, we did proceed with great haste from there, hitting 711mph according to Jill. and Made up almost all the lost time, but still had to go like stink at HTR to make our connection. We made the flight and zipped to Barcelona. Our luggage wasn't quite as zippy, so I spent an hour or two trying to find it. Love Barcelona, BTW. Really nice people, and since I'm from LA, there's no language barrier. Everyone speaks Spanish!!. Filled out the lost luggage forms and grabbed a taxi to the ship.

Driving thru Barcelona was a treat. Good roads, maniac (but courteous) drivers. Very familiar looking and acting for SoCal folks. Will spend more time here someday, but 15 hectic hours of flying and losing things was enough fun for one day. We arrived at the ship with no real luggage, but our carry ons had the laptop, camera, lots of little bottles of Sir John's finest, passports, a few $$, and the AMEX card. Good to go.

Voyager of the Seas

One big fargin' boat! Ice skating rink??? Royal Carib provided some odds and ends for us to use. Tooth brushes, deodorant, T-Shirts, razors, and joy to the world, clean undies. Of course they're bikini's, size 4. OK for Marianne, but I'm feeling a bit kinky as I write this. Kind of fun with the little bow, but pics will have to follow since the camera cable is in the luggage. On the up side, dinner was great last night, the cabin is very nice, and the wine flows freely. Phone service is very expensive, but they have Wi-Fi. Tomorrow we hit Marseilles. Wait till they see my lacy panties.

Love to all How was the swap meet and A/X?

Sounds like fun Howard. We're heading out to the Caribbean on Freedom of the Seas in 2 weeks. It'll be our first cruise and we're really looking forward to it.

Hey Howie, have fun on yer cruise
Don't be too harsh on the French

What Islands are you Porting in?

Curacao is fun with a real city, Aruba is where you either gamble or lay on the incredible beachs, Jamaica is where ya drink rum, Mon, Trinidad is where ya hold on to your wallet while drinkin rum eating Roti or Doubles.

Howard, where the pics?? I am planning to go to Spain/Holland/Italy/Croatia/Serbia next summer..

Glad to hear you made it! Send pic's soon(skip your bikini shots please). What stops are you making?

I agree...........and with Gint.....go figure


Lisa

St.Croix is awesome

Marseilles, 10/29

Pulled into port around 7am. Was expecting something out of a Bogart movie, dark and sinister, but it's bright and much like Barcelona. Still no luggage, but am getting used to wearing women's underwear. Not that that's a bad thing, eh? We wanted to go into town and buy some essentials, but it being Sunday in a Catholic country, most all of the stores are closed. Good news (?) there is a substantial Muslim population here, so we went shopping in the 'Casbah'. With very little French and less Arabic, we had some difficulty telling someone wrapped in robes and a head diaper that we needed underwear. When asking for the time, ya just point to your wrist. Asking for chonies brought a few laughs. Great selection of Hookahs and Cuban cigars.

Anyway, we found most of what was needed. Marianne found a great outfit fit for a harem, some hysterical undergarments, and I got shorts and socks. Much better now. And they promise our bags will be in Nice when we get there tomorrow. Check's in the mail...

I take back most of the nasty French jokes I've made over the past few years. Town (almost 1 million population) is very friendly, they drive like lunatics and know how to drink. Popular cars include a really neat Fiat (I think) spider that looks smaller than a 914, but most all the rest are diesels. Rode back to the ship in a Peugeot TDI. Really strong acceleration in the lower gears. Looking forward to driving the TDI Alfa in Italy.

If you miss the formal dinners on board, they serve regional buffets each night. Tonight was German on one side, Japanese on the other, and good old 'merican food in the middle. Tonight we dined on spicy tuna hand rolls, sashimi, braised pork loin mit sauerkraut, knadles, and broiled lamb chops with mint glaze. Oy! I can now fart in 3 languages. Life is good.

Enjoy Buddy!

Damn Howard, aren't you drinking yourself silly drunk on that really good cheap French wine while eating stick bread and cheese??

sounds like a great trip but WTF no pics!!!!

OK who missed the part in Howards post that mentioned his camera cable was in his luggage that was lost? Hence no pics. Hey! Buy a new cable ya cheap bastid! Sounds like a great trip. Next time take me with you. I'll hand carry all your luggage so it won't ever get lost. Unless I get lost.

Cheers, Elliot

No Howie ..... don't do it. Ever since he lost his buddys in Cockpit he's been a little lonely. He just wants to run his fingers thru your silky undies. Quit enticing him.

Bullshit on the new cable .... just buy a new camera and raise your insured's rates to cover.

Memo to 914club. Before you die, figure out some way to get to Italy, rent a car, and get really lost. Tuscany is best, but all good.

This is Disneyland for cars and drivers. Speed limits, stop signs, double lines are merely suggestions, but don't speed in towns. The drill is to go like a bat until someone is on your ass flashing his lights. He has more car/driving ability than you, so let him go and try to keep up. If you do, he'll wave you down at the next town and buy you a coffee. Nice folks.

Ended up with a Fiat TDI. A little bigger than a 3 series, 5spd, 225/55 17's and a shitload of torque, guess 250lbs. EXIT SPEED!!! Best handling FWD I've ever tried. Alfa builds a hotted up coupe on the same platform. Fine looking car that may make it over here.

Some random pix from Tuscany. Google San Gimignano and Ristorante Dorando for my suggestion for the next 914club event. Walled city that stood off Attilla the Hun. There has been a restaurant at that location for over 1000 years.

Opps. Out of sequence. Forgot to mention another favorite, Villefranche. Halfway between Nice and Monaco is the wide spot in the road. Nice is huge, Monaco is too crowded, but this place is friendly, fun and affordable. I take back the rest of the bad things I've said about the French. It's the Parisians that are a-holes

Pix are on one use camera so will post once we get them developed.

You have a spotted dick??? Maybe that should be checked out. We need you to do some research while you're about. As you wander aimlessly through different countries would you ask around as to the preferences on Mayo or Miracle Whip please. This debate can't be resolved here so now it must go international!

Rome. We were lucky enough to hit this on All Saints Day, so very little traffic and a special mass at the Vatican. Beautiful beyond words.

Circus Maximus and Chariot Track.
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Forgot what this was
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Anything worth doing is worth over doing..
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Remember seeing pictures of Mussolini addressing the crowds? Il Duce's balcony.
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Rome's synagogue. Right down the street from St. Peters. Much older It's the domed building in the background.
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Marianne at St. Peters with you know who on the big screen. Church was overflowing so they broadcast Mass in the square.
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You know who blessing the folks from his balcony. In 7 languages! Speaks German like a native.
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Jewboy at the Vatican. Lightning bolt removed for clarity.
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Team NARP cruise ship.
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More from Napoli later.

Beautiful pic's Howard! Looks like your having a great time....I can't show these pic's to Linda.......she'll want me to take her to! Hey, when are you back(miss you)

Naples.

Bit of a Mafia turf war going on with 12 murders in the past week. Murder is not a popular sport in Europe, so this was a big deal. Carbineri with automatic weapons all over the place and Vesuvius is active, so the city is on an alert for that. But hey, what could go wrong?

Went to the National Museum that had some of the best stuff from Pompeii and Herculaneum. Some of the ancient Gods look strangely familiar.

Greek Goddess of the Buns, Lisa:
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Oil lamp commemorating the Roman God Slits. Pot belly, small winky, etc.:
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Bust of the Hun God of Alternative Hair Styles, Andy:
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Italian Ferry. Great lines:
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Naples is not the cleanest place in the world.
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But it has Vesuvius:
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And some really neat buildings:
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Good to be home. Back to work tomorrow.

Hi Howie
How sweet of my Mom to share your latest pic. I wasn't a bit surprised at how cute your tush is and, frankly your legs are younger looking than mine! Now, that's just not right!!

Sounds like you guys have more of a vacation than you bargained for! Do you still have the "panties from hell" or have you burned them already? Well, you may have lost your pants, but at least you kept your laptop (now that's really something we can't live without!)

Will miss you guys at Thanksgiving!!

Love,
Kim

Lisa

Forgot what this was : Howard, I am a newby so we never talked. I loved your travel log and your command of the pen was exceptional. Thanks for all the laughs. The picture in question are the steps coming from the upper city. Right behind those building in the background is the Forum. Leaving the Forum you had to climb up a set of stairs to get to those buildings in the background and then descended those steps between the statues on the way to the next picture of the massive white building the locals call the Birthday Cake.
Sammy

Thank you howie ! ... I enjoyed the pictures and the texts.

You actually were in France

did you try the frogs and snails ?