Saaga

We landed in Dubrovnik and hired a car (Opel Saphira) and drove across the border into Herzogovina. We are staying in the border town called Ivanica which was devastated during the war; we have some good photos of battle damage. We caught up with Alex’s brother Nick and his girlfriend Kerry, who are staying in Lapad, just outside of Dubrovnik. We haven’t made it in to Dubrovnik yet, but that’s where we tell the border guards we are going every time we enter Croatia. The border guards aren’t too bright, but they make up for it by being a weird combination of lazy and officious.

Trebinje is further in land from where we are staying and is in the Serbian area of Bosnia Herzegovina. It is a beautiful town that is beginning to smarten itself up again for tourists.

It’s green and leafy and way more cosmopolitan than I would have expected, although there were still quite a few ‘peasanty’ looking people. We had coffee in a great cafe and lunch in a cool pizzeria.

I wonder if it is illegal for me to buy dvds from the pirates dotted around the place.

We fly out to Croatia tomorrow and then drive across the border into Bosnia where we are staying for a couple of weeks. Apparently the coastal mountain air will cure the respiratory problems caused by the pollen in D’Town.

Alex made a new Schlafsack for the Wickle. Here is a photo of it in action. I didn’t want to wake her up so I didn’t use the flash and I didn’t have a tripod, so night setting was out.

There are lots of Turkish folk in Germany, so I bet there will be trouble during the game on Wednesday. Luckily we will be out of the country during the riots.

I watched most of the dull match between Italy and Spain last night and the whole time I was worrying that it was going to come down to penalties. It seemed like the Italians wanted a penalty shootout right from the word go and were playing to get it. Fair play to the Spanish though, who at least made an effort to win the game during regular time.

The ref wasn’t having any of the diving that was going on either; he must have watched some of Italy’s past games. Most of the diving was waved on and a card was even given to David Villa (of Spain) as he tried his hand at being a submarine. Italy is going to have to learn how to play football as it is intended if they ever want to lift another trophy again.

My heart is with Germany, but my head looks worriedly at the Portuguese.

It is a little over an hour to the kick off of the first quarter final of the EM and I am nervous. I am about to head off down to the pub to stake out a place near the screen. I am meeting up with a bunch of Germans guys to watch the game. Colin, my Irish buddy will be there as well to make sure everything stays in perspective if the Germans manage to pull off a win.

Dave Kool just came and visited us. It was great to see him, but his visit coincided with M’s latest massive tooth attack. She has had difficulty sleeping the last few nights (last night was ok) and I was really wondering what kind of a night Dave would have. He claimed he didn’t even hear her, but I am wondering if he is just being polite.

Anyway, here is a video of the little creature, now named ‘Cloverfield’ because of her ability to ruin a game of Settlers of Catan by eating the cities.

I still maintain that Italy cheated to beat Australia in the world cup. I know it was a year and a half ago and I should get over it and to a large degree I have. However, now I just want to see them lose at sport. Not at just football either. I also chuckle at their attempts to play rugby. So when the Dutch gave them a football lesson on Monday I was over the moon. 3-0 to the Netherlands. Keep up the ‘good’ work Italy I love it!

I was coming home with M the other day and got off at my local U Bahn station. I was waiting for the escalator to change direction, when I heard this old guy calling to me; he had summoned the lift and was keeping it open for me and the pram. I was about to say, “Danke, aber es ist ok,” when I looked at his face. He was beaming at the thought of being able to help. I decided not to disappoint him and got in the lift, which he rode up to the street with me.

I didn’t really need the help. I could do it myself and my automatic reaction was to let him see that I was ok. Why is this? Do other people feel like this?

If Italy wins Euro I know there is no god. Chelsea comes close to the title (two points), but falls short in the last game week of the season. They come within a whisker of the champions league a week later, only to be denied on penalties. Now Fortuna’s chance to be promoted to the second league is shattered; again by two measly points.