Another Productive Day

After finishing off finals early Thursday morning with a healthy destruction of early modern Europe, I celebrated by getting coffee at Starbucks and a piece of that cake that everyone always wants to try, but never actually buys. After actually buying it, I feel as if I can proclaim it as good, but not good enough to ever get on a regular basis. As a growing expert on Starbucks, I'd recommend either the apple cinnamon or banana nut muffin instead.

The productive day indicated in the title refers to yesterday, Friday, January 26, 2007, which will go down in the annals of history as the day the ANNUAL STAR WARS MARATHON went international. Starting at 9:00 AM, we watched the prequel trilogy, took an extended dinner break, and then watched the original trilogy. Somewhere during the course of the day, I spent 14 hours watching Star Wars. The most surprising thing, I think, is the fact that a few people actually completed the entire saga, or at least a vast majority, along with me. It was fun. I've been able to keep my historical obsession with Star Wars pretty much buried in England, so it was sort of fun to revert back to high school for a day. This was the first time I've watched the movies in this manner (marathon) with "normal people." Meaning, people who don't either A) own some sort of science fiction/fantasy costume or B) people who couldn't differentiate between the 1977 theatrical release, the 1997 special editions, or the 2004 DVD editions. As is such, it was a sort of interesting sociological thing as well. You know, there are those of us who are horrified at the thought of not seeing Star Wars, just as there are those who are horrified that some people don't read Jane Austen. Interesting.

Aside from that, the weekend thus far has been extremely uneventful. Absolutely nothing has been accomplished today. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to go to an evangelical Christian church in an attempt to probe the religious psyche of the British. I have to write a final Paideia paper on some aspect of British life, and I'm doing it on why evangelical Christianity is so popular. Evangelicalism, espicially in its political ramifications, scares the hell out of me, so I'm hoping I survive. I think I will though. Anyways, normal life will resume again next week, with class, band, baseball, and whatever else. It'll be nice to get away from this strange sort of limbo I've lived in for the past month or whatever. I might go see the film "Babel" tonight. If I do, I'll review it later.

British Finals. What?

It's Monday night, I'm taking an hour break between a day of half hearted studying and my first attempt at playing baseball in over a month. Tomorrow sees a two final assault, with American History in the morning followed by Islam in the afternoon. American History I feel is going to get a healthy dose of post Civil War domination. Islam, well I'm sure the 6 of us in the class can think of something. Thursday sees the last challenge in the form of early modern European history. That will take some clever finagling, but it'll go well too I think. Overall, fairly confident in approaching finals. My productivity has increased slightly as of late due to the fact that I completely caught up with the new season of 24. So now, all I have to do is download the latest episodes on Tuesday mornings. With that feat behind me, and finals done in 72 hours, other, more important things can start to take precedence in the Luther College flat. Such as Friday's 14 hour Star Wars marathon, being hosted in the living room. Although this event has been planned for well over a week, a recent discussion with Brandon at Starbucks has reinforced my idea that too many people don't do things just for the sake of doing them. Everything needs a purpose. Screw that. 14 hours of Star Wars is purpose enough for anything, especially in celebration of the end of finals.

Mark and Carol are currently away from Nottingham on some sort of scouting thing, and I am okay with that. Although discontent with the directors has been a theme, I am going through a particularly intense period of agitation right now. Reason being, in their infinate wisdom, they've decided to plan a 2 day trip to the Yorkshire moors on the exact day of my winter orchestra concert. Thus, I cannot participate in orchestra until the middle/end of February. I find this incredibly distressing. In fact, it pisses me off. I clearly made them aware of this many times, and they still chose to disregard it. I find it to be incredibly disrespectful towards myself, especially since one of their stated goals for the spring was to let us "become more immersed in university activities." In general, it's just like, "Are you for real? What is your problem?" There is a general feeling among a couple of us non-English majors that there is a particular emphasis on literature as the preeminent way of experiencing the human condition at the cost of completely ignoring other avenues (music, art, etc, etc, etc). Like academic war is being waged upon us who aren't naturally inclined towards the literary arts. I feel as if this incident only justifies this. Man I'm angry.

In closing, I think it's interesting to point out that this very second, I have friends in Vienna, Hong Kong, Tanzania, and the U.S. 4 continents. Stuff like that really gets you thinking about the wonders of modern technology. Not only that, but the incredible opportunities that we are afforded nowadays. Anyways, I have baseball in an hour. It's been a month. Hopefully it won't go too bad...

LAZY

While in Vienna, I heard rumors that a plague of laziness had swept across the Luther College Nottingham flat. "Ha," I told myself, "I'm like the most efficient person ever, I'll be fine." After knocking down at least two chapters of the most boring historical read ever on the trip, I was confident I could overcome the tide when I returned on Monday night. However, in the midst of doing a month's worth of globe trotting laundry on Tuesday, I slowly felt its icy grasp beckoning in the form of Season 5 of 24 on my computer. Needless to say, once I watched one episode, I've spent the past 2 days or so finishing it off. And since that's over with, season 6 has just started, giving me a whole new opportunity to not do anything (If anyone isn't familiar with 24, I highly recommend you tune into Fox at 8 PM CST and check it out. It's amazing that the same network responsible for "Lust Island 14" or whatever can produce such an incredible show). A great number of my Luther comrades have been engaging in similar activities as well. I have, I'm proud to say, made significant progress in my American History book, and have managed to practice my trombone a good amount. Other than that though, I've spent the days wandering around without shoes, drinking coffee, eating peanuts, and watching 24. I have taken up a new tactic in my finals studying habits, where I'm listening to my newly (Christmas break) acquired recordings of Beethoven and Mozart in an attempt to test out the theory that listening to said composers makes you smarter. Is it working? Not quite sure yet. Don't worry though, those of you who worry about my academic life, things will turn out fine. I received my Islam essay back yesterday with another "A" equivalent mark, so I'm fairly confident going into finals. It will just be strange to transition into classes after a month and a half of travel and general do nothingness. It's not like the weather has helped though, today has featured 40 MPH wind gusts with intermittent downpours. Anyways, whatever, welcome to England. A shout of bon voyage to my friend Karleen from home, who is embarking any day now for Tanzania, Africa, where she's studying Swahili. As opposed to me, who is in the historic colonizer of America, she is truly going to a land of NON-AMERICA, so kudos and best of wishes to her. This has been long enough. More American History...or 24 awaits.

Return (again)

After 10 hours on a train, experiencing both the highs and the lows of the German transit system, and a red eye flight back to East Midlands, I find myself finally completely finished with my Christmas break/Vienna travel adventure. It is a good feeling to be back for more than 3 days. Slightly comforting to have the same routine, the usual flat antics, people in their usual places, though I can do without the bleak English weather. Good to have some constants though.

I suppose people would like to hear about Vienna, and I'll oblige that gladly. This particular journey has from the very decision of mine to study abroad been a trip to look forward to. You could say it's been nearly a year in the making, literally. I had vowed that if I was not to go to Vienna as a member of the orchestra, I would visit instead, and I kept up with that promise. The joy at being reunited with familiar friends and faces from Luther is something that really cannot be expressed. I really couldn't wait to see them again, particularly Benjamin and Kate. If you're out of the loop, Benjamin and Kate are my people at Luther, so to speak. I left early Wednesday morning from East Midlands to Salzburg. After a whirlwind 7 hour tour of Salzburg that saw me covering the Hohensalzburg Fortress, Mozart's birthplace, his home growing up, and a very trendy coffee bar, I was greeted at the Vienna Westbahnhof by a gaggle of Luther folk on the platform, and quickly taken via subway to the Hotel Kummer. That was one very nice aspect of this, I stayed for free for 5 nights in a 4 star hotel. Quite the change from the usual hostel.

I feel it would not be very beneficial to just list off all the stuff I saw. Most of that can be accomplished by viewing the photo album that can be accessed to the right of the page. Once again, I'll focus on the things that struck me the most. The defining characteristic of Vienna I feel was most definitely the music. I mean, Vienna is the epicenter for the Western musical tradition, that which we are educated so strongly with at Luther. It is the city of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Strauss, Schubert, Mahler, the list goes on and on. Continuing the bohemian weekend I spent in London, my time in Vienna was characterized most of all by the great number of musical activities I partook in. This was to be expected, as my friends are all music students as well, and that is the great common denominator that brought us together in the first place, be it Concert Band, swing dancing or whatever. But make no mistake, music in Vienna demands your attention. Anyways, on Thursday I caught the Glenn Miller Orchestra, which was cool. Very prepackaged, but that's sort of what I expected. They did a good job of recreating a 1930's jazz experience. But it was just that, a recreation. But they were very good. Friday night was a definite highlight, as I went and saw Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) at the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera). The Staatsoper is considered one of the world's greatest opera houses, and it was amazing. Not only to see a Mozart opera in the city it premiered in, but also to actually see a whole opera, which I had never done. I've played in one, but never actually seen. Needless to say, I was lucky and could see the whole stage from my 9 Euro seat. And it was amazing. Following the opera, a group of us went down to a jazz club where we enjoyed some wine and local jazz.

On Sunday, Benjamin, Kate, and I decided to go try and get tickets for the prestigious Wiener Philharmoniker (Vienna Philharmonic), regarded as one of the very best orchestras in the world, if not the best. With the help of a very nice Austrian woman, we succeeded in all getting tickets to the sold out performance. I was fortunate enough to get a seat on stage, about 10 feet from the horn section. It was as if I was sitting in with the orchestra, I could watch the conductor and everything. They played Stravinsky's Petroushka as well as Dvorak's Symphony No. 8. It maybe ranks in the best things that have ever happened to me. The best part I think was the ability to watch the emotions and movements of the conductor. He seemed so joyous, it was really incredible. Vienna in general is music crazy. After I described the phenomenon to Brandon back at the flat, he used the term that the music venues are almost like their football stadiums. I like that analogy. Every concert I saw was completely sold out, standing room included. There were people in front of the Musikverein scalping tickets to the Vienna Philharmonic. It's just such an incredible atmosphere of music and culture. I loved it. It definitely has inspired me musically. I am looking forward to increasing my practice time, as well as reapplying myself. I have to do this every year, but I suppose the Vienna experience just puts it into a bit more perspective. Especially if I am still considering trying out for orchestra next year. I've also been rethinking what I want to study after Luther. Musicology (the history of music)? Hmm, we'll see.

Of course, I did more than just listen to music. I ran around the city centre, and on Sunday the group of us went to Schonbrunn Palace, the summer residence of the Hapsburgs. For those of you not in the know, Vienna was up until 1918 the capital of the vast Hapsburg Empire, and is truly an imperial city. The palace tour was great, as were the incredible gardens. Check the photos. We also made it to the central cemetary, where we saw Beethoven's grave, along with Schubert's, Brahms', and Strauss'. On Sunday, Kate and I traveled to the northernmost edge of Vienna to visit Heiligenstadt, an area once haunted by Beethoven. It actually turned out to be one of my favorite things. Stepping off the tram was like stepping into a different world, as it was so quiet and peaceful. We wandered about and saw a few houses Beethoven once lived in. After some really bad directions and 45 minutes lost in another Vienna suburb, we met the rest of the orchestra at a heurigen, which is a very unique Viennese wine garden that serves new wine. Like the wine made this year. A good time. I know, a lame description of events. Check the photos, they'll do a good job.

To sum everything up, the trip was great. The orchestra leaders were very gracious in letting me tag along. It didn't hurt that I knew Dr. Baldwin, Dr. Strauss, and the tour coordinator, but they were great nonetheless. Being among so many Luther people was bound to raise up thoughts of whether it was indeed a good idea to study abroad or not. I'd be lying if I said I was supremely confident in my decision to go. But that does not mean I regret it. Rather, I feel confident that I will be fine next year, and that I am supported by those back home. One thing I realized is that no matter how many countries I travel to, or things I see, or miles I log on a train, they all pale in comparision to the incredible value of family and good friends. This doesn't only apply to Luther people, as I don't want to cut out anyone. It's just a realization that came to me in Vienna. I highly recommend study abroad to anyone. But I think anyone who goes will come to this conclusion. Anyways, that's that. We are quickly approaching the halfway point of this year, university tests approach me next week, as well as a paper on British evangelicalism. But strangely, all I want to do is watch the first episodes of 24 Season 6....

Vienna, Vienne, Wien.....

Just a quick post here. I am currently in Vienna, for which the German name is Wien. I successfully made it here on Wednesday night where I was reunited with Benjamin, Kate, Becky, and a host of other Luther music folk. Needless to say, the past few days have been great, both in terms of having the chance to spend time with friends, and doing a lot of sightseeing. It's definitely a trip full of music, not only in the nature of my friends, but also in seeing a number of world class performances. In short, a great time thus far. Jeannette, I've passed your message on to Benjamin. He wants to know why you can't just say hi in person? Anyways, a better update will come when I return to England sometime early next week. Later.

Retour (Return)

NOTICE- PHOTOS ARE NOW POSTED ON THE SITE. VIDEOS SHOULD BE FORTHCOMING WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS

Statistics (not scientific)

24 Days
8 Countries
12 Cities
4 pairs of socks
5 days of train travel
653 photos
26 short videos

After nearly 3 and a half weeks on the road, here I find myself, back "home" in the UK. You have no idea of the pleasure that is gained from being able to sit down in front of my own computer (a Mac nonetheless), drink a cup of coffee at whatever speed I deem necessary, remove my absolutely disgusting socks, and just be able to take the time to think about what has happened. I'm in sort of a strange situation though. The true Christmas break is over, I returned from London early this afternoon. Theoretically, all my cares should be gone, and I should just kick back and relax for a bit. And I will. However, Wednesday sees me off on another adventure, this time a 5 day trip to Salzburg and Vienna to visit some much missed Luther friends. So, I'm writing this entry in a sort of eye of the storm sort of feel. Although the main part of my vacation is over, I'm still facing another journey, which I think influences how I'm going to reflect on my travels.

I've been able to shoot off some quick snippet blogs throughout the trip, so I hope those gave you a good idea of some of the day to day events and such of my travels. It would be much too time consuming (and boring) to try and recap everything that I did now. I mean, how can you capture so much in words anyways? Rather, I think I'll try to describe some highlights, be they themes, particular experiences, events, sights, or thoughts.

As many people now know, I started off the trip in Chamonix, which sticks out as a highlight overall. First of all, I love the mountains. I also love France. Put mountains in France, with snow, and you have to get a winning combination. It was so nice to be able to relax after the stress of writing papers and stuff for school. It seems so long ago now. My day spent skiing in the Alps was amazing. Completely unlike anything I've skied in the US, and definitely different from a technical point of view. I hope some of you check out the vids that are either already on or forthcoming on Youtube, and see the sights from the top of the Aiguille du Midi. It is simply mind boggling. It's like standing in a postcard.

Next stop was Reutte/Fussen. This was interesting, as it was my first solo travel experience, especially on a scale of this size. On solo travel, I have to say that I really valued the time I had alone, but I'm not sure if it was all that I had expected. I must say, it is so nice to be able to feel so free. No one was telling me what to do, I could see what I wanted to, at whatever speed I felt. I could eat wherever I wanted. I liked being able to do what I wanted. However, I didn't like the fact that I had no one to share the experience with. No amount of photos, videos, or stories can truly convey the "essence" of visiting Neuschwanstein, or staying in a small Austrian village, or any number of things. Aside from that though, I loved being able to tour the castles, as well as lay low in Reutte. But be warned, if you ever travel Europe, CNN really sucks over here. Quite boring.

Prague came next. I was a little wary, as it seemed a very long way to travel (some 6 hours) for one day in a city. However, although the time was too short, Prague was amazing. It was very nice to reunite with the Luther crew in the intensely depressing main train station. Eager to see as much as I could, I got up early to hit the town, and fortunately for me, Hilary was of the same mind. So I got both a great day of exploring in, as well as good company. We also celebrated Emily's birthday by eating dinner at a cafe that Einstein once frequented. Prague was definitely the most foreign place I feel I went. It was indeed behind the Iron Curtain, and that automatically gives certain connotations. I mean, there were some definite Soviet era things. But overall, the Czech Republic is racing into the 21st century I feel. The Czech language intimidated all of us, but we all made our way okay. All in all, I'm really glad I went, but definitely could have spent a lot more time there. I like being in places where others haven't gone.

Anyways, after Prague came our 16 hour or whatever stay in Munich. I think the general gist of that has been gotten already, with the Hofbrauhaus and all of that. Munich is such a beautiful city at Christmas, we really should have stayed there for Christmas. I felt so at least, after experiencing Geneva, but whatever. None of us knew. As you may have intimated, I was not impressed with Geneva (or Genevé en francais). To me, it just seemed very cheerless, especially in the holiday season. But it was good to be among the Luther folk, who basically are my family this year.

Following Geneva I met up with my mom in London, where we then spent 5 hours waiting in Gatwick airport for our British Airways flight to Edinburgh. Flying BA was cool, as it was sort of a James Bond-esque experience. Edinburgh, upon arrival, was very nice. It's interesting to see the differences between Scotland and England. I really felt as if I was in a different country. Scottish money is different, the accent is different, there is such a different sense of identity and history. A much stronger sense of identity, for sure. My mom also brought me some Christmas gifts, including among them the Star Wars Trilogy featuring the original theatrical editions of the films. This means I now own 4 copies of the Star Wars trilogy, one on VHS, and now 3 copies on DVD. You can never have enough though, that's what I figure. I'll just keep one copy in my car. The castle was very impressive at Edinburgh, and the Museum of Scotland, though not as intense as the British Museum, had some very interesting stuff. I did get a chance to try haggis, that quintessential Scottish dish of lamb organs stuffed into an intestine, at a disgusting pub. I think the disgustingness of the pub had a good deal of influence on the taste of the haggis, but it wasn't too good. The Holiday Inn Express we stayed in was absolutely stunning, and it had an amazing breakfast. I really can't quite get over it. We met up with Emily and her friend Kari for lunch and an exciting trip through whiskey time at the Scotch Whisky experience, which I can justifiably say rates as one of the weirdest things I've ever done.

After a fun filled 2 days in Scotland, we headed back down to Nottingham, where I was able to show my mom the exterior of the flat, as well as the university. We at lunch at our local pub, The Lion, which was really good. We met up with Scott, Sarah, and Sarah's parents downtown. Through either a miscommunication or a misunderstanding on my part, I had no idea that Sarah's parents were going to be present, but it turned out fine. After dinner in Nottingham, we hightailed it off to London.

My mom left on New Year's Eve, which left me with Scott's posse for the next few days. We saw quite a bit, including the Churchill Museum, Cabinet War Rooms, Buckingham Palace, did the London Eye, and watched the New Year's Parade. New Year's Eve, we went to the Victoria embankment on the Thames, literally in the shadow of Big Ben and celebrated the New Year with what must have been somewhere close to a million people. The fireworks were spectacular. They had loaded the London Eye up with fireworks, so they would shoot off from the actual wheel. I was quite impressed.

Next, onwards to Dublin. Dublin, I have not blogged about yet, so this might be a bit more lengthly. I really enjoyed Dublin, not least because of my desire to see the Guinness brewery. We actually hit up Guinness first of all, and I wasn't disappointed. You don't actually tour the brewery, but a museum that describes the brewing process as well as the story of Guinness through the years. The museum is extremely well done and very interesting. At the end of the tour, you go up to this "Gravity Bar," which is at the very top of the museum and has 360 degree views of Dublin. You also get a free pint of Guinness. Fortunately for us, it was a beautiful day, so we were able to enjoy some incredible views of Dublin alongside our pints. Since Sarah didn't want hers, both Scott and I had a pint and a half. I didn't mind, because I like Guinness, but it's a very intense beer. After lightening up my wallet at the fully stocked gift shop, we headed out for dinner, where I had some amazing fish and chips. At night, the 3 of us young folk went downtown, where we went to a pub with some traditional Irish music. It was really quite fun. I succeeded on that first day of drinking more Guinness than water, so I was pleased (it was spread out during the day, don't worry). The following day, we got metaphorically kicked in the face with Irish history, as we toured both Dublin Castle and Kilmainham Gaol (pronounced jail). The Castle was basically the center of British control until freedom in 1922, while Kilmainham was the prison where most of the leaders of the Easter Uprising were executed. As our guide told us, the jail is pretty much sacred ground when it comes to Irish independence. Being a history major, I was quite impressed. We also toured the Book of Kells exhibit at Trinity College, which was really fascinating. The book is a medieval illuminated manuscript that has been impeccably preserved. A very magnificent text. That night, after eating at a lame 1950's diner thing, we went to the pool hall attached to our hotel, which featured TORNADO FOOSBALL TABLES. So, we must have blown something like 13 Euros playing foosball. We met an Irish guy who came up and talked to us, who it turns out, traveled to Minneapolis once to play in a foosball tournament. We really should have challenged him, but he was pretty busy with pool.

After another early morning flight to Gatwick, I met up with Emily for the final leg of my trip in London. It may have been the most artsy/humanistic/bohemian 3 days of my life thus far, in that I crammed in more culture than you can probably find in the whole state of Arkansas. We wandered through Hyde Park and sat at Starbucks (story of my life) until I got the idea that I wanted to find the Pizza Express Jazz Club. So we wandered around Soho for about 45 minutes before stumbling across it. I immediately decided I would try to go to that night's show, a set by the Scott Hamilton Quartet, and after a little cajoling and bribery, convinced Emily to go as well. Luckily, we got two spots at the bar for the otherwise sold out performance, ordered a bottle of the house white, and spent the next 2.5 hours or so listening to the group. They were very good, the atmosphere was chill, just a very successful night in general.

The next day, we hit up the British Library, which houses such documents as Magna Carta, Shakespeare's first folio, Handel's original score for The Messiah, and the Codex Sinaiticus, which is the earliest complete New Testament in Greek, among other things. It was really quite amazing to see such documents. Anyways, after that, we hit up the Tate Modern for the afternoon, before meeting up with Kevin and his friend Alex for dinner. Not wanting to see a show, Emily and I walked back to near the Tate and went to a bar overlooking the Thames that I had visited previously with Ryan, and spent the night there. The next day we got up, went down to Trafalgar Square, used the internet, then went up to the Barbican Centre, where I bought some London Symphony recordings of Beethoven. After yet another trip to Starbucks, we spent a little time in the British Museum, where I was once again duly overwhelmed by knowledge. The crowning achievement of the weekend must have been the London Symphony Orchestra performance that we went to, where the LSO performed Mozart Symphony No. 35, Mozart Piano Concerto No. 22 (soloist Emmanuel Ax), and Elgar's Enigma Variations. I have never before in my whole life heard music played so well before my eyes. It was absolutely amazing. Like, it was so good, I have renewed faith in the human race. In a crazy note, I ran into about 4 people from Luther during the intermission, including a fellow low brasser. He was at the concert for the London J-term music listening class taught by my former piano instructor Kathy Reed-Maxfield. Who would have imagined it? Despite my best efforts, I was unable to locate the rest of the Luther group after the concert.

Anyways, so like 3 hours after I started this post, I'm still here writing. I've traveled a long way these past 3 weeks, a real long way. It definitely shows, from the stench of my clothes, the horrors of my credit card statement, the weariness in my feet, and the small collection of country patches I'm accumulating. I can't help but continually be amazed at the opportunites I've been afforded. So many people will never have this opportunity for travel, and I'm very aware of that. I should really publicly thank my parents for helping to loan me the funds to do all this, because it truly will be a defining moment. So thank you. I really hope people do get to experience this sometime. We have a quote by Mark Twain in the Luther flat here that reads as the following:

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."

I really believe this statement, and the past 3 weeks have only reinforced them. I'd welcome to answer any questions or anything, just send me an e-mail if you're interested in any one aspect of my trip. Sorry this is so long, but seriously, you all knew it was coming. I should go do something else outside of this computer for a bit. Later.

Back in London

So, I'm back in London now. Even though I live in Nottingham, London seems like a second home sort of city, in that I feel as if I am getting a good feel for how to function in it. Like, I'm pretty fluent in the transport system, and I know my way around, sort of. Anyways, the past few days were good. On Saturday, my mom and I met up with Scott, Sarah, and Sarah's parents in Nottingham. After a quick tour of the university, we headed to London. The next day, I got my mom to the airport, then met up with Scott again. It obviously was sad to see her go, but it's nice not to have to stress out about more people than yourself again. We had a good time though, so it was successful. Anyways, we spent Sunday touring the WWII Cabinet war rooms in London, as well as the Churchill Museum. We also hit up the London Eye, which was really cool. After an extended dinner break, we returned to the London Eye for New Year's, which is London's equivalent of Times Square. Although lacking in confetti, the 3 hour wait with half a million people and a seeming army of Metropolitan Police officers was worth it, as the fireworks were amazing. It's cool to celebrate New Year's in that way. I have never experienced anything like that, so it was fun. Today we walked past Buckingham Palace, then watched the New Year's Day Parade, an American style celebration through downtown. Much to my surprise, I saw that the Lakeville South marching band was in the parade. I have a good video of the band, along with me screaming "I'm from Minnesota! I'm from Lakeville!" Although I usually say I'm from Farmington, I thought this could be excused. So now, after eating at the first Hard Rock (and spending too much for a French Dip), I'm blogging right outside Trafalgar Square. Tomorrow, it's off to Dublin for 2 days, then back to London to rendevouz with Emily. I'm looking forward to finishing this trip off strong, but it will be really nice to be back in Nottingham, settle down for a bit, and see friends. Before jetting off to Vienna. But yeah, that's what's up. Later.