Greetings from Madrid!

Before takeoff in Philly

Well we finally arrived here in Madrid and WOW! This place is AWESOME! The people so far have been unbelievably nice and very helpful. I guess I'll start with the plane rides over here. First of all, THANKS BOB!!! I've never flown in such luxury before. We flew first class from LAX to Philly, which was really nice, but the best part was the flight from Philly to Madrid via Business Class. WOW! Let me tell you, business class is the way to go. I had enough leg room to actually stretch my feet out ALL THE WAY to the seat in front of me. Upon boarding the plane, I was greeted by Heidi, our stewardess for the flight. She offered Stef and I a glass of champagne right after we sat down. After we sipped on champagne, we looked at the dinner menu to see what we wanted to eat. The entrees consisted of flat iron steak, red snapper, rack of lamb, and a few others. After putting my order in with Heidi, she asked if we would like a beverage after takeoff, so I ordered a beer and Stef had a glass of wine. I couldn't help but sit there and giggle like a little school girl at all the amenities and luxuries of the business class. The first thing I did was play with the reclining seat, which almost folds down flat into a bed. I then continued to pull out the FREAKING TV out of my armrest. I was seriously grinning from ear to ear and just laughing. It was by far the best flight EVER!!!

After takeoff we started to get settled in. I reclined my chair and just relaxed and listened to some music while the announcements were being made. Soon thereafter, Heidi came by with a hot towel to wipe my face. After a quick fresh-up with the towel she brought over my beer and Stef's glass of wine. For dinner, we enjoyed a salad as the first course, our entree as the second course, and desert as the third course, which was either a cinnamon chocolate cake or an apple butter tart. Stef had the flat iron steak for dinner and the cake for desert and I had the snapper and the butter tart for desert. The food was excellent. My snapper came with spinach and brown rice and Stef's came with a twice baked potato and peas. She didn't like her peas so I ate them and gave her some of my spinach. After dinner was over I relaxed and layed back to enjoy a movie on my little TV. I had many a choice of movies, music, and TV to watch. I was debating to either watch The Dark Knight or Baby Mama. I had seen The Dark Knight before so I chose to watch Baby Mama, starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. It was quite entertaining and funny, but I ended up falling asleep towards the end. Stef chose to watch Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. After our movies we both ended up asleep in our lounge chairs sleeping like babies. I slept really well but woke up with a sore neck.

Upon landing in Madrid we made a hasty exit toward the baggage claim to get our luggage. It took a little longer than expected and I was starting to worry after about 30 minutes of not seeing our luggage. While waiting we met a nice guy who lives here but was in the States visiting some family in Phoenix. He was very nice and his two kids were really cute. He had a 1 year old little boy and a daughter who I'd guess was about 2 or 3. Shortly after talking to him our luggage showed up and we were on our way. We went outside and there was a driver waiting for us with my name on a sign and everything. I felt like a VIP traveling in such style. Our driver's name was Christobal and he was very nice. I decided that there was no time like the present and starting conversing with him in Spanish. He told me that my accent was "perfecto." Oh, and by the way, he drove us in a VERY nice Mercedes that drove really smooth and nice. Might have to pick up one of those some day. Anyways, I digress. As we were driving we kept talking and in Spanish and English and he was telling us about some of the things and places around. I told him where we were going and what we were doing and he was very helpful in giving us information on what to do and how things worked. Twenty minutes later we arrived at our hotel in the Plaza de Santa Ana. As soon as our car stopped we had two bell hops help with our luggage and escort us into the hotel to check in. The gentleman who checked us in was very nice and courteous. We got our keys and headed up to the room. Upon entering the room we found a very narrow corridor that led to a room a little bigger than a king sized bed. The room is very small but also practical. It's nothing like a hotel in the States where there is a lot of empty space to fill. It has the bare necessities and a nice flat screen TV mounted flush in the wall. As we speak, I'm sitting on the bed watching Dirty Jobs on the Discovery channel in Spanish.

So far our time here has been awesome and we haven't even done anything yet! Oh, I forgot, I keep asking everybody about how the tipping system works here. I asked the concierge about tipping for taxis and such and he said no more than 1 or 2 Euro and the guy who brought up our luggage said its not required. It feels weird not to tip because we're so used to it back home. We gave our bell hop 3 Euro for bringing our bags up and he was very thankful. We're going to shower and possibly take a quick nap before we head out to explore the city. I'll try to keep everybody updated as often as possible but there's so much to do here! In the mean time, here are some pictures from our flight. Enjoy!

Whats that?

Coming into Madrid from the plane

We're tired

This is pretty much our whole room

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

I would like to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah! It's been a pretty hectic past few weeks since I last posted. Stef and I went to Disneyland for her birthday and stayed at the famous Disneyland Hotel. Let me be the first to say that this hotel is due for a much needed renovation. Our room took me back to the 80s with the wallpaper. Not that we would be spending much time there, but still, I think they need to give that hotel a makeover. Nevertheless, we still had a great time at the happiest place on Earth. We rode all the rides and saw all the attractions. Although we did see some weird things the first day we were there. We kept seeing these kids with all this bright colored clothes and bracelets covering their entire arms. It was the weirdest thing because we saw about 15 or 20 of them throughout the day. I decided to google it when we got back to the room and found out they're called "Candy Kids." Google it if you want more info. I don't feel like going into it. It was just weird seeing so many of them throughout the day and they all dressed the same. Anyways, I digress.

I did play this past Sunday morning with the Redbirds; my first game in two weeks. We played at Pasadena High School because we got kicked out of Brookside so they could redo the field for Pasadena City College. We played the Glendora Dodgers. It was a great game and ended up in extra innings. We were tied going into the bottom of the 9th inning but couldn't muster up the final run to put the nail in the coffin. We got into trouble in the 10th inning and ended up with the bases loaded and 1 out. I was called upon to finish the game so I dusted off my pitching glove and jumped back into pitching mode. I got the first guy to pop up to the first baseman and struck out the next batter with a 3-2 count to end the inning. We couldn't score in the 10th so I came back out for the 11th inning and shut them down in order, striking out two guys. Our lead off guy got on in the bottom to the 11th. He ended up on third base with one out and I was standing on deck. They signaled for an intentional walk to the batter before me so they could setup the double play. Well, that didn't really happen because the second pitch ended up right over the plate, so he popped it up to the right fielder in foul territory. Don't ask my why he was trying to catch it, but he caught it on the run and tripped over himself trying to get the ball out of his glove and we ended up winning it on that. The final score was 5-4. I finished the game 0 for 3 with two groundouts and a line out. That was my last game for a little over a month.

As many of you know I'm getting married on January 3rd, 2009. We'll be leaving on the 6th for our honeymoon to Spain for two weeks. There, we'll make stops in Madrid, Seville, Marbella, Granada, Cordoba, and Toledo. We'll return back to the states on the 20th, so I'll try to post some pictures after we get back.

I'll try to post while we're in Spain and maybe I'll post some pictures as well. Take care everybody!

Another One Bites The Dust

Not too much has happened in the past 10 days since I last posted. I went and saw "Four Christmases" last Friday and I have to say that I was actually surprised. It was a lot funnier than I thought it would be. Of course it dragged at certain spots, especially the end, but overall, I give it a 6.5/10. It was quite entertaining and certain scenes actually had me laughing out loud.

I did play again this past Sunday. I had one of those what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you-to-make-you-look-so-horrible-at-the-plate days. I looked like an absolute idiot at the plate Sunday. I struck out 3 times; HORRIBLY. I was taking pitches right down the middle and swinging at the bad ones. I seriously looked like I had no clue what I was doing up there. At least that's the way it felt. Out of the 3 at-bats I had I hit one pitch. Not very good. I guess it was just one of those days. I had been hitting the ball extremely well prior to Sunday so I guess I was due for a bad game. In my previous 4 games I was 7 for 12 with 2 HR, and 4 RBI, so I can't really complain. I did get some interesting news in that I might be playing with the Orange County Flyers of the Golden League next year. More details will come when I find out what's going on. Nothing is set in stone so I don't want to get my hopes up just yet.

On a happy note I will be going to the happiest place on Earth this weekend. That's right, I'll be spending 3 days at Disneyland celebrating Stef's birthday. It's not officially until the 17th, but this is the weekend we had free and could go, so we took the opportunity. For those of you who don't know, I'm getting married to Stefanie in a few short weeks on January 3rd, 2009. She's the best thing that's happened to me and I couldn't be happier and more thankful we found each other. I love you baby.

We'll be heading to Spain for our honeymoon shortly after the wedding, where we'll be exploring Madrid and the southern part of Spain. I've never been to Europe, so I'm really excited. Although I don't think I'll get really excited until the day before we leave. For some reason, the wedding and honeymoon haven't hit me yet. I don't think it'll really hit me until a few days before it happens. It just doesn't seem like it's that close; especially the wedding. Here's the part where I say the cliche "It seems like only yesterday..." It seems like only yesterday I was 12 years old and playing travel ball around the country and just being a kid. Now I'm all grown up and getting married. It's all so surreal. It's hard to believe that I'm 24 years old. I don't think I could have picked a better set of groomsmen either. You guys know who you are: Jason, Alex, Dale, Zack, and Steven. Thank you guys so much for being there for me and just being my friend. You guys are awesome and I'd do anything for you guys.

I'll leave you guys with a quote that I like from my favorite movie of all time, "The Shawshank Redemption"

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."

-Ellis Boyd Redding (a.k.a. "Red")

The Leftovers

It's been a fun and exciting Thanksgiving holiday for myself. The 4 days off from work have definitely been nice and much needed. I played a few rounds of golf, hung out with my brother, and spent time with my family. I finished this holiday weekend off by playing baseball today out at the Rose Bowl. We played the Norwalk Dodgers. Wouldn't you know it? Their catcher didn't show up today, so we had to lend them one of ours. Apparently 3 of their pitchers were missing too. We lit up their first pitcher and scored 8 runs in the first 2 innings of the game. In his defense, of which he had none of today, a lot of our runs were scored on errors. It seemed as though every guy on their team had a hole in their glove. They probably made about 10 errors in all, which led to the 17-2 shellacking we put on them today. I had a great day at the dish going 2 for 2 with a home run, infield single, and 3 walks. I crushed a 1-0 changeup out of left center field for my second home run in as many games. I also boarded the "Walk Train" with 3 walks today, which is probably as patient as I've ever been as a hitter.

As for my Thanksgiving it was a lot of fun. The entire family gathered at my parent's house and enjoyed a nice family meal. I was a little bummed to learn that there was no pumpkin flan, but nonetheless I enjoyed a nice array of deserts including chocolate pie, pumpkin pie, and a huge rice krispie treat. That pretty much sums up my holiday weekend in a nutshell. It was a great break from work, of which I'm dreading going back to because it's been 4 days and I don't miss it whatsoever.

Lastly, I'll throw in my two worthless cents about college football because I know my thoughts really matter to you guys. I saw this weekend that Oregon crushed Oregon State 61-35, which gave the Rose Bowl to USC. I know my buddy Dale was probably jumping up and down like a little girl because the Trojans are going to with the Pac-10 again, or as it should be called the Wack-10. Haha. I don't know what I'm talking about. That was my lame attempt at a joke. But apprently USC's schedule was so weak this year that they had to go undefeated to have a chance at the BCS. Oregon State ruined those hopes and dreams for the Trojans. Revenge is a dish best served cold,and Oregon served a big dish of whoop-ass to the Beavers this week in spite of USC. Dale, congratulatons on the Rose Bowl bid. Let's just hope that UCLA doesn't spoil it again like they did a few years ago by upsetting SC. Although I think that loss was a little more painful because it cost them the BCS game. Good luck Dale. I know you don't need it. haha.

Happy Black Friday!

Well it's that time of the year again. BLACK FRIDAY! I'll admit I used to get more excited about it but right now my excitement is mediocre at best. I checked the Best Buy ad yesterday and saw nothing that I wanted. Not that I can afford it or anything but nonetheless, I'm kind of disappointed in Best Buy. They usually have some killer deals but this year they only had a few of which were meaningless to me. They had the usual $4 DVDs and cheap MP3 players but that's about it. They had a deal on an LCD TV and a few laptops, but those are useless to me since I already have them. I do need a new MP3 player for the gym because like the dumbass I am I left my iPod Nano on the treadmill at the gym last Friday; not realizing I had left it there until Sunday afternoon. By that time it was long gone. Some heartless jackass decided it was better theirs than to have a heart and turn it in to the manager. Whatever. I'm pissed at myself for leaving it there. I've already left my phone there twice, so I should consider myself lucky I got that back. Anyways, I digress.

My Thanksgiving dinner isn't until tonight. My brother flew in Wednesday evening with his wife and they went down to San Diego for Thanksgiving yesterday; so today we're having the Hirsh Family Thanksgiving dinner tonight. It's sure to be an exciting meal with the traditional turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, homemade gravy, broccoli casserole, and much much more. Oh and for dessert we have a special treat of pumpkin flan. I'm excited.