Mary Ann Bailey

My girlfriend, Mary Ann, passed away at the end of January a week after we got back from our ski trip to Whistler, Canada. She suffered from an eating disorder and got very sick at the end. Her parents and her sister flew out from New York to see her before she was disconnected from the life-support system and to attend her memorial.


It was a beautiful service held on the cliff above Fletcher's Cove in Solana Beach. We played the video from Mary Ann's skydiving jump because it was a great capsule of Mary Ann's life and personality. As the sun set we had a moment of silence that held until the sun disappeared completely below the horizon. The mayor of Solana Beach told us that the next town hall meeting would be held in her honor.


The absence of Mary Ann from my life is intense. She was the first person that I ever loved and she was an amazing person. We lived and worked together so we were together all the time. I was barely able to eat for two weeks afterwards but my family and friends, especially my father, were great in helping me deal with the immediate aftermath when my life seemed like a blur.

Ski Trip to Whistler, Canada

Mary Ann and I just went on a week-long ski trip to the Whistler Blackcomb Resort in Canada. We almost didn't make it into the country because Mary Ann didn't have her regular driver's license (she only had a temporary paper license) but I think the border officer took pity on us, because she finally let us through.


We flew into Vancouver and took the Whistler Express bus up to the resort in the Coastal Mountains. It was a very scenic trip and we knew we were in for a good ski trip when we hit falling snow at low altitude. We arrived and checked in at the Glacier Lodge. It was a nice place and it was right near the ski lift at the base of Blackcomb Mountain.


This is my second trip to Whistler Blackcomb. I came here before for one day to ski with Jeremy and Peter as a side trip to our Seattle cabin trip in 1994. We barely had a chance to explore this huge ski area in such a short time, but it had made me extremely excited to come back. Whistler Blackcomb is actually two separate mountains right next to each, connected by ski trails and lifts with Whistler Village right in the middle. The place is huge with over 200 trails and tons of lifts. You have to take three separate chair rides to get to the summit of Blackcomb.


I am more of an experienced skier than Mary Ann so we would ski together on the easier trails until lunchtime and then I would go off and explore some of the more difficult terrain for a few hours while she went back to the lodge to relax. There was a lot of heavy powder on this ski trip which we don't see in Southern California. It was pretty difficult to get used to so I had to stay off of the black diamond trails until I got the hang of it.


After a week of skiing, I decided that Blackcomb was my favorite of the two mountains. It is the highest at 7,494 feet and I think it is more scenic with tree-lined trails instead of the huge open bowls of Whistler. Blackcomb also has the glacier at the top which is fun to ski on. I got a chance to ski down the backside of Blackcomb which had been closed for most of the trip due to heavy snow fall and high winds. I happened to be at the summit when the back trail was opened for a brief window of time, so I took off my skis and hiked over the ridge with a small group of people. It was a long fun run starting with a large bowl filled with deep fresh powder and then a winding trail all the way to the bottom.


Mary Ann and I would have fun in Whistler Village after we finished skiing. It was full of restaurants, bars and clubs, even a movie theater. Mongolian Grill was our favorite place to eat. It was a cool place where you pick all the ingredients you want and put them in a large bowl and the cooks would fry it up in front of you. It was delicious.

Tandem Skydiving in Perris, CA

Mary Ann and I went tandem skydiving on the 13th this weekend in Perris, CA. Mary Ann had wanted to go skydiving ever since I told her about my earlier experiences jumping from a plane. She was super excited when I got her a gift certificate for Christmas.


I was really looking forward to the tandem jump as well. I have jumped out of a plane six times previously but because they were solo jumps my parachute was pulled open by a static line attached to the plane. Static-line skydiving was great, but I didn't get to experience much free-falling as I jumped out at only 3,000 feet and I'd only get a few seconds to enjoy the free-fall before the chute jerked open.


The instructors were really nice up in Perris and because we were doing tandem jumps we only had to take a short half-hour class before our flight. The plane at Perris was big and held a large group comfortably, unlike the small Cessna I had experienced before. We boarded and the plane climbed up to 12,500 feet before leveling off. Mary Ann was at the other end of the plane with her instructor and cameraman and was chatting and laughing so I wasn't nervous for her.


Mary Ann went out of the plane several minutes before I did and she handled it very well. Normally, I have major butterflies before jumping out of a plane by myself, but with an experienced instructor strapped to my back I was worry-free this time. The cameraman assigned to me climbed out the door before us and hung onto the side of the plane and jumped at the same time we went out of the door into the wide open sky. The free-fall lasted 45 seconds which doesn't sound like very long but seems like an eternity up in the sky. We did a few spins and interacted with the cameraman before I pulled the ripcord and we took a long leisurely ride down to the ground.


On the ground, Mary Ann was smiling from ear-to-ear as she described her jump to me and how she and her instructor had gotten off-course and had to land in a nearby field. We waited around awhile to watch the videos of our jumps and get our film before heading home. Mary Ann fell asleep in the car on the drive back. I was not surprised, the adrenaline rush of skydiving really drains you after the first time.

Static-Line Parachute Jump Post

Trip to Denver, Colorado

My company sent me on a business trip to Denver to learn some new software from our office there. Mary Ann came with me as well and we had a great time checking out the city, visiting the downtown restaurants and shops as well as Coors Field. I have always heard about the effects of the altitude here in the Mile High City, but I never understood it until now. It made me feel as weak as a kitten.

Mary Ann and I also visited her favorite cousin who lives here in Denver. He is an inventor of mining equipment and he showed us around his cool-looking shop. He then took us for a drive around the city and into the nearby mountains to visit the Red Rocks Amphitheatre. It is an open-air amphitheatre which has hosted many famous bands and televised concerts. Large natural rock formations jut out on either side of the seating area to give the amphitheatre it's perfect acoustics.

Mary Ann's cousin is a geologist as well and he gave us an interesting overview on how the Rocky Mountains formed and its effect on the surrounding landscape. He also showed us some cool dinosaur tracks that are over 150 million years old. They had been very well preserved because the rising mountains had pushed the tracks in the ground into a protected vertical position. We also checked out the Coors Brewery in Golden which is the world's largest single brewery.

p.s. On the news one night in our hotel room, I was shocked to find out that Phil Hartman had been murdered by his wife. He is a comedic genius and played a hilarious character on my favorite show, NewsRadio as well as Saturday Night Live. I will miss him.

Army Reserves - Honorable Discharge

I am now formally out of the Army as of March 10, 1998. I have received my certificate in the mail for an Honorable Discharge after 8 years in the Army Reserves. After six years going to weekend drills and two-week annual training, I have spent the last two years as a member of the IRR (Individual Ready Reserve). As a member of the IRR, I didn't have to go to drill any more but I was still in the computer in case I had to be called up in the case of war.

Short Story: Spider

The alarm went off. The incessant beeping jarred me awake. I scrunched my shoulders and gritted my teeth against the noise as I jumped out of bed and hit the snooze button with a practiced slap. The clock read 5:50 am as I climbed back into the small twin sized bed with Mary Ann. I clambered under the thick comforter and snuggled up against her body for warmth.

“What time is it?” Mary Ann asked, raising her head.

“Huh?” I mumbled, already half-asleep. “Oh, a little before six.”

“I should go,” she said placing her chin on my arm, sitting half up.

“Yes,” I responded before promptly falling back asleep.

I was nudged awake. “There is something crawling on me,” Mary Ann said in a frantic voice, She brushed at herself as she lay face down on her stomach.

“Yeah,” I responded without understanding. I saw her faintly in the early morning light through my squinted eyes. But my eyes closed and I was immediately asleep.

“I killed it,” Mary Ann crowed, reawakening me after only a few seconds. “I smashed it on me and brushed it into the crack between the wall and the bed.” I raised up on my elbows as I tried to comprehend what she was talking about.

“Good thing the light was off or I would have been too scared,” Mary Ann continued. “It felt big and hairy.” She readjusted the pillow for her head preparing to lie back down.

“My hero,” I said blandly, teasing her. I gave her a hug.

Mary Ann burst into laughter, squeezing me back. “My hero!” she repeated back, giggling, as I joined in. We laughed together for a few moments.

I drifted quickly back to sleep and decided I shouldn’t tell her about the black hairy spiders with the yellow spots on their backs that I often saw cruising around lately.

The loud alarm went off again a few moments later.

Cantamar Sand Dunes in Baja, Mexico

Mary Ann and I went down to Tijuana, Mexico in her car to do some shopping. The driving in TJ is always a little freaky but Mary Ann was fearless and aggressive as any of the city's taxi drivers. I was very impressed. After hanging out a bit, we decided to explore further south and headed towards Ensenada. The coastline scenery along the windy toll road was great as always.


We were heading south of Puerto Nuevo (famous for its lobsters) as the sun was going down and we saw a large sand dune field alongside the road. We decided to check it out, so we exited onto the free road at the little village of Punta Cantamar and parked at the edge of town. We left our car and went through a metal gate onto the dunes. This is the first sand dunes I had seen since visiting the dune field in France. I had a fun time there with Greg, but I am still bummed that our pictures from there were lost when our camera was stolen.


The sand dunes were beautiful but there was lots of broken glass so we had to be careful where we stepped as we explored. Near the beach, we found a nice a little spot away from the people riding motorcycles and ATV's. We had a fun time jumping off the side of dunes into the soft sand below and watching the sun go down.


We were hungry when we got back to the car, so we decided to head back to Rosarito which is 15 minutes north of Puerto Nuevo. We walked around the Rosarito Beach Hotel and ate a nice dinner before driving home.

Road Trip to Northern California

I had two weeks off from work in August and I was able to drive up to Northern California. It took thirteen hours to drive there from San Diego with my 15-year old brother, Jordan. We stayed at a friend’s house, out in the woods. We spent most of our time swimming in the river that went through the property and cruising around on a golf cart. Pretty boring sounding, but it felt good to relax. We visited the Lava Beds National Monument, the site of an old lava flow near the border of Oregon. It was fun clambering around in the icy and pitch-black caves with just a flashlight and a helmet. I spent most of the time crouched over and walking on my hands and knees in the low-ceiling tunnels. We saw only six of the fifteen caves, so I wouldn’t mind going back some day.


My brother and I stopped in San Francisco on the way back and drove over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was my first time traveling there. You could see the old prison of Alcatraz Island from Pier 39. Alcatraz was a lot closer than it appeared in the movie, The Rock, with Nicholas Cage. It looked like it wouldn’t be that hard to swim the distance between them. From San Francisco, we took the coastal route and stopped in Pismo Beach around twilight. We took a swim in the ocean and I ended up diving forward over a wave right onto a rocky reef hidden less than a foot below the surface. I was lucky I wasn’t hurt, but it was pretty funny. Besides San Diego and LA, I hadn’t seen that much of the California before now. I have wanted to take a road trip for awhile now.

Princess Diana died, I was watching CNN when they said she was injured in the car crash. I can’t say that I knew that much about Princess Diana before, but I’ve learned more in the last two weeks about the English Royal Family than I ever wanted to know in my entire life. Actually, I thought that the funeral was nice, but a bit too much of a public spectacle. They have been playing Elton John’s song non-stop on the radio. Mother Teresa’s death has almost been lost in this.

I have started school for the fall. I am taking it very easy. Only a creative-writing class and volleyball for fun.

Summer of 1997

I have been hanging out with a girl from Hungary named Edina, showing her around San Diego the last few months. Recently, we went to the new Stephen Birch Aquarium in La Jolla. It is a great aquarium displaying the ocean life of the California coastline. The best exhibit is the giant kelp forest tank. The large back porch with the tide pools has great views of the La Jolla shoreline and Scripps Pier.


Afterward, we down to La Jolla and checked out all the beaches, La Jolla Cove, the seals at the Children's Pool and the famous Wind'n'Sea beach right by the beach house I worked at a few years ago. The waves have been fun lately and the water is pretty warm. That makes for some crowded conditions out in the water, unfortunately. Last weekend while surfing, a pod of dolphins swam close by me about fifteen feet away. I always consider dolphins as a good luck sign while out in the water, don't have to worry about sharks.


A few weeks ago, my friend, Matt, had his birthday. We had a limousine for seven hours. I had never been in one before. It was huge. We had nine people inside and we went to fancy Japanese restaurant, a nightclub, and then down to the beach. There was a lot of alcohol in the Limo and we all got pretty toasted.

I saw the movie, Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery. Mike Myers was hilarious. During one scene I laughed so hard that I had to wipe tears from my eyes. I saw The Fifth Element with Bruce Willis. It had an original spin on a old storyline with a good sense of humor. I thought Milla Jovovich was very hot. The director, Luc Besson, also did the French films, Nikita and The Big Blue, which I thought was very good. I thought The Lost World was a bit of a disappointment on the plot side. I saw it up at the Edwards Spectrum up in Irvine. BIG SCREEN!!


I went to Six Flags Magic Mountain, last weekend. My friend, Greg, and I went because of the new ride, Superman, The Escape. It traveled 100 miles an hour along the track and then shot up a tower that is as tall as a 41-story building. We sat in the front row and it was very exciting. I took a picture at the very top. It was hard to hold on to the camera because we were traveling so fast. My sunglasses flew off of me and out of the roller coaster at the top, but they fell back into the coaster at the bottom as we shot back down. It would have been even more amazing had one of the lenses not broken off when they landed.

Fiji Pictures

Here are the rest of my Fiji pictures on Facebook from my 1997 surfing trip.

Here is the link:

Fiji Pictures on Facebook

Fiji Trip

My surf trip to Fiji with my friend, Jeremy, was awesome. I have wanted to go there since seeing "Endless Summer II". There was some great waves, but there was a bit too much wind on two of the days. It was a very different sort of wave in Fiji as there are very few beachbreaks. I'd never surfed a reef break before where the waves form when swells come from the really deep water to the shallow reefs surrounding the islands.


Big John would have to take us out in his little boat to Namotu (a nearby island) and we surfed a spot called Magics. The boat would anchor in a deep ocean channel outside of the island's coral reef, so it was a long paddle over to the lineup. It was a little scary jumping off the boat the first time because of the fear of sharks and no land close by to reach if necessary.


There was a powerful rip current out at the surf break and we had to paddle endlessly to stay on the peak in the lineup. We also had to be careful when we fell (trying to fall flat) so we wouldn’t hit the sharp reef with our bodies. The long paddle back to the boat after a long surf session was brutal, felt like my arms would fall off. It least the current flowed in that direction. There was more than fifteen people out there each time we went, very crowded for Fiji. Jeremy couldn't get the camera to load a new roll of film, so I missed out on getting pictures taken of me catching any waves. Bummer!


One of the night's we got to participate in a Kava drinking ceremony. Kava is a native drink made out of the root of the Kava plant that has an euphoric effect. To drink the Kava, we had to clap once, drink the entire cup with both hands, hand it back and then clap three more times while saying, "Maca". It tasted like the earth and it made our tongues and mouths go a bit numb.


Jeremy and I went scuba diving and snorkeling in the warm waters of the island, Malolo Lailai, we were staying on. We also did a bit of kayaking and I tried windsurfing once. It's impossible. I don't think I ever went more than a foot. Maybe if I knew the basics of sailing I would have figured it out. It seems like allot of technique.


We didn’t get much sleep on this trip. We had to go surfing at 6:00 in the morning to catch the high tide and we would stay up late partying and dancing in the bar at the Plantation Resort. We mostly hung out with Darren & Karen from Australia and Georgie and Laura from Great Britain. It was rainy season in Fiji but it only rained on our last day of the trip. A tropical cyclone was supposed to hit the islands the day after we flew back to Los Angeles.


Here in San Diego everything is nice and sunny. Perfect weather, actually. After Jeremy and I got back from Fiji, we found out that we were having a ‘Red Tide’ at the beaches here. It was an amazing contrast coming from the crystal clear waters of Fiji to a deep rust color of the water back here. At night the ocean would glow and the waves would throw off sparks created by the electrolytes produced by the billions of plankton massed along the shoreline. It only lasted a few days and the ocean is now back to its normal green. Two friends of mine were stung pretty badly by the jellyfish that had come to feed on the plankton.

Army Reserves - End of Drills

I have finished my last weekend drill for the Army Reserves. No more early morning wake-ups for my monthly weekend drill or using my two-week paid vacation from work on my yearly Army Training. My company is going to Panama for this year's two-week duty so I am a little bummed I will miss that, but Oh Well!

I have two more years left in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) where I am still listed in the computer for emergency call-up before I receive my discharge from the Army.

I ended my active service as a Specialist, an E-4, one step away from becoming a Sergeant. If I had decided to re-enlist, I would have gone for my promotion this year.

I wrapped up my Army experience with a fun party at my house for all my Army buddies.

Ski Trip to Snow Summit

I went to Big Bear to go skiing at Snow Summit with Greg and my brother, Jake. It has been a pretty dry winter so the snow conditions haven't been the best. We spent most of the time in the terrain park on the jumps.


We had a fun time but I got the worst sunburn of my life because I stupidly thought I didn't need sunscreen.

Trip to Rosarito, Mexico

A group of us rented a big van and went down to Rosarito, Mexico. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that Ken recommended on the way down. The food was really good and the view was great from our table out on the patio atop a sea cliff.


In Rosarito, we pretty much did a bar crawl starting at the Rosarito Beach Hotel and ending up across town at Papas & Beer at the end of the night. There are great coastal views in Rosarito of the Coronados, the small rocky islands were I learned to scuba dive last year.

My new Honda Del Sol

I finally got a great car that I have wanted for awhile. I bought a 1993 Honda Del Sol after my crappy, overheating Honda CRX broke down for the last time.

Cross-Dress Halloween

I tried something different this Halloween. I decided to dress up as a women this year, even if that meant having to shave my legs. I spent the whole day in costume, including going to all my college classes. The costume was a big hit with all the girls in the halls and in my classes. With quite a few girls commenting that they wish they had my legs, I discovered that my embarrassingly skinny man-legs are just right for a women. Just my luck! After school, I headed over to Scott's house for his Halloween Party. The picture of Dave and me at the party is my favorite.



Shauna was a huge help getting ready for Halloween. I stayed at her house the night before where she applied the nail polish and put on my make-up in the morning. She found the perfect dress for me from her closet and lent me the proper accessories to finish off the costume. Lots of Laughs! Below is the before and after pics.

Europe Trip Pictures

Here are the pictures from my backpacking trip to Europe this summer for two months. My friend, Greg Brooks, traveled with me for the first month and I continued on for another month by myself.


I had a tight budget of only 30 dollars a day so I didn't have much left over after food and lodging. I also had a two-month Eurorail pass that allowed unlimited train travel throughout Western Europe and also included ferry boat trips and select river boat trips.

Europe Trip Pictures on Facebook

Europe Trip - Utrecht, Netherlands

I am on the plane home from my two month backpacking trip to Europe. I arrived in Paris this morning on a night train from Utrecht, Holland around 7am. This is the seventh time I have been in Paris on this trip, but mostly I used it as a hub that I quickly passed through. This last stop I wanted to go and visit the famous Louvre, but because of the subway bombing in July the lockers are still closed and there is no baggage check. There is no way I am going to hike through the museum carrying this heavy backpack. I guess I will have to make another trip here to visit the Louvre.


I had a fun time in Utrecht. It took me two days on trains to get there from Portugal. One of my brief stops between train rides was in Arcachon, France where I spent half a day at the beach, swimming and relaxing on the sand. I must say that I prefer the Atlantic Coast of France more than the French Riveria on the Mediterranean. More sand, less rocks. It was a nice little stop before taking a night train to Paris.


Mireille Sennef, who I befriended in Ireland, met me at the train station in Utrecht which is right smack in the middle of Holland. She had her bicycle and she gave me a ride back to her place with me perched precariously on the back. We stopped for a beer at a nice little place and caught up. After a spaghetti dinner, we went out to a bar to meet her friend and I had quite a few shots before we walked home.


On Friday, I slept in late, explored a little of the town and hung out with Mireille's roommates watching the Track & Field World Championships from Goteborg on TV. Christoph arrived that afternoon and we all went out for pizza and then went to the bars and clubs till 5am. The Dutch people are very tall, I am 6'2" but I only felt average height around these guys. That is unusual for me.


Saturday was a lazy day, we slept in till about three and hung around before taking a walk to the grocery store. A group of us made pancakes for dinner. All different types that I wasn't used to, made with ham, cheese or fruit cooked right in. Then it was time to say goodbye and I was given a ride to the train station on the back of a motorcycle. Much faster than the bike!

p.s. While we were at one of the bars on Friday night, one of our group accidentally pushed a full pint glass of beer off the counter with his elbow. Without a chance to think, I made a grab for the glass and caught it half-way to the floor without it spilling a drop. Everyone was amazed and I have to admit, I was pretty impressed with my self.

Europe Trip - Porto, Portugal

I arrived in Portugal on Saturday around 12:30pm. I spent most of the day walking around town wearing my heavy backpack looking for a bank that was open so I could exchange my money. I met two Germans, two Dutchmen and a couple from France at the first exchange place which was closed but had a sign saying they would be back in 30 minutes. We all set off together to look for another after we were informed that the guy wasn't coming back. After a long search, we were all relieved to find the only bank that was open, change our money and get a bite to eat together.


We agreed to meet up again to go out for beers in Porto's old town Ribeira district later that night to celebrate. I met up at the French couple's little motorhome parked by the Duoro River that runs through Porto. They were really nice and shared with me some of the dinner they were cooking on their little grill before the others arrived. We all had a fun time hanging out at the bars and cafes and we stayed out pretty late. It was a long walk back to my hostel along the dark streets and I had a nice hang-over the next morning.


Sunday, I hung out with the Germans again and went on one of the guided tours through the cellars of the House of Sandeman, one of the port wine lodges for which this city is famous. Port is a fortified wine mixed with Brandy that was originally created to be able to survive long ship voyages. The grapes and the wine are grown and produced in the Duoro Valley and then sent down the river to the dock-side cellars in Porto where they are aged and blended with Brandy to create the finished product. We got to taste a nice selection of Ports at the end.


I took a bus to the beach on Monday and stayed there all day. At the bus stop, I had to catch some Portuguese girl who tripped and fell into my arms. The beach was very sunny, but it was a windy day. I had my first decently made hamburger in Europe at a little restaurant on the beach. The cook wanted to know my opinion on his expertise at making American hamburgers. Later that night, I had a big meal as well at a Chinese restaurant. Haven't had that for a while. As the end of my trip nears, I am really starting to crave Mexican food from home.


Today, I mostly relaxed and walked around the city after making reservations at the train station. I also bought a new book for 2,700 escudos to read on my long train rides up to Holland and for the plane flight home. I caught the 6:05pm night train to Irun, Spain a little while ago. I have three long trains rides to complete before I reach the Netherlands.

Europe Trip - San Sebastian, Spain

The ferry back to France from Ireland was nicer this time. I hung out with a fun group of people in the bar till pretty late at night so all the good spots to sleep were taken. I ended up sleeping on the carpeted floor next to the stairs in the lobby area. In the morning, I met a pretty girl from New York and we had a good time talking on the ferry and on the train to Paris. I was invited to come along to Amsterdam with her friends, but I decided to continue with my plans to head down to Portugal. That was a tough decision.


I am glad I was only in Paris for a few hours because the city was extremely hot and humid. The night train to Bordeaux with a couple of guys from the ferry was pretty interesting. We were in a crowded train compartment with several French guys making hash cigarettes that they passed around. They would take the tobacco out of regular cigarettes and mix it up with some hash and then re-roll them. I didn't get much sleep that night in that smoky compartment.


I arrived in San Sebastian yesterday in a morning train from Bordeaux. I walked all over the city with four Americans I met on the train but we couldn't find a hostel with available beds. One of the guys spoke fluent Spanish and he was able to find us two rooms in someone's house for the night. We met a nice guy from Hungary later who had the same problem. We snuck him in to our room and he slept on the floor.


San Sebastian is a beautiful city in the Basque area of Spain. The city surrounds a small natural harbor with a little island placed in the middle like a pearl sitting in a oyster shell. The Old Town was crowded and fun to explore. They have lots of seafood here and we ended up eating tapas at a bar for dinner. I had four of them with a beer. Afterwards, we went for a walk to the top of the mountain that had a large statue of Jesus overlooking the bay.


Today, I explored more of the city and then went to the nearby beach of La Zurriola for most of the day. It was nice to swim at the first beach I have been to in Europe that had waves. Nice! I'm still not used to the difference between American and European beaches. I was relaxing on my towel and two pretty girls came up and put their stuff down on the sand nearby. Not having bathing suits didn't stop them from wanting to take a swim as they stripped down to just their underwear bottoms right in front of me before jumping in the water. One of them asked me if I had a cigarette after she came out of the water, but I had just given the rest of my cigarettes away in Ireland. Sheesh!


Now I am on a night train to Porto, Portugal. Lots of pretty girls on this train. I think Spain has some of the most beautiful women in Europe.

p.s. The Basque language is pretty unique looking to me. Every street sign seemed to have an abundance of z's, k's and x's.