Merry Christmas!

Was it a white Christmas in Germany? Well, sort of. We had so much frost that all of the trees turned to white and enough frost accumulated to give the appearance of snow on the ground. Good enough! With bright sunshine and lots of frost, it was a wonderful Christmas morning here in Bann.

Merry Christmas to everyone back home! Jen, Julia, Luke, Reagan and I all wish we could be back in California and are looking forward to being home next year. We made the most of it over here. Luckily, the in-laws are here to help us celebrate this year.

Speaking of in-laws, Chef Gary has been busy making an assortment of Christmas dishes with a Martin family twist. In their family, they shun the traditional Turkey and Ham for all things Italian. Knowing this, I took Gary to the Pronto Italian grocery store in K-town and we bought all things Italian for Christmas eve and Christmas Day meals. We also bought what appeared to be Amaretto as an apertif. Big mistake. I took a shot of this stuff after our dinner last night and nearly lost it. I immediately switched back to Gluwein (the traditional hot spiced wine consumed during Christmas time in Western Europe).

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannakuh, Sweet Kwanza, Good Ramadan, Joyous Winter Solstice, etc!

Lost in Translation

Some things just don't translate well. These cream filled...uh...treats came in white, brown, and black.

A year ago when we were on our way to Bavaria, we passed a moving truck that allegedly owned by Mr. F_cker. I tried to take a pix with my camera phone but he blew by us. Later on, we came across a store called Schmuck's in Munich.

The one below takes the cake. Look past the cute pix of our princess and see the type of Pasta they were selling in Sorrento.

We're hoping to add another video for Christmas. Stay tuned...

20K Roadmarch through Bastogne? "Nuts!"

I shifted gears yesterday from the routine and headed up to Bastogne, Belgium for a little walk through the woods. This wasn't just any walk, though. This was the 63nd Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge and to commemorate the glorious allied victory, they hold a 20K march around Bastogne. The route took us through the very battlefield where many years before, the 101 Airborne Division struggled to hold on to the ville of Bastogne during the surprise German counterattack known as the Battle of the Bulge. Check out some additional history behind this battle which can be seen at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Bastogne

As for the walk, I was accompanied by a Navy Chief Petty Officer from my unit at Ramstein. Not only is he an honorary Californian (spent about 7 yrs at Camp Pendleton before coming to Germany), he also served in Iraq during the Battle of Falluhja. Definitely interesting to get his persective on things which kept my mind off the strain of hiking six hours with a 40 pound rucksack strapped on our backs.

Perhaps the coolest thing about the march was seeing all of the reinactors decked out in WWII garb. There must have been nearly a thousand "troops" in Bastogne yesterday. They too were walking right along with us which really gave one the sense of what it was like to be back there during the battle. Even better, they brought all their toys out as well. During the march, we saw everything from tanks to jeeps to C-47s dropping a bunch of paratroopers overhead. It was too cool. The only thing that didn't exactly replicate the battle was the weather. While it was super cold (a high of 31), the sun was bright and shiny. During the actual battle, there was snow everywhere in the Ardenne forest and the visibility was poor which prevented the Americans from using our superior airpower.

As the story goes, the senior ranking American officer, Gen McAullife, was approached by a German emissary who informed him that he and his fellow Americans were surrouned and suggested they surrender. He replied, "Nuts" and the German were dumbfounded by his reply. Apparently, something was lost in translation. Anyhow, they eventually got the message and the seige continued. As a tribute to this uniquely American reply, many of the hikers ate nuts at the end of the hike. Honestly, I was too spent at the end of the whole thing that the only thing I wanted to do at the end was to have some delicious Beligan beer. Se magnifique!

The day ended with a parade through the main drag through downtown Bastogne. Seeing the American flag and Belgian flag side by side at the head of the parade was too cool for words. Moreover, the honor of leading the parade went to a group of US Army soldiers (the real thing this time). Seeing a group of their veterans from the battle march side by side with American soldiers was also very touching. Unlike some other parts of Europe, the Belgians are still very friendly with Americans and still are very grateful for the sacrifice of our soldiers in December of 1944.

European Christmas Markets

Right about now the temperature is close to freezing just about every day and we are lucky if we have seven hours of daylight. Almost seems like a recipe for depression, eh? To prevent the bah humbug setting in, Germans (and some the neighboring countries) make the most of the moment and put on the best Christmas Markets in the world. When I was in Portugal earlier this year, I saw vacation packages that were created specifically for the German "Christkindlmarkts". Pretty amazing stuff.

Last weekend we decided to forgo the local markets in Landstuhl and Kaiserslautern and headed to Strasbourg, France. Hands down, this place was the most elegant market we've been to yet...not to mention the most crowded. The entire city center/pedestrian district was totally decked out with lights and decorations for Christmas. As you can see in the picture to the right, Strasbourg's version of Notre Dame Cathedral towered over the entire affair which only added to the ambiance.

While decorations and little nick knacks make up the primary merchandise at these markets, the big draw for many people (including us) is the wonderful food they sell at these events. The French are mad about crepes. I picked one of these up and had it filled with Nutella which is a cross between peanut butter and chocolate. Jen and Julia hit up the local botique du chocolat and gobbled up an absolutely delicious eau clair (which I had absolutely no problem ordering since no translation was needed). The highlight of the evening was when we decided to eat dinner at a Le Gruber which was a restaurant that caught my eye the last time I was in town. This place is right in the middle of the action and is known for their decorative red lamps as seen in the picture to the right. This place was so charming! Even better, our waiter spoke English. Thank god. My French is little more than bon jour and merci. We all loved it. The best part about it was that we had a table on the third floor that had a panoramic view of the bustling market below. Needless to say, this one is going to be hard to top.

Joyeux Noel!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Check out the video I attached. Not only will you see us as we get ready for Thanksgiving but you'll also get to see Julia pretending she is a dog, pretending to be on Broadway, pretending to be a cook, etc. Pretty good stuff.

Being away from friends and family is always tough on Thanksgiving but rest assured we made the most of our day. Jen made a great turkey and Julia decided to play with me instead of hanging on her mom all afternoon. It worked out great. We also got to watch a little of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Julia, however, lost interest really quick.

As I write this, dinner is over and football is now on TV. We're all stuffed and the sleepy juice from the turkey is sinking in. Julia and Jen are practicing Christmas Carols and once Julia goes to sleep (early I hope), Jen and I are going to watch Oceans 13 which I picked up on the way home.

Tomorrow, we are going to brave the crowds at the base exchange and do some Christmas shopping. One of the benefits of being stationed in a country where they don't celebrate Thanksgiving is that there will be absolutely no rush on the stores outside the gate tomorrow. No such thing as Black Friday in Germany. Also, traffic flowed completely normal today. Besides the occasional farm vehicle slowing things down, I was able to go full speed to and from work today. Good times.

Anyhow, this Thanksgiving I have so much to be thankful for. A healthy baby on the way, no snow today, a princess for a daughter, most importantly, I am thankful for wonderful friends and family. Happy Thanksgiving!

Here comes the snow...

Being from Southern CA, I still get a tad excited when snow falls outside. I am sure it's a novelty and it will wear off in time but for now, I'm still happy to see the white stuff fall.

Now driving in this stuff is a different story! Rewind to the early nintien when Jen and I were first dating and we drove the T-Bird up to Big Bear in Feb to meet up with the family. We made it past the artic circle just fine but once we were on the road to moonridge, the car started to slide towards a snow bank. I recovered control in time and we fared just fine. Fast forward fifteen years and the same thing happened during our drive down to Garmish for the long weekend. It's the craziest thing! One minute you are going along just fine and the next minutes, it's as if some kid with a remote control started to control the car. We all decided that from now on, we're taking the train rather than driving in heavy snow.

We stayed at the Edelweiss resort hotel which is fantastic. With their spa, pool, gym, American food, woodburning fireplace, we never wanted to leave the place. See the pix below of the girls who look relieved to finally be there.

Edelweiss is in the middle of my favorite region of Germany: Bavaria. I'm not sure if this is where our German relatives are from but I definitely feel a connection to the place. Bavaria is home to all things distinctly German such as the Alps, Munich, Oktoberfest, liederhosen, etc. Ironically, Bavarians don't consider themselves German much as Southernerns didn't consider themselves Americans before the start of the Civil War.

I asked some Germans outside of Bavaria what they thought about this and they rolled their eyes and said with considerable distain, "Those Bavarians think they are sooo special..." I didn't admit say anthing to this guy but the truth is there really is something special about Bavaria. For one, this place is hands down beautiful. You see cool villages nestled in the middle of a forest, half timbered construction, soaring mountains, etc. Also, Bavaria is the Catholic hub of Germany. As a Catholic, it was great to see that these guys weren't afraid to be proud of their religion. Many of the buildings with beautiful religious murals painted on the side and crucifixes are displayed everywhere. And you better believe the biggest and grandest building in most villages in this area is the Catholic church. Finally, the traditional greeting in Bavaria is "Grus Gott!" instead of Guten tag. This loosely translates to "Glory to God". Jen wondered if a greeting like this would ever fly in PC minded America. Uh, no.

Anyhow, the trip to Garmish was great (besides, of course, the drive to and from). We stopped in Munich on the way back up and at lunch at the legendary Hofbrauhaus. The beer at this place comes in these massive one l liter Kugels (steins). Here's a rare pix of the entire family at this place. If you look closely, you can see Baby Luke in Jen's belly.

Auf Wiedersehen for now...

Happy Halloween!

A few days before Halloween, we headed down to Frankenstein Castle (its real name) in Baden Wurttemberg which is around Darmstadt area with some friends of ours and had a blast. The castle transformed into a haunted house of sorts and was crawling with creepy ghouls and monsters. Let's just say the adults love it, the kids...well, not so much.

On the left is a cool pix of JJ and I inside one of the cages within the castle. As you can see in the pix, Julia clung to my side the entire night. Hey, first time for everything.

After the trip to the castle, Jen and JJ went home and I headed to Grafenwoehr for a week for a work related trip. Graf, as the local army guys call it, is a bustling training ground for our Germany based soldiers and I was there to plan an exercise for next year. The trip wasn't much to write home about but the cool thing about Graf is that it was once a training ground for the German soldiers during WWI and WWII. After 1945, Graf, including the rest of Bavaria fell into the hands of the Americans and we've held onto this post ever since. As such, many of the half timber houses remain intact and are still used today. In fact, the centerpiece for the post is what they call the tower. This thing is about 300' high and is extremely ornate. I've never seen anything like it. It was one of those "Only in Germany" moments.

On a different note, we are now officially at our halfway point for this assignment. Thus far, our family has visited France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany,and Ireland. I can tack on England, Turkey, and Portugal as solo trips. Not too bad. Anyhow, we are headed down to the Alps soon to mark the occasion. We plan on enjoying the newly fallen snow and will be sure to post some pix.

New pix

I've scanned in some new pix from my trip down to Switzerland and Bavaria. Check them out at this link:

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c351/grego108/Switzerland/

Not much else going on. Will be heading down to the eastern part of the country soon for an exercise but not much in terms of sightseeing. The weather has turned sour and the travel season has gone belly up. We are, however, planning to hit up jolly old England in the not too distant future. Should be cool.

When I'm not on vacation...

...I am in the middle of a war. From a distance at least. Living here in Germany amongst the happy village fests, the gorgeous countryside, and family, it is easy--almost too easy-- to escape this reality. I just finished watching a segment of Ken Burns' WWII documentary The War and it donned on me how lucky I am. Luckily, I wasn't an Airman in a B-17 or civilian in our village of Bann. According to a small website that describes the history of Bann, this place was nearly destroyed by Allied bombers during their advance on the Western Front. Before that it was smashed by the French during the Napoleon era campaigns. Unlike the GIs from WWII or today's service members who are currently in some ditch in Afghanistan, I'm not dodging bullets and carry on much like everyone else does back in the US.

From time to time, however, the realities of war come home. It hits when I review the requests for movement which, at first blush, look like any other piece of paper. Dig deeper and you get a running commentary of the those who were not so fortunate. Hits even harder when I have the honor of going out to the aircraft that is bound for the US and seeing these guys who I've read about moments before. Thankfully, most of these guys sport huge grins as the ascend the ramp to their litter onboard...their lives spared by other heroes up the hill at Landstuhl Med Ctr.

It hit when Jen's brother left for Iraq. Seven months later, it hit when I took a call from him telling me that we was on his way home without a scratch. To this day, I can remember exactly where I was, what I was wearing, what Julia was doing, etc when I took that call.

It also hits when I read in the Stars and Stripes about the heroic service member who saved his buddies while engaged in a firefight. Sometimes the guy is from LA, or ,California or has been at a base I was once stationed. It hits...hurts... knowing this news will likely never reach the average American. Why? Not because the feed gets lost somewhere in cyberspace but because the average American isn't at war. If Jay Leno did one of his famous street interviews and asked people on the streets of the Burbank Media Center to name the countries where we're engaged overseas or to name someone they know who is serving in the military, he probably would get the typical dumbfounded stare. Ask them what's new with the Olsen twins and they could probably rattle off the name of their Wilshire Blvd lawyer, the designer of their red carpet attire, and what they had for dinner last night (wait, do they even eat anymore?). The Navy SEAL who's being awarded a Metal of Honor...posthumously? They'll tell you how inhumane it is for the military to be exploiting our innocent sea life. Is this true in all cases? I don't know. Jay Leno comes on way too early for me to watch :)

Like yin and yang, these moments range from triumphant, funny, disappointing, tragic, etc. I just wish the former would be told back home more often. Regardless of what is going on back home, I'm enormously proud to go to work each morning to do my small part in this campaign. Most of the jobs I've had both in and outside of the military haven't even come close to replicating this feeling. It's super motivating.

I promise this will be my only posting about this subject. Is it travel related? Not exactly. It's just something that struck me. After reading my previous posts, I realized I exclusively focus on the positive travel experiences...almost as if I am bragging. Reality check: being stationed here at this time in our history involves a lot of that yin and yang I described earlier.

Straight outta California...

What a great feeling! Jen and Julia are back in Germany and we're all together once again. I hate to say it but they're both wishing they stayed in CA with the 30 degree drop in temp. CA: Indian Summer. Bann: Icicle toes in the morning. Hard to get used to I'm sure.

We headed out to Luxembourg yesterday to celebrate a wonderful Fall day. The "ville" of Luxembourg has wonderful Fall foliage and perhaps the coolest park in this region. Take a look at the pic on the left. This place is so close but so disctinctly different than Germany. It is a perfect blend of France, Germany, and Belgium. In other words, great chocolate, great cars, and great food. Is it perfect? Well, no. The average age tended to be around dead and there isn't much to do outside of the city but as a day trip, this place is perfect.

.As a retrospective, here is a pic of me and my first hitchhiker: Leonhardt. This guy was walking--stumbling is a better way to describe it-- literally in the middle of the road on the way to church outside of Berchtesgaden. I couldn't help but stop and help this guy out. Thankfully my friends in the car didn't mind that much and he seemed really appreciative. Super nice guy. Made for a great photo op. Who knows...maybe he is writing in his blog about those nice Americans who stopped and gave him a lift to his church. You never know.

Check out some additional pix from the last month. http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c351/grego108/Oktoberfest%20and%20Berchtesgaden/When Jen and Julia were back home, I hit up Switzerland, Austria, Bavaria, Belgium, and many villages within. It's time to give the Trailblazer and oil change and some much needed downtime.

Bastogne and German Soccer

Bastogne, Belgium was great but it was totally unexpected. For one, the military museum was alright but it was a bit on the bland side. A nazi uniform here, an American M-1 there...all very nice but it was sort of a yawn. What made it interesting was that I was the only American in the entire museum. It was a surreal feeling...sorta looking from the outside in. However, the Belgians seem extremely appreciative of the Americans for liberating their villages even to this day. That was cool.

Before heading out, I decided to hit the t0wn. Whatever the Bastogne liberation museum lacked, the town of Bastogne more than made up for it. For one, the waffles were to die for! I am convinced this is why America liberated this town to begin with. They were fantastic. Belgians are also famous for their beer that is brewed by Monks. Fortunately the stores are open on Sunday so I was able to pick up a couple different varieties of this beer called "St. Bernardus Abbey" and it was delicious. Nothing like the German stuff but still really good. Germany has some really strict brewing laws which prevent anything more than a few ingredients to be used in beer. No such thing in Belgium. Regardless, their beer tasted like a premium microbrew you might find back in the US. Soooo good! Here is a pix from the town of Bastogne:

Today (Sunday) I am heading out with a buddy to go see the Kaiserslautern Red Devil Soccer team lose to some hapless team from Eastern Germany. Needless to say, K-town isn't fielding a great team this year but the games are fun to go to anyway. Having ten thousand raving mad fans maintain a level of intensity through the entire ninety minutes of a game is nothing like I've seen before. Couple this with the crisp cool air and clear blue skys, and the result should be a great time.

Fall has definitely set in here in Germany. The travel season is rapidly coming to an end. I am going to try to maintain this blog weekly but no one wants to hear about all the TV we watched as we sat a home on a gray November Sunday. No worries...

Music and Travel, Belgium Bound

Before I get into the theme of music and travel, I'm headed to the Ardennes Forest and Bastogne tomorrow. Bastogne, as many will know, is there the 82 Airborne Div was tangled up in a little engagement known as the battle of the bulge. This was Germany's last ditch offensive designed to push the Allies back into the sea. Didn't exactly go according to plan for Germany to say the least.
Belgium isn't a place I've been very much so I am definitely looking forward to soaking up some of their culture. Jen Julia and I stopped there on the way to Holland one time and had delicious coffee and pastries (every french speaking country seems to have those types of places) but this time, I'm not just passing through. Should be interesting.

Also, I've been incorporating a lot of music into the travels. I know I stand out as the ugly American with the white iPod wires coming out of my ear but so what. I've found that some songs have an association to places where I've traveled for whatever reason. Here are some examples:

Paris: Hey There Delilah by the Plain White Tees (played on the radio as Jen and I were rolling into town)
Munich: Crazy by the Dave Matthews Band (song alludes to a surreal fealing that I could relate to during Oktoberfest)
Muerren (Switzerland): Aspenglow by John Denver (great hiking song)
San Jose, CA: American Pie by Don McLean (Jen and I sang along to this one after visiting the Winchester House)
Lake Havasu, AZ: Are You Jimmy Ray? by none other than Jimmy Ray (was in heavy rotation when I was out there with Daniel and Brian one year)
Hawaii: Taylor by Jack Johnson (a line refers to being 2000 miles away from here and I always imagine that 2000 miles is somewhere in Hawaii)

I wonder if anyone else associates particular songs with random cities.

Oktoberfest!

40 hours. 100 liters of gas. Three Franziskaner weissbiers (hefeweisen). 2 good friends. 1 extremely tired Greg.

This is my trip to Munich and Berchtesgaden in a nutshell. Unlike my last trip, I had a couple people come along to enjoy the time honored Bavarian tradition that is Oktoberfest which was great. He was one of the Airmen from my unit who just returned from the desert and his wife. The bottom line is that we all had a really good time. I'll try to describe:

First, people wear the traditional bavarian dress which is drindl (sp?) for the beautiful women (best looking in Germany) and the liederhosen for the men (seemed really gay looking). Strange to see these manly men in short leather shorts with suspenders. Anyhow, I haven't told Jen and Julia this yet but they are going to dress up as the festgoers do during next year's Oktoberfest.

Also, it was good to see Germans cutting loose in a big way. The people around here are...well...not exactly the party animals we've seen in the Spain or even the US for that matter. Someone told me that whatever the Germans lack in personality and spirit most of the year, they more than make up for during their fests. I found this particularly true this weekend. Perfect weather and lots of beer seemed to help too.

Wasn't just Germans who were there though. It seems as if Qantas had a special running for Germany because the place was crawling with drunken aussies. These guys go nuts. Regardless of where they all came from, many people came to this thing. Simply put, the place was completely packed. I did, however, make it into the Paulander tent before they closed the doors. This was really cool. The big band was playing traditional frolicky music in the middle of the massive tent while the crowd clammored for more. Not sure how to describe it but there was a really great vibe going around. People just seemed to be enjoying themselves for no particular reason. It wasn't like their team won the soccer game or their candidate wonthe election. No, they were just celebrating just being alive. It was really neat to see. It was also cool to see that it wasn't just the twentysomethings cutting up. All ages were represented at this thing. The cutest were the little kids decked out in full costume. Definitely worth the trip.

The next day I shifted gears and headed out to Berchtesgaden which is a border town in SE Germany. History buffs will know that this place is home to the Kuelstein or Eagle's Nest. This was the place that was erected by the Nazis for the purpose of hosting their appeasement minded guest diplomats. The house itself wasn't nearly as impressive as the view from the top of the mountain. From this one infamous house I was able to see well into Austria and it's magnificent city of Salzburg but also could see parts of the Italian Alps in the distance (see video below). Good stuff.

I'll post some pix when I get them developed (the digital camera is in CA with Jen for the moment). Anyhow, the ability to see in person these places that are stepped in such great history is what living in Europe is all about.

Until next time: Prost!!!

Switzerland: Good Cheese, Great Chocolate, Amazing Hiking

Last Saturday I decided to finally make it down to Switzerland. Why the heck did I wait so long? What was I thinking? This trip to Switzerland was about as good as it gets. Reagan and I packed into the Trailblazer at "0-Dark-30"and made a run for the border. Only this time, south of the border means crossing into Switzerland, not Mexico.

When we first crossed the border, I couldn't help but be a little disappointed. I crossed into a major city (Basel) and well...it looked exactly like Germany. When you cross the border and suddenly you're in TJ, it gets your attention. I am talking total sensory overload--kids asking you if you want chicle, adults asking you if you want drugas, air smelling like a fart, green replaced with varying hues of brown, etc. Not so with the crossing into Switzerland. More of the same...

...That is until you start to get close to the Alps. This is where it gets good. Not just good but unbelieveable. On our way to the Alps, we passed by a lakeside village just outside of Interlaken. This place was so cool looking that I decided to heck with the schedule, I was going to check it out. We stopped the truck, got some Swiss cheese, chocolate, and sandwich fixings and ate lunch at what had to have been one of the most picturesque spots in the world. What was so cool is that this wasn't some Jet set town where Mary Kate and Ashley were seen the other week...no, this was a small village where no one spoke english and the villagers awake to the sounds of churchbells.

After promising myself we would come back, we made our way further south into the Berner Oberland Region. Suddenly I found myself in a scene that was what people think of when they think of Switzerland: Half timber houses with geraniums spilling out of the flower boxes, crystal clear streams roaring down from the towering Alps, and trust fund hippie backpackers everywhere. Anyhow, we found our way to a goldola that would take us to our base of operations in Muerren. The problem is that you can't drive there. All of the villages clustered on this hill were only accessible by gondola due to the incredibly steep elevation gain. Once we ascended the mountain via the goldola (which was once used in the 007 film Moonraker), we found ourselves in Muerren. Now I thought that the village by Interlaken was good, this was even better. This place had a panoramic view of the entire valley and all of the soaring peaks of the Alps. We checked into our hotel and when I opened the curtains, I had a pano view of Jungfrau which was the highest peak in the area. Simply breathtaking.

We spent the rest of the two days hiking around the Alps. The hiking was challenging but fantastic and Reagan absolutely loved it. He didn't complain once! He was made for this sort of thing. Anyhow, I could go on but sadly the story ends on a sad note: We had to get back in our truck and go home back to Germany.

I've posted some pix from my cell phone camera at: http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c351/grego108/Switzerland/
Take a look!

New Pix Uploaded

Check out some of our latest pix http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c351/grego108/

I will continue to update these pix as the next few days go on. Jen and Julia are back in CA so I'll have some additional time to upload and sort.

!Hola de Espana!

Just got back from one of our favorite countries in Europe: Spain! What a country. Looks like California, feels like California, and people talk like they are from California if you know what I mean. Also, that place could not be any more un-German. Not that we don't like it here...it's just that we need a break from 60's and rain all summer. Needless to say, we really like heading to Spain.

This time around we decided to veer south and go to the Costa Blanca. From my limited education in Spanish, I can comfortably say this means the White Coast. From what I gather, they call it this because of the powdery light sand that graces the beaches as well as the lack of greenery that tends to dot the coast as you go north. Anyhow, we flew into Murcia and drove our rental to our hotel in Santa Pola (not to be mistaken with Santa Poco of Three Amigos fame). This place sucked. Santa Pola was ghetto to be frank. If Van Nuys had a beach, it would look just like this place. Our hotel was in keeping with the town which is not saying much. We decided to spend as much time away from that place as possible the next couple days.

That night, however, we did walk around and things got a little better. As we vaguely knew before visiting, Spain was ruled by the Moors/Muslims many moons ago. To celebrate this heritage, the Spaniards decided to through a party and blow their town up with every firework known to man. These weren't the Safe and Sane variety that you drive down to Santa Ana to buy. They tened to like the M-80 type of fireworks that you have to drive down to Mexico for. Jen mentioned that now she knows what it must be like to be in Baghdad. It was pretty intense.

The next day we drove over to Alicante and got exactly what we came to Spain for. Beatiful palm lined avenidas, topless beaches, tapas bars, and the warm Med ocean. It was fabulous. The only downside was Jen's lobster-like sunburn. She swore she put on lot's of sunblock but it obviously didn't do a damn thing. Not even that could put a damper on the good vibe.

The last day we hit up Elche which is an inland city about 25 km from Alicante. Elche is known for its massive palm groves which date back to the Babylonians (sp?). The Moors kept them going by installing an elaborate irrigation system that is still in use today. As a result, you have these miles of palm forests in the middle of the desert. You can walk among many of them and we did just that. We found one that Fodors raves about and after paying our five euro, we stepped into a tropical paradise for an hour or two. It was a welcomed relief to the searing Spanish sun especially for Jen who was now in some serious pain from her sunburn from the day before.

Once we got back to Germany, we froze our butts off in the low sixty degree weather. What a bummer. Germany wasn't all that bad though. A few days after we got back, we hit up Bad Durkheim which is now hosting the Wurstmarkt which, despite its name, is the largest wine fest in the world. Even though it was really croweded, we had a blast. Most everyone was either drunk or on their way to being drunk. As for me, well I was on call all weekend and fell into the third category in wishing I was liquered up. Good times.

Enough for now. Jen and Julia head back to CA on Wednesday to get some sunshine and Disney under their belts. As for travel, I plan on hitting up Belgium, Munich, and Berchtesgaden when they are back home in CA. More to come...

Forget San Francisco. We left our heart in Ireland!

Strolling across O'Connell Bridge. Cruising Grafton Street. Eating corned beef and cabbage at O'Neill's. Touring Trinity. It was all part of our Ireland experience last weekend. Foturnately for us, we were there for what the Irish Times claimed was their three days of summer. Unfortunately for the UK and Ireland, this has been a soggy summer. No rain for us!

While our trip to Dublin was full of places to see, we found the Irish people to be the main attraction. Sure, all of the places I listed above were great, the friendly and easy-going people of the Emerald Isle captured our hearts. I went to a pub on Sat PM to listen to a "Seisun" of traditional Irish music and noticed a sign above the bar that read, "There are no strangers here...Just friends we haven't met yet." This sign captured the essence of the Irish way. What a welcomed departure from Germany and France. Oh yeah. The fact they spoke Englished helped too.

More to come later. Before too long, I am going to recruit Jen to post a message or two on this blog.

Greg

Julia's Name for Her Baby Brother

Baby Prince Phillip! Unbelieveable. Julia lives and breathes all things Disney Princeses.

Our Favorite European Cities...So Far

Jen: 1. Venice, Italy, 2. Amsterdam, Holland, 3. Salzburg, Austria
Greg: 1. Sorrento, Italy, 2. Garmisch, Germany, 3. Paris, France
Julia: 1. Disneyland Paris, 2. Disneyland Paris, 3. Disneyland Paris

Off to Ireland and Vacation Rewind: Venice

Ahh Venice. We fell in love with this city! Last Thanksgiving, we headed down to Northern Italy to hang with our friends Brent and Maria who, at the time, were stationed in Aviano. Lucky for us, Aviano was only around an hour away from Venice. The day after an unbelieveable Thanksgiving dinner (and really good boxed Italian wine...seriously!), we found ourselves in Venice. Okay, November in Venice isn't exactly tourist season and the weather was a bit chilly but that didn't stop the droves of people from visiting this beautiful place.

Julia's favorite memory of this place was when I decided to feed the birds in St. Mark's Square by the Doge's Palace. So here's the story: I decided "When in Rome..." and feed the birds that have taken over the Square. After I paid the guy a few Euro, I was instantly covered in the world's fattest and most agressive birds. I was like an Alfred Hitchkock movie. For some strange reason, the birds left the bird feed vendor alone and as if on cue, they mobbed the unsuspecting tourist as soon as they were handed the feed. Anyhow, while I was getting mobbed, I decided to "share the love" and threw the seeds towards Jen, Julia, and especially at my buddy Brent who was having a particulary hearty laugh at my expense. Suddenly they too were engulfed by these fearless rats with wings. Good times. Here the link to the pix:

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c351/grego108/DSC00685.jpg

As for future plans, we are headed to Dublin Ireland this weeked! This is a place we were planning on going to for our one year anniversary but decided to put our money into buying our condo in Orange County. Probably the smartest thing we've ever done. (The dumbest thing we've done was sell that place!) On the agenda are pub crawls, good conversation with the locals, and fantastic Irish folk music. Not on the agenda is Guinness aka motor oil and touristy spots like kissing the blarney stone. Should be a good time.

Here's the deal...

This site is going to serve as an ongoing travel blog. Periodically we're going to post significant events that are not really related to travel (such as our baby on the way) but the main focus will be on the places and people we see in and around Europe. What you won't find is anything political, gossipy, world news related, etc. Too played out!

We're going to start by doing a retrospective dating back to 13 May 06 which is the date I stumbled off the airplane at Frankfurt International. Jen and I are going to recount our best and most memorable trips through short stories, interesting details, and lots and lots of pictures. In the next couple weeks, we hope to catch this blog up to the present day. From that day forward, this will serve as a running travel blog.

--Greg

Here we go!

Almost halfway done with our assignment here in Germany and I've finally decided to start keeping track of our travels. Better late than never. Either Jen or I will be updating this blog each time we go anywhere cool. More to come and come back often!