Consolidating blogs

I've recently put up my Christmas 2006 and 2007 blog posts from another blog that I now no longer use. If you are curious about Copenhagen or Ireland sightseeing commentary, give it a read.

End of Ireland Trip

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Didn't do anything after New Years until this weekend when we went to Cork in southern Ireland to see their famous butter museum (no joke) and Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone. Friday our trip departed as most do with a quick Dart ride into Dublin. From there we got on our first class 3 hour train ride to Cork. The problem with most of our long train rides this trip has been that we haven't seen how scenic Ireland is due to the early sunset and our late departure times. Oh well. We got to Cork fairly late and just holed up in our hotel for the night. Saturday we meandered around Cork following a pseudo guided walking tour. Mom dragged us to a lot of churches, but most of them were pretty spectacular and worth a walk around. We also went to the jail they have in Cork. It was very similar to the Dublin one, but a little less impressive in my mind. Unfortunately for us (or maybe fortunately), the famous butter museum was closed, however, we did see the stupidest thing imaginable...in Cork there is a clock called the 4 faced liar. Aptly named for there is a clock face on each side of the tower...and each one says a different time. WTF!!! So Saturday was spent meandering around Cork popping into churches and being completely baffled by this stupid clock. Sunday we took a bus to Blarney Castle to kiss the famous stone. It grants the kisser the gift of gab, the power to bullshit. I was hung upside down and lowered from the top of the castle just to kiss it! The castle itself was pretty magnificent and relatively well intact for a Middle Ages Era castle. On the castle grounds there are a group of caves and fairy dwellings and druid stones. So that was pretty awesome and well worth the perusal. Blarney is tied with the Ghost Tour for coolest thing I did in Ireland. I leave in a few days and don't really anticipate doing anymore heavy duty sightseeing, so this should wrap up my holiday blogging. See everybody next Christmas, who knows where I'll be next!!

Ireland Some More

Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy 2008 everybody! Tonight the family sans Gregg went to a pub and then a hotel bar until the bells at Christ Church Cathedral started to ring. Nothing special, just a nice family evening. Much safer than the bombardment we sustained in Copenhagen (we suspect the Swedes were behind it). Very few fireworks, something I'm not used to...( I seem to have been hit by a firework on New Year's Eve 4 times out of the last 5 years or so). We took video of the ringing of the bells, complete with Graham family antics, so I'll try to get that posted sometime soon. I've decided to take a few more risks, be a little more confident, and have a more optimistic view of the world.

More Ireland

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Tonight we went on "the world's only ghostbus tour". It was pretty spectacular and probably my favorite thing we've done in Ireland so far. We had a very good guide who was oddly hilarious for such a somber topic. The tour started out with a ghost story involving the very bus we we're riding in, which is how it came to be the ghostbus tour. It was one of the few ghost stories in which a ghost came from the future rather than the past, so that was fascinating. Next, we learned about Abraham "Bram" Stoker's twisted mother, who was terrorized by cholera victims while growing up and who tormented her son with horrific bed time stories involving the walking dead as they were called. So that's where he got a lot of the details and ideas for his Dracula tale. Our next stop involved us getting out of the bus and touring a graveyard. It is where a Blessed (not quite Saint) Archbishop from the 1500s is buried, and also where the Irish version of the Inquisition took place. There is quite an evil history of that place, Satanic rituals and bizarre happenings have been happening at least once every century since the 1500s, the last being in 1957. We also learned how body snatchers operated during the early 1800s when bodies were high in demand (for anatomy studies). Really fascinating part of the tour. Our 4th stop was the Haunted Steps leading to the Gate to Hell (no joke). There was an underground society named Hell and the gate we walked through was the only entrance into it. The site is also famous for a character named the Sandyman, who is the Irish boogey man. There was a fascinating ghost story involving this character and two nuns. One of the nuns tripped on the steps in 1955 and fell into a pool of blood. She found a disembodied thumb and wrapped it in her white hankerchief. Then the nuns saw the Sandyman and ran to the police. When the police investigated, they discovered that the hankerchief was no longer bloodstained and the thumb had mysteriously vanished. The nuns took that as a sign of intervention. Pretty creepy stuff. The final stop on the tour was the graveyard at Saint Patrick's Cathedral, where we heard the ghost tale of the Lady in White, Ireland's most famous ghost story. According to the tour guide, the terms 'saved by the bell' and 'dead ringers' both originated in Ireland. Many bodies were accidentally buried alive, so many bodies buried were attached to bells above ground. If the body woke up, the bell would ring and the graveyard caretaker would dig up the grave to save whoever was down there. (saved by the bell). Dead ringers means someone who looks strikingly similar to someone else. This term came around because once the bodies were brought back, people who thought they were dead would see them walking around on the streets. That must have been terrifying. The tour was a tad expensive at 25 euro, but I strongly recommend it.

Ireland

Friday, December 28, 2007

I've been feeling rather under the weather for the past two days, so really haven't done much. Today we went to the Irish Writers Museum. It's worth a look if you find yourself in Dublin. After that we walked the shopping district looking for hiking boots for Mom, then we went to a cafe. Mom and Em wanted to continue exploring town, so I took navigated myself back to the DART station and went back home. Tomorrow night we have a Ghost bus tour scheduled, so that should be a blast.

Ireland Week Recap

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Internet has been down for a week, so this is going to be a rather lengthy post. Thursday- This was a relax and take it easy day. Emily went into work with Dad to see geophysicists in action. The rest of us lazily watched TV. Mom and I took a brief walk on the beach to see the lead singer of the Cranberries house, who lives down the road. Really not much else happened. Friday- Another fairly lazy day, but due to Mom’s incessant nagging we accompanied her into the center of Howth for a mini tour. There was an abbey and some bars. The abbey is one of the few churches of its time to have a triple bell tower, but other than that it wasn’t all that spectacular. Saturday was a long but awesome day. We woke up at 6 to catch the DART into Dublin so we could take the Enterprise train into Belfast, Northern Ireland. That train ride was about 2 hours, but Em and I passed the time by teaching Mom how to play Egyptian Rat Screw. We played 5 games, on the way up, naturally I won all 5. For some strange reason I’m bizarrely good at that game. We run into momentary trouble when we arrived in Belfast because we didn’t put the connection that since Northern Ireland is a different country and part of Great Britain, we would need pounds instead of Euros! Luckily, Dad found an ATM and we were back in business. We wandered Belfast for a little bit, its claim to fame is that the Titanic was built in the shipyards. They say the only reason it sank was because it had an English captain and a Scottish navigator instead of Irish ones! There’s also a monument to the Titanic, but in 1997 the city erected a large ferris wheel about 5 feet behind it, so it looks hilariously out of place. After a brief walk around Belfast we arrived at our tour bus that would take us 2 hours even further north to Giant’s Causway off the coast across from Scotland. The further north we drove, the colder it got (naturally). It even reached 1 degree Celsius, talk about cold! Nevertheless we braved the elements and arrived at Giant’s Causeway. The Causeway is a fascinating geological foundation. A contained pool of magma cooled slower than magma usually does, creating massive basalt pillars that almost look like manmade stepping stones. The also appear on the Scottish coast. Emily and Dad really enjoyed it, but it was fun for the whole family. The myth behind the creation is pretty funny. Once upon a time there was an Irish giant and a Scottish giant. The Irish one decided to battle the Scottish one, so he built a path to cross the sea to Scotland (it’s very close, you could see the Scottish coast). However, when he crossed into Scotland, he noticed the Scottish giant was much larger than he was, so he fled back to his house in Ireland and had his mother dress him as a baby. When the Scottish giant arrived and saw how large the “baby” was, he fled in terror because the dad must have been enormous. He destroyed most of the causeway as he fled. We returned to Belfast later in the evening and wandered the streets some more, mainly looking at fascinating architecture. We stopped for drinks at a famous Victorian era bar complete with snugs. A snug is a basically a very fancy and ornately decorated enclosed booth. Very cozy. We finished our drinks, meandered around some shops, then head back to catch our train back. All in all, a long but spectacular and fun filled day. Sunday was a day spent in recovery from our Belfast excursion. Mom, Dad, and I did go into Howth Harbor to visit the open air Sunday market, but that was about the only thing we did. Monday- Happy Christmas Eve! (as the locals say). Today was another fairly lazy day spent watching TV. They are really big into texting and celebrity perfumes over here, every other commercial is about texting or David Beckham’s, Hillary Swank’s, Sarah Jessica Parker’s, etc. new perfume. For Christmas Eve dinner we went to Dad’s favorite restaurant, the Oar House. Good seafood but nowhere near as extravagant as last year’s dinner. It will be a long time before we dine like that again, hehe. After dinner we walked back home and opened one present. It’s a little family tradition. Emily got me the American Office Season 1, so I’m pretty pleased. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas tomorrow! Tuesday- MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!! Highlight of today include the presents (Irish Monopoly, some cash, a Dublin Hard Rock Café TV, and a stein for my collection that is currently in VA because it didn’t arrive in time for Gregg to bring it.), Gregg crushing us all in Monopoly after no one landed on more Boardwalk/Parkplace with 4 houses for 3 turns, bad luck. A nasty uphill walk to Howth Hill, but a really pleasant and pretty walk down the Cliffside to get back home, and Doctor Who Christmas special!!! No spoilers here though. After that the family watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3 because Mom and I hadn’t seen it. It was pretty good but I still think 1st one is the best. Hope all enjoyed a fun-filled day. Merry Christmas!

Ireland Day 7

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Final day of our Day 3 city bus tour started with Emily deciding to take a break. Mom, Gregg, and I hit up Kilmainham Gaol (the main jail of Dublin from 1796-1924), but had a brief set back when Mom led us onto the wrong bus. We quickly remedied the error and got to walk through a nice park to get to the Hop on/Hop off bus stop. Lots of leaders from the failed rebellion attempts of the 1800s and the 1916 Easter Rising were executed at the jail. Lot of history in that place, it was pretty cool. We hopped back on the bus to take us to Jameson. The route took us through Phoenix Park, the 2nd largest park in Europe according to the driver. There is a monument to Lord Wellington, defeater of Napoleon at Waterloo, and the U.S. Ambassador's residence. Dublin Zoo is also located in Phoenix Park. Mom called it a day and went home to get ready for the Christmas party with Dad's work, so Gregg and I decided to tour The Old Jameson's Distillery. Jameson is no longer distilled in Dublin, but the tour was awesome nonetheless. It was guided, unlike the Guinness tour, and went into great detail about how whiskey is made. Jameson is distilled 3 times, most Scottish whiskey is distilled 2 times, and American brandy is distilled 1 time. Apparently that is very important and a matter of pride to the Irish. The tour guide was awesome, which is important in a guided tour, really added a lot to it. I know a lot more about whiskey than I did yesterday at the whiskey shop, haha. The tour ended much like the Guinness tour did with a free drink. I went with gingerale and Jameson, and it was pretty good. Gregg volunteered to be a whiskey taster. He got to sample 3 different Irish Whiskeys, including Jameson, a Scottish one (Johnny Walker Red) and an American one (Jack Daniels). He, like the other volunteer whiskey tasters, thought that Jameson was the best of the bunch (except one girl who liked the Scottish, the tour guide gave her hell but it was in jest) After the tour Gregg and I caught the correct bus and made our way to the DART station. Once back in Howth we picked up some fish n chips for ourselves and Emily for dinner, since Mom and Dad would be at the Christmas party. As usual, ending the day with TV, this time Simpsons!

Ireland Day 6

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Day 2 of our bus tour was slightly disappointing. We planned to see Dublin Castle, Saint Patrick's Cathedral, a famous Irish jail, and the Jameson distillery. I also wanted to see the Irish Writer's Museum, but we decided that could wait for another day. Unfortunately, we only managed to see Dublin Castle and Saint Pat's Cathedral because Gregg and Emily were lazy late starters. Dublin Castle was really cool. It was a combination of the medieval castle built by the Vikings centuries ago and the Georgian restoration during the 1700s. It was interesting to see the vastly different styles. First the heavily fortified castle from the medieval era, then the larger courtyards and rooms for the English monarchs to rule Ireland over and keep them in line. Ireland gained its independence from the Crown in 1922. The inside was not quite as breathtaking as Versailles, but what can be? We took some good pictures of the ornate ceilings and chandeliers. Lots of neck craning. After a lunch stop in a pub we headed to Saint Patrick's Cathedral. It was really cool, very nice stainglass windows and architecture like most Gothic cathedrals have. We got a few good pictures of that aswell. Jonathon Swift was a big part of the Cathedral and he is buried there. There was a neat side exhibit detailing his life. We also went for a stroll in the garden/park outside the Cathedral, where they have a bunch of plaques honoring Irish's rich history of poets and writers. We hopped back on the bus and took a small detour in our plans and headed back to the Guiness factory to pick up some souvenirs. We were rushed last night and I had a change of heart and decided to buy some things to remind me of the cool advertising campaigns. 4 pint classes, a nice mug to go with my collection, and a pack of playing cards with the advertising designs on them. We were unable to see the jail or the distillery due to bad time management, so we decided to meet Dad for dinner earlier than planned. On the way we stopped at a Celtic Whiskey Shop, were I popped in to buy some gifts. I don't have a clue when it comes to whiskey, but I think I found something suitable. Dinner was a nice leg of lamb, then we headed back to the DART station to catch the train back to Howth. I took a brief nap on the way and am now closing out the day as I have since we got here...watching old reruns of British Who Wants to be a Millionaire episodes! Day 3 should see highlights from the jail and the distillery, so stay tuned!

Ireland Day 5

Monday, December 17, 2007

Today we DARTed into Dublin to start our 3 day hop on/hop off city bus tour, where, as you might expect, we have 3 days to tour the city and get off at various spots to further investigate and then hop back on a later tour bus to the next destination. Our first stop was Trinity College: Dublin. The library has a large and fantastic collection of old and rare manuscripts, the most famous being the Book of Kells, an 800 A.D. illuminated manuscript of the 4 gospels. After wandering the college grounds, we ate lunch at a Bewley's, a pub that James Joyce had written about in his book The Dubliners. We also passed some statues of Oscar Wilde and James Joyce on the bus tour, but decided not to get out and have a closer look. Stop two was Christ Church, which was pretty typical of the cathedrals I've seen in France and Denmark. Pointed archways, stain-glass windows, ornate carvings into architecture, fancy designs carved into the tile floors, and a crypt holding the treasures of the era. Stop three connected was a medieval and viking's history of Ireland museum connected to Christ Church. The vikings were actually the first group of people to establish a permanent settlement in present day Dublin. The museum was a little hokey but fun at the same time. They had an exhibit that made a huge deal about how the average viking helmet did not actually have horns on it, then sold plastic viking helmets with horns in the giftshop! I got a chuckle out of that. Stop four was the one I was most looking forward to for today, the Guinness storehouse! I've never really liked Guinness, but I thought it would be cool to see how it was made. Well that train of thought turned out to be slightly disappointing since they only had video demonstrations and panels explaining the process rather than a live demonstration, which is what I was looking forward to. Still, the complex was 7 stories high, so there were plenty of things to do. One floor had a section devoted entirely to the history of Guinness's advertising, which I was naturally drawn to. I spent most of my time perusing that section, until I later discovered that they had an entire floor devoted to the actual artist (John Gildory) who made the famous zoo animals and zoo keeper advertisements. I watched about a dozen TV advertisements depicting these characters and was impressed by how simple yet effective they must have been. I don't think they could be shown nowadays though, as cartoon characters seeing adult products are generally frowned upon. The history of the different slogans they've had throughout the year were also fascinating. Doctor's used to perscribe Guinness to patients because the mere sight of it made them happy and seemed to help cure whatever was ailing them. This led to "Guinness, it's good for you" which was repeated over and over again in the adverts. I can't imagine a doctor prescribing beer to cure depression in this day and age! Also saw the creation of the popular "My Goodness, My Guinness" ads. Still, seeing this history of advertising made the tour worth it in my opinion. The trip ended in a bar where you get a free Guinness, but I was satisfied with the smaller free sample earlier in the tour, reaffirming my dislike for the beverage. That concluded day 1 of 3. We set out to find a pub and get some dinner. We arrived at O'Neill's, one of the best pubs in the city according to the guidebooks. Mom embarrassed us all by talking to some Germans in her "British" accent, which she has a nasty habit of whenever she talks to foreign people. It really isn't a British accent at all, it's a hodgepodge of her British attempt and whatever country's language. It's very embarrassing and she does it wherever we go: Ireland, France, Denmark, and I'm sure others. Can't take her anywhere! But we sure do love her, she makes life interesting!! Speaking of parents, Dad claims all the birds in Ireland must be Polish...the ravens perch and nibble on the electric train cables and the seagulls try to crack clams and shells in the sand rather than on sharp rocks! That's it for today, details of day 2's city tour tour tomorrow.

Ireland Day 4

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Update from yesterday, I was tired and forgot some details. We also went to Temple Bar, which is a district in Dublin similar to Bourbon Street in New Orleans. I suspect Gregg, Em, and I will go back another time sans parental supervision. I was also accosted by the cleanest and most well dressed homeless man I had ever met. Today we took a taxi to the DART (train station) to meet out bus tour on time. The bus tour was long but interesting and entertaining thanks to the stops and the funny little man driving the bus. Our first stop was Powerscourt House and Gardens, one of Ireland's treasurers, in the Wicklow Mountains. There was a Japanese style garden complete with wooden gazebo and bridges over a babbling brook and the typical Italian style found in most European castles. I picked up a few gifts in the gift shop for people stateside and then it was back onto the bus for stop two. Next, we arrived at the monastic settlement of Saint Kevin. Legend has it he lived to be 120 with his hermetic lifestyle and devotion. It's one of the best preserved monastic settlements in all of Ireland, situated serenely in a valley between two lakes. Very picturesque. It almost rekindled my interest in archaelogy, haha. We ate lunch at a nearby hotel where they made a great lamb and potato stew. Our third and final stop was a peat bog. Pretty quick walk across the peat and back into the bog because it was really cold and winding high up in the mountains. The summary makes the trip sound pretty short, but the destinations were pretty far from each other. At the train station coming home I was ambushed by another extremely well groomed and well dressed homeless man. They really catch you off guard with their appearance and politeness, not at all like in America, haha. Another thing I've noticed about the Irish is that the letter H is in every Gaelic word, but they don't pronounce it. This language quirk translates to English words as well. Thirty thousand becomes tirty tousand. Dad has a field day with that because the letter H is very pronounced (think h as in ha), but they never pronounce the letter in words. Dad walks around saying "there's no H-ech in Howth (our town name)" No doubt where I get my sense of humor from...

Ireland Day 3

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Today was much more eventful than the past two. Gregg flew in around 9, family talked mostly about sports for a bit, then Mom, Em, and I took the train into Dublin around 11. I enjoy a good train ride and really wish that America had a system like Europe's. It won't happen for various reasons, but it sure would be nice. We must've walked for 4 hours, but we did see a good deal. First, we went to a riverside market/mini carnival with small boutiques and a carousel ride, with a hilarious sign that will be on facebook. After that, we gazed upon a group of statues depicting the potato famine...also a hilarious pic that will be on facebook. Next we hit the main shopping district, which was very similar to Copenhagen's. Street vendors, department stores, small stores, and street performers. I did manage to pick up my remaining gifts for Gregg and Emily. We also saw random monuments dedicated to various figures of the Irish Rebellion and several old buildings with neat architecture. Tomorrow I think we are going on some official tours rather than just walking around Dublin.

Ireland Day 2

Friday, December 14, 2007

Not too much to blog about today. Still battling with jetlag, went to bed at 1 and woke up at 6 (weird). Mom and Emily went hill climbing about 8, but I wasn't up for it, so I continued to watch cricket. Addicted and clueless. 10a.m. rolled around and I took another long nap, waking up at 4:30 to watch more tv. NHL is really big over here for some reason. We watched Are You Smarter than a 10 Year Old rather than Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader because the school system is different over here. Little differences like that tickle my fancy for some reason, maybe I should have gone into sociology, haha! They have a channel devoted to people playing games, not like G4 where they review games, but actually watching people play games. Mario Strikers was the game today, complete with real time commentary...I guess there really is a market for anything! The advertisements in Ireland are pretty risque, most of which wouldn't be seen in the states. Also, a bunch of them break the mold and don't seem to have much to do with whatever product they are selling. Case in point, this Cadbury ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzFRV1LwIo How does that sell chocolate? I don't even know but that is why marketing is so fascinating. This ad apparently boosted Cadbury sales by 6%. Incredible. Tomorrow Gregg flies in for two weeks. We'll have the whole family for Christmas again! That hasn't happened in a few years due to Gregg being in the Navy. If he handles jetlag better than I do we will probably go into town, so that will be fun. If not we'll have another quiet day in the apartment, but Sunday we have big tour plans. Plenty to talk about then!

Ireland Day 1

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Another Christmas abroad, another reason to update Xanga! I'll be using it as a travel diary again as I did last year in Copenhagen. Em and I just arrived in Howth, a "suburb" of Dublin where Mom and Dad live in a nice cozy apartment overlooking the sea and two islands. Beach front property, you can actually hear the waves crashing. I suspect jetlag will soon catch up with me, we left Atlanta around 9:30p.m. flew for about 7 hours, and thanks to the magic of timezones, landed at about 9:30a.m. Ireland is 5 hours off the eastern coast. The actual flight was pretty smooth, no real troubles except for my inability to sleep on airplanes. The inflight movies were Stardust, which was awesome, and Mr. Bean's Holiday, which I tried to sleep through. I love Rowan Atkinson, but a full length Mr. Bean feature is just too much. The lighting in the apartment is super screwy. There are "zones" and every switch is located in the hallway. IF you are in the kitchen and it's dark, you have to go to the hallway, push the knob for kitchen, then flip the switch. Goofy. The shower has a temperature gauge though, that's pretty neat. That's it for now, more updates if the family does something today. I should probably nap... Update! I took a nice 4 hour nap around noon and was ready to walk around the harbor with Mom and Em. It is a pretty quaint town, their claim to fame is fish. Fish N Chips shops, fish mongers, fish markets, fish processing plants, fish whatever, they have it. At the end of one of the stone piers, and I got a huge kick out of this, were two footprints chiseled into the stone. Apparently it is King George the 4th's foot prints, but you would never know. No plaque, no ropes, no nuthin. Just random chiseled feet. (Mine are bigger!) After getting some awesome fish n chips we head back to the apartment and started watching TV. We found a program that showed the video of the best song of the Christmas season from 1977-2007...we couldn't get through all of it, just too terrible so we started watching Challenge, the game show network here. British Who Wants to be a Millionaire was hilarious, the host was much funnier than Regis or the girl and the contestants don't put up with the suspense crap. Since I'm on the subject of TV, I made an attempt to watch a Cricket match earlier in the day, and while intrigued, I had no idea what was going on. Crazy game. That just about sums up the first day in Ireland, who knows what tomorrow will bring, but I suspect a ton of walking, just like in Copenhagen.

End of Denmark Trip

Monday, January 01, 2007

Too furious/tired for a real update. How does an airline lose 20 bags?!?!?! and of course, our 4 were part of those 20. rabble rabble rabble!

Denmark Day 12

Sunday, December 31, 2006

Day 12: Happy New Year everybody! Man what an amazing experience here in Copenhagen. It will be hard to put into words but I'll give it a go. We didn't do much during the day, but it sun set around 4. 5:30ish we start hearing fireworks go off, it sounds like the city is at war! Huge explosion sounds, but no dazzle in the sky, which was kinda odd. We wandered around for 30 minutes and decided to come back inside since we couldn't see anything. About 15 min til 9 the sound really picks up. I mean it is just astounding, I've never heard anything like it, so we decide to go out on another adventure. This time we decided to make the 30 min trek to the major square in town to celebrate. On our way we did see a couple fireworks go off in the air. When we got to the square, we saw probably the most retarded people I've ever seen. The were firing fireworks off at the ground, which just screaming until they hit people in the feet or they jumped out of the way. The amazing thing was nobody cared and just kept walking! It was absolutely incredible. There would have been at least 10 law suits in the States. The same group, who looked Middle Eastern (they like blowing stuff up right?) also fired mortar type fireworks at the ground that were making the ridiculously loud noises with little razzle dazzle. There were also fireworks that detonated no more than 5 feet off the ground. Pretty intense! We watched them til around 10, then went into a hotel bar for New Year's drinks cuz it was soo cold outside. We sought refuge in the bar til 11:30 ish when we noticed the square which was relatively empty when we got there almost filled to the brink. There must have been well over 3,000 people there. We got in a group of about 300 on the side of the street and just started watching an awesome display. Trouble is, there is no official display by official or anything, it is just a bunch of maniacs with thousands of dollars of fireworks having a good time. Probably drunk too. One firework exploded right in front of Emily's face and singed probably 20 people. Another two fireworks went off within 2 feet of where we were standing. Incredible experience. On a side note, this marks the 3rd time in 5 years I've been hit with a firework on New Year's Eve. So I know that didn't do the atmosphere any justice, but it was simply too incredible to capture with words. This has been the best New Year's Eve I've ever experienced, and it will be hard to top it. It was just amazing. Simply amazing. Today was also the last day of the trip, we fly out early tomorrow morning. I'm thinking about doing a summary entry of my entire experience tomorrow when I get home, but that would probably be the last entry for awhile as nothing else I do is really interesting enough to write down. hehe. I appreciate anyone who read these.

Denmark Day 11

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Day 11 A few tidbits I want to talk about before delving into my day: 1. Every day we walk by a bookstore that has 3 window displays devoted to L. Ron Hubbard...I sure hope scientology is not big over here. And 2, they give out free samples of alcohol in the supermarket. Mom had some red vine, but no one else tried the rum and coke or gin that was also available. Pretty odd. Anyway, on to Helsingor! Today we took the train to Helsingor. The train took us up the coast, so we had a view of the coastline, woods, small towns, and sprawling estates. Man the weather was bleak and rainy, which was worse since we were right on the shoreline. Helsingor is not the name of the castle, it is the name of the town. I didn't know that. The actual castle is called Kronborg Slot, and is the setting for Shakespeare's Hamlet as well as being 3 separate museums. First, we saw the Royal Chambers. It was pretty grand and neat and all, but slightly disappointing because it had been redone after a fire in the 1600 or 1700s. Instead of ornate marble floors and fancy ceilings, we had plain wood floors and a still impressive ceiling with paintings, although they were stucco. The best part was that most of the exhibits were only half there, with signs stating 5 out of the 16 tapestries are in the Swedish museum taken as spoils of one of the countless wars between the two countries. You could even see Sweden from the shore, the distance between the two is miniscule. The second museum was the maritime museum. I wasn't too interested in the history of Danish ships, but it was still a neat place. We saw some bits on the company my dad is working for, so that was pretty cool. Finally, and my favorite part, was the dungeon! You had to buy a flashlight because it was too dark to see! We also found a statue erected in honor of Holger Danske, who is the big mythological protector of Denmark. I got a good picture of the awesome shrine and also a small statue as a keepsake. But yeah, the dungeon was pretty spectacular. After finishing up at the castle, we grabbed some lunch at a chinese place and then decided to check out the rest of Helsingor. Unfortunately, we learned that most of the shops closed at 2pm on Saturday (really bizare) and we got out of the castle around 2:30. Most unfortunate, so we just got back on the train and traveled the 40 minutes back to Copenhagen. All in all, a great day, even if the weather was lousy. It certainly was a good day for ducks.

Denmark Day 10

Friday, December 29, 2006

Day 10: We scratched Helsignor for today, postponed til tomorrow because it is only open until 3:30 during the winter and we had a late start. Instead, we took the subway, which was very very clean, to a neighboring city and toured the zoo. It was a good zoo, odd, but good. The animals all posed for pictures, which was neat, but a little odd... but the weirdest part about the whole zoo were the recipes next to the pens. For real, there was a picture and directions for how to make a reindeer pie pinned to the reindeer fence. Zoo sponsored and everything, we saw about 5 or 6 of these recipes to various animals. Llamas is the only other one I can remember off the top of my head. Another odd part of the zoo was the children's petting zoo. Apart from Emily and I getting attacked by an Icelandic Pony, we saw a box with pictures of animals. When you lifted up a part of the animal, it had what you could make out of them! Lift up the head of a duck and there was a pillow. There was a roast duck picture underneath the body of the duck, a steak under the cow, and so on...Truly a bizare zoo. Weirdest one I've ever been in. On the way home we stopped at a mall. I only mention this because it added to the oddness of the outing. The escalators were not stairs, just a moving slope downwards or upwards. Very odd. Tomorrow we are finally going to Helsignor

Denmark Day 9

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Day 9: More shopping! Pretty sure I am completely done shopping for everybody now, and even bought myself a nice stein for hot chocolate. The only other thing we did today was eat at a pretty nice streak house. I think we've pretty much done almost everything you can do in Copenhagen, so tomorrow we are taking the train north to see Helsignor. Should be a fun day filled with history and Shakespeare, courtesy of mom the tour guide. More details tomorrow!

Denmark Day 8

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Day 8: I forgot to mention this yesterday, but all the Christmas decorations on the streets and lamp posts are gone. Christmas is over in Denmark, unlike in America where it keeps going until late January. hehe Today we walked to Rosenslot, the castle where they keep the Danish treasury and the crown jewels. We only got to see 3 rooms of the main castle, even though the guidebook said all 24 rooms on 3 floors should be open to the public. Must be closed for the winter or something. There were paintings on the walls, not hung on the walls, but actually painted onto the wood walls and ceilings. Lots of looking up, but nowhere near as impressive as Versailles. The treasury room was neat, lots of swords and necklaces and stuff like that. The crown jewels were almost as exquisites as England's, but the security was much less rigid. You can actually go up right next to the case and look down at the crown, in England you can't get that close. The castle is billed as a "fairy tale castle" with a moat and huge courtyard/garden. After Rosenslot Dad, Em, and Mom decided to go see the Danish Geology museum. I wasn't in the mood to look at rocks and was a little under the weather, so I walked home early all by myself and didn't get lost! For those of you unaware, my sense of direction is awful and I have gotten lost on circular walkways before. I was impressed I made it back in one piece. Currently watching a bootlegged copy of The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. We couldn't turn the subtitles off, so we put them in English...wow they are so awful. Definately a pirated film, but it should make it even more awesome. "That my house how does" and "I look a lot of coming over" are just some examples of the awful subtitles. I'm in stitches..

Denmark Day 7

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Day 7 How are the Europeans so fit?? They eat a ton! Today we met with some of Dad's work associates who own a house a few towns over from Copenhagen. We got to ride the train!... I like trains. The view wasn't much, just a bleak country side with small towns dotted here and there, but I guess that is better than always seeing concrete. Weather plays a factor too, would be beautiful in the spring. We did have a bit of a scare at the train station however. We were supposed to meet up with an Argentine couple and go together to the house as guests...but we had no idea what the couple looked like! We ended up calling them on cellphones when they were like 10 feet away. Pretty funny. They were looking for an American couple with small children. So with that sorted out we were able to get on the correct train without a problem. We also met a small old man on the train who tried to teach mom the Danish pronounciations of the towns we were passing through. That was pretty funny. The language here has a few extra letters and some that aren't pronounced the same way. It is also, for the most part, not phoentic. Very guttural, who words having 6 or so letters tacked on the end with no vowels. Dad jokes that that is when you swallow, and the sound of the gulp is the sound of the last half of the words. hehe After exchanging pleasntries when we arrived we sat down to another multi course meal. It was soo much food! I did try the traditional Danish alcohol, akvavite. Delicious, similar to vodka but actually has a flavor! hehe. I plan on bringing back at least one bottle to share with friends. Through conversation we learned that the Danish do not have a word for please, which at first struck me as odd, but then made sense with my other observations of them in action. The trip and meal took all day, so not much else to talk about. Back to sightseeing tomorrow. Legoland is closed for the winter, opens in spring, makes me very sad.

Denmark Day 6

Monday, December 25, 2006

Day 6: Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a Xanga update! hehe. Still quiet in Denmark, but not as quiet as yesterday. Lots of families with children with their new toys walking about. Didn't really do much today besides dinner, it has just been a relaxing time. Watched a couple Christmas specials on the BBC which were hysterical, gotta love British comedy! and in one instance we were "lucky" enough to catch a Danish Christmas Eve extravaganza type show...let me tell you, the choreographed break dancing/disco Santas really pushed it over the edge into fabulously bad. hehe. There have got to be a dozen churches in the vicinity of dad's apartment, you can hear beautiful bells every hour or so. The 8:00 ones are actually dad's alarm clock! On to dinner. My goodness it was grandiose. I wore a tie and everything, really pish posh restaurant. Mom had a 4 course meal and they brought new silverware for each meal and explained everything that was prepared on the dishes as they presented them. It was really high class. Dad, Em, and I had Lobster Bisque and Veal, and those dishes with Mom's 4 course meal and our drinks costs a little under 3200 Kroner...which is almost $550! Wow!!! Water is not free in Denmark, and you have to order it "still" because the default choice is carbonated or "sparkling". It was just an unreal dinner. It even lasted 3 hours! We are currently watching the Dallas Cowboys take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Danish. The commentary is really funny. Lots of Danish with "touchdown" and "incomplete pass" and other phrases in English snuck in. They scream at every exciting play, so much funnier in Danish than in English. hehe. We plan on resuming some site seeing tomorrow and actually taking a train out of the major city. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!!

Denmark Day 5

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Day 5: Merry Christmas Eve everybody!! Copenhagen is very quiet. The whole city has been dead since I woke up. In fact, Dad had to buy croissants at 7-11 because the local cafes and bakeries are all closed today. Christmas Eve is much more important to the Danes than Christmas Day is, and they cherish family time. After breakfast we went out on another walk, seeing was we could do. The hustle and bustle was non existant, no one was crowding the side walks and very few bikes were speeding down the bike lane. All the small shops, the cafes, the pedestrian district, and even the mega department stores were all closed. No last minute shopping in this city! The big square we live near also has an ice skating park, with a small ice oval (think hockey rink style ice, not real ice) circling a statue. It was open and we watched some cute Danish children slip and slide. There are a few of these ice parks in Denmark apparantly. With shopping out of the question, we picked a street and started meandering, looking for some sights. We did manage to find the Danish Parliament buildings and Reception Rooms, which, although dirty, were pretty magnificent. Seeing them white washed would've been amazing. Lots of the historical buildings here are grimy and filthy on the outside, it would be awesome to see them all cleaned. We also toured some more churches with magnificient architecture. Since all the restaurants that do not require a reservation were closed, we had the magnificent Christmas Eve feast of peanut butter (that we brought for dad cuz it is impossible to find here), crackers, and the remaining warm ham and cheese croissants from 7-11. Even the small street sausage vendors are closed! Tomorrow we did manage to book a reservation at a fancy Danish restaurant, since Christmas Eve is more important to them, and they had plenty of open spots. I'm looking forward to seeing what a traditional Christmas feast in Denmark looks and tastes like. I am still blown away by everything being closed (except restaurants, but they only open at 5) today. One sure can notice the cultural differences.

Denmark Day 4

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Day 4: Today we had our first Danishes...crispy crust with chocolate icing. They were tasty, but a little too sweet, we will have to try a different vairety next time. Then we relaxed for a bit since it was the weekend and tried to watch a little TV. The Danes like the name "Peter" as both Curious George and Winnie the Pooh are renamed Peter here. Pretty odd. Later we went to Christianhavn, the "hippy" center of Copenhagen. I don't know what mom expected, but it was pretty slummy. On our way, however, we had some awesome lunch at a restaurant that was in the guide book. We received a menu entirely in English, no Danish, and a waiter that was pretty much fluent, so I think it might have been a tourist trap. The food was excellent though, I had smoked pork, and the prices were not atrocious, so maybe not. After eating we continued walking (my legs are killing me) towards Christianhavn and saw a church with a large black steeple/staircase. The view from the steeple as well as the inside of the church are supposeded to be remarkable...but the entire thing was closed for extensive renonvations. We did get to see the signature feature on all buildings across Europe...Scaffording! hehe. So the trip ended in disappointment as the commune was not at all impressive and the church was closed. One thing I've noticed is that the Danish people are always on the go. They are a very fast and busy people. They drive fast, but are very pedestrian friendly. The pedestrians, on the other hand, are not very friendly. People bustle about and there is a lot of ducking and weaving through shoulders. If you try to get out of the way, you run the risk of getting run over by a bike in the bike lane! The sidewalks are about twice as wide as in America, but the pedestrian traffic is 3 or 4 times as much since every one walks here.

Denmark Day 3

Friday, December 22, 2006

Day 3: Jet lag is still winning the fight, but I'm starting to get onto a schedule. Today started off with a big let down. The Christmas market was really lame and had nothing worth buying. It was a colossal disappointment because I was hoping to find authentic Danish items for gifts. It was situated on a pretty part of the harbor though, if you Google images of Copenhagen, that area is usually the first that will pop up. Very colorful houses on either side of a canal filled with small ships. Slightly discouraged, we ended up going back to the main pedestrian center with all the small boutiques and major shopping centers. Got some good shopping done this time. We did lunch at McDonalds, and wow! what a cultural difference. It was totally the hot hang out spot for teenagers, lots of couples. Seemed like a date place. It was also super busy (we waited in line for like 15 min...) There was 3 stories, which was good because they place at no less than 100 people in it when we left. It was just an odd cultural difference. Also, since it is in a pedestrian district, instead of a drive through they have the McExpress, which is a walk through. Fantastic Idea, people just waiting in line outside, bought their Big N Tasty, and went on their way. The last interesting thing I noticed at Mcdonalds was the dessert menu. In addition to McFluries, they had the McDonuts (no joke) and Triple Chocolate Muffins. It was worth eating lunch there, even though they only have a handful of choices. The Danes are very health oriented. We also saw a lot of street vendors today. Kids playing instruments both well and poorly, a funny British juggler on a unicycle (he was a good showman), and some pleasant violin groups. When dad got home we went to a place called Tivoli Gardens. It is supposedly one of 1000 places you need to see before you die. It was pretty awesome, very similar to a 6 flags, only Christmas themed, less rides, and more small boutiques. In fact, 6 flags got inspiration from Tivoli. We arrived just in time to see a spectacular lazer light show. The way the lights interacted with the fountains was remarkable. Luckily, Emmy caught some on video, so I hope to get that uploaded when we get back home. It was neat place, worth going to for anyone interested in going to Demark. Lots of small Christmas shops were I bought some more authentic Danish Christmas characters. I can't imagine what Copenhagen looks like during the summer months. There are huge, ornate, and beautiful fountains in almost every square, but they are not turned on during the winter.

Denmark Day 2

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Day 2: ...Jet lag sucks! and the clock in Dad's apartment is also wrong, so I've been really disoriented with time. I went to bed around 11:30, woke up at 3am, went online at 4am, fell asleep around 5:30 or 6? then got up at 11:30 to go sightseeing. Mom, Emmy, and I went on a nice long walk near the harbor. We saw a lot of cool statues, mostly devoted to Mercury and Neptune, and then one honoring Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid fairy tale. Saw some cool old buildings, a few palaces and statues of previous monarchs aswell. Afterwards, we had our first authentic Danish food for lunch, Smorretrod, I think. It is an open face sandwich with pretty much unlimited toppings. Mom had shrimp, I had sausage, and Em had cheese. It was pretty delicious. The main problem I've encountered will Denmark so far is the hours that stores are open. Most shops are open 11-6 (the Danes really enjoy a quiet evening) and Dad gets off work at 5:30, so it is hard to go out at night as a family. Luckily, since it is Christmas week, some major stores are open til 8. These were pretty much general department stores however, and didn't have anything unique or worth buying. Tomorrow we are going to a Danish Christmas market, so I can pick up a lot of traditional gifts for my friends. Since we had most of the evening to kill, we looked up some myths and monarchial history on wikipedia. They have a pretty cute Christmas story. Nissers (the Scandinavian form of Elves) are very helpful to farmers, but are also mischevious and will turn on them if they are not respected. Farmers have to put a bowl of rice pudding in the hay loft or else they will get bad luck. Nissers also only appear to children. This myth also trickled down to urban Denmark, and children have to behave or else the Nissers will play tricks on them. Look up monarchs of Denmark if you are bored. My favorite is "Erik the Lame" son of Erik the Memorable and grandson of Erik the Kind. Somebody in that family dropped the ball... hehe. Dad has satellite, and some of the titles we get are hilarious. Chip og Chog (Chip and Dale), Batman of the Future (Batman Beyond) and Van the Man (Van Wilder). There's also a lot of soccer and winter sports highlights, which is refreshing because you don't see much of that in the States. No snow yet, but also no rain, apparantly it has been an awfully rainy season so far. We've been lucky to have good weather.

Old travel blog posts

I've decided to manually copy/paste entries from an old blog that I stopped using except for travel stories. Makes sense to have all my written travels in one place, here goes!

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

I'm spending two weeks in Denmark for Christmas break.

Day 1:

Flying KLM rocks! Those Dutch sure do know how to treat ya. Best airline food, good service, free wine for mom...good stuff. The flight was about 8 hours, and then we had a connection flight in Amsterdam to Copenhagen that was a little over an hour. I didn't sleep much on the flights (never can) so when we got to dad's apartment it was definatly nap time.

After napping for 4ish hours and trying to get over jet lag, we went walking around the city. I could totally see myself living here or in Copenhagen or in a similar European city. Bikes everywhere, few cars, pedestrian zones and small boutiques everywhere. Small markets too...lots of pickled hering (seems to be a staple here). Really cozy feel. We ended up eating at a Mexican restaurant, of all places, where I ordered...Fish and Chips. That's right, we went to Denmark to eat an English staple at a Mexican restaurant. Awesome stuff! The Danish language is pretty strange, but most people understand English.

The Fanta tastes like Orangegina (sp?) from France, which was an odd surprise. Everything is also really expensive. Even though they are in the EU, Denmark prefers to use its own currency, the Kroner, rather than the Euro. It's roughly 6 Kroner to the Dollar, and our 4 person meal cost 555 Kroner...plus tip that's roughly 100 bucks. Yikes! High cost of living.

So yeah, really haven't done much, just a little walking and taking in the atmosphere. Should be an awesome trip.

Mount Vernon & Texas State Society Ball

1/19
More mass transit problems! Today Becca, her mom, and I decided to check out George Washington's home, Mount Vernon, for a couple of hours, then return to the hotel and get ready for the evening's festivities. There is a subway stop named Mount Vernon Square, but Mount Vernon is nowhere near it. It is, in fact, one stop in the opposite direction of our hotel stop, so we ended up wasting about an hour on the subway.
We ate lunch at a restaurant at Mount Vernon, I think it was called the Inn at Mount Vernon. I had duck and sausage cassoulet with hot cider...with some brandy to warm us up! Afterward we meandered around the estate. The line to tour the actual house was too long and we did not have the time to wait in it, but we still managed to have a fun time with all the peripherals, including a 16 sided barn, slave quarters, and a forest trail. I learned that George was the only founding father not to die massively in debt. We left Mount Vernon around 2:30 after I bought some root beer for my collection (that makes 32!) and took a cab back to the hotel to get ready
The parents, Becca, and I rode in a limo to the Gaylord Hotel where the ball was being held. We arrived around 5:30, but most of the festivities did not start until 7. Becca's parents split to go to their fancy dinner and we were left to wander. It was boring at first, but as the clock ticked closer to 7, more and more rooms and activities opened. There was a lot of live country music, which really isn't my thing, but it certainly was tolerable. Dinner was marginal- finger foods and hors'doevers. They weren't bad, but I expected something a little more fancy. I guess that is what the Sponsors' Dinner was for. All the booze was free though, which certainly was a plus.
After dinner, Becca and I wandered around the Texas Fair, which was a bunch of booths set up with various items. We picked up some swag from NASA and free samples of chocolate and cheese. The cheese was the best thing I had eaten all night!
Somewhere along the line we met up with her parents again, then went to go see Neal McCoy play and attempt some moderate dancing.
The limo driver was an old contact of Becca's dad, so we were able to ride all the way back to Northern Baltimore to Kristi's apartment in the limo!
The evening was a blast and everyone had a good time.
The trip as a whole was really fun and it was great to see Kristi again. Thanks a lot playing chauffer and letting us crash at your apartment!

Lazy day

1/18 We didn't do much today, it was a pretty lazy day, and I really can't remember any specific details right now except that we decided that getting to DC would be a logistical nightmare the next morning and that it was easier to crash at Becca's parents' hotel room that night instead. We had a bit of a scare on the subway, however. When we changed lines the from the Green to Yellow, there was no sign telling us what time our new train was arriving, it just had Green line trains posted. The Yellow train did show up right on time though, which was a relief. We certainly had a good amount of mass transit problems and confusion this trip. We got to the hotel in one piece and I quickly passed out.

Day in DC

1-17

Today we got a much earlier start, and set off finding a way to DC with confidence. Unfortunately, after several minutes of hunting around on several transit websites, we came to the conclusion that the MARC was not running today, so our previous plan of catching the light rail to Camden Yards and then hopping on the MARC and taking that to the DC Metro was foiled. Instead, Kristi agreed to drive us to the nearest DC Metro station, about an hour away, so we could start our DC adventure.

Our first adventure in DC was at the botanical gardens. Pretty plants and at some points an overwhelmingly pungent smell. Becca could smell it through her congestion! Afterwards, we made a brief stop in front of the Capitol Building. Plenty of porta-potties to liven up photo opportunities!

Our next stop was the Air and Space Museum, where we explored the Universe and the Space Race. Towards the end of the exhibits, Becca spotted star dust, which were remnants of a dying star that were transported to earth on a meteorite. The star dust was older than the solar system! We ate lunch in the Air and Space Museum fast food cafeteria and then continued our day with a journey to the National Natural History Museum. The 3D IMAX experience was highlighting creatures of the deep, narrated by Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, so it was a must sea! The way they portrayed 3D jellyfish was incredible. I highly recommend this IMAX to anyone who likes that sort of stuff. We also saw the Hope Diamond and spent a fair amount of time in the gem hall looking at cool rocks and minerals before thoroughly enjoying the other exhibits, including the ocean, mammals, dinosaurs, and the insect house, sponsored by Orkin.

By this time it was dark and most of the museums were closed, so we headed out to the monuments.  We got a little lost, but in the end managed to find the new WWII monument. We also noticed a commotion brewing at the Lincoln Memorial. There were 5 or so large screen TVs, each playing U2. I thought for sure they were just tapes, but as we got closer it turned out that Bono and the Edge were in fact live onstage! We listened to two and a half songs before they stopped their sound checking or whatever they were doing. It was awesome and random that we got to see U2 live!!

We wandered around after that to find a metro station, and when we finally got back to Baltimore I ordered a fantastic seafood medley Philly cheesesteaks from a local place called Big Cheese and Becca got a cold cut Italian sandwich.

Baltimore/DC Inauguration trip Day 1

We arrived in Baltimore close to 9pm after the flight was delayed an hour. The in-flight movie was Nights in Rodanthe, which I did not watch. Kristi and Rob were very kind and let us crash at their apartment in northern Baltimore since looking for hotels in DC was a nightmare.

1/16-

Becca and I decided to take a day trip to DC using Baltimore's public transportation, which would have worked fine if we understood how the trains ran. Even with Kristi's directions we ended up frozen on a platform. Apparently we had to take the light rail to a stop, cross the tracks, then get on the light rail heading specifically to Penn Station, to catch the MARC to the DC metro. Well, we managed to get off, cross the tracks, then we didn't wait long enough for the specific light rail and just got back on the regular light rail. After freezing at another station, we decided to just call it quits and head back to the stop closest to Kristi's place. 

Becca spotted a Chipotle, and claimed that her lunch burrito salvaged the trip.

By this time it was late afternoon, so Kristi joined us as we decided to head to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. It was really cool. In addition to sea creatures, the aquarium had a baby two-toed sloth. We caught the dolphin show, which was really spectacular. 

Afterwards we met up with Rob and headed to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner...I had the ribs, no surprise there, and I snagged a t-shirt for my collection.

We ended the night playing the Wii, and made plans to go to DC in the morning for some quality sightseeing. 

Jan 2nd- Casino time!

Today was the last full day in Boston for Paul and myself, so Blake, Paul, and I (KT had to work) headed down to Foxwoods so Paul could get a taste of gambling. I won $120 early...but ended the night $150 in the hole...I've learned when to stop now. The most unfortunate part was that I was playing a slot machine, and I could just feel that the bonus round was coming up soon if I kept plugging at it. Well, I ran out of money, Paul took over, and on his third spin the bonus hit...sigh...

We returned to Boston, met up with KT and had a magnificent sushi dinner that Paul gracious payed for with "his"winnings (just kidding Paul, that's just the way things go sometimes). We ended up ordering an absurd 100 piece sushi combo...and between the 4 of us actually finished it! Then we took a nice 20 min walk to a tapioca tea house to help kick start the digestion.  Afterwards we all went home to lie down!

New Year's Day Mishaps and Blunders

Today I had set aside for some sightseeing, but I hadn't planned on most things being closed for the holiday. Blake and I did manage to get out to Walden Pond to see the site of Henry David Thoreau, which was pretty neat. The site was about 1/8 of the way around the pond, but when we got there we estimated that it was halfway, so instead of turning around we decided to walk around the whole pond...wouldn't be a day with Blake if some mishap wasn't involved!

After a cold long walk we headed out to Lexington to see the site where the "shot heard round the world" happened to start the war for independence. The Olde Manse was also in the area.

After sightseeing with Blake, I had plans to eat dinner with Kara. She recommended a pizzeria called Regina Pizzeria, which is supposedly famous in Boston. Getting to this place proved to be quite problematic however.

First off, Kara was late picking me up because she went on auto pilot and drove to her grandparents' house instead of Blake's apartment. Then, thanks to terrible MapQuest directions, we proceded to drive over the same two bridges 7 times in a series of U turns and turnabouts looking for the restaurant. About an hour and a half later we arrived! The extra time give us a lot of opportunity to catch up though. We split one of the best pizzas I've ever had, which made the trip worth it. From here, the night gets even more nuts.

Blake had gone to eat dinner with the friends we celebrated New Year's Eve with, and then from there gone to another friend's to watch a movie, and I had no access to his apartment. Rather than barge in, Kara and I drove around looking for a bar or place to hang out near Blake's apartment. After failing to find such a place, we were invited to watch the movie. The friend lived around Harvard, but apparently Kara only had an inkling of where that was. After much more driving around, including another bridge, we ended in Cambridge, and parked in front of what looked like college buildings, gave Blake our location, and waited for him to come so we could follow him back. Many phone calls later, and after Blake had driven all through Harvard looking for us, we realized we were actually at MIT! By the time Blake found us the movie idea was pretty much over, so Kara headed back to her place and I went with Blake.

Throughout the whole thing I had a blast with Kara though, so the ordeal was more funny than irritating.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve can only be summed up as uproarious. Leading up to the fun, however, was not. Instead of doing some sight seeing we ran errands, which took way to long due to complications with KT's gift card, then we headed to one of her and Blake's friends for dinner and game night before heading out to downtown to catch the fireworks at midnight.

Dinner was all vegetarian, not because anyone is a vegetarian, but because they do not like to cook meat...it was surprisingly delicious. We played a memory pattern card game called Set, that I picked up decently well, then we headed to downtown, where the real fun begins...

I had unfortunately forgotten my large coat with the subway pass in it, but luckily the trains were free for the holiday. Unfortunately, it was 9 degrees out and I was only in a USC sweatshirt.  We walked around a park and saw some cool ice sculptures while killing time while waiting for the fireworks. 10:30 rolls around and we hear an announcement that the fireworks were canceled!! So yeah, freezing in downtown Boston for no real reason.

We trekked back to the friends' house and watched the ball drop at Times Square. Good times were had when we were not freezing outside, haha

Happy New Year everyone!