I know I know….it’s been about a week and a half since my last blog, and I apologize for that. I’ve been quite busy traveling. All of my days so far have been jam-packed. I think this blog is better served as a two-part blog instead of a regular one-part blog. There has been so much to tell, it might get rather long, but eventually I’ll catch it all up. I believe where we last left off was right after my wedding. As per the relationship I have with Anita, becoming married doesn’t really change us any. Our vows obviously bind us to a lifelong commitment, but other than officially doing that, nothing has changed basically besides introducing one another as each other’s husband or wife.

Two days after our wedding, we went to Brooklyn, NYC to get on the Cunard cruise liner: Queen Mary II to cross the Atlantic Ocean to London, England. Lots of people told me how amazing and great the Queen Mary II was once I told them about my plans to travel to Europe and how I was doing everything. I figured traveling on a “Titanicesque” cruise ship would be sort of unique and cool. Both the original Queen Mary and the Queen Mary II have carried many famous and powerful people in its past. I was told the Cunard cruise liners are supposed to be the most prestigious and famous in the world. For the most part, I believe the ship is one of the best in the world. There are a few things that could definitely be better for the price we paid, though. The food was overall “good”. I’d give it about an 8 or 8.5 on a 1-10 scale. I expected at least a 9 rating for this, though, on “one of the best cruise ships in the world”.

Last June I took Anita and my grandma on a cruise to Alaska on the Princess cruise line, and their food was just as good, if not, better. The entertainment was also probably about an 8 out of 10. It was good and it was entertainment, but it just wasn’t that, “Wow, that was AMAZING!” kind of entertainment. At least Anita and I didn’t think so. That being said, our standards might be a tad high considering we have been to some of the best shows in the world in Las Vegas. The service was about a 9-9.5/10 so nothing was really lacking. The amenities amongst the ship were a 9/10. The ship had a golf course simulator, daily ping pong tournaments, a top rated Spa (10/10) on board–Yes I obviously got a massage– and 24 hour room service. I wish the internet had been good enough to play poker on, but it wasn’t. I guess because for most of the time you’re in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean where apparently it’s really hard to get high speed internet, unfortunately. Generally speaking, there were far more older folks than I would have preferred, and hardly any young adults our age. For the most part, that is just because only very successful people can afford to spend six days lounging on an expensive intercontinental cruise ship. Overall I was pleased with the cruise. It was just a tad below what my expectations were, but it was worth it.

On the 6th day we arrived in Southampton, England and took a motor coach over to the London Waterloo Station to catch the Eurostar high Speed train to Paris, France. I’d heard that this train goes fast and smooth, but WOW. This thing is super fast and very efficient for traveling between London, Paris, and Brussels. It only took 2 hours and 45 minutes from London to Paris. I believe it was going as fast as 170 mph at some points. I think the regular Amtrak trains in the U.S. top out at around 100 mph. It was a weird feeling going backwards at such high speeds. To our surprise, the seats we were sitting in were faced backwards from the way the train was moving, which was a little awkward at first. We arrived in Paris and found a nice hotel to stay at near the Louvre museum and the Notre Dame Cathedral. On the first night we ate dinner at a fresh outside café, a block away from our hotel in the middle of the city.

The next day we spent at the massive Palace of Versailles. It took a little while to figure out the Metro system, but we eventually found our way. Versailles is about a thirty minute Metro ride from Notre Dame, although the C-Train at the Notre Dame station was under construction as we had already made a mistake getting on the wrong Metro. We had to re-route and make a few switches. Versailles maintains an elegant essence with its ages-old statues lining the paths of the Palace’s majestic garden. Inside the palace just about every ceiling and every wall is coated with amazing paintings, bordered with statuettes hanging in the corners and framed in gold. The floors in every room are uniquely designed marble. From the room with portraits of all the queens to the hallway of mirrors, and where the Treaty of Versailles was signed, the entire Palace is absolutely amazing. Anita says it was her favorite part of our trip so far.

I’m going to stop here with Part I of this particular blog. I think I can have Part II completed by later tonight. As of right now, I am on what I think is the fastest train in the world which is the TGV France Train. I am on my way to Barcelona, Spain. I think this goes about 200 mph or maybe even slightly more. Like the Eurostar, this train is FAST. Along with being extraordinarily fast for land travel, it is extremely smooth. Unlike the Amtrak trains in the U.S., this train has virtually no bumps or jerks whatsoever. Not to get distracted with trying to complete Part I of this blog, but I just wanted to wrap up with just mentioning I’ve been getting killed lately at virtually every NLHE game I play. Fortunately, PLO has been a little nicer to me, but it has hardly mattered. My downswing as of late in NLHE has been moderately depressing, but nothing even remotely close to me having to worry about anything. I’m roughly down $50,000 in the past 3 or 4 days. I’m almost to Barcelona now, where I will be seeing the sights for two days before playing a lot of live, hopefully fast-paced poker. I haven’t decided whether I will play the EPT event in Barcelona yet this week. That decision is almost totally dictated by how the action is in the 25/50 and 50/100 NL cash games. I look forward to posting a couple of exciting high stakes live cash game hands as I will be playing a lot live within the next two months.