Off to see Europe

So here i sit at JFK airport about to enbark on another trip to Europe. This will be my 3rd pure "backpacking" trip. The one in 2006 that is well documented on this blog was 11 weeks long and my first time doing such a trip. it was a great and eye opening experience. My second trip in 2010 was not as well documented on this blog, and i can blame that on the advent of facebook with quick status updates and photo sharing. 2010 was a great trip watching the World Cup games in 8 different countries when the home team was playing. Also on that trip i met many fellow travelers who i have continued to stay in touch, share travel stories and hope will be long time friends. So now 2012 trip is here, this trip will culminuate with a 9 day stay in the England for the olympics, between soccer games in Manchester and the main events in London i hope to watch a few events live and cheer on the USA in what is still the best "amateur" sports competition that we have ever known... yes its better than the NCAA Final Four etc.

So this 2012 trip might be my last pure backpacking trip, at least to Europe as with the exception of a few countries (Denmark, Sweden, and a smattering of former Yugoslavia places) i've been to most of Europe at least once if not more times. I can still see myself if i ever get spanish language skills doing a similar trip in South America, or with French in West Africa. Now that i'm mostly done with my graduate school classes with only one project left it will be time to hunker down with a job... a job that hopefully will allow me to travel but also save money for those trips and places in the world i have not explored yet. My route for this trip is rather structured after the first 2 weeks. the first 2 weeks is where i hope to meet interesting people, wander to places not inititally known about and enjoy myself. I have booked a few inter country flights and since those are paid for and the dates set, i will have to be in certain places on certain days towards the end of the trip. Due to the fact this is probably my last of these trips i'm going to try my best to keep this blog updated. While the domain name implies some crazy drinking all the time, and i've not turned down many of the finest european beers, i will also take in plenty of culutral sights and catch up with friends who i have not seen in years. But beaches and beer will be a theme hopefully talked about during this trip, along with chants of GO USA! USA! later on during the olympics. I will be exploring new countries for me, with stops in Northern Ireland, and Ireland towards the last 7 days of the trip before returning to the USA on August 20th.

I will for the most part using my frequent flyer miles for the long haul international segments of this trip. I want to try to use as many of these miles as fast as possible due to the changing nature of the airline business. My worry of precious American Airline Aadvantage miles being devauled with a potential merger or bankrupcy issues has me booking my one way over for 30k miles. On the way home i'm using a new trick that i read about on one of the many blogs devoted to frequent flyer travel and only 12.5k British Airways Avios points to fly from Dublin to Boston, this is possible as the route comes in at 2997 as the crow flies air miles. This distance is just below the higher threshold that British Airways has for its distance based awards, so lets hope Aer lingus continues to fly this route as for a short trip from my home in NYC up to Boston, it can give me twice as many flights to europe. I encourage anyone who can take advantage of this "quirk" to do so. Ok.. American Airlines flight 104, on my favorite current plane the Boeing 777 awaits me. I've not yet flown on the double decker Airbus A380 so the triple 7 will remain my favorite. Even in the back of the plane, seat 37C you get a personal TV on the back of the seat with good movies and music. power ports would be nice, or USB powered ports as American still only has cigarette lighter ports and who the heck has that adapter for our electronics??? While this flight across the pond will not compared to my International First class flight.. trust me LIFE CHANGING that i took from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Santiago, Chile this past January 2012, the fact my flight is at 9pm at night and i've had little sleep today it doesnt matter as i should be knocked out..

Ok enjoy the ride, next update from beautiful budapest!!

Post flight update, i have to thank the flight attendants as my seat had a broken video projector, i moved further back in the plane to seat 41G. But i must say this is a great seat, its in the middle but there are only 4 seats wide, instead of 5 seats in most rows so you get a bit more space, plus the legroom is vastly improved. Also while the TV set pulls out of the side of your chair, i like the fact you can adjust it sideways for better viewing.. So on American's 777 if you have to be in coach row 41 is a good row to go for!!

Euro 2012 Soccer Preview and Predictions

While I do love the World Cup held every 4 years, as I’ve been honored to goto the 3 USA group games in 2006 Germany, and have plans to get to Brazil 2014 to root on the USA team. Its been argued that the Euro Cup is the best soccer tournament around. The fact its limited to 16 teams and only takes place in a 3 week time span makes it fast paced and every point counts. This year we have some massive “groups of death” and should make for great watching. True that the south American players who have been so good this year such as Messi, Aguero, Falcao, and all the Brazilians won’t be playing there are plenty of good European players along with decades old rivalries that make this must watching viewing.. I mean anytime the Dutch and Germans met its not ever a friendly, and with 3 pts on the line in the toughest group you know that game will be super-competitive.

My initial thoughts were to try to goto some of the Euro cup games, but the host nations of Poland and Ukraine are getting a bad rap, and probably deservedly so if you can believe what you saw in the BBC documentary “Stadiums of Hate”, so I’ll sit this one out and watch on TV at the many soccer bars in NYC. The start times of Noon and 2:45pm can be rough but the magic of tivo and turning your damn cell phone off can solve some of those issues…

So on the eve of the tournament here are my thoughts of who is going to get out of each group.

Group A – Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, Russia.. Ok this is the group that I really wont watch, and even Friday the opening day I might record the games, but unless the scoreline is dramatic I doubt I’ll watch these group games. As for who can advance, while Greece won the whole thing in 2004, I think they are a joke of a team, along with being a broke country that is going to take down the rest of the world.. so ZERO points for the greeks… The Czech Republic has Petr Cech in good form and confident off his champions league victory, so I’ll give them thru in first place. Russia will go thru in second place.. Poland despite the home crowds, sorry they will get beat up. First Place – Czech Republic, Second Place – Russia

Group B – Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Netherlands.. Oh boy the group of death for the ages.. all 4 teams are ranked in the top 10 of FIFA’s sometimes stupid but still relevant world rankings (remember when the USA team made it into the top 10 before the 2006 world cup to go out scoring 1 goal in 3 games.. yeah I do.. I was there..) This group will be must see live stop everything viewing. I will be supporting the Dutch, still got their Oranje jersey from back in the 2008 and my love for Robin Van Persie has not dwindled after his great year for Arsenal (now if he went to Manchester City or somewhere in 2013, love will quickly turn to hate). The Portuguese will be a test to see if slick back Ronaldo can continue his blistered form from the past 2 years at Real Madrid, but this team as always has questions beyond Ronaldo.. The Germans, well highly efficient is a term used about their cars and also their soccer players. Denmark I don’t know much about them, I’ll laugh at Nick Bentender as he tries to prove he is one of the world’s greatest players.. So in this group I have First Place – Germany, Second Place – Netherlands

Group C – Spain, Italy, Croatia, Ireland. Arguably another group of death here, I can’t ever root for the Italians (look at the tape of the 2006 World Cup game vs USA, boo still leaves a nasty taste in my mouth), and the last world cup they were horrible. Spain is just rolling on for the past 4 years.. Croatia has some great players and Ireland will be the beaten up dog wanting a Guinness and Jameson’s shot after the game. This again will be must appointment watching as some great skill players in this great. Gotta call an upset in this group First Place – Spain. Second Place – Ireland

Group D – France, England, Sweden, Ukraine. This group has a déjà vu feeling to it. The first group game between France and England is a repeat schedule of the Euro 2004 tournament. It was watching this game at the now defunct Nevada Smiths in NYC that I become sold hook, line and sinker for the game of soccer. Watching a bunch of rowdy way past their legal limit England fans singing their songs, waving their hands, toasting their drinks and then the combination of Zidene Zidane and my man crush Thierry Henry combined for a free-kick goal extraordinaire and then a well earned penalty.. game over England snatches defeat from jaws of victory as they seem to do very well in big games, and I was like wow I love this game.. Sweden has Ibra but can he step up? England without Rooney for the first 2 games will be lost.. Ukraine has a bunch of racist fans, no love for them.. I will be watching these games and looking for a good place with atmosphere for the Monday England vs France clash. My outcome for this group First Place – France. Second Place – England(barely)

Now onto the knock-out phase Quarterfinals – Czech Republic vs Netherlands – While the Netherlands went out in the 2008 Euros in the quarterfinals against a Russian team that introduced me to Andrey Arshavin who would then haunt me for most of his arsenal career, this time I have the Dutch going thru.. just too strong and lets keep the karate kicks out of this game, save them for the final! Quarterfinals – Spain vs England – With rooney back for this game, and England having just squeaked thru but the British press hailing them all better than 1970 brazil team, it will be an easy win for the Spanish team. Back to the drawing board England.. Quarterfinals – Germany vs Russia – hey just like World War II, this time the weather wont prevent the Germans from beating the Russians.. Germany thru fairly easily. Quarterfinals - France vs Ireland – oh boy why can’t Theirry Henry and William Gallas come back for this game, I know all the Irish would just love that!! We can play a decent game of Olympic handball. Ok this is a tough call, I will give it to the Irish on revenge and momentum, they will be pysched up to play the French again, and them coming in second place in their group will be a surprise to most and have energized the team, enjoy the victory while it lasts

Semi-Finals – Netherlands vs Spain – a replay of the 2010 epic World Cup Final. Will the dutch keep their feet down below waist level? Hope so, I gotta go for the dutch in this game but it will be an amazing game for sure, and could go to extra time and penalties. Save the date Wednesday June 27th, take off work now if you feel the need to, regardless of who plays this semi-final will be must see viewing. Semi-Finals – Germany vs Ireland – ok Ireland the leprechaun was hung-over from drinking too much and didn’t make the game to give you luck. Germany through.

Finals – We have a Dutch vs Germany final, just what I want!! I would love to be brave enough to throw on my Oranje jersey and head to Zum Schneider but with my flight to Europe scheduled for July 2nd the next day, lets be safe and watch this with the Oranje army wherever they are in NYC. Come on dutch, come on Van Persie.. Lets win a big trophy~!~!