I’m in a huge hurry to head out to dinner but I wanted to make a quick note that I’ve had an incredible day so far! First, I met another cool solo traveler this morning to hang out with - always a bonus for a solo traveler. Secondly, the two of us decided to go on an amazing walking tour through the heart of East Berlin. The guy leading the tour was fantastic and had a ton of great knowledge about the city.

What’s completely fascinating is that most of that history ocurred in the last 70 years. Most of it is horribly tragic (genocide, book burnings, communism, Stalin, the Wall, and on and on) but it’s unbelievable to see historical sites that I was alive to witness on television (like the crumbling of the Berlin Wall).

After just one day, I’m ready to tell everyone I know to come to Berlin. It’s unbelievable and I’ve only had two beers so far. I can’t wait to go out tonight and drink some authentic German Bier!

Not a lot of excitement to report today other than I left Amsterdam and I’m now in Berlin! Woo hoo! Don’t get me wrong, I loved Amsterdam and I’m excited to go back in a couple of weeks, but until then, I’m touring Europe. I’ve got to say, this is the nicest hostel I’ve ever stayed in. The place is super clean, really well decorated, and the guy working the front desk was one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met (he was Hungarian).

The only bummer was that I ended up meeting two people very briefly (a canadian guy named Daniel and an Israeli woman named Hela), they invited me out for dinner, and then proceeded to be the most boring people I’ve ever met. I don’t know how two people that have traveled all over the world could have so litte of interest to talk about. No worries, though, because today was a travel day and I wasn’t up for anything too fun anyway.

Tomorrow is a new day and I plan on enjoying it to the fullest. A bike tour if it’s not raining and a walking tour if it is. Then I’m going to try to find and photograph some good, heavy, German food and beer. I know you’re all riveted so stay tuned…

I discovered last night that it takes exactly 5 shots of Jagermeister to completely neutralize anger - at least if you’re a Polish woman named Bo. So here’s the story, I’m out in Amsterdam with my two hostel roommates (Caroline and Bo), a Canadian named Mitch (eh?), and some other weird dude from Utah (aren’t they all?).

I had just finished the most amazing plate of Penne all’arrabiata served by an extremely cordial Italian named Clauduo. We liked Clauduo because he was funny and, more importantly, because he served us our first round of free shots (6 shots of limoncello - he of course had to pour himself one). So the evening was off to a proper start.

After that, we went to visit an establishment made famous by Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Matt Damon in Oceans 12. I’d tell you the name of it but I honestly can’t remember, and it’s not important because the night was flowing along swimmingly. However, the bliss and joy was about to be tested.

A little known fact outside the UK: People in England are extremely racist against redheads. And they don’t call them redheads, they call them gingers. This is not a segue. This is a vital piece of information required for the next paragraph.

So there we are all happy and having a great time. At this point in the evening, I owe a couple of beers to different people, so Bo (she’s the Polack) and I head up to the bar leaving the rest behind to find seats. It turns out the bar tender is an Eastern European redhead and she’s exceedingly rude to Bo. And Bo is pissed! I’m not talking irritated or annoyed - she is about as pissed off as anyone I’ve ever seen. Bruce Banner would be envious of her transformation. So anyway, the next thing I know, Bo is screaming, “You ginger $?*%! All I really needed to know about you I could tell from the color of your hair!” Then she stormed out of the bar. Just to be clear, she didn’t actually say “$?*%” - that would be really hard to pronounce. Instead she was using a rather colorful but derogatory term for a certain part of the female anatomy.

We all leave and head to the bar next door. That’s one of the great things about Amsterdam: There’s a bar or coffee shop on just about every single corner. The bartender at the new bar then gets to hear all about the “ginger $?*%” in the bar next door and, seeing that Bo is still irate, he decides to buy us all a shot of Jagermeister. As it turns out, this beautiful brown liquid not only goes well with Red Bull, but is also the perfect elixer for calming the nerves of angry Polish women. Who would have thought?

Well, not counting my last quick post, it’s been over 3 years since I really took this site seriously. But I assure you, those three years have been action packed. Here’s a quick run down on what I’ve done (in approximate chronological order):

1. Backpacked in Yellowstone.
2. Went to Italy.
3. Learned how to catch salmon.
4. A bunch of snowboarding.
5. Apparently forgot how to shoot a deer.
6. Quit Microsoft.
7. Backpacked in Yosemite.
8. Started one company that failed.
9. Started a web development company that’s doing well.
10. Started an online cell phone repair business that’s also doing well.
11. Started drinking coffee.
12. Did a half Ironman triathlon.
13. Spent a weekend snowboarding at Whistler.
14. Went to England.
15. Played three more seasons of baseball.
16. Went camping at Neah Bay, WA.
17. Went backpacking through Mt. St. Helens National Monument.
18. I’m in Amsterdam right now.

I’m sure there’s about 2 dozen more things but that’s all I’ve got for now. From now on, I’ll try to keep you all up to date as things happen.

Wow! It has been a long time since I’ve updated this site the way it deserves. But, no time like the present - now that I’m presently traveling through Europe and have the chance to make everyone jealous. In fact, yesterday I even bought a new coat and some hip looking clothes - Barbarian Sheik I call it. I’ll make sure to get pictures up soon because I know no one will believe it and I’ll have undoubtedly spilled spaghetti sauce, ketchup, wine, and/or gravy all over everything before I get home. Anyway, today’s posting is just a short message to let all you Little Barbarian fanatics out there know that I’m back and that life is great!