Wes

Home Sweet Home

Posted by WesFraser on Monday, March 23, 2009

It's been a long day of travel but I'm finally home. Now sleep... Lot's and lot's of sleep.

Au Revoir Paris, Ello London- Again

Posted by WesFraser on Sunday, March 22, 2009

I'm back in London. Everything went smoothly with my traveling today. The train ride was a cool experience and I'm glad I ended up traveling that way. I'll spend enough time in an airport tomorrow...

My hotel is 2 miles away from the airport and it has regular shuttles running. I'll fly out around 9:30 tomorrow morning- London time, and arrive in Newark around 1:30-1:45- Eastern time. Then I'll have another long layover before eventually catching a plane to Birmingham and getting home around 11.

So, after this post that really only leaves one more. It's crazy how fast this trip has gone by and how long it feels like I've been gone at the same time. It has really been an incredible experience. Thanks to everyone who was interested enough to follow me on this and I look forward to seeing and catching up with everyone soon.

City of Lights

Posted by WesFraser on Saturday, March 21, 2009

Today was full of great experiences. I started by going to the Place du Tertre. It's a great neighborhood, in an old square, at the top of some pretty steep streets, where you will find a bunch of local artists. Some are just selling prints, some are selling their paintings- painting more while you are there, and some will sketch you or a photo if you like. Prices are pretty high but you can bargain for better prices. I was able to buy a little painting there. In fact, it's still drying. That'll be interesting to get home. Also, from up there you can get some great views of Paris.

Street leading up to the Place du Terte

Place du Tertre Artist- It was hard to get a good picture because it was so crowded

Place du Tertre Neighborhood

I saw the Arc de Triomphe yesterday but it was towards the end of my sight-seeing. I went back today and went to the top. It took me a while to figure out how to get to it. It is placed in the center of a very busy round-a-bout. After almost circling it I found the sign for an underground passage. That's a good thing because I was just about to try and cross the round-a-bout. I feel like that would have led to a very different post. Ha.

I climbed a lot of stairs but it was worth it. The views of Paris were awesome. It also contained a room where you can learn more about the Arc.

The Stairs to the top of the Arc

The view of Paris

On top of the Arc

The round-a-bout

I knew I had passed the Moulin Rouge on the way to my hotel the first day so I went back for a picture. Supposedly it has the best can-can. I'm not even sure what that is but the windmill is cool...

Tonight I went to see the Eiffel Tower lit up. Paris is cool during the day but it is really cool at night. At night, every hour on the hour, blinking lights appear all over the Eiffel Tower and it last for about 5-10 mins. My pictures really didn't do it justice.

Before

After

Tomorrow I'll take a train back to London. I'm looking forward to the train trip. I think it'll travel under the English Channel. Anyway, I'll stay in London tomorrow night and fly back to Birmingham Monday morning.

Paris

Posted by WesFraser on Friday, March 20, 2009

I am exhausted. Ha. Today was great. I saw a lot and I've been blessed with good weather this entire trip. Hopefully the weather will hold out for a few more days.

I decided to walk to the sights today as opposed to taking to Metro or anything. You know, to soak up the atmosphere... Paris is big. Really, really, big. A lot bigger than it looks on my map. Ha. Luckily, a lot of the sights are close together (relatively).

I got an early start today because I wanted to go to the Louve and I figured that it would be the least crowded in the morning. I stopped for a Crepe, which was delicious, and ate it in the lawn area in front of the Louve.

My Crepe

The Pyramid in front of the Louve

The Louve is huge. You could probably spend a whole day there. I stayed for hours but probably only saw a fraction of the art. Here are some of the high points.

The Mona Lisa- It was hard to get a good picture because we weren't supposed to use a flash and she was behind glass. Plus, there were a ton of people there to see it.

Another cool thing is that they had artist there recreating paintings. I didn't see the no camera sign until after I took the picture... Word.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace- Possibly my favorite thing I saw

The Medievil Louve- This would be my other favorite

Inside the Louve

Also, on a side note, I like saying and using the word Louve- Sorry if it's copious. Louve.

It seems like everyone rides a motorcycle or a scooter here. And they have their own traffic laws. Traffic lights don't apply to them and occasionally they can use the sidewalk if they want to... even if you're on it.

Boats on the Seine

Me in front of the Eiffel Tower

The Arc De Triomphe

Heidi- I found a Pizza Hut. I laughed out loud when I saw it. Looks like they even deliver.

Bonjour!

Posted by WesFraser on Thursday, March 19, 2009

I made it to Paris- checked in and everything- about an hour ago. It's a little later than I had planned but there were delays in Dublin due to fog this morning. In addition, I lost another hour from Dublin to Paris. So, it is about 8 here. A six hour time difference from home.

I'll have to admit that I started to get nervous about this leg of the trip when I got to the airport in Dublin. My biggest concerns were being able to navigate the airport and trains into Paris. It was actually not that difficult. Most signs in the airport were also in English and the trains ran on a basic subway set-up so it was easy to look at the map and see which stop I needed to get off at. After I made it to the station, I took a cab. It was my first test with the language. It wasn't the prettiest but I gave my directions for the hotel and we were off. Other than the delay and the taxi almost driving off with my luggage, the travel today went really well. Haha.

Paris definitely has it's own style and when I was riding in the taxi on the way to my hotel I really felt like I was "in Paris". It was a cool feeling. Also, on the way we passed the Moulin Rouge... Yes, I could leave Paris now and feel like I had the whole experience. Ha.

My hotel room is nice. Small but, nice. I am on the sixth floor and there is no elevator. The plus is that I have a little balcony. Below is my view.

Posted by WesFraser on Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Guinness is HUGE here. There are signs advertising the sell of it everywhere. So, it's probably not a huge shock to find out that it originated in Dublin. There is a Guinness Storehouse, seven story, visitors center that is a big tourist attraction. It used to be a fermentation plant until it was turned into a visitors center and is actually designed in the shape of a Guinness pint- on the inside.

So, even though I'm not a huge beer drinker, and even at that, I have never really enjoyed Guinness, I thought, when in Rome... It was a really interesting experience. There are seven stories in the Storehouse and you follow a series of signs and videos explaining the history and process of making Guinness.

I vaguely caught the information about how our ticket could be redeemed at the end of the tour for a pint of Guinness so when I reached a room where they were pouring small glasses about half full, I assumed that this was our glass. So I drank it. That's about the time I was informed that this was the 'tasting room'. So the tour continued until finally I reached the seventh floor- The Gravity Bar. It was really cool. Almost 360 degree window views of the city. This was also the place where you redeem your ticket for your pint of Guinness . So I did. And I drank my pint and made small talk with some other people on the tour. And then I realized; it's 11:00 and I'm starting to get a buzz... I started not to share but I figured this was part of my experience so it's fair game. And I still don't enjoy Guinness.

After the Guinness Storehouse I continued sight-seeing. Below are some places I saw.

A fountain in St. James Park

ChristChurch Cathedral- One of two medieval cathedrals in Dublin

Inside ChristChurch Cathedral

Entrance to Dublin Castle

Dublin Castle Courtyard

The River Liffey

Dublin is a really cool town to walk around. Lot's of really cool streets paved with cobblestone and lined with interesting shops and pubs.

The statue of Molly Malone. A famous figure of Dublin. She is even a part of the song 'Cockles and Mussels' which has sort of become the unofficial anthem of Dublin.

St. Patrick Cathedral

St. Patrick's Park

I fly out to Paris tomorrow around lunch. I really wish I had one more day here to go see the Irish countryside. Next time.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Posted by WesFraser on Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patty's Day! Dublin has been crazy. There are tons of people here. This morning I got up and met Kara and her friends- Katrina, Abby, and Ashley- to watch the parade. It was fun. It was different than I expected it to be. There was some traditional Irish stuff but overall the parade had more of carnival feel.

When I arrived to meet them I had on some green but was quickly informed that I was not festive enough. So a few Euro's later I was wearing an Irish/Indian headdress and had a "Kiss Me I'm Irish" temporary tattoo slapped on my cheek. I paid the price for my headdress because after about an hour I felt like I was being scalped.