OK, so I’m gonna go ahead and take the plunge and do my best to try and tell you as much as possible (of what I can still remember) about my best vacation EVER. The travelling itself was exhausting. I think all together we took 11 different planes, 1 train, numerous subway systems, and visited 4 different countries over the course of 13 days. There were a couple of missed flights, barely-made-it-on-the-plane flights, and one unplanned night in NYC at the very end. So let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

Note: I just finished the post and I am warning you it is VERY long as I felt obliged to include as many details (and thought processes) as possible to relive my journey. Sorry if you get bored but I also meant to write this for myslef as a way to remember 2 weeks of my life that I am so thankful to have experienced. I’m sure there’s not complete consistency in my narrative form but take it for what it is (and remember who it’s coming from). If you want to see pics then you have to scroll down.

SD to Berlin (via NYC and Dusseldorf) 06/12 thru 06/13

Not quite the way we wanted to start out trip but we missed our first flight out of San Diego by about a half an hour because Cheaptickets.com and airlines in general have a tendency to reschedule flights earlier than your original flight and with little notification and somehow we just forgot and didn’t give ourselves enough time to make the flight. So $800 later we took the next Jet Blue flight to NYC and by the grace of God we were able to make the connection to Dusseldorf at JFK. I’m pretty sure I slept the whole way to NYC because I’m convinvced planes emit some kind of sedative in that air that blows over your seat. Once we realize that we’ll actually make it to Germany as scheduled we relax a bit by taking an udisclosed ”sleeping pill”. Derek is convinced I slipped him a roofie but I stayed awake the whole time and got to watch the Golden Compass on our flight across the Atlantic. I really enjoyed the movie and think everyone should check it out including your children who will never pick up on any ideas that the film is trying to relay about Christianity or religion.  So, we arrive in Dusseldorf, Germany and beacuse our flight has arrived late everyone on the plane has to be assigned to the next flight departing to their final destination but regardless we all get new stamps in our passports and I’m curious…does anyone else get as excited as I do about getting new stamps in their passports? I have to look at it right away and see what it looks like and what page they put it on. I’m a bit neurotic I know but I’m sure someone out there gets the same kick out of it also. Anyway, we finally get to Berlin around 10am and our luggage is nowhere to be found! We hang around the airport for another hour and half trying to figure out where it is (even the airline has no idea at this point) and we leave empty handed being told that a luggage delivery service will bring it to us later that day or the next day at the very latest. We call the apartment landlord to tell him we will not be able to meet him at the designated time and he is consequently forced to come pick us up from the aiport because he has plans to go out of town for the weekend and handing the keys over was his last obligation before he is able to get the hell out of dodge. He was very nice, gives us our keys, some tips about clubbing in Berlin and even mentions this place called Berghain that is worth checking out…curious. We get to our lovely apartment and there we are in Berlin all situated with a place to stay yet no clothes or toiletries to freshen up with. It’s a very discomforting feeling. What’s worse is our luggage does not show up until 3 days later!!!

*Berlin 06/13

So we take a nap for a bit and get up to go out and see a bit of our neighborhood of Prenzlauer Berg. It’s a pretty cool part of Berlin situated rather close to the city center and lucky for us the UBahn (subway/metro) stop is just a 2 minute walk down our street.  We decide that we need to buy a prepaid phone to keep in contact with the airlines who can’t seem to find our luggage as well as friends back home who may or may not be notified of our missing luggage and it’s whereabouts. After we get a phone we grab something to eat (can’t remember what or where) and head out for our first night out. Our first stop is this club/cafe/bar called Schwuze. We do a shot of black Absinthe and of course Derek is hooked and I know then that we’d be taking back at least one bottle to the States (ssshhhh!). I had tried it once before and though I did not hallucinate it’s a shot with an almost instantaneous buzz…very potent. We end up meeting a couple locals, who show us around the place a bit and tell us that our best bet for a good time is the club/venue Berghain/Panorama Bar, just as we were told by the landlord. And so we hop in a cab and it’s off to….

Berghain/Panorama Bar

I get goosebumps just typing the words. I think it is probably one of my favorite places in the world and right now I want nothing more than to go back for another weekend. Here’s the deal with Panorama Bar. It is one part/bar of the venue called Berghain and I’m pretty sure that it is open from Friday night until Monday afternoon. Berghain used to be an old industrial power plant located between Prenzlauer Berg and Fredrichshain (hence the name) so it has a very underground/secret vibe. The place is massive. For you San Diegans it’s about the size of 6 or 7 Montages, 10 Stingarees or On Broadways…fucking huge. The whole time you’re thinking “what WAS this place?” Was it a hospital, or manufacturing/chemical plant? There’s tons of little rooms, booths, cages, platforms, mazes etc. Regardless the atmosphere is utterly amazing. There are multiple bars, a coat check, decent bathrooms, security etc. So while it has that underground/warehouse feel it is a legitimate venue and bar that I’m sure is operated under the scrutiny of some local German authority…at least to some degree. The music was some of the best I have heard in a really long time and compliments in regards to dance music don’t come so easily from me. The style was undoubtedly house but for those who want me to categorize it had a bit of a minimal/German techno/electro edge. Most of the tracks I had never heard before but that did not keep myself or most of the crowd from dancing. One of the best parts of the club was the amount of people that were really dancing and getting into it. The whole experience was very inspiring and made me remember why I have been into dance music for the last 12 years. The people were so nice and a large part of why Berlin was my favorite leg of the trip. Luckily just about everyone speaks English and everyone I met was especially warm and friendly and open to having a conversation with a stranger whether about music, life in “the states”, or the fact that the Terminator is our governor. People smiled back if you smiled at them. The whole thing was very P.L.U.R. minus the 18 year olds, candy bracelets, and pacifiers. Anyway, I met so many cool people that first night including our new friend Rico, who would eventually be our tour guide on Sunday and show us around the city. Derek left a bit earlier than me the first night and Rico and I took the subway home (his apt. was a half a block from mine…what a small world) at about 9am and it was one of the most surreal experiences of the whole trip. Walking out of a huge power plant/club and to a massive subway station in the early hours of the day is a very sobering experience but I have to say it is probably one of my favorites because it was so random and dream-like. Oh, one more thing I found interesting. I guess it’s a European thing but people say “Congratulations” when it’s your birthday. I found this a bit odd. I guess we should congratulate people for making it another year. It makes some sense. Many of us are afraid of age but perhaps they see gaining another year in age as an accomplishment in experience. I just remember thinking “why are people congratulating me? For all they know I could have spent the last year doing awful things or being a total asshole.” “Happy Birthday” just seems more appropriate as it pertains to your happiness on one particular day and not your behavior in general throughout the year. Does anyone understand my confusion or interest in their response? Whatever!

*Berlin 06/14 (My 28th motha f’in’ birthday!!!)

So as you may have guessed we spent much of the first part of this day sleeping being that we didn’t get back to our apt until 8 or 9am…ish. But we also had good reason to sleep and stay in the neighborhood because we were still waiting on our luggage. Well, I think we proabably slept until about 6pm (I know, that’s bad but it was my birthday, I deserved it) and then got up to recharge our new prepaid phone, get something to eat and go buy some clean tshirts, underwear, socks, and a toothbrush/toothpaste. Mind you, I surprised myself by going out the first night without a wardrobe change so at this point I’m really starting to get irritated that I’m in the same clothes that I left San Diego in 2 days ago. Anyway, we head out for a stroll through Schoenberg and have a nice long dinner at this swanky little place called MORE which was actually pretty good and the staff was both easy on the eyes and very friendly. Afterwards we hit up a couple other bars near the restaurant including one called Tom’s that was pretty seedy and cruisy. So after a bit of bar hopping we end up back at Berghain around 1:30 am. This time there is a line outside and it takes us about a half an hour to get inside but while waiting we make friends with the 2 cutest girls from Copenhagen, Denmark. Their names are Charlotte and Natasha and we totally hit it off with them and they swear up and down that they are coming to San Diego to visit next Spring or Summer, perhaps during Coachella. We spent the first half of the night with the girls, probably until about 7am or so. The second half of the night/morning we stayed upstairs at the Panorama Bar and I met one of the resident Djs, Boris, as well as this really nice guy from Switzerland, named Andres. Anyway, our 12 hour stint at Berghain ended sometime around 1pm Sunday afternoon which means that we were unable to make it to the tour like we had planned, so I guess we’ll be making another trip back sooner than later. If anyone is interested in checking out a mix from DJ Boris and getting a taste of some of the music from Panorama Bar, please check out the following link:

www. sendspace. com/file/91h5yv
www. filesend. net/download. php?f=6e148d78df7dae103e687a194bc32b44.

*Sunday 06/15 - finally seeing the City

So it’s back to our lovely apartment in Prenzlauer Berg and Derek goes straight to bed. We still have not gotten our luggage and I’m starting to worry that we’ll be heading to Prague without any of our belongings so I go out to recharge our phone at the convenient store, reconnect with the luggage delivery service because, seriously, where the fuck are our bags!?! I chat with the attendant for a while until I decide maybe I could rest a bit until the delivery service makes contact regarding our bags. So about as soon as I lay down our friend Rico (from Friday night) and since he is down the street I decide to meet up with him for a beer or two and hang out for a bit. At this point I have no idea where I’m getting the energy to keep going but it was a beautiful day and it was just nice being outside and chatting with a local and having a smoke and a drink. At some point it started to rain New Orleans style, downpour, complete with thunder and lightning so we retreated upstairs to our apartment to watch “Look Who’s Talking Now” in German because it was the only thing that was familiar to me and I at least knew the plot. It’s been so long since I had experienced that kind of such hard rain so I must admit I was startled and caught off guard a few times when the thunder would clap so loudly following the lightning. Once the weather cleared up we headed downstairs to this shiteous Italian restaurant for some mediocre pizza and some terrible gnocchi. Luckily as we’re dining outside our luggage finally showed up! I collect our bags and after dinner we head upstairs to get changed and freshen up and Rico is kind enough to take us on a mini tour of the Mitte area where their is a large amount of monuments, government buildings, museums, and other things to see. Many of the pictures in the gallery are from this day we spent walking around and though there is quite an abundance of shots i honestly couldn’t tell you what most of it is due to lack of sleep, a beer buzz, and being a bit overwhelmed. Rico was a great tour guide but like many other natives of Berlin (many of whom had lived their entire lives in the city) he was very content and proud of his hometown. He has no plans to move away or live anywhere else and I thought that to be so refreshing because I feel like a large number of Americans(especially in my age group) either are or were unhappy in ther hometown and some people do something about it while others just complain and act bitter until they do finally move. After all of the sightseeing we head back to the apartment to regroup and rest for a couple hours and then we went to club GMF which was a really nice multi level venue that had to be accessed via elevator. There were nice views of the city and Rico was able to introduce to a lot of people there as it seems he frequents the place from time to time and was well connected with the promoter. In true vacation style we stay until the very end (probably around 6am) and head home only to discover upon arriving at our front door that I have lost the key to the apartment and the spare is locked inside….with only 4 hours left until our train leaves for Prague! Oh, dear. Always an adventure I tell ya.

* Berlin to Prague via Deutsch Bahn train 06/16 (Derek’s 6th anniversary of his 30th Bday!)

Not quite the way I imagined Derek’s bday starting but accidents happen right? If there weren’t so many damn Euro coins I wouldn’t have been digging in my pockets and lost the friggin’ key in the first place. I ALWAYS have an excuse. Sorry, it’s the best I could do. Anyway after calling the property managers, owners/landlords etc. we FINALLY tracked down another copy of the key and were able to get all of our stuff together and get to the train station with about 30 seconds to spare. I took a xanax to ensure I got my full 5 hours of sleep and I can’t tell you the kick that Derek got out of watching me nod off at the dinner table as we had an early dinner on the train. I think there were a couple times my face almost fell in my plate which would have been a shame because I remember the pasta I had was delicious.

First taste of Prague

So we got a picture of this cute hillside castle on our way to Prague and before we knew it were actually in Prague. Our ride and apartment booking agent, Paul, met us at the train station and brought us to our humble yet spacious 2 bedroom, 2 bath, HUGE living area apartment in the Vinorhady section of Prague. Vinorhady has the largest concentration of gay bars and clubs and we were about a block away from club Valentino where we spent 2 of the nights. Our first evening all we really did was check out the Saints bar which was the bar run by the same tour/accomodation booking service called www.pragueSaints.cz. The staff and clientele were all rather friendly so we had a couple beers and a shot of green Absinthe. This one was disgusting, it burned,  and I was barely able to keep it down. Afterwards we grabbed some pizza and called it a night around 3am. This was the one night we did not see the sun come up. Shame on us

Prague Day 2 06/17  - More Praha

We slept a lot this day. I don’t think we got up until about 5pm…ish. We woke up with a pang of guilt for missing so much of the day. But of course first order of business is recharging our damn prepaid phone and consequently having to switch over the service from a German to a Czech number. Total pain in the ass but after about an hour of walking around we get it all sorted out and did a bit of walking around in Vinorhady and had late lunch at the higly reccomended restaurant Celebrity Cafe and I’d have to say I was rather impressed and left feeling very satisfied and comfortably full. Though I enjoyed their food the most, Prague was the one city that seemed the most foreign to me because though I don’t know any more German than Czech I felt less people spoke English as fluently in Prague. We manage to get all the way to Wenceslas Square by foot which is pretty much the city center of “new” Prague even though it is called the old Prague (it’s all very confusing). The architecture, monuments, statues and buildings throughout Prague are all stunning and often times in the square it’s hard to believe that all of the buildings are more than just facades like on a movie set. Of all the stops on our vacation I found Prague to be the most inspiring due to its rich history and architecture that was virtually unaffected by wars or other catastrophic events. Anyway in Wenceslas square there is a large public viewing area for the EuroCup (soccer) SemiFinals. I think it’s pretty safe to say that Europeans are a bit fanatical and obsessive about soccer/football. Even more so than American are in regards to American football. The chanting does get a little old after a while, especially when you’re not even at the game but I guess it made the expcerience a little more special for us and gave us a peek at something that many Europeans are very passionate about. So we watched a bit of the game and start to head back to our apartment but we decide to stop and try some of the food from some of the street vendors. I think of everything that we ate while there, this was probably some of the best food we had though I can’t say for sure if the fare is considered typical Czech food. Lots of sausage but my favorites were the breaded chicken cutlet sandwhich as well as the fried cheese sandwhich. Both portions were substantial for the price especially considering that Prague is still not on the Euro and our American dollar is actually stronger than their Czech crown. So after stuffing our faces with beer and street food we finally make our way back to the apartment to freshen up for the evening and make our way to Club Valentino. Valentino is kind of quiet so we have a few drinks and then decide to check out another spot called Alcatraz which isn’t really much better. Actually it’s more like a dungeon so we end up back at Valentino to close out the night and try and make friends with some locals. All in all the night proves to be very uneventful and we start to realize that what Prague has in natural beauty and rich history it seems to lack in nightlife. Against all odds we drink until last call and I get into a serious debate in broken English with this kid who’s mildly obsessed with Brtiney Spears and I’m having a hard time convincing him that she’s a lost cause and that she’s fucking nuts. Typical 6 am banter. Anyway we went back to our apartment and I have the most hilarious video of us (mostly me) dancing in our living area. After I viewed this video the following day I was a little embarrassed but now I think it’s kind of cute. You be the judge.

Insert video clip HERE!

Prague Day 3 06/18/08

Waking up hungover about 45 minutes before you have to begin a 4 hour walking tour would normally have me in a less than desirable mood but something about vacations make you forget about not taking your time getting ready or missing out on a nutritious breakfast before our journey. All in all it was pretty fun considering how lengthy the tour was. The first hour was a bit unpleasant as I could not really focus on our guide’s lessons on architecture and Prague’s first settlers. I saw double for a bit and was successful at  holding back any urge to regurgitate the ice cream and coca-cola that I opted for in lieu of a well balanced meal. By the way, is it me or do Europeans really LOVE themsleves some Ice Cream?? I noticed it the most in Prague but once I got to Ibiza I remembered how much the Spaniards love their Frigo Ice Cream. I wonder if Europeans who travel to SoCal are like “what the hell is up with Californians and their fro-yo??” I think it’s interesting that about 20 new frozen yogurt places have popped up throughout downton, Hillcrest and even North Park in the last few months. Sorry about going off on that tangent. I need to stay focused and finish this up. So, the tour was awesome. We got to see the “best of Prague” as the tour is called but the main highlights are Wenceslas Square (and the asronomical clock), church of St. Nicholas, the Jewish quarter, Charles Bridge and all of its street/bridge vendors, and of course Prague Castle. Prague Castle is massive but I think my favorite was this one stained glass designed by French art nouveau extrordinare Mucha. After the tour we head back to Wenceslas Square to watch another EuroCup game (Sweden and Russia), have some dinner and beers and then back to the hotel to regroup before our last night out. We so wanted to have one big last hurrah in Prague but as I mentioned I don’t think the nightlife is a selling point for Czech tourism. We went to the boys club Termix for “Czech Night” which is basically Czech covers of American disco songs and other bad gay music. The fact that it’s such an effort to get a drink and make the way through the crowd double fisted without spilling was too much for us so we went back to Valentino for some Pisatchios and BBQ chips (kitchen was closed :-() and a few more hours of top 40 and mainstream dance music cuz you gotta work with what you got, right? Towards the end of the night we met a couple guys from those fun Bel Ami videos (swoon). They didn’t speak much English but their producer did a lot of the translating. At this point Derek is becoming a little tipsy and unreasonable so we cut the conversation short and head home in the morning for a few hours of shut eye before heading off to Ibiza.

Thursday 06/19/08 - Ibiza via London and Madrid

This day was alomst completely dedicated to travelling. There are few direct flights to Ibiza from most places and since we weren’t in Barcelona or London we had to route our travel through one stop at London Heathrow and Madrid (which is my favorite airport that I have been to thus far). We get in to Ibiza sometime around 12:30 am and based on our last trip to the island I thought we had ample time to check into our hotel, grab something to eat, and get ready before going out. So we do all of the above without really rushing and get to the club Privelege in Playa d’en Bossa. Privelege is supposed to be in the Guiness book of world records as the “largest club in the world” and from the outside it very much looks the part but I think of every club we went to I was probably the least impressed witht this one. The main draw for us was catching producers and djs M.A.N.D.Y. for a dj set. I’m pretty sure that it’s two guys but no one can tell me what the acronym is all about. In any case I own a few of his/their songs (Body Language and some Tom Petty remix) and their all quite nice. if you’re interested in hearing some more check out this link:

www.myspace.com/getmandy

Side note: I guess sometime since our last trip to Ibiza the local government has decided to pull the reigns on the 24 hour party reputation that the island has made for itself in the last few decades. So, even though closing down a club at 6am seems like a treat to us San Diegans (and most other Americans) it kept me wanting more after I had experienced the island in all it’s glory just 2 years prior (and Berghain just days before). What was even more frustrating was that they also required all restaurants to close at 3am!!! What’s a boy to do when he leaves the party at 4am and needs a meal to replenish all those calories burned from dancing the night away?? We just went home hungry because our reseources were obviously limited. In any case these factors left me less impressed with the island than I had been previously but that certainly didn’t stop us from having a good time.

So we’re at Privelege and I spen most of the night staying somewhat near the main entrance so I could catch my friend Kiley and her husband Corey (Americans currently located in London) who were arriving that night and staying thru the weekend in celebration of her birthday. Well as it turned out their flight was about 3 hours late which got them into Ibiza and checked in to their hotel sometime around 5:30am. Something told me to call when we got back to the hotel lobby and of course as they were just getting settled in they were more than happy to have some early morning company.  It’s the first time that I have met Corey but I am aware that he is a dj and producer and self proclaimed “music snob.” For me I couldn’t have been happier to party with someone that was porbably more enthusiastic and passionate about quality dance music. I had the luxury of hearing some of his original music at their hotel room and to be quite honest it was better than some of the stuff I heard during our stay in Ibiza. If you want a taste of his talent in the studio then check this out: http://www.sendspace.com/file/q4u6ts And if you want to stream some of his dj sets then please go here: http://www.djcoreybaker.com/audio/corey_baker_promo_march08.mp3 or here: http://djcoreybaker.com/audio/Corey>Baker-Promo Mix Dec07.mp3. And if anyone in SD is interested in booking him he will be here at the end of September so hit me up and I can put you in contact.

06/20/08 - Kiley’s Bday

Fastforward a few hours and we all decide to just go straight to the beach and later on take a Zodiac pontoon boat to a different beach (Cavallet Beach). Corey and I do such a horrible job of handling our alcohol that we are totally obliterated by the time we get to the second beach and being fairly loud and obnoxious. Derek and Kiley are a bit annoyed and they end up separating Corey and me like two little kids. Well, their plan worked beacuse within a half an hour both Corey and I were passed the f*ck out in the sand (see pics in gallery) and on our beach chairs. I wake up in the sand and move to my beach chair where, half asleep I munch on some pasta and put a little food in my body and then…back to sleep for another 4 hours. I pretty much missed the whole day but my body got tons of sun. Derek and Kiley bonded while the boys were passed out and I’m a bit bummed I missed it but I guess I needed the rest.

Speaking of rest I’m getting really tired of writing this post. It’s way too much info and I feel like it’s starting to get repetitive with the constant clubbing, no? So in a nutshell besides the daytime beach recovery process (which included one amazing massage) here’s what we got into the rest of the weekend:

Frdiay Night:

Amnesia - Manumission Opening party with XPressII, Steve Aoki, and Mylo. More than just a huge dance party…all kinds of theatrical intermissions and even some gratuitous nudity mixed into the Coney Island inspired theme of the evening. A few pics are in the gallery. A fun party for the most part except the intermissions were a bit annoying after a while (almost every half hour and usually right when you were getting into the djs record).

Saturday Night:

Anfora/Sunrise - Anfora is a multi level gay club we had been to before but this time was a little more fun than the previous experience since there was no disco theme. I make a new friend who asks if I want to go to Sunrise. I assume that we are going to watch the sun rise with his group of friends and agree to tag along. Woops! Sunrise is actually a secret afterhours club in Ibiza town. Who would’ve thought? Super small but some choice dance music.

Sunday

We Love Space Sundays @ Space - This is comparable to the day party “Matinee” that we went to a couple years ago which was far and away the best event we checked out because it was a day party. Well after the new laws went into effect, the day parties start at 4:30pm and since it doesn’t get dark until about 10pm anyway we decided to go around 6pm to get started. I was probably the most excited about this event because of the lineup: Tiefschwarz and all the EdBanger djs: ATrack, Busy P, and DJ Mehdi. In short the music in the Ed Banger room was too hard and everytime I went to check out the room they were playing in it was just way too much and never really got any better. Tiefschwarz was great for the first hour or so and then I felt it got a bit stagnant and didn’t really go anywhere. Whoever played before Tiefschwarz was probably one of the better djs I saw that weekend. We stayed until about 3:30ish and decide to call it a night as we still have to pack and maybe sleep a bit before heading to the airport at 8:30am. Bad idea. We wake up at 9:45 and miraculaously are still able to make it to the airport in time to board the plane.

So from Ibiza we make our way back to Madrid for a layover and then finally we get to London where we’ll be setting up camp for the evening. Kiley and Corey are kind enough to take us in for the night but they are still in Ibiza and don’t get in until much later. Derek and I spend some of the day taking a little tour of Camden and the Camden Market. I so desperately wanted to catch a glimpse of Amy WInehouse roaming the streets in her bloody ballet slippers. No such luck but the little bit of London/Camden that I see is really cute. Their retail shops have all kinds of interesting 3 dimensional  statues/sculptures on their facades.

We didnn’t make it out for any bar hopping while in London for the evening but I was quite content catching up on sleep. We head to the airport and board our plane just fine. I had never heard of Air India before and was skeptical at first but can I just tell you that it was probably the best, most comortable plane ride I have ever been on. First of all I got to see like 3 movies including the tear jerker (yet highly recommended) PS I Love You, Enchanted (don’t waste your time), and then some other martial arts movie I can’t remember. But once you grew tired of watching movies they have Friends episodes as well as a whole library of cds and song playlists to listen to. Go Air India! Well, I ‘m not sure how long I’ll be singing that tune though because as a result of their tardiness we were forced to spend the night in NYC near the JFK airport which was by far the absolute worst possible scenario as I all I wanted to do was get back to San Diego at that point. The Ramada Plaza by JFK is any travellers worst nightmare as it is one of the airport hotels that all people are sent to as they miss their connecting flights. Rude staff, dirty carpets, plenty of undisciplined children and asshole parents who find their children screaming and other antics funny. Had we been at a hotel with a rating of at least a half a star I would’ve opted to stay in for the evening. But we were in NYC and I couldn’t bear to stay in and deal with the place for much longer. SO we make it out to Chelsea to meet up with some friends for a few drinks and at first I’m all in love with New York. I can even hear SJP rattling off some witty rant about Manhattan but the luster wore off a soon as my buzz did and there we were, on a subway back to the airport Ramada Plaza at 4am. With our early flight it was senseless to lay down and tease ourselves with the notion that we’d be getting the long rest we truly needed so we went straight to the airport without a wink of sleep. Obviously we’re a bit early and I think I’ll try and catch a nap at our gate. That wasn’t working so well as I forgot about the timing of our vacation. It’s the end of June now and the American airports are FULL of families going on their summer vacations. We had not one but 2 babies crying the whole way from NYC to Salt Lake City. It didn’t keep me from sleeping but it sure kept me from sleeping well. I offered the stressed mom a xanax (hoping maybe she’ll split it with the baby) but she gives me some tude and treats me like a peddler in a third world country. Ok , I just made that up but can someone put that in a movie or something? So SLC for a quick bite (I freakin’ LOVE CPK Express and any aiport that has one) and one last flight to sunny San Diego.

So, I’m back and I can safely say that besides the tidbits of delays, drama, and other mishaps it was the best vacation I have experienced thus far. Anyone wanting the uncensored version should come by the store and get the scoop on all the shennanigans that weren’t appropriate for this post. And if anyone’s planning on going to Berlin soon please let me know so that I can sneak into your luggage and tag along.

 

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