Birthday gifts

It's my birthday today. Now, I'm not usually one of those people who gets all introspective about the state of my life and where it's going on birthdays. But this year those thoughts have been creeping up on me. After all, I've got no job, no house, no wife, no kids, a waning bank account and no Pulitzer Prizes. It's not exactly what I had imagined for myself at age 28.

But whenever I find myself obsessing about the things I don't have, I think it's important to take stock of all that I do have. That being the case, here's a birthday list of some of the things I'm thankful for:

1. My health — This may seem odd coming from a quadruple amputee, but I've got it pretty good right now. I haven't had a surgery or sores on my feet in more than a year and I haven't had a serious infection in more than two years. I'm healthy enough to do about 99 percent of the things I want to do on any given day, and that's a blessing.

2. My family — Moving back in with your parents is not a dream for most 28-year-olds, but having parents like mine actually makes it pretty painless. Taken as a whole, our family certainly has its differences (so much so that I sometimes marvel at the fact that we share genetic material). But we all still support each other, we all still get together most holidays and we all still talk to each other (most of the time).

3. My friends — All across the country (and in a few points overseas) I've got people I care about and love to talk to and hang out with. Some of them I've known since kindergarten. I can comfortably be my smart-ass, slightly obnoxious self around them and they don't even mind. In fact, they kind of seem to like it.

4. My country — I'm certainly not a "My country, right or wrong" type, but I do feel lucky to have been born in America. I love the fact that my country values both personal freedom and communal responsibility.

5. The world's natural beauty — I've seen the Swiss Alps and the Rocky Mountains, the green hills of Tuscany and the impossibly blue seas of the French Riviera. I've camped in the peaceful woods of my home state and I've stood at a high point in Rio de Janeiro and looked out on the Atlantic Ocean, miles of white beaches, a modern city skyline and a rain forest all at the same time. I've got a lot of unforgettable vistas in my memory banks and, best of all, there's still so many more out there for me to see.

Of course, this list is not exhaustive, but I didn't want to get too specific. I was trying to be somewhat universal. It's easy for all of us to take things for granted at times and focus on the things we don't have and think we deserve. Look at the list above. If you're a healthy American who has a supportive family and a group of fun friends and has gotten to enjoy some of the world's natural wonders, then I'd say you've got a pretty good life. I know I do.

An encouraging disappointment

It was crushingly disappointing when the U.S. soccer team blew a two-goal lead against Brazil in the second half of the Confederations Cup championship Sunday. But after the game my thought process quickly went from "I can't believe the U.S. blew a two-goal lead against Brazil in a FIFA championship" to "I can't believe the U.S. had a two-goal lead against Brazil in a FIFA championship."

It could have been the start of a new era if the Yanks had won, but in the big picture this was still a monumental step. The U.S. men had never before played in a FIFA championship and had never before gone up two goals against mighty Brazil (the two teams have played 15 times in history. The U.S. is 1-14-0 in those games, with a 1-0 win).

In a way, the rollercoaster of emotions in the championship game mirrored the entire tournament. The U.S. players were way, way down after losing to Italy and Brazil by a combined score of 6-1 to start pool play. They were way up after a 3-0 win against African champion Egypt propelled them, improbably, into the next round. Then they reached a new high with a 2-0 win against world No. 1 Spain, a team that hadn't lost in two years and 35 matches.

The Yanks had fire, they had confidence and they had tons of momentum, which may help explain how they went up on the overwhelmingly more talented Brazilians on goals by Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan early in the championship. Give the Brazilians credit; they came out of halftime with new purpose and peppered the U.S. net. The first goal they got could be chalked up to passive defending by the U.S., but the last two were set up by impressive displays of individual skill.

The U.S. still doesn't have the horses to match teams like Spain and Brazil pass-for-pass and challenge-for-challenge for 90 minutes when both teams are going all out. Both opponents had at least a 60-40 edge in possession against the U.S. But the Yanks can still compete thanks to this most-encouraging Confederations Cup development: they have become finishers.

This is the most ethereal, but perhaps the most important quality in soccer — the ability to cash in on scoring chances when they present themselves. And now it seems like the U.S. has a handful of guys who have it. Dempsey is a finisher — his goal against Brazil was not a thing of beauty, but he was close to the net and he was able to get a touch on a tricky pass, which is what finishers do. Donovan is a finisher — his goal against Brazil was a thing of beauty, a symphony of touch and timing that, even though he was defended, was indefensible. Jozy Altidore is a finisher — after he used his considerable strength to score with a Spanish defender hanging on his back he had seven goals in just 16 games with the nationals.

Having finishers changes the game. Even if the U.S. players still can't outplay elite teams for 90 minutes, they don't have to. They will be able to outplay them for 10-15 minute spurts, and if they can cash in on those spurts they have a chance to win because of their goalkeeping. The one position that the U.S. has a history of producing world class players at is keeper and the current crew, fronted by Tim Howard, is no exception.

The finishing is one encouraging thing about the Confed Cup. The other is the players' reaction after the loss to Brazil. They had done amazing things, they had gone farther than anyone expected them to, they had beat the current best team in the world and almost beat the historical best team in the world. But they weren't satisfied. The empty look on Oguchi Onyewu's face as he sat on the pitch watching the Brazilians celebrating was telling. So were the tears that Dempsey couldn't hold back even as he accepted an individual award for his scoring prowess in the tourney.

In the long run the loss may be the best thing fror U.S. soccer. The big prize, after all, isn't until next summer when South Africa (the Confed site) hosts the World Cup. The U.S. players now should go into it both confident they can play with the best and hungry to beat the best. Stay tuned.

NMA conference

So I'm back from the National Meningitis Association conference in Orlando, feeling inspired by my fellow survivors, though a little tired and sinus-pressurized from yesterday's lovely air travel. During my connection in Atlanta we sat on the runway for a half-hour before being told we had to get off the plane because of mechanical issues, which was good in a sense because it gave me another chance to load up on Kleenex and cough drops. Fun fact for sports fans: I also spotted either Tiki or Ronde Barber in the concourse while we were waiting for AirTran to find another plane to put us on. I think it was probably Ronde because he looked pretty slim and in shape and I assume Tiki has let himself go a little now that his playing days are over. He still seems to exercise his mouth quite a bit, though.

Anyway, it was my second time in Orlando and it's something I wish I could do more than once a year. The setting was the Villas at Grand Cypress, a swanky golf resort that is slightly more luxurious than the European hostels or American Motel 6s that I usually stay in when I'm footing the travel bills. Fun fact for sports fans: Rumor is Ken Griffey Jr. has vacationed at this particular resort. Here's a shot of my room:






Of course that doesn't do it justice, but here's the particulars: flat-screen TV, two levels (sleeping area and living room-type area with couch), whirlpool bath, patio overlooking a pond and the palm tree-shaded golf course. Oh, and a free daily newspaper too, which would be more enticing if it weren't the Orlando Sentinel (sorry guys, but it really wasn't very impressive).

The room was nice but, the thing is, I hardly wanted to spend any time there. This conference is one of the few opportunities I get to interact with other people affected by meningitis and I wanted to make the most of it. Both years I've gone there's been about 10 survivors and they come from all over the country (San Diego, Washington state, New York, Atlanta, Indiana, etc.). Some of the faces were familiar this year, some were new. It doesn't matter. Whether we knew each other beforehand or not, there's this instant bond of understanding. We're all people who had our lives turned upside down by a disease that, in many cases, we'd barely heard of.

There are few good things about meningitis, but this is certainly one of them: if you or someone you love get the disease, you have an instant group of new friends who want to help you. It's a bit of a small group, to be sure, but that only makes it more tight-knit.

What are our discussions about? A lot of things. Sometimes they're practical (wound care, pushing for more vaccination and public awareness, getting through airport security with a metal leg). Sometimes they're profound (near-death experiences, how family members deal with tragedy, adjusting to having a body that suddenly looks markedly different than most of the ones around you). Sometimes they're just kind of silly (why going to the Grand Cypress pool at night after you've had a few drinks is always awesome, how people react when an amputee tells them he/she was attacked by a shark, what it's like when your mom friends you on Facebook after NMA teaches her how to set up a profile).

Sometimes I wonder what the "normal" folks at the resort think when they're out playing the golf course and see us walking by. Maybe something like "Who are all those people with the fake legs and scarred-up arms?" We probably look a little like an Iraq War veterans support group, just with less camouflage.

But once in a while we take a photo like the one at the bottom here. A photo in which, unless you look very closely, you don't see anything out of the ordinary. A photo in which the physical scars of the survivors are overshadowed by the closeness of the group and their joy at being alive. A photo in which the people who lost someone they loved to the disease are able to smile sincerely because they know this group will remember and honor that loved one. A photo in which we're all just a bunch of beautiful people enjoying each other's company.

In solidarity with fellow sinus sufferers

Phillies all-star Ryan Howard recently missed a game because of a sinus infection. While some might scoff and say, "Cal Ripken never sat out because of a sinus infection," I sympathize with Howard because right now I'm fighting my own sinus battle.

My head feels like it weighs about twice as much as it should — it's rolling around like a bowling ball up there. There's a terrific pressure pushing against the back of my eyeballs and pounding in my ears as if I'm on a plane that's in constant state of steep ascent/descent. The trail of mucus running down toward my lungs has me coughing my throat raw and I've gone through about a half-box of Kleenex trying to clear my nasal passages. Every time I discard one of those tissues I have to make sure to put the trash can out of reach because it seems that there is nothing more delicious to Baxter than human snot (not one of his most endearing traits).

I'm doing my best to medicate myself: Allergy/sinus pills every four or five hours, generic Dayquil/Nyquil depending on the position of the sun, a bag and a half of sugar free cough drops so far. But it's doing little good. I remain a hoarse, sniffling, aching wretch. Food is normally one of my greatest joys in life (which probably isn't healthy), but I don't even feel like eating right now. It's not nearly as much fun when you're so congested you can't taste anything and every swallow is like a torpedo heading down your throat and exploding somewhere in the middle of your esophagus.

My one consolation right now is that I don't have a job to go to. I can stay at home and nurse my way through this, nap on the couch with Baxter and avoid going outside and incubating this illness in the already-miserable heat. Ryan Howard doesn't have that luxury, so go easy on him, Phils fans.

Soccer in a baseball stadium

After going to pro games in soccer-specific stadiums in Italy and Brazil, I was a little skeptical about going to a KC Wizards game in an independent league baseball stadium (the Wizards are playing at Community America Ballpark — home of the KC T-Bones, until their new stadium is completed in 2011). But after attending Saturday's 3-1 Wizards' victory against New England, I have to say it was pretty cool.

Even with extra seating added by the Wizards, Community America only holds 10,385 fans. But a cozy stadium filled with 10,000 fans makes for a much better atmosphere than having 15,000 or even 20,000 in Arrowhead Stadium (where the Wizards used to play) which holds almost 80,000. Everyone was close to the action and the chanting coming from The Cauldron (the Wizards' special fan section full of flags and banners) rolled through the whole place. 

As far as I could tell, there's no bad seats there either. Matt and I got the cheapest tickets possible, seats on the grassy outfield hill that retail for $15 (I got them for $12 on the Wizards' online ticket exchange). We were behind the end line, but right up next to the field, about as close as you can get without being a player's wife or mistress (we weren't willing to try hitting on any of the guys to get a seat upgrade, but they were probably close enough to hear us. Especially Matt — he can really project). I took this photo with just a regular point-and-shoot with 3X times zoom, that's how close we were.

Sitting on the grass may not sound too glamorous or "big-league," but it's more comfortable than scrunching your knees in behind the hard plastic seat in front of you and then fighting for armrests with the people next to you, as most of us do at typical pro sports events. It was a relaxing way to spend a nice summer evening — like being at a picnic or a family reunion with a soccer field nearby, if your family is uncommonly athletic and dresses in matching clothes.

The action was good too, even by Euro or Brazilian standards, I'd say. It certainly helped that the Wizards scored three goals in the first half, when they were playing towards our side of the field and were only about 25 yards away. That's pretty exciting and you can't expect that to happen every game (for those of you who are unfamiliar with soccer, the rate of scoring is generally more like the Royals' offense). 

Even when they're not scoring at will, though, the Wizards are an exciting team. They have a good mix of international veterans (USA defender Jimmy Conrad and forward Josh Wolff and Argentina midfielder Claudio Lopez) and promising young guys like Herculez Gomez and Matt Besler. Besler, who graduated from Blue Valley West, provides some local flavor while Lopez, who has played in two World Cups, gives the team a Latin flair and a talisman for the many Spanish-speaking fans in KC. 

The Wizards are a fun franchise to get behind and when their new stadium opens on the site where Bannister Mall used to be, no doubt it will be an excellent soccer experience. But you might want to get out and watch soccer in a baseball stadium while you still can — it's pretty good too, and probably cheaper than it will be in 2011.

Could Baxter take this animal in a fight?

Considering Olathe is a pretty well-populated suburb, Matt and I have had our share of wildlife in the backyard. There was a family of foxes living under the deck when we first moved in and we've seen a large, majestic owl hanging out in one of the trees back there before. But this latest animal has me stumped.

I first spotted him yesterday. I was sitting in the living room when I heard a weird scratching noise outside, so I went to the deck door just in time to see a chubby, grayish-brown mammal scratching at one of the deck posts. He slipped under the deck before I could get a really good look at him, but my initial impression based on the size and shape was, that's a beaver.

Today, though, I got a better look at him. He sauntered back onto the deck in full view while I was eating my breakfast. He even hung out long enough for me to snap some photos.

Pretty safe to say it's not a beaver, I think. There's no big, flat tail or buck teeth, plus we're not really near any major water sources, so it would be odd for a beaver to roam this far. Matt suggested last night that it might be a hedgehog, but I think it looks a little too big to me. I don't think it's a porcupine, unless it's a really young one with underdeveloped quills. Despite all my Boy Scout training, like I said, I'm stumped.

Anybody know what this thing is? Baxter likes to snoop around in the backyard and under the deck, but I'm loathe to let him go back there, whether this thing is rabid or not. He's more of a lover than a fighter. How should we handle this guy?

Twins/Royals take the division in just two moves

Well, once again it appears tough to be a Royals fan. A "slump" is not really the right way to describe what KC is currently mired in, having lost 14 of its last 17 games. "Falling off a cliff" might be more appropriate.

Included in that 17-game stretch is a four-game losing streak and a seven-game losing streak — the latter quickly striking down my prediction that, due to the Meche/Greinke 1-2 pitching punch, the Royals wouldn't lose five straight games all season. (Most of the fun for sports fans reading this blog may come from keeping track of how quickly my predictions get completely shattered — next up: my Orlando Magic in seven games prediction!).

Now, this may be a silver lining, or it may be just false hope for all my die-hard Royals fan friends, but I don't think you should give up on the season just yet. As bad as they've been lately, they're still within 6.5 games of the division lead as of Monday afternoon. That's hardly an insurmountable deficit. The one prediction I've made that seems to be holding true is that it won't take much to contend in the AL Central this year. It's currently the only division with just one team above .500 (Detroit) and that team's .545 mark is by far the lowest of any division leader. Try as they might, it will be hard for the Royals to play themselves out of the race this year.

I also think things are going to get better for them soon (and not just because they really can't get much worse). Meche was struggling with a minor injury for awhile, but seems to be back in form, coming off two straight solid starts. Joakim Soria is back from the disabled list, which will help a lot if the Royals can figure out how to carry a lead into the late innings again. Alex Gordon is running again and will be coming back from the DL in a couple weeks and, if nothing else, should at least be fresh and rested after missing two months.

In my eyes the Royals only need two relatively easy moves to get back in contention:

1. Call up Kila Ka'aihue and find a spot for him — One of KC's top prospects, the Hawaiian guy with the unpronounceable name is hitting for solid average and power at AAA Omaha. The Royals have an unfortunate logjam at first base with Billy Butler and Mike Jacobs already on the roster and only one DH spot to work with. But it's time to try one of them in rightfield in order to get all three of them in the batting order. The offense has been atrocious during the current losing streaks and once it gets this bad you have to be willing to sacrifice the defense of a guy like David DeJesus (whose on-base percentage is a subterranean .286) to spark some run production. If you have a lead in the late innings you can always bring him in as a defensive sub. 

2. Sign Tom Glavine — This move is probably even lower risk than calling up Ka'aihue. Glavine, 43-years-old and recently released by the Braves, could probably be had for a pittance compared to most free-agent pitchers with a proven track record. And there's reason to believe he still has some good innings left in him. First of all, he's left-handed, and as the saying goes, when you're left-handed, you can pitch forever. Just look at Jesse Orosco. Better yet, look at Jamie Moyer, who is still a starting pitcher at 46. Like Moyer, Glavine is a savvy, experienced starter with good off-speed stuff and he can almost certainly throw harder than Moyer (your mom can throw harder than Moyer). At the very least he would be a good mentor for the young starters at the back of the rotation like Bannister, Hochever and Davies, while also putting pressure on them to put together some good starts or lose their spot. Right now the Royals are starting five right-handers and adding a lefty might help everybody out by giving the hitters a different look within a three or four-game series.

That's what the Royals should do. The Twins are in even better shape to contend, only 3.5 games back despite a mediocre 28-30 start. Here's two less-than-realistic moves they could make to take control of the Central:

1. Use hypnotism to convince themselves they're always playing at the Metrodome — I'm actually halfway serious about this. The Twins are 21-12 when playing at home and 7-18 on the road. Home-field advantage does exist in baseball, but it can't explain a disparity like that. Some of it has to be mental. With the Twins playing that poorly everywhere except the Metrodome, their fans have to be a little concerned about what will happen when they move to the new stadium next year.

2. Go back in time and void the Matt Garza/Jason Bartlett for Delmon Young/Brendan Harris trade with Tampa Bay — The Twins' front office has generally made a lot of smart moves in the past decade that have kept a mid-market team contending year after year. But this trade is starting to look like a real clunker. Garza remains a fearless power pitcher who showed he's clutch in the World Series last year. J-Bart is hitting .373 this season while playing excellent defense. Harris is hitting a respectable .284, but Young's average has plummeted to .233 with only one homerun and he's still playing his "Ole!" defense in the outfield. Which means that the Rays got a top-of-the-rotation pitcher (Garza) and a cornerstone shortstop who can hit (Bartlett), for a serviceable middle infielder (Harris) and an utterly disappointing outfielder (Young) who has contributed next to nothing in terms of average, power, glove or baserunning this season. Yuck. 

Anyone want to tour KC with me?

My plan right now is to move back to Minnesota on July 4th weekend. I've recently realized that means I only have a month left to see all the stuff in Kansas City that I've been meaning to see in the last five years that I've lived here (nine years if you count the time I spent less than an hour away at KU).

Below is a list of the sites I'm interested in, along with their hours of operation and adult admission fees. If you live in the area too and would like to come along, let me know. Also let me know if you have any suggestions for cool stuff I may have left out. I tentatively plan to kick off the list with a trip to the Blue Room to see Ida McBeth tomorrow (Friday) night.

Blue Room

($10 for Ida McBeth on Friday at 8:30)

Arthur Bryant's/ LC's BBQ

(About $10 each)

Sprint Center and College Basketball Experience

(Wednesday-Sunday 11 AM to 6 PM, $10)

Nelson-Atkins art museum

(Wednesday-Sunday afternoons, free)

Truman home/museum in Independence

(Monday-Saturday 9 AM-5PM, Sunday noon-5 PM, $8)

Wizards game

(7:30 PM June 6 vs. Columbus or 7:30 PM June 13 vs. New England, $15)

Union Station

(Tuesday-Saturday 10 AM-4 PM, Sunday noon-4 PM, several exhibits including KC Rail Experience, and Narnia: The Exhibition- $14 reservation needed).

*National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame (Bonner Springs)

(Monday-Saturday 9 AM-5 PM, Sunday 1 PM - 5 PM, $7)

*Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farmstead (Olathe) 

(Wednesday-Sunday 10 AM-4 PM, $6)

*These are not exactly "must-sees" but if I have time I might as well.

I often don't know what I'm talking about

I can admit when I'm wrong and, when it comes to this year's NBA Finals, I was wrong. My Western Conference pick, the Lakers, fought their way through. But the team I predicted would come out of the East (and beat the Lakers) — the Cavaliers — fell flat on their faces.

I'll admit that early in the playoffs I got caught up in the LeBron James frenzy as he and the Cavs cruised to win after win. Going into their series against Orlando they'd put together an eight-game run of unprecedented playoff dominance and I figured it would continue. I lost sight of the fact that, as my cousin Jason pointed out last weekend, the Cavs had faced the playoff version of JV competition — a Pistons squad reeling ever since they acquired Allen Iverson and a Hawks squad racked by injury.

The Magic had something neither of those squads had: a fearsome big man who could keep LeBron from dunking all over them. For those of who who don't follow basketball (and yet for some inexplicable reason are still reading this post), his name is Dwight Howard. Howard is possibly the only player in the NBA who can match LeBron for sheer freak-of-natureish strength and athleticism. His frightening presence at the rim goaded LeBron into more jump shots, which is the weakest part of his game. 

LeBron shot 29.7 percent from 3-point range in the series. If he makes those shots he's unstoppable. If he bricks them like he did against the Magic he's suddenly mortal, especially if there's a bona fide shot-blocker inside to keep him from just picking the ball up, taking two big steps and throwing down a thunder dunk.

While LeBron was lofting up low-percentage shots, Howard got chippies inside and averaged 25.8 points on a ridiculous 65 percent shooting. The Magic are well set up offensively, with shooters like Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu and Mickael Pietrus spreading the floor for Howard inside. When the Cavs left them to double Howard they got burned from downtown. When they tried to stay home and single cover Howard, he dunked all over guys like Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao, who were far too soft to cover him. It's a simple, but extremely effective offensive strategy.

And it may very well work against the Lakers too. The Magic have no one who can cover Kobe (Pietrus is likely to try, but unlikely to do as good a job as Shane Battier), but they had no one who could cover LeBron either and still cruised. Howard's presence will keep Kobe from getting anything easy inside and force him to rely on jumpers. He's more dangerous in that department than LeBron, but the percentages still dictate that dunks are more efficient than jump-shots.

Howard's likely to continue getting his dunks. When it comes to the Laker big men, Pau Gasol is even softer than Ilgauskas and Andrew Bynum is a foul machine who can't stay in the game long enough to have a big impact. Lamar Odom isn't tall enough or strong enough to check Howard.

The Magic will have a couple games when their treys aren't falling and the Lakers will have a couple games when Kobe can't miss from the outside and carries them to victory. But my new prediction is that the Magic win in seven games. 

My last week in Europe

I'm back in the United States now, although my return trip last Thursday kind of turned into a darker version of the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles. I left Munich by train at about 6:30 AM on my way to the Frankfurt airport, but we were an hour late in arriving because someone had jumped on that stretch of tracks, apparently to commit suicide, during the night and the police were still finishing up the investigation. Oddly enough this also happened to me when I was in Austria six years ago, so either it's not an entirely uncommon way for Europeans to end their lives, or I'm just really unlucky.

Anyway, I still got to the airport almost an hour before my flight left, only to be told that there was no way they could let me on -- that for security reasons you must check-in earlier than that. No amount of pleading would sway the ticket officer, who coolly gestured to the growing line of other passengers who were on the same train and had already been sent to re-book. After standing in that mass of unhappy humanity, I was finally able to get booked from Frankfurt to Paris to Atlanta to Minneapolis, a total of about 20 hours either on planes or in airports. Oh, and for the nine-hour stretch from Paris to Atlanta I got one of those coveted middle seats. Oh, and I had to go through security at three different airports and try to explain in three different languages that no, I can't take my shoes off because it's impossible for me to stand or walk without them.

So, the trip back home was not exactly sweetness and light, but fortunately I had two weeks worth of smile-inducing pictures and memories to help me through it.

My second week in Europe had started with a leisurely evening trip to a festival in Kaiserslautern (Germany) with the Hansen clan. I have a new respect for Brett and Cyndy after seeing how much prep work it requires to take a one-year-old and a three-year-old out for just a few hours. The festival was kind of like the Benton County Fair, only with more bratwurst stands and more booths offering beer steins as the unattainable prizes in the rigged games. I ate pretty well (brat, beer, Bavarian pretzel and chocolate covered banana -- didn't realize 'til now that there was such a "B" theme to the menu), but the highlight had to have been watching Maddy (the three-year-old) enjoy a pony ride.

The next day I went on base (Ramstein) with Brett and got to see all kinds of big dudes in camo salute him and call him "Sir," which was funny for me. Then we drove about an hour to Trier, the oldest city in Germany. It was an ancient Roman outpost and still has some pretty well-preserved ruins, most notably the Porta Nigra ("Black Gate"). We saw that, the oldest church in Germany and some crumbling Roman baths at the end of a city park. If you want a small taste of Rome, but you're stuck in western Germany, I'd definitely recommend Trier.

After saying goodbye to the Hansens the next morning, I took a short train ride to Paris for the weekend. Here's where the "sports" part of this (long) post comes in. I arrived just in time for Benny-Berthet Day at the French Open tennis tournament. This is the warm-up day after the qualifying matches but before the actual tournament starts. For 19 Euro (a little less than $25), I got admission to storied Roland Garros stadium and was able to walk freely from court to court (I got to 15 before I stopped counting) and watch the pros hit balls and play practice sets against each other. Most of the big names (Nadal, Federer, Murray, Roddick, etc.), had already finished by the time I got there (about 2 in the afternoon), but it was still a trip getting to see the pros up close. After wandering around for a bit I settled at the Center Court (I believe it's Chatrier something) and watched two practice sets. The first was a tight, exciting match-up between France's Gilles Simon (I think he was pretty highly-ranked) and Luxemborg's Gilles Muller. The second was a disappointingly sloppy walk-through between Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti and Robby Ginepri of the USA. Bottom line: Americans are awful on clay, so don't go to Roland Garros to watch them. Still, I left about 7:30 that night feeling liked I'd definitely gotten my money's worth. Then I watched the sunset on the Eiffel Tower from the Trocodero gardens, which is pretty good as far as free attractions go.

I spent my second day in Paris with Luciana Sudre, the sister of my old college roommate, Gustavo, acting as my guide. She's lived in Paris for a while and took me to some of her favorite spots, like the university - Sorbonne - and the Pantheon, where we visited the tombs of writers like Voltaire, Hugo and Rousseau (and also escaped from the sun, which was surprisingly ready to burn the back of my neck). Then we hit Notre Dame, the opera house, the Luxembourg gardens and the Tuileries gardens before the day was out. If that sounds like a busy day, it was. Luciana doesn't mess around.

After that I spent most of Monday taking various trains from Paris to Munich (note to self: next time try to make a reservation on the high-speed train out of Paris more than 15 minutes before it leaves). Munich, like Paris, I had already been to on my earlier trip through Europe, so I tried to discover some new things. I went to the Augustiner Beerhall instead of the Hofbrauhaus. I went north of the city to the BMW museum and the old Olympic park rather than visiting Dachau. And I spent more time walking down side streets and discovering little cafes near my hotel rather than hanging out in Marienplatz (the main square). I found that Munich still had plenty to offer the second time around.

So that's about it. I'm back home in MN now, and planning to drive back to Olathe on Tuesday. Once I get there, I'll try and post some of the choicest photos from the trip. Cheers, ciao, auf weidersehen, au revoir.