He Tales # 13 - Where Have We Been?
Kimberly and I are once again finding our keyboards, inviting you back along on our journey, for a few more stories before we end the most amazing year of our lives and head home to once again settle into a normal routine. Yes, that means we are going to be getting jobs again. But first, we are personally very excited about a few places that are at the very top of our “list”, and they will bring our year to an unforgettable finish. More about these places to come.

Where have we been, and why haven’t we written more? Where have we been is an easy question. Moscow, All over Britain and Ireland (six weeks worth!) Paris, Prague, Munich, Italy (from Venice to Sicily), Malta and beyond. Why we haven’t written more is the harder, and ultimately better question.

There are several reasons, but for me, it mostly comes down to what I call the writing mood. I have never been able to write to a deadline. If I get excited about something, the words write themselves, but only if I get them out quickly. If I’m stressed out or too busy or if I wait too long, the stories of my life fall away like autumn leaves, never to glisten again in the wind.

One story I missed writing in the rush to leave Russia before our visas expired was a very special “once in a lifetime” concert. Our last night in Moscow, we saw Paul McCartney perform for the first time in Russia, in the very center of Red Square. As President Putin cheered in the front row, we were surrounded by thousands of Russians as Paul sang “Back in the USSR” to an ecstatic crowd. As we looked to our right, Lenin’s tomb served as a very somber backdrop to this surreal night. A&E have since made a television special about the concert, so if you catch it some day, perhaps you’ll see us in the crowd.

We have now spent ten weeks in Western Europe, and for me, it has been a period of intense emotions. We came here because there were certain places on our “list”: Britain (for castles), Ireland, Italy, Paris, Oktoberfest in Munich, and a few other places we really wanted to see during our year. What we found has been a mix of good and bad, beauty and frustration, culturally rich and touristic kitsch. Along the way we found a few gems – Lady Fay in Sussex, England (who Kimberly will introduce you to shortly), the castles of Wales, Prague’s waterfront views and staying in an Irish castle are forever memories for us.

There are certainly many wonderful reasons to visit western Europe, from the beautiful impressionist masterpieces in the Museum de Orsay in Paris, to walking along the back canals of Venice, and seeing Michaelangelo’s “David” and understanding why it is the world’s finest statue. Yes, all the castles and museums and ruins have been great to see, but nowhere in them did I find something I needed to add. Quite the contrary, I sometimes felt that the things I had read about places said too much. In Pompeii for instance, most of the treasures have been carted off to the museum in Naples. You’re left with guidebook pictures of what used to be, and unless you go to the museum (which we didn’t), you miss half the experience, and are left with ruins that are just a shell of what they should be.

As we leave Western Europe, we are finishing with a rare gem, and that is where I am today, somewhere in Greece. More on that later from Kimberly. Tomorrow, we’re off to Cairo, a new continent for Kimberly and a place at the very top of both our lists. We will be spending three weeks in Egypt, and I imagine we’ll find something to write about. J From there, we’re off to Kenya and the Maasai Mara game reserve and then we’re finishing up in Athens (watching them as they get ready for the 2004 Olympics), before coming home to my mom’s new townhome in Phoenix for Christmas. Yes, we have had a very lucky, once in a lifetime year. We have certainly enjoyed sharing it with you.