Home Sweet Home

I flew home yesterday and got home around 6. It was a long day of travel. I got up at 5:30 a.m. and then got home at basically midnight (according to the clock my body is on right now) which was 6 p.m. here. I was out like a light by 9...or maybe earlier.
Anyway, it was a really good trip, but i'm ready to get back to my regular schedule.

Hope to see all of you soon and thanks for reading and posting comments.

Over and out.

Stace

Tour of Berlin- Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche

So one of our business associates in Berlin was gracious enough to take myself and one of my co-workers on a great tour of Berlin this morning by car. He used to live in former east Berlin and talked a lot about what it was like to live there. The picture you see is of Kaiser-Wilhelm Gedachtniskirche (and no, i don't know how to pronounce that) which is a church that was bombed in WWII by the US. Rather than restoring or tearing it down, they decided to leave it as a memorial.
We also visited other famous sites such as what is left standing of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate, and the Berlin dome which is pretty cool. Berlin definitely has its own unique feeling- it's sort of 'funky' i would say- you see teenagers and 20-somethings with mohawks and pink hair, and funky shops everywhere.
Now if only i could remember everything that i heard today :)
Sunday is my last day in Berlin and then i fly out first thing Monday morning. It's been a great trip, but i'm ready to be home and see everyone.

Berlin Soccer Game vs. Turkey

I went to my first European soccer game on Wednesday night- Berlin vs. Turkey. I still don't understand the structure of the European soccer leagues, but it was supposedly a big game between the 2 teams. There is a large Turkish population in Berlin so the fans were about 50-50 for each team. The fans on both sides were very passionate and each had their own chants and songs, etc which added to the atmosphere. The picture you see includes flares that the Turkish fans kept lighting in the stands, which then covered half the fan-area in smoke. It ended 1-0 (Turkey won) with a penalty kick being the only goal- so not that exciting from a goal standpoint, but it was pretty cool to be there.

German...for 3 hours

I'm in my third German city in 3 days. I went from Munich on Monday to Mainz on the western side of the country, and arrived in Berlin last night (Tuesday night). I took the train from city to city which i really like. You are able to see some of the country and it's much more relaxed than flying.
I was in Mainz to watch one of my co-workers give a 3 hour product demo of our software to about 30 college professors...all in German. So, for 3 hours i got to sit there and try to pay attention as best as possible even though i really didn't understand what was going on. You have to make decisions like-'so, if everyone laughs, do i laugh with them to join the spirit of things, or do i just sit there with a blank stair on my face because i obviously don't understand what was just said?' You start to play mind games with yourself :)
Anyway, i'm in Berlin for the rest of the trip. Off to work...

Top of Germany- Zugspitze

Jeff and i did this a few days ago now, but still wanted to share. We went skiing at a mountain called Zugspitze, which is about 45 minutes south of Munich. Once there, you have to park the car and take a cable car to the top of the mountain (9,500 ft) and then take another cable car down on the other side a bit to get the ski area. So you are literally in the middle of the mountain range. When you look to the south all you can see are the Alps for miles and miles. Apparently you can see into 4 countries from the top- Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. The skiing was just OK- it's still early in the season here so they only had 4 runs open, but the scenery more than made up for it.

Thanksgiving at the Hard Rock Cafe

It was very untraditional, but we spent our Thanksgiving evening at the Hard Rock Cafe in Munich. I wasn't quite sure what we were going to do for Turkey day until the American couple we were talking to in our hotel (they were from Bloomfield Hills actually, have recently moved to Germany and are trying to sell their house in MI if anyone is interested :) mentioned the Hard Rock was serving a turkey dinner complete with stuffing, cranberry, pumpkin pie AND would be showing all 3 football games. Jeff's eyes lit up at the idea of watching football so that settled our plans. We hung out there all night and had a "pretty" good turkey dinner (was still nothing like grandma's) and watched the games. We were only able to watch to until the third quarter in the second game though with the time change. We had to catch the last metro train back to our hotel at 11:30 or fork out about $100 for a 30 minute cab ride (we stayed outside of Munich at a hotel on a small lake so we weren't right in the city).
I was thankful that Chris Johnson and Tony Romo played well (they are both on Jeff's fantasy football teams)... he he.
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and miss you all.

The Hofbräuhaus Hood

Jeff and i went to the world-famous Hofbrauhaus this past week to have dinner and a few beers. When we arrived, they were herding us into a different door than what i remembered from the past. Assuming the section of the restaurant i had remembered was under construction (it appeared to be blocked off) we sat in a section that was less than desirable. It was cold (we had to wear our hats, coats and gloves throughout dinner), there was no polka band and no woman walking around in her dirdl selling large pretzels. No big deal i thought- we were still at the Hofbrauhaus. It was only just before we were leaving when we asked where the bathrooms were and walked to a different section of the restaurant, that we discovered the part that i had remembered. There was HEAT, a polka band and the atmosphere i remembered. So basically, we had just sat in the Hofbrauhas Hood! I felt like we had really missed the whole experience i was looking for, so now we need to go back. :)
Anyway, hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Free samples of Guinness at Trade Shows

So if you are ever looking for an excuse to travel to Europe, the free-flowing beer is one to start with. Where else can you get free Guinness outside of a trade show? They have a new beer out- it's a Red. I wasn't that crazy about it, but not afraid to try some free samples either.
I flew to Munich yesterday (Saturday night) and met Jeff here first thing this morning. We are staying at a neat place on a lake just south of Munich and managed to drive to Neuschwenstein Castle today (the fairy tale looking castle that Disney's magic kingdom was modeled after). Thank goodness for GPS because we would have never found that castle without it!
Later gators...Stace

Tower of London

We took a tour of the Tower of London which has a grissly past. This is where Ann Bolyn was beheaded on the orders of her husband, Henry VIII. She was accused of adultry. Man, there would be a LOT of people who'd be in trouble these days if that were still the penalty. It's really strange to look at the place where someone was actually BEHEADED hundreds of years earlier. The picture you see is of our tour guide, the Yeoman Warder, more commonly referred to as a Beefeater, who are the guards of the Tower. He told us that they actually don't know where the term Beafeater came from. The Tower of London is riddled with tons of ghost stories so i thought it was creepy to learn that many of these Beefeaters live there with their families. Wouldn't that be crazy to live in a medievel castle?
I'm in Birmingham now for work which is about an hour train ride from London.
I am heading to Munich tomorrow where i'll meet Jeff on Sunday morning...yeah!
Hope everyone is doing well.

Grease is the word!

We went and saw Grease on stage last night and it was so good! I bought the tickets about 4 days before the show, but somehow we ended up with 4th row seats.
It was a feel-good, toe-tapping kind of show. They have almost anything you could want to go see playing right now- Mamma Mia, Les Mis, Lion King, Wicked and they even have Rain Man starring Josh Hartnet. You could just spend your time going to see plays while you are here...of course if you had a ton of money, that is. They aren't cheap, but worth it.

K- off to work to get lost going to my next meeting. i had a meeting Monday morning at 9. As it turned out, i showed up on the wrong day, at the wrong building, and met with the wrong person (and i was late because i went to the wrong building and had to walk to the correct building). It was not a good way to start the week. Hopefully i'll have better luck today :)

London

So mom and i took the train from Paris to London on Saturday which goes under the English channel- kind of crazy. We've been busy running around to all of the different attractions in the city- Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and even Madam Tussaud's wax museum- it was really fun :) It was fun to watch the guys paw at the wax figure of Angelina Jolie!
Tonight we are going to see the musical Grease and then mom heads out for home tomorrow morning.
So, nothing too crazy has happened while here. It's been overcast with some drizzle, but nothing to make us miss any sights.
Boring post this time...more to come.

Palace of Versaille

Yesterday we spent the morning at the Palace of Versaille. It is about 10 miles outside of the city. This is where Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette lived who were later beheaded in the midst of the French Revolution. Quick history (because i didn't know any of this before): the French Revolution started because there was a drought in the mid 1780's. This meant the Parisians couldn't grow wheat to make bread. They were starving and broke due to heavy taxes imposed by the monarchy. They headed out to Versaille to confront their king Louis XVI and were amazed and pissed (sorry about that :) when they saw the Palace of Versaille and how the king and queen were living. Thus started the French Revolution to overthrow the monarchy.
The place is massive and incredibly ornate. The grounds outside are just as impressive with amazing gardens.
All for now...

Top of the Eiffel Tower

So mom got into town yesterday at 11:30 and by 2 p.m. we were out on the town sightseeing. We hit the Eiffel Tower and went to the top (or atleast as high up as you can go- it doesn't go quite to the top).
And it is REALLY high up there! This pic is from the highest observation deck. You can see amazing panoramic views of the entire city and it's incredible to see how large it really is. We spent the rest of the day walking around and visited the Arc de Triomphe, walked the Champs d'Alysee and took a potty break in Le Louvre :)
Mom apparently had a great day sightseeing on her own today while i worked. And of course she made some friends with an Australian couple to sightsee with. I would have expected nothing less.
Tomorrow we are off to take a tour of the Palace of Versaille- can't wait!

I "OWN" the Paris Metro

OK-so that couldn't be further from the truth. I had a meeting today in Paris that started at 1. I left my hotel at 11:50 to allow myself PLENTY of time to get there. Unfortunately for me, the train i needed to take was under construction which meant i had to find another metro route. By 12:35 i had been on 4 different Metro trains and was no closer to my destination and had to bite the bullet and hop a cab (i hate riding in cabs because i always get car sick).
My cab driver was very talkative (in French). He was trying to teach me French phrases that make fun of the American accent-it had something to do with a 'vache' or cow...hmmmm.
Anyway, i am in Paris today and will be here until Saturday.
My mom will be here on Wednesday and am looking forward to sightseeing together.

That's all for today.

Saint-Emilion France

So you get 2 posts today since i've been slacking lately. Friday i flew from Barcelona to Bordeaux, France to spend the weekend with one of my TechSmith co-workers and his family who live just outside of Bordeaux.
They have been fantastic hosts. Friday night they fed me when i arrived with a selection of 7 different cheeses, some red wine and French bread. yum! Saturday we got up and had croissants with Nutella and yogurt (i had to tell you what we ate because it just seemed so "French" to me :). Then we headed to a great little outdoor farmer's market where they sold wine, and cheeses and all those kinds of French things. The booths were so picturesque- especially the bread stand.
We returned to their house about noon to have lunch with some friends they had plans with who did not speak English. It was interesting.
After lunch, we drove to a town called Saint Emilion which is in the heart of the Bordeaux-area wine country. It is a small town from the 12th century that was built around a church. The church was apparenly carved completely out of one giant stone complete with catacombs and all. It was incredible. We took a tour of the church (all given in French-eek- luckily they gave me a sheet to read in English) and then we spent the rest of the day winding through the narrow cobble stone streets of Saint Emilion.
The picutres that i took don't do the town justice, so i added a link that you can click on to look at some pics others took.
Au revoir pour maintnant!
Happy Birthday Jeff!

Stace

Street Performer on La Rambla

While i was in Barcelona, i headed down to one of the most touristy parts of the city (but i love the touristy parts) and spent time walking on La Rambla. It's a really wide boulevard where you can find tons of street performers, people selling home made goods, boutiques shops and is just a great place to people watch. In the evenings, it becomes super crowded with people walking around.
Anyway, the pic you see is of one of the street performers who was doing some dramatic Spanish (i assume) tap dancing. He was accompanied by a man playing a drum and a woman who sang. They drew quite a crowd.
When he was done, he very unabashedly put down a large bucket and asked for donations.
I gave him a few Euros to pay for the picture that i took.

Obama on the Beach in Barcelona

So i guess a local artist created a beach mosaic of Obama in Barcelona. The funny thing is that i found out about it on CNN even though my hotel looks out over the exact site where they have been creating it over the past few days. I could see lots of bull dozers from my window that were doing something, but couldn't tell what, only to find out on the news what it was. I tried to get down there yesterday to see it in person, but it's all fenced off. Supposedly they want it to be seen from Google Earth.

Naked People on the Beach

The weather broke and it's a beautiful day in Barcelona (yesterday we practically had monsoons). I took a walk down to the beach to check things out and there found a woman exercising on the beach completely topless. Now, maybe i should be old and mature enough to not think anything of this, but clearly i'm not (mature enough).
I had to do a few double takes to make sure that was in fact what i was seeing.
Based on the fact that no one else seemed to be gawking like me, it is apparently not unusual or illegal here. (and no, i did not take a picture of her :)
I think i will opt to keep my sports bra on while exercising here.

Off to work...

Condoms in the mini-bar

So i thought it was pretty novel that there are condoms in the mini-bar refrigerator in my hotel room.
I had to check it out- JUST wanted to get a better look at the box- and as soon as i pulled the box out of the fridg, I noticed the small warning label that notified me that my room would be charged as soon as an item was removed from its place. The mini-bar is computerized so it knows as soon as you remove something. Perfect. Now i get to explain to our accounting department why there is a charge on my hotel bill for condoms...not to mention my husband :)

Unfortunately it's rainy and windy here today in Barcelona which is too bad because it's my only day in the city i don't have to work.

Need Sleep...

We (myself and 2 of my co-workers) landed in Barcelona this morning at 11 a.m. local time (about 4 a.m. EST) after a long night of no sleep on the plane (left Detroit at 5:15 p.m. EST on the 31st). The three of us are forcing ourselves to stay awake until Barcelona night time which is really tough. I've had a few mochas to keep me awake.
We had a tapas-style lunch and we can see the Mediterannean from our hotel- nice. Beyond that we haven't had a chance to do too much. We should be able to get some sightseeing in tomorrow.
K- guess that's all for now. Ciao.

Thursday, October 30th

Well i leave tomorrow for 5 weeks off to Europe. I still have a ton of things to do. It seems as though no matter how far in advance i plan, i am still scrambling at the last minute. I'll be in 4 different countries and even more cities over the next 5 weeks returning on December 8th. My schedule will be as follows: Barcelona, Spain- Nov 1-7 Bordeaux, France- Nov 7-9 Paris Nov 9-15 London Nov 15-18 Birmingham, UK Nov 18-20 Edinburgh, Scotland Nov 20-23 Munich Nov 23-Dec 1 Berlin Dec 1-8 OK- on to Barcelona! Ole!