European Vacation: My Travels in Europe

One word that sums up my, personal, European experience...Awesome! I love it over there! They have so many different cultures jammed into one continent that it almost makes the United States look rather oridinary. They have it all! They have food, language, art, history, and, of course, exotic women! All right, so now that I have the formalities out of the way (because lets face it, every freakin American who goes over there says the same damn thing!)...on to the good stuff!

The Stories:

Story Number 1:  50th Birthday

Okay, this one is somewhat sentimental to me, so with that said, if you (the reader) find this boring...oh well!!!

This story starts with my father. His family roots branches back to Ireland on both sides of the family tree. He served in the U.S. Army for a good 20 years and had the privilege of being stationed overseas, including an assignment in Germany. Throughout his stay, he never once visited the "motherland" and regretted missing the opportunity for obvious reasons. So, in June of 2008, I surprised my father with a roundtrip ticket to Ireland for his 50th birthday! And it was awesome. We stayed there for a week and traveled the countryside, looked at the tourist sites (of course) and even, miraculously, ran into my great aunt (I believe...yeah...great aunt).

Story Number 2: Backpacking in Europe!

The trip to Oxford! After my week’s excursion with my family in Ireland, I went to England to visit a buddy there who happened to be taking a summer class in London. We decided to go to Oxford (the breeding place for the iconic authors of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis) mainly because we are aspiring authors and geeks! We ended up at the Pub where both Tolkien and Lewis hung out and got hammered! Unfortunately, we didn't have any hotel reservations and all the bed and breakfast inns were closed for the night. So, we literally, backpacked through the fields just outside of Oxford, in a steady summer rain and pitch black darkness. And then we crashed, sleeping on hard terrain and underneath layers of clothing to shield the weathering ailments. It was dark, cold, damp and I loved it!!

Story Number 3: Attack of the snipers!

I was also in the military, and like my father, I was stationed overseas. The base was 30 minutes away from Cambridge, England. Of course, there are numerous stories to choose from and I could probably write hub after hub on each experience, hmmm. Anyway, this particular event was like any other 'GI' night, only I happened to be the designated driver. For us military folks, that was a pretty big deal because we were all alcoholics, I'm sure of it! So, I'm stuck with babysitting and we did the typical bar hop (or in this case, pub-hopping), and everyone was just got blitzed...I mean hammered!

And there was one guy in particular, who we called Frank the Tank (named after the 'Old School' character) - he was gone. I mean, for him that was pretty impressive, because I once witnessed him beer bong the hell out of some Jack Daniel’s and Captain Morgan (2 stories high)...and he was not phased. But for some reason, this particular night he was gone. He broke at least 3 mugs that night and was kicked out of 2 pubs, I recollect. For some reason, I was the only one stuck with Adam, Frank the Tank, and I ended up bringing him home.

So, I was helping him to my vehicle, down the cobblestone roads near Cambridge University, and all of a sudden...he stopped short. He first hid behind me and then he ducked and ran behind a nearby phone booth.

I looked at him like he was psychotic, for sure, and asked, "What the hell are you doing, man?"

His face turned stone cold, and grew intense, as if he was suddenly sober, "Snipers...I see them up on the rooftops."

I half chuckle, even though I was tired and just wanted to leave, "What? Stop horsing around and let's just get the hell outta here."

He poked his head out from behind the booth and peered up at the buildings surrounding us. He pointed upward. "See, there they are! Snipers everywhere...Look!"

I shaked my head, appeased him, and looked up...I sighed. "There's nothin up there, man. Believe me, we are safe."

He looked up again and then at me. "You're one of them." And then he sprinted off down the road, yelling. "Snipers, snipers...they are everywhere!"

I eventurally caught up to him about a half an hour later (it literally took that long to find him because he was in 'hiding')...And he was passed out in some back alley doorway...GL, wherever you are Frank the Tank!