Lazy

Lately I find myself guilty of some of my favorite deadly sins, here is the evidence I present to the jury.
Gluttony: Three nights in a row I've had my fair share of red wine, dare I say more than my fare share. I have not consumed to the point of hangover material, but enough to know I should know better at "my age".
Gluttony part deux: I have eaten enough cheese in the last three days to kill a small, lactose intolerant child. Cougar Gold is a worthy adversary.
Sloth: I should be at yoga, running or swimming, instead I am watching horrible TV on VH1. I am their target audience apparently.

I have to decide what it's going to take to get my spark going, there isn't much time to waste now before I have to start actual training. Argh.

A New Journey

This time it's mine. I've signed up for Boise 70.3. Stay tuned for updates on the journey to June 13, 2009.

Geneva, down one, almost out one

Gelatomania in Geneva at 11:45. I order a small cup with passion (passion fruit), it was okay but too sweet. My second flavor was ananas basilic (pineapple and basil), the first bite was interesting and the second disgusting.
Jim ordered noisette (hazelnut) which on its own is pretty good. Mixed with calypso, it is terrible. Calypso is shrimp. Shrimp flavored gelato, with chunks of actual shrimp. When he ordered it the girl asked if he knew what it was, when she told him he stuck to the rules and got it. Did I mention calypso is shrimp?

On to Lausanne now.

Gelatomania '08

The rules are simple. We start in Geneva, then on to Laussane, Bern, Luzern, Zug and ending in Zurich. In each city we are to order at least two flavors of gelato at the store of our choosing. You can only eat each kind of flavor once, I am saving caramel for Luzern it had the best so far. Also, variations on a theme (cafe, espresso, cappuccino, etc.) count as the same flavor and therefore can only be had at one stop. When looking over the choices you are not allowed to ask what it is or look it up on the Internet via BlackBerry. No test bites, either, you get what you get.

Game on.

Monaco- the Charbonneau of the French Riviera

This entry is for you Strohl, we hate to think of you all alone and stranded in Italy. We apologize for the lapse in blog postings. Using the BlackBerry for such tasks proves fruitless and frustrating on such a small keyboard.We get back to Zurich tomorrow and we'll post a long update then. We are on the train to Nice coming back from boat, rather mega yacht, shopping in Monaco. I think we've narrowed it down to two or three we really like. Anyone want to lend us $100 Million with low interest?

Now get back to work.

Ciao, Italy!

Spent yesterday in Venice and I think I will need to return in the winter or spring in order to enjoy it fully. We walked out of the train station and the whole square was filled with people (tourists like ourselves) and I couldn't even see the canal! We walked to St. Marks square, saw the pigeons and then hopped on a water bus. What we were expecting was a 30 minute tour of the canals and a return to the square. The ride lasted an hour and a half, as a safe and prudent estimate. We saw parts of Venice I am assuming most tourists don't- like the industrial district and cemetary. We finally returned to the stop, got off and headed back to the station to head out. My impression of Venice isn't one where I need to return there immediately, but I know that isn't giving it a fair go because of all the damn people. I'll go back, just not during the summer.

We spent last night with a friend of Jim's in Vicenza just an hour train ride from Venice. Now we are on the train to Paris to see Elodie, Jim's sister in law's niece and her boyfriend; and Bob Roll.

Greetings from Sunny Italy

For starters, please excuse any errors in spelling and what not in this post. I am using my BlackBerry instead of my laptop because we are traveling.

We just spent three days in Rome where we got lucky with the weather, it was only in the 90s instead of 110 as it had been right before we got there! We were so lucky in Rome because Jim's parents took us with them on their tour of the Vatican. They hired a private guide to take them and give them a tour. It was awesome. This woman was so knowledgeable about the art and history of the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel and Saint Peter's basilica. The whole day was awe inspiring to say the very least. I can't remember the last time I learned so much. I will post the photos when we return to Zurich.

We went to Pompeii
yesterday and are spending two nights in Sorrento on the Amalfi coast. This has to be my favorite place in Italy. We are going to Venice tomorrow and then on to Paris to see the end of the Tour de France, the one demand I had when planning this trip. I am hoping to stalk Bob Roll around Paris so I can meet him. I figure I'll I find the Versus TV camp and wait.this has been a weird year watching the tour. We have seen coverage in french, German, Italian and Spanish but I have yet been lucky enough to see Bobke do his thing on American TV. Maybe I'll get my chance on Sunday.

Until later.