Little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper and you have yourself a turkey.
I was so worried that it wasn't going to fit in the oven. As you can see it just barely made it in.
My finished product.
All 18 of us at the dinner table.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Pictures from Thanksgiving
Here are some pictures from our feast on Thanksgiving!
Little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper and you have yourself a turkey.
I was so worried that it wasn't going to fit in the oven. As you can see it just barely made it in.
My finished product.
All 18 of us at the dinner table.
Little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper and you have yourself a turkey.
I was so worried that it wasn't going to fit in the oven. As you can see it just barely made it in.
My finished product.
All 18 of us at the dinner table.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thursday, November 26th - Thanks!
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I hope you're able to enjoy friends and family today and able to truly reflect what you are thankful for. Enjoy the feast, i know i'll be here. It's no family feast, but we are having ourselves a feast. There will be about 18 people coming over here in 3 hours with all kinds of food. We decided to have a pot luck to make it easy, so everyone is planning on bringing something tonight and we are gonna have ourselves one heck of a dinner. We are gonna have the potatoes, gravy, turkey, apple pie, dinner rolls, salad, fruit bowl, drinks, corn, cranberries, cake, blueberry crumble, bacon wrapped sausages, American-Indian bread, sausage/cheese/cracker platter, and some other food. I will make sure to take pictures and post them up tomorrow. Timothy the turkey is in the oven as i type, getting all brown and juicy!
I gotta stop talking about food though, my mouth is watering. This past week and a half has been pretty chill. I've been busy and focused with school so i haven't had as much free time as earlier in the semester. In bio mechanics we have been analyzing my sprint technique and trying to change it to get a better time in the 15m sprint. We've done 2 interventions and without any strength training, i feel we've been able to make me run much faster. Next week we will test it out and I'll post those results!
In nutrition we need a blood glucose analysis on Monday. I volunteered to be one of the subjects which consisted of fasting Monday morning, then drinking a certain drink and testing how my blood glucose changes. It's something that we did back in freshman year of college, but it's still interesting to see what the results are.
My strength and conditioning class has just consisted of continuing to work on the clean. We bumped up the weight this Tuesday and I've felt it today. We have that test on Tuesday Dec 15th. It shouldn't be bad.
Other then class i've just been hanging out really. Last wednesday i went to the Boys basketball game and that was a mistake. We won 105-52 so it was a very boring game. I like to see a team crush another one, but i also would like to see a close game.
Over the weekend i celebrated Dan Hill aka Danimal's birthday. He is a fellow Applied Sports Science student and a great guy. Andy and i went over there to celebrate his birthday and he was having a good time. Danimal if you are reading this, i love you.
The other day i finalized my plans to go to London with Nuria and Sophie. We are leaving Saturday night at 3:00 and coming back Tuesday night at 4 i think. It's gonna be a good trip! I'm surprised that i have made it this far of my trip and not spent time in London to go visit it.
Yesterday some of us went into the city and visited Pizza Hut for their buffet. Oh it was delicious and inexpensive. Needless to say we ate our fare share of food. After we spend a good 20 minutes resting our stomachs we walked around the Christmas market. All these shops open up in the middle of the plaza's and sell there stuff. I had a bratwurst, which was my first one since being here, and it was very good. Legit German food.
That's been my past week and a half summed up pretty much. Just trying to focus on school now, with the fun thrown in as well. I can't wait to eat tonight and have a good time with friends! Once again i hope you all enjoy your time back home and I'll have those pictures up tomorrow from tonight!
I gotta stop talking about food though, my mouth is watering. This past week and a half has been pretty chill. I've been busy and focused with school so i haven't had as much free time as earlier in the semester. In bio mechanics we have been analyzing my sprint technique and trying to change it to get a better time in the 15m sprint. We've done 2 interventions and without any strength training, i feel we've been able to make me run much faster. Next week we will test it out and I'll post those results!
In nutrition we need a blood glucose analysis on Monday. I volunteered to be one of the subjects which consisted of fasting Monday morning, then drinking a certain drink and testing how my blood glucose changes. It's something that we did back in freshman year of college, but it's still interesting to see what the results are.
My strength and conditioning class has just consisted of continuing to work on the clean. We bumped up the weight this Tuesday and I've felt it today. We have that test on Tuesday Dec 15th. It shouldn't be bad.
Other then class i've just been hanging out really. Last wednesday i went to the Boys basketball game and that was a mistake. We won 105-52 so it was a very boring game. I like to see a team crush another one, but i also would like to see a close game.
Over the weekend i celebrated Dan Hill aka Danimal's birthday. He is a fellow Applied Sports Science student and a great guy. Andy and i went over there to celebrate his birthday and he was having a good time. Danimal if you are reading this, i love you.
The other day i finalized my plans to go to London with Nuria and Sophie. We are leaving Saturday night at 3:00 and coming back Tuesday night at 4 i think. It's gonna be a good trip! I'm surprised that i have made it this far of my trip and not spent time in London to go visit it.
Yesterday some of us went into the city and visited Pizza Hut for their buffet. Oh it was delicious and inexpensive. Needless to say we ate our fare share of food. After we spend a good 20 minutes resting our stomachs we walked around the Christmas market. All these shops open up in the middle of the plaza's and sell there stuff. I had a bratwurst, which was my first one since being here, and it was very good. Legit German food.
That's been my past week and a half summed up pretty much. Just trying to focus on school now, with the fun thrown in as well. I can't wait to eat tonight and have a good time with friends! Once again i hope you all enjoy your time back home and I'll have those pictures up tomorrow from tonight!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Monday, November 16th - Paris, France
I made it there and back alive, barely. I left my life in that city. It was gorgeous, words can't describe. You just have to go there. Every corner was something different and just as beautiful as the street before. You couldn't help but take pictures of everything, i think i took over 400 pics in the 48 hours I was there.
I begin my past week with yet another installment of my life being chaotic. Thursday I had to turn in my assessment paper for Biomechanics. I did some final touches and turned it in. I feel that going to school here in England gives me a little extra push to do better. I want to represent Winona and America well so i do try harder and put in more effort then i would if i were to be back home. I just hope to get a 40%. Oh yea, about that whole 40%. That's passing. Grades here are just a little different then home. Like i said 40% is passing. Anything over 70% is pretty good. 90% and greater is remarkable. We just need to pass so a 40% at the least is good.
After class i had to get stuff ready for Paris so i had to print off maps, documents, all of that good stuff. I had to go to and from the library and my house a few too many times but eventually i was able to sort everything out and get everything we Americans needed for the trip! Afterwords i met up with Gemma and we went to downtown Manchester to watch them turn on the lights. The bigger cities in England have a big celebration during the fall where they light up the cities Christmas lights they so delicately strew across the city. Each of the cities choose to light up the lights at at different times and usually get A or B list celebrities to do so. On Thursday there was a huge crowd in Albert Square (the town square) where they came to watch Mr. Hudson, last years X-factor (British version of American Idol) Alexandra Burke, and lot's of other smaller people sing and perform for the festival. (Both of these artists have good songs, Mr. Hudson's called 'Supernova' feat Kanye West [8/10] and Alexandra Burke song called 'Bad Boys' [6/10]. They are worth listening too.) They turned on the city lights which everyone cheered and yelled for. Afterwords they had fireworks and it was a good show. Great vibe and something apparently you have to see if you're a tourist. I got home somewhat early and in bed early because i had to be up at 5 to get my butt to Paris!
Our trip to Paris started with a bus ride from Manchester to London. We left at 6:30 and it was 4.5 trip so we got there around 11 where we immediately went to another bus. That bus took us from London to Luton airport which is just an hour outside the city. We got there at 12 and waited around till 3:30 when our plane left. But before we leave on our plane something bad happened. Very very bad. Prior to arriving to airport Andy asked if i brought my passport. I told him yea i did cause we were traveling country to country. He responded with "Oh shit". Andy didn't bring his passport with him so we kinda put the whole idea aside during the rest of the bus ride until we got to the airport. He found out there that yes, you do need a passport to travel from country to country in Europe and that he couldn't go without one. We were told that we could call the U.S. Embassy and have them fax a letter to the airport claiming that he was a U.S. resident and let him board. For some reason the Embassy wasn't all about that and Andy couldn't come with Lindsay and I to Paris. So he lost his money for the buses we had to pay for, for the plane ticket to France, and as well as the money for the hostel we stayed at. So Andy ended up paying for a bus ticket to go back to Manchester while Lindsay and I left to go to Paris.
We ended up in Paris and after little hassle or problems, found ourselves on the train to town. We got to out hostel, the Vintage Hostel (which i recommend because it's inexpensive, staff is very friendly and helpful, clean, free breakfast, no surprising hostel extra costs, and close to Basilique du Sacre Coeu) shortly afterwords. We immediately dumped our stuff off, grabbed our cameras and map, and hit the streets to go exploring. We walked around quite a bit before stopping in an authentic Italian restaurant. I had lamb and a salad which was very good. I also made sure to try some French wine. I'm not much of a wine guy so i tried one of the few red wines i know and it was a Merlot. It was very dry, which i was told all Merlot are, and i can't really say i loved it. But i was in France so i can say it made the experience more rich. We then continued aimlessly walking around the city till we ran into the Louvre. You know, that one famous pyramid building in Paris? It was gorgeous and i think that's the moment i fell in love with France. It's set in a beautiful courtyard surrounded with hundred year old buildings that are just as pretty. You also have the mini Arc de Triomphe just across the street from it. The Eiffel Tower can be seen in the background with its beam of light which just adds to the beauty of this view. We then walked along La Seine (river which runs through Paris) until it took us to the Eiffel Tower. You really can't stop taking pictures of it. I think i have 50 different pictures of the tower and question if i took enough of not. It's still surreal that i was actually there at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Just across the street was a vender making crepes. Once again i had to embrace the culture and eat a chocolate banana crepe. It was very good and probably made my trip that much better. After visiting the Eiffel tower we took the metro towards home. Got off early, and enjoyed a beer at a local pub. It was a long day of traveling and walking around but we got back to our hostel and passed out quick to wake up at 7 to catch breakfast.
Saturday we woke up at 7 to get our free breakfast at 7:30. Croissants, juice, and cereal consisted of our meal and it was good. Within a half hour we were off to walk the city again. This time we went to St. Micheal's Fountain at 11:00 to go to a free tour, but there wasn't anyone there which we thought was odd so we ended up shopping around and finding a great street vender. I don't know what it was that i ate, but i knew it consisted of a baguette type bread (once again going with the French food theme), filled with a few hot dogs and layered in cheese which was then grilled. Another delicious French treat. While eating i realized why we were late for our tour. Paris is an hour ahead of England and i knew this so i set my clock on my phone an hour early. Apparently my phone didn't want to change so it never did and we were in Paris for a day with the time an hour behind what we thought it was. So after "lunch" we went to the tour and had a great time. We saw: Notre Dame, Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Egyptian obelisque, Champs-Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, and so much more. It was free and you gave the tour guide a tip at the end for how much you think you should pay. Like i said i learned a lot about the history of Paris and saw a lot of the city. After the tour Lindsay and i went to see the Arc de Triomphe closer. It is surrounded by the worlds largest roundabout. Which also has no road paintings so it's basically a free for all and people are driving around at free will, it's very entertaining. We then headed to the Eiffel tower again to climb it. We climbed 697 stairs (yea i counted) to the 2nd stage. There are two ways to go up the Eiffel tower, the stairs which bring you to the second stage of the tower and the elevator which takes you to all 3 stages including the very top. The line for the elevator had to of been 200 people deep while the line for the stairs had only 20 people. Needless to say we got some extra exercise and a beautiful view of the city at night. We stopped at Lolanda Pizzeria for some dinner afterwords. It was also very good and filling. We met a very nice couple from Houston at dinner and had a good talk with them about their travels here in Paris. After dinner Lindsay and I met at St. Micheal's fountain again for a bar crawl. The same group that put on the free tour put on a bar crawl. Unfortunetly it wasn't free but it was still really fun. We met people from Ohio, New York, Florida, Boston, California, Sweden, and all over the world. We went to 3 bars and a club. The club was on Champs-Elysees meaning it was very expensive and posh, not something good for a bar crawl aimed at college students. I asked for a vodka red bull which was 19 euros. That equals 28 dollars for a single shot of vodka and some red bull. Yea we didn't stay there long. We met a girl on the bar crawl, Emily, and she had a night club in her hostel so we went there. On our way to hostel was a little chaotic. Algeria had won a game which sent them to the 2010 World Cup. Apparently there are a lot of people from Algeria because when we came outside from the club, Champs-Elysees had turned into celebration street. There were cars everywhere, not moving, honking there horns with people hanging out the windows and flares going off all around. People were yelling, chanting, and screaming while there was cops EVERYWHERE. It was quite the atmosphere. We partook in the festivities for a little bit before heading to the hostel. I think we were there till 5 or so when we left and headed back to our hostel. That wasn't good cause we had to wake up at 7 for breakfast but it was one of the best nights since being here in Europe.
Sunday was our last day so we wanted to go inside the Louvre and see the works of art there but before that we had to meet Emily. That morning i also made sure to eat a chocolate Eclair because it was calling my name, and it was French. At some point in the night i had Emily's camera in my pocket so we had to meet up with her to give her the camera. We then headed to the Museum to see the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus de Millo, and so much more. It's breathtaking how much art is in there. There is over 35,000 pieces of artwork inside the building. If you were to took at each piece of artwork for 30 seconds during all hours the Louvre was open without taking any breaks, it would take you over 2 months to see each of the pieces of artwork. That right there just gives you an idea of how much is to be seen there. After the Louvre Lindsay and I were exhausted, our feet were crying, and we just wanted to sit down. We got some lunch and had huge portion of a cheeseburger with FRENCH fries. Once again it was very good and i was satisfied. We headed back to the hostel to relax before leaving for England. It was a very uneventful trip back home except arriving to our gate 5 minutes before it was supposed to close. I was out sleeping even before the plane left the gate and didn't wake up till about 5 minutes before landing. This bout of sleep still didn't help my tiredness.
We got into London around 8 and had 3 hours to kill before our bus left for Manchester. We got some Indian food and it was Lindsays first time eating it. We had chicken curry and pilao rice. Indian good is really popular here and i don't think many of us eat it back home. It's not very common but I'll make sure to find it when i get home because it is really good. Our bus station was very close to Buckingham palace so we started walking what we thought was the direction of it. It ended up we went the wrong way but still saw Chelsea Bridge which is gorgeous at night. We'll just have to see the Buckingham palace when we go back to London soon!
We got off the bus at 3 in the morning in Manchester, home by 3:20, and in bed by 3:25. Pooped is the only word i have to describe my weekend. It felt like i was there for a week because of all the stuff we did but then again it went by so quick that we didn't get to see all the stuff we wanted too. I hope i go back there again sometime in my life!
Today i've been half-awake and ready for bed since i woke up. It's 1:16 and love you guys too much to have posted this another day. I hope you enjoy my story and lazy ending.
I'll think of something clever later...will post soon.
Lamb, FRENCH fries, and green beans.
Eating a crepe in front of the Eiffel.
Arc de Triomphe
Notre Dame
Pondering in front of the Louvre
Some girl. Apparently she is 83% happy say's a crazy canadian and some of his crazy technology.
I begin my past week with yet another installment of my life being chaotic. Thursday I had to turn in my assessment paper for Biomechanics. I did some final touches and turned it in. I feel that going to school here in England gives me a little extra push to do better. I want to represent Winona and America well so i do try harder and put in more effort then i would if i were to be back home. I just hope to get a 40%. Oh yea, about that whole 40%. That's passing. Grades here are just a little different then home. Like i said 40% is passing. Anything over 70% is pretty good. 90% and greater is remarkable. We just need to pass so a 40% at the least is good.
After class i had to get stuff ready for Paris so i had to print off maps, documents, all of that good stuff. I had to go to and from the library and my house a few too many times but eventually i was able to sort everything out and get everything we Americans needed for the trip! Afterwords i met up with Gemma and we went to downtown Manchester to watch them turn on the lights. The bigger cities in England have a big celebration during the fall where they light up the cities Christmas lights they so delicately strew across the city. Each of the cities choose to light up the lights at at different times and usually get A or B list celebrities to do so. On Thursday there was a huge crowd in Albert Square (the town square) where they came to watch Mr. Hudson, last years X-factor (British version of American Idol) Alexandra Burke, and lot's of other smaller people sing and perform for the festival. (Both of these artists have good songs, Mr. Hudson's called 'Supernova' feat Kanye West [8/10] and Alexandra Burke song called 'Bad Boys' [6/10]. They are worth listening too.) They turned on the city lights which everyone cheered and yelled for. Afterwords they had fireworks and it was a good show. Great vibe and something apparently you have to see if you're a tourist. I got home somewhat early and in bed early because i had to be up at 5 to get my butt to Paris!
Our trip to Paris started with a bus ride from Manchester to London. We left at 6:30 and it was 4.5 trip so we got there around 11 where we immediately went to another bus. That bus took us from London to Luton airport which is just an hour outside the city. We got there at 12 and waited around till 3:30 when our plane left. But before we leave on our plane something bad happened. Very very bad. Prior to arriving to airport Andy asked if i brought my passport. I told him yea i did cause we were traveling country to country. He responded with "Oh shit". Andy didn't bring his passport with him so we kinda put the whole idea aside during the rest of the bus ride until we got to the airport. He found out there that yes, you do need a passport to travel from country to country in Europe and that he couldn't go without one. We were told that we could call the U.S. Embassy and have them fax a letter to the airport claiming that he was a U.S. resident and let him board. For some reason the Embassy wasn't all about that and Andy couldn't come with Lindsay and I to Paris. So he lost his money for the buses we had to pay for, for the plane ticket to France, and as well as the money for the hostel we stayed at. So Andy ended up paying for a bus ticket to go back to Manchester while Lindsay and I left to go to Paris.
We ended up in Paris and after little hassle or problems, found ourselves on the train to town. We got to out hostel, the Vintage Hostel (which i recommend because it's inexpensive, staff is very friendly and helpful, clean, free breakfast, no surprising hostel extra costs, and close to Basilique du Sacre Coeu) shortly afterwords. We immediately dumped our stuff off, grabbed our cameras and map, and hit the streets to go exploring. We walked around quite a bit before stopping in an authentic Italian restaurant. I had lamb and a salad which was very good. I also made sure to try some French wine. I'm not much of a wine guy so i tried one of the few red wines i know and it was a Merlot. It was very dry, which i was told all Merlot are, and i can't really say i loved it. But i was in France so i can say it made the experience more rich. We then continued aimlessly walking around the city till we ran into the Louvre. You know, that one famous pyramid building in Paris? It was gorgeous and i think that's the moment i fell in love with France. It's set in a beautiful courtyard surrounded with hundred year old buildings that are just as pretty. You also have the mini Arc de Triomphe just across the street from it. The Eiffel Tower can be seen in the background with its beam of light which just adds to the beauty of this view. We then walked along La Seine (river which runs through Paris) until it took us to the Eiffel Tower. You really can't stop taking pictures of it. I think i have 50 different pictures of the tower and question if i took enough of not. It's still surreal that i was actually there at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Just across the street was a vender making crepes. Once again i had to embrace the culture and eat a chocolate banana crepe. It was very good and probably made my trip that much better. After visiting the Eiffel tower we took the metro towards home. Got off early, and enjoyed a beer at a local pub. It was a long day of traveling and walking around but we got back to our hostel and passed out quick to wake up at 7 to catch breakfast.
Saturday we woke up at 7 to get our free breakfast at 7:30. Croissants, juice, and cereal consisted of our meal and it was good. Within a half hour we were off to walk the city again. This time we went to St. Micheal's Fountain at 11:00 to go to a free tour, but there wasn't anyone there which we thought was odd so we ended up shopping around and finding a great street vender. I don't know what it was that i ate, but i knew it consisted of a baguette type bread (once again going with the French food theme), filled with a few hot dogs and layered in cheese which was then grilled. Another delicious French treat. While eating i realized why we were late for our tour. Paris is an hour ahead of England and i knew this so i set my clock on my phone an hour early. Apparently my phone didn't want to change so it never did and we were in Paris for a day with the time an hour behind what we thought it was. So after "lunch" we went to the tour and had a great time. We saw: Notre Dame, Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Egyptian obelisque, Champs-Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, and so much more. It was free and you gave the tour guide a tip at the end for how much you think you should pay. Like i said i learned a lot about the history of Paris and saw a lot of the city. After the tour Lindsay and i went to see the Arc de Triomphe closer. It is surrounded by the worlds largest roundabout. Which also has no road paintings so it's basically a free for all and people are driving around at free will, it's very entertaining. We then headed to the Eiffel tower again to climb it. We climbed 697 stairs (yea i counted) to the 2nd stage. There are two ways to go up the Eiffel tower, the stairs which bring you to the second stage of the tower and the elevator which takes you to all 3 stages including the very top. The line for the elevator had to of been 200 people deep while the line for the stairs had only 20 people. Needless to say we got some extra exercise and a beautiful view of the city at night. We stopped at Lolanda Pizzeria for some dinner afterwords. It was also very good and filling. We met a very nice couple from Houston at dinner and had a good talk with them about their travels here in Paris. After dinner Lindsay and I met at St. Micheal's fountain again for a bar crawl. The same group that put on the free tour put on a bar crawl. Unfortunetly it wasn't free but it was still really fun. We met people from Ohio, New York, Florida, Boston, California, Sweden, and all over the world. We went to 3 bars and a club. The club was on Champs-Elysees meaning it was very expensive and posh, not something good for a bar crawl aimed at college students. I asked for a vodka red bull which was 19 euros. That equals 28 dollars for a single shot of vodka and some red bull. Yea we didn't stay there long. We met a girl on the bar crawl, Emily, and she had a night club in her hostel so we went there. On our way to hostel was a little chaotic. Algeria had won a game which sent them to the 2010 World Cup. Apparently there are a lot of people from Algeria because when we came outside from the club, Champs-Elysees had turned into celebration street. There were cars everywhere, not moving, honking there horns with people hanging out the windows and flares going off all around. People were yelling, chanting, and screaming while there was cops EVERYWHERE. It was quite the atmosphere. We partook in the festivities for a little bit before heading to the hostel. I think we were there till 5 or so when we left and headed back to our hostel. That wasn't good cause we had to wake up at 7 for breakfast but it was one of the best nights since being here in Europe.
Sunday was our last day so we wanted to go inside the Louvre and see the works of art there but before that we had to meet Emily. That morning i also made sure to eat a chocolate Eclair because it was calling my name, and it was French. At some point in the night i had Emily's camera in my pocket so we had to meet up with her to give her the camera. We then headed to the Museum to see the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus de Millo, and so much more. It's breathtaking how much art is in there. There is over 35,000 pieces of artwork inside the building. If you were to took at each piece of artwork for 30 seconds during all hours the Louvre was open without taking any breaks, it would take you over 2 months to see each of the pieces of artwork. That right there just gives you an idea of how much is to be seen there. After the Louvre Lindsay and I were exhausted, our feet were crying, and we just wanted to sit down. We got some lunch and had huge portion of a cheeseburger with FRENCH fries. Once again it was very good and i was satisfied. We headed back to the hostel to relax before leaving for England. It was a very uneventful trip back home except arriving to our gate 5 minutes before it was supposed to close. I was out sleeping even before the plane left the gate and didn't wake up till about 5 minutes before landing. This bout of sleep still didn't help my tiredness.
We got into London around 8 and had 3 hours to kill before our bus left for Manchester. We got some Indian food and it was Lindsays first time eating it. We had chicken curry and pilao rice. Indian good is really popular here and i don't think many of us eat it back home. It's not very common but I'll make sure to find it when i get home because it is really good. Our bus station was very close to Buckingham palace so we started walking what we thought was the direction of it. It ended up we went the wrong way but still saw Chelsea Bridge which is gorgeous at night. We'll just have to see the Buckingham palace when we go back to London soon!
We got off the bus at 3 in the morning in Manchester, home by 3:20, and in bed by 3:25. Pooped is the only word i have to describe my weekend. It felt like i was there for a week because of all the stuff we did but then again it went by so quick that we didn't get to see all the stuff we wanted too. I hope i go back there again sometime in my life!
Today i've been half-awake and ready for bed since i woke up. It's 1:16 and love you guys too much to have posted this another day. I hope you enjoy my story and lazy ending.
I'll think of something clever later...will post soon.
Lamb, FRENCH fries, and green beans.
Eating a crepe in front of the Eiffel.
Arc de Triomphe
Notre Dame
Pondering in front of the Louvre
Some girl. Apparently she is 83% happy say's a crazy canadian and some of his crazy technology.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Wednesday, November 11th - Hectic Relaxation
It's been a busy week so far. We have our first assessment due Friday. It consists of a 1500 word study of physical and technical attributes in relation to a short agility tests and what effects it. It's been very interesting but composed of a lot of work. I wrapped it up today but still need to edit it so i'm taking a break by writing this.
Saturday night i went out and had a good time. Sunday we had to wake up early to go to Liverpool! Our bus was set to leave at 9:45 and we were running late so we started running to the bus station. My phone read like 9:38 but Andy's read 9:43 so we were worried. We found the station and saw a bus leaving bus was convinced it wasn't ours. That was a mistake. We got inside the station and saw that it was our bus that was leaving but couldn't open the door to get outside cause it's a one way door, odd right? So we ended up missing the bus to Liverpool. But luckily Liverpool is so close that they have many buses that run to and from so we paid an extra 6.50 pounds for a trip to Liverpool on a bus that left at 10:45.
We got to Liverpool and basically walked around for awhile. Went to Beatles Street and saw The Cavern Club, Cavern Pub, Hard Night Hotel (which is the only one of it's kind. It's a 4 star hotel that has 115 rooms, each with there own Beatles theme). We bought some tickets for a Beatles bus tour that drives around the city and goes to each of The Beatles homes where they grew up as well as significant places in The Beatles history. But before the tour we went down to the shipyard and watched the ships, visited the Maritime Museum, and went to Albert Dock.
We got to the bus for the tour and here are a few pictures from that tour, it was definitely worth it!
Fifth house on the right is where Ringo grew up.
Where George grew up.
Lennon's house.
Finally Paul's house.
Strawberry Fields!
Penny Lane.
After the tour we walked around some more and made it back to the bus station to head home. We were able to catch a bus 30 min earlier so during the trip, we didn't take one bus we were supposed to. I found that funny.
Monday i worked on my paper for the majority of the day. Tuesday i had class and we worked on our technique for the clean some more. We've now entered the stage of demonstrating it as well as explaining it. I've been able to memorize it and hopefully won't have a problem come assessment day. Tuesday night i went over to House 43 and played cards and caught up with friends from there. Today was the final touches on my paper! Tonight the Austrians are cooking dinner and invited me over there. I'm excited cause it sounds like it's going to be a lot of good food which is always good.
Tomorrow i get get all of my stuff ready for Paris and head out friday morning. I'll be back sunday to let you guys know how it is (depending on how exhausted i am you might here from on monday).
Until then enjoy some more pictures from the trip to Liverpool!
In front of the old entrance to The Cavern Club.
Inside The Cavern Club
Port.
Port of Liverpool Building.
Saturday night i went out and had a good time. Sunday we had to wake up early to go to Liverpool! Our bus was set to leave at 9:45 and we were running late so we started running to the bus station. My phone read like 9:38 but Andy's read 9:43 so we were worried. We found the station and saw a bus leaving bus was convinced it wasn't ours. That was a mistake. We got inside the station and saw that it was our bus that was leaving but couldn't open the door to get outside cause it's a one way door, odd right? So we ended up missing the bus to Liverpool. But luckily Liverpool is so close that they have many buses that run to and from so we paid an extra 6.50 pounds for a trip to Liverpool on a bus that left at 10:45.
We got to Liverpool and basically walked around for awhile. Went to Beatles Street and saw The Cavern Club, Cavern Pub, Hard Night Hotel (which is the only one of it's kind. It's a 4 star hotel that has 115 rooms, each with there own Beatles theme). We bought some tickets for a Beatles bus tour that drives around the city and goes to each of The Beatles homes where they grew up as well as significant places in The Beatles history. But before the tour we went down to the shipyard and watched the ships, visited the Maritime Museum, and went to Albert Dock.
We got to the bus for the tour and here are a few pictures from that tour, it was definitely worth it!
Fifth house on the right is where Ringo grew up.
Where George grew up.
Lennon's house.
Finally Paul's house.
Strawberry Fields!
Penny Lane.
After the tour we walked around some more and made it back to the bus station to head home. We were able to catch a bus 30 min earlier so during the trip, we didn't take one bus we were supposed to. I found that funny.
Monday i worked on my paper for the majority of the day. Tuesday i had class and we worked on our technique for the clean some more. We've now entered the stage of demonstrating it as well as explaining it. I've been able to memorize it and hopefully won't have a problem come assessment day. Tuesday night i went over to House 43 and played cards and caught up with friends from there. Today was the final touches on my paper! Tonight the Austrians are cooking dinner and invited me over there. I'm excited cause it sounds like it's going to be a lot of good food which is always good.
Tomorrow i get get all of my stuff ready for Paris and head out friday morning. I'll be back sunday to let you guys know how it is (depending on how exhausted i am you might here from on monday).
Until then enjoy some more pictures from the trip to Liverpool!
In front of the old entrance to The Cavern Club.
Inside The Cavern Club
Port.
Port of Liverpool Building.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Saturday, November 7th - Day 50
Wait. What? Hold on, you're telling me that i've already been here for 50 days? That's over a month and a half. That means that i'm already over halfway of my trip! I only have 44 days left? Eeek! Breathe Mitch, just breathe....
I knew this would happen. I knew that this trip was only 3 months and was going to go by very quick, but still. Why does it have to go so fast? Sure i am miss the comforts of home but i'm not ready to go back yet. I want to see more cities, taste more food, meet more people, and just....experience it all. I've been doing all i can to get a vibe of this place because i know i most likely won't live here again. I have trips planned in the future. Tomorrow i'm going to Liverpool. Next weekend i'll be in Paris. First weekend of December i'll be on the coast of the Mediterranean in Spain, but i want more. I want London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Rome, Scotland, and many more but there simply just isn't enough time to do so. Which means i'll just have to come back again and see more of it.
Ok so maybe this "freak-out" is a little preemptive and it should be saved for my last post but you get a feel of what's going on in my head right now. I'll re-post these beginning paragraphs in my last blog where they are more fitting, as for now just ignore them.
I have done a terrible job keeping up with this blog. It would make much more sense just to do it every few days but it always skips my mind and i end up a week (or week and a half) later regretting waiting this long. I won't go to in depth of each day for the past week cause it will be drawn out but i will hit on the good stuff.
Thursday i started looking for costume ideas on the Internet when a sign from God struck me. To give you a little background beforehand, whenever Mikael and i go out, we do The Carlton Dance (you know the one from Fresh Prince?) and mostly everyone knows it and loves it. Well it got me thinking that i should be Carlton for Halloween. So as i said before, i was on the web looking at pictures of Carlton trying to get an idea of what he dresses like and what i would do. While i was searching i was also listening to music from my iTunes. This is where it gets good. My iTunes has over 8,000 songs on it and i play them on shuffle. If any of you watch Fresh Prince or know the Carlton dance, you know that he dances to the song "It's Not Unusual" by Tom Jones. Not within a minute of looking at costume ideas that song came on my iTunes and i received it as a sign from god saying that "you must go out this upcoming Saturday night and do the Carlton like it's never been seen before." Thank God I listened. (Ha)I'll get to that later though.
Friday night Lindsay, Andy, Mikael, and I went to see some of our friends in the Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was....different. It's about transvestites, and lot of them. The plot goes something like this: a couples car breaks down, go into creepy castle, meet lots of transvestites, some people screw, someone dies, sexual tension, dancing, singing, more sexual tension, castle gets moved to some transsexual galaxy. Yea it was kinda awkward at some points but overall it was pretty good.
Saturday a bunch of us went into the city to get halloween costumes. All i needed was some face paint and i got it for 5 dollars. Pretty cheap costume. Afterwords we went back, got some food and got ready for our party! We hosted an American party that night which consisted of American drinking games such as beer pong, tippy cup, and a beer bong. We also had American food like burgers and hot dogs as well as American music. I think overall the Halloween/American party went well. I got drunk very fast which was a big mistake cause i blacked out for most of the night. Apparently we went into the city and walked around. I got separated from everyone when i went to McDonald's and then i lost everyone. I eventually found some people and we came back. It was a good halloween from what i remember.
Some pictures from the night:
Mikael (the Porto fan) and I showing off our costumes)
It wasn't a good Halloween come Sunday morning when i awake to my very first hangover. I liked to think that i was hangover proof and it had no effect on me, but i came to learn that's BS. Sunday i spend the majority of the day harnessing my hangover and relaxing. I also did a little cleaning. The entire upstairs was blue. Walls, refridgerator, doors, table, floor, and even the ceiling. I had these two to thank for that:
Damn Smurfs....
Monday i had class, went to optional training, and then went to Tesco. Relaxing day.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were all relaxing. We have a paper due this upcoming Friday so i've been working on that the past couple days.
Thursday night was bonfire night here in England. If you've seen V for Vendetta you have an understanding. In 1605 on November 5th, Guy Fawkes and others tried blowing up Parliament. For some reason they celebrate this day by making huge bonfires and lots of fireworks. A friend got word that they were having a celebration at a park near campus so we went out to go partake, but there was no celebration. So we ended up just coming back and playing some cards.
Yesterday i went to the gym, worked on my paper, and helped out Nuria with an assignment. She had to turn an informal advertisement (or as they call it here, an advert) into a formal paper. I think i learned more from that 3 hour sesh then i have in any English class i have taken before. Either that or i just forgot everything i've learned when i was just a youngen. Last night 8 of us went out for the weekly dinner. This Friday we went to Papa G's which is in Printworks. I had a bacon cheeseburger because i've been craving American food for the past few weeks. I've had too much pasta lately. I also got some Tiramisu for dessert, so good. Afterwords we went to the movie theater and watched Couples Retreat. I like Vince Vaughn so naturally it was a good.
Today i worked on my paper some and have just relaxed. I gotta wrap this up because i am starving! Spaghetti and potatoes for dinner.
Take care and i'll be back sooner then usual!
Here is a shout out to Crime Dog. You deserve this!
I knew this would happen. I knew that this trip was only 3 months and was going to go by very quick, but still. Why does it have to go so fast? Sure i am miss the comforts of home but i'm not ready to go back yet. I want to see more cities, taste more food, meet more people, and just....experience it all. I've been doing all i can to get a vibe of this place because i know i most likely won't live here again. I have trips planned in the future. Tomorrow i'm going to Liverpool. Next weekend i'll be in Paris. First weekend of December i'll be on the coast of the Mediterranean in Spain, but i want more. I want London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Rome, Scotland, and many more but there simply just isn't enough time to do so. Which means i'll just have to come back again and see more of it.
Ok so maybe this "freak-out" is a little preemptive and it should be saved for my last post but you get a feel of what's going on in my head right now. I'll re-post these beginning paragraphs in my last blog where they are more fitting, as for now just ignore them.
I have done a terrible job keeping up with this blog. It would make much more sense just to do it every few days but it always skips my mind and i end up a week (or week and a half) later regretting waiting this long. I won't go to in depth of each day for the past week cause it will be drawn out but i will hit on the good stuff.
Thursday i started looking for costume ideas on the Internet when a sign from God struck me. To give you a little background beforehand, whenever Mikael and i go out, we do The Carlton Dance (you know the one from Fresh Prince?) and mostly everyone knows it and loves it. Well it got me thinking that i should be Carlton for Halloween. So as i said before, i was on the web looking at pictures of Carlton trying to get an idea of what he dresses like and what i would do. While i was searching i was also listening to music from my iTunes. This is where it gets good. My iTunes has over 8,000 songs on it and i play them on shuffle. If any of you watch Fresh Prince or know the Carlton dance, you know that he dances to the song "It's Not Unusual" by Tom Jones. Not within a minute of looking at costume ideas that song came on my iTunes and i received it as a sign from god saying that "you must go out this upcoming Saturday night and do the Carlton like it's never been seen before." Thank God I listened. (Ha)I'll get to that later though.
Friday night Lindsay, Andy, Mikael, and I went to see some of our friends in the Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was....different. It's about transvestites, and lot of them. The plot goes something like this: a couples car breaks down, go into creepy castle, meet lots of transvestites, some people screw, someone dies, sexual tension, dancing, singing, more sexual tension, castle gets moved to some transsexual galaxy. Yea it was kinda awkward at some points but overall it was pretty good.
Saturday a bunch of us went into the city to get halloween costumes. All i needed was some face paint and i got it for 5 dollars. Pretty cheap costume. Afterwords we went back, got some food and got ready for our party! We hosted an American party that night which consisted of American drinking games such as beer pong, tippy cup, and a beer bong. We also had American food like burgers and hot dogs as well as American music. I think overall the Halloween/American party went well. I got drunk very fast which was a big mistake cause i blacked out for most of the night. Apparently we went into the city and walked around. I got separated from everyone when i went to McDonald's and then i lost everyone. I eventually found some people and we came back. It was a good halloween from what i remember.
Some pictures from the night:
Mikael (the Porto fan) and I showing off our costumes)
It wasn't a good Halloween come Sunday morning when i awake to my very first hangover. I liked to think that i was hangover proof and it had no effect on me, but i came to learn that's BS. Sunday i spend the majority of the day harnessing my hangover and relaxing. I also did a little cleaning. The entire upstairs was blue. Walls, refridgerator, doors, table, floor, and even the ceiling. I had these two to thank for that:
Damn Smurfs....
Monday i had class, went to optional training, and then went to Tesco. Relaxing day.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were all relaxing. We have a paper due this upcoming Friday so i've been working on that the past couple days.
Thursday night was bonfire night here in England. If you've seen V for Vendetta you have an understanding. In 1605 on November 5th, Guy Fawkes and others tried blowing up Parliament. For some reason they celebrate this day by making huge bonfires and lots of fireworks. A friend got word that they were having a celebration at a park near campus so we went out to go partake, but there was no celebration. So we ended up just coming back and playing some cards.
Yesterday i went to the gym, worked on my paper, and helped out Nuria with an assignment. She had to turn an informal advertisement (or as they call it here, an advert) into a formal paper. I think i learned more from that 3 hour sesh then i have in any English class i have taken before. Either that or i just forgot everything i've learned when i was just a youngen. Last night 8 of us went out for the weekly dinner. This Friday we went to Papa G's which is in Printworks. I had a bacon cheeseburger because i've been craving American food for the past few weeks. I've had too much pasta lately. I also got some Tiramisu for dessert, so good. Afterwords we went to the movie theater and watched Couples Retreat. I like Vince Vaughn so naturally it was a good.
Today i worked on my paper some and have just relaxed. I gotta wrap this up because i am starving! Spaghetti and potatoes for dinner.
Take care and i'll be back sooner then usual!
Here is a shout out to Crime Dog. You deserve this!
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