Christmas in Berlin!

I’ve never missed a family Christmas before. It’s my (and Paul’s) favorite time of the year. The best part being my whole family always comes together for one night filled with Christmas music, presents, and pasta. However, the idea of celebrating Christmas in another country has always been appealing to me. Luckily, I wasn’t the only one longing for some Christmas cheer. I had previous met this guy Kalen in Amsterdam and we'd made plans to meet up again in Berlin. In fact, upon my arrival to the hostel, Singer 109 (just thought I’d mention it’s been the best/cheapest hostel I’ve stayed in all trip), he came strolling through the doors too, as he had checked in the day before and was off seeing the sights. Already being pretty late, we decided to leave the planning for what to do for Christmas until tomorrow, Christmas Eve, and just get a good night sleep, which he nor Paul and I had experienced in awhile. The next day was a busy one. The game plan was this: see the sights, buy whatever we needed for our make-shift Christmas dinner, see more sights, and then celebrate. Our first destination was the Berlin Wall. Now I don’t know about you, but when I thought of the saying, “Tear down this wall,” I was under the impression that the whole wall was torn down except for a little section. Nope, I was wrong on many levels. First off, there are 3 parts of the wall remaining. Kalen being the artsy type, and because of its close proximity to the hostel, we chose to see the East Side Gallery, a part of the wall that has been decorated with detailed graffiti. After walking along the side of a long thin wall with graffiti all over it, we realized it was the Berlin Wall. Why did we not realize it earlier? Probably because it stretched the entire length of the street and we had no idea it would be that long. After walking it in full and signing the backside, we decided it would be best to get the food and supplies for our Christmas dinner before everything closed at 2:00pm. On the way back we spotted a Christmas tree sale and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try and drag a dismal looking tree into the hostel. This attempt at true Christmas spirit however was foiled by the salesman, who, on Christmas Eve, wanted 20 euro for one of the crappiest trees I’ve ever seen. Not happening. After this, we just went to the discount store and stocked up on cereal, cookies, crackers, cheese, and bailey’s for our Christmas coffee. This was good, but we were still missing one thing, the presents. With a 1 Euro Store juxtapose to us, we agreed on buying and exchanging gifts at 12:00am Christmas Day. After basically being kicked out of the stores so they could close, we hurried back to the hostel to put our supplies away and see the rest of the major sights in central Berlin. We passed the Berlin Dome and the Arch and made as far as the building where Hitler made most of his speeches. It was a weird feeling standing out in the field opposite where Hitler’s podium would be positioned. When we got back to the hostel, it was time to celebrate. Long story short, the night went flawlessly and the staff was loving it. On the schedule for our last day was to try and get to as many museums as possible. Known as "museum isle," Berlin has quite a collection of artifacts from around the world. However, much to our dismay, Paul was taken by security every time. Now, I'm not going to describe everything I saw, but the egyptian exhibit was pretty awesome (finally being able to see Cleopatra's head was dream come true). After a couple more museums, Paul and I met up with Kalen and another guy from the hostel at the German History Museum for the new Hitler exhibit. We all agreed it could've been better, but it was still interesting. When we returned to the hostel, everyone started packing again. Kalen left for his overnight train and I stayed up all night to make a early train. That was a bad idea....

What's That Smell? Oh it's Just Amsterdam

Along with some new friends from Brussels, Paul and I left for Amsterdam. We had no idea what to expect. It was smooth sailing until we were notified that we would have to get off the train in some middle of nowhere town called Rosendaal because of work being done on the rails. Luckily, we had met a guy going the same direction as us who knew what he was doing. From Rosendaal we board a bus which took us to another station. From there, we caught a train straight to Amsterdam. I'm just going to say it now, Amsterdam is awesome. Now, in order to maintain the integrity of this blog, I will not be going into detail about certain aspects of Amsterdam, for example, the Red Light District and coffeeshops (where one can legally purchase marijuana and smoke). I actually still don't understand some of the laws regarding these anyway. If you want to know about them, ask me personally and I will tell you some stories. Anyways, escape from the hustle and bustle and the smell of pot and you find yourself in an amazing city surrounded by canals and and artistic genius. Even in the winter, the setting of the city is perfect. The houses line the water side, the bikers still pass on driving dispite the snow, and the graffiti covers the vancant walls for urban feel. Paul and I couldn't wait to just get out and start walking around, even if there were large shards of ice floating through the canal. On our first real day of exploring the city, Paul and I decided to first find the I AM-STERDAM monument. To our surprise, there are more than one in the city. However, the one we found was located conveniently in a random courtyard right around the corner from our hostel. After a couple pictures, we moved on past the under contruction Royal Palace in Dam Square to find Anne Frank's house. We didn't feel like going in at the time, but I went back the next day because I've been curious about how the family lived for awhile now. I hate to say it, but it could've been better. The idea of having quotes from Anne's diary on the walls of the house is a great idea, but most of the time, you're just walking through empty rooms with just a couple pictures, objects, or a short video. It was deffinitely not worth 8 euro. That being said, I'm glad I went back because it was very eye opening to how the house was actually set up. After some more wandering, that was really the extent of our day. The next day Paul and I were on our own. After some initial wandering and a quick stop at the Hemp Museum (which basically just stated every practical use of hemp and marijuana throughout history to the present), we made our way to the Van Gogh Museum which was located on the outskirts of the central Amsterdam. I really see no reason to talk about this place. Personally, I wasn't impressed. I mean, I like art as much as the next guy, and I have a general appreciation for Van Gogh as a genius, but this place didn't even have his most famous pieces. In fact, half the museum was other artists work. It was a waste of time. This of course was followed by more wandering and exploring of the multiple canals and shops that make Amsterdam so beautiful. Then, before I knew it, I was planning on meeting some random guy I met in my hostel named Kalen in Berlin the next day. Amsterdam is just funny like that. Its different from any place I've ever been to. Sexuality, homosexuality, marijuana, etc., they're just out there and right in your face. I was shocked by what shops are allowed to put in their windows, especially around the Red Light District. However, no one seems to mind. Its just imbedded in their culture. Its the norm. I really don't know how else to explain it. The one thing that still amazes me is how families, with young children, go here for family vacations. Its just not an appropriate atmosphere for youngsters.

These Ain't No Eggo-Waffels

Up until now, Paul and I have successfully accomplished the many excursions we had set out to. However, this next quest would pose the greatest challenge we've had to face all year. We could not leave Belguim without finding the perfect the waffel (they have another name in Belgium, but of course I can't remember it and didn't try to pronounce it anyway so its not important). Although staying in a less-touristy city would have helped with the authenticity of the famous Belguim waffels, we ended up traveling to Brussels mainly because it was the capital and easy to get to. After settling in at our hostel, which smelled like poop 24/7, we decided to start our epic taste test with a quick waffel dinner down the street. It set the bar high in terms of taste, but it was a little more expensive than what we had expected (I forget the name of the place). Paul and I then came to the conclusion that this waffel shop was yet another tourist trap and did not produce the perfect waffel. It was good, but not almost 6 euro good. The next day we started our travels with another waffel. However, this time, we went just a tad farther down the road to where a mini Christmas Market was set up. Directly on the way to the famous Peeing Boy statue (if you can even call it that) of Brussels, there was another conveniently placed waffel booth. Yet again, this waffel was delicious, but just cost too much money. After the anti-climatic Peeing Boy and roaming around the square, which had some very impressive buildings, Paul and I started for the farthest point the main roads would take us, Hallepoort. Once a main gateway into the medieval walled city, it still stands, but without any wall. However, Paul and I did not realize this at first. By the picture on the map, it looked like a decent sized castle, not a gateway. Regardless, it was in great shape and even had a museum inside with interactive aspects such as being able to try on armor. After exploring the various rooms and climbing the spiral staircase to the balcony for a decent view of Brussels, we continued our large circle towards the Royal Palace. Also only good for a couple pics, the real fun came after the Royal Palace. So I was walking on the sidewalk like anyone else would and I get stopped by this lady in uniform. She says, "Can I help you sir?" Of course me being oblivious to everything, I answer, "Nope, I got my map, I think I'm good." She then replies, "Sir you can't walk here, this is the American Embassy. You need to take the gated walkway." Confused, I asked, "What if I'm American?" This seemed to anger the lady as she then replied, "Well sir, I can get that man over there to check your ID, but thats going to take awhile." Needless to say, I took the gated walkway, but not before taking a quick picture of the embassy. However, this got the attention of the lady once more and she called to me that pictures were not allowed. I complied and put my camera away. Thinking nothing of it, I continued down the road only to be run down by another cop. Supposedly, for security reasons, no one is allowed to take photos of the embassy. They must take this rule seriously because this cop chased me down over halfway down the street because I had my ipod on and couldn't hear him calling to me. As a result, I had to go through my pictures until he believed that I deleted the picture. Sadly, that was the highlight of my day. After this walk around central Brussels and a quick visit to Brussels Cathedral, I was pretty tired and except for going out to the local pub and getting another waffel for dinner (not even worth describing because it was so bad, I believe it was called VitalWaffel or something like that, just very commercialized), I settled into bed. The next day was a surprising one. As I sat at one of the computers, the kid next to me asked if we had met before. I said I didn't think so, but he said he could have sworn to have seen me before. Not even 2 minutes later, he turned to me and said, and I quote, "You're the gnome guy!" I then realized that we had met before. Not only had we met, but we had sat next to each other on the bus to Stonehenge. Yup, he was a Butler visiting student, not from Oxford, but UCL. It was after this that I learn we both, along with another kid we met who was studying up in Edingbough, were leaving Brussels the same day for Amsterdam. Crazy I know. After setting up plans to travel to Amsterdam together, we planned out what to do for the night. Being tourists, we couldn't leave Brussels without having a drink at the famous bar Delirium, whose claim to fame is being in the Guiness Book of World Records for having over 2000 beers available and 27 beers on tap. However, the greatest thing about the bar.........its not even expensive compared to other local bars. Although it turned out to be a good day, Paul and I had spent a whole day without tasting a new waffel. We would have to make up for this on our last day. And Oh did we. On our last full day in Brussels, Paul and I tallied a womping 5 waffels. Not only did we test 5 different waffels, but we may have found one of the best waffels in Brussels. What was on the slate for the day? Only a gruelingly long and cold walk to the distant Brussels History Museum. Now, of course Paul and I got side-tracked a couple times by certain buildings, monuments, and waffels. The buildings and monuments weren't anything special, but the waffels are something to talk about. The first waffel was average. Nothing really special about it except that it came from another Christmas Market booth, so of course I was a fan. Paul on the other hand, was not impressed. The second of the morning was from another commercialized waffel stall. However, contrary to the pathetic excuse for a waffel we experienced the other day, this touristy waffel company was reasonably priced, not messy, not over cooked, and tasted like a waffel. At the risk of a tummy ache, Paul and I thought it would be best to just get to the park. From the looks of it, the park must be a popular place in the summer and spring, but in the winter, its abandoned. The up side of this meant that there was literally no one else in the museum. It didn't have the collection of other Museums I've seen, but it was one of the better organized and much easier to get around then say, the Louvre. Covering civilizations from Egypt and Rome to the early North Americans and Native Americans, this took up a good chunk of the day and when we left, it was almost time for dinner. I wouldn't have expected anything less than a waffel shop parked right outside the Museum. What I didn't expect though, was the best waffel we would taste all trip. Being sold out of the back of the van wih wafel stickers for decorations, you could tell this guy had been doing this for awhile. The service was fast, the waffel was cheap, but above all, the texture was just perfect. Not too crispy, not too soft. Hot not cold. And even the portions were bigger than others. Not settling, Paul and I would try 2 more on the way back, but neither would compare. Paul and I agreed, we had completed our quest of finding the best waffel in Brussels. Who would've thought it would've been in the center of one of the most touristy areas in Brussels? Not me. In addition to this culinary success, Paul and I saw all the attractions we planned on seeing. I don't know about you, I'd call the stay in Brussels a success. Now of course you're probably thinking to yourself, "How could this kid possibly think he's found the best waffel in Brussels after trying only 7 different waffels?" My rebuttal? I don't have one. I know, this whole idea of finding the perfect waffel is absolutely absurd. But hey, I got to keep myself busy somehow. You can either take my word for it or you can prove me wrong. Either way, if you ever go to Brussels you need to try the waffels by the museums. They're just so good compared to the american micro-waved lies that we call waffels. Oh, and if you haven't realized yet, I didn't take any pictures of the waffels. I was too busy eating them. Sorry.

Luxembourg Puts the "Lux" in Luxury

People always seem to be puzzled whenever I tell them I want to live in Luxembourg. Why would I love Luxembourg so much if its even more expensive than France and has less ancient history circling it? Well I will tell you. But first I must explain the events leading up to my arrival in Luxembourg City, the capital of Luxembourg. So Paul and I left St. Christopher's later than expected and wasn't able to make the 7am train. Therefore, w were hoping to just walk on to the 8:30am train and be fine, but of course, being France, they just have to complicate things. Supposedly, all the spots for eurorail holders were filled going to Luxembourg until 2:00pm. Being the only remaining spot for the day, we had to take it. The only positive to come out of this was that I got to catch up on my sleep. With six hours to kill, Paul and I got some food and then set up shop between two ticket machines and went to sleep. I feel you can only say you've truely backpacked after you've slept in a train station. Even though I slept from the morning to early afternoon, I feel it still counts. After dozing off a couple more tiems between 12:00 and 1:00, Paul and I gathered our stuff and left for the platform. The rest of the day was easy going. Finding the hostel was easy seeing as it was the only hostel in the small city and just walking through the city to find it, I could see this palce was not what I had expected. I had expected large houses and tall buildings. There were the large buildings, but the houses were not extravagent whatsoever for being the richest country per capita. Granted I was only visiting one place, but it was still the capital and I was expecting something spectacular. Instead, I found a former fortress city with ruins, acqueducts, and a valley with quiant houses linging a rive passing through the city. Sounds ppretty picturesque don't it? Well it was. The medieval ruins of fortresses and walls are all over the place, especially near the hostel, and the acqueducts were huge. Looking over the bridges, one sees the valley which is dotted with houses lined up on the river that flows through what the locals call "Old Luxembourg." "New Luxembourg" is basically separarted by a couple bridges and consists of shopping centers and large office buildings. Even newer buildings are considered old because of the foundations they are built on. Personally, its one of the best aspects of the city. Because of the valley and walls, everything is on different levels and roads wind up and down them. Its just so European without the tourism. And to top it off, they are a multi-cultured country. Speaking French, Duetch, German, and English, the shopping areas provide ample delicious food and clothing stores. Its quiet, small, elegant, historic, can be explored in a day or two, and has a surprising active night life. What else can you ask for? If I live in Luxembourg when I'm older, I'll know I did something right. As for the hostel I stayed in, as well as the city, it was the cleanest place I've ever stayed. And I know clean. Basically take France and go to the polar opposite end of the cleaniness spectrum and you will have Luxembourg. I was in heaven. Much to my dismay, I wasn't staying long enough to really immerse myself in the culture, but I did hit most of the marquee sights in my only full day and left for Brussels, Belguim the next morning. However, this was not before joining the locals in a Christmas market celebration complete with barrels and barrels of mulled wine.

Paris on a Backpacker's Budget

Some advice for those who are going to be backpacking through Paris - don't. The ideal thing to do is either stay long enough to get immersed in the culture or book a bus tour, see everything in a day and then leave. The sights were great, but Paris in general is just expensive and dirty. People say the metro in Paris is the most sophisticated in Europe, but I found it just confusing compared to London and stuck to walking every where to save my money. This mode of transportation just made everything take longer. This didn't help in terms of the location of our hostel, St. Christopher's, which was quite far from central Paris. I believe it took us a 45 minute walk everyday to get into central Paris. This was probably the only problem with St. Christopher's though as it was basically a hotel complete with livily bar on its ground floor. Being one of the top rated hostels in Paris, it attracted people from all over. When I first arrived, my room had a kid from Asia, 4 Australians, a Slovenian, a Croatian, a Scot, others I didn't meet, and myself, the American. This made for a good time. Dispite this agonizing distance and active hostel-life, I did manage to make it out and see all the major sights I planned on seeing except Normandy. I'll just leave that for another trip. Anyways, the stop on our list was the famous Louvre Museum. I believe we clocked in at approx. 4 hours, but we deffinitley missed some things. There is just too much stuff. I had to hold back on the pictures as not to bore the people veiwing my album on facebook. So yeah, basically it was heaven. I could have spent the whole day there, but we had other stops to make. After the Louvre, I headed through the Louvre gardens to the famously expensive road heading up to the Arc de Triumph. Now, if I thought the chances of seeing Korey and XT in Bath were slim, how about running into Pheobe Peronto, Chelsea Allen, and Amy Flynn at the Christmas Market as Paul and I made our way towards the Arc. Think about it, first the size of Paris, then add in how I had no idea they were in Paris and they had no idea I was there as well. The chances of it ever happening again are so miniscule, its just mind blowing to think about! Anyways, after a hilarious walk up to the Arc as well as walking through Cartier (one of most expensive jewerley stores in the world), we properly said our good-byes as we hadn't when we left Oxford. It was after this that Paul and I set off for the most well-known attraction in France, the Iffel Tower. It was a harder journey than expected. As we crossed the river the tower was suddenly obscured by the many buildings lining the streets. This, in addition to being farther away from everything than it looks and getting dark and cold out, kept us walking for at least another 45mins. When we finally arrived, the tower lights were on and tour buses we unloading masses of eager tourists. Electing to save money and walk uhp the tower Paul led the way to the point where you have to use the elevator. When we finally ascended to our destination, the city of Paris was lit up to make for quite the breathtaking panorama. However, because it had taken us so long to get there, it was bitterly cold outside and wind wipping so hard, that we only took a couple pictures and left. I mean, I really don't know what else there is to do at that point. You could just walk around for awhile, but you just get in the way of others photos and no wants to be that guy. After reaching ground level and dodging the sworm of key-chain salesmen, we embarked on yet another long and cold walk back to the hostel. The next day was an ambitious one. Paul and I were to visit Notre-Dame and then attempt to travel to Versailles to see the Chateaux. Notre-Dame was an easy find being at the end of my long 1 road walk into central Paris. As I gazed in amazement at the gothic and romanesque atchitecture, I couldn't help but flashback to my many classes with Prof. Ford when he drilled us on the cathedrals many aspects. After walking through and deciding not to wait in line to go up into the towers, Paul and I left for the metro in the hopes of finding our way to Versailles. Long story short, we made it to the Chateaux de Versailles on no help from the French information desk and a blind guess of what train to take. Probably the luckiest moment we've had all trip. The significance of this luck? Only one of the longest walks all trip around the gardens which Prof. Ford had also described and peek into how Louis XIV lived during the summer. The Chateaux was impressive from outside because of its size and golden gate, however, it not until you walk throughout the decorated rooms and around the seemingly endless gardens, do you realize how stupidly rich these French Monarchs were back in the day. The only downfall of the Chateaux was the Japanese Art exibit that was being showcased throughout the rooms. No offence to the Artists, but why would one ever put contemporay art in the already ornately decorated rooms. All these objects did were get in the way of my pictures and take away from the overall grandeur of the mansion. After getting fairly angry with these pointless obstruction, it was nice to escape the tranquility of the gardens (even if it cold out). Prof. Ford always talked about how expansive these gardens were. Now I believe him. It took us 4 hours to complete the main circular path of the gardens. Needless to say, when we returned to the Chateaux, we didn't stick around much longer. I'm guessing it's because of this freezing walk, that I was sic the next day and only left my bed for a quick bite to eat. That's really I have to say about that day. For my last full day in Paris, I was to surprise the Croatian and Slovenian at the book store they opted to stay at and then spend the rest of the day exploring the French catacombs. Just a bit of advice for those traveling to Paris, the bookstore Shakespeare & Company is a place you must go to. The fact that the Croatian and Slovenian stayed there for 2 nights maed me jealous. This place was literally lined with books old and new. I even managed to find a corner of children books, for example, Where the Wild Things Are, which really brought back some old memories. After the Croatian decided to join us, we set off for the catacombs. Again, it was a longer walk than anticipated, but we found them. Sadly, on Mondays they're closed. Who closes on a Monday??? I just don't understand the French at all. So yeah, we didn't get to go into the catacombs and settled for Paris' Pantheon instead. It wasn't anything special except for its pendulum in the center which is rather cool. The Croatian then proceeded to tell me how she'd been in Paris for 3 days and hadn't gone to see the Arc de Triumph yet. Outraged by this poor tourism, I escorted her as far as the monument outside the Louvre which marks the beginning of the long and expensive road up to the Arc. It was here that we turned around because she had to be back for a book reading of sorts at the book store, but she was glad to see it in the distance knowing she would be returning to Paris sometime. Once at the Notre-Dame we went our separate ways and Paul and I got ready for our next country.

Back To London

And we're off. With nothing but a day pack and my bigger hiking pack, our first stop was where it all started, London, England. I will admit, I was a little worried about finding a hostel upon arrival, especially because we were getting into London later than expected. Luckily, Paul and I were able to book a room at the small, yet well-rated White Ferry in Victoria. Little did we know our stay in London was going to be the best time we've had all year. I can't even begin to describe how amazing the White Ferry is! The staff was awesome, the rooms were cozy, it has a great location, and the locals are unbelievable. Orignally a bar, the White Ferry had to turn into a hostel to stay open. This be said, the locals are dedicated to this place. Every day the same faces come in and stay into the night. These guys were hilarious. Always drinking and having a good time. It was the exact atmosphere Paul and I were looking for. I don't remember any of their names, but I had the pleasure to hang out with them every night and talk about anything from my travels and studies to why I'm so attracted to English accents. It was such a great time of the day for relaxing after my travels that I plan on returning there when I'm on my way back to the U.S. for atleast a night. In addition to the locals, the staff was so helpful and welcoming that it set a high standard for hostels at the beginning of my travels. An ever important part of all hostels is the room conditions. To save money, I picked one of the 10 bed mixed gendered rooms. Needless to say, it was everything had expected. And thats a good thing. The beds were more than comfortable for my standards and all the other 9 people in the room were quiet and friendly. Finally, (yet there is so much more to tell about it, but I feel I need to start talking about what we did) it is located a short walk from both the Victoria Coach Station and Victoria Train/Underground Station. This was extremely helpful in terms of the day trips and excursions around central London. Right, so I guess I'll explain what Paul and I actually did because as awesome as the White Ferry was, we did leave it. After our late arrival and goodnight sleep, we woke up to a free breakfast and quickly took off to the the locations of landmarks we had yet to visit. The first stop was at Hyde Park, where we paid our respects at the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. Just so you know, it looks nothing like any fountain I've ever seen, but it was still nice. There was however another reason we made the trek to Hyde Park, and that was the Christmas Market! This was impressive. Probably around 100 different shops lined the entry and lead to the carnival rides which consisted of haunted houuses, roller coasters, tea cups, and a fairly large ferris wheel. Although I didn'y buy anything or go on any rides, the fact that Christmas music was playing made me feel right at home. Now I don't mean to brag, but I've gotten pretty good at this whoel Underground scene. In fact, even Paul was impressed at how easily we made it to the opposite side of London to the Tower of London and the London Bridge. I didn't go in the Tower of London, but it was cool to look at (atleast from the front). Paul was afraid the bridge was going fall so we didn't walk on that either. I didn't mind though, the fact that I can say I've seen them is enough. After another entertaining night with the locals, it was time to get ready for our first day trip to Canterbury, the inspiration for my 8th favorite book (the first 7 being Harry Potter of course), Canterbury Tales, By Geoffrey Chaucer. Getting to Canterbury was easier than expected. Paul and I rolled out of bed around 6:45am and got to Victoria Coach Station by 7:30am. With literally no line for the ticket booths, we got out ticket in seconds and waited at our gate. It was so nice to finally get our into the country side. Sadly, Canterbury must have been a little more spectacular place back in the day when the masses would travel for religous pilgrimage. Don't get me wrong, the Canterbury Cathedral was amazing and the Ruins of St. Augustine's Abby (Not Merrimack's St. Augustine). The one who presumably brought Christianity to England) left me speechless, but personally, thats about it for historic value. The city has been built up significantly with shops and discount shopping malls for tourists and once outside this area, the city quickly turns for the worse. Its was probably the closest thing to slums I've seen in England. Ok, maybe slums is a harsh term, but it was crappy. However, there is an upside to all this focus on tourism.....MANY COPIES OF CANTERBURY TALES!!!!!! It was heaven. After I apparently drooled all over the book shelves, Paul and I returned to the hostel to get ready for the next day trip to Bath. The next morning was followed by the same routine except this time, after a 3 hour bus ride, Paul and I found ourselves in the lightly snow covered Bath. Yet again, from the moment I walked off the bus, I noticed how built up for tourists this place had become, but this did not affect the main reason for going, the Roman Baths. However, just when I thought we were on our own, Paul and I ran into Korey Williams and XT from Hertford College Oxford study abroad also taking in the sights. Random is an understatement. After a brief catch up on what we'd been up to since leaving Oxford, we all headed out to the main baths. Still intact, the baths steamed so much that one couldn't see across to the other side of the room. After exploring the different baths, water canals, and heating systems, it was time for us part ways again as I had was headed to the Cathedral and Korey and XT were headed to Jane Austin's house. It still makes me laugh when I think about the chances of us running into each other like that. Too funny. Anyways, the Bath Cathedral was, well, another Cathedral. Nothing really too special. After the Cathedral, Paul and I headed over the Victorian art Gallery and then to Jane Austin's house. Both were very interesting, but the best part by far, was the Victorian Age impersonator at the Jane Austin center. He was loving life. Such a jolly ol' fella. However, as happens everday over here, the sun went down and it got bitterly cold so we decided to confide in the bus' warmth as we headed back to London. On our last full day in London Paul and I just two more things to do. Although it would be a confusing route, we had to make it up to Abby Road and we had to visit Kings Cross Station to take a picture at platform 9 3/4. Yet again, we left after a quick bowl of cereal. It took acouple transfers on the Underground, but we finally made it. Surprisingly, it wasn't the tourist hot spot we had expected. Of course there were people, but only a few families and couples. In fact, the road itself is a busy one. I have a feeling drivers are use to all the hold up by now as almost every minute, someone tried to get the perfect crossing picture. And I'm not going to lie, I was one of those tourists that took mutliple shots at it. Finally, after I had gotten a good one, and Paul got it on his first attempt (still brags about it), we walked just down the road to Abby Road Studios to sign the wall. With nothing left to do, we felt we had pissed off enough drivers to head over King's Cross Station for our final destination of the day. However, much to our dismay, because of the Olympics in London this upcoming 2012, the station is undergoing extensive renovations. With all the arches boarded up and piping showing throughout, the station lost the granduer we had been hoping for, but we didn't let that stop us in finding platform 9 3/4. Although we ended up asking a worker of its location because it's not numerically where it should be, we found it. Just as Paul and I had hoped, they had left the arch open with the platform sign and trolly halfway in the wall. This was a much quicker process than at Abby road. First off, there weren't many people there, and second, there was really no way to mess up the pictures. It may not have been the magical experience I had hoped for, but the fact that I was walking where the cast of Harry Potter walked was still fulfilling. As we were leaving I saw a billboard of what King's Cross Station is going to look like after the rebuilding is done. I must say, I wasn't impressed. Personally, it looked way too modern, but I guess they feel it's necessary. With everything I wanted to do in London complete, Paul and I went back to the hostel and started packing for another early morning in which we'd be heading for France. If I've learned one thing from this stay in London, it's that Australians love to travel. I'm serious, everyday I would meet a new aussie. I don't get it, why would one travel from an Australian summer to a London winter?

One Journey Ends, Another Begins...

As I previously noted, these past 8 weeks have been busy and fast. Paul and I would like to thank those of you who have been patient enough with this blog, as it has been hard to find free time to keep it up to date. This being said, as the title of this post suggests, within the next day or two depending on our readiness to leave, Paul and I start the next leg of our Excellent Adventure by backpacking around England, Europe and hopefully ending up in Egypt. Be sure to stay tuned for whatever shenanigans we pull this time. Peace.

Time Flies When You're Writing Papers

The Famous Turf Tavern

"An Education in Intoxication"

Not gonna lie, my time here at Oxford has flown by. Throughout this term I've made some great friends and gained a knowledge of how to study history I use to only dreamed of. Now in my final days, my free time is consumed by last minute papers and reading so my tutors can give an assessment of how I've progressed. Obviously I've started reflecting on this whole experience and what I've gained from it. I came here with the intent of challenging myself with the methods of higher learning. I can now say that I have done just that. Oxford has given me a new found appreciation not just for reading, but critically thinking about what I've read and how to form my own arguments from the multiple conflicting sources. Walking around the seemingly endless Blackwells Book Store and numerous history libraries, I wish I was here longer just so I could read for my own pleasure. The workload here is intimidating and the tutorial layout is different from anything in American universities. Plain and simple, you won't produce quality work and will be humiliated in your tutorials if you do not gain the independence and responsibility to work diligently throughout the day and night. I feel I have learned this and have grown academically because of it. I know for a fact (one of the rare times I can use the word "fact" this term) that all my hard work during these past 8 gruelling weeks will help me in more ways than one going forward. And for that, I would again, like to thank my family and friends for there continuous encouragement, Lauren Gannon for providing me with this rewarding opportunity, everyone else who has helped me along the way, and my tutors for their academic guidance to make me criticize literally everything I now read. Thanks.

Scratch Another One Off The Bucket List

One of, if not the most important world heritage site Paul and I had to see while here was Stonehenge. Luckily, with the aid of Bulter and their day trip to Stonehenge and Winchester Christmas Market, we were able to fulfull this goal. Leaving from the the Butler offices in London early in the morning, Paul and I had to catch an early bus from Oxford just be able to go. After missing the stop that would have dropped us off basically at their doorstep, we made it just in time for the loading of the buses. The staff were happy to see Paul poking his head out of my bag again as I approached. I'm not sure about Paul, but I slept most of the drive only to wake up in what looked like barren, snow capped, countryside. Then, out of no where, it appeared. I was shocked. It was so close to the road, it was almost anticlimatic how we just turned a corner and there it was. Regardless of its location, we were giddy to start walking around it ant taking pictures. the only drawback to this trip was the weather. It was cold. Really cold. So cold that Paul only came out of my bag for a couple pics and couldn't take it anymore. This inclination to get to warmth did speed up our walk, but that doesn't mean I stood and gazed at it for a good 15 minutes at multiple instances. So much history, so much mystery, it is the most significant man-made structure ever in my book. Bold statement I know, but whatever, if the weather wasn't so bad, I could have spent the days there. Following a mass exit for the bus for warmth, we were off to the town of Winchester. No not where my dad use to work (HA clever joke), the Anglo-Saxon territory known as Wessex that I just so happen to study but had no idea was later named Winchester. Only did I recognize this when I found a giant statue of King Alfred in the center of the town. This realisation gave a whole new light to what I had just seen. The Winchester Cathedral was amazing. Has to be one of the most beautiful and most historic churches I've ever been in. Greatly disheartning was the inability to take photos within the room with the Cathedral's ancient texts. Not only did they possess an Anglo-Saxon land charter dating back to the 900's, but they had, in very good condition, a medeival Bible that was just gorgeous. Among other ancient Anglo-Saxon sites, the Winchester Great Hall, complete with King Arthur's Round table, left me dumbfounded and staring up at it (as it was mounted on the wall) for more time than I spent at the town's main attraction, the Christmas Market. Known as one of the best Christmas Markets in England, Christmas spirit was at a high here and Paul and I were loving it. As the sun began to set, the Christmas lights around the streets came on and put a smile to my face. Paul was smiling as well, but thats because his face is permantly like that. I'm sure he appreciated it anyway being originally a christmas decoration himself. With the disappearance of the sun came the bitter cold and we were wilst back to London. Another successful Butler trip. Major props.