Thank you everyone for the well wishes and support. I know this post is long over due, but I made it safely home on 22MAY09. I picked up my Fatboy the very next day and was able to put 4500 miles on it this summer. I will keep this Blog alive just incase the Army decides to send me someplace again.
Chris
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Trip to Ur and other random stuff.
05APR09
I was fortunate enough to make it on one of Ur visits. Ur is the city referenced in the bible as the home town of Abraham, the man who God called to follow him. Some say it is also the birthplace of Christianity as Jesus comes from Abraham's lineage. You can read more about Abraham in the Old Testament. The city of Ur is also famous for being the oldest recorded city in history, over 5000 years old. It is the birthplace of the wheel, written language, commerce, interest, loans, and much more...I have some links on my blog site if you are interested in reading more, or you can google for yourself. I have been blessed to visit a place of such historical significance.
The other photos are just some random stuff, a few shout outs to some local establishments back home that I like to visit and plan on doing so when I get home, probably a few times.
As always, enjoy the pics.
Chris
I was fortunate enough to make it on one of Ur visits. Ur is the city referenced in the bible as the home town of Abraham, the man who God called to follow him. Some say it is also the birthplace of Christianity as Jesus comes from Abraham's lineage. You can read more about Abraham in the Old Testament. The city of Ur is also famous for being the oldest recorded city in history, over 5000 years old. It is the birthplace of the wheel, written language, commerce, interest, loans, and much more...I have some links on my blog site if you are interested in reading more, or you can google for yourself. I have been blessed to visit a place of such historical significance.
The other photos are just some random stuff, a few shout outs to some local establishments back home that I like to visit and plan on doing so when I get home, probably a few times.
As always, enjoy the pics.
Chris
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The US Flag
This is a video I made for Triton Middle School. Here in Iraq we can fly flags over our double HAS on special occasions or for special events. I flew a flag on the 20th of February for my sister and her family (its her birthday) and one for Triton Middle school as a token of my appreciation for all their support. The video highlights the birth of our nation and the role the flag plays through out our history. There is a lot more behind the flag than one might think, and this video is just a small clip of its significance. I hope you all enjoy.
Chris
Chris
Sunday, March 22, 2009
St Patrick's Day and more ramblings
22MAR09
Nothing real new or exciting happening here in Iraq, well nothing you probably really want to hear about. For example how the new Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) contract was signed a ways back and as part of that agreement we have to release all the POW and now the bombings of our base have increased…I wonder if there is any relationship of the two??? You can read more about the SOFA under History Links, or google it.
Other than that, there was a 5.55k race on St Patrick’s Day sponsored by the Triple Nickel Engineer Battalion (555 ENGS). It was my first run since my injuries and I felt pretty good. Perhaps if they didn’t start the race 10 minutes early I could have finished closer to the top, however I was still walking into the stadium when they started the race. It was probably for the best as I told myself I was going to take it easy this race, although we still ran a 6:30 pace! Grupe and I ran it together wearing all the St Patti garb that Jane sent us - THANKS Jane!! To say the least, I think we were the best dressed and 2 most popular guys at the finish!
The 555 ENGs did a great job putting the race on; there was music at the half way point and green NA beer at the finish, what a perfect way to start the day off.
People are getting excited about coming home, I know a few of my soldiers have begun to pack and mail stuff home, I plan to do the same here in the next coming week.
With only a couple of months to go, I finally got the new printers and monitors in that I ordered the first few weeks I was here. I think I blog about the PR&C process in earlier blogs….well better late than never! Still haven’t received my uninterrupted power supplies (UPS) which were the first items to get approved in the PR&C packet, any day now – right?!
I have been emailing my Harley Dealer Colt, and he said my bike is in and waiting, boy that really adds to wanting to get the hell outta here. My dad is going to take a trip to the dealer and check my bike out and take some pics for me.
It has tried to rain here a few times, but nothing too bad, at least it dries up a lot faster as the weather has really warmed up here. We went from highs in the 60s to 80s in what seemed like only a few days.
If anyone was thinking of sending care packages the last day to send here will be 20APR, but I am letting everyone know I am set and do not need anything. Thanks to everyone who has sent stuff, I really appreciate it – you guys are GREAT!!
I know I have a lot more friends here in Iraq now…no I haven’t met anyone, its that my old unit, where I was the commander at is now deployed here to Iraq. I hope to be able to travel to their base and say hi-bye before I pull-pin out of here!
Well I think I have rambled on enough; pretty much steady-state here, just counting the days down.
As always, enjoy the pictures.
Nothing real new or exciting happening here in Iraq, well nothing you probably really want to hear about. For example how the new Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) contract was signed a ways back and as part of that agreement we have to release all the POW and now the bombings of our base have increased…I wonder if there is any relationship of the two??? You can read more about the SOFA under History Links, or google it.
Other than that, there was a 5.55k race on St Patrick’s Day sponsored by the Triple Nickel Engineer Battalion (555 ENGS). It was my first run since my injuries and I felt pretty good. Perhaps if they didn’t start the race 10 minutes early I could have finished closer to the top, however I was still walking into the stadium when they started the race. It was probably for the best as I told myself I was going to take it easy this race, although we still ran a 6:30 pace! Grupe and I ran it together wearing all the St Patti garb that Jane sent us - THANKS Jane!! To say the least, I think we were the best dressed and 2 most popular guys at the finish!
The 555 ENGs did a great job putting the race on; there was music at the half way point and green NA beer at the finish, what a perfect way to start the day off.
People are getting excited about coming home, I know a few of my soldiers have begun to pack and mail stuff home, I plan to do the same here in the next coming week.
With only a couple of months to go, I finally got the new printers and monitors in that I ordered the first few weeks I was here. I think I blog about the PR&C process in earlier blogs….well better late than never! Still haven’t received my uninterrupted power supplies (UPS) which were the first items to get approved in the PR&C packet, any day now – right?!
I have been emailing my Harley Dealer Colt, and he said my bike is in and waiting, boy that really adds to wanting to get the hell outta here. My dad is going to take a trip to the dealer and check my bike out and take some pics for me.
It has tried to rain here a few times, but nothing too bad, at least it dries up a lot faster as the weather has really warmed up here. We went from highs in the 60s to 80s in what seemed like only a few days.
If anyone was thinking of sending care packages the last day to send here will be 20APR, but I am letting everyone know I am set and do not need anything. Thanks to everyone who has sent stuff, I really appreciate it – you guys are GREAT!!
I know I have a lot more friends here in Iraq now…no I haven’t met anyone, its that my old unit, where I was the commander at is now deployed here to Iraq. I hope to be able to travel to their base and say hi-bye before I pull-pin out of here!
Well I think I have rambled on enough; pretty much steady-state here, just counting the days down.
As always, enjoy the pictures.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Some thougths and pictures
10MAR
It rained all last night. It was soothing to hear the rain hit the tops of our tin CHUS, everyone knows that sound, and the constant rhythmic beat slowing sings you to sleep. Usually when you think of rain, you think of life, you think refreshing, you think cleansing. Not here in the desert. The rain may bring all those to locals, but to us in the military, it brings nothing but a mess! 99% of the time before the rain moves in, we get hit with a dust storm. It looks just like fog from back home, but it is made of pure dirt. Yesterday, just as expected, one of these dust storms swooped in. That evening I walked to the gym for my daily workout session, as I signed in and made my way to the bathroom I looked in the mirror and my hair looked as though I just came from the barber and got my hair frosted. That is how thick the air gets with dirt. As I wiped the sweet from my face, my white towel slowly stated to turn tan from all the dirt.
Then the rain comes. You look down on your black shorts and you see little dirt spots all over you. The rain tries to clean the think dust from the air, but as it does, you end up looking like a leopard from all the little dirt bombs that hit you with each rain drop.
I have to take a break from running. My shin splints have returned along with some pain just below my right knee. The bone is very sore to the touch and even walking is uncomfortable. To say the least it has really bummed me out. I was just hitting my prime and ready to turn the corner in my marathon training. There are several 5k races coming up, a 15k, and even a Boston Marathon Satellite run. I was really looking forward to running all these, but when it hurts so much to run, it does not make it any fun. I have not quit, I have just varied my routine. I now alternate between the elliptical and stair stepper. I go for one hour 5 days a week, and for two on my long days. I will sometimes throw in an easy 1-2 miles run on the treadmill too. I think the problem stems from my shoes and possibly my orthotics need to be tweaked a little bit. But I am thinking mainly my shoes because all throughout running at Ft Sill and in Kuwait, I did not have issues. It wasn’t until I bought some new shoes here in Iraq, a different brand than I had been using, that I started to notice all my problems. So I quit the other shoes and am just sticking to my New Balance, I will do the light impact cardio until the pain in my legs subside and then hit the pavement to see how it feels! More than likely I will still run all the 5ks, I will just take it easy, like an 8min pace verses a 630min pace, I got to collect all the T-shirts I can! The main goal is to recover and get in adequate amount of training for Grandma’s Marathon on 20JUN upon my arrival home!
As for the fight here in Iraq, things are pretty quiet, mortar attacks have subsided somewhat. I think they, the terrorists, are getting the message that if they leave us alone, we will get out of this country and leave this shit-hole to them. Hopefully President Obama will pull us out of here and send us to Afghanistan where the real fight is. Why anyone would fight so hard to keep this place is beyond me, I think it is safe to say only God knows why! Yes it is rich in history, but it is nowhere near the paradise it used to be back in the times of the Old Testament. If you are really interested in what this place use to be like, there are two links under the HISTORY section of my Blog.
It rained all last night. It was soothing to hear the rain hit the tops of our tin CHUS, everyone knows that sound, and the constant rhythmic beat slowing sings you to sleep. Usually when you think of rain, you think of life, you think refreshing, you think cleansing. Not here in the desert. The rain may bring all those to locals, but to us in the military, it brings nothing but a mess! 99% of the time before the rain moves in, we get hit with a dust storm. It looks just like fog from back home, but it is made of pure dirt. Yesterday, just as expected, one of these dust storms swooped in. That evening I walked to the gym for my daily workout session, as I signed in and made my way to the bathroom I looked in the mirror and my hair looked as though I just came from the barber and got my hair frosted. That is how thick the air gets with dirt. As I wiped the sweet from my face, my white towel slowly stated to turn tan from all the dirt.
Then the rain comes. You look down on your black shorts and you see little dirt spots all over you. The rain tries to clean the think dust from the air, but as it does, you end up looking like a leopard from all the little dirt bombs that hit you with each rain drop.
I have to take a break from running. My shin splints have returned along with some pain just below my right knee. The bone is very sore to the touch and even walking is uncomfortable. To say the least it has really bummed me out. I was just hitting my prime and ready to turn the corner in my marathon training. There are several 5k races coming up, a 15k, and even a Boston Marathon Satellite run. I was really looking forward to running all these, but when it hurts so much to run, it does not make it any fun. I have not quit, I have just varied my routine. I now alternate between the elliptical and stair stepper. I go for one hour 5 days a week, and for two on my long days. I will sometimes throw in an easy 1-2 miles run on the treadmill too. I think the problem stems from my shoes and possibly my orthotics need to be tweaked a little bit. But I am thinking mainly my shoes because all throughout running at Ft Sill and in Kuwait, I did not have issues. It wasn’t until I bought some new shoes here in Iraq, a different brand than I had been using, that I started to notice all my problems. So I quit the other shoes and am just sticking to my New Balance, I will do the light impact cardio until the pain in my legs subside and then hit the pavement to see how it feels! More than likely I will still run all the 5ks, I will just take it easy, like an 8min pace verses a 630min pace, I got to collect all the T-shirts I can! The main goal is to recover and get in adequate amount of training for Grandma’s Marathon on 20JUN upon my arrival home!
As for the fight here in Iraq, things are pretty quiet, mortar attacks have subsided somewhat. I think they, the terrorists, are getting the message that if they leave us alone, we will get out of this country and leave this shit-hole to them. Hopefully President Obama will pull us out of here and send us to Afghanistan where the real fight is. Why anyone would fight so hard to keep this place is beyond me, I think it is safe to say only God knows why! Yes it is rich in history, but it is nowhere near the paradise it used to be back in the times of the Old Testament. If you are really interested in what this place use to be like, there are two links under the HISTORY section of my Blog.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Less than 90 days to go...random posts from here on out.
10FEB09
Today was the windiest day I have experienced in Iraq so far. It was so windy that the only way I could ride my bike into work was standing and peddling in the highest (easiest) gear, and yet I just barely inched a long. It was so windy that it blew my MWR satellite dish out of sync! Not only did the wind totally suck today and degrade all my signal strength causing stuff not to perform at ideal capacity…the BDE Share Server crashed yesterday morning and still wasn’t on line today….how can I explain the significance of this situation….basically the total historical documentation and all current operational data was lost for a period of 24 hours.
All the digital media, reports, forms, SOPs, awards, spreadsheets, word docs, everything we created, GONE!! And, AND, BDE did not have one good backup of my file because a specific permission was missing from the folder structure, therefore not allowing the server to back up my file!! Bad, Bad, just very bad. Well we let BDE attempt to recover it on their own, before I sent my ace in the hole, AKA, CPT Grupe up there to square things away, and by the grace of God, he was able to get the server to boot and our BN’s data backed-up to an external drive!! I thought I just had sealed my fate as a Signal Officer; I was careless not to have my own back-up procedures in place and to trust all “my” files to be cared for by one entity. I did have a plan in the works to back-up my files; I was just waiting for the equipment to arrive! I believe I have just weathered this storm and things will be better tomorrow.
21FEB09
The share server is still not up, and I left to go to Kuwait on 14FEB for a week long training on MS Project, but not before I was able to run the Valentine’s Day 5k race. Our flight did not leave until 0100, so plenty of time to get stuff in order before flying out. The class will help me organize and plan all tasks that I need to accomplish before I can leave Iraq and hand the reigns over to my replacement.
My marathon training has been going pretty well, at this stage I am averaging at least 30 miles a week within a minimum of one long run of over 10 miles per week.
Kuwait is nice, you do not need to carry a weapon and after duty hours you can wear civilian clothes. I have been able to maintain my run routine, lift and take in a nightly movie. Arifjan Base is about as close to feeling like home as you can get over here.
As most of you may know, I got to spend my Birthday down here in Kuwait, it was just another day, other than all the Birthday Day wishes I received on Facebook and emails, thank you everyone who took the time and sent me a message, it really made my day!!
I brought “Teddy” with on the trip and have been able to get some good pictures, even took one with some Aussie soldiers we met down here. For of you not familiar with Teddy, he is a traveling Bear sent to me by my friend Gladys from back home whose child is doing a project related to the journeys of traveling Teddy.
We are suppose to be headed back to Iraq today, but appears as though the weather is not going to cooperate, no big deal, get to spend another fabulous night in Kuwait!
Today was the windiest day I have experienced in Iraq so far. It was so windy that the only way I could ride my bike into work was standing and peddling in the highest (easiest) gear, and yet I just barely inched a long. It was so windy that it blew my MWR satellite dish out of sync! Not only did the wind totally suck today and degrade all my signal strength causing stuff not to perform at ideal capacity…the BDE Share Server crashed yesterday morning and still wasn’t on line today….how can I explain the significance of this situation….basically the total historical documentation and all current operational data was lost for a period of 24 hours.
All the digital media, reports, forms, SOPs, awards, spreadsheets, word docs, everything we created, GONE!! And, AND, BDE did not have one good backup of my file because a specific permission was missing from the folder structure, therefore not allowing the server to back up my file!! Bad, Bad, just very bad. Well we let BDE attempt to recover it on their own, before I sent my ace in the hole, AKA, CPT Grupe up there to square things away, and by the grace of God, he was able to get the server to boot and our BN’s data backed-up to an external drive!! I thought I just had sealed my fate as a Signal Officer; I was careless not to have my own back-up procedures in place and to trust all “my” files to be cared for by one entity. I did have a plan in the works to back-up my files; I was just waiting for the equipment to arrive! I believe I have just weathered this storm and things will be better tomorrow.
21FEB09
The share server is still not up, and I left to go to Kuwait on 14FEB for a week long training on MS Project, but not before I was able to run the Valentine’s Day 5k race. Our flight did not leave until 0100, so plenty of time to get stuff in order before flying out. The class will help me organize and plan all tasks that I need to accomplish before I can leave Iraq and hand the reigns over to my replacement.
My marathon training has been going pretty well, at this stage I am averaging at least 30 miles a week within a minimum of one long run of over 10 miles per week.
Kuwait is nice, you do not need to carry a weapon and after duty hours you can wear civilian clothes. I have been able to maintain my run routine, lift and take in a nightly movie. Arifjan Base is about as close to feeling like home as you can get over here.
As most of you may know, I got to spend my Birthday down here in Kuwait, it was just another day, other than all the Birthday Day wishes I received on Facebook and emails, thank you everyone who took the time and sent me a message, it really made my day!!
I brought “Teddy” with on the trip and have been able to get some good pictures, even took one with some Aussie soldiers we met down here. For of you not familiar with Teddy, he is a traveling Bear sent to me by my friend Gladys from back home whose child is doing a project related to the journeys of traveling Teddy.
We are suppose to be headed back to Iraq today, but appears as though the weather is not going to cooperate, no big deal, get to spend another fabulous night in Kuwait!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Tallil, Baghdad, Iraq - Oh my!
Iraq, home sweet home, it has been quite some time since I last spoke of my new home away from home….so where do I begin, luckily I was still taking pictures to help refresh my mind, because after a while it gets to fell like the mud you will see in the pics.
When I returned from leave on the 23DEC, I was immediately assigned as an IO (Investigating Officer) for a situation concerning improper use of the network. The only thing good about the investigation is that it allowed me to do some traveling off of JBB. I was suppose to Skye my family on 27DEC as that is when they were celebrating Christmas, but due to the circumstances and timing of events, if I left on the 27th I could catch a non-stop flight to Tallil, the beginning of my investigation. There was a special mission leaving that night via helicopters and I was able to piggyback on their flight an if all went well, I could return with them the next day. This sounded more appealing than flying on a C130 standby, hoping to get on. Other than decorating the DFAC with all kinds of cool sculptures made of food, Christmas was just another day here in Iraq.
In Tallil, is the city of Ur (I included a link on a little history of this city under History), in short it is considered the birthplace of Christianity and civilization. There was a tour starting at 1000 that I would have loved to attend, but I did not know the course my investigation was going to take and as you can imagine, after all is said and done, I would have had time…oh well, perhaps another time.
I wrapped up my portion of the 15-6 (Informal Investigation) in Tallil, jumped back on a UH64 (Blackhawk) and headed back to JBB. The next stop on my 15-6 is BIAP (Baghdad International AirPort). I flew down there on FRI, 02JAN09. Oh, I should mention that my ringing in of the New Year was not that spectacular, Me, Grupe and Garret partied at our CHU with NA beer and watched a movie….ok, back to BIAP. The flight done there was neat as me flew during the day so I could catch a glimpse of what he country side really looks like outside my narrow scope of JBB. Surprisingly it is kind of green out there with lots of palm trees, I guess after all this is supposed to be the home of the Garden of Eden. It has gotten so cold that on the shallow puddles in the field, you could actually see the sun reflecting of the thin layers of ice, who would have thunk it!!
BIAP is quite interesting; it is actually made up of numerous Bases know as Victory Complex (Camp Liberty, Camp Victory and Camp Slayer), see the links in History for more details. Well since I missed out on the last historical trip of a lifetime, this time I planned to see some sites. Apparently the first meeting I had here, the individual was not ready to see me, so to stall; my escort took me to the Radwaniyah Palace, also known as the Presidential Place, this is/was the nicest palace in Iraq, you will see me sitting in the chair that Yasser Arafat gave to Saddam. All the lakes in Baghdad are man made, there is history behind having control of such an abundance of water you can send an email and ask or search on your own, but Saddam had them stocked with a special breed of fish, they look like a cross between a catfish and a carp. Apparently now, the water is no longer safe to swim in.
After I met with who I needed to meet with and get the information I needed, I signed up to go on the “Victory Over America Palace” tour. Saddam was actually building a palace named that. He had a palace built called “Victory Over Iran” and the VOA was being built to inter mesh with the VOI palace. The VOA was the place that the first bombs (see JDAM link) of the Iraq “war” hit. In the pics you will see the damage. In all the sculptures or carved art work in the palace, Saddam had his initials inset.
The next place the bombs hit was the Bathe Party House. It is report that 250 members of Saddam’s party members died with that strike and if it would have happened 15 minutes later, Saddam would have been there.
There is a picture of a swimming pool with a black stain in it. This pool was never filled with water, it was where Saddam executed his people if they messed up, or if he was just having a bad day, I will let you guess on what the stain is from….The big open bays of this building is where the boats docked, and because Saddam did not like the heat, he actually had this outdoor area cooled by AC. He was also fond of chandeliers, in the Bathe House use to be one of the largest chandeliers in the world...not anymore!!
Most of the buildings you will see in the water are actual brothels, Saddam believed and certain Muslims believe that no sins can be committed on water. So Saddam and all his cabinet staff had their own brothels, Saddam’s personal one is with building with the Hearts carved in it, and just to the left of that building is the house where Saddam’s mother-in-law lived.
In some of the other pics you will see “Flintstone Village” that Saddam had built for his grand children after he murdered their fathers (Aka Saddam’s son-in-laws), as you can see he was a real nice guy.
One last Saddam story…he had over 70 palaces throughout Iraq and since he never stayed in one place for more than a night, the palace staff had to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner at every palace, everyday, just in case he showed up!
Still to come: 101st Airborne 12 mile road march, MN Hockey Day, and other stories….as always, enjoy the pics.
When I returned from leave on the 23DEC, I was immediately assigned as an IO (Investigating Officer) for a situation concerning improper use of the network. The only thing good about the investigation is that it allowed me to do some traveling off of JBB. I was suppose to Skye my family on 27DEC as that is when they were celebrating Christmas, but due to the circumstances and timing of events, if I left on the 27th I could catch a non-stop flight to Tallil, the beginning of my investigation. There was a special mission leaving that night via helicopters and I was able to piggyback on their flight an if all went well, I could return with them the next day. This sounded more appealing than flying on a C130 standby, hoping to get on. Other than decorating the DFAC with all kinds of cool sculptures made of food, Christmas was just another day here in Iraq.
In Tallil, is the city of Ur (I included a link on a little history of this city under History), in short it is considered the birthplace of Christianity and civilization. There was a tour starting at 1000 that I would have loved to attend, but I did not know the course my investigation was going to take and as you can imagine, after all is said and done, I would have had time…oh well, perhaps another time.
 |
| 200901_Iraq |
I wrapped up my portion of the 15-6 (Informal Investigation) in Tallil, jumped back on a UH64 (Blackhawk) and headed back to JBB. The next stop on my 15-6 is BIAP (Baghdad International AirPort). I flew down there on FRI, 02JAN09. Oh, I should mention that my ringing in of the New Year was not that spectacular, Me, Grupe and Garret partied at our CHU with NA beer and watched a movie….ok, back to BIAP. The flight done there was neat as me flew during the day so I could catch a glimpse of what he country side really looks like outside my narrow scope of JBB. Surprisingly it is kind of green out there with lots of palm trees, I guess after all this is supposed to be the home of the Garden of Eden. It has gotten so cold that on the shallow puddles in the field, you could actually see the sun reflecting of the thin layers of ice, who would have thunk it!!
BIAP is quite interesting; it is actually made up of numerous Bases know as Victory Complex (Camp Liberty, Camp Victory and Camp Slayer), see the links in History for more details. Well since I missed out on the last historical trip of a lifetime, this time I planned to see some sites. Apparently the first meeting I had here, the individual was not ready to see me, so to stall; my escort took me to the Radwaniyah Palace, also known as the Presidential Place, this is/was the nicest palace in Iraq, you will see me sitting in the chair that Yasser Arafat gave to Saddam. All the lakes in Baghdad are man made, there is history behind having control of such an abundance of water you can send an email and ask or search on your own, but Saddam had them stocked with a special breed of fish, they look like a cross between a catfish and a carp. Apparently now, the water is no longer safe to swim in.
After I met with who I needed to meet with and get the information I needed, I signed up to go on the “Victory Over America Palace” tour. Saddam was actually building a palace named that. He had a palace built called “Victory Over Iran” and the VOA was being built to inter mesh with the VOI palace. The VOA was the place that the first bombs (see JDAM link) of the Iraq “war” hit. In the pics you will see the damage. In all the sculptures or carved art work in the palace, Saddam had his initials inset.
The next place the bombs hit was the Bathe Party House. It is report that 250 members of Saddam’s party members died with that strike and if it would have happened 15 minutes later, Saddam would have been there.
There is a picture of a swimming pool with a black stain in it. This pool was never filled with water, it was where Saddam executed his people if they messed up, or if he was just having a bad day, I will let you guess on what the stain is from….The big open bays of this building is where the boats docked, and because Saddam did not like the heat, he actually had this outdoor area cooled by AC. He was also fond of chandeliers, in the Bathe House use to be one of the largest chandeliers in the world...not anymore!!
Most of the buildings you will see in the water are actual brothels, Saddam believed and certain Muslims believe that no sins can be committed on water. So Saddam and all his cabinet staff had their own brothels, Saddam’s personal one is with building with the Hearts carved in it, and just to the left of that building is the house where Saddam’s mother-in-law lived.
In some of the other pics you will see “Flintstone Village” that Saddam had built for his grand children after he murdered their fathers (Aka Saddam’s son-in-laws), as you can see he was a real nice guy.
One last Saddam story…he had over 70 palaces throughout Iraq and since he never stayed in one place for more than a night, the palace staff had to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner at every palace, everyday, just in case he showed up!
Still to come: 101st Airborne 12 mile road march, MN Hockey Day, and other stories….as always, enjoy the pics.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
29JAN09 – EuroTrip Part Duo
Austria here we come. The highlights from Austria was the Sound of Music Tour, we lucked out and basically got our own private tour guide. She was originally from England, so the accent made all the more fun. We literally just caught this trip…came off the train went to the Info desk and they had a trip leaving in 5 minutes, so we hopped aboard. That evening we went to musical dinner event featuring works by Mozart, after all the Mozart School of Music is located in Salzburg, as well as Mozart’s birth place.
We also took a tour of the castle; it is the one you see in the Sound of Music movie. We met a guy named Christian from Germany who was there for a business meeting and he let us crash their party and have all the free Hot wine we could drink. The castle will always hold a special place in my heart for a number of reasons.
Salzburg had a beautiful Christmas Market too, which Vern took advantage of and bought herself some nice pink boots! From Salzburg, we left for Wien (Vienna).
Wien is a gorgeous city too, they have an awesome Cathedral and the biggest Christmas Market in Europe, well at least of all that I visited. Again by chance we were in the right place at the right time and Verna snagged us a great deal on a pair of tickets to the Wien Symphony Orchestra featuring music by none other than the one and only Mozart. From Wien to Venice; we thought we had it all figured out so that we could catch the fast train to Venice leaving at 0630 and arriving at 1330. We were all set to go, made it to the train station bright and early only come to find out we were at the wrong station, there is a West Hauptbahnhof and a South Hauptbahnhof. We arrived to Wien via the West, but I failed to see that we needed to leave from the South. We did a little train hopping back and forth, but we were not lucky enough to catch the early train; instead of arriving in Venice by 1330, we arrived at 1800.
We went out for dinner, then ff exploring the nightlife of Venice…needless to say; it was an early night as Venice has no nightlife. We were up early the next morning to explore Venice in the daylight, we did the famous Gondola ride down the Canal Grande, then made our way to San Marco Square and Cathedral – beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, and you’ll have to take my word on it, because of our whole trip, those are the only pictures we lost. There is soooo much more to these stories; you will just have to ask. Florence, look out here we come.
I think of all the cities I visited in Italy, Florence is my favorite. It has the right amount of action, shopping, and scenery. On our way to Rome, we took a pit-stop in Pisa to go see the famous Leaning Tower.
Rome is amazing; definitely need more than 2 days here. We arrived Saturday evening, settled into our hotel then went out for a nice dinner. The only disappointment in Rome was that we planned our main sight-seeing day there was a Sunday and Vatican City is closed, that means we did not get to see the Sistine Chapel. We took one of those hop-on hop-off bus tours with the audio tour. I really enjoyed it, there were 12 historic stops on the route and you can stop at whatever one you want and stay as long as you want, the ticket is good for 24 hours, but we only had 12 hours to see all of Rome. We were going to try and make it back to Milan by 1800 for a Christmas part of all Vern’s relatives…we rolled into Milan about 2100, met up with Ryan, Verna’s cousin and went out for dinner…next day back to reality.
Hope you enjoyed, I know I cut things short because I am so behind in my blog, but if there is anything of interest you want to hear about, leave me a comment or send me an email.
Next entry will be more escapades from Iraq!
We also took a tour of the castle; it is the one you see in the Sound of Music movie. We met a guy named Christian from Germany who was there for a business meeting and he let us crash their party and have all the free Hot wine we could drink. The castle will always hold a special place in my heart for a number of reasons.
Salzburg had a beautiful Christmas Market too, which Vern took advantage of and bought herself some nice pink boots! From Salzburg, we left for Wien (Vienna).
Wien is a gorgeous city too, they have an awesome Cathedral and the biggest Christmas Market in Europe, well at least of all that I visited. Again by chance we were in the right place at the right time and Verna snagged us a great deal on a pair of tickets to the Wien Symphony Orchestra featuring music by none other than the one and only Mozart. From Wien to Venice; we thought we had it all figured out so that we could catch the fast train to Venice leaving at 0630 and arriving at 1330. We were all set to go, made it to the train station bright and early only come to find out we were at the wrong station, there is a West Hauptbahnhof and a South Hauptbahnhof. We arrived to Wien via the West, but I failed to see that we needed to leave from the South. We did a little train hopping back and forth, but we were not lucky enough to catch the early train; instead of arriving in Venice by 1330, we arrived at 1800.
We went out for dinner, then ff exploring the nightlife of Venice…needless to say; it was an early night as Venice has no nightlife. We were up early the next morning to explore Venice in the daylight, we did the famous Gondola ride down the Canal Grande, then made our way to San Marco Square and Cathedral – beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, and you’ll have to take my word on it, because of our whole trip, those are the only pictures we lost. There is soooo much more to these stories; you will just have to ask. Florence, look out here we come.
I think of all the cities I visited in Italy, Florence is my favorite. It has the right amount of action, shopping, and scenery. On our way to Rome, we took a pit-stop in Pisa to go see the famous Leaning Tower.
Rome is amazing; definitely need more than 2 days here. We arrived Saturday evening, settled into our hotel then went out for a nice dinner. The only disappointment in Rome was that we planned our main sight-seeing day there was a Sunday and Vatican City is closed, that means we did not get to see the Sistine Chapel. We took one of those hop-on hop-off bus tours with the audio tour. I really enjoyed it, there were 12 historic stops on the route and you can stop at whatever one you want and stay as long as you want, the ticket is good for 24 hours, but we only had 12 hours to see all of Rome. We were going to try and make it back to Milan by 1800 for a Christmas part of all Vern’s relatives…we rolled into Milan about 2100, met up with Ryan, Verna’s cousin and went out for dinner…next day back to reality.
Hope you enjoyed, I know I cut things short because I am so behind in my blog, but if there is anything of interest you want to hear about, leave me a comment or send me an email.
Next entry will be more escapades from Iraq!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
EuroTrip 2008, Part I
06JAN09. Well the two major holidays have come to pass, Christmas and New Year’s Eve, that means I am that much closer to coming home. Plus there was a few birthdays; Corey’s, Stacy’s, William’s, and Grandpa – Happy Birthday to you all!! Quite a lot has happened since my last entry and I do not know how I am going to tell all the stories??? I suppose I will just go in sequence and if I get too long winded, I will break the blog in two. Ok…I am breaking it in two, enjoy the first half….
I was able to get a slot to go on mid tour leave for some R&R and as a last minute kind a thing planned a trip through Europe. I was going to hit 11 cities and 4 countries in 15 days and who do you think was crazy enough to go on this adventure with me….none other than my special friend Verna. Verna and I traveled the Philippines together a few years back which eventually lead to us dating. The dating thing lasted about a year, but we have remained great friends since and who knows what our futures hold!!?? We do know that we travel well together and what good is exploring if you don’t have someone to share all the experiences with, so she was game! The plan was to meet in Pisa Italy, but through some unforeseen circumstances, Verna flew into Milan, which worked out since she has family there and I ended up going to Pisa. The adventure started on 6DEC for me as I had to fly into Kuwait first and that is where all my travel coordination took place. I was very fortunate and was able to get in and out of Kuwait in less than 24hrs. I touched down in Pisa on 7DEC and had reservations all set to stay at Camp Darby, an Army base in Italy. My stay there was short lived. I was planning it to be my base of operations, however I landed late on a SUN and everything was closed, plus I was informed that MON was an Italian holiday so most things probably would be closed then too. I was planning to rent a car, but I did not want to wait 2 days, nor did I want to go back to the airport and try to rent one from there...good thing, because it all worked out for the best. I got a hold of Verna and decided to meet her that night, Milan was just a 3 hour train ride away. So I check out of my hotel and made my way to the train station. Of course the train I was suppose to take, the tracks were under construction, so I had to hop a bus and go to another station where with a little help from the locals I was able to get on my train and off to Milan I was!! Really having no idea where I was going, I got off at the wrong station, but good thing I was quick to realize the wrongs of my way and I was able to catch the next train to the Milan Central Station. After arriving 45 minutes later than I expected, I was able to make a phone call and miraculously hook up with Verna and her uncle. Verna had already arranged a hotel for the evening so I didn’t need to worry about that, a pleasant surprise, so we were off to meet some more family, then off to our hotel to get a good night’s sleep so we could tackle the morning early to take in all the sights.
The next day we got up, had our complimentary breakfast, met up with Verna’s uncle and away we went. We started with the town square and Cathedral. We tried to see Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Last Supper” painting, but the place where it is kept was closed, Italian Holiday. From there we left to go to the Christmas market and see other cool buildings, side note, I will be using the term “cool buildings” a lot as I cannot remember everything we saw, and I do not have the time right now to research it, so bear with me….ok, where was I, oh the Christmas Market, there we met up with one of Verna’s cousins. This is where I had my first beer, a Heineken, and some kind of Italian sandwich. This was the first beer of many to come that night. After all the sights were taken in, we were off to meet more cousins. We ended up partying the night away, enjoying beer and some good authentic Italian pizza. We eventually escaped to go and see another one of Verna’s uncles where I was introduced to balut…enjoy the video:
From Milan we caught the train to Zurich, Switzerland. We spent one night there and when we arrived it was raining. We did not know where are hotel was, we booked it right from the train station, they have this huge wall with all the hotels and you just pick and call. We got directions for the one we choose, but somehow I think they got lost in translation. A kind gentlemen out strolling his baby kindly directed us to our hotel, there would have been no way we would have found it otherwise, well of course I would have found it eventually, you know being in the Army and all. After we checked in and got settled, we asked for a recommendation for dinner and the gentlemen point across the street there was a nice family owned restaurant. We said perfect and ran over. This would be our first sit down and relax meal. It was delicious; I had a Swiss beer and something to eat.
The next morning we were off to see the sites, check out the pics. Switzerland is very clean and very beautiful. There is an old part of town and a new part and they are divided by a river.
From Switzerland we were off to Garmish Germany, It was a 3 hour train ride through the Alps, beautiful! Upon arriving at Garmish train station, we hailed a cab and we were off to Edelweiss Resort. It is a gorgeous get away located on an Army base; It was nice to see people that speak your language. We checked in, got our room, arranged our stuff, and then went off exploring the Hotel. The hotel had all the amenities, awesome pool, a neat outdoor hot tub, a couple of restaurants and a bar. It is getting late and we were hungry so we quickly changed and made our way to the restaurant where I had an awesome T-bone steak and some German beer. The next day we planned to go skiing/snowboarding, and then get a massage later that night. We weren’t able to do any, the weather although nice, in the mountains it was foggy with zero visibility, there went snowboarding in the Alps (1 of the 100 things I want to do before I die), I guess I will be going back to Europe again. As for the massage, we didn’t reserve in time, and all slots were full. Didn’t matter, we adjusted plans and went exploring the little town of Garmish.
Garmish to Munich to Prague, oh my!! On our way to Prague, we had a couple of hours to kill before catching the train so Verna and I went and explored Munich. Munich is where a kind lady educated me that although German’s love their beer, it is more of a summer drink and they prefer to drink hot wine in the winter. I said, “That sounds great too, as long as I am here in Germany I am going to have a beer, then I will try the hot wine, thanks!”
Homeland, here I come! It was a 6 hour train ride to Prague, we left right around dusk so we did not get to take in a lot of sights on the way, instead we choose to rest, relax and catch some zzzzz’s where we could. Upon arriving in Prague, we were greeted by my friend Tomas. Tomas and I met while I we attended Signal Officer Basic Course at Fort Gordon, GA. He was the most gracious host; he put us up in an apartment and offered to be our personal tour guide. My friends Mike and Amanda from London flew in for the weekend too, so Praha, look out here we come. The major mission in Prague was to find some kolachies and dumplings – mission accomplished, see the pics. Praha is beautiful, the St Charles Bridge, town square, the castle, peeing statues, Christmas Market, the beer, what a great time. We even took in some night life, check out the video.
We had a blast in the Czeck Republic, but it was time to head off to Salzburg, Austria. Watch for Eurotrip 2008, Part Duo - Coming soon to a Blog near you!
I was able to get a slot to go on mid tour leave for some R&R and as a last minute kind a thing planned a trip through Europe. I was going to hit 11 cities and 4 countries in 15 days and who do you think was crazy enough to go on this adventure with me….none other than my special friend Verna. Verna and I traveled the Philippines together a few years back which eventually lead to us dating. The dating thing lasted about a year, but we have remained great friends since and who knows what our futures hold!!?? We do know that we travel well together and what good is exploring if you don’t have someone to share all the experiences with, so she was game! The plan was to meet in Pisa Italy, but through some unforeseen circumstances, Verna flew into Milan, which worked out since she has family there and I ended up going to Pisa. The adventure started on 6DEC for me as I had to fly into Kuwait first and that is where all my travel coordination took place. I was very fortunate and was able to get in and out of Kuwait in less than 24hrs. I touched down in Pisa on 7DEC and had reservations all set to stay at Camp Darby, an Army base in Italy. My stay there was short lived. I was planning it to be my base of operations, however I landed late on a SUN and everything was closed, plus I was informed that MON was an Italian holiday so most things probably would be closed then too. I was planning to rent a car, but I did not want to wait 2 days, nor did I want to go back to the airport and try to rent one from there...good thing, because it all worked out for the best. I got a hold of Verna and decided to meet her that night, Milan was just a 3 hour train ride away. So I check out of my hotel and made my way to the train station. Of course the train I was suppose to take, the tracks were under construction, so I had to hop a bus and go to another station where with a little help from the locals I was able to get on my train and off to Milan I was!! Really having no idea where I was going, I got off at the wrong station, but good thing I was quick to realize the wrongs of my way and I was able to catch the next train to the Milan Central Station. After arriving 45 minutes later than I expected, I was able to make a phone call and miraculously hook up with Verna and her uncle. Verna had already arranged a hotel for the evening so I didn’t need to worry about that, a pleasant surprise, so we were off to meet some more family, then off to our hotel to get a good night’s sleep so we could tackle the morning early to take in all the sights.
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The next day we got up, had our complimentary breakfast, met up with Verna’s uncle and away we went. We started with the town square and Cathedral. We tried to see Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Last Supper” painting, but the place where it is kept was closed, Italian Holiday. From there we left to go to the Christmas market and see other cool buildings, side note, I will be using the term “cool buildings” a lot as I cannot remember everything we saw, and I do not have the time right now to research it, so bear with me….ok, where was I, oh the Christmas Market, there we met up with one of Verna’s cousins. This is where I had my first beer, a Heineken, and some kind of Italian sandwich. This was the first beer of many to come that night. After all the sights were taken in, we were off to meet more cousins. We ended up partying the night away, enjoying beer and some good authentic Italian pizza. We eventually escaped to go and see another one of Verna’s uncles where I was introduced to balut…enjoy the video:
From Milan we caught the train to Zurich, Switzerland. We spent one night there and when we arrived it was raining. We did not know where are hotel was, we booked it right from the train station, they have this huge wall with all the hotels and you just pick and call. We got directions for the one we choose, but somehow I think they got lost in translation. A kind gentlemen out strolling his baby kindly directed us to our hotel, there would have been no way we would have found it otherwise, well of course I would have found it eventually, you know being in the Army and all. After we checked in and got settled, we asked for a recommendation for dinner and the gentlemen point across the street there was a nice family owned restaurant. We said perfect and ran over. This would be our first sit down and relax meal. It was delicious; I had a Swiss beer and something to eat.
The next morning we were off to see the sites, check out the pics. Switzerland is very clean and very beautiful. There is an old part of town and a new part and they are divided by a river.
From Switzerland we were off to Garmish Germany, It was a 3 hour train ride through the Alps, beautiful! Upon arriving at Garmish train station, we hailed a cab and we were off to Edelweiss Resort. It is a gorgeous get away located on an Army base; It was nice to see people that speak your language. We checked in, got our room, arranged our stuff, and then went off exploring the Hotel. The hotel had all the amenities, awesome pool, a neat outdoor hot tub, a couple of restaurants and a bar. It is getting late and we were hungry so we quickly changed and made our way to the restaurant where I had an awesome T-bone steak and some German beer. The next day we planned to go skiing/snowboarding, and then get a massage later that night. We weren’t able to do any, the weather although nice, in the mountains it was foggy with zero visibility, there went snowboarding in the Alps (1 of the 100 things I want to do before I die), I guess I will be going back to Europe again. As for the massage, we didn’t reserve in time, and all slots were full. Didn’t matter, we adjusted plans and went exploring the little town of Garmish.
Garmish to Munich to Prague, oh my!! On our way to Prague, we had a couple of hours to kill before catching the train so Verna and I went and explored Munich. Munich is where a kind lady educated me that although German’s love their beer, it is more of a summer drink and they prefer to drink hot wine in the winter. I said, “That sounds great too, as long as I am here in Germany I am going to have a beer, then I will try the hot wine, thanks!”
Homeland, here I come! It was a 6 hour train ride to Prague, we left right around dusk so we did not get to take in a lot of sights on the way, instead we choose to rest, relax and catch some zzzzz’s where we could. Upon arriving in Prague, we were greeted by my friend Tomas. Tomas and I met while I we attended Signal Officer Basic Course at Fort Gordon, GA. He was the most gracious host; he put us up in an apartment and offered to be our personal tour guide. My friends Mike and Amanda from London flew in for the weekend too, so Praha, look out here we come. The major mission in Prague was to find some kolachies and dumplings – mission accomplished, see the pics. Praha is beautiful, the St Charles Bridge, town square, the castle, peeing statues, Christmas Market, the beer, what a great time. We even took in some night life, check out the video.
We had a blast in the Czeck Republic, but it was time to head off to Salzburg, Austria. Watch for Eurotrip 2008, Part Duo - Coming soon to a Blog near you!
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