Wednesday, July 25, 2007

   The Shadowlight Chronicles: Part 3 . . .
I'm gonna milk my final days of my vacation. Let tomorrow be a big surprise at the very end (though I probably mentioned it to you all already). So first, questions:

• Re: Buried Stew: The people of São Miguel have a brilliant way of cooking a meal: they take it to the volcanic parts of the island with natural boiling water. Thus, the ground around there is hot as heck, so they bury their food in the volcanic earth and THAT cooks it! It's awesome.
  
• Re: Orange Hands: Sahki' had it right; orange hands came from the mineral water springs. Mmm, iron . . . hehe, well . . . it's an acquired taste (I didn't quite make it).
  
• Re: Tunnel of Oceanic Doom: Pictures of the completely pitch-black tunnel can be found in . . . these . . . links! They were oceanic because there were points where the tunnel was flooded, so either feet got wet or we had to walk along the water channel and pipe thing (all the while lighting out excursion with nothing more than a tiny flashlight and the LCD screens of two cell phones, a PSP and an iPod.
  

So yes, we're just gonna cover two days today . . . should only be two more updates after this.

Ponta Delgada (June 25):

• Woke up, lunch w/ Cat'; good soup, crap everything else, good eclair . . .
  
• Played in an internet café for 2:40 . . . 'til about 4:30 . . .
  
• . . . chatted w/ Frank [former supervisor], Derrick [cousin], Heather ["Sakura" at myO], and Vicky [You should know this one].
  
• . . . checked all my websites . . . somethin' to do, right? Booked hotel for Paris.
  
• And now . . . coffee @ that tourist café again, waitin' for Cat' . . .
  
• Went to the beach, got relaxed, saw a sunset . . . quite nice all around . . .
  
• . . . heard there wasn't enough food @ home, had pizza instead . . .
  
• Decided the humidity was killing my stay-up-late powers . . . . .
  

Ponta Delgada (June 26):

• Walked to west side of city; never went there before . . .
  
• Mmm . . . Burger Ranch . . . and now to get money & go shopping!
  
• . . . crap. Now I have to carry all this . . . crap . . . . .
  
• Gotta find some Red Bull, etc . . . went to "tourist café" (again) to get it.
  
• It may potentially rain today . . . nice temp', though . . . . . and it didn't.
  
• Introduced pro-wrestling to the Moniz household . . .
  
• Got an early birthday present.
  
• Got a little closer to an already close friend . . . . .
  

[EDIT:] Just for posterity . . . today, 2:44am. All was well. Now I can go to bed.
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Tuesday, July 24, 2007

   The Shadowlight Chronicles, Part 2 . . .
Bought Deathly Hallows today. Up to chapter 9 so far. I know, by all accounts I should be finished by now. My eye hurts, not my fault. Anyways, Sahki' wanted some pictures:

The annoying donkey ride . . .
The Volcanic Rocks. (Though technically EVERYTHING was made of it, so . . .)
The cow parade . . .

No Aquarius lemonade, though . . . sorry . . . oh, and MiasmaMoon had questions:

• Re: Class distinction: Yes, most airplanes do have that curtain that separates the front from the rest. However, curtain aside, a full 2/3rds of the plane was not filled . . . and it was a BIG plane (think 747-sized). Lotta empty rows between the very front and the very back . . .
  
• Re: Kwaizi: These are chopsticks, but in Mandarin.
  
• Re: Airport English: Yeah, everyone knew at least a little English at the airport more or less. And then if you're nice you'll take it easy on them and speak slower and use more basic words . . . or, if Catarina's there, you make her talk with them!
  

This should be a pretty eventful post. This occured over the course of a weekend, after all . . .

Ponta Delgada (June 22):

• Sunburns don't look too bad . . . don't hurt . . .
  
• Bought an expresso . . . mostly to wake up, partly to sit down.
  
• VW Beetle show between café & church . . .
  
• 3km long city = easy to walk where you need to go.
  
• Pidgeons . . . . .
  
• Car accident on street @ 3:40pm . . .
  
• Cheered up a friend, went shopping for groceries . . .
  
• Pizza & sightseeing . . . & early morning!
  

Ponta Delgada / Lagua das Furnas (June 23):

• Early morning . . . light rain . . . Flav' looks sad . . .
  
• Got ripped off for breakfast; others take it harder than I do . . .
  
• Buried a bag of stew in the ground . . .
  
• Drank from a bunch of mineral water springs . . . uh . . . yeah . . . . .
  
• . . . my hands were orange!
  
• Mm . . . stew . . . enough for a dozen people . . .
  
• . . . food coma soon followed . . . . .
  
• Internet, CSI, pork rinds . . . yum.
  
• . . . and now burgers! Simple but happy affair . . .
  

Ponta Delgada / Foggy Places (June 24):

• Heh, Portuguese Dragonball Z . . . Krillin talks like a hump . . .
  
• Booyah for laundry!
  
• Less booyah for fog, Silent Hill or otherwise.
  
• . . . Flav' hates bad weather . . .
  
• 1300m tunnel of oceanic doom! Both ways! Smelly hands!
  
• Magnum ice cream, yellow bean things, Zorro . . . neat tavern . . .
  
• Mmm . . . ribs . . . . . being well fed here.
  
• Old artwork, YouTube . . . relaxing evening.
  

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Monday, July 23, 2007

   Portugal and Beyond . . .
We've finally arrived: The Shadowlight Chronicles. But first . . .

• Re: Killing Time: I left Sweden early that morning, and arrived at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris in the early afternoon. My flight out of Paris to Lisbon wasn't until about 7pm or so. Seeing as I had no real reason to leave the airport (which, like most airports, is quite far away from the city proper [especially since I had that giant backpack as well]), I had to find a way to pass all that time. And no, it was not 2-4 hours of drinking; doing that alone at an airport would have been sad.
  

So now we'll breeze through my midnight stay in Lisbon and get on to some really fun stuff: my visit with Shadowlight.

Lisbon / Ponta Delgada (June 20):

• Kid's donkey ride is annoying in here . . .
  
• Watching American interview w/ William & Harry . . .
  
• BIG plane for . . . 20-ish people? And we're ALL on the back . . .
  
• . . . class distinction much?
  
• A310-300 . . . Safety film kept cutting out, exhaust in the cabin . . .
  
• . . . we haven't even started moving yet! (Ah, there we go . . .)
  
• Those butts lost my luggage!
  
• On the plus side, I met Cat'!
  
• . . . True to her nature, she's adorable . . .
  
• Nice hotel, a/c . . . and Cat' gave me a cell phone for contact . . .
  

Ponta Delgada (June 21):

• . . . and the cell phone turned off. Crap.
  
• . . . Luckily, I know where her mom works!
  
• . . . Less lucky, Cat' was still writing her exam . . . oops!
  
• Walked along the coast. 'Tis pretty. Calm sea, cool breeze . . . a fort . . .
  
• Cat' is probably worrying too much about me right now . . . . .
  
• Chinese food for lunch . . . and it was good! (Tea!!!)
  
• . . . Tri-lingual hilarity . . . "Ni yao bu yao kwaizi?"
  
• And now I kill 3-4 hours on my own. Neat.
  
• Head kinda hurts, though . . . . .
  
• Climbed on volcanic rock on shore; Cat' probably won't approve . . .
  
• Aquarius Lemonade is delicious. Just sayin'.
  
• The bell tower is out of tune . . . ah well, but still.
  
• Met the family . . . fun people. Good dinner.
  
• Cow parade, beach/bitch journey . . . then 300!!!
  

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Sunday, July 22, 2007

   The Pre-Shadow Party . . .
I'm almost in the Açores! Almost! But first:

• Re: Mimmi's Sheep: She does; they all be plush.
  
• Re: Signs: The original photos for the Mimmi signs can be seen here.
  
• Re: Crazy waterfowl: Oh, there are pictures. My uploading has been slow, however, and I'm still stuck in London at the moment. However, in the meantimes, I can do you one better (even though my voice sounds weird in it).
  

My original plan for doing June 19-21 has changed. I spent a lot of time in Charles De Gaulle International Airport, you see (seven hours!), so it's only fair that I do that first and start on the exciting Shadowlight Chronicles afterwards. So yes, here's my time going from Stockholm, to Paris' airport, and then eventually to Lisbon's airport . . .

Stockholm -> Paris -> Lisbon (June 19):

• Day of nonstop travel . . .
  
• The sun sets (ish) around midnight. It rises @ 3-4am.
  
• Evidently, rows 20-21 on an MD-81/82 are the emergency exits . . .
  
• . . . and Joshface apparently lives in a new house now . . .
  
• Oh yeah, this morning I chilled w/ and Austrian dude as we both went to the station.
  
• Now I have to kill many hours . . . and internet kiosks @ CDG suck.
  
• And I have the theme song from that Dutch "It's a Small World" in my head . . .
  
• I need to learn to speak French again!!!
  
• . . . scratch that . . . I need to learn to speak Portuguese!!!
  
• [SEE OTHER PAGE FOR MORE . . .]
  

Charles De Gaulle Airport, Special Travel Log! (June 19):

• Took a long time for my bag to come on the carousel. Good.
  
• Weird hold-up @ McDonald's counter, followed by burger not ready.
  
• . . . then she got me fresh fries. More time killed. Good.
  
• I keep seeing Chinese people speaking Mandarin. It's amusing.
  
• Pre-Check internet kiosks suck. They better be better inside . . .
  
• . . . as immediate as I can check in, I'm SO in . . . . . out here's appeal: [three down-arrows]
  
• 2 things on mind: I need French again, and the Efteling "Carnival Festival" song.
  
• I should just take a nap . . . or poop, whichever comes first . . .
  
• . . . It turned out to be a short nap followed by . . .
  
• Drinking for the sake of boredom . . . sheesh . . . . still gotta kill like, 2-4 hours!
  
• A couple asian girls have done well napping for long periods of time.
  
• . . . an hour or two later, still going strong . . . joys of not travelling alone . . .
  
• Saw a guy who looked like a thin, lanky version of "Contiki Nik'".
  
• Put to paper ideas I've had for years . . .
  
• Kid apparently had a very hard goodbye . . . lotsa screaming, etc. . . . aww . . .
  
• I maybe need to kill an hour still . . . about . . .
  
• Aww, another child's sad goodbyes . . .
  
• Worked on the PMK music video a bit more . . .
  
• "Paris -> Orly" -> !!!
  
• Lady at counter checked me in for both flights -> no trapped on boring side!
  
• Still no internet, though . . . whatever, flight's in an hour, boarding in half . . .
  
• There were PS2s @ the other gate?!?!
  
• Light human load on a big plane. Cool.
  
• . . . and it started storming outside inexplicably . . . what the hell?
  
• Storm delayed our flight - yes!!!
  
• . . . Biiiig delay . . .
  

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Saturday, July 21, 2007

   The Mimmi Chronicles . . .
I should be able to finish recapping my vacation this week. So let's get on with it:

• Re: Azumanga cosplay: Basically, I was walking through downtown Göteborg when I suddenly saw a pink schoolgirl outfit walk past me. I went "holy crap, no way!" and quickly snapped an inconspicuous shot of her as she walked away . . . almost didn't catch her:
  Long Shot . . .
  Magnified . . .
  As for why she was dressed as such? Damned if I know . . .
  
• Re: typing with one hand: Dude . . . that's a dangerous thing to type. I may have to make dirty comments about that in the future, possibly pertaining to "hot coffee" or something . . . just sayin' . . .
  
• Re: (in)famy: I'm not talking about getting famous at the site. I mean, I was apparently quite famous at Maris' school! Once I started meeting all these classmates of hers, they were all saying stuff like, "oh yeah, Maris' has mentioned you before..." and stuff like that. Kinda neat, a little surreal . . . t'was fun.
  

So now we come into the Mimmi section of the vacation. It was quite short, unfortunately, but that's what happens when you have to count on specific flights to get you moving along. Anyways . . .

Göteborg -> Skövde (June 16):

• So . . . the Scandinavian people aren't nearly as tall as I thought . . .
  
• Non-paper train ticket . . . mostly scary . . .
  
• Mimmi!!! And she's shorter than I thought!
  
• The jokes . . . the bad jokes . . . and it's all of them!
  
• Relaxing days are nice . . .
  
• Mmm . . . meatballs . . . . .
  
• Hooray for clean laundry despite whites getting darker!
  

Skövde (June 17):

• Late morning. Felt good. Ate bread. Tasted good.
  
• Got caught up on various internet-types.
  
• Re-affirmed that I missed my room,ate . . . daww . . .
  
• . . . Also reaffirmed that everyone is putting my comfort as priority . . .
  
• Bubble Bobble again . . . what is it with all the Bubble Bobble this month?
  
• Rice in peppers, chicken . . . yum. Dinner w/ the sisters. Fun people.
  
• "A bachelor is single, you see... a toilet is a double-you-see!"
  
• Dog commands, Mimmi-style: "Suck balls!"
  
• Watched "About a Boy". Cute movie.
  
• Oh yeah, cleaned up wood, climbed on scaffolding, built a closet (crash!)
  

Skövde -> Stockholm (a little) (June 18):

• Mia's making signs . . . oh dear . . . . .
  
• (Later in day) . . . yeah, oh dear . . .
  
• MORE stuff to pack?!!
  
• Crazy waterfowl . . . yelling/honking/quacking/hissing @ us . . .
  
• Heh, train departure @ 6:49 . . .
  
• But dang! Feels like I just got here! Daaang . . . next time . . .
  
• . . . I feel like we didn't do enough together . . . dang . . .
  
• Nice talk w/ Jacob C. who offered me a place to stay . . .
  
• . . . shoulda taken him up on it . . . fuck . . .
  
• . . . Hotel drama!!! Booked up, repeat . . .
  
• Found Hotel New World. Phew . . .
  

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Friday, July 20, 2007

   Out of the comfy home with the cat, into Sweden . . .
Heads up about life: Watched "Letters From Iwo Jima", watched "Apocalypto", started watching "Claymore" and kinda started watching "Lucky Star". And now to continue the travel log . . . but first:

• Re: Cauliflower: Indeed there always was cauliflower in Canada. However, Maris' couldn't think of the name in English and was concerned that I didn't know what it was or that I wouldn't like it. Thus, as I looked into the pot that one day, that was my response.
  
• Re: Bloody Pokemon: . . . . . watch more British television. You'll understand one day.
  
• Re:Pokemon Song: Maris' had a remixed version of the Japanese Pokemon OP in StepMania (think DDR for your computer). Basically twice as fast as the original song and three times as hectic. But yeah, she likes playing it, so hey.
  

This post'll entail my final days in Holland (sadness, 'cause it was fun there) followed by my very first day in Sweden; a country where I don't know the language whatsoever, don't know the people, and . . . need to exchange my Euros.

Schiedam-ish (June 13):

• Rest day! Sleeping in, StepMania, and VG Cats!
  
• Biking in Holland! Checked off to-do list.
  
• Met the "excited" Grandma That was fun.
  
• Mmm . . . spaghetti . . . (seriously good stuff)
  
• Windmills! The pump kind! And then ferry! Belgian flag!
  
• Hanging backpacks, upside-down flags . . . hehe . . . .
  
• Coffee @ night -> messed up dreams . . .
  

Schiedam/Leiden (June 14):

• Mostly early morning . . . got to eat more tasty peanut butter . . .
  
• Met the (in)famous classmates, saw the (in)famous sensei . . .
  
• . . . otaku-dad, lucky guy, computer guy, beard guy, weird guy . . .
  
• . . . evidently, I too was quite infamous by this point . . .
  
• It's all about the conversation pits . . . universal . . .
  
• "Do you have five euro?" "I need change . . ." -> he hated me, I bet.
  
• . . . but I got metal money again, so yay!
  
• . . . no entry to inner Japanese garden . . . boo . . . still, killed an hour . . .
  
• Oh yeah! 19th Century Dutch Otaku Museum!!!
  
• Random fun/cuteness/headbutts @ Anna's grad. party . . . dawww . . .
  

Schiedam -> Amsterdam -> Copenhagen -> Göteborg (Swedish Wars!) (June 15):

• Booyah for 2 hours of sleep!
  
• Less booyah for forgetting the jenever in the backpack & checking that in . . . damnit . . .
  
• Giddy from lack of sleep . . . and I miss my backpack . . .
  
• What country is Copenhagen in anyway?
  
• . . . Ah, Denmark, right . . .
  
• Yay, new currency to play with!
  
• Göteborg: a grand city of history where everything's closed when you get there . . .
  
• Azumanga cosplay on the street! I swear!!!
  
• I thought Sweden was supposed to be cold?
  
• C'mon, clothes, dry! Dry, damnit!
  
• "Psych" seems like a neat show . . .
  

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Thursday, July 19, 2007

   The Amazing Land Below Sea-Level . . .
Ah Maris', if only you weren't off backpacking around the south island of Japan right now . . . I'd have loved to see your reaction to the people's stuff around here . . . anyways, some thoughts from last day:

• Re: Gamecubes: Maris' had told me about "Eternal Darkness" long ago and finally showed it to me while I was there. It's a very cool game and I must play it for myself some time . . . thus, I must acquire a Gamecube some time . . .
  
• Re: Unconditionally supportive citizenry: Dude . . . that's a damn dangerous thing to say. Trust me, you give people something they're willing to fight for, and they'll fight for it.
  
• Re: Work Search Going: It's not.
  
• Re: PO'ed workers: Bus driver was because I had a baguette under my arm as I paid her, and it was slowing me down as well as I was bringing food onto the bus. Pizza guy was a resturant owner from whom I ordered a "to-go" pizza and then sat down; evidently, the "sit-in" menu was different and slightly pricier (though I did agree to it and then he had to set up a table for me). Ultimately, I doubt they were actually pissed off at me, but y'know . . . nice to be courteous to the feelings of others and all.
  

And now we get to talk about my adventures with the beautiful Maris' in The Netherlands!

Schiedam/Rotterdam (June 10):

• Early Sunday morning . . . goin' to the super-cool elf park!
  
• Heh, Maris' brother is a meticulous sandwich artist . . .
  
• Theme park was a great way to spend a day.
  
• "Dah, dat dat dah, dat dat dah, daaaaah..." (Un-PC 'It's a Small World')
  
• "Badadaah, da-dat dadaa, dat daah, dat dah-dah..." (Flying Dutchman)
  
• Meat @ restaurant w/ the teddy bears . . . mmm, meat . . . then ice cream . . .
  
• Winding down at "Chaotic Anna's" house . . . amusing others w/ yes, no, and thanks.
  
• According to Maris', I'm a doormat. Yeah, probably . . . meh.
  

Schiedam (June 11):

• Croissant for breakfast. Booyah.
  
• Long walks & giant floodgates . . . nice . . .
  
• Sneaking past tram personnel 'cause we're that damn good . . .
  
• I need to break a 20 . . . big time . . .
  
• I may or may not have forgotten a pair of socks . . . . .
  
• Mmm . . . peanut sauce . . . along w/ the other stuff . . .
  
• Met the infamous Jen. That was good. Nice relaxing evening.
  

Schiedam / Somewhere North (June 12):

• Off to the old shipyard! And chibi statues!
  
• Ruyter-guy seems important . . . okay.
  
• 2-hour train rides. Hilarity ensues . . .
  
• . . . funny kid in stroller . . .
  
• Mmm . . . waffle-things . . . yum . . .
  
• "Yes, we have cauliflower in Canada . . ."
  
• Heavy Sudoku failure . . . aww . . .
  
• StepMania . . . bloody Pokemon song . . .
  

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Wednesday, July 18, 2007

   Out of Normandy, into Holland . . .
It kinda sucks that now that I'm at this point in the story, Maris' is in Japan . . . dang. She saw this part in person anyway, so I guess it's okay . . . but first:

• Re: Crowded Beaches: most beaches were actually pretty clear. I'm gonna guess Juno Beach on that one day was only busy because it was Sunday and was a nice day out. Like I said, it was still kinda cool out, so it's not quite beach weather juuuust yet.
  
• Re: Norman Ships: They had sails. Have had them since before they even left the Danish homeland . . . you can't expect people to row all the way from Denmark to England. Further, Normandy is in France. They had sails long before they got there . . .
  
• Re: D-Day Importance: I may have to disagree that Americans don't feel the importance of D-Day. Like I said, Saving Private Ryan and all . . . no, storming the beaches of Normandy is pretty important to Americans, Britons and Canadians alike; it's the youth who have yet to learn about these things that's the problem. As for German and Japanese history, well . . . that's a whole other issue (their schools just kinda skim over the wars, if even that much). Not because it's not important, though . . . different reason . . .
  

This post involves my last day in Normandy followed by my first little bit of time with the beautiful Maris' and her family in Holland. This was where the trip got especially hardcore . . .

Caen/Merville (June 7):

• Pissed off a bus driver, pissed off a pizza guy . . . damn. (Probably pissed off anyway)
  
• Merville Batteries were cool, though; light & sound show was nifty (grenades!)
  
• Eavesdropped on veterans - they all liked the Maxim Gun, seems.
  
• . . . always good to learn about a new battle!
  
• And now, Caen/Normandy/France is ovah!
  
• And I've got a gift for my soon to be gracious hosts!
  
• . . . and I got a Jessie update! Apparently someone is a bitch. Nice.
  

Caen -> Rotterdam/Schiedam (June 8):

• A LOT of people asked me for money today! My my . . .
  
• Parisian gypsies! Bwahaha . . .
  
• 2€80 for a coke?! balls!
  
• Ooh, I actually get to SEE Belgium this time! It's 'bout the same . . .
  
• Cute, fidgety baby on the train . . . . . SO CLOSE to Rotterdam!!!!!
  
• (. . . my bag better still be at the front of the coach . . .)
  
• Oh yeah, last night I had constant, horrible dreams. What the hell?!
  
• Train was late . . . but yay for getting here!
  

Schiedam (June 9):

• British tv is too good . . .
  
• May need to acquire someone's Gamecube back at home . . .
  
• Relaxing Saturday . . . aww . . . Corpse Bride . . . dawww . . .
  
• Mmm . . . fish . . . . .
  
• More importantly, though . . . Pirates 3!!!!! SO good!!!
  
• And hooray for clean laundry!
  

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Tuesday, July 17, 2007

   D-Day Anniversary (cont'd.) . . .
We got a question which happened to be the million dollar question itself . . . which I shall forgive this one time because not everyone is as old as I am. So let's do this:

• Re: D-Day: D-Day was the codename for June 6th, 1944. During World War 2, this was the day the world's largest combined invasion took place across the Beaches of Normandy: thousands upon thousands of British, Canadian and American troops crossed the channel and landed in German-occupied France on this day which led to the liberation of France and eventually victory in Europe. As such, it was one of the most important battles of the entire war. Wiki' it, I promise there'll probably be a small blurb or two about it somewhere in there.
  

This'll be a repeat of the days I covered yesterday. This time, though, they'll be coherent, full, hopefully interesting thoughts.


D-Day -1, Cidre et Tarte Normande (June 5):

It's been a long day. Some of it more interesting than others. But wow, I finally made it: I saw Omaha Beach. Now way back when, I commented on how Juno Beach today "is just a beach." Now maybe it was just the weather . . . but Omaha ain't just a beach today. Save 2 police(?) officers, two guys & a dog, Omaha was BARREN! Again, maybe it was weather, maybe the guys told them "not today", but Omaha definitely had an atmosphere to it . . . it was worth the 8 minutes.

Much like the rest of my Europe trip, seeing but glimpses of all these historic locations is but making me want to come back with more time. As much as I'm enjoying my time here, I'm still missing out on so much! Some day, with others . . . we will explore every corner of Pointe Du Hoc! We shall walk all the way down Omaha Beach . . . if we can, we shall even walk TO Pointe Du Hoc!

Well, dinner's done. Guess I'll head up to my attic . . . a fleeting day, but a wonderful day all the same.

. . . And an old Canadian guy knew of New Westminster! Booyah!


D-Day +63 Years (June 6):

I landed in Courseulles-Sur-Mer with about three hours before I had to. Thus, I walked up and down a couple kilometers of Juno Beach, soaking in sand, seafoam, and final remnants of the Atlantic Wall.

As it turned out, you head west long enough you DO find a bunker on the beachfront; a bit past that, concrete foundations with stel rebar in and around them. So yeah, people move on, the times wash away most of it . .. but there ARE some spots still left . . . but wow, that Norman wind . . . until today, I don't think I have ever seen flags blown straight out continuously the way I saw them today! Absolutely mindblowing! Indeed, even the most hardy Canadian at that memorial service was feeling the bite of the wind . . . that said, all the props to the bugler - weather considered, he played an amazing "Last Post".

I wish I caught that veteran's name . . . wonderful fellow. Great family. And to think,I got a conversation & picture with him because I asked him about the weather on D-Day . . .
. . . evidently, how hard the wind blew was quite the last thought on the minds of the amphibious landers. Fair enough.


When I finally go home at the end of the month, I'll have a great new set of life experiences. Being on the beach on the anniversary of, well . . . it's in the tops, no question. Heh, it's still pretty unbelievable to believe I'm right here, right now. But, I suppose the grains of Juno Beach in my shoes shall likely never leave me . . . 'cause there's a LOT of Juno Beach still in there . . . . . it's as good a souveneir as any, I suppose . . .

Again, I can't stress the pride I feel in myself for getting here, but more so in those who were here 63 years earlier.
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Monday, July 16, 2007

   D-Day Anniversary . . .
I spent last evening watching all of "Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan". Holy crap that's a brilliant show . . .

So Chicago's got a U-boat? Sweet . . . more incentive to pop by, I guess. Heh . . . and I guess that covers recap. I'll just dig into this, then, for whomever feels like reading it. This will include my day-trip of seeing some impressive landmarks as well as my actual experience of the Normandy Beach landings, actual beaches, on the actual anniversary of it all.

Bayeux / US Regions (June 5):

• Woke up early for nothing . . . morning tour = no-go!
  
• Fun w/ Florida father/daughter.
  
• French museums in French . . . tricky . . .
  
• Day of conversation! Old Canadian guys @ bar/hotel home base! Idaho & Texas on the tour . . . more so Idaho (Kayla & Luke).
  
• US Cemetary = quite breathtaking.
  
• Longue-Sur-Mer guns = no-go; damn fireworks . . .
  
• Omaha Beach: very sobering 5 minutes.
  
• Arromanche: US figure in Higgins Boat w/ Kar43 . . . bwahaha . . .
  
• Pointe Du Hoc: holy crap . . . . . like a playground for WW2 geeks. MUST SEE!
  
• Detroit: "How do you get to Normandy?" Toronto: "Well, you're in Normandy..."
  

Bayeux -> Caen -> Courseulles-Sur-Mer (June 6):

• D-Day!!!
  
• Bit of a service in Caen; traffic. Noise.
  
• Chatted w/ girl @ Juno Beach Centre (she remembered me!)
  
• Walked up and down Juno for an hour or two . . . windy (hair).
  
• . . . Built a couple inukshuks along the way . . . one fell down (was rebuilt!).
  
• Memorial was nice to be a part of . . . despite standing in Norman wind . . . ouch.
  
• . . . An excellent Canadian showing, going by backpacks and jackets.
  
• Chatted with: Mike, a Canadian; British veteran who landed @ Juno (where the tank is!)
  
• Mmm . . . more croque-monsieur . . .
  
• Justin shall have to excuse the fact that I wore his hat today; had to. Wind and all.
  
• CHECK STUFF RE: MERVILLE!!! (For tomorrow!)
  
• That restaurant was brutal . . . tsk.
  
• Finished the day suggesting tour ideas to Brits. Go me.
  

Two longhand reports tomorrow from these two days tomorrow.
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