Hey...so I'm in Munich

MASCULINITY. If I had to define Germany in one word that's it. They love beer, meat and fast cars. What more could you ask for?

Munich was one of the first trips I planned and the trip was centered around one thing: seeing Dave Matthews Band in Europe. My roommates Andrew, Brian and I all wanted to see Dave this semester so we sat down and found a time and place which fit all of our schedules. Originally, one of Brian's friends from ND studying in Toledo, Spain was going to join us but due to exigent circumstances he had to back out at the last minute. So here we are with an extra ticket to DMB the Thursday before we leave the next day. So at our weekly flat dinner Thursday night, Andrew, Brian and I are discussing the probabilities of being able to sell the ticket in Munich and that's when spontaneity at its finest struck one of our other roommates Sean. Sean gets up quickly checks his computer and then says, "Guys I'm coming to Munich!" Yep it was that simple, we had an extra ticket, Sean wanted to see Dave.

So off we went Friday afternoon to Deutschland. Saturday morning rolls around and we get up and discuss what we want to do before Dave. It didn't take long before the unanimous consensus was let's go to Hofbrauhaus, Munich (and possibly the world's) most famous beer house. Ignore the fact that it was still 10 AM, we didn't want any Wheaties, we wanted a man's breakfast. We wanted an array of delicious German meats, pretzels, potatoes, and of course German beer.

After having our fill of food and beverages, we decided we wanted to continue our manly streak so we headed to the BMW Museum. Now I must say I am more of a Mercedes man myself but BMW is no slouch. The museum was awesome! Around every corner was a car worth more than most people's homes.

After several hours of drooling over cars, we walked around the Munich Olympic Park, now it's no Centennial Olympic Park but it was still quite nice nonetheless.

Now I'll discuss the highlight of the trip: DAVE! We arrived at the venue early and realized that it was general admission, which meant since we got there early we got extremely close to the stage. The concert was as to be expected...EXCELLENT! He played a fair amount of songs from his newest CD Big Whiskey but still did a great job of mixing in some classics. The highlight of the concert was definitely when Dave came out for his second encore and played one of my favorite songs All Along the Watchtower.

Sunday more we made our way to one of Munich's more famous Catholic Churches for mass, St. Peter's. The mass was entirely in German which made for a beautiful experience (sarcasm included, you'll know what I mean if you've ever heard German spoken). After mass we visited the Deutches Museum which is Germany's science and technology. I would liken it to the Smithsonian except for while the Smithsonian has an entire museum for Airplanes and etc. The Deutches Museum conmbines all these fields in one big museum. After seeing some cool planes and what not we made our way to another German beer house for our last meal and then we were off to the airport and back to London.

Drink and Ye Shall be Rewarded

Unless you live under a rock, you know what a pub crawl is. Until this past weekend, I always figured that the pub crawls of London were a way to see several of the city's finer watering holes. Little did I know London had 6 official Ale Trails ranging from 3 pubs in a night to one pub crawl which isn't for the feint of heart seeing as it includes 10 pubs. The best part of these official Ale Trials (aside from tasting all the amazing beers local pubs have to offer) is that upon completion of an Ale Trial you get a free t-shirt. That's right London rewards those who can pound back several pints in one night by bestowing upon them a cool t-shirt worth 10 pounds. Needless to say when my friends and I learned that we could drink and get rewarded with a shirt we were ready to go.

We decided to attempt the Historic Blackfriars Ale Trial, which includes 5 pubs that are all within a mile of our flats. So off we went on Saturday around 8 in the evening ready to tackle the task before us. However, to our dismay 2 of the 5 pubs on the list were already closed for the day! Rest assured though, our quest for a t-shirt and some beer would not be thwarted that easily. We made a pact that come Monday we would make our second attempt.

We began the night in good spirits and set off for Doggett's Coat & Badge pub, a 4 story pub with an amazing view of the Thames River. Here we enjoyed a tasty ale called Doom Bar.

Next we ventured to The Black Friar. While all the pubs on the trail were great, this was by far my favorite. The bar has amazing engravings all along the top of the pub and just as importantly the beer I had at Black Friars was my favorite of the evening, a Timothy Taylor Landlord... delicious!

After Blackfriars we simply crossed the street and went to The Old Bell. Another quaint pub; however, they ran out of their tasty IPA right before I ordered!

The walk from The Old Bell tower to the next pub on the list, Ye Olde Watling, was slightly longer than I would have wished, but sore feet and cold weather would not stop me from my goal. At Ye Olde Watling, I had yet another good beer. This beer was a seasonal brew called the Polar Beer.

Thankfully, the final stop on our list was within 100 feet of Ye Olde Watling. We had finally made it. We reached Williamson's Tavern with looks of triumph across each of our faces. We ordered our last pint of the evening and proclaimed to the bartender that we were triumphant ale trailers and wanted our free t-shirt. The response we were greeted with, "Sorry but we're out of t-shirts." Now don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the evening's frivolities but goshdangit I wanted my t-shirt. So after sampling one of Williamson's Tavern's finest beverages we went back to Ye Olde Watling and requested a t-shirt. Thankfully, this pub had what we were after. The bar tender opened a chest and there they were our shirts!

Just some ribs

For all those who think that football players are the toughest athletes, I now have first hand knowledge of how such thinking is false. I went to a semi-professional rugby match earlier today (London Welsh vs. Bedford Blues) and hands down the towering men I saw on the pitch were the toughest athletes I've ever seen! At one point during the match, a player for London got annihilated and as he was walking off the field a fan asked how badly he was hurt. The players response, "Just some ribs." And he was being serious! This guy literally broke some ribs moments earlier and thought nothing of it! It was at this moment that I knew I would have never made a very good rugby player because I actually care about my bones and internal organs.

I had never watched a rugby match before today so I don't understand any of the intricacies of the game, but my general understanding of the game is essentially one big game of keep away. The best analogy I can think of for rugby is comparing it to a kickoff in football where the receiving team must score. Essentially for two 40 minute halves 30 huge guys (15 per team) are trying to get a ball into the endzone. While this sounds alot like football, there are several significant differences. One being there are no forward passes and another being you are not supposed block in the same manner that football players block. All and all watching the game was a great experience; however, with that said I'm not sure how into rugby I could ever get. Mainly because the game seems much more hectic and disorganized than any of the major sports back home.

A Weekend in Paris

After a bit of a hiatus from writing, here is my next installment of Ain't Life Grand (I know all my readers have been waiting anxiously). As many of you know I went to the City of Lights, the lovely Paris, this past weekend. For a country with a war record about as impressive as Charlie Weis' coaching record, it was amazing. Brian Dondanville (one of my flatmates and someone who comes in great handy in Paris due to his local knowledge and French speaking skills), Chris Smith, Larry Stickley and Peter Balestracci accompanied me on this epic adventure.

On Friday we went to the French War Museum. We were a bit surprised to find out that to go to the museum cost 9 euro; however, after a little thought we figured the French needed the money after a century of being Europe's doormat. Surprisingly the museum was pretty cool. It had a great collection of old swords and armor. With that said the WWI and WWII exhibits were fairly weak especially when compared with the Imperial War Museum of Britain (which is free). I felt like that WWI and II exhibits should have been a large American flag with the words THANK YOU underneath but apparently the French don't agree. It was interesting to see how they portrayed the war from a French perspective. They didn't necessarily downplay America's role but they definitely implied that they helped more than they actually did.

After looking at a bunch of guns, we figured we would treat ourselves to a little culture so that night we went to the Louvre...AMAZING!! As my family knows I had already been there and remembered several of the paintings but it was nice to see them again many years later.

Saturday morning we ventured to Versailles. While Brian's French had come in handy prior to this here is where he really came through. We figured if the Louvre charged so would Versailles but little did we know the ticket would be 20 euro!!! Feel free to insert your own comment about how the french are greedy here because I can assure you the woman at the ticket office heard some from us. However, there was a catch. Students studying in any European Union country get in free. Well upon hearing that we were thrilled but we weren't off the hook yet because the French apparently are not that trustworthy and did not believe 5 American students were actually studying in Europe (I guess they thought we decided to randomly travel to France for the weekend from America who knows). Anyways I digress, Brian spoke to another worker and convinced him we did in fact study in London and went to a Catholic school. All I understood of the conversation was "Catholique? Oui! Oui!" So as much as I have made fun of the French, their being nominally Catholic and hence liking Catholic universities saved us each 20 euro. Versailles was another place I had been in the past with my family but it was great to go back.

Saturday night was possibly the best night of the trip and also the cheapest! Literally all we did was roam Paris, specifically around the Eiffel Tower while enjoying some of France's finest 3 euro wine. And when we finally got hungry we simply went into a bakery/pastry shop and ordered some croissants and baguettes. Yes it was simple and yes it was amazing. Every hour for five minutes the Eiffel Tour's lights blink and it looks beautiful.

Sunday morning's adventures were not quite as low budget as Saturdays. We woke up and went to what we thought would be an English speaking Mass at Notre Dame. Upon reaching the Cathedral we learned the mass was in French, but nonetheless that mass was spectacular. After mass we decided to splurge and go to Cafe des Deux Magots. The same cafe that the likes of Hemingway and Picasso frequented!!! I don't want to give my readers a heart attack so I won't give the specific price of our lunch but I will say the restaurant certainly knows that tourists want to come and eat where one of the world's greatest authors ate and drank.

After our meal we made our way to the Champs-Elysees and the famous Arc de Triomphe also know by my friends and I affectionately as the Arc de Friendship or Arc de Irony. Jokes aside the Arc was impressive.

Our final destination in Paris before heading back to good ole London and the land of English speakers was also our funniest. We wanted to go to the museum d'Orsay famous for its great impressionist collection. Well we are roaming the streets and come across an impressive looking building advertising for an art exhibit and for some reason we assume this is d'Orsay...oh how our assumptions were wrong! We pay our 6 pounds get inside and literally see 49 pills of clothes with one huge pile of cloths in the middle with a construction crane continually picking up clothes from the center pile and dropping them back into the pile. That's right we paid roughly $10 to see old, dirty clothes being dropped from a crane. Yep folks that is apparently art. It also turns out we were in the some impressive looking building built for the world's fair in 1900 which now hosts absolutely idiotic art exhibits. The exhibit was actually so stupid and comical that we were not too upset about paying to go see it because who could put a price tag on an experience we can laugh about for the rest of our lives.

Marta is Smarta

As I spend more time in London I am beginning to learn more about myself. As you already know if you've been keeping up with my blog, I learned I am a terrible cook. This Sunday I learned another thing about myself: I cannot read public transportation maps! A group of my friends and I decided to visit one of London's finer social establishment this Sunday and the trip required we take the Tube to get there. Well if any of you have seen a Tube map, there is alot going on. Red lines crossed with yellow lines intertwined with black lines! Needless to say my group got lost and what makes matters worse is that the Tube charges you for how far you go (don't get me started on how I find this unfair). After around an hour of riding the Tube, we finally reached our destination but alas you needed to prebook tickets for this club. So here we are 10 Notre Dame kids who have ridden public transportation for over an hour told we cannot get in. While my readers might think this put a damper on our day, I say to you yea of little faith. 10 Notre Dame kids don't let a rude bouncer put them in a bad mood. We simply walked across the street to one of London's other finer social establishment and gave them the pleasure of our patronage. After a time at the Windsor Castle Pub, we made our way back to the flats and now have hilarious stories of our adventures on the Tube and people's lovely reactions to us lost on the Tube.

Now for my Atlanta readers this experience gave me a new found appreciation for Marta. Now, I know Marta gets a bad rap (and I know you hate it Ashley), but seriously Marta is great! You pay one flat rate and can ride that baby all day. And the routes are extremely easy to read. Get on, get off and boom you're in Atlanta. Not exactly how London works. Here it is more like get on, get lost and boom you're out around $15.

An Ode to My Mother

Dearest mother,
I just wanted to say,
that I miss you every day,
this is the first time I have lived on my own,
and at times it makes me want to moan,
I've realized I am a bad cook,
because most of what I make looks like gook,
I miss all your scruptious food,
because it puts me in a good mood,
I am hoping my cooking gets better,
otherwise I may become a debtor,
because of going out to eat,

As my devout readers can imagine my diet has significantly changed since coming to London. Gone are the days when I could simply walk across the quad and eat to my hearts content. Now I actually have to plan time in my day to make the food, which takes a lot longer than I thought. In addition, the flats have neither a dishwasher or garbage disposal which makes cleaning up a huge pain. So far I've realized I can make plain pasta (I'm currently 0 for 1 in making alfredo sauce), scrambled eggs (this is my specialty), roast beef sandwiches, and of course the always healthy frozen pizza.

A New Career

Although I have only been in London for a short time, I believe my time here has already turned me onto a new profession....leg model. as peter can attest you walk A TON!!! my roommate andrew and i google mapped the walk from the flats to the notre dame classroom building. it is exactly 2.0 miles!! that means every day i will walk at least 4 miles and i can assure you there has not been a day here that i haven't walked 6 at least. in addition, i live on the fourth floor (although the brits call it the third...i think they do this trick people into not thinking they are walking as much). now grant and joe may be thinking "hey we lived on the fourth floor of stanford and siegfried last year how rough can it be?" well such thinking is very flawed because the stairs here are significantly steeper!! maybe i'm out of shape but after walking back from class and up four very steep flights of stairs, I am winded!

Also, my roommate Andrew and I roamed around London today, something I think others greatly undervalue, and as we were roaming we came across a cool stone column. The column is literally simply called The Monument and was built between 1671-1677 to commemorate the Great Fire of London of 1666. It is the tallest free standing stone column in the world and after climbing the 311 steps (202 feet) you can take pictures from the top. You also get a certificate proving you climbed up and back when you leave. Well when Andrew and I stumbled across this we figured hey why not pay the 2 pound and climb to the top. It sounded like a harmless idea. FALSE! As some of you may know, I am not a fan of heights. I don't know why, but I simply do not like heights. So as Andrew and I are climbing up the top, it starts to get to me and then Andrew turns looks at me and says, "So you don't like heights, either?" Yep that is right two kids who both suffer from acrophobia paid 2 pounds to climb to the top of the world's tallest stone column!! Needless to say my stay on the top was brief but the 360 view of London was breathtaking.

What all this means is that I expect the most tone, sexiest legs on the planet when I return home this summer. I'm hoping I'll be able to make a little profit from this by venturing out into the tough world of leg model...who knows maybe some day I'll have a blog about that. Until later.