I See London, I See France

Much has been happening in Europe this month. My brother Stefan and I have been all over, from London to Bretagne to Paris to the Alps. To cover it all, and in the spirit of international look-back-at-everything-and-rate-it day, I feel like a superfluous countdown list is in order.

Top Five Greatest Moments of England/France Vacation 2010:

FIVE (5)

Hanging out in London/The Celtic Hotel

'Laxin' in the lobby

When we first arrived in London, my knee was still a little wary of walking around too much, so there was much hanging out. The hotel we stayed at was very cozy, and I took full advantage of its lobby and wi-fi. At one point, we managed to Skype with my dad, and bring the camera out into the street to show him just outside of the hotel.

FOUR (4)

Walking Abbey Road

It's like on the Beatles cover. The Abbey Road one. But with only two people.

It's touristy, there was a group of people waiting to do the same thing, (and one person offering to snap one with a high quality camera for a couple pounds), and Stefan's feet got cold, but it was fun. What a bizarre thing The Beatles made popular.

THREE (3)
Houses of Parliament/Big Ben

The metro stop in fabled Vestminst

Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, and Big Ben were three of our stops on one day of our London visit. Parliament was by far my favorite. As an art exhibit alone, it was amazing, (including a great, scowling statue of Winston Churchill right next to a sign saying "Do Not Touch the Statues").

Big Ben

TWO (2)

Re-Visiting Dinard

About to eat some ray with my dear old grandmother

For those of you who don't know, Dinard is an important family place in my life. It is a city in Bretagne, the Northwest region of France. Every other summer, I would visit my French family in Dinard with my Minnesota family for a month. The tradition ended for my brother and I when we were each around 18, so I hadn't been there for a while. It was great to see the place again with a different perspective and a more tolerable level of French-speaking ability. Mémé, (my grandma), has been a very kind and loving host, and a great chef.

Dinard is on the coast of the English channel and is very much a summer town. So it was interesting to see the place cold and snowy. Snow is a rarity there, so Stefan and I seized the opportunity to make snowmen. But not just ordinary snowmen, conversing snowmen.

I think, therefore I snowman.

ONE (1)

Christmas in Paris

The Ménages, Schifskys, and the Otts

Christmas in Paris involved great food (in enormous quantities), the Louvre and the beautiful cityscape, and visiting with family that I rarely see. Good stuff.

I have been staying at my aunt Aline's house, with her sons. Here they are (minus Adrien, who is not holding the camera):

(Left to right: Alban, Arnaud, Stefan, Aline, and I)

And here is a picture of us five cousins, (including Adrien) looking devilishly handsome in the Parc du Sceaux.

Adrien is actually shorter than my brother, but screw it.

I guess I have one more picture of me in front of the Louvre, as well. What a freaking fantastic place. The pieces of art there kept my skin in a permanent goosebump state.

There's art all up in this.

So that's it for now. I'm getting tired. There was a portion of my travels that included visiting the beautiful French Alps, but those pictures aren't available yet. That's for a different post, probably. It's 5:50pm here, and the plans for tonight include playing some sick games of Jungle Speed, eating a lot, and walking the streets of Paris mildly intoxicated, (it's legal, hush).

Happy New Year from Europe, everybody! Special shout-out to the gamer bros, Armstrong friends, Luther buds, my great French family (in France and the Galapagos), and Schifskys everywhere!

Study Break

It is essay crunch time at the moment, and I am pulling myself away from the tedium of catering my writing and thoughts to carefully cited scholarly articles to bring y'all an update.

This has been me all day, every day, for the last week, except for the fact that I am a man.

I am still a cripple, but can move my knee around a lot more comfortably. In fact, my knee was recently used for dancing (and even sitting!) at my favorite bar in town: Coco Tang.

Here are some choice pictures:

The fabled Absinthe/rum tea-like concoction: Mad Hatter's Tea Party

My drink of choice: The Dirty Cinderella

Me telling everyone how it's 'bout to go down.

A serious, completely candid shot of Aaron, Ben, and I's everyday life.

That was great times.

I also recently saw a pantomime, a fairly unique British show that involves audience participation, cross-dressing, and an occasionally overwhelming amount of cultural references. You can read about it more, here.

I won't be updating the blog for a while, as I will be off soon for my winter break, (in sunny France!). I will likely be writing a post or two in France, but if not, Happy Holidays, everyone!