The calm before the storm

I'm back in Germany, trying to drink water and rest up in preparation for the storm that's going to hit on Friday. Four of my best friends are flying in from Seattle and we're going to embark on a 16-day road trip through Western Europe. We're starting here in Frankfurt then going from Stuttgart-Munich-Prague-Wiesbaden-Cologne-Amsterdam-Belgium-Paris-Luxembourg-Wiesbaden. Once again, I'm going to be the 5th wheel on this trip but it's a role I've grown accustomed to over the years.

This weekend I took a short trip up to London and I got to see one of the most incredible concerts of my life. Jay Z opened for Coldplay and he killed it with a 16-song set. I was surprised how many Londoners knew all the words to his songs and how receptive they were. I was blown away and I can't believe I got to see Coldplay on the same bill. This was the 159th and final concert on their Viva La Vida tour and they, too, did a phenomenal job. The 80,000 people in the crowd were really into it as well but that wasn't as much of a surprise since the band was performing in their home town. About 10 minutes before Coldplay hit the stage, it started to dump rain and those of us on the floor got absolutely soaked. Almost no one seemed to care and it really enhanced the experience when they came out 10 minutes later. I will never forget standing int he pouring rain, singing along to Coldplay with 80,000 people. I shot a few videos and put them up on youtube and I'll link to them at the end of this post.

I got home from the concert and hopped online hoping to be able to watch the end of the UW-USC game but it was already over and amazingly, the Huskies won! I must have watched the highlights 100 times that night and could feel my chest swelling with Husky pride. The downside to traveling is that every once in a while you miss the incredible moments that happen right at home. Oh well. I do feel like getting put in the top 25 is a bit of an overreaction but time will tell if we deserve it or not. I really would love to go to a bowl game this year.

Anyway, that's it for now. For the rest of the week I'm going to play a lot of poker and try to balance all the spending I've been doing. Wish me luck.