February 3, 2006

We're home! Well - back in Baghdad anyway ;) Coming back wasn't too bad. We had a few problems with the flight and the hotel we stayed at in Amman but first! - the rest of our R&R! The Gorge was quite beautiful. We toured it by torchlight and visited a local restaurant afterwards. I wish we would've had a chance to see the Gorge in daylight because I think it would've been even better. Going with the tour seemed a little rushed because we were at the head of the tour line and they walked through quickly to avoid too much congestion. It seemed like we just snapped pictures and didn't really have much time to take everything in. Ah well - at least we have those pictures!

We took a few more tours including Innsbruck, Austria and the Dachau Concentration Camp. Innsbruck was nice...but I think we could've skipped the tour. We visited a Palace and a Crystal Gallery...and then had too little time to ourselves in the pedestrian area. We at lunch at a local restaurant which had a nice atmosphere but the food wasn't too great. We did discover Mozartballs there though! (Filled Chocolate Balls)

The Dachau Concentration Camp was interesting, depressing, and very cold. Our tour guide seemed well informed about the camp...and she led us around to the different areas. Afterwards we visited Burger King haha..lovely choice for a restaurant. I have to say McDonald's is MUCH better!

Mike and I made it to Munich on our own. We took the train down using the Bayern Pass. We got to visit the Deutsches Museum which to Mike's dismay - did not have any dinosaurs...and we went to the Haufbrau Haus..and saw the Glockenspiel at 11am..we also did some shopping in the Pedestrian Zone and visited several churches in the area!

We used the Bayern Pass to get to Salzburg, Austria too. We had to get there so Mike could try the Augustiner Beer! We saw the fortress from the outside (it was too late to get a tour)...went to the monastery for beer...went to the Mozart Museum..and strolled around town..including the old medieval street! It was a nice little city..only thing was we spent 7 hours on the train to get there and back!

We spent a few more days on the slopes..and guess what!? Persistence paid off..Mike can now board. We finally got him to try out the chair lift which got him on some new hills. The different run enabled him to practice his technique and by our last run Monday night - he was able to do it. It was amusing watching him act like a little boy..he was super excited to get back on the hill Wednesday so he could board some more. I guess boarding is a lot more fun when you don't spend most of the time on your butt!

Thursday morning we got up really early so we could take the train to the airport. We got there with plenty of time to spare only to find out Air France had over booked us! They bumped us off the flight and booked us on a different flight with a different airliner! We had to rush over to a different terminal only to find the lines twice as long and with no possibility of getting to the front in time to make our flight :P While Mike stayed in line - I ran around trying to find a way around the line. Finally I convinced the handicapped line lady to let us in that way and we made the flight. We flew to Athens instead of Paris and since we switched to a completely different airliner there as well, we had to re-check in in Athens! We basically had to exit and reenter the airport and all we had was a handwritten receipt that was supposed to act as our ticket. ;p Fortunately we made it through!

We got to Amman only an hour later than originally planned...since we came in on Royal Jordanian and would be leaving with them the next morning - they put us up in the neighboring hotel for free. Good thing it was free, because I'm not sure if I would've paid money to stay there. It's rated as a three star hotel and I would say that's probably only in the best rooms. Mike would've even brush his teeth in the sink or take his clothes off to go to bed. It wasn't THAT bad...but Mike was definitely uncomfortable with it. We were only there for seven hours and we had to be back at the hotel at 4am so I didn't see a point in moving to a nicer hotel..PLUS I had no idea how much it would cost to take a taxi and back when the next closest hotel was a half hour away!

When we got to Baghdad it was miserable and rainy..matter of fact! - still is! It's muddy and filthy and that's hour our clothes and luggage ended up by time we pulled into our room...we've finally unpacked and cleaned our rooms and now..it's relaxing and catching up on sleep before we have to be at work tomorrow..now...kickboxing tonight or not...Decisions decisions...