Go USA!

I just finished watching a recorded version of the USA vs. Spain basketball game in the Olympics. Wow! That was the coolest thing ever! I love that all of the players seemed to be playing as a team rather than an individual wanting all of the glory. I have to say - I was even impressed with Kobe Bryant - he seemed to be genuinely moved by the whole experience. I LOVE that our home team coach - Nate McMillan- was one of the team coaches - I think he is awesome. It is really nice to see that some of the players I don't usually think very much of, were real team players - and very humble. The USA is a great country - it was nice to see our players show so much respect and honor. I'm excited for the upcoming Blazer season - Rudy Fernandez is one of our new players this year. He made a great showing playing for his country (Spain) in the Olympics, so we're looking forward to having him on our team this year. Go Blazers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I haven't blogged for quite a while - I guess that would actually be two months. A lot has happened since then. We went to Europe for vacation. We went with two other couples - really good friends that we have traveled with before, and had the most fabulous time ever. We left from Seattle - it just so happens that each of the couples has at least one of their children living there. We had dinner out with our kids the night before we left. We got up bright and early on July 1st and headed out on the airport/hotel shuttle to the airport. We boarded a United flight to Chicago. We were so LUCKY (thank you Tim!) to have business class all the way to Paris - and later onto Prague. We spent several hours in O'Hare airport in Chciago. I think that's where the partying really started - we were in the Red Carpet Club Lounge in Chicago where we first toasted our trip with glasses of champagne - what a thrill! From Chicago we flew to London/Heathrow - where I went to Boots and bought a new flat iron for my hair - that's a long story for another time. From London we flew on to Paris and arrived about 2:00pm. We had hired a car and driver to take us to our hotel - the Inter Continental - what a great hotel. We arrived, checked in, and then went to the Club Room at our hotel and drank champagne and toasted to such a wonderful trip. Hmmmm, seems like we did a lot of toasting - :-). We went to a local place for dinner - nnnnn something recommended by our hotel concierge. We had a great dinner and then headed back to our hotel for a good nights sleep before heading out for our first real day of sightseeing in Paris.

Paris is as always - a fantastic city - and we saw as many highlights as time would allow. Without any elaboration, here are some of the sights we saw - The Eiffel Tower, the Champs -Elysees, Notre Dame, a boat ride at night on the Seine River, Montmarte, The Arc de Triumphe, Musee d'Orsay, Musee Picaso, and the Oprah House. In between times we stopped for wine and had wonderful meals at various restaurants around te city.

Next we flew onto Prague - the most beautiful city I've ever seen.

More later - after I have my computer repaired so that I am able to use the letter 'h'.