Tihany

Probably my favorite thing we've done here so far: A guide to Tihany.

Back? Alright. Didn't want to leave? Sweet, I love you too!

Anywho. The point of this already rambling post is to mention this:

Ohhhh.... Ahhh.... I know, right? No clue, huh? Yeah, that bump of a building on the crest there is this:You can totally see it now, huh?

The Benedictine Abbey situated on the peninsula of Tihany at Lake Balaton, which just happens to be where we went last weekend! Ah, yeah, that was the point.

Huh, what? Someone say something?

Oh, the abbey. It's kinda old, but no biggie. Yeah, King Andrew I. established it in 1055 (gah!), and his tomb is underneath. Oh, and the deed to the abbey has the oldest recorded Hungarian sentence. So there! Here's the look out from the abbey:The abbey itself, as you might suspect, isn't from 1055! It's more like 1750's... But the point is the history of the place! Truly amazing, and in ways it's more amazing that the locals don't seem to care. When I asked a Hungarian friend of our what the church was, her answer? "I don't know". Oh... Um, 'K. They just don't hold the same kind of reverence of thousand year old history that we do. I have plenty more pictures from the trip, but I want to do pieces of the trip seperately and really talk about them. This is only an hour away, it really is where home is right now; and how many Americans have thousand year old buildings and towns near by? I'm really lucky to be seeing this. And trust me that it's history isn't lost on this newly transitioned history major!

And if you want to see more photos of the area go here. It's partially in Hungarian, but it has great photos!

So, this is why we moved to Hungary: Yep. That's Venice. Ah, Venice. Uh, wasn't all it was cracked up to be, but hey, we went! The point of the move was to be in Europe; we drove for 7 hours to the base in Italy, and the next day caught a train to Venice. Sweet. Even without the Gandolas. Yep, weren't running... And, of course, it was the only thing Little J had wanted to do. Sigh.





We were excited, at one point, thinking we had found a Gondola. We were so excited that we managed to throw ourselves on it. Meaning, of course, that I had to drag my 4 year old on it, whining about how she didn't wanna get on, even though all she's complained about for the last hour was getting on a boat.

See?

Alright, on the boat finally. I didn't think much about that 1 Euro a piece price... It's just off season, right? Yeah, not so much. We left the east side of the canal and drifted slowly towards our destination... The west side of the canal. Sigh. As we got up to get off the boat the 4 year old that I dragged onto said boat began freaking out that that was NOT a long boat ride, that it was a short boat ride, and that wasn't what she wanted. And proceeded to bitch for the next 20 minutes about it.



Inner peace, Inner peace (ear flick), Inner peace. Sigh.




And Little B? He reveled in the amazing Italian food:Though we did have a chocolate Gelato. Envy me! Turd boy up there, though, kept leaving cheese-it crumbs on my ice cream!! Um, ew, but such is the life of a mom of a young boy:) But he's so worth it.






And this was part of why Venice isn't all it could have been... This is one of many (many) winding corridors that lead to... more corridors. Sigh. Pretty but 4 year olds have a limited amount of patience for such things.








Because of that little fact this is how most of the day was spent. I just wanna know when they are gonna start paying for massages to fix the wrecked shoulders??



And, yes, he has my scarf wrapped around him because someone forgot their jackets, and someone thought it would be warmer, and someone didn't want to have to carry them. Ahem. Cough, cough. HACK.



I'm sorry, did you say something?




Oh, yeah, this was the other reason... She was a bit tired.

"Yes We Can"

So, do we all remeber the infamous shirt? This one:



The kiddo is in there for two reasons: first of all, he's really cute, but second is to highlight a private joke that I intend to make, uh, not private.

That sounds bad.

What I mean to say is that the phrase on Dad's shirt holds the secret to a private joke. Ever heard of Bob the Builder? It's a kids clamation cartoon where a handy man is helped by his talking heavy machinery to build and fix things. Still confused? Well, see, his theme song goes as follows:

Theme song

Bob the Builder!
Can we fix it?
Bob the Builder!
Yes we can!

It goes on but this bit is the important bit..

Anyone see it yet? Okay, I'll let you in on the joke... I bought this particular shirt for Dad as it was the only one I could stomache; I thought it was fricken' HILARIOUS that the great hope of the leftists would steal his campaign slogan from a kids cartoon. I mean, really, and you all call Bush dumb.

Well, I was going to wait to post this till I actully took my camera out and got pictures of the route I took... But that isn't going to happen for a few more days. So, without, um, much further ado, here is my new bike:

As you can tell I didn't go with the road bike type of bike. I have a very good reason for this that is both sound and unarguable... I didn't want a road bike. So there. I'll be honest with you here... We're firends and all... I can share... Uhm... See, the thing is that I'm scared of road bikes. Those little thin tires make me think that I'll go all of 2 miles before I start walking home. The roads here are iffy at best and I never know wether I'll be on a road, a sidwalk or in the dirt at any given moment. All that adds up to a sweet moutain bike for me. Off-road over kill? Yeah. Does it make me happy? Heck yeah. And besides, it looks cooler then the road bike. Sniff. Yepper.

So.

I guess I should start following Dad's lead and track my milage. Easy, right? Yeah, well, it takes some math and so you should all feel blessed that I'm willing to DO the math just for you! This was my ride on Sunday:

Which is about 8 1/3 miles. Next time I will try to remember to charge up, and take, the camera.... I'm just happy I remembered to take the computer!

Happy ridding all!

Hey all, it's Jenn. I have tons to tell you and no energy to do it today:) I just wanted to yell out that I am here, as Papa has been so kind as to mention, and to let you in on something you may not know: Dad has his own blog now!

Go, read, laugh. I know you will!

Constipated Weasels. Heh, gotta love that man:)

Jenny Has A New Bike!

I heard from Jenny this morning. They're getting pretty well settled in Papa, Hungary (nice name huh?). The kids sounded good, running aroung playing and screaming at the top of their lungs. Good times.

Jen managed to find the time to shop for and buy a bike. Who am I kidding? If that wasn't near the top of her list of things to do I'm a liberal.

Jen couldn't find a picture so she sent me a link.
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/mountain_hardtail/3_series/3900/

Hers is blue and silver. Pretty snazzy huh? She decided on a suspension mountain bike because most of the roads in the area are....lets just say they're a little off roadish and leave it at that. It's also apparently pretty cold and snowy.

It was mostly sunny and about 65 here today. Nyaah, Nyaah, Nyaah.

Jen should have internet in a week or so. Then she'll be back here regaling us with tales of snowy, bumpy bike rides. Can't wait.

I hope she's reading the Up In Alaska blog, http://arcticglass.blogspot.com/. It's a great blog and that chick loves her snow riding.

papa

Jenny

Just a quick note. Jenny and the family got the needed documents this morning. They had to leave by 5 and they came in about 1130. Timing is the essence of humor.

They should be winging their way to Hungary right now. Please keep a good thought for them.

I'll update when I hear from her.

papa

*Update
Jenny called about 11:30 this morning. They landed in Vienna about 2:00 PM local time (they're 9 hours ahead of us here in California). They caught a bus for Papa, Hungary and got into the hotel and settled the kids about 5:30. They fed the kids and got them bedded down safe and sound. Jen was very tired and a little homesick but all in all, a successful arrival. They'll be checking out the new house, etc. tomorrow. Jen will post as soon as things settle just a bit.

First Guest post

Just a quick post to give you some info and introduce myself. I'm Jen's dad although I get to call her Jenny. I answer to eric, Papa, Hey You, Moron and just a host of other less savory appellations occasionally hung on me by some of the people I contact in my daily work world. I'm the only one Jenny allows to call her that btw so just go ahead and be jealous. I'm also the guy who got the presidential election badly wrong and had to pay my debt to dug, who was very gracious about the whole mess. Frankly I would have laughed and pointed but some people have more class than others.

With Jenny headed out of the country i'll be posting on here from time to time. With the kids and the move to a whole 'nother country and things and stuff, Jenny will be busy and I have absolutely no problems embarrassing her. Maybe I'll post some video of her as a kid.

Jenny and family are right now in Mass. visiting the hubby's family. If their visas and whatnot arrive early enough tomorrow they'll be on that big silver bird for Hungary about 2200 EST on Monday. If not they'll wait for them as long as they can and take a later flight. If all else fails Jenny and the kids will come back here and join Rob when they can. (Is it wrong for just a small part of me to hope for a systemwide failure of the mail delivery system? It is? Crap.)

I'm missing them already.

It's funny. I hate to fly (that's a vast understatement. my wife flat refuses to fly with me anymore. i'm badly claustrophobic.) I always feel like they're close as long as I can drive to them no matter how far. Something tells me I won't be able to make the trip in the Ford to Hungary. Not without a boat anyway. Well, maybe in the Vette. It's fiberglass you know. Just like a boat.

Jenny is already feeling the pain of missing her rides. She's got the Jones on her back and I do believe she's a hefty gal. A Star Jones maybe. She has a plan though. She's already scoped out some local bike shops and I think she's got her eye on a few possibilities. The riding should be fabulous! Great country, new places to explore and a ride happy populace. She'll have a ball.

The stinker.

Her Mom (hereinafter referred to by one of her childhood nicknames; Lu. Again, I'm the only one so blessed to call her that. Aren't I special?) ran a 5k today. It was to benefit the Monterey County Rape Crisis Center so it was for a great cause. She ran it in 38:05 which is 1:12 faster than last year. Her next goal is to get under 35 minutes. She'll get it, believe me. Not bad for someone of her.......er, advanced years. (Yeah, like that won't get me in trouble!)

Lu Before.

And after. Still fresh as a daisy!

Isn't she sexy? Damn straight. And yeah, it's an awful place to live but we do try to carry on.

As for my own alledged athletic accomplishments, I did 83 miles on the new Giant FCR2 last month (We love the new bikes). Im on course for at least a hundred this month. I am so happy! I know, most of the serious riders do that or more in a weekend. Or a single ride! But I'm a 49 year old fat guy with a balky wheel. (Indy said it best; It's not the years honey, it's the mileage.) If anyone's interested in the story of 'How I Completely Blew Out My Achilles Tendon' aka 'Unh' let me know and I'll post it. It's about a painful injury so of course it's at least mildly amusing. Anyway, the plan is for Lu and I to up our mileage every month. The goal is a Century Ride (my secret goal is the Leadville 100 but please don't tell anyone) but that will have to wait for Jenny to return. I won't ride the first one without her. If I get killed I'll still expect her to ride it so there's no way for her to wuss out. Heh heh heh.

I guess that's it for now. Between Jenny and I we should be pretty regular and I'll be posting their arrival at the new house.

Did I mention I'm missing them already?

eric

Dad

My riding partner.

The guy who pulls me along.

Who inspires me.

Who helps me achieve more.

My buddy.

My Dad.

Wrong

(From Dad)

Wrong.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

W
R
O
N
G

Wrong. Incorrect. Wide of the mark. Not even close. Uh, no. El Bado Callo. Missed it by that much. Mistaken. Erroneous. Misguided. Faulty. Flawed. Foolish. In error.

Am I being too subtle here? Holy flaming chads Batman but I missed that call. The worst part is how badly I missed it. It’s not like it was even a near thing. That part I got right it was just the whole wrong guy thing that threw it off. Take a minute, go back and read my post again. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

You tell me. Did I miss the call? Maybe just a little? Comeuppance come to mind? Nee-ner, nee-ner, nee-ner? Go ahead, I deserve it. A missed call of that immense magnitude has to be mocked and pointed at. If you don’t I’ll never learn.

That said I have an excuse. Several actually.

See, what what happened was that my dog see, he came in see and he ate my polling data.

I was sick and the fever softened my medulla oblongata.

My dog hypnotized me and made me do it. (I have a pattern of blaming my misfortunes on the dog. It’s ok though. He’s a Lab and besides, he told me it’s alright)

I watched ‘Stop or My Mom Will Shoot’ and it made me suddenly stupid.

My last 2 brain cells rubbed against each other too hard and burst into flame, rendering me incapable of recognizing reality when it started flicking me on the nose.

The aliens kidnapped me and shoved the probe too far up my ass and scratched my brain.

That wasn’t me; it was Fluffy, my evil twin.

I may in fact be stupid (you’ll have to ask my wife about that) but I am a man of my word.
Presented here for your enjoyment: My Shame.

Jen and I took these photos. Some willingly, some less so. At least no tears were shed. Not until the nerf gun was brought out anyway. You know how it is. Refusals had been uttered. Threats were made. People were ‘convinced’ to keep certain promises. Craven snuffling followed.

Dug, I hope this satisfies my debt. If not I will entertain suggestions. Nothing obscene.

By the way, anyone want to buy a shirt? Nice color, no tears, low mileage.
Only cried on once.

(From Jenn)

Lastly, I will leave you for today with a teaser that our latest ride will be documented either later today or tomorrow (you'll want to see it:).

Oh, um, and there is this:

I tired to stop him, really I did... What can I say, the pain was just too much to bear!