Hablas espanol?

I have been wanting for a while now to go see Spain and finally got the opportunity to do it. I managed to get to Barcelona on a flight for a pretty good price, the only downside is I had to go alone. I got into Barcelona right around noon and was welcomed by my old friend that i havent seen in months....the sun. It felt pretty much amazing to be warm again. It was around 70 degrees for the entire timeI was there, but to me it felt like 90 compared to what ive been in lately.
After i got into the city from the airport i first made my way to the hostel to drop all my bags off and check in. It was quite a fiasco trying to find it, but well worth the trouble. Best hostel yet by a longshot. The rooms were pretty nice, nothing special of course, but the social life at the hostel was amazing. I met alot of people the first night, we went on a "Tapas" tour which took us down a few back alleys then we went to a local resteraunt. We had some amazing food with Sangria, basically a very fruity wine. It was a good night, i met Eugene an aussie that night and we got to hang out pretty much all the time in barcelona. He was stranded there for a few weeks (he just got out of there today) because they went to a bar one night and all of em fell asleep on the train coming home, his pocket got cut open and wallet stolen. So that sucked, but we still had a good time in barcelona. I met some guys living in Barcelona too both from Canada but living there for a few months. We all went out and did a bar hop that night and they showed me some local sights that are cool at night.
The next day i made my way to the olympic museum, which wasn't really olympics it was more of a general sports museum with a bunch of olympic stuff thrown in. One really cool thing was they had the torches from the past 40 os so olympics, both winter and summer. I thought that was pretty cool since each one reflected the culture to some extent. Then i went to a pretty cool art museum, saw some picasso which was cool, but im pretty burnt out on museums these days. After the museum i took a cable car, which i thought would go near the hostel but then made a turn to go up a hill, and ended up at a castel on top of a hill right on the water. It was the most amazing sight ive ever seen I think, you could see the mountain ranges, the ocean, the beach, and the massive city. And of course, i went to the aquarium, it was decent. One AMAZING thing was that they had sea dragons (Aunt Aue / Uncle mic we saw those in the boston aquarium years ago, never seen anywhere else). So that was amazing, then i went and walked along the water near the beach for the remainder of the day basically. That night i met up with the same guys and we basically did a repeat of the night before and a bunch of other people joined in with us, a few Swiss and some French guy. Pretty fun group we had a blast.
The last day I was there me and a guy from Canada were going to try and get to the Formula 1 track right outside Barcelona because a 24 hour race was starting that race that was Porche series cars and it was a free event. We figured we'd go check it out for a few hours before i had to head to the airport. Although we really tried hard, we couldn't get there. We got the run around for about 2 hours trying to get to the city of the track. Apparently the ENTIRE city closes down on race day though so we had no luck whatsoever getting there. So we headed back to the hostel to regroup. Oh, and funny event i illegally got on the train to go back, just jumped over the little gate hahaha. So we got back to the hostel and played cards with some Swiss guys for an hour or so, then i went out alone for a few hours to go to some markets(it was a saturday) and just check out a few things i missed.
Soooo all in all it was an amazing trip. probably my favorite trip yet, which is strange since i was alone but i met some pretty incredible people and sitll keep up with a few of them. Definitely makes me want to look into trying to work there for a short period after graduation, apparently Samford can set me up with a job for 1 on 1 tutoring english there and basically i just talk in english with a kid for a few hours a week. Pretty sweet deal i thought. But who knows if that will ever work.

I apologize for there being such a large gap in time between posts, but I'm still completely exhausted from our Fall Break adventure. We first made our way to the airport at a ridiculous hour of the morning in order to fly to Rome. Beautiful city, I loved every minute of it. We saw the ruins, Colosseum, museums, then more ruins haha. The food was amazing, probably the best i have had yet, except maybe some from Uncle Mic. The lasagna was out of this world though. There was no language barrier for us to really deal with, for the most part everyone seemed to speak English and I don't think i met anyone who spoke no English at all. We stayed in a semi-bad hostel, but no worries we were in Rome so it was all good.
On Saturday we made our way up to Venice for some more of Italy. We got in and made our way to our campground.....yes somehow we ended up at a campsite. But the good thing was we did have a trailer(never thought I would say that). The place was very nice though, it had 3 beds, one for each of us, and a private shower and bathroom so it was a huge improvement off Rome. Also it was on one of the islands surrounding Venice, so every day we had to take a shuttle boat over and back which gave us some beautiful views of the city. The only problem in Venice, is that a few hours after arriving Kaitlin realized she left her passport on the plane......AHHHHH. So the next day we both took a train to Milan, because apparently there is no embassy in Venice they are only in Rome and Milan. So after we got there, we walked to the embassy, she gave me all her bags, and i got to sit outside a very ugly building for 4 hours while doing nothing. Yes, tons of fun. So after 4 hours she came back out....with no passport in hand. So the Milan embassy managed to get in contact with people in Rome and found out that her passport was at the airport in Rome, so then we took a train to Rome. So....basically what i saw of Milan was one ugly street and a really cool train station....bummer. The good news is we say the most beautiful countryside on the train, it is completely indescribable. But once we got to Rome, we managed to get her passport then take an overnight train back to Venice. We got in at 5 am, so we made our way down to San Marco square for sunrise and had pastries and coffee on the grand canal. It turned out to be a great end to our cross country adventure in search of a passport.
After Venice we took a 9 hour train up to Vienna, and again it was beautiful the entire way. The train actually went extremely high up into the mountains which i found amazing.
Vienna was a semi-dull town we all thought for the most part. It was alot of museums and a very cold city, it was cold weather wise, and cold as in not very welcoming. The one AMAZING thing that happened to me in Vienna was the aquarium(of course i found an aquarium haha). I started talking with one of their head engineers and he offered me a backstage type tour, which of course I took. He showed me all of their lighting systems, breeding tanks, filters, research....everything!!! So that was a huge plus in my book, but for most people it would have been a major bore. I really wouldn't recommend people to go there for a good time or anything, its very historical and we got to see some cool museums and such but outside of that it was a let down.
The trip ended very well though, we had a great time, for an affordable price, and now it is time to wind down. Who knows what will be next, maybe I will decide to tackle eastern Europe.

Priceless

Ireland has got to be one of those countries everyone should experience at some point or another. The trip was amazing, we had a blast from start to finish. The five of us left at 5:00am Friday morning, and arrived in Dublin around 8. The plane nearly left without us....thanks Ryan Air, but nonetheless we made it there. We came in on a fairly rainy day and did a "touristy" double decker bus and saw ~25 locations that are big tourist hits. We jumped off the bus halfway to go to the Guinness beer factory. It was quite an experience to see every single step of how the beer is made, they even had samples of the different ingredients throughout. To top the tour off, once we got to the 7th floor it was a circular glass room and they gave us a complimentery beer. I must say I am not a dark beer person, but it was rather satisfying.
Saturday morning we got moving when the bus routes started to open up and made our way toward the coast of Ireland, going to the small town of Malahide. I could have spent the entire day just walking along the beach and sitting along the wall. We did walk about ~2 miles down the beach and along the rocks. Many people brought their dogs down to walk and play along the beach. The weather could not have been better (keeping in mind that it is Ireland) and we chose the perfect day for a beach walk. Before heading back to Dublin we wanted to see the Malahide Castle and we were quite pleased with that choice. It was like being in a book walking through the forest pathway to go to the castle. The smell of everything around us was remarkable, it felt completely free from all signs of civilization. The castle was beautiful as well, and i sat outside and watched some younger kids play Cricket...still not quite sure how it works. I do know those kids would be quite good at baseball though.
Around 2 we headed back into the Dublin city area and did some more touristy shops. We took some fun pictures and walked through the day. That night we ate at a very good local pub, and had some sort of sausage stew type meal that is unique to Dublin and i must saw it was amazing. From there we walked the streets and experienced all that the night life had to offer, enjoying street performers and going into a great pub.
The weekend was a blast and so far the Irish are at the top of my list for frinedliness. They were just a blast to be around and were always so helpful. The only problem, if you get a fast talking local go ahead and give up because you won't understand one word of what he says. We had that happen quite a few times.

Weekend Travels

I am heading out for Dublin,Ireland in less than 6 hours now...wow i should go to bed. I look forward to talking to everyone when i get back. All 5 of us are going for all of tomorrow(Friday),Saturday, and return early Sunday. Weather looks pretty cold and rainy so wish us luck.

Paris Weekend

We arrived in London on our train back from Paris around 9 pm last night. The trip was a completely success. We left Friday morning from the house at 5 am, and had a full day in Paris. Day 1 we made our way over to the Eiffel Tower after checking in at the hotel. The weather was absurdly cold, but we still managed to climb the stairs 2/3 the way to the top of the Tower. It started storming as we got close to the top, and a beautiful rainbow appeared just under the billowing clouds. We Then proceeded to stay near the Tower for sunset and the lighting. There also happened to be an in-line competition being set up near us with music playing and small festivities. That provided entertainment for us while standing in the frigid cold weather.

Saturday we walked from the Arch de Triumph to the Louvre, and stopped at stores and shops along the way. We found a great market along the way full of fresh meats,seafood, jewelery, and trinkets. I somehow managed to make my way into a Cartier store to admire the watches the had in cases. Beautiful store, I felt quite out of place in a hoodie and jeans. We then made our way to Mulan Rouge, Thr Royal Opera house, then i split off from the girls and made my way to Paris' exotic fish aquarium. One tank alone made it worth the trip, it was a rather small aquarium, but they ahd the most gorgeous reef tank I have ever laid eyes upon. They also happened to have the largest lionfish I have yet to see with my own eyes. On the way out i walked under the Tower towards the city and there were some street performing dancers there. I video taped some of their acts and they provedto be quite entertaining for everyone.

Sunday we went to the church of St. Denis, then made our way to the Louvre. On Sunday all museums in Paris were free entry, so as you can expect everyone in Paris was in the Louvre at the same time. We didn't stay long in the museum as it was too busy to see much of anything. We then just wandered Paris for the remainder of the day.

Monday I went off alone to conquer all that Paris still had to offer. I went to Notre Dam in the morning after finding out the one museum left i wanted to see was closed on Mondays. Notre Dam was beautiful, but we have already seen prettier churches I think. After that i made my way towards Sacre Coeur. The church overlooks all of London from atop a mountain. Upon reaching the top, a few street performers tarted doing their acts on the stairs, and turned out to be some of the best acts I've yet to see. A football(soccer) player got up on top of the base rail of the stairs and started to juggle a ball, he then carried on to balance a ball on his head while climbing a light post, with all of Paris in the background. After watching both performers for around 2 hours i went behind the church to the small town like area. I ended up buying a painting of Paris from an artist there, then mademy way back down to the subway to come back to the hotel.

York

This weekend we stayed with Matt's mom in Yorkshire. Matt is Kara's friend that she knows that lives around here. Saturday we went out into the country and it was beautiful. We hiked about 6 miles on a trail and went to a waterfall / river type thing. We enjoyed it alot there. I also managed to forget the memory card to my camera so have no pictures of the trip (kara took alot though). I think i have officially become homesick now though, but not in a typical way. It's actually quite funny what has me depesressed over here. I miss Borris...there i said it. I must have seen 10 Westies this weekend and about had a breakdown because i miss Borris so much. I pet one old gentleman's Westy (who was much larger then borris) and he was 6 years old and has a face that looked very similar to borris and just as sweet. It was rather depressing though In York today. if i was able to keep a dog here I believe that I would buy one tomorrow.

Superhuman?

Well with not being able to follow the heisman race with my own eyes I depend on news clips. Is this kid for real? AT this point im unsure of how he would NOT be #1, his stats seem high and his skills are unbelievable.
http://www.rivals.com/video.asp?section=football&pkey=&vidtype=highlight&vidid=1448
definitely check this out

Cambridge

Last Saturday we decided to basically make our own day trip by train. We decided to venture to Cambridge college and hope to take in some of the vast knowledge floating around there. It took us right at two hours from London to the Cambridge train station, and we hit the ground running. We walked into the center of town and met up with Kara's friend who lives right outside of London. We then walked into the city area and went into an archeology museum which was faciniating. They had items from the Roman civilization of London all the way to the Norman invasion and conquest of Great Britan.
After the museum we came across an area where there were a few resteraunts, then a rather large grassy flat area next to a small river that went all through the town. We decided to get sanwhiches from a small deli near there, and have lunch on the lawn. We were watchin the punting boats(similar to a Gondola) go by and noticed many people were just renting boats. We had talked about wanting to rent boats for the entire time we have been in London, so we found the place to rent boats and took advantage of the opportunity. We paid 3 pounds each for one hour of pure excitement. I got elected to "punt" the boat down the river while the girls sat in the middle section. I must say it is much much much harder than it looks. I have much more respect for Gondolas and Punters now. We eventually made it back but i think i managed to hit every boat on the water, and a few tree braches that hung over the water on the way back, and even managed to hit a duck....but that was his fault for not moving I think. I think i nearly flipped the boat about ten times as well, so it made for a rather eventful hour.
From there we went to see Pembroke college, which is one of the many many branches of Cambridge. I think we were told there around 19 colleges there that are all part of Cambridge. it was beautiful, but we quickly moved on to King's Chapel. This was arugeably the most beautiful Gothic building we have visited, one reason being that it still has 100% of its stain glass up, and most churches have about 1/3 of their glass remaining. King's Chapel is part of King's College (which for a good while was one of the top 3-4 colleges in the world...oxford and cambridge are in the 50s...). This college was by invite only to study there, so no need to apply. I have a feeling that the tuition would be pretty incredible too, i thought Samford had a beautiful campus, this place made you feel like you went back to the 15th century. In the chapel there choir was having their practice, and they sang so beautifully. I took a video of it and will try to post it, or give a link to where it will be. Cambridge was an excellent day trip though, and definately a worthwhile trip.

PS. sorry for the bad video quality. you get the idea though.

Pictures / previous trips

Ok so connor has made a request of some older pictures from this trip so i figured id throw a few of them up on here. I don't have any pictures of all of us with the professor and his wife but we have a couple group shots that are good. The first picture if of the cathedral we went to last weekend....im pretty sure this one is Salisbury.Its a shame it stormed at Stonehenge....but its just a pile of rocks in a field really. Got some decent pictures there but there was a really bad thunder-storm right as we pulled up. We all actually felt static through umbrellas from one strike...that happened to also be when we decided to leave, go figure.

The Mote

So today we embarked on our journey around 11 this morning. We took a two hour bus ride up to the small town of Kent, and saw the Ightham Mote. It looks like an older castle-like structure surrounded by a mote. It was originally constructed in late 13th century and most of the house is still original. It is surrounded by a beautiful garden with all sorts of different varieties of plants. The American businessman Charles Robinson purchased the house in the late 20th century and in 1985 donated it to the Nation Trust. This is the organization that is now restoring the property and giving tours. As Kara and I were walking through the garden there was one area full of apple trees so we decided to help ourselves to a fresh snack. It was actually one of the best apples I have ever had.