Round 1 of 3
After some 50 pages of Op Plan that I’ve been working on since December, it’s time to execute.
A few photos of action shots of our upcoming big drill that involves the Host Nation, embassy responders and DoD.
Last minute hood brief with the body guards.
World Cup Qualifier
NMK versus Portugal. Even though the team may have lost, we came out as winners thanks to the roasted pig.
Back in Thessaloniki
Decided to get some serious work done in Greece this weekend.
Drank an entire pot of coffee by myself.
Been too busy
I’ve been averaging 11 hrs a day at work and seven hours during the weekend. But I will rather be busy than bored.
I got my team together and ventured over to a private cigar lounge (aka a private house converted into a cigar lounge). Our host was gracious and offered us plenty of appetizers and alcohol…for free! It turns out they are willing to cook a roasted pig for us in the future.
Thessaloniki Part 3 of 3
Found an asian grocery store. Visited a castle. Saw cargo ships. Visited a museum. And almost bought a leather jacket.
Thessaloniki Part 2 of 3
We ate seafood. Some giant crayfish. A few amuse-bouche with vodka shot pairings. Romi chased birds. Lots of birds. Visited my favorite watch store. And ate some dessert.
Thessaloniki Part I of 3
Everyone talks about Thessaloniki. So we had to go—about 4.5 hours drive south—good food, but nothing eye-popping. The city is comparable to NYC in Europe and has lots of shops. LOTS of shops.
But my favorite part of renting a hotel by the ocean with a balcony overlooking the boardwalk.
Fundraiser
Organized a fund raising workout for the Embassy Kyiv’s locally employed staffs. We had a massive snowstorm leading up to the workout, but to my surprise, we had a solid turnout.
New restaurant
I didn’t get a chance to take a photo, but I finally found a place that roasts pig!
Ballet
Our first ballet/opera experience. It’s been a long week, and this was a great way to blow off some steam. No pun intended bc we all left after the intermission due to incredibly hot temperature in the venue. Wearing a full suit was a mistake!
Regardless,, the performance was fantastic. If it wasn’t for the temperature and school night, we definitely would’ve stayed for the entire show.
Last batch of photos from Mavrovo
High-speed sledding experience.
It’s all good and fun before she decided to eat snow.
Not built for a heavy-weight man. Cost 10 euro.
Day 2 in Mavrovo
Some landscape photos before I post human photos. The view was fantastic, that’s for sure.
Embassy workout tradition continues
I do everything I can to boost the community morale, and bridge the gap between the local staffs and American workers. What better to do that than organizing workouts together?
In Bangui, I organized daily workouts, but the small community we had was invited to workout during the weekends. The Front Office definitely participated and I believe this was an excellent community building exercise, no pun intended. The beauty of this is that no one is forced to participate and no one is judged if you don’t come or if you are terrible at working out. Except me. I will judge. Secretly.
This week was our third Sunday workouts.
On the other hand, Romi loves these types of workouts. She actually does all the workouts that are programed, with smaller weights, and all the marines adore her, encouraging her to come to these events (not like she has a choice, but you get the idea).
First night in Mavrovo
So our hotel door didn’t lock…let alone close. We had to pile up a whole bunch of furniture next to the door. Good thing that I had dozens of pocket knives with me!