WHAT A GREAT TRIP!
I really like to travel, but I just don’t see how people do it for years and years. Over the past 8 days I have been to two different countries, and back to Spain. My roommates and I took a train to Madrid and then flew to Paris, France for 4 nights at the beginning of our trip. I really enjoyed myself in Paris. The we continued onto Italy for 4 nights.
Some of the things that I saw in Paris include: Arc de Triomphe, Palace of Versailles,The Conciergerie, The Louvre, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Orsay Museum, Rodin Museum, The Eiffel Tower, La Place de la Concorde, and I also walked down Champs Elysees. Pompidou Center. It was a blast. One of my favorite things had to of been the Rodin Museum. I always like this work, but the pictures do it no justice. Some of his sculptures are so detailed. I must have taken so much time to complete each one. Everything else is pretty much what I expected and more!
We met some guys from Ireland and a girl from Australia. They were really cool. I was great to hang out with people from other countries and see their views on things and how they live their day-to-day lives. I met some really interesting people in France.
On the 5th day in Paris we did some laundry and last minute running around town, and then headed to Italy.
Now I must say that Italy is one of my favorite places that I have been to so far, and I was only in Rome and the Vatican City. There is still so much more that I could have seen. I really enjoyed myself there. The food, the culture, the history! Together they combine to be a great 4 night trip.
Some of the things that I saw in Italy include: The Colosseum, Vittoriano, San Pietro, The Imperial Forums, The Trevi Fountain, The Roman Forums, Piazza di Spagna, Castel Sant’ Angelo, Arco di Costantino, The Pantheon, St. James’, The Sistine Chapel, The Vatican Museum, Museo e Galleria Borghese, and The Picasso exhibit.
I couldn’t get enough. I had to see it all. No matter how exhausted I was from walking around all day and touring things... I kept telling myself "When in Rome..." haha. No really, I didn’t wanna miss anything, in both Italy and France. I wanted to consume as much as I could (in fear that I might not make it back for a long time).
Thanksgiving night we met up with some other Tech students and ate at this great little Italian place. I really enjoyed being around a lot of other people. I made it feel a little like home.
Traveling back home was a horror, but I think after a long trip like this, when you are constantly on the go, and you have more things on your list than you have time for, it is always going to be like that. It was well worth it. I would do it all over again in a heart beat. I am thankful for the opportunity.
I had to start a new photobucket.. cause the other one was FULL! haha. here is the new link... http://photobucket.com/albums/v518/brandonstokes/
OH yea, did I mention I got an "A" on my midterm in Spanish 2! Rock On!
enjoy!
Monday, November 29, 2004
Friday, November 19, 2004
Merchant's & Mid-terms
"It’s times like these you learn to live again, it’s times like these you give and get again. It’s times like these you learn to love again. It’s times like these time and time again."
The days are quickly slipping away and before you know I will be back in the States. It is crazy to think that I have less than a month here. This past week was really rough. We had our mid-term in Spanish 2, and I am not quite sure how good I did. I have been a little sick all week. The whole cough/cold/sore throat thing has been circling the center. So I just spent last week studying and recuperating. I feel a little better now... and I will be fantastic if I pass my test... hell, even if I came close.
On Wednesday we invited a class from UPO that is learning English to a local Irish pub called Merchant Malt House. My whole class, some other friends of ours here... in different programs, and a class of Spaniards all got together. It was a lot of fun. We got to meet a lot of new people and practice our Spanish. We reserved the entire second floor of the pub and hung out.
Later in the night some of us went down stairs and ran into Sergio Garcia (he is a famous golfer from Spain...) I got to see him win the Byron Nelson Classic in Dallas this year. Sergio is in Seville because there is a big golf tournament here this weekend. We got to talk to him a little. He seems like a really nice guy. I got to talk to him for a bit and managed to get his autograph on a beer coaster.
After we left Merchant’s, we ended up at Club Catedral, and then to another bar we often go to. The night was a blast. I really hope we get to reserve that place more often. It was a great way to celebrate after that hard mid-term. The rest of the week has gone by pretty fast.
We have a break from classes. The group is traveling through Spain. I opted to travel elsewhere. My roommates and I leave in the morning. We are taking the high speed train (the Ave) to Madrid, and from there gonna catch a plane to Paris, France for 4 nights. Then we are flying to Rome, Italy for 4 nights. There are going to be a lot of people from our group in Rome when we get there. We are supposed to get together for a make shift "Thanksgiving Dinner" ... It should be a lot of fun!
Hasta Luego.
The days are quickly slipping away and before you know I will be back in the States. It is crazy to think that I have less than a month here. This past week was really rough. We had our mid-term in Spanish 2, and I am not quite sure how good I did. I have been a little sick all week. The whole cough/cold/sore throat thing has been circling the center. So I just spent last week studying and recuperating. I feel a little better now... and I will be fantastic if I pass my test... hell, even if I came close.
On Wednesday we invited a class from UPO that is learning English to a local Irish pub called Merchant Malt House. My whole class, some other friends of ours here... in different programs, and a class of Spaniards all got together. It was a lot of fun. We got to meet a lot of new people and practice our Spanish. We reserved the entire second floor of the pub and hung out.
Later in the night some of us went down stairs and ran into Sergio Garcia (he is a famous golfer from Spain...) I got to see him win the Byron Nelson Classic in Dallas this year. Sergio is in Seville because there is a big golf tournament here this weekend. We got to talk to him a little. He seems like a really nice guy. I got to talk to him for a bit and managed to get his autograph on a beer coaster.
After we left Merchant’s, we ended up at Club Catedral, and then to another bar we often go to. The night was a blast. I really hope we get to reserve that place more often. It was a great way to celebrate after that hard mid-term. The rest of the week has gone by pretty fast.
We have a break from classes. The group is traveling through Spain. I opted to travel elsewhere. My roommates and I leave in the morning. We are taking the high speed train (the Ave) to Madrid, and from there gonna catch a plane to Paris, France for 4 nights. Then we are flying to Rome, Italy for 4 nights. There are going to be a lot of people from our group in Rome when we get there. We are supposed to get together for a make shift "Thanksgiving Dinner" ... It should be a lot of fun!
Hasta Luego.
Sunday, November 07, 2004
¡Feliz Cumpleaños a mí!
Someone once said... you are not getting older, you are getting better. As my birthday passes I find myself wishing time will stand still and I will stay 21 forever! I might be asking a little too much though. I had entirely too much fun celebrating my birthday.
Thursday night after dinner I went to the internet café to get online, and the e-mails had already started to come in! It was great to hear from everyone. That night after midnight we went out to start the celebration off right... (since it was officially my birthday!) We kinda hopped around from place to place. I didn’t get in until late. The majority of us skipped class on Friday (which I had planned on doing earlier in the week) ... I wanted to have a day off to do something different in the city. Only 10 people ... out of 24 went to class on Friday. The rest slept in! Haha.
Friday, I got up just before lunch and Isa made me a special lunch. She also had a birthday cake there for me! It was really nice. The cake was decorated really nice. She really made me feel special. After lunch I met up with a few friends and went down to Plaza Nervion... and walked around and got some ice cream. It was a lot of fun just walking around the city.
Thursday night after dinner I went to the internet café to get online, and the e-mails had already started to come in! It was great to hear from everyone. That night after midnight we went out to start the celebration off right... (since it was officially my birthday!) We kinda hopped around from place to place. I didn’t get in until late. The majority of us skipped class on Friday (which I had planned on doing earlier in the week) ... I wanted to have a day off to do something different in the city. Only 10 people ... out of 24 went to class on Friday. The rest slept in! Haha.
Friday, I got up just before lunch and Isa made me a special lunch. She also had a birthday cake there for me! It was really nice. The cake was decorated really nice. She really made me feel special. After lunch I met up with a few friends and went down to Plaza Nervion... and walked around and got some ice cream. It was a lot of fun just walking around the city.
After I got home I hung around the house for a little bit and watched some tv. Around 8:30 about 15 of my friends went out to eat at this Italian place. It was really good. A few of them chipped in and surprised me with another cake. Haha. We went to the park near my house and cut the cake and ate it. Then we started to Botellion in the park (which is basically like a party in the streets)...
A Chinese lady walked by selling stuff. My friends thought it would be cool to buy me a "birthday hat" and make me wear it at every club we went to. I looked ridiculous ... but really too happy to care.
After that we just hopped around from bar to bar to club. I had a really good time. I got home around 7:15am and crashed out. Thanks to everyone for the gifts, cakes, chocolates (brought to me all the way from Germany), the phone calls, the birthday cards, the money, coming out and showing me a good time...and overall....making this the best birthday ever!
There are some pictures up on the photobucket. There are more to come! http://photobucket.com/albums/v461/brandon5/ "Birthday Pics"
After that we just hopped around from bar to bar to club. I had a really good time. I got home around 7:15am and crashed out. Thanks to everyone for the gifts, cakes, chocolates (brought to me all the way from Germany), the phone calls, the birthday cards, the money, coming out and showing me a good time...and overall....making this the best birthday ever!
There are some pictures up on the photobucket. There are more to come! http://photobucket.com/albums/v461/brandon5/ "Birthday Pics"
Monday, November 01, 2004
Morocco!
I woke up bright and early on Saturday morning to leave for Tarifa (known as the Hawaii of Spain) ... I went out the night before and just before going home I had a hamburger from a street stand. Not a good idea. The weekend started off poorly. I found myself on a 3 hour bus ride with food poisoning, and I definitely paid for it. After we arrived and found our Hostal... and a Farmacia... I started feeling a little better. Ali and I went on the early bus, and everyone else came on the 3 o’clock bus. (Hunter, Christine, Candice, Mike, Michelle, Amanda, and Sara)... We went down to the beach and watched all of the Kite-Surfers. It was really cool. I have never seen that up close. It really looked like a lot of fun. There were a ton of billabong and hurley shops all along the streets. It really felt like Hawaiian atmosphere. We went into a lot of the shops and stuff and looked around. Once everyone else got there we went to the Surf Kebab place and got a Kebab Pita. It was so good... I love the kebab places. That night we didn’t do much. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get to keep my dinner for too long. Haha. We ended up just hanging out and hitting the sack fairly early. That night I ran a little bit of a fever.... from the food poisoning. Just my luck.
We all got up early the next morning and bought a fairy ticket to the town of Tanger in Morocco, Africa. The boat that we went over on can hold 500 people and up to 40 vehicles. It was huge. When we arrived we met up with a man that was going to give us a tour. We all hopped into this Mercedes van and he took us all through the town and our first destination was to see some camels. I got to ride a camel! It was so weird... something I will probably never get the chance to do again. It is crazy because the camel gets down on all fours so you can get on its back and then stands back up.
Next we went through the city some more and saw a fruit and veggie market. The diverse culture was very picturesque for us. I took a lot of pictures hoping I would never forget seeing the things I saw while in Morocco. We had all been forewarned about safety issues while in Africa... so we all stuck together and made sure everything was stellar. We had lunch at a really nice Moroccan Restaurant. I got to try Cous Cous... and a beef kebab, and mint leaf tea. It was a really good meal. I was impressed with the place. There was a Moroccan band playing throughout our meal. Very impressive. The culture there is so amazing. Although a lot of the area lives amongst poverty and such... they really make and grow things themselves sufficiently. They are known for their pottery and hand stitched rugs and throw blankets.
After that we went to a lot of the Moroccan markets. I bought some Moroccan drums. They are so awesome. (I have no idea how to get them back to The States... but I guess we’ll see) Some of the other people bought some cool rugs, wood carved boxes, clothes, silver daggers, more drums, and jewelry. Some things were cheap... some of the things weren’t so cheap (especially the hand stitched rugs... they were truly amazing looking)
In the streets we were bombarded with people trying to sell us things. It was so crazy. All the kids kept coming up asking us for money. As much as someone might want to stop and give a kid some money.... you know better because it is easier for someone to steal your money or you have 10 other kids come up and ask for some as well. Our tour guide kept a lot of the people in check. If someone was bothering us he would help us tell them to leave. I honestly never felt like I was in danger. I am glad that we had a tour guide... but I don’t think it is as bad as people make it to be.
At the end of the evening we went back to the fairy and went back to Tarifa. I took with me some really cool purchases and a completely new perspective on life, and diversity that National Geographics cannot offer.
When we got back we grabbed something to eat and rested for a bit. It was Halloween night, and we saw a couple of kids running around with costumes ... but it’s not really celebrated as much here. That night we went to a place to get some food and a couple of drinks, and then went to a bar where it was decorated and the bartenders were dressed up for Halloween. It was pretty cool to see all of this going on! It made me think about home a lot.
We got up the next morning and caught the bus back to Sevilla. I am so glad that I got the opportunity to go to Africa. What an amazing weekend!
(Check out the new albums TARIFA and MOROCCO AFRICA! Those two albums have pictures from this weekend!) http://photobucket.com/albums/v461/brandon5/
We all got up early the next morning and bought a fairy ticket to the town of Tanger in Morocco, Africa. The boat that we went over on can hold 500 people and up to 40 vehicles. It was huge. When we arrived we met up with a man that was going to give us a tour. We all hopped into this Mercedes van and he took us all through the town and our first destination was to see some camels. I got to ride a camel! It was so weird... something I will probably never get the chance to do again. It is crazy because the camel gets down on all fours so you can get on its back and then stands back up.
Next we went through the city some more and saw a fruit and veggie market. The diverse culture was very picturesque for us. I took a lot of pictures hoping I would never forget seeing the things I saw while in Morocco. We had all been forewarned about safety issues while in Africa... so we all stuck together and made sure everything was stellar. We had lunch at a really nice Moroccan Restaurant. I got to try Cous Cous... and a beef kebab, and mint leaf tea. It was a really good meal. I was impressed with the place. There was a Moroccan band playing throughout our meal. Very impressive. The culture there is so amazing. Although a lot of the area lives amongst poverty and such... they really make and grow things themselves sufficiently. They are known for their pottery and hand stitched rugs and throw blankets.
After that we went to a lot of the Moroccan markets. I bought some Moroccan drums. They are so awesome. (I have no idea how to get them back to The States... but I guess we’ll see) Some of the other people bought some cool rugs, wood carved boxes, clothes, silver daggers, more drums, and jewelry. Some things were cheap... some of the things weren’t so cheap (especially the hand stitched rugs... they were truly amazing looking)
In the streets we were bombarded with people trying to sell us things. It was so crazy. All the kids kept coming up asking us for money. As much as someone might want to stop and give a kid some money.... you know better because it is easier for someone to steal your money or you have 10 other kids come up and ask for some as well. Our tour guide kept a lot of the people in check. If someone was bothering us he would help us tell them to leave. I honestly never felt like I was in danger. I am glad that we had a tour guide... but I don’t think it is as bad as people make it to be.
At the end of the evening we went back to the fairy and went back to Tarifa. I took with me some really cool purchases and a completely new perspective on life, and diversity that National Geographics cannot offer.
When we got back we grabbed something to eat and rested for a bit. It was Halloween night, and we saw a couple of kids running around with costumes ... but it’s not really celebrated as much here. That night we went to a place to get some food and a couple of drinks, and then went to a bar where it was decorated and the bartenders were dressed up for Halloween. It was pretty cool to see all of this going on! It made me think about home a lot.
We got up the next morning and caught the bus back to Sevilla. I am so glad that I got the opportunity to go to Africa. What an amazing weekend!
(Check out the new albums TARIFA and MOROCCO AFRICA! Those two albums have pictures from this weekend!) http://photobucket.com/albums/v461/brandon5/
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