Germany

The week in Munich was very different than my European incursion with Mark and Mane. The BMW International Open was played outside of Munich actually, and I stayed in a bed and breakfast hotel right next to the course, which meant that I did not have the chance to go out as much as I did before. The town of Goldach is where I stayed, and there were farms all around it; wheat, corn, and potatoes were grown for the most part. I ate in one of the 2 restaurants that were there almost every night and the German food treated me good! Schintzel (pork loin breaded), Schpatzle (dumplings), Kartoffel (potatoes), Bratwurst (hot dogs) and many others!
The tournament was awesome. They treat the European Tour players like rock stars. The VIP and players lounge was incredible, different menu every day with very exotic meals; risottos, duck, veal, octopuss carpaccio, everything cooked to order. The “building” was one of those temporary metal structures attached to the stands (graderias) next to the 18th green, but all the metal was covered with white cloth and the furniture was all modern designs, leather, and white or beige colors (very soft Khaki). If you didn’t pay attention you would think you were in a very nice and new bar and lounge, but it was all fake! That place by now does not exist any more… crazy.

Since Europe is the defending champion of the Ryder Cup (for those of you non-golfers, it’s a team competition between Europe and the US played every 2 years), they have the cup and they take it to the big tournaments of the tour and exhibit it. So yes, the picture here is THE original, pure gold, European owned (for now) Ryder Cup which was shown in the VIP lounge. How cool is that!!

My first experience inside the ropes of a big tournament was sweet. The course was in excellent shape and we played with some awesome players (Miguel Angel Jimenez and Anders Hansen). The score wasn’t the best but luckily there is always next week. Open de France is next outside Paris (in Versailles), so if you want to follow go online to http://www.europeantour.com/
These Europeans are very cheap with their internet, I can’t get connected anywhere!! I’ve been meaning to post more pictures and some videos I have. I will try and do it whenever I have a chance, for those of you asking. It is NOT because of me being lazy!

Now we are in France... ou lala mon dieu!!

M

SUOMI !!!

I read and heard before going to Finland that it was a place like no other, and the remark could have not been any more accurate. I saw so many things and experienced a lot, I am pretty sure I will forget to mention something I want to tell you all about, but I will try my best no to do so!
Let me start with Sanna and her family. Sanna is a girl that plays on my (ex)team in Arkansas, she is from Finland and lives about 25 minutes from the golf course Mark had to play in. Sanna, her mom Kiki, and her sister Maria were SOOOOO awesome and let us three (Mark, Mane and yours truly) stay at their house, and treated us like royalty! Sanna’s grandmother Marita lives right next door and she also opened her house to us and invited us for some drinks and food and also came over a couple of times to make sure we were doing alright. People in South America take pride of their hospitality, but let me tell you, this family was just as great, they really went out of their way to make our stay be the best. So once again, KIITOS so much!!!!

I really liked Helsinki. It is not a BIG metropolis, only about 700,000 people, but it is very spread out and it does have everything you might need. All the buildings are beautiful, old and new ones, everything is very clean (it rains all the time too so I bet that helps), the sidewalks in downtown are heated from underneath to melt the ice in winter and allow people to go shopping. This part of the world is very rugged. Helsinki is a sea port, but the ground rises about 3 mm a year, which means there are thousands of islands forming archipielagos and fiords and canals. Because of all these islands, the sea really looks and feels like a lake; there are no sea-like waves at all anywhere (at least the part we saw). Also, the sea tastes almost without salt at all! So different from what I am used to. Finland also has thousands of lakes because of this ever-changing terrain and when I flew out I saw a lot of them from the air and it looked beautiful, they are everywhere! It gets so cold in winter that it freezes the ocean 5 meters deep (about 15 feet) and you can drive cars on the sea. Pretty cool.

They really like their saunas, you know, where you get in to sweat your buns off?? Sanna had one in her house, Marita had one in her house, almost everywhere you see there is one… literally. Finland has a population of approx 6 million and there are 2 million saunas in the whole country. When you take a ride through the fiords you can see little islands with summer houses and ALWAYS a sauna right next to the sea. Trust me, they are EVERYWHERE! These people love to sweat!

I loved the food again! Marita cooked some moose (alce) with raindeer (venado) with mashed potatoes and berries one night… yummy! I also tried Herring (I think you spell it like that) which is fish eaten raw with different sauces or pickled. And of course the Koskenkorva!!! The Finnish version of vodka!!! It is made out of wheat instead of potatoes and it’s distinctively smoother than it’s brother, but with the same kick. Loved it!

Now, the golf tournament was sponsored by this guy who owns dance clubs all over Finland, Estonia and Russia I think. The tee markers (marks that point the place players start to play a hole) on the course where DISCO BALLS!!! And there where parties organized every night for the players. Luckily I am just a roadie (acompanante) right now and could attend these parties without the stress of having to play golf next day, only carry Mark’s bag!!! All the clubs and bars I went to where really nice, fancy decorated, and with good music for the most part. The weirdest part of going out in Helsinki was the light… I mean the day light. The sun went down from midnight to 2 am, so it really never got dark!! That threw me off several times… be there dancing, look outside and see light and think “oh no I should be going” and then realize it’s only 2 in the morning!!! Sweet!!!!

One warning though. If you ever come to Helsinki get a radio-taxi number you can call, the ones on the street suck! They never stop!

Kiitos for reading and keeping up with me! Next report from Deutschland!!! (Germany)

M

Tablao and MORE Adventures

"Life is like a box of chocolates...

you never know what you are going to get" - Forrest's Mom

OK, so let me start with the cool thing that we did last Sunday night. Mark, Mane and myself went to watch a Flamenco show (called Tablao) at this place called El Corral de la Pacheca in the middle of Madrid. Flamenco is a gypsie dance, where the men and women dance to the rythm of acoustic guitars, clapping hands, percusion, and singing gypsie voices (more like screaming voices if you ask me). At first glance all these parts seem to be playing at their own pace and in a very "messy" (desordenado) way, but after a little while you can hear that the songs actually have a structure and defined pace and rythm. The dance is like tap dance, where the dancers play with their feet on the wooden floor and make CRAZY steps and sounds and demonstrate an incredible fitness (estado fisico) and talent. So we enjoyed a couple jars of Sangria and some tapas watching the show! The show went on for an hour and a half, until 12:00:00 sharp!!! I am not exaggerating! They played and played forever and when midnight hit, they stopped, just as if they were scared of turning into a pumpkin. Very funny!

Spain is incredible. So much to do, so much to see... I really hope I can come back in the future. One warning though, service at restaurants is TERRIBLE! If you ask for something nicely you will not get it, period. Don't be afraid to be boss them around if you are ever on these latitudes. That's if you ever want to eat before they close the restaurant.

Now, how about what happened to us?! Mark played great in Madrid! After we finished (he tied for 6th) he was informed that he was invited to a European Tour event this week in France. This is a huge deal, because it is valid for the Challenge Tour rankings (the tour Mark is playing) and since it is part of the European Tour, it has a HUGE purse compared to a "normal" Challenge Tour event. So last night we had to change EVERYTHING in a hurry! Instead of going to Finland to the scheduled Challenge Tour event, we had to switch all plans to go to St. Omer in France. We hustled on the internet making all kinds of reservations, got up at 5am Monday morning, took a plane to Paris, took a car to St. Omer (2 and a half hour drive), we get to the course and we find out Mark is NOT in the tournament!!! Happens that a big name on the European Tour asked for an invitation to this tournament (Paul McGinley) so there was 1 invitation less for the Challenge Tour, which happened to be Mark. A miscommunication between the people in charge led us to this. Right now I am in Calais (next to the Cannal de la Manche tunnel) making arrangements to go BACK to Finland... how crazy is this?!

We are in the process of trying to get to Helsinki, so hopefully after all the craziness goes by, the next post will be from there, and we are playing!!

au revoir!

M

ps. the picture is the view from our hotel in Cobena (Madrid suburb) over the town church and overlooking downtown Madrid in the horizon... pretty neat!

Tapas and Others

"There's a reason for you to explore

Why you're here, what do you say

And the beauty is that you're the one

Who controls just how you play" - Lenny Kravitz

I forgot to talk about the drive from Manchester to London last Sunday. It wasn't that big of a deal, just the fact that I had to drive on the other side of the road for 3 hours! Most of it was on the highway, so getting used to the side and the turns was a piece of cake, but let me tell you the two things that freaked me out. One, is that many times I kind of "forgot" I was driving, and I will tell you why. If I am stading or walking on the road in Chile or Arkansas, and I am facing cars that are going against me, they will be on my right side. If I am driving and I see cars driving and facing me they will be on my left. I don't know if this makes any sense but by driving and having cars facing me on my right side made my mind wonder away for a couple of seconds... a couple of times... but don't tell that to Mark or Mane... well Mane because Mark was sleeping pretty much the whole way back. That was one freaky thing.

The second one was that, since I am used to drive on the left side of the car, my mind tends to line up the left road line against my left shoulder, right? Well, my brain was still doing that as I drove from the right side of the car, which meant my left shoulder was against the line, which puts half of the car on the other lane! It was like the wheels needed to be aligned, the car kept wanting to go left all the time. Stressful... but hey, we made it! and all I got was a couple of honks that helped me get straight (and maybe some english cussing, but oh well).

We are in Madrid now and we have gone out for tapas pretty much every night. For those who don't know, tapas are basically appetizers, and in theory you go to several restaurants/bars (let's say 3 or 4 or 5) order a couple of tapas, a drink and then move on to the next place. We have stayed in one place every night though, so we can drink our Sangria with no rush (red wine, splash of vodka, chopped fruit, pinch of sugar and ice... VERY refreshing for these summer nights... and VERY sneaky, like the beer in Poland). These tapas are sooooo good people! awesome cheeses, the best hams in the world, fresh homemade bread, sardines in olive oil, vinegar and garlic (boquerones!!!), homemade sausages (no additives or anything)... in one word, AMAZING!

Tomorrow Mark starts the tournament here in Madrid. If you are interested you can follow him at http://www.europeantour.com/ and click on the Challenge de Espana link. Wish us luck!

1st announcement.. I made a little photo album on Facebook with some pictures of the trip. If you don't have Facebook let me know and I will send you the link so you can see the pictures.

2d announcement.. I have a cell phone! so Mom, Dad and anybody else interested, write it down. It is based in England so the country code will be 44. The number is +44-7509161896

muchos saludos y carinos a todos!

M

Manchester

The week in Manchester is over...

Believe it or not, I had no access whatsoever to the internet the whole week... not in the hotel, the house, or the golf club. I would expect something like that happening somewhere else but not IN Manchester, England. Oh well, no big deal.

Mark, Mane and yours truly got back from Poland Monday afternoon. That was when Mark got an email letting him know he was in the Manchester tournament, which until that point we had discarded and were making other plans for the week. So fix our luggage, buy a bus ticket and left again early Tuesday morning. What is a 3.5 to 4 hour car trip from London to Manchester took almost 6 hours. These buses stop EVERYWHERE. It was nice to see the english countryside though. Gentle slopes with high green grass and wheat dancing with the wind.. so poetic hehehe and of course sheep everywhere. Even though England has a fairly big population, it seems the cities are very dense, leaving still lots of countryside left for farms and those sort of things, which I didn't expect.

We got to the club and the very first person I see in the parking lot is Daniel Reilly! Danny was in the golf team my first year as coach at UCA and now he is back home studying and doing great! Almost done with his degree and trying to set up a business of his own. I will see him again in a couple of weeks.

...And then there is Daniel Haughian. Talk about a guy who is doing great as well. Dan was my teammate, roommate, and friend in Arkansas and it was awesome to see him and being able to stay at his apartment with his girlfriend Rosie. He works as a golf pro at this incredible practice facility. We went out for drinks pretty much every night and talked golf until early hours of the morning. He also took me to the "Theater of Dreams"... Old Trafford... Manchester United's stadium (that is soccer for all you gringos). That place was AWESOME, you can feel history as you walk through it.

The European Tour Productions asked Mark if they could do an interview with him. So they took us three to an indoor ski slope! So we actually skiied in summer, in England, in Manchester... well, on my part I "tried" to ski. Hope my abilities don't get shown too much because it is a little embarrassing. We did have a great time though.

Saturday night Dan, me and some of his friends (a couple of whom I knew before, Smithy and Fletcher) went out to downtown Manchester. The first pub we hit was really nice. Stayed outside the balcony on the second floor, with an aqueduct serving as tram (subway/train) tracks now right next to it, canals running around, and lots of people out having fun. Then we went to a couple of clubs that actually where underneath the aqueduct! So the inside of these clubs had walls that went really high up over rounded ceilings, all made of the oldest-weathered brick, but the walls next to the floor and floor were of marble or wood, with leather couches, fancy lamps, weird lights... never seen anything like it. The places had a great atmosphere needless to say!

Now we are in Madrid... but the story how we got here will be published on the next post... Cheers mates!

Mo / Mauricio / Negro