My sincerest apologies to Mr. Wade Shaver - my future father-in-law - but Miller Genuine Draft has been unseated. Further apologies to Mr. James Mueller - my father - Genesee cream ale, while never ranked, has been further beaten down.
The Giant Red Kangaroo of Hopfest and our european friends have opened my eyes to what beir is. The beers that we had were better described as a savory milkshake than anything I've had before. They were good - but sadly, it only comes once a year.The event is held each summer in Irish Village (aptly named) in Dubai. For one day, they cover the whole place with a tent, air condition it, cover the floor with sawdust, and set up stands with 120 types of beer. That's it. A tent, some beer, and a lot of British, Aussies, and Kiwis. Nope, no Americans - we were clearly the only ones. Ironically, the bands played nothing but American music - and I mean Southern: Sweet Home Alambama, Country Road (Take Me Home), and many, many more. Not only did they sound good, but they dressed the part:
Katie and I managed to try quite a few different brews, but I think I had a little more variety than she did:Matt:
Delirium Tremens (which means "the shakes")
Katie:
(don't know how many though)
Next week for Ramadan, ShishaFest 2008! Is he kidding? Is he serious? Tune in and find out! 
Insult to injury - not even the couple above (that Enrique pulled out of the crowd to serenade) purchased an apartment. Ouch.
Not that we didn’t trust them…but we were half- expecting to arrive to see just a plate of cooked fish on the table. But Imad and Matt proved us wrong, when we walked into Imad’s apartment where they were furiously cooking in the kitchen – filleting fish, making garlic bread, tossing a cucumber salad and not to mention the appetizer spread on the table which included mozzarella wrapped in roasted red peppers, an assortment of cheeses and sautéed portobello mushrooms. 
We ended the night with full stomachs and games of Kung Fu Panda on Xbox and the ladies all agreed that this how the world should work - the men should do the hunting, gathering AND the cooking while the women focus on more important things… like getting the knots out of our backs. 
Our captain, a extremely nice man from Lebanon, was also an avid diver and spearfisher. What that meant was that not only did he know exactly where to fish, he knew everything about the ocean floor. "The snapper are down there on the bottom, feeding on bait fish in the rocks. They won't go more than a meter up, becuase there are hundreds of barracuda circling, waiting to attack. Your line is on the ground - the snapper are looking for it, trying to find where the smell of sardines is coming from. Wait for it...wait for it". The man was a bit of a fish whisperer, but he was usually right. 
We caught a trove of fish - about 40 in our five-hour expedition. By about 11am, nothing was biting (mostly becuase they were all in our baitwell, getting ready for dinner). You can see the genocide here - one fish, two fish, red fish, uh, barracuda fish:
I even caught the only tuna, though it was also a record for the smallest fish caught on the trip. That, however, didn't stop Imad from immediately going for some impromptu sashimi.
Lastly, we pulled back in past the Sharjah coast guard, and took the day's catch over to the fish market for cleaning. I say that very loosely, since there wasn't a single thing with half a mile of this place that I'd call clean:
Don't forget to watch the video: 
For our dear friend Emma's birthday, her husband Dan (you may remember him from such posts as 
Overall, it was a great day, with your typical brunch fixin's (though I hesitate to call any brunch typical): champagne. Oh, and some sort of food stuffs put out by the hotel - I didn't really make it past the mashed potatoes myself :)
A gorgeous Paris day, in front of the Tour Eiffel.
In front of the glass pyramid at the Louvre, or the "Blade" for you 
She's such a pretty lady - the Venus 
I've had a crepe at this stand every single time I've been to Paris! Place St -Michel.
The paps won't leave us alone! Having lunch at Les 
All those stairs make you hungry! Good thing we had lunch reservations at the Eiffel Tower's Altitude 95 restaurant. (I'll let you guess how high up it is...hint, it's in the name, in meters of course).
The Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Sadly, they didn't have any reservations available for an upcoming wedding!
We got our fill of Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas, Picasso and the like; Matt in the atrium of the 
Man those girls can kick! We were surprised with front row seats to watch the glamorous (and scantily clad) ladies - no pictures allowed inside, I wonder why?!
At the top of 
A huge reconstruction effort ensued, including replacing 70% of the ancient tile roofs, which had been destroyed by fire and shrapnel. The new roofs carry a reddish-orange color, since the original brown and tan clay from the 1600 and 1700s no longer exists. Most of the damage has been repaired (you can see marble patchwork on many of the ancient buildings and sculptures), and Dubrovnik is now a thriving tourist destination once more. 
Still, there are many reminders of the aggression – from the landmines that are still strewn around the surrounding hills, to the stories we hear from our tour guides and taxi drivers of where they hid to survive the room-to-room fighting for the city. Through all of this, they've rallied around a single word, and it flies on a flag at the top of the City Walls: 
Definitely a sobering moment on a sun-soaked vacation, but one that has contributed so much to the history and personality of the people and town of Dubrovnik.
We didn't know there were no roads! We had to get 3 suitcases and a dive bag down these impossibly steep stairs! I think you can see the distress on our faces! Uh oh!
The feast we had the first night. We ordered by yelling out our window to the restaurant downstairs! Talk about delivery service.
Out and about on the old city streets.
The unbelievable views from the 
Matt, with the old ship repair shop in the background.
Enjoying the view! The 
A portrait in front of the old city.
Lisa took a motorcycle to a bluff looking over the entire city. (No she didn't drive).
Lisa and the beautiful Old City of Dubrovnik. You can see the city walls that surround the town.
The stairs in front of St. Ignatius Church, done by the same designer of Rome's famous Spanish Steps.
