Capt Hank

Simon had class this morning so Courtney, Shelby and I left the house and meant to meet Simon in KBH but we took a detour. SWEDEN is a beautiful country or at least what we saw when we accidentaly went there! We spent about half an hour in Sweden and I had to put the Southern Charm on the toll both lady not to charge us for entering and leaving the country, it was great. After our adventure in Sweden was fun but Simon was waiting for us in KBH. We got back on track and finally meet up with Simon for some lunch. The last things on my list were Christiania, the hippie town. Hippies squatted on an old military base and they won the "squatting rights" to it so now it is a free ... read more

I showed up here in Denmark to wrap up my Europe trip with a bang. The proper Danish welcome is to lose your lugagge I guess, so I was greeted properly and Courtney, Shelby and I headed for Koge. Koge is a tiny town just south of Copenhagen where Simon, Courtney and now Shelby Chercka live. Shelby is their new 2 month old so this week is going to be a great experience for me so live with a tiny baby. She has been so sweet and even smiles when I hold her, well for a little bit. The Cherckas live in the Billesborg "estate" which is a school/church/their home. Courtney teaches english and Simon is going to Grad. school in Copenhagen. Shelby really likes to spend her days looking at things, eating, sleeping and ... read more

We headed for the beach of Poland, Sopot!!! I am from Wrightsville Beach and during the summer time it can be as hot as 100 degrees and sunny and the water is in the 80's but in Sopot it was 60 degrees and the water was around freezing, that is what it felt like. We spent our time walking around when the weather allowed and spent then rest of the time in the hotel having some good family time playing cards and watching the Olympics. Sopot is really the beach resort for Poland, there was a lot of construction going on but it was still very nice for Poland. The Sopot pier is the longest wooden pier in Europe and we walked on it is a gale! just east of Sopot is Gdansk where the Solidaridy ... read more

My parents moved to Krakow Poland a little over a year ago. They live next to the Castle and my Dad works in the mall. Krakow was named after a Dragon that lived in a cave under the castle. I couldn’t make this stuff up. The dragon “Smok” had a large diet of cattle and virgins and the king was tired of giving up so much beef and pretty young ladies. He setup a competition for any man that could kill the dragon would get his daughter’s hand in marriage. Many knights and brave warriors tried but they were all killed. A humble shoemaker has some brains and he filled a lamb with salt and sulfur and left it in front of the dragon’s lair. Smok ate it up in one gulp and began to feel ... read more

"One who does not remember history, is bound to live through it again." George Cantayana This is a more somber blog. Today we vistied Aushcwtiz and Birkenau which where the largest of the Nazi concentration camps during WWII. It is a very real and very heavy place. As we walked and listened to our guide i often found myself not listening and trying to image what it was like for the people during that time. There is no way I could ever begin to know what these martyrs went through. For people to believe this didn't happen is beyond me. Millions of people lost their lives, not because of things they did but because of who they where. Innocent people where murdered mercilessly because they where different. This is not a normal blog but today was ... read more