Saturday in Key West

Went to La Trattoria for dinner last night. Excellent. Then over to Irish Kevin's to watch the show. Great entertainment as usual. Got home at 1 am. I don't think I've seen my dad and friends out that late in 10 years.

Got up at 9 am and did a 10 mile run in the heat. Was exhausting. Then went swimming and kayaking in the soothing cool water. Then drove into Key West to Sloppy Joe's for lunch, then over to the Truman Annex to see the place where Harry Truman vacationed for 175 days of his presidency over on the grounds that used to be part of the navy base, but now a private subdivision. Then went over to Fat Tuesday's for a high octane slushy drink and to watch the people go by.

Key West is filled to capacity. Drove home around 4 pm and took a nap. We have a 8 pm dinner reservation at Mangrove Mama's down the road. We may be there for New Year's as well. Don't feel like fighting the crowds and driving 20 miles at the end of the night. The neighbor is also having a party at 10 pm, so might end up over there at well.

Probably will go over to Key Deer Pub & Grill for the Packer Game tomorrow.

Happy New Year.

Friday in Key West

Another gorgeous day. Will be hard to go home to the cold and snow in Wisconsin. Spent the day having a long lunch at Boondocks, where the service really really sucked last night, and then went kayaking around my dad's house. Going into Key West tonight for dinner with friends and a few drinks. Will be an early night though. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. No sense blowing all my energy tonight.

Thursday in Key West

I have now visited all the Salvation Army shops and shopping malls in south Florida so now I need to find a better day time activity. I went to Fat Tuesday's to consume slushy drinks till I could hardly walk. Then I went to Irish Kevin's where I again ran into the same couple I saw on the first night we were there, so had to have a few more beers before I got into my Chrysler Seebring Convertible rental car and drove 20 miles home. My dad is talking about moving to Key West real soon so he can be closer to the excitement in the Keys. I'm all for that. Going out to "Boone Docks" tonight up on Ramrod Key for some dinner and entertainment. Should be interesting.

Wednesday, Sightseeing in Key West

There's some interesting history here. Played tourist today. Went to Southernmost Marker at the end of Whitehead Street where there were lots of tourists. Then over to Hemingway House and the Lighthouse. Then over to the old cemetary, Mallory Square and Pier, then up and down Duval St. to do some more shopping. The long pier at Mallory Square got wiped out by the hurricane, so was much shorter. The Disney cruise ship Celebration was docked at the harbor. What a massive ship. In the late afternoon, I went home and then we went out for dinner. Tomorrow, I'll have to drive up to Marathon.

It's Tuesday. We must be in Key West.

Another lazy day. Didn't really do a whole lot. Just went shopping at the Salvation Army on Summerland Key, then met my dad's friends at Michael's for dinner in Key West. After that, I went back over to Irish Kevin's to watch the night entertainer skewer people. He was hysterical as he picked on practically everybody who came in the bar. Even saw a bunch of people from the night before. Then went over to Sloppy Joe's for a night cap before heading home at 8:30. I'm really a slug. But I'm on holiday.

Off to Sunny Florida

Well, Christmas is here. Going to my brother's house for a few hours. Then I have to go home and finish packing since I'm flying to Key West tomorrow. Looks like it will be only in the 70s for the next 7-8 days while I'm down there, but sure beats the crappy weather here in Wisconsin. Bye for now.

Chris' Excellent Adventures: Sydney, Australia

Date: April 2005
Trip: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji
Place: Sydney, Australia
Traveling With: Vicky F from Salem, AR and Vicky H from Little Rock, AR
Photos: (1) Sydney Opera House, (2) Map of our Trip, (3) Sydney Harbor Bridge and (3)aerial view of Sydney on our way to Christchurch, New Zealand. More Pics.

"It was on a huge 747-400. There was no one sitting next to me, so I was able to lay down and sleep for about 8 hours on the way over. Having my face pressed down into the bottom seat cushion of a coach-class seat that God-knows-how-many people sat on was a humbling experience."

So began my 30-page journal from my latest overseas adventure. It was on this incredibly long 16-hour trans-Pacific flight from LA to Sydney with continuation on to Cairns up in the north. Because we were flying west at midnight, we had sunlight practically all the way over after passing Hawaii. I was so blessed to have empty seats all around me. I slept a lot and was ready to go upon arrival in Sydney, despite the 15-1/2 hour time difference from Milwaukee. Actually we missed our connection to Cairns so spent a little more time at the Sydney airport than planned.

This was just the beginning of 3-1/2 beautiful weeks Down Under and the fulfillment of a life long dream. We spent several days in sunny, tropical Cairns diving on the Great Barrier Reef, rubbing elbows with aborignes, visiting a crocodile farm and enjoying Aussie hospitality at a working cattle ranch. After that we spent 6 days in Sydney before flying over to New Zealand, where we visited Christchurch, Queenstown and Auckland before heading up to tropical Fiji for some fun in the sun. More on New Zealand and Fiji later.

Anyhow, Sydney is the kind of place I could spend the rest of my life. Cosmopolitan, friendly and alive. It reminded me of Chicago, LA and Miami all rolled up into one. The people were so nice as well. Of course we did all the tourist stuff (Opera House, Sky Tower, Harbor Bridge, The Rocks District, Darling Harbor, Bondi Beach, Chinese Friendship Garden and the Aquarium). In my free time, I walked virtually the entire city, either on my own or with Vicki and Vicky.

Some day I will go back to Australia and spend some time in the Outback (Ayers Rock) and Melbourne. For now, I'll just keep dreaming. G'Day.

Chris' Excellent Adventures: Berechtsgaden, Germany

Date: October 1995
Trip: Germany, Czech Republic, Austria
Place: Berechtsgaden, Bavaria, Germany (outside Salzburg, Austria)
Traveling With: Dawn S from Oak Creek, WI
Photos: (1) Dawn and I at Berechtsgaden (Hitler's "Eagle's Nest" Retreat) with Austria in the background, (2) The view of Germany from Eagle's Nest (3) Me admiring the awesomeness of the Bavarian Alps.

Berechtsgaden conjures up mixed emotions. On one hand, it was the mountaintop getaway of one of history's most notorious and despised figures. On the other, it is a place of immense beauty, perched high in the Bavarian Alps in Germany just outside the Austrian border.


This is the place Doug wanted to visit very badly while we were touring Germany five months 5 months earlier, but after several days of driving already, it seemed a bit out of the way and there were other, more interesting places to see yet. But when Dawn and I ran out of things to do after several days in Salzburg, it was so close, we had to visit.

We drove for about a half hour out of Salzburg into Germany to get to Berechtsgaden. Being October, the fall colors were great. Once we arrived in Berechtsgaden, we discovered the only way to get up to the retreat was by bus tour. The place was a mob scene, which attests to its popularity. When you got on the bus, you quickly discovered why you were not allowed to drive up on your own. The road leading up to Eagle's Nest is a very steep grade that winds and winds forever up to the top of the mountain. When buses come at each other, one has to pull over and let the other pass. Sometimes you get really close to the edge, which is a steep drop-off of hundreds of feet--straight down. Once you get to the top, you get off the bus and walk through a long tunnel that the Nazis bored into the mountain underneath the summit. It was suggested that this is where Hitler, Eva and his guards could hide if they came under attack. At the end of the tunnel, you take an elevator up to the house where Hitler lived and out onto the summit where you can explore and admire the scenery. Oddly, the house is now a restaurant. It should really have been turned into a museum. The scenery alone was worth the trip. Afterwards, we drove back to Salzburg (Mozart's hometown) where we did some last minute sightseeing. The next day, we drove 10 hours back to Brussels, Belgium where I was living at the time. I always hate when vacations end. Maybe that's why I look so somber in these pictures.

Chris' Excellent Adventures - Copenhagen, Denmark

Date: July 1998
Trip: Denmark, Norway, Sweden
Place: Copenhagen, Denmark
Traveling With: Doug T from Hartford, WI
Photos: Town Hall Square, Havn District, Little Mermaid, Town Hall Square






We are in our third day of a 3-week vacation to Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Our flight left JFK late, so we missed our connection in Amsterdam to Copenhagen. The actress Angie Dickinson (starred as "Pepper" in 70s series "Police Woman") was also on our flight. Doug kept yelling "hey Pepper" at her. She wasn't quite the blond bombshell she was in the 70s. But, hey, we all get old.

Although we eventually got on another flight to Copenhagen, we arrived without luggage. So I ended up buying some new clothes and living in my jogging suit for three days. Also had to buy a new toothbrush. I was so relieved when we got back to the hotel on day 3 and the concierge told us "something had arrived for us." That "something" was our luggage.

During our three days in Copenhagen Doug and I covered the entire city on foot, which wasn't hard to do, and probably the best way. We pretty much just admired all the old buildings, went to a few museums, had a few beers, and hung out at Tivoli for a few hours. I especially liked the Havn area, which is like a canal with lots of boats and multi-colored buildings. And of course, no visit to Copenhagen would be complete without a picture of the "Little Mermaid" statue in the harbor.

On the night before we left, Denmark was playing Brazil in the semi-finals of World Cup Soccer. The city decked out Town Hall Square with big TV screens and threw a party for 500,000 people, all of whom were decked out in flags and national colors. The nice lady I'm with in the 4th picture was the girlfriend of an American guy we met while roaming around the Square. On the side of my face is a Danish flag in oil paint that some girl (don't know who) transferred to my face from hers by pressing her cheek against mine. Denmark lost the soccer match. The next morning, Town Hall Square looked like it had been hit by a tornado and there were still bonfires burning all over the place.

Two weeks later we were at the Hard Rock Cafe in Stockholm watching Brazil play France in the finals. Brazil lost but that didn't stop them from partying. Right across the street from our hotel in Stockholm was a bar called Brasilia, and they closed off the street and beat on drums and played loud music all night long, so didn't sleep well that night. But who cares, we were "on holiday."

New Feature: Chris' Excellent Adventures - Florence, Italy

My friends and family know me as an avid international traveler. Here is a map of the countries I have visited. It all started with a business trip to Holland in 1991, followed in 1992 by a pleasure trip to Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France and England. By August 1993, I was living in Belgium on a 4-year job transfer. Lucky me. That's when the travel bug hit me big time. Since then I have visited practically every country in Europe, as well as Egypt, India, Nepal, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. There are many more places I woule like to go really, really soon. But since I work, there is only so much travel you can squeeze in.

Anyhow, I have virtually thousands of pictures. They are doing no good sitting in albums at home, so I thought I would publish a few from time to time along with some anecdotes recounting the circumtances surrounding the picture.

It was really hard selecting a picture, but I'll start with these.

Time: October 2000
City: Florence, Italy
Site: Observation Platform - Florence Duomo (Cathedral)
Traveling With: Doug and Jenny T from Hartford, WI

We are into the second week of a three week self-guided driving vacation that took from Rome to Venice, Florence, Lucca, Pisa, Asissi, Sorrento, Pompeii, and back to Rome and Vatican City. The Catholic church is celebrating it Jubilee 2000, so there are lots and lots of tourist visiting Italy and making the pilgrimage to the sacred churches. Jenny decides to stay down at street level while Doug and I climb to the top of the dome of the cathedral for a spectacular bird's eye view of medieval Florence. Of course, there is no elevator, so we climbed and climbed the hundreds of steps to the top, admiring the murals painted inside the dome on our way up. Eventually, we got to the base of the dome where we went inside the dome itself.
Eventually we reached a staircase that curved upward along the inside curviture of the dome itself and then down some narrow passage ways until you reach a ladder that takes you up to the observation platform at the pinnacle of the dome. That's where Doug snapped this picture of me. Wow, what a view it was. This was actually my second time doing this. I just didn't want Doug to miss the photo op.

Green, Gold & Proud: Portraits, Stories and Traditions of the Greatest Fans in the World

Although I am not the biggest football fan, I have been known to watch a few games now and then. In January 2005, I was down in the Florida Keys visiting my dad over the holidays with my friends Doug and Jenny from Hartford, WI.

We went to Captain Dan's Deer Key Sports Bar to watch our Green Bay Packers wipe out the Chicago Bears in the play-offs. Captain Dan's is one of many "Packer" bars outside Wisconsin. Sometime between all the free jello shots handed out whenever the Packers scored a touch down (and there were a lot), some guy took our picture out in the parking lot in front of the bar.



Fast forward to December 2005. Doug is browsing Packer books and sees our picture in one of them. I'm in the front row, second from the left in the shorts and white t-shirt. Doug (sunglasses) and Jenny (white shirt) are in the middle row, just to the right of center. My dad is behind the guy with the cheese head. One of my dad's friends is behind Doug, and another is in the green shirt on the pole above the group. I had forgotten all about the picture. But there it is. I might actually have to break down and buy the book.

New Las Vegas Marathon - 12/04/2005

Air Fare $139, Hotel $250, Gambling Losses $100, Meals $50, Throw-Away Jacket $7, Gu $5, Finishing - Priceless.

New Las Vegas Marathon Over!

It's over. The New Las Vegas Marathon. I had one of my best times in several years coming in 42 out of 11,000 runners. It started at 6 am. The temperature was 36 degrees and we ran into 20 mph headwinds for the first 15 miles. When I turned the corner at 14.5 miles, the wind was at my back and the course headed downhill for the balance of the race. I managed to run the second half about 5 minutes faster than the first. It began in the dark with fireworks and headed straight up the world famous Las Vegas strip. It was really amazing. I stayed in a pack of runners to block the wind, but it was apparent they had no energy left at mile 15 so I took off on my own and ran solo for the rest of the race. At the end, there was no one around me.

CHRISTOPHER TROST - Bib #277
MILWAUKEE, WI - USA
Age 46 - M
Chip Time: 02:48:43
Pace Per Mile: 6:26
Placement: Overall--42 Gender--33 Age Division--3

Watch the Start of the Las Vegas Marathon

As for Vegas, that's another story. It is Sin City. I wasn't all that impressed, but several of the hotels are cool, like New York, New York, the Venetian, Paris Las Vegas, and The Luxor where I stayed. The food was awesome too. And there are lots and lots of shows. I'm not a gambler so kept myself busy going to the IMAX (Sharks 3D), Titanic Artifacts Exhibit (MGM) and other things. Missed the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon tours since I didn't want to spend 8 hours touring. The casinos are so massive inside--all of them. And you can't find your way out of them. I felt like I was being held against my will. In the end, you could just call them large bars--complete with all the smoke. That was the bad part. And the distances are so great between the hotels that even I got tired walking. But they have a monorail between some of the hotels and one that goes up the strip. Flying out last night was cool with the hole strip lit up. I'll never forget that.

Off to Vegas

I leave in the morning. Looks like it's going to be a cold marathon (32 degrees) at the start. Will have to remember my woolies. I'm going to walk up and down the strip looking at all the casinos and stuff. Maybe go to the Hard Rock Cafe and a museum or two. My colleague gave me $5 to play the slots. I'll split the winnings with her if I win. I'm no gambler though. More later.