This is a perfect example of why people should let animals be, and not try to get to close.

Whale and the Kayak

Once again, a weekend can’t go by without us going somewhere with Kristen. This time we headed to Venice, Italy for the weekend. Barbie had already been there twice, and I had been once, but it was one of the places that Kristen had always wanted to go, so being the gracious Uncle Donnie and Auntie Barbie that we are, she got her wish.

we arrived on Friday (Mar. 11th), and after much searching finally found our hotel. In case you don’t know, you have to park at a Parking Garage outside the city, then take a water taxi or bus to the island(s). If you are wealthy enough to afford a taxi, they can take you right next to your hotel, otherwise, when you take the water bus, it drops you off somewhere (Rialto bridge for us), then you get to find your hotel through all the small alleyways lined by canals . Anyways, we get to our hotel and the guy proceeds to show us our room. Unfortunately there is only one king size bed, and since there are 3 of us, Barbie and I of course start giving strange looks to each other. When we ask about the 2nd bed, he says you can go upstairs and use that room. At first we thought this meant an entirely new room, but instead it was all one massive suite with a separate living room and two twin beds in another room upstairs. Needless to say we were thoroughly thrilled. Come to find out, the lady who runs the place was so impressed that we, actually Barbie, called to say we were going to be checking in later than expected that she upgraded us before she changed shifts!

Saturday morning we headed to San Marco Square to see the Church, and then Kristen and I went to the top of the Bell Tower, which had a cool view of all of Venice. While we were up in the tower, Barbie was kind enough to buy us some corn kernels so we could feed the pigeons. Although some of you may consider this nasty, it ended up being one of the more enjoyable things we did while we were there. Barbie, being one of those who consider it disgusting, stayed away taking pictures of the birds literally flocking all over us for the food. The pigeons had absolutely no fear, and Kristen absolutely loved it. Afterwards, we took a taxi gondola across the Grand Canal and saw the Church of the Santa Maria della Salute, which was apparently built as a thanks to God for letting them live through a plague back in 1630. Afterwards, we had Lunch on the Grand Canal(actually we washed our hands first…darn pigeons), then
went to see the Accadamia museum. After such a busy morning and early afternoon we went back to the hotel for a power nap, then went to some fancy Italian place for dinner. Food was good, but portions were small for the price.

Sunday we headed to Scuola di San Rocco, which is where back in the 1500’s two brothers held a competition of painters to paint there church. Tintoretto won the competition and spent the next 23 years painting in this building. The artwork is amazing, and the audio guide was very informative, but really too informative since you couldn’t jump from painting to painting, but instead had to listen to everything all at once…with no fast forward! After about an hour and a half of viewing these awesome paintings, we went to lunch, followed by Kristen and I trying to feed the pigeons again in San Marco. Unfortunately, they weren’t as brave this time, probably b/c of all the people that were now in the square. So, we headed back to the hotel for yet another power nap, followed by some shopping and just walking all around Venice taking in the atmosphere and sites. That evening we just had a simple dinner, and went back to the hotel to watch a movie since Barbie had to get up early to catch a 7:30am flight.

Monday morning arrived bright and early, and Barbie was gone, but she had taken the parking garage ticket, but luckily realized it so she had time to fax it to me at the hotel before we left. Unfortunately the parking garage people wanted the original, or some sort of proof that the car was mine. However, since we had to leave the car key at the garage the whole time, we took, actually Barbie took, the glove compartment key with us so we could lock up some things while we were away. Too bad the documents for the car were in there also! So I spent the next hour with them trying to get them to let me have the car, and it finally came down to Cisco having to fax me a letter of approval to take the car since it was a company car. Long story short…it took us about an extra hour to get out of there.

All in all, despite the fact we had already been to Venice, it was a great time. We got to see some new things on the trip, and Venice is just one of those cities that is cool to see and be in for a little while. We also got a sweet looking flower Vase made from Murano glass, along with some matching juice glasses to boot! So, we now have something (other than a magnet, which is what I usually collect) to remember Venice.

More Pictures from Venice

Last night I watched “Steel Magnolias” with Barbie and Kristen. It was the first time I and Kristen had seen it, but I kind of new in the back of my mind that something bad would happen. Therefore, the movie wasn’t as good as I had hoped b/c of this, and I couldn’t really get into the characters b/c I knew something bad would happen. Anyways, one of the girls has diabetes, and I found it interesting that after the movie I read an article that says they may have found a cure for it. Who knows, perhaps Diabetes will be a thing of the past.

Article Link: Possible cure for Diabetes

Here’s an interesting article from Barrons on Cisco Stock:

Link: Cisco Revisited

Having slimmed to a market P/E, the tech giant may start attracting a new crowd: value investors

By ANDREW BARY, Barrons, MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2005

JUST FIVE YEARS AGO, as the Nasdaq bubble reached its peak, Cisco Systems was the most highly valued company in the world, with a stock-market capitalization of $600 billion, and was widely viewed as one of America’s best growth stories.

Cisco shares (ticker: CSCO) have since fallen to about $18 from its 2000 high of 80, and the company is struggling for recognition on Wall Street at a time when growth-oriented investors are grabbing energy companies while turning a cold shoulder to most of the major technology stocks. It’s a sign of the times that Exxon Mobil (XOM) now has the stock market’s largest value at $400 billion, while Cisco has fallen to 17th place at $120 billion.

Cisco’s disfavor could present an opportunity for value-oriented investors because the company remains a powerhouse in its core networking business and is making substantial progress in such newer areas as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications. Cisco and value were two words that most investors never expected to see in the same sentence, because the company long possessed a lofty price-earnings multiple that got as high as 160 at the peak of the tech bubble in March 2000.
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I’m not sure how many of you have ever done this or not, but this past Sunday I went off the HIGH DIVE, which is the highest diving platform and is 10 meters high, or about 33 feet. In my 2 years here, I have never seen them let people go off this platform, but the last two times I have gone swimming, it has been open for the kids to jump off (yes, I am still a kid).

Anyways, Kristen first went off the 7.5 meter platform, which is the 2nd highest one. She was definitely nervous and took a good 10-20 seconds before jumping after moving up to the edge. After the 7.5 meter jump, we went up to the 10 meter platform. In order to show Kristen it wasn’t that bad, I decided to just take charge and push my way to front and jump off without really thinking about it. Sure enough, the kids moved and I was in front about to go, then I looked over the edge. All I could say was ‘Geeeeeeeeez!!’ Of course, after getting to the front, and having Kristen watching, I had no choice but to take the plunge. The free fall, as I would find out later, takes about 1.7 seconds, which is a long time to be falling. After hitting the water I just basically started tumbling until I came to a stop, and had to figure out which way was up again.

Sure enough I had done it, and went back up to get Kristen to go, but she was having none of it and ended up making her way back down the stairs. However, since I was already there, what the heck, let’s go for Round 2. Unfortunately this time I tensed up a split second before hitting the water, so it kinda hurt. Either way, it was a rush. The only other time I remember jumping off something near as high (although I don’t think it was 10m), was in Barbados off a cliff.

Well, another week gone by, and another country visited with Kristen. Last week we were in London, England…as opposed to the equally popular London, Kentucky, or London, Ohio, or London, Texas, or London, Arkansas or London, West Virginia. Kinda makes you wonder what the city planners were thinking when naming their city…”Geez…let’s name our city London, that way no matter how big or popular we get, we will always be in the shadow of that other city in the UK…or heck, maybe we’ll get a few stupid tourists stopping by.”

Anyways, sorry for the tangeant, we had a great time in London. Unfortunately, Barbie and I didn’t get to do all the tourist stuff with Kristen b/c we had to work during the week, but she was able to go along with Joan…so at least she was with family. Barbie actually got to spend Monday site seeing instead of working, I guess that is reasonable since I spent a good 2 months in London not working and touring the sites. Well, I know you are curious what we saw, so here goes.

With me: Cabinet War Rooms & Churchill Museum, Imperial War Museum, saw Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster Abbey from the outside.

Without me but with Barbie: Don’t remember

Just Joan and Kristen: Natural History Museum, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, McDonalds

Well, we also got to see a few shows while we were in town. We saw “The Producers”, which was excellent, and “Chicago,” which left much to be desired. “The Producers” was funny, had different sets, and just some good all around lines. What made it even more funny, was that they would speak and sometimes sing in Deutsch, but it seemed only Barbie, Kristen and I understood. The reason for this is b/c it is about a couple of broadway producers, who decide to make a show that will bomb, and thus be able to keep all the money the raised to produce the show. Therefore, they pick “Springtime for Hitler” as their theme. Well, I won’t tell you what happens after that, but it is hilarious, especially if you’ve spent any good amount of time with some Germans.

“Chicago” on the other hand had no costume changes, no set changes, and seemed more like a dance show at times than a musical. So…stick with the movie, and you will be left with a good taste in your mouth about the show. Since I stayed an extra night in London, I actually got to see an extra play by The Reduced Shakespeare Company, which does all of Shakespeare’s play in a slap stick way, and condensed to fit within an hour and a half. It was a fun show and kept me entertained, so I’d have to give it the DG thumbs up.

So, all in all, we had a good, if not great time. I especially enjoyed the War museums b/c I had just finished reading a book on FDR and Churchill and their relationship during the War, so everything was fresh in my mind. I’m sure I would have enjoyed them without the book, but it made it an extra little special , for me anyways. So…go to London, and try not to think about the exchange rate of the dollar to pound, and you will have a good time.