It may look like a bunch of messed up words at first, but go ahead and try to read it, I’m sure it’ll all make sense.

Human mind
THE PAOMNNEHAL PWEOR OF THE HMUAN MNID
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg. Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cma brigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

As most people know, Dan Rather is quite biased. As a matter of fact, there is an actual nickname he has acquired…“Rather Biased”

Anyways, here is a fun link on Mr. Rather Biased.

Our busy August and September continues…hence why I haven’t been posting a lot of things as of late. Well, after Athens, about 5 days later the Knudsens came into town. Needless to say Kymba was ecstatic being able to have her own kids in the house. As Keith quickly recognized, Trevor and Kristen were no longer his kids, but were now Kymba’s. She took to them like “white on rice”, and wouldn’t let them out of her sight. If we tried to pick them up, Kymba’s shepherding instincts would kick in, and she would quickly inform us that they were hers, and not to mess with them.

Anyways, the day after they arrived, we all headed to Rome for a week. Rome is known for its pick pockets, gypsies, etc., and it didn’t take but 5 minutes off the train for someone to try and take Barbie’s computer from me. It was attached to another piece of luggage, so I guess he thought he could take it without me noticing…bad idea. I basically just gave him a look and we continued on our way… no sense in whooping some Italian butt on my first night. Barbie had arranged for us to stay at an apartment by the Trevi Fountain, so we were in a great location. The first evening we just hung out and went to see the Trevi Fountain, which I must say ended up being my favorite thing to see. Unfortunately it is always packed with tourists, unless you go early in the morning, which we were able to do the following morning.

The next day was our big tourist day. We actually got up and started off with the Coliseum. I’ve always seen the postcards and pictures, but I had never seen what it was supposed to look like back in the day. During our tour they let us know that the entire Coliseum was covered with marble, which would have made for an absolutely amazing sight in this era, but can you imagine what people would have thought back in 500ad.

After the Coliseum we headed to the Roman Forum and Palentine Hill, which are basically archaeological ruins of the ancient city of Rome. Not as impressive as the Coliseum, but still worth it. We then made our way to the Pantheon, which was, and partly still is, an architectural wonder. It was built over 1800 years ago, and was the largest free standing dome of its type in the world until the Superdome in New Orleans! Can you imagine building something that could not be repeated for another 1800 years? That’s an amazing accomplishment.

As if all this wasn’t enough we then proceeded to see the “Fountain of the Four Rivers“, which if you have read Angels and Demons, probably means a little more. It was a fountain built by Bernini, and was made to represent the four rivers that lead through Rome (Nile, Danube, Ganges, and The Rio della Plata.) Well, we finally deserved a break, so we headed back to the apartment for an afternoon nap for some, or card playing for others, of which I was the Hearts champion. (Just don’t ask Keith or Kristen to verify that)

That evening we headed out for dinner, but first decided to go the Spanish Steps. We tried to get a “Where’s Waldo” type photo, but I think it is pretty easy to find us all, although Keith is the really tough one to find since he was the one taking the picture. Well, we ended up getting some dinner by the Steps, and went back to the apartment for a relaxing early evening. Well, it was early for some, and late for others…as Keith, Kristen and I ended up playing Hearts until late.

The next day, being a Sunday, was a relaxing day. We slept in late, and went to the Castle that is about a mile away from the Vatican. It was used as a fortress back in the day, and supposedly has a hidden underground passage that was used to transfer the Pope in case of an attack on the Vatican. Although it was a relaxing day, it ended up being a very memorable evening. We decided to get some Gelato and hang out by the Trevi fountain. While eating our Gelato, we watched the “Rose guys” try and force sales upon unsuspecting tourists. There idea was to get a girl to grab a rose that was literally shoved in their face, and once she took it, they would start hitting up the guy for money. If the girl tried to return it, they would simply refuse until they were paid. They were absolutely hilarious to watch, simply b/c they had no fear and would not take No for an answer.

Monday was Vatican day. We first started off with the Vatican museum, whose most famous site is obviously the “Sistine Chapel” by Michelangelo. I think I expected the paintings to be larger on the roof of the chapel based on what I have seen in books, but they were actually quite small. This is not to say it wasn’t impressive and awe inspiring, just not what I had expected. Another highlight, for me at least, was to see a painting/drawing by Leonardo Da Vinci…mainly b/c I didn’t know it was there. This is what happens when you read a book on someone…you actually start to appreciate the little things of their life. Too bad I didn’t read a book on Michelangelo before hand.

After the museum we headed to St. Peter’s church, which is the biggest church in the world, and probably should be since it is the home of Catholicism. Unbeknownst to me, men are now required to wear pants. I was actually refused entrance and had to go buy some “paper pants” for five euros. I wasn’t about to go all the way to Rome and not pay 5 euros to get in. So, upon entering we went to the top of the dome which overlooks all of Rome. An very impressive site to see everything in that perspective. After the dome we walked around the church not really knowing the details about what we were seeing, but still amazed by the enormity of all the sculptures and paintings…which was a running theme at the Vatican.

Our last day, Tuesday, was basically another relaxing day, but we did go see the “Face of Truth” and “Circus Maximus”. The myth behind the “Face of Truth” is that you must put your hand in its mouth, and only those who are Truthful and Honest will keep their hand…all others will have their hand bitten off. I think Trevor may be a little unhonest, b/c he wasn’t so sure about putting his hand in there. “Circus Maximus” is where they held many of the infamous chariot races, and it also where they persecuted many of the Christians. Now it is basically an empty lot, but the essence of history is still there.

Well, we had a great time in Rome, and it is definitely one of the many highlights we have had since living in Europe. Obviously our company was great, so that helps, but the sheer history of Rome is something that makes one wish he knew more. Therefore, if we ever go again, I definitely plan on reading a couple of books on some of the famous sculptors and painters that helped make Rome a city of such great treasures.

Of course Barbie has so kindly uploaded our Roman Pictures.

Rainier, not Busch, the beverage of choice for thirsty black bear

What an experience. My quest to go to an Olympics started way back in 1996 when the Olympics had come and gone in Atlanta, and I just stayed in Tallahassee watching them on TV. Back then my friend Tom and I decided we were going to go to Sydney 2000, but as we all know, that never materialized. So when I heard that the Olympics were in Athens, the birthplace of the modern Games, and I was only a 2 hour flight away…well, needless to say, I wasn’t going to miss the chance. Athens 2004 was a great experience!!

Barbie and I arrived in Athens on Tuesday the 24th, and our friends Tom (a different one) and Yasmine had arrived the night before. The first thing that struck us about Athens was how poor it actually was. The city was very old and not very well kept, except for those areas where the Olympic venues had been built. Anyways, our Hotel (Ela Mesa) was on one the Greek island of Aegina, which meant we had to take a ferry from Athens to get there. Originally we thought this would be bad, but it was actually great for the days that we didn’t go to the games b/c we could just sit by the pool and relax, and didn’t have to go deal with the city of Athens.

Well our first event was the Women’s Triathlon on Wednesday morning. Of course no one would have chosen to go to this event, but since I booked the tickets, they didn’t really have a choice. Anyways, the expectations were low, b/c normally all you can see in a triathlon are the swim, the transitions, and the finish line. Luckily, whoever set up the event did it perfect. The transition area had a huge grand stand for people to sit and watch the swim and transitions, and also a huge TV screen with commentary so we could watch the race all the time. To top things off, the bike course was 5 laps and the run course 3 laps, so we got to see the competitors come by the grandstand 8 different times…which made for some good pictures. Anyways, the event ended up being the best one of the week since after 2 hours of competing, it came down to a sprint in the last 200 meters. An Austrian girl, Kate Allen, came from over 2:30 minutes behind when starting the run, to pass about 10-15 people and finally pass the first place girl, who had led for nearly the entire race, the last 200 meters, and right in front of us. It was just an amazing race.
That afternoon Yasmine had gotten us some Diving tickets for the 3 meter springboard prelims. Since you never really get to watch the prelims on TV, it was quite interesting. The reason for this being that on TV, you only the best of the best, but in the prelims you get to see the average people…so to speak. It really makes you appreciate how good the Medalists are, and how hard it actually is to perform at such a high level. That evening we went to the Gold and Bronze medal match for the Men’s Beach Volleyball. Talk about an exciting venue. The entire time people are hollering and the DJ, whoever that was, plays rock music in between points. The bronze medal match ended up being the better match of the two, with the Swiss topping the Austrians in 3 sets. In the gold medal match the Brazilians were too good, and closed it out in only 2 sets. Either way, the venue was a great time.
The next day we only had tickets to the quarter-final matches of basketball, which started around 8pm, so we decided to go to the Acropolis and see the Parthenon that afternoon. While walking up to see the Parthenon, a lady asked us if we would like a guided tour, and against Tom’s and mine suggestions, the ladies one and we had our own personal tour guide. It ended up being the right move b/c we learned a ton and it probably made it a much more enjoyable experience…so thanks ladies. Afterwards we headed down to the Olympic Village for the Baskeball game. Unfortunately for us, there are two games, and the first game starts at 8pm, which means the second game won’t end until at least midnight. The last ferry to our island left at 1am, and it takes a minimum of one and a half hours to get from Olympic Village to the Port. This was probably the only bad thing about the Olympic venues…was the distance between them. You had to allocate at least 2 hours between events, not because of poor transportation, but because of distance. Anyways, the great part about the basketball games that night, was that Greece was playing in the second game, the fans were going crazy once that game started. Literally booing everytime Argentina touched the ball, and cheering every Greece had the ball. We had to leave at half time with Greece up, but they eventually ended up losing, and Argentina went on to beat the US in the semis, only to claim gold in the Finals.
The following day was our rest day, where we could just stay on the island, hang out by the pool and catch some rays…which we literally did. Grant it, we weren’t getting up til around 11 or 12pm b/c we didn’t get to bed until 3am b/c of the ferry. Either way we fully enjoyed ourselves, and ended up going to one of the marinas on the island that evening for dinner and some drinks. All in all…a good relaxing day.
The next day only Barbie and I went to Athens, b/c we had tickets to the gold and bronze medal match for mens basketball, which of course started at 8pm again, so we would have to miss the gold medal match anyways. We were planning on selling them, and if Greece had made it, we would have had no problem, but instead, we were hard pressed for a sell. Upon arriving at Olympic Village, we went and did some merchandise shopping, and then noticed that the US Women’s Basketball were currently playing for the gold. We ended up scalping some very cheap tickets and caught the last quarter of the game, in which the women were able to open up a decent lead after being tied at the end of the third quarter, to win the gold. It ended up being the only event where we saw the US flag being raised and the national anthem played, so it was great even though we only caught the last quarter.
Afterwards we went and got a quick bite to eat and came back to watch the US men play for the bronze medal in basketball. The game ended up being a close one, with the US pulling it out in the end. Of course, we couldn’t stay for the gold medal game or medal ceremony, but as I said earlier, the Argentina men won. We actually met a nice couple who just had a baby (5 months), and were living in Naples, Italy as part of the armed forces. Perhaps we’ll meet up again on one of our future European adventures.
The next couple of days were again relaxation days, with us all just hanging out on the island. We ended up going back to the same bar on one of the evenings and watching the closing ceremony. The olympics were officially over, and we were already talking about going to China for the next Summer games. Who knows where will be in 2008, but I wouldn’t rule it out.

As always, Barbie has been so genorous to upload our Olympic Pictures for your viewing pleasur.