Aston Villa

It was a big day yesterday . Villa was playing Swansea . Met Karl in the lobby of my hotel and went to have breakfast at Coast 2 Coast ... Yeah the restaurant I was complaining about last night :( anyway after we headed to the New St train station to catch train to Aston Station . We met this Polish Villan that was lost an couldn't figure out how to get a train ticket . We were already on platform told him just to follow us and he did . When we got off we were heading directly to the Villa fan shop on the grounds hoping to find my hoodie I wanted ... As u can see above I found it ! 

On the way to the  grounds we also found the Adventurers pub where we stopped in for a quick pint and met Paul Harris and the Belgian Lions were already there getting ready for the big game :) 

After doing out quick shopping we headed back to the pub for a pre match piss up ! Good times :) our friends have a private room at the pub and we filled in and drank beer to our hearts content . Took a few pics met some old acquaintances from Chicago and headed back to Villa Park. ! Game time 

We sat in the legendary Holte End ... To be exact the Upper Holte where everyone is mental for Villa and it was unbelievably amazing !!! What an atmosphere :) 

To make a long story short we tied 

Swansea 1-1 and heade back to Addies for more beer and to say our good byes . Always tough to say bye but I can leave with more friends and all I can say is I can't wait to get back . 

As you all know I had a shitty experience at this restaurant went to my room posted a blog and crashed out . Today I am on way to Munich to meet Timo and Karl who should be at the airport waiting now . See you guys in a few hours ... Keep the beers cold :) 

Coast 2 Coast Restaurant

Here we go ! Just a little warning ... Tonight I went to a restaurant called Coast 2 Coast on Broad St. with Kathleen and Karl ... The service there is spectacular , seriously it is . Unfortunately  my food wasn't :( I ordered a bacon cheeseburger and when it arrived I noticed it didn't have bacon , and I put my own ketchup on it , dressed my fries then decided I wanted my bacon . Called waitress over and let her know . She checked order said that is what she put in and took plate away ... Now under normal circumstances they should remake the whole meal . Well within seconds my food came back and I was suspicious ??? Fries were different but they decided to slap bacon on and send me back my now cold burger ... 

I am not about to be duped into paying or eating cold food so I asked for the manager . He came and I asked if they thought I was stupid or something and pointed out that they sent me the same burger back but with bacon this time . I asked if this was a regular practise for their establishment and the manager was embarassed ... Rightfully so . The manager asked if I wanted something else and I asked if he were me would he trust the cooks after this ? I don't think he would and anyone that would should be ok with eating out of a dog bowl . Gross ... And no I didn't say that to him lol . The manager tried his best to make up for it by not charging us for our meal and gave me coupons which I told him there was no way I would ever use . Regardless I took them and gave them to Karl . I told him it was a horrible experience having cooks trying to fool me with their lazy behaviour and that it sucked sitting there watching my friends eat . I also told him whoever did this should be fired ! And I hope he does . 

I can be quite stubborn and the bottom line is don't mess with my meals . I think what they did was absolutely disgusting and I just feel that I should share the experience with you all ... You can agree with me or not but the bottom line is I won't eat food coming from a kitchen that has already tried to trick me into eating shite food . Be warned that if you are in Birmingham , UK don't eat at Coast 2 Coast on Broad St !!! 

Visiting Family

Ok so I have to write this all over again but this time it will be shorter cause now I am pissed off at this stupid app ! Basically I went shopping at villa fan shop , went to see family ... Ate food chilled out and went to bed . Sorry for the small post ! Just wasted half an hour typing out blog to have it disappear :( 

Cheers 

Aalen to Birmingham

It was an early morning , had to wake Rainer up and get a ride to Stuttgart airport ... Most importantly we need coffee ! Off to the McDrive :) it's closed ! Next one should be open but it's not .. Keep on truckin ' and we arrive in Stuttgart and finally an open establishment with coffee ... had a couple mcmuffins too , yeah I know it's been awhile since I've spent money at this place ... Whatever it sure beats plane food ! 

We had tickets in hand with a light security check and we were off to Paris :( my gear was lost there last time so u can imagine how much I love it there . It's ok this time they have no baggage to "misplace" bunch of morons LOL . And on the bright side we are going to watch Aston Villa . 

Before I go on let me tell you how shitty air France is ! There stewardess' are as polite as human feces .... The snack was trash and yeah I am starting to think that I will try to avoid their airline in future excursions . This was not my fav part of the day ... 

When we landed Karl McNelly met us at the gate and we headed to drop our bags at the Novotel then rushed to Villa Park to meet Paul Harris ! He got us into the Lions Lounge where it's absolutely amazing . Saw pictures of some of my American Villa mates on the walls ... We should have a picture of Canadian Villans there too ( hope the guys back home are reading this ) ... Game on ! Vs. Crystal Palace , we should beat them .... Shite , we lost ! 1-0 with a last minute goal . I was gutted :( this was definitely a day of highs and lows .

We went back to the Lions Lounge to drown our sorrows and then I heard some fans getting rowdy ... Paul told me it was the Belgian Lions ;) we went over and immediately became friends . Tommy is the chairman , this guy is a riot ... Pretty much the Belgian Rainer , so we got on well and then they tell us about this Belgian vodka we have to try ... Ok ! So off to their hotel to get drunk ;) and we had our tasting . Cosmik Vodka was quite nice . Gonna have to bring back a bottle if I can . As I said this day was all highs and lows ... Next thing u know my mother wrote to me saying the family dog passed away :( poor little Sheena ... I was torn apart , fighting the tears I had to leave ! Not exactly the news I wanted to hear .... 

On th bright side I finally had a decent nights sleep and I am ready for a day of shopping and visiting my aunt ! First things first ... I need bacon ! 

Christmas in Germany

Yesterday was Christmas and we woke up at a decent hour :) worked the hangover that was chasing me around off by going to eat . Unfortunately everything was closed aside from my favorite kebab shop ... It was a good omen that I got to show Kathleen this great food I have been raging about for years . It's right next to the Irish Pub. :) we had the kebab platters which wa shaved chicken , fries and salad ... It's a huge meal and we were all stuffed and happy . 

Rainers brother Gerd is married to a Mexican woman named Pilar they invited us to go skating so we accepted and went to work off the humongous meal :) the ice is smaller then when i was last there and it was full of pleasure skaters . As soon as I got on ice I saw a young boy fall on his face and I knew immediately that he needed help ! I grabbed him and took him off the ice , the poor kid split his face open ... I was concerned ... Not sure what happened if an ambulance came or not but he definitely needed stitches . I hope this doesn't stop him from learning to skate in the future :( 

We skated for an hour then went to have a quick shower at Rainers ... I was schweaty :) when I left Rainers I slipped and fell ... Yeah lucky me eh ? Sprained my ankle and hurt my knee and arm but I am sure beer will cure it so we continue on to the bar ...Rambazamba . Great little bar with amazing service :) 

We weren't about to get too hammered due to our early flight to Birmingham today . After we went by to have a couple pints at Cobans as we saw him at the ice rink an he told Rainer we should pop by for one more :) as I said we didn't stay long and turned in early but at least I got to say by to Servet ... Thanks again to Rainer and his family for treating us like their own it was more then a pleasure. To spend the holidays with you all ... Hope to see u all on my next European adventure ... As I told Rainer this morning , all roads through Europe go through Aalen and I am positive that I will be back again .... Danke ! 

Merry Christmas

Ho!Ho!Ho! Yesterday I slept most of the day as I usually do when I am at Rainers place ... No i didn't drink too much the night before . Just have been wiped out from all the other nights of celebrating and the hockey game took its toll on me . I am not as young as I was when I started this travelling thing .... With age comes wisdom ? Yeah right lol! 

Any hoo . Basically showed Kathleen around the city center ... Everything was closing early though so we didn't see much aside from where we buy the Aalener Spionle cakes which we did buy :) I also showed her the infamous spot where I called her from in 2007 when I first came to Germany and got lost hahah a...

As I said earlier it was a pretty chill day we came back to Rainers took a nap then washed up to go for dinner at Rainers brothers place where we drank some tequila had nachos and spaghetti along with this fabulous punch they made ... They are pretty much foodies with great taste in the culinary arts ... Can't forget the fantastic salad we had too . Thanks ! 

To end the night we went to Cobans Irish Pub ;) my favorite bar in Aalen! Servet owns th bar and we have stayed in touch online since I first met him about 4 or 5 years ago .... Was so happy to see him when we got there and Rainer and I both told Kathleen stories about our past adventures there ... Oh the good ol times , well we didn't want to overdue it so we only stayed out until about 3 am then crashed ... Today should be another great day to celebrate Christmas in Germany. :) 

Merry Christmas everybody !

Finally on Ice

Yesterday was quite the day . Woke up in Berlin and Rainer had to go get our rental car from this company called Sixt . He prepaid for it and was told he would not need a deposit for damages just in case. Then I get a message to come there with my credit card so I took a taxi which I got a nice tour in and it cost 18 euros ! When I got there they wanted my drivers license which I had and my passport ??? Yeah wasn't told and woman behind counter was not the friendliest person ... So we went back to apartment got my passport and headed back again .... When we arrived computer was down and it took 45 min to get our vehicle ... This after she asked for my address ? It's in my passport just read it dummy ! 

We were told our apartment had no renter for that day and cleaner was coming at 5 pm . Well that was not true ... Getting messages from Kathleen like the cleaner is here and new tenants arrived ! This was at 1 pm . When we arrive there is a woman at main entrance blocking door way with her baby carriage so I walked around and was in a rush as we were parked in handicap spot . People were in apartment with Kathleen . Got my stuff went downstairs and this woman was still blocking the exit and she was in no rush to move . Rainer came to door I handed him sticks and 1 fell over hitting the baby ... We made sure the baby was fine and she was . We left and said sorry .... Kathleen was smiling and this woman lost her mind and came out to the car yelling at her . I tried to calm her down but her attitude changed .... So I told her she was an idiot for standing in a doorway and she said she was there for a minute , I called her a liar and she wanted to take pictures of my license plate .... I offered to pose in the picture and she said its in case her baby has future problems ? I kindly told her do what you want it's a rental car and I live in Canada ;) no doubt she left angry telling me she hopes I have a bad day ...ahh the Christmas spirit .

7 hours of driving and we arrive in Aalen drop luggage and Kathleen at Rainers house and head off to Senden to play some puck ;) finally ... Ice time at 9 pm with Tussa Ice Eagles organized by Ralf Dreisettel ! I skated with these guys a few years back . The rink is kinda dark with crazy shadows on the ice. , I was wiped out but still managed to make a couple saves and help my side win in this friendly scrimmage . Most of the guys remembered me and this one fella Anton seems to be a big fan of my blog ;) we spoke for quite some time after while drinking beers and eating some meat , cheese and bread . These guys know how to have fun . Even on the ice these guys all had the utmost respect for each other and all in all are great sports . 

We were supposed to go to my favorite bar in Aalen after but we were wiped out instead opting for some sleep ... Today is Christmas Eve and I expect we will need the rest . 

Anyways another crazy day in the life of The Travelling Goalie . I should take a pre drinking nap now before I start celebrating Christmas in Germany :)

Merry Christmas everyone !

Ho!Ho!Ho ! 

Red Bull Salute Final

Last night was the big game , Farjestad ( Sweden) vs JYP (Finland) ! I was prepared to see a blood bath but instead was treated to a clinic on how to be a bad referee . 

I don't mean to take anything away from the tournament but what I saw was atrocious with moments where refs were behind goalies in the crease , linesmen keeping pucks in zone by not jumping out of way from clearing passes and unknown penalties like the 10 minute misconduct Wallin got with mere minutes left in a close game ! These calls all went against Farjestad :( they battled through adversity and kept it close but in the end the refs seemed to look as though they were doing everything in their power to help JYP win .

The atmosphere was pretty annoying too with some real stupid fans throwing paper planes , running to penalty box to yell at players , and just general annoyances  . Really if you wanna say something to the players get on the other side of the glass ! It's obvious these stupid people have never played the game as they showed no respect at all towards it !

It didn't help that an arena that holds close to 15,000 only had 3,500 fans ??? Apparently free tv kept the fans home ...wtf ! Anyways all in all I would do it again . As a true fan of the game seeing these events is what makes me happy . This was my second year coming to watch games from this tournament and it won't be the last . 

Congratulations to JYP on a fine performance . The 2-1 score was intense but at the end of it I really wonder if the score would have been different if there were some better referees . Just a suggestion for next year don't televise tournament for free and try to have the tournament somewhere non traditional like Spain Lol .... Just so I have an excuse to come . I haven't played there yet :) 

One last thing .... Why are you selling patches for the tournament for 10 Euros !!! Why ??? Really they are now worthless , will u just store them to sell next year saying 2013 and will u bother even shipping them to the next city OR should u have just sold me one at a discount/realistic price ? I have never paid more then  $5 for something like that and I am not about to begin now . 

Enough of my rant .... Time to pack and head south for my ice time ... Yes finally I can get on the ice with my gear here YAY !

Couldn't be Happier

What a day ... Woke up freaked our still as my gear was AWOL still. Checked online then got message from a friend back home about pestering the airline ( thanks Niva) so I did ! When I called, the operator hesitated then said my bag was located in Paris LOL ! It will be shipped immediately ;) 

No clue when it's coming . Really I have to keep enjoying myself so we plan on going to the Ritter chocolate factory mmm! Damn I love this chocolate and so does Kathleen so it was natural for us to go there

 

So I bought like 23 bars and other bags full of chocolate ! Should keep me happy and in a chocolate high for a month or so lol . It was a good day an was getting better since we had more hockey games to watch :) unfortunately Rainer was out of commission ... He stayed out late both nights and the nightlife manager was tired ;p 

Did I mention there was a twitter campaign launched to help me get gear ? I am not on twitter but was told it was getting responses ! Maybe I should start an account there to find this ... Needless to say I am happy that people care and were very supportive in my time of need and I hope it doesn't happen again .

So before going to the O2 World we stopped into our apartment to drop off the chocolates and blam !!!! There is my bag ;) big smiles all around . We went to the rink and watched a couple amazing games and we drank beers and made friends all in all a great day in Berlin . I truly love it here and could probably live here if I had a good work opportunity such an awesome city ! 

Before I forget we also bumped into the Eisbaren Berlin players at Vapiano then to top it all off we got pictures with the European Trophy ! What a day ... Today is the final between Farjestad and JYP ... It should be a blood bath . Sweden vs Finland ;) can't wait !

Red Bull Salute

First thing I did yesterday , called Lufthansa .... My gear is still being traced, not located ! They have no clue where this monster hockey bag could be ??? Wtf ! 

We slept in pretty late as we got smashed the night before . I mean total loss of memory smashed . Regardless it took my mind off the matter at hand . Unfortunately yesterday I could not drink enough to drown those sorrows . Trust me i tried .

We went to the Christmas market and had a couple nasty alcohol concoctions ... Something about hot wine that gross' me out . We have tickets for this huge hockey tournament called Red Bull Salute which is European Championships . We got to O2 world and it was dead ! No joke there was only about 1500 people at the games . Apparently they are televising the games which means nobody goes to the games ??? Yeah it's a bit strange .

First game was JYP ( Finland ) vs Lulea ( Sweden ) ... What a great game ! It was really dirty rough grimy hockey ... I loved  it ! Was like watching a war , and nobody was going to give up ... We sat in the section with JYP fans and they were rowdy awesome fans . We realized we were in the party section :) I must have had at least 15 beers as we sat there watching some world class hockey . JYP eventually went on to win 3-2 in shootout . It was exciting ! 

Second game was Eisbaren Berlin (Germany ) vs Farjestad (Sweden) just bought tickets to see them in Toronto too . They were way better then Berlin . Now I know why nobody was there .... Berlin this year are not so good :( they are the host team and that is only reason they are here . Trust me thy got spanked ! It was like 5-0 or something .

After the game Rainer made some friends and took off on us lol ! We went to get a kebab mmmmm ! I had my doner wrap and gobbled it and we came home to our apartment ! Immediately I started checking online for gear ... Still missing .... 

Today I got a couple more games to watch , hopefully my gear shows up before I leave Berlin . If it's not here by Monday I will have to seriously consider buying new stuff .... Maybe Toronto hockey repair can ship it to me as I have no clue where to buy gear here ugh ! Anyways I should get ready to go to the Ritter factory to make some personalized chocolates . 

Lost my Equipment

So the worst case scenario has occurred ;( my hockey bag with everything in it has gone missing . I just called them to find out that they have still not located it and I am pretty pissed off about it ! 

When I arrived from my long brutally shit flights my bag did not arrive , my sticks made it but no sign of my equipment . They told me it's because of the connecting flights which still baffles me as I had 2 hours between flights and actually had close to 4 hours in Paris which honestly is one of the worst airports I have been too . Unfortunately I have to fly through there 3 more times on this trip . I can't even imagine what I will do if my gear is gone .... What the hell am I going to do if I fly to morocco with no gear ....

Instead of pondering over this I may as well go enjoy some German beers . Scheiss 

Takeoff

So here I am sitting at the airport ! Good thing I got some lounge passes ... Free food and beer , don't mind if I do :) this is my first time posting in the new blogger app so bare with me . I am sure I will have it figured out over the next 3 weeks . My beer is getting warm ... 

So the taxi driver here was cool an I had people in the lineup asking about where I was playing . Pretty sure I caught the eye of one of the local sportscasters here too ... Ultimate it doesn't matter I am having a great day . Kathleen is already leaving Philadelphia as we are flying different routes . Really can't wait to get to Berlin . I have to be on the ice 2 hours after I land .

Good thing my super friends at Goalie Heaven took care of me today when I showed up for some leather repair on my toe strap . Darn thing broke last night during my big Ghetto Blasters win ( come from behind shootout victory ) pretty sure I got everything packed , it's usually around this time that I start second guessing my packing decisions . It's too late now anyways , I should honour me another pint . Berlin see u tomorrow ! 

Registering My Gear

If you did not know this already .... i prefer to fly with Air Canada or Star Alliance flights . Air Canada never charges for hockey gear ... they have a policy where you have to call in to register your gear , you can register your gear with up to 24 hours left ... its getting close for me now i think i have like 37 hours until i leave . I tried yesterday but there was a 3 hour wait on the phone line and you can't do it online unfortunately .

This morning i woke up early and tried again . It said a 25 minute wait so i decided to follow through ( i am still waiting 39 minutes ) this snow storm that is going through Eastern part of the country is hampering this for me as i am sure people are calling in to rebook flights due to cancellations ... yeah sucks for me but its probably worse for those stranded .

I get asked a lot about how i travel with my gear , there is your answer if you were wondering .... just read above LOL ! When i am not on these aforementioned airlines i usually try to sneak my gear on as ski equipment :P no joke trust me it works ... most of these people have no clue what a hockey stick looks like anyway . It is unfortunate that even the people working for Air Canada can be air heads not knowing their own policies ... that is why i print out the sports equipment policy page just to have proof . Seriously it comes handy and i have pulled it out on many occasions . So even if you fly Air Canada be prepared ... some of you may remember my anti Air Canada rant years back when i had a huge "discussion" with one of the managers at the desk there .... still can't believe he didn't know the policies of the airline he was working for , regardless i taught him :) hopefully he is not there tomorrow LOL .

I have a hockey game tonight then i have to dry and wash my gear for tomorrow's departure ... stay tuned for some crazy stories . I can almost guarantee some crazy shit is gonna happen to me over the next few weeks hahaha. Just remember if you see me don't be scared to buy me a beer ! Cheers .

PS ... 50 min waiting to change my booking :( and still waiting .... 

Adding more hockey

2 more days and i head out to Germany for some hockey and it looks like i will be on the ice 2 hours after i land in Berlin ... Kathleen is going to be there already and hopefully she finds our apartment we rented as she lands before me and i am not going to put her through coming to watch me skate there immediately , she can rest up and get ready to party .... the first night is always the craziest so i expect nothing less the total utter destruction of my liver .

Seems like more and more ice times are being added to this trip , i kinda hope i can find enough time to take Kathleen site seeing and obviously i don't want her to be bored out of her tree ! It is kinda difficult trying to find balance in making this a hockey trip and having my girlfriend along for the ride ... yeah i know in the past i have relished in the freedom of travelling alone but this had to be done ... i can't spend the holidays without her and at the same time i want her to see how amazing Germany is !!! there are many reasons i love going there so much and the main one is the people i know there ... can't wait to see you all :)

Ahh 2 more days and i will be chugging German beers while giving cheers to friends with eye contact ... no eye contact means 7 years bad sex ( that is what Rainer claims ) LOL . So from the sounds of it this ice time i have to get rushed to is at a rink in East Berlin ( former East Germany) which is apparently a historic rink .... i haven't received much info but will try to get as much as i can when i find out its name LOL . things are moving fast lately with plans flying all over the place so names at this time are irrelevant .... i get questions like , so do you want to play 2 hours after you arrive ? it is in the most famous arena from East Germany ! we will play with women .... how can i say no to any of that ? for sure just pick me up at the airport LOL . from the sounds of it this trip will take off in full throttle from the get go ... i can't wait .

2 more days ... better start doing my laundry and packing . this is gonna be epic :) 

Not Yet Completely Booked

Those of you that travel and do anything as crazy as i am doing realize that it is not an easy process . Most of you that do resort to travelling with travel team like the Rainman All-Stars where everything is set and organized for you . I do this mostly but a lot of the time i am organizing my own add- ons to those trips . Like when i leave in a couple weeks i am going to hang out with the Rainman All-Stars but i am also taking off for the UK and Morocco on my own .... these are the 2 places on my trip that i have yet to book my place of residence .

Last night i finally gave in and booked my flights with Air France to go from Stuttgart-Birmingham and Birmingham-Munich ... i was hoping to get a cheap Lufthansa flights that my buddy Karl booked but it never came down in prices . So all my flights are booked and now i have the hardest part ... firstly i have to decide where to stay in Birmingham ? I land at 1 pm and have to be at Villa Park before the 3 pm kickoff ! I will have my backpack so i have to decide if i want to just get a room near the park , in the city centre OR somewhere on the way to the park so i can stop and swiftly drop my bags while checking in in one fell swoop .... probably best bet is to get Karl to get our tickets and i just meet him at Villa Park . Yes this part of my trip has nothing to do with hockey :) i love Aston Villa football and if i am in Europe i have to stop in to watch a game ... it is my duty LOL .

Morocco is another hotel i have yet to book .... Adil is trying to find out where is best to stay ... so far it will be near the rink (diplomats all live there ) , or in the city where i would probably have more fun . The problem is that i have to see what works best for my hosts as i will have a driver picking me up for my ice times and hopefully for some leisure activities too :) I don't want to book a hotel and end up in an area that would be difficult for my hosts to arrange rides for me ... it is the considerate thing to do . I leave in 13 days so time is starting to run out and hotels are starting to book up for my dates so guess what i am doing over the next few days .... time to start researching . Sometimes i wish i had someone to book my trips for me LOL .

Feeling Some Good Karma

The last week has been absolutely ridiculous insane ... i worked over 100 hours in 8 days ! This past weekend i woke up Saturday at 3 am to go shoot a commercial came home at 730 pm slept until 3:30 am went back to shoot commercial came home at 8 pm slept until 11 pm and went to shoot another commercial overnight then returned gear getting home on Monday at 2 pm .... you can all guess that i was just a bit tired . So i crashed hard slept through the night woke up yesterday ( Tuesday ) and was in and out of consciousness while farting around on Facebook i noticed that one of the companies i pick up film gear from was having a draw for Toronto Maple Leafs tickets . I entered .... crashed out and woke up a few hours later to find out i won :)

AE TO is short for Affiliated Equipment Toronto . Awesome company they are always giving out tickets and other great prizes to their customers/clients . I live pretty close to their shop so i hopped in the car to go get my tix .... $225 a pop ! i won 2 tickets and i took my gf with me ... even though i probably should have taken one of my fellow workers ( sorry Marco,Petri,Phibbs ) seems like everyone found out about me winning these tickets and i was getting so many offers to be picked up to go there . The main problem was that i had my own game that same night so i had to leave the game early :( The Leafs played San Jose and honestly San Jose looked really good and the Leafs well umm didn't look so good , but in their defense they are missing some key skaters like Kadri and Lupul .

Honestly i have never won anything with so much value ... $450 in Leafs tickets is quite the prize . To top it all off when i was at the game i had a team mate sitting about 10 seats away from me in the same row . It was great seeing you there Evan and nice to finally meet Joe . Its a small world and i am feeling that karma is smiling upon me lately . Now i am gonna go take a nap since i am still pretty wiped out from all that crazy work ! No work no play .... and you were wondering how i pay for these trips :)