I had a plan. To be modest honest, it was a great plan. As with my travel plans they always end up becoming spontaneous. I either start checking things out online and end up planning and planning and well, planning or I just book something. If I don't book something within a week, I'll never end up going. Most of the times these trips are spur of the moment things where I leave fairly quickly after booking.
The only time I didn't do that, was when I went on PeteUSA2009 and while it was an amazing experience going to America it wasn't a complete win for me. Dullface went with me and we have very different ideas about well, everything. The tour was planned down to the hour and I am not really that type of person. While I do appreciate being on time (always being 10 minutes late myself) I don't like having everything planned down to the last details. On PeteUSA2009 we had a schedule before leaving, and I'm telling you that if there had been a tropical storm, we'd still be on The Santa Monica Pier on that day if it was on the schedule. There was no changing things around because Dullface was ademant that if we switched two things around he'd be cheated somehow.
I'm not doing the whole schedule thing on my next trip. It'll be very spontaneous, and if I miss something then so be it. The most important thing is that I'm experiencing my holiday destination.
Plans change all the time and you just have to deal with it. What it really meant was that I had plans to go to London and Norwich for my birthday in late September. I was pretty excited about it and then I changed the plans a bit. I'd go to Manchester and Norwich in April. Of course I started looking for plane tickets and hotels. The hotel thing was pretty easy for Manchester but as I know nothing about Norwich that was a little more difficult. The 4 star hotels seemed to be outside town. Then I discovered that the airfare for Manchester was outrageous.
For the hell of it, I checked out airfares for Las Vegas and New York as well. This is where I discovered that for £100 extra (I ended up paying more because apparently when you snooze, you lose) I'd be flying to New York in May. I realise that I'll be disappointing a fair few of lovely people that I love dearly. However I had to go with New York. Mostly because the airfare was dirt cheap and the timing was just right.
In Denmark our vacation year runs from May to May which is pretty ridiculousinsane odd but that meant that at the earliest I'd be able to go in May. I would actually leave tomorrow if I could because things are not all that brilliant of late, but I have to wait. The timing works so that I get to see Miss K live in New York at the Hammerstein which is a treat I'm sure.
So, I've got the Kylie and plane tickets booked but I still need to find a suitable 4 star hotel which is dirt cheap and smack dab in the middle of Manhattan.
Also, I need suggestions of what to see, and do while there. It would be lovely if we could go for cocktails too. Do come meet me. I'll be in town from May 2 to May 8.
Yikes! Everyone knows? It's all they talk about? It appears that at least the Italian swim team knows. Oh, what the hell I might as well tell the whole story.
I made it out of my original plans for New Years Eve. I'm so happy! I'm elated! Wow, that was a lot of exclamation points. Still, that's how I feel. So, it took a big fat lie. Who cares, right? No big deal, right?
I had a very good reason to do it, mind. The original, original plan was that I was going to spend New Years Eve alone. Just hanging out with myself, maybe an undisclosed special gentleman friend would pop by for a glass of bubbly and a few treats. He couldn't make it. So, I was talking to a colleague who didn't think she had anywhere to go on Thursday. I felt sorry for her and said that we could always plan something. We agreed that it was a plan but she might have a slim chance to catch up with a dear old friend. It was fine, a win-win situation for me. Either she'd be coming and we'd have a blast, or she wouldn't and I'd still have a blast alone.
This is when things went to shite.
You remember Dullface, yeah? The guy who came along on my US tour. The one who didn't like gorgonzola pasta sauce. The dull guy. Well, he asked me if I was doing anything for New Years Eve. I said that my friend (Dullface knows her too) IM would be coming, but if she was OK with him coming, he could come. I figured that if she was there, it wouldn't be a big deal and he didn't sound like he had anywhere to be. Plus he doesn't like being by himself. Odd, very odd kreacher he is. Well, she was OK with it and I told him he could come. This was alright I suppose.
This is when things became even worse.
IM told me a couple of days later, that she wouldn't be able to make it. Her friend had cleared her schedule and would be visiting IM. Now I was stuck with Dullface. The last night of 2009 stuck with Dullface. No, I was not having it.
[The Hulk as seen at Universal Studios in Los Angeles photographed by moi]
No, no! I left subtle hints but Dullface was chatting on about shopping for groceries etc. So finally, after asking a few other friends and even my parents, how to get out of it. They all agreed, there was but ONE choice.
Lie through your teeth!
So, yesterday I told him that my parents had pressured me into spending New Years Eve with them and my brother because we hadn't spent Christmas together. Of course I don't know if he bought it, and quite frankly I don't give a damn.
I'm now spending New Years Eve at home. Alone, and still hoping that a mysterious gentleman caller may call upon me for a glass of bubbly. He would be most welcome, that's for sure.
It wasn't a nice thing to do, and now Dullface has nowhere to go but it's not like he was worse off than before. Plus he might actually have an OK evening, compared to the miserable night we'd both have in each others company.
On a lighter note, I found these and thought I'd share. You know, as I'm such a huge fan of Dolce & Gabbana.
It was Halloween, wasn't it? This is not an old tradition here, but rather a new International or let's just say it... American tradition we've adopted because why be different? Next we'll have Thanksgiving and 4th of July. Oh well, it's here and it's not that bad. Dressing up is always a hoot and a half isn't it? Any excuse to have a party and get sloshed on gin martinis and fruity umbrella drinks. I just wish people around here (especially my increasing circle of hot friends - WOW!) dressed up like this
or this
Super hero fetish, moi? Nooooooo...
Anyway a colleague of mine pronounces Halloween, Hallowii and we had quite a lot of fun out of that at lunch one day. She was fairly confused though. I'm sure she thinks it's like a festival or something. Who knows when it comes to old people.
I realise I haven't posted anything for a month. A MONTH!?! That's a long time. Things have just been completely out there workwise, and I've caught myself a little piece of a real life outside work. A little became a lot and here we are, a month away from blogging. Sorry, in case you missed me and in case you didn't notice, well I feel so much better then. I think.
Last time I blogged, I was on about PeteUSA2009 which was my American tour. I had just arrived in Vegas (BABY!) and some moron at O'Hare in Chicago had misplaced both my suitcases. A long story short, the next day Dullface and I went to an outlet mall a little outside Vegas (BABY!) and I shopped to my hearts content at Calvin Klein and such. By the time we got back, both my suitcases were in my room. Pheeew!
I could go on and on and on about Vegas (BABY!) and I probably will my next post, but for now I'll just say this. Vegas (BABY!) is frickin' awesome! It was one of the major highlights on my tour.
I'm sad to say that my birthday is over now. I had the day off and just watched old movies, slept in, ate fabulous food and had some lovely drinks. Although I much prefer puddings, for a birthday there's always cake. So it was lovely while it lasted.
So as a thank you, to all my devoted fans, friends and the rest of my dear readership I give you a lovely cake.
Now, let's get to the real order of business. The PeteUSA2009 tour. I left you after we had lunch at Prego while waiting to board our flight to Chicago (where we jumped onto our flight to Las Vegas). So we boarded the plane and were seated - in monkey class. Now I don't do economy class. However there was no way Dullface would pay for any upgrades and I felt pressured into trying to get an upgrade because afterall we were together. So there I was in monkey class for 7 hrs and 45 minutes.
I read a little and managed to miss the beginning of 3 different movies before finally catching an episode of Bones from start to finish, where David Boreanaz (YUM!) boxed in an underground boxing thing to find the murderer of some guy. Well they kept showing it over and over, and over again. So in total I watched it maybe 4 times. It was still good by the time they shut off the entertainment system for landing at O'Hare.
Also I had never been that close to Donnn before. Excitement overload!
We had an hour and a half to get through immigration, customs, find our gate and get onboard our flight to Las Vegas. Stress overload. We had to pick up our suitcases and hand them over to some woman with credentials up her hooha - I wonder what they really were.
Anyway I'd done the math, our flight from Chicago to Las Vegas would take 3 hours. Two and a half hours into the flight I was preparing for landing. It turns out I was the only one. An hour into the flight I felt like I sat on pins and I was beginning to get a little worried.
Did the flight attendant in the cheap blue lycra outfit and Dr Scholl sandals say we would be using the seat cushion as a floating device in case of a water landing?
The flight felt like it took forever. Of course waiting for my bags to arrive on the stupid luggage carousel thingy. I waited, and waited and by the time there was only a stupid leopard print makeup case left on it, I gave up. Dullface had already gotten his two suitcases off the dastard thing. So I went into the US Airways customer service office. It was still early for being in Vegas but the airport was quiet.
Inside the office there was a nice girl, nay woman. She was very disinterested but asked me where I'd last seen my two fabulous (ok, she didn't say fabulous, but they are dammit!) suitcases and told me that they probably (yes, that was her word) didn't make the plane in Chicago and would be delivered to my hotel the following day. She asked where I was staying, and I reluctantly said I stayed at Luxor. She smiled, and I sent her my best, "I know" smile.
She also needed to know what was in my suitcases. Of course I could hardly remember any of the things, and first said "um, clothes?". Could you be more specific? she said. So slowly I began listing the significant stuff, including my laptop. How could I forget that?
I went to America last month. What? You hadn't heard?
The shame!
It just seemed to be time for Pete to tour the US. My tour was called PeteUSA2009 and was destined to hit the following cities
Las Vegas San Diego Los Angeles San Francisco Chicago
It was about squeezing in as much as possible in the least amount of time. Mostly because I'm not very famous in the US and my busy schedule in Europe and Scandinavia.
Early on I decided to keep a journal to document what I did, ate, experienced etc. because you never know how much you remember when you get home. I brought along a little book and wrote about every day on my 23 day tour. This little book is turned into a photobook, and is available in good bookshops world wide. Some of the stories and photos will be published on this blog.
As regulars know, I let someone tag along. My friend Dullface. It wasn't a huge success but he did allow for some amusing anecdotes, like the following.
We'd arrived at noon at the Copenhagen Airport and decided to get some lunch before our 8 hr flight. Dullface wanted a pepperoni pizza (this will be brought up at later date) and I was up for anything - except pizza. We settled on a café style place called Prego. They sold pasta, pizza, sandwiches and salads. I was first in line and Dullface asked me what I was ordering. I told him I'd get the plain pasta with gorgonzola sauce and beef tenderloin and he nodded. Clearly not sure what it was.
I ordered, got my food, went to pay while avoiding the paparazzo. When I sat down to eat, Dullface came over with his plate and he had ordered the same as me. I blinked. Then started eating, because it was not my business what he ordered, but I knew he wouldn't like it. He had three bites and pushed the plate away. Inside, I laughed so hard and then summoned all my restrains before asking if he didn't like it.
I'm confused, exhausted, jetlagged and slightly depressed.
Everyone keeps asking "well, was it worth it?"
Yes it was worth it. I will be revisiting the subject soon because I've got quite a few nuggets to share. I just don't know what shape or form they take yet.
While CyberPete is touring California and Chicago, I'm stuck at home. The worst thing is that he took my mastercard and left me with little else but a bottle of San Pellegrino, a slice of mouldy cheese and half a tub of frozen yoghurt.
At least he's coming home soon, and I'll get my credit card back and I can be fed again. Good times! He's been sending me photos from his fabulous tour - PeteUSA2009 - and while you can't see it in the photos, he has turned into a Starbucks cappu-frappa-latté drinking power shopping bitch. Instead of publishing photos of him strutting down The Miracle Mile in Chicago and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills with his cappu-frappa-latté and bags from Dolce Gabbana, Fendi, Salvatore Ferragamo, Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik, Tiffany's & Co., Hugo Boss, Gucci, Prada and Giorgio Armani we show you a few photos of Kylie.
Pete's having a party in his Chicago river view hotel room.
I can't believe it's been that long since I last posted anything. July 26? Time flies. It's not that I've just been twiddling my thumbs all that time. I've been busy, honest. Strangely enough it's been one drama after another, so here goes..
First my wonderful Nintendo Wii broke. It didn't want to boot and I couldn't get the disc out so I had to turn it in. I can pick it up again on Monday. Before I got that text today, it hadn't been a super kool experience because the shop was totally without interest and compassion in my time of need.
Another major drama which has been going on for quite a while is that I'm travelling to the mighty US of A tomorrow with a Dullface (you know, my dull friend). Apparently we had and still have very different ideas about travelling and what comes with being away for so long (we arrive back home on August 31). He genuinely thought I'd want to share room with him for all those days to save a bit of money. He then thought I'd think it was OK to not live at the same hotel, and he doesn't want to do anything that costs money. His idea of going to a restaurant is McDonalds. I find this out after we had booked the plane tickets because he actually thought that it was understood that everything was like that. Oh, and since he's already been to Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam he doesn't want to go there again so I can just do that on my own if I want to go. Like I said major drama.
That wasn't the end of the drama about project PeteUSA2009. We had planned to go see a baseball match - not that I have any interest in baseball whatsoever, but he thought it was part of the culture and that I had to see that. We'd made a deal, I'd go see a baseball match of his choice and he'd go with me to see the Fabutastic Bette Midler in Las Vegas. It's not that he doesn't have the money, but now he thinks it's too expensive so he has bailed on that. At least I still get to see Bette (alone yes, but nevertheless) and don't have to sit through a baseball match. The drama just kept going, and I've resigned to just say "oh well... it won't ruin my trip".
There was the matter of where we are going, which for the most part had been settled upon from day one. First stop, Las Vegas, then Los Angeles we are just landing there and renting a car before we are off to San Diego, then Los Angeles before driving up Highway 1 to San Francisco where I'll more than likely be partying in Castro. Then we had decided we'd want another stop before heading back home. He wanted Cincinatti because he has family there. I didn't want to go there because I would get nothing out of spending 3 days with his family. My choice would be New York where we could stroll up Broadway, look around Times Sq. and sail around the Ellis Island and visit the Statue of Liberty. A compromise was finally reached and I still feel like I lost big time. We are going to Chicago. All I know about Chicago is Oprah, it's windy and there is the Sears Tower. Oh, and Dullfaces family might make the trip to see him.
Anyway, the hotel decisions were the worst bit, and I almost ended up cutting my losses and saying I didn't want to go with him. Eventually we reached common ground - or as close as one can get while still feeling like one lost big time. We are staying at hotels with no less than 3 stars, and my hotel room in San Francisco has a bay view. Dullface's doesn't as he didn't want to spend the extra £30 per night.
Now I'm all packed because I am, afterall, leaving in the morning but I'm still missing a major thing. You see, I used my Visa card to pay for the hotels and I didn't know there is a limit to how much money you can use on a Visa over a 3o day period. My limit is spent, but I thought I'd be OK. Or so I was lead to believe by my bankperson. I had applied for a MasterCard and "it should arrive before you leave" I was told. No worries then, but the only problem is that it hasn't and I'm leaving before the post arrives tomorrow. Of course Dullface has received his, and he applied AFTER I did. It's so unfair. Anyway, for a while I was really losing all enthusiasm for the project but now I'm slowly regaining it. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I was out buying new - smaller sized trousers and shirts and new shoes to bring. I also bought a fabulous Bjorn Borg bag 20% off.
I also had my parents up for a dinner that involved Greek inspired potatoes with meatballs - also Greek and Tzatziki. Followed by a lovely homemade rich chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and raspberry coulis. To go with coffee I had made a cherry cheesecake.
It all went off without any problems but since it was my first time making cheesecake I was mighty worried about how it would turn out.
Finally, last night I went to 'smukfest' aka. Skanderborg Festival close to where I live. I only went because Kylie was going and I could hook up with her as we are dear friends. We rarely get to see each other, so naturally I had to go and have a glass of Champagne with her. A good time was had with her and her show was great. She was engaging and managed to get the audience who to their shame didn't know many of her songs, into it. It was great, complete arms in the air moment. The stage was tiny so she could hardly even fit her band on there, let alone her 6 dancers. Apparently she couldn't even bring any of her lights and lamps with her. She managed great without them and the show was a very scaled down show compared to her X2008 tour. If you have a chance to go see her live, you should definately go. She's taking her For You, For Me tour to the US of A after I've come back home. We couldn't get our schedules to fit because we are both very busy and important people.
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Anyway, I'm terribly sorry my darlings! I'll miss you all, lots.
