Become a Virtual Tourist Member Today!  Sign Up for Free | Sign In

Curt_James' VirtualTourist Home Page

Search:
Home » Curt_James
Get Your Own Home Page
Fast, fun, free.
Click to start building now!

Curt_James's VirtualTourist Home Page


Click Picture to enlarge.
 email me
 add as friend


Curt_James   
Do it today!


Real Name: Curt James
Lives In: Carlisle, US
Birth Date: August 21, 1962
Member Since: Jul 25, 2002
Last Login: Jun 25, 2005   02:17 UTC
Member's Time: Nov 09, 2009   08:56 EST
VT Rank: Unranked
Deals Rank: Unranked
External Page:www.curtjames.com
Travel Interests: Not yet selected

 

Page Views: 1,659            

Casa de Curt

by Curt_James - last update: Dec 26, 2004

Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, the Azores, 1985
Update: It is almost January 2005. I haven't visited my Virtual Tourist page too often, but I do love the idea of this wonderful Web site. My goal is to add more content to my VT page. I hope you're all doing well!

Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, the Azores, January 1985.

Welcome to my travel page! You can see a picture of me and my beautiful niece Kara above! Long before Kara was a twinkle in either my brother's or my eventual (and much-loved) sister-in-law's eye, I was enlisted in the U.S. Navy for five years. During that time I deployed with the USS Richard E. Byrd (DDG 23) on a Mediterranean cruise as well as a North Atlantic cruise. Both were six months in duration and wonderful opportunities to see parts of the world I otherwise wouldn't have seen.

I kept a diary for part of the time I was in the service. I'm going to post some of the trivia that my 20-something self included in that diary. Of course, as a 20-something sailor, away from home for the first time, most of my diary entries include, "Got drunk. Chased girls." Youth can be truly wasted on the young. I joke with my friends that I've seen Europe through the bottom of a beer mug and that's pretty much the case as I reread my diary.

There's a picture of Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, the Azores included on this page. I took this picture January 1985 during our ship's port visit there.

From my diary: "Liberty call 1615. It rained. I went out. I got wet. I tried to use the phone, but I couldn't understand the operator. - Portugese"

Yeah, that's such a James A. Michener moment I could just cry. :)

During a ship's tour I learned that "Sper aqui" means "Wait here" in Portugese. Manuel Portelada, a native of Portugal who was serving in the U.S. Navy onboard the Byrd, said it often during the tours. I said it politely one time and a group of tourists began speaking rapidly in Portugese. "Uh oh." I only knew two words and for all I knew I could have been saying anything!

[I checked Google and was directed to:
http://www.intelcad.com/translate/
which says that in Portugese "Wait here" should be "Espera aqui" which is probably what Manuel said, but my untrained ear didn't understand.]

Comments for Curt_James
Sininen Sun Aug 21, 2005 08:11 UTC
 Hello Curt! HAPPY BIRTHDAY from Finland! How about creating some new pages here!


Hotels Around the World

About VirtualTourist10 Great Things to Do On VirtualTouristContact UsPress CenterHelpUser AgreementPrivacy Statement
Virtual Tourist® ©1994-2009 VirtualTourist.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.