Spanish Countryside (The White Villages)

Wow, wow, wow.... Got to love the Spanish White Villages! Had a great day hanging out with the lady quatro of Lisa, Corie, Grammie, and Michelle (Stringer). We visited the famous city of Ronda, famous for their bull fights and a jail housed in a bridge over the gorge.

We also took a very scenic drive to Zahara that houses a Moorish castle, quaint shops, and streets that climbed nearly straight up. Best part was the views of the lake at the base of the village. Stunning views a plenty!

Corie and Jason: Horse Trip in the Andelucians!

What an incredibly awesome day with my sweet Corie. Spent 4 hours riding horses in some of the most ruggedly beautiful terrain around. 

We began our ride climbing a mountain road that was built by the Romans over 2000 years ago. Can you believe that? We also rode through olive groves, citrus farms, almond groves, past an old marble mine, and more. One of the coolest (besides the 2000 yr old Roman road) were these large pits/wells where Spaniards would mine for limestone to be ground into a paint for the villages. It is what gave them the white that they are now famous for! Our day ended with a plethora of food scrounged for in the local market!

A M A Z I N G.... Now time to go ice my butt:)

Lisa Has Found Her Element

Made it to the lovely resort town of Malaga Spain today. Arrived well in advance of the Stringer clan and decided to hit the beach. We were dumbfounded with the amazingly beautiful sea glass, and the tiniest of sea shells. Seriously, as small as the lead at the end of a pencil. 

Lisa sat on the beach for hours and found some amazing treasures! The last picture shows the nice sunset... That's Africa and the Rock of Gibralter out in the distance:)!

Ryanair.... And the uniqueness of European travel

There are some amazing aspects of living in Europe that every person on earth must experience at one point in their life. One such event is flying the ultra low cost airlines Ryanair, where 50$ round trip tickets are almost guaranteed. For this week's trip to Malaga Spain I nustled myself between a quite large Russian gentleman and a horde of farm animals destined for slaughter (not really...). It would prove to be a quick 2.5 hour flight right? It was quick, but my chest rubbing against my knees made it all the better.

Who am I to complain, my lovely bride snagged me a copy of Bill Bryson's book, "Neither Here Nor There," highlighting the oddness of European travel. Love Bryson's humorous prose, and had picked this book up many times in consideration for a nice read. Never quite clicked with me before, but now that I live here I can't put it down (except to write here that I can't put it down). I particularly loved the reported antics of Paris. Still can't believe I drove a 9 passenger bus, and willfully peddled bikes with Lisa in this crazy place. So, for my travel loving family and friends that need a laugh till you cry read... Pick this one up. Don't do as I did so many times before and pass this book up!

Christmas 2013 at the Post Office

The James Gang quintet of Lisa, Grammie, Austin, Corie, and I spent an hour or so at the Ramstein Air Base post office this evening for some volunteer time putting away mail. With the rush that comes with the Christmas season our service members would be stuck at work instead of going home with their families. The airman that we spoke with said that they had so many volunteers this year that they are for the first time fully caught up. We all enjoyed our time, but were wishing we could have done more!

A Little Soul Food

Introduced the family to collard greens tonight. How is it that I am just now hooking the gang up with this James Gang staple?

Salt, pepper, a little Cholula, left over ham bone, and water... Easy! Still can't believe I found collard greens in Kaiserslautern Germany!

Lisa, Grammie, and Austin liked them. CC, won't admit she liked them:)

Ich liebe Fußball: Austin fall/winter 2013

We have a James Ganger dreaming of college soccer. Living in Germany has it's advantages with great coaching and a highly competitive system, but it does make it logistically hard to be seen by US coaches. So, we have started (barely) creating a video and picture profile for prospective coaches. No such thing as showcase tournaments in Deutschland. Have a couple showcase camps coming up this spring though. Gathered these videos and pics from his club experience with SV07 Elversberg for one of the camp's profile of Austin.

More work to be done!

http://youtu.be/yG79Vujb5d4

http://youtu.be/WOwwMi2LMP0

Street Performers 2013: Kaiserslautern

One of my favorite parts about living in Europe are the impromptu street performances you run across in larger cities. Saturday I was on a Christmas shopping mission in Kaiserslautern and was distracted (easy to do) by these guys. It's a short clip that has a baby crying in the background, but it's still cool! 

 frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas), Jason 

http://youtu.be/FPGMgdmGno0

Pferde 2013: Corie James

Our sweet James Ganger Corie has developed quite the love for Pferde (German for horses). Her trainer absolutely adores her and loves that Corie shows up almost every night to help feed the 30ish horses boarded at the stables. Saturday morning Austin did some manual labor in the arena while Corie readied her favorite pony Willy for a trail ride. It was supposed to be a surprise from Liesa, the trainer, but CC accidentally intercepted the text. She had fun none the less!

Rome 2013: The Birthday Jaunt

Turned 40 this December. Getting older is a good thing when you're a James Ganger! Lisa waited for me to wrap up a "fun" little parent meeting Friday of birthday week for a surprise duet jaunt to Rome. What an amazing wife! Rome was hands down the best place I have ever been. Beats Paris (anything in France so far), clobbers Venice, dwarfs Amsterdam, etc. 

Lisa is the best travel companion ever! On day one we left hotel at 0900 and didn't return until 2300. Had dinner by a harpist, walked the Sistine Chapel, toured the Vatican City, viewed the Coliseum by night and day, saw the Pantheon (dream come true), and more. We saw more than we ever dreamed we could in the 48 hours on the ground! 

Can't wait to return! Jason 

2013 Weihnachtsmarkt

As the saying goes here in Deutschland, when the rain falls, "Dress for the weather." Today we did just that. The James Gang Abroad quintet of Lisa, Grammie, Austin, Corie, and I ventured to the quaint Mosel River Valley village of  Bernkastel-Kuez for the last Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market) of the season. I will anxiously await my favorite foods from all our market visits in 2013. Ohh ziegenkäse gegrilt and Glüwein I will miss you!

Until next year, Jason