MichaelB Eurasian Adventure!
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Author	Topic: 12/08/02 - Amour Internationale
michaelb	Last Replied 2002/12/19 @ 22:23:04 Nice International Airport, Cote D'Azur, France 12/08/02 09:08 GMT+1 Eventually (about an hour late), my flight took me to Barcelona. The flight in was incredibly beautiful over the beaches and sea. Exiting the airport made me feel like I was actually on vacation, in the typical sense. Palm trees everywhere, sunshine, warmth, beaches...paradise. I hopped the shuttle to the main street downtown called "Las Ramblas". While walking down the street toward a hostel, I stopped to wonder at my map and to re-orient myself. A minute later, a girl named Astrid approached me and offered some assistance in my kinda English. She told me the best place to go was the "Kabul" hostel and directed me there. When I arrived, it was a lot more packed and riotous than I was looking for at this point in the trip so I found a nice quiet room further down the street. That evening, I explored the beautiful downtown and harbour which bore the same charm as Madrid without the hugs crowds. The next day, I went to see the spectacular Sangrada Familia towers (which I climbed all the way up and down) and then headed over to the Park Guell both based on the God-like early 20th century local architect Antoni Gaudi. In Park Guell, I ran into the only person I knew in Barcelona, Astrid. Turns out she's from Whitehorse and has applied to UVic. I spent the afternoon with her and her friend from the Kabul hostel. In the evening we went out to dinner with some other folks from their hostel to a lovely little restaurant where we ate like fancy Spanish kings for very little money. All throughout the dinner and well into the morning, I was completely absorbed in conversation with an amazing Australian girl named Georgina who had joined us from the hostel. We ended up walking down to the water and talking till the wee small hours of the morning. My whole world was changing right before my eyes. Since that night, we've been inseparable. I visited the Picasso Museum and the Casa Bartillo the following day and the Musee de la Musique Catalan with Georgina. That night we caught a train to Nice where we've been ever since. I managed to convince her to come with me to France and she convinced me to go to Italy and Croatia with her after. It was no hard sell for either of us. Our days in Nice have been wonderfully fun and romantic and today we move on to Paris (hence my loitering in yet another airport). Yesterday, we went to Monaco-Monte Carlo for the day. We visited the Oceanographic Museum and Aquarium and the main casinos which were the pinnacle of fancy. We fit right in. We also found an outdoor ice-skating rink which just happened to be open for the first time this winter on the night we were there. We skated for over three hours outside in the warm Mediterranean air on an evening that could not have been more perfect. That's gonna be a tough date to top. Where do you take a girl after you've gone ice-skating on a rink overlooking the French Riviera? Well, Paris of course.
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Anthony	Replied 2002/12/16 @ 21:19:30 Love is in the air.... So I guess we will not be seeing you before Christmas. In any case.... That is great to hear. Treat her well, and she will do the same back. Just remember everything I told you about women, and you will be just fine. (muhaha ha ha ha) I think you are going to have a great time.
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	Replied 2002/12/16 @ 23:32:58 EXCUSE ME!!!
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Mom	Replied 2002/12/16 @ 23:34:39 How's Chris doing?
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Hostess Lisa	Replied 2002/12/18 @ 02:50:59 That's certainlt the most romantic date I've ever heard of! Glad things keep going on the up and up for you (with the exception of that whole bagel thing, have you found one yet????? or does it even bother you now ;o) )
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Anthony	Replied 2002/12/18 @ 18:22:35 I talked with your mom.... It sounds like you will not be back for another few months. That is great! Although we miss you our house is glad to hear that things are going so well for you and that you have had this unexpected happening. Your Mom Also gave me grief about my spelling. But she was / is really nice, and I think deep down, she really likes me. Any how glad to hear things are as they should be. I will have some pictures to send to you after Christmas But I will use your e-mail for that! Ciao buddy, (Have fun) ;)
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Mom	Replied 2002/12/18 @ 21:29:41 Okay Anthony, now that we have the spelling in some semblance of order, the next lesson will be, The Proper Use of Lower and Upper Case. Why are you sending the pictures through his email? What don't you want the rest of the world to see??? Okay so I harrassed you enough for one day, so I like you, happy now? Hey this is a cool chatline. Be good guys.
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michaelb	Replied 2002/12/19 @ 09:14:47 You guys certainly crack me up on here. Things are going very well. We're in Split, Croatia now and we're probably gonna split from here tomorrow (hahahah....I bet that's the first time anyone's made that joke). It's a really beautiful town on the coast of Croatia, my 16th country so far...egad! I did indeed get some wonderful bread products in France, including bagels galore. Quite pleased about that. And my tummy has been filled with incredible meals in Venice and here in Split. We had locals recommend cheap, quality eateries to us in both places and ate amazing seafood/pasta meals the likes of which I've never seen. Who among us has eaten black squid ink pasta? Ooh, ooh (*michael raises his hand*). So good. We actually had the whole restuarant to ourselves last night. Two cooks, one waiter, and us. We're going back there in an hour or so. I've been slacking on the journals lately....i'll work on that. Ta for now folks....keep up the banter and Mom and Tony, be nice to each other :) Miss you I'll be home before you know it....
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Chris	Replied 2002/12/19 @ 22:23:04 I loved the Croats....and loved the Kuna. I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it, too.
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