Travels

I've been back from the States for almost a week now - its about time I tossed some words down on this thing. As most people reading this know, Gwen is already at least two, and possibly three posts ahead of me, having detailed not only our trip but also what we've been doing since we've returned. Such are the "burdens" of traveling (and being) with someone so maddeningly efficient I suppose. And so perhaps this post will come with sort of an "old news" feel, but oh well - everybody can just deal with it.

There are some advantages to posting second, one of them being that I can simply refer any readers over to her blog for the details of our trip (If you still don't have the password, feel free to email me) and use the space below on my jonny-come-lately blog to comment on the high points.

For my part, I will say that the trip was both fun and exhausting, as trans-Atlantic traveling tends to be. Our journey was mired in delays upon delays, with nary a leg of the trip going according to plan (other than perhaps our initial hop from Frankfurt to Amsterdam), and so much so that it nearly became a Planes, Trains, and Automobiles sort of fiasco. In the end, I was sorry to miss the intended wedding, but there was nothing to be done to be done about it, and everything else more or less worked itself out, though we did spend a fair amount of time in airports and train stations.

And now, my musings:

-First, it was great to see everyone. Great to see (and spend time) with my parents, great to meet Gwen's dad, step-mother, and the rest of the Pittsburgh faithful, and great to see some old family friends (Ceil, Jackie), who always bring back solid memories of childhood.

-Second, it was great to be back in the United States. It was the first time I had set foot there since returning from Iraq, and its always a good feeling to be "home". I am grateful for the opporunity to live in and see Europe like this, but after four years I will be absolutely ready to go back. (Its just too hard being a football fan here.) Anyway, its hard to quantify how nice it is to be cognizant of cultural nuances, or how cool it is to walk into a Best Buy and know that all voltage and electronics issues don't even factor in - or that I can clearly speak the language.

-Pittsburgh is a great town. I had never set foot in it before, but after having spent significant time with both Gwen and Cameron (another person lucky enough to hail from the Iron City), I had heard many tales of this strange Western Pennsylvanina town with its powerful aura and unique charms. And I was impressed.

The city is pretty, with a tight skyline situated amidst the infamous "Three Rivers". The surrounding area is hilly, with cool neighborhoods built on industrial history (namely steel) but transforming nicely to fit more modern times. The local brew (Iron City) is gritty but rewarding, the type of thing to put hair on a man's chest without always causing blindness. Gwen showed me around the impressive University of Pittsburgh, we took an "Incline" and ate at some of the hallowed town haunts (Primanti's, The "O") and a nice restaurant or two as well. One night we even ate inside of PNC park (home of the Pirates) in probably the nicest Outback Steakhouse I've ever been in.

There was Steelers (and Penguins, and Pirates) stuff everywhere, and a more loyal fan base - or a town more defined by its sports teams - I can't recall. (Gwen's dad and Donna even gave me a Steeler's shirt to help me try and fit in. I even tried rooting with the accent - "Go Still'ers" - but I'm not sure if it worked. Anyway, as the Steelers are not a direct rival of the Giants, I don't feel like a "dirty" sports bigamist wearing the shirt, and I can even say with pride that the Steelers are BY FAR the best team Pennsylvania has to offer. Like comparing my sister's boyfriends' physical strength with my dad's - its not even close.)

All in all, I have to give the Steel City a big thumbs up.

-For the second leg of our trip, we visited New York City, which, with each trip, becomes more and more one of my favorite cities. I've always thought it would be fun to live in Manhattan for exactly one year to really get a feel for it. And had I not been indentured to the Army for the purposes of my residency, I think I would have strongly considered New York as an option. Regardless, NYC is great. It's expensive and busy, but I love the palpable energy there - and no other city I've been in has such a true international flavor as New York when it comes to the people (and food) one encounters there.

-Spent a hour or two at the World Trade Center Site, which I had visited before (in 2004), but which is always something to see. Again, I was struck by the great empty space on an otherwise uber-dense chunk of prime real estate in crowded downtown Manhattan. Standing there and contemplating the infamous events is indeed sobering. Clearly, the fall of the Towers has played such a role in my own life, of course, and this sense of connected national history is a different, and certainly more jarring, sensation to register when compared to experiencing some of the more sobering landmarks over here in Europe - even the dour Holocaust ones. To stand there and think in some part that I spent seven-plus months in Baghdad (even though Iraq had nothing to do with Sept 11 - but that is quite a different story...) because of what happened RIGHT HERE is kind of a crazy thing indeed. Hard not to stare up and imagine planes hitting buildings and people running like hell. Very chilling and certainly a little emotional.

The memorial they have up currently is simple and effective. There are poignant photographs and little distressing blurbs of text detailing the events of the day. People were strolling slowly by, taking it all in. The names of the victims are posted, one of which I was sad to learn was the son of the people whom we sold our house to in New Jersey as we left for California many years ago.

All in all a very sobering experience.




-We saw "Phantom" on Saturday night on Broadway, which was a great night out. What I find interesting about Broadway Musicals (Tm), however, is that the experience of dressing up, of going out to a nice dinner, of then hitting the theaters amidst crowds of other theater-goers and having cocktails in the lobby, is in fact far more enjoyable than the actual performance itself. Mostly I think this stems from the fact that I'm not really a "musical guy" - I find the entire story-telling device to be snicker-worthy, even outwardly hilarious at times. I knew I was in for it when the first words of the first song were sung and I had to suppress a laugh. Why is he singing? Why can't he just TALK about it? Does he deeply and emotively serenade his mirror every time he brushes his teeth? Is anyone else finding this funny? What the hell is going on here? Why can't everyone just settle down?

Anyway, this sort of attitude doesn't quite mix with he musical scene. I've probably just seen too much MST3K and other satire... That said, WITHIN this story-telling device, the performances were mostly top notch and I still enjoyed it. The singing was excellent, and the woman who played Christine was amazing, both in acting and voice, and I thought she blew everyone else off the stage, especially the Phantom, whom I found a little lackluster in his acting (though his singing was solid).

-Gwen surprised me with Business Class tickets for the trans-atlantic portion of our trip (to and fro), and I must say that it will be difficult to go any other way from now on. The leg room was vast (I had to stretch fully horizontal to touch the seat in front of me with my foot), the chairs went almost completely flat, and well, this picture of my chair control should say it all:




-And finally, some more photos from the trip:



Heinz Field with PNC Park (on the right)


The Burgh




The Cathedral of Learning at U Pitt (Where Saruman came out and threatened us)





You can really taste the Iron!



Being an Ass in Pittsburgh - its Easy and Fun!



An unfortunate encounter at the NBC Studio Store...







Saw Bill Murray and the other Ghostbusters here...



Empire State Building - Inside



Empire State Building - Outside


Spider Sense Tingling...




Calling for the curve on Willie Stargell



Now, back for a week, Gwen and I have embarked on a home improvement weekend (maybe Bed, Bath, and Beyond - if there's time). The most exciting prospect, of course, is the development of my Man Room (Tm). Stay tuned for details...