Don’t make me delta you!

So I didn’t get to write this weekend but really nothing too exciting happened. We had our 9 packs which basically ate up all our time and energy. I went two full days without talking to home which really bothered me. Saturday night I finally got to talk to mom and Deetee, thank god. I guess her and mom had been trying to call me and not getting through which made it even more aggravating. Mauricio and Alex were going to go out that night. They called and somehow convinced me to go. We ended up at the gay bar that was amusing how bad it was. There was a cloud of smoke hanging inside and a bunch of gay couples that just stared when we walked in. Nobody was dancing at all. We literally stayed for a half hour if that before peacing out.

Sunday night I was not planning on going out again and somehow we ended being convinced again. This time Skyler joined us so it was Adrienne and I hanging out with our three gay guys. We had a really awesome night! Skyler had heard about this different place so we went to check that out. We find ourselves approaching this members only place that looked so sketch from the outside. It had one of those doors that instead of a peep hole, has a little door people can peak out of to ask you for a password. The little man inside opened the door peered out at us and then let us in. Inside, we found an empty bar with two old men sitting at it and the weirdest old music playing. We stayed for a solid five minutes before the creepiness got to us and we had to depart. After that we ended up back at the smoke filled place and this time we brought the party and had an amazing time. They played amazing music; my favorites were: “Things that make you go hmmm,” “Whoop There it is,” Groove is in the Heart,” and “Smoosh it.” It was totally my kind of dance music. We were dancing like fools and loving every moment of it. We even had a battle on the dance floor; Alex and I against Mauricio and Adrienne. We were at two opposing corners of the room and would come at each other with some absurd dance move. We also started doing choreography from the show including our favorite, the delta dance. Tonight we coined the phrases: “You just got delta-ed!” and “Don’t make me delta you!”

Boschebols! YUM YUM YUM

So last night we arrived in Den Bosch and we all thought it was really cute. Today in the daylight we weren’t quite as impressed. I think it was all the lights that made it look real good. There is this one street with lots of restaurants that just looks adorable. It was kind of eerie walking around though because it was desserted. The day after Christmas is still considered a holiday here so nobody was out. Adrienne and I joined Mauricio, Amanda, and Irina for dinner. I learned how Irina was a road baby and grew up on Holiday on Ice until she was 7! Her parents are Olympians from ’72 I think. She doesn’t seem so thrilled with the show but I feel like she doesn’t know anything else but skating which is really sad.

We are staying at a Golden Tulip just like last week but this one is soooo different! We have old school keys to get into our room that we aren’t supposed to leave the premises with. They expect us to turn it in at the front desk whenever we leave! How absurd is that! It is especially annoying when you come back and a bunch of people are in line checking in and all you want to do is go to your room! Whoever thought this idea up is dumb! Oh and our room has a quote painted on the wall in huge letters that reads: “Take your time to dream, that is the way to the stars” All the other rooms I have seen don’t have quotes?!? I guess we are special.

This morning I went on a really nice run. Den Bosch was founded as a fortified city so there is a wall that used to surround it. I found the wall on my run which was neat. After that Mauricio, Adrienne, and I did some walking around and ended up at this café called Cinq where we drank some hot chocolate and sat for at least two hours just talking away. We had a pretty relaxing day which I feel was much needed considering what we have in store this weekend. 9 shows over the course of 3 days!

Dad sent me some new movies to amuse me. (we have already watched Hairspray and No Reservations which I highly recommend. Brittany is stuck at the hotel all day because she was out last show on Wednesday for back problems again L So we went by to visit her and watched the Waitress. I had already seen it and really liked it and they all really liked it as well. Then to end our day we went on a hunt for Boschebol. I’m not sure how you spell that but it is this dessert that is a specialty to Den Bosch that we saw on postcards. There was this street trailer selling sweets nearby us but they only had fried donut looking things. I asked this young boy who bought some of them where I could find the Boschebol and he pointed us in the right direction. We brought them home so Brittany could try one as well. They were amazing. It is basically a massive puff pastry covered in chocolate. The cream is soooo good though inside!

Christmas day in the Netherlands.

Christmas was different this year. It turned out to be nice though. We made the best of it pretty well I’d have to say but it still made me never want be away on Christmas again!

In the morning we had a lovely breakfast/gift exchange. Brittany, Mauricio, Joelle, Adrienne, and I all exchanged small gifts. There had been debate if we had wanted to do gifts but Brittany and I thought it was crucial to making it feel the most like Christmas and I really think without our morning get together this day would not have been as good. We had a very leisurely breakfast and opened our gifts. It was really fun. I got loads of candy and a cute hat Joelle thought screamed Brenda.

After that we had two shows. Everyone was in really high spirits at work so it was actually a very enjoyable work day. I feel like everyone got the bad days out of the way earlier and today was just a fun day. I got to skype with Mom and Deetee in-between show which was so nice. And they sent me some of my favorite Christmas tunes to listen to.

We had a dinner later which was not as amazing as I was hoping for. The dessert was crazy too. It was such a build up because it wasn’t put out til an hour after the meal so we were all waiting in anticipation. It was buffet style so we had to wait til there were done setting up the whole thing to start. It was an array of all ice cream. Sounds good but there were some weird flavors in there. There were things that looked like cakes but no, they were ice cream! There were balls and and all different crazy ways of presenting ice cream. Some were really tasty but there were just so many choices and you didn’t know which would be good. I filled a whole plate with a sampling of all differents because I just couldn’t choose

Pancakes and Dutch Carols.

So if you aren’t home for the holidays you might as well do something totally out of the ordinary like have a Dutch pancake feast on Christmas Eve! Pancakes are one of their things around here so we stopped by Pannekoecke Backer van Dam which is a pancake house right downtown Leiden There were soooo many different kinds of pancakes it is overwhelming and they aren’t all the expected sweet ones; They also do savory ones like how not all crepes are sweet. You should have seen the size of these things! HUGE! Brittany, Joelle, Adrienne, and I all shared the Maycoft, the house specialty which had cheese, onion, mushrooms, peppers, and tomatoes on top and also one with chicken and fruits which was very different. We wanted to get a sweet one as well but didn’t have time because we were trying to make church.

We attended the Christmas Eve service at Peter’s Church. I never go to church so when I told Neana about this she thought I was pretty crazy. I found it quite interesting though. It was naturally all in Dutch which was amusing but also made me lose interest seeing as I couldn’t understand the priest. He was a very animated speaker and used lots of hand gesture but I still had no idea what he spoke of. I did get the chance to belt out some Christmas Carols in Dutch though. Mauricio and I were enjoying was too much singing along with the lyrics they past out. We sang “Silent Night” and “Come all ye Faithful” The last song they sang we sucked at though. I didn’t recognize the tune so that was part of the problem. It seemed so long of a service but I think it was just because I don’t know Dutch.

Christmas Blues

Written on Sunday, December 23, 2007

So everyone had their moment I think this week. Their moment of Christmas blues from being over here for the holidays working. Mine came today. I longed to be home, not working and with family and friends. Or at least being able to talk to everyone I wanted. I was in a mediocre mood the whole day but I just had to get it out of my system.

On Friday, I also didn’t have the greatest of days. I missed a number for the first time in all my show days. I was supposed to be in opening as mom and I didn’t check the board thoroughly enough. I walked by mid-opening number and was in disbelief seeing my name written. There was nothing I could do at that point. I was crushed and so mad at myself because I am always so on top of things. I have to pay my fine of $10 for my bad deed. After that happened all weekend I have been so anal about reading the board over three times just to be sure!

The Dutch Language.

This language cracks me up. It sounds kind of like German and isn’t pretty at all! I just get such a kick out of it! From a young age everyone learns English in the Netherlands so there is hardly a language barrier which is handy. But whenever I interact with people, they first talk to me in this crazy tongue; I respond in English causing them to then answer back in English and more often than not they have absolutely no accent! So then I am left totally perplexed with the first outburst they presented you with.

When I was shopping people kept saying things to me and I would just smile at them. It sounds like gobble-gook! Actually though, some words look very similar to ours but others are so foreign. I’ve only had two run-ins with people that don’t understand me.

Clogs, Canals and Stroopwafels!

Yesterday I ventured to Amsterdam with Adrienne, Brittany, Jarrod, Julia, and Christy. It is brutally cold out here so we had to really bundle out! It's about a 40 minutes away from Leiden. My impression of Amsterdam is that it is not a very attractive city. I'm glad we are staying in Leiden because it has a much better holiday feel.

The train station itself was a quite attractive building. But a lot of the architecture did nothing for me. Right out of the train station we saw tons of tourist shops, and us being tourist, we naturally had to stop. There were clogs everywhere and I thought this was amazing. They were so bright and shiny. I wanted to buy some wicked bad. I opted for a small finger size pair.

The city is covered with canals....and bikes too. We crossed over three canals to get to the Anne Frank House. I found this really interesting. It was well done. All throughout the house, their were quotes posted from her diary. I learned quite a bit but it made me pretty sad. Whenever I hear about the holocaust it makes me pretty upset. They built a reception area in front of the house and we couldn't seem to get to the back either so we never got to see the actual house. It seemed to be surrounded by newer structures abstructing our view. One of the quotes Anne said her dad was not in a very nice business. He worked with pepper and pectin and she said if you are going to work in the food industry you might as well make candy. Anne must have been awesome.

After that we walked through the red light district which was highly disturbing. I couldn't believe how girls just sit in the window like that. Even though I had heard about it, I was still in such shock actually seeing it.

Soooooooooo then we tried stroopwafels which I was told was a must cause they are known for them here. Basically it is a wafer thin waffle sandwich with caramel goodness inside. They were delightful!

Then we headed home because the cold got the best of us!

Windmills

Written on Monday, December 17, 2007

So we landed in Amsterdam and had about a 35 minute drive to get to Leiden. On this drive I counted 15 windmills. It was quite the fun game hunting for them. At first they were all way in the distance so we were pointing out these small dots of windmills. Then we drove right by about 4 of them!

We are staying at the Golden Tulip which is a fitting name for Holland. I walked into our hotel and was immediately happy because the lobby was covered with decorations. They had multiple Christmas trees with lights and the works!

It is crazy how many bikes are outside! They have bike lanes on every road and just millions of bikers all over the place. I have got to watch out for them cause getting hit would not be good! Across from us is the train station and there is a bike parking lot that was full! Check out the ridiculousness!

I went for a run and passed all these stores. I was getting so distracted and ended up going into multiple stores mid run. It is exciting to be out of London and Paris for shopping purposes because things seemed a little more reasonable in price. I must go back when I actually have money on me.

Reindeer and other Christmas things.

So this visit has been short but sweet. I walked downtown some more on Friday and was searching for the Passage Pommeraye, this 19th century shopping arcade I had seen pictures of. It took me quite some time to locate it. It was really neat though. It has a glass roof over it but basically you feel like you are still outside because it is cold inside. It had a lot of style because all the store front were old fashion looking and there were lots of statue along the walkway. The stores were cool too. I didn't purchase much but I had fun looking around.

I ran into some problem with my French skills though. Sale-people kept coming over to me and asking me questions which I didn't comprehend. It was pretty aggravating. It should be real interesting when I get to country where I don't know the language at all! EEK I guess that is part of the fun though!

The streets were decorated for Christmas and I heard some familiar Christmas songs play which made me very happy. They had a Christmas Market set up which basically was all this little houses they brought in where people sell different good. There were lots of scarves, lotions, jewelry, and different food items.

I also went for another run in the jardin des plantes and was quite excited to catch a glimpse of a reindeer! There was a pen with many deer and one reindeer in it in one of the corners. I'm not sure why they have some in this park and I'm not sure if the deer like being there but they didn't seem like they looked too unhappy. And seeing the reindeer made me think of Santa and his reindeer so I was glad they were there!

In the lovely Nante.

I am in Nante and I just adore it! It is sooo cute and most importantly right after we arrived I turned my computer on and searching for internet just for kicks and we have some! Our hotel has wireless for free! That is unheard of. It is only the second hotel of the whole tour that has had it! So that is really thrilling. I got to send out my update and get my blogs up right away which made me happy.

After that I went out with Brittany, Joelle, Liz, and Janessa. On the walk there I saw what looks like the LU cookie factory. I need to investigate more though. I don’t think that it is still an acting factory but I am intrigued none the less. I went for a walk through old town which is filled with stores and cafes. It is so cute and quaint. It put me in such a good mood! It is adorable. It has the same French feel that really appreciate about Paris but in a smaller quainter town-like vibe. We went to this café called Amorino that has 28 different flavors of hot chocolate. It was to die for! It is more like drinking chocolate so you eat it with a spoon cause it is way to thick to drink. I got white chocolate of course. They had some really different flavors. We were all in heaven, except Liz didn’t like hers and I felt bad. She got mint thinking it would be peppermint but it was more of a spearmint. I tried it and it was disgusting; it was so bitter and must have been dark chocolate which I loathe.

This morning I went for a run. I passed the Chateau des ducs de Bretagne which still has a moat!, the Cathedrale Saint Pierre which looks like Notre Dame's twin, and then to Jardin des plantes. It was the prettiest run I have had in awhile. In Paris we were too far from all the jardins so I didn't have any really scenic runs. It is super cold out here though. It is the first week it has really been super cold. It seems cold enough to snow so I really hope I get to see some. I'm jealous of home being covered in snow!

Art and plate smashing.

Written on Wednesday, December 12, 2007

After our shows, I went to the Louvre for the night discount rate. I planned to stay til it closed and attempt to see it all. This was an ambitious plan though. After walking around for two and a half hours I was shot and totally over it. I covered a lot of ground though; much more than this summer when I came. It is just so massive it is impossible to cover it all in one visit. I was most drawn to all the statue wearing draped clothing. I was intrigued looking at the style of the drapings. I also really like how the building itself is a piece of artwork. Many of the rooms have lavish ceiling with painting in them that are really awesome.

When people think of the Louvre the first painting that comes to mind is the Mona Lisa. I feel it is so over hyped and is no better than some of the other paintings but somehow it has become such an icon. They take drastic measured to protect it to which is so absurd. It now is contained in this glass box and then has two sets of barricade in front of it and two guards on either side! So unnecessary!

After we were done there we headed to the Latin Quarter with one goal. To make one of the Greek restaurants smash a plate. There is this one street with three Greek restaurants and I have always been so intrigued by them because whenever anyone walks in to one of them they smash a plate on the sidewalk. Also if you stand in front of one of them the other three start yelling at you to not go there and to come to there restaurant. We finally were sold by Meteora who said we could have a free glass of wine if we chose them. They let Adrienne smash the plate and I was highly jealous. She threw the plate with great conviction! I’m surprised no one got injured in the process! hahaha

Montmartre….Loves it!

Written on Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Today it was finally nice out which was a peasant change from all the rain we had been having. Brittany asked if I would go to the Sacre Coeur with her and although this would be my third journey I really like it so I didn’t mind revisiting it. This time around I asked about La Place de Terre where all the artist set up there easels and we found. I hadn’t realized that I had actually never visited Montmartre. I guess I had thought it was just the area around the Sacre Coeur but I didn’t realize it went behind the church. I’m so glad I did come back with Brittany and finally got to see the awesomeness that is Montmartre. It is by far my favorite area in Paris and I can’t believe I had never been here. There are so many cute little restaurants and stores with really awesome things. There were lots of tourist things but they were slightly classier and there wasn’t quite as much crap. There was also the square where we got to pursue all the art and see artists working on paintings and drawing. It was really cool! I really wanted to buy a piece of art to hang in a house when I have one hahah and be able to say oh I bought that in Paris but it’d be hard to travel and that is way too much planning ahead. Instead I bought some old fashion prints that I have been eyeing in all the tourist shops. Oh and we got savory crepes that were so cheesy but good and ate them on the steps of the basilique. It was another fun day with Brittany!

In the year 2050, men will wear hot pink pants and tops covered in sequins and jewels.

Written on Monday, December 10, 2007

So Adrienne, Jeff, and I had a lovely dinner at this restaurant called Café les 2 Moulins. It was lovely in our eyes but I’m pretty sure our waiter probably hated us. We were rushing to make our show so I asked for the bill right when we got our food and we scarfed our food down so fast. This is so against everything the French believe in as far as eating and dining out goes. But anyways we had a show to make and we are crazy Americans so we eat fast!

In the summer, I had looked into going to Moulin Rouge but opted to pass because of the price. I decided this time I had to breakdown and do it. I do think it is overpriced though. But it is always selling out so why would they lower the price? I am glad I went though. I was entertained; sometimes because it was ooberly silly but entertained none the less.

The costumes were crazy! Some were really cool and others were quite 80’s looking. But maybe that was to match the classy synthesized tunes they tended to use. Some of the outfits were topless so we got to see quite a bit of boobs! Hahaha There was this other number that the girls had these huge red things that looked like taco shell on there back. At one point they bent over, pulled these strings and the taco shells swung open so they were a flat circle. I don’t know why but I thought it was hilarious and couldn’t stop laughing! In another number on the sides of the stage the year 2050 was written. The lead guy appeared on stage wearing fluorescent pink pants and a nude top covered in mirrors and jewels. I turned to Adrienne and was like in the year 2050 that’s what guys are going to wear. Hahahaa

My favorite number was the juggler. He juggled with his mouth which blew me away because he would have 3 balls in his mouth and shoot one up into the air with the others in his mouth? Craziness! And he could shoot them so high. He had drums too so he would shoot the balls out of his mouth and hit the drums. He was so comical as well!

On top of lots of dancing, they also had some acrobats (who were awesome,) a ventriloquist (I could totally see his lips moving!), and a girl who swam in a pool with snake (it was so lame and such a waste of this sweet pool they installed that I’m sure cost a butt load!)

I liked the second half a lot more. They did a stereotypical Can-Can number that was my favorite dancing number. They had red, white and blue traditional Can-Can dresses on. I also really liked this number they did to a medley of hits having to do with Paris. “Under the Paris Skies” was in the medley which I got pumped about because I used to skate to that song!

After the show, we stopped at a crepe stand which was a must. I got my normal gafre sucre and Adrienne gave it a whirl as well. Jeff had not yet experience the crepe so he opted to do that. We were all in heaven naturally.

Disney is always fun, even when you are wet.

Written on Monday, December 10, 2007

So my friend Brittany had a hurt back two weekends ago so she was out. Therefore she was still considered out on her days off aka she couldn’t leave her hotel room which SUCKS! So she missed the day when everyone went to Disney. She was planning on going with the other Brittany today but she backed out on her but gave her, her ticket to give to someone to go with her. So she asked me to come along with her for another fun filled day of Disney magic!

It was raining all day but we still had fun. We definitely didn’t last as long as planned though because our feet got too cold and damp. Lots of the rides at Disney our indoors which was key! When we first got there we spotted two of the most thrilling pairs ever: The tweedles and the chipmunks. We wanted to get pictures but of course we couldn’t push through the little kids and by the time we got our chance they were being ushered away. They were so funny though. I love what trouble makers all four of them are.

We road the Peter Pan ride which is quite awesome. It is better than some of the other scene rides because you are in this flying car rather than a train like car. It gave it more of a ride appeal. Brittany wanted to do the Indiana Jones roller coaster haha but little did she know she was accompanied by a screaming looney! She was cracking up at me the whole time and got such a kick out of how much I was screaming. The highlight again was the Nemo ride. I would have wanted to ride that ride all day long if there wasn’t such a long ride. Brittany had a special appreciation for this ride too because she was on the Finding Nemo ice show for the past 3 years.

Sacre Coeur

We went to the Sacre on a very grey day so pictures were not so picturesque seeing as it was a white on white effect. This was my favorite of the site I saw in Paris when I was here in July. This time around though, I have different opinions but it is mostly affected by the weather and also decorations. Don’t get me wrong, the Sacre Coeur is still awesome it just was a gloomy day and they were doing some construction on the stair leading up to it. I really like the look of this church and still think it is very different than lots of the other churches I have visited.

I was hoping the bracelet guys would be out so Adrienne could experience being harassed and I got my way! There is this group of guys who make friendship looking bracelet right on your arm. They hang out on the steps of the Sacre Coeur and harass people as they walk by. They are pretty persistent and reach right for your arm and if you are not stern will start making a bracelet before you can even stop them and then ask for you to pay for it. It is actually kind of impressive because they make them in lightening speed and it my friendship bracelet days I never made it right on someone’s wrist!

(The picture is not from this day! HA It is from this summer because it did NOT look that nice out on this day!)

Buddha Bar.

Written on Tuesday, December 05, 2007

Today was not the greatest of days. I am in a state where I hate everything that I have in my suitcase to wear and long for new things. So I ventured out shopping with Adrienne and was having no such luck. I was getting really upset over it and wanting to go home and shop as absurd as that sounds. European shopping sounds fine and dandy in theory but it actually isn’t all what it is cracked up to be. It is very expensive and it is disheartening when you see lots of American brands that are way overpriced compared to at home.

Anyways on a more upbeat note, Mauricio’s boyfriend Daniel came to visit. He is only going to be here for 48 hours which is SO crazy! He is on one of the princess shows and had a Friday opening this week so he flew all the way to Paris! He had wanted to go to the Buddha Bar while he was here, which is this really well known place that is super posh and very expensive. This place was packed. The ambience was very dim with lots of candles and an Indian décor including a massive Buddha statue. It looked like it should be a really chill calm place but then they have this techno oriental music blaring so you could hardly hear people!

It was quite pricy and we all ordered the things that were on the cheaper side. I feel like our waiter was quite peeved at us. He also was giving us quite the glares when we had the nerve to take pictures at the end! It was neat going and I’m glad I got to see this place that apparently Madonna has been to but I won’t be going back anytime soon.

Disneyland Paris!

Written on Monday, December 5, 2007

Thanks to the company we got free passes to Disneyland! I went with Adrienne, Mauricio, Joelle, Amanda, and Jarrod. It was overall a very magical day full of Disney magic! Hahahaa Considering our show is called A Disneyland Adventure we made sure to hit up all the rides in our show. In Haunted Mansion we heard our music and saw a lot of things that they tried replicating for our show. I had been on this before but now I have a different appreciation for it. Same with Pirates of the Carribean. While cueing up for the ride they were playing the music so we were all dancing and doing the routine and probably looked like huge tools! The small world here was much better than in the states. I think maybe it was just because it was newer so it looked so shiny and nice.

Then we went on Thunder Mountain which I remember going on at age 7 and balling my eyes out. I was slightly nervous for it and I was telling Mauricio how I was slightly scared so the rest of the time he was making fun of me before every ride saying there were going to be really scary and that my stomach was going to drop. This ride was nothing actually but we also did Indiana Jones ride and I figured this would be similar. Boy did I not expect flipping upside down and having my stomach leaves me numerous times! I was screaming my head off. I also screamed by head off on Space Mountain but I was most impressed with this one. I think it is awesome because it is so dark and you have no idea where you are or even if you are upside down. That ride also has no slow climbing with that awful creaking noise. It shoots you up like you are actually in a space shuttle. I was very unimpressed with the Aerosmith Rollercoaster. I feel like it was trying to be like Space Mountain but just wasn’t as cool. It was really just flickering lights and loud music. And you could see the tracks because it wasn’t as dark which was super dumb.

I ate this Pastry shaped like Mickey and it ended up having chocolate inside. After being finished for quite some time I realized I had gotten chocolate all over my right sleeve and my left cuff and watch and even some on my jean. Basically I was a mess!

Next we went to Fantasy land for one of my favorite parts: The tea cups! They were def not as cool as the ones at Disney WOrld. The cups weren’t as pretty and were smaller but I guess Europeans in general drink out of smaller cups so they were the European version! They also had a maze for Alice in Wonderland that was neat and something they don’t have at the other parks.

After that we saw the parade which was fun and after seeing this I have decided that all the people employed here must be midgets. Seriously all the characters were so short! Piglet, Timon, White Rabbit, and a monkey that is Baloo’s friend were all only up to my chin! I don’t know where they find such an abundance of short people! At the end Santa came and they had toy soldier and reindeers dressed up and these costumes were awesome.

The last ride of the day ended up being my favorite: It was Crush’s Adventure from Finding Nemo. I was expecting it to be one of the easy rides more like Haunted Mansion that tells a story but it turned out to be both that and a roller coaster so I was blown away when my stomach dropped and I ended up screaming. It was also so different than anything I had ever been on. You had carts of four with two seats facing front and two facing back. So I started the ride facing front and at one point we spun and were going sideways and then ended up finish it up backwards. It was awesome! We also got to see Nemo and his friends and it looked like we were underwater cruising on the EAC.

I love kids!

So last night during finale, all the kids in the audience rushed towards the ice and were standing around it. It was so adorable! I had experienced this happening before in any show. It was so exciting and this is a prime example of why we are out there skating these shows. I slapped five with multiple kids and there faces were lit up with joy! This was such a highlight in my show skating career thus far!

I was skeptical from opening day about the Parisian crowds because they were so unresponsive but as the week has gone on they have been better and better. And whichever parent let there kid first run down to the ice I want to thank because this caused all a wave of all the other kids to join! I really think all the kids in the audience may have been down there. It was awesome!

Oh la la.

Today I got to show Adrienne all the cool places in Paris! Hahha I showed her the area where I stayed this past summer. I love that area because it feels so quaint and non-touristy. We walked by the school and stopped in at the boulangerie I frequented most days. My favorite little man who worked there was not there though and he was there every single day in July so that was quite peculiar. We walked through Jardin du Luxembourg which had a different feel this time of year. In general it has been weird for me seeing Paris not overcrowded with people. There was still people in the parc but no where near as many as in the summer. There were more people running though and that brought a smile to my face but I missed the little kids playing with their little sail boats. After that we walked down St. Michel and I showed her the Latin Quarter and then we walked along St. Germain. After our day of walked we also stopped by the jardin at the Roudin Museum to see the Thinker.

Le Queen.

On the hour, le Tour Eiffel glitters and it is fabulous!

We visited yet another gay club but when Alex is planning the night’s festivities it is a given that is where we will be headed. This place is supposed to be one of the best places on Thursday though. It was located on the Champs Elysees right nearby the Louis Vuitton store and other designer houses. Tons of Disney people went out tonight and that always makes it more fun.

They had two dancers up on a high platform that were wearing ridiculously heinous outfit and were also horrible dancers. They were slightly amusing because of how bad they were. It was a girl and a guy. The guy was wearing hot pants, boots, tight white tops and then had some fur arm bands and collars!?!?! I can’t even put into words describing their dancing but all I can say is they should not be paid to dance.

Mauricio, Adrienne, and I were playing the guess who is straight and who is gay game which was fun. We kept disagreeing on everyone. Mauricio is so fun to go out with!

Le Zenith est tres petit.

Written on Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Today was opening day. It was also a three show day. How crazy! It actually whizzed by though! The Zenith is ridiculously small. The ice is 5 headers here which is less than half of the normal size we play! But hardly any of the numbers were motified so there is just a crammed over-abundance of people on the ice. We also hardly move. I am skating at a snail pace compared to what I usually do. I feel bad for the audience because it is no where near as cool as when we are skating fast.

The first show was pretty crappy esp. thanks to this massive crater of a hole that developed. We were all warned to watch out for it but then you are skating a number and it slips your mind until you fall in and find yourself splattered on the ice. I tripped in it during monkeys but stayed vertical but soooo many people fell in it including Evegeny who I was skating with in Ghost.

Second show Evegeny fell again and this may have been the highlight of my day! We had to take out the spirals because of the ice size so instead we just do this one foot glide presenting our arms. When he let go of me he turned to skate away and crashed right into the candelabra and went down. He didn’t get hurt so that was good and we were laughing the whole rest of the number about it.

Good old ED.

Written on Tuesday, November 27, 2007

We went grocery shopping today at good old Ed. That is where I shopped when I was here this summer so it was quite nostalgic. I bought the same strawberry juice and cereal I used to always get as well as other things. This was quite the experience for Adrienne; it was hilarious watching her deal with all the french and what not. She kept cringing her face and was just so beside herself with what to do. It was highly amusing!

Then we went to Notre Dame along with Mauricio, Brittany, Jarrod, and Galen. What a difference it makes not being here in July. In the summer I never got the chance to go inside Notre Dame because of the crowds of people and the long, long line but today we just waltzed right in. I really liked the stain glass inside because it was more of designs that pictorial scenes. After that we walked along Rue du Rivoli and ate some baguettes. I love how familiar I am with navigating around. Don’t get me wrong I love discovering all the new places, but being back in Paris feels nice as if I am more at home since I know my way around. Later we went back out to see Moulin Rouge at night. And then we went to a bar for a drink and THEN made a stop at a crepe stand. I got my favorite gaffres sucrees avec de la confiture which is a sugar coated waffle that was strawberry jam on top. Right at the end of July I discovered that I enjoyed this much more than the standard crepes.

J’adore Paris!

Written on Monday, November 26, 2007

I am really excited to be back in Paris! I really wish my French was better and I wish I had been practicing more since I went in July but I did try using some today and had some successes. One, I asked where I could find an ATM and then we went to a restaurant and I used a little and the waiter told me I had good French. He may have just been humoring me. Then this group of Asian girls came over to me to ask where the elevator was. They hardly knew French and were trying to speak French to me while French isn’t even my language. It was such a funny situation. I figured out with they wanted and pointed them in the right direction.

Today I ventured out with Adrienne, Brittany, Mauricio, and Norman, a guy from consessions who is Dutch. We went to the Arc du Triomphe and walked along the Champs Elysees. They had just put up light on all the trees and it looked pretty awesome. They have these awesome lights that look like a rain drop falling down the tree! We had perfect timing because when we were up on the Arc the Eiffel Tower was glittering. We ate dinner at this chain called Hippopotamus and even though I know that the French are known for drawing meals out I am just so not accustomed to it. It felt like the longest meal ever!

My life has music again.

Written on Saturday, November 24, 2007

Today I went running……….with music, for the first time in over 6 months! It was different. I had grown so used to not using music I don’t feel like I will be as realiable on it anymore. It was quite thrilling.

My new ipod came in the mail yesterday and it got delivered during our first show. I was walking by in my monkey costume and saw the package and was jumping with joy. Our sound guy, Jamie was casually looking at the mail and I think I freaked him out. I got a black one this time so it looks nothing like my forgotten one. I need to get to work on making playlists so I can use it now!

Sticky Toffee Pudding.

Written on Friday, November 23, 2007

I went on a date today with Adrienne, Joelle, and Brittany Drury to try sticky toffee pudding. Joelle had found out that they served it at the restaurant in the Holiday Inn just down the road and where we can use the gym for this week! Now this is no ordinary Holiday Inn; it is actually called Royal Victoria Holiday Inn and is in this super nice historic looking building. It is so classy looking and like no other Holiday Inn I’ve ever seen. Brittany had been talking about trying this English dessert forever now and I figured I should give it a try to before I left the UK.

So we get there and the restaurant is empty. We got the menu and turns out it cost 7 pounds! EEK I was expecting 4 or 5 but I was still going to get it anyways and just have dessert. Joelle wanted savory food as well so she inquired about this buffet that was set up and how much a slice of quiche would be. The waitress replied telling her she could just have a piece. Turns out it was food for a conference they were just going to get rid of so she said we could help ourselves! This made the price seem way much better! There were dessert at the buffet and I have no idea why but I ate other dessert on top of my sticky toffee pudding. I have quite the sweet tooth but in the instant I had an overdose of sugar. There are not many times when I feel that way so this was pretty hardcore. I think there is something about the toffee/caramel taste that can be sickeningly sweet if you have too much. Anyways, the pudding was really good! The name made me skeptical but it really isn’t a pudding. It was a cake that was covered in this toffee flavored sauce. It was not actually sticky more oozey. I would definitely recommend people who visit England to try some!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Written on Thursday, November 22, 2007

I had to work today. It is really weird not being home for holidays. It didn’t even feel like Thanksgiving. I kept forgetting it was even today. After the shows we had a dinner…..at 11 pm at night! I was skeptical because it was at our hotel’s restaurant and our hotel is not the nicest of an establishment but it turned out to be decent. It was no home-cooking but they tried to make it feel a little like home by the way they served us. They gave us our plate with turkey on it and then put out the rest of the fixing on the table to help yourself. It was a nice touch to make it feel more like we were at home and not at a restaurant.

I need more mazes in my life.

Written on Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Chatsworth House is a great place! It is where the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire resides and they are nice enough to let tourist prance about their 1000 acres of property. It was maybe the most lavish and fancy places I have seen! It is slightly newer than some of the castle I have been visiting so everything was in mint condition! It was also decorated for Christmas which made me so happy!

When we first got there and were approaching the front door we saw this massive sculpture of a naked pregnant women. It was so out of place first off and slightly distasteful, in my opinion. Oh and as we got to the front of the statue we learned that half of it was showing the insides including bones and muscle and even the baby. It was really dumb and I think need to be removed immediately from this beautiful property!

The house was awesome but the real reason for this visit was the maze! I had been longing to visit a hedge maze so I did some research and found out about this place. I had been looking forward to this for quite some time and it measured up to everything I was hoping for. The shrubs were about 10 feet tall. I literally ran in when I saw it out of pure excitement. I made a turn and right away I found myself at a dead end. I was giddy like a small child running through this. Adrienne and I had split up and gone different ways. We ended up finding each other and then stuck together in our hunt to find the center. It was a lot harder then I was expected and this pleased me thoroughly. We kept ending up at places we had already been. We finally succeeded in making it to the middle!

Then to top off my excitement we stopped in at the restaurant and I had a piece of cake……………It was AMAZING. It was actually not frosted on the top but had such a good amount in the middle layer that is was a-ok in my book It also had strawberry jam in the middle too. The frosting was mighty good!

Good Day!

Pikelets: Good substitution for Crumpets!

Written on Monday, November 19, 2007

Today Joelle and I went to York. We visited York Minster which is known for having the best stain glass collection around. I am a huge fan of stain glass so I enjoyed seeing that. This maintenance man pointed out these statues that looked like they were holding symbols in different ways. He gave us a key and told us we could try to decode a message. We figured it out: Christ is here. The funny guy told us if we went to the police desk they would give us a candy bar for decoding it. We both got really excited and were about to go and then he told us he was just kidding. Hahaha

After our visit to the Minster and not getting candy we walked around all the cute little pedestrian streets and found this place called Little Betty’s Cafe. I was hoping they would have crumpets because I have actually yet to try one since I have been in the UK and my time is running out! They didn’t have crumpets but they did have pikelets which I was told was similar just flat like a pancake. It was real good! It was covered in butter and the nooks and crannies soaked it all up. We actually enjoyed them so much we ordered seconds!!

Sumo Wrestling!

Someone organized for us to be able to get in for free at this place called the Leadmill where this band called Captain was playing and then after it was just a DJ. A lot of people came so it was really fun. We danced a lot but the highlight of the night was my debut as a sumo wrestler. So this bar the a pen where you could thrown this big marshmallow sumo outfit and challenge a friend. It was so absurd and amazing all at once. Adrienne and I of course had to take part. I knocked down Adrienne four times but they guy kept making us play. He finally informed me that in order to win you didn’t just need to knock them down but also get them out of the ring. Silly me for not knowing sumo wrestling rules! Adrienne then knocked me down and I was out of the ring and she was declared the winner. I was quite peeved over this! I totally should have won!

Every little girls dream.............

So today, what every little girl dreams about came true for me........................I got to be princess! My debut was not on the ice but it was still oh so thrilling! Meredith had asked me to help dress people for this meet and greet. The girl who was suppose to be Snow White didn't show so they were like you put it on. Man was it fun!

I also got one more chance to see Dick today. He was flying out of Glasgow today and wasn't sure if he would be back in time to see me at my break so we left it up in the air. As proven in London with the whole Colby fiasco, my cellphone SUCKS and today it let me down again. Dick had tried calling me several times and was unsuccessful at getting a hold of me. But this didn't stop him. He found a security guard who then called backstage and the word traveled all the way to me in my makeup room that someone was looking for me! I went out and found Dick waiting for me! We got to have lunch which was awesome and Dick got to see me with my super posh sunglasses look. I think every meal I ate with Dick I had a chicken sandwich which is pretty hilarious. He may think that I have moved on from grilled cheese but now that is all I will eat. HAHAHA

He brought me a present too which was hilarious! It is a book called Wild, Wild World of Animals: Monkeys and Apes. He said I could read up and study for my portrayal of being a monkey. HAAAAAAAA After I am done I will have to pass it on to the rest of my monkey friends!

I don't know Gaelic.

Last night Dick watched the show and I think he enjoyed it thoroughly. He was most impressed with my portrayal of Dale and thought my head movements were quite good and better than my brothers! Ha Ha! After the show we had dinner with Adrienne and her mom. They were enjoying all the stories he had to tell. The bartender who took our order was from Braintree! Small world! I told her how I used to work at the plaza and we bonded! This Saturday there is a huge football match between Scotland and Italy that is happening around here so people are getting so hyped up for it. There are Scottish flags up in every window. The bar had three up in the window near where we were sitting. These kids tried to sneakily rip them down and bee-line for the door with them. One made it out but the second got stopped not by someone who worked there but by another customer who was enraged by this. He made the kid give it back. It was quite the scene! Today I accompanied Dick on some business. He had to meet with this man at the RSAMD, Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Dance to talk about his festival coming up in January. They were talking in Scots Gaelic so I had no idea what they were saying. Then Dick bumped into the drummer who accompanied him the time he did his performance on the dart board. He raved to both of them about what a great performance my show was so that was nice! After listening to Gaelic for quite some time we went to an Irish pub, Molly Mallones and got some food. We also attempted to check out the McLennan Gallery but it was pretty lame and we took a peak at this Piping Museum. After we knew it, it was time for me to head to the arena so we said our goodbyes. It was great having a visitor! Hopefully I will have some more to keep me sane!

Edinburgh Castle...The best yet!

Today I paid Edinburgh another visit with Adrienne, her mom, and Meredith. This time we did the castle and I’m really glad we decided to. It was my favorite of all the castles I have seen. I thought it was really cool how it was built right in to the natural rock. It is up on a hill so we didn’t have to climb any stairs really; it was just slight inclines. It dates back to some 3000 years ago which is crazy and way back when there was actually a volcano where it stands. We got to see the crown jewels of Scotland which weren’t quite as impressive as England’s but they were still jewels so I can’t complain! And we saw this exhibit on the Prisoners of War which had these 3 wooden doors that came off of ship for the 1800s that had all these carvings in them. You could make out names and dates and there were three carvings of ships that were pretty cool.














After that we checked out this tartan textile mill exhibition which was quite dumb and suck in comparison to the mill I visited in the summer in Ireland. BUT then I purchased some of the world’s greatest fudge as Jim Garrahy’s fudge kitchen claims to be. I got peanut butter which is going to have to fill my peanut butter void right now because last week my stock of Jif I brought with me ran out and I am quite distraught over it.

Next we saw the Parliament building which has caused quite a controversy. It is very modern looking so it looks slightly odd and out of place. People were mad about it also because it ended up being way over budget and took month longer than they had said. I wasn’t too thrilled with it myself.

After that we visited the Palace of Hollyrood where Queen Mary resided. We did an audio tour which I’m not usually a fan of even though they are informative, I just find them annoying and would rather read or be told by an actual person. Anyways, some of the stories were quite intriguing so I am glad I did it. One story was that, Mary’s second husband Donley was found strangled in his garden; they think it was her mistress who killed him and maybe she even had something to do with it! How scandalous! Then there is Queen Elizabeth, her cousin, who put her in jail for 19 years! Pretty Crazy!

Oban, Tartans, and Shortbread with Dick!

My uncle Dick got in yesterday! How exciting! We ate some pretty tasty pub food and then went on a search for this Park Bar but after walking a few blocks we gave up. We woke up early today and journeyed to Oban. The train ride was through the mountains and was really pretty. It was so green and felt kind of like we were in the Rocky Mountains. We ate traditional Scottish shortbread cookies to pass the time. Oban, used to be a huge Sea Port and is where you would go to get to all the Islands off the coast of Scotland. Part of the train was being worked on so we had to transfer to a bus and it took a little bit longer leaving us not too much time to look around. There was this Coliseum looking structure called Craig’s Tower that this man was building but never got to finish after he passed away.

Dick really had wanted to take me up further to Fort Williams where my great great great ancestors were from: the Chisholm’s and Mackintosh’s. But that would have been an even longer journey. They left in 1803 and settled in Nova Scotia. He bought me this map that shows where the clans had been in Scotland and all the different tartans. We also saw samples of the plaids and each family’s plaid also had a hunting version that was the same stripes but made of green and brown colors. It was kind of a camouflage version which amused me.