Running With Jack

...for example...container gardening:

A couple flower boxes that I built this summer:

Some new lettuce plants springing to life:

And some spinach (look really close):

Do you see the butternut squash?

Posted by Jack at 7:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here is a picture of my woodworking project from this past weekend. The table and three drawer chest already existed, I built the shelving units on top of the tables and the small computer cart under the back table.

Posted by Jack at 7:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Internet radio is cool, especially for this old small town New Yorker living in Germany. When I get homesick I like to listen to the local radio station back home, in my case Big Frog 104 in Oneida Co.

Sometimes this backfires and I feel even more homesick than before, yesterday was one of those days. Last night I found myself checking job ads and house prices in St. Claire Shores (above Detroit), where dear friends of ours live. Sometimes we talk about moving…but so far our piggy-bank hasn’t been full enough for such a drastic move (sigh).

I've lived with my German wife here in Germany for 18-1/2 years. I think we have it good here, I really can't complain, but sometimes I really miss family and friends. Blogging helps...

Posted by Jack at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Never leave your e-mail unread for an extended weekend, you might miss something important. I checked my e-mail last night and learned that my beloved sister-in-law Karen passed away unexpectly last Thursday. She was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday after suffering from severe headaches and vomiting, she passed away on Thursday evening, it turns out she had a rapid onset of leukemia that resulted in multiple strokes. In tribute to one of the most caring, loving, giving person that I ever met, let me repost what the missionary group that she worked for wrote:

Our Friend Has Gone Home

Karen Niles, an original member and dearest friend, died on Thursday, May 1st, Ascension Day. Unexpectedly, she had a rapid onset of leukemia that resulted in multiple strokes. She was 43 and is survived by her husband, Tim, and two boys, Jordan and Derek. We loved her beyond words. She was an incredibly kind and giving person and she loved God completely. Our loss is great, but she is now in the presence of our Lord and awaits us for the dawning of the New Creation.

Please pray for us during this difficult time.

Karen was born and raised in Wilmington, DE. After high school she attended University of Delaware for 1 year, she received missionary training at Hammonton based Life Mission Training Center in 1984. Her charitable work took her to Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, the Philippines, U.S. Virgin Islands and various U.S. locations. She served in a variety of capacities during her 24 years with Life Mission, mainly focusing on administration, worship and hospitality. Karen loved God and people. Her smile brought joy to everyone she met. She tirelessly served people. She enjoyed birding, music, and reading, but her greatest joy was loving, serving, and knowing people. Her absence has left a giant hole in the life and hearts of her family and friends. Her presence will always be felt as she now lives out her life before the face of God. Karen is survived by her husband Timothy Niles, her sons Jordan and Derek at home, her mother Helen Wolfe and her sister Kathy Saffouri. Family and friends are invited to attend her viewing Tues. eve 5:00pm with services at 7:30pm at Life Mission Fellowship, 111 8th St Hammonton. Donations may be made in lieu of flowers to Life Mission Fellowship (PO Box 467 Hammonton, NJ 08037) for the creation of a memorial garden in Karen's memory. Arrangements by Marinella Funeral Home Hammonton 609-561-1311 (www.marinellafuneralhome.com).

Posted by Jack at 6:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Last Saturday, while visiting my wife’s aunt in Furth, Germany (near Nuremberg), we had a chance to visit the Protestant-Lutheran Church St. Georgskirche Nueremberg-Kraftshof. The St. Georg church was built in the year 1315 for the patron saint Georg and is also the gravesite of the family Nueremberg family Kress (Kress von Kressenstein) who owned the local manor. In the Margrave wars of 1449, 1552 and the 30 Years War the walled complex served as a fortress protecting the local families and congregation.

The church remained intact up until February 25 and 26, 1943 when air raids resulted in the church burning to the ground. Following the war the Rush Kress family of New York financed the reconstruction of the church. On August 17, 1952, in the presence of the benefactor Rush Kress, the church was inaugurated.

Several art treasures from the church and Kress family have been located in the church. There were also several memorials and family crests from the Kress family, including three altars. There is also a colossal old organ on the balcony at the back of the church, I would have loved to hear that instrument at work.

I admire the architecture within churches, as they are often inspired by the congregation in attempt to glorify God, but to be quite honest I was more interested in the outside and the fortress itself.

As I walked quietly around the wall to the complex I could just imagine myself defending my family against neighboring warlords.

The complex is bordered by several magnificent old houses. Aunt Sigrid also mentioned that the surrounding area was one of the major garlic growing regions in Germany, who knew!

Posted by Jack at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here are some more pictures of the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg:

The sign at the gate:

An overview of the Palace of Justice and the prison behind (taken around the time of the early trials):

A view of the courtroom during the trials:

A view of the courtroom today:

The "Seal of Justice" survived the numerous renovations:

Posted by Jack at 6:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I guess it will take a couple more days before I can share my pictures from Nuremberg, in the meantime let me give you a couple tidbits that I put together from literature found at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice, where the Nuremberg Trails took place. Last Saturday my wife's aunt wanted to visit the courtroom and, I’m a history nut and love checking out places where historic events took place I was all for it. There is an approximately 45 minute presentation in German and English presented by a guide, I recommend stopping by if you are in Nurember and interested in this. The courtroom is still in use, so check ahead to see if they are open.

The Nuremberg Palace of Justice (Justizpalast) is a building complex at Fürtherstrasse 122 in Nuremberg, which is most famous for being the location of the famous Nuremberg Trials that were held after the Second World War.

Colonel Burton C. Andrus was both the commandant of Nuremburg Prison (where the prisoners were kept) and Military Officer commanding the garrison protecting the Palace. Among the infamous ones who made the appearance were Hermann Goering (suicide by potassium cyanide), Rudolf Hess (life internment), Franz von Papen (Vice-Chancellor under Hit_ler, acquitted), Arthur Seyss-Inquart (Austrian Chancellor, Na_zi Commissioner, hanged) and Joachim von Ribbentrop (Foreign Minister, hanged). It is a commonly known fact that Goering was not hanged as planned, but instead committed suicide by taking a cyanide pill smuggled into his cell. He was later quoted in his suicide notes that "being hanged is not appropriate for a man of [his] status".

The trials took place in courtroom number 600, situated in the eastern wing of the Palace of Justice. The courtroom is still used, especially for murder trials. Since the end of the Nuremberg Trials the courtroom was refurbished and is now a bit smaller as a wall that had been removed during the trials in order to create more space was re-erected. In addition, the judges´ bench was turned 90 degrees and is no longer situated in front of the window but now stands where the witness box was placed during the trials.

The Palace of Justice was chosen as the site of the trials because it was almost undamaged, offered a lot of space and accessed a prison. The city had been the location of the Na_zi party's Nuremberg rallies, there was symbolic value in making it the place of the Na_zi demise. In addition, the Americans opted for Nuremberg as it was situated in their zone.

Posted by Jack at 7:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

We got home safely from visiting my wife’s aunt on Sunday night. Easter Monday is a holiday in Germany, so we are trying to catch up on stuff around the house today. There was a lot of snow where in Fuerth where Aunt Siggy lives, luckily the roads were clear when we drove to and from there.

We had a great three days in Fuerth and neighboring Nuremberg. We managed to visit the sight of the famous Nuremberg trials, visited an old fortress, walked around the large Nurember Easter market and generally ate too much good food. I even managed to squeeze in a run when the ladies were preoccupied. All in all a great trip, I’ll try to catch up with the details and pictures over the next day or two.

Posted by Jack at 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My wife is talking on the telephone with her ex-boss's wife (who are good friends of ours by the way) about how her former boss can get in shape. From my ease-dropping I follow that his doctor told him he has to get in shape before he has a heart attack before he is forty or something to that effect.

Apparently he has interest in my running club, my wife was telling his wife when our group meets and a bit about how it works. I walked through and threw my two-bits on the table, if he shows up and can't find anyone to run his speed and distance I'll run with him...I know his wife she is very concerned about his heath ...I half expect to be running with him soon :-)

Posted by Jack at 8:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I pulled a muscle Monday night doing speedwork and it was still a bit sore yesterday, so last night I decided to meet my wife at her work and we went together to pick up a birthday present for a friend that has birthday on this weekend. We stopped at Maria Buytaert’s candle factory for a special present. Maria is a member of my running club and just a super person to know.

Shameless advertising plug:

Maria has been making handmade quality candles with a Danish design since 1969 and she ships worldwide. Her website offers information in German, English and Italian, so if you are looking for a special gift stop by her website at http://www.maria-buytaert.de/index.php

End of shameless advertising plug!

Valentines Day is not a big deal in Germany, but it is catching on fast. Normally I try to get a little something for my wife, but didn’t seem to get around to it this year. As we were leaving the candle factory I stopped at a neighboring business and we looked around for a suitable present. After awhile my wife found something that she really liked and we considered buying it. It cost a little more than the normal box of sweets or flower that I buy on Valentines Day, so we decided to wait overnight to decide. Later after much discussion, and despite it not being heart shaped and red, we decided to buy this. Do you think it is better than a box of chocolates?

Posted by Jack at 7:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I hope everyone had a great Christmas celebration, for us it was a very busy time. My wife arrived home safely on Monday (with a suitcase this time ;-) and we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with friends. I have been trying to keep ahead of the added calorie intake by trying to run at least some each day – but so far it is a losing battle, everything tastes so good during the holidays.

I wish all of you happy holidays, I’ll try to catch up with all of you as we bring in the new year!

Posted by Jack at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Last weekend we spent three overnights in Hamburg, Germany, the following is a quick photo recap.

We travelled by high speed train, here is a picture of the main train station in Hamburg:

The first day we road a double-decker bus on a tour of the city:

Hamburg has the largest sea port in Germany, here is our first glimpse of the port:

Another view of the port:

As we drove through the heart of the city we passed where the annual bikers parade for charity was lining up - later in the afternoon over 33,000 bikers and scooter rode through the city:

We also took a boat tour around part of the gigantic port. As we waited for the next boat I snapped a picture of my wife next to an old sailing ship from the 1800's that has been made into a restaurant:

Another view of the boat launch:

As we rode around on the boat tour we passed some modern sailing ships:

Here is a picture of some of the warehouse that are located along the many canals surrounding the port. If you look close you may notice the crane on the top of each building used to load and unload ships and barges:

We even passed a real American river boat!

The next day we were walking around town and passed a kids charity race, I was sad that I didn't have my running shoes...

We checked out a wine festival, but it was too early to partake:

Ate at a cool cafe along a canal:

Walked around a park:

And walked along the infamous Reeperbahn with its numerous sleasy joints, disco's, and houses of ill repute (legal in Germany):

On the last night we had some seafood at a restaurant along the main tourist boat lauch area:

Posted by Jack at 6:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Last night my wife and I quietly celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary, time sure flies when you are in love! We went to our favorite Greek restaurant and sat outside in the Biergarten, it was quiet for a Thursday night and we enjoyed each other’s company.

Tonight I want to run at least 3 hours on my hilly long run route. As I have probably said at one time or another, part of this trail is a section of the 80K/50M race route that I will be running in June. In any case it provides the best hill training opportunity in the otherwise flat area where I live.

On Saturday is the 8.9K Baden Mile race, at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. The weather forecast is interesting - for the first time in over 4 weeks it is supposed to rain, my guess is at 3 p.m.. I'm actually hoping that it does, it will eliminate some of the competition ;-)

I have stopped short of actually having a race strategy. With over 3300 runners expected at the start it is going to be crowded for the better part of the race. If I can break out of the pack early on then I'll go for a new PR, otherwise I'll just go with the flow.

Posted by Jack at 7:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Here are a few more pictures from our trip this past weekend. By the way, Furth, Germany is celebrating their 1000 year anniversary this year. I actually considered running the marathon there this year until I found out that it is the same weekend as my 50-mile event.

A few from our hotel – left:

Then right:

A fountain down the street from the hotel (across from Saturdays Farmer's Market):

Another view of the park where I ran (from the north side):

Here is a Google view of where we stayed in Furth:

And here is a Google overview of the area where I ran around Furth:

Posted by Jack at 6:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am happy to report that we survived our four-day Easter weekend, including sitting for hours in a major Stau (traffic-jam) on the German Autobahn (expressway), over-indulging in some fantastic restaurants, getting too little sleep and generally having to deal with almost perfect weather (okay maybe the latter wasn’t so bad ;-)

Anyway my long weekend started with, what else, a long run. After work on Thursday I drove to my hilly long run trailhead in Weingarten and beat my quads up with a 3-hour long run. Rather than doing an out and back like I did a week ago, I decided to do a couple loops over some of the more challenging hill climbs. By the time I finished I was dragging, but that was the whole point.

On Friday morning we left for Furth, normally a 2-1/2 hour drive from our house. We made good time until about a half hour from Nuremberg. For whatever reason (or no reason at all) there was about a 20-mile traffic jam, which resulted in an additional hour of travel time. Of course being experienced travelers in Germany, this was programmed in so we arrived at my wife’s Aunt Sigrid right on time.

Aunt Siggi was worried that we were weak from our travels, so insisted we go to the park for lunch. The weather was beautiful and I’m not one to pass on a chance to stuff my face, so off we went. Here is a picture of the Biergarten (beer garden):

Following the obligatory walk through the park after lunch we checked into our hotel which was nearby, then returned to Aunt Siggi’s for the rest of the day.

On Saturday morning I allowed my wife to drag me through a couple hundred stores, a farmer’s market, and who knows what else (my mind went numb). As a reward my wife let me go for a run while she went to her aunt to work on her taxes.

Having run in Furth in previous years, I headed right away to the park where we ate lunch the day before, and the wide-open fields behind this. It was again warm (18C/65F) and sunny day, clear sky, gentle wind – perfect for running. I completed three approx. 4.5K loops around the park and fields, then ran back through a smaller park then to the hotel. Here is a view of the park that I took later on:

I ended it up running almost an hour and a half, would have gone longer, but had to meet the ladies for cake and coffee.

On Sunday afternoon my wife again joined her aunt for cake and coffee and I headed to the park for a run. This time I followed a bike path towards Nuremberg, reaching the edge of town before turning around and heading back. According to Google Earth I covered about 12K/7.5M in the seventy-one minutes that I ran. The only downside to my running experience in Furth was that the weather was gorgeous and I forgot to pack my running shorts and suntan lotion ;-)

On Sunday evening we all went to a favorite Greek restaurant for dinner, followed by a local theater presentation of Fiddler on the Roof. Here is picture of the theater (by daylight):

Monday we again went to the Greek restaurant for lunch with Aunt Siggi, followed by another walk. After cake and coffee at Aunt Siggi’s we fought our way through another Stau back to the house.

All in all it was a nice weekend, the weather couldn’t have been better. I only have one question: How can it be possible that I gained 5 pounds in 4 days when I ran 3 times???

Posted by Jack at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

When I left the military and moved to Germany to live with my wife in 1990 it was not an easy decision. My wife made it easier because she had a good job in a printing company as a digital media designer. This allowed me to work at low paying jobs for several years while I finished my Bachelor and Master degrees in the evenings. My wife also took care of most of the housework as well so I had adequate study time.

This week my wife has been offered two opportunities from the unemployment office for retraining. The first, you may remember me talking about, is a two month bookkeeping course which would prepare for an entry level job as a bookkeeper.

Yesterday she was offered an 8-month schooling in Technical Communication, or as it was formerly known, as a Technical Writer. This latter training would strongly utilize her experience from the printing company, requires extensive English, would be more challenging and demanding, and ultimately would pay much better.

From the job market perspective, generally speaking currently there are more bookkeeping jobs being offered in Germany than technical writing jobs, but according to the company offering the Technical Communications program, 80% of the last 4 classes found work in that profession.

I work as a general engineer with my company and my duties include Documentation Management, Translating, Internet Design and Technical Communication. I have at least given my wife some idea what to expect as a Technical Writer. I think that my wife would excel in this field.

So now my wife is faced with a major career decision, should she wait and hope that one of her job applications works out, or should she take one of the schoolings that is being offered, and if so which one? She has until next Thursday to decide…

I offered my opinion last night when she asked, but I know that she needs to make the decision. It is my opinion that when the unemployment office is paying for the school, the transportation and sending the unemployment check each month then she should take advantage of this.

So with all that in mind I find myself thinking back to my first several years living in Germany and it is becoming clear what I need to do, namely keep the path free for whatever route my wife decides to take. I guess this means I need to spend less time tweaking my running schedule and start figuring out how the washing machine, stove, vacuum clean and iron operate…does housework count as crosstraining?

Posted by Jack at 7:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Last night was a rest night due to my wife’s birthday. I met my wife at her work at the end of the day with the intention of treating her to a romantic dinner, maybe at our favourite Greek restaurant. But it our tradition that the birthday baby has choice, so we went to my wife’s choice, Pizza Hut! After a tasty meal of pizza, salad and garlic bread we walked around the market area of Karlsruhe for an hour window-shopping before taking the streetcar (Tram) home. My wife seemed to thoroughly enjoy the evening, which made my day as well.

The only negative point is that my diet is in chaos, ugh!

This evening I am accompanying my wife to her eye exam, then will go for a run whenever we get home.

Tomorrow my company is going on their annual outing, where they pack the employees on buses and visit something worthwhile in the area. This year we are going to the Unimog museum and a few other attractions in Gaggenau and Bad Herrenalb in the foothills of the Black Forest. In the afternoon the ambitious ones will hike up one of the mountains overlooking Bad Herrenalb for one of the better views of the area. Of course the high point is always the company-sponsored picnic lunch and dinner at an area beer garden. I will try to get some good pictures to post.

On Saturday morning at O-dark-early is my first long run since my marathon, probably about 2 ½ hours on my hilly route. I’m really looking forward to it!

Posted by Jack at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Sunday, October 17, 2006 – Heading back to Germany

On Sunday morning we regrettable packed our bags, had our last breakfast in Italy and boarded the bus for the long trip back to Germany. There were mixed emotions among the group, some were sad to be leaving so soon, others couldn’t wait to be home – me I just missed my running shoes ;-)

As we backtracked to Switzerland I snapped a picture of the beautiful Lugano lake shortly after we crossed the border.

For most of the rest of the trip through Switzerland and Germany it rained, as it had for most of our trip. But we saw many impressive sites and will always savor these in our heart. Ciao Italia!

Posted by Jack at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Saturday, October 16, 2006 – Siena and San Gimignano

On Saturday we set off at 8 a.m. for Siena (Sienne), the City of the Virgin. The road to Siena passed rich, green fields of olive-trees, vineyards and cypresses. Siena has many monuments to the history of the region, the most renowned being the “Piazza del Campo”, the historic center of the city. This square is also the site of “The Siena Palio”, an annual festival and horse race. For the latter the outside of the square is covered with dirt and the horses race around the square three times. If you look at the following picture of the square it is really hard to imagine a horse race being held in such a small space.

We had lunch at a café to the right of where I took the pictures above. The streets of Siena were very steep and narrow so my wife preferred to limit our excursion through the city.

After lunch our group met in this square and we walked back to the bus. From there we made our way to San Gimignano, a Middle Ages town located on a hill near Siena. The surrounding country side was breathtaking, despite the almost constant rain that we experienced.

San Gimignano, famous for Vernaccia and for it’s towers, stands on top of a pass that dominates the Valley of Elsa. It is the center of a small Etruscan village of the Hellenic period. Its history began around the 10th century when it took the name of the Saint Bishop of Modena. In the year 1348 a terrible plague almost wiped out the town and as a consequence the small town had to surrender itself to the power of Florence. However, as a result much of the original town remain intact, unlike other towns that were destroyed due to wars.

Just as we entered the old city, there began a drenching downpour of rain. We retreated to a café with another couple from our group for some coffee and cake until the rain let up.

So this was our last excursion in Italy. After breakfast on Sunday we had to bide our newfound love Adieu!

Here is one more view of Cinquale:

Posted by Jack at 2:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Friday, October 15, 2006 – Florence

On Friday morning after breakfast our bus set out for Florence, about 2 ½ hours from our hotel. Florence, or Firenze as they say in Italian, is a city of about half a million inhabitants, situated on the banks of the Arno River, between the Triennia and the Adriatic sea’s. As we rode to Florence we noticed that the landscape changed from contrasting coast line/alpine to rolling hillsides and vineyards that many tourists associate with Toscana.

Florence was home to many famous artists, sculptures and architects, including Cimabue, Giotto, Pisano, Brunelleschi, Masaccio, and so many more. The city seems to be filled with museums, galleries and monuments. The few hours that we spent in Florence were entirely inadequate, there is just so much to see.

One of the larger squares that we visited was the Piazza della Signoria, which one flyer referred to as being the political symbol of Florence for the past 600 years. Many fine sculptures, museums and galleries can be accessed from this square.

Another landmark that we visited was the fascinating cathedral St. Maria del Flore, located in the Piazza del Duomo (Dome Plaza), which was built during 1296 and 1461. One can only stand in awe before this magnificent structure.

I think that which will leave the most lasting impression from Florence is not the sculptures, cathedrals, etc., but the drivers! Yes you read that right, the Florence drivers have got to be the best in the world. I mean the way they weave in and out of traffic is scary, I saw time and time again three cars driving in two lanes. Worse yet is the scooter and motorcycle drivers, they whiz between cars and buses with only a hair’s breath on each side – I had to close my eyes, I thought I was going to see blood and gore. I have decided that I will never, ever drive in Florence, no way!

We returned a little early to the hotel from Florence. My wife wanted to take a nap, so I went for an hour walk, speed-walking along private beaches in Cinquale. There are very few open beaches in Cinquale, tourists must pay up to $60 a day for the privilege of using one of the dozens of private beach fronts.

Posted by Jack at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thursday, October 14, 2006 – Lucca and Pisa

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel at 7:30 a.m. and the bus picked our group up at 8:30 for an excursion to Lucca and Pisa. Lucca is about 40 minutes southeast of Cinquale. Along the way we had a nice view of the lake “Lage di Massaciuccoli”. As you can visualize from the picture below this is a really beautiful area.

Lucca, the city of Ilaria, the unfortunate bride. The historical center of the city is enclosed by a massive wall.

Some of the highlights of the city include the St. Martin Cathedral, St. Michael (San Michele) Church and the St. Frediano Church. There is also a Roman amphitheatre which holds 10,000 spectators and is still used for outdoor shows.

We walked through the old historic section of the town, with its narrow streets and small shops. We enjoyed watching people roam the market at the Piazza S. Michele (St. Michael Plaza) as we had a cup of coffee at a small café.

We walked back to the bus along the walkway on top of the wall. The approx. three kilometer long walkway is very popular among the local runners, I only regretted not having my running shoes, as dozens of runners passed us as we made our way along the wall.

After regrouping at the bus, our travel group continued on to Pisa, about 20 minutes west of Lucca. Pisa is situated on the banks of the river Arno, and has been one of the important sea ports in the history of the area. Of course Pisa is best known for its “Leaning Tower”, the bell tower of the Cathedral the Baptistery located in Miracles Square.

The part of Pisa that we saw is a “typical” tourist area like many throughout the world. You are met at every corner by people try to sell you something, the streets are full of people regardless of the weather, and you always have to walk around with one hand on your wallet. After taking a few pictures and roaming the square around the cathedral we again retreated to a street café for lunch as the rain intensified.

After awhile the rain let up and we made our way back to the bus and the trip back to the hotel. As dinner at the hotel was included in our travel package we enjoyed a three course meal of pasta, meat with potatoes, and dessert. Of course a meal is not complete in Italy without fresh bread and olive oil on the table.

Posted by Jack at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Wednesday, October 14, 2006

Our bus arrived an hour late at the bus stop behind the main train station in Karlsruhe, much to the displeasure of the 20 or so people waiting to begin their journey to Toscana, Italy. While waiting, we tried to make the best of it by introducing ourselves to a few of the other travelers.

After the loading our bags on the double-decker tour bus and finding seats, the Croatian driver pointed the bus south and we were on our way. We made our way down Autobahn 5 (A5) to Basel, Switzerland (CH), then switched to A2 to Luzern (CH). Luzern is basically the doorway to the Swiss Alps.

There are two possibilities of traversing the alpine region you can take the St. Gotthard tunnel or ride over the St. Gotthard Pass. As traffic was backed up for miles at the tunnel, the driver elected to take the winding St. Gotthard Pass. Now, I have been on some winding roads before, but when you add a couple thousand feet of elevation change to this, it quickly becomes an adventure, especially in a large double-decker bus!

As we wound our way up the pass we quickly learned how good our driver was, I could not imagine driving a large bus on these winding, narrow roads, can you?

After traversing the pass we again rejoined A2 and continued our way south past Bellinzona and Lugano, eventually crossing the border into Italy around Como. Highway A2 became A9, which joined A8 and eventually A1 around Milano (Milan). We continued on through northern Toscana passing Piacenza, turning southwest onto A15 shortly before Parma, then onto A12 around La Spezia.

Finally after nearly 12 hours we arrived in Cinquale, situated in Versilia, between Marina di Massa and Forte dei Marmi on the Riviera Della Versilia (part of Toscana Riviera).

According to our travel flyer, Cinquale has “…a spacious beach to one side and to the other, picturesque villages and valleys of the majestic Apuan Alps which overlook the awe inspiring spectacle of the marble quarries.”

Here is our first picture of the city, with the alps in the background.

There are reportedly over 800 hotels along the Riviera Della Versilia, ours was the 3-star Hotel Storyville. About a third of our travel group stayed at this hotel, the rest were split up into two other hotels depending on which travel package they purchased. After checking in we had a late night dinner (10:30 p.m.) and fell exhausted into our bed.

Posted by Jack at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I enjoy woodworking and furniture refinishing. Yesterday I finished up refinishing a 3-drawer dresser that I have been working on for my wife. Hard to believe that my neighbor threw it out, it’s solid oak! Of course it looks totally different from the way it did before, I spent hours and hours sanding, smoothing and finishing. Here is a picture for the curious.

Posted by Jack at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Today we are packing for a tour bus trip to Toscana, Italy. We will be staying four nights in the Viareggio area and will be making daily excursions to the surrounding cities, including Florenz, Siena, San Gimignano, Chiantital, Pisa and Lucca.

So in any case I will be out of the net until next Monday, I wish all of you a good week and happy running!

Posted by Jack at 8:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I was startled by an obituary I saw this morning in the newspaper. If you have been reading my blog for awhile you may remember that we belonged to a garden club up until this spring when we sold our garden. Well, the garden club has a club house restaurant (beer garden) which is leased by a couple with two daughters. On Sunday the oldest daughter was driving home and was involved in a fatal traffic accident just a few miles from home (I don’t know the details yet). This pretty, vibrant young lady that used to work as a waitress at the biergarden is gone, only 19 years old. I know from talking with her that she was so looking forward to life, a career, a family – in her dreams she had no limits. My heart goes out to her family and friends…

Posted by Jack at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Somebody very dear to me is thinking about applying for a job in Atlanta, Georgia. Any bloggers out there that can provide feedback about living in Atlanta? Things like rent prices, crime, safe neighborhoods, transportation and stuff like that would be interesting.

An no I'm not moving to Atlanta, of course unless you want to give me a job there ;-)

Posted by Jack at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Last night was another night of tossing and turning due to the lingering warm air. My wife and I are both having trouble getting enough sleep. This morning I could really feel the effect, I woke up wearily and reluctantly. On the positive side my legs feel good, no muscle aches or anything like sometimes happens after a hard race.

Normally we experience a couple weeks of upper-90F temperatures in August, but this year it has started a month early and there is no sign of mild temperatures anytime soon.

On Saturday night a Tornado set down in Hambrucken, which is about 11K/7M miles from our house. A TORNADO people, this is Germany, not Kansas – I didn’t think they had tornados in Germany! According to the newspaper this morning up to a hundred houses were slightly damaged and hundreds of trees were uprooted or damaged. There was only one reported injury, a middle-aged man fell of the roof when he was trying to secure the tiles during high winds.

I saw signs of the storm damage during my half-marathon yesterday, which incidentally ran through the forest behind Hambrucken. Race organizers said they were up half the night before the race removing trees and limbs so we could run. Wow!

Guess where my next half-marathon is on August 26th - tornado alley Hambrucken!

Posted by Jack at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This afternoon my wife wanted to study, so I decided to take a little bike ride. Fifty-five kilometers later (34 miles) I returned home and right away received “the look” from my wife. Our conversation went something like this:

Her: I thought you were going for a bike ride?
Me: I did!
Her: A bike ride is like 30 minutes, not 2½ hours!
Me: It was nice weather so I went a little further today.
Her: Why didn’t you have your cell phone with you, I tried to call?
Me: Oh, I guess I forgot it…
Her: And you didn’t have your ID with you either…
Me: No I forgot that too.
Her: When you get hurt how is anyone supposed to know who you are?
Me: You’re right (trying to escape).

Of course she didn’t let me get off that easy, I had to listen to the lecture about having my ID with me, why do I have a cell phone, how she is supposed to find me (especially as far as I go), etc.

In my own defense, I typically do carry my wallet and cell phone, this time these things were the last things on my mind. On my long runs I always have both with me because I run places where no one would find my corpse any time soon.

Do you guy’s ever think about this? I mean letting someone know where you are running or cycling? I think it’s a good idea, but am still bad about letting my wife know.

Posted by Jack at 6:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

Having run this marathon last year, I can verify that high winds would have been brutal, there are lots of open roads and bridges. But can you imagine training for so long and then having the rug pulled out from under you as you line up for the start of the event!

My friend said that the runner?s were very unhappy about the decision, the majority angrily whistling and shouting when the announcement was made. What really added salt to the wounds was that the stormed cleared soon afterward and the sun came out.

This morning a local Mannheim newspaper reported that a local 10K race held in a neighboring town was overwhelmed on Sunday by frustrated marathoners looking to 'run any race around'.

Have a nice week!

Posted by Jack at 8:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

So we drove to the next village where we caught the streetcar to Karlsruhe, whereas upon arriving at the market square did not find a festival! My wife apparently didn?t read the fine print, the festival ended last night. Being flexible people we took a stroll through the palace gardens and discussed what to do next. We decided to backtrack with the streetcar and go to the local brewery and have lunch in their beer garden (Biergarten).

The Hoepfner Biergarten is a favorite place for the local city dwellers to sit and spend a warm sunny afternoon on the weekend. I was a little concerned about finding something healthy on the menu, as most beer gardens specialize in bratwurst, pork schnitzels and other fatty foods. I was pleasantly surprised to find a fiery pasta dish and a green salad on the menu, which turned out to be quite good and about as healthy as I was going to find.

In any case we had a good time sitting in the sun, chatting and watching the interesting people around. All in all an interesting afternoon, despite missing the market.

I took a couple pictures, but so far Blogger has not let me upload a picture, maybe tomorrow. Have a nice Sunday!

Posted by Jack at 8:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)