Glasnost, Perestroika etc.

Just had one of the coolest experiences of my life.

I am in Barcelona (North of actually, near the French border in the Pyrenees) and I am talking to the guy that handles business for my company in Lithuania and Estonia. After a couple of Coca-Colas the guy tells me that he used to be an officer in the Soviet Army in the 70's and 80's. We talked about Russian military discipline for about two hours. He honestly is one of the coolest dudes I have ever met. I still felt a little Bond-ish.....

6 days and I will be in Comerica Park. It is official, I will be at the Town Pump downtown by 3. Please come have a drink, I'll be the one with the smile on my face!

d

aaaawwww!

This is Tom and Chloe. I am not the normal "that is sooo cute" guy, but this is pretty damn cute. Julie is Tom's wife and was one of Kelli's bridesmaids. She looks very much like her mom, sorry Tom.

Those eyes are killer. There are gonna be some broken hearts in East Lansing someday.

Off to Barcelona on Monday. Kelli and I will be in Venice next weekend and then i'll be in the good ole USA for two weeks.

For those that care, I plan on setting up shop at the Town Pump (behind Hockeytown) downtown on May 2nd before heading to the Tiger game that night. This will most likely be my only game this year so I have to roll everything into one....Oberon, Oberon, Oberon, Oberon!

Greece

Hands down - best place we have been yet

Weather + Scenery + People + Food = Best

Not only was the place beautiful, the people were so warm and kind. Everyone went out of their way to say hello, ask where we were from, welcome us and then say that we need to come back and visit "their" part of Greece as there are many. Greeks are very proud of their country, as most of us Detroiters know, and I (we) can both say now that it is with VERY good reason.

The history of Athens just knocks your socks off. To be thinking of where you are standing from time to time really puts a lot of things in perspective. You can not walk a block or two without running into an archaeoligical site. The difference here is that the site is in the middle of a neighborhood surrounded by cafes and shops.

Our cruise took us to the islands of Poros, Hydra and Aegina. Hydra was by far the most beautiful and since it was about 28C (80F) it felt a little like a Cancun, Hawaii, Mackinac Island in the summer hybrid.

I will let the pics speak for themselves but we took over 100, this is only a small portion. Enjoy

Kelli in front of the original Olympic Stadium from 1896 - pretty tight corners

Kelli found this and had to get a photo with it - as if we all did not know!

The Temple of Zeus with the Acropolis in the background

This Pillar fell down in the 1800's

The Plaka - see the Acropolis in the bakground?

Me in front of the Parthenon

Looking down on one of the ancient theaters surrounding the Acropolis

Me with the Temple of Zeus in the background - taken from the Acropolis

Temple to Athena and Poseidon

Statue of Poseidon in the Agora with an imposing sky

Kelli before Ouzo

Kelli after Ouzo

Beautiful sky and view in Syntagma square in the heart of Athens

Kelli and I have branched out to the shoe Industry apparently - I can understand "Boss" shoes but "Rankin" shoes?

The view from our hotel room at night - ridiculous!

The view of the Acropolis and the Parthenon from our hotel room on Saturday morning

Poros looking down from the Clock Tower

No motorized vehicles on Hydra - only burros - kind of a Greek Mackinac Island

Hydra - That is our cruise ship on the right

On Hydra during the cruise

Hydra

The Parade to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Standing at Attention

The Flea Market

The Final night in front of Parliament

RBI Baseball

This is one of the greatest things I have ever seen.
To all fans of RBI Baseball (the OLD Nintendo game), this guy sync'd up Game 6 audio from Game 6 of the 1986 World Series to RBI. This must have taken forever. Enjoy

Kelli and Wolfgang at Oktoberfest

Kelli and Wolfgang at Oktoberfest

Opa!

Off to Greece tomorrow for the long weekend. We are staying in Athens and taking a cruise out to the islands of Hydra, Phobos and Aegina.

Lots of pics next week.

Over the weekend, our friend Tim took us to the US Military Commissary in Wiesbaden. We've got a pantry load of Captain Crunch, JIF Peanut Butter, Spray Butter, Fruity Pebbles, Spagghettios etc. I think we spent around 180 bucks.

My payment for Tim taking us there was to make a trip to Hooter's in Neunkirchen on Monday with Tim and my other buddy Scottie. That's right, Hooter's! It is the real deal, same menu, same outfits and yes, the EXACT same wings! Right now it's the only one in Germany and it's about a one hour drive. Apparently they're opening a few more this year throughout the country.

Grand Theft Opel

Kelli's car was stolen sometime in between midnight on Saturday and this morning from the street in front of our house. She only had a few CDs in there so not much was lost, luckily.

We spent the morning at the Wiesbaden Police Office and filed our report in broken German with a little English. I think the police can speak English but are told or decide not to, just a hunch.

She gets her new car tomorrow so not that big of a deal. Thank God for company cars, I can't imagine what a headache this would be if this was our personal car.

Tigers opening day today!

Predictions:
81-81 Tied for third in the AL Central with the Twins
MVP will be Placido Polanco
World Series Champs - Cubs over A's

Ich bin krank

That means "I am sick" to my non-Deutsch laden friends.

I have been sequestered on the couch all day chugging water and seriously depleting our supply of Tylenol Cold and Cold-eeze. Oh well, need to rest up as my travel schedule gets a little crazy for the next two months.

This week, Amsterdam and Paris, next week, Athens, then Barcelona, then Venice and then exotic Cleveland, Ohio. The day that I land, i'll be at the Tiger game (the night of May 2nd) (Kansas City) for anyone that wants to meet up but I am then off to Cleveland for the next week. I'll have some time in the D later the following week but unfortunately this will be a working trip.

The weather has changed here pretty much since Brian and Cory left two weeks ago. We get two hours rain, two hours partly cloudy, repeat. And the thermostat seems to be stuck at 12C (55F). I am getting damn good at that conversion.

Hopefully you enjoyed the Spartan videos I linked to below. Helps tide me over until the 2006-2007 season.