{"id":95179,"date":"2026-06-14T13:31:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T20:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/?p=95179"},"modified":"2026-06-14T13:31:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T20:31:17","slug":"european-vacation-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/blog\/2026\/06\/14\/european-vacation-woes\/","title":{"rendered":"European Vacation Woes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019m sure you hear this all the time, but
\nyou look exactly like Rod Stewart<\/strong><\/em>.\u201d 
\n\u2013 <\/em>What I heard from a checkout clerk.  I would have been
\ncomplimented had she said \u201ca young Rod Stewart\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

You know it\u2019s summer when Billy <\/strong>has left the country.  Yes, once again, it\u2019s time for another European adventure \u2013 sans <\/em>Beverly D\u2019Angelo<\/strong>.  I can\u2019t say it was a smooth trip overseas, but at least I made it in one piece.  While my full itinerary is one of those well-kept secrets that only members of Congress seem capable of, it does include checking out some real estate.  After all, you never know when the climate back home could get a bit too hot.<\/p>\n

Speaking of overseas property, lots of people have been asking me about the protests against the Trump <\/strong>family in Albania.  Let me give you some backstory.  One of the biggest resources Albania has to offer is natural beauty.  Due to their isolationism since World War II through the 1990s, most of their land has been undeveloped \u2013 something they used to be very proud of.  Untouched beachfront on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas is a very valuable commodity.  So when Jared Kushner <\/strong>offered Albania over $4 billion to purchase land on the Narta Lagoon along with the island of Sazan, Prime Minister Edi Rama <\/strong>leapt.  It should also be noted that Kushner\u2019s Albanian proposal came about after a similar deal in Serbia fell apart amidst criminal charges of falsifying documents.  Anyway, the Albanian people ain\u2019t so happy with this.  They point out that the protected wetland is home to flamingos, seals, and sea turtles.  Thousands of protesters swarmed the area as well as the capital.  One person said, \u201cIt\u2019s not right that some corrupt politicians who run Albania can decide what they can do with our property.\u201d  Perhaps they\u2019ve not heard of the East Wing<\/em>.  Plus, what better place for a former ruler than a country without an extradition agreement?<\/p>\n

\"colorbar1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile back in my adopted Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis <\/strong>was not content with his war on Pride<\/em>.  He\u2019s decided that June would be the perfect time for Faith and Family Month<\/em>.  And he\u2019s emphasized he means the \u201cBiblical family unit\u201d.  But which Bible?  Since lots of Jewish people live in Florida, is it just the Old Testament?  Isn\u2019t that the part that says we can\u2019t eat seafood and pork?  So much for my scallops wrapped in bacon!  And did you know that DeSantis was once a member of the Navy, a JAG officer, and advisor to SEAL Team One?  I\u2019m guessing he got past that \u201cThou shalt not kill\u201d commandment.  He also seems to not care about that \u201cjudge not lest ye be judged\u201d.  Who said that?  Was it Matthew<\/strong>?  Or Deuteronomy<\/strong>?  I\u2019m not sure, but it\u2019s someone who was in Cats<\/em><\/strong>, I\u2019m sure.  I\u2019ve never been a big fan of picking and choosing \u2013 especially when you\u2019re choosing for others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019m sure you hear this all the time, but you look exactly like Rod Stewart.\u201d  \u2013 What I heard from a checkout clerk.  I would have been complimented had she said \u201ca young Rod Stewart\u201d. You know it\u2019s summer when Billy has left the country.  Yes, once again, it\u2019s time for another European adventure \u2013<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breaking"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95179"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95188,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95179\/revisions\/95188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}