Amsterdam for the Weekend

After recently passing an exam I thought I deserved a reward, so I treated myself to a weekend in Amsterdam.  I arrived by train Friday night after spending my week in Apeldoorn for work.  I picked a hotel close to the Centraal Station so that I wouldn't have to haul my luggage or myself too far after the long week.  If you collect Hilton points I would recommend the Double Tree Hilton, next to the station.  It wasn't as nice as the Park Hotel, where I stayed last time, but it was a standard Double Tree.  After a quick shower and clothes change I hit the town for dinner.  As it was getting late, 9ish, I ended up just grabbing a Pizza near the hotel.  Afterwards I strolled south along the Damrak to city hall.  On my way back to the hotel I walked through the red light district where I stopped in at a little Jamaican pub for a couple drinks.

Waking up Saturday morning I had a massive western breakfast! my American friends who travel internationally know what I mean.  Eggs, bacon, sausage, real orange juice, fresh fruit, etc.  All the American fixings versus the cold meats, cheese, and bread that dominate most European breakfasts.  I enjoy that as well but sometimes a guy just wants some biscuits with sausage gravy!  After eating too much, I stashing a few to-go snacks in my bag and was off.  

Having been to Amsterdam once before I elected to rent a bike instead of walking and taking the tram to get around. It was a great idea as I was able to see and do a lot more.  I headed to the opposite end of town to start with where I visited the Rijk Museum.  After some time there I pedaled through a couple parks and along at least a half dozen parks before stopping for lunch.   After lunch I did the new Rick Steves walking tour of Amsterdam.  Not having done a self-guided walk of the city before I did find a couple new and interesting places.  The flower markets and a quiet courtyard where poorly Christian women could live were two of the new ones I liked.  I worked up an appetite with all the cycling and walking I had so I stopped for a traditional dutch snack, as recommended by Steve, smoked eel... not good.  I was happy to find some Patates (fries) with mayo, also a Dutch treat, a few meters further down the street.  I spent the rest of Saturday wandering around nearish to the hotel.  I checked out the new Nemo museum and the tall ships nearby.  

Sunday morning was basically: wake up, shower, breakfast, train station, and airport.  After a short flight I was back in the UK and home in Cheltenham by early afternoon. Can't wait for my ski trip to Austria next weekend!  

Oxford but for Work

I spent a couple days in Oxford last week. Unfortunately it was for work and I had to get my sightseeing in at night.  Based on my nighttime adventures I'll have to make a return trip for pleasure sometime soon, during the daylight. 

There are some great, old pubs in Oxford! Lots of character and atmosphere which is only enhanced by the eccentric academics discussing the oddest of things over a pint.  For my friends who are fans of The Hobbit or Chronicles of Narnia you'll be interested in knowing that JRR Tokien and CS Lewis were regulars at two of the pubs I visited.  They aren't pictured but were the Eagle and Child and Lamb and Flag. 

Enough for now.  

Olympics

I realize I have been seriously slacking on blog updates so here is the condensed Olympic update.

The Olympics were fantastic! Katie, who was here for the summer, and I were lucky enough to attend four events and spend several days in London during the games.  We attended men's indoor volleyball at Earl's Court on the middle Saturday.  We saw two matches during the morning session.  The highlight of which was the Poland v Great Britain match.  Excellent atmosphere with the home crowd and the Polish supporters who travel well.  Poland ended up winning.  

Me outside Earls Court after the morning session

A little bit of the action

Katie and I inside the arena

Our second event was women's beach volleyball at the historic Horse Guards Parade in central London.  Very cool venue but not a great sports atmosphere.  While I admit, women jumping about in bikinis has a certain appeal to it, there was also world class volleyball being played.  As a volleyball fan I was there to see the volleyball.  Unfortunately most of the people in attendance were more interested in drinking and ogling the women.  It crowd was entertain but it would have been good if they were more into the game, especially since the US won!  They beat the Czech Republic team in the quarterfinals on their way to a silver medal after eventually loosing to the other US team.  

USA in White

Katie and I in between matches

Horse Guards in between matches

We had tickets for men's basketball group play at the Basketball arena in the Olympic Park.  We got there a little late in the morning and took our time getting to the venue.  We took our time because it was a few miles walk from the train station!  We planned on a 15 minute walk from the tube station to the park but we didn't realize it was another 25 minute walk to the Basketball Arena once you were inside the park.  It was a nice morning though and because it was the morning there were very few people around.  We saw all the venues, found the  NBC studio, and even had some time for a little shopping before making it into the first of the two games we would see.  The basketball was pretty good, highlighted by Australia winning with a 3-pointer at the buzzer! 

Welcome to the park

The rings

The Olympic Stadium

Velodrome and Basketball Arean inside the park

The Today Show

Inside the Basketball Arena

Boltin' It

A USA gold medal - won for shooting by a cute young lady

Showing our country's color in front of the Olympic Stadium

Our final event was the men's basketball semi-final.  We had tickets for the Spain-Russia game but were able to swap/buy some tickets for the USA game!!! It wasn't quite the Dream Team I grew up watching but it was still amazing.  

My flag sign for ticket swapping! 

Warm ups

Warm ups

National Anthems 

Coach K breaking it down for em'

The commish. 

Opening tip off

We really lucked out with our seats - thank you to the Dutch Olympic Committee - and of course the USA won which made it all the better!!!  Didn't really want that night to end because it meant the end of our Olympic experience.  But as they say, all good things must come to an end.  Anyone up for Rio in 2016?!  

2 Years Down

Hard to believe that I have been living in England for two years.  The time has gone by quickly and no doubt my third, and final year, will go by with equal if not greater speed.  I went out with my friend Gian last night to celebrate both of our UK birthdays - my second and his third.  He moved to the UK from Italy three years ago. We strayed from our locals to the other end of town for a few pints.  We stopped by the Beehive and Jolly Brewmaster before coming back to The Sawn for last call.  A successful night capped by staying up way too late to watch the Brewers game!  All in all, a pretty good way to celebrate my "birthday".  

Easter in Germany

Since I was headed to Germany for work the week after Easter I decided to make a long weekend of it arriving on Good Friday and bumming around through Easter Monday.  My base of operations was a hotel in Frankfurt which gave me easy access to trains.

Saturday's day trip was to Freiburg, near the Black Forest.  An interesting fact I learned about the black forest is that its manmade and not even 200 years old. Impressive considered how large it is, nearly 100 miles and some 50 miles across.  The purpose of my trip was to visit my friend John, from high school who lives there with his wife and daughter.  I'm very comfortable wandering around on my own in a country where I don't speak the language but was still glad to have a friend who spoke the language to take me around.  Drinks, food, and directions are more simple and don't take nearly as long! We walked the city which features one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Germany and the Munster (cathedral).  As usual, there was a nice open air market going on around the church which provided some little souvenirs and tastey sausages for lunch.  After a short walk up to a look out tower in town John and I drove a little further into the forest for some hiking.  The scenery was beautiful.  It was nice to have some exercise in the fresh air and good conversation as well.  After our afternoon of hiking we returned back to John's apartment and a traditional German dinner, prepared by John's wife, of schnitzel and spatzel. Delicious!  After dinner it was off to a beer hall for a for a  few beverages before catching the late train back to Frankfurt.

Sausages and meat stall at the market

Great gargoyle on the left

All things walnut

The market

Spices at the market

Freiburg from the lookout tower in town

King of the mountain!

German refreshments for our hike

hiking in the black forest

A carved tree trunk which doubled as a seat on the other side

Beer hall in Freiburg

Sunday's day trip was to Kaiserslauten, to visit Katie's cousin Liz. I hadn't seen Liz since the summer before when Katie and I met her and her husband Stewart in Paris for the weekend.  This time we had neither Katie or Stewart to entertain us which was more than okay because it gave us a chance to relax and talk the day away.  Since the weather was great we had a long leisurely lunch inside before a brief car tour of the city.  Our plan then was to visit Ramstien airforce base.  Apparently you need your passport to visit overseas bases which sadly I left at my hotel in Frankfurt.  My dreams of big box, discount store, familiar brand name shopping would have to wait for my next trip to the US.  Having been denied access we went for a drive to a small logging village before arriving to Liz's house.  We  visited for a while before moving to a restaurant for drinks and cake!  After a few more hours of good conversation it was time to head back to Frankfurt.

Monday, was my day to see Frankfurt and it was raining.  I still managed to get out and see the town center and a few churches.  A wrong turn or two allowed me to see some nice residential areas as well :) Since I didn't have a guide book with me I can't tell you much about what I saw but it was reasonably enjoyable.  I did happen across one monument that I found interesting.  It was for all of the victims of the Nazi concentration camps.  Rather poignant because this isn't a part of Germany's history that they are yet comfortable discussing.  Another thing I can say is a lot of the city is rather new and modern because it was bombed out during the war.  Enjoy the pictures, it is a beautiful city.

Thanks to Liz and John for showing me a great time in Germany!  Hope to come back next summer!