ME AND MY DRINKS

                                         Tales on Me

One day in St Petersburg, Russia I had a really nasty cold and bronchitis so passed on a city event and stayed on the boat.

I hadn’t had a Coke in nearly three weeks and it just sounded good to me. The people at reception were busy with keys and so forth as people were getting ready to leave the boat, so my buddy couldn’t request that they send a Coke to my cabin. I tried to figure out how to call reception, but managed to bungle it and gave up in frustration.

Since the library was directly across the hall from our cabin I wondered if anyone might be there. Still in my nightgown, unshowered, and  hair tousled I opened the door about 12 inches and spied a fellow, I’d not remembered seeing before, sitting reading a magazine. With my head and one shoulder out the door I said, “Would you do me a favor?”

He answered, “If I can.”

“Would you please go down to reception and ask them to send a glass of ice and a Coke Light to my cabin?”

Bless his heart he did, and about 15 minutes later there was a knock on my door. That Coke tasted soooo good.

It wasn’t until later in the day when I related the story to my travel companion that it occurred to me, “I wonder what that poor fellow thought my favor might be?”

      

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After a full day of sightseeing near Arenal in Costa Rica, it started to rain just as we were returning to our lovely tropical hotel. We headed up to the bar and pool before dinner. The girls were attracted to the pool, but my daughter and I headed to the bar/lounge area. It was my daughter’s 46^th birthday and I told her I’d buy her a drink. 

Not being much of a drinker I had a difficult time deciding what to drink. After some time mulling over the menu the bartender approached me asking, “Can I help you chose a cocktail?”

“I guess I do need some help deciding.” He sounded convincing when he suggested a fruit drink called Sex on the Beach in Manoa.

It was refreshing and I enjoyed it while visiting with a young couple from the trip  as well as keeping an eye on the girls in the pool.

When home I got a lot of mileage out of that little experience when I answered the question, “How was your trip?” with, “Oh it was fun. I had sex on the beach on this trip to Costa Rica!”

ANIMAL PARADES FOR CHARITY

Cow Parade

The popular and fairly common charity fund-raiser of displaying various animals, putting them on display and later auctioning them off has taken place in many cities. But the first cow parade took place in Zurich, Switzerland in 1998 and I was fortunate to be there.

          When the city walking tour of Zurich ended we strolled down the famous Bahnhofstrasse, a wide boulevard that runs from the train station for about 1½  kilometers to the edge of Lake Zurich. The wide sidewalks allow for lots of window shopping in the many high priced specialty shops. Sidewalk cafes are nestled between the shops and dining tables spill outside onto the sidewalk.

          Suddenly I spotted my first cow and alerted my friend to stop and wait. I needed to take a picture. By the time we reached the lake I had used a whole roll of film on the silly life-size cows.  For those who don’t know each animal has a sponsor, and each is decorated by a different artist.  Animals are often displayed for three months before being auctioned off.

          I have since run into many such events. I spotted my next cow exiting the Portland, Oregon airport in 2002. I saw horses in Vienna and many other animals including flamingos, hippos, and guitars in other places. It is always fun!