Hallo, guten Tag!

Note to readers: many of the pictures in this post can be clicked on to be viewed larger.

Warning! Long post alert, but it's mostly pictures.

Michelle and I just got back from Europe a week ago. It was great. We spent time in Bamberg, Germany (where my brother lives) and Rome. Here are some pictures. We took over 600 pictures and movie clips!

Here's where my brother lives:


Just kidding, he really lives at # 31. Here's the street he lives on.





Here's some photos of the city of Bamberg.









Bamberg has 10 breweries in the city, and is known for Rauchbier, smoke beer, which is brewed with malted barley that is dried over open flames.







Rome was great. It's amazing how much history there is in the city, and how much the modern city just grw up around, and blends into the old stuff, both the antiquitious Roman senate/empire buildings and the Vacatian and Catholic areas.







Walking to the Vacatian.

This shot was taken only 3-5 minutes walk from our hotel room!

The Swiss Guard at the basilica.


St. Peter's Square


St. Peter's Basilica


Some shots from inside










Some things from the Vatican museum.







The Tiber river, from the Castel Sant'Angelo, outside of Vatican City.


The Ancient Roman ruins were awesome. It's pretty amazing how they have survived the sacking of Rome, and WWII as well as they have.



















Back in Germany, Pottenstein.









Also, back in Bamberg, we went on a brewery tour. We only went to four breweries, since we had to leave early the next day.

Klosterbrau




Spezial Brau




Mahr's Brau


I took so many more pictures. I didn't even include any of Frankfurt here.
I can show you some more pictures if you want.

I'm planning to go back around October 2009.

Friday Five Six, 04/04/08

The best hockey players ever, including the future...

GOALIE:
Martin Brodeur - I know, you think I should have said Patrick Roy (I say it "Patty Roy", where Roy is pronounced like boy...) But, the truth is Brodeur is just better. Better save percentage, better win percentage, better GAA. Like 30 more shoutouts, all in 2 less seasons. Brodeur only had one season where his save percentage was under .900, his first. Roy had three. If Brodeur plays next year, and wins games at only 2/3 rate he has throughout his career, he'll best Roy for most wins ever. And next season he could conceivable pass Terry Sawchuk for the most shut-outs ever. The only thing going against Broduer is play-off wins, but maybe Roy just played on better teams. Oh yeah, there's also that one thing in 2001, when Roy and the Colorado Avalanche beat Brodeur and the Devils in the Stanley Cup finals, but we can look the other way on that for now.

DEFENSEMEN:
Bobby Orr - One time, while killing a penalty, Orr kept possession of the puck for more than one minute. The only reason he lost possession? He scored a shorthanded goal. Orr is arguably the first offensive defensemen though he didn't slack on defense. (Canadiens spell it defence, but they were taught by British folks, and we all know they speak English wrong.) He was known to often take the puck the length of the ice, meaning he gained control of the puck while playing defense. When he retired early due to knee problems (I think it was knees), the NHL was bright enough to realize what they just saw end, and he was inducted into the hall of fame at age 31, younger than anyone else.


Doug Harvey - Doug Harvey played hockey before I was born, but for some reason people seem to think he was one of the best defensemen ever. He played on 11 consecutive all star teams and won the Norris trophy seven times. Frankly, I think that everyone considers him one of the best because he had two first names. But not just that, they are both cool, asskicking, rough names: Doug and Harvey. He's actually from Frenchy Frencherville, so his name could have easily been Claude Michele, Jean LaPoof or something super soft and girly, but no, he was just Doug Harvey.

OFFENSEMEN:
Mario Lemieux - Mario Lemieux basically was the offense when he played for the Penguins. He scored almost 60% of the teams goals during his span. He scored 10 shorthanded goals twice in a season, one of those seasons he had 13--more than anyone else. One time he scored 5 goals in one game: one even strength, one shorthanded, one on the power play, one of a penalty shot, and one into an empty net. Plus Lemieux was banged up quite a bit. I can only imagine that he'd be a lot closer to Gretsky's gretaness if he wasn't hurt so much. Only Gretsky scored more points per game then Lemieux over the course of their respective careers. If Lemieux didn't come back after surviving cancer, he would have averaged more points per games than Gretsky.

Mike Bossy - Bossy was one of the best shooters. He scored 50 goals in 9 straight seasons, even Gretsky didn't do that. Along with Gretsky and Lemieux, he was one of the few players to score 50 or more goals in the first 50 games of the season. He scored more goals per game than other other player in NHL history. And even though his name was Bossy, he won the Lady Byng trophy for good sportsmenship 3 times, in only 10 NHL seasons. Like Orr, his career was cut short by injuries.

Wayne Gretsky - I really don't need to say anything here, but I will. 2,857 points in 1,487 games. That's the most points ever, the most that there ever will be and best points per game ever (almost 2). In second place (a distance second) is Mark Messier, "only" 970 points less at 1,887. And he needed over 250 more games than Gretsky to get that close. (Close is still pretty far away.) Gretsky scored at least 50 goals in the first 50 games of a season three times. One of those times, he scored 61 goals through 50 games. He scored 10 hat tricks in a season twice. He scored more points in one season then anyone ever will (215) and more goals in one season (92) and more assists in one season (163). He can fly and eat nails. Also, he was in a cartoon with Bo Jackson and Michael Jordan. (Michael Jordan is the best athlete ever, so that's pretty cool for Gretsky too.)


People who could have made the list, but didn't:
Patrick Roy
Guy Lafleur
Rocket Richard
Sidney Crosby
Chuck Norris
Ray Bork bork bork