Good Times

Having Brad and Tim here was great. Tim got in Friday at 10AM and Brad at about 7PM. After dinner at Der Andechser we headed out on the town until about 3 in the morning. Satruday, we headed down the Rhine and hit a couple Christmas Markets. Saturday night we had a Christmas Party with some of KElli's coworkers. A lot of stories and memories were had by all. Some can be written, some have to be told...

Sunday Tim and Kelli flew back to Detroit on the same flight and Brad headed to Barcelona. I flew to Spain on Monday and spent the night in Zaragoza which is about halfway between Barcelona and Madrid. A very industrial town with a beautiful Basilica in the center of town. The pictures don't do justice to how massive this place was. Probably a city block. After that, it was back to Barcelona where Brad and I went out on the town Tueday night. We ended up having drinks at by far the coolest Hotel I have ever been in in my entire life. It's called Hotel OMM. Look it up, it is that sweet.

I am getting packed ready to fly home in the morning. It's gonna be one of those Friends and Family Holidays that will probably have us more tired when we get home than relaxed but both of us have been looking forward to this time home for a long while.

Home base will be Jay Boss's house so look him up if you can't dial our phones.

Frohes Weihnacht und ein Guten Silvester!

The poinsetta tree in the Kurhaus

Enjoyin and good brew

Brad and Kelli

Tim looking "happy"

Lookin good....Feelin good

Brad, Tim and I on the Rhine - see the castle in the back

Tim hangin in Assmanhausen, yes that is it's real name

The Basilica in Zaragoza

Another one of Gaudi's buildings

The Basilica the following morning

2000 year old Roman wall in Zaragoza

Check out the railings

Weihnachtfests

We headed to Nuremberg and Rothenberg for the biggest (Nuremberg) and the coolest (Rothenberg) Christmas Markets in Germany.

Nuremberg is a really cool medievel city in Northern Bavaria with a LOT of World War II sights that we did not see this trip. For all of you non WWII buffs, this is where the Nazi War Tribunal was set-up and the Nazis were tried for war crimes. Pretty heavy stuff that we'll catch on our next trip.

It was definitely a MASSIVE market but the amount of people was just too much at times. You could not walk down the aisles and it made it difficult to see all of the stands. I have grown pretty accustomed to Gluhwein which is a warm spiced red wine that is served at every market. It definitely warms the belly, especially with a dash of whiskey. Kelli isn't too fond of it without Amaretto mixed in. We'll have a couple bottles to share at Xmas with family.

Rothenberg was a repeat trip for us and this time was a little better I thought. They really go crazy here for the Xmas market. There were many tourists (a lot of Japanese for some reason). Rothenberg is a completely walled city that really goes medievel. If anyone has time when they are here, this is what you always thought Germany was, so it's a must see.

We are cleaning up today as Tim Rankin (oldest brother) and Brad Hehl (buddy from MSU) are coming to visit this weekend. Both are here for work and are gonna get a heavy dose of German XMas markets and a boatload of Hefeweizen!

Pictures with Tim and Brad next week.

Later

The entrance to Nuremberg. Most of the old city wall is still intact. That tower is part of it. About 90% of Nuremberg was destroyed in the war. The only German city hit worse was Dresden.

The Old Mill. There was a cool brewery in the basement and, of course, the beer was great.

Could......not.....move

View down the river in Nuremberg

Cool Carousel, all of the animals moved in some way and it was two levels

The entrance to our restaurant in Nuremberg. Kelli had to crouch to get in, I almost killed myself.

The Main Square and one of the weakest trees I have ever seen. Mix in some ornaments or something...

Town Hall and the Xmas concert

The crazy woman in the window was lowering candy in a bucket to kids. This little building was packed because it had the cheapest Gluhwein in town.

Rothenberg's Main Street

Kelli in Rothenberg

Why

Why am I a Lions fan? Why do I pay money to get the Lions audio on my computer in Germany? Why did I used to have season tickets with my brothers? Why do I think they will go 9-7 every year and squeak into the playoffs?

I think the answer lies in the perfect English of modern day Shakespearean clone (and, sad to say, former MSU student) Charles Rogers...

"Because this is football, man. This is the game you love, man. We was playing this game for free when we was born. It ain't all about the bread, you know?"

-- Charles Rogers on how he could produce for a team that's trying to take back more than $10 million from him

Sometimes I really feel like punching myself in the face because of this team. Not that I would enjoy it, but because I really feel like I deserve it

Viva L'Espana!

Spain (Barcelona) rocks.

The food is great, the people are really laid back and kind and to top it off, you are on the Sea. Being on the Sea would be a little higher on the list of cool if it wasn't around 50 all weekend.

I was working and Kelli flew down for the weekend.

We walked a ton and with the help of the extremely clean and organized subway system, were able to see pretty much every major tourist spot. To those in Detroit, a subway is a train that runs underground so you are not stuck in traffic all day. (sorry)

We saw Sagrada Familia, The Palace, walked down La Ramblas quite a few times, saw the Cathedral, the Olympic stadium and Casa Battlo. The buildings in Barcelona are the big highlight. There was a famous architect named Gaudi that designed Sagrada Familia and Casa Battlo. You can see in the pictures how we took his name to mean something similar to "a little over the top" in English.

On Saturday night we had dinner with a couple of friends from work and their kids. We ate at a restaurant on the Sea about 20 miles down the coast. There was a small wedding reception going on and the music was rocking. The kids were cool and very cute. However, Kelli and I have further emphasized that we are going to wait a little longer. Dinners are much quieter, but maybe a little less fun...

We will definitely head back when it is warm. I was there over the summer a couple of times but didn't get to see much.

It's Friday and I am off to meet some friends downtown at the XMas fest. Kelli has her work party tonight. Tomorrow we are going to what is supposed to be the biggest and best Xmas Market in Nuremberg. More pics to come!

Take care all

D

La Ramblas

La Sagrada Familia from the front - will be under contruction until 2020

The front of the cathedral that tells the story of the birth of Christ

The interior roof that is still under construction

The rear entrance to the Cathedral that tells the story of the Passion of Christ

View of the city from the top of the cathedral. I don't know what was on that architects mind...?

Cool view through one of the tower seams of the city and the Mediterranean Sea

looking down the spiral staircase inside one of the towers

Kelli and her new friend, Christopher Columbus

The Palace

Outside Olympic Stadium and the torch stand

How did this happen?

It looks nice but it's about 55 degrees, we must go back in the summer

Chris Columbus pointing the way home

This is Peter

This is Maria

Kelli on our balcony

Yes, there was crap all over the place

Kelli and I had lunch at Hard Rock and the "Blue Oyster Cult" watched over us. "I got a fever! and the only prescription, is more COWBELL!"

Outside Casa Battlo

Locals dancing outside the cathedral, it was VERY cold on Sunday

Inside Casa Battlo

Inside Casa Battlo

Update

Hey all,

Been travelling alot and will post pics from Barcelona in the next couple of days.

Kelli and I return home two weeks from Friday.

Later

Christmas Markets and off to Barcelona

The Christmas markets have started and they are fantastic! Tuesday night they lit the tree in Wiesbaden and there is just a ton of huge booths all around the marketplace with food, hot wine (it's good!), and Christmas decorations! BR and Jay would go crazy with the lights, decorations!! It's open every night until December 23 and on Saturday and Sunday all day...

Dan is in Barcelona for work and I will join him tomorrow evening until Sunday. I can't wait as I haven't been to Spain yet...

Happy Thanksgiving to all at home. If you over eat, use the excuse that you ate for Dan and I. As it's not a holiday here, I don't really feel like I am missing out while I was at work, but once I got home and turned on Fox News, my heart felt little empty. So does my stomach...I miss my Grandma's pumpkin pie right about now...

Thanks to all

Dan and I safely returned to Germany this morning. The return is always so hard, so we slept for a few hours this morning and unpacked. Dan already left for the Netherlands this afternoon and I return to work tomorrow.

My family, Dan, and I want to say thank you to our family and friends for all your support, prayers, love, and friendship over the past few months during my grandpa's illness, and in the past week or two after his passing. He was a wonderful man and is sorely missed. We all feel a little empty right now, but we know that someone is watching over us like never before.

On a positive note, the circle of life continues and we were blessed to be home last week as my girlfriend Sarah and her husband had their first child - a little boy, Aiden Jackson, came into the world on Wednesday, November 9. Luckily there was another good reason to be home... pictures to come.

USA! USA! USA!

Hey all,

We have been home for the week attending Kelli's grandpa's funeral. We are staying at Jay Boss' house for the week. Everyone is doing OK but very sad.

Hi Aunt Nancy,

D

Stachenblocken

One of the funniest things I have ever seen...


http://www.xtrablood.org/stackenblochen.mpeg

Picture Time

I have figured out how to post from my camera phone to the blog so here goes a few of the best I have taken so far.

I took this picture on the way to class this morning. There was a really cool fog. These trees are the ugliest on the planet in the Winter/Spring but are really cool in the Summer/Fall.

This was from a few weeks back walking back from German class. This is the main shopping area near our house.

This is is Heidelberg Castle about 45 minutes south from Wiesbaden.

The Switch

Accoding to a few people that I have talked to now, it seems as if there comes a point every year where Germany all of a sudden is warmer than Detroit. I think that happened this week.

Right now I am sitting outside at a cafe and it is about 74F and perfect. Right now it's about 40 in the D. During the summer we were stuck at about 75 - 80 while Detroit was around 90. Hopefully all winter is like this. We are going on our 9th month now and soon we will be able to say things like "It wasn't this warm/cold last year".....very strange.

Since I have had a lull in the amount of trips I have been taking, I have really stepped up my German classes to about three times per week for three hours each time.

Ich kann Deutsch sprechen aber noch nicht sehr gut. Ich habe jetzt neun Monate im Wiesbaden gewesen.

Was in Milan again last week. I had one of the best meals of my life at this restaurant halfway between Como and Milan (Restaurante Toscana). TONS of seafood of all types. The served grappa in this gigantic glass serving thing. I think I took some pictures with my camera phone. Grappa is good!

WJR

I guess it only makes sense...

The Great Voice of the Great Lakes matched up with the Greatest University in the Great Lakes.

If you haven't heard, WJR (U-M's beloved AM 760) is dumping Michigan Football and Basketball and will begin broadcasting MSU Football and Basketball next year!

http://www.detnews.com/2005/college/0510/14/D01-348280.htm

Spartan basketball on the radio from Chicago to Pittsburgh, the way it should be. I remember actually getting WJR when I lived in Philadelphia from time to time. I am sure that Brandy and Beckman will NOT be coming along.

It will be nice to hear George Blaha yelling "Touchdown, M - S - U!" while heading down the Ohio turnpike.

MSU 27 - OSU 25

bleepity, bleeping bleep

How can a channel bleep out the word "ass" during the day and then the same channel later that day (9pm to be exact) run Sex and the City with full nudity and a ton of F bombs all over the place?

I can't have Carrol Shelby talk about "added downforce to keep the ass-end of his car on the ground" but the slutty old chick on Sex and the City can parade around buck naked for half an hour?

Brits are strange.

Whether you are Red or Blue...

This is still pretty funny

Click here to see what the result of a Google search is when you type in the word "failure"

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=failure&btnG=Google+Search

try it for yourself...

www.google.com

Click on this

http://www.big-boys.com/articles/nakedhoops.html

Absolutely hilarious...

By the way, Flights to Germany right now are VERY cheap if you can be flexible with your days a little between now and Christmas.

Anyone have some extra vacation days they need to burn?

Travelocity was 345 USD round trip from Detroit

Mexican food found, Flights Booked

As many of you know, we have not been able to find Mexican food anywhere in Germany. Well, finally last night about 10 minutes from home, we found a FANTASTIC Mexican restaurant with real salsa, warm chips, and every kind of dish possible. We were in heaven last night.

Our flights are booked for Christmas. We come home the afternoon of Friday, December 16 and leave the afternoon of Tuesday, January 2. Christmas isn't far away...

German Drivers Licenses

Well, today we received our lovely German drivers licenses. This marks the official last paperwork detail of our arrival to Germany. Very interesting little pieces of plastic - we'll have to show them to you when we are home at Christmas. The thing that sucks is that they literally ripped away from us our US licenses. No rhyme or reason or rules- Wiesbaden takes them but Frankfurt doesn't. Crazy German rules. Sometimes they just don't make sense.

Jay Boss - can we rent a car with German licenses at Christmas??? We will have to go to the DMV to get new ones...

A couple more pics and a big GO GREEN!

This was dusk in our tent on Saturday

Hard to believe I won't be there for this game this weekend but since this should start to be a regular occurrence now, I will be able to watch us beat the crap out of Michigan in three years as well.

Check out what is going on at my old fraternity house today

Wish I could be there...this will be epic...

MSU 39 U-M 20

Kelli and I are off to Brussels this weekend. Got a really good deal at a SWEET hotel with wireless internet to watch the game tomorrow. It is a holiday weekend (German Unification Day - for when the wall fell - pretty cool) so we are off on Monday.

Here's one more photo from Oktoberfest, there are so many good ones.