The Best of the Best...Europe 2008

1. Best Quote: "Why don't Dubai me a drink?" Logan

2. Best Abstract Artist: Piet Mondrian (various locations)

3. Best Rain: Austria while biking

4. Worst Rain: Dublin (incessant)

5. Best Olympic Moment: Tie: Usain Bolt's 100, 200, and relay records OR Yelena Isinbayeva's pole vault record

6. Hardest Climb: Austrian castle where they kept Richard the Lionheart

7. Worst Hostel: Budapest

8. Worst Bugs: Vilnius (flying ants and other sick things)

9. Best Book Bought: Body and Soul: Photography: Krakow

10. Best Ice Cream: Prague

11. Best Movie Popcorn: Vienna

12. Worst beer: any of that sick citrus beer...like Hoegarden

13. Best Hotel: Hotel Ibis, Budapest

14. Worst Number: 15, 000

15. Best Number: 15, 000

16. Saddest Day: August 24th--had to leave

17. Best Restaurant: Dada, Riga

18. Best Bus Drugs: Fu Manchu

19. Best Fries: Mannekin Pis, Amsterdam

20. Best Gift: Cog's or Collette's (to be based on reaction)

21. Best Beer: St. Norbert (dark), Prague

22. Least Surprising Surprise: Lost Luggage: Day 1, Dublin

23. Best Hostel: Traveller's House, Lisbon

24. Favourite Saint: St. Anthony

25. Best Coffee: Cafe Merced, Bilbao

26. Coolest Building: The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao

27. Best Movie: The Dark Knight

28. Hottest Women: Riga, Latvia

29. Best Book Read: Dubliners by James Joyce

30. Best Drunk: With the English Boys in Lisbon

31. Worst Drunk: No such thing

32. Best Music Moment: "Bobby Jean", Bruce Springsteen, Lisbon

33. Best painting: "The Garden of Earthly Delights" by H. Bosch, Madrid, Spain

34. Worst painting: Anything by Lucio Fontana you talentless hack...

35. Best Dream: The one where one of my students has an affair with Billy Joel and I give her grief because he is obviously too old for her.

36. Worst Touristy Thing: The O Bus Tour in Lisbon

37. Best Touristy Thing: The Salt Mine in Krakow

38. Best Noise: The Hives

39. Worst Noise: The power saw outside my window at 330 AM, Madrid

40. Creepiest Art by a Super Famous Artist: El Greco

41. Worst Architectural Idea: Outside Glass elevators in Madrid at the Sofia Gallery

42. Best Chocolate: The Belgian Chocolate Shop in Trakai, Lithuania

43. Best Brother Moment: Building a Lego Building

44. Best Sister Moment: Engaged in Europe

45. Best Rock: Pena Palace Mountain

46. Best Pun: Buying Amber for Amber, Vilnius

47. Worst Movie: Indiana Jones and the Interdimensional Time Travellers

48. Best Irony: The Nazis helped to find the mass graves of those killed by the Communists in order to lay the blame on the Jews (somehow).

49. Best Day: Tie: Biking with Deanna and Hali; Eating Steak with Logan and Krista

50. Biggest Mistake: Not jumping off the bridge into the lake at Trakai Castle

From Amsterdam to Prague

So the end is near as I write this at the airport in London. Nice Internet set up here though, real keyboards and quick. We left Amsterdam in plenty of time and flew by Air Scandinavian to Copenhagen then on to Prague...very uneventful (and that's what you want when you fly). Got to Prague, waited for shuttle guy, and went to our apartment. It was a little grotty, but had lots of room and a great kitchen where we cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast everyday. Sista Krista not a big fan of the spiders in our building and all over Prague, but at least we had a good place to be. Prague was more expensive and more crowded than the last time I was here...it seems people have caught on to its coolness. The first day we simply wandered around and tried to acclimatize to a new city. We ate Italian that night. On the following day we went to Hradcany Castle (I call it Hard Candy Castle for obvious reasons). We did the whole castle tour (self-guided) which includes the cathedral, the castle history, the powder tower with military stuff, the cells and torture rooms, a basilica, and some art galleries that we skipped...it was a great big day. Sadly, we were not allowed to climb the cathedral tower for super pictures. We had lunch at the monastery and drank St. Norbert beer (the best beer of the trip..again) and had a great meal. We also went to Charles Bridge but it was jammed with tourists and construction so it was a little underwhelming for Krista and Logan I think. That night we went back to the old square for supper and settled on a place where I had an amazing steak, but Krista had a horrible fish meal and Logan's was terrible as well...Then we wandered aimlessly and paid too much for the beer we drank most everywhere until we settled into a decent place where we swilled Heineken...at some point we got hammered, momentarily lost and then went home. Needless to say we slept in the next day. This next day we went to an amazing art exhibit and saw some of the best modern art of the trip...I will explain more when I have the pamphlet handy...We then had a leisurely afternoon of shopping and chilling out. That night was our best night as we went to a steak house, had great steak, super friendly waitresses (the waiters in Prague have all been bastards), cheap Heineken, and all out great time...Wen then took a tram in the rain and a short walk home in a downpour..It was awesome...In fact the two super drenched rain days have been my favourites...one, with Hali and Deanna and one with Krista and Logan...On the last day of my trip I reorganized all my stuff, said goodbye to K and L, and took my shuttle to the airport. I arrived in London last night, waited 1 hour for a shuttle, had room service that was cheaper than the restaurant, but still 25 pounds, and watched movies. This morning I watched the Americans win the gold medal basketball game versus Spain...now its London to Toronto four 8 hours, a little wait then a 2 hour flight home...School starts in no time...I will arrive in Redvers at 300 and start meetings at 900...summer I miss you...

Live Sex Show...

So I left Brussels in the early AM...had the pleasure to watch this snooty traveller woman have a complete meltdown at the hotel because her cab was 1 minute late and she was going to be late for her bus to her airplane...hint; plan better, stupid...The train ride was all sleep filled...got to Amsterdam at 900AM and drank beer and hung out until Logan and Krista arrived...Once they got here we wandered around, checked out the"coffee" shops..whereby you look at a menu and buy whatever smoke you need...but no alcohol in coffee shops so I drank...coffee...Anyway, Krista and Logan had a monster travel day so they napped for three and I wandered around in the rain...After this we started our fun, fun night of drinking and such...Went for a great Spanish meal..I had paella, Krista had shrimp (shocking) and Logan had Garlic chicken..we had wine and bread and oil and it was excellent...we then went to a variety of bars and then to a live sex show...it opened with a stripper who dragged some dude on stage to pull a long ribbon from her nether regions, then the next stripper did some dancing and pulled a guy on stage, took off his shirt, layed him on the stage and stuck a marker in her wahoo dilly and wrote "the end" on his chest, for the finale some German looking dude in a cape and another stripper came on stage and had sex...the whole time NO CONDOM...crazy, but I think there are high standards and health inspections here anyway...the whole thing was theatrical rather than sexy...After this we went and found one of the few bars open past 2.00AM..so we drank as long as we could, had more food, and crashed...Love that my sister and Logan are here; but I miss my brohim...

Brussels...the town without internet

Hello: It has been a few days since my last entry because this computer is weak and there are zero Internet cafes downtown. Anyway, a few days ago I went to Autoworld, where I saw among other things, two Franklins, the Belgian royal Lincoln, the Shah of Iran's never-delivered car, a Rolls-Royce chassis whereby if you can afford one you get some fancy pants coach builder to finish the body. The museum holds 400 cars, all in working order and sequenced re: auto history. From there I went to the Military Museum and focused my visit on tanks...Jospeh Stalin II is huge...planes, MIGS are huge, and Napoleon because I knew I would be meeting my Waterloo via Bus W. On Friday I embarked on a walking tour of Brussels via the Comic Book Mural trek. The guide book said 2.5 hours, but I walked for 6 and only finished 3/4 of it. In that time I saw awesome murals including Tin tin, Asterix and Obelisk, Caroline Baldwin, and the Scorpion...Please see my facebook photos if interested. So Friday night I went to a fancy Korean place and ate like a king. Saturday I finished my walking tour, found a cool Ivory Coast mask at a jumble sale, watched Lightning Bolt break the 100 M, and planned my day in Waterloo. After a bus ride, I arrived in Waterloo and went to the Wellington Museum, then the Lion Monument (after lunch at the Boston Steakhouse), then the panorama, then I watched a film and a visual demonstration of the battle. Here's what I learned....Always guard your right flank and NEVER underestimate the Germans (in this case Blucher of Prussia). I then took a battlefield tour, but it was pouring so all we could actually see were the farmers moving about their fields. To sum up...Cars, Comic Books, War, and Tanks and Planes...standard boy stuff...perfect

Stream of Consciousness With Rain

Here is what I wrote while it poured in Brussels: Got up...my flight does not exist...Phoned Expedia and they had no idea of any concerns in Brussels...Brussels Airlines website said dont come to airport...So I go and things were fine and I arrive in Brussels on time with luggage...thankful for the karma as i wade through thousands of bags left at the Brussels baggage area...Got a train in to town and then a cab to hotel...my room is huge and wet with the rain now...two beds, huge shower, mini bar, and my tram stop is outside my window:::score....So i took a tram downtown, found out that Brussels is a hill climbing city despite it not being a port...I am at a restaurant eating french onion soup (mine is better), tortellini, and swilling beer...my karma holds as it immediately starts pouring once i sit down...a hard rain is going to fall...and cold too and I think my jacket is in Poland...wow an umbrella just blew over and buddy saved the day...so after lunch I stumble into one of the nicest squares I have ever seen...and then one of the coolest little coffee shops all no trend but GREAT coffee...Then i climbed the hill, took a tram, and watched as some cute street girl got pestered by the cops and I thought maybe she could come with me:::Once home I bought 8 beer and some cheese for 6 bucks...upon getting back I watched the British Weakest Link and aside from the pure British Q's I got them all correct...therefore I am the strongest link so where is my 1360 pounds?...Badminton playing Asian girls are hot...Dharma is hot...and off to the Irish Pub I go.............On Thursday I took a bus tour of the city, went to autoworld, and the military museum...all in all a good couple of days...Tomorrow I am going on a walking tour of all the places in town with comic strip art:::Go Asterix, tintin and the Smurfs.....

Chocolate Stores = Air Conditioning...and other lessons learned.

Lost and Found

Found my Dublin key chains, but lost my sunglasses on my bike tour. Possibly during the rain getting a poncho...oh well. At least people get presents.