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