We're back in the USA after a week in Spain with layovers in Paris and Amsterdam. Barcelona and Madrid were incredible. We saw more things than my brain could catalogue and looking at the pictures we took I find myself repeating, "Where in hell were we when I shot this?" I'm okay with just knowing it was Spain. The guides for our tour were fantastic and now that I know about the city I could probably find a lot on my own but all of them (a team of about five) added a local flavor to the trip. They all spoke with Castillan accents which is refreshing and authentic to Spain. The food at the local restaurants was exciting and new if not always to our liking and many of the sights were unlike any I had ever seen, unique to that part of the world. The architecture was one of a kind because of Gaudi, you couldn't escape his influence throughout Barcelona. The thing that struck me most visually was the bus trip we took from Barcelona to Madrid. The landscape for hours at a time was largely scrubland with some farming (grapes, olives and almonds) and very few small villages. I had no idea that such large stretches of land were so uninhabited. And it was dry. Not a whole lot of green to be seen out there. Yet it was exotically beautiful nonetheless. Swimming in the Mediterranean was a highlight for Lauren even though she got a mild Spainburn and she adjusted to the beaches being topless. She was more concerned about what I was seeing, the little prude. So I'll stop writing before I write 20 more pages that will be meaningful only to Lauren and I but I will say that Spain is a place you must see given the opportunity. This may well be the only trip I'll take to Europe and if so, it was worth it.


Web Junkie

Steve West scours the Web searching for interest or absurdity and then shakes his head ruefully when he finds it. Read more »

Early Valentine Gift

Brenda woke up Saturday morning and said, "I just dreamed that you gave me a beautiful necklace for Valentine's Day. What do you think it means?" I told her, "You'll know tonight." Go »

It's The Plumber!

The punchline to the old talking parrot joke recently leaped into my mind. Lauren dropped a lipstick tube down her bathroom sink because it has nothing to cover the drain hole. That thing that goes up and down to close the sink drain isn't part of this particular sink. Go »

Out of the Closet and into the Stratosphere

So Tom Cruise wants to go into outer space and meet aliens. I think I can scrounge together a few bucks for a one-way ticket. Any other takers? Go »

David Blaine, Time Traveling Demon

Hilarious parody of David Blaine and his magic victims. Part I & Part II. Go »

Punched In The Nose With A Stinky Fist

The complete culinary compilation of Steve, Don't Eat It! at Sneeze.com. My reading was interrupted by a need for defibrillation - laughed so hard my heart stopped. Go »

Such As It Is...

Best stuff I found this week. Merv's sense of humor lasted 'til the end. New Bond stamps. Go »