Udo is back in Town!!
Alex and I went out for a drink at night. We wanted to check out a new place where we haven't been before. We picked the UnFassBar near my appartment. As Udo came back from Thailand a day earlier than expected we asked him to join us - and nice as he is - he joined us - sharing his Thai-Impressions (wild taxi drivers, prostitutes, hot weather, ...) with us. Well - there is not much more to say. Cheers

Picture towards the Europaplatz from Alex's appartment	I am not sure if I've deserved that after some heavy discussions that we had yesterday :-)
Udo - still non-smoker :-)

Winter is coming back!!
I am not kidding. Those of you who live in Austria know how damn cold it is right now - and they even predict snowfall to low altitudes in the next days. But for those of you who are somewhere else (like my friends in Boston, or Udo who currently checks out Thailand) - that might be unimaginable - but its true.
Besides the cold its also really wet. Like yesterday. Monday afternoon we have our Borland-Soccer-Session. We started with light rain fall but ended soaked through after 1.5 hours. It was more like playing waterball than soccer - but it was fun. At night there was Salsa - of course - what else would there be on monday night. And today - tuesday - we just got the first furnitures for Alex's new appartment. The bed from Lutz and the living room from Moemax. Thursday will be assembling day and Saturday the next day where we get more stuff for the living room.
Besides all those non-work-related topics there is of course something to say about work as well. One word describes it very well: challenging!!!
Thats it for tuesday - the remaining day will probably spent with some email conversations - The Da Vinci Code - Wheat Beer and the best of all: Alex!!
cheers

Soccer Training!!
We are going to play in a soccer tournament on June 10th. With we I mean our JVP Club from Gallneukirchen. We will have two teams - the problem now is that we have never played in this combination - therefore we thought we have to at least do some training sessions before we totally fail on June 10th. So we had our first session yesterday at a field (well - it was more like an acre). The resumee was: very well played - looking forward to the tournament.
At night some friends came over to my place (Birgit, Sandro, Bony, Peda) - we did some beertasting (well - more than just tasting) - and then we went off to Walkers. Unfortunatelly they have the back room area closed - the official reason is that they have to do some prep-work for the upcoming soccer world championsship - ridiculous if you ask me - because I cannot think of anything that takes them 2 weeks. But anyway - that was the situation. After Walkers we had a quick drink in the Absolut bar. On our way back to Remember we had a Kebap at the Taubenmarkt where this Kebap place seems to be the only one with a good result in the latest test series of Kebap places in Linz. So - thats enough - cheers

Getting new energy for the 2nd half - with beer and cigarettes :-)	Didi in action
Too much action for Boby	The beertasting - Zipfer vs. Freistaedter

Bye Bye Sebastian!!
Sebastian - one of my collegues - is going to do something similar as I did last year. He is moving to the US to work in our corporate office. As times have changed its not in Boston where he is moving to - its in sunny California - to be precise - Cupertino! He will be there for 5 weeks - not too long - but definitly long enough to have a farewell beer.
But Sebastion is not the only one that leaves is temporary. Udo - aka Prinzregent - left at night for Thailand. A 5 day short trip. His brother works for Austrian Airlines and therefore managed to get a cheap offer for them.
Oh yeah - before I forget - yesterday I wrote that I have to go to the office on friday because of a scheduled meeting at 11 AM. Well - at 10:55 AM I was informed that the customer is on vacation - good for the customer - not so good for me - but thats life.
Cheers

A small fly drowned in my wheat beer	Thats Sebastian - he is going to move to Cupertino

Family Day!!
Just a quick entry today: We visited my family today - first we went to my parents place - after that we visited my sister. After that full afternoon I met Irene and Maria at Walkers for a quick hefeweizen - now I am heading back to Alex. Unfortunatelly I just got an email that I have a scheduled meeting tomorrow at 11 AM. Unfortunatelly because I would have the day off tomorrow - well - thats the way it is. Cheers!

My dad with 3 of his grandchildren on his renewed tractor	Taking a nap: Lisa and her dad
Verena having fun while we had coffee and cake	Julia (not feeling too well today) with her dad

Soccer News!!
I predicted a 3:1 loss against croatia. In the end it was a 4:1 loss - but the game was actually not too bad. The austrians (at least midfield and offense) played a very good game and shot one of the most amazing goals that I've ever seen (thanks to the goalkeeper).
But there are more soccer news to tell - a funny one actually. I just read that the US Beer Company Anheuser-Busch - they produce "Bud" - have the exclusive rights to sell Bud beer at Soccer World Championships. Bud is not really a beer that we europeans like - and especially not the germans with their long history of brewing beer. A german politician now even made the following comment: "We have to take care of our soccer fans - we cannot poison them!". So - although Bud has the exclusive rights - it seems they make a deal with the germans so that they can actually sell a "real" beer in the stadiums.
Thats the story of today. tomorrow is a public holiday - lets hope the weather will be fine - at least better than today. cheers

Austria vs. Croatia!!
Thats tonights soccer game. For Croatia its a prep-game for the soccer world-championsship. For Austria - well - its a game to at least get a slight feeling about what it would be like - playing at the championship. I kind of predict a victory for Croatia - but I always have hope - maybe we only loose with 1 or 2 goals difference :-)
The match will be watched in Didis appartment - which reminds me - I have to get home to cool the beer :-)
cheers

Back in Austria!!
Its been a good trip home to Austria. The late night flight from Boston is much better than the 4PM flight because its much easier to fall asleep at 10PM rather than 4PM. So I actually got about 3 hours of sleep. Before I got on the plan I checked the bookstore at the gate. I bought two books - one recommended by John (bartender of Christphers) and one that got much attention in the past weeks. I am talking about "The Kite Runner" and "The Da Vinci Code". I thought that - regarding the Da Vinci Code - before I am going to see the movie I have to read the book - to know what all the uproar is about. After the first 60 pages I am quite pleased with it - very exciting so far - but so far there were no topics that explain the worldwide uproar.
So - after being picked up by Alex on the Airport we went to Walkers (my Linz pendant to Christphers) for a Tuna-Burger and some wheat beer. Tonight its going to be some salsa in the remembar - cheers

A Walk through Boston!!
My last day here in Boston. The flight departures around 9PM so I did have some time to walk through Boston. I started in Cambridge - walked down from Porter to Harvard Square - stopping at my favorite barber shop to get a hair cut. Then down to the Charles River - along Memorial drive - over the Mass Ave. Bridge into Boston. Walking all the way to Faneuil Hall via Boston Common Park and Downtown Crossing. Now I am back in the appartment - packed all my stuff and I guess I will have to flip a coin to make my decision easier about: Go down to christophers for dinner or have a bite at home. We'll see!! Here are some pictures!

A view from the Cambridge side of the Charles towards the Back Bay of Boston	The swan boats are already operating in Boston Public
Again the park - so nice if everything is blooming and the weather is good	Busy scenes at Faneuil Hall

Havanna Club!!
Tonight was the night I was waiting for the whole week - Salsa at the Havanna Club. For those of you who are familiar with the Salsa scene in Linz - its like having a Salsa Ball every week. There are about 300+ people - just dancing and having fun!! I met lots of friends from boston - some of them I could actually manage to get a picture of.
Besides Salsa its been the last day of our business trip to our Lexington office. Helmut and Guenther already flew back today. I drove them to the airport and thought I am pretty smart to drive through town rather than via I-90 as there was a major accident. Well - it took us about an hour to get there. But we were still in time and so we had time for a bite and a final drink. cu on monday!!
So - here are some pictures of tonight!!

Verena - she is my friend from germany	Bubba - his heritage is somewhere in africa (if i remember right)
Raj - unfortunatelly with closed eyes - his heritage is India	The group from Salsa y Control performing on stage
Verena and her roommate Lulu (her heritage is mixed - somewhat latin - somewhat asian)	Ivan (from Croatia) - he is one of the instructors
Another performance of a Mambo couple	Stephans way of telling me that I have to taste a new beeer
Thats the beer - Circus Boy from Magic Hat - its a Hefeweizen	So I mostly danced with Verena - and thats how my shoes looked like afterwards - guess somebody needs some practice :-)

Sun and Fun!!
Today we had another exchausting day in work - but it was again a good day with progress. At night I actually wanted to take Helmut and Guenther into Boston as we havent really seen it so far. The weather was good but it was a bit too windy. As we were not really in the mood of walking around in the city we came to one conclusion: Christophers!!
Stephan joined us. After dinner we went home - having a good night drink and discussed several topics starting with Cape Cod, old stories and amnesia :-).
I am still unusually tired and therefore it will be another night without going out for salsa - but tomorrow - definitly - big salsa night. cheers

The good night drink in the appartment	Stephan showing and explaining Helmut and Guenther the map of Mass.
Guenther in a very common position - sleeping!!

The rain is over - at least for today!!
So - that was the exciting news about today - no rain at all. The sad news about today is that I forgot the birthday of my sister - congrats Veronika - you are getting old :-)!!!
Well - besides that we had another productive day in the office followed by a nice evening visit to a pub in Waltham. You can see below that nachos can also be prepared in a different way - separated from the cheese, beans, sour creme, ...!!
Oh yeah - another very sad thing happened today: I havent seen the champions league final between Arsenal and Barcelona. Fortunate as I am I had live moderation via Instant Messenger from didi - the game ended 2:1 for Barcelona!!
And one last more sad thing. I actually wanted to go to An Tua Nua tonight for some dancing. But my body tells me to better go to bed - dont know what it is. Maybe the beer at this place (8% alcohol) or just the lack of sleep of the past days. Whatever it is - doesnt matter - seems that I finally get some nice and long sleep. cheers

Nachos at the City Brewing Company in Waltham

More Rain!!! - but also some sunshine!!
So - after 3 days of just rain we finally saw some blue sky and sunshine - to be honest - we couldn't really believe it :-)
So - after another productive day in the office we made it again to Cambridge. This time we started at the West Side Lounge where Helmut got his "Best Tuna Ever!!" - thats something!! On our way home we stepped in at Christophers to try the most expensive beer that I've ever seen - the Chimay for $1 per ounce. Well - its just a beer - definitely not worth the money. Well - we also got more background knowledge on Baseball. We discussed special rules like "Caught between Bases". Here are some pics!!

Guenther and Stephan at the West Side Lounge	Helmut and me at the West Side Lounge
Watch him: drinking wine with one hand - stiring a cocktail with the other :-)	The most expensive beer ever!!

More Rain!!!
More rain has come down today. Floodings are all over the place - similar to what we had in Austria some year ago. Well - today we had an interesting and challenging day in the office. Challenging because we had 8 hours of meetings - and that without havent gotten rid of the jetlag. So - after this exhausting day we went to Legal Sea Food to have Lobster, Clams, Mussels and Salmon. After that I brought the boys home and I thought I will just drive home and go to bed as well. Well - sometimes things go a different way than you had in mind. In my case I "had" to go to Christophers :-)
So - here are some pictures.

Mark with a 2 pound Lobster	Helmut working on Clams, Mussels and a Lobster
At Christophers: Stephan, Rick and myself	Ben hiding behind the beer tap - the Chimney beer is $1 per ounce

Rain, Rain, Rain!!!
Thats whats coming down since we are here!! The sunday started at 5AM. I joined the guys in their Hotel for breakfast at 7 - then - because the weather was so inviting - we hung out in the hotel room watching a movie - hoping that the rain at least stops a little bit - no chance. At 11 we started our journey. We drove into Boston and I was amazed that I didnt loose my way. We drove through the Back Bay - Downtown - Financial District - a little bit of China Town - Somerville and Cambridge. We actually stopped at a garage near the harbour where we paid $10 for 15 mins of parking!!! As it was just pouring rain we decided to drive back to my appartment - well - Christophers!!
Had a late lunch - then back to the appartment - another movie was watched while we waited for Sarah and Stephan to come to town as well. Then back to Christophers for dinner. At night we went Salsa dancing to Johnny D's where I also met Raj and Babba. Its been nice to see all those guys again!!
So - the fazit is that its just raining here all the time - seems to go on like this for another couple of days. Streets are already partially flooded - which is not so much fun. But we try to make the best out of it. Cheers

Boston on a rainy day	Helmut on a rainy day in Boston
Guenther on a rainy day in Boston with wet pants	A beer sampler at Christophers
Pure excitment when they got a big plate of assorted nachos	Good night!!!

Back in Boston!!!
Oh yeah - I am back in Boston - and its like I've never been away for long. We got here after a nice flight. On our "hop" in Frankfurt we actually met Didi - a colleague of us who just came back from Boston - and of course we greeted him with a beer :-)
Well - Boston is a nice town - especially when the weather is nice. But right now the weather is something that is hard to stand. Its just pouring rain. Its been that way for the past week and its going to be that way for the next week - just rain, rain, rain!!
The next "shock" was when I got my rental car. I usually get an "economic" - which is the smallest size. So far I never had problems with it - the economic version was always comparable to a normal sized european car. Today it was a bit differnt - it was really a small car - and its not been easy to fit all 3 of us in there - with luggage - but it worked out - Heli was the tough guy who had to take the back seat :-)
After checking in to their hotel we drove back into town - checking out my appartment where I was surprised about all the stuff that I found in the fridge - Stephan really knows what makes my day a good day. While we had a Julius Echter - Helmut tried to fix a problem with the toilet-flush that we seem to have. After this unsuccessfull attempt (we need some stuff to fix it) we went to Christophers for more Julius and of course - NACHOS!!!
After this event we checked out Dunkin Donuts for some desert. Here are some pics - cheers

Back when I was in Gallneukirchen - the Grabner's celebrating the arrival of a new Grabner	A fridge full of goodies
More stuff that I like: Pringles, Pop Corn, Corn Flakes, Fruites	Helmut fighting with the toilet
Enjoying Nachos and Julius	Enjoying our Donuts in the Rain

Lisa
Yesterday night we made it to my parents - well - the real intend was to visit my new niece and I hoped to finally see my brother. Havent seen him the past week so I havent passed on any congratulations. But we manged this yesterday - with a beer of course. Now its friday - its beautiful outside and that something that nearly makes me cry - especially when I look at the weather report for the next week in Boston: rain, rain, rain. But I am looking forward to that. We'll arrive there on saturday 12:30 - after a short tour to the hotel we will hopefully make our way into town. I do have a rental - so we should be really flexible. I hope to provide some pictures over the weekend from the first contact with Nachos of Helmut and Guenther.
Cheers

Diseases
In these days I am not the only one suffering on a rather heavy cold. My car isnt doing good either - but getting better - so do I. Well - my car needed some necessary fixes in order to get the driving permit for the next year - but it turned out that there is more to fix than I had excepted.
Right now I am sitting here in my appartment and preparing myself for next week. I am training for Christophers as you can see from the picture below. I do this tough training while watching the UEFA Cup Final match between FC Middlesborough and FC Sevilla - right now its 0:1 - 15 minutes to go. Well - thats it. cheers
---- update ----
2:0 for Sevilla - 10 minutes to go

Thats something that I do not wish my worst enemy - a blue screen in windows	My extensive training for Christophers - Nachos and Beer

Ill or not Ill - thats the question
Guess that you know those situations when you wake up in the morning and the body doesnt quite feel right. The problem is if you dont know whether you feel good enough to work or if it would be better to stay at home. Well - yesterday and today were such days. I decided to work - which was good as I would have been bored at home anyway. I tried to cure my problem with lots of salsa last night - it helped a little bit. So - tomorrow will be an interesting day for me and my car. I have to do some fixes in order to get the driving permission for the next year - hope that this doesnt get too expensive. Hope its worth keeping the car for another year or so.
As for boston - I am looking forward to fly back to Boston on the weekend - hope that everything works fine and we can make our flights. We have already planned some sight seeing on the weekend. Oh yeah - we - thats Helmut, Guenther and me. Two of my colleagues are coming with me to Boston - I hope I can play tour guide to show them the nice places in B-Town.
cheers

Memorial for Piece
Thats whats been inaugurated yesterday in my home town Gallneukirchen. Our austrian president - Heinz Fischer - was part of the ceremony. The memorial was built in order to remember the events that happened in may 1945 in the area of Gallneukirchen. Although I am citizen of this town I was not aware that the so called "Muehlviertler Hasenjagd" was also taking place here and that about 15000 war prisoners where captured on a big field where the memorial was build. Woman of that time tried to help those prisoners as well as those that fled from the nazis in the "Hasenjagd". The most amazing scene for me was that a woman who actively remembers that time came to my booth and started crying when she saw the pictures that were published in a book that I had to sell. Following this I had some interesting conversations with contemporary witnesses.

Besides this event I checked out how my new niece is doing - she came home from hospital on saturday and is doing pretty well (sleeping, eating, pooping). At night we had a nice BBQ - Resl invited. Here are some pics.

Lisa and her mum	Lisa with brother Maximilan and grandma
The memorial ceremony from the distance	After BBQ fire - to keep us warm

Salzburg is not the national soccer champion!!
Unfortunately - Red Bull Salzburg did not become the 2006 Austrian Soccer Champion. Didi and I went down to Salzburg to watch the game Salzburg vs. Pasching. Salzburg had to win and the main opponent Austria Vienna had to loose. Well - neither of that happened - Vienna won and Salzburg lost. But - its been a great event. Its amazing what Red Bull did in Salzburg. It was more than just the game - it was a big show-event - nicely done. Well - here are some pics!

A nice choreography when the teams entered the stadium	Soccer action
A game in the break - with overdimensional balls	Some light effects at the end of the game

Its a LISA!!
Thats what I forgot in the entry for May 2nd. Lisa is my new niece - still havent seen her but I am planning to do that right now!
As for other things going on: tonight is the Salsa Ball in Linz - should be a great event. Tomorrow Didi and I will drive down to Salzburg to watch the soccer game Salzburg vs. Pasching - we are in favorite of Salzburg. As every year we try to at least see one of their games. And there is some new news about my next trip to the states - its going to be next saturday when Boston will see me again (I hope they are prepared - especially Christophers!!)
Thats it - hope to take some nice pics from the Salsa Ball
---- (update 19:36) ----
I made a big mistage regarding the birthdate of Lisa - its not May 2nd - its May 3rd - 4:25 PM - and she is really lovely!!!!
---- (update for pictures from the Salsa Ball) ----

Dance performance from the Maestro Group	The Cuban/Austrian Band
Dance performance from our Salsa Club - dancing with silk	Again our group

Visit from Boston - the 2nd
After a long day full of meetings we went to the Poestlingbergschloessel with a great view over Linz. Well - not only the view was amazing - the food was delicious as well - and - some company had a party and had a private firework that we could also enjoy. After the food and drink part - Sharon and I made our way to the Beluga bar for some salsa. While I was in Boston we often talked about it but never had the chance to really go out. Here are some pics!

Great view over Linz	Weired Salsa Game in the Beluga

BABYALERT!!!!
Just got informed that I became uncle again - the 6th time now!!!!!

Visit from Boston
6 collegues from Lexington are currently visiting us in Linz. To show them how nice austria is we went out to a Mostbauer. The mostbauer was a little bit outside of Linz on a hill. As I had my bike I took the trip with the bike - which was harder than expected - but when I arrived the Most tasted definitly better :-)

Took this picture on my bike trip up to the Mostbauer	Our group sitting outside in the evening sun

More paint and most
We did the 2nd layer of paint in Alex's appartment. We managed to get more paint on the wall than on our clothes - and in the end it looks pretty nice. Next weekend Alex will add some color with a special painting technique. Anyway - after 2 days of hard work we ended the extended weekend at a Mostkost in Linz. There we had two interesting drinks: Mostjito and Most Bowle. Here are some pics. Cheers

Alex and Markus at the Mostkost	Mostkost the 2nd