31 March 2009
Berlin, Germany
Barcelona Recap:
Day One
Landing in Barcelona almost made me hate flying even more. I do a much better hand movement to describe this landing as opposed to me trying to describe it in words. But when we got off the plane the sun was out. So I stopped complaining pretty quickly.
It took us about 25 hours to get our stuff into our hotel rooms. Just kidding, but the process was painful. You try getting 30 kids into an unprepared hotel. Not so smooth. They gave us time for lunch after that. A few of us ironically found the same place we were scheduled to have breakfast at (we didn’t know this at the time) but we got some tapas, and it was delicious. And
Mediterranean muscles are not like New England muscles. They are way scarier. I wish I took a photograph. It was worth documenting. They were orange, large, and looked like they had teeth. I closed my eyes and ate them anyways. They were delicious.
Near by we spotted a Gaudi building, so we did our architecture thing and all pulled our cameras. Then we met back up with the
group. They took us on a walk through Las Ramblas, which is a crazy street in Barcelona. It’s mainly just for pedestrians. We stopped at a ton of street performers and they let us run into the Mercat de Boqueria. Best strawberries I have had in a long, long time.
Then we were forced to do the class thing and they made us analyze Placa Reial. Super cool little area, not fun to analyze. Actually that’s probably the downfall of most of these trips. It’s like here “I’ll take you to a city that you’ve never been to, but don’t have any fun.” I don’t really enjoy school. 
Have I ever mentioned that?
Then they let us go. We basically just explored. We walked down to the end of Las Ramblas to see the water. I found the other half of us via Blackberry thanks to Jill having one as well. We found 1 euro drafts, and 6 euro liter of sangria. I love sangria. Then we found food, after trying to get 8 people to agree on one place... way too much of a process.
Day Two
So this breakfast place that we all had vouchers to eat at, it was interesting. I assumed it would be good because lunch was good there yesterday. Needless to say, it was kind of disappointing. It was tiny and most of it was cold and the waitress I’m pretty sure hated us. I’m also pretty sure she was having a bad day, but who am I to judge.
Then super cool class time. We went to the Barcelona Cathedral and then Santa Caterina Market. The sun was out. I think I got a little color on my cheeks. Probably not though, it was probably just pink in my cheeks because I haven’t seen the sun in about 2 months. The Cathedral was really, really nice. It had a beautiful courtyard that I think I could live in, as long as they moved the geese out.
The market was honestly kind of a disappointment. From all the images we have seen of it, I thought it would be a lot larger. It’s definitely meant as a local market, not as one geared towards the public. It was pretty cool to actually see in person though.
Then we went into Iglesia Santa Maria dle Mar and then we were told to analyze the space outside the building again. Nicht so gut. But then we all pretty much grabbed a small lunch and sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine. A few of us managed to have ice cream. It was amazing. I can’t wait for warm weather.
After lunch we had a guided tour at Edificio Forum, which was mainly like an exhibit hall. The building was designed by Herzon and de Meuron. We saw a sweet model of the entire city of Barcelona, along with a lighted little show to go with it. It was pretty cool.
We had another guided tour later in the afternoon at the Toree Agbar building. Super cool building and super cool tour guide. She also made fun of us for taking a ton of pictures. She asked if we were engineering students. We said no, architecture. She said oh that makes sense, usually the people who come in here that take tons of pictures are either engineering students, architecture students, or Japanese. Needless to say, she had a good sense of humor and she knew her stuff. The building was really neat. Jean Nouvel knew what he was doing.
On our own time we decided to go see Sangrada Familia. It was closed, but we took tons of pictures of the exterior. Then after a random bus ride and a whole lot of walking we ended up at Placa Espanya… right in time for the Magic Fountain show! It was like being Disney all over again. 
Coordinated music, lights, and water.. yup, right up my alley. It was really cool and all of us had a great time.
Day Three
It rained. Actually it rained a whole lot. We went to the Barcelona Pavilion by Mies Van der Rohe. We were architecture geeks. Then we went to the Museu d’art Contemporani de Barcelona. I love contemporary art.
Always a good time. After that they made us analyze in the rain. My sketchbook got wet, so I got bitter and stopped sketching. It wasn’t a very productive school day.
We headed back towards the Sangrada Familia in the afternoon and we went in. Amazing. I didn’t realized how under construction this building actually was. It has been under construction since I think 1898. Don’t quote me on that,
I don’t always remember things I should. It was really cool to see. It’s just amazing how unique it is and how it is actually a building and not just a model.
We did some shopping after that. Barcelona is a cool place to shop. I wish it wasn’t raining, I had more money, and I had more time. About 9 of us met up for dinner after that and it was probably my best meal in Barcelona. We sat there forever eating tapas, burgers, and dessert and drinking a whole lot of sangria.
It was nice to sit down and relax.
Day Four
The morning was rainy. We went to Casa Mila by Gaudi. We got a sort of tour with it. It was pretty near. Between his roof terrace and the magic fountain Barcelona is pretty much just like Disney.
Just kidding, but seriously Gaudi must have either been on some good drugs or had a whole lot of creativity pouring out of it at all times.
It stopped raining and they took us to Park Guell. Super, super cool. Although it smelled a little bit like a petting zoo. We had the afternoon off. We kind of took our time and actually slowed down for once. We finally found churros. I had been looking for them this entire trip. I assumed they were Spanish because I had them at a tapas restaurant back home,
but some people were saying it might be Mexican. I don’t really know, but they were delicious. I just figured they should have a stand for churros about every 25 feet. But I guess I was inaccurate with that assumption.
For the record Google says that they originated in Spain. Why couldn't I find more??
We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring some open market areas with little shops. I found my piece of jewelry there. Then naturally we found the beach. So nice. I picked up a ton of sea glass. So much fun.
But I think the highlight of my trip was my last hour before we left for the airport. 5 of us decided to get a drink and a little bit of food.
We ended up eating at this place called Riko’s. It mildly resembled a Chuckie Cheese with it’s ball pit/playground in the corner. The music was American, but redone in pan flute. It was someone’s birthday so they came out with cake, but the Happy Birthday song was in English. But I’m pretty sure Spanish people sang it. It was bizarre. But I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a long time. We also all had salads with chicken nuggets in them. It was a great way to end the trip. Hahaha
The flight home was ehh. I was exhausted but naturally couldn’t sleep because I hate flying. I was hoping the small amount of sangria I had would have knocked me out, but it didn’t. It was a bummer. We landed in Berlin late at night and I slept like a baby.
And that was Barcelona. I will be back someday, with a lot more time to spend. I loved it. A truly beautiful city. ☺ (Steve says this picture is the winning picture of the trip, so I thought I would share.)
Day One
Landing in Barcelona almost made me hate flying even more. I do a much better hand movement to describe this landing as opposed to me trying to describe it in words. But when we got off the plane the sun was out. So I stopped complaining pretty quickly.
It took us about 25 hours to get our stuff into our hotel rooms. Just kidding, but the process was painful. You try getting 30 kids into an unprepared hotel. Not so smooth. They gave us time for lunch after that. A few of us ironically found the same place we were scheduled to have breakfast at (we didn’t know this at the time) but we got some tapas, and it was delicious. And
Mediterranean muscles are not like New England muscles. They are way scarier. I wish I took a photograph. It was worth documenting. They were orange, large, and looked like they had teeth. I closed my eyes and ate them anyways. They were delicious.Near by we spotted a Gaudi building, so we did our architecture thing and all pulled our cameras. Then we met back up with the
group. They took us on a walk through Las Ramblas, which is a crazy street in Barcelona. It’s mainly just for pedestrians. We stopped at a ton of street performers and they let us run into the Mercat de Boqueria. Best strawberries I have had in a long, long time.
Then we were forced to do the class thing and they made us analyze Placa Reial. Super cool little area, not fun to analyze. Actually that’s probably the downfall of most of these trips. It’s like here “I’ll take you to a city that you’ve never been to, but don’t have any fun.” I don’t really enjoy school. 
Have I ever mentioned that?Then they let us go. We basically just explored. We walked down to the end of Las Ramblas to see the water. I found the other half of us via Blackberry thanks to Jill having one as well. We found 1 euro drafts, and 6 euro liter of sangria. I love sangria. Then we found food, after trying to get 8 people to agree on one place... way too much of a process.
Day Two
So this breakfast place that we all had vouchers to eat at, it was interesting. I assumed it would be good because lunch was good there yesterday. Needless to say, it was kind of disappointing. It was tiny and most of it was cold and the waitress I’m pretty sure hated us. I’m also pretty sure she was having a bad day, but who am I to judge.Then super cool class time. We went to the Barcelona Cathedral and then Santa Caterina Market. The sun was out. I think I got a little color on my cheeks. Probably not though, it was probably just pink in my cheeks because I haven’t seen the sun in about 2 months. The Cathedral was really, really nice. It had a beautiful courtyard that I think I could live in, as long as they moved the geese out.
The market was honestly kind of a disappointment. From all the images we have seen of it, I thought it would be a lot larger. It’s definitely meant as a local market, not as one geared towards the public. It was pretty cool to actually see in person though.
Then we went into Iglesia Santa Maria dle Mar and then we were told to analyze the space outside the building again. Nicht so gut. But then we all pretty much grabbed a small lunch and sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine. A few of us managed to have ice cream. It was amazing. I can’t wait for warm weather.
After lunch we had a guided tour at Edificio Forum, which was mainly like an exhibit hall. The building was designed by Herzon and de Meuron. We saw a sweet model of the entire city of Barcelona, along with a lighted little show to go with it. It was pretty cool.
We had another guided tour later in the afternoon at the Toree Agbar building. Super cool building and super cool tour guide. She also made fun of us for taking a ton of pictures. She asked if we were engineering students. We said no, architecture. She said oh that makes sense, usually the people who come in here that take tons of pictures are either engineering students, architecture students, or Japanese. Needless to say, she had a good sense of humor and she knew her stuff. The building was really neat. Jean Nouvel knew what he was doing.
On our own time we decided to go see Sangrada Familia. It was closed, but we took tons of pictures of the exterior. Then after a random bus ride and a whole lot of walking we ended up at Placa Espanya… right in time for the Magic Fountain show! It was like being Disney all over again. 
Coordinated music, lights, and water.. yup, right up my alley. It was really cool and all of us had a great time.Day Three
It rained. Actually it rained a whole lot. We went to the Barcelona Pavilion by Mies Van der Rohe. We were architecture geeks. Then we went to the Museu d’art Contemporani de Barcelona. I love contemporary art.
Always a good time. After that they made us analyze in the rain. My sketchbook got wet, so I got bitter and stopped sketching. It wasn’t a very productive school day.We headed back towards the Sangrada Familia in the afternoon and we went in. Amazing. I didn’t realized how under construction this building actually was. It has been under construction since I think 1898. Don’t quote me on that,
I don’t always remember things I should. It was really cool to see. It’s just amazing how unique it is and how it is actually a building and not just a model.We did some shopping after that. Barcelona is a cool place to shop. I wish it wasn’t raining, I had more money, and I had more time. About 9 of us met up for dinner after that and it was probably my best meal in Barcelona. We sat there forever eating tapas, burgers, and dessert and drinking a whole lot of sangria.
It was nice to sit down and relax.Day Four
The morning was rainy. We went to Casa Mila by Gaudi. We got a sort of tour with it. It was pretty near. Between his roof terrace and the magic fountain Barcelona is pretty much just like Disney.
Just kidding, but seriously Gaudi must have either been on some good drugs or had a whole lot of creativity pouring out of it at all times.It stopped raining and they took us to Park Guell. Super, super cool. Although it smelled a little bit like a petting zoo. We had the afternoon off. We kind of took our time and actually slowed down for once. We finally found churros. I had been looking for them this entire trip. I assumed they were Spanish because I had them at a tapas restaurant back home,
but some people were saying it might be Mexican. I don’t really know, but they were delicious. I just figured they should have a stand for churros about every 25 feet. But I guess I was inaccurate with that assumption.
For the record Google says that they originated in Spain. Why couldn't I find more??We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring some open market areas with little shops. I found my piece of jewelry there. Then naturally we found the beach. So nice. I picked up a ton of sea glass. So much fun.
But I think the highlight of my trip was my last hour before we left for the airport. 5 of us decided to get a drink and a little bit of food.
We ended up eating at this place called Riko’s. It mildly resembled a Chuckie Cheese with it’s ball pit/playground in the corner. The music was American, but redone in pan flute. It was someone’s birthday so they came out with cake, but the Happy Birthday song was in English. But I’m pretty sure Spanish people sang it. It was bizarre. But I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a long time. We also all had salads with chicken nuggets in them. It was a great way to end the trip. HahahaThe flight home was ehh. I was exhausted but naturally couldn’t sleep because I hate flying. I was hoping the small amount of sangria I had would have knocked me out, but it didn’t. It was a bummer. We landed in Berlin late at night and I slept like a baby.
And that was Barcelona. I will be back someday, with a lot more time to spend. I loved it. A truly beautiful city. ☺ (Steve says this picture is the winning picture of the trip, so I thought I would share.)
30 March 2009
Berlin, Germany
I'm back in Berlin safe and sound.
I absolutely loved Barcelona and I can't wait to go back some day!
I left my camera cord back at the apartments, so I apologize, but I won't have pictures posted for a little while. I'm also pretty much out of room on my Picasa album, so I'll have to figure something out with that. But I promise to get them up soon!!
I'm a little sad I missed out on the Wright's trip. It was a little creepy to see flat Becky roaming around, but it's cool. At least I got some chicken.
This week will consist of:
1. me doing a LOT of work.
2. me washing my underwear in the tub (I'm all out)
3. Hamburg on Thursday
4. more work.
Also, I just bought the ticket. I will be attending the Hertha game on Saturday! (Berlin's soccer team) A whole bunch of us will be going. It should be a good time. I already got my gear ready to go.
As for now, I must do some work and get some lunch. I promise to get my Barcelona story up by tomorrow!
I absolutely loved Barcelona and I can't wait to go back some day!
I left my camera cord back at the apartments, so I apologize, but I won't have pictures posted for a little while. I'm also pretty much out of room on my Picasa album, so I'll have to figure something out with that. But I promise to get them up soon!!
I'm a little sad I missed out on the Wright's trip. It was a little creepy to see flat Becky roaming around, but it's cool. At least I got some chicken.
This week will consist of:
1. me doing a LOT of work.
2. me washing my underwear in the tub (I'm all out)
3. Hamburg on Thursday
4. more work.
Also, I just bought the ticket. I will be attending the Hertha game on Saturday! (Berlin's soccer team) A whole bunch of us will be going. It should be a good time. I already got my gear ready to go.
As for now, I must do some work and get some lunch. I promise to get my Barcelona story up by tomorrow!
Harrisville, Rhode Island
So today Becky was able to make the trip out to Wright's Chicken Farm with all the families. The guest list included the Carpentier's including Mem of course, Becky's family including her grandmother, and Ray's Family, 15 people including Becky!. As usual she spent her day deep in a glass of wine, but what the hell, no one seemed to care. From what I am told her family was taking her to Ronnie's in Auburn for some ice cream before she had to get on back to Berlin. Lots of fun and laugh's were had by all, and I'm pretty sure everyone including Becky got their fill.
-Mike-
29 March 2009
Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona has officially tired me out. Beautiful city. I will definitely be back.
As for now were looking for our last meal and a glass of wine so I can sleep on the plane. I hate flying. I will miss the sunshine that's for sure.
--Rebecca Leroux
27 March 2009
Barcelona, Spain
I love the sunshine. I love the colorfulness. And I love sangria.
Barcelona day 2: warmth and beauty. I like Barcelona A LOT.
--Rebecca Leroux
25 March 2009
Berlin, Germany
I'm pretty sure we just nailed our Barcelona presentation. As far as studio goes, that's another story. Barcelona here I come :) My sunglasses are ready.. let's hope I don't get sunburned. I don't think I'd be that surprised if I did...
24 March 2009
Berlin, Germany
I'm a little bit excited, especially after doing research for over a week on this beautiful city.
Berlin, Germany
Yesterday as well as today will be nothing special. I will just keep doing work until we go to Barcelona. I don't enjoy school all that much.
Mainly I decided to post to put in another birthday shout out:
Happy Birthday Sheryl! (she's 29 years old by the way.)
<3
Mainly I decided to post to put in another birthday shout out:
Happy Birthday Sheryl! (she's 29 years old by the way.)
<3
23 March 2009
Berlin, Germany
P.S. I'd like to give a belated birthday shout out to Ray! Ray, if I were home, I'm make you Annie's mac and cheese for lunch and some snickerdoodle cookies for dessert :)
22 March 2009
Berlin, Germany
Due to unexpected complications I did not travel this weekend, although I did have plans to. It wasn’t the most ideal situation, but I dealt with it.
I spent the weekend in Berlin. And honestly, it was nice. I didn’t have a schedule, I didn’t rush and I think that may have been a wise choice for my body right now. I think it hates being rushed, hence the whole being sick in Venice thing. When I’m rushed I’m just irritated. Then my body corresponds with that. I’m mostly making this up because I know whatever made me sick in Venice was probably food. No amount of stress can possibly do that to my body.
Friday in my humanities class we went to the Jewish Museum. It is such an amazing and moving space. Mike had gone there while I was in class one day while he was here. I think he got a better experience than I did. I was stuck in a group of 15 with a tour guide. The tour was fine, but there is just so much stuff there that he clearly couldn’t cover it all, but I was usually interested in what he wasn’t talking about. It was hard for me to get something out of it. Mike had recommended getting the 2 Euro iPod guide that takes you through the museum and you can pick and choose what you want to hear about. I personally wish that was how we did things. I am thinking about going back on my own time. It was another space I felt rushed through and like I missed a lot. So if time allows it, I will definitely be back there.
I have to say one of the eeriest but really cool spaces in the museum was the void in the middle of the building. Right now
there is an artist installation in the void. I’m not sure if it’s permanent or not to be honest. But we were all looking at it and taking pictures and the guide near by came up to us and told us that the artist intended it to be walked one. Basically the void was filled with these flat metal faces that lined the floor. Naturally, we walked on it. That was probably one of the creepiest experiences I have had. Not only are you walking on faces, but all you can hear is the clanking of the metal moving as people walked on it. It was eerie, but definitely a moving experience.
Saturday, the sun eventually came out late morning. I decided it would be a good thing to take advantage of. I hadn’t been up in the dome of the Reichstag yet and I was waiting for a sunny day to do it. So I grabbed Chris and Joe upstairs and we went. Norman Foster has to be one of my favorite architects by now. The dome was really neat. Just really cleanly designed. And it was the perfect day to do it. You get a great view of the city and get to see cool architecture at the same time. I’m down with that.
After that we walked the trek down to Victory Column. Now if the Nazi’s had never moved the Column our walk would have been a lot nicer. But I won’t complain about things I can’t do anything about! So after the long walk we figured we had to go up in it. Whoever designed that was not expecting it to be a tourist attraction that’s for sure. The only way up is by a narrow spiral staircase.
Spiral stairs are a lot harder to walk up than you would think. Especially when people are also trying to come down at the same time. Can’t say it was a great experience. But eventually we got to the top and got another nice view of the city. My claustrophobia kicked in eventually and I thought it best to head back down. Going down left we much less winded than going up that’s for sure. All in all, it was a nice day. It was good to do some touristy things for once and not be in studio while I’m in this great city.
Today, I can’t say anything great happened. I tried to go tourist shopping, or any kind of shopping really. Clearly I wasn’t thinking because today is Sunday. Europe is basically shut down on Sundays. Shopping on Sunday was definitely an American invention. I ended up in studio for a long time, not really doing work, but catching up on the internet and talking to Michael via web cam. We have an exciting relationship right now.. I know.
This week will probably be pretty busy school wise. I have to give a presentation on Wednesday and in terms of studio I think I’ve been behind in that this entire semester. School and Europe just don’t mix well. We leave for Barcelona with the entire group on Thursday. I have to say I’m excited for that, although I dread the fact that they will run us dry through the city and expect us to see all the great things the city has to offer. I hope this city stays up later than Venice does though. It would have been nice to actually have had time to do some real shopping in Venice. It was hard when you got out of class at 5:00 and the stores all closed by 6:00. Fingers crossed this time around.
I spent the weekend in Berlin. And honestly, it was nice. I didn’t have a schedule, I didn’t rush and I think that may have been a wise choice for my body right now. I think it hates being rushed, hence the whole being sick in Venice thing. When I’m rushed I’m just irritated. Then my body corresponds with that. I’m mostly making this up because I know whatever made me sick in Venice was probably food. No amount of stress can possibly do that to my body.
Friday in my humanities class we went to the Jewish Museum. It is such an amazing and moving space. Mike had gone there while I was in class one day while he was here. I think he got a better experience than I did. I was stuck in a group of 15 with a tour guide. The tour was fine, but there is just so much stuff there that he clearly couldn’t cover it all, but I was usually interested in what he wasn’t talking about. It was hard for me to get something out of it. Mike had recommended getting the 2 Euro iPod guide that takes you through the museum and you can pick and choose what you want to hear about. I personally wish that was how we did things. I am thinking about going back on my own time. It was another space I felt rushed through and like I missed a lot. So if time allows it, I will definitely be back there.I have to say one of the eeriest but really cool spaces in the museum was the void in the middle of the building. Right now
there is an artist installation in the void. I’m not sure if it’s permanent or not to be honest. But we were all looking at it and taking pictures and the guide near by came up to us and told us that the artist intended it to be walked one. Basically the void was filled with these flat metal faces that lined the floor. Naturally, we walked on it. That was probably one of the creepiest experiences I have had. Not only are you walking on faces, but all you can hear is the clanking of the metal moving as people walked on it. It was eerie, but definitely a moving experience.
Saturday, the sun eventually came out late morning. I decided it would be a good thing to take advantage of. I hadn’t been up in the dome of the Reichstag yet and I was waiting for a sunny day to do it. So I grabbed Chris and Joe upstairs and we went. Norman Foster has to be one of my favorite architects by now. The dome was really neat. Just really cleanly designed. And it was the perfect day to do it. You get a great view of the city and get to see cool architecture at the same time. I’m down with that.After that we walked the trek down to Victory Column. Now if the Nazi’s had never moved the Column our walk would have been a lot nicer. But I won’t complain about things I can’t do anything about! So after the long walk we figured we had to go up in it. Whoever designed that was not expecting it to be a tourist attraction that’s for sure. The only way up is by a narrow spiral staircase.
Spiral stairs are a lot harder to walk up than you would think. Especially when people are also trying to come down at the same time. Can’t say it was a great experience. But eventually we got to the top and got another nice view of the city. My claustrophobia kicked in eventually and I thought it best to head back down. Going down left we much less winded than going up that’s for sure. All in all, it was a nice day. It was good to do some touristy things for once and not be in studio while I’m in this great city.Today, I can’t say anything great happened. I tried to go tourist shopping, or any kind of shopping really. Clearly I wasn’t thinking because today is Sunday. Europe is basically shut down on Sundays. Shopping on Sunday was definitely an American invention. I ended up in studio for a long time, not really doing work, but catching up on the internet and talking to Michael via web cam. We have an exciting relationship right now.. I know.
This week will probably be pretty busy school wise. I have to give a presentation on Wednesday and in terms of studio I think I’ve been behind in that this entire semester. School and Europe just don’t mix well. We leave for Barcelona with the entire group on Thursday. I have to say I’m excited for that, although I dread the fact that they will run us dry through the city and expect us to see all the great things the city has to offer. I hope this city stays up later than Venice does though. It would have been nice to actually have had time to do some real shopping in Venice. It was hard when you got out of class at 5:00 and the stores all closed by 6:00. Fingers crossed this time around.
18 March 2009
Berlin, Germany
I found this image of Moshi Moshi Sushi, which is the place Mike and I ate at in London. I wish I had taken pictures in the restaurant, it was really cool. I figured I had to find some to share. This is entry is kind of random, and I could totally go for some sushi right now.I'm on a slightly postitive kick and I think I may do okay in school now. That may change by late tonight, but who knows. I hope we find out about the master's program soon. I really need to mentally prepare for how much more school I need to accomplish.
If you didn't get the last article, aparently I can share my blog with other authors so I asked Mike if he would write in it about when he was here. So for those of you who are slow, that was him writing not me.
I could also really go for some Moe's right now...
Berlin,Germany ; London, England ; Boston, MA
Hello Everyone;
I'm home now and feel like I am finally getting a grip with the changes in time I have jumped through over the last week.
My trip to Europe was unlike anything I have done in my life, and I owe the experience completely to Becky and my Parents for pushing me to go. I would have truly missed out had I not gone. My first few days were a lil overwhelming I have to say. Berlin is a big city, I was alone not knowing much German, and I really didn't have a clue where I was going at first. Fortunately the city is laid out very well, especially the subway system, and it didn't take long before I caught on. Being alone, I got to see a lot of places in my four days there. The history of Berlin is extremely moving, and there is so much that you only find out about by exploring it deeper than what you see on a map. It is definitely a place I would love to return to and spend more time in, I was sad to leave.
London was a completely different experience, very busy, and somewhat resembling Boston/New York in terms of its daily hustle and bustle. However, the people ere extremely nice and very willing to help a lost tourist, and it was extremely nice to be able to speak English. Our trip there together was very laid back, we were able to see a great deal of the city, mostly historic, but quite a few places the average person doesn't see. I guess the main reason for this was that we didn't have a set schedule and most of the time didn't rely on a map. Both cites were hard to pull myself away from.
It wasn't exactly the best experience having to leave Becky on Sunday, knowing I wont see her for a month and a half and that I'd soon be back at school. But I am truly happy that she has the opportunity to experience something that so many never will in a lifetime. I know this trip will encourage her to travel later in life, and having this trip under her belt will leave her possibilities almost endless. I'm just glad I was able to experience a piece of it with her.
Cheers,
Michael Carpentier
Here is the Link to the photos I took in both Berlin and London:
http://picasaweb.google.com/carpentier.mike
17 March 2009
London, England
Naturally, I'm not in London right now, but I just wanted to document the title of this entry to its purpose a little better.
London began with an awesome EasyJet flight at 7:00 in the morning. Now I love to fly... not. The flight was not my favorite. EasyJet isn't necessarily the smoothest flying, but it is fairly on time and cheap. And luckily all my flights with them are under 2 hours long. Thank God.
I'm glad Mike and I didn't have a very tight schedule with where we needed to go and all because it took us a while to go through their customs because they're not in the European Union. It also took us a little while to figure out where the train was. The Gatwick Express was pretty sweet though.. super fast.. well at least on the way there.
We found our hotel which was in a more historical part of London with the help of a map from a convince store and some old guy smoking outside a cafe. It wasn't very far from the Earl's Court station of the underground. We put our baggage in the baggage room at the hotel and basically wandered. It was kind of awesome to have no real idea of where you were headed to or what you were planning on seeing.. and no schedule.
We walked to the Thames River and crossed a bridge. We ended up finding some sweet modern buildings, as well as Norman Foster's office building completely unaware. That was pretty cool. We did a whole lot more walking and ate lunch at Young's, with a very traditional English meal of a meat pie with mashed potatoes, peas and a ton of gravy.
In the afternoon we found Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park. And I fell asleep in the ICA, which only happens to be about 3 rooms. Mike woke me and we decided that since we were up at 4:30 it was time to check into the hotel and take a little nap. Needless to say, a little nap turned into a long one. Finding dinner, turned into meeting some guy on the street
who gave us directions and tips, which turned into us ending up a local pub. We didn't stay too long, but I have to say that so far I was pretty fond of the British. We wandered into the evening, only to stumble upon Big Ben, Parliment, the Eye, and Westminster Abbey, again without the map.
Friday we decided to head back over to the famous area to take some day pictures and maybe go in the church. Well it turns out Westminster Abbey is about 12 pounds to go in for one person. I didn't need to go in that bad. We headed over to the financial area to see the Norman Foster building - the Gherkin and the Lloyd's of London building. I had to do a little architecture homework while I was there.
We ate sushi for lunch in a restaurant that was super cool.. I wish I took pictures. The set up was like a bar, but a conveyer belt went around the bar with plates of sushi and you just grabbed what you want. You pay per plate at the end. It was a really cool place. It was also in the middle of Liverpool station, which was really a neat place. My camera decided it didn't want to take pictures at that moment, but Mike definitely got some.
After lunch we eventually made it over to Tower Bridge and paid the fee to go see the exhibit. The exhibit brought you up to the two walkways above where they set up information and pictures and naturally there’s an awesome view. After we made our way through everything we got to see the engine room, which still contains the steam engine that was once used to lift the bridge before. Today, it’s naturally a different system that was away from the public’s hands. And naturally, Mike was more interested than me.
The late afternoon we spent in the Tate Modern, probably one of my favorite parts of London. Very cool museum as well as an architectural piece. I think we spent close to 4 hours there. We followed that up with dinner at another English pub type restaurant. Then I fell asleep fully dressed, contacts in, TV on. This was typical of this vacation.
Saturday Mike and I got tickets for the Eye. I thought I’d be a lot more uncomfortable than I was. It was really smooth and nice. It was great to see the city from above. Oh but before that I was in a street performance act where I chained up some dude. Ask Mike about it, he thought it was funnier than I did. Maybe my family remembers that time in Disney where the Chinese guy made the wax figurine on my head and then I cried? Well I was just that uncomfortable except I was a much better sport and I didn’t cry.
Also, we saw the changing of the guards that morning. Not as exciting as I thought it would be. I honestly can't believe that much enforcement is used so often for such a silly ritual. That's a whole lot of people and money used
We went back to the Tate in the afternoon, after crossing the Millennium Bridge. We just went back to do a little shopping, but we were glad that’s all we were going back for as there were so many people. They had an area that talked about the new addition they are putting on the Tate and at first I asked why because they Tate is HUGE, but Saturday confirmed it for me. There are way too many people for that space to be enjoyable. I would love to come back when the addition is there.
We met up with Jill, Steve, and George in the evening. We got a good Italian meal and then went home because people weren’t feeling all that good. It’s seems like a mildly reoccurring trend on these trips.
Sunday morning, Mike left for Boston. It was a hard morning. I didn’t stay at the hotel long. I checked out and headed to Camdentown Markets. I didn’t know what to really expect, all I knew was that it was on my list that Erik gave me of recommendations. I don’t even know what the comparable would be back home to these markets. It was like a complete street full of shops and areas that were set up like flea markets or craft shows. There is jewelry, clothing, food, anything really. Everything spills out onto the wide sidewalks. And there are people everywhere.
Needless to say I definitely did some shopping. I also got excited when I got 6 mini spring rolls for a pound. They were delicious.
Jill met up with me at the markets and we had a fairly relaxing afternoon of wandering around and sitting around. We made our way to Victoria Station to meet George and Steve. We got on the Gatwick Express again; of course this time it took 45 minutes. Needless to say we were worried about making the plane. But everything went fine and the flight was fairly smooth for EasyJet. We got home late because there was traffic at Gatwick when we left. We didn’t get home until around midnight and I was exhausted.
All in all, it was a great weekend and I wouldn’t have changed a thing, besides me being nervous about making the plane on the way home. It was hard to come back to reality yesterday. School is hard for me to get back into. Especially since this was like my first real vacation since I’ve been here. I didn’t feel rushed which was probably the greatest gift I could have had. It seems like everywhere I go I’m stressed about time and seeing everything, but this wasn’t like that at all. I loved London and I definitely wish I could have had more time there, especially with Michael.
London began with an awesome EasyJet flight at 7:00 in the morning. Now I love to fly... not. The flight was not my favorite. EasyJet isn't necessarily the smoothest flying, but it is fairly on time and cheap. And luckily all my flights with them are under 2 hours long. Thank God.
I'm glad Mike and I didn't have a very tight schedule with where we needed to go and all because it took us a while to go through their customs because they're not in the European Union. It also took us a little while to figure out where the train was. The Gatwick Express was pretty sweet though.. super fast.. well at least on the way there.We found our hotel which was in a more historical part of London with the help of a map from a convince store and some old guy smoking outside a cafe. It wasn't very far from the Earl's Court station of the underground. We put our baggage in the baggage room at the hotel and basically wandered. It was kind of awesome to have no real idea of where you were headed to or what you were planning on seeing.. and no schedule.
We walked to the Thames River and crossed a bridge. We ended up finding some sweet modern buildings, as well as Norman Foster's office building completely unaware. That was pretty cool. We did a whole lot more walking and ate lunch at Young's, with a very traditional English meal of a meat pie with mashed potatoes, peas and a ton of gravy.In the afternoon we found Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park. And I fell asleep in the ICA, which only happens to be about 3 rooms. Mike woke me and we decided that since we were up at 4:30 it was time to check into the hotel and take a little nap. Needless to say, a little nap turned into a long one. Finding dinner, turned into meeting some guy on the street
who gave us directions and tips, which turned into us ending up a local pub. We didn't stay too long, but I have to say that so far I was pretty fond of the British. We wandered into the evening, only to stumble upon Big Ben, Parliment, the Eye, and Westminster Abbey, again without the map.
Friday we decided to head back over to the famous area to take some day pictures and maybe go in the church. Well it turns out Westminster Abbey is about 12 pounds to go in for one person. I didn't need to go in that bad. We headed over to the financial area to see the Norman Foster building - the Gherkin and the Lloyd's of London building. I had to do a little architecture homework while I was there.We ate sushi for lunch in a restaurant that was super cool.. I wish I took pictures. The set up was like a bar, but a conveyer belt went around the bar with plates of sushi and you just grabbed what you want. You pay per plate at the end. It was a really cool place. It was also in the middle of Liverpool station, which was really a neat place. My camera decided it didn't want to take pictures at that moment, but Mike definitely got some.
After lunch we eventually made it over to Tower Bridge and paid the fee to go see the exhibit. The exhibit brought you up to the two walkways above where they set up information and pictures and naturally there’s an awesome view. After we made our way through everything we got to see the engine room, which still contains the steam engine that was once used to lift the bridge before. Today, it’s naturally a different system that was away from the public’s hands. And naturally, Mike was more interested than me.The late afternoon we spent in the Tate Modern, probably one of my favorite parts of London. Very cool museum as well as an architectural piece. I think we spent close to 4 hours there. We followed that up with dinner at another English pub type restaurant. Then I fell asleep fully dressed, contacts in, TV on. This was typical of this vacation.
Saturday Mike and I got tickets for the Eye. I thought I’d be a lot more uncomfortable than I was. It was really smooth and nice. It was great to see the city from above. Oh but before that I was in a street performance act where I chained up some dude. Ask Mike about it, he thought it was funnier than I did. Maybe my family remembers that time in Disney where the Chinese guy made the wax figurine on my head and then I cried? Well I was just that uncomfortable except I was a much better sport and I didn’t cry.Also, we saw the changing of the guards that morning. Not as exciting as I thought it would be. I honestly can't believe that much enforcement is used so often for such a silly ritual. That's a whole lot of people and money used
We went back to the Tate in the afternoon, after crossing the Millennium Bridge. We just went back to do a little shopping, but we were glad that’s all we were going back for as there were so many people. They had an area that talked about the new addition they are putting on the Tate and at first I asked why because they Tate is HUGE, but Saturday confirmed it for me. There are way too many people for that space to be enjoyable. I would love to come back when the addition is there.
We met up with Jill, Steve, and George in the evening. We got a good Italian meal and then went home because people weren’t feeling all that good. It’s seems like a mildly reoccurring trend on these trips.Sunday morning, Mike left for Boston. It was a hard morning. I didn’t stay at the hotel long. I checked out and headed to Camdentown Markets. I didn’t know what to really expect, all I knew was that it was on my list that Erik gave me of recommendations. I don’t even know what the comparable would be back home to these markets. It was like a complete street full of shops and areas that were set up like flea markets or craft shows. There is jewelry, clothing, food, anything really. Everything spills out onto the wide sidewalks. And there are people everywhere.
Needless to say I definitely did some shopping. I also got excited when I got 6 mini spring rolls for a pound. They were delicious.Jill met up with me at the markets and we had a fairly relaxing afternoon of wandering around and sitting around. We made our way to Victoria Station to meet George and Steve. We got on the Gatwick Express again; of course this time it took 45 minutes. Needless to say we were worried about making the plane. But everything went fine and the flight was fairly smooth for EasyJet. We got home late because there was traffic at Gatwick when we left. We didn’t get home until around midnight and I was exhausted.
All in all, it was a great weekend and I wouldn’t have changed a thing, besides me being nervous about making the plane on the way home. It was hard to come back to reality yesterday. School is hard for me to get back into. Especially since this was like my first real vacation since I’ve been here. I didn’t feel rushed which was probably the greatest gift I could have had. It seems like everywhere I go I’m stressed about time and seeing everything, but this wasn’t like that at all. I loved London and I definitely wish I could have had more time there, especially with Michael.
16 March 2009
Berlin, Germany
Wednesday night Mike and I went to the TV tower in Berlin. Definitely a sweet tourist thing to do. I'm glad I could do a few tourist things while he was here. We ate dinner up at the top, which just happens to be a revolving restaurant.. super sweet. It was really weird at first though, something you had to get used to before you eat. Although it was definitely the best meal I've had in Berlin. Better than doner kepabs and China Box for sure.I will post on the London experience in a little while, once I get my pictures going and all that.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)