PROST!---Really LONG!

We're back from Oktoberfest and I think Mike and I can both agree that it's something everyone should do once...and I'm sure we'll be back!

We left for Munich first thing Friday morning and arrived around 11. We were hoping to catch a 12:30 bike tour, but after taking the train to the city from the airport and figuring out our hotel and getting to the meeting point, we missed the tour. Fortunately, the meeting point was around the corner from the Hofbrau house, so we decided to grab a beer and a quick lunch. We wound up staying for 6 hours or something like that. We sat down at a table with a couple from Fairfax, VA. They were there on their 20th Anniversary. After they left, there was a couple from London...He was fine, but she didn't like beer. How to you go to a BEER FESTIVAL in a city where they drink beer in lieu of coffee with breakfast if you don't like beer??? Finally, a group of about 6 or 7 German guys sat down. They really just wanted to practice their English so I obliged. At the other end of the table two guys from Italy sat...Sadly between my lack of Italian and their lack of English, I think somehow me trying to discuss Italian soccer with them led them to believe I was part of a crime family...They left shortly after! 6 Hours and 3 Liters each later, we made our way back to our hotel, but not before I got lost in the bathroom. So much for touring the city!



The next day, Saturday, all of our friends were coming--Chris & Kialee, Chris & Casie, and Duff & Larissa! They were scheduled on a flight that got in around 11AM, so Mike and I headed to the parade. It was the first day of the festival and they bring all of the kegs in with a lot of pomp & circumstance. I think the best part of the parade was all of the women in their drindls and men in their lederhosen.

Chris & Casie were in first and gave us a call. We told them we'd meet them for lunch near the city center. Chris & Kialee called a few minutes later...They were already in a tent having a liter! We all met for lunch at a Schnedier Wiesen Beer Hall which was cool since Casie's last name is Schneider. They had tablecloths on the tables with Schneider Wiesen all over them. Casie asked to purchase one, but unfortunately they weren't for sale. Not to fear...Chris has the thing off the table and in Kialee's purse before the waitress could say "Auf Wiedersein"!

From the Schneider Beer Hall, we went back to the Hofbrau House for a few liters in the beer garden....The night was just beginning though...We also hit up the tents. It was really hard to get in the big tents on the first night, but we got into a little Paulaner tent for dinner and .... You guessed it, MORE LITERS. Duff, Larissa, Mike and I got separated from the other 4 and wound up sitting with a couple of Bratislavan guys who insisted that we dance on the table with them. We were only too happy to take part. Who would have thought that table dancing is one of Mike's favorite things to do! After they left, the other 4 came and joined us at our table. Lucky for us, the tents all close at 10PM so we had a nice early night. We had a tent reservation at Hofbrau for 11:30AM the next day, so we had to be up and running early.



Mike and I got up bright and early to meet Casie in the city center. She and I had this bright idea to buy drindls (Beer Wench Outfits) for our day at the tents (It seemed like the thing to do!). Unfortunately, Munich completely shuts down on Sundays and we were out of luck. Lucky for us, all was not lost, we ran into another parade. After we watched the parade for a little while we went to the Hofbrau tent to meet up with everyone else. When we got inside it was like heaven! Our table was on the balcony and we could overlook all the goings on below. We ordered our first round of liters and our beer wench arrived with them. It was wonderful...the hall was decorated with hops and in the center was the "Hofbrau Guy" a huge paper mache' looking head that rotated...people were throwing their bras and underwear on him.





4 hours, 40 liters, 10 half chickens (hendels), 2 necklace cookies, and 5 pretzels later our reservation was over and we were kicked out. At this point we lost 4 of our group of 10 (they just couldn't hang) and we headed to an outdoor beer garden to ...you guessed it...have another liter. Oktoberfest is an extremely friendly place, and at the beer garden I noticed a group of younger boys all wearing NY Yankees hats so I decided to go and make conversation. They were actually very nice boys, wanting to talk to me about American rock music and telling me how much they liked Mike Piazza. When I went back to sit with our group, Kialee and Chris were trying to tell me that they were neo-Nazis but I didn't believe them--they were so nice. It was only when they started to sing Nazi songs that I realized what I'd walked into. I have to say though, they were very nice, and polite, I suppose it could have been different if I wasn't white with blue eyes.




After another 6 liters and 2 hendels, it was getting kind of chilly so we decided to go into the Lowenbrau tent. We actually sneaked our way into a side door exit. Chris pushed all the girls ahead and insisted that they'd let us in and then we could sweet talk the security into letting the boys in. No need. The bouncer just didn't care. It was REALLY crowded and as I mentioned before you have to be seated in order to be served. I took it upon myself to get us seated. I'd already managed with the neo-Nazis so how bad could I do, right? I first sat down next to a guy in liederhosen, in my VERY poor German I asked if he spoke English. He was having none of my little game. Then, I went to another table, they spoke English and told me that I could sit and order beer for our group. I had NO money on me so I flagged Chris over to take my spot and get our beer. I moved on to find us a place to sit. There was a whole table with only 4 people sitting at it. When I tried to speak to them, again in my piss poor German, they were more than welcoming! They told us that 4 of us could sit there which was fine. The were two older German couples who were concerned we hadn't eaten and kept trying to get us food! There was a language barrier...they spoke very little English and with Kialee and Chris our only (high school) German speakers being 3 sheets to the wind, communication was limited. We had a great time though!

Mike became obsessed with the Lowenbrau lion. I even took some video of it.  I think it's more than possible that it's more interesting when you've had a few liters.

On our final day in Munich, we tried to do a bike tour but it was absolutely pouring! We wound up taking a bus tour of the city which really was kind of disappointing! There really wasn't much to the city, so we were happy we came during Oktoberfest!

Overdue Congratulations are in Order!

I know I've been slacking with my blogs! But there are some congrats that are FAR overdue!

First, I'd like to congratulate Mike's best man and his lovely wife Christel. They are expecting proud parents of a bouncing baby boy! They told us ages ago, but I didn't want to blog about it before they had the chance to tell everyone that needed to know...Then time slipped away! Congrats to Scott and Christel--they are going to be fantastic parents even if the kid will be a Red Sox fan!

Next, I'd like to congratulate Justin and Linda on the birth of Baby Alana! Justin and Linda are my friends from way back at Rowan and have proved to be fantastic friends ever since. The welcomed Baby Alana on August 14. She was 8lbs 10oz! Justin and Linda are already fantastic people and are sure be super parents!

And the good news just keeps coming!!!!!

While at Rowan I was a member of the Delta Zeta sorority. As a member I had two little sisters who became great friends. In the Spring of 2000, Nicole was brought into the DZ family and in the Fall of 2000 Crystal came. Both of these lovely ladies and great friends got engaged this summer!!!


Nicole and Jimmy have been dating for over a year now, but sadly, with my stint in the UK, I've never had the pleasure of meeting him. He's got to be a great guy though for Nicole to choose him. I wish them nothing but every happiness in the world! They are planning a Sept 18,2009 wedding! I'm so excited for them!

Crystal's fiance' I have had the pleasure to meet--the first being over a game of rock 'n' roll bowling and can say that Dave is a great guy. Crystal and Dave got engaged just a couple of weeks ago so it's too soon for a date yet, but I have to say that I am also REALLY excited for Crystal!

Looks like when we come home we'll have lots of babies to visit and wedding to attend! We couldn't be happier for all of our friends as they embark on these wonderful adventures in life!

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh...The Right Stuff

It all started in about 1990 when a young Tara...along with the rest of America fell in love with the New Kids on the Block. I was so obsessed that I made my mother drive through a blizzard just to get a wristband so that I could possibly get tickets to a concert. I had jackets, tshirts, buttons, posters, trading cards, dolls...I even had an NKOTB birthday party! I had to have ripped jeans because Donnie had them. I knew every dance move to every song, but then it was all ripped away when the band collapsed. Sure I was able to fill the void with a little *Nsync and Backstreet Boys, but it never was really quite the same!

That is until now! The New Kids are back together with a new album and I thought that I would be SOL when it came to the tour. I'm on the NKOTB.com mailing list and got a great email just before we went on holiday. The New Kids would be playing a mini show at the HMV music store here in LONDON on Sept 8! Needless to say I was totally there! I went around 11AM for the 1PM show, and was sad to see that 2 hours wasn't nearly enough time...I needed to be there 2 DAYS EARLY! Girls...mind you, I was among the youngest there, had camped out on the streets of London for 2 days just to get a wristband to be able to get an autograph! PLEASE! We're not 13 anymore girls!

Anyway, at the show they played some of my favorite old tunes "Step By Step" and "Tonight" and two new songs "Summertime" and "Single" which they sing with Ne-Yo. I really felt like I was 13 again singing along and cheering! The best part was after they were done singing it was time for a Q&A. The questions were previously picked, an one asked when they would tour England. Like I said, there were no tour dates listed on their website for England, so I thought I'd be SOL. Sure enough, Danny rattled off a list of tour dates for locations around the UK! Jan 24--London at the O2 Arena. I knew at that moment I was so there. Mike would just have to suck it up and bring me! Lucky for him though, I emailed all the girls in our little expat group and got a taker. Larissa is going to come with me. Apparently, her parents thought she was too little to go to a concert back in the day, and has been carrying around that disappointment all these years! Hahaha!

I hope you like the pics from the show!

From Paradise to Paris---LONG BLOG

"Where the hell is Mauritius???" That's a question we got a lot when we told people we were headed to Mauritius for our Summer Holiday. Mauritius is a teeny tiny country about 1000 miles east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. It's heavily French influenced, but was also occupied by both the Dutch and English as some point or another. Interestingly enough, most of the people that live there are of Indian descent, but they speak a sort of French Creole.

After a 13 hour flight, we arrived bright and early in Mauritius. We were able to get a taxi to our hotel right away. Unfortunately, the ride took an hour and a half, but our driver Sanjay was very nice and as we were driving from the far South of the island to the far North. He aptly pointed out where all of the breweries were for Mike and really showed how Mauritius, unlike a lot of island nations, is very self-sufficient in creating most necessities on their own soil.


When we finally arrived at our destination, the Le Meridien Ile Maurice it was about 9AM. As soon as we arrived we were ushered to some very comfy chairs in the lobby where we were brought our forms for check-in. Since our room wasn't yet ready we were comped breakfast at the buffet. After breakfast we were brought to our room via golf cart. It was in the Nirvana section of the hotel which had it's own private restaurant, bar, and pool which were both kid-free. The room wasn't up to Mike's standard...It was a "Mountain View" and not a "Sea View" so in true Mike fashion he bitched, moaned and complained until finally we were switched to a very nice ocean view room by 2PM.

While we were settling in we had decided that we wanted to sign up for some activities. We chose to do an all day catamaran cruise and an experience of a lifetime...Walking with Lions at Casela Park. Needless to say I wasn't too keen on the lions, but Mike assured me that I would be able to watch the group before us on a viewing platform and if I wanted to back out after that I could (More on that later!).

The weather in Mauritius couldn't have been more perfect. It was about 80 degrees every day with little humidity and a fairly strong, steady breeze. You never felt overly hot, but it was still warm enough to swim in both the pool and ocean.


On Saturday we went on the Catamaran. It took about an hour to get to the harbor where we caught the boat and we were happy to see that we were on a smaller boat with about 10 other people...A family of 4 from Britain, a couple from Britain, 4 Germans and 2 Frenchies. Mike and I were the first ones on and claimed our spot for the day on the trampoline type things on the front of the boat. The first part of our excursion was dolphin spotting. I don't think Europeans see dolphins very often because they were really into it. As with any touristy thing, we weren't the only ones looking for the dolphins and about 20 boats were following each other around this small area trying to catch a glimpse. We did se a few, and that certainly made the people on our boat happy.

Next, we went to snorkel on the reef. The fish weren't as colorful as they were in Tahiti, but it was really nice swimming in the ocean. The fish we did se were these friendly black and white ones and Mike said he even saw a few tiny jelly fish. I didn't see them, otherwise that would've been it for my ocean going swimming! After snorkeling, we had lunch. The crew of the catamaran bbq'd sausages, chicken, shrimp, and seafood skewers along with salad and baguettes. It seemed like the food just didn't stop coming...and neither did the drinks. Mike and I had out first taste of the local beer "Phoenix" which was kind of like Lowenbrau. The rest of the day was filled with basking in the sun and swimming here and there. When we got off the boat, we were both exhausted. It was a really good day though! Mike has since decided that were are going to buy a catamaran in our retirement and sail the world's oceans in it....I let him dream! :o)

Our second excursion is the one that was keeping me up nights thinking about it! When we got to Casela (yes, another hour long drive--they really should build a highway in that country) we checked in for our two activities there...Walking with Lions and a mini-safari. We boarded the truck that brought us to the lions with a group of about 6 other people. It comforted me somewhat that there was a pretty big English Rugby player who was as scared as I was...although he kept talking about it. I just kept my palpetations to myself! I really felt like I was going to vomit when I saw the lions that we were walking with. Mike told me they would be little cubs...cute right? WRONG...These lions were about 20 months old and full grown. Our guide, we called him Jungle Jim, told up that the female wouldn't gain much more weight but the male, who had already began growing him mane, would fill out in the next year or so. Remember that viewing platform I mentioned earlier---it only existed to look at the lions in their 100ft x 100ft pen. At this point I was stuck! I had to go!



We started on the walk with Jungle Jim giving us each a 3 ft stick (By the way---that's the only protection he had as well!) and we started on a path into the woods...No lions yet! On the way he gave us some rules 1. Always look the lion in the eye 2. Never crouch down--the lion will think you're a small animal 3. Always keep the lion in front of you. 4. Stay in the group. If you go off by yourself the lion thinks your the weak link and will go after you. Next thing you knew, 2 lions came charging at us! I was in the very back of the crowd. I was lagging a little...I don't think my legs were working properly at first...until Mike told me I was starting to separate myself from the pack..THEN, I sped up! The longer we were with the lions the calmer I felt being around them. We took several pictures with the lions and followed them to different areas of the park. It was an hour long walk and by the end Mike was walking with them by himself--me not so much! There was only one really scary moment when another girl with us dropped her 3ft stick and bent down to pick it up...The girl lion started to go after her!!!!! Jungle Jim quickly put the lion in check and that was the only time that they every had to hit them. While I did get more comfortable with the lions as the walk went on, I was more than happy to get it over with!




We had a light lunch in the park, and then headed out again on our mini-safari. It was really kind of like the safari at Great Adventure--more of a children's attraction than anything else. We got to see a tortoise, monkey, some zebras, antelopes, a few ostriches, etc. We thought we might get to see a giraffe, but no such luck!





We had hired a car and driver for the day so we asked him to bring us around the "scenic south" as they called it there. The major attractions in this very famous part of mauritius is a very high, but very skinny waterfall, a dirt pit that is supposed to have 7 different colored soil, a giant hindu statue, and a dormant volcano. I guess the people don't really visit for the attractions!

Overall, it was a really great trip. The resort was top notch, though the beach was very European--quite rocky. We spent most of our time at the pool. The restaurants at the hotel were good, though a little pricey. Honestly, after talking about it, I think Mike and I would rather head to the Carribbean. The Beaches are nicer and it's a lot closer! It was a neat experience though!

On our way home, we decided to make our layover in Paris a 3 day side trip. When we arrived at Charles deGaulle Airport we got in a taxi and headed to the hotel. It was around 5PM when we got in, so it was the heart of the rush hour. Traffic reminded me of Lincoln Tunnel traffic. When we go to the heart of the city we drove right past the Arc de Triumph and through a traffic circle from hell! Our hotel was really swanky and right near the Louve. When we got in, we were both hungry so we ventured out to grab dinner. We had a nice dinner at an outdoor cafe and headed back for some shut eye! 11 hour flights can really take a lot out of you. Besides, the next day was chock full of activities.


With morning came a quick stop at a brasserie for some omelettes and then off to the Eiffel Tower. We were taking a bicycle tour of Paris which met there. The company we went with was called Fat Tire Bike Tours. They also have tours in Berlin, Barcelona, and London. They are an American owned company with American guides (ours was an LSU grad from Texas). The reason we liked it so much was that the tour (while it brought you to all the major attractions) gave you the American spin on things. I think the funniest part of the trip was when our guide LOST A GIRL! We were on the tour with a bunch of Aussies doing a "Drive About" a trip they do on a bus throughout Europe. This girl who really wasn't friends with anyone else and had never been anywhere decided to leave the group...who knows where she went or how she did it. We never found her though! Like I said, we hit all the major attractions--Napolean's military school, Louis XIV's palace, some churches, the Louve, etc. etc.

That night we had reservations for dinner at the Moulin Rouge. Stupid Mike and Tara decided to follow the "elegant" dress code and were wearing clothes FAR nicer than everyone else there. Unfortunately, we don't have an photos there as it wasn't allowed to photograph it. Perhaps it has something to do with all of the topless cabaret dancers? The show was fun, and a little different than what we were expecting...There was a ventriliquist, a juggler, etc. Not just the topless dancing girls running around doing the can can. By the time the show was over and we were back at our hotel it was after midnight. We were exhausted!



The next morning it was cold and dreary. We really weren't prepared well for the weather having coming from a beach vacation. We got to Notre Dame--no sign of the hunchback though. But after that, it started to full on rain. We took their metro to the Arc de Triumph to grab some shots there and walked back down the Champs Elysee to our hotel. We had a flight at 4PM so we just grabbed some lunch and were on our way back to the airport.

We spent a week relaxing in Mauritius and ended on a real whirlwind, jam packed adventure in Paris. Paris was a city that surprised us. It was really quite beautiful, the food was great, and the layout was easy and convenient. We still don't like French people, but I'm not sure that will change any time soon. We're even thinking of ringing in the New Year there!

It was good to be home though. Especially when we had the whole weekend to unwind before Mike had to get back to the grind on Monday!