zenexistence

Hegdehog in boots. Hedgehog.in.boots! HEDGEHOGINBOOTS!

Okay, with that out of my system, we're moving forward.

My parents just left. They were in town for the weekend visiting from North Carolina to do a pre-Thanksgiving dinner/gathering/rigamaroll because they're leaving on a two week cruise that'll put them at sea during Thanksgiving this year.
Poor things.
So we convened our little gathering (which consisted of my mother and father along with my brother and his new fiance) and this upscale bistro downtown. This is the type of bistro (and don't think I for a second believe this is anything similar to what an actual Italian bistro is like) that is constantly touted as having "urban flare" and "an upscale dining experience coupled with decadent delights".
Um, no.
The descriptor should be akin to, "We fucking suck. While we might have once been passably decent, we have these laurels, see, and we rest upon them -- strike that, we expired upon said laurels."
I sent my dinner back. It was a fat puck with bits of meat hiding throughout.
The server was a genuine delight but even he couldn't make up for the lack of ambiance and stupidly-overpriced food.
If it hadn't been for the free-flowing Samuel Adams Winter Brew and the divine conversation it might have been a disappointment.
After everything settled down and the eating ordeal blurred a bit by the Winter Brew my mother passed my brother and I envelopes.

Pause.

Rewind.

Back in July my father, who is in excellent health, went to the ER with chest pain. They initially believed it to be a partially blocked artery and expected to place a stent. Nope. After a cardiac catheter was done it showed significant blockage in four arteries and the stent turned into open-heart surgery resulting in a quadruple damn bypass. Now with all that said, he's doing great now [and has a wicked cool "zipper" scar] but it sets a certain tone.

I assumed the envelopes were living wills being dispersed or power of attorney.

Nossir.

In each envelope was a check for just under $2000. It seems that my parents purchased my brother and I a gaggle of bonds back when we were wee ones and then after they purchased the gaggle, they put the gaggle in a drawer and forgot about them.

What am I doing right now? Googling flights to Europe. I'm doing it. Gottdamn right. I've never been, I'm not getting any younger and I NEED this .



I think I'll be flying into London as that looks to be the cheapest arrival point.
Hostels are a definite (do we have a SG group for European traveling or couch-surfing?)
Backpacking is a definite.
Who's been to Europe?
Give me info, recommendations, hints, clues, warnings, what have you.

Okay, I'm off to go treat myself to a celebratory beer.

Yes, I'll buy you one too.



-Scotty