The Yeagers' Experiences

The wait goes on... and on... and on...

2007-09-25T10:22:00.001+01:00

OK, For those of you who have complained about the lack of recent posts I would like to say Thank You! I have been trying to get Joe to post about our recent adventures (Brighton, Madrid, Barcelona, Cambridge) but have had no luck. It seems the obstinate lad would rather play Ninteno Wii and watch clips of his losing Ga Tech football team in fits of self-inflicted sorrow than keep all of our loyal readers (OK, I know there are only like 3 of you) updated about our travels.

Why do you ask, don't I just break down and do it for him? This has been my mantra ever since I was old enough to make a complete sentence - because it's not fair. I have been the one to make sure all the pictures get loaded and entries get posted over the course of the last year, and am tired of nagging/hounding Joe to pull his weight. Hopefully this public naming and shaming will make him get his act together!

The Fine Print: Now in all fairness, we had been hoping to debut a new blog framework but have hit some snags and thus part of the delay is attributable to that.

it has been a while, but...

2007-08-23T13:47:00.000+01:00

It has been a few months now since our visit to Prague, and three things stand out in my mind when I think back on it: the heat, the beer, and the bones.

The heat was nearly unbearable. Temperatures got up above 90F every day and, like the rest of Europe, Praguers think of A/C as one of those new-fangled inventions for the weak-willed and faint-hearted. Maybe 10-20 years ago this way of thinking was OK, but lately global warming has been rearing her ugly head and caused many heat related deaths throughout the continent. Because of the high temperatures, Joe and I spent a lot of the daytime hours either complaining that we were outside, or sitting in a beer hall downing many pints to escape the heat.

mmm, beer... In fact, the Czech Republic is the original home of beer and thankfully the Czechs like it COLD. The locals won't even finish the "tepid goat" (what happens to your beer if you let it warm up), so its always best to chug. The beer was also extremely cheap. About $1 will get you a full half liter of high quality beer in Prague. Needless to say this was beer heaven for Joe and I and we spent a good many hours "experiencing" the beer culture.

The other part I vividly remember is the bones - 40,000 sets of human bones in fact. We took a train to Kutna Hora, and altogether unremarkable and boring little town except for its famous Ossuary. The Ossuary was originally intended as a resting place (sort of a mass, unmarked tomb) for the many victims of the plague, and in the 1870's was redesigned as a memorial to the dead. When I say redesigned, I really mean it. A Czech woodcarver was brought in and designed a series of pyramids, scenes, garlands and a chandelier all made out of bones and wire. In fact, the chandelier contains every bone in the body. The pictures are absolutely amazing and I am confident that this is unique in the world. Who else would be crazy enough to do that?

After spending about 15 minutes in there I really started to get the creeps. There were just sooo many bones, and who can look at human skulls for very long without getting the heebie jeevies? Of course Joe took forever taking about 200 pictures of the place, so I was glad when we left and were able to reenter the world of the living.

That's not a very good description of the many charms of Prague, but a fairly accurate portrayal of our experience of it. I think Prague is a great place to visit, just make sure its not too hot and be prepared to drink lots of beer.

Asia Trip (Finally!!)

2007-08-18T09:42:00.000+01:00

Sorry for posting so many in a row, but we seem to do things that way. Here's another one for you: my long-awaited blog about my trip to Asia. As the story goes, my company came to me and requested that I spend 2 full weeks in Asia to tour 4 cities and meet many customers and prospects, and of course I couldn't refuse. I went with a co-worker who had never really toured around the area, and we had a great time. The cities were (in this order) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Singapore, Singapore; Bangkok, Thailand; and Hong Kong, China. I left Friday at 5pm and arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday at 6pm... it was a lot of flying. I had a 12.5-hour flight into Hong Kong, a 2-hour layover, and then another 3-hour flight to Kuala Lumpur.

After I arrived, I had Saturday night and Sunday to enjoy Kuala Lumpur -- but that's all I needed. There's nothing to do in KL. I went and saw the Petronas towers (the tallest towers in the World), took a tour bus around the city, and went on the Malaysian Eye, and that was enough for me. It was a billion degrees outside and I did not bring any shorts (DOH!) so I had to buy some to survive. The hotel was incredible, and the business meetings went well. If you want to see Malaysia, go to Mexico. I swear it is nearly identical.

It only took 45 minutes to get from KL to Singapore. That's right, we took a 45-minute flight. The maximum height we achieved was 10,000 feet, then we immediately started descending. For those that don't know, Singapore is what is called a City-State. That is why it is referred to as "Singapore, Singapore." Basically, the entire country is a single city... and what a big city it is. We went to the top of a 70-story building and the city stretched as far as we could see. We had a rough schedule of meetings, so we were exhausted most of the time... but we did have Saturday to tour around a bit. It was your basic modern-day city, with tons of shopping malls everywhere. Thankfully they have embraced air conditioning because it was soo hot the entire time. We had to take several breaks to grab a drink ;). Oh, and for some odd reason there are hundreds of watch stores everywhere.

The next city on the list was Bangkok, Thailand and it couldn't have been any more different than Singapore. These two cities are complete polar opposites. I had no idea what was coming but nothing could have prepared me for it, actually. This is the stuff you read about but you have to experience to really understand it. It all started by us being greeted by about 200 people asking if we wanted to go in their taxi. When I say, "asking," I mean the only English word they could speak was "taxi." They also loved to waive official-looking badges as well, which we found out (later) were not so official. The conversation went something like this:

Them: "Taxi!!!"

Me: "How much do you charge to go to the center of the city?"

Them: "Taxi!"

Me: "Yes, ok, how much?"

Them: "Taxi?"

Me: "How much to the Westin Grande Sukhumvit?" *Points to name of hotel on paper*

Them: "Taxi!!" *Points to a run-down car*

Oh well, we somehow made it to the hotel but I think we paid double what we should have. The next objective (as it was Sunday) was to do some touring and, thankfully, one of the guys from the company we were meeting was nice enough to show up on a Sunday to show us around. Since it was a billion degrees, I wore shorts... which apparently meant that we could not go into any of the awesome places like the palace. Oh well, we were led onwards where they had some plan for us. We arrived at a market which was unlike any market I had ever seen. There were so many locals selling anything from strange looking animals, to unknown fruit, to something they made an hour ago. I felt like I was on the Discovery Channel in Africa looking at the local village market, but in reality I was in a thriving capital city. It was odd. I followed on through the market into some back alleyways, walking on planks that had water under them and people doing their laundry out in the open... in what I believe was their 'house'. I was absolutely astonished but we hadn't even gotten to the river yet.

The river had several floating docks where boats would come flying up, people jumped on and off, and then they took off. I just sat and stared. There's an entire transportation network similar to the London Tube network... for this river. Boat comes up, people jump on and off, boat takes off. Another boat comes up and so on. The strangest part was that people somehow knew which boat they needed, when all the boats looked exactly the same to me and weren't marked whatsoever. There was even a complete timetable, although with all the madness I cannot imagine they stick to a strict schedule. It was simply amazing though. Oh, and I bought a can of Coke while waiting and it was less than 20 pence (40 cents).

We jumped on one of these boats and rode up and down the river. It was nothing like I had ever imagined. This was no riverfront prime real estate. The level of poverty was astounding; I only wish the pictures could convey it better. Unfortunately since we were on a moving boat I had difficulty catching a steady shot.
The city itself wasn't much better. It was extremely polluted, mainly from the black smoke pouring out of most of the buses, cars, and tuk tuk exhaust pipes. Apparently they have very lenient emissions laws. In addition, the buildings were falling apart and many were only half-built, I believe because the company ran out of funding and left the building to rot for 10 years. There is no room for highways so they build them on top of everything -- just simply have posts next to houses on which highways flow through the sky... maybe they should call them skyways?

Don't get me wrong, I still had a great time. Why? Well, the best part about Thailand HANDS DOWN is the Thai food. Those people can cook! I thought the Thai restaurants I had been to in London and Atlanta had probably been Americanized because all the food tasted so good... but actually authentic Thai food tastes better! And the best part? It's cheap as hell! We would get an entire meal for 4 people, several courses, stuffing ourselves, for about 30 pounds ($60). Everything I ordered was absolutely fantastic.

The next best thing in Thailand than the food is the Thai massage. Now, I know what just popped into your head and I am definitely NOT talking about those kind of Thai massages. I love my wife and would never do anything like that... and I tried to tell a cabbie that once when he was recommending some great 'special massages'... but he would not listen and insisted on handing me 3 business cards. It had to be one of the most awkward conversations I've ever had. Anywho, my 'real massage' lasted for 2 1/2 hours, and cost 6 pounds ($12). She twisted me, bent me, walked on my back, and made muscles hurt that I didn't know I had. It was fantastic. We were planning on going out for a solid night on the town but after that we all went back home and slept like a bunch of babies.

You're probably wondering why I wrote so much about Thailand and the answer is simple: it was absolutely fascinating. Nothing I have experienced in all my travels comes close to it. Seeing all those people living in poverty, a city that looks to be in shambles, pollution so thick you could breathe it. But yet in all of this, a culture with food so good it melts in your mouth, and massages that are unlike anywhere else in the world. It was truly an eye-opening experience unlike any other and something that words can definitely not express. Go to Thailand.

Unfortunately the next leg I don't have very much to write about and I wish I did. We literally flew into Hong Kong late one night after a long day of meetings, walked around for an hour, went to bed, got up and went to more meetings, got lunch, and got on a plane home. We did get to see some seriously large packed-in buildings which was completely fascinating to someone from Atlanta and who hasn't been to NYC. Even London and the rest of Europe doesn't have commercialism like Hong Kong. The city was freaking huge! We took an express train to the central station which flew past miles and miles and miles of city before we got anywhere near the center. Just check out this map. It is a very expensive city too (the Hong Kong Dollar is quite strong). I did get to see some cool streets I saw while going to lunch that looked Hong-Kongy, but I didn't get to see the really well-known stuff like the billions of DVDs you can buy for like $1 or meet an actual cloner. I really wish I could have stayed longer. It is definitely on my list of cities to return to.

To sum it all up...

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Feels like Mexico, hot, not much to do

Singapore, Singapore: Good for tourists, real clean, elegant

Bangkok, Thailand: Great food, great massage, very cheap, dirty, amazing

Hong Kong, China: Awesome (I think), huge, expensive, want to go back

Pictures should be up fairly soon. Yes I know it has been 3 months and yes the reason I have waited so long is procrastination and YES Stacey has been the one to finally put her foot down and make me write this and YEEES I'm happy that it's finally done. Are you even still reading this post? It's freakin huge!

Cruisin' the Fjords

2007-08-17T11:38:00.000+01:00

Bergen is Norway's second largest city, and is renowned for its preserved old town and as the gateway city to the fjords. Rather than go to Oslo and see lots of statues and museums (typical capital city stuff that we see everywhere in Europe), we chose instead to spend our time in Norway exploring its fabled natural beauty.

Bergen is a wonderful small city, located right on the coast and nestled between many mountains. It must be an adventurer's paradise, with lots of kayaking, hiking, and rock climbing available. We chose to come here in June because we thought that it would actually be hot in England (fat chance) and coming up north would be a nice relief. As it turns out, the weather here was perfect and we enjoyed sunny skies and temperatures around 70F.

We took a tour called Norway in a Nutshell. I'm not sure if it lived up to its billing, but the day we spent going through the fjordlands by bus, boat and train was well worth it. It wasn't like normal tours, in which a guide takes you everywhere and explains what you are seeing, but more like a self-guided trip organized for you. We had to find our way to the various modes of transportation and were left on our own to appreciate what we were seeing. Given that about 70 other tourists (mostly Japanese and American) were doing the same thing, it wasn't too difficult.

We cruised through the Sognefjord, the 2nd largest fjord in the world, and it was spectacular. We enjoyed a pint on board and just relaxed; that is once Joe was done snapping his pictures. Come to think about it, he didn't ever stop until his battery ran out. I can't say I blame him since the scenery was so amazing, but we couldn't recharge the battery for the rest of the trip, so all of our pictures of Bergen were taken with my distinctively less capable small camera. Both cameras combined left me with almost 1,000 pictures to sift through and edit, but somehow I was able to reduce this to "just" 250 pictures on the website.

Bergen itself was really nice. The center of Bergen is called Bryggen, which is the old part of town built of wood in a very distinctive style. It was all very Scandinavian :) One of the coolest things about being in Norway in the summer is that it didn't get dark until around 11:30. If we had been just a little bit farther north we could have experienced the midnight sun. It was a weird experience partying until the wee hours in a sort of dusky glow.

I felt like we got a real Scandinavian experience here - it was less crowded and busy than Oslo would have been and there is a more defined culture here, probably because it is less cosmopolitan and worldly. I like to compare it to Northern California, with all its pine trees, healthy athletic locals and their egalitarian attitudes. We loved soaking in this atmosphere; it merely confirmed our theory that the Scandinavian countries, with the exception of Finland, are altogether pleasant.

Salzburg with my sissie (and significant others)

2007-08-12T13:47:00.000+01:00

My sister Rachel and her beau Adam graced us with their company a couple weeks back. By day they explored the many nooks and crannies of London; by night they were our partners in drunk, Wii-playing crime. We managed to get in a few games of canasta thankfully, and spent many a night at our local pubs catching up and playing cards or Scrabble. We introduced Adam to the delights of London's Indian restaurants, in spite of the embarrassment that invariably follows spilling an entire curry on the table (all Joe's fault)!

The four of us went to Salzburg Austria for a weekend, which is the home of Mozart, the Sound of Music, and the delicious Mozartkugeln (almond flavored cookie dough covered in chocolate). Even though the words "vacation" and "family" just don't mix, we managed to have a great time. One of the highlights was going into Germany to visit Hitler's Eagle's Nest. This was his mountain retreat that he almost never used because he was claustrophobic and suffered from vertigo. Seeing as you had to travel through a long tunnel and ascend in a cramped elevator to reach a small house perched on top of a mountain with panoramic views of the Alps, I can imagine why he didn't like coming here.

We also took a relaxing river cruise, in which the driver put on some Mozart and made the boat "waltz" in circles as we traveled downstream - it was a stretch to say the least. Similarly, the entire city has embraced its Mozart/Sound of Music heritage and is trying every way possible to cash in. Despite this unabashed commercial exploitation, Salzburg is a lovely city. The architecture is impressive, and if you go at the right time of year (like we did), you have access to world-class classical theatre, opera, and orchestra.

Joe and I were very sad to see Rachel and Adam go, mostly because we had a great time and will miss them, and partly because they were the last of our friends and relatives scheduled to visit us. That means, unless someone else steps up, that Joe and I will be on our own for another 6 months :( Anyone care to join us?

Joe and I are taking a much needed break from travelling during the month of August. We will be taking a few day trips, notably to Brighton and Oxford/Cambridge, but that is about it. For one, August is really really hot and we don't feel like walking around a city and trying to enjoy and appreciate it while being miserably hot and sweaty (we already did that in Prague). Secondly, everyone in Europe vacations in August, so not only will we have to deal with the crowds, but things will also be a lot more expensive. Therefore, we should have a lot of time to catch up on our blog writing and picture posting, so be sure to check back soon.

Cinque Terre and Pisa

2007-08-12T13:12:00.000+01:00

You probably haven't a clue what 'Cinque Terre' means, because we didn't either. Cinque Terre means "5 Lands", and is an area of Italy where 5 tiny cities lie in a row along the coast. The cities are amazing because they make due with very steep hillsides and cliffs... somehow nestling themselves right between them or sometimes on top of them.

The cities are Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.

We stayed in Vernazza, because it was fairly centrally located and had a reasonable amount of hotels and restaurants. While it did not have as many things to do (especially at night), nor did it have a really good beach like Monterosso, it was not commercialized... which is what you go to Cinque Terre for.

An awesome hiking trail links all 5 cities which provides some absolutely stunning views. We tried one link from Vernazza to Corniglia, and it just about killed us. Two of the hiking trails are not for amateurs, or even people in decent shape. We took one of trails unknowingly. Two hours later we somehow made it, out of breath, out of water, and seeking shelter.

We stuck to the train after that, although we did hike one more trail because some people said it was extremely easy. It's called the Via dell' Amore, or The Lover's Walk. There was an enormous amount of graffiti on the trail, but strangely enough it all related to someone loving someone else.

Cinque Terre was absolutely amazing, but there was one problem: Rick Steves. Apparently Steve-o is telling everyone in the states how great Cinque Terre is, and they're flocking to the area in huge numbers. It was in Cinque Terre that Stacey and I realized a shocking fact... we can't stand American tourists.

There were frat boys & sorority girls, retirees, families, little kids, and *shudder* American teenagers. See, everyone gives Americans a bad rep for a number of reasons, but in reality it's a single, simple fact: they don't know how to fit in. Fitting in while in a foreign country is crucial. You don't want to draw attention to yourself, nor do you want to disturb the locals or the local way-of-life. Then, and only then, are you able to absorb the atmosphere of the country... the most important part of the experience. It took us a little while to shed our American stereotypical characteristics, but once we did we are much more able to "disappear" into the places we tour around to, and absorb the ambiance that each unique country exudes.

Which brings us to our next bit of fun on this trip -- Pisa... the tourist capital of the world (nightmare). The strangest thing is that there is only 1 thing to do in Pisa: head to the Piazza di Miracoli and take a picture of someone holding up the tower. While we had to do it, we were shocked at how many tourists flood into that square. I think every single tourist in Pisa was there all at once. We actually had a hard time getting a picture of the tower without someone in it. There were thousands of people!

Pictures have been up for awhile now:

Cinque Terre: http://www.joeyeager.com/main.php?g2_itemId=69266
Pisa: http://www.joeyeager.com/main.php?g2_itemId=66447

No more church bells... Hallelujah!

2007-07-05T13:22:00.000+01:00

So, we finally moved out of our old crappy place, and moved into a new... crappy place. Our major beef with the old apartment was that it was very noisy and inconvenient to my office. In fact, it took me an hour each way to get to work every day, which really started taking its toll. Other than that the apartment was generally of a high build quality and it was really convenient to things that you would want to live near – namely restaurants, grocery stores and the tube.

Our new apartment has some really nice furniture and everything was decorated in an Indian motif. I say “was” because although the apartment comes furnished, apparently the landlords decided to take out all of their cool decorative items when they moved out. That part is a little annoying, but more concerning is the fact that it is really poorly designed. We only have one phone jack and one satellite feed in the entire flat, and one plug outlet in each room. We have wires and extension cords everywhere! It’s actually comical every time we discover another idiosyncrasy of this place.

With that said, I really like the area. It’s called Shad Thames and is only a 15 minute walk to work for me. That means I get to sleep in longer, come home if I need to during lunch, and save money by not having to take the tube and bus every day. The area is filled with rich city workers, so we don’t have to worry anymore about drunk people getting into fights under our window at night :) The downside of being in Shad Thames is that the tube stations are about 15 minutes walk away and there are no grocery stores within walking distance. We have found a work around for this though, and we now order all of our groceries online, which is easier anyway!

So lesson learned – we fixed some problems but got several others instead. I suppose the grass is always greener on the other side, but I think on balance we made the right move. Plus no more pesky church bells!

Even MORE Pictures

2007-07-04T17:04:00.000+01:00

If you haven't been looking at our pictures lately, you're even more behind ;). We just got a bunch more up!

Southern Ireland - Stacey's trip
Tours of England - with Mom Yeager

Malta! - our 1-year Anniversary trip
Norway - Fjords!
Germany Roadshow - a trip Joe took awhile ago for work

And we STILL have more pictures coming! Cinque Terre and Pisa will be up shortly, and whenever I get my act together my pictures from Asia will be up.

If you haven't had a look at our map recently, its filled itself out quite a bit: http://map.joeyeager.com/

Malta Malta Malta!

2007-06-29T12:37:00.000+01:00

Joe and I have been a little lax lately with posting blogs and pictures, and we are both sorry about that and annoyed that it has taken us so long to catch up. We went to Malta for our first anniversary, had Tommy and Sunni stay with us the next weekend, moved apartments the weekend after that, then went to Bergen, Norway and Cinque Terre, Italy. Now that all of that is done, Joe and I have finally had some time to relax and catch up on everything. Look for separate blogs on each of those events in the near future.

Today though, I want to get down my thoughts on Malta. Believe it or not, the tiny island of Malta is its own separate, somewhat isolated country with a population of 400,000. Geographically, it is located smack dab in the middle of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily and east of Tunisia. It has historically been a very important seafaring location, and hence has been invaded variously by the Turks, Arabs, Romans, the British and Napoleon over the centuries. Its history goes back very far, in fact Il-Ggantija, the oldest known standing structure in the world, is located here and dates from 5500 BC. Think about this point for a minute – it is older than Stonehenge, the Acropolis, and the Pyramids! Of course when we visited it mostly looked like a big pile of rocks and rubble, but that is mostly due to poor excavation work.

All in all, we really enjoyed Malta. Everyone spoke English fluently (it is a national language along with Maltese) so it was really easy to get around. We stayed in a couple of different hotels (all on points!), one in the capital Valletta surrounded by 14th century walls, and the other in the resort town of St. Julian’s where all the nightlife and restaurants are. We were expecting a relaxing trip not unlike our honeymoon, but we were a little disappointed in that regard. There was so much to see and do that it took a lot of effort to let go and relax.

We were also slightly disappointed in the quality of the beaches. We had to take a bus or taxi for a 45 minute drive to the north side of the island (away from all the cities) just to get to a sandy stretch of beach. The rest of the coast was very rocky with lots of high cliffs. Don’t get me wrong though, the most amazing beach Joe and I have ever seen is on the Maltese island of Gozo. It has soft, red sand and is impeccably clean and not too crowded. The water is fresh, clean and an amazing dark blue, which complemented the color of the sand beautifully. This was our first trip on the Mediterranean, and the blueness of the water really surprised us.

While we were on Gozo we also had the chance to peek in on a very traditional part of village life in Malta. Every year each village has one or more ‘festas’ to celebrate their patron saint. The whole place is decked out in garlands and decorations, and the night of the festa everyone eats, drinks, goes to church, and sets off fireworks. We couldn’t stay for the fireworks part, but we did get to see the parade into the village square. We were the only foreigners there, and I feel like we got a piece of the real Malta which is a change from all the touristy things we do. Our time on Gozo was by far my favorite part of the trip.

It’s so hard to mention all the cool things we did! We took a trip to the Blue Lagoon, ate ridiculously good seafood and got lots to drink at our hotel pools. We saw the Azure Window, Fungus Rock, and had a picnic on the beach. We tried for several days to rent a boat, but alas, the sea was too rough and no boats were being rented during our stay. There is so much to see and do in Malta that I’m sure we didn’t even see half of what it has to offer.

One of my favourite parts was that it was about 80F and sunny every day, while in London it was about 55-60F, cloudy with some rain (just like it is now, come to think of it). I miss it already...

New pictures!

2007-06-21T09:12:00.001+01:00

Ok so everyone has some work to do. We finally got some pictures up...

More coming soon!

Stacey's visit to southern Ireland
Malta
Joe's Asia trip
Some various UK tours

My company was just bought by HP

2007-06-19T13:23:00.000+01:00

Well, the rumors I have been hearing around my company for quite some time are finally true. My company, SPI Dynamics, was just bought by Hewlett-Packard.

Feel free to read about it in the first press release (I am sure there will be many more).

This will be interesting for me because this is the company that sent Stacey and me over here to live, and is currently paying all of our expenses. Supposedly, HP is really interested in the European and Asian markets, so I might be flying around training their people for the rest of my stay here, or I might be asked to come home early, I haven't a clue.

We have a company-wide meeting today (in 1/2 hour) to discuss the details, and I am sure after that, and after some talks with people at SPI, I will know a lot more. I'll keep you all informed.

It's my birthday

2007-06-06T18:53:00.000+01:00

Well, ok, it's no longer my birthday (I just like saying that). My birthday was this past Sunday and thanks to all that wished me a happy one, and for those that didn't... I probably forgot yours last year so don't worry about it! :)

I had a really good time. Stacey, Tommy, Sunni and I went to Hyde park and had a picnic, then wandered around and eventually made it to Harrod's where they make THE MOST incredible sundaes... and if you know me at all you know how much I like ice cream!

After that Stacey had a little surprise in store for me. She gathered together all the people we've met while over here (only about 10 people) and we went to one of my favorite pubs -- The White Horse in Putney. It was a gorgeous day and they had outside seating so it made for a fabulous time. In addition, I found a really good beer that I found out was 7%... after I had 4 pints of it! Needlesstosay my night was all a blur after that, but I heard we went to a great gastropub called The Farm and had a really nice Sunday roast. Just trying to enjoy the years while I have 'em.

As far as presents go, Stacey got me a book and a new watch that looks awesome! My parents sent over two more Wii controllers (bringing our total to 4) so Stacey, Tommy, Sunni and me can all play at once. If you don't know what the Wii is, you're missing out.

It was sad not to spend my birthday with family and more of my closer friends. I think we made a pretty good time all-in-all.

So how old am I? Well, I'm not 25 yet... I think that would be traumatizing. Luckily I have a year to go, unlike some other people who have a birthday coming up (Stacey!).

My lonely two weeks

2007-05-31T21:37:00.000+01:00

Joe was in Asia for two weeks which was really hard for me. We had never been apart for this long and this combined with the fact that we don't know too many people over here made his trip particularly difficult. I missed him a lot of course, but my fears of watching Animal Planet and eating a tub of ice cream every night for two weeks thankfully didn't happen. Three things kept me busy:

My friends Amanda and Jason honeymooned in Ireland, so I flew over there and visited with them for a weekend
A couple guys from our touch rugby team invited me to go to a professional rugby championship game
We just bought a Nintendo Wii, so I had lots of time to practice

Firstly, Ireland was really fun. It was a blast seeing Amanda and Jason (who grew up in Fennville of all places!) and driving around the southern part of Ireland. We drove through the famed Ring of Kerry and explored County Cork. They rented a really nice cottage in County Cork which meant that we could see some of the sights that aren't accessible by car. One of the highlights for me was hiking through farmland to reach the 3 Towers. These towers are the only thing left of a large ruined castle set between cliffs leading to the ocean and an inland lake. We nearly got lost finding it, but it was a truly amazing sight.

The next weekend I went to the English championship rugby game with our friends Simon (far right) and Gavin (middle). These are the same two guys who came over to our place for Thanksgiving last year. The game was fun, and it was just like going to a football game back home. After the game we all enjoyed (many) pints of Guinness into the wee hours. Simon was kind enough to walk me home and I have no idea how I would have made it on my own!

The rest of the time I mostly spent working longer than normal and learning how to play the Wii. I was hoping that I could get a head start on Joe and actually be able to beat him a few times, but I'm afraid my gaming skills are just no match for his. Within 1 day of coming home he was already beating me in Wii Tennis, Boxing and Bowling - I'm sure Baseball and Golf are soon to follow...

I also got my hair cut short, which I am very happy with. It was a surprise for Joe so I had to keep quiet about it for a whole week! When he first walked in the door he was so shocked he didn't say anything, then he got this big grin on his face :) I really missed my hubby during his two week absence. I've heard talk of him taking a similar trip in the fall, but hopefully then I can tag along!

Sorry for the delay...

2007-05-31T20:11:00.000+01:00

Wow, a month since our last post... that's terrible! The reason we haven't posted is because a lot has happened since then and we simply haven't had time to write about any of it! Hopefully in the next couple days we can find some time to fill you in on what we've done but here's the basics...

Stacey went to Southern Ireland and visited one of her friends
Joe went to Asia for a trip with work and visited

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Singapore, Singapore

Bangkok, Thailand

Hong Kong, China

Joe's Mom came to visit and stayed for the Chelsea flower show
We celebrated our 1-year anniversary!
We went to Malta for a much-needed vacation

We have pictures (of course!) from all of it, and are in the process of sorting, editing, and uploading all of them. Look for some updates very soon.

Oh yeah, Tommy and Sunni are coming on Saturday!

Northern Ireland: Up and Coming

2007-04-30T15:42:00.000+01:00

Joe and I just took a weekend trip to Northern Ireland a few weeks ago. We stayed at a really shabby B&B in Belfast (the capital) that was covered in dingy pink. Pink sheets, pink wall paper, pink shag carpet etc etc. I slept in head-to-toe pajamas just in case!

The first day we got up early and took a driving tour of County Antrim. This is the northern part of Northern Ireland, so it was cold, but also impressively beautiful. We drove along the coast for a good 2-3 hours, passing beach towns and tiny villages along the way. At several points we could even see Scotland! We got into a minor fender bender when Joe drove too close to another car and the side mirrors hit each other. It made the glass in our side mirror fall off and shatter, but thankfully neither car was substantially damaged. We will have to pay for a new mirror, but it could have been much, much worse. We were within inches of totaling both cars!

Our main destination was the Giant's Causeway, a very unnatural looking natural rock formation leading into the sea. Lava flows cooled and hardened in very symmetrical hexagonal columns millions of years ago. As the lave cooled, the whole thing fractured into these tiny columns. You can see over 40,000 of these columns from the beach, and each one is only about 1-2 feet in diameter! This place got its name from a local legend: There was once a causeway linking Scotland with Ireland. The local giant Finn McCool had a bone to pick with his Scottish counterpart, so the Scot went over to Ireland to fight it out. Finn McCool plays a trick on him, causing the frightened Scot to run away, ripping up the causeway so the crafty Irish giant couldn't pursue him.

Whatever the legend, the place is really extraordinary. Those columns were so interesting to walk around on. They formed stair steps that allowed you to climb to the top of hills or down into the sea. Even though it is technically the off-season for tourists, we still saw a ton of people there. I can't imagine what the crowds must be like in June - August. Of course, that is the whole point. Northern Ireland is benefiting from relative peace compared with The Troubles of the 60s - 90s. The Good Friday peace accord has gone a long way to creating stability and encouraging more people to visit. After years of virtually no tourist industry, Belfast and the whole of Northern Ireland are now experiencing increased interest in its many charms.

With that said, political and religious tensions still run high in parts of Belfast. We walked around the Protestant and Catholic strongholds to get a glimpse of the murals commemorating victims and events on both sides. Perhaps not surprisingly, the IRA is still supported in the Catholic parts of the city. I had thought that since the IRA gave up its arms and became less violent that the people here would rally to the peace cause. Unfortunately the story is a lot more complicated than that, and many Catholics really feel as if they are occupied by a foreign invader (England). On the flip side, the Protestants feel under attack from the guerrilla warfare and vigilante justice of the IRA. The murals were both a reminder of the terrible crimes of the past, and a depressing realization that the conflict is so complex and emotional.

On a happier note, we spent Saturday night living up Belfast's swinging nightlife. We were so tired from all the driving so we had lots of redbull and that seemed to keep us going just fine. For some reason, Belfast has a reputation for great cocktails. We kept off the beer for once and stayed with the yummy fruity concoctions all night. One really interesting thing about going clubbing in Belfast is the mix of people. Never in my life have I seen so many middle aged people dancing and chatting alongside the hip young crowd. I spoke to a Belfast native about that and he just said that the Belfastians(?) really enjoy their drink. Whatever the cause, it was really funny to play the game "spot the oldest guy" in addition to our more normal people-watching games like "find the shortest skirt", or "find the ugliest person". All in all the redbull, cocktails and bizarre people watching made for a really entertaining evening.

Overall I really liked Northern Ireland. I was a little hesitant to go just because I didn't really know what there was to see. We ended up with a varied, relaxing trip across beautiful country meeting truly friendly people wherever we went (a rarity in stuck-up London!). Highly recommended.

There's no place like home

2007-04-17T11:05:00.000+01:00

It was quite an adventure for everyone involved. Aunt Pam, Aunt Donna, Aunt Margaret and my mom got the experience of a lifetime: 11 days in England and Scotland with their handy personal tour guide - me! Joe and I got to experience the wonderful, crazy, hectic world of herding four middle-aged ladies through urban and rural Britain alike. Now that everyone is gone and we have our apartment back to our quiet selves, I can have time to think about how much I miss all of our friends and family. The grass is always greener on the other side I guess...

I thought the trip was a great success. I think everyone had a great time and got to see the major highlights of England and Scotland. Joe and I were working most days, so the fam went on tours of Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and the major sights of London. At night we sampled some of the best food of London - fish & chips, bangers and mash, steak & ale pie, and a really nice curry. Before we knew it it was time to leave for Scotland over the Easter weekend.

I set up a massive itinerary, and we managed to get almost everything done. The notable exception? We missed out on trying a fried mars bar, apparently an Edinburgh speciality. We took a train to Edinburgh, but before we could even board the train someone (who shall remain nameless) dropped their ticket down on the tracks. There was no time to retrieve it so we had to board the train anyway and beg the ticket collector to let us on. Thankfully he was a nice chap and relented, but he did say we were lucky that a Scot wasn't checking tickets or we would have been burned at the stake! Its funny that these two countries still can't get along...

Edinburgh was beautiful as always. We got really lucky with the warmish, sunny weather. We took several tours and learned about the very beginnings of Edinburgh and its gruesome history during the Middle Ages. We had THE BEST Italian food at a small place called Gordon's Trattoria. It is right on the Royal Mile and is definitely worth checking out if anyone ever goes to Edinburgh. At night it got cold, and we're not quite sure why, but Mom's hood problems were hilarious. By the time we fixed her up we were all cracking up. That was the beauty of the whole trip - everyone laughed and joked so much that even if things were going wrong it didn't feel so bad.

After the 6 of us spent the night sharing 1 room, we were ready for our 3 hour drive to the Highlands. The drive was amazing - we got to see huge mountains and deep lochs and again the weather held out for us. It was sunny, but we experienced the dip in temperatures associated with the high elevation. On the way there we stopped at beautiful Urquart Castle. It is in ruins now thanks to the English. As the redcoats were leaving the area they blew up the castle so the Scots couldn't use it! What a shame - it kind of reminds me of the Parthenon's fate in Athens.

Somehow we managed to get a decent cabin in the lovely village of Invermoriston - just off Loch Ness. I must have emailed at least 60 people searching for a cabin within our price range, but since it was Easter weekend they were either all booked or required a 1 week booking. We got really lucky with our cabin since it was in the perfect location and was only £150 for two nights! It had a slightly musty, dank smell but it was lovely once we got used to that :)

The highlight of the trip for me was touring the famed Isle of Skye off the northwestern coast of Scotland. The island is almost always shrouded in low lying clouds or mist, and it rains frequently. The mountains seem to rise straight up from the sea and the lochs, which creates beautiful lush green valleys and imposing peaks. Children are actually still educated in Scottish Gaelic here. We took a private guided tour with an - ahem - interesting - local man. He took us through most of the island and we managed to cover over 200 miles. We saw castles, golden eagles, waterfalls, comical hairy cows, mountains, lochs - but the most amazing sight had to be the Fairy Glen. Bright green grass and moss covered every inch of this area. Mini hills came up and down in astounding frequency - I can see why legend has it that the malevolent Fairies reside here. It was truly enchanting. Joe and I climbed to the top of one of the steep hills and got amazing views over a vast valley just beyond.

We were all exhausted at the end of this trip. I was sad as well, since it meant that all my relatives would be leaving soon. The hardest part for me was saying goodbye to Mom. I held it together until I went to bed. I went back out to say one last goodbye that lasted for 20 minutes. The loneliness never bothers me until I have the good fortune of seeing friends and family - that's when it really hits me how much I miss home and miss the companionship of everyone we know. Until the end of this year though, London is our home and we will continue to make the most of it. After a weekend spent at home recovering, we are ready to hit the road again. Next up is Stratford-Upon-Avon!

Brace yourselves - it's the trip from HELL

2007-03-29T11:08:00.000+01:00

Joe and I had the distinct misfortune of going to Berlin last weekend. We were both really excited about going because we had heard so much about Berlin's history and cracking nightlife. Unfortunately, we had a crazy amount of mishaps that despite all of Berlin's charms, the entire trip was ruined. Before I get into all of that, lest you get so bleary eyed that you can't read any longer, let me tell you about what Berlin could have been to us if we had had better luck:

Berlin was really interesting because East Berlin, the former Soviet European outpost, was really dreary, in contrast to West Berlin which was very pretty and clean and lively. It truly was a striking difference between the dreary communist, oppressive lives that East Berliners had compared to the modern infrastructure and economy enjoyed by the Wessies.
We saw remnants of the Berlin Wall and went to a really fascinating museum at Checkpoint Charlie describing what life was like in the communist East, and the ingenious ways people escaped it.
The nightlife was indeed all it was cracked up to be. We went to several bars and had a really good time meeting people. Granted all the people we met were American, Canadian and English, but the atmosphere was great.

We ate some kick-ass doner kebab, which is a German-Turkish invention. It's basically like a Greek pita or Arab shawarma, but with much better bread in my opinion. We also found out that beer in Germany is the same price as soda - just goes to show you where the priority is...

That is where the enjoyment ends sadly. As a caveat, this will sound really exaggerated. I can assure you that it's not. Everything I am about to tell you is unfortunately completely true. Now I will start at the very beginning of our trip, all the way back in the London airport. Despite being fairly experienced in international travel by now, I managed to forget the single most important thing that everyone must have when crossing international borders - my passport. By the time I realized my mistake it was too late to go all the way back and get it. Joe went off without me because we couldn't cancel our hotel for the night, and I ended up paying for a new ticket out early the next morning. I got very little sleep that night but made it to my flight ok. The hotel was definitely lacking. We were staying in East Berlin because it was cheap - now we know why! The whole place was ugly and graffiti "decorated" every available surface. Joe and I went out walking the streets of Berlin, and it started to rain. We both managed to forget umbrellas (even though we knew the forecast called for rain), so we spent the entire day cold and miserable. I developed an allergic reaction to some medicine and got a painful rash on my legs and hands. This made walking at a normal rate very hard, so we just mosied along getting soaked. To top it off we didn't manage to find any of the places we wanted to visit so the day was wasted.

The next day started off much better. We found an OK tour bus, so we got to see some of the city sights and got some nice pictures. At night we signed up to go on a famous organized pub crawl. There were at least 60 people with us, so we had a great time meeting people. Unfortunately, at the second bar we lost the group. No more free shots, no more drinks specials, no more exciting people to meet...and we had paid €10 each! another couple lost the group as well, so we just ate dinner with them and went our separate ways. The next morning I woke up to find that I had torn my boot off its sole, and developed a painful blister on my foot. The blister, combined with the rash, made for a very painful day of walking.

On Sunday, we went to the great museum at Checkpoint Charlie, had some more doner kebab, and got ready to go home. I flew back to London on my own because Joe had some work commitments in Germany. My flight was delayed, so by the time we landed the Underground was closed. I had to wait 40 minutes for a night bus. My reward for my patience was to have an old Crazy Guy sit next to me and ask me if I wanted to stay at his place. Over and over again, the conversation went like this:

Crazy Guy: "You look very tired. Very sleepy. You go to hotel? You go to friends? I have a room for you at my house. You can have your own room. Free!"
Me: "No, that's ok thanks"
Crazy Guy: "You look very tired. You go to hotel? Come stay with me! I like to help people!"

This conversation went on for at least 15 minutes just like this when I decided to pretend to fall asleep. The Crazy Guy kept poking me and "waking me up" by saying "You look very tired" Who does that?!? Anyway, I actually did fall asleep and 40 minutes later woke up not knowing where I was. I asked the driver and turns out we had passed my stop 10 minutes ago! I get off at the next stop and see that the next bus isn't coming for another half hour. I am so pissed at this point that I set off walking, somehow thinking that I can retrace our route even though I was asleep. I was hoping to find a cab while I was walking aimlessly, but since it was 2a.m. there was not a single car on the road. I passed several guys walking on the sidewalk and I stared down each one to make sure no one got any funny ideas... I had worked myself up and was really scared about being alone, with a dead cell phone and lost. I somehow stumbled upon a hospital and called a taxi from there. Thankfully I made it home OK, although it was WAY past my bedtime :)

The trip had been so hectic that I had not showered in a couple days. When I woke up to go to work (on my 3rd night on 3 hours of sleep), I realized that the pain had not ended yet. I was so tired when I got to the apartment that I forgot to turn on the hot water heater. Thus, I found frigid water spewing out of the shower, and I couldn't bear to take a cold shower after so much misery. I ended up going to work grimy, tired, and probably smelly.

I am soooooooo happy that this trip is finally over. Never in my life would I think that we could have a trip this miserable. Normally one or two things goes slightly wrong but it's never enough to ruin a trip. We probably won't go back to Berlin again, so its really unfortunate that we had such a terrible experience. Berlin had so much potential.

Pictures up: http://www.joeyeager.com/main.php?g2_itemId=52549

The Legendary Beaches of Normandy

2007-03-17T18:11:00.000Z

As usual, I like to give everyone a brief background on where we traveled... so here goes. Normandy is an area of France to the north that is famous for it's cheese and apples, but you probably know it best for the all-famous beaches. These would be the same ones the Allies used as a landing ground on D-Day for the invasion that would lead to the end of WWII... But I'll talk about that in a bit.

We stayed in a little town called Bayeux, which may sound familiar for any that have heard of the Bayeux Tapestry. We, of course, visited this old piece of cloth. While the museum surrounding the tapestry was a bit much and extremely boring, the tapestry was cool. It's basically a 19cm by 70 m thousand year old piece of embroidered cloth telling the story of the Norman invasion of England. The colors were very vibrant, despites its age.

Stacey and I took an awesome tour of the U.S. Normandy beaches. In total, there are 2 of them, with the most interesting being Utah beach. There was no way the U.S. forces could take Utah beach alone, so a massive parachuting campaign took place. A tiny town called Saint-Mare-Eglise was bombarded with 2000 parachuters in the pitch black of the night, whose sole purpose was to overtake the town, secure the roads, and to hold their ground until the beach was stormed. It was quite a story.

Several other stories came out that day, including one in which heavily trained special forces came upon Point-du-Hoc, climbed up huge cliff faces, and fought for one of the most strategic areas in Normandy. This area had absolutely massive guns and firepower that it could have made D-Day a total failure.

Going to Normandy is quite an experience. Our guide put it best: "Despite everything that is happening now globally in politics and everything that could ever happen, the people of Normandy will NEVER forget what the Allies did for them... never." The war shares a special place in their hearts; we saw countless memorials constructed by those living in Normandy to simply show their gratitude for what we and our partners did for their country. There is a cemetary for all those that died fighting and wanted to be buried there. The area is actually owned by the U.S. government, and right next to it the people of Normandy are building a museum and culture center to help explain what happened -- George Bush will be at the inauguration. I highly recommend that you try sometime in your life to head to Normandy and pay your respects, hear the stories, and see the beaches. We'll certainly never forget it.

Pictures are already up: http://www.joeyeager.com/main.php?g2_itemId=50708

Sledding Ain't for Sissies

2007-03-02T17:05:00.000Z

To cap off February - our month of visiting cold locales - we went skiing in the Swiss Alps. We stayed in Davos, and while it was not the quaint Swiss alpine village I had been hoping for, it did provide us with some world class ski slopes. Davos is also the highest and tallest ski resort in Europe, so the views left us breathless - both from the fantastic scenery and the very thin air!

Many of you know that I have never skied before. I knew it would be hard, but I kept picturing myself picking it up quickly and gracefully cutting through the snow. As it turns out, I was miserable at it. I took a 3 hour lesson from an instructor and I started to feel at ease on the bunny slope. Up on the mountain however, it was a completely different story. The "beginner" slopes were meant for beginners who have had 5 days of lessons, not my puny 3 hours. The slopes were really steep and the snow was icy, so it was very difficult to maintain any sort of control, even for Joe. I ended up alternating between falling every 10 feet and sliding down the mountain in a permanent, 2 mph snowplow position. My lower body has still not forgiven me for this incredible strain on my muscles.

After making one harrowing, 30 minute trip down the shortest and easiest course in Davos I decided to call it a day and accept the fact that the Alps are not the best place to learn how to ski. I hung out in the restaurant while Joe did some solo skiing. Oh yeah, I forgot... it took me about 20 minutes to get up to the restaurant because the only way of entering was either:

Ski down a harder course and take the lift back up, or
Climb up a very steep, very icy approach slope to get to the top of the lift.

I chose #2 since I was incredibly frightened at the prospect of having to ski for one more moment. So I bucked up and made the grueling climb lugging all of my gear. I do take pride in the fact that another woman was doing the same thing and I made it to the top in half the time it took her! Go thunder thighs!!!

On our last day the real fun - and pain - began. We went to a different mountain to go sledding. When I say sledding don't think about going in a straight line down a gently sloping hill. On the contrary, the sledding course was more like a bobsled run without the banked corners. We got some great video of Joe busting it every turn he came to. He has a nasty bruise to show for his efforts, but we both agree that this was by far the highlight of the trip. On our third attempt we decided to go for broke. I ended up going over a bump way too fast, flying through the air and landing and sliding awkwardly on the snow until my head brought me to a stop. In another incident, Joe flipped over while I was right behind him, so I had to bail out and take the fall to keep from running over him. I somehow ran over my own foot with my sled, Joe fell and watched as his sled kept going down the mountain without him, and we both almost took out two innocent children. Joe broke his sled at the very end, and we both agree that it was the perfect end to our trip!

The next day neither of us could bend our backs, but the pain seems to be subsiding so it was all worth it!

As an aside, a horse tried to eat my ski. I tell ya, some animals just don't get that fiberglass isn't edible :)

Pictures from skiing and from Helsinki/Tallinn are now up on the pictures site. Also check out our map, it now looks pretty well filled in. Next up is a much needed weekend at home. We have three weeks of laundry to catch up on...

Helsinki and Tallinn

2007-03-01T20:46:00.000Z

So sorry for taking awhile to write this entry (we went two weeks ago) but I went straight from Helsinki to Copenhagen, home for 2 days, then out to Switzerland for our skiing trip!

Stacey and I would probably not have gone to Helsinki on our own except I had to travel there for work anyways, so my portion was covered. Planning the trip, we realized that Tallinn (the capital of Estonia) was only a 3-hour ferry away... so that was a definite must.

Since I am sure many of you don't know a whole lot about either of these countries (because I didn't!) I'll do my best to fill you in. Helsinki is the capital of Finland which is in the EU and on the Euro. Everything is extremely expensive compared to many other places we've been; part of the reason is the taxes are very high, and the other is that the city is fairly secluded. Tallinn though, by contrast, is not on the Euro (it's on the Estonian kroon), but is in the EU. The exchange rate for kroon->pounds is 20:1, so it was very nice for us :). Stacey and I had a huge lunch and it cost less than 8 pounds :). Finnish people speak English, Swedish, and (of course) Finnish... which is actually very close to Hungarian.

Helsinki is very close to Russia (and has been fighting them throughout the centuries) and you can definitely see the influence in the architecture and buildings. The highlight of our trip is actually eating at an authentic Russian restaurant where we had two GIANT platters of food. Other than that, there wasn't much to see or do in Helsinki.

The ferry ride from Helsinki to Tallinn was... interesting. Apparently they treat these 3-hour rides as "booze cruises" where everyone gets wasted on the cheap liquor. Well, we slept the entire ride over there (we had to get up at 6am), but everyone else was throwing drinks back the second we got on the boat at 8am. No thank you. We held off for the ride back ;). The entire harbour of Helsinki freezes over (yes, I was shocked too to find out that the salt-filled ocean can freeze!) so the ship has to break through the ice. On the trip back it was especially frozen and so the boat took about an entire hour to go 15 feet...

Tallinn was awesome though. The city was real gorgeous, and very old! It's actually the 'best preserved medieval city' according to Stacey, the best travel guide in the world. :) It had an "old town" that consists of very colorful buildings and lots of Russian-looking cathedrals. We had a great time just wandering the streets. It definitely made the entire trip worthwhile.

Photos already up: Helsinki and Tallinn

ICE HOTEL

2007-02-10T23:11:00.000Z

We are finally thawed out after being frozen for 6 days. After we got a glimpse of what freezing feels like in Stockholm, we traveled 2 hours straight north by plane to land 100 miles north of the Arctic circle. There is a city there called Kiruna which consists of about 24,000 people - so we weren't completely alone - and boy was it cold.

When we were on our approach, the pilot gave his normal speech about the current temperature on the ground. He leisurely said it was -11°F (-24°C). We figured he must be mistaken. The 30-second walk outside from the plane to the terminal proved him correct. We looked at the sun (which was on the horizon when it was 2pm) and we could see minuscule ice crystals blowing around. Turns out that the humidity in the air crystallizes at that temperature.

A nice warm bus took us to the Ice Hotel and we were given a tour of it. All of the walls are made of ice and snow and the entire hotel is at a constant 23°F (-5°C) which is actually quite warm compared to the outside temperature. You can tour around to the different rooms during the daytime and some are quite spectacular. They are all done by professional designers and have themes with some having quite complicated designs.

The Absolut Ice Bar was one of the most interesting aspects. Of course, the entire bar is made of ice, and there are only about 10 drinks on the menu... all consisting of some flavor of Absolut. They serve the drinks in a glass made of ice which is really quite cool (sorry for the pun!).

So we did our deed and slept 1 night in the Ice Hotel. It wasn't as bad as you would think though. They gave us a double sleeping bag which kept us very toasty, and we both got some sort of rest that night. We were real happy to move into the warm room after that though, and enjoy a nice warm shower.

The best part about the Ice Hotel is actually not the Ice Hotel at all -- it's the events that you can sign up for. We did dog sledding, ice sculpting, reindeer watching, and snowmobiling.

Dog sledding was, by far, the best event. You get to pick a team of 4 Alaskan Huskies, harness them to your sled, and attempt to control them as they drag the sled (and hopefully you!) along wherever they feel like going. No joke, these dogs are insane. The guide explained how to brake:

"The main way to slow down is this rubber pad which pulls up snow to stop. Then, if that doesn't work, there's another metal bar you can step on which shoots two metal rods into the snow to stop you. If all else fails, there is a huge metal anchor you can throw out that will definitely stop you. We call that the emergency brake."

My reaction: "So I guess they don't understand the simple 'Whoa'". The dogs will not stop running and pulling even when you are under heavy braking. They bark relentlessly when you're stopped because they are not happy unless they're running. The ride was awesome though... aside from the fact that I fell off the sled on the first turn and had to run after the dogs for about 10 minutes... and the second time I almost fell off playing with one of the brakes and made had to make a heroic recovery.

The second best event was the ice sculpting. Turns out carving ice is much easier than you would think. All it takes is a really sharp chisel (sharp enough to cut straight through all 4 layers of your glove) and about an hour. While Stacey was much better at making smooth surfaces, I like to think my creation was much cooler (sorry again). Interestingly enough, you can leave these ice creations outside and they will stay frozen until... April?

The snowmobiling was a completely different story. It was supposed to be a Northern Lights tour but that was the last thing on our minds. The first day we arrived at the hotel, the temperature dropped to -36°F (-38°C) at night. That is considered very cold in this region where the lowest it will get is -40°F (-40°C). Stacey pulled her glove off once and her hand went completely numb within a minute. So numb she could hardly get her glove back on because there was absolutely no feeling: "It was like my hand was dead."

This was, unfortunately, the same night that we scheduled the snowmobiling. According to our guide, since it was already so cold outside, the wind chill factor while riding the snowmobile is -87°F (-66°C). That's not a typo. We tried to prepare. We each wore...

Boots
Socks (3 pairs)
Long underwear - bottoms (3 layers)
Pants/jeans
Long underwear - tops (2 layers)
Sweater
Fleece jacket
Outer suit (pants and jacket)
Gloves
Mittens
Balaclava (head warmer)
Gator (neck warmer)
Hat
Helmet with face guard

Needless to say, it took us an hour to suit up and we could hardly move with everything on. Even with all of these layers on though, we still suffered on the snowmobile; no amount of clothes can stop that kind of cold. Stacey got frostbite on her forehead, both of our hands and feet were numb within a couple minutes, and my eyes stuck shut a couple times from the ice on my eyelashes. It was colder than you can ever imagine. Sadly, we did not see many Northern Lights that night but we did manage to catch some really good pictures another night right outside the hotel.

We were enjoying a nice meal at one of the two restaurants in town and one of the waitresses whispers to someone, "There are Northern Lights outside if you want to go see". In about 1.5 seconds the entire restaurant of 50 people was empty. The lights were incredible that night and continued on for awhile allowing us to get some great pictures. While it did not fully show on the pictures, the lights turned from their most common form of green to their rarest of purple and almost to a to cream color. They moved around the sky and danced right in front of us; it was spectacular.

Speaking of food though... the food on the trip was awesome. At every activity we were served hot lingonberry juice and some great home-cooked food. One of the great (ironic) meals was the one during the event where we watched and played with reindeer, we were served... reindeer. Actually we made wild animal the choice of food while on the trip (sorry Les!). We ate elk, moose, and many different variations of reindeer including sweetbreads. I'll leave you to figure out what that is (hint: it has nothing to do with bread).

Another interesting tidbit about the trip was that I gave an older woman the heimlich maneuver and saved her from choking. I guess all of those years in the scouts finally paid off. Ironically, she was an administrator with Girl Scouts. Now I just need to find someone to give CPR to and I'll really have made it worthwhile.

It was an incredible trip though, one of our best. While it cost more than our honeymoon and took less than half the time, it was well worth it. We would both do it again if we had the chance but we're also very happy it's finally over and we can rest for a week before Helsinki and then the Swiss Alps...

Of course, make sure to check out the amazing pictures: http://www.joeyeager.com/main.php?g2_itemId=38013

Pretty (Cold) Stockholm

2007-02-10T17:38:00.000Z

We had to connect through Stockholm to get to the IceHotel anyway, so we decided to make the most of it and spend a weekend there. I didn't have high hopes for seeing Stockholm in winter because I had heard from so many people how you just HAVE to go visit in the summer. I was pleasantly surprised however, especially given that the temperature never dipped below freezing while we were there. It was unseasonably warm, although that still means it was cold by my standards. Click here for the pictures, and check out the map too!

The most striking thing about Stockholm is how beautiful the architecture is. Each building is in a different style and color, which makes for very scenic streets. Another thing we really liked about it is that everyone speaks fluent English and is very friendly and nice (a welcome change from surly, closed-off England). We are seeing a theme of friendliness in Scandinavia, but we will confirm this when we go to Finland next week!

We spent a good deal of time in the Gamla Stan area, or Old Town. Of course it is the major tourist spot in Stockholm, but it was really interesting, what with all the winding alleys and unique shops. We ate dinner in this area in an old converted cellar. We tried Swedish classics like Swedish meatballs, reindeer filet, and elk carpaccio. To top it all off, our hotel served free breakfast, complete with Swedish style pancakes (which are much thinner and dense compared to the American version) and lingonberry juice. We would drink a lot of lingonberry juice in the next week!

We did have a special experience with the Swedish Smorgasbord. Etiquette dictates that you go to the bord 5 times, first for herring, then salmon, cold cuts, main course and finally dessert. I was good and tried everything once. I can't say I liked it all however. For the most part everything was excellent but I'm afraid I am not cut out for herring. There were at least 10 different varieties of herring ("many different kinds!"), and each one tasted unique. I just couldn't get over the sliminess and saltiness of the fish. I took one bite of each then called it a day and filled myself with the better offerings like salmon and the main dishes. Of course dessert was my favorite, with macaroons, cotton candy, chocolate fudge, lingonberry tart, meringue, and carrot cake. Yum yum. Needless to say Joe and I were utterly stuffed. We started at 4pm and ate until about 6:30.

The most interesting part of Stockholm was the VasaMuseet. Basically, the Vasa is a 16th century warship that sunk to the bottom of the harbor on her maiden voyage. It was rediscovered 333 years later and pieced back together, which took over 25 years! The ship was truly impressive. It spanned 7 very tall floors in the museum, which partially explains why it sank - it was top-heavy. There were hundreds of intricate carvings everywhere on the ship; it was supposed to be the pride of the king's fleet. I wish we could have spent more time there, but we were rushed to make it to our boat cruise (which was only mildly entertaining). If you ever go to Stockholm I highly recommend this place, but plan on spending at least an hour, maybe two exploring it all.

In the beginning of our trip I was thinking "Wow, this isn't so bad, we could live here". However, the longer we stayed there and trudged through snow and felt the cold creeping into our hands, the more worried I became of our impending trip into the heart of the Arctic Circle...the dreaded IceHotel...

Ever wondered what working in London is like?

2007-01-16T15:08:00.000Z

Well it's a good thing that you have me, your handy Londoner to tell you. I work for Ernst & Young in the main London office right on the Thames, with views of Tower Bridge and the City skyline. I worked for EY back home so I thought I knew what I was in for, but things are quite different here. I wouldn't say there was culture shock, merely culture surprise.

First off, hierarchy is much more important here. The English care more about titles, but aren't afraid to mildly poke fun at their superiors. Witty remarks and puns are over-used, and if you don't master this it can be very hard to fit in (I'm still trying). Team lunches - of which I am a devoted fan - very rarely happen. Instead people seem to be happy to frequent the canteen every day.

The standard working day is 9-6, give or take a half hour each way. This seems nice except you have to figure in at least 45 minutes commute time each way on the highly unreliable (but extensive!) public transport system. Trust me, being crammed into a noisy, jolting train shoved against the doors with a couple of smelly armpits inches from your face will put you in a bad mood very quickly.

People here are very un-politically correct. As soon as the Christmas season started, Christmas trees went up on every floor. This would never happen at EY in the US out of respect for people of other religions (and out of fear of seeming to promote one religion over the other). My co-workers will jump at the chance to complain about the "bloody French" or burst into slightly good-natured rants about those damn Americans ruining the world. The men routinely call the women girls and make comments about their appearance (I work in an all-male practice).

A "quick pint" is an after-work tradition with your colleagues. Personally I am not used to socializing much with co-workers, so this is a particularly weird experience. Going to the local pub for after work drinks usually happens about once every 1-2 weeks. I generally think it's a good idea, although its hard to justify staying very long since you have that lovely commute to look forward to.

There are many other differences that escape me now, I'll keep you updated if I think of any more. On a slightly different topic, Joe and I recently went to the EY company Christmas party. It was very lavish and over the top and black tie was definitely not optional. There were casino tables, temporary tattoo artists, live jazz, gourmet food - not to mention the free booze all night. Obviously we had a great time. Pictures are up on the website, if you want to check it out.

In other news, Joe and I will be going to Sweden to stay at the IceHotel. It is about 100 mi North of the Arctic Circle, so it will be VERY cold. Check out the website to find out more about it: www.icehotel.com

Back in London

2007-01-06T19:46:00.000Z

Well we're back, and fighting the jet lag. The first day we could barely stay awake, and it's the second day, 3:00am and we're both not tired at all.

We really enjoyed seeing everyone when we were in town, but felt like we just couldn't see everyone nearly enough.

I thought I would share a poem my Dad wrote:

   Now Joe and Stace are world travelers.
   They’re seeing it all, so they think.
   From Paris to Copenhagen to Brussels,
   They’re moving so fast they can’t blink.

   Joe and Stace try to keep us abreast
   Of their travels from here and to there
   They go to things like Oktoberfest
   And, with their blog site, you feel like you’re there.

   So here’s to our loved ones abroad,
   Known to us as His and Her Majesty,
   We certainly hope they stay thawed,
   As they go so far North it’s a travesty.

   Stace, you’ll need a blanket or two,
   As you spend the night in the snow,
   Sure you steal some clothes from you-know-who,
   ‘Cause you’ll freeze in 30 below.

   We’ll see them again very soon,
   Yet another fleeting moment in time.
   We’ll raise a glass and toast their good fortune,
   And hopefully without a lame rhyme.

   So Joe and Stace came to visit us.
   It was good to have them back home.
   It made the holiday splendiferous,
   Though Marietta is no place like Rome.

   Yes it’s time to end this frivolity,
   Though its purpose and our only yen,
   Is to tell them we wish them prosperity,
   And we’ll miss them again and again.

We have a few pictures from Xmas so we'll be sure to post those soon.

We're coming home!

2006-12-21T22:02:00.000Z

After 5 and 1/2 months on the run, we are finally returning home! Joe and I are so excited to be able to see all of our family and friends again. We will have our old US cell phones with us, so please give us a call.

See you soon!

Now for the really interesting stuff

2006-12-15T15:21:00.000Z

Joe's last post had a teaser at the end - the promise of a truly interesting account of our time in Wales. After waiting a week, I suppose its time to let you all in to a small secret. Wales is possibly the most fascinating principality in all of the United Kingdom. I say this not because things were obviously different. No, it was the subtle differences that added up to one very comical culture.

On first glance, Wales is a very nice area. It is largely rural with 2 big cities on the southern coast. I would liken it to living in Kansas. Outside of Kansas City there really isn't that much besides livestock and open fields. This of course isn't necessarily a bad thing. I found the countryside to be a very quaint place to live. At one point while we were driving through a tangle of country roads, a friendly local offered to help us get our directions sorted out. Despite having to translate his very thick Welsh accent, we did find our way to the rally that day thanks entirely to his directions.

Once you move into the cities however, you get the feeling that the urbanites are trying desperately to make up for their former sleepy lives on the farm. While eating dinner we were transfixed by the sight of scantily clad women going out for a night on the town wearing nothing but a short skirt and a tank top. Now if you have seen the pictures of our time in Wales, you will know that I had to wear 6 layers to keep warm. It was easily about 35 - 40 F with lots of wind. Yet here were these women, so desperate to look their best that they were walking down the street, huddled together for warmth, and no one had the foresight to bring even a light coat. The same thing was happening with the guys. They were all wearing shorts and short sleeved shirts. They were walking down the street gritting their teeth trying to be manly and ignore the bitterly cold weather. I can tell you that no one in their right mind in London would ever be caught dead in the cold like that. Everyone relishes a good coat/scarf combo here, and quite rightly so.

None of this seems too strange however, compared with what we saw as we were leaving. A rather hefty woman (as is about 75% of the Welsh population that we saw) was walking down the street. She actually did have a suit jacket on, but that was about it. I'm not talking about another one of those skimpy outfits, but literally...she had nothing else on. She wore some fishnet stockings a g-string to go with the jacket. I kid you not, this woman was walking down the street with no pants on and proud of it. No one on the street was staring at her either, so I can only guess that this is not that strange for Wales. She was laughing with some guys on the street and showing off her less than perfect physique and no one batted an eye!

Combine all that with the weird street signs we kept seeing (WATCH OUT FOR THE ELDERLY!!!!!), and you can see why we have a very odd snapshot of the Welsh culture. That's not to say we won't be back though. If anything it was the most interesting trip we have taken so far.

[UPDATED] A few changes...

2006-12-14T19:21:00.000Z

I fixed the problem with the comments on the pictures site (www.joeyeager.com) so feel free to post any that you would like.

To do so, there is an "Add Comment" link on the left-hand side of every page where you can add a comment to the album or picture you are viewing. There is also a "View Comments" link that shows you any comments on that item as well.

Another nice feature is the different sizes of pictures. When you are just viewing 1 photo, you will notice the picture is fairly small. To see a larger version, you can use the drop-down list on the top-right and choose something larger, or you can click "Full Size" to see the entire image as it was uploaded.

One more feature (mostly for you camera buffs) is below every picture you will notice an information section about that photo. It shows all of the settings that were used directly from my camera including shutter speed, ISO, and aperture value.

If you had not noticed, I added the random picture view to the blogsite as well (look on the right). If you see a picture you are interested in, feel free to click on it to visit it directly. I also made the width larger for the blogsite, so that should help with reading it.

Feel free to ask any questions on the comments section of this post.

WRC (World Rally Championship)

2006-12-08T21:11:00.000Z

This past weekend we went to the World Rally Championship, which is like the World Series of rallying. Actually, it is a circuit with several rounds of competition that take place all over the world. We went to Rally GB, which took place near Swansea ( in Wales) this year.

For those that do not know what rallying is, it's the art of driving cars extremely fast on roads that were never designed for it. The roads are usually gravel, but they can be paved, dirt, snow, stones, brick, or sometimes nothing but mud. The cars are quite incredible: beefed up with tons of horsepower and torque, slapped with aerodynamic fins and completely gutted so they are very light, with brakes and suspensions only dreamed about. The drivers are the best in the world, with co-pilots in the passenger seat that read out specifications for every bump and bend in the road. It is truly a sight to see.

Or is it?

You see, when you watch rallying on the television, it is chock full of cars flying through the air, sliding sideways around U-turns, sinking into puddles up to their mirrors, and crashing in stupenduous ways that make those police chase videos look like child's play. It keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time.

Observing the sport first-hand is a completely different story. Picture yourself standing alongside a road, even near a pretty good-looking turn, waiting. And it's not the good kind of waiting like when you are eager for Christmas to come. You are standing outside, with the wind reaching 30 mph, the rain soaking every inch of your body, and your feet freezing off from the huge puddles you had to walk through to get to where you are.

Then the first car comes: you hear it roaring throughout the canyons. Its deep rumble getting closer and closer. A few seconds later you can see it, winding far off through the trees or across the countryside. Before you know it, the car leaps around the bend in front of you, races down the small straight, flies around the next corner, and disappears. It's gone in about 4 seconds. You think, "Well that was neat!". About 2 minutes later the next car comes, flies around the same bend, at exactly the same speed in the same manner, and then disappears. After seeing this about 8-9 times it starts to wear on you. You start to get bored and wonder, "Is this it?" 120 cars were entered at this rally, so you can see how it might get a little redundant. The only cool thing we experienced in the two days we were there was when one of the cars flung a rather large rock out when it was going around the bend, and it hit me square in the chest (missing my camera by about 6 inches). Overall, we learned a sad lesson -- that watching rallying in person is nowhere near as exciting as watching it on TV. You only sit at one place for about 2 hours watching the same maneuver over and over. Sure, you could walk a few feet down the course, but you would see exactly the same thing. Unless you managed to find that one incredible area of the course where everyone crashes, or stand right by the huge jump or massive mud-puddle, it's not interesting.

What was interesting is Wales, but that's for another entry.

Time to catch up

2006-12-07T21:08:00.004Z

A few weeks ago we realized (or "realised", as they spell it over here) that we had completely forgotten to mention our trips around England or post any pictures of them. This entry will be a brief description of the places we have gone to in between flights to Europe:

Stonehenge: It was really rainy and cold, and being the seasoned travelers we are we only had one umbrella and sweatshirt. Suffice it to say that we were miserably cold. Stonehenge was really cool, although it gets boring looking at it after a while. You can't walk amongst the rocks anymore for preservation's sake, so we just looked at it from afar wondering in awe: both how they did it... and why...

Salisbury Cathedral: The tallest cathedral in England, it also is one of the brightest. Some bishop a few hundred years ago decided that he didn't like it all dark and gloomy so he had all of the exquisite stained glass ripped out and melted down... and the Brits complain that Americans don't respect history! We went in right after an ordination service, so we saw lots of guys (and women) dressed up in funny robes. We even saw a few monks!

Bath: This city really is lovely. The architecture of the buildings is really pretty... classic Georgian crescents everywhere. The main draw is the Roman Baths built on top of natural hot springs. This gave us a really nice primer to our later trip to Rome. It was very well preserved; we could see remains of statues and decorations, the underfloor heating mechanism, and the drainage system. The floor of the baths were lined in lead, so unfortunately no one could even dip their fingers in. Both of us really want to go back and spend a weekend there.

Windsor Castle: Classic English monarchy right here. The castle was amazing. It's just what comes to mind when one thinks about what a castle looks like. We were lucky enough to see the Changing of the Guard (funny hats and all!) while we were here. It was actually really long, and the band kept playing the same song over and over. However, it does save us the trouble of going to Buckingham Palace and fighting the mobs of people who want to see the Changing of the Guard there.

Hampton Court Palace: We spent way too much time exploring the inside of this palace. It was the home of Henry the 8th and William and Mary of Orange. It wasn't spectacular from the inside, but truly extraodinary in the gardens. We made our way through a hedge maze which was mildly entertaining, but the real sight to see are the back gardens. They were so orderly and colorful, and there were these weird triangular trees that I have never seen before. it reminds me of this cartoon I watched when I was little where an outcast has a round head and lives in a pointy world. The trees, buildings and people all have pointy cone shaped tops. Does anyone remember this??? But I digress... We spent so much time looking around that we almost missed our tour bus back to London!

Windermere, Lake District: This is the most beautiful place in England that we have yet come across. Very large hills (or massive mountains to the Brits) rolled down into lush valleys. We saw enough sheep, swans and slate to last a lifetime. Our hotel was set right on Lake Windermere, which was exceedingly pretty. We also took a boat cruise and a 10 hour tour through the heart of the Lake District (thanks to Marsha for the suggestion!). We had a great time exploring the little villages and sampling the local beer. Despite going in October, it didn't rain and the weather was actually quite pleasant.

So we have uploaded pictures from Stonehenge, Salisbury, Bath and the Lake District. Hampton Court Palace and Windsor Castle should be up shortly.

New Picture Site Up!!

2006-12-01T18:33:00.000Z

Our new picture site is finally up!! Make sure to have a look!

New Site (same URL): http://www.joeyeager.com/

Map View: http://map.joeyeager.com/

It has Rome pictures up, Belgium pictures, and all of the older pictures imported. There is a huge list of upgrades, but the main ones include a Google map view, many sizes for each picture, random picture view, rss feeds, a shopping cart feature that has many individual benefits, and a whole lot of options for me :). If you have any questions feel free to add a comment to this blog.

I'm in love (again)

2006-11-27T17:36:00.000Z

Joe and I recently returned from a trip to Rome, which was fabulous. I always have been a history buff (partly because it fulfils my strange need to spout off obscure and irrelevant facts that only I find interesting) so I really savored the chance to walk amongst 2500 year old ruins. Just imagine walking into the Roman Senate building, the birthplace of our modern democracy more than 2000 years ago! Yes I know, very few people would feel the weight of politics and history on their shoulders the same way I did, but I have to believe that just about anyone would be awestruck upon the first views of the Pantheon (built in 125AD, it was the largest free standing dome up until the 1950s), the Coliseum, and the Roman Forum. Everything I had been taught in school about the toga wearing, war-hungry Romans suddenly came to life as I was standing amidst the ruins of one of the greatest civilizations in history.

We saw all of this in two ways, both were really cool but for completely different reasons. First, we took a Segway tour around the city. We were so focused on driving the darn things that we missed almost everything the audio guide was telling us. The real value for me, however, was rolling by the crowds of people staring in amazement/jealousy. One guy's jaw hit the floor so hard as we drove by that he forgot he was driving a car and missed his green light. Another American guy exclaimed to his wife as we drove past "Oh, AWESOME!". I told many people that day "Yes, I know it's dorky, but we are nerds and we know it. Why not enjoy it?"

The second tour we took had more of an educational bent. We walked on the Palatine Hill, home to many emperors' palaces, the Forum and the Coliseum accompanied by our Ph.D Architect/Anthropologist guide. She helped us really appreciate what we were seeing and understand ancient roman culture better. For example, I learned that obscure and irrelevant fact about the Pantheon mentioned above thanks to her. I also learned that 10 vestal virgins were put to death for not being so, umm, virgin.

Ancient ruins aside, we had a great time visiting all of the Renaissance splendor that is the rest of central Rome. The Trevi fountain (pictured above) was so unexpectedly beautiful it took my breath away. We saw the Vatican and sculptures by Michelangelo, but managed to miss out on the famous Vatican museums and the Sistine chapel (oh well, just a good excuse to go back!). We spent an entire day walking from piazza to piazza just taking it all in. Oh, and eating ice cream. If there is anything that Joe likes most in the world - besides cars and computers - , it's ice cream. We feasted on the famous Italian gelato night and day. On Friday we each had 4 cones of gelato throughout the day (most were double scoops too)! Combine that with the excellent Italian cuisine and penchant for drinking, and we easily gained 10 pounds each!

So yes, Rome was fabulous. There was very little not to like about the city (the one exception being the many protests and police officers with machine guns walking the streets), and I can't wait to go back and see it all again...and maybe even pick up a few more useless facts.

Belgium: Chocolate, Beer, Mussels, Fries, and Waffles

2006-11-27T00:04:00.000Z

Belgium is not known for much other that what I listed in the title, which is actually quite a lot for such a small country. The chocolate is amazingly good and there's a chocolatier on every corner offering a wide assortment of fresh truffels. Big names such as Godiva and Pierre Marcolini are based here. The beer is incredibly good, and strong too! Most of the beers are above 6% ABV, and one is even brewed by Trappist monks, reaches 12% ABV, and only tastes like a 6% beer. The mussels, oh the mussels! Normally I don't like mussels but here they are in-credible. When we were in Brussels they were in season too, and every restaurant offered a huuuge pot of them (we counted 85 in one pot, for a single person's entree). The french fries were another delicacy, except everyone looked at us strangely when we requested ketchup; the Heinz bottle they brought us was brand new and completely unused. Waffles are from Belgium as well, and they love to put a lot of toppings on them... including bananas, strawberries, syrup, caramel, chocolate, whipped cream, and cherries. We made sure to partake in all of these delicacies several times over :)

We stayed in Belgium's capital, Brussels, for the weekend. It offered a couple nice sites but not as interesting as some of the other capital cities we have been to. The city of Bruges (pronounced Brooge) is an incredible place. It is so picturesque and photogenic, as you will be able to tell from the pictures. Despite the fact that it was freezing the entire time, we really loved Bruges because there was so many cobblestone paths, gorgeous gardens, bridges, and awesome buildings. Bruges is such a gem of a village, and if you are ever in the area I highly recommend at least a day visit. We were only there for a day, and in Brussels for the weekend, but I wish it was reversed. We could have spent an entire weekend in Bruges with a stopover in Brussels.

Enjoy the pictures, they will be coming soon when the new site is up!

RE: Game Day!!!!!!!

2006-11-26T00:04:00.000Z

OK. It's my time to weigh in on today's football. As I understand it, Joe was quite confident that this was his year to FINALLY get bragging rights to our intra-state rivarly known as "Clean Old-Fashioned Hate". I am thrilled to report that just a few minutes ago his hopes were dashed thanks to the chronic ineptness of the Georgia Tech offense. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, UGA has emerged out of the ashes of a sub-par season to win the only game that really matters to the Yeagers (Yeagers jr. that is, not Yeagers snr.). If there was anything that could redeem the 2006 Bulldawgs, this was it. Better luck next time Joe. Maybe next year will be the year to break the 5, no wait, 6 year losing streak.
As the fight song goes..."Glory, Glory to old Georgia, and TO HELL WITH GEORGIA TECH!"

Game Day!!!!!!!

2006-11-25T14:21:00.000Z

The time is finally here -- Judgement Day. The one day in the year where Stacey and I have to sign a pact in the morning that we will not swear at each other, not make fun of each other, and direct all remarks at the television instead of each other. It is, of course, the most important day each year: Georgia Tech vs Georgia.

The Brits barely know what American football is. Some have an idea of the rules, but no one understands why college football is so popular. No one follows their college team after they graduate, and even the term 'college' is similar to what Americans would consider a 'community college' and a university over here is what a university/college would be back in the states.

We have been watching Freeview which is only slightly better than the broadcast network in the US, and, frankly, we couldn't stand it anymore. We signed up for Sky, which is the main provider of television over here, and even got the sports package. Even so, there were no channels that played American sports. The only channel that does is NASN (North American Sports Network) which was scheduled to air our game, but it only comes in a package of 5 channels for 15 pounds a month, only available on a 12-month contract. After a quick analysis, we decided it was still worth it. We had to be able to watch our game.

So we sit here today, with big plans: watching football and drinking beer all day long. The schedule:

12:00-3:00: Oregon vs Oregon State -- Played on Friday, but replayed for GMT. It'll be a great warm-up game.
3:00-5:00: College Gameday -- Great to get get the blood pumping!!
5:00-8:30: Florida vs Florida State -- Live coverage of the game. ACC vs SEC. We couldn't have asked for a better pre-game game.
8:30-Midnight: Georgia vs Georgia Tech

By the time of the game, I am sure we will have plenty of time to have as much beer as we would like, and get ready for the action. Game Day is the deciding factor for which of us can claim victory for an entire year. 365 days of ragging on the other person for having a terrible team.

This season, Georgia has had a disappointing season and Tech is doing an incredible job, currently ranked 15th in the nation. Somehow, despite all of this, Las Vegas is putting Georgia up by 2. Tech is still the underdog. Why? Because Tech has had a terrible record vs Georgia. They have only won 14 times since 1960, and 9 of which have been when Georgia had a losing season.

Nevertheless, I'm positive we're going to win. We haven't been able to see a single college football game until now, because of all the traveling and the lack of a channel that shows it. All that is changed, and today is a beautiful day.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2006-11-24T22:47:00.001Z

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, we sure did! Stacey made an incredible dinner for us and 4 other people. Two were Brits from our Rugby team, and one was one of Stacey’s old High School buddies with her boyfriend. The company was great, and the food was even better. It was Stacey’s first attempt at Thanksgiving, and she actually hasn’t made most of these dishes ever before.

Since Thanksgiving is an American holiday, Britons do not celebrate it. Actually, they know nothing about it. Finding the right ingredients are nearly impossible; we had to search 5 stores and even 4 more online stores to find the right stuff. Our turkey was ordered online, the guy at the deli was completely confused as to why we wanted an entire ham, the cranberries were difficult to find and tasted strangely, no one here has heard of pumpkin (from the can), and the miracle of Stove Top does not exist here either. For the pumpkin and Stove Top, my mom graciously sent those over, along with some pudding mix which we were having trouble finding.

Here’s the full menu:

Turkey (10 lbs)
Glazed Ham
Mashed Potatoes
Stuffing
Corn
Sweet Potatoes
Green Beans
Cranberry Sauce
Bread
Gravy
Pumpkin Pie
Banana Cream Pie
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Vanilla Ice Cream

As you can see, we focused our efforts on desserts ;). My favorite was the ham with the mashed potatoes and gravy though. We thought we would throw in a bit of a British delicacy with the sticky toffee pudding.

The only mishaps were that we forgot about the bread in the oven and the guests arrived about 10 minutes before dinner hit the table. Everything else went very smoothly and we had quite the meal. Amazingly, everything was gone. The turkey was left for dead and every side dish was destroyed, leaving only a bit of ham and some of the desserts. Stacey has graciously offered to make more mashed potatoes for me though – and I’ll definitely take her up on that offer!

Pardon our Progress

2006-11-15T01:23:00.000Z

Stacey and I are in the middle of upgrading the picture site to a much better one, so you might see some strange things in the meantime. This may include albums disappearing, sub-albums appearing, strange album highlighted pictures, etc etc. Sorry for the map not working either -- the site that we linked to has terrible reliability. We're implementing a much better map which is part of the progress.

Everything should be completed shortly and I promise you will all love it. So stay tuned!

Thank you for your suggestions

2006-11-01T14:10:00.000Z

Thank you Tommy, who came up with the great idea of making a map to plot all the places we have been. Click on the "Map It" link to see the places we have been so far. The page takes a few seconds to load, so just be patient.
We will keep updating this as we go to more places, so eventually the map will be filled to the brim!

Pictures of Amsterdam and Paris are up now, check out the "Pictures" link to view them.

La joie de vivre (the joy of life)

2006-10-23T09:48:00.000+01:00

Paris in long and short form:
Short - Paris is a $h!thole, but my favorite city so far.

Long - If you can ignore the subways that smell like urine, the beggars harassing you on the streets, and the French attitudes, then Paris is a lovely city. We only spent a day and a half there so we definitely want to go back. The highlights: climbing some 300 or so stairs to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and seeing amazing views of the city, getting lost for 4 hours in the Louvre (which is still not nearly enough time!), and seeing the Eiffel Tower lit up at night.

On Saturday night Joey surprised me by planning a date to a nice restaurant. It was a small little restaurant that served traditional French fare and really good wine. It was one of those atmospheric places that you don't mind spending 2.5 hours eating your meal. After dinner (and an excellent creme brulee), we went to the Eiffel Tower. What amazed me the most was how massive it is! It looks like this elegant spindly thing in the pictures, but from the ground it is an entirely different story. It has a massive footprint and is much taller than you would think. We were too late to go to the top, but we looked at it from the park adjacent to the site. It was lit up a nice orangey color, but then at midnight the whole thing went white and flashy - like a couple hundred high power strobe lights were strung throughout the building. It was really beautiful and the perfect end to our wonderful date. Good food, great company, and amazing views...how much more romantic can you get?

We went to the Louvre, expecting to have a short visit because we had so many other things to see in Paris. We saw Hammurabi's Code (the first written set of laws) and the Mona Lisa of course. Everything was going well in our plan to just see the highlights of the collections until we wandered into some sculpture rooms. Now I must admit that I am no art lover. I think it's great that people have artistic talent, but it is hard for me to get excited about paintings. I did discover, however, that I am amazed at the skill involved in sculpting. Its one thing to put a brush to canvas and create something beautiful, but quite another to chip away at a big rock to create a smooth, captivating, 3 dimensional object. Just think, if the sculptor takes too big of a chunk out by accident, the entire thing can be ruined! It was absolutely amazing that the tiniest elements, like wrinkles in skin or embroidery on clothes were completely detailed. Joey shared the same amazement that I had, although he was left wondering why everyone walked around naked all the time in those days :)

One of the great things about Paris is how it blends its rich history with new interpretations of art. There were many times that we would walk down a very 18th century street only to see some brightly colored piece of abstract weirdness. It gave the city such a variety that we haven't been able to find in any other city so far.

The French people were very annoying, and I can admit that my French is in very poor shape. I could understand things when they were written, but not really when spoken to me, and my attempts at speaking my broken French were less than appreciated. At one point I ended up directing our taxi driver to "number very zero", instead of "number three zero". If you know French, you might understand how I could make that mistake, but the words "three"and "very" are about as basic as you can get! I also told another taxi driver that I knew "muy peu" French. This was particularly embarrassing because muy means very in SPANISH, while peu means small in French. The meaning is correct, although I really need to stick to one language at a time. Sigh...looks like the 5 years of French I took in school didn't exactly pay off. I did better in Mexico using my one semester of Spanish in college than my 5 years of French in middle school and high school.

We have the next 2 weeks off (meaning no traveling), but after that we have !!!Rome!!! and Brussels. Ta-Ta!

Amsterdam...it was interesting

2006-10-16T21:58:00.000+01:00

Yes, Amsterdam was very interesting to say the least. There is no way to describe the weirdness of walking down a perfectly lovely canal street only to turn the corner and be confronted with slightly overweight, mostly naked prostitutes winking at you through their windows. There was also a plethora of "coffee houses", but trust me, these stores aren't selling normal coffee. They do have a menu, but the only thing on it are various types of marijuana. Smoking weed and hookers are legal in Amsterdam (prostitutes even pay taxes there!), but of course we didn't partake in any of the festivities :)

Ironically enough, the red-light district is located right behind the Oude Kerk, or Old Church, dating from the 1200s. This church has 47 bells (that all ring at a different note) in its church tower. We can't seem to get away from the church bells! Seriously though, the church gave a free concert one afternoon and it was great. We listened to famous classical songs from an outdoor cafe while drinking a pint. Now that's what I call a relaxing vacation.

We stayed at this really cool hotel. It was an old merchant's house right up against one of the canals. We were on the top floor so we had great views of the water and really nice exposed rafters in the ceiling. The hotel was outside the touristy parts of the city, yet close enough that we could ride a bike and get to everything within 5 minutes or less.

We also saw the Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh Museum (my personal favorite) and a diamond cutting factory. We didn't try to pack too much in this time so we had a lot of time to just wander the streets and drink up the atmosphere.

We did get sucked into a tourist trap however, when we took a day trip to Zaans Schans. It was billed as an old historic village with 40 homes and 5 working windmills. However, it was one of those "historical attractions", much like Colonial Williamsburg or old western mining towns, where everything is set up specifically for the tourists and no one in their right mind actually lives there. It was pretty though, so we can at least pretend that we saw what Holland would have looked like back in the old days.

Next week we are off to Paris! November will be very busy as well, with trips scheduled for Brussels and Rome, and Joey going on trips to Amsterdam and Copenhagen again. Check out the calendar.

New Album - Around Town

2006-10-10T12:15:00.000+01:00

We have posted a new album with subalbums of random sights around London. We've taken many tours of the city while here, and decided to compile them into 1 album. More to come as we edit and upload them.

Pictures: http://www.joeyeager.com/london-misc

Dublin, Only Good for St. Patties

2006-10-08T21:58:00.000+01:00

We went to Dublin, the capital of The Republic of Ireland about 2 weeks ago, but I never got around to posting about it... Probably the reason that it took so long was because Dublin's not all that interesting. I mean, we did the cool stuff, then had 2 days left in the weekend. Sam and Eliza were with us so regardless we had a great time, but for those with the city on their list of todos I would reconsider.

The only two things you can do in Dublin besides stare at the amazingly green grass is (1) play golf, and (2) drink Guinness. We're not much for the golfing game, and with the Ryder cup being in town at the same time we had enough golf anywhere we went. Therefore we did the latter, and headed for the Guinness brewery.

Now, most breweries take up about a city block of town, and are on the outskirts. Not in Dublin. Guinness put Dublin on the map. It takes up about 4 city blocks and is right in the heart of the town. I thought the factory tour was a bit lacking, but that might have been because it was so long. The "museum" was an amazing 7-story tall building. Near the top you were able to pour your own perfect pint, and then sit on the 7th story bar that had a 360 degree view of the city!

We also had dinner at a pretty nice place with live music and Irish riverdancing. It was so much fun if I had a few more pints of Guinness I might have joined them onstage ;). I will give it to Dublin -- it has an amazing bar scene. Granted, it's all tourists, but it has an area of about 10 city blocks called "Temple Bar" that has a bar/pub about every 2 feet. One VERY IMPORTANT thing we learned there is that an "Irish Car Bomb" is actually... not so Irish. They had nooooo idea what we were talking about.

On Sunday, with nothing else to do in Dublin, we headed outside the city into a little fishing village called Howth. It had an awesome bay and a real cozy feel. The Sunday market was especially nice with all of the locals selling homemade goods.

Despite Dublin lacking in appeal, we think Ireland was pretty cool overall. Everyone was extremely nice and spoke perfect English. We definitely want to go back to Ireland and see some of the amazing countryside.

The Pictures: http://www.joeyeager.com/dublin/

Meet Thomas

2006-10-02T21:14:00.000+01:00

We would like to introduce everyone to our new friend and roommate, Thomas. Yes, I know Thomas is a mouse, but isn't he cute? Why, you ask, did we name our new mouse Thomas? Its simple really. Joe met someone in Germany whose name was Thomas Maus, so we deicided to name our new friend in honor of him. At least Thomas is of the fuzzy and cute variety, not the disgusting huge rat that he could be.

So seriously folks, having a mouse is not at all fun. The night we got home from Dublin (which was fabulous by the way), we woke up to this noise coming from a paper shopping bag on the floor of our bedroom. We turned the lights on in time to see our furry friend trying to jump out of the bag. No mean feat by the way, since this bag was easily 2 feet tall. Before either of us could work up the courage to close the bag and throw it out our window, he managed to jump out and scurry into the hallway and out of sight. Joe and I obviously screamed bloody murder, but only to frighten him away of course! I must say, I was very shocked and neither of us slept very well that night.

The pest control guy has not shown up, so in the meantime we walk around banging the walls just in case he has the gall to show his nasty face in our kitchen. Which did happen incidentally when we forgot to take the trash out one night. Joe heard a rustling at the trash bag and saw Thomas trying to break it open and steal some grub. Thankfully Joe scared him away again by jumping on the couch and screaming...

Tour de London

2006-09-28T19:14:00.000+01:00

I have been trying to jog whenever I can to beat the fact that I work from home -- I walk 10 feet to get to my job. And today, like other days, I started off in a random direction. Usually I run as far as I can in one direction, then turn down some street and go that way. This time, I made more turns in an attempt to find new areas I hadn't been to before.

Well, the area I run in is a massive Victorian neighborhood, if you will. [There's not really neighborhoods in London as you might think of in the states. They're more of just areas where all the houses look similar.] After about 10 minutes I come upon a change of scenery. The area look much different where everything looks very run-down. Not quite knowing where I am, I decide to head back. I usually only take 20 minute runs so this was about right anyways.

Now's where it gets interesting. I can't quite find my exact way back, but this is quite normal for my jogs. I head the general direction until things start to look familiar. Anyone that knows me knows that I have an uncanny sense of direction. I go with my gut and keep jogging.

About 10 minutes goes by and I should be about home. Problem is, I still have no idea where I am. I start taking every turn trying to find something that looks familiar. Maybe even a street sign that I recognize. Anyone that's been to London knows how well their streets are marked (they're not) so I shouldn't have a problem. To add to the problems, I had to “use the restroom” as us Americans say. The worst was that it wasn’t the “garden variety” bathroom break that a tree or even petunias can take care of. I was going to need to be home soon. I couldn’t run anymore, I was left to walking.

Another 10 minutes goes by and I find salvation. Fulham Road. It's the largest road in Fulham and happens to go right past my place. Hallelujah! Now, which direction?? Never fear, I'll just go with my gut instinct and incredible sense of direction. It's never failed me before. Let’s go…right!

I walked for a long time, sure I was on the right track, and being the Man that I am there’s no way I needed to ask for directions. I passed 5 wine stores, 14 pubs, and 3 laundromats including one called “Go Gay Cleaners”. Not sure what that’s about. This road really did last forever, or did it? When I hit a dead end I started to wonder. I still saw signs for “Fulham”, so that was good, but I decided it was time to glance at a map (I will never ask someone – that’s just admitting defeat). The map at the little bus stop didn’t even have my house on it. Actually, I didn’t recognize anything on it.

I figured that the only way home could be was the other direction on Fulham Road. To speed things up, I decided to grin and bear the running. That was the only way I’d be home before midnight. Past the pubs, past the wine stores, and finally past the Go Gay Cleaners. It’s never fun to backtrack, especially when you’re on foot. Finally, back where I started. My legs were shot so there was no way I could run anymore. Never fear, now I had the pleasure of making progress.

Luckily it didn’t take long before I noticed a few little shops I had been to before. I was definitely on track. I rounded a corner, looked up, and there it was! My building! Now, it was waaaay off in the distance on the horizon… but at least I could see it! Yaaaay!! Then it started to rain. As my luck would have it, this was the typical London rain. The kind that is just a light rain, just heavy enough to say, “You’re an idiot for not bringing an umbrella.” Thankfully it was not the other kind of London rain… the kind that says “I am going to drench you right down to the bone”. I didn’t care though, I could see my flat. I was happy.

It took me 2 hours for the entire tour de London and I’m glad to be home. Now it’s time to shower, then go pick up some beers to put back the 10 pounds I lost.

Been so busy!!!

2006-09-26T14:40:00.000+01:00

Sorry that we took so long to get some posts out, but Stacey and I have been so busy! Stacey finally got on a project so she's working constantly, and I have been pulling some long days finishing up before the quarter's done. Then with going out of town every weekend we've just been crammed for time. As Stacey said, we really enjoyed having Sam and Eliza in town. I think they had a good time here too.

Keep checking out the blog -- we'll try and be much better about the postings. We still have a bunch of stuff we need to update everyone on!

The Oktoberfest pictures are now online so have a look: http://www.joeyeager.com/oktoberfest

Thanks to Sam and Eliza!

2006-09-24T21:53:00.000+01:00

Sam and Eliza met up with us in Munich for Oktoberfest, stayed with us for a few days in London, then traveled with us to Dublin this weekend. It was great to see some familiar faces in the sea of strangers that is London. We had a blast doing all this stuff, and hope to do it again soon. This is also a hint to everyone else to come and visit us!!

S & E, if you happen to actually read our blog (doubtful), thanks a lot for the visit.

The Aftermath

2006-09-20T09:29:00.000+01:00

So we are back from Oktoberfest now, no worse for the wear. Our story is pretty funny but also a tad disappointing. We flew in to Munich, Germany for the opening weekend of Oktoberfest. It is a festival in honor of the marriage of a Bavarian princess or something like that, but it's really just an excuse to consume large quantities of German beer.

We got up bright and early on Saturday so we would be sure to catch the opening day parade. There were lots of horses pulling carts loaded with kegs, brass bands, and Bavarian costume. After that, we sat down at one of the beer gardens and awaited the cannons that signal the start of the beer! This is the point where it gets funny...we were sitting next to two Canadians, and as a way to spice things up a little, we decided to play a drinking game. We had been warned numerous times not to try to keep up with Germans, Italians, Englishmen etc, but since no one had ever mentioned the perils of playing a drinking game, we went ahead with it.

We did have a great time, but suffice it to say that we "only" lasted 4 hours. After this point, Joe was threatened with being kicked out for passing out on our table, and we were both feeling really sick. We decided to go back to the hotel room (a 10-15 minute walk away) and sleep it off for an hour or so, then go back to the festival.

This is not the drunkest German we could find, as that guy was face-down in the dirt... so here's the most drunk German that was standing up for a picture:
Neither of us actually remember walking back to the room or going to sleep. We just remember waking up 5 hours later with massive headaches! We felt like total losers that we had slept most of the day and were missing out on all the fun! We went back, but only to eat some food before calling it a night and trying to sleep the hangover off.

The next day we met up with Stacey's friends, Sam and Eliza. They were staying in Germany with Sam's mom and were up in Munich that day. We had a very hearty meal of traditional Bavarian fare, and only 1 or 2 drinks (we were still nursing our hangovers!). There was lots of music and some really funny drunk dancing going on, so it was all very entertaining. It was also nice to see some friends for a change and have someone to translate some German words.

All in all, it was definitely worth the experience. While we are in Europe, we might as well "drink" up every new culture that we can, although next time we will take it a little easier :)

Pictures: http://www.joeyeager.com/oktoberfest

Oktoberfest, here we come!

2006-09-15T12:42:00.000+01:00

Stacey is almost back from France (she'll have to tell you all about it) and the second she arrives we'll be heading out the door for our flight to Munich. Now, those of you from Georgia will know of Oktoberfest from the festival in the tiny town of Helen, GA. Helen needed something to put it on the map so it decided to start celebrating Oktoberfest as well. Well, Oktoberfest is something that is celebrated all over Germany, and it all started in the city of Munich. So every year they have a massive festival in the city with about 25 tents (beer gardens) which each hold anywhere from 1000-10,000 people. It's quite a site and we can't wait!

If you're wondering, "Why are they going to Oktoberfest in September?" you should check out the official website. Make sure to read about the traditional tapping of the first keg (this weekend). We'll be frequenting many of those tents in our search for the drunkest German we can find. When we find him/her, we'll make sure to take a picture with them and post it up here. :)

Oh, and if we don't come back you know where to look for us! Maybe the Armbrustschützen tent, maybe the Schottenhamel, or even the Käfers Wiesn Schänke.

Bahrain is OUT!!!

2006-09-13T12:34:00.000+01:00

So, it was a close one, but our practice decided to stop bidding for the Bahrain work. If you weren't aware, had we won this project I would be the one in charge and would have to go to Bahrain at least once. Not to mention that I was "slightly" unqualified for the work anyway!

While I am sure Bahrain is a beautiful country, I was pretty nervous about that idea, especially given the increasing violence in all parts of the Middle East. In general, the prospect of being an American woman in the Middle East does not make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Sooooo, no more worrying about that one. Whew!

Scotland Pictures Up!

2006-09-12T14:54:00.000+01:00

Check out our picture site to see our Scotland pictures from a few weekends ago. This past weekend we went to Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace (one of Henry VIII's humble abodes). We'll have those pictures up soon, and Oktoberfest is this weekend!!

Scotland pictures: http://www.joeyeager.com/scotland

Professional Wedding Pictures

2006-09-11T12:36:00.000+01:00

I have finally uploaded all of the full-size wedding pictures that the professional photographers took. These are the original files as the photographer gave them to us.

Available here: http://www.joeyeager.com/wedding-allpro

If you want to download the full size (best quality) picture:

Make sure you are viewing the picture's page (not the thumbnail)
Click on the picture
Let it new image download completely (may take a minute on slow connections)
Right-click on the image and choose "Save Picture As"
Choose your image location and choose "Save"

This is very useful if you then want to print these out on your printer, or send them to a photo lab. Almost every major store (Wal-Mart, Target, Wolf Camera) all have websites that allow you to upload digital photos so you can pick them up printed at their locations. They all do a great job, but Wolf Camera is the best.

Alternatively, you can use joeyeager.com to send to other sites. This is a very easy way to print the pictures. Follow these steps:

Make sure you are viewing the picture you would like to print (not the thumbnail). NOTE: You do not have to be viewing the full-size picture. When you send the picture off to be printed, it will send the original
Find the drop-down list at the top left that looks like:
Select a website to send them to. I highly recommend "Shutterfly"
You will see the shutterfly website come up with your picture already uploaded
Change the size and quantity that you would like (default is 1 4x6)
If you would like to add more pictures to your order, click "Add More Pictures" on the right-hand side. This will bring you back to my site. When you find the picture you want, simply choose "Shutterfly" again from the drop-down and you will be brought back to the Shutterfly site where all of your pictures are displayed.
When you have chosen all the pictures you want, and the dimensions, simply run through the checkout process. They print the pictures and mail them to you.

All of my gallery sites are this way, but most of the time I have not uploaded the full quality picture. All of these wedding pictures have the full images though so you should be able to print poster sizes if you like :)

New Calendar feature!

2006-09-08T15:34:00.000+01:00

Because everyone is always curious about where we are going on any given week, we have made a calendar so you can keep up with what we are doing! We are currently trying to decide where we want to go for October and November, and if anyone has any ideas, please let us know:)

The calendar is here: http://calendar.yahoo.com/stacey7664

Alternatively, you can click on the Calendar link on the side of this page.

Toodles!

Great Deals!

2006-09-06T09:48:00.000+01:00

Hey I found out about these great deals on flights from the states to London. Check them out:

Round-trip from New York-JFK:
- $199 London, Coach class
- Depart Nov. 15-March 21
- Stay a Sat. night to 30 days
- Blackouts: Dec. 15-31; Jan. 1-7
- Complete travel by April 20
- Purchase by Sept. 7
- Valid on Delta
- Fuel surcharge, taxes, fees additional

Delta will operate one daily non-stop between JFK and London-Gatwick and will add a second daily flight on May 1.

Round-trip from Atlanta:
- $195 London
- A 7-day advance purchase required
- Travel any available day
- Stay a Sat. night to a year
- Add a $150 round-trip surcharge
- Depart Dec. 17-24
- Purchase by Sept. 14
- Valid on USAirways

In my opinion, make sure you try and get a redeye flight. It's the only way to travel to London. You feel completely refreshed the next day, you don't lose an entire day for traveling, and your times are much more synced up when you arrive (no jet lag). Don't worry about being able to sleep. There's a couple different drugs you can take to knock you out! :)

New Apartment Pictures

2006-09-04T22:27:00.000+01:00

I added a few more apartment pictures including ones of our bedroom and my desk. Check them out when you get a chance.

Pictures: http://www.joeyeager.com/londonflat

Entertaining exploits from energetic Edinburgh

2006-09-04T11:58:00.000+01:00

Yes, the title is an alliteration, and yes, I am a dork for coming up with it :)

Anyway, we went to Edinburgh (pronounced Ed-in-borough), the capital of Scotland, last weekend and we had an off-and-on great time. There is a huge castle on a high hill that dominates the city. The town was very photogenic and very medieval feeling. There were plenty of small winding streets that we could easily picture being filled with sewage, plague victims and rats. Actually, it was a very charming place, except for the fact that every night in the old city there were drunk teenagers and 20-somethings yelling and screaming and just being belligerent. We went to a small concert while we were there and the singer wrote a song about this and called it "being serenaded by the drunken choir". Very appropriate.

Joe and I both agree that the absolute highlight of our trip was our day in the Highlands. We rented a sports car and drove about 3 hours north of Edinburgh (driving on the left side took some getting used to!). The scenery was amazingly vast; filled with very striking mountains and valleys and the odd village or two. We drove up there for the Braemar Highland Gathering. It is a day of traditional Scottish games and culture. We saw young girls dancing the Scottish Lilt, races and burly men tossing manly things like a 56 lb weight over a high bar. The most entertaining events were the tossing of the caber (huge log), the tug-of-war tournament and the children's sack race. There were tons of bagpipe bands (in fact for the next day after we left we could still hear the bagpipes in our heads!), and the Queen and Prince Charles were in attendance.

However, the day came to a terrible end... and I must admit that it is entirely my fault and I did pay for it. We were leaving and I was supposed to pack everything into the car. Well, I thought I did until we got about 20 minutes down the road and Joe wanted to get his camera out and take a picture... we then realized that I had left the $3000 camera on the ground at the parking lot! I can't really imagine how one can be absent-minded about such an expensive thing, but trust me, it was not a pretty sight. Joe was fairly calm about the whole thing, and I raced back to the gathering as fast as I possibly could manage (while shaking, holding back tears and driving on the left side of a tiny road while dodging sheep). Once we got back to Braemar, they were not letting any cars back in to accommodate all of the outbound traffic. So Joe took the wheel and I set out running back to the parking lot. It was a brutal run... I had to navigate hordes of people and cars through VERY hilly terrain. I knew I had to do my absolute best to find it or else I would have even more regrets about losing it. I was exhausted when I got there and the camera was nowhere to be found.

I was very disheartened; not only was it expensive, but all of our pictures and video of the trip were lost! As a last resort we headed to the police station to see if anyone had turned it in, and voila! There it was, in all its entirety on the policewoman's desk! That was one of the happiest moments of my life (mostly because I knew I would not be killed by Joe). I triumphantly walked out of the building to Joey's astonished "Who the hell turns in a camera like that?!? Why didn't they steal it?!?" I guess losing it in a village was much better than in a city :) Geez, that was really a close one.

So that's about it. We really liked the city, although Copenhagen is still tops at this point. The pictures of Copenhagen are on the pictures website now, and so are the Edinburgh pics. 'Til next time!

Copenhagen - The best city ever

2006-08-30T15:08:00.000+01:00

So we just got back from Copenhagen, and for those that don't know about the city, here's a quick gist. Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark, which is on Germany's northern border. It is considered a Scandanavian nation, and is part of the EU although they are not on the Euro (but rather on the Danish krone -- which the dollar is quite strong against!). A study not too long ago rated the Danish (the people of Denmark) as the happiest people in the World.

And Stacey and I thought Copenhagen (København) was awesome. The entire city was built for bicycles with bike lanes just as large as car lanes on either side of the street with bike racks everywhere. It was a very clean city too, and massive parks fill the city. The best part about Copenhagen? The ice cream. Everywhere you look there is ice cream and man do I love ice cream. At least 1 in 10 people is walking down the street eating it, and every corner place sells it from pubs to chinese places, to shwarma (arab) places, to museums and even hotels. It's the best place on earth.

Somehow they also fit a full-scale amusement park in the center of town called "Tivoli". It only takes up about 4 city blocks but it has everything a normal amusement park has. Stacey and I were very impressed with how well they used the space, by crunching things under the roller coasters and having just enough walking room. There was even a full-scale stage, stupid money-grabbing games, and a fun-house! We also rode the oldest *working* roller coaster in the world twice. No, parents, we didn't die. It was pretty fun and felt much safer than the cyclone and half the other rides at Six Flags.

Pictures: http://www.joeyeager.com/copenhagen

Joe

Oh, the pain!!

2006-08-22T13:31:00.000+01:00

Ok, so its not actually painful, but I do have a major complaint about living here. Almost from the very day we landed here, I have either been overcome by allergies, or had a serious cold. In one month (in the middle of summer no less!!), I have had 2 terrible colds. The current one is bad enough to keep me home from work. Yesterday I went through 7 of those tissue packs!

I'm not sure what it is about the air here, but I am getting very annoyed about this. Perhaps it is the soot that coats the Underground tunnels. Perhaps it is the germs that cover every inch of the disgusting tube carriages. Maybe there are weird allergens in the air here that I have never been exposed to before, so it is taking a larger than expected toll on my health (but why then is Joey not affected??). Perhaps this city is just so polluted that I am already developing lung cancer! I just don't know.

Thankfully, a cold and some allergies isn't that serious...but still! We are going on a trip to Copenhagen on Thursday, so that only gives me 2 days to recover...

If anyone has any other ideas of what it might be, please, do tell.

Pictures Up and Phone Working!!!

2006-08-19T22:20:00.000+01:00

Sorry this has taken so long, but we finally have our phone working and pictures of our flat up

Phone: Call either of our cell phones and it will redirect to our London phone
Pictures: http://www.joeyeager.com/londonflat

Cheers!
Joe

Greenwich Mean Time here we come...

2006-08-19T13:37:00.000+01:00

So since we have been living in the GMT timezone, we figured an actual visit to the Greenwich Royal Observatory was in order. This is the place of standard time and zero longitude. I thought it would just be a cool photo-op of us standing on the Prime Meridian, but it was actually very interesting in other ways as well. For one, it is a very unique building, stationed on top of a large (for English standards) hill with lots of domes and a neat weathervane. Secondly, we learned all about how important finding longitude was at sea, and how the problem was finally solved. The issue is that you can calculate it by a clock, but the clocks of that day had pendulums that swung back and forth (think grandfather clock here). This posed no problem on land, but when you are in a boat that is rocking back and forth the movement throws off the pendulum. Hence, inaccurate time = inaccurate longitude. This caused many shipwrecks and made map making very difficult. Eventually someone came up with a chronometer that could keep accurate time and solved the problem. There was also a really cool octagonal observatory used to entertain important figures of the 17th century. It was very beautiful.

Anyway, it probably all sounds very boring, but it really was fun. The observatory overlooked this really big park and the Queen's House (but no queen ever lived there). Nevertheless, the whole complex was architecturally stunning.

Pictures: http://www.joeyeager.com/greenwich

Germany Trip -- Problems Galore!

2006-08-19T11:10:00.000+01:00

The first work trip I had to take was to Stuttgart, Germany. My company has been working with Daimler Chrysler for quite some time now and we wanted to check up on how they were doing so I headed out there. Let me tell you, it was not what I expected!

First of all, I thought renting a car would be an awesome idea... you know, autobahn and all? And assuming that I would just figure out the road signs on the fly, I would have no problems. Well, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. I was excited though to find out that my rental car was not a 2-seater with a 1.0 liter engine like I expected, rather a Mercedes C210. It was a station wagon though, but come to find out everyone drives station wagons over there. Strange, I know! A quick glance over the "Guide to Road Signs in Germany" that the rental car place kindly provided, and I was off. Now, I was told everyone spoke English very well, so I would have no problems -- but that wasn't the problem. None of the directional road signs were in English! For instance, my map said to get on the A4 or something... but all I could find were road signs that said "Echterdinger Strβe" and "Flughafenrandstrβe". Yeah, I have no idea what the B-looking symbol is either. To make a long story short, somehow I just took turns where I felt like it (where the road curved like the map did) and then saw the Daimler Chrysler sign, and I knew my hotel was near that. On the way back to the airport later it was easier, I just followed signs with the little airplane symbol on them. :)

I was there a total of 2 nights and was meeting with DC all day long, so I didn't have time to see the city or anything. Not a biggie, I'll be back again someday.

The real issue was the problem with flights. My return flight was scheduled to fly into Heathrow airport, on the day that the sting went down. I called at noon and asked if my flight was still OK. The woman assured me everything was OK and my flight was still going out on time. I showed up at 3:00 and was told that no flights were going to Heathrow that day, and the best they could do was put me on something out the next day. I quickly got a hotel and planned to be in for another night. I had Stacey on the phone though looking up airline and train schedules and trying to get me out that night. See, London has 4 airports and so I knew one of them had to have a flight from Stuttgart that I could jump on. Thankfully, she found something and I booked it at the desk -- an hour and a half before the flight was scheduled for takeoff. Strangely enough, no one searched my bags besides the metal detectors, and I even carried a bottle of coke onto the plane! If there were tougher security measures, they were definitely not where I was.

Oh well, I got home safe that night (walked in at 10:30pm GMT) and was very happy to be home.

Marsha's week in London

2006-08-14T16:10:00.000+01:00

Marsha (Joey's mom) just left us yesterday. She had been staying with us for the last week after she finished up her tour or Wales and Northern England. I must say it was very refreshing to see a familiar face and to pass the time with someone we are comfortable with. Unfortunately, Joe got called away to Germany (his first business trip!) while she was here. I know that was disappointing for both of them to not be able to spend as much time together as they each wanted.

During her trip, we tried out many new restaurants, rode the London Eye (the universe's biggest ferris wheel) did some shopping at Harrod's, and went out to see a West End play - the London run of The Producers. The play was hilarious; I would highly recommend it for anyone who has not yet seen it. As for Harrod's...what can you really say about a place like that? It was fantastically interesting - 6 floors of luxury items and over priced goods, and a creepy memorial to Princess Di and Dodi al-Fayed. I actually found a Christmas decoration that I bought at TJMaxx last year for about $4 selling at Harrod's for £30 (that's about $55)!

All in all, I think it was a successful trip, and we all had a good cry when she left for the airport. Seeing her leave made it really hit home that we will not be seeing friends and family very often, and when we do see them it will be very short lived. We miss you all very, very much.

Funny one about the French...

2006-08-13T15:20:00.000+01:00

So Joey will tell you all about our visit to the British Motor Show, but I thought this story was particularly funny so I have to share it now. We were looking at a cool looking Renault sports-car (a French manufacturer). A British boy, no more than 10 years of age, said in perfect Queen's english "This is a nice car Mum, but we cahn't buy it because it's French." Makes me feel right at home!

Pictures Up: http://www.joeyeager.com/motorshow

Internet... Finally!

2006-08-13T14:24:00.000+01:00

We finally have Internet!! It took quite some time fighting with the phone company but we're all setup now. We connected our Vonage telephone and can make outbound calls but we are still having problems receiving inbound calls. I think I figured out why and fixed it, but it might be awhile till it takes effect. Will keep you guys updated on the status of that...

Since we now have Internet, we can finally blog everyday like normal people :). I'm in the process of upgrading my website (joeyeager.com) so expect some changes there. Afterwards I will load up every picture I have so you guys can check out all the cool places we've been to.

Until then... Cheers!

Our new apartment!

2006-07-28T10:25:00.000+01:00

Its been about 2 weeks now since we landed, and things are starting to feel normal. The first week was very hectic (and hot!) while we were walking around trying to find a place to live. We looked at about 15 different properties, and finally settled on a nice 2 bed/2 bath flat. We love it because it is right in the heart of our new community and very close to the tube(subway) station. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that being across the street from a church would mean that we would be woken up every day to the sound of church bells! On Sundays, they start at about 8 or 9am and go for about an hour at a time. We thought this would be the extent of it, but so far every day this week (at random times) the bells go off for at least a half hour without stopping. This is in addition to the chimes on the hour. Ugh. For my part at least, I have started learning how to tune it out so it's not quite as annoying as it used to be.

We haven't had much time to look around London, but we did get the chance to see part of the British Museum. This place was incredible! The architechure was stunning, and the building housed one of the most complete collections of Egyptian and Greco-Roman artifacts in the world. We saw the Rosetta Stone, as well as many statues from antiquity. Apparently there is a really cool European exhibit, but we didn't get that far. Did I mention admission is free?? I am going to guess that we will be going back several more times.

Other than that, the only notable thing to mention is that a good part of Europe is experiencing a big heat wave. Last week, the 100-year old record for a high temperature in July was broken. It got up to about 98 degrees F. All this in a city that has not embraced air conditioning! Apparently people are starting to take notice however, because we have tried buying poratble air conditioers and/or fans from stores, but they are sold out everywhere. That's it for now. Miss everyone!

On A Jet Plane

2006-07-17T20:23:00.000+01:00

As I write this I am on the plane to London. It was not easy leaving everyone we have ever known and loved to live for a year in a country we have only been to once. We are praying that all of our hopes and dreams of exploration will take flight over here and we will live the life so many have hoped, prayed, and dreamed about. It is through this blog that I hope our loved ones back home can live our experiences while also keeping up-to-date on our daily endeavors. Please check back regularly as this will be our connection to everyone. We miss you so much already!