Vienna Brussels The End (4) People Gossip

In case you need more gossip. Here is some info on the pax. Starting with the people who were on the post in Brussels.

The Kloeps (pronounce Clayps) are weird. I have not seen them laugh quite often. They were always on the own. Wore orange hats with all kinds of pins of the places they had visited. Mr Kloep went to ALL the churches on his way. He loved them all. He even went to the Basiliek of Koekelberg. Mrs Kloep was the third smoker, always smoking with Puffy but never talking to her. I gave her chocolates for her b day on the post trip and she loved it.

You all know Puffy (Elaine Bender) by now. She was funny though. One evening Arjan and I were sitting in the bar listening to hiphop music with the bargirl Jana and Puffy joined us. Arjan started dancing and asking Puffy to dance to. Ask me how the Puffy dance goes. I’ll show you.

The Stellings turned out to be great people and very funny. He was this Irish German catholic guy who married an Orangist Irish Dutch girl. Fire!!! Now they are Unitarians. Mrs Wilding Smith’s husband was a Pullitzer prize nominee and wrote for the Boston Globe. She confessed never wanting to travel on her own again as she was constantly annoyed by other single travellers like Elaine and Florence. Florence you know by now as well.

There were three couples from New York who really got along. The pumas are really great. They love their president, but they are funny. Mr Puma is really funny. He is a lawyer and very petite. He loves to nag but his wife makes a fool out of him when he does. His name is Tony and he really sounds like a Soprano. Puffy asked in front of everybody if he was part of ‘the family’ to which he replied with a grin ‘there is no such thing as maffia’ Mr Shortell is a really nice guy; of Irish descent. I really liked him, but he is ‘just an accountant’ like Mr Puma told me. Alan Edelman and Myra Goldfarb where jewish who only recently met. I liked them. Very chauvenist guy and also pro Bush, but in the end a nice guy. The Schotts hung out with them as well but they are from San Diego. He is an old farmer but now buys houses, remodels them and then sells them. He remodelled 4 houses in 7 years or so. He is cool. Made fun of the Yankees from New York. I can stay at their place any time. He is 76 and incredibly fit. Only takes one pill a say and ‘it’s not viagra’.

The Sneaths are the sweetest travellers you can imagine. Really. They are realty nice and so petite. They look like each other. A bit quiet but always interested in learning more. Just like Joan and Arline, two sisters who were in Arjans group on the ship but did the post. Very nice people. I love those people the most. They just listen to everyting you say and never cause any trouble. The other people from Arjan who joined me were fine. Mr Anderson looked a bit annoyed all the time, but I had a good talk with him walking to the north station and back. The Addisons were also weird. Like from another planet. He was 6’5’’ or so and ideal to walk in front as an alternative for a flag. She was like 80y olds and wore walking boots like only young hikers wear. The Callens were also very strange. She was a bitch at times. Critizing everyting. But in the end they really liked me. She’s the one who wants me to meet her single daughter. The Gilmores were so nice. Mr Gilmore was a bit confused but he looked so sweet. You would take him home. He is the one who spoke Flemish to me as he had once given a speech in Leuven; learning a few introductory lines in Flemish by heart. I also liked the Giardina’s as well. He is an italo American from Boston and she a polish American. They were both very nice. The only couple I did not talk about that much were Gail and Peter. They were very independent and I did not see them that much.

Some people from the other groups really made a lasting impression. In Arjans group there was Elizabeth Sullivan who I absolutely LOVED. I don’t know how old she is, but she is the life of the party. Honestly, always in for a joke always happy always out there to try new things: She had crazy humor that was so typical for us thirty year olds. She is like the person who would walk silently to someone who is watching the scenery over a railing and then slap them on the back, scaring them but saying ‘saved you from drowning’. Hilarious. I mean, she can cause heart attacks doing that with the old folk, but she did. I dance a rumba with her. Her travel Mrs Albrecht partner was jealous and came to ask me for a dance too. Mr Brown did not say much but he was memorable for the face he had. Half of it was replaced by skin and plastic. He did not have an ear for instance. Just a little tiny hole. I never asked what happened but it was strange. The Balbachs were great people. Laughing a lot, but never stealing the show. Kthryn Jansky looked 35 but was 52. Arjan and I betted on her age. You could tell looking at her hands that she was older, but she was so active and very young at heart. I don’t think she had a lot of plastic surgery but she did a lot of sports. Great funny woman as well. Mr Hughes took the best picture of the pope and was always in for competition.

Rebecca’s group was in Vienna, so I knew her group better. She had 12 people who were part of the Knights Of Columbus, a catholic church from Boston. Very Patriotic. They were a bit stupid, made carreers in the army, and very loud, but they were quiet when they had to and they loved Rebecca. If they had been in Brussels I would have sent them on a pub crawl. Mr Mucci (who I called MUKKI instead of the Italian pronunciation) was the biggest guy but the sweetest. His wife and I danced a few walzes as he wanted to dance with Rebecca. Mr Holmes was the strangest one. He ended up falling as well and hurting his hip and arm. He was the one who did not understand why Rebecca talked about Nazis as being other kind of people than her ancestors. Mr MacShane had an American eagle and flag tattood on his body and wore American flag jackets ALL the time. A guy you do not want to mess with but he liked me. Mr Fitzpatrick was funny in the beginning but then repeated his jokes throughout the entire trip.

Of all passengers Mr Britto was the coolest; He ended up playing the Lorelei as Arjan and I both decided not to dress up as a mermaid. He was cool though. He was the live of the party. During the Red light district he came to me and said: what did Snow White say to Pinoccio? Answer: Lie, Don’t Lie, Lie, Don’t Lie, Lie Don’t Lie…. His wife was cool too. So were the Francois and the Jondahls. Mr Wheeler was funny too. His wife invited me over at their place in Illinois as well. I am watching the list and I already cannot put faces to the names anymore. I last saw them on fridaynight.