Berlin by Photos

Last weekend was well spent in sunny Berlin. What a great place to walk around and soak in the city while the sun was out. I had a fantastic time!

Amplemann




Reichstag


Performers near the Reichstag


Ivy Covered Library



Nikolaviertel


Meter of Beer


Pints of Georg Brau


Gendarmarkt


My idea of a heavenly shop




Interesting place to work


Checkpoint Charlie


Sony Center


Berliner Dom at night


Tiergarten Statue


Schloss Charlottenburg Palace




Tiergarten




Amplemann at the gate


Modern Architecture


Pint of Berliner Kindl


German Car


All Berlin pictures on Flickr

Saturday in Brighton

The weekend before last was an absolutely gorgeous weekend in London, this weekend was half sunny half rainy but that's what I've been told to expect. Anyways, last weekend I made the most of the nice weather and headed down to the coast and arrived in Brighton 40 minutes later by train.

May 10th, 2008
It was a really cool town to explore which was fairly heavily impacted by visitors from around the country but it was still a nice city. It was quite diverse in what was available to explore. I walked through the small streets of really cool, unique shops which lead down to the small, old english like narrow streets called The Lanes. Little shops popped up around the corners of the lanes as I kept walking around each narrow turn. The lanes then opened up to a wider, main street which was home to the more upscale shops found in most cities.








That street lead down to the ocean where the Brighton Pier could be see off to the left and a massive beach covered completely in pebbles could be seen. The street wrapped closely around the edges of the beach and ocean and two to three story buildings lined the coast as it continued in each direction. Pubs lined the stone-filled beach and the stones certainly didn't stop anyone from lying out and soaking in the sun.






The pier was an odd bit of work but fun to explore and see. It's like a mini-carnival on a pier with lots of junk food, yummy doughnuts, amusement rides, games and a full arcade in the middle and of course fish and chips. It was a fun place to explore and just walk around looking at the different people and shops.







I think I'll definitely go back and explore the beach area a bit more, explore the shops as there were lots of neat ones I didn't get to go into. One place I did go was a little shop off to the side that sold mini guitars made of wood and painted in different colors. I had to get one, they were too cool to pass up even though they were £8. I bought a red Fender strat with the words "Sex Pistols - Never mind the bollocks." It makes me chuckle when I look at it which is exactly why I bought it, not because I'm a massive Sex Pistols fan because I'm not, haha.

After consuming a double chocolate cupcake from the butterfly bakery, an ice cream cone, a few doughnuts and a nice italian meal I was ready to head back. Definitely need to check out a milkshake place that advertised 150 different milkshakes!!

Flat Hunting in London

Hello from London!

I've been here since 1st of March and what an adventure it has been. I've walked around a lot of areas in London and have really enjoyed my time here. I love it and can't wait to move here! I've had this odd feeling all week that I actually live here now and it really feels like I do but not yet...one more month.

I've secured a flat in the south part of Brixton near the Herne Hill Thameslink station. It's a really nice area...well at least part of it. There are some seedy spots but I'll avoid those. The nice bits are that there's a beautiful, massive park called Brockwell Park not 5 minutes from my flat. It's also a really modern and new building and less than my budget so it's great in multiple aspects. I'm also less than 10 minutes from the nearest station with a 15 minute ride straight into work! it's really an ideal location for what i need and i am very excited that I was able to secure the spot. Brilliant, i say!

Here's a google maps view of where I live, it's south and a bit west.
google map of my new flat in London!

I'm at Leon's right now which is fairly close to my hotel and they have free wireless which is very nice. I haven't been able to get internet in my room since it's £15 per day which is complete codswallop! So this is the first time i've been able to type anything up about the trip. It's been wonderful so far and I can't wait to come back in April.

Here are a few pictures from the trip so far:
View of the city and the Thames from the southbank


St. Paul's Cathedral (literally right outside of where i work)


Brockwell Park


London street


Near smithfield market


My flat building


Lounge area


Outside my window


Lounge area and kitchen view


Bathroom


Kitchen



It's been a very lovely and successful trip!

Leaving for Europe Tomorrow!

Listening to: Coldplay and Michael Stipe - In the Sun

The final hours are upon me. 24 hours from now I will be leaving on Virgin-Atlantic for my ever first European trip. I honestly have no expectations. All I can feel is excitement and nervousness and they mix like peanut butter and jelly. I feel prepared though. I've done a lot of work for this trip more than I have for any other trip in my whole life. I checked out books from the library, extensively researched the places we're going and yet I still feel anxious. It's the unknown factor that is causing these feelings. I don't know what it's really going to be like. All the books in the world couldn't prepare me well enough for a real experience but ya know what, that's life. It's going to be fun and exciting and probably hectic at times but I'm ready, I'm ready to explore!