The Yeagers’ Experiences

Joe and I recently returned from a trip to Rome, which was fabulous. I always have been a history buff (partly because it fulfils my strange need to spout off obscure and irrelevant facts that only I find interesting) so I really savored the chance to walk amongst 2500 year old ruins. Just imagine walking into the Roman Senate building, the birthplace of our modern democracy more than 2000 years ago! Yes I know, very few people would feel the weight of politics and history on their shoulders the same way I did, but I have to believe that just about anyone would be awestruck upon the first views of the Pantheon (built in 125AD, it was the largest free standing dome up until the 1950s), the Coliseum, and the Roman Forum. Everything I had been taught in school about the toga wearing, war-hungry Romans suddenly came to life as I was standing amidst the ruins of one of the greatest civilizations in history.

We saw all of this in two ways, both were really cool but for completely different reasons. First, we took a Segway tour around the city. We were so focused on driving the darn things that we missed almost everything the audio guide was telling us. The real value for me, however, was rolling by the crowds of people staring in amazement/jealousy. One guy’s jaw hit the floor so hard as we drove by that he forgot he was driving a car and missed his green light. Another American guy exclaimed to his wife as we drove past “Oh, AWESOME!”. I told many people that day “Yes, I know it’s dorky, but we are nerds and we know it. Why not enjoy it?”

The second tour we took had more of an educational bent. We walked on the Palatine Hill, home to many emperors’ palaces, the Forum and the Coliseum accompanied by our Ph.D Architect/Anthropologist guide. She helped us really appreciate what we were seeing and understand ancient roman culture better. For example, I learned that obscure and irrelevant fact about the Pantheon mentioned above thanks to her. I also learned that 10 vestal virgins were put to death for not being so, umm, virgin.

Ancient ruins aside, we had a great time visiting all of the Renaissance splendor that is the rest of central Rome. The Trevi fountain (pictured above) was so unexpectedly beautiful it took my breath away. We saw the Vatican and sculptures by Michelangelo, but managed to miss out on the famous Vatican museums and the Sistine chapel (oh well, just a good excuse to go back!). We spent an entire day walking from piazza to piazza just taking it all in. Oh, and eating ice cream. If there is anything that Joe likes most in the world - besides cars and computers - , it’s ice cream. We feasted on the famous Italian gelato night and day. On Friday we each had 4 cones of gelato throughout the day (most were double scoops too)! Combine that with the excellent Italian cuisine and penchant for drinking, and we easily gained 10 pounds each!

So yes, Rome was fabulous. There was very little not to like about the city (the one exception being the many protests and police officers with machine guns walking the streets), and I can’t wait to go back and see it all again…and maybe even pick up a few more useless facts.

Belgium is not known for much other that what I listed in the title, which is actually quite a lot for such a small country. The chocolate is amazingly good and there’s a chocolatier on every corner offering a wide assortment of fresh truffels. Big names such as Godiva and Pierre Marcolini are based here. The beer is incredibly good, and strong too! Most of the beers are above 6% ABV, and one is even brewed by Trappist monks, reaches 12% ABV, and only tastes like a 6% beer. The mussels, oh the mussels! Normally I don’t like mussels but here they are in-credible. When we were in Brussels they were in season too, and every restaurant offered a huuuge pot of them (we counted 85 in one pot, for a single person’s entree). The french fries were another delicacy, except everyone looked at us strangely when we requested ketchup; the Heinz bottle they brought us was brand new and completely unused. Waffles are from Belgium as well, and they love to put a lot of toppings on them… including bananas, strawberries, syrup, caramel, chocolate, whipped cream, and cherries. We made sure to partake in all of these delicacies several times over

We stayed in Belgium’s capital, Brussels, for the weekend. It offered a couple nice sites but not as interesting as some of the other capital cities we have been to. The city of Bruges (pronounced Brooge) is an incredible place. It is so picturesque and photogenic, as you will be able to tell from the pictures. Despite the fact that it was freezing the entire time, we really loved Bruges because there was so many cobblestone paths, gorgeous gardens, bridges, and awesome buildings. Bruges is such a gem of a village, and if you are ever in the area I highly recommend at least a day visit. We were only there for a day, and in Brussels for the weekend, but I wish it was reversed. We could have spent an entire weekend in Bruges with a stopover in Brussels.

Enjoy the pictures, they will be coming soon when the new site is up!

OK. It’s my time to weigh in on today’s football. As I understand it, Joe was quite confident that this was his year to FINALLY get bragging rights to our intra-state rivarly known as “Clean Old-Fashioned Hate”. I am thrilled to report that just a few minutes ago his hopes were dashed thanks to the chronic ineptness of the Georgia Tech offense. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, UGA has emerged out of the ashes of a sub-par season to win the only game that really matters to the Yeagers (Yeagers jr. that is, not Yeagers snr.). If there was anything that could redeem the 2006 Bulldawgs, this was it. Better luck next time Joe. Maybe next year will be the year to break the 5, no wait, 6 year losing streak.
As the fight song goes…”Glory, Glory to old Georgia, and TO HELL WITH GEORGIA TECH!”

The time is finally here — Judgement Day. The one day in the year where Stacey and I have to sign a pact in the morning that we will not swear at each other, not make fun of each other, and direct all remarks at the television instead of each other. It is, of course, the most important day each year: Georgia Tech vs Georgia.

The Brits barely know what American football is. Some have an idea of the rules, but no one understands why college football is so popular. No one follows their college team after they graduate, and even the term ‘college’ is similar to what Americans would consider a ‘community college’ and a university over here is what a university/college would be back in the states.

We have been watching Freeview which is only slightly better than the broadcast network in the US, and, frankly, we couldn’t stand it anymore. We signed up for Sky, which is the main provider of television over here, and even got the sports package. Even so, there were no channels that played American sports. The only channel that does is NASN (North American Sports Network) which was scheduled to air our game, but it only comes in a package of 5 channels for 15 pounds a month, only available on a 12-month contract. After a quick analysis, we decided it was still worth it. We had to be able to watch our game.

So we sit here today, with big plans: watching football and drinking beer all day long. The schedule:

• 12:00-3:00: Oregon vs Oregon State — Played on Friday, but replayed for GMT. It’ll be a great warm-up game.
• 3:00-5:00: College Gameday — Great to get get the blood pumping!!
• 5:00-8:30: Florida vs Florida State — Live coverage of the game. ACC vs SEC. We couldn’t have asked for a better pre-game game.
• 8:30-Midnight: Georgia vs Georgia Tech

By the time of the game, I am sure we will have plenty of time to have as much beer as we would like, and get ready for the action. Game Day is the deciding factor for which of us can claim victory for an entire year. 365 days of ragging on the other person for having a terrible team.

This season, Georgia has had a disappointing season and Tech is doing an incredible job, currently ranked 15th in the nation. Somehow, despite all of this, Las Vegas is putting Georgia up by 2. Tech is still the underdog. Why? Because Tech has had a terrible record vs Georgia. They have only won 14 times since 1960, and 9 of which have been when Georgia had a losing season.

Nevertheless, I’m positive we’re going to win. We haven’t been able to see a single college football game until now, because of all the traveling and the lack of a channel that shows it. All that is changed, and today is a beautiful day.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, we sure did! Stacey made an incredible dinner for us and 4 other people. Two were Brits from our Rugby team, and one was one of Stacey’s old High School buddies with her boyfriend. The company was great, and the food was even better. It was Stacey’s first attempt at Thanksgiving, and she actually hasn’t made most of these dishes ever before.

Since Thanksgiving is an American holiday, Britons do not celebrate it. Actually, they know nothing about it. Finding the right ingredients are nearly impossible; we had to search 5 stores and even 4 more online stores to find the right stuff. Our turkey was ordered online, the guy at the deli was completely confused as to why we wanted an entire ham, the cranberries were difficult to find and tasted strangely, no one here has heard of pumpkin (from the can), and the miracle of Stove Top does not exist here either. For the pumpkin and Stove Top, my mom graciously sent those over, along with some pudding mix which we were having trouble finding.

Here’s the full menu:

• Turkey (10 lbs)
• Glazed Ham
• Mashed Potatoes
• Stuffing
• Corn
• Sweet Potatoes
• Green Beans
• Cranberry Sauce
• Bread
• Gravy
• Pumpkin Pie
• Banana Cream Pie
• Sticky Toffee Pudding
• Vanilla Ice Cream

As you can see, we focused our efforts on desserts ;). My favorite was the ham with the mashed potatoes and gravy though. We thought we would throw in a bit of a British delicacy with the sticky toffee pudding.

The only mishaps were that we forgot about the bread in the oven and the guests arrived about 10 minutes before dinner hit the table. Everything else went very smoothly and we had quite the meal. Amazingly, everything was gone. The turkey was left for dead and every side dish was destroyed, leaving only a bit of ham and some of the desserts. Stacey has graciously offered to make more mashed potatoes for me though – and I’ll definitely take her up on that offer!

Stacey and I are in the middle of upgrading the picture site to a much better one, so you might see some strange things in the meantime. This may include albums disappearing, sub-albums appearing, strange album highlighted pictures, etc etc. Sorry for the map not working either — the site that we linked to has terrible reliability. We’re implementing a much better map which is part of the progress.

Everything should be completed shortly and I promise you will all love it. So stay tuned!

Thank you Tommy, who came up with the great idea of making a map to plot all the places we have been. Click on the “Map It” link to see the places we have been so far. The page takes a few seconds to load, so just be patient.
We will keep updating this as we go to more places, so eventually the map will be filled to the brim!

Pictures of Amsterdam and Paris are up now, check out the “Pictures” link to view them.