Czech, please!

Last Friday was a special day in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The Duke’s birthday was being observed, and of course that means it was a national holiday in Luxembourg. Another long weekend! Everyone got Friday off work for the celebrations. Happy Birthday Duckey...er...Dookey…er…Dickey…er….

Actually, we heard this was a great weekend to stay in Luxembourg because there would be a big fireworks display on Thursday night and all the bars would be open till 6 (in da mo‘nin!). Throughout the rest of the weekend, bands would be playing in the center square, vendors would be out, etc. In fact, Franz Ferdinand was playing a show on Saturday night. Crazy.

However, we had the opportunity to meet up with our friends, Matt and Brandi Render, in Prague for the weekend and felt that the trip there could be a bit more fun. So, we skipped the parties and went to bed around midnight (after watching the fireworks display from our bedroom window) and woke a measly 5 hours later to head to the Luxembourg Airport for our 7am flight. We went from Luxembourg to Paris, Paris to Prague, and arrived in Prague around 12pm. We jumped on the first bus to the city and were off!

We first headed to the hotel, where Matt and Brandi were meeting us. Along the way, I talked with Render and apparently there was a slight hitch with the hotel we had booked. They had a group of 90 people coming and staying for an entire week. Therefore, they wanted to move us (for the same rate) to another hotel that was at the foot of the Charles Bridge. The Charles Bridge is one of the main sites of Prague and is basically at the center of the city. The one catch was that the place was in the process of being significantly renovated. Therefore, there were only 6 rooms that were considered fit for habitants. The painters were basically the concierges and receptionists! Honestly, the day we were leaving, our main contact for the property called the painter on his cell phone and he came to our room and put me on. This was the way we confirmed our check out and method of payment!

Anyways, we didn’t sweat the construction too much because the location was awesome and how much are you really in your room when you are traveling anyways? So we took the “new” hotel option and it turned out to be PERFECT…that is, except for the water. I would like to think that Ag and I are pretty smart individuals. However, neither of us could get the hot water to run for more than 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, the water turned to this horrible, freezing cold. Not even lukewarm. Arctic. If my drinking water could be that cold for the rest of my life, I’d have no complaints. I was so tempted to call Agnes into the bathroom and offer to show her a “disappearing act” (Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all week. Try the veal, it’s great!), but I couldn’t catch my breath long enough to let out anything but a muffled “Oh God!” If old Bushey needs any ideas for new torture methods at Gitmo, I’ve got one great suggestion for him!

So, where were we. After we got to our new location, we immediately dropped off our things and ate at this awesome restaurant right by our hotel. We had a delicious, full three course meal and several beers for very cheap. After we rolled out of there, we headed across the bridge to explore and see the sites of the city. The Bridge has several cool, old statues lining both sides of it. It’s got almost as many vendors as well, selling photos, offering to do caricatures, etc. The view of the city off of the Bridge was amazing.

We walked along the cobblestone sidewalks and roads into Old Town. Side note: Prague has GOT to be the cobblestone capital of the world. I’m talking like small stones, big stones, 6 inch gaps between some of them, etc. They had ads up for their marathon and it made me wonder if they have an unproportionate number of twisted ankles as compared to every other marathon in the world. We saw women pushing their babies in strollers and the kids were seriously like about to bounce out of the things. At one point Agnes let out a little gasp. “What’s wrong?“ I asked. “I thought that baby was gonna flip right out of that thing!“

The small streets were lined with many shops, restaurants, etc. The center of Old Town was where it was at! In the center, there was a huge screen TV showing the soccer games with burger, brat and beer stands. It was like Kaiserslautern, but not as intense. On the outskirts of the center were horse drawn carriages, lots of restaurants and people just everywhere. There were a few areas, (on the Bridge, in the center, etc ) where people were just out singing and playing music…very enjoyable and entertaining.

The city was surprisingly very clean and it was just beautiful. There were many tourists and many people speaking English so we had no problems in any place we went. Our evening ended at a great Italian restaurant, where we enjoyed some good food and watched the rest of the soccer games. After we ate, we walked up to the Bridge and opted to cross over and take in an evening view of the city. As we crossed, we saw several boats passing by. One boat had about 50 passengers on it and the best way to describe what we saw was a moving orchestra. The group on the boat was belting out the “Star Spangle Banner”. Honest to God. Where were we?? It was the most bizarre thing. After that number, they started to sing some slow song in another language….very random.

The next day we woke up and had the pleasure of taking our ice cold showers. No need for coffee!! All I have to say is good thing it was so hot outside. Otherwise, I don’t think my core body temperature would have reached the normal 98.6 degrees. Our “contact lady” had put a fridge in one of the rooms and we had a breakfast of cheeses, salami, apples and peach juice (surprisingly good). We ate and then headed to the Prague Castle.

The Prague Castle is set high up on a hill, so we made the trek up the cobblestone roads and stopped to take a few pictures on the way. Tickets for The Castle were very expensive and, to be honest with you, we were under whelmed. The place is more or less a tourist trap. We made light of the situation and I even managed to play soldier for a few minutes and give some unruly chap a good spankin’ (see pics).

After the castle, we decided that we were starving and found a hole in the wall restaurant that was serving another awesome lunch. Again, it was a 3 course meal, delicious and cheap. We continued our decent down the hill and once we reached the foot of the hill, we found an Irish bar that was playing the soccer games. We watched the 5pm game, went back to our place to shower and then went back to the same bar for the 9pm game. Of course, this bar was close to our hotel and since we were taking 30 second showers, we were quick and didn’t miss a thing! After we thawed out, we were able to enjoy some good beers and some good sports.

The soccer game was between Mexico vs. Argentina and ended up being a great match that went into overtime. (Argentina won 1-0.) After the game we headed to this brick-oven pizzeria that Josh had actually ate at when he was in Prague several years ago. Of course, because it was 11:35pm, the restaurant had just closed (closing time was 11:30p). Tons of restaurants were closing shop and me, being who I am, had to have something. So we opted for the quick and easy, Subway!

I have to say, the Subway’s in Luxembourg and Prague are really, really good. It puts the Subway’s at home to shame. Plus, the best part is that they serve beer! We took our beers to go and walked over the bridge and into the city center again. The square was all lit up and people were finishing up their meals and drinking everywhere. It was a perfect night.

Sunday we packed and enjoyed our “pick me up” showers. We confirmed with our “contact” that we could leave our bags in the rooms. In fact, she said to me “Oh, it’s Sunday. No one’s coming in so you can leave them in there all day if you want.“ She was so lax, I honestly think we could have stayed there Sunday night for free, and she would have had no clue. Anyways, we got ready and off we went to visit a few more sites. We headed over to the Old Jewish Quarter. This was an area that included an old cemetery (over 200,000 people are buried in a space the size of a basketball court), several synagogues as well as the oldest remaining synagogue in Europe. There was a lot of history centering around WWII and such, so it was pretty interesting.

Afterwards we walked around the Old Town area and did some shopping. Then we headed back to the pizzeria for lunch. This time they were open and we were very happy….again, very tasty food!!

At this point it was early afternoon and we had to head to the airport for our 4pm flight. We said our goodbyes and were whisked away in the cab down the cobble stone streets.

Prague is probably my favorite city so far. Some random facts:

- The currency is Czech Crowns (Kc). $1 equals about 22 Kc. (Side note: at the majority of places, half liters of good beer were 25 Kc) So, when all was said and done, we spent about 9,000 Kc (roughly $400) and we treated ourselves like kings (and queens). I have to tell you, it’s hard not to feel like a high roller when you take 4,000 of anything out of the ATM! Or when you pay for your hotel in cash and whip out a wad of 1,000 bills. What What! Holla!

-The food is amazing at every place you eat. And the city is filled to the brim with amazing restaurants. Every one has an outdoor garden, many of which are unique, near the water, candlelit, etc.

- The streets and sidewalks are all small, very pedestrian and cobblestone, beautiful as hell during the day…even better at night. The city is pretty clean and lots of English is spoken by everyone.

So now in a couple of days, it’s onward to Ireland. We’ll be flying in and out of Dublin and hitting Neanaugh, Cork, Limerick, Galway and the Aran Islands (Inishmore) throughout the week. I’m not gonna lie, once that fresh Guiness hits my lips….it’s sooooo good!

Bon voyage to us, and au revior for a week or so!

World Cup 2006, Kaiserslautern Germany

Rumor has it that no other sporting event captures the world's imagination like the World Cup….that is if you don’t live in America! I guess because in America baseball, (American) football and basketball seem to be the sports to play. These soccer players have great skills, speed and desire. It really is brilliant to watch. I am surprised that soccer (and rugby too, for that matter) is not more popular in the US. Obviously, I am just Matthew Marcum….just one man. I’m busy simply doing my job, going out for jogs, drinking my beer, traveling the world…I’m not going to try and figure it out. All I knew was that the 2006 World Cup was being held in Germany, just a short 30 minute drive from Luxembourg.

So anyways, this past weekend we went to Kaiserslautern, Germany for the football (soccer) game between Italy and the USA. Italy is one of the better teams in the tournament and for the US to beat them, even compete with them, would be a big challenge!

Fun facts about the World Cup:
- First competition was in Uruguay in 1930.
- Held since 1958 alternately in Europe and the Americas, the World Cup broke new ground with the Executive Committee's decision in May 1996 to select Korea and Japan as co-hosts for the 2002 edition.
- The World Cup is held every 4 years and out of the 16 tournaments that have been played (we are on the 17th), it has seen only seven different winners.
- There are 32 teams that qualify and the tournament begins as a “round robin”. There are 8 groups of 4 teams and each team plays the other three teams in its group. The top 2 teams of every group move on to the next round. From there, it’s single elimination until the end.
- Everyday for the past 2 weeks, there have been 3 games on: one at 3pm, one at 6pm and one at 9pm (I've been busy!).
- There are 12 different locations that the games are being played though out Germany.
- The Kaiserslautern facts: population: 100,000. The stadium and city centre are a short 15 minute walk to the train station. Also known as “K-town”. Basically, this tournament and crowd was the most business this city has seen in ages!

Our weekend began with the return of my good friend, Brendan FitzGerald to Luxembourg. Brendan completed an internship with E&Y here and recently moved back to Cork, Ireland. Of course, Brendan is a very popular guy and was in high demand to be seen this weekend….so as soon as he arrived on Friday afternoon we were off to Urban (local establishment) for some drinks and catching up with friends.

Brendan also brought two friends with him, Patrick and Raakee. Patrick graduated from Notre Dame and was originally from Columbus, OH (of all places!). Raakee was from London, England. After an evening of bar hopping, football watching, seeing people, etc., we were off to bed in preparation for a long, exciting day on Saturday.

The five of us woke up around 8:30am on Saturday morning and the festivities began. There was a rugby match on TV at 9am between New Zealand (a powerhouse) and Ireland (who we’ve come to love). In total, there were 9 of us going to Kaiserslautern and everyone met at our place before hand to watch the game, have coffee and croissants, etc. We watched the game and then the caravan was off.

The original plan was to take a train from Luxembourg to K-town. The timetable was not too accommodating and the tickets were expensive. However, late Wednesday night we figured out a much better deal. For less than the price we would have spent on a train ticket from Luxembourg to K-town, we were able to book the following:
- a hotel in Saarbrucken, Germany (about an hour’s drive away) with a full-American breakfast included in the rate and a very close proximity to the town’s train station, and
- round trip train tickets to and from K-town (about an hour ride).

How could we turn that down?

We arrived in Saarbrucken around 1pm and caught the 2pm train. That put us in K-town right around 3pm. As we were waiting on the train platform, there were many Italians and some Americans doing exactly what we were doing, migrating to the party.

As we got off the train, you could literally feel the positive energy. There were tons of people of all nationalities chilling, walking around, wearing their countries’ flags, dressed up all crazy, etc. (see our pics). When you came out of the train station you basically walked about 3 minutes to the center of the action. There was a huge Fanfest area that was more or less the “party” area! They had a movie screen-sized TV set up with all the games on, a stage with a DJ and lots of food and beer stands. There were also “dancing girls” (who actually did “take it off”) perched up above the beer garden. It was like a mix between a Notre Dame tailgate, a Dave Matthews concert, MTV Spring Break and the St. Ann’s Festival.

Up toward the front of this area was a bunch of sand to sit in and people were camped out, watching the games, having a great time. Kind of like being on the beach…given that the weather was gorgeous and we were able to catch some rays. We hung out in that area for a while and then proceeded back to the streets to check out the city.

The main road had many vendors, shops, food stands, etc. There was also an area off to the one side that had a great band playing. The lead singer would talk to the crowd in German but then sing in perfect English (must be nice!).

After dancing for a bit, it was getting close to 7pm or so and we wanted to head back to the Fanfest area to get good seats for the US/Italy game (which started at 9pm). By this time, the area was absolutely packed, but we managed to get in and our group was pretty close to the front area. Everyone was standing the whole game and cheering.

After an awesome game (tied 1-1), a DJ started rocking out. There were also a few girls that came on stage to dance and lip-sync (kind of a bad Britney Spears showing). People were running around in the sand, dancing everywhere, etc.

It was getting close to 1am or 2am and there were only a few more trains running back to Saarbrucken so we opted to head out. Our group of 9 got separated on the way to the train, but everyone except two of our other Irish friends (Eoin and Damien) ended up making it back home to the hotel that night. Once Damien and Eoin saw the lines for the trains, they decided to turn around and head to the night clubs. They caught the 6am train back that morning, went to the hotel’s breakfast at 7am and then went to sleep in their car until we came and got them the next morning! How can you not love the Irish?

The next day, we got up, had breakfast drove back to Luxembourg, arriving around noon. That day we were all kind of a waste of space. We ate, went to a pub to watch more soccer, and then ate again. That night, Brendan and his friends stayed at our place, as they were leaving Luxembourg the next day….the weekend was complete and it was time to start planning for our next adventure.…Prague (Czech Republic) this Friday!

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Barcelona

Last week, I had Monday off for some random Luxembourg holiday (called Whit Monday). The weather in Luxembourg had been less than desirable over the past couple of weeks, so Agnes and I headed off to Barcelona, Spain for some sun. We found some cheap flights on Ryan Air and decided to brave that mode of transportation again (see the Rome blog from last Christmas).

The flight actually went off like clockwork and we arrived in the city about an hour earilier than we expected. We made our way to the hotel and then it was out for some dinner. We were looking for something simple, but the place we found to eat was actually really nice and so it turned into a serious meal. After dinner we were both beat, so we just walked back to the hotel and marveled to each other about how warm the breeze was and how alive the city seemed. Our hotel was seriously nice (modern, kind of swanky) and we settled in for a really comfortable night of sleep.

The next morning, we rolled out of bed and went out to explore. We basically just wondered around town, making our way in the general direction of the beach. Along the way, we had some breakfast (which included your choice of a beer or glass of wine!) at a streetside cafe, saw the Christopher Columbus statue (for those who look at the pics, sorry for going kind of crazy with the Columbus pictures!), walked up the side of Mount Montjuic and soaked in the warm, sunny weather. At the top of the "Mount" we caught a cable car (like a gondola at a ski resort) and floated over the city toward the beach.

Down at the beach, we took a walk through the sand and noticed that all the guys were wearing Speedos and all the girls were going topless. People were definitely out and about, playing soccer in the sand, sunbathing, etc. After we got our fill of banana hammocks and boobies, we walked into the city to check out the sights. Along the way, I discovered one of the nice things about Barcelona...you can stop in these open air super-mercados and snag a brew dog for about a euro, then just walk around the streets drinking the beer and soaking in the city. It really fits in well with the relaxed atmosphere of Barcelona.

While we were walking around, we noticed some random music. Then we'd pass a street and see all sorts of people out dancing. Eventually we put two and two together and figured out that the beach neighborhoods were having street festivals. It was pretty lively and fun to watch (while drinking my cerveza, of course).

Later on we zig-zagged our way to La Rambla, the main thoroughfare of the city. It was touted as one of the busiest streets in Europe, and it lived up to expectations. All sorts of outdoor vendors, sidewalk seating for restaurants, street performers, flower shops, and tons of people out walking.

About halfway through La Rambla, we saw a little outdoor market bustling along a side street. We headed in and were amazed at the produce on offer for both its freshness and its inexpensiveness. I bought a kilo of cherries (about 2.2 pounds) and we just walked around the rest of the day nibbling on them. These were very fresh, very juicy, very tasty and only 2 euros.

At the south tip of La Rambla, we caught a boat cruise that toured the Barcelona Harbor for about an hour. All the walking, sun, cerveza, and speedos took it's toll on me and I ended up falling asleep for a little while. Agnes of course took advantage of the situation and got someone to take a GREAT picture of me.

After the boat cruise we found a pretty nice pizza joint and had some dinner and a never-ending pitcher of sangria. It was pretty funny....we finished our pizza, but realized that our pitcher was only about 1/3 of the way finished. So, what do you do in that kind of situation? Order some more food, of course!

We decided we'd head back to the hotel and relax a little while, then decide if we felt like heading back out. One thing should be said about Barcelona here…it’s a huge city. We did a whole lot of walking…more than we’d expected. Well, after showers and about 10 minutes of sitting on the comfortable bed, the decision was made to just stay in and sleep!

Sunday morning we woke up, checked out of the hotel, dropped our bags in a locker at the train station and headed to La Sagrada Familia, a church designed by Antoni Gaudi. Even though the building is still under construction (which must be funded by the 8 euro entry fee charged to the scores of tourists), it was still seriously cool...very crazy facade on the front...kind of like melting clay with religious symbols strewn throughout. The inside pillars are designed like a forest of gigantic trees, which gives a very neat effect when you gaze up at the ceiling. On one of the side facades, the stations of the cross are carved into the stone in larger than life figures and scenes. All of the architecture was very linear on this side of the building and the inside of the church…a pretty stark contrast to the front façade.

After La Sagrada Familia, we decided to visit a little square where we noticed a lot of outdoor restaurants the day before. We sat down and dined on fresh fruit, baked chicken and paella (a Spanish rice with veggies and seafood). Feeling full and content, we decided to go to the park near the beach and catch some rays. Once again, I fell asleep in mid-afternoon!

Once Agnes woke me up, we headed toward the beach to have a few drinks in a tiki bar. We ordered some sangria and got down to some serious people watching. It’s just amazing to us how comfortable some people are with their bodies. Very little clothes are worn on these beaches, and 98% of the people out there would not be considered to be “fit.” On top of that, public affection is like a national pastime there, apparently. So you’ve got scantily clad, chubby, and not too attractive folks out there just getting it on with each other…we were quite entertained!

After the tiki bar, it was off to the train station and onto the bus for the airport. The weekend was over and it was time to get back to the rain and dreariness of Luxembourg.

General thoughts/observations:

- Barcelona is a lot like Florida. Palm trees, nice beaches, and about the same ratio of English to Spanish being spoken.

- I was a little disappointed in myself for not hitting the nightlife too much while we were there, so we are planning to go back sometime in the near future with the following itinerary: beach from morning to afternoon, eat, back to hotel to sleep, out for the night.

- Overall it was a relaxed and peaceful, outdoor warm weather experience.

The warm weather followed us back to Luxembourg. This entire week was nice, warm and sunny. This weekend we didn’t have any plans, which worked out to be a blessing. Friday we met some Irish friends - Mairead (pron: More-Aid) and Eoin (pron: Owen) - at “The Black Stuff,” a nice Irish bar just outside the city, to watch the opening games of the World Cup. We sat outside and relaxed over some pints and good conversation. The World Cup is like March Madness to these people, so it makes for some fun times while watching the games.

Yesterday we woke up, had some coffee and pastries, and watched the Ireland v. New Zealand rugby match (which was in New Zealand, so it started here at 9am) with my friend Ciaran (pron: Kee-ran), went out for a jog up in the forest, then headed out to run errands. After errands we went to one of the bars in town to watch some more World Cup games, sit by the river, and relax. We ended up running into Mairead and Eoin again, which was fun.

Today we woke up, had some coffee and pastries out on the balcony (we found some patio furniture yesterday), worked out and then the unthinkable happened…I sheered off my golden locks! After I cleaned up from the haircut, we went over to a sports complex near our apartment to watch a sand volleyball tournament that Agnes noticed was going on when she was out on her jog.

Next weekend we’re heading to Kaiserslautern, Germany to watch the USA v. Italy World Cup match. Although we don’t have tickets, just being in the city where the game is taking place should be a fun experience…we’ll keep you posted!

The Marathon

"My dogs are barkin'!"

As most of you know, this past Saturday was the ING Europe Marathon - Luxembourg. I ran the full marathon and Agnes ran the ½ marathon. After having trained fairly religiously (save for the few trips that I took) on very hilly terrain, I was feeling very strong and ready to go. In fact, I was feeling almost cocky about the race…my training went extremely well and I thought I would break 3:40 with no problem.

The race was unique for a couple of reasons. Most notably because 1) this was the first official marathon ever held in Luxembourg, and b) the race started at 6.00pm. This second point was especially unique because normally for a marathon, you’d wake up early on a Sunday morning and be out and running before you knew what you were doing. This time, we woke up and just kind of muddled around the house all day, planning out future trips, cleaning up a little, finishing up some blogs, all the while being anxious with anticipation for the starting gun.

We were instructed to arrive early to avoid traffic around the race area. So, we picked up my buddy, Robert McEwan and headed to the course around 3.30pm. The course began and ended at La Coque sports arena. We had a special parking area at and a lounge section in the sports arena for being members of EY’s group, so we just hung out for a bit in there, noting that after the race, there would be a huge buffet and open bar just for us…..brilliant! “Rock through this race and then it’s party time,” were my thoughts.

The race started just outside the arena and finished with the participants running into the center of the stadium. Cheering people were sitting in the stands, the lights were focused on the runners and an announcer called your name as you crossed the finish line. I could just envision myself crossing with the time of 3.30.00 above my head….there was no doubt in my mind.

The three of us (myself, Agnes and McEwan) started together. After about 3 miles, Ag fell back. (Ag's thoughts, "You boys knock yourselves out...I am slowing up...") Robert and I were feeling great and we continued to push it. We were hitting between 7.30 and 8.00 per mile pace consistently and things were going very well. The race was structured so that the runners of the ½ and whole marathon ran together till the 11 mile marker, and then split off with the ½ marathoners heading toward their finish and the full marathoners continuing on through different sections of the city. The first half of the course was though all areas of the city and the surrounding villages/towns and was quite nice. People lined the streets, the route was beautiful, and I really felt comfortable about the entire thing.

Robert and I split at the 11 mile mark and on I went. I crossed the halfway point at around 1.43.00, well below a 3.40.00 pace. All systems were go. There were roughly 5,000 runners participating in some way or another in the race, and I would have to say that only 1/3 of these people ran the full marathon. Needless to say, when you got to the split off point there was really no one else around…it was just you and the road. Even the spectators really thinned out.

Around 18 miles, while maintaining a good pace, I could tell that I would soon be in trouble. It had started to rain a little bit. I could really feel the distance in my legs, I was starting to feel sick (and therefore didn’t want to drink any water or sports drink) and my neck and traps were starting to ache a bit from holding my head up. At km 32 (with only 10km - 6.2 miles - to go), I hit that "wall" that people talk about when you train for marathons. More appropriately, I slammed into it.

Now, this is something some people experience, some do not. I’ve run two marathons and have never even sniffed it. Maybe that, along with how good I felt leading up to the race, is why I was so cocky about how I would do. Well, I obviously pissed off the running gods something fierce. Maybe it was because I wasn't wearing spandex (shorts and shirts!) like 85% of the rest of the male population at the starting line (I swear, I think I even saw some spectators wearing biker's shorts!). I don't know...I just don't know.....

The “wall” is basically a feeling that takes over your body mentally and physically. The best way to describe it is that I felt like I had just done about 90 squats and was trying to sprint (I was barely moving). There’s nothing you can say to yourself to make you keep going fast. Every step was a mental and physical challenge. I was wondering when (not if) my hamstrings and calf muscles were going to rip away from the bones. I stopped to walk, only to realize that it hurt worse than running. My body sort of went into shock mode. I couldn’t drink, I couldn’t eat (oranges and bananas were at each water station), I couldn’t run any more, but I couldn’t walk either. I sat down on a guard rail at around 36km and noticed that my legs were shaking uncontrollably. The weird thing about this was that not once did the thought of quitting the race ever occur to me, although several times I said to myself “You’ve got no business running right now.” It’s like your brain completely tosses that option out the window and it doesn’t even exist. I was completely calm, but reserved to the fact that I had a long way to go and I was just gonna have to do it…that feeling of “You got yourself into this, now you get yourself out.” The big question in my mind was “How in the hell am I going to make it 6 more miles? How long will it take to crawl that far?”

So, to summarize, while the first 20 miles took me about 2.40.00, the last six miles took me about 1.20.00. My finishing time was at 4.00.45.

At the end, I was one tired puppy. It was kind of like that first time you get way too drunk. “I’m never drinking again” turned into “I’m never running another marathon.” But just like the high schooler that swears off drinking forever, I’m sure I’ll do another one here in the next couple of years (probably once we get home from Lux).

Needless to say, we didn’t attend the post-race party. I showered up at La Coque and then me and Agnes hit the road. I was still completely drained when we got home, but I had my appetite back and so I ate a little bit. Then I was wired and couldn’t fall asleep until around 3.30am! Ugh…..

Other things going on:

Agnes has been keeping herself very busy. She is working a bit for her old employer in Chicago, but she really wanted to find something in the city as well to learn her way around, discover the culture, etc. So, she placed a very general ad in one of the local English speaking newspapers and has found a few leads (Agnes will take it from here).

The best lead yet was from this young lady, Scotti, who is from Montana and married a Lux guy. Scotti emailed me and was very interested in meeting and talking about the opportunities she had. One of the jobs would be a substitute aerobics teacher for days she was unavailable. So, she wanted me to come to her aerobics class to see what it was all about. I figured why not?

I arrive at the gym and meet her. She is fantastic…very nice, friendly, etc. I had asked her over email what sort of class she teaches and she said to just come and see...okay, it's strip-tease aerobics! I about died!! I almost laughed in front of her when she said what we were going to be doing but figured well, lets give it a shot.

There were probably 7 people in the class and it was all older women who really, I think, just want to try and dance. I did not sweat but definitely moved my hips! It was actually more like just a jazzercise class. Honestly I thought I was in a Richard Simmons' class....sweating to pop rock! Anyway, I was very entertained by the whole thing and thought everyone else would be too!! (I know some of you have heard about this so sorry for the repeat!)

The outcome of this….I don't think I will be teaching strip-tease aerobics but we are thinking about using me to teach a light weight lifting (toning) class or tae bo class. I have taken so many classes I think I could do it, plus get a free gym membership! The best part, I made a friend.

We just got back from Barcelona this weekend…..We will blog about it next week. Au revoir! (Goodbye)