Quite an adventure it has been since our last encounter. In a matter of a week I went from sleeping in Baghdad and skipping rocks in the Tigris River and trying to avoid the surge of new mortar attacks to hanging out in Kuwait for 36 hours. Finally, arriving to my home in Vilseck Germany via a flight and a train ride through the beautiful and colorful country side of Bavaria to the exciting and warm embrace of my family. And it hit me, no more game face, its been a while; the intensity has been great...now what? We hung out for a bit at our home. I tried to quickly get acclimated to the change in environment. No helicopters, no mortars, no generators, no midnight knock at the door because of Red cross messages. However, sleeping in my own bed and a short opportunity to be me again.

We took a long drive from Germany through the Swiss Alps, mountains covered with snow, running streams of water and green everywhere! Quite the change from the desolate dry sands of the desert. Stayed the night in Lugano, Switzerland, the next day had lunch in Milan, Italy then continued our drive to Genoa, Italy. Where we started a bit of an adventure by taking a cruise through the W. Mediterranean. Starting in Italy with Naples and Sicily followed by Spain, Mallorca and Barcelona, to Tunisia, N. Africa, and lastly Marsille France. There was something peaceful about everyday, every breath was like a Buddhist Nirvana; blissful. The many different languages, the people, the drastic change of scenery in such a short period of time was just remarkable.

This life is rich. And I am learning everyday. Now I am back in Kuwait awaiting a flight to get back into "the fight".

Pictures to follow.