Baltic Sea vs. Bay of Riga

Here is the exact location where the Baltic Sea mixes with the Bay of Riga. You can actually see both bodies of water meeting in the middle.

Art Nouveau

When you visit Riga you will see all of this Art Nouveau. Buildings throughout the city have statues and faces on the sides. It is one of the most impressive sites and one of the largest collections in Europe.

Prince Albert of Monaco

It was Monaco's National Day on Nov. 19 so they had a big celebration. I was walking around and Prince Albert looked out his window to say hello. He said he had been reading my blog and wanted to know what Obama was saying to me. Unfortunately, when he came to the window a lot of other people started waving their flags and cheering. I was not able to carry on a conversation with him so I went back to the hotel for lunch. Maybe I'll call him before we leave.

Monaco

Rhonda and I had a workshop in Monaco and Nice. Here is what Monaco looks like. Nice place but too crowded.

The Boot

This pink thing is attached to your front tire when you do not pay for parking. So far it has only happened one time to me. Once you get the boot there is a number to call and a guy comes to your car in a couple of minutes and takes the boot off. It usually costs about $5 to get it off.

Crocodile Dundee

You may have thought Croc. Dundee came from Australia. Wrong. He really came from Latvia. He left Latvia after WW II and went to Australia. This is a statue to him located in Dundaga, Latvia.

Emergency Room Visit

Here is a picture of Rhonda's stitches after her trip to the emergency room. The doctor looked like an old Ed Asner and the surgery room looked like you could change oil in the other bay. You could go deep sea fishing with the test line used and the doctor was trained as a veterinarian in the former Soviet Union.

Respected Again

It was amazing to watch the world celebrate the election. We happened to be in an airport watching CNN when the results were announced. People from around the world cheered.

Grain Storage

In Latvia this was how they stored their grain 100 years ago. There is a house built out of one of these and it's for SALE!

Wooden Castle

Here is a recreation of the wooden castles in Latvia. They created this castle to show how they were built when stone was not used.

Latvian Castle

Here are pictures of another castle in Latvia. This one was built on the river near Ogre.

Osek, Czech Republic

This is the town of Osek. It is located about 60 miles north of Prague near the German border. This is the town in which my Great, Great Grandfather Thomas Molacek and my Great Grandfather Joseph Molacek were born but left in the 1850's. We looked around the town and asked if anyone knew our family name. No one had heard of us but we did have a great traditional Czech meal...pork knuckle, 2 kinds of dumplings and 2 kinds of cabbage.

Prague

Here are some pictures of Prague. I had a meeting there so we found some time to look over the city. It was undamaged in WWII and is unbelievably gorgeous.