Europe Slide Show

Nashville

I am back in the USA now. As good as it is to visit other countries, it's always good to come home. Nashville is my new home. The President has come to welcome me here. Actually, I don't know why he is here today, but I was stuck in traffic because of it. So after a 7 month vacation, I will be getting back to work. I guess all good things must come to an end... But that just means a new good thing is beginning.

Dublin

I had an awesome time in Dublin with my friends that live there (we met in New Zealand). They made me some really good food; I think I ate more this weekend than the last week or two. It was really nice to stay in a house and not have to worry about which train to take or which way to go. We toured the city and saw Trinity College (where the book of Kells is kept), Christchurch Cathedral, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Castle, Guinness Storehouse, O'Connel Street, Templebar, St. Stephens Green, and probably some more places that I can't think of right now.

Brussels

I have had the last couple of days here in Belgium. I didn't realize that Brussels is the home of the European Union though I don't know exactly what that entails. I spent the day touring the sights, as always. I sawthe Grand Place (town square basically), the Botanical Gardens, Parliament, the Royal Palace, Brussels park, and St. Michaels. There's really not a lot to see here, but it is a nice city. It has the old European feel but with some modern skkyscrapers in there. Tonight I stopped in the main square to see what was going on. They were having some type of entertainment. I guess you would call in modern art. There were many people on stilts wearing huge white suits. They looked like giant snowmen and they had a variety of tricks and dances they did to the music playing. It was one of a kind.

Amsterdam

Riding the train across Holland was fun because I saw the stereotypical windmills in the distance. The old wooden windmills are being replaced though by the new ones that aren't as nice too see. It's been nice here in Amsterdam (aside from the rainy weather). It is a city of canals, bridges, and bikes. I think there are somewhere around 900,000 bikes in the city which is about one bike per person. Never have I seen so many bikes. They have a lot of them stolen though. The junkies steal them and sell them again at "bum bridge" for about 10-20 euro and that's where everyone buys their bikes after there's is stolen.
I have seen many of the sights including the old church, the jewish quarter, the royal palace, dam square, the jordaan district, the house where Anne Frank and family hid during the war, the dutch east inida company, some art by rembrant and van goh, the widest bridge in holland and the most narrow house. The houses here are all leaning forward toward the street. They are about 4-5 stories tall and back in the day were where people lived and worked. The bottom floor was their shop; they lived above it and stored their goods on the top. The buildings have a hook at the top of the building that was used like a pully system to bring the goods up to the top floor. There's no way they could go up the stairs anywhere in this city. They are so narrow and really steep. The people didn't want to goods to hit the windows on the wall, so they built the walls at an angle.

Berlin

This has been one of my favorite places to visit. There is so much history here and the city was completely changed during the war and since the Berlin Wall came down and Germany was reunited. It is different than the rest of Europe because the buildings are not hundreds of years old.
I took a walking tour of the city to see Brandenburg Gate (see pic), Hitlers Bunker, Postdamer Platz, the SS Headquarters, Museum Island, Holocaust Memorial, Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie (see pic),and more. I also saw the most secured construction site in the world at the moment at the US Embassy. And the hotel where Michael Jackson was hanging the baby out of the window.
I also went to Sachsenhausen concentration camp outside Berlin. It was the model that all other camps followed and a place where over 50,000 people died. It was incredible to see and hear about what happened there. There are many reminders around the city to remind people of Germany s dark history.
I also was able to go to a music festival with a group of locals. It was so cool to hang out with them and listen to their music. They were really funny when they started dancing around to a traditional song with a traditional dance and then switched to singing "lolli-pop" in English.

Münich

Münich, home of BMW and Audi. I have had a good time here seeing the sights despite the rain and very chilly/cold weather. I didn´t realize that over 80% of this city was completely destroyed from the bombings of WW II. The locals passed a law when the rebuilding began to build as close to the original architecture as possible. Even though most buildings are relatively new, they still have the original look. I visited Maffeistr... and the town hall that has a huge bell tower with life size statues that move and put on a show as well as the Englischer Garten and Hofbrauhaus. I was also able to have two proper German meals in the local places, one with a local guy too. The waitress wore the traditional Bavarian clothing and was really rude, which apparently is common.

Paris

Paris has been really great. I heard that the people here weren't friendly, but I have experienced nothing but friendly people. I was able to meet up with my French friend who I met in Australia which was really fun.
While I have been here I have seen tons of sights including:
The Seine, Notre Dame, The Louvre and Jardin des Tuilleries, The Opera Garnier, Hotel De Ville, Eiffel Tower which we climbed up at night, Arc De Triomphe, Avenue des Chamnps Elysees, Place de la Bastille, Moulin Rouge, Musee D'Orsay, Centre Pompidou, and some other things that I probably can't remember at the moment. All in all, Paris has been a really cool place to visit.

Barcelona Spain

I only have limited time online, so my posts are often really short. Anyway, Barcelona has been great once we made it here. It took 4 trains but we made it.
We met a cool guy living here who showed us around the city. I have seen some cool architecture here, mainly by Gaudi. The most famous is the La Sagrada Familia. It is this enormous cathedral that looks like nothing you´ve ever seen, but has not been completed thought it has been under construction formore than 100 years. Apparently the Spanish arent in any rush.
We also visited a park he designed that provided awesome views of the sea and city.

French Riviera

Today we arrived in Nice along the mediterranean in France. It is really nice here. We took a short train ride to see Monte-Carlo, the capital of Monoco. There are only about 7000 people living there, but lots of money. We saw the palace where the royal family still lives as well as some really nice views. At the moment I am in Cannes, home of the International Film Festival held each year.

Venice Italy

I spent the last few days in Venice. We rode a gondola around the great canal and saw the opera house, marco polo's house, the famous Rialto bridge, and the home of Casanova. The next day we explored the islands of Lido and Murano as well as visiting the Piazza San Marco and Doge's palace.