Heidelbeer

In order to save some cash and take it easy for one weekend, we decided to just take a day trip into Germany. This was our first time there even though we are inches from the boarder. We met Jason, Rafi and Ben in Heidelberg for a quick day trip on their way back from Amsterdam. Jason’s friend had recommended the city and it turned out to be a great idea.

Once Roark and I arrived, we waited in the train station for the rest of the group to arrive. After they got there, we headed out to explore the town. After asking for directions a few times from the locals, we found our way into the Old Town area and promptly found a pub. We sat outside, enjoyed the view and sipped some giant beers.



After everyone put on a good buzz, we headed out to climb the absolutely ridiculously steep hill to the castle. Three breaks to rest later, we made it to the top. Even though we did not go inside, we took advantage of the spectacular views.


Afterwards we headed back into town to grab some more beers and food before our trip back home. Jason bought some Jagger shots for everyone in German style. On our walk back to the station, we bought some pretzels keeping with the authentic German theme for the day.


The trip was quick, but a success. Germany was pretty, the people were friendly and the beer was quite nice. We are looking forward to visiting again and spending some more quality time with the liters.

London, a Jolly Good Time

The London portion of this trip came at a really good time since we were starting to get a little bit homesick. After Will and Justine’s visit we were reminding of all the things we love about America and were happy the trip was winding down and we were close to heading home. But our weekend visit to London picked up our spirts and now we are looking forward to a little bit warmer weather and the coming of spring while still in Europe.

Thursday we set off with Jason and his family who came to visit for Paris. They just happened to be on the same train as us so after everyone dropped of their luggage at our separate places, and a thankfully short doctors visit for me, we headed out to Notre Dame. As I mentioned before, I was not entirely impressed with the church the first time I saw it. This time an actual mass was taking place inside and it just changed the atmosphere of the whole church. Sitting in for a few minutes was extremely interesting and it just made me think more of the history and millions of masses that must have taken place there. I left with a new respect for the church.

Afterwards we parted ways with Jason’s family and headed back to our hostel to take a nap and gear up for the show that night. We were going to see Omar Rodriquez Lopez and Zechs Marquise, two of our favorite bands that just happened to be playing in Paris. The venue was super small and we were close to the stage. Each band put on a great performance, but the most exciting thing was seeing the members of The Mars Volta playing with Omar. The bassist Juan Alderete and drummer Thomas Pridgen took the show to the next level.  It was an amazing time and such a chance opportunity to see them in a venue like that.


The next morning we headed out to London. We were taking the Chunnel, which is a train tunnel that goes under the English Channel, on Friday the 13th. I fell asleep, like always, but Roark told me it was no big thing and that we were under for all of 20 minutes. Still, what an engineering feat. We headed to check into our hostel which was out a ways from city center, but in a cool area called Stamford Brook. We took a walk in the park down the street and it felt good to be in London. It was spring, flowers were blooming, kids were playing in the park and people were happy. It was a stark contrast from what we had been seeing in France.


After our walk we headed down to Camden Town to the markets there. The area is known for its alternative culture. There were tons of actual English punks, goths and Rastafarians walking the streets or selling some wares. We walked through the Stables Market, where the booths were old horse stalls. It was a cool place to be and not what you thought of typical London.

Afterwards we headed to Notting Hill, which was kind of drab and yuppie comparatively. So after seeing two streets, we went back to the hostel, made dinner and played some cards. Just as we were about to go to bed, I noticed some bugs walking around on the wooden bunk. Then I spotted some more and realized that the place had bed bugs. I woke Roark up, who told me that he was asleep and did not care. I shook him harder and finally convinced him to go downstairs with me to ask for a new room. We got an upgrade to a nicer private room for the night, but we still left the place in the morning taking away a few bites on my leg as souvenirs.

After setting into a new hostel, we headed down to Kingston Park, which was right down the street, for a picnic lunch. The parks in London are by far one of the city's best attractions. They are well taken care of and everyone has a dog, which provides for unlimited entertainment.


The thing that amazed me the most about London was the respect and pride the people had in their city. The subway was pristine, which may be because of the CCTV monitoring your every move. But people on escalators always stood on the right so that people could pass on the left. There was virtually no trash anywhere and people rarely smoked cigarettes on the street. Everyone was very polite, helpful and friendly. They have laws against feeding pigeons (which made me super happy as I hate them- what disgusting birds) so there are few of them around and the ones that are look like clean birds rather than rodents with wings. The government has public service ads everywhere, which to me seemed to benefit the people of London. From an outsider, it looked like the people cared for their country and the government took an honest interest in caring for the people. Roark and I were completely impressed by the city and its people. They seemed far happier and healthier than any people we saw anywhere else.


After Kingston Park, we headed to the Portobello Markets and took a walk around. They have so many cool things there that it was overwhelming. The streets were packed but we managed to push our way through.


After the markets, we went to a tube stop to see a collection of guitars, effect pedals and Beatles memorabilia that was on display there. There were fewer items then we thought, but it was still cool to see. Then headed back to Camden because there was a piano there that Roark saw the day before and wanted to play. It was terribly out of tune, which was disappointing. We took the tube then to London Bridge and Tower Bridge which was cool to see lit up at night.


After heading back the hostel and making dinner, we were getting ready for bed. Then I spotted a black thing on the wall and being paranoid, I got up and scrutinized it. I got all upset because it was a freaking bed bug again. But we did not bring it with us, it was crawling out of the ceiling and inching closer the bed in order to devour me while I slept. Where there is one, there are hundreds, so we made the decision to leave at midnight and wander the streets looking for a new, clean, and safe place to stay. After making an emergency call to Roark’s mom (we actually got to use one of the red phone booths) to okay a new hotel, rather than hostel, we checked in to a clean and reasonable hotel in that area. The man must have thought I was crazy when I asked him to see the room and I checked the sheets. But whatever, I was not paying for a place again only to find out while sleeping I was to be eaten alive. The place was awesome: really clean and well maintained. Not a bed bug anywhere.


So the next morning after a semi-restful sleep, we woke up and headed though Kingston and Hyde Park to meet up with the free walking tour that we were going to take. The tour started off at the Wellington Arch and finished at Westminster Abby. Along the way we saw the Horse Ride, the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Trafalgar Square, the Clarence House (where Prince Charles lives), the Churchill War Rooms, Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament among other things. There is such a rich history in London and it was nice to have a native guide, Pip, to tell us all the interesting facts and local perspectives.





After our tour, we took the tube to Abby Road. We could not come to London without making that visit. The studio was obviously in use that day and there were people out front. The cement fence around it had been written on with Beatles lyrics and messages. We would have attempted to recreate the famous album cover, but we didn't have enough people for the picture, let alone somebody to hold the camera.


Afterwards, we headed back to the Portobello Markets to pick up some gifts and souvenirs. We also made a stop at The Hummingbird Bakery, since the line was out the door and we figured it must have been good. We picked up two cupcakes and went to eat them across for the hotel in a private garden. They were so tasty that we began to understand the reason for the line.


We wanted to make the most of our last night in London, so we headed out on the tube to visit St. Paul’s Cathedral, where Princess Diana and Prince Charles got married and where Churchill’s funeral was held. Lucky for us again, mass was taking place and the candle light, incense smoke and organ music made for a lifetime experience. Although we were unable to walk around because of the mass, we could tell the church was huge, second only to St. Peter’s in Rome, and beautifully designed.


Afterwards, we walked the Millennium Foot Bridge and walked past the Globe Theater, where Shakespeare put on his productions. I am currently reading a book about the history of the English language and have a new respect for the man as he created over 1,500 common words that we use today such as critical, lonely and majestic. It was neat to walk by and see where all that creative genius took place.


For our first and last actual London meal, we decided to head out the local pub right across from our hotel that apparently Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow frequent as they live right down the street. The place was great and such a good pub experience. The beer and cider were refreshing after a long day, but nothing compared to the food. They had a vegetarian option for the traditional Bangers and Mash, or sausage and mash potatoes, which was out this world. Roark got a burger and chips. The chips, or fries were tasty, but he went nuts over the Kobe Beef burger. Apparently the cows that make it are fed an organic diet and massaged once a week to keep the meat tender. Anyways, it was the best burger he has ever had.

After a little BBC back at the hotel, we passed out and woke up the next morning to walk to Kensington Palace, where Princess Diana lived after her divorce, and read in the gardens before having to catch the Chunnel home. The hedges in the gardens were interestingly kept. It made for a good day reading in the sun.



The Chunnel ride back was exactly as Roark said, not too big of a deal. I managed to stay up this time to experience it. Back in France we are now wishing for a bit of that warm London weather and atmosphere. Apparently the French are now wearing color, rather than black, so maybe it is a sign that spring is on its way and the vibe here will lighten up. Otherwise, there is always London.

Metzin' Around

Well I would love to say that it has been an eventful week and that is why we have not posted anything in awhile, but really we have not done much since our arrival in France. We are enjoying our time here though. Everyone in the program is outgoing and nice. We have spent time (and saved Euro’s) hanging out in the dorms getting to know everyone. It is already a tight-nit group and I look forward to sharing more time and adventures with everyone.

We have successfully set up our room. The dorms are really nice and brightly colored, although they look like something out of an Ikea ad. The mattress is awful; we might as well be sleeping on the floor. I think I like the bathroom the best, because there is no separate shower; rather the entire room is the shower. I could complain of the mess this creates, but I am grateful after having seen the size of the showers in everyone else’s room.


In the past week there have been plenty of trips to Cora, the French version of Super Walmart, and to Simply, the grocery store down the street. Today we successfully navigated the grocery store for the first time and actually made it home with food we will enjoy. This comes after we had an incident with ‘cheese dip’ and ‘Mexican’ chips that tasted like rotten cheese and Indian food… yum!

The flight overseas was a piece of cake. Roark and I were totally amazed at how large the plane was. Our plane hit a little turbulence, but nothing too bad. Thanks to the stress ball Will gave me, Roark’s hands were not crushed by my death grip this flight ether. We watched some movies, read and even fell asleep. It might have been the fact I was not near a window, or that is was so dark outside that I could see nothing anyways, or just because the plane was so damn big it was hard to believe it was a plane high in the air over the deep ocean below, but for my first time flying I did not envision our plane crashing and burning.

Once we landed in Paris it was a challenge getting to Metz. It seemed like everything was not clearly marked, we had a ton of baggage, and very little sleep in the past 4 days. We took turns napping on the train from Paris to Metz, though to be honest I was nodding off when it was my turn to stay awake. Then after being told incorrectly by a cab driver that we could walk to our dorm, walking 30 minutes aimlessly, and an argument, we flagged a cab and finally made it here.

Three nights ago we went out to Irish Pub in downtown Metz with our friends Luisana and Steve. There was a band that night that played only American cover songs. The female singer was something special. I only wish I got a recording of her slaughtering ‘Sweet Home Alabama.’ After drinking our meter of beer, we went to a hookah bar with some other people from the program that we ran into. It was a fun night.


Yesterday we walked to downtown Metz and went to see one of the Cathedrals in town. We walked down by the river and ate sandwiches while watching birds beg for food from the locals. There is still a ton more of downtown Metz left to explore, but that is for another day.

New Years with Archer's Mob and Friends

First of all, happy and healthy New Year to all.

Secondly, a special thanks to those who came through in the clutch: Nadine, Michael, Gina, Sabio, Matt, Rahul, Israel, Carolyn, and a happy birthday to Eddie and Gaby.

We spent last night in high style, at the Pine Creek Café, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, Montana. While there, we hung with a friend from Atlanta, Jessica C, her friends, and the band: Archer's Mob. We met dozens of very cool people, and listened to some very excellent tunes from a unique group. One of my favorite sounds from them was the sound of a phased out funk banjo... it was a kind of music I'd never quite heard before, but I am glad that my ears had the privilege.


Bienvenue a 2009,
-R