So finally, after almost 7 years of being together and equally as long talking about going to Paris together, Justin and I are finally making it a reality. And I hope, I REALLY hope, that I can completely change his mind about Paris. I know he was nonplussed with it when he went during college. Granted, he was really enjoying London and his time in Paris wasn’t even a FULL day, plus he didn’t get to go with me… So, yes, I am hoping he has a better time and enjoys it more this go-round.

One of his coworkers was awesome enough to give him a guidebook to Paris for his birthday, which I have been poring over. I had no idea, for instance, that Paris was founded in 250 BC by Celtic fishermen. I did know that the original settlement of Paris was on the Île de la Cité (thanks to Val!). I didn’t know that there was a ‘ring road’ (Boulevard Périphérique) which set the unofficial boundaries of the city… and on it goes. :)

Needless to say, I am enthusiastically anticipating our vacation. We’re going to be spending part of the trip in Paris and part of the trip with BigP in Zweissimen. I am so looking forward to seeing BigP and spending time in Switzerland in the summer which will be entirely new to me. :)

Here is a starter list for things to see:

Site Seeing

• La Defense – I’ve never been to this monument, just glimpsed it from atop the Arch Du Triomphe. Might be cool to take an elevator up and stroll around this completely different, business district.
• Sacre-Coeur/Montmartre
• Pompidou Center – because I oh-so-love modern art… :/
• Musee D’Orsay
• Louvre
• Eiffel Tour
• some haute cuisine establishment to dine (TBD)
• tour of champagne?
• Versailles?
• Pere Lachaise
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A8re_Lachaise_Cemetery
  • http://www.pere-lachaise.com/perelachaise.php?lang=en
• Catacombs

CR:Sunny16Photos

Photobooth Photos

Looking back at 2009

My words for 2009 were Execute, Meaning and Fun.

Switzerland

Fun:  Despite the many difficulties of 2009, I have to admit I did have a lot of fun this past year.  From those warm spring and summer nights dancing with friends to really getting to know BigP and spending time with both him and Val! in Switzerland, I’d say the relationships I’ve enjoyed this year were the main reason it was so enjoyable.  Having BigP and Roger come to NYC and then sharing Texas and my family with them was absolutely special.  Tubing on the San Marcos River was just like stepping into carefree and comfortable old times.

Christmas 2009

Justin and I were able to share our home state with our friends Alex and Marisa in 2009; the fact that Fiesta was going on made this especially cool, although we were reminded of how unrelenting the heat can be practically year round. In April, we had the opportunity to take a group trip to Puerto Rico with some friends that turned out to be a lot of fun.  We also had the chance to host both friends and family for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners plus we were able to spend time with our families in Texas in December – one of the most enjoyable trips back home I’ve had in recent years.  We spent the majority of the late summer through fall really delving into nature, whether it was a car trip, camping trip, or hotel overnight.  We got out and really experienced the beauty of autumn in the northeast this year – something I’ve wanted to do since moving up to New York.  Other awesome, fun-filled events include the birth of my first little cousin, my Mom having an important birthday at which a lot of friends and relatives came out to celebrate, and Justin and I hosting some incredibly cool couch surfers.

Fall

Execute:  From writing songs (and finishing one), to working on short stories and really delving into my new job, I think my execution this year was none too shabby.  I also wrote some travel articles for the Examiner website (as lame as I think that site is), which are pretty decent, though I could’ve written more and I would prefer it if they were being hosted in a more meaningful place, which brings me to my next word.

Meaning:  This is a constant search, a never-ending struggle, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.  Some of my entries from last year are good testaments to the fact that I am constantly searching for meaning, self, and fulfillment.  This is just part of the human condition.  I am not sure if I am any closer to finding meaning now as I was a year ago, though in some ways maybe I am.  I frequently find old journals I’ve started and put down again – most of them are from 2004 to present, and they all share the same themes.  At times, I’ve glanced through journals as old as 1994 to find that not much has changed.

Your Words

Sheila, Thao, and Mike participated in setting goal words for 2009.  I asked them if they felt they successfully executed their words and in what ways. What would they have done differently? Given that there was just over a month left in 2009 at the time I asked the question, I wondered what they would do to send off their 2009 word selections with enthusiasm.

Sheila’s words for 2009 were Create, Excitement, and Enjoy:

so I really thought about this for a moment…

Sheila and Brennan

I think that this last year has been an epic journey of the unknown with peaks of flurried wonders and anxiousness. I have enjoyed being pregnant but even more so I have loved every moment my dearest little boy entered my life. I would say the best creation would be him but also of a wonderful love filled house with a complete feeling that I thought would never happen.

When I wrote create I was thinking of all the cute, wonderful little things that I might crochet or sew for Brennan or you or the family but in turn it has been that he is here and now I get to fill his thoughts with wonderment and knowledge. My excitement level sure has jumped ten fold. I have been on the edge of my seat for the unknown things that we go through nowadays with Brennan. When you figure him out he changes. He has 2 bottom teeth now and is about to crawl…I really enjoy this type of excitement too other than just having the single/married type of fun that comes without having a child.

One word that sums up the year 2009 was ‘enjoy’. I have enjoyed all the fantastic visits from you and the rest of the family. I enjoy every night I get to put Brennan to bed and he rests his head against my chest sucking on his thumb and buh buh’ing to get first syllables out and to hear himself. I enjoy my trips to SA to visit with Nanny and others.

So now we come to what I would have changed…hm.

Leading up to 2009 I would have not charged anything on my credit card since I hate paying bills and would like to spoil myself, Justin and Brennan. I would have eaten a little better (I am on the right track now, I promise).

To send the words that I chose off for eternity isn’t something I want to do. What I want is to build on them though. I would like to use them for the building blocks for the years to come. How is that!?

Do you wanna know my words for 2010? How about Relax, Focus and Learn :) LOVE YOU!!

Thao’s words for 2009 were Research, Action, and Celebrate:

Hey Ness!

Thao and me

Thanks for following up. I had forgotten about this but I’m happy to report that I’ve successfully executed 2 of the 3 items: Research. and Action. Did a ton of research when on my projects, switching jobs, choosing a church, and finding a coop. So many accomplishments but not much celebration (except for baptism)!

Still need to get together for karaoke to celebrate the new job and sing ‘reunited and it feels so good’. Then once the COOP goes through, I can throw a big loud housewarming too!

Thank you so much for reminding me!

Please post a follow-up for yourself on your blog too! I’d love to read it.

Mike’s words for 2009 were Explore, Complete, and Connect.

Mike, Justin and I

Unfortunately, I don’t have a written response from Mike to tell you just how well his goals were achieved, but from conversing with him, I know he did very well.  I also know he’s selected his 2010 words already.  Mike traveled quite a bit this year, visiting New York, Chicago, Italy and Ireland.  He also worked on music and photography.  Probably where he put the most effort was in connecting.  He met quite a number of new people through the power of the internet and made some serious headway in connected with old friends (myself included, I am happy to say).  Hopefully he’ll share his thoughts about his 2009 results and his goals for 2010.

2010 Goal Setting

In deference to the man who gave me the three word idea, I am quoting his 2010 blog where he makes this point:  “I set goals around these three words. I build deadlines and projects around these words.”   What I am taking from this and doing differently this year is that it’s not just enough to keep the words in mind and lackadaisically let them lead you from activity to activity.  I really should be more proactive about my words.  I am going to set goals and tackle them like I do with my work – as true projects with deliverables and timelines.  Sure, it doesn’t sound quite as heady or fun, but maybe I will get some of the results I want.  I am also considering setting up a separate project page on this site to track the status of my goals for the year, although that may be taking it a bit far. ;)  I guess creating urgency and accountability is really what I am after with this.

Cheers to 2010

That being said, my 2010 words are Creativity. Sharing. Fun.
Yes, I am including fun yet again because I have to be honest – it doesn’t make sense not to live for fun (to paraphrase Smash Mouth). ;)  And I realize my words are pretty lighthearted this year.  I figure I may as well spend that last year of my 20s focusing on stuff that’s not so serious. :)

My big initiatives for 2010 are pretty varied.  I’d like to execute my 7 deadly sins photography project this year (the one I dreamed up about 10 years ago), create a video miniseries for which I have the first short installment written, write/record a few new songs, and travel.  Of course, traveling is was and always shall be on my list of things to do.  This year we’re planning a little weekend trip to Ottawa to ski on the Rideau Canal, a group trip to Puerto Rico or somewhere in the Caribbean, and possibly a honeymoon in South Africa or Argentina (although Europe is always a possibility).  I’d also like to go to Switzerland and Germany, but I am not sure it will be possible.  The biggest event of the year for Justin and I will be our wedding in October.  We have 0 details firmed up, but that’s what part of this year is for, after all.  Some other things I think would be fun to do this year include learning some Spanish, taking a dance class (and just dancing more in general), and maybe delving into acting/public speaking courses.  My biggest fear of the year is turning thirty.  oy vey.

Share away

I hope you guys share your words for the year, resolutions if you’ve set them, goals, hopes, and whatever else comes to mind.  Chris Brogan, from whom I got this idea, has some good advice on how to help you set your words for the year.

Ape for Apples

Just a quick post to link to some photos showcasing the outdoorsy fun we’ve been enjoying during this lovely season: Fall!

An Apple Picking We Will Go

Over the weekend, Justin and I went apple picking, wine tasting, stopped by a dairy for some fresh bread and cheese, and even spotted a baby black bear!  It was awesome!  I also go to sleep in on Saturday, which was brilliant and much needed.

Setting Up Camp

Rugged Campers With Our Air Mattresses

The weekend before last, we went camping with some friends (Olivia, Alex, and Marisa) in Clarence Fahnestock State Park.  We also brought along Ruby and Eve.  Olivia was accompanied by her pup Winston.  Good times – even if our Hyundai was a little weighed down!

We sat around the campfire until the wee hours of the morning.  We hiked.  We roasted marshmallows.  Good times were had.  Marisa and I saved the day by jogging two miles down a windy road, mostly uphill, to locate our car.  Yah, we’re tough.

Enjoy the photos!

Five days until mine and Justin’s fifth anniversary!

Camping in Taconic State Park

The Sunday of Labor Day weekend, Justin and I loaded up our two pups and headed north with the intent to camp.  Naturally, we made no campsite reservations what with it being one of the busiest camping days of the year and all.  We hoped to grab a spot at Taconic State Park.  Oddly enough, luck was on our side!  Not only did we receive the last available dog-friendly spot, our neighbors never showed up!  We ended up having a fairly private campsite at the far end of the park near the singular puppy friendly hiking trail. Yay!

Check out our photos and videos >>

View Justin’s video – The Running of the Pups! YouTube | Vimeo

Should you go, this stuff is definitely worth checking out:

• The now abandoned Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center which has been purchased with the intent to transform the property into The Knolls of Dover (I found video and photos inside the Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center).
• Rosemary’s Texas Tacos – This woman has bright purple hair and zany makeup!  The tacos were okay, the sweet tea was delicious, and the interior decor was other worldly.  Check out Rosemary’s Myspace for fun images and general insanity.
• Bash Bish Falls State Park – super beautiful falls!  This park was a perfect stop for us because we were able to take the puppies on a little hike before driving all the way back to NYC.  Check out the park’s website or read an article about it if you’re up for it.
• Taconic State Park – of course! It was nice and peaceful, and I expect we’ll head back someday!  Check out the park’s Wikipedia entry. :)

Sandra and Goeril, our German couchsurfers

Yessiry!  I am fixin’ to be saying Howdy to Houston!  I am meeting up with my mom and sister who are already there visiting Ma.  It will be a nice way to spend a couple of days.  Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve really written much.

I just updated the Examiner website with a little blurb on Houston’s Mixers & Elixirs event and linked up Val’s Youtube video. Give it a looksee. :)

In May, we had some great guests from Germany (couchsurfers) stay with us for a few nights (ok, five nights). They even accompanied us to Texas when we went down to celebrate my Mom’s bday (check out the photos)! 

Brennan's Baptism

My little cousin Brennan was also baptized last month (photos on Picasa). He’s grown sooo much in just a short period of time, it’s pretty incredible. I just hope Sheila and Justin, the proud parents, can return to a normal sleep routine soon. Having a newborn is certainly taking a little bit of a toll on them.

We stopped and got some groceries then came back to Big P’s. I took a nap before we went to dinner at Appaloosa.  It’s a TexMex restaurant and was actually better than lots of places in NY.  I got a chicken enchilada that was primarily cheese – and you know how well the Swiss do cheese.  :)  Val! and I also had a margarita each and they were fantastic – but super tiny for $12 (or $18?) Swiss Francs.  Once again, Big P and Roger refused to let us help with the bill.  It’s really sweet of them.  I told them they would live like Kings in America.  My enchilada (1!!!), for instance, was somewhere between $20-$30.  Crazy town.

We got back to Big P’s and talked about music and listened to different songs/watched videos til nearly 4 AM.  It was so much fun! :) We also talked about our family names and how they’ve changed and where his family originally came from (somewhere in the French speaking area of France).

Today we’re going to Interlaken to be tourists, then sledding with Big P and Roger.  The wind is too strong for skiing (35 M/hr).  More updates to come!

Update: Sledding may be nixed because it is too wet (raining this morning), so we shall see! Tourist time :)

We stopped at a chocolate factory, but it was closed.  Our luck improved quickly, though, as we went to a cheese factory in GRUYERE where they make GRUYERE!!! It was open and Roger bought tours for all of us – super rad!  We learned a lot about how cheese is made.  For instance, cow’s stomach is added to milk to induce coagulation.  I am so going to love sharing that fact with vegetarians.  MUAHAHA!  We also learned that a wheel of cheese weighs about 77 lbs and spends 29 hours inside a salt bath (20% salt to water) before being stored to age.  Once stored, it has to be brushed regularly with a salt water mixture.  We actually saw machines automating this process.  Very interesting!!!  Then Big P and his brother picked out some chocolate to purchase and we got to sample it.  Callister (or something similar) is the name of the manufacturer.  I believe it’s the same company as Nestle.  Tasty stuff! Val! still holds that Lindt is better.  This may require a direct taste comparison!

We continued on to a small, touristy village.  It was beautiful and set atop a mountain that afforded gorgeous views.  Then again, right out Big P’s windows are some amazingly stunning views that we Americans would surely pay millions for.  In this village was none other than the H. R. Giger Museum, where Val! and I were headed 5 yrs ago during our Golden Pass debacle. hahaha  Big P actually came to the museum a couple of years after we met because he was curious about what we were so interested in.  Well, anyone that’s familiar with Giger at all knows he worked on Alien and Species.  They also know he was an absolute pervert, including all sorts of orifices, penetration, and profane positions in his artwork.  I typically find it annoying, but after room after room of the gigantic pieces, I felt a little turned on myself.  Where is a sexy robotic alien when you need one?  Sheesh.  I bought a couple of postcards of one painting that caught my eye – one I intend Justin and I to keep and the other is for Mike (since he loves Giger).

We hit the Giger cafe/bar next door upon exiting the museum.  It is all decked out in Alien/Giger decor.  Very cool.  And yes, we took lots of pics of everything, even though neither of our cameras seem to want to hold on to a charge.  At the cafe, we had coffee and tried one of their local specialties – meringue… they are crunchy.  We call them meringue kisses in the states.  I know this because I have baked them before, but I think they are rarely made or served. In Switzerland they are served with thick cream that isn’t sweet at all. It definitely doesn’t need to be given the sweetness of the meringue.  In short, it is really good together!

On our way back toward Big P’s place, we stopped at this small fondue restaurant on the side of  a mountain that is in the French speaking area of Switzerland (as is Gruyere).  Roger knows the daughter of the owners’ because they play in a band together.  It’s a brass band.  Roger plays percussion and is absolutely passionate about it. Both Big P and Roger are such interesting and nice fellows. The fondue was delicious. (They only eat it with bread, for the most part, and that’s how we had it tonight.) We also had a carafe of house white wine to share amongst us.  Roger ordered a small bit of Schnapps and said it is customary to sometimes dip your bread in the Schnapps then in the fondue.  Val! and I both tried it, but it was overwhelming for us!  At some point, Roger snuck off and paid for our dinner, which was SO nice.  Switzerland is a pricey country, especially when it comes to fondue!  Now they DEFINITELY have to come to America (read: Texas) so we can take them out!

We drove to Gstaad and saw a huge Christmas tree decorated with beautiful white lights and a “Palace” hotel. Apparently Gstaad is really famous for being a place celebrities go (Liz Taylor, Michael Jackson, Paris Hilton, etc.).  Switzerland has strict rules about how your houses can look and how you can decorate.  Big P told us that houses were only allowed to have white lights that outlined the trip of the house… or something.  Roger dropped us off at Big P’s and bid farewell.  We already made plans to try a “Tex Mex” restaurant in a nearby town on Monday night. :)

Val! and I showed Big P some San Antonio pix and talked about the different ways you can order food and drinks in Switzerland vs the USA.Big P has to work at 7:30 so he went to bed around midnight.  Shortly thereafter, Val! was preparing for bed and I got her some Nyquil pills but couldn’t tear them open. She said she would handle it and went into the kitchen.  I didn’t pay much attention, but she evidently tried to cut the packet open with a knife and ended up cutting her finger pretty badly. I heard her gasp and then put her finger under the water start saying, “No. This is bad. This is bad.”  It reminded me of when I fell and hurt my leg at Kaaterskill Falls  and knew right away it was bad and would require stitches

I had to wake up Big P while Val! ran to the bathroom to try to stop the bleeding. After helping Val! put jeans on, Big P drove us to the hospital where Val! had to get 3 stitches in her finger.  The hospital was dark inside so Big P picked up a phone on the wall. A nurse quickly came and let us in, turning on lights as she went.  After checking Val!’s blood pressure and other vitals, she looked at the wound and called the doctor. The cut was deep and you could see the yucky fat stuff like i had on my leg.  It was scary, but the doctor was a nice young lady that spoke English. She also listened to Val!’s lungs and said her bronchitis is gone!!!! yay!!! She told Val she would try to give her a good deal on the ER visit because Val doesn’t have insurance. She also gave her some pain meds for free.

Now we are back at Big P’s and both he and Val! are in bed.  I am on my way to join them!  Good night! :)

Vanessa on Swiss train with pretzel bread - 2004

No matter.  Today I embark on an adventure in the snowy land of all things Swiss.  Val! is currently in route, traveling by train from Sibu, Romania.  She will arrive 2 hours before my plane is scheduled to touch down, which means she’ll meet me at the airport. Yay!  We have a friend named Big P (Patric) that is fetching us from the airport and with whom we’ll be staying.  He lives in a small Swiss town named Zweissimen – check it out on this Google map.  It seems to be directly between Geneva and Zurich… which makes sense when you read the story of how we met.

How we met Big P: We were en route to Geneva from Zurich along the “Golden Pass.” Apparently we weren’t taking the tourist friendly route, because we had to change trains numerous times.  During one of these train-changing episodes, we left behind a purse that contained our passports and money.  We only realized this when we attempted to purchase a first class upgrade onboard the next train.  We exited the train at the first opportunity – the town of Zweissimen (or was it Gstaad?).  After crying to the local train station officials, we were directed to the police station.  We slipped and slid through the snow covered streets (that was new to us as we both still lived in Texas and had never really experienced SNOW).  A new layer of snow began to fall beautifully from the sky.  It all seemed very ironic at the time.

Val! chomps on pretzel bread on Swiss train - 2004

No one was at the police station when we arrived, so we loitered outside for a while.  Soon, two officers arrived.  One was much older, and the other, we thought, just a little older than us (turns out we’re the same age).  Neither spoke excellent English, but we spoke NO German. The youngest of the two was an avid English student and was keen to help.   After an arduous day of waiting around in the police station, then the train station, Mom was able to wire us some money for the first time in our trip (…thanks Mom!…).  We soon learned that the purse was back in Zurich and, amazingly, everything was accounted for.  We headed back to Zurich and decided against staying in Switzerland any longer.

Not much time went by before I received an email from a very nice fellow.  He introduced himself as “Big P” and informed us that he was the younger police officer that helped us out during our harrowing Swiss countryside experience!  We couldn’t have been more excited.  He somehow found us by surfing the web.  Proper police work, to be sure.  We’ve kept in touch over the years on a sporadic basis. Thankfully, within the last year, we all reconnected on Facebook, which has made it much easier to keep in touch and for Val! to arrange our current plans. Here’s to meeting up on Swiss soil under much more positive circumstances.  This time, I imagine, will be filled with laughter rather than tears. :)

Check out the very bottom of this page to see a little about our misadventure in Switzerland.

On the agenda: skiing in Rinderber, visiting the Giger museum, and eating fondue!  Oh yeah, and bringing back delicious chocolates for all of you guys.  Seriously – they have the best chocolate and cheese I’ve ever had! Off I go!!!

Sorry we were such unreliable updaters while we were gone.  The truth of the matter is, internet ain’t free (anywhere really, but especially in Australia).  Most of the places we stayed didn’t have wifi and many didn’t offer LAN connections in the room.  We were lucky enough to pay almost $100 at one place for 3 days worth of internet access.  That’s the last time we updated.  I am sure you understand!  ;)

We were lucky enough to make it to the Yarra Valley and taste some incredible wines. We returned with 9 bottles!  It would’ve probably been ten, but we had to remove one due to weight restrictions when flying out of Tasmania.  No big deal – it seemed to make the gate agent’s day a lot better to have a free bottle of wine.  We did buy three bottles of one fun fizzy sweet wine to share with friends when people come over to be bored to tears by our photos.  Wee!  So yeah, the Yarra Valley was beautiful, fun, and tasty!  It definitely seems like a cool place to spend the weekend as many of the wineries have weekend events and concerts.  One winery we visited had a band shell that can accommodate 10,000 people.  Whoa!  The show that was supposed to happen the Friday before we arrived was canceled due to weather; it was John Cougar Mellencamp.  Crazy!

After the Yarra Valley we drove down the Great Ocean Road.  We’d planned to head out on the Great Ocean Road first, and the Yarra Valley the next day, but sadly, in the night a truck driver perished on the road outside of Geelong – his truck completely incinerated, flames scarring the hillside opposite where it caught fire.  The Great Ocean Road was closed for the whole morning.  That evening we drove through the accident site – everything was pitch black for 20 feet in all directions.  The view from where the fellow died, well, it could’ve been a lot worse.  The area around there was stunning.  Actually, many spots on the road were panoramically perfect.

(That evening was saw a cute light house and beautiful coastline at sunset.  We continued the drive to the area where the 12 Apostles rock formation was located, arriving sometime around 11 PM.  We rolled down our seats (yeah, they were the crank kind – grr) and slept fitfully in the car, having to turn the engine on intermittently when the cold woke us up.  I am pretty sure I was able to spot the Southern Cross – though in that middle-of-nowhere darkness, there was so many stars vying for attention it’s tough to be certain.  We were out of the car by 6:30 AM and on our way to photograph the 12 Apostles at sunrise.
So. Beautiful.  *sigh*

We drove back along the Great Ocean Road, stopping for breakfast at a cute place in Apollo Bay that occupied the second story of a builing along the main street.  It afforded amazing views of the curving bay outside.  In a parking lot across the street, a man practiced tricks on his bike for over an hour!  He was quite good and I had a rather enjoyable time trying to capture his stunts in photos.  They don’t do it justice though.  You really need to see the motion for something like that – especially when it was choreographed like a beautiful dance.  See, I can appreciate art in some forms! :)

We secured a room in Melbourne, quickly showered, and set out again for Phillip “penguin” Island.  After hearing the different ‘penguin encounters’ you could have at the mega-commercial research and preservation facility, we opted for one of the more private and ‘authentic’ options.  Instead of sitting in bleachers on a beach lit up by floodlights with hundreds of other people and lots of screaming kids, we opted to go with a ranger and 4 other people in wind and water proof suits (thankfully provided by the company as it did start raining) to the opposite site of the penninsula (the ranger pronounced it peninshoola) and sit on a dark beach with night vision goggles clutched to our faces and watch little penguins clamber to the dunes.  We then followed some of these penguins along the road back to the facility; many of them have their homes in burrows there.  They were cute, but the best part was how happy Justin was to see the penguins coming up the beach.  He kept pointing them out to me.  I really never see him that excited  so it was well worth the drive, cold, and cash.

The next morning, we flew to Tasmania! The flight in alone was breathtaking.  The water was so clear you could see straight through it down to the rocks below from 1,000+ feet in the air.  The ocean presented myriad shades of blue from the palest sandiest blue to deep sapphire.  The island itself had a mountaineous green landscape remniscient of the Carribbean.  The small towns we glimpsed while flying in were subtley colorful and absolutely adorable.  We both liked Tasmania immediately. It didn’t hurt that we lucked out and stayed at a really nice, comfortable hotel right across from a lovely little harbor.  The day we arrived we were pretty beat from all our going so we just took it easy.  I got my haircut, Justin got a massage, and we both napped before getting ready for a night on the town.  Justin surprised me by ordering a “Taste of Tasmania” from room service which included a selection of Tasmanian cheese and a bottle of wine.  After this, we had a good dinner at an Indian restaurant in an area of town known as Salamanca.  Search for a dance spot mentioned in the Fodor’s guide led us to a pub where music by the Smiths flowed softly out. We ducked inside.  It turned out to be a cozy joint with a roaring fire.  The bar tender, a really pretty gal with freckles, informed me that the club (upstairs) was no longer opened on Wednesday nights.  Oh well. We got into a conversation about travel in which she told me she’d just returned from a year in Central America.  She flew in to Costa Rica and traveled around – starting out by herself and making some friends along the way.  Her boyfriend came and spent the last four months with her.  She quite enjoyed her time there and even went to Nicaragua.  And no, she doesn’t speak any Spanish whatsoever.  I was a bit envious of her guts and lengthy journey.  She seemed like a cool chick.  Upon leaving this pub, we found a bar serving mixed drinks that had a DJ, but also no dancing.  We weren’t here for too long before calling it a night.

The following day, Justin and I were bound for Port Arthur, a penal settlement from the 1800s.  Along the way, we stopped to take some photos and then at a Tasmanian Devil (and other wildlife) park.  Wee!!!  We saw several adorable devils walking around in their enclosures, foraging for food, taking a dip in the water, and basking in the sunlight.  They’re SO adorable.  We also fed more kangaroos.  These were also lazy and lethargic, but not as bad as the others.  It was a much more enjoyable experience.  We ended up being there for quite a while, so our visit to Port Arthur literally consisted of glimpsing it and leaving with out paying the $20/pp entry fee.  You see, we had to make it to Kettering in time to catch the 6:30 ferry to Bruny Island.  We stopped to photograph more cool Ocean rock formations on the way back home – the neatest of which was the tessellated pavement.  Weird stuff!

We arrived at the ferry landing at 6:15 – phew! – crossed to Bruny Island, seeking out food, and then proceeding to the main attraction.  Why did we go to this incredibly remote island off the already somewhat remote island of Tasmania (I mean, come on, only 500,000 people live on the entire island of Tasmania!)?  To see penguins in the wild!!! Well, they were sort of in the wild, if you consider a boardwalk through their burrows “the wild.”  It was ultra cool and we were able to take photos because no one was there to tell us not to (yes, I realize I sound like a bratty little kid by saying that).  Oddly enough, there were also 6 other people viewing the penguins with us this time, but I felt like we were all much more intrepid than the viewers at the last penguin outing.  On the way to our lodging that night (we were stuck on Bruny Island due to the fact that the last ferry leaves at 7PM), we saw lots of penguins and marsupials including kangaroos/wallabies and two brushtail possums!  Man, it seems like all those weird Australian critters ar marsupials.  In our room, there was a small fireplace that we got going and sat around talking about the day and trying to stay warm before turning in for the night under electric blankets.  This trip was much chillier than we had anticipated!

The next day it was rainy on Bruny Island, which dashed our hiking plans, so we head out first thing back to the main land, visiting Australia’s Antarctic Headquarters, the Cadbury factory, and a winery before returning to the airport for our flight out.  That night we arrived out our hotel in Sydney at midnight – argh!  We’d been hoping to fit in one more night out, but it was not to be.  A line of Japanese people with some Caucasians mixed in snaked out the door of the hotel when we arrived.  Apparently a Qantas flight to Narita had been canceled and many of the passengers had been put up at our hotel.  As a result, our room had been upgraded to a gigantic executive suite.  After checking in, Justin and I tried to order room service but were told it would be over an hour before food would arrive.  We gave up and walked to a nearby 7-11, grabbing soup, a slushy, a meatpie (I think is what Justin got) and chips before heading back to the hotel and watching their incredibly informative news program.  We passed out shortly thereafter.

Our flight back to the US the next day was at noon.  It was pretty full so we weren’t sure we would make it on.  We did but our seats were on opposite sides of the aircraft.  Thanks to tons of luck, some passengers were not feeling too well and deplaned, so the flight attendants were able to put Justin and I together – in two middle seats in the middle of the plane.  It was worth it.

We opted out of the second leg on our Qantas flight from LAX to JFK and took a shuttle over to Long Beach to fly to Austin.  Mom and Dad picked us up – the puppies were with them. It was a really nice reunion and we got bubble tea from a delicious place in Austin before heading back the Mom & Dad’s house and forcing them to sit through photos.  Luckily, Sheila and Sharlin had been visiting Nanny and all three came down for a little while.  We watched a video of Brennan, Sheila’s baby -er- fetus (no longer dubbed Peanut).  It looked like a freaky skeleton baby with a beating heart. Yikes!  Good to hear the development is going well, though.  Mom, Dad, Justin and I continued to my favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner that night (Tomatillos) where I had one too many margartias (2) and that was that.  The next day we flew back home to a COLD NYC night.