Run Down Lisbon.

OK so I loath fast food and avoid it at all costs. Last night on travel day I gave in a got something at McDonalds. During our drive I had a faint headache and just felt like crap. When we were pulling off the highway in Lisbon I suddenly felt terrible and as soon as we got to the hotel I ran into the lobby and found a bathroom and ended up throwing up all that I had ate. Moral of the story: stick to what you believe and keep avoiding McDonalds because your system does not like it!


I woke up in the am to go for a run. As I took in the area around our hotel, my first thoughts on Portugal were that it wicked run down and dirty. I don’t mean dirty with trash but just that if you look up you can see a layer of filth covering most of the buildings. You can tell the buildings are just really old and were beautiful many years ago but now are falling apart and not being maintained. I ran to Parque Eduardo VII which isn’t a good park for running but neat to see. It is basically a plaza with a garden of hedges in the middle with wide sidewalks on either side. It is built on a hill and at the top are these two matching monuments. The city is very hilly in general. When we drove in we saw this huge statue of Christ in the distance up on a hill and the castle downtown is also up high.

I dig ceramic tiles.

Adrienne and I went out today to do some more sightseeing. We first went to Plaza de Espana, a semi-circle shaped building designed by Aníbal González, the most celebrated of Seville’s 20th century architects. The brick building is covered with trimming and ornamental elements made of ceramic. I love this about Spanish architecture. It is so pretty and colorful. Around the whole circumference were benches with all different depictions, a lot to honor a city in Spain. There was also three bridges decorated with ceramic as well. The canal they were passing over had been drained so that took away slightly from the look, but the big fountain in the center was running.

Next we went to the Plaza de Toros. I liked the one in Ronda I saw better. This one only had one level of covered seating with arches and columns while Ronda’s had two which made it much better looking. We also weren’t allowed to go out on the field or see where the bulls come from, probably since it is now fighting season. I actually witnessed on the news last week a clip of fighting and was so freaked by it. If it was more just for show I would love it because the matadors walk with such a bigger than air attitude and swing their capes around like ribbon dancers but then they go and stab the bull which totally repulses me. When I saw the clip I was first laughing and amused by the matador and then squealed and had to cover my eyes. Then I think he may have gotten hurt and I didn’t feel bad since he hurt the bull. Being in Sevilla with the season just having started it would be cool to go just to get the experience but I really don’t know if I could handle it. Luckily our show schedule doesn’t allow me to even have the option so I don’t even have to toy with the idea!

We went in the Cathedral which was very pretty but at this point I am starting to tire of seeing Cathedrals because while each has their own specific details that make them unique they are in general quite similar. The cathedral was built on the former site of a Muslim Mosque. All that remains of the mosque is the Giralda, the famous bell tower. This was once the tallest tower in the world! It was built in 1184 and instead of having stairs a series of ramps was constructed which the Sultan used to go up the tower on horseback. From the top we could see the Bull Ring and other sites of the city.

Someday maybe I’ll be a good clapper.

Sevilla is another great Southern city to add to my list. I really love the southern part of Spain. The cities are all chock full of history and character. You get to stroll through winding cobblestone streets and admire the flowers and orange trees. The architecture is stunning and the lifestyle is so laid back. Here in Sevilla there are horse drawn carriage all over which helps the old feel to last. Check out this one horse that had it’s hair French braided!


This week our time here coincides with holidays so it is swarming with tourist. I keep hearing English all over the place. Today Mauricio, Adrienne, and I took to the narrow winding streets of the Barrio de Santa Cruz to get to the center. We toured the Alcazar, another Moorish palace that was built in 931 AD. It doesn’t quite compare to the Alhambra in Granada but it is still really awesome. I love admiring all the intricate carvings and the tiling. A few of the rooms seemed out of place and didn’t seem to quite belong. Later I learned that it was built with an intermingling of Muslim artistic elements and from the Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque periods.

Later we were hoping to catch some more flamenco dancing. When the cab driver dropped us off at Plaza Santa Cruz we were in front of a tacky tourist flamenco place that we looked at disappointed and confused over. Then we realized the small place, El Tambori, we had wanted to check out was a few spots down. We were the first people to arrive there. They weren’t doing an 11pm show that night so we hung out to catch the 12 one. Over the hour the place filled up but very comfortably. We sat on a couch seat along the perimeter of this small room. I ended up sitting right next to the guitar player. We were so close to them which was awesome. There ended up being no dancer but we still thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a duo and the singer just exuded passion. I don’t know what it is about the Spanish performers but they don’t mess around. He had a really great voice and would walk around the room with some matador-like moves.

A couple got up and dancing a little. The girl was in street clothes but definitely knew how to flamenco. I love how they move their hands. We were hoping that we would get to learn how to flamenco but that doesn’t seem likely. These two old guys sitting across from us took turns dancing with the girl as well. They were both awesome clappers. I know this sounds absurd but they clapped with a lot of passion. They were so loud and so well on beat and I can only dream of clapped so good! hahaa

Hello lovely Sevilla!

I am so happy to be in Sevilla. Life is back to normal. Adrienne is back with us as well as Skyler! My main goal here was to see some flamenco dancing. This is where is all got started so I was thinking it would be most genuine to see it here.

We went to this place called La Carboneria. It wasn’t even marked on the outside. We first walked in to this very small room where a band was playing Spanish music in the corner of the room. It was so packed in there. We then made out way through to the larger room in the back that was filled with tables. We found one near the back that was free, claimed it, and got some sangria to share. In the front was a small stage and shortly after we got settled a group got on stage. The singer reminded of the how Buena Vista Social Club sounds. He was accompanied by a guy on guitar, a guy on playing the flute, and a girl who started off just clapping but a few songs in got up and started dancing. Man, she danced with such passion; I loved it! She did this thing where she would rub her hands together and slowly pull them apart. I really enjoyed seeing it.

At the beginning the girl explained that everyone needed to be quiet seeing as they were not using microphones. We were sat near this obnoxious group that kept talking and when people would shush them they would just imitate them and shush back. It was really aggravating. Actually it turned out they were from Quincy and one of them grew up in Duxbury! Alex started talking to them and bonded with them.

Pegged Jeans! Jump on the band wagon cause they are coming back!

So yesterday my day was spent lying on the beach and eating some pizza at one of the many restaurants on the boardwalk. I naturally woke up before the other three and it was quite a struggled getting them moving. It was a really perfect beach day out. I was expecting the ocean to be warmer here; it was way too cold for me to venture in. I made sure to wear sun screen but ended up getting hardly no color from my laying out which was sad.  I have been spending quite a bit of time these days with Alex which means hearing lots of High School Musical. It is out of hand how obsessed he is with it.

Dani had to leave us early to get back to Madrid for school. After she boarded her ferry we headed to Veguetta, the old area filled with shopping and dining.
We were just looking around and I witnessed probably the craziest fashion trend on tour yet. It is exclusive to Gran Canaria because I haven’t seen this anywhere else! I kept noticing high school age boy sporting this look: First off their hair spiked to extreme heights almost as if their whole head of hair is mohawked. Then they kind of have the punk look going on, similar to the UK, but the best part is they have developed their own take on the pegged jean look that was all the rage in the 80’s / early 90’s. There were variations but most of them would take their jeans and twist them around their ankle and the secure it with a few elastic bands.

I was so intrigued by this craze and needed to document it. While Mauricio and Alex went into a cologne store, I stayed outside and was trying to stealthily get a picture of this absurdity. Well, I was apparently not very sly so they noticed me trying to take pictures of them. One kid started waving! So I ended up going over and talking to him. My friend didn’t actually have the hair or the jeans but he informed me that, “the Canary Islands have mucho style!” He kept commenting more about the hair so I was giving him a hard time for not having his done up. I got a picture of one kid but I wish I could have documented the whole group of them. There were literally over 20 kids congregating in front of this Foot Locker.

I could have sat there for hours just watching them interact….so that is exactly what we did. We sat down at a restaurant right nearby and people watched! This had to have been the highlight of my whole weekend! We enjoyed some sangria while the gang of mucho stylish kids amused us. We then decided it would be a great idea to peg our own jean and walked around for awhile with our panted folded up. Mauricio also taught me how to ask in Spanish if I could take a picture with someone and then had me test my skills out. I think I frightened the kid but I got my picture none the less. Our fun night continued with us back at the hotel singing along to Mika and we even attempted to make a short music video. We were having so much fun and decided to continue it out again since we were on a roll. The place we ended up Noa was slightly empty so I decided to runway walk on the empty dance floor. You could say our night was major.

The start to our weekend getaway

Dani, Mauricio, Alex, and I jumped aboard a cruise ship today. Well not exactly a cruise ship but it was the sickest ferry I’ve ever seen. It was massive in size and had a small pool on the deck we were sitting by at first. Inside there were plush seats and they were playing movies. We were heading to Gran Canaria, the island directly to the right of Tenerife. We stayed right in Las Palmas which where the ferry took us. I wish we could have gotten to see Playa de Ingles on the south side because I hear that is where it’s really at. It was fun to just get away no matter where we went though.

When we arrived in we could see our hotel right from the water. Las Palmas is a little peninsula so the port was on one side and about four blocks the other way was the beach. It was about four before we got settled so it was not warm enough to still go to the beach but we walked on the beach up and down just checking out the area. We got dinner at an Italian restaurant called Paparazzi which is fitting because Alex constantly is joking around saying things like, “When we get off the boat Im not doing autographs, this is our vacation!” or “We should sit outside because the paparazzi are gonna be all over us!” hahahaa

Later we went out in search of somewhere fun to go. I think we were expecting more of a night scene here in Las Palmas. There were things but scatter here and there and not quite as many as we thought there’d be. Quanity is always the key though. We ended up at this really cheap place that was playing hardcore scary rock downstairs and upstairs was playing awesome stuff. They played so many old hits. I tired request “Gimme More” for Mauricio. The DJ looked slightly perplexed and then proceeded to having me put on his headphones. He played “Oops….I did it Again” for me. I laughed and said no. It was a good try though.

Playing on top of a Volcano.

Today we went to see el Teide, the volcano in the center of Tenerife. We rented a car to drive our way into the National park. The island has such crazy terrain. From the beach you see clumps of villages and then beyond that just massive hills and mountains. As you look inland it seems there is always a fog of clouds just hovering over the volcano while you can make your way to the beach and find it sunny and perfect out. When we went up to the volcano we ended up above this thickness of clouds and it was really pretty up top.

I went with Mauricio, Dani, Alex, and Joelle. This group was not the hiking type so we didn’t go trekking around quite as much as I would have liked but it was still a very fun day. We rented a VW which naturally made my day! It was a Fox and super cute. It was only made to sit 2 in the back so one of us had to sit on this console in the back which was oh so comfortable. The road up to the top was super winding. We kept passing by coach buses around sharp curves and each time we would scream because it just didn’t seem possible for us to both fit on the road. For a good chunk of the drive we ended up behind a pickup truck that had a horse standing in the back bed. This seemed slightly cruel but I feel like the horse was really enjoying it with the wind blowing her hair and face.

It is crazy the difference you can see in the rocks. One section would be a yellowish color and right next to it would be black lava rocks. We climbed up these big rocks for a photo op and Joelle was pretending to be the Little Mermaid pushing herself up on the rocks. We took a gondola up to the top. Each time we passed over one of the poles holding it up the gondola would swing and the rowdy bunch riding with us would all say “WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.” I had been warned it would be cold at the top but still was not prepared for how frigid it was. I could have been wearing a ski jacket and gloves but instead just had a light zip up on.

There was snow up there which I started throwing at Alex. We walked around for awhile on the path up there and took in the amazing views. It was so amazing looking down and seeing the rocky terrain, the clouds we were above, and then the ocean in the distance.

Later that night we went out to dinner in Puerto de la Cruz, another town probably a half hour away from Santa Cruz. This town seemed a lot cuter than where we are staying. Their was a boardwalk with lots of restaurant off of it where we found a place to eat. The place we went to had a dance floor inside that was filled with old couples dancing. We said after we ate we would hit up the dance floor but when it came time Alex was embarrassed and didn’t want to. Don’t worry, I dragged him up and then this old lady really took a liking to him and stole him away from me. It was super cute!

Getting locked in a bathroom.

We have a water crate right near the ice which became totally empty after the first show today. I usually am not one to be that thirsty but of course the day we have no water, I found myself feeling dehydrated and crummy. So I got myself a water bottle and chugged it during intermission of the second show. This inevitably made me have to pee really bad. Our make up room is up on the third floor this week and I had already climbed all the way down to ice level when I realized I had to pee. I found a bathroom down a hallway a little bit away from all our backstage action and was in the stall as the second half was starting. All of a sudden I hear someone else enter. I think they were a cleaner and were checking if anyone else was in there. They did not check very diligently; Quicker than I could say or do anything they turned the lights off and shut the door!

Luckily there was a window over the door so it wasn’t pitch black. I make my way to the door only to find this mystery person had also locked the door. I started freaking out because I could hear the show going and thought I wasn’t going to make it out in time to skate. I start banging on the door and screaming. I had to do this for far too long before someone finally heard and rescued me. It was some random building person who I think thought I was a mad women! Hahaha I made it out in time to not miss any of my number. It would have been hilarious if I missed the whole second half because I was stuck in a bathroom! hahaha

Monkey Business.

Today I tagged along with Adrienne and Jeff to the Monkey Park on the island. From the outside it looked pretty sketchy; not quite as bad as the Acadia Zoo in Maine, but sketchy none the less. We bought bags of monkey food and entered this fenced in area filled with monkeys. I saw some crawl on people's shoulders and so wish one would have gone on mine. I fed them and they took the food right out of my hand! This little guy was my favorite. He moved so fast I kept getting blurry pictures but finally got one.

In this same pen was this sloth. He was so slow when I handed him food it took him forever to react and take it from me. He was awesome though!

This one was super fat! He looked like he had a huge beer gut; probably from sitting all day and being overfed by all the visitors. I helped the cause and gave him a crouton.

These next little ones freaked me out! As you can see the one on the right is tilting his head. He was staring me down and doing that as if he was intently getting a good look. I had to run away because he was scaring me! I have so many pictures I could go one forever! But here is one more.

There were some random filler pens filled to the brim with guinea pigs! It cracked me up and I probably threw in half my bag of food to feed this huge mass of pigs!

Some news updates.

So Russia is a definitely no now. I am glad; it would have been neat to see and it is a place that on my own I would probably never choose but it will be so nice to get home as originally planned. BUT in new news, I may be going to Egypt! This is a small extension for our tour that has now been confirmed for three weeks in July. It’s pretty awesome because we get a 6 week break at home and then get to go back out for just a short little time compared to the full blown tour I am finishing currently. After having a break it will be exciting to be reunited with everyone and seeing Egypt will be really awesome. I can’t wait to see the pyramids. I think the heat will be the death of me though. The shows are usually 6 pm and 10 pm because it is just to unbearable to have them any earlier!! EEK

Today Dawson was sent home. He was fired last night after getting a sexual harassment charge. It is pretty sad because he is super funny and was enjoyable to have around and work with. That is a pretty serious offense though and it’s good the company is taking measures on it.

My first Hooter's experience.

Today was my big day out with the dynamic trio. Mauricio, Alex, and I surprised Skyler with a trip to Playa de Americas, the popular resort spot in the southern part of the island. Before heading on our road trip we all went to the gym and pumped some iron. It has been awhile since I have lifted….but not quite as long as Mauricio…..It had been over a year since he had stepped foot in a gym! hahaha

Playa de Americas is where everyone who come to Tenerife on vacay goes so it is basically filled with hotels, restaurants, and high end stores. Alex kept expressing how he loved it so much here but I wasn’t overly impressed. I kinda felt like I was in the states there; I think I just need more going on to amuse and entice me.

It wasn’t quite beach weather but it was nice for walking the boardwalk and sitting outside. There were also lots of surfers out that we were amused with watching. The only Hooters in all of Europe just happens to be at Playa de Americas. Alex claims it is his all-time favorite restaurant so he insisted on us going and whined his little heart out until we gave in. I thought we should have gone somewhere with some regional flare but there was no changing his mind. We got to sit outside right along the boardwalk looking out onto the beach. The food was very American so gazing at a menu was super refreshing. This was my first Hooters experience ever. The girls outfits are ridiculous; I wasn’t bothered by them being slightly hoochy or anything like that. What got me was how extremely outdated they are! They wear little orange shorts made from shiny 80’s track suit material and they hike them up to their true waist. They also wear nylon which is totally absurd! In this day and age I’m surprised they don’t just make them all wax and fake and bake to get tans. Some of them had on ones that you could see the control top line peaking out of their shorts which was just god awful. They also had on tacky 80’s high tops paired with awesome tube socks. They had hula hoops lying around and Skyler asked if they use them. They then proceeded to show him and made him get up too! We were cracking up at him because he couldn’t even get it to go around one time!

Next we walked along the boardwalk which brought us to a boulevard covered with boutiques that carried all the big dog designer labels like Gucci, D&G, and Versace. Mauricio and Alex were very enthralled so we spent quite some time perusing these stores. Skyler picked out these Versace white and silver shoes he thought were to die for. Him along with the other two demanded that I try them on. So to appease them I did. They were beyond tacky white patent leather with a big silver buckle and a 5+ inch silver heal! I have to admit they looked better on but they were still beyond silly. They were all gushing over them saying they were amazing and that I should get them…..for a mere 500 Euros I could have nabbed them! Hahaha

Turtles scare Alex.

Yesterday I stepped off the plane in Tenerife, Spain and was freaked because of how brutally hot it was. I think it didn’t help that I was lugging my two huge suitcases which can make you hot all in itself because it isn’t really unbearably hot hear at all. I was freaked mostly because I am not prepared for hot weather at all. 90% of our tour was going to be in cold locations so when packing back in September short were in my maybe pile and didn’t make the cut. I regret this decision now and have been searching long and hard to find some new ones but have had no such luck.

I am worried about my time here. We have some jam-packed show days Friday-Tuesday and then have a full week off! I know it is extremely silly but I feel like I am going to be bored. Adrienne will be with Jeff and Brittany is not with me either. I do have the trio, Mauricio, Skyler, and Alex around, but they aren’t exactly the hiking type and I would enjoy doing some outdoors activities while here. I have never been to an island before but where we are staying hardly feels like a resort getaway place. We are in Santa Cruz which is the big city on Tenerife. The southern part of the island is where everyone goes to vacation.

Our hotel is pretty nice. Another good one; thank you Feld Entertainment for not putting us in a Novotel! We have French doors that open up to a balcony and downstairs there are patios and a courtyard filled with plants and such a nice tropical feel. We also have free internet down in the lobby which is such a treat! My favorite part about the hotel is the fountain outside that is filled with turtles!! There literally 30; I counted!! I was super excited but Alex on the other hand was squealing. I learned this week he is deathly afraid of all animals which is hilariously amusing. You name it pigeon, docile turtles they all get him! hahaha

Malaga

This week dad has kept me so busy. Today we went downtown to check out Malaga since I had yet to see it. Malaga is an old port city so it is a little more drab and not nearly as attractive as the other places we went to visit. Lots of construction is going on so they seem to be making efforts to spruce it up. There was this one building that they were working on restoring that they had up on stilts basically. We were informed it was the first shopping plaza in the city.

I felt it was the equivalent to Marseille in France. Malaga is where Picasso grew up so we walked by his home and museum and ate some lunch two doors down outside. It was such a warm day out compared to how cold it had been up near the mountain. We went to the Alcazar, another Moorish castle in Malaga. This one wasn’t quite as extensive as the Alhambra but was still pretty awesome. The Muslims definitely knew how to build a sweet castle and were very technologically savvy. Like at the Alhambra they built this water system which was able to getting running water throughout the castle which was up high on a hill. Throughout the rooms and halls there were little irrigation drains that let water flow from place to place. It even went down along the railing of staircases!

Our hotel was not near downtown but I was able to get over to the beach to run which was really nice. Our shows didn’t open until Saturday this week which is just plain crazy. I had a two day work week! Our shows were wicked packed so I guess canceling those couple of shows helped us to have really good showing to the ones we had. In general, our Spanish crowds have been amazing. They get so into it and are cheering and clapping the whole time. It makes skating the same thing over and over again much better.

Olé!

So I am in Olive country. Literally along our drive from Cordoba to Ronda the whole ride we were surrounded by fields of olives. Now, I really don’t like olives but I love olive oil and I would have like to have toured an olive oil factory!

Ronda is a town on top of a huge gorge. It is crazy how deep the ravine is! There are two main bridges that pass over the gorge. The old and the new; the new being from 1793, so not that new! I really like Ronda because it had a less tourist feel. There weren’t quite as many tourist shops as in Cordoba. There were many shops here that presented plates they were selling on the wall like this which I thought was neat.


Ronda is where modern bull fighting was invented. I got to see my first bull ring in Spain here and it is one of the most authentic too! It was really cool seeing the Plaza de Toros as it was called. I don’t think I could stomach watching a bull fight though! There were a few moment where I found a clear ring with no other visitors in it so I was able to get some good pictures! Their was a museum inside and after seeing pictures of matador I think I know a new field of design I would like to pursue! Hahaha

In Cordoba, digging the red and white stripes.

We stayed at Hotel Guadalupe in Granada which is right nearby the entrance to the Alhambra……This morning my run started with a mile downhill stint which after looping downtown was followed by the longest climb back up. It actually wasn’t too bad but I did have to walk for one minute in the middle because I couldn’t find the strength to be motivated quite enough to push through it.

It has been super chilly out too which I was not expecting. At the end of last week it had becoming pretty warm out so I was not planning on this cold front coming in. I am unprepared so my hands have been cold!

Anyways, we packed up and drove on to Cordoba. Once there we had navigating on the narrowest cobblestone roads to find our hotel, Hotel Maimónides which was conveniently right on the perimeter of the Mezquita, the famous mosque that brings so many people to Cordoba. The outer walls seem plain in comparison to the awesomeness that is inside. As you stand in the massive room it feels so open aside from the 850 columns that support the amazing ceiling covered in red and white striped arches. There was hardly anybody else in there besides us which was awesome!

Other sites we took in were the Roman Bridge and the Roman Wheel that used to pump all the water into the city from what is now a dried up river. We also visited the Alcazar which provided us with some good views of the city. We got lost in the vast network of small side roads while trying to find a certain restaurant recommended in a guidebook and when we finally did find the location it was no longer there. In Cordoba they are really into inner courtyards and also hanging flower pots on the outer walls and window baskets.

Granada, the best little city in Spain.

Yesterday I landed in Malaga and was greeted by my dad at the airport. Shortly after we got into his rental car and started our journey. We drove to Granada and upon arrival took a bus around to see the area. I now see how Leslie fell in love with Spain. Granada is an awesome little city. It makes you feel so at home because of its size and feel genuine and historic. Today we went to the Alhambra, the Moorish palace-fortress up on the hill that looks down over Granada. It’s no wonder it is Spain’s top attraction because it is quite a breath-taking piece of architecture. We started in the Palacio NazarÍes in which we walked through beautiful columns and arches into rooms and courtyards that are just covered in the most detailed stucco work and ceramic tiling. I love intricacy and design so this was my favorite part. On our visit we also saw the original fortress, Alcazaba and the gardens, Generalife.

After our visit, we started walking down the hill and I had my first run in with a gypsy. She tried offering me a little stick of sage or rosemary. When I refused she grabbed my hand and forced me to take it. She then proceeded to give me my fortune but I had no idea what she was saying. She pointed to my lifeline on my hand and touched my forehead. God only knows what she was saying. From what I’ve heard of gypsies I made sure to be clenching my purse with my free hand, but she wasn’t planning on snatching my things. Instead after she graciously read my palm she demanded I pay her. Somehow dad and I got away without giving her anything!

After that episode, we went downtown and got some gelato that may or may not have had the best presentation I’ve ever seen and went to see Capilla Real, the royal chapel where two great tombs were placed in the middle in honor of Isabella and Ferdinand. Underneath you can see five lead coffins which is pretty creepy. We wandered the streets for a little while longer and I just loved seeing stores that sold flamenco dresses. I was very tempted to stop in and purchases one of those vibrant numbers.

When the sun started going down, we took the bus up to this great look-out stop, Plaza Mirador de San Nicolás where you can get an amazing view of the Alhambra with the Sierra Nevada in the background.

Up & Down.

Brittany is leaving tomorrow and I am so upset about it. It is for the best and hopefully doctors at home can help her out and she will be able to come back and finish up the tour. After being out for three weeks here sitting miserably in her hotel room and seeing multiple doctors she finally got one the admitting it was not a pinched nerve in her back but rather the start of a herniated disk. I just don’t know what I am going to do without her. She is one of my good friends that I hang out with lots and talk……

On a more fun note, last night I was somehow able to rally and go out even though I was quite tired. I am wicked glad I did though because it ended up being an awesome night. It was just Adrienne, Mauricio, Dani (Mau’s niece) and I that went and we met Anibal and Sebastian, two of our dressers from work who Mauricio had befriended. Anibal had connections at this club called Up & Down and got us a deal. Up was technically for over 25 and Down for 18-25 but later we went upstairs so I don’t know how much they stick to that. We started Down though and as we entered Mauricio was the only one asked for ID…They thought we was under 18 which is hilarious considering he is the oldest! I got such a good laugh out of this!

Sebastian and Anibal were really fun, nice guys and we ended up hanging out with them all night. The place was decorated pretty cool and played good music. It reminded me a lot of a place in Paris called Duplex. We were having so much fun that I ended up staying out the latest I ever have!! 5:30! I can’t really tell you how I even functioned for that long.

Two hours later I woke up to catch some of the marathon. My eyes were KILLING me! The rest of me felt ok. I wasn’t even sure at what time it started because I had gotten different answers from people I’d asked. So I went out at 8 and it started at 8:30 which was perfect. Just seeing all the fun fare of a race excited me.

Cat Poop!

There was cat poop on the ice! Made me laugh so hard!!!! I guess a stray cat wandered in last night and did its business right in the center of the ice back near the curtain. Nobody noticed until probably 15 minutes in when Tilley not know what it was went to pick it up!!!! AND when they pushed out the ruins for the monkey number it smeared. So disgusting but it made me laugh so hard….yay for cat poop!