European Mustache Championships and Rest of Europe‏

Dearly Beloved,
Oh so much to catch you up on. We actually got home from Europe on Sunday and are here for the next 2 weeks (Turkey Day and Mustachios). I feel like we should start with the European Mustache Championships because it was one of the craziest things I have ever seen (pictures are amazing!), but I think I will go in order.
First off we headed to Belgium to drink some of the best beer on earth and meet up with a couple of friends we met in Morocco. Then we all hopped in the car and drove down to Champagne to visit one of my wineries which was awesome. After that we met up with Lisa’s parents and headed down to Burgundy to taste some more wine. Got to eat escargot and frogs legs, which I think actually feel and taste more like fish than chicken. Next up was Nice (for those of you that are yet undercultured pronounced niece), and Monaco. Monte Carlo was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen. Everyone had a Lamborghini or Ferrari, the port is filled with hundreds of the biggest yachts you have ever seen, and everyone looked filthy rich and plastic.
Next it was off to Italy. We hit up about 10 cities and gained back most of the weight I had lost from all of the awesome Italian food. Highlights were hiking the cliffs and villages in Cinque Terra, the little medieval village of San Gimignano, riding a scooter all over the Amalfi Coast (which decided to break down on us in the middle of nowhere), and of course Rome. We ended up landing in a free tour of Ancient Rome which was mindbottling.
Then it was off to Eastern Europe. First off was Prague, which was cold as heck but beautiful so we decided to stay for 4 or 5 days. Then we headed to Krakow in Poland which was a very cool city. Just outside we went to the Auswitz and Berkenau Nazi concentration camps. Definitely the heaviest day of my life, but it was incredibly eye opening and educational. From there we went to Zacopane and into the mountains of Slovakia to Zdiar. Lots of great hiking and food. Then we hitchhiked halfway to Warsaw and caught a train the rest of the way.
Here is where the story gets interesting. I decided to email the Berlin Mustache Club to see if they were going to be meeting while we were going to be there so I could learn a bit about the ways of the Mustache from them. They informed me that unfortunately they would be out of town because they were going to the European Mustache Championships in Stuttgart. We took this as fate and booked tickets to go there with them. When we showed up at the airport they immediately basically adopted us into there club, and away we went. The pictures show most of the mayhem, but imagine all of my friends with about 10-50 extra years on them and huge beards and mustaches, and that pretty much sums it up. They helped me style my mustache for the competition (who would have thought that a toothbrush is better than a comb for styling). I entered in the Imperial Mustache category (Schnauzbart Kaiserlich in German), and got 7th place. WOW what a feeling! We basically partied our butts off with these guys and Lisa even got Yodeled to.
We finished up our trip in London with a few friends and decided to try to put a twist on the "normal" touristy photos people usually take. And that’s it. 20 countries in 4 months and 5 days. I think we deserve some R & R. Hope everyone is doing great and would love to catch up with everyone before we take off again for Thailand.

Here are the rest of the pictures and the Mustache Championships:
http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=706171226965854100/l=437627414/g=7367679/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

XOXO,
Gregorio and Lisa