I’m in a coffee shop east of Salt Lake City. I stayed the night with Matt and Lori (pictures soon, although I did upload a shot of Zoe and the last two days’ journey plus Halloween with Ben as a spot-on Dr. Strangelove), and am headed to Laramie, Wyoming, today.
A random observation I’ve been meaning to put down but keep forgetting. Los Angeles streets are a mess of Spanish mispronunciations:
La Cienega is “LASEE-a-na-ga” but should be “la-cie-a-NE-ga”
Sepulveda is “se-PUL-ve-da” not “se-pul-VE-da”
BUT…one important exception is Rodeo Drive. The denizens of that region wouldn’t dare pronounce it as “RO-de-o.”
I also neglected to mention an important warning about the Seattle Space Needle. In the path between the door and the ticket-takers, there’s a feisty man with a camera and a cheesy backdrop who will physically prevent you from moving forward by asking how many are in your group and cordoning off everyone behind you as he takes your picture. You pay later if you want to. This sort of sneak-attack capitalism irks me to no end, so I tried to scoot by with the group ahead of me and the man yelled at me, “SIR THERE IS A LINE!” Now, I know this guy’s job has to be rough, but he has to know how sh*tty he’s being to people. He really should just let them go. You can decline his advances, but you need to beware of him beforehand. So that’s why I want to make sure all three of you reading this know about him. Just in case you’re ever in Seattle. And I have to vent.
I had a great time on Thursday driving through Roslyn, Washington, where Northern Exposure was filmed. As a fan of the show, I had a great time eating lunch at The Brick[1] and shopping for gifts in Dr. Fleischman’s office.
Driving through eastern Oregon was quite dull, although occasionally the grass achieved a bright gold color that was really pretty. And Salt Lake City is a beautiful town, very well-planned. I climbed Ensign Peak up behind the capitol and you can see everything from up there.
1.) Turns out The Brick saloon is the oldest saloon in Washington state, built in 1889, with one of only two continuous-flow spittoons in the state. A rush of water runs under your feet at the bar for tobacco chewers to deposit their juice. Nifty yet gross.
Austinites also famously mispronounce Spanish words-the main drag-Guadelope (sp?), especially.
Sorry to contradict but La Cienega in Spanish is La Ciénaga which means “swamp”. It is pronounced “LASEE-a-na-ga” and not “la-cie-a-NE-ga” because there´s an accent on the “i” and not on the “e”.
Sepulveda is “se-PUL-ve-da” not “se-pul-VE-da”. You are right.
Rodeo Drive: “Ro-DE-o is the way they say it down here in Veracruz. But they don´t use it like we do. A Rodeo down here is a “charreada” but there aren´t any big money prizes and it´s not against the clock. It´s about technique and style during the different events.
Thanks for letting me get this off my chest.
John