In fact, I liked it so much, I added our 2008 travels through England, France and Italy to it and created this pretty little embedded widget thingamajig you see below. Enjoy.

Here we go again!

French Cafe

We’ve been back from France for about a year and a half but I can’t stop thinking about the food, the people, and the language. Some days, when I’m walking around downtown, I hear people speaking French and I try intently to listen in – although I quickly realize I’ve forgotten the language and don’t know what they’re saying. That doesn’t stop me though. I listen anyway.

Then, just the other day, Tilly and I were walking back from Little Italy and saw what looked like a somewhat new French Cafe. The sign is what brought us in though… “Free French Lessons on Saturday and Sunday.” I quickly talked with the owner, who was obviously French, with his outrageous accent and mannerisms. I was secretly hoping he’d be philosophical and dismissive of me, just so I could feel at home again. But even without the smug attitude, it did. It felt like I belonged there again, with their fresh croissants and beautiful language.

I looked forward to trying their baguette and espresso soon.

Today, I went to the lesson, and it was packed. Every seat was full of Americans butchering the French language (Saturdays are for beginners). The teacher was young, but too shy for a somewhat noisy café, so it was difficult to hear him, even though I stood about 3 feet from him. Learning a language without hearing the intricacies is difficult at best.

By the time I got my order in, there were no seats left. So, because of the soft-spoken tutor and the lack of seating, I relegated to have my croissant and iced tea outside in the sun. It was somewhat disheartening not to be inside listening, and besides feeling like I was the bad kid in school who got sent outside the room, I started to think about France again – how I loved it, how I miss it, how we were challenged by our travels there, our friends, and more.

Perhaps I’ll try the advanced class tomorrow instead. Perhaps I’ll be a bit early, just in case. Perhaps I’ll have a wonderfully scented, perfectly tasting, warm baguette and an espresso while I fumble through some “bonjour”s and “Je ne peux pas croire que c’est pas le beurre!”

Here’s an excerpt of my journal from that day …

We hopped one bus up the hill from the port into the central part of [Sorrento], and then another to take us to Amalfi. If you get car sick, take your meds before this trip. The bus drivers seem insane, but its the only way to travel this coastline, and they are so
calm, jetting around blind corners on one lane roads, honking to give warning to oncoming traffic, with a few thousand foot drop inches away from the tires. It’s a true testament to conditioning, training, and Italian culture all in one hour…

Amalfi was booked up solid so we headed to a place about 1.5km away. It had a great terrace and nice rooms. After naps and showers, we took a bus back to Amalfi and walked around, sampling paninis and taking photos of the huge church which dominates the town square. We took a stroll along the sandy beach and the Sea water was so incredibly warm! I had to restrain Tilly from jumping in fully clothed.

Now, if you were traveling in the United States, I certainly don’t recommend taking a bus. But if you’re going around the Amalfi Coast or other parts of Europe, it’s actually not so bad as long as you’ve got some good scenery and a decent set of traveling companions.

In fact, I just heard about this new travel company called “Busabout” where you can… ahem.. bus about Europe. If we were going to take a bus as one of our primary means of transportation through anywhere in Europe, I’d most likely look these guys up again and give them a shot.

They have all kinds of nice comforts that you don’t normally get on a typical generic bus ride. And, they even take care of your accommodations if you want them to. Plus, just like those big red double decker buses in London, they allow you to do the hop-on, hop-off thing, which is great because then you can stay as long as you like when you find a cool place to hang out and sight see.

Enjoy your traveling lifestyle!

Disclaimer, we do make money through this travel blog every now and then. One of the ways we do that is by introducing people to new products and services which we think are cool. The company mentioned in this blog – Busabout – is one of those companies, and if one of you readers does book a trip through our links, we’ll get a little commission for it. Don’t worry, you won’t be charged extra, and we don’t promote things we don’t think are worthy of your attention. That’s all.

On another note, I hope you have fun traveling Europe. And if you’d like to be a guest writer here on this blog, feel free to contact us and/or send us a photo of where you are right now. We’d love to live vicariously through those of you who are currently traveling through Europe… even if it’s by bus. :)

Tandem Skydiving in San Diego

Falling at 135 miles per hour is what some people call a good time.  I apparently am one of those people.  This is a step-by-step introduction as to what sky diving in San Diego, CA, USA was like for me.

For my 32nd birthday Tilly hooked me up with a tandem skydiving jump from 13,000 feet.  In San Diego, that means you get to see across the Mexico border without your life being threatened.  That sounded good to me, so we went for it.

After a few cancellations because of rain and wind, we finally got to jump a few days after my birthday.  My good friend, Rob, went with us and jumped for the first time as well.

Step 1: Sign your life away.

It’s amazing the waivers you have to sign to be able to do this.  After signing all the legaleese which basically says if you die it’s your fault for being an idiot and jumping out of a plane 2 miles above the earth, you get to wait.  They usually do this to make you so that you’ll crap your pants before you get hooked to another person.

Step 2: Watch as others potentially fall to their death.

This step is where the men become boys as we watch the falling bodies from heaven.  You stand there, watching people get thrown from a moving plane and hope that they remembered their parachutes.  It seems like every person who you watch falling (no, not floating) has forgotten to pull the cord and will fall to their imminent death 2 miles below… no wait, only 1 mile now… yup, they’re gonna die.

And just at the last minute (or so it seems), the parachute comes out. Phew.  Well, if they lived, I suppose I could do it.

Step 3: Get into a jumpsuit.

Why? Because in December it actually is kinda cold, even in San Diego.  I actually wore gloves.  And let me tell you, brrrrrr… my hands could have been stuck in the snow for an hour bare for all I knew by the time we were done.  Oh, and these jump suits are pretty, too.  Hott I tell ya.

Step 4: Do what the instructor tells you.

This is the part where you go through extensive training before you jump.  It goes something like this:

Instructor: Ok you pee-ons, get on the ground and give me 20 push ups.

** Everybody hits the deck **

Instructor: Jeeze you guys are gullible. Ok, but seriously, get on the ground and pull your legs back and your head back so just your stomach is touching the ground.

** We all try, but those of us over 30 snap hips and rotator cuffs **

Students: *Grunts*

Instructor: Next up for you Nancies is some Yoga lessons.

As we all pretend we can pull our legs back farther than they really go and fake that it’s not killing us, the instructor tells us we’re done.  Now that we’ve had our yearly workout of all of 17 and half seconds, we’re just about ready to go.

I think they do this part just to humiliate everyone.  It looks like you’re having sex with the ground, but hey, you’re gonna die, remember?  So whatever.

Step 5: Wait around nervously for the plane to land.

Step 6: Get in the airplane.

Now, if you’re anything like Rob, you’ll forget your goggles at this point.  I don’t really suggest doing that, but Rob rides motorcycles and pretends he’s not a girly man like the rest of us.  His instructor brought him a pair, but I think Rob just threw them off his head as soon as he jumped to prove that he is a man.

So, we get in the airplane and hang out. This is where you make as many cliche and nervous jokes that you can about being killed today.

The pilot does some awesome trick where he goes completely vertical but you stick to the seat like velcro hanging on for dear life.  I mean, if you’re gonna go, you’d rather be pushed out, right?  Not just fall out.  Hey pilot. This has nothing to do with you, ok?

Step 7: Pee your pants. (You should have already crapped in Step 2.)

Step 8: Get comfy with  your skydiving instructor.

Remember where he tore your pride down?  Yea, well, it’s about to get worse.  You sit on your instructor’s lap, hoping he’s just not that in to you.  He clips about 127 metal clips from your back to his chest.  At least it sounds like that.  I am assuming it’s only one because if he doesn’t like your breath or something… just eat a tic tac before you get to this step.

Step 9: Watch the camera person fling themselves James Bond-like out the door and hang onto the plane.

During this step, just focus on that camera and how amazing it is that that person is hanging onto a plane at 13k feet in the air because the moment you don’t, you’re going to lose more bodily fluids.  I looked down for about 1/2 second and just about threw up.  Don’t look down.  Camera guy or horizon.  Camera guy or horizon.  Just keep telling yourself that.

Scream!

Step 10: Get lobbed out the door.

They tell you in your 30 seconds of training that you’re going to rock back and forth two times and then go on the 3rd.  That seems simple and pretty intuitive. Everything you do is on the 3rd one.  You will somehow forget how to count to 3 and get chucked out the door flipping around, seeing the underside of the plane you just left.

Step 11: Freak out.

Step 12: Try to remember your sex with the ground training.

If you don’t do this step, your instructor will knock you out cold.  Don’t flail your arms about. Do the sex with the ground thing and hold tight.

Step 13: Breathe.

This one is tricky.  I’m not sure how many of you have ever gone 135 mph, but that alone is freaky.  If you want to try something fun, try sticking your head out the window like a dog and breathe in.  Just don’t do this on a gravel road or while you are the one driving, but, that’s what it feels like.

Step 14: Relax and enjoy the flight.

This is the funnest part.  Everything up to this is humiliating and nerve racking.  But this 90 seconds is worth it all.  Look around, twist and turn, have fun.

Step 15: Get your junk yanked up to your stomach when the dude on your back pulls the ripcord.

‘Nuf said.

Step 16: Have a conversation with the guy who is now your best friend because you’re alive, he’s alive, and you just went through a near-death experience.

Step 17: Land on your feet.

This one is hard because you’re probably shaking and didn’t know it.  But, if I can do it, so can you. Stand up and be counted among the living again. Don’t land on your butt.

Step 18: Go to lunch and when the waitress declares that she’ll be serving you today, exclaim “I don’t care! I just jumped out of a frickin’ plane!”

Step 19: Sleep next week when the adrenaline wears off.

To do this all properly, I highly suggest the very experienced and awesome people at this Skydiving School in San Diego.

Skydiving in San Diego from nate ritter on Vimeo.

Beer Spigots at The Kebab Shop, originally uploaded by theritters.

]]> http://travel.perfectspace.com/travel/beer-spigots-at-the-kebab-shop/feed/ 2 http://travel.perfectspace.com/travel/catching-up-with-friends-in-kauai/ http://travel.perfectspace.com/travel/catching-up-with-friends-in-kauai/#comments Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:30:57 +0000 Nate Ritter http://travel.perfectspace.com/?p=90

Nate & I on our Honeymoon in Kauai

Next week Nate and I are heading to Hawaii.  We rented a house with some of Nate’s college roommates and their wives/fiances on the island of Kauai.  It’s going to be eight days of sunshine, beaches, hiking, boating, luaus and pure bliss.  Now some of you might be wondering why Hawaii would be so great when I live in San Diego with the beach at my doorstep and 75-80 degree weather in November.  My answer would have to be… it’s the people we’ll be going with (okay! and a smidge of the tropical heaven away from home).

Chris, Aaron, Johnny, Steve, Nate

When Nate and I started dating waaaay back in 2001, he was in college and he was living with this great group of guys: Aaron, Chris, Johnny and Steve (and Levi the downstairs neighbor).  There was always something going on at their apartment and it was the place to be.  People were always coming and going and there was always something to do or someone to talk with.  I spent many, many hours there and became great friends with all the roommates.  They’ve all been a part of mine and Nate’s relationship… they’ve seen the best and worst of us.  I count them as dear friends.  Over the past seven years they have all gotten married (minus one but he’s engaged) and even though I’ve spent time with all the girls, I don’t feel like I actually know them all that well.  Hopefully by the end of this trip we’ll have created memories and a bond that will last a lifetime.  Lifetime friends are the best kind

And maybe us girls will have to plan an annual trip like the boys’ annual snowboarding trip.  Hmmm… a girls’ spa weekend has a great ring to it.

Houston Skyline (by telwink via Flickr)

This week we took a flight to Houston, Texas, a city neither Tilly nor I had been to yet. The purpose was two-fold.

First, our friends Lach and Kari invited us to come early to have an opportunity to teach the Public Information Officers in the Houston/Galveston area about social media (all those sites like FaceBook, Flickr, BrightKite, and Twitter. Of course, I also promoted CrisisWire, our current project of choice.

Lach and Kari were kind enough to drive us around and let us stay at their place. They are fantastic and awesome people to hang out with. I can’t say enough good things about them.

We were also in town for HeroCamp, which was a fantastic event. It was very challenging and I think we learned a ton during this whole process. We did actually get a great product idea rolling and the next steps mapped out. We’ll be using Akoha (with their permission of course) to create a hero deck, hopefully inspiring the kids to do heroic things and thinking about making them a habit.

During our time here, we’ve had some amazing food. Tapas, tacos, and more. Great stuff. I recommend Houston highly, especially with a cell phone that can check Yelp out while you’re here.

Here’s a brief summary of what my business is all about:

I offer an alternative to submitting press releases.  Instead of writing about the 5 W’s of a company and hoping that a newspaper or journalist will pick up the story, I am giving companies a more effective way to reach their target demographic.  By writing a tailored story about the company I can bring to light facts that would normally have been forgotten and make a lasting impression on the readers.  In addition to writing this story, I will research which publications and websites would be best to get published in and will reach their target demographic.

Please check out my website at tillyritter.com and watch my company unfold.

—–

I would love any advice, ideas or support you may have for me.  Also, if you’re interested in me writing a story for your company, please email me at tilly@tillyritter.com

Image via Wikipedia

So, after that long and almost depressing last post about having to move back to San Diego from France, we have finally started settling into a new location.  We’re in downtown San Diego!

The past month and a half we were living with Nate’s business partner and his wife in Pacific Beach.  It was a nice place to rest our heads and a good time of gearing up for the next move.  It was also a good time to get the new business rolling.

A few days ago, we decided to rent a place in the Gaslamp District. It’s a nice 1 bedroom place in the heart of the city. We have not bothered getting a car, but we did buy a 2-person scooter (thanks for the inspiration, France).  It was a great purchase for us because we got it for a steal and don’t have a parking space in our new place anyway.  So, we park on the sidewalk, definitely out of the way so we don’t get a ticket or block old ladies from walking the streets.

Image via Wikipedia

Although our place is empty right now, we’re happy and healthy.  Tilly has even decided to go into business for herself with a brilliant new service.  We’ll tell you more about that in future posts.

But, one thing’s for sure… even though we’re back in the states, we’re not done traveling.  Think of this next few months as a travel blog for San Diego – a place you could come and visit.