Jenn and I met up with Laurie in San Vito lo Capo, Sicily just in time for the 14thannual Couscous Festival. For this 6 day festival, the town streets were flooded with people from all over the Mediterranean visiting tents that showcased wines, cheeses, olives and specialties from various countries throughout the region. There were street vendors set up selling knock off handbags, jewelry, and clothes of all sorts and men called “marquinos” trying to sell their random goods as they walked from person to person. The streets were also filled with live muscisians. In the Piazza, in front of the church, a large stage was set up where comedians, musicians and talk shows took place throughout the evenings. This particular year the theme for the Couscous Festival was Peace. Couscous is a staple food in ... read more

It is summer in Amsterdam-- for the first time all year I am told. I arrived at the Central Station in the afternoon. Since I had yet to acquire a map of the city, I stopped in the Tourist Information Center which is conveniently located outside of the station. Here you could buy and Amsterdam Lonely Planet guide for 19 Euros (about $25) and pay 50 Euro cents to use the bathroom. I quickly fled the area finding Café Versailles, a Cafe with Internet and amazing pannekoeken (Dutch Pancakes). Checking online I found that my friend Sara, was able to get off work. Sara and I met while studying at Yonsie University in South Korea. We had always talked about visiting each other and low and behold 5 years later it happens. I had a few ... read more

On Saturday I took the 9-hour, direct Condor flight from Anchorage to Frankfurt. The flight was long, but I brought a book, a newspaper and a magazine to keep me company. None of this came anywhere close to being as interesting as my neighbor Sam, from London. He and about 10 other friends purchased an old Navy bus off of ebay for $2,000 and spent the last 6 weeks driving it from New York City to Nashville, New Orleans, the Grand Canyon, California, up through Canada and on to Anchorage, stopping everywhere in between. He shared his pictures from the adventure and had fabulous stories. he definitely got me motivated for the journey and the unknown adventures ahead. Once I arrived in Frankfurt, I took the S-Bhan (commuter train) from the airport to the Houptbahnhof (Main ... read more

In early June I had the opportunity to do a several day canoe trip with a few guys from an adventure group that I am a part of. No worries, it is nothing like last years death trek, in fact this trip was quit relaxing. We set in at Tanaina Lake right off of the Nancy Lake Parkway about an hour north of Wasilla. We backpacked in with our gear and canoes and set off. As for wild life we saw plenty of loons, eagles and of course the state birds were out (misquotes). Mark, Ted and Ryan were great canoeing buddies. It was very peaceful venturing out with people I had never met before. In a sense it was as peaceful as going alone. There were no distractions of outside responsibilities and dwelling on past ... read more

We had an amazing summer this year and I was not ready to admit that fall was on its way (or more accurately had actually arrived). There were a few trips I still had on my list for the summer and the bike ride from Anchorage to Girdwood and back was at the top of that list. Easily enough I convinced my Tour De Beer Partner, Chad, to join me on a fine Friday afternoon post work. The Seward Highway, especially on the Turnagain arm is probably on someone’s list of most scenic routes in the world. The road curves along the Chugach National Park and Mountain Range on the left, while the right side of the road opens up into the calm Turnagain Arm. Across this enormous body of continuous moving water is another large ... read more