Update

Well, I haven't really blogged to much in the last couple of days because not much has gone on.  It was a boring week because everyone is saving money for when we head out for Spring Break.  Speaking of that, I leave here in about 20 minutes to catch a bus and head to the airport for Barcelona.  Should be great because I get to meet up with my cousin Louie who is there.  After a couple days in Barcelona we are heading to Rome where we will spend the rest of our break hanging in Italy.  I won't have my computer so it will be a while until I update this.  I am hoping I can use Louie's computer to update the Barcelona portion of my trip. Either way check it out in about 10 days and I will have updated everything from the trip.  Should be a blast.


Cheers

Jimmy

Rugby Game

Yesterday we woke up early and starting some festivities with a bunch of our flat mates before we headed out to  a local rugby game, however it was not very local.  We had like a hour worth of traveling to get to the game but it was totally worth it.  We had to take the tube to Waterloo station and then head south east of London.  It was on an above ground train.  After we got of the train stop we had like a 15 minute walk to the "Stoop".  It was a pretty cool stadium.  Not very big, it held about 15,000, and was for the most part full.  It was a very fun atmosphere and the British people LOVE rugby.  I talked to the guy next to me and it is professional rugby.  There is a league called the "6 nations" which is 6 countries and that is the biggest league.  The game we went to yesterday has like 4 people that play on the national teams.  So, comparing it to America, I would guess it is like Triple A baseball, a really good farm team.

Stadium view.  Very flat and open.

We were in the 3rd row right behind the endzone. Great view.

It was a muddy field.

After the game we came back and ate some dinner and met up with some guys that went to the Chelsea football game.  We then went out to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, the oldest pub in London I have described earlier.  It is such a fun place with a ton of history.  We sat and talked to a couple one from Rural England and one from Brazil.  It was funny to hear them speak of America.  After this we headed over to Piccadilly Circus as a big group to meet up with more people from our group.  It was a short stay in Piccadilly and we headed home.  Today is a homework day, but I thought I would get this done before I did any work work.  

Cheers

Jimmy

Catching up

Firstly, I am going to tell a little bit of the differences about the British gym and people that inhabit it.  First noticeable difference is the size of the gym.  The gym is tiny and built up and not out, much like the rest of London.  Locker rooms which have sauna and shower in it are the floor above the actual gym. It is rather small compared to SJU weight room.  Maybe 1/4 of the size that I am used to.  It is fully equipped with the machines and free weights that are needed, but much less room to use them.  I have got to know all of the regulars (that are willing to talk to me) and they say that this club is one of the best in London.  There is no room in the city for a Lifetime Fitness so I guess his is one of the best.  The people in the gym are much like they are in the states, just far less of them.  There are a couple big guys that look like they were born in the weight room and then there are the guys that are small and wish that they were as big as the big guys.  The club offers a bunch of classes which British people are huge into.  They teach all sorts of classes ranging from boxing to abs blast to marshal arts.  The personal trainers are the ones that teach the class and they are free to attend.  Haven't had the chance to attend them yet but maybe I will by the end of it.

Anyways, Thursday we had class in the morning and then came home and ran to the gym outside again.  We checked it and it is a mile and a half.  It was an unusual Thursday seeing that we had a theater performance.  It was put on at RADA which is Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, a famous acting school.  It was a bunch of kids our age that put on the show, which was pretty good.  You could tell a big difference between the usual London theater compared to the the acting schools.

After the theater we heard of a Karaoke Bar.  So we eventually ended up at the Monument Tube stop where we went to the bar called Britanaca.  It was good night with cheap drinks.  First time we have found a place with good drinks that were cheap.  It ended up being a very fun night and we had probably 15 people from our group out.  It was a blast and we sang Sweet Caroline, some spice girls, Don't Stop Believing.  After Don't Stop Believing the DJ kept us on stage for the last song of the night and surprised with "Born in the USA".  He must of loved us.

Today we woke up(little bit of a headache) and headed to the huge market area of London.  Took the Picadilly line up to Leicester Square and headed north on the Northern line until we hit Camden Town.  It literally is a couple city blocks of straight stores and street vendors trying to sell some stuff.  We made our way to the end of the street which ends at Stable Market.  It used to be a horse hospital and the stalls of hospital are now turned into stores with food vendors yelling at you to buy their food.  It was incredibly cheap for a ton of food.  The problem with this area is it is where "punk" originated.  Lots of tattoo and piercing parlors.  Lots of mohawks and artsies people there.

shows the shops on each side of the road.

Tonight we are in to blog and do some homework because tomorrow we are off to a Rugby game! it will be a ton of fun.  It is a local league in London of semi professional Rugby.  I think it is like a farm system in the states.  Should be fun.

 

Cheers

Jimmy

First Run outside

Today we had class in the morning and I usually go right to the tube stop and head to the gym.  Today, I did things a little different.  I came home and got ready to go to the gym and decided to run there.  It was a great run.  I run north on Queensgate until I reach Hyde Park and then head west and eventually end up running south on High Street Kensington to the gym.  It is not the most scenic route there is seeing that your running on busy streets, but it is enjoyable to be outside.  Its about a mile, maybe a little more and the weather is getting better which makes running outside all the better.  After the gym, had some lunch and relaxed before going to theater class at 6.  We usually go to performances but we did not have one this class.  Instead, we have it tomorrow.  After theater we came home and watched the big soccer game here.  It was Arsenal and Barcelona for some championship game that I didn't understand.

More or less a bit of a boring day with the exception of the run outside.  Hope all is well at home.

Cheers

Jimmy

Parliament

Today we had to get up extra early(on our day off) to go to the Parliament building.  It was actually a really cool tour but we could not take any pictures, which for me, was a big bummer.  We got off at Westminster tube stop and headed into the front doors.  However, this was a special tour because not anyone can go on it.  I am not exactly sure how we got to do it, but regardless we did and it was something else.  It was the most ornate, intricate, stunning design of any interior of an building or house I have ever seen.  It was better then most Cathedrals that we have seen with the design.  We saw places where the Prime Minister has his office, the thrown where the Queen herself sits during a session, House of Lords and House of Commons.  On each and every wall there is some painting, sculpture, design, gold, etc.  It was unreal and we had a cool tour guide.  It was only an hour long tour but we got to go through the whole building.

After that we came home and had lunch and I did a load of laundry! Fun stuff.  We continued our fun afternoon by going to the grocery store and I did a paper that is due next week! Productive!!!

Tonight was a very fun night.  We, as a whole flat, bought a meal for Scott and Shirley(our directors) to come over and eat.  Libbie and I prepared the meal.  We made enough fajitas, rice, salsa, guacamole, and cookies for 12 people! It got a little crowded in our small kitchen but it was a fun dinner to have with our directors.  After dinner they stayed over and we talked about a lot of random topics.  Basically just hung out with them for a while.  It was a lot of fun.  Tomorrow we are back to class!

Cheers

Jimmy

A weekend in Dublin

This weekend we traveled to the great city of Dublin, Ireland.  It was quite the experience and totally different the society than London.  So, here is my attempt to express what exactly we did.

We landed on Thursday night about 7:30 PM and the airport is like 45 minutes north of the "City Center".  Our hotel was only about 20 minutes north of the "City Center" in an area known as Ballymun.  Anyways, the first night we went to the center to grab some food and see what the city had to offer.  We took to the bus down and walked around the main street known as O'Connell Street.  The first tourist attraction you see on this street is known as "The Spire" which was built recently and it is just a huge really really tall pole for a lack of a better word.  It is incredibly tall and can be used as a reference point while walking in the city.  We continued our journey across the River Liffey(which separates the north side and south side of town) over to the "Temple Bar" region.  We heard lots of live music in places we walked by, but we were starving.  The problem was not many food places were open at 9 when we got to the city.  We found a little hole in the wall place serving Traditional Irish Food and we stopped.  I ordered the Irish Stew and it was god awful.  I am not particularly picky when it comes to food, but this was incredibly sour stew that was just not very good at all.  After eating, we walked around a bit more until we headed back to to O'Connell street where we caught our bus back to Ballymum for the night.  As we checked into our hotel(which was incredibly cheap) the person working the front desk ended up being from the small town of Poland that the name Stodolka actually comes from.  Small world.

Monument on O'Connell Street.

River Liffey.

"The Spire" at night.

On Friday we woke up and took the bus back to the city.  We walked from O'Connell Street which is on the north east part of town to the south west part of town where the Guinness Brewery is.  It is a good walk and we walked along the Liffey.  The brewery is something to see.  It was very fun and interesting.  The building is built around a model pint glass and is 7 floors high.  There is something to see on each floor.  The bottom floors are all about the ingredients that they use in the beer.  As you walk up the building(making your way to the top of the pint glass other floors include fermentation process, brewing, how to pour a perfect pint, advertising, sponsorship, and history of the building and beer around the world.  At the top, there is a cold pint waiting for you along with a 360 degree panoramic view of the whole city of Dublin.  It was a intriguing view.

On our way to the brewery.

Really cool part of the tour.  Showed you how to make the old kegs that it was stored in.

The original Harp that is there logo.

Examples to advertisement.

Perfect Pint.

View of the city from the top

Another View.

After the tour we walked back along the south side of the river towards Grafton Street and Trinity College.  However, we couldn't pass up "The Brazen Head" pub.  It is the oldest pub in Dublin.  Stopped there for a quick pint before heading to our destination.  

After reaching our destination and seeing Grafton Street along with Trinity College, we headed up to "The Glimmerman" pub, which was my cousin Nicks favorite pub while he studied in Dublin.  Tried to meet the ever so famous Ollie and Liverpool Tony but they were not to be found.  There was a lot of local people in here and there accents were incredibly hard understand.  Had a pint of Beamish, a very good ale.  Headed back to Temple Bar area where we spent the night listening to great live music.  The pub was packed with people and everyone was singing along.  

Bar we spent Friday night at.

Nicks favorite pub.

Good beer at Nicks favorite pub.

Really good guitar player and the band we listened to on Friday night.

Packed bar.

Saturday we woke up and headed back into town. We tried to find a good market to go to but had no such luck. As we were walking towards the Dublin Zoo we ran across the Saint Patrick's Cathedral and the Dublin Castle.  Very fun stuff to see. We made our way to the zoo and spent two hours there.  So much fun animals to see.  Saturday Night we went to a couple pubs in search of good live Irish music.  We went to Kehoe's, The Globe, Mercantile, Sweeneys and others.  Found some really good Irish Music and listened for a couple hours before moving on to the next pub.  It was a blast and really good music.  It got kind of late and we headed home.  

Fun stuff on Grafton Street.

Really cool carving.

Saint Patrick's Park.

The Cathedral.

Castle walls.

Cold Monkey.

Huge Gorilla.

Tigers.

Rhino.

Hippo.

After the zoo and heading to see the Irish music we headed back to the hotel.  It was an exhausting weekend walking all over the town.  Sunday we just had lunch and then headed to the airport making it back to London.  That wrapped up our trip to Dublin.  Very fun weekend.  

Cheers 

Jimmy

2 years

Well, yesterday marked a special day( it is past midnight here).  It has been 2 years since I have been dating Libbie.  What a better way to celebrate than with 2 classes right??? We woke up to another beautiful day here, blue skies and 50 degree weather is nothing to complain about.  Had class this morning and then went to work out.  We walked home from the gym that we frequent and I was comfortably able to wear shorts and a long sleeve shirt.  I will be bringing out the shorts sooner than later.  After our walk home on the gorgeous day we had a quick bite to eat in our apartment and quickly showered and were off to find a little place for dinner.  We didn't really have anything in mind, so we decided to go to a stop that we have never been.  We took the District line east and headed to St. James Park stop.  There isn't much to see on the tube stop and we were skeptical at first.  We walked a little ways before we ran into a small little street with shops on either side.  There were 2 pubs on the corner and both looked reasonably priced for us.  We ended up stopping at "The Strutton Arms" pub.  As we browsed over the menu I noticed that it ended up being burger night in the pub.  We were able to get any burger on the menu and a pint for 5 pounds 59, incredibly cheap.  After our meal we were on our way back to class where we had a play to attend for class.  We saw a show about a kid being accused of shooting kids in a school.  It was very good and intriguing, but it was a little shocking and open.  Lots of swearing(almost too much) and "R" rated scenes, but that is what you get over here.  The acting and singing was phenomenal which made up for any bad parts of the show. Headed home and here I am now.

Tomorrow we have class in the morning and we have to run home to grab our stuff and 3 of us are heading to Dublin for the weekend.  I won't bring my computer because of the travel and limited space.  No blog until Sunday night.  However, it will be an amazing couple of days to blog about.


Cheers

Jimmy

Hard Rock Cafe(Nick McQuillan) and a stroll through Hyde Park

Woke up to a blue sky with not a cloud in sight.  Probably the nicest day we have had since being here. We got an email from our director that he was headed to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch and to meet him at the Tube stop if we wanted to go.  About 12 people from our group(internship people couldn't go) met him at the stop and we were on our way.  It was a fun place to go for a couple of reasons.  A: American Portions. B: Good Ranch dressing. C: Amazing memorabilia from popular musicians. D: Fountain pop with unlimited refills.  It was a great start to a fun day.  In the original Hard Rock Cafe, there are some really cool guitars and instruments and that is why I dedicate this post to Nick Mac!  Here are some classics that he, and others will appreciate.

Bob Dylan donated his guitar.

Pete Townshend and Eric Clapton were the two that started this Cafe.

Eric Clapton's guitar.

Jimi Hendrix memorial.  

Led Zeppelin's guitar player John Bonham's first guitar set.

After we ate we headed over to the Rock Shop which is the gift shop for the Cafe.  It used to be a bank that they turned into the gift shop.  In the basement of the bank there is a vault that they turned into a little display room for more goods.  This is a cool little room with a lot of fame in it.  Here are some of the things:

B.B King's guitar.

Red Hot Chili Peppers and Oasis.

Gene Simmons from Kiss.  It is the famous Ax guitar.

Kurt Cobain from Nirvana.  The glasses in the lower corner are famous as well.

Slash from Guns N Roses outfit and guitar that he was wearing and using when they preformed November Rain for the first time live.

Bob Dylan's electric guitar.

Jimi Hendrix guitar.

Elton John used to play soccer.  He looks pretty straight here....

After we were done in the vault, a couple of us decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and head to Hyde Park.  We started from the far west side of the park and Round Pond and we saw some cool things.

A view of the Round Pond. Thousand of ducks, swans and pigeons all over.

Really cool picture of a swan.  

From here, we continued to walk east towards The Serpentine and then made our way home.  It was a beautiful day and a fun day all around.  

Hope you enjoyed the post Nick! 

Cheers

Jimmy

  

Chelsea v Liverpool

As I mentioned in the last blog, I headed down to Chelsea Stadium for the big game vs Liverpool.  If you head west a couple stations on the District line to Earl's Court and then head South to Fulham Broadway you will end up at the stadium.  However, this wasn't as easy as it seemed on Sunday.  I was one of 40,000 people doing the same thing.  It was packed to say the least.  It was a quite the experience just getting to the stadium.  We were not trying to get tickets by any means and we really weren't trying buy them when we found out the lowest price for a ticket on the streets was 200 Pounds or just over $300.  Anyways, when we got off the packed train, we started making our way towards the Stadium.  It was about 2 blocks to the front gates.  There were police lining either side of the street and it seemed like they were herding us.

This is the tube stop stairs.  Packed as ever, people would have trampled you if you fell.

This is the road as you get out of the Tube stop.  You can't see the police yet, but they lined the streets as thousands of people walked them.

And the cops were on horses.

Now the fun part.  We tried to find a good pub to go to watch the game.  Every pub we walked by that was within 2 blocks of the stadium was completely full and most were jumping up and down chanting songs and yelling as if they were going to war.  So, we continued to walk until we found a Pub about 4 blocks from the stadium that was packed, but you could at least breathe here.  Here is a picture of the pub we were in from the back wall towards the front about an hour or 45 min before the game.

As I got my first pint, I asked the bartender what it would be like for the game and he said just wait a while and it will all clear out.  So, I grabbed my pint and waited.  But, waiting without talking is boring.  So, I went over and started talking to 3 gents standing at a table.  One was from Liverpool(pronounced Liva Poo by the man) and the others Chelsea.  They were good friends and were heading to the game.  They were interested in American football even though they knew nothing about it.  They also noticed I was drinking an "Ale" pint and proceeded to talk to me about how bad American beer is awful.  They said you can drink them until the cows come home and not be "pissed"(drunk) at all. They loved there beer and continued to drink it was like water. Game time came around and they left and I went back over to some members of my group.  But, watching the game was boring, so I started talking with another man near us.  Long story short, his name was Tim.  He was an independent contractor that built houses for a living.  LOVED me and everything about America.  He was a great guy, talked with him for the entire game.  He too, made fun of American beer, telling me it tasted like horses piss.  He must of wanted me to drink European beer because he bought me and Libbie a couple rounds.  I tried to buy him one or two, but he refused and said come back in 10 years when I'm rich and buy him them.  He said he will be there, and I don't doubt that for a minute.  Ended up being a great guy and made a great friend that day.  A few pints later, the game ended, sadly.  Not for the fact the game was over, but because I had to leave.

We made our way back to the Tube and headed home.  Took a little cat nap before staying up for the Super Bowl.  Interesting point; it was Super Bowl Sunday here, and not one person could care, or even know where the teams were from.  After the nap and a skype session with the parents, we turned the "tele" on.  The game was, surprisingly, on.  The only problem was we didn't get to see the commercials, but instead we had British commentators try to explain what was going on in the game.  It was funny at first, but after a while we realized how just plain stupid these guys were.  Might be the reason why no one here knows about the sport. The game started at midnight our time and ended about 3:15 am, and yes, there were 5 guys that stayed up to watch the entire game.  Made for a long day of classes today. Tonight not much happened but tomorrow we head to the original "Hard Rock Cafe" where Clapton has donated a lot of his guitars (thats for Nick McQuillan)!

Off to bed early tonight after the lack of sleep last night.

Cheers

Jimmy