A Statue of Me at the Castle? Have Fun Storming the Castle!

I may have found out why I was not allowed to promote the blog the other day. Today, as I began writing the

 I cannot believe how quickly they had a statue of me commissioned

blog. I received this link...

"European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent. 

As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies. 

You are responsible for confirming this notice actually works for your blog, and that it displays. If you employ other cookies, for example by adding third party features, this notice may not work for you. Learn more about this notice and your responsibilities."

I am not sure if this is a form of censorship or more of a form of responsibility and responsible journalism. I must admit that I have not read the entire notice because, when I hit the link, it was all in German. It appears that the Germans are just more responsible with the internet than we are in the U S and A..

Yesterday we spent a lot of the day on the town of my birth. Heidelberg is a beautiful city. I don't think I am worthy of being from a town like Heidelberg. I guess I am just like everybody else from here; I always say that we are all pretty much the same so I suppose I have to add myself to that list too.

I think I am not going to drink anymore. I had not had alcohol for quite awhile but, I guess I got the old "when in Rome Germany do as the Romans Germans do" syndrome. Last night I felt like I was back in college. I was pretty drunk (Malibu and beer and champagne - not at the same time) when I staggered back to the Explorer Suite. They a music trivia contest last night and I joined a team as a fifth wheel (Cha Cha was too tired). We called team The BOBs (BOB is an acronym for Back On Board referring to when we are in port in one of the many bergs that we have and are visiting). As you might imagine, The BOBs won the contest beating eight or nine other teams. I was waiting for my voucher for my free trip to anywhere in the world when our prize, a bottle of champagne arrives. Oh no, I have to postpone my new no drinking rule for at least one day - I forgot that we have signed-up for a trip to a vineyard that includes a wine-tasting (of course - we are in Germany you know). 

Probably not a matchstick tycoon afterall

When we were in Heidelberg yesterday we bought some cigars. I also bought a Heidelberg Zippo lighter because he was my favorite of the Marx Brothers or Donald Duck's nephews or something. The guy asked if I wanted fuel in the lighter but said it would be difficult to take on a plane with the fuel in it so he gave me a free box of matches to use while we are here. The cigar I bought is a Cohiba - I figured, since we are probably going to open trade with Cuba again I may as well have another Cohiba before they make then inferior and charge more to the Americans who buy them at Wal-Mart. I didn't look at the matches until much later and they are Holzer Matches. I don't if you read, and or remember, the blog where I learned that my family name, before coming the the U S and A, was Holzer even though I had always been incorrectly told that it was Holzhauer. Thank goodness for the internet with its cookies so I could not think I were related to the low-class Holzhauers instead of the MIDDLE class Holzers who own a stick match company. I cannot believe I may be an heir to a stick match fortune. Now that I think about it - that might just be saying that they are holzer or wooden (in English) matches - and other get-rich-quick hope down the drain.I guess EUROPA is the company name - darn darn darn. I never really thought about it but I may be related to many of the people with the surname Wood that I know and have known?!

It is getting kind of late into the morning (08:30 here now) and we have lots to do today. I will have to wait until tonight to stop drinking I guess (does wine even count as drinking?). Have a great day and thank you for taking the journey with us. Talking to you about it each day reminds me to appreciate this trip and you. Have a great day. Guten tag und danka schon....TTFN...MITM (out) TA! 

Where Did I Leave My Keys - good thing they didn't need keys

 I am holding as fast as I can 

I cannot imagine that anybody would have complained about this blog but, for some reason, someone either does not like the blog, I offended someone, I am infringing on someone's copy-written material or any number of other reasons I was not allowed to link the blog to my Facebook pages yesterday as I have done many, many times. I make no money off the blog as I do not charge anything for it. I just like to write and it makes me smile to know that other people read it and, perhaps, it makes them smile from time-to-time too. I will keep writing and I will figure ways to tell people when the new blogs are ready. I do not mean to offend anyone - quite the opposite, actually. Okay, now on with the blog that people may or may not be able to read.

I cannot believe I am getting such a good WiFi signal in the MIDDLE of the Rhine River. Maybe it is because everybody else, save the Captain and crew, are fast asleep.

Today we are going to visit Heidelberg, Germany. I am going to try to get to the hospital where I was born but I am not completely sure that I will be able to do that. I can, at the very least, try to get to where it is and see it from afar or amiddle in my case. I know I am often a bit draMATTic or melodraMATTic but, I will soon be breathing the air in the same place where I took my first breath. I wanted to be there last night but I am not supposed to open my presents on Christmas Eve so I will have to wait for Sinterklaas to finish his rounds.

 I felt like holiday was over and I was at home. Which of the 400 rooms did I leave my keys in? 

Yesterday, while we were walking around inside of the Wurzburg Residence (most people would call it a castle) I couldn't help but think how fortunate Jill and I are to be together and, for the time being, in good health. It was not long ago at all that we thought she was going to be dead and then I would not be able to remember who she had even been. Thankfully, we were not sick at the same time (one right after the other though) because we both drew off of each others energy and strength and our love. While I was looking at all of the ornate decorations and opulence I thought about that and about many, many of you. Once my thoughts reach your tome zone your ears will probably begin ringing like mission bells. Quite a few of you (maybe all of you) have faced some difficult or tying times over the past several months. I just hope that you know that the hard times make us appreciate the good times and there is always a rainbow at the end of a storm. Sometimes we don't see the rainbow and sometimes we have to look really hard to find it but I assure you that it is there. Hang in there baby!

I have had several ideas about things to write about. Some of these ideas I hope to write as short stories and some I will write about here in the blog. The places that we have visited so far are so inspiring to me. As I research many of the ideas I have I will be better able to decide what is worth pursuing and which are not.

It is 02:42 and I have the alarm set for 06:00 so we can eat before we go ashore. I just needed you to know that, even one-quarter the way around the world, I am still thinking about you. Now to try see if it is any easier to post the blog today. Have a great day - that is what I am going to do (I practice what I preach blog). Thanks for stopping by my fatherland / motherland; I love to have you here with me in heart and soul. TTTT (as long as I can get a WiFi signal)... MITM (out) TA!

The Ultimate Love Hate Trip (mostly love)

Hey, there's an Italian boat following us. Our back deck sits right on the water

I really wish that I could blog more but I have been having an awful time trying to get internet access or a cell phone signal in the Czech Republic and now in Germany. Fortunately, we are now on the ship (Viking Odin) that we will call home for the next ten days or so. We have one of the two Explorer Suites on the ship and I am sitting in our rear deck (I will call it the poop deck) while Cha Cha is still asleep in the bedroom. We have a deck on the port side as well that wraps around to this one. I am happy that we spent the extra money to get this suite; later I will video the room and post it up on our An Idiot and A Broad Facebook page.Yesterday was a very nice day. Cha Cha and I went and took a tour of Prague Castle. Then we went to Old Town Square where we saw many beautiful buildings and then we walked across The Charles Bridge we ate lunch at El Toro Negro Steak Bar (I had the cod) but, I did have two beers since there are over 500 breweries in Prague. We saw the place where Mozart played when he was in Prague (no town in the country that I live in can even say Amadeus went there, let alone played there. After lunch we walked the two miles or so back to the hotel in the heat.

Incidentally. we have to go through 48 locks on the Main and Rhine rivers. I sat on the stern for the first one because I am easily amused.

It is still really weird getting used to the time difference between here and home. It is 06:32 here right now and, at our home port, it is 23:32 now. One of the nice things about blogging and posting photos is that you can access them anytime that is convenient to your schedule and we will just post things whenever we are able. Mainly. at this point, when we are on the ship as our devises do not seem to be too compatible with the local WiFis.

Where the Nazis were trained to hate efficiently

This trip is truly the time of my life. I wish we could have brought the kids with us but, now that we are on the ship, we are the youngest people on the boat by quite a bit so our kids would have felt really weird with all of us MIDDLE and Older fogies. I get to spend a couple of weeks with the best friend I have ever had while seeing some of the most beautiful cities and meet some of the most wonderful people.

Yesterday, we visited one of the most hateful places (I will call it a fuse because it is where Adolph Hitler trained and rallied his Nazi soldiers / storm troopers) probably on the face of the Earth. Of course, there are worse places like the Concentration Camps and things. I could not help but feel sad being there and thinking about what had begun there. I loved the stories of how the Nazis wanted this place torn down so, eventually, there would be no concrete (literally and figuratively) evidence of what they had done. This is a proof that the millions and millions of murders that were perpetuated in the names of greed and hate and world domination and insanity were real and that cannot ever be disputed. I love that they use this place for concerts and drag races and things that would drive the Nazi Party insane. The guide that we had there told us about there had recently been a former high school band called Acey Deucey or something that recently played here. I consulted my notes and I guess the name of that former high school band was actually AC/DC. We were told how school trips are taken here and it proves to the children that this is part of they past and nobody can deny it.

It is so weird that there are only two Explorer Suites on this ship and we hooked-up (for dinner only) with the couple who have the other Explorer Suite. We ate dinner together and it was eerie how similar our stories are. The wife (Rose) had been very sick which is one of the reasons they decided to take this cruise. The husband's name is Bob in case I mentioned Rose and Bob. I do worry that her name is Rose and I think that was Kate Winslet's name in Titanic.

I don't know who these people are but I am happy to have them in my pants (pocket)

I think I forgot to tell you that I recouped my money ate the casino the other afternoon. After Cha Cha and I went and took a tour of Prague Castle we then went to Old Town Square where we saw many beautiful buildings. We then walked across The Charles Bridge where we ate lunch at El Toro Negro Steak Bar (I had the cod) but, I did have two beers since there are over 500 breweries in Prague. We saw the place where Mozart played when he was in Prague (no town in the country that I live in can even say Amadeus went there, let alone played there). After lunch we walked the two miles or so back to the hotel in the heat. Jill doesn't handle the heat well so, when we got back, she took a nap. What is a Matt to do? There was that casino down stairs... I won all of the Czech Kronus I had lost the previous day plus about 2,000 more. I had quite a stack of chips that probably added up to about $300 to $500 maybe. I hope I get to play some cards in Germany or Paris though that is only if I am killing time by myself.

I have to wrap-up and get into the shower. We signed-up for a village tour of Bamberg Germany this morning. I will probably be able to blog again tomorrow. I think this is Sunday so don't get used to me blogging on Sundays - it just worked out this way today. We are waiting to get through a set of locks now and tomorrow we have to go through 43 locks (I don;t know if they are a set of locks or what they are called). Thank you for stopping by - Jill and I will continue to post some photos to the An Idiot and A Broad Facebook page. I hope you are having as much fun in U S and A as we are having in Europe. Auf Wiedersehen.... Matthias in the MIDDLE of Europe (AUS) TA!

It's Simple KISMATT

 A hotel in the MIDDLE of town with a casino? And I didn't even pick it? KISMET! 

I have not blogged using my phone but will give it a shot for old time sake. I could use my computer but I am afraid it would lose power before I completed writing it. I have the charger but, being in the Czech Republic,  I cannot plug the charger in. I bought one of those international converters but it does not accommodate three - pronged chargers. I am just happy to be blogging at all. I have no idea what time it is but my phone says it's 01:18 and my computer says it's 06:18. Hold-on… It is 18:18 at home and it is 01:18 here. I guess that means my sleeping is out of whack. I had not slept for nearly three days and I slept last night until 01:00 this morning which is still last night at home at home. I suppose this is why the super-wealthy move their money so much; they can get interest more often maybe? I will never know that stress.

We are currently staying in the Hilton in Prague. Imagine my excitement when I learned there was a casino right in the hotel. I collect poker chips - what else would a degenerate collect? They are like little bitty pieces of art. I am not a big drinker (actually, I rarely drink any alcohol at all for the past year or so) and hookers carry disease (so I am told)… So, I went down there yesterday afternoon to get a chip and I had 500 korunas (called crowns here) burning a whole in my pocket. So, I sad down at a blackjack table and got five 100 crown chips. I quickly turned my 500 into 2000 (okay, it wasn't quickly) and cashed-out. Of course, I tipped the dealer a couple hundred crowns and kept one of the 100's for my collection.  One dollar is roughly 24.23 korunas. I do not know why I collect chips but I love the thrill of gambling and I love competition. It was early so it was just one guy and I sitting at the table and nothing else was going on. He appeared to be of of MIDDLE Eastern decent. Blackjack pretty much only requires one to be able to add to twenty-one and know a little bit of strategy. A good memory and the ability to count cards would come in handy buy, apparently, that is not required on a short-term basis as someone with a poor memory these days (your's truly) did pretty well in a short time. We are here one more night and then we move to Germany. Maybe I will go to the casino a little later tonight so I can play some Texas Hold'em. Hold'em, like Blackjack, is the same the world-over other than the currency of the chips. Gambling is kind of a universal language.

Cha Cha found Captain Obvious working at London Heathrow yesterday

It is really weird to be listening to the St. Louis Cardinals losing 7 - 0 in the first inning at almost 2AM. The Cards have not even batted yet and they are already behind by seven? At least they will have a lot of chances to score runs with nine innings of batting remaining.

Today we are going on some kind of walking-tour in town. We will see some castle and other historic places. BLOG break - Cardinals just scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning. They are chopping away at that deficit. Anyway, in addition the castle, we will see the 15th century astronomical clock. It is the oldest working astronomical clock in the world. That is one of the things that I have been looking forward to seeing here in the Czech Republic for some reason. Today will set the entire climate of what tours we will join and which days will be on our own. I predict, after today, we will be doing stuff alone as a happy couple. Most of the people on this trip with us are really annoying. Maybe that is just travel fatigue talking? We could be about 85% of these people's grandchildren. Maybe I am just tired because it's 02:16 in the morning and I have had five hours of sleep in four days. Maybe I will go back to sleep for about four hours but, I bet that casino down stairs is hopping' right now.

Pretty sure there was a camera above that urinal

Incidentally, the people in this town are all so nice. And, they are fit and most of them are great looking. Cha Cha and I fit right in here. Other than not speaking the language. I am pretty sure that everyone here thinks we are Czech. We are just going to act like we are deaf for the remainder of our time in this town. And, since we are always together. we are Czech Mates! HA, I crack me up when I am sleep deprived.

The bathrooms are so much different here than in American. I suppose a lot of it is because they like to conserve water... but I further think it may be for hidden camera shows. I am almost certain that Benny Hill or someone installed cameras above all of the urinals in Heathrow Airport. I am semi-serious about the cameras (bot blaming Benny Hill). There was a smoked-brown screen in that space above the urinal there and it looked like a camera behind it. I guess it could have just been plumbing or something. Anyway, maybe I will be a British star soon?

Thank you for stopping by and keeping everything running properly back in the states. I hope you have a great day while we are sweating our butts off with the metric temperatures. I will try to blog again tomorrow but, who knows what the day might bring? TTTT (most likely depending on time and connectivity)…MITM (out) TA!

Proud To Be a Simpleton

What a special day it is today - it is Cha Cha's 29thish birthday. I wonder how old she is using the metric system. We will be able to find out later tonight as we will be living the metric system then. As a gift for her American Airlines is allowing her to hang-out in the Admirals Club at the airport before our flight this afternoon. I also just saw that there is an Admirals Club in Paris as well so we will get to check-out that Admirals Club too if we decide to come back to the U S and A. I just looked at the English to French translation of Admirals Club and it is Admirals Club. How in the heck am I ever supposed to remember that? It is so weird what little things can excite me. I have a feeling, over the next twelve days, it is going to seem like Christmas morning every single day to me. That is why it is so advantageous to be a simpleton. People think that it is a disadvantage to being a simpleton when, in fact, it is an advantage in life. A simpleton can appreciate the simpler things in the world - it's right there in our title. And, less is expected of you. Will Admirals Clubs have little birthday cakes? How un-Admiral Club like will it be to take photos for the An Idiot and a Broad page? It doesn't MATTer - I am a boob and, who doesn't love boobs? I won't use the selfie stick in there though.

The car will pick us up in about five hours. I do not even know if I am packed correctly. I suppose you don't ever really know that you packed incorrectly until you don't have what you need. Since we have been packing on-and-off for about a month I really hope we have thought of most things. If not, we can write it off to being stupid Americans. It's not like we cannot buy whatever we need in the stores throughout the world but who wants metric socks and trousers (that is European word for pants or britches). Actually, the clothes will be a bit less expensive there as I believe the exchange rate (Euro to Dollar) is like $1.11 to $1.00 right now so it's like getting 11% off of everything we buy. We probably shouldn't have packed anything; we should have just waiting and bought out outfits each day as needed. But they may not have the excess like we do so maybe he prices would be higher because they don't have to have sales on all of their surpluses of everything. I don't believe they are as much throw-away societies as we are so there are not as many "sales." I am just guessing on that last part; I will know better tomorrow.

As a going-away gift the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates last night. I wonder if I will be the only person in Europe listening to the Cardinals' games on his phone.

I want to blog but I am so distracted with thoughts of something else (that which I will not mention because I have mentioned it in just about every paragraph that I have written for the last several weeks). I will look at the news.

Hey, Melissa Gilbert is looking at running for Congress. I am guilty of being a big fan of Little House on the Prairie so this caught my attention. I never watched it when it was in first-run back in the 70's but I began watching it in the late 1990's - early 2000's. It drives Jill crazy that I like that show for some reason. Anyway, Gilbert played Laura Ingalls Wilder in Little House. I just found out that she is married to Timothy Busfield. He was an okay actor too. She is running as a Democrat in her district that has been pretty-much been Republican for as long as anybody can remember. Hey, Melissa Gilbert is 51 (that's exactly how old Jill is as of today). For the next month and two days Cha Cha and Half Pint and I are the same ages. Anyway, after my digression, She was the President of the Screen Actor's Guild so that is kind of like Congress in Michigan. One thing that may hurt her is that she has an IRS lien against her because they say she owes $360,000 in back taxes. Yep, it sounds like she is ready for politics - she'll fit right in.

I just had to run over and add a new Pandora station before I would forget. I had to add a Randy Newman station; he is a fun musician. While I was adding it John Fogerty came on (John Fogerty station) with "Centerfield;" man, I love that song. Jill loves, loves, loves John Fogerty. When we were at a dinner party a couple of weeks ago Jill left the room and a couple of people started talking about Fogerty. One guy knew his brother and his daughter ended-up meeting Fogerty and another guy recorded his drummer just a few weeks before. When Jill came back I told her what she had missed and they all had to retell their stories. Why can't we have DVR-like things for our lives? I guess we could just video huh?

 Prague is on my TODO list for today 

Jill just posted a photo of Prague on her Facebook page (see, how excited I am? I cannot go more that two paragraphs without wandering back to this topic). Prague is one of the few cities that wasn't destroyed by World War II bombings so it looks beautiful and very old. It is a good way to kick off or trip (after London - Heathrow more precisely).

I should end now. I have to put the finishing touches on my packing. I will try to blog over the next two weeks but I am not completely sure how the connectivity will be. It sounds like it will work well but what are they gonna tell us that is stinks? I will also try to put photos on the An Idiot and A Broad Facebook page each day. Do not worry of you don't hear from us for a day or two because we are gonna suck everything we can out of this trip and, when we return, we will probably sleep for two days straight. Have a great day and thank you for coming by as much as you do. It makes me so happy to know that you stop-in so often. I hope you have a great day and nigh and, depending on what time zone I am in, I will blog tomorrow somewhere. TTTT (someplace in the world) TA!

Andy Tea-ylor and Helen Crumpets

I hope we get this room when we stay in Paris at the end

I cannot believe tomorrow afternoon is Christmas already. I mean, when we head to Europe. I went over the entire itinerary yesterday afternoon into the early evening and I am even more excited than I was before. I looked at the hotel we're staying at in Paris (The Pullman Paris Eiffel Tower) and I could hit the Eiffel Tower with a pitching wedge shot: a 9-iron would be too much club. Would that create an international incident if I hit the Eiffel Tower with a golf ball from my hotel balcony? I hear the French don't care much for we Yankees anyway. I hope they don;t make me call them Frogs. I also am having a hard time comprehending that, when we fly home from Paris (leaving at 9:25 AM) and we fly for 9 1/2 hours that we will arrive in Chicago at 11:55 AM the same day. I guess we will find out what jet lag is really all about, huh? It's like flying through a wormhole or something. I know the Bermuda Triangle isn't in our flight path - or is it? I am so glad that we are not driving into and out of the airport.

All the research I am doing for the trip is teaching me so many other things. I have learned so much more about Oskar Schindler than I learned from the book and the film Schindler's List. I didn't realize he was born in the Czech Republic (and a Czech citizen) and I didn't know that he died in Hildesheim, Germany in 1974. I know the film showed that he was primarily a businessman who found a conscious and a heart but it sounds like he was kind of a shyster. Not a shyster like a lawyer but like a shifty businessman. I think he more than made up for it with the good that he did. His good business sense is what, in the end, saved so many lives. I also learned that he is the only member of the Nazi Party that was buried in Mount Zion in Jerusalem though that may have been mentioned at the end of the film. I may have to pop that DVD in again before we head East.

I finally found out who Clarence Birdseye is!

It is so nice not to be leaving until after noon. For some reason we usually travel in the morning. This seems so much more relaxing to me. Cha Cha and I have both taken note that, from now on, when it is possible, we are not going to catch the worm on day one. Who likes worms anyway (birds and fish)? At least early birds apparently - maybe they should learn to read so they can look at magazines in the waiting room instead of eating worms.

I cannot believe that, with my life at least half-over, I can still get this excited about things. It always seemed like my grandparents never got excited about anything. Have times changed that much or have we all changed? Or, am I the odd one - please do not dignify that last question with a response!

I added some photos to the An Idiot and A Broad Facebook page this morning. I expect to be adding a lot more over the next couple of weeks. I made these into their own albums and I intend to do that with the ones following as well if I can remember how I did it. I hope to be able to continue blogging and posting during down-times on our trip. It will be odd since I usually blog in the mornings and mornings there may not be mornings where you are. I do know that people in other part of the world read the blog so maybe, for a couple of weeks, it will be more convenient for your schedules (I pronounced it "shed you'lls" when I typed it this time).

Helen Crumpets from Mayberry

Luckily Jill (thank you to her boss Pam) looked at her drivers' license yesterday because, with tomorrow being her birthday, her drivers' license expires tomorrow. That would have cause some problems abroad. She is at the DMV right now getting it renewed. I think it will be fun to get her a little birthday cake tomorrow in London. I would say, besides America, England and British culture is her favorite country/lifestyle. What a special treat that we get to spend four hours in London on her birthday before eventually making it to the city where I was on my birth day (the actual day of my birth). In England I am going to have fish and chips and some birthday cake. Perhaps tea and crumpets too though I am not sure what crumpets are. Maybe I will have an English muffin instead (same thing different name?).

I still have lots to get done today though I am pretty happy with the progress. I may mow the lawn today because, if I don't, I will have worse withdrawals while I am gone. There will still be a gaggle of people here while we are gone but I doubt that the lawn would be mowed in our absence. I hope you have a great day - it seems nice here today. With the rain from yesterday it could either be cooler or more humid. Thank you for popping-in today and thank you for your comments on the new Facebook page (An Idiot and A Broad). I really like knowing that you stop in here whenever your can. The blog may get more exciting over the next few weeks or, based on connectivity, you may think we're dead. Isn't that exciting?! TTTT (launch day)...MITM (out) TA!!

The Big Countdown Has Started (I am gonna wet myself with excitement)

 T-Minus 54 hours 

It is Monday morning and we are T-Minus 54 hours until the car picks us up to whisk us away to the airplane headed for London. I have been looking forward to this day since I was about six-years-old. I love, love, love to travel. I think it is just in my DNA. I traveled home from Germany when I was just about one year old (I am not sure what one year equals using the metric system) and I traveled all summer long with the drum and bugle corps every summer from the time I was in about fifth grade until who knows when? Into high school I believe. I am a good traveler; I am pretty-much a go-with-the-flow guy on holiday (that is European for vacation). Maybe that is why I like to travel and go on vacation - because I don't feel like I have to be so up-tight.

I have had a cold all weekend. It started sometime Friday after my dentist appointment. At this point I am only coughing a bit now and again and I have a stuffed-up nose. I am pretty tired but I am pretty sure I will be good by lift-off. I really hope so anyway. I have had colds when flying before and the pressurization of the plane's cabin is a killer when you're congested. I will deal with whatever occurs.

I started a new Facebook page this morning called An Idiot and A Broad.  It's kind of an homage to my favorite author's (Mark Twain) book Innocents Abroad and the television show An Idiot Abroad from Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington (also with Warwick Davis in later episodes). If you have never seen that show, though I think a lot of the scenes that are supposed to be unscripted are scripted, you should check it out. It is pretty funny. Anyway, I started the page so that I can use it like a journal for our two-week European trip so Cha Cha and I can check-in at places and post our photos in one place. I kind of picture it as our 2015 photo album; why are we gonna have all of this technology of we are never going to use it? I did something that I never thought I would ever do. I bought a selfie-stick. I was on the fence about it but I can get a picture of the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower and Frankenstein's Castle and the Nuremberg courthouse anywhere on-line... What good are photos if we are not in them?  I want a photo of us drinking our ales on the deck of our suite on our tramp steamer. It probably won't be steaming and I, undoubtedly, will be the only tramp on the boat but you know what I am saying. We will not hold-up any lines for anyone like the people in the U S and A often do. We will take photos while we are not in people's ways and not standing in lines.

I know I am not going to be able to write about much more than the upcoming trip from now until we go. I have always been one who wanted to open my presents on Christmas Eve. Once, when I was young (not real young though, as I embarrassingly admit) I even unwrapped one of my Christmas presents and re-wrapped it because I was dying to know what it was. Actually, I think I was in college when I did that because I think my buddy Spiro was with me when I did it. It was a Blackhawk's jacket from my brother Marc. I still have that Starter jacket hanging in the closet I think. So, though I have much more restraint than I used to have, I still have that anxiousness and excitement in me always. I think having to not act on one's impulses comes from being married maybe? Inside, however, I am pretty much always as wide-eyed and excited as an eight-year-old. I call it youthful exuberance but most others call it annoying I think.

My parents came over for a bit yesterday and we talked about when I was a very young child in Germany. I asked about our address in Dossenheim where I first called home after the 130th USAH (United States Army Hospital) in Heidelberg. They could not remember the address but, today, when I was looking through some of my old things I found it on my "Report of Child Born Abroad of American Parent(s)"  certificate - see there is that term "a broad." It appears to read "Im Hassel #6, Dossenheim, Germany." I just mapped it and it is right in the MIDDLE of the block on Im Hassel between Heidelberg Street and Kirchstrasse. Dossenheim is only about 11 kilometers from Heidelberg so we may have to make that trip if we can manage it, huh? I bet my parents would like to see current photos of where they used to live right before their lives became more hectic with kids. I wonder if I will start an international incident by take photos of people's homes?

First photo taken of me on U.S. soil (excluding military bases)

I have so much to get done in the next few days so I had better end this now. Thank you for letting be blab-on. Be sure to head-over and like that new Facebook page so you can be the first to catch our antics trying to keep-up foreign relations. Thank you, so much, for continuing to allow me to get my excitement out. I think I meed to get a new SIM card for my camera for this trip - thank for helping me remember that. Have a great day and I will probably bore you more tomorrow. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!