…you can walk around outside in shorts and a t-shirt, as long as the shorts are Army PT shorts and the shirt is an Army PT shirt.
…there is a live nativity scene staffed by dining facility employees from Malaysia dressed as the Three Wise Men.
…you go to work on Christmas Day.
…you wake up at 7 to do laundry because you’re pretty sure the laundry room will be empty Christmas morning, but you’re wrong.
…you eat Christmas “dinner” at 1:30 in the afternoon and all the servers look strikingly similar to the Three Wise Men in the nativity scene.
…Christmas celebratory events include early morning wake-ups and long distance runs.
…you don’t mind Christmas day coming to an end because it means you’re one day closer to leaving.
…and last but by no means least…
…there’s a Santa, in full Santa garb, walking around the living area with an M4 carbine rifle.
The photo today is of some boats in the water in Ghent. Oh… and don’t think I’m being too negative about Christmas. I was lucky enough to be with Eva so there’s really not too much to complain about. Merry Christmas!
Ghent, Belgium, Iraq
Witness ye the first officially approved and posted photos from the much anticipated R&R trip to Europe. The first photo is of the Parisian skyline taken from the top of the Sacre Coeur Cathedral in Montmartre, Paris. “What does Sacre Coeur look like?” you may ask. Well, click the handily provided link above or wait for future postings with photos of the place. Montmartre is essentially a borough of Paris and is the highest point of the city. It’s where the Moulin Rouge is located as well. The Moulin Rouge was basically a petri dish for artists including Toulouse-Lautrec, a world renowned sickly midget who hung out at what essentially amounts to a strip club not for cheap thrills but rather for “inspiration.” You may remember him as portrayed by John Leguizamo in the 2001 Baz Luhrmann film.
The second photo is of Ghent, a small town in Belgium just outside of Brussels. We mistakenly went to Brussels first, not adhering to a major tenet of our travel policy: “In most, though not all circumstances, major cities are just like all other major cities and should therefore be avoided whilst traveling, in lieu of other nearby, more quaint towns/villages.” Our policy is strict. And wordy. Another rule for example: ”If George is not on the trip, and there is no flight to make, you shall not under any circumstances awaken before 9ish.” We were not surprised then to find that Brussels, while being decidedly difficult to navigate in a car, was more or less like a lot of other big cities but with cobblestones. We stayed one night, went to see the peeing baby, and took off for Ghent. It was a solid play. Ghent was incredible, as I think is evident from the provided photo.
All in all the trip was absolutely spectacular. My Mom and Dad as well as Mimi and Denny (for those not in the know: my Grandparents) met us in France and we did Paris for a few days then went to Normandy to see the beaches. We took the Battlebus tour, headed by the magnificent Dale Booth. If you go to Normandy, which I highly recommend, you will be doing yourself a disservice by not taking the Battlebus tour. It was easily one of the highlights of our two week European vacation. After Normandy our family took off for the colonies and Eva and I headed to Belgium. R&R simply could not have been better. More to follow in the coming days and weeks.
I took 640 pictures so there are plenty to choose from.
Ghent, Belgium, Paris, France
Literally. And it’s quite cool. So was Ghent. Pictures to follow en masse when I’m able to process them to the point that I do them justice.
I’ve decided to update the ol’ site to keep it rolling until I have more interest in my website than I have in doing things in real life. In layman’s terms: Iraq. Once we get back to Iraq we’ll be short on time until we go back to the colonies however. Something I thought the other day that I couldn’t believe I was thinking: “I’m really looking forward to getting back to El Paso.” I think that’s the fifth or sixth sign of the apocalypse.
Paris, France
Eva and I are on leave in Paris right now. It’s spectacular. To say Paris is better than Iraq is to say lamps are better than scuba diving. They cannot be compared.
This guy is “guarding” the Mona Lisa. The only real rule I saw clearly posted throughout the Louvre was that flash pictures were not allowed. I’ve never seen so many flashes… he didn’t say a word. I thought Nicole Richie was there. She wasn’t. All the fuss was over the little painting by some guy named Leonardo.
Paris, France