Farrell Family Adventures

Berlin Inline Marathon 2009

2009-09-21T20:56:00.003+02:00

This weekend brought us back to Berlin, and a meetup with our good friend Marlene visiting from Doha, Qatar! I was excited for the inline marathon, but I must admit that training was something that hadn't been a top priority. The self-powered commute to and from work (bike / skate) was about the only regular 'training' that I had going... But here we go...

This year I was successfully registered as a male (last year I tore up the women's category!), and the expo was held at the closed down Tempelhof airport... and skating was permitted on the tarmac! I quickly got in and out of the expo, trying not to spend hundreds of euros on all of the great skating paraphernalia... even though I really wanted to splurge. I can ALWAYS use more wheels...

So the day of the race the three of us were out touring the city, and someone asked me what time the race starts, my response was something along the lines of “Umm... I think 4:10”... definitely lacking confidence in that response. After seeing numerous other skaters all geared up carrying their skates, I started to get a touch concerned about what time the 'actual' start of the race was... so I headed back to the hotel to verify (and catch a nap) while the ladies did some more sightseeing.

Of COURSE I was right (am I ever wrong, rhetorical question)... and so I skated down to the start around 2:45 with the dog in my arms, which obviously drew some looks... and met up with Marlene and Andrea. After some great coaching tips from both of them and strategizing where they would see me, Andrea sent me off with some famous last words “don't fall”. GREAT! Since I've had an incident in every race in Europe that caused me to re-introduce myself to the asphalt, those were some encouraging words... let me tell ya!

We were all corralled like livestock after warming up, and the inevitable forever wait ensued. The pro women started, with Cecilia Baena expected to win that battle (who did)... then the pro men started with another Colombian Diego Rosero the expected winner there (he came in 12th)... then came our start. In most of my previous races I ended up with slower times because pacelines got away from me at the start, or I got pinned at the start between slower people. I was determined to not let that happen this race, so I took note of who was around me, and the likely ones to follow and the ones to definitely steer clear of... BANG!!!

And they're off...

PURE UTTER CHAOS! If you've never been in or seen the start of an inline marathon... it is unreal. I imagine it is similar to the swimming start of a triathlon. Arms all over the place... skates clinking, balanced and unbalanced people trying not to fall. Fast people trying to go around slow people, slow people trying to convince themselves they are fast enough to keep up...

A few kilometers down the road the madness settled for a little bit... and we managed to form some pretty ginormous pacelines. An '80s arcade guru looking at the race from the sky would have compared it to Battletoads, watching the skaters bounce back and forth between pacelines... like it was the action level of Battletoads with them jumping back and forthe between walls...

I was feeling pretty good and was loving the feeling of a race, and settled into a pretty nice groove. After watching the other skaters and feeling them out, I was ok with this pace... but knew that I could go faster. I kept my eyes out for any fliers, because I was definitely going to chase. That plan didn't quite work out so well, as I made a move on a corner to gain some spots on the paceline.. but instead realized that I was about to pass the whole paceline and there wasn't another paceline within seeing distance. So my options were to settle in with this paceline or hop onto the lead and pull for awhile and try to push the pace; knowing that this would exhaust me, but hoping that I could find respite in the paceline.

I opted to go with the latter and hop to the front and see what we were working with. I had only been on the front for about 2 pulls, the front 3 skaters were rotating and pushing the pace (while about 80+ skaters sat back there and sucked wheel...) when a rec looking skater with his capri pants, wifebeater and rec skates came flying by with a london speedskater in tow. Since I was at the front and was willing to go faster I gave chase. I'm sure the people at the back of the paceline loved that idea, as the slinky effect can be unreal back there...

I caught up with two skaters (as did enough of the pacline for it to still look ginormous) and started talking with the London chic. I was excited, someone else that spoke English as a native language... and evidently the “rec” skater spoke English as well. We settled in for a bit, and then we decided that the three of us would try a break... but we on the front pulling! Definitely not the best time to try it, but we went for it anyway... yeah, didn't work so well. We're 0 for 1 now on breakaways... We tried a few more with no success... but then we gathered strength with another London Speedskater joining us up front, and then a few other faster skaters came up from the back, and the pace quickened. We started gaining ground on pacelines that were now within sight... and then 6 of us broke away and started hammering away...

We were setting quite a pace and passing pacelines ahead of us as skaters tried to hop on... as I started to wonder where in the race we were... I knew we were further than 20 km (where I saw Andrea and Marlene for the 2nd time), and thought we were getting close to the end. I saw my first km marker at 32 km.... did the quick math and realized that I only had about 3 miles left. Yes! One Hains Point loop, and I'm done!... Next marker at 33 km, only 9 km to go... WAIT?!?!?! 9 km! That's like 5 some miles... oh goodness.. Okay, reset the brain, no longer one HP lap... now it's two... at a wicked grueling pace.

I was still feeling good, but knew that sooner or later the lack of energy and food would kick in.. and evidently my mind didn't want to reset or my body didn't get the memo that I had to skate 42 kilometers today and not ~36... because shortly after my grave miscalculation I let the fliers go, and stepped into a paceline we were passing, and tried to settle in.

My skates had been bothering me since about km 22 and had really become noticeable after dropping off the fliers, and sitting in a slower paceline. Every time I set down either skate, the ball of that foot contacting the ground would make me wince.... it was quite an experience for the last 6 km! I proceeded to step out of the paceline and decide I'd just finish alone, and just enjoy the experience. (Or that's at least what I'm going to tell myself!)

I watched a few pacelines pass by, and thought about catching them... but opted not to for one reason or another. I really enjoyed the last bit of the race... although it wasn't as intense as being in a paceline, constantly calculating and watching... it was so enjoyable to have a road all to myself enjoy the sights of Berlin, the friendly people out cheering on the skaters... just a great way to end the race. I gave all of them thanks as I skated by and it encouraged them to cheer me on... what a reciprocal event! As I came skating through the Brandenburg Gate I was alone. About one guy 50 yds ahead of me, and that was it... I came through the Gate and Andrea and Marlene were over to the right screaming for me!

I skated through the finish area “hamming it up” (as quoted by Marlene) and enjoyed my 'alone' time.... evidently I even made the jumbotron at the finish line!

I finished up with a time of 1:23:00, quite an interesting time an exact minute! It was about 6 some minutes slower than last year's pace... but I loved every minute of it.

The Berlin folks run one hell of an event and with over 7,500 skaters... it's a must-do for all passionate skaters.

Europa and all its splendor!

2009-01-10T20:29:00.004+01:00

9 days-8 failed lactose intolerant meals-7 exceptional pinned up pictionary drawings-6 people brave enough to deal with this guy for more than...5 seconds... of pure adrenaline sledding down a black ski run-4 flights-3 countries-2 brothers and the others- and 1 hell of a vacation!!!!Day 1-deboard in Stuttgart to a half hour wait time for luggage while Andrea holds a homemade wilkommen(I probably spelled it wrong) sign and chubs(oh we'll get to that later)...I was fascinated at the concept of having a bathroom separated in 2 rooms-the toilets and the wash area so I took pictures...it's what I do...caught the train home where I learned to "sprecken'ze deutsch"!My girlfriend thought she was going to make a residence there the rest of her life and packed an extra 50 pounds of clothes.Who had the honor of lugging that up hill-ON COBBLESTONE?Who do ya think?ha...then 3 flights up the stairs where I wasn't allowed to grunt or even exhale because Germans have some sort of no verbal expression rule unless you're admiring/stalking a little dog named Chubs(I'm almost on that topic...patience)...their apartment is beautiful,very well decorated, and quite cozy(when I leave the window open!)...the BEST scrambled egg whites and toast I've ever had were prepared for me...we then hit up ol Baden Baden(I wanna say 2 different trains and a bus-about 2 hours away)for an invigorating spa treatment like no other with 17 + steps/stations to go through...back to the house to see Brendanamo bay where he cooked up some enchiladas AND chicken pesto to accommodate diets...that's when I got my first taste of Guitar Hero or Rock Band(one of those)...and I was so good I played drums and sang at the same time!ha...no I was terrible and I think they'll have Roxanne forever changed in their minds.Then went to a beautiful city known as Praha(Prague for you English folk).The architecture was just as I'd imagined of old Europe and the castles and towers and bridges were fantastic!One thing you wouldn't have a hard time locating there though would be lung cancer...mm mm Marlboro!Later on my brother and I go to one of the many gambling edifices in place and tear it up!I was bringing in the bacon and ready to walk and then threw it all away.Ya don't need to know all the details-but I blame it on the bathroom ha.So I wake up the next morning and who do I see running into my room,all excited and ready to explore the world?Chubs!How bloody cute...and what does she do when she is just absolutely thrilled?PEES!Nothin like a broken in house pup!So my comforter naturally shifted colors on parts of it and that was that.We were fortunate enough to see the guard change at the castle that afternoon and the metronome,which was under construction.We caught a glimpse of the mini Eiffel in the distance and had great views of the city from above.I was mesmerized at the TV tower they had about a half mile behind our hotel,that had humongous babies crawling up and down the sides...they love their babies over there!It was either after Praha or Switzerland where we stopped at the Dachau concentration camp.You read about these events and places in books but there's no way to capture the feeling of actually being there and seeing the conditions and going through what it was like.....went home that night to Stutty G and we were off to Interlaken in the morning!!!!!!I hadn't been skiing in probably 8 or so years and now I was going to the ALPS!Got all suited up compliments of Katie.I thought I would've been fine in sweatpants or jeans and a couple sweatshirts ha...boy o boy was I an imbecile!I'd done skiing before and thought it'd be cool to give snowboarding a go...I mean come on how hard can it be?Ya got 2 feet on a board and ya weave back and forth...piece of cake!So a lovely couple,Allison and Simon(friends of A & B's)were kind enough to join us and what do ya know?Simon even brought an extra board!So I get on the thing and test out which foot is more dominant and adjust the board accordingly.Well I'm naturally a lefty and didn't listen to his advice when he told me I should switch the footings to work best for me.Do I ever listen?So stubborn me goes on the slopes ready to get some hangtime and I can barely make it down the hill in 1 piece.Ya and then let's talk about once you get to the bottom of the hill you've then gotta get to the top of the next hill(it's how hills work).So I spent most of the first half of the day G.I.Joein it up these hills.So I'm frustrated with myself for A)not listening B)sucking terribly and C)I couldn't get the hang of it and I was holding everyone else back.So Katie was nice enough to sit with me at the top as we waited until our meet time approached.We got some lunch and Simon helped me switch the board to goofy(left-dominant) and then guided me down the first couple hills,waking me through the motions.Hey alright!I was gettin the hang of this thing...as long as I could make it down the hill without falling I'd make it up the next 1 and not have to crawl.So I do ok for a bit and then start struggling again and tell the other to go ahead I'll catch up.I watch as they veer to the right and I try to mimic that and instead I go left.Ha so now I'm on my own in the Alps on this stupid snowboard that I can't operate..AWESOME!So I do my best and just try and take it easy on the path I'm taking and have minor slips...alright!ok!...then there's a point where I can go to the left on a marked path or just shoot down the center underneath the gondola trail,which is basically untouched.Who needs paths???I am stuck in that fresh,clean snow for a good 45 minutes just tryin to get down...and that's supposed to be the easy part.I finally make it down and find 1 of the paths leading back towards Grindewald(our starting point)and I'm cruisin...ya a few slips every now and then but overall rockin this trail!Our meet time was 4 o'clock at the bottom of the hill...so I'm lookin at the phone Brenda gave me to call if I got lost, and it's 330...shite!...I'm clearly not gonna make it on time...I try to call Andrea or Allison-nothin!...ha now I just gotta keep on truckin until I get there...next thing ya know I'm at th bottom of the hill about to commence in my upward army crawl and I see Simon at the top of the hill I just stumbled down...nice!So they go zoomin past and occasionally push me up when needed and we make it there just past 4!...now the bad news-we(as in I)left our stuff in a locker at the very top where we started and the gondola closes at 415 so some of us were walkin back to the hotel boots and all...mine were heavy,but pretty comfy.I can't speak for the others ha....day 2 we go sledding!!!Time of my life...the views,the thrills,the laughs,the teamwork ha!So we say farewell to Allimon(think about it...)and head back to Germany..spent the next day at the local Christmas market shopping and gazing and then returned home to pack and prepare for the voyage back west :( that guy knows what I'm sayin...my bro and sis were incredible hosts and Brenda's amazing navigational skills got us through it all even though we got pulled over for being American and some customs guy was threatening to not let us in Praha because Chubs decided she was too cool for a passport and did what she wanted...but I speak for Katie and myself when I say we had a spectacular time and it will never be forgotten and many thanks to all involved

Thanksgiving in Deutschland

2008-11-28T15:12:00.000+01:00

There's nothing like a Thanksgiving in Waxhaw, but we tried our best to host (even though someone else brought the Turkey... is that even ALLOWED??)...

After some last minute scrambling, and some phone calls to Chefs Extraordinaire Moira and Mary... we had our recipes and an international event consisting of 4 Americans, 1 Canadian and 1 German...

Typically Germans will sit around the table for hours after finishing a meal, conversing with each other... but we took a different path. The young, punk-rock path.... ROCK BAND!!! Here is a video of Simon getting down on the guitar (with his wife, Allison, just shaking her head)...

Having one week off at a time...

2008-11-26T11:06:00.001+01:00

What a GLORIOUS schedule! So we decided to take advantage of it, since we just found out the schedule is changing yet again (been an on-going process) and instead of working a 7 on 7 off schedule... it will now be a 5 on 5 off 2 on 2 off schedule...This week took us to Garmisch, in the southeast of Germany nestled in between the mountains... and then a day trip to Strasbourg, France. We're still getting used to being able to take Chubs with us everywhere... The Europeans love their pets, and they are accepted virtually everywhere... restaurants, hotels, shops... Unfortunately we did stay at a US Armed Forces resort, so since it was a US installation where dogs aren't as openly accepted... Chubs missed out on Garmisch.

We were really excited for snow, and lots of it down in the mountain region... but as we were driving down we kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Eventually we realized that it just wasn't going to happen... there was just a little bit of snow atop the mountains and that is all the snow we got. Sorry... no snowman this trip...

We were able to check out the Gorge... a beautiful formation of rocks with a river running right through the middle... and even though neither of us are Geological buffs, we were able to appreciate the raw beauty of nature.

After the 20 minute or so walk through the Gorge, we had the option of either returning the same way we came (BORING!!!) or we could venture up into the mountains... hike around for a bit... and then come back a different way. Of course we opted for the different route back, and not having brought supplies for an actual hike I assured Andrea that it "won't be that long." MAN! Don't you think we'd both know better than that by now...

We set off hiking up the mountainside, got to the top of the first mountain with a pretty nice view, but I wanted to get to the OTHER mountain... so we went back down the mountain, across the river (over the river and through the woods...) and up the mountain on the other side... By now, we're both getting thirsty and hungry... and we have no idea where civilization is... unless of course we just go back down through the gorge, but we all know that's not an option.

We found ourselves atop a mountain, with very little around, and not many options but to go down a different path which appeared to be leading down the side of the mountain... After realizing that this path was a BIT slippery (rain and snow covered leaves littered the path), we took our time going down and followed the signs to what we thought was the parking lot. Unbeknown to us, until we got there, we hiked right back up the first mountain and reached the top of the trail that conveniently spit us out right next to a cable car taking us down to the bottom.

Along the way we did get some pretty cool views, a view of the gorge some 80 meters up from the Eiserne Brücke and just some very peaceful surroundings. The hike probably ended up taking us about 3 some hours, and by the end we were both pretty hungry and thirsty, but it was fun.

We explored the Olympic Ski Stadium once we got back to the car... and then wandered around downtown Garmisch.

Even without the snow, we were able to make the most of it... and it was a nice relaxing getaway...

Strasbourg is a pretty cool city... it is what I imagine when I think of a European city, cobblestone roads, colorful buildings along the wall... and AWESOME beer... Grimbergen De Noel is the best beer I've had so far in my short life, and I had it in Strasbourg... definitely made the trip worthwhile... RIGHT?!?!

We missed the chiming of the astronomical clock in Strasbourg, although I've been told by some folks we didn't miss much since it is one of the top 5 most disappointing sights in Europe. It's just very cool to walk around and see the history, and think about the fact that a lot of these buildings are older than our country.

Strasbourg was busy preparing for their Christmas market, which starts in a few days... so that'll definitely be on our list of things to check out... CHRISTMAS MARKETS!!!

The ABCs of Germany

2008-11-10T16:05:00.006+01:00

Andrea
Brendan
Chubs

So after "abandoning" Nala (as some have put it)... we decided we wanted another dog in our life. A puppy to be precise. So with the help of a German friend (the breeder spoke no English), we got a neun wochen young kleiner hund that is a mix between a maltese and a yorkshire terrier.

We named her Chubs... she was the big (read plump) one of the litter, and it's a pretty fitting name if you ask us. She has a cute tendency to leave the tip of her tongue sticking out of her mouth...

We also decided it would be a good idea to get a pup so that Andrea will have a little more company during the day since I started my new schedule at the beginning of this month. I will now be working 12 hour shifts, 7 days on and then 7 days off. We're both looking forward to the fact that I'll be getting 7 days off at a time, and hopefully we'll be able to do lots more traveling.

So, for those of you that are thinking about traveling over here... it'll work out best if you travel over on one of my weeks off.

Berlin Inline Marathon

2008-10-04T23:19:00.012+02:00

This weekend brought us back to Berlin, for an inline marathon.... We decided to take the train the 600+ kms and we're very glad we did. We opted to spoil ourselves and ride in style, in first class, since it ended up costing only another €9 per person...

Although it was quite comfortable and roomy up front, we decided we prefer second class... less looks from the other passengers.

Since we already did most of the sights the last time we were in Berlin, and because I wanted to stay rested, we didn't do too much sightseeing this time around. We were able to make it out to Olympic Stadium and see some history there but that's about all of the sightseeing we did. We had hoped to make it to Sachsenhausen concentration camp but we ran out of time.

Race Recap:
It was another afternoon start, but after the last bonk I was ready this time. I wasn't skating in starting block A with the pro's, so I found my starting block and settled in... As I was looking around, I started to notice that there were two types of bib numbers. The blue bib had numbers that started with a 'T', and the reddish bibs had numbers that started with 'X'. My bib was reddish and started with an X, and I quickly noticed that I didn't see any other males with the reddish bib or an X on their starting number... ok, noted.

The race warm-up was pretty cool... skating along Straße des 17 Juni and around Siegessäule Tower with thousands of other skaters... definitely put me into race mentality.. and shortly thereafter the pros were off! The women first (ladies first), then one minute later the men... and then there was about a 4 minute gap until my group started. I tried to jockey for position and get myself up front, or close to the front, but ended up starting towards the back half of the pack.

I lucked out at the beginning scramble trying to find the right paceline... as I glanced to my left and saw a team of 8 skaters in a paceline just moving along the left side of the road and passing people... so I decided to catch up with them (not an easy task) and 'wheel-suck' off of them for as long as I could. This plan worked perfectly as this team obviously had a game plan and over the first 6 miles a few of their skaters fell off and were most likely the bunnies of the group lacking the stamina.

Around mile 7 or 8, I watched a skater join our paceline that I was very cautious of... seemed a little unstable, but he kept up with our paceline so I figured he'd be ok. Well, my initial instincts proved correct because at about mile 9 he managed to clink my skate on my recovery and wiped me out. Kind of a scary moment as pacelines 30-40 people deep are flying by me and I'm on the ground hoping that no one hits me. Although I must say that's the fastest I have ever gone down and gotten back up, probably a matter of 2 seconds.

So now I have cuts and scrapes on my right side, and I've lost my paceline... GREAT!

I managed to find another paceline within about a mile, but quickly realized that with this paceline I would never catch back up to the original paceline I was with... I decided that I had to skate smarter AND harder. Over the next 6 miles I made up ground at each turn, and slowly started advancing pacelines by myself... not an easy feat!

Mile 16 proved to be a serious physical and mental boost, as I not only caught my original paceline but was now in a paceline that was rolling on by. AWESOME! I had exerted so my energy over the last 6 miles playing catch-up that I was looking for a break, just a split second to rest and I found it. I had managed to catch up to the front pacelines of my wave and everyone was bunched up and momentarily the pack slowed down. The next 4 miles were a game of slinkie as the skaters at the front would sprint, everyone would chase, and then everyone would bunch back up... At one point around mile 22 I looked at our speed and we were cruising along at 29 MPH... THAT'S ABSURD! 22 miles into our race and we're going that FAST!

We turned our last corner and approached the final stretch where we skate through the Brandenburger Gate and sprint to the finish...

By this point I realized I was going to be well under my goal of 1 hour 20 minutes and as everyone else started to sprint to the finish, I decided I wanted to enjoy this finish. I was pleased with the race I had skated, very pleased with my time (a PR) and relaxed over the last 500 meters and I gave the fans at the finish a round of applause.

This was truly one of my favorite finishes... there were hoards of people, lots of cheering and just a fantastic scenario for a finish. I skated up to the finish applauding the fans, with a huge smile on my face and knowing that I had just skated a great race... looked up at the clock and was very pleased with my 1:16:29 finish.

Veni, Vidi, Vici

2008-08-31T17:38:00.000+02:00

After a short visit to Munich, where Audrey got to see the Hofbräuhaus and enjoyed the Oktoberfest-esque atmosphere…

The ladies departed for Venice on a train from Munich… A train ride that was supposed to be only a few hours long with one transfer, getting them to the port of Venice with a few hours to spare. We soon realized that was wishful thinking, as the train departed Munich late and then ended up breaking down for over 2 hours. The ladies ended up missing the cruise ship, and we now have a new meaning for the phrase ‘missed the boat.’ Andrea and Audrey caught up with their ship in Dubrovnik (only one day late) and had an awesome time on the cruise and were able to thoroughly enjoy themselves despite the rocky start.

I took the overnight train from Munich to Venice (very cool experience) and met the girls after they debarked their cruise ship. Well… I say met the girls, when I really meant to say wandered around Venice for 2+ hours being too stubborn to buy a map, and realizing that Saint Mark’s Cathedral is nowhere near the train station or the port of Venice. So after exploring Venice on my own, ‘read: stubbornly getting lost’ the three of us met up with some of their cruise ship-mates and did some sightseeing. We opted to not take a gondola since they wouldn’t let all seven of us in one gondola, but we were able to see everything we wanted to see in Venice.

We then departed on the rest of our whirlwind adventure of Italy, that took us to 3 other cities all within 72 hours. I'm not sure if any of us have ever been so exhausted from sightseeing... but it was well worth it. Michelangelo's David in Florence was incredible:

The tour of the Roman Coliseum was pretty cool, and the bottles of vino for only €2 still mesmerize me.

Rome is just too great of a place to only spend 24 hours there... but we plan on going back.

No more wars, No more walls!

2008-08-15T00:20:00.006+02:00

Berlin was our latest stop, where we were able to learn some more history. We biked the path where the Berlin Wall stood, and were able to see some of the remaining Berlin Wall. The tour guide took us all over the city and we spent a good 6 hours on the bikes... quite an experience. We've definitely decided that we enjoy biking cities much better than walking...

We visited the Reichstag (Parliament), Brandenburg Gate, strolled down Unter den Linden and stopped at Checkpoint Charlie where we saw the following spectacle; attempting to promote some show.
Then we biked past the TV Tower, through Museum Island and learned all about interesting aspects of Berlin. There was so much history to learn, 2 days was definitely not enough time. We saw museums and buildings that were still riddled with bullets, and buildings and churches just missing whole sections. One church was missing the whole entire spire!

We also stumbled upon a hidden gem in the form of a restaurant having an anniversary celebration so all food was 50% off!!! So the three of us ate for a mere $8-10 a person including drinks and really good, hearty meals... I guess I'm just a sucker for a steal of a deal.

This week we've been preparing for the ladies' journey to visit the Mediterranean and they're just about packed. We'll be going to the Munich train station so they can make their departure in Venice and enjoy seven days cruising on the Mediterranean. Yes, unfortunately, I won't be making the trip with them... but I'll at least get to meet up with them in Venice and we'll be touring a few Italian cities. So I won't miss out on all of the fun.

We're UP!!!

2008-07-28T21:12:00.000+02:00

So we finally decided to start a blog... and we backdated some of the posts since we're slacking on the updates. Just to recap....we got here on May 1st. It took about a month before we found an apartment and got comfortable with the area. Our goal over here is to travel through as much of Europe as possible. We've had quite an adventurous 3 months so far. We've traveled to lots of places so far, and we've just about finished the pictures for all of these places:

Basel, Switzerland to visit Andrea's Aunt and Uncle
Milan, Italy to visit Murjani, our old roommate
Köblenz, Germany
Lake Bodensee (Meersburg)
Black Forest (Triberg)
Hohenzollern Castle
Köln, Germany
Amsterdam
Munich, hanging out with Steve, Nic and Laura
Malta

Andrea just finished up an eight-week immersion course to learn German. She tries to practice and learn more German in between hanging out with her many girlfriends over here...

August brings a month long visit from Audrey. And boy do we have lots of travels planned. So stay tuned and we'll keep you posted. Hope all of you are doing well and we look forward to sharing our adventures with you.

Much love,
Brendan and Andrea

München with the boys!

2008-07-15T20:27:00.001+02:00

So after lots of planning... Steve finally got the go for his European business trip that will take him to Verona, Italy... Paris and Brussels.. but first the boys will meet up in Munich...

Nic and Laura caught a flight down from London and then Nic, Laura Andrea and I all drove over to München to meet Steve...Because we ALL know that when Brendan, Nic and Steve get together... NOTHING good ever happens ;) We actually all behaved ourselves this weekend, and Steve was a trooper living on probably 2-3 hours of sleep after taking the red-eye from Philly into Munich.

We attempted to do some sightseeing, but the rain didn't want to allow that... so instead we ended up at the Hofbräuhaus... And what do the three of us do once we get GINORMOUS beers??? We decide to have a chugging contest... yes those beers are HUGE. Since Steve had already drank a little bit more of his, Nic and I got a slight head start... and the winner was supposed to get below the 'H' on the beer mug...

After having our 'manly' race of the day, we finished up our beers... had a nice dinner and relaxed with the locals in a truly German pub. A few beers later, and a few squabbles with the German Frau (waitress) we headed back to the hotel and passed out...

We then saw Steve off onto his train the next morning, and the original four drove back to Stuttgart so Nic and Laura could see our apartment. They had a flight around 6 pm, and it was about an hour drive to the airport, so we left around 3:00 just to be safe and get there with enough time. Well, we ALL forgot that it is summer in Germany and there are just STAUs EVERYWHERE! So Andrea had opted to stay home (probably for the best... keep reading) and Nic, Laura and I are now watching the clock tick, and the speedometer reading about 10 mph. *!$%! This was not in the plans...

Eventually we had accepted the fact that Nic and Laura were not going to make their flight... and we're almost ready to turn back to Stuttgart and then deal with getting them home the next day, when the stau clears. GREAT! We now have something like 28 minutes to go 45 miles, but luckily for us we were on the unrestricted part of the Autobahn (yes, not all of it unrestricted). This is the part where Andrea would NOT have approved of the driving...

Needless to say, Nic and Laura got to the airport and checked in 2 minutes before check-in closed... and the three of us have quite a thrill to chuckle about now.

Skating in Germany

2008-06-10T20:54:00.000+02:00

So Brendan's passion for inline skating has taken us to some interesting places... Montreal, Miami, Ottawa, St. Paul Minnesota, Long Beach and many more... and this weekend we ended up in Köblenz Germany for an inline marathon... Here's the recap Brendan sent his racing buddies from D.C.

Yes, I was fortunate enough to get up to Köblenz and skate the Mittelrhein Marathon. What an unbelievable event, skated right down the Rhine River for 42 km.

Germany (think it might be most of Europe) has a rule that you can't start within the speed wave unless you are a registered inline racer. I guess this keeps the slower folks out of the way of the pros since there are only two choices for groups here, speed or fitness. I found a way to get myself into the speed wave although I'm not registered yet, and that was quite an adventure.

Some of the local teammates from the Stuttgart speed team were in the speed wave and I decided I'd try and skate with them, even though they were expecting to finish around 1:11-1:13. That is DEFINITELY faster than anything I've ever skated, but I decided I'd try to keep up with them for as long as I could.

So the women's speed wave started first, and then the men started a few minutes later and it was just pure chaos!!! It didn't help that it had rained all day leading up to the start of the race, but somehow the rain stopped 1+ hours before the start and that was enough time to dry most of the roads...(coincidentally enough, less than an hour after finishing the rain started back up again).

I was able to stay with the lead pack (with the pros) for the first 5 km, and we averaged a pace around 24-25 mph. It was fun/interesting to be close enough to the front and watch the pros play their games with each other. Around mile 3.5 I just couldn't exert myself that much anymore, and dropped off of the first pack. I was then picked up by the next pack, and there were about 3-4 pacelines that raced side-by-side for the next 10+ miles. That was a new experience for me, and it required a bit more concentration than I liked... but I found myself smiling many times during the race, just thinking about the situation. Skating in Germany, down the Rhine River, the only skater within 5 minutes either direction not wearing a skin-suit (still don't own one) and just having a blast.

Eventually the 3-4 pacelines combined into 2 pacelines, and then we jockeyed back and forth the rest of the race. We skated through an old city center with cobblestone which was quite fun. We came screaming down a hill, and then all of a sudden everyone is braking as we take this turn because sure enough right after the turn was a cobblestone city center about two-tenths of a mile long. Not sure how I knew how to skate on cobblestone, but I was definitely able to pass some folks on that stretch.

We continued cruising at about 19.6 mph for most of the race and I realized around mile 16 that I was skating some of the most technically sound strokes I had ever done... I think it was because my body was just tired, and so my weight shifting just ultimately allowed my body to gradually fall to the side until my skate landed just outside my body... then continue the DP, and just keep on hammering it out.

One of the interesting things about the races over here in Europe is that most of them start in the mid-late afternoon. So instead of the 5-6 am wake-ups to get on a bus to get to the start by 6:30 am, we instead got on a bus at 4:30 PM, and the race started just after 6 pm. This was something I had never experienced before, and I was trying not to eat too much before the race so I didn't have a heavy stomach... well this plan backfired. I ended up not having enough fuel (didn't have ANY water) and around mile 23.5 my body just died.

Physically I wasn't able to skate much faster than 13-14 mph, but mentally I just wanted to finish. So over the last 3 miles my average speed dropped from 19.6mph to 18.5mph... and it was the longest 3 miles EVER! I just kept telling myself that it's only a HP loop, but it may as well have had 35+ mph head-wind because I was not moving. It was tough just to get one skate in front of the other... but I eventually made it. My time ended up being just over 1:25, which I should have been pleased with but I wasn't. I easily should have had under a 1:20 had I continued with the group I dropped at mile 23.... although overall it was a fantastic race.

The other skating group in Stuttgart, Skate X-press had over 20 people traveling to the race so they actually just rented a bus for the day, and Andrea and I rode there and back on the bus. Quite an adventure to say the least... we stopped at 2 or 3 rest stops to pick up one or two skaters, and then we stopped at another rest stop to open and drink a bottle of champagne(tradition I found out).

Our trip to Milan over Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-28T20:09:00.001+02:00

So we had quite the exciting weekend... driving down to Milan to visit with Murjani (old roommate from Falls Church, VA) and hanging out with two of her friends who are currently 3.5 weeks into a 7 week backpacking trip through Europe. So the five of us crammed into Murjani's room in the basement of her family's house (she's currently an Au Pair) and here is our story...

Part I: Headache...

We had rented a BMW 525i that we were driving around in, and the rental car person told us that we couldn't drive the BMW into Italy for insurance reasons so we could just swap the car out. So on Friday afternoon we went to exchange the car, and they told us they were going to give us a stick shift car, as opposed to the automatic we'd been driving. I said fine, although I'm not the world's greatest stick-shift driver... I can at least get by driving stick. So we finish up at the rental car place, get in the car and head back to the hotel to pack up the car and roll out. Well on the way to the hotel, the car just felt funny to me... the gears didn't seem to be catching, and I had to press in the gas just to get the shifter into a gear... and the car just didn't feel right. Although I just chalked it up to me not knowing stick shift cars very well...

So we load up the car with our stuff and leave the hotel parking lot, and pull out onto the main road. We're both settling in for a 5 + hour ride down to Milan, as I go to shift into 2nd gear as I make a left-hand turn... but something is not right. I have the car in second gear and the RPMs are almost up to 6000 and we're barely going 10 km/h. So I try to shift into another gear, and get the same result. Andrea convinces me to pull over and try and figure it out. I initially thought it was the parking brake, and it wasn't disengaging... but after some male stubbornness and calling the rental car service personnel... we determine that it's actually the clutch that has gone bad, and the car is not drivable. GREAT!!! We're now almost 2 hours delayed getting on the road by the time we get to the rental car store, get a new car and FINALLY get on the road. PERFECT start to a drive... although it did get better rather quickly... Something about driving through an area SURROUNDED by the Swiss Alps, has such a calming effect...

Part II: Perplexing...

As we were driving in southern Germany, approaching Austria, we kept seeing signs in foreign languages but we had NO IDEA what the signs said. We quickly figured it out because just after we crossed the Austrian border there were two police officers standing in the middle of the highway, and either telling people to proceed or waving them over to the left. So Andrea and I just figured they were going to ask for our passports, and we'd be waved through after we talked to them... ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! Evidently when driving through certain countries in Europe you need a sticker displayed on your windshield showing proof that you paid to drive on the highway (they do this in lieu of tolls). So the police flag us over to the left and he then proceeds to tell us that we now need to pay the 120 Euro fine and we both about lose it. 120 Euro is about $200, and so we proceed to start pleading / begging with this guy to let us go. Now, he only spoke a little English so that just made the conversation all the better... Andrea put on her best sad face, and I did my best negotiating but this guy just wasn't going to budge... He informed me that the sticker was only 7 Euros and we can purchase it at any gas station, and that there were signs in all languages informing drivers of this. We proceeded to ask him where we could buy a sticker, and he said there was a place that sold stickers about 1 km back on the highway. So I asked if I could just turn around and go buy a sticker to which he responded "you can't turn around on the highway" (with a nice thick accent) and he then told us that we either pay the fine or he will "stop our car." I then asked if I could walk back and just buy a sticker from the place 1 km away... and this made him even more mad and he told me "you can't walk on the highway." So this conversation occurred for probably about 5 minutes... and just as Andrea given up on him, and was getting out her credit card to pay the fine... the guy looks at us and says "OK, Bye." And he walks away...

Now Andrea and I are REALLY CONFUSED... So do we drive off without paying the fine and risk going through this again in a little bit, or do we wait and talk to someone else... Well we drove off and stopped at the nearest gas station and got stickers for Austria and Switzerland... and we're still not sure what he meant by OK Bye.

Part III: Rock-Star Treatment...

After finally arriving in Milan almost 2 hours late, we all decided that it would be a great idea to go tour the city. We started our expedition around 10 pm, and we grabbed some food, mingled with the locals, listened to Murjani speak Italian with all of the locals (pretty damn cool to hear) and just had a grand ol' time. We walked through some pretty neat parts of the city, viewed the Duomo at night as they were shooting a fashion shoot... and stopped at various places along the way to get some beer to quench the thirst. Around 3 am we finally headed back to Murjani's place, and we all felt bad for the backpackers (Mel and Amanda) who had to be on a train at 6 am to Venice for the day. So they only got about 2 hours of sleep, while Murjani got a little more since she didn't have to work until almost 8...

After Murjani got back from work we spent the majority of the day shopping in Milan, and Andrea didn't find much but I found lots of clothes that I liked... so at least one of us got to do some shopping... and meanwhile all day Murjani had been talking with her friends trying to plan something to do that night...

The plan sounded something like... meet at the Island of Beer around 9:30-10, and then we were supposed to go to a club that is for the socialites of Milan and one can only get in if they know someone... well Murjani KNOWS people... so the only catch was we had to be there by midnight otherwise we would have to pay a cover to get in...

So the plan was pushed back slightly when the backpackers didn't get back from Venice until almost 9:30... so now they were running around like chickens with their heads cut-off and we managed to get out of the house by 10:30... so we're only about 40 minutes late to the Island of Beer. We grab some food there, drink some great beer and wine... mingle with some of Murjani's friends, and then get back in the car and head over the the club. This club used to be a church, but they sold the church to someone who gutted the interior and made it into a club.

As we're approaching the club it's just after midnight by like ten minutes... and there are a few people standing outside waiting to get in.... but they're mostly all wearing suits and sport coats... Murjani calls her friend who comes out and talks to the bouncer, and asks if we can get it. The bouncer then tells Murjani and her friend that the only way we are getting in is if we buy a bottle (130 Euro, even more than the outrageous almost fine!!). So once we hear this we're pretty down and we accept the fact that we're not going to get to shake our booty inside the church club... when all of a sudden Murjani's friend tells us that she is going to buy the bottle for us so we can get in. All 5 of us looked at each other in astonishment. This lady, who has NEVER met us, and only knows Murjani just spent nearly $200 just for us to get into this club... SO we get ushered in to the upstairs VIP lounge, get our own seats overlooking the dance floor below, our own bottle of top shelf rum... and we just had a blast. We partied like rock stars all night long and got home shortly before 5 am... So technically can I say that I got drunk in church??

Part IV: Breathtaking...

After recovering from our big party night, we chilled most of the day on Sunday and then Monday the backpackers went to try and see the Last Supper and we headed on our way after saying our goodbyes. We were able to drive all the way up and down the Alps on the way back, due to construction on the tunnels going through the Alps. So instead of just driving surrounded by the Alps, we were able to take the San Bernardino Pass and reach an elevation of over 6000 ft, although the hundreds of switchbacks on the way up and the way down were quite nerve-wracking. The view from the top was blocked because of the clouds/fog... but it was still pretty amazing to be that high up, breathe in the clean air, be surrounded by snow... and just be able to take it all in.

So all in all... it was an AWESOMELY amazing trip... now back to reality