Thursday, November 29, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Roma!
I am going to Rome in 3 days and am getting excited!!
Anyone who has been before and has some tips on what to see (and how to do it cheaply) email me!
~Jenn
Anyone who has been before and has some tips on what to see (and how to do it cheaply) email me!
~Jenn
Friday, November 23, 2007
Viva la Barcelona!
I am in Barcelona and I am in love.
This city is amazing. I am putting it at the top of all the cities I have visited.
The architecture is phenomenal. The food is absolutely delicious and there are so many cool and creative things to see. Did I mention that the shopping is outstanding?
It's just too bad (or maybe too good) that I am in conservation mode at the moment so I cannot afford to purchase much of anything. That and my baggage allowance on the flight home has kept the spending in check. My only purchase thus far has been a pin from the HRC to add to my ever expanding collection (I have added 8 since coming here).
Today we checked out the Barcelona cathedral (we even went up on the roof where there are beautiful panoramic views of the city). I recommend to any and all who can to come to the city and see it for yourself!
Anyways it's time to go out and check out the party scene .. I'll be back later with photos!
Buenos Noches!
~Jenn
This city is amazing. I am putting it at the top of all the cities I have visited.
The architecture is phenomenal. The food is absolutely delicious and there are so many cool and creative things to see. Did I mention that the shopping is outstanding?
It's just too bad (or maybe too good) that I am in conservation mode at the moment so I cannot afford to purchase much of anything. That and my baggage allowance on the flight home has kept the spending in check. My only purchase thus far has been a pin from the HRC to add to my ever expanding collection (I have added 8 since coming here).
Today we checked out the Barcelona cathedral (we even went up on the roof where there are beautiful panoramic views of the city). I recommend to any and all who can to come to the city and see it for yourself!
Anyways it's time to go out and check out the party scene .. I'll be back later with photos!
Buenos Noches!
~Jenn
Monday, November 19, 2007
Sorted -- Finally!
I have finally updated my pictures.
You'll have to check out the other page - http://picasaweb.google.com/TallyJen75 to see them but I hope it's worth it.
Photos of Stonehenge, Salisbury, Dublin, Paris & Prague.
One of these days I'll even label them.
Anyways hope you enjoy. Off to Spain in a couple days. Keep watching for more pics and news.
~Jenn
I'll be back in the states in a month! Can you believe it?
You'll have to check out the other page - http://picasaweb.google.com/TallyJen75 to see them but I hope it's worth it.
Photos of Stonehenge, Salisbury, Dublin, Paris & Prague.
One of these days I'll even label them.
Anyways hope you enjoy. Off to Spain in a couple days. Keep watching for more pics and news.
~Jenn
I'll be back in the states in a month! Can you believe it?
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Czech Republic - Prague
I am here in Prague on a short trip. This is by far one of the prettiest cities I have traveled to. Last night I met up with friends from FSU and went out for dinner and drings (yeah, that was an intentional misspelling. I saw that painted on the window of a cafe...actually it was hot drings but anyways I thought it was cute/funny).
Today I did Prague by myself. It was a cold cloudy day but that didn't do much to masque the beauty of this city. I walked around the "Old Town Square" and looked at the different churches with their amazing Gothic architecture. One of the churches looks just like Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Another had a beautiful astrological clock on the side of it. It is rumored (perhaps it's true) that the artist who built the clock was blinded promptly after completing it so that he wouldn't be able to build a more beautiful clock for anyone else.
I spent a little more time walking around the square. I happened upon a band performing in the square that was a "Dixieland band"... can you believe that? I came to Prague to hear the Czechs playing something that sounded a lot like what I would hear back home at a country western place. It was pretty cool though.
After the square I wandered down to the river and walked along the banks to the Charles Bridge. The Charles Bridge is one of the most famous landmarks in Prague. It is a several hundred year old bridge pedestrian bridge that leads to the other side of Prague. The side that holds the Prague Castle. The bridge lives up to it's famous reputation. It has some amazing Gothic status dotted along the sides and there are street performers and artists along the entire bridge. On the bridge I was once again treated to a Western/Eastern fusion of music. There were two men performing one had a steel guitar and the other a harmonica with a brass instrument, looked like a curly trumpet without a mouthpiece. He was singing into it and playing the harmonica into it. It was a sort of cajun/blues song. And had attracted quite a little crowd.
On the other side of the river I took the LONG STEEP walk to the Prague Castle. It took about 20 minutes to get to the top. There were about 140 stairs and the hills were long and steep too but I was not disappointed by the view from the top. You got a brilliant panoramic view of most of Prague and it was breathtaking. Inside the castle walls there is another Gothic church with beautiful architecture. I took quite a few pictures of the stained glass windows and also of the gargoyles which were all unique and interesting. I actually think this church was more impressive than Notre Dame was in Paris.
After the castle I did the Geer thing, I found the mall. It was back on the other side of the river about 15 minutes walk from the Old Town Square and it was very impressive. Apparently it is built in an grand old house or something like that and is at least 6 stories high inside and beautifully decorated. I didn't really do any shopping there (other than the window variety) but it was fun to check it out.
After that sadly I had to return to the hotel because I have a very early flight tomorrow morning and therefore need to get some sleep. So, as soon as I get the Picasa situation sorted out I will post some pictures from my day out.
Hope that everyone is doing well.
~Jenn
Today I did Prague by myself. It was a cold cloudy day but that didn't do much to masque the beauty of this city. I walked around the "Old Town Square" and looked at the different churches with their amazing Gothic architecture. One of the churches looks just like Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Another had a beautiful astrological clock on the side of it. It is rumored (perhaps it's true) that the artist who built the clock was blinded promptly after completing it so that he wouldn't be able to build a more beautiful clock for anyone else.
I spent a little more time walking around the square. I happened upon a band performing in the square that was a "Dixieland band"... can you believe that? I came to Prague to hear the Czechs playing something that sounded a lot like what I would hear back home at a country western place. It was pretty cool though.
After the square I wandered down to the river and walked along the banks to the Charles Bridge. The Charles Bridge is one of the most famous landmarks in Prague. It is a several hundred year old bridge pedestrian bridge that leads to the other side of Prague. The side that holds the Prague Castle. The bridge lives up to it's famous reputation. It has some amazing Gothic status dotted along the sides and there are street performers and artists along the entire bridge. On the bridge I was once again treated to a Western/Eastern fusion of music. There were two men performing one had a steel guitar and the other a harmonica with a brass instrument, looked like a curly trumpet without a mouthpiece. He was singing into it and playing the harmonica into it. It was a sort of cajun/blues song. And had attracted quite a little crowd.
On the other side of the river I took the LONG STEEP walk to the Prague Castle. It took about 20 minutes to get to the top. There were about 140 stairs and the hills were long and steep too but I was not disappointed by the view from the top. You got a brilliant panoramic view of most of Prague and it was breathtaking. Inside the castle walls there is another Gothic church with beautiful architecture. I took quite a few pictures of the stained glass windows and also of the gargoyles which were all unique and interesting. I actually think this church was more impressive than Notre Dame was in Paris.
After the castle I did the Geer thing, I found the mall. It was back on the other side of the river about 15 minutes walk from the Old Town Square and it was very impressive. Apparently it is built in an grand old house or something like that and is at least 6 stories high inside and beautifully decorated. I didn't really do any shopping there (other than the window variety) but it was fun to check it out.
After that sadly I had to return to the hotel because I have a very early flight tomorrow morning and therefore need to get some sleep. So, as soon as I get the Picasa situation sorted out I will post some pictures from my day out.
Hope that everyone is doing well.
~Jenn
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Oh..one last thing...
Storage Quota??
I reached my free storage quota on Picasa now. So, from now on you'll have to check 2 albums to see all my photos.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Jennifer.Geer and also
http://picasaweb.google.com/TallyJen75
I can't believe I already put a gig on there. I still have 4 more trips to go!!
So, hope you enjoy the photos!
~Jenn
http://picasaweb.google.com/Jennifer.Geer and also
http://picasaweb.google.com/TallyJen75
I can't believe I already put a gig on there. I still have 4 more trips to go!!
So, hope you enjoy the photos!
~Jenn
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Paris
I just returned from an amazing trip to Paris. I can't believe that I waited this long to go there! I had such an incredible time in the city I can't even pinpoint what my favorite experience was.
I can tell you my least favorite part though. The Eiffel Tower. I mean...from the ground it's amazing. However from up on the top, it was the most frightening experience I have ever had. Let me preface this by saying I am absolutely terrified of heights, and we decided to go up on a night when it was really windy. It took rides in two different glass elevators to "catapult" me to the top of it, and while I was up there the tower just swayed and rocked. I went with a group of friends and I literally got up to the top, stepped out of the elevator and immediately walked to the que to go back down to the bottom again. I was not impressed! The views are incredible, but I didn't even have wit about me to let go of the railings so that I could free a hand to take a picture. Doh!
I took a lot of pictures while I was there, of course I'll post the slide shows but it's probably easier just to go over the the picasa page and check them all out:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Jennifer.Geer
Ok, well I want to write more about all the museums and churches, the amazing cuisine and the shopping but I MUST work on my class stuff now so I can't do it. But I'll be back sometime in the future to tell you more.
I can tell you my least favorite part though. The Eiffel Tower. I mean...from the ground it's amazing. However from up on the top, it was the most frightening experience I have ever had. Let me preface this by saying I am absolutely terrified of heights, and we decided to go up on a night when it was really windy. It took rides in two different glass elevators to "catapult" me to the top of it, and while I was up there the tower just swayed and rocked. I went with a group of friends and I literally got up to the top, stepped out of the elevator and immediately walked to the que to go back down to the bottom again. I was not impressed! The views are incredible, but I didn't even have wit about me to let go of the railings so that I could free a hand to take a picture. Doh!
I took a lot of pictures while I was there, of course I'll post the slide shows but it's probably easier just to go over the the picasa page and check them all out:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Jennifer.Geer
Ok, well I want to write more about all the museums and churches, the amazing cuisine and the shopping but I MUST work on my class stuff now so I can't do it. But I'll be back sometime in the future to tell you more.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Dublin and now Paris
Last weekend I was in Dublin and I didn't have time to write. Now I am in Paris and thought I would give you a little bit of info about the last trip.
We stayed in a hostel called the Four Courts Hostel. It was interesting because I was with a Heather (a girl from the school) and we shared a room with 6 beds, i.e. 4 people we didn't know. This is not an usual situation in Europe but I know that it's a little strange from the US perspective. Anyways, the hostel was interesting. Lots of folks staying there for longer than a couple of nights. Folks from all over Europe (particularly the former Yugoslavia) who moved to Dublin to get work and improve their English. I met a lot of different people there but there was one young man (didn't catch his name) who I met that said something that I think was pretty insightful about the state of Eastern Europe after Milosovich. We were talking about culture and such, as well as communism. He was from Bulgaria. And he told me that many of the older folks thought life was better under Communism. He said that under communism, at least they had a secure job and knew how they were going to pay their bills (food & house) but now there is a lot of choice but people don't have job security.
Another bit that he said which was why I wrote bothered to include this in the blog was about culture. He said that many people feel that Eastern Europe is "backwards, Barbarian, uncivilized" and that it wasn't a fair way to see them. He said it's all about the economy. In his country, it is difficult to earn a living, so time is spent working or thinking about ways to earn a living. There just isn't enough free time left to spend your time thinking about things which are unnecessary to your survival. Further he added, now that communism is gone, people are free to do what they want, but that doesn't really change them. He said sure I can go out and buy a plasma tv, but I never watched tv before so I probably won't now. He then said the most crucial bit, that since people didn't know much of this stuff existed before, they didn't really miss not having it in their lives. Something to think about.
So, while we were in Dublin we made it to the "Guinness Factory" which was pretty cool (we spent about 5 hours there and it wasn't even to drink a lot of Guinness) oh...btw...Did you know that it's the same Guinness who made the beer that is responsible for the Book of World Records? Didn't put 2 & 2 together before I saw it there. Anyways after Guinness we stopped into a little pub to use the toilets and ended up meeting some really interesting Irish folks and having a couple of pints with them. One guy, Danny, even took us for a short walk down the street to point out a couple of interesting Churches and to show us some of the buildings that the Guinness factory build/owned for it's workforce to live in. He swore us to not mention that he showed us around (as it would probably be a blow to his coolness or something) but too bad. I am giving him props here for being a really cool guy and showing us the sights. I am sure he won't ever happen across this blog anyways.
That was pretty much it for Dublin...Chilling out at the hostel and checking out the Temple Bar area. I came back to London for 48 hours and now I am in Paris!
Yesterday we went to the Louvre and saw many of the sites of the city. It's pretty cool. Today not sure what I am going to do. I am uploading my photos as I blog (over 550) and I will put those on sometime soon.
So, I need to plan the day.
Talk to you later!
~Jenn
We stayed in a hostel called the Four Courts Hostel. It was interesting because I was with a Heather (a girl from the school) and we shared a room with 6 beds, i.e. 4 people we didn't know. This is not an usual situation in Europe but I know that it's a little strange from the US perspective. Anyways, the hostel was interesting. Lots of folks staying there for longer than a couple of nights. Folks from all over Europe (particularly the former Yugoslavia) who moved to Dublin to get work and improve their English. I met a lot of different people there but there was one young man (didn't catch his name) who I met that said something that I think was pretty insightful about the state of Eastern Europe after Milosovich. We were talking about culture and such, as well as communism. He was from Bulgaria. And he told me that many of the older folks thought life was better under Communism. He said that under communism, at least they had a secure job and knew how they were going to pay their bills (food & house) but now there is a lot of choice but people don't have job security.
Another bit that he said which was why I wrote bothered to include this in the blog was about culture. He said that many people feel that Eastern Europe is "backwards, Barbarian, uncivilized" and that it wasn't a fair way to see them. He said it's all about the economy. In his country, it is difficult to earn a living, so time is spent working or thinking about ways to earn a living. There just isn't enough free time left to spend your time thinking about things which are unnecessary to your survival. Further he added, now that communism is gone, people are free to do what they want, but that doesn't really change them. He said sure I can go out and buy a plasma tv, but I never watched tv before so I probably won't now. He then said the most crucial bit, that since people didn't know much of this stuff existed before, they didn't really miss not having it in their lives. Something to think about.
So, while we were in Dublin we made it to the "Guinness Factory" which was pretty cool (we spent about 5 hours there and it wasn't even to drink a lot of Guinness) oh...btw...Did you know that it's the same Guinness who made the beer that is responsible for the Book of World Records? Didn't put 2 & 2 together before I saw it there. Anyways after Guinness we stopped into a little pub to use the toilets and ended up meeting some really interesting Irish folks and having a couple of pints with them. One guy, Danny, even took us for a short walk down the street to point out a couple of interesting Churches and to show us some of the buildings that the Guinness factory build/owned for it's workforce to live in. He swore us to not mention that he showed us around (as it would probably be a blow to his coolness or something) but too bad. I am giving him props here for being a really cool guy and showing us the sights. I am sure he won't ever happen across this blog anyways.
That was pretty much it for Dublin...Chilling out at the hostel and checking out the Temple Bar area. I came back to London for 48 hours and now I am in Paris!
Yesterday we went to the Louvre and saw many of the sites of the city. It's pretty cool. Today not sure what I am going to do. I am uploading my photos as I blog (over 550) and I will put those on sometime soon.
So, I need to plan the day.
Talk to you later!
~Jenn
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Halloween & Dublin
Heading out to Dublin but before I go I thought I would share my Halloween Photo.
This is my friend Wesley & I getting ready for a night on the town in London.
As my friend Katie Suggested, we're posing as the American Dream Couple.
Ok, well more when I return from Dublin. I have Stonehenge Photos and more Greece I found somewhere??
TTYL
~Jenn
This is my friend Wesley & I getting ready for a night on the town in London.
As my friend Katie Suggested, we're posing as the American Dream Couple.
Ok, well more when I return from Dublin. I have Stonehenge Photos and more Greece I found somewhere??
TTYL
~Jenn
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