...Another poor attempt at blogging. Although below this post, new pics are up!!
The last week has been amazing.
Last weekend (i.e. over a week ago), I spent the whole time hanging out in London and taking it easy, since a lot of people were out of town.
Monday, I went to Los Locos with Molly, Mike, and Margaret. It was fun. Chill at first, but it crowded and the dancing was rockin'.
Tuesday I studied up for a test I had Wednesday, so it was kind of a 'blah' day.
Wednesday, after my final, we took our professor out for a couple drinks, which was fun. I didn't get a chance to talk to him too much, but he's off to Australia to teach Econ for about 6 months, and then hopefully back here to teach Notre Dame kids again in the Spring. Great guy, but an unfortunately boring class. Oh well.
Thursday we had a substitute prof for my theology class. He was a little dry, but very knowledgeable about world religions, and we learned how diversity has impacted the Anglican Church. Neat stuff.
That night, I finally got a chance to hang out with Bill and Belatti again, as it had been too long since I had seen them. We had a great dinner and hung out afterwards....over all a good time, even if I didn't exactly make it out that night...
Friday, we began work with our new directors for our Shakespeare scenes. Mine is really interesting. He's young (about 28) and a method-style director, which means he concentrates on applying a set of actions and efforts to each scene, rather than direct in an ad hoc manner. Different to me, but nonetheless pretty cool. And we still got to play fun acting games :)
That evening, Phil and jetted off to Dublin!! After probably the best flight ever (I LOVE BMI! We got free sandwiches and soda!!), we arrived into a rainy, hazy Dublin. It really is London Lite.
We met up with our friends Mike and Chris, who took us out to Temple Bar, a famous pub area in the city. We got turned away from the first bar Porter House (VERY weird bouncer), but hung out at the one across the street until the Porter House switched bouncers. The second one was much more normal, and we had no problem getting in. They had a guy playing guitar faster than anyone I've ever seen before, singing pop songs and the like. Good times.
Saturday, it was rainy again, so Phil and I did mostly indoor stuff. We checked out the Spike first. It really is just a massive spike. 120 meters tall, 3 meters wide at the base, 15 centimeters wide at the top. Best and worst monument at the same time.
We then walked to the Guinness Storehouse, but first stopped at Christ Church. Its an Anglican Cathedral, and its gorgeous. It also houses the tomb of Strongbow (He was a Nordic leader who helped found the Cathedral. However, its also the name of a cider here in London).
We got the Guiness Storehouse, and it was indeed brilliant. I learned a lot about how the black stuff is made, and got to enjoy a pint on the top level of the brewery, known as the 'Gravity Bar.'
That night we went out to a couple Irish Pubs. We chatted with the locals and heard some great live Irish music. Much less reserved than London!
Sunday was a gorgeous day, so Phil and I enjoyed St. Stephen's Green, Grafton Street (a neat shopping area), and Merrion Square (a great park where the Oscar Wilde statue is located). We then flew back (with another courtesy sandwich) and returned to the craziness that is London.
Today was another Philo class, although we did presentations and group stuff, so it went by quickly. At the end of this week, it looks as though I will be having an interview with Morningstar UK about a London internship over the summer. Keep your fingers crossed for me! Cheers!
P.S. The pictures below are (as you scroll down) first from my Spain adventure, and then from this past weekend in Dublin. Enjoy!
Monday, April 25, 2005
Friday, April 15, 2005
Only 5 Weeks To Go!
Scary thought...I'm going to have leave London soon! Ahh!
The Real - Barcelona match was amazing...Real Madrid won 4-2, with great goals all around.
This week has gone by quickly, but it was nice being back in England again. Monday we had a great Philosophy class...mostly because the second half of class was just a discussion. Monday night I just stayed in and chilled...my body still hated me from the night life of Barcelona.
Tuesday O'Boyle was in an especially chipper mood for some reason, so that was nice. That night I stayed in to work on a paper that was due on Thursday.
Wednesday we had our last Econ class (our final exam is next week...way early, but less classes!). That night we went out the Notting Hill Arts Club, which is an indie rock club in Notting Hill...but you could have probably figured that part out yourself... It was a fun place though. Live music Wednesday nights, but the band sucked this week. Oh well. The DJ was good, played some rockin' tunes.
Thursday we had a really great Theo class...Professor Bradshaw was also in a really good mood, and let us out early. Seems to be the theme of the week. I was going to go out last night, but I overslept in my nap. I had a really bad dream during it too. Bleh.
Today we got out early for my Shakespeare class (I told you it was a theme), and I've just been chilling around the flat. Going out tonight though, but a lot of people are out of town. I was going to go to a pub that's mainly outdoors, but the weather here sucks today (as usual), so I'll probably end up somewhere else. Good night all!
The Real - Barcelona match was amazing...Real Madrid won 4-2, with great goals all around.
This week has gone by quickly, but it was nice being back in England again. Monday we had a great Philosophy class...mostly because the second half of class was just a discussion. Monday night I just stayed in and chilled...my body still hated me from the night life of Barcelona.
Tuesday O'Boyle was in an especially chipper mood for some reason, so that was nice. That night I stayed in to work on a paper that was due on Thursday.
Wednesday we had our last Econ class (our final exam is next week...way early, but less classes!). That night we went out the Notting Hill Arts Club, which is an indie rock club in Notting Hill...but you could have probably figured that part out yourself... It was a fun place though. Live music Wednesday nights, but the band sucked this week. Oh well. The DJ was good, played some rockin' tunes.
Thursday we had a really great Theo class...Professor Bradshaw was also in a really good mood, and let us out early. Seems to be the theme of the week. I was going to go out last night, but I overslept in my nap. I had a really bad dream during it too. Bleh.
Today we got out early for my Shakespeare class (I told you it was a theme), and I've just been chilling around the flat. Going out tonight though, but a lot of people are out of town. I was going to go to a pub that's mainly outdoors, but the weather here sucks today (as usual), so I'll probably end up somewhere else. Good night all!
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Back where they speak English
Spain was simply brilliant.
While we weren't able to see any Bullfighting in Barcelona (it's been banned in the city for some time apparently), we were able to have a few amazing days in the town. Sean, Mark, and I rolled into town a couple hours ahead of Dan because of a train mix-up, so we went to Camp Neu, which is F.C. Barcelona's football stadium. It holds 100,000 people, and is very impressive (much bigger than Bernabeu, Real Madrid's stadium). Once Dan got in, we hung out in the hostel (which was one of the nicer ones I've stayed at) before grabbing some quality Spanish cooking at a local restaurant.
After some card games, Dan, Mark, and I hit the town. We went to a bar for shots of rum (as convinced by some random Cuban guy) and met two girls from San Diego State University who are studying in Preston, a town outside of Manchester. We ended up going to an Irish Bar with them and just talking to them and hanging out. Neat girls, and nice to be able to converse in English with random people!
The next day we went to Ghoti's Temple of the Holy Family which is an unfinished, impressionistic cathedral. It is massive. They started building it in the late 1800's, but stopped after Ghoti's death in the 1920's. In the 60's they resumed work, and continue to work on in to this day. We were able to climb one of the eight 100 meter tall towers, and a central tower is planned that will be twice the height. Very impressive, although at this point it's essentially become one big construction zone.
After scrambled eggs and cheese for dinner, we hung out with some people in our hostel. Vito was from Glasgow, Scotland, Adam was from Brighton, England, Paul was from Oxford, England, and Mike....was from somewhere stateside. We played cards and then went on a pub crawl, with six of us going out. We each picked a cool bar we saw and bought rounds. Mike picked a hard rock club, I picked a bar built around trees, Vito picked some random techno place, Dan picked an Irish Pub, Mark picked the London Bar, and Sean ended our trip by buying us Guiness in another Irish Bar. All in all, a great night, albeit a late one...we got home around 5am.
The next day, after a very late rise (read: 3pm), Sean and I chilled in the Hostel watching Spanish TV while Dan and Mark went to check out Olympic Park. We decided to go to a nice place for dinner, and ended up at 'Quixote's,' which was really nice, but overpriced. I spent 25 euro for water, wine, roast duck (which was actually very good) and cactus sherbert (....interesting). But it was our last night, so a little splurging isn't so bad.
To cap off our crazy Barcelona trip, we met up with Mike and Vito again, along with four girls from the University of North Carolina (two of which are from Charlotte...yay!). After some more cards, we went back to the tree bar and then to Club New York, which was a blast. Instead of the usual mix of hip hop and dance music, the club played a sort-of jazz/Spanish fusion all night long. It was a ton of fun, and we stayed nearly until the club closed at 5am.
At 6:30 am, Sean, Mark, and I caught a train back to Reus (so no, we didn't sleep last night...unless you count sleeping on the train, plane, and bus). The flight back was ok, but there were tons of loud kids, and apparently disciplining your kids isn't cool anymore. We had no problems with customs or baggage, and got home in good time, safe and sound.
And now I'm getting ready to go watch the Real Madrid - Barcelona football match at a local pub. I'm out for now. Cheers!
P.S. Pictures soon....most of them are on Mark's and Dan's cameras...
While we weren't able to see any Bullfighting in Barcelona (it's been banned in the city for some time apparently), we were able to have a few amazing days in the town. Sean, Mark, and I rolled into town a couple hours ahead of Dan because of a train mix-up, so we went to Camp Neu, which is F.C. Barcelona's football stadium. It holds 100,000 people, and is very impressive (much bigger than Bernabeu, Real Madrid's stadium). Once Dan got in, we hung out in the hostel (which was one of the nicer ones I've stayed at) before grabbing some quality Spanish cooking at a local restaurant.
After some card games, Dan, Mark, and I hit the town. We went to a bar for shots of rum (as convinced by some random Cuban guy) and met two girls from San Diego State University who are studying in Preston, a town outside of Manchester. We ended up going to an Irish Bar with them and just talking to them and hanging out. Neat girls, and nice to be able to converse in English with random people!
The next day we went to Ghoti's Temple of the Holy Family which is an unfinished, impressionistic cathedral. It is massive. They started building it in the late 1800's, but stopped after Ghoti's death in the 1920's. In the 60's they resumed work, and continue to work on in to this day. We were able to climb one of the eight 100 meter tall towers, and a central tower is planned that will be twice the height. Very impressive, although at this point it's essentially become one big construction zone.
After scrambled eggs and cheese for dinner, we hung out with some people in our hostel. Vito was from Glasgow, Scotland, Adam was from Brighton, England, Paul was from Oxford, England, and Mike....was from somewhere stateside. We played cards and then went on a pub crawl, with six of us going out. We each picked a cool bar we saw and bought rounds. Mike picked a hard rock club, I picked a bar built around trees, Vito picked some random techno place, Dan picked an Irish Pub, Mark picked the London Bar, and Sean ended our trip by buying us Guiness in another Irish Bar. All in all, a great night, albeit a late one...we got home around 5am.
The next day, after a very late rise (read: 3pm), Sean and I chilled in the Hostel watching Spanish TV while Dan and Mark went to check out Olympic Park. We decided to go to a nice place for dinner, and ended up at 'Quixote's,' which was really nice, but overpriced. I spent 25 euro for water, wine, roast duck (which was actually very good) and cactus sherbert (....interesting). But it was our last night, so a little splurging isn't so bad.
To cap off our crazy Barcelona trip, we met up with Mike and Vito again, along with four girls from the University of North Carolina (two of which are from Charlotte...yay!). After some more cards, we went back to the tree bar and then to Club New York, which was a blast. Instead of the usual mix of hip hop and dance music, the club played a sort-of jazz/Spanish fusion all night long. It was a ton of fun, and we stayed nearly until the club closed at 5am.
At 6:30 am, Sean, Mark, and I caught a train back to Reus (so no, we didn't sleep last night...unless you count sleeping on the train, plane, and bus). The flight back was ok, but there were tons of loud kids, and apparently disciplining your kids isn't cool anymore. We had no problems with customs or baggage, and got home in good time, safe and sound.
And now I'm getting ready to go watch the Real Madrid - Barcelona football match at a local pub. I'm out for now. Cheers!
P.S. Pictures soon....most of them are on Mark's and Dan's cameras...
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Warm Weather! Sunshine! Spain!!
Wow, Spain is amazing.
However, my intial reaction the country wasn´t exactly a positive one. We arrived into a small city outside of Terragona called Reus, and immediately experienced the language barrier when we couldn´t even convince our waitress to give us menus at a local deli. In the end, though, we got some great sandwiches, learned the invaluable word ´bocadillos´ (a type of sandwich), and she got a great tip.
That Friday night wasn´t too great either however. We had an overnight, seven hour train ride to Madrid, and we had a very weird Asian lady in our cabin who woke us up nearly every hour. In the end, she even asked us if we knew where 'Any good hostels, cheap hotels, monastaries, asylums...' and we stopped listening at that point.
We got into Madrid at about 7am, and our Hostel wasn´t ready yet. To kill time, we went to the Prado Museum, which is a pretty good art museum. Its no London, but it was still good, and cheap (take that, stupid Uffizi Museum). Once our Hostel was ready, we threw ourselves into the culture and grabbed a siesta (which actually does exist here...most stores close between 1pm and 5pm). That night we hung out in the hostel, ate some good Spanish buffet, and met some crazy Aussies who were rooming with.
The next day we used the metro to get around the city, and saw the Real Madrid (a local football...that´s soccer for you North Americans...team. The team is arguably the best and most successful team of the 20th century). The stadium tour was great, and the tropy hall was impressive. That night however, the team wasn´t in town, so we went to another local team´s game...Atletico Madrid. While that team isn´t as good (10th in the league compared to Real being 2nd), they did manage to whomp on Mallorca, who is 19th in the table, 4-0. So at least we say some good goals. And some crazy Spanish fans. They actually chant the 'Ole, Ole ole ole' Zahm-type song here. Who knew...
The next day in Madrid was our last, so we went to the Royal Palace where King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia live (Madrid is, after all, the capital of Spain). On our tour, we got to see 22 impressive rooms...out of the 2800 (yes, that´s two thousand eight hundred) that are in the palace. Needless to say, its a big place. We then got a train to Valencia, where I sit now.
Valencia is amazing the same way Venice is amazing compared to Rome. There´s not all that much to see, but the atmosphere is hard to find anywhere else. Our first day here we got in pretty late, so we had some pizza for dinner and just chilled.
The next day (yesterday, actually), we spent the entire day at the beach, building sand castles, reading, laying out, and playing on a sweet rope jungle gym that they had. I miss the sand, and it was a pretty nice beach.
Last night we made pasta for dinner...so cheap! Even the beer is cheap...one litre for about a euro (about $1.33 USD). After dinner, we hung out with some Iowa State girls that were staying in our hostel as well, and after playing some drinking games with them, us guys went out to a local bar. It was a typical movie-esque, dirty Spanish bar. And it was awesome.
Today we walked around the city and saw some of the sites. We climbed up some towers, went to the market (more on that later), and wandered through the huge park that runs around the city. In the park, we tried to find the zoo, but instead stumbed upon the third annual Valencian Open tennis tournament. And it was a big deal.
After getting into the tourney, we realized that this was no small local fare. We saw Costa beat some Austrian guy, and Nadal (currently 4th in the world...ahead of Roddick and Agassi) beat Ferrero (a former world number 1 player). We were quite impressed with our find, and the tennis was amazing.
After the tournament, we got some taco stuff for dinner from the store (which ended up being really good), and just hung out in the Hostel. However, it was no ordinary hanging out...
As previously promised, I´ll bring up the market again. While there, we got a bottle of Absinthe for 25 euro (which is pretty good considering it's decent stuff). For those who don't know, Absinthe (or the Green Fairy) is 140 proof alcohol, and has wormwood extract in it, which some argue provides hallucinagetic effects. That´s also why it's banned in the US...I don't know though. I didn't see anything weird. It definitely tastes weird though. Think of black licorice candy...that's on fire. Man, that stuff burns.
But now I sit about to go to bed. We head out to Barcelona tomorrow, and hopefully we'll catch some bullfighting. Oh, and Bryan, I went to a huge Spanish comic book store for you today. I have a couple surprises...hope you like Ultimate X-Men number two in Spanish :)
Good night all, and Adios!
However, my intial reaction the country wasn´t exactly a positive one. We arrived into a small city outside of Terragona called Reus, and immediately experienced the language barrier when we couldn´t even convince our waitress to give us menus at a local deli. In the end, though, we got some great sandwiches, learned the invaluable word ´bocadillos´ (a type of sandwich), and she got a great tip.
That Friday night wasn´t too great either however. We had an overnight, seven hour train ride to Madrid, and we had a very weird Asian lady in our cabin who woke us up nearly every hour. In the end, she even asked us if we knew where 'Any good hostels, cheap hotels, monastaries, asylums...' and we stopped listening at that point.
We got into Madrid at about 7am, and our Hostel wasn´t ready yet. To kill time, we went to the Prado Museum, which is a pretty good art museum. Its no London, but it was still good, and cheap (take that, stupid Uffizi Museum). Once our Hostel was ready, we threw ourselves into the culture and grabbed a siesta (which actually does exist here...most stores close between 1pm and 5pm). That night we hung out in the hostel, ate some good Spanish buffet, and met some crazy Aussies who were rooming with.
The next day we used the metro to get around the city, and saw the Real Madrid (a local football...that´s soccer for you North Americans...team. The team is arguably the best and most successful team of the 20th century). The stadium tour was great, and the tropy hall was impressive. That night however, the team wasn´t in town, so we went to another local team´s game...Atletico Madrid. While that team isn´t as good (10th in the league compared to Real being 2nd), they did manage to whomp on Mallorca, who is 19th in the table, 4-0. So at least we say some good goals. And some crazy Spanish fans. They actually chant the 'Ole, Ole ole ole' Zahm-type song here. Who knew...
The next day in Madrid was our last, so we went to the Royal Palace where King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia live (Madrid is, after all, the capital of Spain). On our tour, we got to see 22 impressive rooms...out of the 2800 (yes, that´s two thousand eight hundred) that are in the palace. Needless to say, its a big place. We then got a train to Valencia, where I sit now.
Valencia is amazing the same way Venice is amazing compared to Rome. There´s not all that much to see, but the atmosphere is hard to find anywhere else. Our first day here we got in pretty late, so we had some pizza for dinner and just chilled.
The next day (yesterday, actually), we spent the entire day at the beach, building sand castles, reading, laying out, and playing on a sweet rope jungle gym that they had. I miss the sand, and it was a pretty nice beach.
Last night we made pasta for dinner...so cheap! Even the beer is cheap...one litre for about a euro (about $1.33 USD). After dinner, we hung out with some Iowa State girls that were staying in our hostel as well, and after playing some drinking games with them, us guys went out to a local bar. It was a typical movie-esque, dirty Spanish bar. And it was awesome.
Today we walked around the city and saw some of the sites. We climbed up some towers, went to the market (more on that later), and wandered through the huge park that runs around the city. In the park, we tried to find the zoo, but instead stumbed upon the third annual Valencian Open tennis tournament. And it was a big deal.
After getting into the tourney, we realized that this was no small local fare. We saw Costa beat some Austrian guy, and Nadal (currently 4th in the world...ahead of Roddick and Agassi) beat Ferrero (a former world number 1 player). We were quite impressed with our find, and the tennis was amazing.
After the tournament, we got some taco stuff for dinner from the store (which ended up being really good), and just hung out in the Hostel. However, it was no ordinary hanging out...
As previously promised, I´ll bring up the market again. While there, we got a bottle of Absinthe for 25 euro (which is pretty good considering it's decent stuff). For those who don't know, Absinthe (or the Green Fairy) is 140 proof alcohol, and has wormwood extract in it, which some argue provides hallucinagetic effects. That´s also why it's banned in the US...I don't know though. I didn't see anything weird. It definitely tastes weird though. Think of black licorice candy...that's on fire. Man, that stuff burns.
But now I sit about to go to bed. We head out to Barcelona tomorrow, and hopefully we'll catch some bullfighting. Oh, and Bryan, I went to a huge Spanish comic book store for you today. I have a couple surprises...hope you like Ultimate X-Men number two in Spanish :)
Good night all, and Adios!
Friday, April 01, 2005
You would think that I would learn...
Man, this has to be my longest no-blog streak yet. Loyal readers, I'm embarrassed.
Here's a quick run down of the last two weeks:
Tuesday after my last post, we discussed Victorian pornagraphy in O'Boyle's class...pretty funny actually. Wednesday i had another boring Macroeconomics class, Thursday was a decent Bradshaw class, Friday was a really boring Shakespeare class...we didn't even act! Afterwards though, Mike and I went to the Tate Modern Museum, which is right next to the Globe theatre. It was...interesting, to say the least.
Last week was more of the same for the most part, except that my parents were in town for Easter! We did Oxford, The Tower of London, and Madame Toussard's. All except the last one were awesome. It was totally great having them here. They even cooked for me and my friends!
This week was paper were, with a 5 page philo paper and a 12 page history paper sucking my time. But they're both done, and now it's time for Spain! More updates to come after I visit Madrid, Valencia, and Barcelona! Yay!!!
Here's a quick run down of the last two weeks:
Tuesday after my last post, we discussed Victorian pornagraphy in O'Boyle's class...pretty funny actually. Wednesday i had another boring Macroeconomics class, Thursday was a decent Bradshaw class, Friday was a really boring Shakespeare class...we didn't even act! Afterwards though, Mike and I went to the Tate Modern Museum, which is right next to the Globe theatre. It was...interesting, to say the least.
Last week was more of the same for the most part, except that my parents were in town for Easter! We did Oxford, The Tower of London, and Madame Toussard's. All except the last one were awesome. It was totally great having them here. They even cooked for me and my friends!
This week was paper were, with a 5 page philo paper and a 12 page history paper sucking my time. But they're both done, and now it's time for Spain! More updates to come after I visit Madrid, Valencia, and Barcelona! Yay!!!
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