Three is NOT a Crowd

Our favorite vacation companion arrived yesterday! We usually invite all of our friends and family on our trips with us - the more the merrier- but we always know we can count on our friend Miko to make an appearance. Not only does he come, but he always makes our vacations better! 

He'll go out and have fun with Flo at night, so I can go to sleep early. Then he'll gladly go shopping, sit on the beach, work out at the gym, or gossip over lunch with me. He'll even help me guilt Flo into buying more expensive food items without meaning to. He is one of the few friends we have who is just as much my friend as he is Flo's. Oh, and did I mention that Nico adores him?

Here are some fun facts about about the best vacation buddy ever:

1. He moved from Paris to Berlin with us, and let me torture him with painting our new apartment. After all the painting we named the room he painted "the Miko room" and we have
had a Miko room in all of our apartments/vacation rentals ever since.

Miko's birthday party in Berlin 2005.

2. He has been on exactly 6 vacations with us. Here they are in order.

Ireland 2005

Germany (near Osnabruck) 2005

Slovenia (only for a few hours) 2005

Croatia 2005 (no kids or jobs in 2005)

Miko and Mika (his beautiful girlfriend) Italy 2006

Miko and Nico Montenegro 2007

Boston 2007

Beijing 2008 (with a bunch of strangers)

3. He and I once ran into a Berlin mall soaking wet, sweaty from our jog, and wearing ugly matching yellow rain coats only to find ourselves in the middle of a beauty contest...we didn't win!

4. Miko loves Natalie Portman, and we actually ended up in line behind her at a museum. Flo didn't believe that it was her, and kept saying very loudly "that isn't Natalie Portman" which of course made her very uncomfortable. 

5. When we first met Miko, he and Flo hit it off instantly. Here is proof.

Back when Flo and I first met Miko 2002.

The only problem with Miko visiting? His name is far too close to "Nico". No one ever knows to whom we are talking or whether we said "Miko" or "Nico". We often say "Mnico" or "Nmiko" out of confusion.  Oh well it is a small price to pay to have our better-vacation-maker with us.