Roadquill's VirtualTourist Home Page

Welcome to my home page. After my family and friends, hitting the road is my favorite thing. I hope to post a bit about trips and experiences. A year or so ago I stumbled across an article written by a young lady and referenced her father the Travel Tyrant. I mentioned this to my daughters and they asked if they had a missing sister. Well aren't they the funny ones?

Now that I have a few pages, it is starting to look like something. My Paris pages are probably the best,. I was able to visit twice in 2005, once in January for 2 days and then we took my parents for 8 days in September.

Pamplona is my favorite. 2008 was the fifth time running with those bulls.

I have started an LA page. Some downtown stuff and some Santa Monica by the beach posts.

2008 - June will visited Kona. It had been over 25 years since my wife and I first visited Hawaii and Kona was special. It was interesting to see the changes. Took a helicopter flight over the lava flows.

Spain again in July 2008, starting in Pamplona, then traveling down to Granada, Sevilla, Valencia, then back to Madrid.

have added to Rome, created a Florence page and a soon to be Capri page. Woo Hoo.
Maui 2007 - , to celebrate our close friends turning 50. I love Maui. Especially the beaches by Makena. Smaller crowds, perfect beaches, green turtles just off shore... I just wish good deed doers would stop trying to roll me back into the water to "save" me. Seems to happen after a few Maui tacos.
Scotland - September 2007 up to the Highlands for some hiking. Not quite what I expected, but very enjoyable.

Flagstaff, AZ - not a bad place to live at all. In fact, pretty nice. The Arizona Highway Patrol do seem to have a problem judging the speed of cars with California plates. It must be the different colors in the license plates that reflects radar differently. I am sure they are working on correcting the problem.

I took my family to Espana for the first part of July in 2006 . Dragged the whole lot of them along. Madrid, Toledo, Pamplona, San Sebastian, Burgos.... I can still feel the vibes of Madrid, the partying and excitement of San Fermin, the taste the food in San Sebastian. Then in 2007 I flew over to Madrid from Italy and was joined by one of my long time friends. I was able to intoduce him to Senor Toro and tapas. 2008 was my fifth year of running with the bulls. The wife of my friend passed away and he had to attend the services in Valencia, so I was in Pamplona solo. Day trip to Bilbao was great.

My most memorable was my 2004 Madrid-Pamplona-San Sebastian run. 2004 was my second time to run with the bulls at the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona. I always spend a few days in Madrid to soak up the local culture. The picture (albeit a bit fuzzy) sums up the surprises you encounter when spontaneity is part of the travel. At the last minute we decided to check out Plaza Mayor in Madrid. And we get this great show. After Madrid it was up to Pamplona. If you plan early enough the one hour flight is just a few euro's more than the four hour high speed train. It is impossible to describe the 24/7 madness that is part of the San Fermin Festival. I love it. I took my 18 year old nephew and my 59 year old brother in law this year. They agreed that nothing could prepare them for the full blown fun. Or maybe I am just story telling challenged.

I thoroughly enjoyed San Sebastian. Two days was not enough to explore the city and the local interests. Been back a few times and still love it.

Vegas - I was forced to go there for boring seminars. I won $200+ shooting craps. Nuff said.

OK. I agree. Guiness is damn fine brew. but to be honest with you all , shelling out 12 or 13 euro for a tour of the Guiness Brewery for a pint at the top of Guiness Tower is a little too much foam and not enough stout. Things I learned about Ireland and Guiness - The national drink of Ireland is Guiness. The national food also seems to be Guiness. Guiness is the first word that Irish school children learn. If you are on a street without a Guiness sign, you are no longer in Ireland.

However, the tour of the Kilmainham Gaol was well worth the time. Seeing the prison and the it's history in the Irish Revolution brings it right in your face. Very emotional.

I noted whilst comparing my VT site to other VT pages that many have notable quotes, witticisms, or poetic verse. Some are very good, creative, and provide insight to the respective virtual voyagers mind. Others are trite, banal, or just suck and provide insight to the respective virtual voyagers mind.

So here goes and please consider that I don't make a living doing this.

* * * * THE DOG BARKS * * * *
* * * * * THEREFORE I AM * * * *

* * * * * * * AWAKE * * * *

#2 daughter got to drive my car to the park for a picnic on the 4th of July. This is my third convertible, because there is sun most of the time, even in winter. Whether it is off to the beach or to a park for hanging around or getting some game in, this is the way to go. Of course, sometimes it is too damn hot, in the 100's.

My neighbor asked me in November if I would be up for a week of skiing in the Alps in January. I said "Of Course". He wanted to meet in Geneva, but I thought that as long as I was flying 6000 miles, I would put in for a few days in Paris first. Not only did I get to see Paris in the winter, but I also got to ski at the base of the Matterhorn. Quite pumped was I.

This is a must do for anyone that skis. Not only is it impressive, but the skiing was a blast. And the weather was clear and warm as far as skiing goes. I guess we could have used a bit more fresh snow. I did not get to spend enough time in Zermatt. Kind of a good reason to go back.

There are big things in Rome.

St. Peters - BIG
The Coloseum - BIG
Forum - BIG
Pantheon - BIG
Traffic - BIG
Toes - BIG
Girls - CUTE
Vespa's - COOL

Rumfeld was briefing Pres. Bush on the war.

"Sir, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed yesterday"
"Oh my God" replied Bush, obviously distraught.
His staff were confused as he usually did not show concern over these kind of "statistics".
Then Bush asked "Now tell me again, how many is a brazillion?"

Lost in Translation???

Le cheval dans le bar.
Le barman dit "Pourquoi la face longue?"