Things I Do While Dave Travels

Dave was in Dublin for a "conference" this week, which I am learning means lots of BS-ing, awful PowerPoint presentations, and drinking. I am not sure what else happens.


In any case, I was left to my own devices this week. Dave and I have been together since 1996 (holy shit), so I have never really lived alone. All that freedom is a bit disconcerting given that I still really don't know a whole lot of people here, and some of my standby peeps were out of town. So here is what I noticed about how my life goes sans Dave. It's weird, not a cocktail all week, WTF.


I read, A LOT. As in going to bed at 8:30 so I can read for 2 hours under no less than two down comforters (it was 45 degrees last night!!!!). I am alternating between Paul Theroux's The Tao of Travel, Tina Fey's Bossypants, and Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island. I am non-committal like that. Dave prefers drinking to reading, so that is mostly what we do around here weeknights.


I eat weird things. Here is a sampling of my evening dinners this week, it is pretty disgusting looking back on it....... I just go for whatever is in the house, which is usually not much since we have a dorm sized fridge and one cabinet in which to store food.

• Monday: Soft boiled eggs, a roasted eggplant, chocolate ice cream (a lot)
• Tuesday: Popcorn, crackers and chevre, leftover beets
• Wednesday - Broccoli with a crapload of melted Gruyere on top, popcorn, the last of the crackers

I attend cultural/art stuff. Since I work from home, I have to make a concerted effort to so something productive each day or else I would never actually talk to anyone but myself. So I go to museum talks, attend guided tours of Englishy stuff, and see weird movies that Dave would NOT put up (Take this Waltz - rent it), etc.

Last night I ditched the reading in bed and I went on an Alternative London tour of street art in East London. It was a cool experience, except that it was 45 degrees outside. The tour is "free", meaning you tip the guide at the end what you think the tour was worth. I especially like the cowboy hat guy, which was done with spray-paint and I have no idea how you do something like that.

I am off to Ireland now to go to the Emerald Isle Classic and then the Galway Triathlon. Love ya bye.

Emerald Isle Classic - Suck it Navy

That's right people. Guess what my amazing brother-in-law got us.

Yes, four tickets to the Emerald Isle Classic. Notre Dame versus Navy in Dublin, Ireland. Awesomeness.

For those that aren't Irish (or maybe are Irish but didn't grow up in the Midwest), Notre Dame is sort of like a much cleaner and well-educated Ireland for us. It is a weird thing, I just grew up with an understanding that I was Irish and that meant you celebrated on St Patrick's Day and thought Notre Dame was the shit. It doesn't hurt that my grandfather, Gerald Riordan, was the Notre Dame Man of the Year in 1985 and my aunt is a graduate.

A pilgrimage to a football game is like going to Mecca, or Dublin. While half the folks at the football game couldn't find Ireland on a map, they are certainly proud of their Irish heritage. I went to a Notre Dame versus University of Utah football game recently where the tailgaters were proudly waving their Irish family crest flags, eating German or Polish sausage (as all Irish do), and drinking beer (as all Irish do). I felt proud to be American, or Irish, or whatever. It was fun. And after the game everyone went to mass, and that was not fun.

So we are headed to the big game on Saturday in Dublin. I'll post photos and make you all feel bad that you aren't there.

Then we are off to watch friends at the Galway Triathlon. Should be quite a weekend. Peace out!

London Sh-t I Just Don't Get

Pims - Maybe if they added some gin, otherwise a total waste of my boozing time

The Pronunciation of Ibiza (Eye-bee-tha) and Filet (Fil-let) - Nails on a chalkboard

Notting Hill Carnival - Bad music and people you DO NOT want to see in Brazilian Carnival outfits, and isn't Carnival before Easter not in August

HP "Brown" Sauce - Nasty business

Chips (a.k.a. Fries) with EVERYTHING - You can always spot a Brit traveling in Europe because there is a plate of fries next to the pizza, meat, pasta, whatever. Weirdness, that crap isn't good for you.

7 Days on the Cotswold Way

Our friends from Brooklyn (R.A. and M.A.) called us a few months ago and asked if we were up for joining them for  a week of hiking the Cotswold Way in northwestern England. Without hesitation, we answered, "Hells yeah - oh, and what and where the heck is the Cotswold Way?"

For those who don't know, the Cotswold Way is a 102-mile-long footpath located about 3 hours west of London. It starts in Chipping Camden, passes through appropriately named Englishy towns such as Birdlip, North Nibbley, and Wotton-Under-Edge, and ends in Bath. Most people start hiking the Cotswold Way in Chipping Camden and travel from north to south, but we hiked it from south to north (Bath to Chipping Camden).

My only experience with the whole hut-to-hut hike type of thing was in Nepal, which was a bit different from this trip (to say the least). The Cotswold Way is more of a pub-to-pub than hut-to-hut type of trip. Our friend R.A. arranged the entire trip to perfection, thanks again R.A.

And MAN we lucked-out with the weather, I am owed some serious good-weather Karma after this year in London. It really only rained heavily one day when we were in a forest and partially covered by the tree canopy anyway. NICE!

Hotels are quite cheap in the Cotswold countryside, we spent between £45 and £75 per night per couple. Pub food and beers are relatively cheap too, which is saying a lot given how much our group drank (well, excluding me - I have that small liver problem, ya know). We used a luggage transport service, which was really only a few bucks per day, but was totally worth it given the unpredictability of the weather and our long hiking and drinking days.

What is there to say about a typical day? Well to start with, the natural scenery is just as spectacular as the man-made stone Hobbit-ish villages, fields, and hedgerows. Plus there are adorable sheep, an assortment of miniature ponies (stop it with your mesmerizing pony-cuteness), horses, dogs, chickens, and bunnies. Here is how the days generally went down:

- Full English breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, tomato, beans, toast, and mushrooms......oh my
- 4 hours of walking
- Pub lunch and beers
- 5 hours of walking
- Beers
- Pub dinner
- Early to bed

 Since no one wants to read a day-by-day blog about that, here is a REPORT CARD instead:

• Ashton Cider: A
• The woman at the bar who gave Dave an Ashton Cider bar-towel for his pub: A+ 
• Meeting locals: C (the racist old farmer and Listen-To-My-Woody-Allen-Impression Richard)
  
• Picnic lunch outside of Hailes Abbey: A
• Traveling to Stratford, England to the Royal Shakespeare Company to see Henry V - but missing the show: D+
• Getting a full refund from Stratford, Ontario's Shakespeare Festival people when we told them we were actually in Stratford, England - Canadians are the best: A+
• Getting to see Comedy of Errors for FREE at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, England (this was after they heard our sad story about about booking the show in Ontario) : A+
• Lack of taxis and pubs in Stanton after 15 miles of walking, sad: C-
• Having a room in the hotel above the pub: B+
• Trying to sleep in the hotel room above the pub: D- 
• Blackberries along the trail that were *just* coming into season: B- (still mostly too sour, boo)
• Pam at the Valley Views B & B, she did some of our laundry for us and folded it with love: A
• Non-pub dinners at Five North Street in Winchcombe and Russel's in Broadway: A

Dave pouring the Ashton Cider, he's a natural.

Hailes Abbey audio tour, I do love an audio tour.

Local beers, cheeses, bread, and ham. Divine.

At mile 47, about halfway - yes Dave always wears the same thing.

 

Yet another adorable Hobbit-like pub in another adorable Hobbit-like town.

Yup, adorableness.

 

At the finish in Chipping Camden, now get me a beer.

Grace and style, Amie and M.A.

So, ya think you want to hike the Cotswold Way? Do it! Here are some of the deets from our trip if they help:

• We used the Volunteer Inn luggage transfer service in Chipping Camden, and they were really accommodating and flexible.
• I would say that 7 or 8 days is about perfect for the trail, I wouldn't do more than 16 or 17 miles in a day. There are some hills out there for sure.
• We stayed at the Dog Inn in Sodbury, Black Horse Inn in North Nibley, Valley Views B & B in the Middleyard (owned by the fabulous Pam), Royal George Hotel in Birdlip, Rising Sun in Cheltenham, and Crown and Trumpet in Boadway. All are nice places, though the Crown and Trumpet was a bit loud at night. 
• We mostly ate at small pubs but spoiled ourselves with two actual "restaurants", which I HIGHLY recommend - Five North Street in Winchcombe and Russel's in Broadway.

100 Miles, 100 Beers

This morning we returned from hiking the Cotswold Way, which is a 102-mile-long footpath in the northwest of England linking a string of ridiculously cute English villages. We saw all manner of farms, parks, pubs, giant estates, and ancient ruins.


More info to come. I am just too tired to write at this point, but I had to put something down here, lest my family think I am dead somewhere in the English countryside. Fear not, we made it back alive (and with our livers intact, just barely).

More to come on this amazing trip  - after 8 hours of sleep and a full day of not walking......

Trigger Point Dry Needling - Cool

OK so you all know how I have been complaining about my foot ailments (self-diagnosed metatarsalgia and plantar fasciitis). Living in London without a car, while trying to look somewhat stylish, is very hard on your feet.

So after reading an article in the UK Runner's World, entitled Beyond the Ice Pack by Sam Murphy, I decided to try a more "whole body" approach to my feet. Especially since we are about to head to the Cotswolds for a 100+ mile hike next week - more on that in the next post.

Anyway I went to Ambition Health and Performance, which is located within my awesome gym (Queen Mother Sports Center). I originally booked a lower leg massage, but I saw one of the masseuses was also an osteopath. So I booked the appointment with him. Sweet, maybe he can help me figure out a plan to get my feet healed.

So I arrived for my appointment on Monday, we had a chat about my pains and medical history, and I was asked to stripped down to undies and jog bra for a look at my spine and hips and such.

 And, well shit - that was a VERY awkward moment for me there. Not the nudity (I am a bit hippy-ish, just turned 38, and have been married for 9 years; it's not often someone asks me to strip down to my undies), it was that well.....so.....I had just come from the pool and had put on running shorts for the consultation/massage because I thought they'd maybe have me run or do some strength tests, and really I can barely remember to bring my goggles to the pool - let alone a clean pair if decent looking post-swim undies.

So I had to tell the poor guy in a very non-sexy way, "I'm not wearing any underwear." Oh god. I am such a douche.

So we continued the assessment anyway - in running shorts. Well the osteopath confirmed what I thought, no arthritis in the left foot, and thankfully no Morton's neuroma. There may be some joint damage, but I am going to be better about my footwear and see if I can continue the healing process that seems to have already begun.

Then the osteopath asked if I had other pains in my right leg (besides the plantar fasciitis in my foot). Actually I do, but it is dull enough that I have been living with it for maybe 8 years. The outside of my knee below the knee cap has been sore forever. I just ignore it and ice the area if it bothers me, which it always does after long runs.

Well he massaged the outside of my leg along my upper calf to check it out and holy crap it really hurt, it hurt even worse on the backside of my calf. Now this isn't my actual calf muscle or Achilles tendon, this is way different. Apparently it was a problem with the smaller muscles that run along my fibula, under the calf. The muscles were so tense, and tight, they hurt to be massaged. WEIRD, I haven't even been running much so they weren't tight from that. I never massage that area so I didn't know it was so tender. Could this be the source of my right foot pain?


Well before I knew WTF was going on, he stuck a 3-inch-long needle way into the side of my lower leg and I immediately felt the muscle react and release all the way into my foot. It was the weirdest feeling ever. I ran home and asked Google what the guy had done to me. This wasn't acupuncture he was doing, this was Trigger Point Dry Needling. I had never heard of it before. Apparently it isn't big in the U.S. yet but is very common in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and South Africa.

Circle = Pain, X = Very Approximate Needle Insertion Spot, Bruise = I Am Clumsy.

So how does Trigger Point Dry Needling work, I pulled this from an ISSA Physical Therapy website FAQ sheet on the subject:

When a needle tip hits a trigger point, a characteristic ‘local twitch’ in the muscle is noted by the clinician and the client. This local twitch is involuntary. It has been shown that the elicitation of local twitch responses is the most important aspect in obtaining a successful therapeutic outcome for trigger point deactivation. There are a number of hypotheses as to the reasons why dry needling works. Dry needling and the subsequent local twitch responses may mechanically disrupt the contracted nature of the trigger point. Dry needling stimulates certain neurological sensors in the body which modulate pain signals. Dry needling and the subsequent local twitch responses can cause positive local biochemical changes and result in an increase of blood flow.

Sounds a bit non-scientific but neato, right?!

I had my first appointment on Monday and went back today (Thursday) for a second treatment, where there was more painful massage and even longer needles were placed into a few other spots so they would release. It was so freaking cool and I was DYING to take pictures, but I don't think my very professional osteopath would have liked that......


Today my leg feels a bit sore and tired, but the pain on lower outside of my knee that I have had for years, especially while going down stairs and walking up minor grades, is significantly lessened. I am resting it and will try out on a short run tomorrow. My feet are about the same though, no real pain relief there - YET.

Is Trigger Point Dry Needling a panacea of some sort for injured runners? Probably not. I really believe in the placebo effect (I am highly suggestible and impressionable after all), and this might just be that. But who cares - if it works for me, maybe it will work for someone else too!

I'll let you all know how I am progressing. And maybe next time I will talk the osteopath into letting me take some photos of giant needles in my leg so I can post them.

Post-Olympic Hangover

Well, it's over.

We we made it thorough 2 weeks of tourists, crowded Tube rides, and general hysteria. Actually, this is Britain - people aren't really prone to hysteria. It was actually (very surprisingly) calm throughout the city the last few weeks, and the events themselves were really well run from a logistics perspective. I mean there was that whole bad food and the WORST service on behalf of the food vendors, as well as those menacing empty seats in the stands at the beginning of the games. But overall, I' say things went quite well.


So here are a few highlights of the last few days, for me at least:

• Seeing the 70,000+ volunteers (a.k.a. Games Makers - strangely all trained by McDonald's) in their ugly uniforms (sorry but they were), out in full-force, and being so non-Britishly cheerful. It was eerie, but in a fake-friendly American way I am used to with lots of "woohoo"ing. These people gave three weeks of their time for FREE, with most taking time off of their regular paid jobs to volunteer. And this is London, it rained at least half the time during the games. What troopers! But then again, that is something that has really surprised me over here. It seems everyone volunteers on a consistent basis or regularly raises money for a charity.

• U.S. women winning the soccer GOLD over their rival - Japan! For those that don't know, Japan beat the U.S. in the 2011 Women's World Cup. This was payback and just a great game with the U.S. winning 2-1, and Dave winning some cash at the local betting establishment! The game set a new record for attendance at a women's soccer game, sweet.

At the start of the game.

Gooooooooold!

 

• Being THIS FREAKING CLOSE to Jamaican Usain Bolt when he raced the 4x100 meter realay. For anyone not paying attention, Jamaica won the race and set a new world record, the U.S. won silver and set a new national record, and Trinidad and Tobago won bronze. Usain is a character and he knows it, but it makes for an entertaining race with all of his theatrics.

About to show off his signature "Bolt", we were RIGHT THERE.

He is a badass.

 

Hanging with the second place Americans.

• The Canadian team's DQ from the 4x100 meter relay. This was hard to watch, and I will never forget it. The amazing Canadian 3rd place team was just celebrating their bronze medal and had wrapped themselves in Canadian flags, when - it was determined one of them had stepped out of their lane during the race. The team got DQ'd. I have never seen 4 grown men cry together before, it was REALLY awful. But not so awful for Trinidad and Tobago who ended up with Canada's bronze. Ouch, what a way to get the bronze.

The scoreboard, just before they Canada DQ'd.

•  U.S. women breaking the 4x100 (probably tainted East German) world record that had stood for 27 years. They ran the 400 in 40.82, more than a half-second faster than the previous record. They were just too cool, and totally inspiring. Time to get my bootie back to the track for some speedwork!

Not too bad ladies.

• One word - MO! We were there when Mo Farah he won the gold in the 10K, and then won gold again in the 5K. He was amazing, humble, appreciative of the crowd, and it doesn't hurt that his wife is pregnant with twins and his little step-daughter is adorable. If Usain provided the theater, Mo provided the drama. I have never heard a crowd cheer as loud as they did when Mo ran that 5K. It was 12 laps of screaming, and again - we were THIS CLOSE. Once the race was over, the crowd kept chanting - MO MO MO MO!

Mo at the back, keeping an easy pace. They finished a full minute off record time.

Completely mental, the crowd was going apeshit.

 

On the big screen, just wow and wow.

• The "Mexican Wave", yep that is what they call it here. There is something childishly spectacular about 80,000 people doing the wave together. Especially here, where if your section stops the wave or shows lackluster participation - you get boooed by the rest of the stadium! No "Mexican Wave" photo necessary.

• Finishing our Olympic experience in the streets of London at the men's marathon. The in-laws had left early the morning of the marathon, it was just Dave and I. Ugandan Stephen Kiprotich won the race and the gold medal with a super-fast time of 2:08:01, and two Kenyans took the silver and bronze just 20 seconds behind him. U.S. marathon legend Meb Keflezighi got 4th, and was the only American to finish the race. 

Watching the race from a probably dangerous Tube overpass, it was worth it.

•  Celebrating Dave's Dad's 70th birthday, with a bang. Well, I'd say that guy had the best 70th birthday......ever. The Olympics, a trip to Paris and Amboise, Windsor, exploring London, etc. I hope Dave's they enjoyed it as much as I did.

Olympic Escape - Amboise, France

We decided to take a short break, escape London and Olympic-fever, and go to France. It seems so ridiculously wonderful to be able to do that - just hop off to France. Living through the shit weather in Blighty is a small price to pay, I suppose.

So anyway, we took the Eurostar train from London's San Pancras Station in the morning, and were in Paris for lunch about $100 and 2 short hours later.

After lunch at Bofinger, which is a classic seafood-based brasserie near the Bastille, we rented a car for the approximately 2-hour drive to the Loire Valley and Amboise. Let's just say I am not sure I would do this again. Paris traffic lived up to its reputation (totally awful) and you all know how well Dave and I navigate together.....meaning we just yell at each other and some one ends up crying or whatever. Good times. But the train was more expensive than renting a car and would have been a hassle because there was no direct train, so the car was really our best option.

In any case, we made it out of the shit-show traffic in the city (as shown in that photo) safely and without crying. Awesome! Off to Amboise and the Loire Valley. What is there to do in the Loire Valley you might ask: eat, drink, and visit chateaux of course.

Historic chateaux dot the Loire Valley like gorgeous little gems. I have been to the area before so I put a little make-shift chateau tour together for us, including visits to Chenonceau, Cheverny, and Chambord.





We stayed in Amboise, which I LOVE. It is a perfectly sized little French city, and made an ideal base for exploring the larger Loire Valley. We stayed at Le Clos d'Amboise; very nice but a bit pricey for my taste at €150 a night. Anyway, Amboise itself is touristy, but not over-the-top annoying. In addition to being a nice central location to base yourself, Amboise has its own formidable chateau, in fact - Leonardo Da Vinci is buried in the chapel adjacent to the chateau, sweet!

We woke up early and started our day-long tour at Chenonceau, which is about 10 miles south of Amboise. The Chenonceau chateau, originally built in 1513, spans the River Cher and is just spectacular. The chateau has had a lot of owners, additions, and changes over the years - but the original detail and structure remains. My favorite fact: during World War II, the River Cher marked the boundary between free and occupied France, so the chateau and its drawbridge became an important escape route for French fleeing the Nazis during the war. 

Through that door you could flee the Nazi side of the river to the free "Vichy" side.

Not too crowded in the morning, but just wait.

 

Cheverny was the second stop. More historic ridiculousness and gorgeous gardens.

I did a whirlwind tour of the chateau and went directly to see the 100 or so HUNTING DOGS they have on the chateau grounds. OMG they are like giant Beagles, and they were all in a big pen together doing cute doggie things, like scratching and sniffing about. 

I have issues. Don't remind me.......

I am not normal, but LOOK HOW CUTE they are. STOP.

Then it was off to the pinnacle of chateau-ness, Chambord. It is immense and fairytale-like. It is rumored that Da Vinci himself worked on parts of this chateau. You can definitely imagine that with all the turrets and crazy architectural staircases.

 I didn't go into Chambord this time, I have been there before, so I walked the grounds and checked stuff out. While walking along some of the bike trails around the chateau, I found a marker noting the location where a WWII plane was shot down and crashed. All 12 of the soldiers and pilots on board the plane survived and were hidden from the Nazis by the local townspeople. At that same time, priceless works of art from the Louvre were being hidden in the chateau so they wouldn't be looted by the Nazis during the occupation. Freaking cool.

Sexy time!

After Chambord, it was back to Amboise to visit the chateau enjoy the town. I could have stayed in Amboise for days. The food is spectacular and the wine is CHEAP - as in, the most expensive bottle of wine on a typical restaurant menu is no more than €20.

View from the Amboise chateau.

In the chateau chapel, that is Da Vinci's tomb in the background.

Along the river in Amboise, just stupidly beautiful AND NO RAIN.

After dinner goofing off in town.

So what else is there to say. The Loire Valley is peaceful, historic. It is an IDEAL place for cycling, there are bike trails and directional signage for cyclists everywhere. The valley is flat and easy to navigate. I am definitely planning a return to cycle this valley for a few days.

Well, we have just a few Olympic events remaining. I'll post some more of those photos for you all later. xo

London Olympic Update - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Welcome to the London *summer* Olympics.

What a week! We have been to basketball (France versus U.S.A.), a very rainy session of women's road cycling, the men's all-around individual gymnastics final, various track events, the women's marathon, and singles and doubles tennis. Woosh.

All these amazing athletes have left me feeling really out of shape, but inspired at the pool. I am swimming the fastest 100s I have ever swum in my life. Now I just need my plantar fasciitis and metatarsalgia to heal so I can get running seriously again!


 
Anyway, the 2012 Olympic highlights so far (at least for me) have been watching gymnast Danell Leyva winning the all-around bronze medal, Jessica Ennis dominating the last heptathlon event (the 800 meter run) to win the gold medal and then leading the rest of the 25 female heptathletes around the track for a victory lap, seeing Mo Farah get gold in the men's 10K and Galen Rupp get silver, and watching Juan Martin del Potro win the bronze over Novak Djokovic from Slovenia in tennis. That was some spectacular tennis from two really cute dudes.

Sorry, it had to be said......they were cute.In any case, here are some pics.

Sweet view of the gym.

Remember when Dave was a gymnast, now he just competes in the beer Olympics?

More gymnasia!

1- Kohei Uchimura of Japan, 2- Marcel Nguyen of Germany, 3 - Danell Leyva of the U.S.

The winners' flags, I am trying to think of a clever WWII reference......nothing.

 

Headed to the track, and that thing is NOT a roller coaster - much to my dismay.

Awesome seats once again.

Will Claye praying after his long jump - he won the bronze!

Story of the night, Ennis getting the GOLD.

Ennis then led the heptathletes in a victory lap.

Men's 10K, these guys booked it.

American Galen Rupp won silver in the 10K, he was just 1 second behind the winner.

This was my first real in-person tennis match. That is Dave's dad by the way.

Argentina's del Potro, who beat out Serbia's Djokovic for the bronze medal.

As an aside, what the eff happened to this woman's boobs. Seriously.

We are taking a pause for a few days while Dave's parents take a trip to the English countryside. We have women's soccer (the gold medal match!) and more track later this week. Plus, the men's triathlon is tomorrow, which is a free event to watch. I will be heading over to Hyde Park to check it out.

 Here is a summary of other Olympic deets thus far:

The Good

• The athletes, of course. Their dedication and skill are inspiring! I am near tears after every race or competition. That is what it is all about after all.
•  No lines and efficient transit. You get a card with your Olympic ticket good for riding the Tube all day long for free. This makes so much sense, can you imagine the lines to buy Tube tickets with 40,000 people speaking 40 different languages. It would be chaos. Smart move London!
• Officials were fast to react to the whole "empty seat" controversy by releasing 12,000 additional tickets once they realized the douchey sponsors and big-wigs weren't even going to show up anyway. It is just too bad they didn't do it earlier. It was sooooo frustrating to watch all those empty seats at the early swim events knowing that I would have given my left arm to be there.

The Bad

• Food......just......awful. Perhaps it is because I have been in France twice this month, where heaven can be found in a simple sandwich of ham, Gruyere, butter, and fresh baguette. BUT the food at the London Olympics has been really sad. Amie - don't be a picky a-hole, you are at the OLYMPICS for the sports so shut up and deal with it - right? Yeah so most of the events we have attended, we are at the venue from 11:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m., or 6:50 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. A woman's gotta eat, and you cannot bring food or drinks into the venue. Please people, is it too much to ask for a simple turkey sandwich or something.
• So in addition to really bad food, they also run out of several of the items after about an hour. AND they don't wouldn't tell anyone or post a sign so the crowd just waits in huge lines to get to the front to hear that they have only one form of crap to sell you anyway, and it isn't the crap you want to eat. Really, how do you RUN OUT of bags of chips? Redic.
• The Olympic website is total shit. It is either wrong, has no information, or is continually broken. You want a map of the marathon course, good luck finding it. What a frustrating POS! I mean half the 16 year olds in Silicon Valley could have done a better job with that thing.  

The Ugly

• Infant crying at the bronze medal tennis match, AND THE PARENTS WOULDN'T LEAVE. After everyone in the audience started "shushing" them, dad finally took the baby outside. As he was walking out, the entire audience and the players all applauded him for leaving. Really, did that just happen?!?!
• So in addition to the piles of absolute crap they are serving as "food"at the venues, the service staff at the food and drink stands are universally appalling. Are you all stoned or just that dumb? I am thinking dumb, but it must be really really hard to find just so many dumb people and put them all in one place. These food stands sell about four things, and (as I mentioned) generally run out of three of them after the first hour. What is going on at the front of the lines? How hard is this?

OK, I feel better now.

We also went to Amboise, France last week. We rented a car and put together our own chateau tour through the Loire Valley. More on that later this week. It was so spectacular it deserves it's own post.

Peace out.