The Chris Cardé Experience

... It was the perfect storm last night. We accidentally formed a dream team for quiz night at O'Reilly's. ... European history? No problem - Anders had it under control United States Aircraft Registration prefix? I nailed it. Roman history? Kate was all over it.

Team "Give us the damn Whiskey!" in our entirety.

We kicked enough ass to come in second. Yes, that's one position away from a free bottle of whiskey. The winning team was kind enough to hand out shots, though, so we didn't lose out completely -- although I did re-affirm my belief that whiskey is a vile drink (except in Seven Up). The [Irish] bartender actually looked at us with shock and horror as we shot the whiskey, exclaiming "That's a SIPPIN' drink!."

And that's how Tuesday is done.

Am I scraping the bottom of the barrel for story titles? Probably. Will I stop? Heck no!

Kate arrived in Germany just hours after I returned from the US on Thursday. It seems that, with just 13.5 hours on trains spread out over 4 days, we've managed to cure Kate of any desire to ride or see a train again as long as she lives. ;)

Kate and I drinking Radler on the train. This shot was taken while riding the train was still novel and fun. It was also the only 30 minute stretch of the entire trip that we had a compartment to ourselves.

Click through - more photos after the break!

The photographic record of this trip is sparse, so I'll cut straight to the glamor (ha ha) shot.

I'm absorbing the rays -- really, no sunblock! -- in a park in Ann Arbor.

I saw some people, had some beers, attended a wedding shower, went to work, and even drank with a bunch of Germans for the 4th of July! All in all, a satisfying trip. Northwest even conveniently canceled my first flight home, postponing my departure by 24 hours and thereby allowing me to get a bit of 4th of July time in before leaving the States.

A better argument could not be made for high speed rail than the 3:30 hour TGV train connection to Paris. At that speed, it becomes so eminently doable to spend the weekend in Paris. No airport BS, no traffic jams, no arriving all stressed out because you just spent 5 hours on the autobahn.

Paris was fun! The following picture represents a small fraction of the time we spent there, but I'll let the iconic imagery pull you into the rest of the story.

The Eiffel Tower at night... as seen from a bridge we crossed on the way back to Thomas and Marie's place. We illegally parked on the bridge for this shot!

... and there wasn't even a decision to be made! I've known for weeks I was going to Paris this weekend for the . I just didn't make it down to the train station to get my Bahncard 50 until last night, and now it's too late to get a seat on that super-spiffy, ultra-fast piece of French engineering called the TGV. The TGV is France's high-speed train system (faster even than the pretty-darned-fast German ICE) -- and just this month they started service between Paris and Stuttgart with a one-way travel time of just 3:30hrs! At least I get to take the TGV home on Sunday!

I've become quite the slacking blogger. It turns out that I'm spending a lot more time going out and doing stuff than taking pictures and writing about it. Again, my dear reader, I shall endeavor to do better. The pictures here are from two weeks ago -- my first non-jetlagged weekend in Germany. It was also a long weekend, so I felt compelled to get out there and see something.

At one point, all kinds of cool and exotic destinations were on the table... Prague, Italy, London.... But then the Cardé decision making syndrome kicked in and I wasted enough time trying to decide where to go that only a nearby destination was practical. Off to the Bavarian Alps!

The castle Neuschwanstein in Schwangou -- reportedly the "most famous castle in the world." It's certainly a breathtaking view from the Marienbrücke as shown in this photo!

Ok, so there was no folly; Honestly, I was just in the mood for a little faux alliteration. Moving on...

My first weekend in Stuttgart was spent mostly recovering from the quadruple-whammy of moving, jetlag, my going away party, and the sickness caused by the first three. However, after spending Saturday unpacking boxes and making seven-odd trips to the grocery store because I didn't think to pack my own shopping bag (on the 7th trip I notice that they SELL plastic shopping bags - problem now solved), I finally decided to get out there and play tourist.

Better late than never, I want to thank everyone who came out to my little last-minute going away happy hour turned drunken debauchery. Oh, wait, maybe that was just me. Anyway, I blame all of you for buying me so much beer. ;)

Life wouldn't be complete without pictures. Thanks, Kyla, for bringing your camera! Here are some highlights:

I will probably regret showcasing this photo on the front page of my site for decades to come. Remember to bust this photo out if I run for president.

More photos below... keep reading!