I can’t wait to go back! As most of you know, I shot overseas with Cameron for two weeks in mid-July. I ended up having a lot more free time than I anticipated, which wasn’t the worst thing, there was so much to see and do. The flight over was pretty miserable, I forgot to reserve a seat in advance, so I was sandwiched between people.
We started our trip off in London, where we wasted no time getting wild. Adjusting to the time change was a little hard, we napped a little more than I intended (but it was much needed, I didn’t sleep the night before, or the entire flight over) for the first day or two. We made up for it, for the hours we were awake though. I was lucky to get a match in with a very good friend while they happened to be in London at the same time. It was a really cool experience, I didn’t have a chance to cross everything off my to do list, it’s such a big city. We did head north to see some pro friends, and check out a pro show.
After that we shot down to Wales for a bit. The scenery is definitely different, especially for somebody who lives around Boston. It was almost like driving through Vermont, just more rural, and way more sheep. After making a couple stops to eat and see some castles, we ended up in Cardiff, which was one of our trips highlights. Friendly people, beautiful city, and there was a day long beer festival happening down by Cardiff Bay. After our Cardiff adventure, it was off to see Stonehenge.
Dublin was up next, we started off pretty strong (after a nap of course). I wasn’t feeling very well for this leg of our trip because of some heath issues I’ve been having, so unfortunately Dublin was the most disappointing part of our trip. We were supposed to head out and do the Cliffs of Moher, outside of the Guinness Storefront, this was one of the things I was looking forward to the most, but I was bedridden most of the day. Eh, it happens. Up next….
Paris! Or at least that’s what we thought. We ended up at some obscure airport about an hour and a half north of Paris. Thankfully, the person who was sandwiched between us on our flight over helped us get into the city. We probably would’ve been there a lot longer if it weren’t for them (neither of us speak French).
Paris, on a whole, was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip. The only negative was that I surprised how poorly the grounds around the Eiffel Tower were treated. The panhandlers there leave an outrageous amount of litter, I’d assume the local police would at least attempt to take measures against it. I’d like to go back to see some of the other museums we didn’t get a chance to visit, and to spend more time in the Louvre. There’s no way you can see everything in there with one visit. I think next time, I’d opt for one of the audio guides as well, unless I’m with somebody who can translate for me. Not being able to read the signs also resulted in us sprinting across the Arc de Triomphe roundabout, instead of taking the much safer underground walkway, which we found after playing human frogger.
We capped things back off with another couple days in London, beat up the biggest jobber in the UK together, and it was time to head home. Thankfully I was able to reserve a window seat for the flight back.
Now that I’m back home, back on schedule, and finally settled in, I’m working on a couple ideas, and arranging a big shoot for August. I’ve been dealing with a variety of health issues, they seem to be under control, but things were a little scary for awhile. I was really close to having to cancel my trip to Europe. All I have to contend with now are a couple nagging injuries (I fractured my ankle the week before I left for Europe). It’s also my birthday month! I’m not sure I’m going to offer the DVD specials like I did last year, but I have something else planned. Football season is almost here, I can’t wait to see how Jimmy G plays until TB12 comes back and dominates the NFL. If they can stay healthy, I don’t see why this team can’t win another Super Bowl.
