Berlin, Germany

Berlin was a success. I got there on Thursday in the early afternoon and started exploring.  The first day I walked around a bit and saw Checkpoint Charlie, the main border crossing for foreigners between East and West Germany.  After reading a bit about it on the signs they have posted, I continued my walk towards a piece of the Berlin wall.  I got some pictures and read up a bit more history.  After that, I walked to a place called Postdamer place and pottered around, got some food, etc.  The day ended a little earlier because I was pretty tired, but it gave me a good introduction to the city.  The next day I took a free walking tour, which was awesome.  The tour guide was great, which makes sense since they work solely based on tips.  It was quite interesting and we saw the major sites of the city in about 4 hours.  I continued to walk around a bit and take some pictures before heading back to the hostel and retiring. Side note: The hostel I stayed at was great, the Grand Hostel Berlin.  It was in a pretty good location and was really clean--always a plus.  On Saturday I went back to a few of the sites we saw on the tour because I wanted to spend some more time there.  I went back to the Brandenburger Gate and gots some pictures and sat and watched people and street entertainers for awhile.  Then, I meandered over to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.  This place is fascinating and really makes you think about all that happened.  It is hard to fathom the number of people that were murdered under the Nazi regime.  I went through the little visitors' center there and got some good shots of the memorial (hopefully I can find a place where I can transfer pictures...).  I wondered around and got some food (Kebaps are way good) and then went back to the hostel, used the internet briefly, and headed off to the train station to go to Munich!  After a 11 1/2 train ride (it was longer than it was supposed to be, but worked out great, giving me a little longer to sleep and less time having to wait to check into the hostel), I arrived in Munich.  My hostel here is really nice too:  Wombats City Hostel.  There was supposed to be a free tour this morning beginning at 11:00 from the hostel, but after waiting awhile, I decided it wasn't going to happen and ventured off myself to see a little bit before heading to sacrament meeting at the local church, which is just like a 5-10 minute walk from the hostel.  Luckily, there was a missionary who translated.  German is so foreign!  I didn't really even think about the language barrier before coming, but it is definitely there.  I don't understand a lick of the language.  I guess it just makes it all that much more exciting and some words are starting to look familiar/understandable.  Anyway, it's been a success so far.  It got a bit cold and rainy today here, so hopefully the weather improves before I head to Switzerland.  I want a good view of the alps!  Sorry the pictures are so horribly placed.  I didn't want to bother with it.

And the journey begins...

Well, I'm off!  First stop: Berlin.  I am stting here in the heathrow airport wating for my plane to start boarding so I thought I would make an entry as I start the big trip.  I am going to miss London, but I have two and a half weeks to mill around Berlin, Munich, Gimmelwald, Venice, Florence, Positano, and Rome with no real plans at all.  I'm super pumped.  Hopefully there are no major hiccups, but even if there are, it will just make my posts that much more excting...  Well, plane is boarding now... wish me luck!  More posts and pictures to follow.

El Sol, La Playa, España

Love being in London and having the option to be pretty much anywhere in Europe within a few hours.  We decided to go to Spain last weekend to enjoy some sun and warm weather on the beach.  It was great!  We found a place called Alicante to which Easyjet flies and went for it after seeing that the forecast showed sun. We booked it on Thursday and left Saturday morning at 2:45 am.  One cab ride, one train ride, one tram ride, one plane ride, and one bus ride later, we were on the beach in Spain by 10:30 am. It wasn’t very full when we first got there, but, as you can see, it quickly filled up.  Saturday was great weather and it was warm enough to venture into the water.  It was cold.  But, after easing myself in little by little, it felt good to get in all the way.  I love the beach; it is so relaxing. I just read a book on my new Kindle, listened to some music, and slept a little.  Twas nice.  We packed up as it got later in the afternoon and searched for a place to stay the night.  We walked a little bit and the first hostel we found, we entered.  For only 15 Euro, we decided to do it.   It was alright.  Definitely not anything special.  The guy running the place smoked like a chimney and the whole place smelled like it.  But, it was doable for a night.   The town was pretty chill.  There wasn’t a ton going on, but it was your basic beach town.  We walked around a bit and I got a few pictures.  I feel like such a tourist all the time taking so many photos.  Oh well.

We went to bed pretty early that night since we had been awake since 2:30 in the morning. The next day we tried out a different beach further north.  The beach was pretty nice, but unfortunately, the weather got a bit chilly when it clouded over after about an hour or two of being out there.  We walked around, ate at this place that served mini sandwiches (we were surprised to see the cheap prices and realized why when we saw the size of the sandwiches after we had ordered), and went to this chocolate restaurant that served us a cup of melted chocolate and churros to dip.  It was pretty good.  I wouldn’t have thought about doing it, but the people behind us were downing the chocolate as if it were a drink after they finished their churros.  So, I followed suit, and it was worth it.  After that, we boarded the bus back to the airport and came home.  We got back around 2:30 in the morning, so we were pretty beat the next day at work.  But, it was worth it.  Sun, beach, warmth, Spain...what more can you ask for in a weekend?

Tourist Day

So, some USU students came to London, stopped by Deloitte yesterday, and invited us to join them on a tour to Windsor, Stonehenge, and Bath. So, Brett and I went, and we didn’t have to pay!  It was great.  Windsor was really was cool; the castle is a lot bigger than I had expected.  It’s kind of crazy to think that the Queen actually lives there while thousands of tourists walk outside gawking at it and touring parts of it.  It was an awesome day today as well, weather wise.  Unlike when we did the river tour and bus tours, it was actually pleasant to be outside checking out the sites. 

After Windsor, we went to Stonehenge.  Stonehenge wasn’t super exciting, but it was still cool to see.  We only stayed at Stonehenge for 30 minutes, but there really isn’t much to do there except look at the stones and take a few pictures.  I liked being able to see it though and it was definitely a worth-while stop.  It’s cool to see stuff in real life that you see so much on TV or in books, etc.

People have all these different theories about what Stonehenge was built for, but nobody actually knows really anything.  It remains a mystery to this day, but these crazy old men in the above picture think they know and are protesting about bringing back the Druid Guardians, or something.  Who even knows.  People are crazy, and this is just another proof. 
After Stonehenge, we were off to Bath.  I really had never even heard of Bath until I got to the UK, but Bath was a really cool place.  The Roman baths were pretty cool to see and the city, in general, was really nice.  We only had an hour and a half there, so I would definitely go back and spend more time in Bath. 

Brett and I walked through the streets a bit on the hunt for a place selling crepes.  We finally found a place and both got a Nutella crepe.  They were good, although a little pricey for the size of crepe they gave us.  It fulfilled our cravings though.  So, after Bath we boarded the bus and took a 2 hour drive back to London.  All in all, I would say the tour was successful. The stuff we saw really was pretty cool.  We finished the day off with a tasty meal at Nando’s (after walking around for an hour trying to find it...) before calling it a night. 

Running Through History

This is such an awesome city. Let me give you a better idea of how great it is by explaining what simply going on a run here consists of.

Tonight I ran through the shadow of one of the largest cathedrals in the world,

alongside the famous Thames river,

,   

across one of the most, if not the most, recognizable bridge in the world,

past a 900 year old castle,

 

and on cobblestone paths that are older than anything I’ve ever walked on.

This city has so much character; what a great place to live!  I completely smashed my knee on some lame cement barrier during my run tonight, though.  It was still a good run…I mean you can’t complain too much about running through a city with so much history.  My knee immediately started to swell and I got a pretty good goose egg on the bone I hit.  My knee is probably going to be sore for days now.  Soon, though, I’ll be back running through history in one of the greatest cities in the world.  

Londonia

So, London eh?  It's great here and I'm loving it.  The job is good, which I am happy about, even though it requires long hours during this time of the year.  Tonight I worked until 10:30 and we're just getting to the real busy stuff.  It's good though and I feel like I am getting some good experience.  I can't believe I've been here for nearly a month!  Time has flown.  I meant to keep this corner of the internet up to date, but it's hard with work and everything else going on, like seeing the city.  London is way cool and there is so much here to do and see.  I bought a camera the week before I came and was finally able to get out and take some pictures the Saturday before last.  It was a really nice day.  Photography has potential to become a passion.

The weather isn't actually that bad; I was expecting much worse before coming.  The sun doesn't come out all that much, but it has been much warmer than I thought it would be.  This weekend, however, was pretty cold.  And, of course, it is the one weekend that Deloitte paid for us to take a tour.  On Saturday we took a boat on the Thames to Greenwich, where the prime meridian is.  It is quite the tourist attraction, but still kind of cool.  They have a line in the ground that they call the prime meridian and you can stand on two hemispheres at once.  Someone probably just arbitrarily drew the line wherever they wanted, but still..that's where all the timezones branch off.  Check out this little gem of a picture with an Asian girl.  She looked over my way after I snapped the shot, probably feeling super uncomfortable.  I really was just holding the camera, waiting for people to clear the are, but I decided to snap a shot while the Asian girl posed.  Pretty good.  Sunday we went on a bus tour around the city, and it was even colder than Saturday.  It was cool to hear about some things about London, but sitting on top of an uncovered bus for two hours was a bit uncomfortable in the cold.  Anyway, London is a great city so far and there is a lot to see and do.

Peeves of the Pet Kind

Alright, so I have pet peeves.  Don't we all?  In no particular order, here are seven:

1)  When people write things like this:  "Best.  Birthday.  Present.  Ever."  Especially when used in excess, it's annoying.  This is often seen in blogs and on Facebook by girls who just HAVE to add the drama found in their lives to their internet posts.

2)  Loud people.  People who are loud and draw all attention to yourselves, do you really think everyone cares that much about what you are saying and/or doing?  We don't.  Nobody wants to overhear the conversation you are having on your cell phone in which you make everything you say sound more important than it is.

3)  Unintelligent arguments.  Unintelligent people are one thing, but when they try to carry on intelligent arguments, they sound foolish, and if you are on the other end of the argument, it is annoying.  Do not try to argue if you do not know what you are talking about.  You look stupid.

4)  Loud Chewing.  This is a classic nuisance and will always be a pet peeve of mine.  People who chew loudly (i.e., the lip smackers, those who swish their food, and those who bite down too hard on chips)  have you never learned how to chew?  Where have you been your entire life?  Have you never heard anyone talk about how annoying this is?  Why do you make no effort to be decent?  You are annoying.

5)  Slow drivers, please learn this simple fact:  Other people on the road have places to be.  I do not expect that everyone drive faster than the speed limit, but I do expect that everyone at least drive the speed limit.  If you can't handle going 25 mph, do not drive.

6)  High pitched/nasally voices on the phone.  Speaking on the phone is not very enjoyable.  Speaking on the phone with people who have annoying voices is even less enjoyable.

7)  People who are oblivious to what is going on around them.  I pride myself on being pretty observant, knowing at all times what is happening around me and adjusting my behavior if the situation necessitates.  People who make no effort in doing this drive me crazy.  Example:  You are annoying if I am walking behind you and want to pass, but being the oblivious self you are, you do not move.  Watch what is going on around you!