Nas Ne Dogonyat

One day, back when I was teaching in Pardubice, I walked into my ninth-grade classroom. They were playing this high, screeching crap.

"What's that high, screeching crap?" I asked. I believed in teaching them real-life phrases.

"This is Russian lesba," they said.

Beautiful.

Among the many reasons I will not visit Puerto Rico -- reports of dubious safety for tourists being among them -- is this story:

This much seems certain about the events of last October at three housing projects in this town near Puerto Rico’s northern coast: Men working for the municipality entered the projects, rounded up dozens of dogs and cats that they said violated the housing authority’s no-pets policy and took them away.

What happened next is less clear, but a lawsuit filed on behalf of 33 families claims that city employees and contractors drugged and brutalized dozens of animals and then flung them from a 50-foot-tall highway bridge into a weed-choked ravine and left them to die.

Witnesses say they found a pile of dog corpses and skeletons beneath the bridge, but the contractors have denied wrongdoing and city officials have denied responsibility.

I won't visit for the same reason I won't visit China: the flagrant disregard for the innate rights of living things, people and animals alike. I won't support these places with my tourist dollars. It's perhaps the most I can do, but at least it is something.

If you're interested, here's the first set of pictures from our trip.

Also, I want to brag about Luke Snyder, the great photographer we've hired for our wedding. I can't wait to work with Luke! His natural, documentary-like style and obvious sense of humor totally jives with my vision -- I knew the minute I saw his site that I wanted to work with him.

Charles Bridge, February 2008

We're home!

It's 5 am and I'm just rolling with the jet lag. We went to four cities: Prague, Pardubice, Vienna, and Budapest. The great joys: Just about everything. The great frustration: I didn't get to meet up with my friend Pavla, and it's pretty much my fault. The beauty of it all: We can always go back.

Pictures to come. For now, here's a video of us at our suite at the Corinthia Grand Royal Hotel in Budapest. Enjoy. We sure did.

Last night in Budapest

Two weeks of pre-honeymoon in Europe. It's been amazing. Just amazing. See you on the other side!

This came with sparkling wine

And an upgrade to a suite -- I am not kidding -- at Budapest's number-one hotel, the Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Sandler,

A very warm welcome to the Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal.

Please allow me to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your wedding. We are very pleased that you are spending your honeymoon in Budapest.

On behalf of the entire management and staff, we wish you every happiness, good health, and success.

Best Regards,

Adrian Ellis
General Manager

OK. Holy cow!

First, a little background: Adam and I were going to get married in Prague and spend the vacation as a honeymoon, but the Jewish moms were not happy and I understood. However, Adam had made sure to tell the hotel ... and when we got in, we got good news.

"You've been upgraded to a suite at no extra charge," the smartly dressed guy at the check-in counter said. After the bellhop (!) departed, we got another knock on the door: the sparkling wine. "I hope you're 21," the guy carrying it said.

"Thank you for asking," I said, and toasted him.