Late nights in Europe - RT @gridskipper

Reading this blog post by Gridskipper reminded me of Berlin and Berne. Traveling alone across Europeby train in 2006, with only a garment bag in hand. Went looking for a "hip hangout" as described by Lonely Planet, but sorely disappointed, so I squeezed into a random jampacked club where there was live Latin music. It turned out the band, from Bolivia I think, had an avid German following. The air conditioning was maxed out, so I found a table top by the men's room door. Every time the door opened, a waft of cold air blew up into the air, and we four strangers dancing salsa on the tabletop shouted for joy. I wish I could remember the name, I think it was near the end of Oranienburger Straße. I left the club sometime after 4, with the band still playing, to catch my train to Vienna.

I never meant to get to Berne, but I missed the train to Marseilles, it was raining in Zurich, and I hoped to get free of the rain. It was raining in Berne also, a light mist that didn't dampen the moods of the crowds enjoying free jazz on the streets during their international jazz festival. I arrived after dark, and when it got too chilly I hunkered down in a coffeehouse crowded with steaming damp wool coats. Striking up conversations with the Swiss is pretty easy, and a group of us carried on a conversation in English, French, German and Italian (with translations back and forth) until we were kicked out, at which time, we found a Cuban club serving up mojitos until 6 am.

Friday Fun?

It's Friday, and I should be all excited for the weekend. But, at the end of a week of holidays, one day just blends into the next, in a steady procession of relaxing, guilt-tripping myself into chores, more relaxing, and taking a break from relaxing.

This morning dawned as one of those days when you don't want to get out of bed, but wish your chicken noodle soup could be delivered. Ah, the Vancouver summer I had heard so much about is finally upon us. After weeks of Torontonian heat wave and bright sun, with the accompanying short fuses and miserable people, the tranquility of coastal grey has returned. A day when you don't want to go to work at all, but write blogs about the weather instead.

So, after sending the missus off to work (someone has to put food on the table), I'm keeping warm with a cuppa and thinking about what to add to my soup order, so that the Vietnamese restaurant across the street will deliver for lunch.

There is some thrill in the arrival of Friday night, as with two days off, the missus has promised to cook dinner for me! In addition,having her at home means I may actually leave the house tomorrow. And Sunday, our pastor is gone, so there should be some variation at church...I guess I sympathize with hard working stay-at-home folks. They can't really go to the office for a weekend getaway, now, can they? It's like those who live in vacation destinations and have their summers ruined.

I certainly appreciate my working life more now, as it's just so much simpler to TGIF and slack off for the afternoon when you're in the office!

Long Weekend that never ends?

Added on to the Civic Holiday long weekend, my office is closed for the week so I have an extended home stay. Which means that, after a day of lounging in front of the TV yesterday, I got hopped up on caffeine today, got my British Columbia driver's license (I'm now an offical resident), read the weekend's news (sorry to Twitter followers and FB friends for the status updates), and decided to start a new blog for a hobby, and maybe write a book. In addition to cleaning the kitchen, doing somelaundry and vaccuuming, I suppose.

This weekend was the end of my first month of marriage, and as Laura put it, still 800-odd left to go! Actually, when I reflect on the fact that I have only lived 364 months it seemd rather short and brief. Who measures time in months anyways? Which reminds me, congrats to my sister and brother-in-law, who are celebrating their 4th anniversary, and planning for Child #2.

Now that I've got my "virtual life" kickstarted, if you have a blog or are on twitter, and think I'd like to hear what's going on (and aren't afraid of me plagarizing your brilliance in the form of a re-tweet), send me an email...

And, because the list of people I need to email is getting longer by the minute, I'm off.