Day 133 = May 16

HURRAY!!!!!!!!  I am up to date with my blog.  Ok so I have a few days not all done yet but at least I am not a month behind.  Anyways, today I took my first semester test which went really well.  I am not worried about it so one down 3 to day, and the two hard ones too.  After my test I ate lunch and worked on a few odd things.  I took a nap this afternoon, made supper, talked to mom and dad and then worked on my blog and played some games to relax for a bit.  Talked to Amanda and worked on blogs more.  I also talked to Tam and then I went to bed.

Rick

Day 132 = May 15

Today was even less exciting than yesterday.  I did leave the room once to go print some papers off but other than that I just sat in my room and studied all day for my test tomorrow.  I guess I did also track Amanda’s flight as she flew home and then I called and talked to her as she was waiting in Chicago for her next flight to leave.  It ended up that her flight got canceled that was going to go to Rochester so she had to flight into Minneapolis.  The problem with that was that her luggage went to Rochester yet so they had to make a trip there to get her stuff, but she made it home safely and that’s all that matter.  After she landed in Minneapolis and I knew she was alright I fell asleep so I could take my test the next day. 

Rick

Day 131 = May 14

Study time!!!  So now I have to study for test. That is my life for the next three weeks.  That is all that I did today other than talk to Amanda for a while while she packed to go home.  There is not going to be anything real exciting for the next few weeks while test are going on. 

Rick 

Day 130 = May 13

Today I had to bring Amanda back to London so she could go back to Leiden to go home on Friday.  Neither one of use wanted to see her go but I guess that’s life.  We left the flat at about 9 this morning and got on a train for London.  We had some minor delays going to London but we made it with plenty of time for Amanda to catch her Eurostar back to the EU and then back to Leiden.  We made it into London and transferred to a different train station and sat and talked for a while.  Amanda headed into the Eurostar terminal and I headed back to Swansea.  I did some blogging on the way back and took a little nap for a while too.  I got back into Swansea and back to my flat.  I talked to Amanda for a little bit and then went to bed. 

Rick 

Day 129 = May 12

Amanda and I slept in again this morning just because we could.  The first thing we did was to get some food and shower and get ready for the day.  We then went down to campus and I showed her around where I had classes and that fun stuff.  We then went and found me a Swansea sweatshirt from one of the stores on campus.  After that we came back up to the flat and got ready to go out to the Gower.  The Gower is the peninsula that Swansea is located and it is some really pretty country and has some really cool beaches.  We went out to Rhossili which is a really small town at the end of the peninsula that has some really cool cliffs and a nice beach to watch the sun set on.  

We took the bus out and on our way out we went through some areas that they just allow sheep and cattle to graze along the road and there are no fences or anything. We were in a little town, and there were lambs sitting in the bus stop, it was really cute.  I also felt bad for the bus drive because some of the roads that we had to drive on to get out there were just two lanes wide to where the bus had to stop to allow cars going the other direction to pass.  It was very interesting to see how the area was out there, very pretty.  We made it out to Rhossili, found some information on the area and walked around for a while.  It was really pretty out there and was nice and quiet to just walk around and enjoy the beautiful weather.  We sat out on one of the cliffs for a while and then we went and got some food from the restaurant that sat on one of the cliffs.

 We ate supper and then went and walked down to the beach.

We watched the sun set until it was about 10 minutes from setting and we had to get on the bus to make it back to Swansea.  When we got back we just went back to my flat and got ready to send Amanda back to Leiden tomorrow. 

Rick 

Day 128 = May 11

We toured Swansea today.  Amanda and I went down town and looked around.  I showed her everything that I had seen, which is not much and did not take long.  After we were done looking around we went to Tesco’s to get food since I was out back at my flat.  We made it back to the flat  and Amanda took a nap and I just checked emails and read stuff on the internet.  We then went for a walk out along the path that I usually run.  It was a really nice day and was nice to be out and enjoying the day.  We walked down to the beach and then came back up to the flat and made supper.  After that we just relaxed and went to bed.  

Rick

Day 127 = May 10

Today we went to Bath.  We had a train at 9:03 out of London and got into Bath at about 10:40.  The first thing that we did was to go to the Roman Bath.  Amanda went through while I sat outside watching the bags.  I decided not to go back in since it cost 10 pounds and we had our luggage with us.  So I sat on a bench while Amanda went in.  After she got done we found something to eat and then went and looked at the bridge that had shops on it and the river.  After that we went on the free walking tour.  The walking tour was nice for me because about haft what was said was new information for me, so that was nice.  After the tour we went into the Bath Abbey, it is still one of my favorite cathedrals that I have been to.  I found out that they cleaned the inside of it a few years ago so that was part of the reason why it was so clean and bright on the inside, also that over 60% of the walls were glass so that lets a lot of light into the cathedral.  After the Abbey, we went and got some supper and then headed for the train station.  We got on our first train which only lasted about 25 minutes, then we had to get on a bus to get to the next train.  There must have been some track work going on because the bus ride was about 45 minutes.  After the bus ride we got on another train to get the rest of the way to Swansea.  When we go into Swansea we got a bus to the Quadrant Center and then the 82A bus up to the student village.  When we got back to my flat, I gave Amanda the 3 minute tour it took to show  her everything and we went to bed. 

Rick 

Day 126 = May 9

Today Amanda and I went out to Windsor Castle.  We took a different train route than I had taken before.  It took less time than the other way that I had taken and found out that it provided a better view of the castle on the way in so that was cool. We got into town and walked out of the train station up to the castle and there was a huge group of people along the street and we did not know what was going on.  Come to find out that the changing of the guard was taking place and we were there just at the right time to watch them walk into the castle.  It was not as big as the one at Buckingham Palace but it was still cool.  

We then went into the castle and looked around.  I have seen the castle twice but it was still cool to go back and see again.   After we were done in the castle we walked around to the front side of the castle to what is called the Long Walk which is a 2 and ½ mile long walked up to the main entrance of the castle.  That was something that I had not seen before.  After that we got something to eat at the same place I had eaten before.  We got some candy and then headed back to London.  When we got into London we went to the Natural History Museum for a little while.  I had been there when I was in London the first time but it was neat to go back to.  

We then went to the King’s Cross Train station so Amanda could see the platform 9 ¾ from the movies of Harry Potter.  After that we got some food from Tesco for supper and then went back to the hostel.  We got stuff packed up and went to bed.

Rick

Day 125 = May 8

Today Amanda and I went to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard. We were walking to the palace and decided to take a little detour since we had some extra time before the changing took place.  We walked pass another palace that was just across the road from Buckingham and there were a bunch of people standing around the gate to the place, so Amanda and I walked the way and were just to the crowd and the gates started to open and cars pulled out, in one of the cars sat the Queen and Prince Charles.  So that was really cool that we got to see the queen.  We did not get any pictures of her since both of us still had our cameras in our bags but it was still cool to be able to say that we saw the queen. 

After that we walked around and took pictures and found out that they were only going to do a small changing ceremony that day because of the weather.  So we headed out just after they started.  We then went to the British Museum.  I showed Amanda around the museum and told her some of the stuff that I had been told when I had my tour of the place.  After the museum we got some food at a little restaurant and went and ate it at a park that was not far away.  We stopped back at the hostel for a minute since we were really close. 

When we were done at the hostel I went and showed Amanda where I lived at while I was in London.   I also showed her Heralds’ which is the huge shopping store in London that is really expensive.  After that we went to see Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abbey and the London Eye.  After that we went to the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge.  We then stopped at Piccadilly Circus on our way back to the hostel.  That was our day.  It was nice to be able to show someone else again everything that I had seen while I was in London. 

Rick 

Day 124 = May 7

Today I had only 2 of my 4 classes, since the other two were done.  I went to my first class at noon and then came back to my room and finished packing to go see Amanda in London.  I also cleaned up my room a little bit since it was getting to be messy and I shaved so I needed to clean up the hair on the floor.  Then I went to my second class at 4, learned that my professor does not like to waste time since we were still learning theory stuff in our last lecture and are expected to know it on the final.  After class I headed toward the train station.  I got some supper and then got on the train for London.  I blogged for a while on the train ride.  After I got into London I went to the tube to go pick up Amanda and head to the hostel.  I had a really hard time getting a tube to the other train station but I made it there with only minor delays.  I finally made it to Amanda and we went to the hostel.  We got checked in and went up to our room.  We booked a private room since we had stuff along that we did not want people to steal.  When we open the door to enter our room, the door would not open all the way because the bed was in the way.  The room was really small.  There was enough room for the bed and then about that much room again beside the bed.  After we got into the room we crashed really quickly because we were both tired from traveling.  

Rick

Day 123 = May 6

Today I only had one class since my other two are done.  I relaxed little bit yet today and worked on homework.  I also blogged a bunch and packed for going to London.  Then I went to bed.

Rick

Day 122 = May 5

I did not do too much today yet.  I slept until noon and then just relaxed most of the day.  I did a little blogging and caught up on emails.  I finally got an appetite to eat a little bit which was good.  

Rick

Day 121 = May 4

I slept.  23 hours.  I was sick and did not feel like doing anything.  Had Rachel get me some 7-Up and crackers.  Other than that I slept.  

Rick

Day 120 = May 3

I did not do much, I worked on some homework and little things around the room. I had a sore throat so I did not feel like doing much.  Need to start studying hard for finals.  

Rick

Day 119 = May 2

I got up really late today, I just could not fall asleep last night.  This afternoon I went for a run which ended up feeling really good.  Other than that I did not do much.  

Rick

Day 118 = May 1

I slept in today since I have been tired all week from not sleeping at the right times.  I blogged some today and did little things here and there and worked on some homework.  Nothing exciting.  

Rick

Day 117 = April 30

I had my last day of 4 classes (I found out).  I went to my classes this morning.  Nothing exciting.  Between classes worked on some homework with Rachel and Aylse.  Other than that I did not do a whole lot.  

Rick

Day 116 = April 29

I bet you can guess what I did today! yep, nothing exciting. 

Rick 

Day 115 = April 28

What can I say other than CLASS L 

Rick 

Day 114 = April 27

Just had class today.  Went for a run, and other than that it is still boring here. 

Rick 

Day 113 = April 26

Another day of not doing much other than some studying and blogging.  Such a exciting life right now. 

Rick 

Day 112 = April 25

Today I was kind of lazy.  I did not have anything to do so I slept in and then did some stuff in the afternoon.  Around 6, I got a message from Wendy, and she asked me if I had eaten supper or not and if I want to go out to a pub for supper.  So I agreed.  It was Wendy, Lisa, two of their flat mates and then Luke and me.  We went to a pub not too far from here, it was really good and it was nice to go and hang out with people for a while.  After supper I talked to Amanda and went to bed. 

Rick 

Day 111 = April 24

Friday, lazy day!  I was really tired so I slept in today and got rested up and then worked on odd and ends of things here and there and all that fun stuff.

Rick 

Day 110 = April 23

I had my fluids test today, that went really well and got 7 out 9, so that made me happy.  Other than that I did not do much.

Rick  

Day 109 = April 22

Just had classes and studied a little bit.  School sucks coming back to after a month of break.

Rick

Day 108 = April 21

Did not have any classes today.  So I did laundry.  Other than that I did not do much.

Rick

Day 107 = April 20

First day back to school, only had one class of my two today.  I guess that my one professor had other stuff to do and was unable to make it.  So I won’t have class tomorrow either. 

Rick 

Day 106 = April 19

Today I went to Cardiff with Rachel.  I had one day left on my BritRail pass and today was the last day that I could use it so I did.  She showed my around part of the city and down on the bay,  we ate a fish and chip place that was supposed to have the best fish and chips in the world, it was not too bad.   The fish was good but the chips could have been better.  After that we walked around some of the streets down by the pier and then went back toward the castle.  The castle looked like it could have been really cool but I did not want to pay to go in it and Rachel had already seen it.  The next thing we did was to look for souvenirs; we walked up and down one of the main shopping streets and found some stuff.  We got what we wanted and then headed back to Swansea.  It was a nice day out.   When I got back I just worked on getting ready to go back to school. 

Rick 

Day 105 = April 18

Today was unpacking, unpack and get food and that was my day.  Other than email and talk to people I did not do much.  I relaxed!

Rick

Day 104 = April 17

Today is a sad day.  I have to go back to Swansea.  And I have to get up early in the morning to do it.  My train left Interlaken at 8 am, and headed toward Germany.  I had to take a total of 5 trains today, luckily, the first four were all high speed trains.  I went from Interlaken, Switzerland to London on all high speed trains.  The high speed trains are really nice because they cut so much time out of the travel.  One of the trains I was on had a little monitor telling you what the next train station was and other stops, but it also said how fast we were going.  The fasted I saw when I was on the trains was 299 km/h, which is 187 mile per hour.  That was moving!!!  I enjoyed ride the train through Germany again, I like Germany too, don’t know the language but the hunting feel that I get from it was cool.  I made it into Brussels which was the important train that I needed to get on since it brought me across the English Channel back to the UK.  I had to sit and wait for over an hour and haft for my train to leave.  That was boring but I made it.  Made it back to London and found my way to another train to go to Swansea.  By the time I got into Swansea I was ready to be off the train and back in my room.  Since I got in so late I had to take a taxi back to my room.  I had made the whole spring break with only breaking one thing on my backpack and I was putting it on my back for the last time to go up to my room and I broke another connection; I was able to fix it later using some key rings.  I made it up to my room and crashed since it was 1:30 in the morning.

Rick 

Day 103 = April 16

working.

Lucern, Senic train rought.  souvenirs.

Rick

Day 102 = April 15

Working!!!

Had a great time in Switzerland today.  Went up to 10,000 feet, and just enjoyed time to relax.

Rick

Day 101 = April 14

Today I was in Milan and still sick.  I got up and thought that I might start to feel better but it did not happen.  So I just stayed in bed for a long time.  I finally got ready to go and went down to the cathedral.  It was amazing.  Absolutely huge, unless St. Peters Basilica was bigger, it was by far the biggest one I had been in.  It was 5 rows wide, it had all marble floors that was amazing, and I just don’t know what to say.  Then the outside they were just about done cleaning it and so it was all nice and white and looked really good.  That was the only thing I did in Milan.  Since I was not feeling good I did not feel like doing anything so I didn’t.  I then went back to my hotel and got my bag and sat there for a while since my train did not leave until 4 for Interlaken.  I then walked to the train station and got a little bit to eat which helped me feel better.  My train ride was not too bad.  I slept for a lot of the first one which was the longest of them.  The sleeping helped a lot to make me feel better.  When I got into Interlaken, I feel in love with the place.  I could tell that I was going to like the place as soon as I got off the train.  My walk to the hostel was so peaceful, it was quite, and there were not people and cars running everywhere and it was just nice.  I made it to my hostel with no problems and got checked in and then talked to Amanda and then went to bed. 

The front of the cathedral. 

Inside the cathedral.

This is the floor of the cathedral.

Rick 

Day 100 = April 13

Workin on it.

Another day in florence, saw the David, and I was not feeling well.

Day 99 = April 12

Working on it.

Spend the day in Florence, Fireworks, great vies of city and lots of street vendors.  

A great view of the city from a hill side.  That is the cathedral in town.

The cart that was full of firework, see the wooden wheels!

A cart full of fireworks going off.

Day 98 = April 11

Work in Progress.

We went to the Roman Collossem and Palitine Hill.  Traveled to Florence.

Day 97 = April 10

Work in Progress,  

Quick view,  Rome this and that and misc extra stuff.

What use to be the down town of Rome a long time ago.

Amanda and I in front of the Colloseum

The pope talking at the Collosseum.

Day 96 = April 9

Working on it.  But here are a few pictures from the day.  We were in Rome today and went to the Vatican City.

A really cool fountain in Rome

In front of St. Peter's Basilica.

View from the top of St. Peters Basilica.  

Day 95 = April 8

Happy Birthday Dad.  Sorry it took over a month to get it up.

Today we were on trains. We spent 21 hours on trains from Leiden to Rome.  It was a cool train ride. We went on a night train from Amsterdam to Zurich. We then got a train to go to Milan; we had to through Switzerland which was amazing I can't wait to spend three days there. 

After we got to Milan we got on another train which too us to Rome.  We found our "hostel" without too much trouble.  Our hostel sucks.  It has no locks on anything; there are a few lockers but not enough for everyone.  And the people are really energetic, too energetic.  We got checked in and we were sitting on the internet for a minute and Rachel and Brittany walked into the hostel and into the same room that we are in. So it was nice to be able to meet up with them and room together.  We got done on the internet and then went out to eat.  We had some pasta at a restraint that was not far from our hostel.  When we got done with that we went back to the room and caught up and then went to bed.

Rick

Day 94 = April 7

Today was a stressful day.  We got up this morning and Amanda went to class.  I worked on booking places to stay in Milan and Interlaken and train tickets to get home.  I then went and got some stuff from the grocery store and electronic store and stopped at the travel shop to finish booking train seats.  I then meet Amanda for lunch and finalize travel plans.  She left for Amsterdam and I went back to the room to finish packing and getting things ready to go.  I left Amanda place and got a train to go to Amsterdam to meet up with Amanda to catch our night train to Rome.  While we were at the train station, I had to get one more day of train information figured out.  That was interesting and did not know how I was going to get home for a while.  The lady helped me figure out that I could go through Germany instead of Paris which saved me a lot of money.  When I finally got that all figured out, we went and waited for our train to leave.  When we got on we were with two guys who were studying abroad in Amsterdam from Syracuse and were going to Zurich for the weekend to meet family.  We also had a lady that was living in Netherlands and had grown up in Switzerland. She was really nice to talk to.  Everyone was very nice and it felt like we could trust them all so that made the night a lot better.  So we talked to them for a while and then went to bed.

Rick

Day 93 = April 6

This morning Amanda had class.  I worked on emailing people and catching up on little stuff I had to do for the rest of spring break.  I made lunch and met Amanda for lunch.  I joined Amanda’s photography class again today, where they learned more about using Photoshop and then we learned about photography in black and white.  After class her professor brought us to the botanical gardens in Leiden where we took pictures of flowers and saw some really cool stuff.  After that we went back Amanda’s dorm and made supper. After supper, Amanda packed and then worked on homework.  I packed some and finished up figuring out what I was going to do over the last week of my break. 

Rick 

Day 92 = April 5

 This morning we got up, ate breakfast and made our 40 minute walk back to the train station.  We got there and had a little time to spare so we got some drinks and walked around looking at things.  Amanda got an Ampelmann postcard and then we were looking at some food in a little store and I saw a green bottle of something in the cooler, I looked again and it was Mountain Dew.  So, of course I had to get some.  It was not American MD; that was for sure. I don’t know if was the fact that I was not use to drinking it or what but I am sure too that it was made different because it tasted a little different.  It was not too bad though.  Kept me wake most of the way back to Leiden.  The train ride was not bad.  It was a high speed train and it brought us all the way from Berlin to Schiphol Airport, which is only a 15 minute train ride to Leiden.  So that was really nice.  We left Berlin at 10:30 and got into Leiden at 5:30.

When we got to Leiden, Amanda and I were both really hungry so we decided to stop and get some fries and mayo.  Really long story short, it was IRRITATING.  A quote from Amanda’s blog, “Both of us were hungry and we knew that it would be awhile before we got dinner, so I suggested we stop to get fries and mayo.  We stopped at a place where I had gone before.  I ordered in Dutch but the guy apparently didn’t understand me so I ordered in English.  He still didn’t understand me so he directed me to the lady that was working.  I ordered and paid. Twenty minutes later, they realized they forgot about me.  I told them again which was even more difficult. If I wouldn’t have paid, I would have walked out a long time before.  To make a long, irritating story short, I will never go back to that place.  When we left, it became apparent that they were just making things difficult for me.  I have never been so irritated.  We finally got our fries and ate them on the walk back.  At least they tasted really good after all that trouble.”  Sorry I did not feel like rewriting that. 

After we got back to Amanda room, we unpacked and then went to the grocery store to get food for supper.  We ate, Amanda worked on homework and then we went to bed.

Rick

Day 91 = April 4

Today we got up and ate breakfast at the hostel and then headed out to the free walking tour.  Today it was a really nice day out, the problem was all I had clothes for was cooler weather so I was quite warm most of the day.  The tour started by the Brandenburg Gate which was one of the original entrances to the city, it was finished in 1791 and is the only one of the original gates to still stand today. 

We started the tour out with our 10 minute history lesson; most of it was from the last 100 years with both world wars.  As we walked we were shown how Berlin has placed a line around the city to where the original wall stood. 

Then the first thing that we were shown was the new Holocaust Memorial, it was very unique and hard to miss. I hope to have pictures up to show you what it looked like.  After that we were shown where Hitler’s bunker was, it is now been filled in so no one could try to use it for anything.  Then we went to what is left of the Berlin Wall, today there is a fence around what is left of the wall so people don’t go up to it and try to break a peace off and bring it home as a souvenir.  In gift shops in the city you can buy a piece of the Berlin was but it is said that there is enough souvenir pieces to rebuild the entire wall twice, so how real most of them are, who knows.  

After the wall we went to Check Point Charlie, it was the main checkpoint of the original checkpoints used to allow people to go between East and West Berlin during the Cold War.  It was where civilians and Allied forces were supposed to use.  After Checkpoint Charlie, we got lunch and then went on to walking through different squares where different thing happened.  One of those was where the famous Jewish book burning took place that started what would become Hitler’s attempt to wipe out the Jewish people or at least part of what helped it along.  We ended our tour on Museum Island; it is an island that has 5 or 6 museums on it in the heart of Berlin. 

One thing that was different in Berlin and is kind of famous from what it sounds is the Ampelmann.  The Ampelmann is lit up cross walk signals.  They were different than what we are use to so it was cool.  It was also the subject of a lot of souvenirs; they had t-shirts, and coffee mugs, and dish sponges and candy, and clocks and lamps and some of the most interesting things that you could think of.  Again I hope to get pictures up of all of this. 

After the tour, we walked to where the government legislation is held and where going to go to the top of the building to see the view but there was a huge line and I was not feeling well.  So we decided to head back toward the hostel, on our way we got some souvenirs and ice cream.  When we got back to the hostel, we relaxed for a while and freshened up and then waited for Tina to meet up with us. 

Tina got there and we headed out to go get something to eat.  She showed us around the some parts of the city that we had not seen yet.  She brought us to the more down town area that was very new and modern and you could tell that area much have been destroyed during the war because there was nothing there except new building.  We went out to eat and caught up and then she shows us some more places.  It was nice to be able to see some stuff with her and be able to see her where she lives.  She then brought us back to our hostel so we could crash for the night and she went home.

Rick

Day 90 = April 3

Today we traveled to Berlin, we got up this morning and got ready to go and went to the train station.  Our train left at 12:40 and it took us a little bit to get to the train station so neither one of us felt like doing anything that morning before we left.  We got to the train station and got some food for lunch before we left.  Our train was pretty cool.  We followed the Vltava River for a long ways so we got to see some cool country.  One thing I learned today was how many trees were in Germany.  It reminded me of Minnesota a lot.  Another thing that I am not 100% sure on but there were a lot, and I mean a lot, of what looked like deer stands out in fields and in fence lines and a long timber and just all over.  I have figured it out for sure but I am not what else they would be. Along with that, we did see deer in field and around as we traveled today.  Some of the deer that live in Germany are the Roe deer, Fellow deer and Red deer.  So, I enjoyed that a lot.  When we got into Berlin, we had about a 45 minute walk to the hostel which took long enough with our heavy backpacks.  Our hostel was really nice.  We were in a room with two other people and had our own bathroom.  It was basically like a hotel but with bunk bed.  We had lockers provided for us as well that used the keycards to lock them.  It was just a nice place to stay and was very clean and well worth the money.  When we got to the hostel and checked we just relaxed for the night since has already started to get late.  We got some food, planned the next day and went to bed.

Rick