A Lost Penguin's Diary

Austria, oh Austria

2011-05-24T14:55:00.001+02:00

Well we've been busy bees since arriving in Vienna yesterday afternoon. Already climbed a bell-tower at the Stefansdom and then saw costumed musicians play Mozart at the Musikverein! And this morning we sauntered off to see the Hofburg and the imperial apartments of the Hapsburg empire circa 1916. Cool stuff really, and as my dad said, Princess Sisi hadsimilar qualities to the late Princess Diana (estranged, loved travel, beautiful). We're presently sat down at a cafe around the corner from the Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci and Tiffany's. Warm weisse bier and carbonara. Mom fancies a library an I fancy a walkabout so we'll see what happens.

P

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Longest 36 hours

2011-05-21T09:29:00.001+02:00

Getting down to it, this whole plan is downright mad... Landed in London at 5:30 local time, 00:30 in Indiana. Didn't sleep much because the Albanian man next to me didn't know how to turn off his reading light, and my seat at the bulwark also placed me directly below the television, so I had that gentle glow as well. I'm presently aboard a coach to London (with a seatbelt! Crazy Brits) and then I'll take a second coach to the other airport. My flight leaves there around 5pm local time and I arrive in Bratislava, Slovakia somewhere near 8. So that's actually only 24 hours of travel. Not as bad as I'd thought, and I do get to chill at Standsted for a while, where I can rest up. Heathrow really is a city unto itself. Likely twice as big as the city my dad grew up in (Manawa, WI, host of the awesomest July 4th rodeo weekend) and over 1,000 times more people there on a daily basis.

Swapped coaches and now I'm enjoying free wifi on my way to Stansted. Parents trying to convince me to come to Prague (I know, horrible issue to debate, one ancient European city or another) but I'm set on my day in Bratislava, because it's another country on my list.

London is gorgeous. Wish I could stay here on someone else's dime though....

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Journey begins anew

2011-05-20T20:36:00.001+02:00

As I write this I'm sitting in Indianapolis, waiting for my plane. I just noticed I forgot Penguie and am somewhat sad he won't see Austria and Slovakia. They'd be new ones for him, and me as well. I felt I was forgetting something...

Well, here's to a good trip! A safe one and one with only a few bumps along the way.

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Goodbye's the hardest word

2010-01-05T19:02:00.001+01:00

That was the most meaningful goodbye I think I've ever had. I love you guys and will miss you like crazy...

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Calm Like You

2010-01-02T15:31:00.003+01:00

I quoted this song earlier this year, and I just heard it again today. It just made me think about leaving, and that's sad.

I can still remember
When your city smelt exciting
I still get a whiff
Of that aroma now and then
Burglary and fireworks
The skies they were alighting
Accidents and toffee drops
And thinking on the train

Oh, he was young , in the frost
No regard for the cost
Of saying his feelings
In the moment they were felt
And if he was calm like you
Locked up inside of your loops
Then he'd know for well
That all he had to say was
All he had to say was goodbye

Summertime made promises
It knew it couldn 't keep
The fairytale was climbing up
A mountain far too steep
Colouring the pictures
With your loyal hand
Now I am craving heartbreak
While you're making your demands

If he was calm like you
Locked up inside of your loops
Then he'd know for well
That all he had to say was
All he had to say was goodbye...

Penguin in Transit

2009-12-30T15:28:00.003+01:00

As promised!

Above: Train from Rome to Venice

Train from Strasbourg to Lyon

TGV from Paris to Strasbourg after my week traveling with Mom

Sleeper train from Paris to Madrid

Train from Basel to Strasbourg

from venice with island love

2009-12-27T21:57:00.003+01:00

I'm in the hotel in Venice, the internet is expensive and slow. I'm trying to email my mom some pictures from the trip so far but it's taking forever... Hopefully they will send before my 20 minutes remaining runs out but at this rate it's not looking good.

here's a few just for kicks, including a frozen fountain from Lyon, a canal complete with gondola from Venice, and St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Recap- Lyon, Nice

2009-12-22T10:40:00.000+01:00

Well this is getting interesting. Since I have a bit of time, let's see where I've been.

Lyon:
Beautiful city, but better viewed in late spring or early autumn. Too cold during winter to really appreciate it all. The Basillica atop the hill in Vieux Lyon is beautiful, and the view, which not obstructed by snow and low clouds, is marvelous, or so I've been told. The food was spectacular and though it was snowy and freezing, I greatly enjoyed wandering around the city and happening upon an old church tucked away down a side street.

Nice:
Come here during summer. Or, better yet, go to Antibes or one of the small towns on the opposite side of Cannes. The beach is rocky and this whole place feels like Naples flordia, a bit geriatric (did I spell that right? If I'm going to be insulting I at least want to spell it right).

Apparently they've cancelled trains to Genoa due to economic reasons. We're winging it from here, and Lacy is already 2 hours late. She said she had bad luck with trains, let's see how we can do. My goal is to be in Rome by midnight. If the genoa train existed we would have arrived by 8. I am confident. No idea why, but I am. Phone and Internet will be off forthe most part once I cross into the Boot... Wish me luck! Lord knows I'll need it at this rate.

Also, if there's Internet at the hotel in Rome I will totally be posting an awesome gallery of pictures. Of Pengie in transit.

Location:Nice Ville Gare

Somethin I'd love to one day have

2009-12-20T15:48:00.000+01:00

A little place by the water on the French coast. Nothing big, nothig fancy even. A bedroom, a kitchen, a porch lookin south, a bathroom. That'd be enough.

Location:La Pantiero,Cannes,France

Train to Lyon

2009-12-18T11:23:00.000+01:00

I'm on the train to Lyon and there's snow on the ground! Makes me smile.

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Location:Gommersdorf,France

An absolute discrace.

2009-12-17T14:01:00.000+01:00

I am absolutely astounded right now. Yesterday afternoon, we had an exam scheduled for history of the Fifth Republic. Less than an hour before the exam and without notice the professor moved the date of the exam to Friday. My train leaves at 8 am Friday and he is expecting us to do an exam in the afternoon. I am not going to throw away the money spent on a hotel in Lyon and the train ticket in order to appease a teacher who showed no respect to his students by changing an exam without warning. We were present at thr stated time, ready, an he was not.

On top of that frustrating event yesterday, the post office lost a package from London for me. I did however receive my cookies from my mom and dad which are delicious. I had to twist the arm of the recpetionist in order for her to hold the package because apparently they have a no package policy...

France, until yesterday we had been good since the begining of October, and now you went and scuffed it up. My train is at 8am, I'll be back in a few weeks...

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Location:Rue Stimmer,Strasbourg,France

Sunday Evening

2009-12-13T20:43:00.003+01:00

Study Study Study! That's been the theme of the last week.

In a weekly rewind, it's been studying during the day and taking breaks in the evenings. Last night we went ice skating which was a nice pause. It was the traditional Canadian celebration for Katherine's birthday, which is on Christmas Day. Friday night we celebrated the birthdays of two of the English girls, Hannah and Charlotte, with a party at Charlotte's place. Other than that, it had been a pretty laid back week, buckling down and reading plenty to make sure we're all prepared for the exams that start tomorrow.

In other news, I have planned my trip(s) for next week. I'm leaving Friday morning, and will be traveling up until the 30th. I am spending a few days in Lyon (Friday, Saturday, Sunday), then Nice (Sunday, Monday), and then Tuesday will be mostly spent traveling between Nice and Rome (via Genoa) where I will be for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Sunday I'm going to Venice, and then Tuesday night I'll hop a night train to Pairs.

I'm really excited to see Rome (again, last time we tried to do too much in too short a time), and Venice (even though I've heard it's smelly because of the Lagoon, but I watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and he had a good time in Venice circa 1935...) And I just love to travel so I am excited for that part too!! Lacy's meeting me in Nice since she has classes on Friday. I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures while I'm traveling, and put as many on here as I can. I've got hotels covered in each city already so I know I have a place to stay, which is really nice. Last time, Ross and I just kind of tried to walk in and find a place, which is tough. Especially in Rome at Christmas. But Rome was the cheapest hotel I found!

Alright, I'm going to read some more History of International Relations... I hope everyone had a nice weekend.

It's snowin!!!

2009-12-13T20:06:00.001+01:00

:-) snow!

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Location: Boulevard de la Victoire,Strasbourg,France

Finals

2009-12-09T11:05:00.002+01:00

I think my window faces the worst possible direction. It's facing somewhat (runs to find compass that Milan gave me since I have no idea which way north is...) completely north. It means i get no sunlight whatsoever other than refections off windows across the courtyard. It also means I have trouble waking up. Even with alarms! It's just no good.

Finals start today. I have a written exam in Gender and Politics this afternoon and then another written exam tomorrow in Europe and International Crises. Next week I have exams Monday through Thursday (ending with a doubleheader) and then I have one exam in January (on the day before I leave...). Though the formats will be different, including some of which are oral exams, I am confident at this point.

But back to work! More re-reading of notes...

Miles Davis

2009-12-06T11:35:00.002+01:00

It's an overcast and cold Sunday morning. To be honest, there's not been much going on here of late. There was a birthday party on Thursday, we played football on Friday with some french guys, and yesterday we wandered the christmas markets.

Yesterday I purchased my EuRail pass so that I can travel for Christmas. It turns out to be cheaper than buying each individual ticket, so we have 8 days of travel throughout the course of 2 months (or for me, 1 month). The "we" is not a Royal We, but rather myself and Lacy, a girl from LSU who is going to be traveling with me. We're going to Lyon, Dijon (only because that's where the train to Rome departs from), Rome, and then we don't know. We have the 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th to deal with still... I am voting for coastal areas. I would like to swim, or at least lay around in the sun...

Last night I spent an hour hanging out with Katherine (Canadian) and giving her music. She left with over 1,000 new songs from my computer and is happy that she now has more music on her computer than her iPod can fit! I always enjoy spreading music around like that. Hopefully she'll like some of the stuff I gave her. I was proud that she already had 'Kind of Blue' by Miles Davis. I'm listening to Porgy and Bess right now.

This week begins the lead-up to exams. I intend to spend the majority of my time reviewing notes and writing my two papers. Lee has already started to hole himself up. Same with Heledd. I'm comfortably optimistic, yet know that I will need to be prepared.

I come home in 1 Month. It sounds like a short period of time and I'm sure it'll go quickly. Every time people talk about it I get a bit sad because I love the people I've met here, and I'm going to miss them.

Also, I know I'm a bit early here, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!

Cold Thursday morning

2009-12-03T12:22:00.000+01:00

I've stopped for an Italian pizza between my classes, the pizzeria is run by the same family that runs a cafe where I spent the majority of my first few weeks using wifi.

We are going through the planning process for exams and I am feeling confident. I have 10 exams, some of which are papers written at home, some of which are oral, and some written during the exam period.

I am also in the process of arranging my travels for the last two weeks of December.

The last few days have been quiet other than watching the local football club win on Tuesday night. I listened to last nights epic Chelsea match (a penalties loss to Blackburn in the Carling Cup quarterfinals) while cleaning my room and finally folding laundry...

There are two birthday parties in the upcoming week, and a Chelsea match this weekend. Other than that it's just going to be organizing myself for exams!

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What a disgusting Monday

2009-11-30T17:04:00.001+01:00

It is rainy and gross!

This weekend was good! Thanksgivig on Friday was a big success, everyone loved the potatoes and stuffing that I made, and good times were had all around. Lorcan inhaled 9 Carmel cremes, I unplugged the sink and it felt like a family dinner.

Sunday I went to church at the Cathedral. The music was stunning, the gigantic organ really has a thunderous quality to it, and Katherine mentioned that when it was first installed, there was no such thig as amplification or surround sound, so the noise must have been completley overwhelming for the people in the church.

After that we wandered around the city and looked at the Christmas market. It was realy cool but my feet hurt by the end of it. Strasbourg really feels it is Christmas capital...

After that we wathed a pair of football matches, a glorious victory for Chelsea at Arsenal, an a gritty win for Barca against Madrid.

Laura and I wandered about after the match because Lee an Heledd went off to go watch a movie. We went to a place called Irish Times an participated in a pub quiz (or the second half of it) and made friends with a French guy named Cedric. We're meeting him next week and making our own lil team to see how we can do.

Tomorrow we're going to a football match as Racing Club de Strasbourg as they (as second bottom of french league 2) take on bottom ranked club Bastia.

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Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T11:52:00.000+01:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Sadly our planned dinner has been shifted. We'll make do with what we can.

I'm buying my ticket home today, more on that after these messages from our sponsors...

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Continuation

2009-11-25T15:39:00.000+01:00

The story has developped and here are the new points:

My parets called and left me a Happy Birthday duet on my voicemail since I was in class. Totally made my day.

It's still a beautiful day in the Stras! Photo proof:

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Wednesday

2009-11-25T10:42:00.001+01:00

It's a sunny morning in Strasbourg. Two classes and a Chelsea match (hopefully) today.

More as the story develops.

Prague, part 2 (ish)

2009-11-23T22:27:00.000+01:00

We arrived tired and well, tired mostly. Klara's dad and Milan's mum met us at the train station (where our bus arrived) at half noon and he took our bags in his trunk and she walked us into town. We waited at her office for a few minutes and Klara's younger sister Anna met us with her friend Ester. The 5 of us walked about for the remainder of the afternoon, stopping to wander about in a shopping mall (nicer than most I've seen in the states) and eventually caught a tram home for the evening. After dinner and a quick nap (just me, there's also video proof of me snoring...), we (Lee, Anna, Matt, Ester and I) walked down to a pub nearby for some authentic Czech beer, and paid a considerable amount less than had we been in Strasbourg. The next morning we walked through town with Anna and her parents. We got to see Wensensloss (spelled so incorrectly here it hurts) square, old town, the churches of saints Michael and Nicholas, and of Our Lady of Tyń. The old town hall tower has an astrological clock and each hour there is a procession of the apostles through two little doors above the clock. After that we crossed St Charles bridge, and hopped a tram up to Prague Castle. We stopped for lunch at a brewery called St Norbert's, which used to be run by the monks. I think it was somewhere around 400 years old. Prague castle was massive, and wrapped around the gothic cathedral in the center. The cathedral was built over a span of about 1000 years, with work finishing in the 1800s. Next we walked up to an observation tower modeled after The Eiffel Tower. When I say up, I mean it. Not only was it on one of many hills around Prague, the lift was broken so we walked the 300 stairs up to the top, which swayed considerably more than the Eiffel tower. Granted it was 1/5 scale, you could see most of Prague from it and at night the city is beautiful. The cathedral at Prague castle is flooded with light.

We (the lads) went out downtown that night and tried some different Czech beers and had a generally banterous evening.

The next morning we got up and went to a castle outside Prague built by Charles IV and further fortified once he became Holy Roman Emperor. It started a foggy morning, so much so that the trip there was actually a but bothersome, but might have been cos I prefer driving. Funny story about the ride there: Milan's parents took one car and Klara's took another. Anna and ester rode with Milan's parents, and Klara's mom suggested that matt go with them. Lee and I sat comfortably in the back of Klara's dad's car while Matt sat squished with Anna and Ester. We figure that Klara's mom was trying to start somehing between Ester and Matt, because Lee is the best fit for a crowded back seat, seeing as he's smaller...

After the long walk up we could finally make out the shape of the castle. In a stroke of luck, the fog broke right before our tour began. We had a joker for a tourguide. We couldn't tell when he was just making stuff up or when he was being serious. He ended the tour with something similar to this: "merry Christmas, happy new year, and the world is small so maybe I'll see you again" he also claimed that it was possible that the portraits of former Czech rulers might have just been made up, since a certain one was the first we had a real historical account of. After that we drove back and has dinner at the house. The lads and ladettes went out after and went bowling (at the same place we were the first night) and then came home and played cards for a bit.

The next morning we said our goodbyes and headed out into town around 10. We just walked around for a bit, and hopped on our bus at 13:30 and have been on the move since. It's been pleasant travels but just as it is at home, I prefer travelling at night cos then you don't lose as much in theway of active time. Travelling by trains at night is actually awesome because you get to sleep AND get to your destination, unless you get stuck in an uncomfortable recliner. I am obviously not still bitter about that...

It's dark in Karlsruhe. Nothing else to report!

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The Golden City

2009-11-23T13:50:00.000+01:00

Prague was beautiful. That's the long an short of it. I'll explain more later.

Also, Klara's family were the most amazing hosts and tour guides. Their hospitality and insight into the different sites around the city was boundless and really made this trip fantastic.

Patrick

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Prague

2009-11-22T10:46:00.000+01:00

We hopped in the car and are on our way to a castle outside the city. Lee and I think that klara's mom is tryingto hook matt up with Anna's friend Ester... Yesterday we did a walkig tour of Prague, and saw the old town, st Charles bridge, te Prague castle, and a look out tour resembling a 1/3 scale model of the tour d'eiffel in Paris. After we paused for a bit the lads an I went on a self navigated pub crawl, finding some interestig spots around Prague. I noticed today that this is the first time i've been in a car since the day I arrived...

It's a foggy day in Prague, more details as they become available...

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Nürnberg

2009-11-20T11:03:00.000+01:00

Lee needs sleep.

So yeah that basically explains how we all feel. It was a long night in train stations.

We're on a double decker bus now, 95km outside of Praha (Prague). Will update you as events unfold.

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Trips beginning

2009-11-19T20:56:00.001+01:00

It's 20:53 on a Thursday night. We're hoppin on a tram to begin what will be a long trip to Prague. Will keep you updated as we go.

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A Long post about Madrid

2009-11-17T16:11:00.001+01:00

The 14 hour ride from Paris to Madrid was actually pleasant (for me at least). I slept on the top bunk and was able to plug in my phone so it would be charged when we arrived. before we called it a night I was able to chat with a British ex-pat who was now living in Spain. he is an arsenal fan, and we discussed football and satellite tav and the progression of football in the united states. he told me the story of going to the Arsenal match in Madrid (I think) in the champions league and how the stadium was so impressive, no to mention the fact that he got tickets in practically the third row since someone he knew (a friend of a friend i believe) was filming Gol 2, and had some spare seats with the extras.

In the morning we relaxed at the train station for a bit while we waited on Diane who was meeting us there. After we met up, we made our way via metro to our hotel. Granted my sense of direction though useful, was a bit turned around and I picked the wrong station to get out on, meaning we had to walk about 10 blocks instead of 3. But i wasn't sure what way the numbering on the streets went so it could have gone either way. After settling into the hotel and changing, we wandered out into the city. The churches in Spain, being the catholic country it is, were impressive. We started at the fransician basilica (cathedral?) near us, and then made our way up to the cathedral at the royal palace. The cathedral was immense, proper in fact for a King and Queen's daily mass. The face of the cathedral opens into a courtyard which is also the courtyard of the royal palace. A neat fact I learned before we left for Madrid was that the Palace has two flag poles, and if one flag is up, it means the king is not present. In the case that two flags are raised, it means that the king is in residence. The present king was raised by the dictator Franco, and had a rough childhood (accidentally killed his brother who happened to be the King's favorite.) A cool thing about his home is that there is a window in it that opens into the courtyard from which you can see directly into the cathedral and have a clear view of the altar if the doors are open. That's pretty neat if you ask me…

After that we went to the Prado Museum. Though well organized and the art was pretty, it's not really art I enjoy. The Dutch Masters painted dark scenes, sad faces and painful religious scenes. The spanish painters were better, but i think that the time period between the 1200s-1500s were just a depressed time in history, the paintings just showed that. There was a painting mentioned in a book I had read, The Siege of Breda, the painting was called "The Handing Over of Breda" by Velázquez it was interesting because in the book they described the painting and how two of the books characters were present, and in the epilogue the author went into detail recounting how scholars of recent times have gone about trying to disprove that the characters are present. The book is historical fiction based on the journals of Iniago Balboa.

That night, we went to a midnight show. It was a flamenco show, and the dancing and guitars were spectacular. The singing was interesting, and the entire show was impressive all around. It was like tap, but not the 20s kitche that you think of, big smiles and huge swinging arms. There was lots of stamping and quick steps. We got home around 2:30 am, and crawled into bed.

The next morning we hopped on a bus and went 45 minutes south, to Toledo. It's an ancient town, and the old fortifications from when they were fending off the Moors are still standing, and the city's built up on a hill in a bend of the river. It's a stunning location, and quite protected too, it's the kind of place the Medieval spaniards would have seen as the ultimate fortress.

As with most old fortified cities, there is a cathedral. This cathedral is a bit different…. It was proper huge. I don't remember when it was built, but in the description of it, they mention the five naves. Because of the alignment of the pillars, the church essentially has 5 aisles (there are 4 rows of pillars) and I feel that there are some churches that consider themselves a good size that would have fit in this church at least twice. As we wandered around the town, eventually getting lost, we just enjoyed the hilly windy streets, with tall buildings on either side.

The next morning we got mom set and said our goodbyes in the subway station. Diane and I got cleaned up and then made our way to the Museo Renia Sophia, where the modern art museum is located. Picasso and Dali were our main targets. Some of the art was definitely different: a series of transparent hoses arranged on the floor that were connected to a pump that pushed water and bubbles through them, a gigantic framed set of newspaper headlines, large monochrome canvases… Not my cup of tea but Picasso was great, it was different because instead of just showing the final piece, they often had his planning drawings, a starting point. I really liked that, seeing his work before it became "picasso'ed". After that we found Starbucks (bad idea) and sat down for a coffee. It was a bad idea because that's where Diane's backpack (which had her passport inside) was stolen. Frustrating, but we found out where the Embassy was and went to talk to them. It was closed, which I was confused by, but they called someone on staff at home who told Diane what she needed to do, and we went to the police and filed a report. It was a rough end to a great trip, but to be honest i was happy that nothing bad happened until the last day. Spain is notorious for pickpockets and thankfully her wallet wasn't in the bag, so it could have been worse.

I caught my train home that evening hoping that my First Class ticket would be just that, First Class. I was wrong. Yes, it said first class, and yes we were at the head of the train, but I would have much rather been in a bed rather than a recliner… So between my little bit of sleep and the tossing and turning it was an uncomfortable night. To add insult to injury, the train arrived in Paris 2 hours behind schedule. I had 2 hours and about 15 minutes to transfer from where we arrived to a different train station initially, but because we were s late as we were, I was going to miss my train to Amsterdam. I got a refund for the ticket and just took the next train home to Strasbourg.

Strasbourg and Paris

2009-11-15T10:23:00.003+01:00

Strasbourg and Paris

The train to Strasbourg left at about 10 the following morning. We got to Stras after one change in Stutgartt. After repacking my bag and ditching the dirty clothes, and unpacking some of mom's stuff that she was leaving with me. We went to the Cathedral in Strasbourg and then on a boat tour around the island and up to the European Parliament. A traditional Alsacian dinner of Tarte Flambee and beer and then we caught the last train to Paris.

Our hotel was amazing! It was the same one that Dad and I stayed in when we went for Spring Break my sophomore year at Purdue. They gave us a suite for the price of a normal room, which was quite generous. Once we arrived we had discussed going out and getting a glass of wine in a cafe but ended up too tired, so just called it a night.

The next morning, after an unplanned lengthy lie in, we headed out into Paris. We were about 10 blocks from Ile de la Cite, where Notre Dame de Paris is. We wandered past the Inside out architecture of le centre Pompidou, which inside has a Modern art Museum. One of my favourite comments of the trip was mom's statement that "They've cleaned Notre Dame since I was here, it looks like a completely different building!" We spent most of the morning on foot, walking from the hotel to Notre Dame, then along the Seine to the Musee D'Orssay. The Musee d'Orssay was by far the most impressive museum we visited while we were on our trip. Personally, the Impressionists are my favorite painters. And beside the fact that the art there was amazing, the building itself was impressive. A former trains station, it has been transformed into a museum. They built small galleries off in the wings and the main area is still open, you walk in and the roof soars above you, you can see some of the galleries that look somewhat like boxes out in the open area ahead of you. We walked for a bit in a fruitless search for Julia Child's parisian home, only to be thwarted by strange numbering practices along rue de la universite… Next stop was the Eiffel Tower, and rather than walk to it, we took the subway. It stands to reason that even though walking was possible and also perhaps a shorter route, the trip on the subway had a specific goal. The view of the Eiffel Tower from across the river from Trocadero is stunning. I split with mom at the bottom of the tower and took the stairs (all 668 of them) and we met on the second floor. Partly because the elevator didn't stop at the first floor… but it was good. We were standing on the second floor as night fell across the city. The view was stunning to say the least… My favorite part was scanning the city to find the landmarks that we had already seen. Center Pompidou stands out for being ugly by Parisian standards, Notre Dame seems dwarfed by the city around it, and Sacre Coeur stands illuminated on a hill in the distance. We hopped a train home to grab some reading material and then took the metro over to Sacre Coeur. We toured what is in my opinion the most beautiful church in Paris and then settled in a cafe on the square at Montmartre. I've been sat in the three cafes on the square now, one each time I've visited the city. We had to walk home, as I didn't have change and the metro stop didn't have a ticket booth. Needless to say we slept well after that walk.

The following morning we aught a red tour bus near Notre Dame. It was one of the open top tour busses, which, for the morning was a wonderful idea. The bus sped around town,and we hopped off at the Opera as our first stop. The building was massive and the interior was beautiful. Marble (real and false) everywhere, and stunning gold leaf on the details. The inside of the theatre itself was impressive, crushed red velvet seats and expansive stage were gorgeous. After the opera (which I attempted to exit by a non exit door) we hopped back on the tour bus and went up the Champs Elysees (ba dah be dah pa) and took our pause at the Arc De Triomphe. A grueling climb up the spiral stairs (approximately 200 I believe) we found ourselves in what I would call the first ante chamber (I toured enough homes that that was a common phrase I heard over the course of the trip) of the building. Its a lobby up inside the middle of the arch. After a pause for movies and reading, we hiked up the 46 stairs to the roof where we noticed that dark clouds were gathering to our west and after taking some pictures, we made our way back down to the bus stop. We were in the third row, which is just outside the covering on the upper floor, which meant that after a few minutes we were starting to get a bit wet. We had wanted tog et off close to Les Invalides (a Napoleonic hospital made to look like a basilica) and instead were left a mile away, stuck to walk in the rain around Invalides to the Rodin museum. One thing I learned there was that sculpture is notoriously difficult to photograph… We then headed back to the hotel (where our bags were in the luggage room) and then made a quick pause at a post office before finding our train at Gare d'Austerlitz. The 14 hour ride from paris to Madrid was actually pleasant (for me at least)...

Munich

2009-11-12T18:50:00.001+01:00

A week of travel, and stopping was the hardest part… I would have loved to keep moving, to see a few more cities before I went back to class. It's going to take a few posts to go through everything that happened over the week, and it'll take a bit longer to show you the best pictures from it all. I only took 274, which compared to some of my friends trips is paltry. Clare took over 400… but I'll start from the beginning (of the trip, going any further back would get wordy and tiresome)

Munich (München)

I arrived in Munich the night of Halloween. It was a 4 hour train ride from Strasbourg, straight through. There were small stops along the way but I didn't really pay attention to them. I spent the train ride writing a bit and then reading. I found a hostel near the train station (no idea how, I just wandered down some streets.)

I hopped on a subway (regional train really) and swung out to the airport to meet mom. I had forgotten which city she was coming from, I remembered that there were flights we had looked at that came in from Philly so I went to that area. It was the international arrivals so you'd figure that it'd be ok, but Delta has to be special and arrive somewhere else. Mom called me from a pay phone and we eventually found each other.

After dropping our bags and a quick change at the hotel we headed out into Munich. As it was with our entire trip, churches were one of the first things we visited. A smaller church called St. Paul's I believe? It was just tucked into a neighborhood, I think it was built in around either 1809 or 1909, the script they were using made it difficult to differentiate numbers. We hopped on the subway and went up towards the Residenz, the home of the Kings of Bavaria. We saw another church just built into the city, it was in a block of buildings and looked seriously out of place. It was the Theatinerkirche. The interior was beautiful, it seemed as if it had been whitewashed; there were tons of details, but no color on them. They looked like they might have been gold leafed and painted before but maybe the gold had been stripped. The Residenz was across the street, and we tried our best to find a way in but we were at the wrong end of building and walked 2/3 of the way around it in order to find a way in. The building was beautiful, the former Dukes of Bavaria, later Electors of the Holy Roman Empire and then Kings of Bavaria in their own right had a great place to live. The whole thing was massive, a large complex that had been refurbished multiple times during its use and then presently still under repair because of the destruction of World War II.

Lunch outside (in the cold) at a bier garden with impossibly small sausages and then we went to the Marienkirche, the church of Mary. It had been quite destroyed during the war, and they rebuilt it. There was a little work being done on one of the spires, but it was completed indoors. There was a tile that looked as if someone's foot had been imprinted on it, and the explanation on a little plaque on the wall said that that's where the Devil stood the night it was completed. He stood there and laughed as from that vantage point you can't see any of the windows because the pillars block them all. The story goes that he stood there and laughed saying, "What good is a church with no windows?" Taking another step forward he could see them all and then recognizing his mistake he flew off in defeat.

We had an early evening, neither of us had slept all that much the night before, Mom on a plane and me in a hostel with an extra snore-y guy on of the other beds.

The next day we found how we could get out to Schloss Nymphenburg, the summer home of Kings and Electors. It was expansive, and had extended from one home (still quite large) to encompass two sprawling wings and hundreds of rooms. The paintings on the walls were gorgeous. The atrium was Rococo, and the gold leaf and extra frilly details were everywhere. The tour included a museum of porcelain and carriages. The carriages were as elaborate as some of the rooms in the house, it was interesting to think that they were actually used for processions. there were sleighs too, and I had never actually seen a proper sleigh (Santa's flies so that doesn't count). The porcelain had some really detailed pieces, I was drawn to a lion that looked frightened. That afternoon we went on a bus tour, and i worked to listen to it in French for practice. We went to The Deutsches Museum after the tour, and it is their version of Chicago's Science and Industry. It was a pretty cool museum, they had a lot on things on metallurgy and flight. It kind of mixed the Air and Space museum at the Smithsonian and Science and Industry in Chicago. I was pleased to see a pair of old Hiedelberg presses that were quite similar to the windmill press and the S27 Cylinder at Printing Partners. We ended up at Höfbrauhaus that evening. We enjoyed reading, pretzels and our beer.

2009-11-05T13:30:00.000+01:00

It's raining in Paris. More news as it becomes available.

-- Posted from my iPhone

The week, where'd it go?!

2009-10-30T13:56:00.002+01:00

This week has been a complete blur! Classes have been good, we discussed World War I after American intervention, how policy is adopted in the European Union, some influential women in the feminist movements beginning (and how Nietzsche is totally anti-feminist), and international relations relating to the creation of Israel and the successive years. Outside of class, we celebrated Sally's birthday, played monopoly again and went to an IEP party (Barbarians and Barbies, it was hilarious!) I'm starting to get things lined up in the way of exams so as I know more I'll let ya know!

Trees

2009-10-30T13:53:00.002+01:00

I've been trying to post this for a while now and it won't post from my iphone.

Trees! They're naked now.

They weren't before....

Some strange sort of tree trimming.

Europa Park and Adrian's Birthday pictures

2009-10-25T13:09:00.007+01:00

Faces on the flying dutchman

Beefeater

Lee and me

One of the staff joined us for a bit

In the spinny tea cups

Those are both her shirts...

We're flying!

Mercedes-Benz hover boards

How many can you fit in a phone booth?

THRILLER!!! On ice!

The bobsled roller coaster

Halloween-ed Park. He's havin a bath

The bobsled roller coaster

The great Pumpkin!

Sorry for the random order...

Saturday: What a day!

2009-10-25T12:49:00.002+01:00

I have been updating this less and less since I've been more active at school and I apologize! Yesterday was one for the ages...

We started at Europa Park, a theme park in Germany about an hour away from Stras by bus. I wasn't originally going, seeing how I'm not a fan of roller coasters, but we were all going and since I hadn't put any other plans in motion (I was thinking about going to London to watch the Chelsea match, which ended up being an epic win 5-0) I "manned up" as Laura said. The group split along the lines of who likes roller coasters, and my group of 4 enjoyed our day. Katherine had never been on any sort of ride so we (Katherine, Clare, Taryn and myself) started slow and built our way up to a proper roller coaster at the end. We also went to "Halloween On Ice" which was more of just the Ice Capades with a few zombies thrown in for good measure. We figured it was a family show but the first act showed us that family shows are a bit different in Germany, the woman's outfit would have been at home on a beach instead of on ice... As the whole park was Halloween-ed, we were horribly disappointed that we hadn't heard Thriller yet (they were playing the halloween song from A Nightmare Before Christmas on repeat around the park) but Halloween On Ice fixed that by giving us a Michael Jackson tribute, featuring the Thriller dance (on skates!) and then broke into Billie Jean (The guy did back flips on ice skates, I was impressed) and finished with a zombified version of Beat It. There is a big geo-desic dome that houses a roller coater and it was made to look like a pumpkin, that was funny. The roller coaster inside was fun too! All in all it was a good trip, even if we were called "the wuss group" since we didn't want to go on the tallest roller coaster in Europe, or a gigantic one designed by Mercedes-Benz. We had our fun at our own pace, and had less time queueing than the other group, our longest was maybe 20 minutes, and they spent maybe 5 hour in lines during the course of the trip...

When we got home we relaxed for a bit then went to celebrate Adrian's birthday. We started at Paul Appel (one of the residences) and then hopped the tram to a different university residence. We ended the night at a club on a boat. It was certainly an entertaining evening, and we got an extra hour because of the time change, and I really love when that happens. And considering that had I not changed my watch it would have been 5 am when I got home, I was thankful for the extra hour... The night bus disappeared yesterday so I hung out with Clare as she waited for it, only for a 20 minute wait to turn into about an hour and a half. At least....

Today, Lee and I are going to watch the Man Utd game against Liverpool and then we'll be playing Risk at Pawels apartment. Pictures arriving in a moment!

Oops

2009-10-21T11:03:00.003+02:00

Sorry to have been gone for a bit!

Monday was run of the mill, ran some errands and had lunch, nothing special really. Tuesday I got groceries (some tea since Katherine has an electric kettle and some breakfast stuff) and then enjoyed my 6 hours of class... And today I've gone through a make up class for an hour and now am getting ready for my next class in an hour.

I'm working on setting everything up for my travels with my mom when she gets here. My other project right now is the getting my classes selected for next semester. I had to start with selecting credits my study abroad could fill in for and then see what was left. If all goes according to plan, which it hopefully will, I'll be covered. We'll see.

Tonight is more Champions League football at Dubliner. I hope Chelsea'll be on, but with Man U v CSKA Moscow starting earlier than the rest, I figure that game'll be on one tv with the epic match between the two most successful clubs in europe (AC Milan and Real Madrid) might get priority on one of the others. Honestly, after yesterday's great results (Liverpool losing, Arsenal drawing) todays games seem to be set up for something special. Chelsea v. Athletico Madrid in London, Real v. AC, Bordeaux v. Bayern Munich, lots of good games today. Let's hope they're all thrillers!

Photos from Colmar

2009-10-18T00:19:00.003+02:00

This is the moat around the cathedral

A cool lookin old building built in the 1500s

A fountain in the main park in town

The Cathedral

Little Venice

Long Weekends

2009-10-17T23:51:00.002+02:00

Good evening!!!

This weeks classes were good, things went smoothly, and all in all it was a good week! I got my LSAT score today (as my earlier post mentioned) and I wish I had done a bit better. I'll be chatting with my advisor in the upcoming days to see what to do next.

We just finished watching The Princess Bride which is a fantastic movie. We all scrunched on to Katie's bed and watched it, and Katherine made fried apples for us (she took over as mom for the evening). Before that we watched the amazing Boilermaker upset of nationally ranked Ohio State. Which was AWESOME!!!! Congrats boilers, well done.

This morning we went to Colmar, a small town south of here. It was pretty and a nice place for a day trip but not really much to do there. I'll post pictures in a bit. I liked the trip because I enjoy the trains, I really wish we had more trains in the states...

Thursday we went to happy hour at a bar called Happy Hour. It was fun, the place was packed. We found out about it the night before when we went there to watch the France national soccer team play against Austria (France won, 2-1, qualifying for the play-off to get into the world cup).

That's about it.

LSAT

2009-10-17T13:55:00.000+02:00

156. 68th percentile. I did better than 68% of the people that took it.

We're in Colmar for the day. Not much to do here.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Crisp cold skies

2009-10-14T12:16:00.001+02:00

It's cold. Ok so maybe not really cold. 37F, 1C but I don't had a heavyish coat. I've been looking for one and will continue the search Friday, I don't have breaks long enoughto shuffle off to the mall to look at coats.

Classes have been good this week, I've been focused and taking notes. It'll make up for what I miss traveling. We're officially going to Prague the weekend of the the 21st of november! I have trips planned to Amsterdam for a concert (it's a 19 hour train journey from Madrid, I'm leaving after mum flies out) and Lyon for the Festival of lights.

I'm in class so I'll have to write more later!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Bollywood Grill

2009-10-12T12:37:00.000+02:00

Indian for lunch after running some errands for the morning. I was actually half way to my next stop but it was raining and I hadn't eaten yet so I figured it would be a good stopping point. I've crossed two of my errands so far, a bank run and picking up a form that will hopefully provide me with money for lodging... Who knows.

The picture is Guttenberg. He has a square named after him here, just south of the cathedral. Well it might be south, I don't know, I have reallignes my compass to use the cathedral a my center point with the directions following the length of the church and then cutting across the face. I am pretty sure that is wrong but oh well.

Had a good weekend, the rain was a downer but we made the most of it. Monopoly and poker Sunday, laundry and an IEP house party Saturday and a get together Friday at laura's. Tonight we plan Prague, and I plan Lyon.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Laundry Day

2009-10-10T13:01:00.001+02:00

It's a rainy Saturday and be ause I've got nothing else planned I figured laundry would be a good use of my time. It needed to be don, and the laundrymat is close by, providing a reprieve from my room. Laundry makes me think of Eddie izzard, the British commedien. He has a bit about clothes infiltrating the wash, the colors conspire to send a blue sock into the white load.

This week went well. Classes were good, my new laptop battery holds up beautifuly! There was a game of Risk (which I had never played but found entertaining to watch) at Pawels apartment Thursday night. We decided we would buy the England match tonight since it is only going to be broadcast online (they had sold the rights to the now defunct Setanta broadcast company) and after that one of the international coordinators is hosting something at her place.

I'm planning a trip to Lyon but I don't quite know when. I was thinking this comming weekend but some people wanted to go to colmar (the begining of the wine route I believe) I would be tempted to spend Friday in colmar and go on to Lyon after. We'll see.

That's all for now I guess. Just sort of a lazy Saturday...

-- Posted from my iPhone

My 0.60€ coffee in class

2009-10-08T11:33:00.001+02:00

Not half bad. Pleasantly suprised and you can be sure I'll have em more often since they're cheap!

Early Mornin' Tony

2009-10-08T10:15:00.000+02:00

I miss starbucks. Not from the actual coffee standpoint but actually from the simpilicity and omnipresence standpoint. My 8 am lecture shouldn't have been all that difficult to go to, and it wasn't overall, but a coffee would have been nice. Places here don't really do coffee to go and I didn't have the time to sit and drink a cup. I miss my espresso machine too, I liked making myself a little somethin somethin in the mornings.

Lecturer talked for 2 hours straight. Referred to the German advance into Belgium during WWI as a violent, pedophillic attack. He is a character.

The professors here are not that food with technology. They use the computers and projectors occasionally but I was suprised by the lack of understanding of how the microphone systems work. If they work at all.

Back to class. Have a great day!
Oh, the title, it's a track by Felt. New album drops next month. They're my soundtrack today.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Epic Monopoly Game

2009-10-05T23:37:00.001+02:00

We stayed in tonight cos that's free. We played monopoly AND I WON!!!!! It was epic. I played conservatively at first, getting the railroads and utilities, then the lowly first two properties. End of story I won and had more money than the bank and she even had half the properties. I was proud of myself!

Those are my 7 hotels. I will admit that I was quite lucky to get some good rolls when traversing her 3/4 of the board, landing on my railroads, free parking, etc. But it was fun to finally win a game of monopoly!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Monday Mornings

2009-10-05T11:45:00.003+02:00

Mondays aren't all that different here, even if I don't start class until 4pm. The idea of starting classes (and the week in general) again after a weekend is a bit of a downer. But I'm lucky enough to have built a schedule that is manageable.

These cold mornings are becoming more and more common. We chatted about how in December or February/March this weather would be shorts weather, but for now it's sweats in the morning and jeans and a sweatshirt for class. I'm not a fan of it but it'd be the same at home, except I think there might be better insulation in the window area of my apartment compared to the windows here...The steam radiators haven't been turned on yet. I thought I heard them last night but must have been mistaken because it is still frigid...

I am going to put money on my student ID so I can pay for dinner today, they no longer accept cash at the dining hall. Apparently they loose money by accepting cash at student prices. I don't understand how 2.90 is different if it's paid in cash or on a money card but they're the boss.

Today's soundtrack: John Mayer Trio. Both a live bootleg and their official Live release, Try!. Great music!

A Great Day

2009-10-02T15:35:00.006+02:00

Fridays

I've always been a fan. Especially since I arrived here and set up my schedule so that I had no classes on Friday. Initially the decision was made to enable me to travel more easily. Now I just like having Fridays free to run errands and whatnot. Today I got my bank card, and successfully made it through the day without losing it to an ATM. I may or may not have written my PIN number on my wrist. However, the arrival of a bank card then led to the arrival of a telephone. I officially have a phone! And it works. I don't have much in the way of talk time, I think it's just maybe 200 minutes a month. but I feel that the unlimited texting was more important for us students here since receiving texts is free, I can be a contact point, a sort of switchboard, for our group of friends. WE had also discussed the option of a Can & string communication system across our courtyard so that Katie, Matt and I could communicate that way. If we get that done, I will definitely post pictures.

I have a pair of pictures I wanted to show earlier, to show an amusing dichotomy in the architecture here. One is what I consider the ugliest building on the Palace Universite campus, just about 3 minutes from our dorm. The other is the housing across the street from the ugly building. How do you get such an ugly school building across the street from such gorgeous housing!?

also amusing: Where germany and France meet:

This is at the square in front of the cathedral. I love the old german half timbered buildings, and I thought it was interesting that it is essentially built into the neighboring building, which is very French.

Welcome to October

2009-10-01T18:10:00.001+02:00

October has arrived and I'm not ready to admit that it's fall already. I have been so used to summer, I had forgotten that fall exists. The leaves have been falling off here for a while and I kept questioning why leaves were falling off in summer. Apparently it will get cold but snow isn't likely during the winter. I will miss my flip flops but because I appreciate the balance that my toes provide, I won't be wearing them once it gets cold.

Tommorrow is errand day, I am going to get a new battery and hopefully be able to go to the bank. Now that there is internet in my room I am not in as much of a hurry for my bank card but it'd still be nice.

We have been planning trips and it looks like Prague and the Netherlands are probable, hopefully I'll be able to crash at klara and gary's families to save some money.

It's Tom's birthday so we're going to get tarte flambee. We went to watch the game at dubliner last night and it was great, they had three games on, Man U, Chelsea and Real Madrid. All three of those teams won, but Chelsea still didn't look like they had the cutting edge they had up until the shock loss to Wigan. I am hoping to watch the Chelsea v Liverpool Sunday, assuming they're open...

I have been making pasta at home instead of going to the dining hall because you are required to put money on your student ID card to pay, and you can't do that without a French bank card... I borrowed a pot from a neighbor, whose name I am embarrassed to admit I have forgotten.

I bought a loaf of bread, it is basically a loaf of King's Hawaiian sweet rolls. Delicious but amusing because I just wanted regular bread.

Internet!!!!!

2009-09-30T18:42:00.000+02:00

The internet has finally arrived at Gallia!

How do businesses survive here?!

2009-09-30T09:35:00.001+02:00

Ok, I understand this is a relaxed culture but I find it amazing that the majority of businesses survive here. Between the extended lunchtime breaks (daily) and the standard closed for the weekend mentality, stores log less than 50 operating hours a week! That doesn't seem financially responsible, let alone profitable.

I have tried to go grocery shopping for two consecutive days and have been foiled by e.leclerc being closed yesterday and opening 5 hours later than advertised today. I'll try again tomorrow.

Just walked past a restaurant closed Mondays that essentially only served about 5 or 6 hours a day otherwise. So different.

Ride home

2009-09-27T14:14:00.001+02:00

GeoTagged, [N48.58356, W7.76237]

Waking up early stinks but I'm happy to be on my way home. I'm seated across from a pair of ladies travelling together, not as entertaining as the Germans from last time but they're civil.

My hotel was loud, creaky noises and a bit of rumbling kept me up for a bit but I slept fine. The tv was a bit off, there was no remote and the channel changing buttons didn't always work. I did catch a few seconds of a Count de Montecristo film starring Gerrard Depardieu. I like him, he is amazing as Cyrano de Bergerac, I'll always enjoy that movie. Never saw Roxanne though, but I've heard Steve Martin did a good job as the modern version of Cyrano.

There's a mother doing her best to make sure her son is set and ready on the tgv. Her son looks older than me but it could be the French. It was funny. I like that withtrains you can have more of a goodbye than at airports, even back in the days before extensive security checks. You're so much closer here! Ok my iPhone's battery is low and I need some music. I'll catch you on the flip side.

Arrived home and got cleaned up and unpacked. Laundry either today or tomorrow. I'm just chillin in my room because it appears Katie and Matt are both gone. Both Purdue and Penn State lost this weekend, ours was not as unexpected, even if we were leading in the 4th. Penn State was supposed to win so that was more of a shocker. IU pushed Michigan yesterday, that makes me think that the oaken bucket game might be super interesting this year. We'll wait and see.

I'm listening to Mika, a British singer. He's funny, I like him. He's got two albums out, his second just came out this month.

Have a nice day!

Oh Crap

2009-09-26T20:41:00.002+02:00

Well the test went well, I felt good for the most part. The title refers to the fact that because the proctor took an extra hour starting the exam and I missed my train, and the following train to Strasbourg. The second train I missed happened to be the last one tonight. So I'm camped out in a hotel with WiFi across the street from the train station.

Yup. More money down the train...

I'll write more tomorrow on the train between here and Strasbourg. For now I'm going to relax, I deserve it.

TGV

2009-09-25T16:24:00.001+02:00

I'm sitting on the TGV between Strasbourg and Paris. I finished my kaplan book on the LSAT and am feeling good about it all. This train amazes me, we're going quite quick but you can't really tell, except when another train passes going the opposite direction.

The countryside reminds me of Wapauca county in Wisconsin, and at times a bit of Tippacanoe as well. It's beauttiful. The buildings we pass certainly wouldn't fit in either of those two places but the rolling hills and livestock grazing would look normal. I haven't seen any holstiens though.

I'm sitting across from a pair of Germans, they're funny. They speak pretty good English but it's amusing when they switch between it and German. There is an outlet here but there's no power coming through.

I've got an hour left. When I arrive I plan on finding a hotel and laying low, maybe watch a show I downloaded or maybe some tv. I am confused because my admission ticket says "arrive no later than 2 pm" so I might have been mistaken as to the time that the exam occurs. I plan on looking for a hotel near the testing center so I'll look if there is any information there, and if not I'll check online.

Thursday

2009-09-24T12:07:00.002+02:00

Class today was interesting. My first class was at 8am, and waking up and getting there wasn't the hard part. The teacher was a bit stereotypical "full of himself" teacher. He used the somewhat cliche line of "You're the ones paying, my time is precious, etc." He was easy to understand and easy to follow, but it was just irritating because he left at about 8:03 and didn't come back for 10 minutes because students kept arriving and he wouldn't start until everyone had arrived since some people had interrupted his class.

My sociology of international relations class seems interesting. Apparently we have three teachers who each come in and give lectures.

The battery on my laptop is giving me problems. I checked some information on it and it is at approximately 37% health according to my iStat application which monitors internal workings. It has also been through 232 full cycles, and I'm not sure if that's a large or small quantity of cycles. It lasts approximately one hour, which is half of a class. One of the two reason i'm worried about this is that they are ridiculously expensive here, approximately $200 for a replacement. I'm pretty sure they aren't that expensive at home, but I will admit I think I got my last replacement for free (Thank you extended AppleCare warranty!). The other reason I'm worried is that I only have my short cord (the long one is an american plug) so it's difficult to plug in during class unless I get there early and sit next to the outlet which is tough when I've got back to back classes.

We got to see the Man Utd game in the Carling Cup third round last night. They won, even after having a defender sent off for a cynical tackle. Chelsea also played, they won as well, and three players make returns from injury (Yuri Zirkhov, Joe Cole, and Paulo Ferreira) and Joe Cole got the assist for our only goal.

Lunch break and then two more classes this afternoon. I'm not leaving for Paris until tomorrow, I didn't feel like paying for 2 nights in a hotel/hostel.

Recap

2009-09-23T11:10:00.001+02:00

GeoTagged, [N48.58356, W7.76237]

Just as a little FYI the patience post belongs to Tuesday, the other two to earlier days. I had switched over to using my laptop so I hadn't posted in a bit. Here's what today looks like though! 6 hours of lecture this afternoon...

Patience

2009-09-23T10:34:00.003+02:00

"The Fairytale was climbing up a mountain far too steep" - Alex Turner (The Arctic Monkeys/The Last Shadow Puppets)

Sometimes that'll happen. I went too quick. Now I start waiting all over again.

A lesson learned: better safe than sorry.

Story: I've been waiting for my bank card the last week and a half and I recieved an email saying I could now pick up my card at the bank. Excited by this news I headed to the bank with the intention of picking up my card and then going to Orange to get my phone situation settled.

Upon receipt, one activates a card by using it at an ATM. I memorized my pin incorrectly, since they gave me one instead of me giving my own. I was off by a digit. Now it's stuck inside that ATM and I still have no phone. I'm still in a slightly better mood because I finished setting up wireless on campus and can now get the shows I missed, but that is not enough of a positive to outweigh my crap morning.

I have Sociology of the state right now. [he talked fast but once he focused on a single subject it was easier to understand.]

History of international relations. Didn't know it was since 1945, I took this class with Targ at purdue, but that was from the American point of view. Everyone kept talking so it was tough to listen.

History of modern political ideas, cool prof. Speeks at a pace I can understand 100% but his handwriting looks like Arabic...

LSAT practice

2009-09-23T10:34:00.001+02:00

This is going to be posted at the same time as the other post about Monday but that's fine. I studied today before my class and now I'm back at it after class and dinner. Class was a but rough, but I did feel that I got the jist of what he was saying. He did however make a few sweeping claims that neither I nor the Brtis were fond of regarding our respective countries. He said that all the presidents of the last 60 years went to ivy league schools which I didn't think was factual. He also claimed that since the 20s all the prime ministers came out of either oxford or Cambridge. If I had Internet I'd check those stats but for now I just hold my disbelief.

LSAT is tough but I feel I'm getting better with the logic games. I have done questions from one practice test I've got on Winston (my computer) and then a section an a half at this point from one of the books.

Honest, the reason I'm writing this is because there was a line (a toast more or less) in a song I just listened to by Jay-Z (the song included an extended sample from Forever Young) that said "May the best of your todays be the worst of your tomorrows" I just loved that line. And I felt like sharing it with all of you.

Bureaucracy

2009-09-22T19:57:00.001+02:00

I really enjoy France, all but the process of getting a bank card. I had an enjoyable weekend, relaxing and still active. But the problem of not having a phone is starting to get annoying. The French business model of being closed weekends no matter what kind of store or restaurant you are also gets annoying.

But there are positives, I watched half of the Utd game with Lee and played for an hour or so after. It was tied at half and Man Utd won it 4-3 with the last touch of the game. Chelsea won their London derby as well, 3-0 over Tottenham.

I need to print my LSAT ticket and get some non mechanical pencils. I've been reading my books and also lookig at the DVD that came with it and they've been helpful. The processes of the logic games are gettig easier as I keep going.

Though I enjoy it here, the stereotypical bureaucratic system is aggrivating because the process of getting internet is taking forever. With classes starting today I am confused as to why the system isn't finished. Another funny story is that they are replacing our mattresses tomorrow. Now doesn't that seem like it would make more sense to do it over the summer when people didn't live here? It's almost as if they didn't remember we (all the students living here) were coming. I feel that if a university were run like this at home American students might take up the French model and start going on strike...

I hope all is well at home.

Last moment addition, the soundtrack! Today started with Akon and now has shifted to Cage the Elephant. If it changes again I'll tell ya.

[note: switched to iTunes DJ while at home which mixes all of the songs I have listened to in the last 4 weeks into one playlist]

Sunday

2009-09-20T12:17:00.003+02:00

I'm going to watch the Manchester Derby this afternoon at the Dubliner and then play some futbol after, so today should be a good day. Yesterday we kicked around a bit and threw some frisbee. We also made a pasta dinner at Gallia, which was nice. As is standard at my house since I didn't cook anything I did dishes with Lee.

The internet still hasn't arrived at Gallia, I'm sitting on campus and my battery is dying too quickly for my tastes. First classes tomorrow, and I'm really hoping that when I go to the bank tomorrow morning I leave with more than just a dejected look.

soundtrack: Muse's new album - The Resistance.

Sorry I don't have more to share, but it's been pretty low key. Once reason I need to get a phone is because I think one of my cards is frozen and I would not appreciate that because I would like to use it...

Classes

2009-09-18T13:08:00.002+02:00

Today has been good so far; I’ve just spent the morning in a lecture hall going over the procedures for registering for classes. It’s really different here, not just based on the lack of online registration, but because you can drop classes up until the 10^th of November! We were also told that finals schedules for students only staying one semester can be arranged, so that is beneficial for me, and I will be discussing that with the appropriate people in the coming weeks.

And as for my schedule… The list of classes was enormous, we’re essentially allowed to take any class offered during our time here, but the downside is that most classes only meet once a week for 2 hours. These once a week classes are 2.5 credits each, and since I’m supposed to be taking between 12-18 credits I’m taking 7 classes! On the othe hand, it’s not bad because I’ve built a schedule that permits me to travel. I have no class on Friday, and my class on Monday is at 4 pm.

The downside to all of this is that I have classes for 4 hours on multiple evenings. But the topics seemed interesting and I think that they’ll transfer well, there are enough upper level courses and the topics are broad enough that I can fit them into my requirements (cue slightly evil laughter) but I will admit to being frightened by the concept of 7 classes. At Purdue, I usually took 5, and these classes would meet multiple times per week. That made it bearable because we generally didn’t go over as much each day, but if we plan to cover a comparable amount of subject matter in a semester while only meeting once a week for 2 hours then this could get interesting with 7 courses.

The courses I have listed as of right now are:

Monday, 4-6 Introduction to Political Science

Tuesday, 2-4 History of International Relations

Tuesday, 6-8 History of Modern Political Ideas (This class exists at Purdue)

Wednesday, 2-4 Politics and Public Actions in Europe

Wednesday 4-6 The French Republic since 1880 (This can be a French history class)

Thursday, 8-10 (am) Europe and International Crisis (How do you pluralize that?)

Thursday, 4-6 Constitutional law of the European Union

We’ll see how it goes!

Later note: Awww shoot. I need to add two more classes in order to be considered a full time student, or at least that's what Katie said. But she's only in 5 classes. I'm going to look at my stuff again...

King George

2009-09-17T13:03:00.002+02:00

So on July 4th, 1776, it is rumored that King George (V I think) wrote in his diary that "Nothing of great importance happened today"

Yesterday, nothing really happened. The bank told me I couldn't have my card yet. I did laundry. I just relaxed since my class was cancelled.

Hopefully today will be more entertaining.

Internet

2009-09-16T09:39:00.002+02:00

Now that I have my student card I could set up a connection for the wireless on the campus here at Strasbourg. So I no longer need to go to a cafe and buy a coffee in order to use internet.

Yesterday was a good day. Slept in since we didn't have anything in the morning and then went on a boat ride around the city in the afternoon. Though interesting, I'd walked most of the places they were showing us so I wasn't as impressed. The European Institutions were pretty impressive from the water and it was fun to go through the lock system on the river Ill. Otherwise it was just a way to pass an hour and see some things from different angles.

After the boat ride we checked at a few different bars to see if one of the two english ties in the champions league would be on tv, but most places were showing the Marsaille vs. AC Milan game. We eventually found one but the tv was above the door and we had to sit on the first floor and look up at the tv. Utd was on and won, it wasn't a very impressive game. The Chelsea game also ended in Chelsea's favour, they won 1-0 by Anelka. It was a fun evening all together.

Other than that nothing too much. I'm listenin to Jay-Z's new album for my music of choice.

I think I can get internet set up in my room but I don't totally understand how...

Yay!

2009-09-14T16:32:00.004+02:00

Alright I've got my student cards and paid my dues so now I am officially a student! Hopefully now I'll be able to get some Internet at the dorm and then I'd really be set up. We weren't supposed to be able to get our cards today but she let the first few of us go so hey I'll take it and run. I can use it for a tram pass too but I dunno how. For now I'm just happy to be able to pay less for lunch.

I will see if this can provide Internet later today. And if yes there will be much rejoicing.

Lecture

2009-09-14T16:32:00.003+02:00

Today a man cam to talk to the students here. Though interesting, I couldn't get as connected to his speech. It wasn't the language barrier, I understood the 45 minutes he spent talking about his life and his times as Editor in Chief of the newspaper here, but I couldn't feel it was really useful. I feel aweful saying that but it's true.

I gotta run home and write the letter for class this afternoon, and make a copy of my passport again. It was a 4 song walk so if I go briskly I can get everything done.

And lunch. And paying for social security here. Today is busy. Tomorrow should be better. Pengy has been lounging on top of my fridge and he guards my change. Matt said somethingblast night about how if you pay with coins here it doesn't feel like real money. It's true though, using 1€ and 2€ coins doesn't feel like I'm spending that much money. I don't mind it and actually I think it's a good idea. It was funny to come back after a few days and recgonize that I had 10€ on coins in my pocket, and had thought nothing of them because they feel like quarters and nickels.

I need to do laundry today. Socks and boxers mostly. I really thought I had more pairs of socks with me. I might just wash socks in my sink and shower...

Sunday morning

2009-09-13T17:47:00.003+02:00

I wanted to show the organ from the cathedral, so here is a picture from yesterday.

Thinking of how French market went. It's coming on 10 here when I'm writing this so they've sent everyone home from clean up crews to rest until morning. I always liked some parts of clean up, rolling tables and piling them up, stacking the chairs.

I hope the weather was good and the turnout more than anticipated!

After the bar last night we came back and just hung about. It was really odd because it seems like everyone has gone home for the weekend... The building was eerily dark and quiet last night. But it gave me time to read and I started my book of sonnets, I just read the preface where the author is taking a historical view of them as to better gauge the time when they were written and who the "other poet" was. It was interesting read. A. L. Rose gives you each sonnet, accompanied by a prose 'translation' and then some notes as well. It is an interesting way to read Shakespeare.

I need to buy bread so I can make sandwiches.

Saturday

2009-09-13T17:47:00.001+02:00

This morning we went an took a long breakfast at Cafe Michel, partially long because we were relaxed, partially because our waiter disappeared and it's hard to leave without paying... And the French find it rude to bring you the check (l'addition) without having it requested, because that could be precieved as rushing the guests.

After breakfast we walked by the American Consulate, which amusingly follows French protocol of being closed on weekends and for at least an hour and a half at lunch during the week. We just wanted to find it and it is right near Gallia so it wasn't out of the way.

After a quick break we started back on our way. We went to the cathedral (closed for lunch) and then to a mall where we picked up some household stuffs like trash bags and laundry detergent. We eventually returned home and took a break because that had been a long walk. I did some reading finished my first full book (I finished another but only had left myself a chapter and epilogue) and we then made it to the cathedral.

It was beautiful inside, with mote ornate carvings on the pulpit than some new churches have in their entirety... The organ looked like it was just suspended between to pillars, stuck on the wall with God's word as glue. The stained glass was old and not as ornate or detailed as at other churches but the sheer quantity still merits credit seeing how they had little in technology.

But out of everything the astrological clock was the hands down most impressive part. The dates on the clock that is there now state 1837-1842 which makes me believe that this machine took five years to build. There is a dial that stands at person level and is perhaps 6 feet in diameter. Around the outer ring are the months, and the next ring lists the days of the month, then the applicable saint's day. Now because of the church's habit of moving less known saints or even demoteing someone from sainthood, the saints days were wrong, but it still had today as September 12th. It also marked the hour of the rise and set of the sun on what was a large clockface inside those other circles I mentioned.

Above this clockface there was a character for the day. Saturday, so named for Saturn (Chronos from Greek mythology) had a man in a charriot throwing a baby toward his mouth. Others had their related mythological namesakes.

Each day, other than Sundays and holy feasts, the clock goes through the procession of the apostles at 12:30.

Most impressive though are two sets of machinery to the left and right of the largest clockface with the days and whatnot. There is a piece of machinery which correctly assigns the holy days of the catholic church that do not fall on the same day each year, and has done so accurately since it's creation. That one is on the left. On the right is a collection of gears that predicts lunar and solar eclipses. Correctly. There are pages necessary to predict a solar eclipse, but this set of gears correctly predicted last august's local solar eclipse. All without electricity, this whole thing is run by the same type of weights as the Grandfather Clock in the living room.

It also has the location of the planets in regard to the astrological signs and a star map (a globe stationed in front of the whole clock) which can also show you what you would see were you to go out tonight and look at the stars.

Needless to say I was impressed.

After the cathedral we went to Frog in Bar to watch Man City beat Arsenal, 4-1. At the end of the game they listed Chelsea as tied with Stoke but the game wasn't over and Chelsea won late on. Still atop the table.

Friday (grr it deleted my text)

2009-09-11T11:38:00.001+02:00

GeoTagged, [N48.58356, W7.76237]

Well I had written a medium length post describing today and yesterday but my iPhone must not have deemed it good enough...

Crud. I don't even remember what I wrote any more.

Well we went to an international student party last night, that was fun. I saw a dance off to a remix of a Michael Jackson track, it was cool.

My class is cancelled this afternoon because my teacher (a French-American by way of California) became a grandmother and wishes to visit the new addition to the family, so she left for Belgium.

I have paperwork to turn in and an errand or two to run so I'm going to finish my cappuccino chiantilly and head on my way.

I hope you all have a nice day, French Market is tomorrow so if you're in Indy St Joan of Arc is going to be the place to spend tomorrow.

Les Bleus

2009-09-10T11:38:00.001+02:00

The French national football (futbol soccer, pas futbol football) is called Les bleus, because they wear blue. Honest, these last few weeks it may be more likely that they're called the blues because every fan is depressed when they play... Tonights game was no different, a moderately exciting (I use the term loosely) 1-1 draw with Serbia. I was happy to recognize some players on both sides, including Chelsea players in both starting lineups (Nicolas Anelka and Branislav Ivanovic, guess who plays for which national team, and I promise it's not a trick question) and another Chelsea player on France's bench in Florent Malouda. I will give the French credit, a harsh red card (ejection) for their goal keeper after 13 minutes led to the Serbian goal, but they did well to respond after the half hour mark to tie the game. The real thing I wanted to discuss was the commentators.

They were the most energetic and excitable people I've ever heard as match commentators. The English are a little blasé, the Americans don't know enough, and I haven't listened to much in the way of Spanish commentary, but I was blown away at their excitent with every good movement and their dejection when things went awry. So I couldn't really gather all they were saying, not a real hinderance. Inflection and tone along with the occasional crushed "oh la la" when a cross was made and there was no one to receive it translate quite well regardless the language. They are certainly passionate. The team however...

At this rate they'll need a bit more organization as a team, they looked placid at times, unaware of where the next pass should go. They have magnificant players in the likes of Anelka, Henry, Ribery, Malouda, Lass, Gorcouff, Evra, and others, yet they don't seem to gel. As has been a common topic in the French sports pages for the last year, the coach is a questionable choice. He certainly won't last after these last two draws against weaker opponents (Sunday they drew agains Romania, same scoreline).

I wonder how England did. I know that if they were to win they'd qualify for the World Cup so I hope they did. We found another Irish bar that is closer than the first and more genial. Might have to see if they've got any English games this weekend... I'd hate to miss the Chelsea game if it's on tv...
[edit] Checked the newspaper this morning, England has qualified for the World Cup after a convincing 5-1 victory over Croatia. Lampard had 2. There are now three qualified teams from Europe: The Netherlands, England, and Spain.

Sorry for missing a day

2009-09-09T15:59:00.001+02:00

Yesterday (Tuesday) was not really a good day. Monday night I came down with a fever and I spent Tuesday fighting it off with plenty of water and sleep, except for when I went to my appointment at the bank at 9 and my class at 2. I still don't know what brought it on.

I have almost everything to get a contract with orange but not quite. Up until this point I was under the impression that a bank card was not necessary. I was wrong. I lied and told him it'd arrive in a day or two, and I'll head to the bank to find out when I can get it. It bothers me that I cannot use my credit card to set up this account, it would have made my life much easier.

I'm back to about 80% and feelin better. I'm going to lay low today just to be sure though. Not sure when this'll get posted, the wifi was broken at Milano this morning. It is different, life without the Internet. This must be what the 80s were like: no Internet, no cell phones, lots of polyester and bad haircuts. A leap back in time wasn't what I planned, I just wanted to go across the pond!

The picture is of my room, since that's where I spent the majority of yesterday.

Monday, recap

2009-09-07T18:09:00.001+02:00

Productive? Nope. French government requires our documents to be mailed rather than turned in. How French.

Banks... Found one that would help me, tomorrow at 9. So appointment is set.

Phone: no bank no phone so that's that.

Corkscrew: check!

Student ID : ok so about that. found out I had a language test as I walked to the building where I was to get my ID. Took test, felt I dd horrible. Honest, I couldn't remember the French political systems finer points (after Sarkosy's position as president I don't know what's going on) so my essay was not great. I took POL 141 2 years ago and Tilton was more focused on history of the system rather than the present system.

I have French class tomorrow (Tuesday) Thursday and Friday from 2-5 in room 317. The buildin is further from Gallia than physics was from McCutcheon. I think. Basic story: long walk.

Met some Brits and a Canadian as we waited to see what French class we were in. Nice people.

Must badger people at desk to get an "attestation" to show I really live at Gallia so I can get a bank account.

For now: relax.

Playlist: "wowsers." I must have made it late sophomore or early junior year, 45 track, good mélange of sounds from rap to pop to rock and more.

Monday

2009-09-07T09:31:00.001+02:00

I'm tempted to stay home and enjoy labor day but since it's not labor day here I'm set up with a long list of things to do, including a bank account, a cell phone, a corkscrew, and the delivery of some documents to the French government. And a student id.

"Sun"day the 6th

2009-09-06T18:27:00.003+02:00

It's finally sunny and warm! Today I'm going to work on contacting people at Strasbourg to iron out the details of the French class and the welcome meeting Monday. I'm going to set up a local bank account tomorrow and will deal with a phone in the afternoon. Hopefully I'll be able to email everyone (and receive calls) soon!

After lunch, I wandered around town more (seems to be a standard theme here, eat, wander, search for Internet, sleep). I walked a full loop around campus and then followed the river Ill halfway around the island in the middle of town. After a cappuccino and a bit of reading at a cafe I made my way back, following the river along the island once again. It is really neat to see the paths along the river, it reminds me of the Broad Ripple Canal but in the middle if a city, and more propper walkways. The city really does rise out of the banks of the river.

Tonight we're hoping to grab dinner with the Canadian group, we'll see if we can run into them. The day has seemed to go quite slowly, but I just noticed that I had been walking almost 3 hours... Millitary time is still taking some getting used to...

Soundtrack: Sound Tribe Sector 9. Ratatat also, during my quick layabout before dinner.

Military time

2009-09-06T18:27:00.001+02:00

It has taken some getting used to, the switch to military time. I've changed the clock in my iPhone to reflect the change and I need to get used to using the outer dial on my watch (a tiny red hand on the blue face) rather than the regular hour hand, at least in the afternoon.

We found an Irish pub downtownish, not quite the nicest atmosphere but I wasn't too worried. Scotland's world cup qualifier was on (they won 2-0) and I was hoping to catch the England game. Sadly the game wasn't on, rugby instead. We wandered back home and just laid low, enjoyed a dinner and then went to the party for international and Erasmus students. Sadly we couldn't find any Americans, nor the canadians we had met yesterday. It was all a bit awkward, so Katie and I left. We should have made plans with te canadians in advance but it's fine. Katie's going to mass with some friends of a prof she knows back in the states, and I figure I'll go to mass at the big cathedral, get a look inside after it was closed earlier. [ended up going to mass with her at Trinity International Protestant church]

I wonder if France won... [note: 1-1 draw] I think Anelka and Malouda were both in the squad. They're both Chelsea players and that'd be the reason I'd watch. Someone said that England was up by 4 at half. Sounds like it went well. [note: liar!! They only won 2-1]

Katie mentioned class Monday and I had to laugh because I don't know when or where my French class is supposed to be. I had heard that there was a second welcome meeting for people in the political science school Monday, I'll have to find out about that Monday morning.

Otherwise all is well. I'll deal with a bank account Monday morning and hopefully have a phone by afternoon. I will miss the hunt for free weefee but it'll also be nice to be able to send updates live rather than "next time I happen to find free Internet" which is when this'll get posted. G'nite!

Almost forgot, soundtrack of the day: Vampire Weekend (nothing like the name suggests, YouTube Oxford Comma) and Last Shadow Puppets.

Wanderings

2009-09-05T17:51:00.001+02:00

Well we walked through town today, just kind of moseying along. It is remarkable how the different architecture styles fit together, German and French. The famous cathedral, notre dame, is huge! It is certainly different to see a cathedral with only one spire, and when this one was build it must have been fantastic. We only stayed a short time, they were closed to tours. I'll be going back I'm sure. Still frustrated about this whole phone situation, but Monday will hopefully have some results. This afternoon we're going to look aroud more, I'd love to catch the England game if possible... We'll see!

Breakfast from yesterday

2009-09-05T11:28:00.001+02:00

Upload worked! This was mean to be attached to an earlier post. On another note, I know what I need to get a phone account set up so I should work on that today hopefully!

Attempt to load photo

2009-09-05T11:26:00.001+02:00

Let's see if it'll let me upload a photo here...

Mcdonalds

2009-09-05T11:04:00.001+02:00

Don't think that I'm ruining my trip already by eating mcdonalds, the truth is they've got free wifi! We went to a meting yesterday for Erasmus students. It was odd to see beer and wine offered to students by the university. We also met some Canadian who also live in gallia, and we chatted at nouvo caffe milano. Today we wander, starting back at the main train station. More to come!

Phone situation/lounging at home

2009-09-04T18:34:00.001+02:00

This is frustrating at Orange. Buying a prepaid SIM card would be rediculoisly expensive in order to use the Internet (which I'd like to have, I bought the iPhone to use it here). But, in order to get a contract, one needs a local bank, which I do not have nor did I plan on having. I suppose there are some benefits to it but I am content with my set up as is, and I feel a balance transfer wouldn't go easily. I'll ask about during a welcome dinner katie got invited to that I'm going to tag along to. Hopefully someone will be able to help me out or present a better option.

Today has rained nonstop. Not a fan... Especially since the wind over the different branches of the river turn the wind sideways.
[an hour later]
Katie and I were taking about how we found it strange that no one here seemed at all bothered by the lack of internet ay Gallia. Part of that I suppose would be attributed to the differences on culture between France and the US, I would figure that not as many have the same sort of almost continual connection that we have at home. We'll talk to M. Michel about the possibilities.

Finished a book this afternoon and took a look at one of my LSAT books. I need to email the group to check that the test is in English...

Free interwebs

2009-09-04T09:00:00.001+02:00

It's hard to find. Back at the same cafe as yesterday enjoying beffast. Sadly it won't let me post pictures yet, I'll have to getthat set up from my laptop later this week... Otherwise all is well, slept until the businesses that share the courtyard started going about this morning, and after beffast it's shopping. 4€ for petit dejuner! Yum

The Arrival

2009-09-03T15:26:00.003+02:00

"They've arrived! With nothing but their word and their history..." - Atmosphere

Well we've got more than that, but I liked the lyric. Felt like the pilot used every inch of the runway to land... Airport looks big!

Looks big was a major understatement. It's massive and still growing!!

It's gross and rainy, but that's fine, not much outdooor walking save from the plane to a bus. Dirk, Honi-Jean's father, picked Katie and I up and we're heading to the trainstation downtown after a quick cappicuino.

Trainstation is cool, big open building but no Internet, or more accurately, we don't read German and you have to log in but we don't know where or how or if it's free.

I feel like I'm writing a bit much.

The plane ride

2009-09-03T15:26:00.001+02:00

Well this won't get posted until I arrive but nonetheless I figured I'd write a bit. First class is so nice!!! It's empty. I asked politely if we could be moved up, she said no. Even when I offered that it would be for the benefit of the attendants in first class (fighting loneliness) she didn't bite. No worries thought, food was good, a 96 Beaujolais went well with the beef, rice and veg. Entertainment selection is limited... But I had Mad Men on my iPhone so I watched a few episodes. I also watched a show Milan gave me, The IT Crowd. Goofy show, great British humor. Sadly my computer batery did not last, I might need to buy one, and this is the second one I've had!! Frustrating to say the least. Otherwise it's been fun, a bit of turblance but I like to think of it as the plane trying to rock us to sleep. I already switched my watch to Frankfurt time, which if I'm not mistaken, matches Strasbourg. It's 3:25ish, 10:25 in Indy. I need to sleep, we arrive in 4 hours. [slept a bit, probably 2 hours]

Soundtrack of the journey: The Fratellis for waking hours [edit: also jammed to Atmosphere and Felt after breakfast], Pink Floyd to relax and set me to sleep, only the epics though: Echoes, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Atom Heart Mother Suite.

What to do, what to do!

2009-08-27T23:19:00.002+02:00

As my trip edges closer, and I spend lots of time discussing it with friends and family members, a topic that comes up often is:

"Where all are you going to visit while you're there?"

Well, I worked on a list. Kinda.

I'm going to Paris for the LSAT, so that's on my list automatically. My cousin Diane is studying in Toledo, just outside of Madrid so I would like to visit her. London is always on my list of places to go, and between visiting Peter and Michael and going to a Chelsea game at the Bridge I have things I'd like to do there. Amsterdam is hosting The Arctic Monkeys in the second week of November so I'd like to go to that show. Oktoberfest is a given. Mom wants to go to Munich I think, so we'll swing through (I'll just visit twice, Oktoberfest and with mum. Marseilles, Nice, any south coast town would be a great way to spend thanksgiving/my birthday... I need to go to Mt. St. Michel, so Brittany/Normandy is on my travel list as well. I'd love to see Rome properly (not wandering with a massive backpack in the sweltering heat...) so that's on my list as well. Lyon is apparently amazing (so says Meredith) and there is the possibility of seeing Liverpool play there in the Champions League, quite tempting... And finally, Prague, to visit Milan and Klara's families.

That's only 10 trips right there, so I'm sure I'll find another place or two to visit. For now I'm just working on assembling all I'm going to need to take with me, from backpacks to pants to shoes and socks. The fun starts soon.... And by fun I mean horrible task of packing.

LSAT

2009-08-24T18:48:00.002+02:00

An odd first post I guess but it shows that I'm taking a big step towards this trip. Now that my plane ticket is set and my housing arrangements are (somewhat) finalized, I've signed up to take the LSAT in Paris on September 26th. I'll be camping out in a library to read up a bit more on this hugely important test but to be honest right now my first thought is: How long's the train ride from Strasbourg to Paris?

Ah, a quick note about the title: I've got a penguin that I'm taking with me (I discussed it with my cousin Bailey and she suggested a cooler with wheels that I could pull behind me, filled with ice so he wouldn't be too warm) and because taking pictures of yourself on an iPhone is not very easy, I plan on using him for the subject of most of my pictures. That's why it's 'his' diary, and he'll occasionally comment.