Munich

as we arrived in munich we were greeted with a throng of people. it was cool to see a bunch of actual germans with a good mix of tourists. as wee got out of the station we got to the tourist office and asked about whats good to see in munich. instead for any of it, we got to the hostel and picked up a few maps/guides. for lunch we went to hard rock cafe because jule wanted to see it. it was just a classy/expensive place. after a good burger we went next door to haufbrauhaus for drinks. i expected the selection to be much better, but there were only 5 choices of beers, and they were all very similar. only the weiss beer was decent, and i the pork steak dinner was decent for its price. the most dissapointing part was the poor service, long wait times, being ignored, and yelled at for playing cards at the table. unfortunate, because i had such high expectations. it was a cool atmosphere and the people were pretty cool. after that, we just headed back and occuppied 3 of our 10 beds in the room. yay for underbooking.

the next day was gloriously german (stereotypically of course). we got out right in time for the bike tour we wanted to hop on to and were reminded why bike tours are the best way to go in new cities. but this one was the best, it was withh lenny's tours, and all the guides and lenny himself was awesome. we went all around the city, learned some german history including munich's founding and hitler facts, and stopped in the english garden, at the chines tower for lunch. here, i had schnitzel for the first time and a beer. this is the second largest beer garden in the world, so i was obliged to. i got the liter size so i could keep the mug, and now i have a souvenier! that made the return ride home real fun. we then took 330some stairs to the highest viewing point of munich. after the crowded ascent and decent we looked for a bathroom. on the way we ran across the tour guides and one of their girlfriends having a beer on their beer bike. they immediately welcomed us in for some free beer, which ensued into great conversation. after killing the keg we went to a beer garden they knew. after another liter there, literally a place full of tables which were full of peole drinking, we moved on to a bar closer to the hostel. at this pointt it was almost 10pm but it was time for me to goo back, so i did. i got to sleep early, and the other two went to sleep shortly after, after cooking some sppeghetti, which ended up burning jule.

when we woke up the next morning we lazily got out of bed at 9ish and decided to go to the Dachau concentration camp. it was the second largest and first opened concentration camp. this became the true history day. just listening to what hapened and then walking through all those locations was beyond ominous. it was just disturbing to hear and see the living conditions and lifestyle of the prisoners. beyond that, the SS was really smart. in the way they had prisoners controlling the other prisoners, brainwashed their soldiers, and convinced the rest of the world, even through the olympics, that life is good. i wish they could have used that application of their intelligence differently. but every german has a sense of remorse. jule has already gone to 5 of them as a part of learning history and understanding the past, and i have a lot of respect for that. then we got back to the hostel and noticed that all the things out of the fridge were gone. some drinks, food, and a mug. after some arguing and dropping jule off at the train station we convinced the lady to give us some free drinks and some breakfast. i can't wait to rate/rank all these hostels. also, this last night we have a legit place to stay. 2 beds only, good amount of space, and a sink. very hard to argue with for only 26 euro/person. we then got a huge meal at a mexican place, plus a coule of beers, franziskaner and spaten, both amazing, to accompany us as we watched the usa vs. japan soccerr game. great game, unfortunate way to. lose. but at least i saw a soccer gamme at a german bar with a bunch of american fans. bed time, less then 48 hours to go!

Karlsrue and Strasburg

after about 4 hours of fitful sleep, with the large indian family and their baby crying through the night, we awoke to "breakfast", piece of bread, jam, and coffee. we then got off in salzbourg for our 2.5 hour layover. we then hopped on the next train for 5.5 hours where we slpt, read, and enjoyed the marvelous german countrside. of all i've seen, i like the german idllic views the best. soft but wide rolling hills, some mountains in the background, and varying colors from all the different types of agriculture.
then we arrived and was greeted by an old friend of mine from seattle. she took us to see the hostel and her place. when she went to work for a few hours we went on a hike she told us about. one tram ride and 728 stairs later we stood in front of a spectacular view of karlsruhe and the panorama of the surrounding city.
after a much needed shower and break we went to the grocery store to get some food for the bbq. there were about 10 people there, all from local universities. half were intercultural business and communication and half civil engineers, woot! the setting reminded me exactly of the bbq in england, cool people and good food. although the food here was sooo much better. they gave me this drink called radner which is a mix of beer and sprite, or beer and lemonade. both of which put an image of disgust on my face, but after trying it, i really liked it. that plus the other beers they had, were amazing, even the not so expensive stuff was so good. besides the fact that they spoke a lot of german at the table, which is perfectly understandable, it was a lot of fun. and its always cool to talk to people from another place. we realized there are lot of similarities between the countries, in terms of state rivalries, different accents, surficial social jokes and whatnot.
after dinner my friend, jule, had to go back since she had work in the morning, so me jay and one her friends went to a bar for an hour. the beers were all so good, and SO cheap. 5 euros for 1 litre, and 3 euro for a half litre. maloneys serves 4 dollar liters for coors (i think) at a special time. this is the everyday price for good tasting stuff. its all part of the german culture of beer at the dinner table from when they turn 14. we talked about business, school, his time in the german army, weather and whatnot. it was really cool to talk to someone who's truely lived and grew up in another country and then look at similarities and differences.

we woke the next day nice and late since we had some tiime to burn. after walking by the castle in the center of the city and sitting near the duck pond and fountains we walked to meet jule where she worked. after getting lost real quick, a stranger walking by stopped to help us and we find her. a coule friends joined us for a typical german meal. i had a flamekuhe, which is a thin pizza crust with sour cream instead of marinara and other toppings. it was surprisingly good for beiing how different it was. and i had a hefeweizen with it. we then walked towards a berewery for a tour and tasting. besides the fact that it was soley in german, and it was hot, and raining outside, it was cool to say that i saw beer made in germany. on the tour was a school group. no koke, a high school class of probably 16 year olds were there, and drank the beers far faster than we did. it was a lot of fun though. then,we got to do laundry! it was spectacular, the clean clothes, not the actual washing of it. after another doner kebab for dinner we met jule and her friends at a bar. they had some food with the drinks. one was potatoe wedges with kwak, really good yogurt/sour cream/mayo- esque (not mixture)sauce. then we went to the last bar of the night, called shooters. they literally only have shooters/shots and 1 selection of beer in 2 liter containers. some of these were so good and some were aweful. new mix, blue curacao and lemon juice. after some more good conversation we all went back home to get some rest.

we woke upp thursday morning, dropped our stuff in jule's room and headed out for strasbourg, which is not in germany, but rather france. cool little town, bunch of churches as usual, and quaint little cafe's and stores with lots of tourists. all we really did was walk around for the day, take some pictures and eat some good french food. i had potatoe pancakes with smoked salmon for lunch and a banana/nutella crepe with strawberry ice cream for dessert. so amazing. it was really just a nice easy day and was pretty relaxing. after getting back, we had another doner kebab for dinner and picked u some drinks and water for the night. for the rest of the night we just watched youtube/southppark/music and had an easy night.

and now, i'm on a train to munich with jay and jule ready to exlore what is essentially our final stop of our european adventure. good times ahead.

Venice

after breakfast at the hotel in florence we went straight to the train station to sit there for an hour for our train. better to be early than late, from past experiance. we hoppen on, i passed out, jay had a good conversation with the older australian couple next to us, and we arrived 2 hours later. as we got closer to venice, spectacular views outside the wiindow welcomed us. but when we got off the train the hot humidity was the welcoming party. the humidity never left our side. through the hostel until just now, as i write this from our overnight train the karlsruhe.

lesson 1: don't buy the boat bus ticket things, you don't need them at most stops to get on, and only check at a couple of them. our hostel was on another island, luckily, closeby and easily accesible by water boat. we dropped off our stuff and sat in the lobby area for some internet and to hopefully meet some people. once we sat down the girl next to me recognized me, crazy. she and her boyfriend graduated from ucla last year and she was in MUN with me. see, MUN is FUN, sorry i had to do that. they gave us the breakdown on venice, they said 12 hours should do it. they were wrong, we did it in 6. really, its a small city with two islands next to each other, a few a little further away, and i swear no italians live there because you will only meet tourists in the streets. nonetheless, we embarked on our final italian adventure. first stop, saint marcos square. it is huge, aand there many pigeons, like the movies show. but, it is always packed and has long lines into the adjoining towers and church. so we moved on to see the second and final spectacle of venice, the rialto bridge. no offence to venice, but even florece had a cooler bridge. after that we ventured around the back streets, over the canals, and past the fancy resteraunts. we ended up taking the water bus with the long route to the hostel to rest up. that was likely the best 45 minutes of venice. just amazing views, on a boat, at sunset. i definately have a few new screeensavers when i get back. after a short break we went back to the mainland and walked around because we felt like weMd be wasting time otherwise. once we finally rigured out which station we were to leave from, we soakeed some more in the humidity and then went back. the hostel has a lights out policy at 1030 pm, lamest hostel we've seen, by far.

the next morning wee woke up to a decent breakfast and then headed over to murano island. this is where all the famous ventian glass blowing is done. we walked straight into a trap, i mean a tour. they scuttle everyone directly off the boat into a 5 minute presentation of how to blow glass. it was cool, but really basic and even hotter than outdoors. after the tour theyhad us go to a large store...of course. but the stuff was cool, and i ended up picking up a few things there. we walked around so more, saw some other awesome glass art and hand lunch with our feet hanging over the sea. we then gathered ourselves from the breathtaking view and sultry tan and mosied our way back to the boat bus. we walked around the city again, bought a camera battery because i somehow lost my charger and then took the boaat back to the island with our hostel for internet and dinner. right next door there was this cheap looking diner, but the food was awesome. we had some great pizza to top off our italian visit. then we headed to the station, early again, and we are now on our train to the next city.

all in all, venice would be great for a couple on a larger-than-post-student budget. i'm sure the gondola rides would be awesome and the tantalizing dinners along the waterfront would aalso be nice. but even then, i couldn't last more than 48 hours here. waaaay too many tourists to make it feel like an authentic italian city. but i'm happy i saw it and know when people should go...with money and a significant other.

Rome

that next morning (still in Paris) we woke up at 430. went throught the tram to the main terminal to get a train. we have free passes from the airport to the main terminal but no one was working info to allow us in. we ended up, after some searching, to find a cab that took us there for decently cheap. we also gave him an extra wine bottle we had and couldn't take on the plane. both of us knocked out immediately after we got on the plane. in 2 hours we landed in rome and were greated by the spanish airlines, vueling if you take it, with a heavy italian accent. oh man, i love this accent. if you hear it when i get back blame the country, not me. so much emotion goes into it, its amazing.
we manuevered our way to the main terminal using trains covered on our eurorail pass, took a bus 7 stops to our exit aand walked into the hotel.

only after we got here did we see it is 4 stars, and it sure does deserve it. the only unfortunate part is it is about 25 min walk from the metro and 45 min-1 hour walk to the colisium, which we have made everyday now. our calves are no longer as big as toothpicks. anyways, that first day we took a bus into town, saw the coliseum from the outside and walked to a major tourist square for dinner. the coliseum is very impressive, huge in size and nice when lit up at night. the people are...intense in general. everyone speaks with their mouth and hands so they seeem intimidating to most foreigners. but in this tourist square we found the light hearted side. after so ridiculously amazing gelato (seriously, it tastes like someone took the fruit you asked for and froze it with some sugar, so good) we sat at a fountain to gaze upon the crowd. there was a thatre group, a smalll guitar band, and what seemed like a flash mob. we then sat down for dinner. the food here if very simple. 3 or 4 ingrediants that are all very fresh and put on a plate. even the pasta was made fresh, or at least thats what they said. we then walked over to a close bar for 1 drink. after some hassel with my simple order of a peroni, they accidentally gave us an extra 28 euro in change, so we didn't argue much after. that was when we began on our hour long walk home. everything outside of thecentral city doesn't seem to be mapped well, but we found it after some effort. good first day, especially because we got there inly 2 hours after our train would have arrived.

also, i was told the people here dress up a lot. most of the locals seem to. they are all into fashion and like to dress well, men and women. it makes it very easy to tell who is italian and who is not, even before they speak. also, the jersey shore persona is not all that prevlent. only in about 3 or 4 couples did i see the super tan/gym rats that they portray. although, when i do see them i def chuckle to myself.

the next morning, the first full day, we decided to take a tour of the roman ruins in the afternoon. before that though, we took the metro to the smallest country in the world, one with only observational status in the UN, the vatican city. 30 minutes by metro at most. it was beautiful. after walking by all the guides outside we went to the main square area and just sat around. in the center we found the public drinking fountains. they constantly run water and you just stick your head into the stream to drink some. we learned it was the same way after the aqueduct system was built, yes, they had running water back to the 50's AD era. then we walked into saint peters basilica. it was absoultely tremendous to see the detail and magnitude of the work completed hundreds of years ago. the pictures of the place are spectacular, which just means that in real life it is even more amazing.
we then walked to the coliseum for the tour of palatino (palaces) hill, the forum, and the coliseum. palatino hill is where all the kings, caears, and bennito mussolouni lived. the guide had this unexpected adulation for mussoleni that most people don't. after that we walked around the ruins of the forum. what i thought was cool, was that about 8 feet under that dug up city there are remnants of roads and buildings from an even older era. but even this area was incredible to appreciate how much they could build such a long time ago. then we walked to the coliseum. this, obviously, being the highlight of the tour. there is so much i could write about each of these, but really experiancing them will provide the proper description. also, my pictures help a little. after that we were exausted, so we decided to head back and get some sleep for the long day ahead of us. that night though, we had dinner in an alley next to us. only a few hours before it was barren and trashed, but at dinner time they make it looks real nice. we decided to try some fancy italian wine. actually, just cheap and local. but it was good! also of note, they charge you for all drinks, including tap water. most of the time drinks are 1/2 the total price of your food, its so much more expensive this way. but at least they don't expect tips.

on our last full day in rome we decided to take a day tour to naples and pompei. i fully expected naples to be a vast countryside with some quaint resteraunts and farms everywhere, sadly i was disappointed. but some of the buildings were very modern and the others had hundreds of years of history behind them, like the rest of europe. it was a quick 1 hour walking tour, so we didn't get to see too much. we then hopped onto the bus to a resteraunt in new pompei. this region is known for creating pasta, margherita pizza, and lemoncielo (their own alcoholic lemon drink). lunch was much better than i expected, consisting of a simple penne pasta, bread, salad, and pork slices. we then took a bus to old pompei, as in the one stuck in 79AD. it was crazy to see everything stuck in place. the scariest/impressive parts were the people they found stuck in place. also, they had numerous pots, chests, a dog, and whatnot in the vault for viewing. also really cool, the rich people alreadys haad running water, a large basilica, and huge lots. overall it was really amazing to see a society that was unchanged for almost two thousand years. it really puts some things in perspective when you see what you have and what was available back then. also, for this trip as a whole, to see what we've come to expect for our everyday life in america versus what is availbable/expected in europe.
that night we were dropped off in front of the coliseum, got some awesome dusk pictures of it, and walked to dinner. we decided to get a good dinner, since it is our last night in rome. i had the free champagne they gave us, some pizza with salami and hot peppers, and an amazing gnocci with zuchinni and mussels. all it was missing was some gelato for desert, but we had no room for it. it'll be consumed today, no worries. after the 45 minute walk home we passed out and got a decent amount of sleep last night. today, we take the train out at 5 to florence for 2 days of exploration.

Belgium

So my phone doesn't feel like working right. I managed to save my Belgium notes but not the rest of Amsterdam yet. So I will update the Amsterdam one when I get back, for now, here is Belgium.


i am currently writing this in the charles de gaulle airport before i sleep for a few hours, and then run to the other side of paris to catch a flight...but that will be explained later.

the last morning wee spent in amsterdam included a fresh dutch breakfast. it included all the foods the dutch people love: sliced cold ham, cheese, and some untoasted toast and over easy eggs. it is something that would be hard to get used to, but worth a try. we then went to the only station in amsterdam and headed to belgium.

when we got to brussels, the first thing i noticed was that directions were generally in dutch, then french, then english, and sometimes in one more language. the guy in the information kiosk had to be quite talented. we left the station and walked to our hotel (a hotel was cheaper than hostels for the weekend in brussels, but, no joke, the place seemed deserted). the hotel looked real snazzy, but we weren't duped. we got stuck in some far corner of the hotel, shitty wifi (they pronounced it whiffee), and no eggs for breakfast on the last day. otherwise, it was safe and looked pretty nice. after that we went on an exploratory walk, only using what we heard/saw to guide us. we ran across their famous satute, a fully naked boy peeing, the royal garden, some palace and whatnot. but the best part was the end of the day. we found the delirium bar. if there is no other reason to go to brussels, this is it. it holds the guiness world record for most beers in stock, as of 2004 they had 2004 beers. their full list was a thick magazine. and if you need anymore incentive, they have delirium tremens on tap. most beers they had on tap were over 8%. anyways, it was a good night. oh and on the way there we stopped for some belgium waffles with fresh chocolate poured on top. if you ever open a bar, here is my advice on bar food....sooooo good.

the next day we decided to take the 2 tourist walks the hotel provided and combine them. we had planned for coffee before the 1st park, lunch before the second, and chocolate before the 3rd. while the parks were huge/kinda forest-esque/nice overall, apparently brussels doesn't function on weekends. literally, not one restaurant was open on the entire walk. we walked by the EU buildings and EU parliament, nothing there. before/after their national park and arc, 2 waffle trucks awaited us, we decided to trek on in hopes for real food. finally, before the last park, we foud lunch. amazing roasted chicken with an overdressed salad. it was pricy, as is all the food in europe, but well worth it. as we walked back through the 3rd park, we saw the royal theatre. we ended up venturing to the back but was stuck. we saw a low gate and the familiar park on the otherside. so we decided to jump it. no real harm/no foul, jay has the videos online. then, we found the chocolate. and oh was it heavenly. we picked some up from leonidas and got some coffee from godiva. what an excellent pair they made. it made me wish i could have it daily. after the long arduous journey we decided to end the night at delirium, also a great tasting/fun night.

on our last day in belgium we DID LAUNDRY. it was spectacular, our clothes feel like new again. also, we decided to take a day trip to brugge, north of brussels. apparently it was in a movie and supposed to be quaint. man, there were a LOT of tourists there. we walked through what seemed like a weekly city wide yard sale near the front of the station. then we continued to walk through town aimlessly, no maps were provided. when we asked for one at the station, the man rudely sent us outside to the closed info kiosk. the city was interesting, very medieval, lots of homes/small businesses, and a whole lot of churches. by the time we got the the museum, it closed, when we went to the tower to get a good view, it closed. we finally got on a boat tour, which was pretty cool but hard to understand his accent. after a little walking around we headed back to home base. of course we ended the night at delerium. this night was something different. we ended up spending the night with 7 other americans, we were definatley the loudest in the bar. after playing many rounds of quarters, the people working at the bar ended up giving us 4 free double tequila shots, great night. we then knocked out and went to bed.

brussels was a good break from traveling for us. not many people around, some cool things to see, but not mentally exhausting. i would suggest maybe 1 full day there, after that, just not that worthwhile. also, after london and amsterdam, i noticed everyone there really didn't dress up as much. people just kind of lived life like any other larger suburb. therefore, really nothing that special. chocolate, waffles, and delirium, your reasons to visit brussels.

now, on to today. we got on our train to get to rome. we had a 4 hour stop in paris, so we decided to meet up with a friend from ucla, taylor. she was gracious enough to show us around for a few hours. after a screw up on arrival times, we met her an hour late. but we then went to the eiffel tour, after buying some bread and brie cheese for our mini picnic. it was a lovely day and i was able to get some awesome pictures. a true success for a quick stop in paris. but trouble ensued when we were taking the metro to the other station for our next train. we got there literally 5 minutes late, after running from the metro station. for once, the trains decided to leave on time, and this time we missed it. this train is a highly requested overnight train. we rin to info, they gave us some halfway logical explanation that they can't get us on the last train out and can't book it for the next day for some odd reason. we were then told to go to gare de lyons station for more info. the eurorail office was closed. we then decided to catch a last minute flight. so we took the metro to the charles de gaulle airport in the far north of paris. after running around for a little bit we were told tickets wete 940 euros each. easy to say we looked for another solution. after using 60 roaming minutes to call eurorail for another booking we simultaneously paid for the .15 euro per minute computer station. after sitting on hold for 60 minutes, no joke, we decided to book flight for 270 dollars each from another airport to rome. we now have to wake up in 4 hours to get to the other side of Paris to catch our flight. on a bright note, we'll get there at about the same time. on a even more important note, we are both safe and in shelter, and really that's all that matters

Europe Adventure - Day 5

Today we spent the day in Birmingham. After a long night sleep in the most comfortable conditions we will have for the entire trip, we woke up to dosas. Valli amama definitely provided the best breakfast we'll have as well.

After that, we went out for a short drive which shortly turned into a short walk because Suma atha forgot the keys. It was then that we realized that Britain can have nice weather, upper 80's with a slight breeze. But the sun here feels...hotter, as weird as that is to say. When it hits you, it hurts more, just kind of burns more, but its not that bad.

We then took a driving/walking tour of the entire city. We started the tour with a quick stop at another BBQ then went to the temple near here. The buildings are like Malibu temple, with empty places where idols could be, and a huge location for place to run/play/expand.

They have a lot of shopping malls here that are a lot like the outdoor mall in San Diego/ Citadel/ nicer malls around the states. One thing that was a little different was that they don't really have a lot of cheap food options, like Taco Bell and Chipotle. Far more single-location, good chef, kind of restaurants all over the place. It's a nice lifestyle. Most people go and walk around in the day and eat at nice places for lunch/dinner. Deepak would love it here, everyday a new nice resteraunt.

We ended up travelling around to Bull's Ring, the Mailbox (old post center that got transformed into a really nice shopping center), Cadbury world (got some good stuff here). Most of the stuff around the city center was connected by a canal.

All-in-all, cool city, fun to live in, and nice to visit.

More on the cutural note. The accent is pretty awesome. The trunk of a car is "da boot", rain is "tip the hat", and many many more. It bothered me when Niraj used it, but its awesome when you're surrounded by it.

I wish I could post pictures, but I forgot my camera all day today and I'm on atha's laptop. When I get back, there will be some good stuff to gaze upon. Woo, train ride tomr to go back to London. Last day there, then off to Amsterdam.

London Days 2-4

Sooo, some touristy adventures and some cutural notes.

We walked all around on Thursday. That morning we walked to Camden Market. It reminded me of a classier flea market, but it did have some fun clothing boutique stores and a bunch of food stalls. It was worth checking out as long as you know exactly how far of a walk it is. We went from there, on the tube, to Bond Street area (which is London's Rodeo Drive), walked through Trafalger Square, saw the British National Museum (lots of art that I realized that I cannot appreciate), walked by Big Ben and Parliament, and then finally to Victoria Park along Thames River. It was an awesome walk with some awesome pictures that will be put up when I get back. Although, it was not fully appreciated because we didn't really understand all of the intracacies and interesting facts about the area. For that reason we went to take the Fat Tire bike tour that Kaushal introduced us to. Sadly, there were not enough people there to take the tour so they told us to come by the next day. So we then walked across Hyde Park to the Science Museum. This was really cool and we saw some cool exhibits (leave it to the engineers to appreciate cool techy stuff and not art). At this point Jay stated the realisation that the tube stations are like "warp points". Where we can pop out of anywhere with a little research.

That night we met up with Ira (friend from UCLA). She took us around University of London and the surrounding area. The area was pretty cool and there was plenty to do to keep busy. But she explained how the campus and campus life was horrible, at least in comparison to UCLA. The elevators don't work, printers don't work, the campus community is not very good, etc. We did get to hang out with a few of her friends though. It was fun to get a little insight into the college community around this area, and this well known university. Sadly, we had to end the night early because our train pass ended at 12 (midnight). We went to a bar real quick and then left jogging to the station. We literally got in the gates at 11:59, I was simply impressed with ourselves. After a little work we got back to the hostel and met some cool travellers. There were Slovenian, and we had a good conversation on colleges, lifestyles, and how the guy was really into American sports. After a little chat that night, we called it in early.

The next day we started of the day with the Bike Tour. The tour was awesome! I highly recommend it to anyone in London, Paris, Barcelona, and Berlin. We got to see and hear stories about Parliament, Big Ben, changing of the guard, Westminster Abby, etc. And on the tour we met some cool other tourists that were fun to talk to. Two of the girls were especially fun, and we even coincidentally ran into them on the train on Saturday. After the tour we walked around Hyde park, saw the entrance to a huge concert where the Killers were playing that day for 55 pounds. When 6pm finally came around, we had passed Bond street again, we got into the train (/warp point) and got out near Oxford Street, where all the Indians were supposed to be. We ran into the closest one, because it was raining. But Ira was right, the food here is not that great. Although the English breakfast, with beans, was interesting and Bangers and Mash was actually pretty good. Of course the fish and chips was much better than I expected. Anyways, Indian food sucked, we went to Covent Garden. It is supposed to be a cool place for evening-ish activities, but EVERYTHING in London closes at 9 (except for select bars and clubs which we had no idea about). So we headed back to the hotel and played some scrabble to kill some time while looking for interesting people to talk to. None showed up.

This morning, Saturday, we got lost onto the train station (my fault) and got the the Euston station just in time. We hopped onto our previously purchased train tickets and headed towards Birmingham to visit my aunt and amama (grandma). After a 2 hour journey my aunt picked us up and we went to Stratford-upon-Avon and saw Shakespeare's birthplace. While it was very touristy, his old house was still intact. It was a fun day trip outing with so many people from different cultures around us. For lunch we had paninis and shared an awesome eclair. Seriously, I've never had one this good before. The soft bread melted into the accompanying vanilla ice cream, yup, not the other way around. After that we drove through Cheltnam where I saw for the first time, a cricket match with only white people (in the States we only see cricket played by Indians). Then we drove to Bristol for a BBQ for one of my aunt's friends. It was really cool to meet some more English people and hang out with them for a night. There were all very friendly and made for really good conversation. We played a simplified version of Taboo and "Cheer's Governor" (as Brandon called it) and left around 1130pm. We finally arrived at amama's home, where I got to talk to my mom and dad after a few days. And now it is time for bed.

But before I go, one cultural topic. Everyone in London is dressed so nice all the time. When people in the Bay say LA is so dressed up, the girls are always dolled up, everyone is stuck up, etc. They should check out London. Everyone here is nice, but they really put an effort out to look nice all the time. I had to figure out why I thought everyone here was more handsome/pretty, then I realized it was because they put on makeup/nice clothes daily. I like that style, but they really spend a pretty penny on all that clothing. And with really expensive rent (much more than LA), it seems like they can't save very much. But hey, maybe their salaries compensate. Really cool to see though. All the guys go out in at least very nice jeans, but generally slacks and a dress shirt. Even at the local pubs, most guys are in suits.

More to come later. Good night!

Europe adventure- day 1

hello all,

today is our (my self and ucla classmate jay) first day in europe. we landed in london this morning at about 10am. sadly enough, us airways lost my shoes and jacket, but that will figure itself out this weekend when i get a chance to call them.

we figured out how to get to our hostel after the small debacle at the airport. during the transfer, we picked up a small pay as you go phone for pretty cheap. nice thing about europething abot europe is that the phones and plans are really cheap. wee waited at the hostel until check in, then took a nice long walk around london. we conquered trafalgar square, big ben, parliament, victoria park, and thames rives, all by cursory visual walk by. we then went to see ira next to university of london. i expected the campus to be really nice, but ira was saying how sadly dissapointing it is. elevators that donmt work, small buildings, poor support, etc. shems finishing up her masters and only has a summer to go to finish her thesis.

she took us to a local bar for a fun drink, then to a thai place for dinner. it was average and kinda pricy, but as she explained, food is expensive and crappy. in addition, rent is ridiculously expensive, far beyond that of even brentwood.

we then met a couple of her friends and went to another bar for a quick drink. at that point wee had to run to the train station to get on before 12 (the pass we got expired at 12). no joke, we got there at 11:59. got back to thee hostel and hung out for a bit. and now it is bedtime.

i will edit this when i come home, as it is difficult to do any editing on my phone. good night.

Summer in Seattle - Final Update

So I’m writing this post in the SeaTac (Seattle – Tacoma) airport because I have some down time before my flight. I should be able to cover the last week and a half that I left off on even though it was pretty jam packed.

Sept 12-13 – On Saturday Juliane came over and we went to Drew’s place to watch the UCLA-Tennessee football game. Looking at his place made me really want to graduate and start making some money. The house was awesome, 3 bedroom, 4 bath, 3 story house with a massive TV that was made for lazy Sunday’s watching football all day. The game was amazing, the people were awesome, Drew and his roommate graduated from UCLA as well, and at halftime we got a little hungry so we went to a little bakery. I got a chocolate croissant- the entire summer I’ve been having an insatiable chocolate craving. When we got back we finished watch the game that had an amazing ending, except for our starting (actually decent) quarterback not being allowed to play for 3-4 weeks. We then went to a tapas bar they had in Wallingford. It was pretty pricy but I finally ate a good pollo molé. We had another 20 minutes to burn before the next bus came by so we went with Drew to a local record shop and I finally got a hold of a Blue Scholar’s CD.

On Sunday, Drew came by and picked us up at 7:30 or so in the AM for a hiking trip. We dropped of Juliane on the way there because Issaquah was directly on the way. A ½ hour further East we got to the hiking location at about 8:30 and I was prepared with a PB and J sandwich and a bottle of water. I was ready for the planned 8 mile, ¾ mile vertically up, approximate 4 hour hike. The problem is that I came along, and whenever I go into nature, people get lost. We were along a trail the entire time, but missed the turn point for Granite Mountain. The view we had was pretty spectacular (see attached photo) but it was at this lookout that we found out we were going the wrong way. We decided to turn back and when we found the correct turn we had already gone 7 miles. Of course we wanted to keep going. So with half my sandwich left and half a bottle of water we began our ¾ mile vertical hike (the other hike included much less of an elevation difference). After a torturous 2 ½ - 3 miles we sat at one of the few shady spots near the top of the mountain. At this point I realized that I couldn’t go any further. Well…I could have made it up but I would not have made it back, and I’m pretty sure I’m too heavy for Drew to safely carry me down. 14 miles, 7 ½ hours, 1 sandwich, 1 bottle of water, and countless stops on the way down later, we finally found the sanctity of the gray Prius. We were both beat, me definitely more so than him, I am very much out of shape. But we stopped at a Jamba Juice on the way back and then got some more delicious Hawaiian BBQ in U-district. After that trying weekend I sat back on the couch, watched some football and ate my leftovers in peace.

September 16-19 – The final week of work was successfully eventful (weird but fitting adjective). On Wednesday I drove out to my final day at the site. This was my third day of training Carlos, from our LA office, on what to do at the site and introduce him to the right people. Carlos is an interesting topic to write about as well. He reminds me of my dad in a more extreme extent. He has a hard time understanding and conversing in English but understands that he needs to improve and is trying as hard as he can to do so. He also does not comprehend things very quickly, he knows the basics of what he is doing and knows what he needs to do but doesn’t always connect the dots and make a logical assessment of the situation. Anyways, on Wednesday I went to lunch with Gordon Hale (no relation to my roommate I found out) who is the Project Manager of the entire massive site, Glen who is the head of the excavation contractor and a few other contractors. It felt good to be invited to this lunch and just talk with the people. There is nothing they could get out of me and they weren’t trying to bribe me with anything but just wanted to thank me for my time out there. They aren’t even the ones paying me and all I actually do is tell them that they need to cut out more soil, take more time, and spend more money. But they were still happy with my work out there. Again, it felt good. Then I went to pick up another employee who transferred from the St. Louis office for a few weeks. (I am now on the flight from Oakland to LA, so close!!!) As I was showing him around the site all the contractors were convinced that they replaced me with two people (the Port of Seattle actually asked for two, but I didn’t have to bring that up). Luckily that day ended early at the site, we went back to the office and talked and wrote up our report.

On Thursday I expected to be in the office all day talking to people and just learning about my potential future. At about noon my boss walks in and asked me if I wanted to go to the Mariner’s game that day. Of course I couldn’t say no. So me and the last remaining intern cut out of work early and saw the Mariner’s vs. White Sox. The game was actually really good again. Mariner’s came back from a 2 run deficit in the 9^th with 2 home runs and won it in the 14^th (although I had to leave early for dinner, top of the 13^th). As we walked out, near Pioneer Square, a pleasant-mannered 19 or so year old walked up to us and asked “Do I look intimidating?” Not really sure of what was going on we both said no. Then she asked it again in a much more aggressive voice. After that a friend of hers showed up and we talked about what are leadership skills and how to convince people. When we finally got down to it we found out that they were from Children International and were trying to figure out good ways to get more people to donate. I was unfortunately rude because I was already running late, but kept the conversation going for a little bit. In a different situation I would have kept going for much longer, they were not bad looking at all. But I left, ran up 1^st street for about 10 minutes, found Juliane and we went to a Moroccan restaurant that was recommended to us. The place was pretty cool, small one room (sat about 25 people) and they had a belly dancer and a cool waiter. The food was just amazing. The one I remember most, besides my main meal of Couscous, is the baklava textured crust with chicken inside and powdered sugar and cinnamon on top. After that we walked around for a bit and then headed home. I, as tired as I was from the long week, fell asleep on the bus. Normally I wake up in time to get off, this time I ended up on the opposite side of the 5 freeway 36 blocks North and 3 blocks West of my house…at 12:15 in the morning. I was pretty scared, but the adventure of it got me excited as I saw all the different neighborhoods and random people outside.

And Friday was a very fulfilling day. I worked the morning hours in the lab with the weekly Friday morning bagel. After hanging out with the lab guys who are extremely entertaining, I had lunch with my boss that I was working with for the field work. He was very complimentary of my work and asked me to consider working for Shannon and Wilson after graduation. It always feels good to be appreciated and I love the company so I’m all the more convinced to highly consider this opportunity. Then at 4 I headed out to the annual company BBQ (I left on the perfect weekend). The weather was beautiful, the food was pretty good (would have been better if I ate the delicious looking steak), and I got to hang out with all the people I interacted with over the whole summer. The highlights of this afternoon were joking with my boss and with the VP I’ve been close to. Also, on my way out as I said my last goodbyes I stopped where the president and the VP I know were finishing up cooking on the BBQ. We talked for maybe a minute and I said something…all I remember is that the President said “I like this guy’s sense of humor” and (from the VP) “We’re trying to recruit him”. It was a satisfactory end to a great summer with the company. I got back and started packing but really was just slacking off for a while and watched a movie online. In my excitement to come home I ended up with 4 hours of sleep even after such a long weekend, but its all good, well worth the time.

This morning, Saturday, I finished packing in a bout an hour and Drew picked me up. We went to the Blue Star restaurant which he had heard was good for breakfast. We both got the most appealing item on the menu (even though all of it looked good), Eggs Seattle. It was a biscuit with Wild Salmon on top and a cooked egg on top of that with some spices which I didn’t recognize. It also came with cooked potatoes on the side. We devoured it so fast, it was amazing. In addition it was raining. So I came to the conclusion that I left Seattle in a typical Seattle fashion, rain and fish, I just didn’t get any coffee and wasn’t reading at the time. He then dropped me off at the airport, I got on a plane and here I am now. Only ½ left in the flight a couple of things I wanted to note.

The rain in Seattle is a drizzle that falls somewhat consistently. There are patches were the sun comes out and it rarely rains pretty hard. It would be nice to live in a place where real seasons actually exist; it would be weird but something I feel I should be able to get used to. The only real impediment the rain would put up is the inability to play outdoor basketball anytime besides summer. But I think I can find a gym with an indoor court and there is still plenty of things that can be done while it rains. As long as you have friends and an urge to explore and go on adventures there are plenty of things to do in Seattle.

Also, there was a situation that came up a couple of weeks ago that really pissed me off. I will not name names but I’ve come to the conclusion that certain Indian ideals and cultural beliefs need to come to an end. They still seem to be under the assumption that people who have “lesser” jobs are not worthwhile enough as people to treat them decently. They will still consider those people as “inferior” or as a “servant” and will not give them the courtesy or respect of normal people. You would imagine that after spending a year with a family that family would allow that person to say goodbye and not just randomly decide to go away on the last opportunity to meet. I understand that there may have been other exterior circumstances but the mentality behind all of it just leads to the assumption that some people do not deserve the proper respect of others because of their current occupation.

Now….all I have to do is figure out where Seattle is on my list of where I want to live after graduation.

Summer in Seattle - Part 5

This week has included a little more introspection and a little analysis of if I really want to move up to Seattle post-graduation.

Contemplation- I love Seattle, at least in the summer. I've heard so much to fear for the winter. People get used to it, but I don't know if I can survive months without sun and weeks of continuous rain. On the other hand, people here are obnoxiously nice, at least compared to most placed I've been. The cars will wait for the pedestrian even though they could have cleared the junction before the pedestrian even gets there. They will be perfectly willing to take a picture of you if you ask. And they graciously answer any question on directions and the such that you may have.

In general, everyone seems to be more introverted and simply not care about how other really percieve them. I would say they are trying to make a statement, but they really just don't care. They have a long skirt/kilt store...only for men. And they seem to be straight men as well. Just an example of what you will see, only in Seattle.

Although there are 2 distinct reasons I do NOT want to live here. Many many smokers. Most importantly, streets/freeways are horribly labeled and I can never figure out where I am going. I've talked this through with Drew as well, we've decided its utterly rediculous.

back to the lighter side

August 26- the day before I put my name in for 2 tickets to the Mariner's game that night. I didn't win but somehow it worked out that my co-worker gave me his for the next time, the 26th. So I called up Drew and he said yes. We got there, got a bomb hot dog outside for $5, got inside and got some amazing garlic fries. Garlic-y enough to make Peter proud. Mariners beat the A's 5-3 and the game went by a lot quicker than it does on TV. it worked out great for getting free tickets 7 rows behind 1st base.

August 29-30- Saturday was a very relaxed day. That morning I finally went to play basketball with the roomates. And that day there were some impressively good ballers at the court and we got some good games in. Juliane also came over and we hung out with the roomates for some time and watched South Park and a movie. "I love you, man" is definetly a good movie to watch, if anyone asks.

Sunday I got some more touring in. After waking up nice and late, getting some Hawaiian for lunch and taking a nap we finally set out for downtown. First we saw the Seattle Underground Tour. That was awesome, especially for a budding geotech. So many soil problems on the old downtown. The whole city was built on mud flats that had excess saw dust thrown on top. For some reason this was not a good idea. But a fateful fire in 1879, decievingly close to the one in Chicago, let them reset the city. the most interesting part is that (this is where I left this post as a draft for a week and half and forgot what I was about to say)...But the tour was amazing and I learned a lot from the cynical tour guide. We then headed over to the Space Needle. Sadly enough, it took me this long to finally ride the iconic tower but it was well worth the wait. The view was astounding (where pic is from). A great 360 degree view from where I could see my house, lots of the Sound, the sports arenas and all of downtown. Epic view like no other. We then went our seperate ways and went home. A sight-seeing filled adventureful weekend came to a close.

September 5-7 - Labor day weekend! Thank god the construction site I'm working on is closed. If they were in any more of a rush they would have worked Saturday and Monday, which would mean I would have had to go out too. That's something I'll have to remember when I start full time, stuff like that will come up and I will be relied on to get it done. Anyways, this was the first weekend in ohhhh almost 6 months where I did absolutely nothing. I mean without a doubt nothing at all useful. I spent Saturday in Issaquah with J. Sunday we hung out around U-district. Monday I literally sat on the couch and watched football and cooked turkey patties for lunch during the week. I used the light drizzle outside as an excuse not to be productive, worked well. Oh, we were supposed to see Bruce Lee's gravesite, yea its in Seattle, but it was raining that morning so we decided to just cook a big breakfast and be lazy, that was a good idea.

September 8 - Drew got back from his weekend sabattical to LA, so we decided to celebrate with Taco Tuesday. I forgot how good homemade tacos are. Either way, after that we got to the theatre just in time for Inglorious Bastards. For the whole night starting on a recent whim, it worked out amazingly well in terms of timing, as always with Drew.

This reminded me of how much I miss being in LA around a lot of people I know. I've always had the opportunity to do something fun/exciting at any point in the day or night but never really took advantage of it. Not having those people in close contact, meaning not having more than 1 friend who I can randomly call and do something with, made me realize how much I appreciate it. And more importantly, it helped me think about how it would feel to move away for good after I graduate. Following up on an earlier conversation with Drew, it's really hard to move away at least initially. We really miss having so many close friends around. But sacrifices are often made. If the opportunity is good and everything seems worthwhile, then you just have to try your best to make friends in the new places. I think, if I had moved here permanently this summer it would be a very different experiance. More importantly, if I was 21 it would be much easier. Not because I could drink, but because it is at bars/clubs that you meet so many people. Even getting to know people at work and making friends requires you to meet them at the local bar afterwards. They all congregate at this local watering hole to just relax and end up really getting to know each other a lot better. Well, in a couple of months I guess I'll find out. Although, I won't need to while in college, there are much cheaper options of meeting people in college.