Greetings from Los Angeles! I've been back in the US for almost 5 weeks now, but today I am heading back overseas to visit Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia.
My time home ended up being great. I was somewhat apprehensive to come back for fear of boredom, but I was actually really busy the entire time I was home. A lot of people I know who have spent significant chunks of time overseas say it's tough to get re-acclimated once they get home. Aside from jet-lag, I didn't have that problem at all. There's no re-acclimation period that a good nights sleep, Mexican food, and my truck can't solve! While I was home, I saw friends (not as many as I would've liked but some is better than none), spent Christmas with my family, celebrated my dad's 60th birthday, my 28th birthday, and Aaron's 31st birthday, saw OSU win 11 football games for the first time in school history, partied with good friends (old and new) for New Years, attended my first Thunder game, signed a lucrative free agent contract with a new softball team, and attended Zach and Tia's wedding. It was also nice catching up with my finances, working on my house, driving my truck, sleeping in my own bed, going to Quiktrip, and much more.
I can't say I'm as excited to leave this time around as I was the last time. I really appreciated my few weeks of sanity and organization while back in the States. Don't get me wrong, I know the next few weeks of traveling will be amazing, but displacing my life again after just getting resettled has me less pumped (yet still pumped) this time around.
Next update will be from the future!
Cheers!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
12/09/2010 Update
Greetings from Tulsa! After 88 days, I've finally returned. This wasn't part of my original plan, but festivities have led me home for a few weeks before continuing my trip again in Fiji, Australia and New Zealand.
My final stop on my European swing was Paris. Paris is somewhat similar to Rome. While I don't believe there's as much to do in Paris (completely subjective depending on what you like), there's still enough to occupy as much time as you'd like to spend. Paris also has the distinction of having as many, if not more, gypsies than Rome. It's really annoying. I usually talk to them in German and occasionally that works and they leave me alone; however, I did have one stab me with a pen when I kept saying "nein" over and over again.
My favorite sightseeing stops in Paris were the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre.
The Arc de Triomphe is awesome. Twelve Parisian avenues radiate from the arc including one of the most famous in all of Paris, Champs-Élysée, a huge shopping boulevard. From the arc, you can see downtown, the giant ferris wheel at Place de la Concorde, the Eiffel Tower, and several high dollar neighborhoods. The arc was commissioned by Napoleon and stands 164 feet high. The facade is full of sculpted scenes that commemorate different triumphs of French history, such as the French Revolution. There is an eternal flame that burns beneath the arc which is dedicated to the unknown solider of World War I. It's much bigger than what I imagined it to be, and was well worth the time and effort to see it.
The Louvre is enormous. Originally built as a palace, the Louvre was transformed into a museum in the 1700's and has since been expanded numerous times. The Louvre is instantly recognizable by its glass pyramid entrance designed by I.M. Pei. Once inside, the Louvre is split into seven sections amongst three different buildings. The best thing about the Louvre is how well laid out it is. The map is easy to read and in most situations, there was good continuity within exhibits. This is important, because with a museum that is so large, a poor layout would really ruin the experience. The most popular section is the Italian painters section which is home to the Mona Lisa. It's pretty funny to see everyone nudge their way into position for a picture of the Mona Lisa. My favorite exhibit was the Egyptian exhibition. The Egyptian section was the most extensive Egyptian collection I have ever seen and contained a lot of really unique pieces. My favorites were the statues of Ramses II and the Sacred Scribe which has eerily real looking eyes. Some of my other favorite pieces included the Winged Victory of Samothrace, Venus de Milo, Pandemonium by John Martin, Hercules battling the Hydra, and Hamurabi's Code of Laws.
Paris was much better then what I was expecting. Sure, I had a few run-ins with rude French people, but I also had my fair share of encounters with really nice, friendly people. The weather sucked while I was there including three days of heavy snow but c'est la vie (although I am pretty disappointed I couldn't make it to Omaha Beach to pay my respects). Luckily, I had awesome roommates while I was there (2 girls from Brisbane, 1 guy from Singapore, 2 guys from Bologna, 1 guy from Melbourne), so even though we were cooped up inside quite a bit, we made the best of it and found ways to have a good time, weather be damned!
It's nice to be back on US soil! I look forward to time with the family, a good nights sleep, and Rio Verde!
Cheers!
My final stop on my European swing was Paris. Paris is somewhat similar to Rome. While I don't believe there's as much to do in Paris (completely subjective depending on what you like), there's still enough to occupy as much time as you'd like to spend. Paris also has the distinction of having as many, if not more, gypsies than Rome. It's really annoying. I usually talk to them in German and occasionally that works and they leave me alone; however, I did have one stab me with a pen when I kept saying "nein" over and over again.
My favorite sightseeing stops in Paris were the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre.
The Arc de Triomphe is awesome. Twelve Parisian avenues radiate from the arc including one of the most famous in all of Paris, Champs-Élysée, a huge shopping boulevard. From the arc, you can see downtown, the giant ferris wheel at Place de la Concorde, the Eiffel Tower, and several high dollar neighborhoods. The arc was commissioned by Napoleon and stands 164 feet high. The facade is full of sculpted scenes that commemorate different triumphs of French history, such as the French Revolution. There is an eternal flame that burns beneath the arc which is dedicated to the unknown solider of World War I. It's much bigger than what I imagined it to be, and was well worth the time and effort to see it.
The Louvre is enormous. Originally built as a palace, the Louvre was transformed into a museum in the 1700's and has since been expanded numerous times. The Louvre is instantly recognizable by its glass pyramid entrance designed by I.M. Pei. Once inside, the Louvre is split into seven sections amongst three different buildings. The best thing about the Louvre is how well laid out it is. The map is easy to read and in most situations, there was good continuity within exhibits. This is important, because with a museum that is so large, a poor layout would really ruin the experience. The most popular section is the Italian painters section which is home to the Mona Lisa. It's pretty funny to see everyone nudge their way into position for a picture of the Mona Lisa. My favorite exhibit was the Egyptian exhibition. The Egyptian section was the most extensive Egyptian collection I have ever seen and contained a lot of really unique pieces. My favorites were the statues of Ramses II and the Sacred Scribe which has eerily real looking eyes. Some of my other favorite pieces included the Winged Victory of Samothrace, Venus de Milo, Pandemonium by John Martin, Hercules battling the Hydra, and Hamurabi's Code of Laws.
Paris was much better then what I was expecting. Sure, I had a few run-ins with rude French people, but I also had my fair share of encounters with really nice, friendly people. The weather sucked while I was there including three days of heavy snow but c'est la vie (although I am pretty disappointed I couldn't make it to Omaha Beach to pay my respects). Luckily, I had awesome roommates while I was there (2 girls from Brisbane, 1 guy from Singapore, 2 guys from Bologna, 1 guy from Melbourne), so even though we were cooped up inside quite a bit, we made the best of it and found ways to have a good time, weather be damned!
It's nice to be back on US soil! I look forward to time with the family, a good nights sleep, and Rio Verde!
Cheers!
12/04/2010 Update
Bonjour from Paris! It's below freezing cold (wind chill -2 degrees Fahrenheit), it's snowing, and it's definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
I came back to Munich/Germany for a few reasons. The first was to pick up a Christmas gift for my brother, but the second was to attend one of Germany's world famous Christmas markets. After befriending a girl in Bruges who lives in Munich and hearing all about how awesome the Munich market is, I decided I had to come back one more time to check it out. She was right, the Christmas market is incredible. There are actually several different ones in Munich, but the big one is Munchen Christkindlmarkt in the main shopping district of Marienplatz. There's another one at Theresienwiese, the site of Oktoberfest, but it's much smaller. You can find a little bit of everything Christmasy at the market. There's around 150 booths set up that sell wine, beer, bratwursts, wood carvings, Christmas ornaments, trees, clothing, and more. Everything is also decorated so well with lights that it really gets you in the Christmas spirit.
Originally I was only planning to spend that one night in Germany and then make my way to France, but after the Christmas market I met an Australian girl who told me if I liked the Munich market a lot, I need to go to the one in Nurnberg which is supposedly the biggest one in Germany. Since Nurnberg is only an hour from Munich, I was sold on the idea pretty easily.
Early the next morning (it was actually noon but that was early for me!), I jumped on the train bound for Nurnberg. I had no idea where the market was, what's in Nurnberg besides the market, and how to get there. Luckily when arriving in Nurnberg, there was just enough signage to direct me in the direction I needed to go to find the market. The Nurnberg market has about 250 booths, and the vendors sell similar items to the ones in Munich. The Nurnberg Kinderweinnacht is renowned for it's woodworks, Glühwein, and a girl who wanders around town dressed in gold with a crown on to spread Christmas cheer. The woodworks were pretty cool. There were some crazy complex and cool Nativity scenes built by master craftsmen, and if they weren't so darn expensive, I would have bought one. Glühwein is a hot wine that is popular in Bavaria during Christmas time. It's also the patron drink of the Nurnberg Christmas market. It sounds awful, but I had to try it (plus I wanted the commemorative mug). Verdict...it tastes as bad as it sounds. At least
it warmed me up for a brief period of time. Finally, the Christmas cheer girl. Every two years, the city of Nurnberg crowns a young girl to spread Christmas cheer amongst the people. She wears a gold dress and a gold crown and is easily recognizable. I was kind of creeped out at first when hearing about Christmas cheer girl, but she was the star of the show. This girl took so many pictures with people, and was so good with all the kids that it honestly made you a little more cheerful for the season. Overall, I loved the Nurnberg market. Better than the one in Munich...minus the glühwein.
After visiting the Munich and Nurnberg Christmas markets, I was hooked. When I got back to the hostel that night, I looked up the best Christmas markets in Germany, because I was determined to see a few more before heading to Paris. I decided to stop in Frankfurt, because I hadn't been there yet, it's really close to several big cities, and the Cologne market, allegedly the best in Germany, is just over an hour away. Frankfurt was a surprisingly cool city. The only reason most people go to Frankfurt is for the airport, the only one in Germany capable of handling large volumes of international flights. The city has a very modern skyline and is an important business hub for the Eurozone. It's clean, pretty, and safe all this despite staying in a scuzzy location; where I was solicited by a hooker which I found insulting because she was pushing 60. The Christmas market was also much better than what people said. After a bad glühwein experience, I decided to jump back in the saddle (and conversely off the wagon?) and try it again. Good thing because it was much better the second time around. I also consumed my last currywurst in Frankfurt which I must confess was a bittersweet moment for me. I've got to figure out how to make them when I get home. All in all, Frankfurt was great and it was probably the most livable German city I visited (few tourists, cheap, good jobs, international airport, etc.).
My final Christmas market stop was in Cologne, Germany. I've been here before, liked it, and figured I'd stop again to see Germany's "best" Christmas market. I'd love to meet the person who decided that, so I could punch them in the stomach for wasting an entire days worth of my time. The only cool thing about the Cologne market is that it's backdrop is the Dom, the most widely visited attraction in Germany. The tree is big, but not that much bigger than the one At Marienplatz in Munich. There were considerably less booths than Nurnberg. Worst of all, only one currywurst stand! Perhaps if I visited the Cologne market first and didn't see any others, I would've loved it, but it was not even close to as good as Nurnberg.
I'll miss Germany. When I originally planned my trip in my head, I had no intention on spending much time at all in Germany. I had a very negative perception of the people and the German lifestyle. My perception couldn't have been any further from reality. German's are extremely nice and helpful. They don't mind speaking English with you. The infrastructure is excellent and well kept. The cities are extremely safe. It's cheap compared to the rest of industrialized Europe. Overall, Germany is a great place and I look forward to coming back again someday!
Prost Germany!
I came back to Munich/Germany for a few reasons. The first was to pick up a Christmas gift for my brother, but the second was to attend one of Germany's world famous Christmas markets. After befriending a girl in Bruges who lives in Munich and hearing all about how awesome the Munich market is, I decided I had to come back one more time to check it out. She was right, the Christmas market is incredible. There are actually several different ones in Munich, but the big one is Munchen Christkindlmarkt in the main shopping district of Marienplatz. There's another one at Theresienwiese, the site of Oktoberfest, but it's much smaller. You can find a little bit of everything Christmasy at the market. There's around 150 booths set up that sell wine, beer, bratwursts, wood carvings, Christmas ornaments, trees, clothing, and more. Everything is also decorated so well with lights that it really gets you in the Christmas spirit.
Originally I was only planning to spend that one night in Germany and then make my way to France, but after the Christmas market I met an Australian girl who told me if I liked the Munich market a lot, I need to go to the one in Nurnberg which is supposedly the biggest one in Germany. Since Nurnberg is only an hour from Munich, I was sold on the idea pretty easily.
Early the next morning (it was actually noon but that was early for me!), I jumped on the train bound for Nurnberg. I had no idea where the market was, what's in Nurnberg besides the market, and how to get there. Luckily when arriving in Nurnberg, there was just enough signage to direct me in the direction I needed to go to find the market. The Nurnberg market has about 250 booths, and the vendors sell similar items to the ones in Munich. The Nurnberg Kinderweinnacht is renowned for it's woodworks, Glühwein, and a girl who wanders around town dressed in gold with a crown on to spread Christmas cheer. The woodworks were pretty cool. There were some crazy complex and cool Nativity scenes built by master craftsmen, and if they weren't so darn expensive, I would have bought one. Glühwein is a hot wine that is popular in Bavaria during Christmas time. It's also the patron drink of the Nurnberg Christmas market. It sounds awful, but I had to try it (plus I wanted the commemorative mug). Verdict...it tastes as bad as it sounds. At least
it warmed me up for a brief period of time. Finally, the Christmas cheer girl. Every two years, the city of Nurnberg crowns a young girl to spread Christmas cheer amongst the people. She wears a gold dress and a gold crown and is easily recognizable. I was kind of creeped out at first when hearing about Christmas cheer girl, but she was the star of the show. This girl took so many pictures with people, and was so good with all the kids that it honestly made you a little more cheerful for the season. Overall, I loved the Nurnberg market. Better than the one in Munich...minus the glühwein.
After visiting the Munich and Nurnberg Christmas markets, I was hooked. When I got back to the hostel that night, I looked up the best Christmas markets in Germany, because I was determined to see a few more before heading to Paris. I decided to stop in Frankfurt, because I hadn't been there yet, it's really close to several big cities, and the Cologne market, allegedly the best in Germany, is just over an hour away. Frankfurt was a surprisingly cool city. The only reason most people go to Frankfurt is for the airport, the only one in Germany capable of handling large volumes of international flights. The city has a very modern skyline and is an important business hub for the Eurozone. It's clean, pretty, and safe all this despite staying in a scuzzy location; where I was solicited by a hooker which I found insulting because she was pushing 60. The Christmas market was also much better than what people said. After a bad glühwein experience, I decided to jump back in the saddle (and conversely off the wagon?) and try it again. Good thing because it was much better the second time around. I also consumed my last currywurst in Frankfurt which I must confess was a bittersweet moment for me. I've got to figure out how to make them when I get home. All in all, Frankfurt was great and it was probably the most livable German city I visited (few tourists, cheap, good jobs, international airport, etc.).
My final Christmas market stop was in Cologne, Germany. I've been here before, liked it, and figured I'd stop again to see Germany's "best" Christmas market. I'd love to meet the person who decided that, so I could punch them in the stomach for wasting an entire days worth of my time. The only cool thing about the Cologne market is that it's backdrop is the Dom, the most widely visited attraction in Germany. The tree is big, but not that much bigger than the one At Marienplatz in Munich. There were considerably less booths than Nurnberg. Worst of all, only one currywurst stand! Perhaps if I visited the Cologne market first and didn't see any others, I would've loved it, but it was not even close to as good as Nurnberg.
I'll miss Germany. When I originally planned my trip in my head, I had no intention on spending much time at all in Germany. I had a very negative perception of the people and the German lifestyle. My perception couldn't have been any further from reality. German's are extremely nice and helpful. They don't mind speaking English with you. The infrastructure is excellent and well kept. The cities are extremely safe. It's cheap compared to the rest of industrialized Europe. Overall, Germany is a great place and I look forward to coming back again someday!
Prost Germany!
11/30/2010 Update
Guten Tag from Munich! I swear this is my last update from this place!
After leaving Cinque Terra, I went to Florence. Florence is the capital of Tuscany with quite a bit to offer, but also has a small town feel to it given that it's population is only about 400,000 people. There's plenty of intriguing stores and shopping areas in the city. The Ponte Vecchio, Florence's famous bridge, is home to the town's jewelers and gold dealers. In addition to shopping, Florentines love their food, wine (especially Chianti), and art. I hit up two popular tourist sites while there.
The Duomo Santa Maria, a huge cathedral in the middle of the city, is an impressive building. The Duomo, built between 1296 and 1436, was the first domed structure built in Europe since Roman times. The exterior is adorned with marble and absolutely dominates the skyline from many parts of the city. Strangely enough, the interior was pretty drab. Maybe I'm just used to walking into cathedrals and being blown away by the austentacious decorations, that when I go to a place without gold everywhere I feel unimpressed.
The Academy Gallery was originally founded as an art school, but currently it houses a museum with many statues, paintings, and even musical instruments. The main reason people go to the Academy though is to see the world's most famous statue; Michelangelo's David. I had read and heard a lot about the statue and how "perfect" and true to human form it is, but I was absolutely blown away by the scale of it and it's perfection. It's truly a flawless marble human being. Other than the David, the museum was kind of boring, but there were two other sections I enjoyed. One was a history in music during roughly a 100 year time period in Florence. There were a bunch of old instruments on display (restored and original pieces), an audio interface where the user could sample certain musical selections from the time period, and an interactive display that showed the differences between a piano and a harpsichord (piano strings are hit with a hammer versus harpsichord strings which are plucked). The other section I enjoyed was about storyboards. Painters used to paint long storyboard pieces that told mythological or Biblical stories when you looked at the painting. It was fun looking at the boards, coming up with my own interpretation, then reading about them to see how close I was.
There are many other sites to see in Florence, the Uffizi Gallery is extremely popular, but I really only had time for a few things and I'm kind of museumed out at this point.
Also in Florence, my friend Brad and I picked the hostel we did because they supposedly had good wifi. This was important because we really wanted to watch the Bedlam football game. It didn't turn out well, but since the game didn't come on until 2 am, it was pretty fun trying to figure out ways to occupy our time until it started. Luckily there was a Playstation 2, so we spent a significant amount of time racing and playing tennis. I went through a 1.5 liter of Coke to keep myself awake until it ended just before 6 am. Pretty sure everyone else at the hostel was really confused about what we were doing. Fun experience despite the outcome of the game that we'll be able to talk about for years to come.
After Florence, I had every intention of going to Venice, but it was pouring down rain the day I was supposed to go, and Venice turns into a swamp when it rains, so I decided to postpone that idea. Next trip!
Ching Ching!
After leaving Cinque Terra, I went to Florence. Florence is the capital of Tuscany with quite a bit to offer, but also has a small town feel to it given that it's population is only about 400,000 people. There's plenty of intriguing stores and shopping areas in the city. The Ponte Vecchio, Florence's famous bridge, is home to the town's jewelers and gold dealers. In addition to shopping, Florentines love their food, wine (especially Chianti), and art. I hit up two popular tourist sites while there.
The Duomo Santa Maria, a huge cathedral in the middle of the city, is an impressive building. The Duomo, built between 1296 and 1436, was the first domed structure built in Europe since Roman times. The exterior is adorned with marble and absolutely dominates the skyline from many parts of the city. Strangely enough, the interior was pretty drab. Maybe I'm just used to walking into cathedrals and being blown away by the austentacious decorations, that when I go to a place without gold everywhere I feel unimpressed.
The Academy Gallery was originally founded as an art school, but currently it houses a museum with many statues, paintings, and even musical instruments. The main reason people go to the Academy though is to see the world's most famous statue; Michelangelo's David. I had read and heard a lot about the statue and how "perfect" and true to human form it is, but I was absolutely blown away by the scale of it and it's perfection. It's truly a flawless marble human being. Other than the David, the museum was kind of boring, but there were two other sections I enjoyed. One was a history in music during roughly a 100 year time period in Florence. There were a bunch of old instruments on display (restored and original pieces), an audio interface where the user could sample certain musical selections from the time period, and an interactive display that showed the differences between a piano and a harpsichord (piano strings are hit with a hammer versus harpsichord strings which are plucked). The other section I enjoyed was about storyboards. Painters used to paint long storyboard pieces that told mythological or Biblical stories when you looked at the painting. It was fun looking at the boards, coming up with my own interpretation, then reading about them to see how close I was.
There are many other sites to see in Florence, the Uffizi Gallery is extremely popular, but I really only had time for a few things and I'm kind of museumed out at this point.
Also in Florence, my friend Brad and I picked the hostel we did because they supposedly had good wifi. This was important because we really wanted to watch the Bedlam football game. It didn't turn out well, but since the game didn't come on until 2 am, it was pretty fun trying to figure out ways to occupy our time until it started. Luckily there was a Playstation 2, so we spent a significant amount of time racing and playing tennis. I went through a 1.5 liter of Coke to keep myself awake until it ended just before 6 am. Pretty sure everyone else at the hostel was really confused about what we were doing. Fun experience despite the outcome of the game that we'll be able to talk about for years to come.
After Florence, I had every intention of going to Venice, but it was pouring down rain the day I was supposed to go, and Venice turns into a swamp when it rains, so I decided to postpone that idea. Next trip!
Ching Ching!
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