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| Holy Crap, we're busy!! |
| 07.20.04 (2:26 am) [edit] |
Hello Folks!!! I know, Brian should be shot for leaving everyone hanging. Truth be known, he is working pretty hard. Since the girls have been here, he has been getting up at the arse crack of dawn to be at work by like 5:30 am and then he works til 1pm then goes home and takes care of the girls (of course, that usually means hanging out at the pool with them....hmmmm).
So, jOhnny, Lisa and Caitlin came to visit. We had a great time. We spent the fourth of July seeing the Aletsch Glacier and having a good ole cookout with hamburgers, chicken and HORSE. Yup, Mr. Ed was what's for dinner. jOhnny, Lisa, brian adn myself were quite pleased with the yumminess of it all.
Went to Rome for three days. The overnight train accomodations were quite an experience. But, hey, you gotta do it. Tiny, noisy, hotter than hell, but quite an experience. rome was HOT HOT HOT but really cool.
After the girls realized it is quite a bit of work to "travel" we opted not to go to Paris but to go to an amusement park this past weekend instead. Europa Park in southern Germany. Very cool. A good Disney ripoff but beautiful and lots of cool rides and rollercoasters.
WE also have confirmed that Tom adn Kat finally applied for their passports. That's a step in the right direction guys! Good job.
Oh well, i will try and get brian to put some pictures on this thing soon. i will send some emails with pics too.
miss you all.
karen and brian
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| Okay, guilty as accused! |
| 06.27.04 (10:20 pm) [edit] |
Alright - I am going to make a concerted effort to update this damn thing more often!
It really has been busy here - work is extremely hectic as we head into the final stages of commissioning the new plant. The weekends have been busy as well - here's a brief run down of this past weekend....
We started out Friday night watching Greece kick France's arse in the football quarter finals (semi-finals maybe? I'm not sure, I'm still trying to figure out the game and how teams are eliminated).
Saturday Karen and I headed to Sion with the girls to hike up to the Castle ruins:
Very cool castle - not too bad of a hike up there. The girls were pretty impressed.
Yesterday we took the train with some friends up to Zermatt to go on a hike. The temperature was perfect for a hike up there and we hiked around the base of the Matterhorn for about three hours stopping midway for a picnic lunch and a snowball fight when we came upon a random pile of remaining snow. A good time was had by all and we finished the day grilling up some ribs on our deck. Very relaxing day - I hated to see the weekend end.....
3 more days til John and his crew swarm in to leave a little more American influence on the Valais! We can't wait to see them and Elisa is very excited to be able to show off Switzerland to Caitlyn. For that matter, we're excited to show the area off to Johnny and Lisa as well!
Next week (July 5th) we are on holiday for a week! I can't wait - no work for 9 days! And to top it off we are going to head off to Rome with Johnny, Lisa and Caitlyn for 3 days of exploring another ancient city. It should be a good time and we are expecting to have many "blog-worthy" stories when we return.....
Anyhow, that's it for now - I really do have to get to work..... Til later -
Brian and Karen
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| Long lost......blogs |
| 06.14.04 (2:19 am) [edit] |
Okay, we stink at this blog thingy lately. Actually, we have been crazy busy. Elisa finally came to visit us on the 3rd of June, so things have been very very hectic but wonderful. Last week we had another catholic holiday on Thursday (which we spent at the big thermal pools by our house) and we went to Locarno Switzerland on Friday and Saturday. It started with a beautiful train ride through a spectacular gorge with the swiss alps on one side and the italian alps on the other. Locarno is at the northern tip of Lago Maggiore (Lago means lake). We had a great couple of days and took a boat back on Saturday. I will have Brian post some pictures.
It has been wonderful to have Elisa here. She is already learning German. Brittany will be here in about 2 weeks. I will tell you though, I thought just having two working adults in die Schweiz was hard!! Add in a child as well....wow, it is impossible. There is no way on a long term basis to have two working parents here. We need to do laundry and grocery shopping tonight. So, we both have to leave work early and I will go to the grocery store for day 1 of groceries (our grocery list is larger than I can carry by myself) and Brian will take the bus to pick Elisa up and get home as quickly as he can to get laundry in. Hopefully he can get there early enough that we can have enough time to do three loads of laundry tonight. I will finish the grocery shopping tomorrow after work. Ugh.
I will make sure Brian posts tomorrow including some nice pics from the weekend.
catch y'all later!
Karen and Brian
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| Amsterdam |
| 05.28.04 (4:44 am) [edit] |
Alrighty - finally a few minutes to update this damn thing!
We've been busy traveling again as you probably already know. Amsterdam this time - so I will try to condense 5 days into this entry.
We left last wednesday afternoon for the 'Dam from Geneva Airport. Getting through the line in the airport sucked - and believe it or not, my patience for waiting in lines has not improved one bit. We finally got checked in and left for a short (1 hour) flight. Got there, found the right bus pretty quickly and headed out to find our hotel.
We walked into the hotel which had been converted from an old house. Sounds quaint, until you realize that these old houses had no elevators, and VERY steep winding staircases. There were 18 rooms in the place and naturally we had room 18 - the worst climb in the hotel. Apparently our room used to be the attic - 8 feet wide with a ceiling that sloped at 45°. It was bizzarre feeling having to tilt your head at a 45° angle to be able to use the toilet. But I digress.
After dumping our bags we immediately set out to start exploring this wonderland of sin.....
First stop - coffeeshop for a , uhm, cappucino. Yeah. Then we set out walking in search of a place for dinner. The area we were in was LOADED with restaurants with almost any type of food you could think of - this led to the hosts having to work the street trying to lure in customers - it was kind of like being at a carnival and very entertaining. We gorged ourselves on Mexican food, walked around exploring a little more, found another coffeeshop and then decided to call it a day around midnight.
Thursday started with a quick breakfast and then we set out to find Van Moppes Diamond Factory (which was where Karen's Mom had gotten her diamond years earlier). We had a great time comparing stones, picking out settings etc, and then 3 hours later we left with me carrying the rock in my backpack with the understanding that I would surprise her with the ring when and where I wanted too. I didn't realize how nervous and paranoid I would be carrying it around though so I ended up taking Karen on a carriage ride later that day and proposed on the ride. This picture was taken shortly afterward.
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We grabbed a bite to eat and headed off to meet Panos and Jen at their hotel as they had arrived a day later than us. Found the hotel about 10 minutes before they arrived and headed back out into the city again, coffeeshop, dinner, watched the street entertainers, wandered a bit more and then went to our attic.....
Friday morning we set out for the Van Gogh museum - it was interesting and impressive although I am no big fan of Van Gogh. And the fact that every painting had 28 million people all straining to see didn't help either. We bailed out of there and headed out for a few Guiness on a beautiful deck overlooking the canals. Very relaxing. That night we headed out for a nighttime stroll through the infamous Red Light District. Hookers in windows - who'da thunk it?? You are strictly forbidden from taking pictures on those streets in the Red Light - many cameras (and bodies) have found their way into the canals for trying. So naturally, Karen needed pictures. One was a tame picture of the canal at night. I think the other is just a nice girl trying to work her way through college..... The quality isn't that good, but Karen was in stealth mode trying to get the picture from the window of a bar we were in. No, not THAT type of window!
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The next few days were filled with tons of fun - canal boat ride, comedy show, tons of good food, more "coffee", miles of walking..... We had one amazing steak dinner at a restaurant whose name I can not remember. The downstairs was full, but they had 4 extra tables upstairs in the attic. What is it with us, Amsterdam and attics? This is a shot of the stairs we had to climb to get to our table. And that our waiter had to climb carrying two dinner plates in each hand.....
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Some of you might remember the picture of me and the giant plastic crawfish in New Orleans. Well Karen and I have decided that when we travel to new cities we are going to take turns "posing" the other in front of the landmark of our choosing. The challenge is to find the most embarrassing poses. Here was my first choice for Karen's pose:
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Bad move for me to go first, because here is Karen's "revenge" photo:
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Sunday after a late breakfast we decided to get cheesy and headed off to Madame Toussaud's Wax Museum. I think the pictures will speak for themselves:
We have great respect for the current regime, as you can see.
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"Little red corvette......"
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"No woman, no cry... no woman, no cry..."
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I don't know what it is about Amsterdam that compels a person to have to pose with, in or on inanimate objects.... Oh wait. Yes, I do..... The same thing that compels one to eat french fries, falafels, donner kabobs, frosted waffles and Ben and Jerry's. This city is a junk food addict's paradise!
The architecture in Amsterdam was unlike anything I've ever seen. Way back in the day, the residents of the city were taxed based on the footprint of their house and the width of their front doors. Seriously. That is why most of the houses there are tall and skinny with tiny front doors. It also explains the stairwells, as the rooms were already small enough without wasting space on silly things like wide stairwells. The houses were also built at extremely odd angles so that the houses lean. Can anyone tell me why? Bueller? Bueller? Okay then - I'll tell you. It was because the damn doors and stairways were too narrow to move furniture in so everything had to be hoisted up the outside and in through the windows. The next picture isn't an optical illusion - check out the tilt on THIS house! Also, notice the huge "hooks" at the peak of the houses to attach the hoist to. All the houses have them to this day.
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So anyway. Last weekend was a 4 day weekend in Switzerland. This weekend is a 3 day weekend. DAMN I love all the Catholic holidays in this region!
I'm tired of typing. You are undoubtedly tired of reading this mindless drivel so I will leave you with this picture. Ciao'.
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| Blogalicious |
| 05.19.04 (1:25 am) [edit] |
Okay - I've snubbed all our beloved followers. I have no excuse other than work has been too busy and our internet connection at home is slower than smoke signals....
So follow me, my little lemmings, into today's blog entry.
First of all to recap last weekend - we spent last Saturday roaming around Thun which is quickly becoming my favorite village in Switzerland. Tons of stores, restaurants, canals - very fun to just waste the day away. On top of which the weather was absolutely perfect all day long. Saturday night I went to see a great funk band on Saturday night with Panos and his wife (Karen stayed home with a migraine). GREAT band - horrible name - "Dr. Best Goes Funky". It was a lot of fun just to see live music again. There just isn't much of a bar band scene in our area at all. Although we are at the beginning of the festival season where there are endless outdoor music festivals ever month of the summer, so we will be hitting our fair share of them, I'm sure.
Sunday was spent on our first real mountain hike as Karen described earlier. I don't have much to add except that you don't understand true humility until you've been passed on the trail 3 times by the same 80 year old couple. We would race to get ahead of them (to try and save face) but without fail they would pass us by again as we stopped for one of our many breaks! These people over here are in SHAPE at any age - we are such sorry, fat Americans!
Work this week has been, well, work. It sucks. 'Nuff said.
Which brings me to today. Thursday and Friday are holidays here (God I love the holiday system here!). In 1 hour we will be on a train headed for the airport and by dinner we will be in Amsterdam! Panos and his wife decided today to join us on our excursion and are wrapping up their travel details as we speak. Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Red Light District, China Town, Canal Tour, Cafe's - these are just a few of the things we plan to cram into the next 5 days. It should be a blast and I can't wait to get the HELL out of this office and start the vacation!
And by the way - I forgot my phone when I packed this morning so if you call me at all between now and next Monday, I will not get your message. Karen has her cell phone though, if anyone needs to reach us.
And I guess that is all for today, so I will leave you with this - http://www.ebaumsworld.com/be...
Ciao'
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| Duped..... |
| 05.17.04 (4:01 am) [edit] |
Yes, folks, even I was duped by Blue. I figured I would just read and not need to write!!
So.....Kill Bill 2 was awesome. Strangely enough, even though we made the standard reservations for seats at the Kino (cinema...your german lesson for today) there were only 10 out of 200 seats occupied. Hmmmmm. Do you think they don't like the Kino, or just don't understand Tarantino.....hmmmm...i'll have to think about that for a while. Even with the small amount of German I know, the german subtitles just did NOT do justice to the dialogue. Hast du Angst, Timmah?
We went to Thun on Saturday. Really great day of walking around the town, ate THAI food!! Woohoooo. Brian actually saw a real live band Saturday night. I had a migraine...no,...I really did.
Sunday we went on our first Swiss Alps hike. This was designated as an easy trail. Although Brian tried to phone three times for a medivac, a nice old 90 year old couple offered to carry Brian to the next town. Yeah, for real. There were white haired folks all over the trail passing us like we were standing still!!! We were huffing and puffing and sweating. It was beautiful though. We took one wrong turn and ended up going over the top of a mountain instead of on the trail around the outside of it. Not wholly my fault though.... We'll have some pictures soon. I even took a picture of the 90 year old couple that was on my butt while I was dying trying to get up a hill. Sad, very sad.
Two days until Amsterdam!!! Yes, we need a vacation.
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| I love our friends! |
| 05.12.04 (5:51 am) [edit] |
Can I just say, thank god for you guys. I love that you guys make me laugh all the time with your comments. Yes, people here think I am very weird because I laugh at my computer all the time, but that's okay.
The weather finally got better, back to the 60s low 70s. I worked from home yesterday and enjoyed sitting European style on the balcony with my laptop. Quite a new experience. I am getting very used to this type of sunbathing. I can see a big problem, however, with these new found habits in the back yard in Dover.
I CAN'T WAIT TO GO TO AMSTERDAM!!!! 7 days baby.
Can I also say how much I am enjoying the Craving SASS CD? Believe it or not, it is a good workout CD. It is funny though to hear screams and singing and howling in the background and know exactly who it is. Yes, I started working out again. Both of us did. We are realizing that a day hike on a 10,000 foot mountain is not like a walk along the beach and we just may be out of shape enough for it to kill us.
We are going to the MOVIES tonight!!!! I feel like a 9 year old getting to go out like a grown up. You wouldn't think it would be that damn exciting to go see a movie. We are seeing Kill Bill 2 (I know, that's old). BUt it is in english!! I am so happy. We'll let you know how it goes.
Until tomorrow......
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| Alright, fine |
| 05.06.04 (6:28 am) [edit] |
I am the worst blogger in the world. I promise you daily servings of blogalicious goodness and then deliver nothing. All I can say is thank you for falling into my evil trap of blogginess.
I figured once I had you all hooked on needing your daily blog "fix" that I would be able to use your addiction to my own advantage, so as of tomorrow this blog will become a pay site and your credit cards will all be charged $21.99 per month for unlimited access. I think it's worth it. If you pay for the yearly discounted membership rate of $199 you will also receive the password to my soon to be released website - "www.holycrapkarenburnedherboo bsagain.com".
Anyhow, as previously mentioned, not a whole lot going on here at the moment. Work, homelife, etc. Oh. The weather just couldn't SUCK enough lately. Seems like all it has done is rain for a week. Til last night when it started SNOWING. WTF is up with that - it IS the 6th of May after all! Oh, I'm sorry. Did I say "snow"? What I meant to say was BLIZZARD. As in "complete white-out". You couldn't see 10 feet beyond our deck. Hell, you could barely see the deck. I meant to take pictures of the storm to post here, but I was too lazy to find the camera. Instead I drew you these "before and after" pictures. The first one was taken (in my head) in the early afternoon. The second was taken (in my head) at about 10pm last night.
BEFORE:
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AFTER:
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There. Consider yourself "blogged". Now get over it and get the hell back to work.
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| Layin' Low |
| 05.05.04 (6:40 am) [edit] |
Hallo Zusammen (a typical swiss greeting....this is your first lesson)
I know, you have been blogless. We apologize. We are being 100% complete slugs. Actually, it is mostly because there has been NOTHING going on, which we greatly appreciate.
Mom and Nick left on Monday morning. It was so great having them. WE had an amazing Swiss dinner on sunday night and had to roll each other home. Other than that, it has been laundry and cleaning the house.
I finished Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (same author as Da Vinci Code) and it was an awesome book. I highly recommend it!
Brian is now a Visp employee!!! OMIGOD, it only took 8 months. So that chapter is finally history. Many of you know the long horrible saga.
We are soooo looking forward to our trip to Amsterdam on the 19th. Two weeks away!!! We are also looking forward to Elisa coming on June2 and Brittany and jOhnny, Lisa and Caitlin on July 1!!!!
No big plans right now for this weekend. Sorry our lives are not more exciting right now....but we are okay with that for a short while.......
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| I got it. |
| 04.27.04 (2:40 am) [edit] |
Yup, I succumbed to the Brian virus. I believe there are expandable organisms in my lungs making it hard to breathe AND some sort of alien in my sinuses. You know I am sick when I stayed home from work yesterday and DID NOT go out on the deck in the beautiful sunshine. On the couch the WHOLE day!
After yet another challenging grocery experience, we relaxed on Saturday adn Sunday. Sunday was perfect in teh high 70's with no clouds and we sunned most of the day on teh deck. I'll have you know that I attempted teh European style of sunbathing. It was good except that my two friends became slightly red. Still are. Not the best feeling in the world.
I'll try to recover this week. My friends are recovering nicely as well.
Later.
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| Pat Boone's a Jackass! |
| 04.21.04 (11:18 pm) [edit] |
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Okay - I couldn't let this one go without posting.
According to an article today in the Washington Times http://washingtontimes.com/na... - "Censorship in arts 'healthy,' Boone says"
"I don't think censorship is a bad word, but it has become a bad word because everybody associates it with some kind of restriction on liberty," said Mr. Boone.
I have come to expect crap like that from the mouth of our President, but COME ON Pat. You're an (alleged) artist. Don't spout censorship nonsense like that just because you need the press!
I took the liberty of finding Pat's website where he currently hawks the stylish recordings of Merv Griffin, ShaNaNa and The Lettermen, among others. This is the link to his website - http://www.patsgold.com/index...
Through the website there is a "Contact" page. I think you should ALL write him and let him know what you think about censorship and his need to try and impose his morals on society.
I need to say it one more time. Pat Boone's a JACKASS!
That is all.
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| Skulls, Skulls everywhere |
| 04.21.04 (10:41 pm) [edit] |
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I think this cold/flu I have may get the best of me and it may be time for me to reserve a spot on this pile of skulls for my own. That way you all have a place to come and visit my remains.....
This is actually a picture of the Ossuary we discovered around the corner from our apartment. I know the skulls look fake, but I assure you they are real. The only information I can find online says that it is primarily an "overflow" area for local cemetaries which are emptied on occasion to make room for the new arrivals..... There is a large space behind this "wall" of skulls which is filled with more skulls, bones and religious artifacts. There is rumored to be over 20K skulls in this room..... The room is heavily locked and you can't get in.
Damn... I actually feel better today than I have all week thanks to Karen playing nurse to me, though.
Anyhow, not much of an update here - not much has happened this week except for work and I'm sure you don't want to hear about that. We cancelled our trip to Florence this week - we figured that 2 1/2 days wouldn't be enough time to see everything we want to see and we also discovered that we can go for 1/3 of the price if we hold off until this summer. This weekend we are just going to stay local and maybe do an overnight to Lausanne or Bern.....
We did however book our plans for our 5 day Amsterdam/Rotterdam/The Hague tour next month. We have yet ANOTHER 4 day weekend off from work which we are going to stretch to 5 so we have plenty of time to trek through the canals of the Netherlands.....
"And I said what about Breakfast at Tiffany's, she said I think I remember the movie, as I recall I think we both kinda liked it, and I said well that's one thing we've got....." Sorry. That song was just playing on the radio and it reminded me of this old seacoast band I used to hang out with!
The weather here is really nice right now (mid-70's and sunny) after a week of crap weather. We may go out after work today and get a few lounge chairs for the deck in preparation for a lazy weekend in the sun....
Anyhow, I spoke to Troy and congratulated him on his screenplay contest - I'm going to have so many famous friends by the time you are all done with your various creative projects! Don't forget me when you are all rich and rubbing elbows with famous directors and music promoters!
Somebody send me an email and let me know how the practice for the May/June shows are going - I'd love to hear how things are working out with Scanlon on Bass.
Tonight is "hippie jam band night" across the street from us. For weeks I thought we were just making noise, but last week the owner asked us to move upstairs from the basement into the restaurant to play in exchange for beers. I guess that counts as a paying gig, doesn't it?? I am now the official bongo player. Look out Phish!
Well, I gots to go work for da' man. Be well!
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| I Hate Mondays |
| 04.19.04 (3:55 am) [edit] |
Well, Brian and my mom seem to have caught this death cold. Hmmmmm, that's kind of coincidental, don't you think? Oh man, I am awful, but I thought I would say it because I know all of you are thinking it anyway!! And guess what, as usual, Brian is a whiny crybaby. He really does sound awful though. I am taking good care of him.
So, it's Monday and rainy outside. The clouds are hanging so low that you would never know there are mountains on either side of us. All you can see is gray.... Kind of a downer. Of course, it is snowing on the moutains.
The weekend was good. We went to the Thermal Baths on Saturday and had a nice chinois fondue dinner Saturday evening and then Brian and I met up with a bunch of people from work to go dancing. Pretty good dance club (there is only one in the whole Valais...). We got REALLY drunk though and tried to bike home. I thought I was going to kill myself for sure. I could not bike in a straight line. Somehow we made it home though!
Sunday was a hangover reading day for me and Brian had a sick day in bed. His hangover was gone by noon.
Now we are back working for da man!
Mom and Nick are attempting laundry this morning. The first time our actual time slot will be used. We will see how they make out.
We are probably going to Florence Italy this weekend. My mom and Nick are heading to Rome tomorrow and then to Florence on Friday. I miss everyone!!!
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| The awards keep piling up |
| 04.14.04 (11:54 pm) [edit] |
I've just been notified that our humble little slice of electronic heaven has been awarded the "Albert Einstein Says Stop Screwing Around And Get Back To Work!" award.
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This is where I would type my acceptance speech, but I have to get back to work.......
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| A few more pictures |
| 04.14.04 (11:23 pm) [edit] |
Here is Karen Sporting her "Trophy"! The guy in the floppy hat is Jason our Australian tour guide and owner of "The Crawl". Directly behind Karen is Jason's partner in crime - "English John"......
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This is a group of new friends from the tour - sadly I can't remember their names. I blame Jason and the beer for this! We promised to post this picture for them, so here it is!
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Here is Karen, her folks and me. And beer.
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| We're back! |
| 04.13.04 (5:27 am) [edit] |
What a weekend! Munich kicks ass! You will notice that most of this Blog revolves around Beer. That is because all of Munich revolves around Beer and Beer culture....
What a great city - museums, palaces, tons of history everywhere you look and the beer gardens. OH the beer gardens! This is a city that takes it's beer and weisswurst (white sausage) VERY seriously.
We arrived early Thursday afternoon and had some sausage, sauerkraut and beer for dinner. Thursday was a fairly early night - after 8 hours of trains we were all pretty wiped out.
Friday we toured around the city center, saw the palace (Residenz), went to the art museum and hefted a few beers as big as your head! The beauty of Bavarian beer is that they actually have "purity laws" which allow them to only use 5 ingredients in their beer (hops, barley, malt, yeast and water). No crap in your beer = little to no hangover. In fact, I think the sauerkraut put a hurting on me FAR worse than the beer!
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Saturday Karen took her parents and me on a forced death march up a mountain in a snowstorm to see King Ludwigs's Castle.... King Ludwig nearly bankrupted Bavaria back in the day building these elaborate castles until he was found dead one day under VERY mysterious circumstances. It WAS a very impressive Castle once we got there but that still didn't stop us from busting Karen's ass for the journey we had to undertake to see it!
Saturday night Karen and I went on a guided tour http://thecrawl.beertour.de/w... of the beer halls and gardens with a group of about 40 people. First we had a lesson on the proper way to hold a liter (It's NOT a teacup you f*ck!) then a bit of history talk from our Australian tour guide. A liter at each of 3 different beer halls and THEN we stayed out with our new friends til around 4am at some crazy Irish bar.
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Karen won the highly coveted and well earned "Best Drinker" award - a beer "coozie". In the words of our tour guide at the beginning of the night "You are out of the contest if you fall down, throw up, spill a beer, pass out or just generally make a "f*ck" of yourself"! The tour's logo promotes it as "The best night you'll never remember". They were right!
We got off to a bit of a slow start on Easter Sunday (due to the "crawl" the night before) but eventually made it to the Deutches Museum which is a HUGE science and technology museum. It was like the Boston Museum of Science but much bigger and much better. Actually it was like what the Boston Museum wants to be like when it grows up. You could spend 2 days in this building and STILL not see everything.
Easter dinner consisted of slow-roasted "pig knuckles" and - you guessed it - beer. The swine was unbelievably good and we were all uncomfortably full when we finished stuffing our faces. Then we went out for - more beer.....
Beer is not considered "alcohol" in Germany. It is considered a "beverage" and is taxed and regulated in the same manner as a can of Pepsi. The drinking age is 16 (14 if the kids are with their parents) BUT they also have some VERY strict drunk driving laws and such good public transportation that most people would never even consider trying it anyhow. The US could take a lesson.... But I digress.
We ended our Munich weekend with a few hours in the world famous Hofbrauhaus. THE beerhall that the rest of the world views as a "typical" German beerhall. It's not. But it IS a buttload of touristy fun and revelry! Picture 500+ drunk tourists drinking liters and singing "Sweet Home Alabama" to the music being played by an Oom-pah band and you have an idea of the type of scene we had plunged ourselves into!
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It was a blast and we met some great folks at our table including a young guy who had just returned from 330 days in Iraq. He was with the Airborne division that parachuted in to secure the airfields on day 4 of the war. We bought him a beer - whether you agree with the war or not you HAVE to agree that this kid earned his beer! He swapped war stories with Karen's dad who was in Germany in '52-'54. What a time warp!
That about hits all the highlights of our trip - more stories to come as we remember them and we'll have pictures out to you all soon....
Be good!
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| Here's a list |
| 04.06.04 (11:06 pm) [edit] |
Wow, it's been 70 days since I left the US. Here's a list of 10 things we've done here that we never would have done in the States (in no particular order):
1. Went sledding at 9000 feet.
2. Stood in front of the Cathedral in Milan.
3. Watched 16 year olds drink in a bar - legally.
4. Toured 4 castles (so far).
5. Went to a gay bar with Tim.
6. Drank coffee on the porch at the foot of the Alps.
7. Almost passed out from altitude at 12,500 feet.
8. Climbed down inside a glacier.
9. Ate horse.
10. Drank in the streets at Carnival.
Random, I know, but it was all running through my head on the train coming to work this morning......
"She smelled exactly like beef vegetable soup" - I watched "Axe Murderer" last night again. Does that movie EVER stop being funny??
There won't be any posts after today (until next Tuesday). Karen and I are leaving for Munich in the morning to spend 4 days. We have Friday and Monday off for the Easter holiday. God I LOVE the holidays here!
Ciao'!
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| Hey Wilbur..... |
| 04.05.04 (11:18 pm) [edit] |
I went to the cafeteria for lunch yesterday and chose the pork and pasta. I was 50% right - it WAS pasta. The meat wasn't pork though. I found out after that it was horse. Yup. It was good.
Horse - the other OTHER white meat. It's not just for breakfast anymore.
Just thought you should know.
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| What's more fun than two cows fighting? |
| 04.05.04 (4:11 am) [edit] |
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What's more fun than two cows fighting? TEN cows fighting!
We arrived around 11am to the cowfights in time for the first "Battle Royale" of the day! I thought we were going to this little event to see a handful of cows fight two at a time. Boy was I wrong! Turns out that this is a HUGE event (huge for this area anyway). There were thousands of the local Swiss there for this bovine battle. And 10 Americans.....
And the cows don't fight two at a time, oh no. They stick 10 pissed-off cows at a time into this big ring where they stomp their feet and posture for a few minutes while sizing up their opponents. THEN the fun begins - these cows lock horns, grunt, push, shove and try to intimidate their opponents into backing down until half of them are eliminated by the judges and the other half move on to the next level of competition.... It is mass confusion and fun as hell to watch!
Occasionally some of the cows would lose their bearings and charge through the piece of ROPE separating the fans from the cows. We were standing right up front (naturally) and as a result Kim Keyser ended up with about a liter of cow snot all over her jacket! I wish we had a picture of it - it was disgusting!
Speaking of disgusting - here's one for you:
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All of this entertainment PLUS beer and bratwurst just a few steps away at the booths behind us. It was kind of like Market Square Day but with pissed off cows instead of rude tourists from Massachusetts. Come to think of it, it was JUST LIKE Market Square Day.
If I live to be a hundred, I may never see as bizarre a cultural event as this one.....
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| Edgar Winter at the Cowfights |
| 04.05.04 (3:51 am) [edit] |
So THIS is where Edgar Winter went into hiding......
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| Pictures on Monday |
| 04.02.04 (3:45 am) [edit] |
Here's a teaser for some photos I plan on taking this weekend.... A few days ago we discovered an "Ossuary" next to the church about 2 minutes from our apartment. It is a wall inside a little chapel built from thousands of human skulls and bones. This is all the info I could find online:
[i]The ossuary, dating from 1514, is a two-floor, late-Gothic building with a saddle roof and open turret. Against a wall in the crypt chapel is a pile of 1500 skulls. These remains were not the local victims of epidemics or wars, but those of the deceased for whom the cemetery was simply too small. Before the wall of skulls there stands a group of baroque crucifixes and above them the inscription: "What you are, we were; what we are, you will be."
At the end of November 1985 restorators found in the ossuary behind a wall of piled up bones and skulls, a trove of statues, tablets (ex-voto) and other reliquaries. [/i]
and this:
[i]It is of interest that each church usually has associated with it a cemetery in which the graves are kept decorated, often with beautiful designs of fresh or artificial flowers. Members of succeeding generations of families are said to be buried one above the other to a depth of many feet. Then, after a sufficient number of generations have been so honored, their bodies are exhumed to make a place for present and coming generations. These skeletons are usually preserved with honor and deference. The bones are stacked in basements of certain buildings of the church edifice with the skulls facing outward. These often constitute a solid wall of considerable extent. In Naters there is such a group said to contain 20,000 skeletons and skulls.[/i]
It's really bizarre - I promise pictures next week!
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| Big Ol' Castle in Sion...... |
| 04.01.04 (4:25 am) [edit] |
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| Milan |
| 03.30.04 (10:50 pm) [edit] |
I guess this city falls in the category of "Places I'm glad I saw once even though I can't find a single reason to go back".
It was cool hanging out with Tim for the day despite the fact that it is a big, sprawling, dirty, noisy, police filled city. Maybe I'm just becoming jaded from living in a quiet little village....
The upside was that we got to see some incredibly cool, old paintings that were 400-600 years old. Unlike other museums I've been in, these paintings were not covered by glass or restricted by barriers. You could stand close enough to these works of art to see the individual brush strokes.... Amazing!
We nearly had to break into the Swiss Embassy to retrieve my passport that I left with them in the morning - I needed to have a Work Visa affixed to my passport. Normally no big deal BUT the Swiss Embassy's hours are 9am-Noon. That's it - 9-noon. They told me to come back at 2pm to pick up my Passport/Visa. A smarter man would have seen a problem with that right off the bat, but sadly I am NOT a smarter man and ended up nearly having to launch a siege to retrieve my passport. Many thanks to Tim for his pounding on glass and attracting enough attention to get us in the office!
We ended the day with the BEST chinese dinner that either Tim or I had ever had in our lives - it was delicious! We were also able to toast with the large, drunken table of Chinese people at the table next to us and were warmly received by Mr. Fu Rong Hui who is the "Advanced Advisor Vice-President and Professorial Senior Engineer for the Second Highway Survey and Design Institute of the Ministry of Communications". I swear to you THAT was the title on the business card he passed to Tim and I. I want a title like THAT!
The day ended with an espresso and a mad dash for the train (as usual). I hate saying goodbye to our visitors....
This Sunday is the Kuhkampf. You guessed it - it's time for the Cowfights here in the Valley. "Let's get ready to RUMBLE!!!" Picture the WWF, but with cows, wine and beer. And cheese. Hell, don't even try to picture it - I'll give you a picture:
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If THAT isn't a recipe for "fun", well then I don't know what is.....
I gots to work for da' man - more later!
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| Clink and Swirl |
| 03.29.04 (10:32 pm) [edit] |
So,
We will miss Tim very much. What a great week. Tim and Brian are exploring Milan today. The week has been filled with Strange, possibly gay, bars, castles full of REALLY old stuff, lots o' beer.
Here is the way NOT to pour a proper WeissBier
1. jump up and down
2. clink and swirl
It just doesn't work folks. Trust me on that. Pictures to follow.
Went to the market in Domodossola on Saturday. Had a great lunch. Brian's italian stinks )kind of like his german). Tim did pick up a nice new fresh from the sea decoration for his body and mind. It's a local favorite. He has been wearing it all weekend and it is starting to smell a bit..... ask him about it. maybe he will show you.
What else, let's see.....Tim and Karen teamed up to provide a fabulous five star gourmet dinner for friends on Saturday night. Tim's chicken Marsala rocks!!! But alas, it was an early, laid back evening. Our theory is it was the drunken 2:15am night before or there was a competing dinner party starting at 11pm that night. You decide.
Mom and Nick are coming tomorrow and weep, weep, weep, Tim flies home tomorrow. Brian is getting very excited for the cow fights this weekend. yes, the cow fights. More on that later.......
Love you all,
Karen and Brian
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| Another award! This website rocks! |
| 03.24.04 (11:29 pm) [edit] |
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Not to be outdone by the cast of "Who's The Boss", JJ Walker http://www.dynomitejj.com/fro... has jumped on the bandwagon and is endorsing this website with the "Most Dyn-o-mite Blog In The World" Award.
Hollywood insiders are reporting that JJ has not left his house in 17 days. He is allegedly glued to his computer screen, constantly hitting the "refresh" button in hopes of being the first person to read my updates.
Good Times!
Once again, I am deeply honored and at a loss for words.
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