However I did get photos of the other crop. Spanish olive trees take up the other half of cultivated land which is very dry in the summer.
Monday, August 29, 2016
August 29
Last week I was in Spain again. Andalucia Province is in southern Spain which is very similar to southwestern US. In the spring and early summer there are fields and fields of sunflowers. I didn't get any pictures of them though.
However I did get photos of the other crop. Spanish olive trees take up the other half of cultivated land which is very dry in the summer.
However I did get photos of the other crop. Spanish olive trees take up the other half of cultivated land which is very dry in the summer.
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
August 24
Late Post...I meant to do this Sunday night but forgot.
For the past two weeks I was filling in as the liaison from Marine Forces Europe/Africa to US Africa Command because the other guy was on leave. Sometimes it was interesting, my desk was in the Joint Operations Center which is just like on TV with huge screens showing maps, status reports, and video feeds from the continent.
US Africa Command (AFRICOM) is also in the Stuttgart area. If you remember my earlier post, there are three main US bases; Panzer (where I'm usually at), Kelley (AFRICOM), and Patch (EUCOM). Stuttgart is in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg which is in the southwest corner of Germany. The Black Forest is also in this area, and it's about a half-hour south of Stuttgart. The Black Forest is famous for cuckoo clocks, Black Forest cake, and the story of Hansel & Gretel.
So, right outside Kelley is a small patch of woods with lots of trails - perfect for running. One day as I was running I noticed some trail signs and some of them were......unusual.
Here's a typical trail sign you'd expect pretty much anywhere.
For the past two weeks I was filling in as the liaison from Marine Forces Europe/Africa to US Africa Command because the other guy was on leave. Sometimes it was interesting, my desk was in the Joint Operations Center which is just like on TV with huge screens showing maps, status reports, and video feeds from the continent.
US Africa Command (AFRICOM) is also in the Stuttgart area. If you remember my earlier post, there are three main US bases; Panzer (where I'm usually at), Kelley (AFRICOM), and Patch (EUCOM). Stuttgart is in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg which is in the southwest corner of Germany. The Black Forest is also in this area, and it's about a half-hour south of Stuttgart. The Black Forest is famous for cuckoo clocks, Black Forest cake, and the story of Hansel & Gretel.
So, right outside Kelley is a small patch of woods with lots of trails - perfect for running. One day as I was running I noticed some trail signs and some of them were......unusual.
Here's a typical trail sign you'd expect pretty much anywhere.
Here's another one. Just like most anywhere else there are different trails, blue trail, red trail, etc.
There are even trails for horses.
And then there's this! A trail for witches?? But they have brooms and can fly, so they don't need a trail. Maybe it's a warning to lookout for witches. That's probably it.
In case you get lost, there are plenty of signs to help you track the witches.
There's also a waiting area for witches and victims...
And finally, I think this is the holding cage for witches to keep their captured children. It looks like there's the remains of an unfortunate one still in there....
Sunday, August 7, 2016
August 7
Other than the NSA, I don't think anyone is reading my blog. But just in case I'll do a quick update.
This weekend I went to Prague in the Czech Republic. This was a trip organized by the USO on base, and here's a bit of trivia. In the early 1940s there were several organizations that helped provide morale services to GIs. There was the YMCA, YWCA, and others, so I think President Roosevelt started the initiative to combine them into one organization. That would help focus fundraising efforts and prevent duplicate services. Uniting all the services into one organization became the United Services Organization.
When I went to the USO office they said this trip was filled up but you can always show up on the date of and see if there's space. So 1:00 on Saturday morning I was in the parking lot on base and got lucky. It's a long bus ride but ultimately worth it. Once we got in the city there was a tour guide who walked us around for a few hours. Prague is notable for a few things but the one I found most interesting was its survival during WWII. Since Czech was 'affiliated with' (some say owned by) Germany it wasn't bombed by the Germans. Apparently there weren't too many German garrisons in Czech because the Allies didn't bomb much either. So Prague came out of WWII far less damaged than the rest of major European cities. Even their subway is pretty new. I didn't go in it but it was started in the 1970s which I think is about the time Washington DC started their metro system.
So the Czech Republic is part of the European Union but does not use Euros. They still use the Czech Krona (or something like that). One Euro is worth ... uh, a lot of Krona...so prices are a little hard to get used to. I had a nice lunch at an outdoor hotel/restaurant. Caprese salad and a bull & dumpling goulash. The bill came to 360 which turned out to be around 22 dollars.
I'm filling in for another Marine who is going on leave, so for the next two weeks I'll be the Liaison Officer for AFRICOM. A little bit cool since I'll get exposure to very high level discussions on fighting bad guys in Africa. And a little bit dull since no matter what the topic, a long boring meeting is still a long boring meeting.
This weekend I went to Prague in the Czech Republic. This was a trip organized by the USO on base, and here's a bit of trivia. In the early 1940s there were several organizations that helped provide morale services to GIs. There was the YMCA, YWCA, and others, so I think President Roosevelt started the initiative to combine them into one organization. That would help focus fundraising efforts and prevent duplicate services. Uniting all the services into one organization became the United Services Organization.
When I went to the USO office they said this trip was filled up but you can always show up on the date of and see if there's space. So 1:00 on Saturday morning I was in the parking lot on base and got lucky. It's a long bus ride but ultimately worth it. Once we got in the city there was a tour guide who walked us around for a few hours. Prague is notable for a few things but the one I found most interesting was its survival during WWII. Since Czech was 'affiliated with' (some say owned by) Germany it wasn't bombed by the Germans. Apparently there weren't too many German garrisons in Czech because the Allies didn't bomb much either. So Prague came out of WWII far less damaged than the rest of major European cities. Even their subway is pretty new. I didn't go in it but it was started in the 1970s which I think is about the time Washington DC started their metro system.
So the Czech Republic is part of the European Union but does not use Euros. They still use the Czech Krona (or something like that). One Euro is worth ... uh, a lot of Krona...so prices are a little hard to get used to. I had a nice lunch at an outdoor hotel/restaurant. Caprese salad and a bull & dumpling goulash. The bill came to 360 which turned out to be around 22 dollars.
I'm filling in for another Marine who is going on leave, so for the next two weeks I'll be the Liaison Officer for AFRICOM. A little bit cool since I'll get exposure to very high level discussions on fighting bad guys in Africa. And a little bit dull since no matter what the topic, a long boring meeting is still a long boring meeting.
This is the Astrological Clock in Prague. Very old.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_astronomical_clock
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