Mr. Toad's Wild Ride through Europe

which takes place mostly in Germany. The last few weeks (which themselves have felt like months) have been insane. I haven't had much time to just relax in a while. But finally I think I am able to stay in Aachen and just take it easy. We'll see how successful I am.

So skiing was fantastic. Not only were the mountains great but I had such a great time being in France with Sylvain and Carole. I learned some French, learned a lot more about the culture, the food, the rest of the country outside of the big cities..... We watched movies like "The World According to Bush," ate 5 course meals, and relaxed in the sun while we could have been skiing. It was nice too slow down some and not feel pressured to get as much done as possible.

I can't adequetly describe the mountains or the skiing so I will just have to say, wait until the pics. However, it was easily the best skiing trip or skiing in general in my life. The slopes were immense, and challenging and I learned more in 5 days than what may have taken me years. Deep thick powder skiing, 2 foot moguls, 40 degree descents...... It was all there. Plus, the scenery was absolutely breathtaking - literaly. At times I was almost 2 miles up (3.2 km) and it was getting hard to breathe with all the tough skiing. Even got a tour around the best sections of the mountain by the cousin of another friend. It's always so great to travel with friends and really "see" an area rather than just take pics of it. Everytime I think I have no time to travel, I never regret going.

Then last Friday, I had my birthday. Steffi threw a surprise birthday party for me!!!! It was great....I had no idea and it was really done right. The fake plan was to drive to Duesseldorf and party there. But very few of my friends said that they could make it. Even so I was excited to go. I show up at Steff's to drive with them, and when I enter the room, everyone is there: all friends, friends from work, friends from INCAS, friends from all over........ I was shocked and kind of froze. Plus, someone got it on tape, so I can show you how stupid I looked. Later that night, after the party, some friends got in a fight with two guys on the street and I was mildly involved. Nothing serious happened, but my friends called the police and the two assailants got attacked by police dogs and thrown in jail. Unfortunately, I had already gone at that point, and missed everything.

Then Sat and Sun I was at a friend's house in Krefeld (Andrew Rochford). Met the parents, went to a dope club, ate Easter eggs, saw pics of Iran and Switzerland.....all in all had another great time, meeting someone's family and really "seeing" Germany. Thanks Andy. And now I just got from Deidesheim, almost definitely for the last time. Experienced events today that not many have probably shared, that have been both awful and in some ways good, and which I am not ready to publicly share. Anyway, it's been a hell of a ride and I am looking forward to relaxing, mentally, bodily and emotionally.

Stay tuned for pics. See ya