Coffee & Excel

I came to this coffee shop to write a blog post today, but then the owner mentioned she was having computer problems and I offered to help... She said she was having "formatting problems", but the real issue turned out to be using MS Word for tracking expenses... She had created a list of stores and expenses so she could add it up with a calculator but was having trouble getting the rows aligned the way she wanted them. Apparently she's been doing this for two years now... Instead of fixing her formatting issue I introduced her to excel and set up a spread sheet to do the calculations for her. It's a shame automating my photo sorting for blog posts isn't that simple.

Prague

Prague was my last stop in Europe before heading for Tanzania to meet Tony. I should have budgeted more time there since it was both interesting and affordable. Hopefully I can do a trip to eastern Europe someday and go back to see the rest of the Czech Republic. 

Prague hosts the largest castle in the world. Built over a thousand years with each new monarch adding their own random addition it's quite an interesting mix.  

The tower on the right is a bit larger. Apparently there was a hundred year gap between construction and they lost the original plans so they just told everyone they represent Adam and Eve so Adam's bigger...

We showed up just in time to watch this astronomical clock run through a cycle. It's oldest astronomical clock that is still working and the most complicated clock tower I've seen. 

This had to be the most laid back changing of the guard ceremony I have ever seen. Someone even tried to just walk through the middle of it. 

I think next time I'll go in the summer and hope for clear views of the city... 

Hamm, Germany

After the Brachts returned to the states Corrie and I went to Hamm to visit Basti who was feeling better after missing the New Year party with a bad fever. The Autobahn was a lot of fun with Basti because he likes driving as much as I do and knows the rules in Germany. He showed us around Hamm where he grew. Then Simon joined us for a couple days and we toured Munster. 

Basti, Corrie and I on top an old coal mine tailings pile near Hamm.

Basti with his car. This is the antique he rebuilt not the one we drove the Autobahn at 220 in. 

I'm still not really sure why Hamm made the elephant it's official animal.  

Seriously they have a thing for elephants. 

This bus was set up as an American style hamburger shop but we opted for German instead.

Coffee break in Munster where Simon and Basti went to University before UNM.

Germans take water parks a bit more seriously. The one we went to had two slides with near vertical drops and one with a full loop in it. The one with loop had a laser run timer for competitions  They must take lawsuits a lot less seriously though because there were no lifeguards babysitting any of the slides and riding double or triple was allowed. The combination makes for awesome water parks!

We went to Norway after Hamm which I actually managed to post about while I was there...