With my days in London rapidly coming to an end, I started my European Farewell (for the moment) Tour in the Kingdom of Luxembourg. Why Luxembourg? Because Ryan and Secil got a Wii.
In keeping with tradition after a "heart breaking" Friday night with Willie and the boys, Ryan and I took a little road trip on Saturday- again the great thing about Luxembourg is that it's so small you can be like, "ah crap we missed the exit and we've got to go to France!"

So we ended up in France and decided visit Verdun- site of one of the bloodiest trench battles of WWI. I tell you, I can't get enough of that Wii bowling- I'm now a nearly a pro on two continents (and not a shabby tennis player). So, after an amazing dinner ofmeat and cheese for the Americans and patatos for the Irish-we burned a few calories on the lanes with a little battle of the sexes Wii bowling before a big night out...


Thanks again Mac and SeChill for hosting a great weekend and here's hoping it's not too long before we're all back together again in Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuer.

Happy New Year…

so it’s been a good, busy couple of months and my life has slipped into what I guess is a bit of a routine. September/October was not a very exciting period of time. Go to work- work. Come home- work on applications. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat…

With that out of the way, and fate out of my hands, in November I was able to get away for another great weekend trip to Amsterdam with the usual cast of characters and a few special guests.

December’s first stop was Barcelona, the front runner for my next hop, where I spent a long weekend trying to decide if it could provide the suitable backdrop for the next few years of my life- Visca Catalunya! December also saw my annual homecoming. But before touching down in Seattle, I stopped over in Chicago for 2 nights in the mid-western winter wonderland with Chris and Monica.Then to the mild, grey and gloom of Seattle for the Griswald family christmas.

(Good thing Kona was there or it would have been awkward being the 7th wheel...)

NYE was back in London- no pictures and not a lot of memories, but very good.

And the new year for me? Probably see a bit of the world, spend some time at home, and start a new adventure… tbc

Here’s wishing you a Happy New Year and hoping to see you soon.

"If you look in a mirror and see a crooked mug; it's not the mirror, it's the mug." Russian proverb.

So, how do you like your bleakness? Broad avenues?

glorious city squares?
vibrant nightlife?

romantic canals?

luxury accommodations?

or courteous motorists?Okay, to be honest, St Petersburg was impressive, and beautiful like I had heard... but it just didn't feel like Russia. Although, there certainly wasn't a lack of impressive buildings:

and amazing landscape and luxurous palaces:

Due to the intense language barrier and the Frommer's guide having consistently failed us, we were reduced to using the map at the train station to try to figure out how to get to Moscow.hmm, now if only I could read Russia... surely the ticket lady can help, no? okay, maybe we'll try again tomorrow... Two days later, with tickets in hand, we boarded out chariot to Mockba...

Okay, now were talking, that's a little better- that train sure wasn't rushin' anywhere, but it sure felt Russian!. Hmmm, that's not funny. From the train I got a look at the country side. Bleak yes, but not necessarily Russian. Kind of reminded me of Canada.
Despite Frommer's best effort to deter us, we quickly found our flat in Moscow and hit Red Square for an intimate night viewing.

The next morning it didn't quite look the same... Red Square? more like street color square.
"Oh, wait, what's that Frommy? 'Red' refers to the middle-ages when that word meant 'beautiful.' Cool." In fairness, we did get that one gem from the book.
Now this is RUSSIA! And as Chris aptly pointed out, "a view like this really takes you back to the days when all you heard on the news was, "This is Andrea Mitchell, reporting live, from the Kremlin. '"
Everything was better in Mockba- the sights, the city, and the nightlife! ;)

Even my Russian was better by the time we got to Moscow- "Piva big", "Metro?" and I'm pretty sure that says McDonalds...
We had an interesting visit to the Revolution Museum (recently renamed the State Museum of Contemporary Russian History) where we learned a lot about how things weren't too bad living under the ideals of the Bolsheviks and that life in the USSR wasn't that bad either. Yah, quit your complaining Lativia.

These were pretty good...

On the recommendation of our good friend Rick, we took the metro out of town a bit. Say as far as zone 3 in London or, I don't know, Tacoma from Seattle... bleakness.Without a doubt, Moscow joined the ranks of my most favorite cities. You can look at the people- even those my age- and just imagine how very different their life must have been from that of their western counterpart. Great city, great people.

I want to thank Rick Steves for contining to host information on his website after his Russia book had gone of publication. I want to thank the department story in Prague for selling me the cool old guy hat. And I want to thank the Russians for learning just enough English to allow me to negotiate a visa from their embasey in London; understand that I'm lost; explain that I really do want to order a side of mashed patatos with that thing that turned out to be a fancy mashed patato entree; order beer and vodka; and say spaseebaa to the nice young ladies.

Before catching our flight, we hit the square only last time, paid our respects to Lenin, and declared victory over the Russians! (maybe I shouldn't have said that)

Doing a little homework...

Like the diligent student I hope to be, I spent last week in Eastern Europe preparing for my forthcoming Russian linguistics and social science test.

Step 1: Form a study group.

(with big al and the beef in Prague)

With Alan wrapping up the final leg of European tour with me in Eastern Europe, we were able to get the Beef on board for one wild night in Praha.

Beef hit the road back to Germany first thing on Sunday, leaving us to a little independent study of Czech culture.

Step 2: Get to know the locals

After a night train from Prague to Krakow, I was pretty excited to enjoy a little polish sunshine. As you may recall my last trip to Krakow in Januaryish left me seriously frostbitten. The nightlife was as interesting as I remembered it. I had the pleasure of exchanging tales of loneliness with a nice young lady who shared the pain of trying to meet nice eastern european ladies... no pics, just one interesting story.

While Alan took a trip to Auschwitz, I decided to visit a few alternative sites I missed on the last trip. After a long walk out of the center, I ended up in the old factory district where Oscar Schindler's' factory has become a memorial to the Holocaust.

Step 3: Take in a little history...

Budapest style. We spent an afternoon at the House of Terror, and got a taste of what six plus decades of Nazi and Soviet rule must have felt like- not fun. We spent the rest of our time in Budapest getting a feel for the city and witnessing a bit of history in the making- say hello to the Hungarian boy-band craze sweeping the, um, really small city square outside our apartment...

Step 4: Take the test. Next stop- Mother Russia!