Munich minus Oktoberfest

Pics:

1) Hair dresser's named Albertas...weird

2) Martin

3) Julian, his girlfriend and Martin's flatmate (sorry, I forgot names, I have them written down somewhere...)

4) Martin the ladies man

Munich was a blast not only because I went for Oktoberfest, but because I was in the company of great people. I stayed at both Martin and Julian's places, both of which were great and very accomodating, and were gracious enough to have me while the city's in mayhem. We hung out a lot, met a lot of their uni friends, and it was great catching up. I really hope they can both make it out to Canada some day, I let them know they're always welcome (don't worry Mom, I'll be on my own by then haha!) But in any case, this time spent in Germany made me realize that no matter where you are in the world, it's necessary to have great people surrounding you.

Frankfurt am Main

Pics:

1) Markus and I saying Prost! to Apfelwein

2) Die Roemer, or city hall with skyline in the background

3) The skyline and I

4) The state opera house

5) Frankfurt am Main looking sooooo much like Edmonton

6) Safety man and I (went to a car trade show...took lots of car pics too, but this is SAFETY MAN! Way cooler)

7) Jan and I looking like fools

Flew into Frankfurt to begin my Germany trip. Decided on that because it's an obvious choice for an airport in Germany, plus I have friends here. Was able to catch up with Jan, Nicole, and Markus, and even made new friends by staying at a friend of a friend of my Mom's. Sandra was great, we talked 'language geek' talk (she's an English as a second language teacher, so we got along fine.) Plus she was very helpful with my German.

Markus and I went out for Apfelwein, like cider, but very unique to Hessen, the Bundesland where Frankfurt is situated. I also tried Schweinehaxe, which is basically a giant leg of a pig. Lots of fat, on a big bone, Flinstones food really.

Jan, Nicole and I met out too. We hung out, chatted about the old days in Innsbruck two years ago, and had an all around good time. Frankfurt isn't that exciting of a city, but this mini Germany trip was all about meeting up with old friends!

Bye Bye London: Planet people and my 'Wall of Fame'

Pics:

1) Susan (S. Africa) and I with Nas (Greece) in the background

2) Main line

3) Maggi (Poland) and I...see, I do have a good influence on how people take pictures!

4) Irmante (Lithuania) and I. She's my long lost twin by the way...can't you see the resemblance?

5) Planet Hollywood bar

6) Planet Hollywood main floor

7) Aneta from Poland and I

8) Amanda from Brazil and I

9) My wall of fame with all the glorious mail you sent me! Thanks guys!

Said goodbye to work at Planet Hollywood in mid-September. It was sad to say goodbye to so many cool people, but I know I'll keep in touch with a lot of them. Took a few pics over my last few days there, and of course, the final photograph of my "Wall of Fame." Thanks again to everyone that sent me mail in London, it always made my day!!

Hastings, England

Pics:

1) 229 Old London Road, Dad's first residence

2) Me at the Channel

3) The East Hill lift

4) The beach of Hastings

5) The Old Town

6) Hastings Castle

7) Great view for fish n' chips

8) The pier

9) My feet in ocean water, that's right...I took a dip haha

10) Me on the beach

11) The pier close to sundown

Now that the kids are back in school, it's dead at work. So instead of working six days a week like normal, I'm now only working 5! Because of this, I got two days off in a row, so I took the chance to make a day trip down to Hastings on the Southern coast of England, where my Dad was born. Turns out it's actually straight across the channel from Dieppe, France where Jordan and I were not too long ago. It was a beautiful sunny day, such a relaxing atmosphere (great compared to the bustling, tube strike streets of London...not sure if you heard, but there was an Underground strike, much like the one in New York which brought on all sorts of problems for Londoners...luckily for the worst of it, I was in Hastings!!!!) The beach was beautiful, the people were actually friendly, and I just had an overall great day. It's a real fishing city, and most of the touristy stuff is along the beachfront. They've got 3 minigolf courses, go-carts, swan paddle boats, a miniture train like the one in Galaxyland, fisherman's museum, etc. I even dipped my feet in the COLD ocean water in the evening. I did get stranded in Hastings (missed the last train to London), but luckily I was at a nice neighbourhood pub and the bartender offered me his couch. He was a fellow traveller, and knew what it was like to get stuck somewhere, so that was nice. Other than that, the mini-trip went off without a hitch. One week until my last day at Planet Hollywood, then it'll be time to travel again!!!!

Random London

So I know I really haven't given very many updates lately, and I do apologize. The reason being simply the fact that life isn't that interesting at the moment. I've been working 6 days a week, I've kind of fallen into a Londoner routine (ie. catching the tube, putting my iPod on, ignoring everyone, sleeping, eating etc.) Not the most glamourous life in the world, but that's alright. The good thing is working so much has kept me out of trouble, so I haven't been spending a lot. In the meantime though, my friend Kirsty arrived from Canada (she's living with me), a friend from high school was here (Jenna), and just yesterday another friend, Tom, has arrived. He's on his way to Slovakia to go to theatre school, but decided to visit Kirsty and I (and brought me root beer and Crown Royal..yeah!!) So here's some random pics, hope you like! PS: also found a Canada store yesterday, bought some KD, Mr. Noodles, Barq's Root Beer, and Twizzlers. Very Nice!! If I don't get the pics up right away, I apologize. My battery's almost dead in my camera, will do what I can!

Pics:

1) View from my tube station at work

2) Planet Hollywood London (work)

3) The 'Gurkan,' neatest modern architecture in London business district

4) Kirsty and I at our neighbourhood pub, the Prospect of Whitby

5) Me at Tower Bridge

6) Kirsty and I on Tower Bridge

7) Jenna and I

8) My Street

9) My shopping at Canada Shop: KD, Mr. Noodles, Twizzlers, Barqs

10) Me making KD

11) Tom and I with CR and A&W

12) St. Paul's Cathedral at night

13) St. Paul's Cathedral taken from Millenium Bridge at night

Visiting family in Stevenage and Cambridge

A few weeks ago I went to visit my Dad's Aunt Jean and his cousins in Stevenage. It was really great seeing them all again, I haven't seen them since I was a little boy when they came to Canada. And I tell ya, I haven't drank so much tea in my life!!! It was really nice, we had a good visit, Rob and I went up to Cambridge for the day, took a 'punt' boat tour (punt is like the gondola's in Venice, or similar at least). Cambridge is beautiful, I think even better than Oxford.

Pics:

1) King's College Chapel in Cambridge

2) Mathematics Bridge

3) King's College

4) Mark, Aunt Jean, Simon and Rob (L-R)

5) The boys and I

6) Mark, Aunt Jean and I