It takes Nicolai all of about ten minutes to organize the first volleyball game. The new venue features a much nicer court and he is very pleased with this aspect of the new camp.

Jeanine gives me “the look”. It means she is happy to be on vacation and … well, let’s just say that I know what the look means.

Nicolai hangs out with me during a moment of rest.

Little suprise that Maya is the first to hit the water. Temperatures here are through the roof.

It doesn’t take long for the kids to connect with their old buddies. Kyle finds Michael; both have shot up several inches since last year.

This morning, I flew from Albany to Chicago where I met up with the family enroute to Lake Geneva, WI for our eighth Bayside family retreat. This year the camp has a new venue about a quarter mile down the shore. Upon arrival the family checks out the new location.

Kyle and Bethany out for a drive.

While I was travelling on business, Jeanine and the kids were visiting life long friends in Oklahoma. Jeanine and Kris grew up together and now our children are doing the same. 

Old Montreal is very charming and had Jeanine been with me, I am sure we would have been riding in this carriage as we made a tour of the area.

Because of the 6 hour time difference, I arrived in Montreal with a little time left in the day to go for a walk. Last weekend was the Montreal Jazz festival.

As beautiful as the architecture in Munich was, I wanted to find some nature so I jumped the S-bahn for one of the many parks in the city.

Today is a travel day (12 hours all in to Montreal). Before I left for the airport I was able to squeeze in a little more sight seeing.

At night everything takes on a different character.

Today was a long day in the office but I did find a few hours in the late evening to wander about the city center.

Here the French contingent goes wild when Zidane makes his penalty kick. For me this evening was a rare opportunity to experience something truly European. Leisurely dining outdoors, meeting new people from all over the world, and celebrating the victory of “my” country in the world cup. Unfortunately, I have no photos of the Italian erruptions because I was too busy celebrating with my compadres to take pictures. When the game was over, the French and Germans were all truly happy for us. It was a fantastic evening and the drinking, singing and celebration continued for hours.

I had dinner in this outdoor beergarten which was setup with a huge screen for the World Cup finals. I arrived early and got a great spot among the thousand or so people who gathered at this venue to watch the game. About 10% of the crowd was for Italy, 30% for France, and the rest were Germans who did not really pick sides. Seated at my table were two Swiss guys and 3 couples from Germany. One woman earned her living using the equipment my company produces. What a small world.

I took dozens of photos of the architecture but this is among my favorites from a photographic perspective.

This little German girl was just too cute to pass up. Unfortunately, I could not communicate well enough to learn the significance of her tiny hat.

Open air cafes abound.

I decided that this was the lion for me to pose with. I asked a women walking by to take the photo. She turned out to be an optics engineer from Austria and we had a nice chat about cameras and lenses.

Little shops like this one are to be found in every nook and crany of the city.

The integration of architecture and sculpture is apparent with every new “Platz” revealing an even more spectacular view.

Highly decorated lion statues can be found at every turn. Here a waiter pauses for a chat with his girl friend.

I arrived at about noon and travelled by S-Bahn to the city center. After checking into my hotel and grabbing a quick nap and shower I set out for some sightseeing. Despite having been to Munich over a dozen times, I have never really had an opportunity to see this beutiful city.

Today I am off to Munich on this Lufthansa jet. To say the German’s have embraced the spirit of the World Cup would be an understatement. If I had tried, I could not have timed my trip better to coincide with the finals. Although it was really just dumb luck, I am looking forward to seeing the final match in a German beergarten.

Final shot of the day.

I reached the end of the shore walk as the sun was setting and paused for this shot which for me captures the feel of the city.

As I was walking down the street, I came across what appeared to be a race in which all participants were wearing red dresses regardless of gender. Of the 500 or so “runners” all seemed to share a high blood alcohol content and to be displaying a lot of skin (this being a family website, I have posted the most conservative albeit least interesting photo). Only in California!

The waterfront features a maritime museum which inlcudes a collection of great sailing ships as well as more modern naval vessels.

Once again, even though though the moon was visible, it remained light late into the evening.

This morning I flew into Los Angeles for meetings in nearby Tustin. Half my staff at this location were out on vacation and I was able to wrap things up by around 3PM (good thing too, because by this point my voice had all but completely given out). I decided to make the 2 hour drive to San Diego rather than hang around LA and made my way to the downtown waterfront which is punctuated every couple hundred of feet with great sculpture.