Robert Cottrell

We arrived at an empty restaurant only to be told we would have to wait a few minutes so that they could pull some tables together to seat us. Fortunately, as we proceeded to walk into the seating area anyway, someone quickly stepped out from behind the counter to help us get seated.

We ordered a plate of nachos which weren’t that bad. My “inferno burrito”, on the other hand, was actually very dry and extremely bland. At least the burrito was fairly big so I didn’t go hungry, only unsatisfied.

I think I’ll just stick with Taco Del Mar for my burrito eating needs.

I had heard a lot of people talk about this place when I lived in the U District, but had never actually gone until today. The restaurant was crowded, with two groups of people waiting for tables in front of us and another group behind us, but we only had to wait a few minutes before getting a table.

I didn’t know what to expect from the restaurant before I arrived. I was surprised to learn that the menu was full of organically grown food and a description of the restaurant talked about the Slow Food movement. Normally I wouldn’t support these hippie causes, but we were already seated and I didn’t want to leave.

I skipped past several entrees featuring Amsterdam gouda cheese. I had just come back from Amnsterdam and I don’t think they even make cheese there anyway. Instead I chose the omlette special which was served with red potatoes and wheat toast. It was remarkably good especially considering that the food lacked many of the pesticides and hormones that give real food its refreshing, full taste.

There were still several people waiting for tables when we finished our meal so I tried to hurry out as soon as possible to let others have a seat. It would have been nice to enjoy a little more time guilt free before leaving.

My first international train trip in Europe was from Amsterdam to Bruges with a transfer in Antwerp. After arriving in Antwerp, we simply walked a few steps to the other side of the platform to board the waiting train for Bruges. The return trip was just as painless, with the train bound for Amsterdam waiting as we arrived.

Although my total time spent in Antwerp could not have been more than ten or fifteen minutes, I have to give this a “worth visiting”.

Sure, London Above may have all of the major tourist attractions, but it can be so ordinary, so boring. For a real adventure, take a trip to London Below. It is a place of shadows and magicks, home of the lost and the forgotten, inhabited by angels and vampires.

Be sure not to miss the Floating Market. The curry is excellent. If you’re lucky, you might also want to ask for an audience at the Earl’s Court. Also popular is hunting the great beast of London, although there are many that suspect that this monster is just a myth, much like the giant alligators that supposedly roam the sewers of New York.

Just a small word of warning. Never offer to owe someone a favor, no matter how much they are willing to help you. The cost is just too high in the end.

I’ve been to the Chicago airport dozens of times over the years, but only as a switching point to go somewhere else. One of these days I would like to leave the airport and see the city itself.

I need an excuse to get down to New Mexico to finish up visiting the southwestern states, so why not go looking for aliens?

I remember watching some alien related television show where an abduction survivor mentions an indentation in his leg where the aliens implanted a tracking device. Funny thing is, I have a mark in the same part of my leg. I always thought it came from the time when I fell into the corner of a table as I was running across a room, but those just might be false memories fabricated by the aliens to keep me from pursuing the truth.

And if I happen to find any aliens that look like Katherine Heigl, well, that wouldn’t be so bad.

I made the mistake of traveling from Salt Lake City to Louisville on a Greyhound bus. An unexpected Spring snow storm slowed the first leg of the trip and I missed my next connection.

I found myself stranded in the Denver bus station for 12 hours trying to avoid the small time swindlers trying to hustle their little con games.

I decided from this point on I would only ever travel by air.

This shrine to the Star Trek universe at the Las Vegas Hilton is a geek paradise and was the perfect end to a week at the Defcon conference.

My favorite part was eating at the Deep Space 9 themed Quark’s bar. A Ferengi and a Klingon wandered through the restaurant trading taunts and insults with the customers.

At the time, I was pulling together the final pieces for a down payment on a new condo. A full Klingon uniform on display for $6000, however, gave me serious second thoughts about the value of home ownership.

This is one of the few places we visited in Amsterdam before heading down to the model United Nations competition at the The Hague. I don’t remember much of the museum except for the time that one of our classmates reached out to put his arm around the $40 million Blue Iris to pose for a photograph. He seemed surprised as the security guards rushed toward him, thinking it was just a print and not the actual painting.

I hadn’t really planned to visit here, but the Globe Theatre was just a short walk away from the Tate Modern and I had a free pass for the tour. The tour wasn’t all that eventful but it did get me interested enough to buy a ticket for the evening’s performance.

I wasn’t familiar with this particular play, which I think made the experience all the more enjoyable. I staked out a place on the ground, just a row or two back from the front of the stage.

The audience seemed to consist mostly of American exchange students, but that really didn’t detract from the performance.