Monday, November 22, 2010

Variety

One of the best unexpected places i've been so far was Bruges in belgium, it was absolutely beautiful. I never really knew much about if before coming to Europe although i didn't know much about Europe really before coming to Europe but thats ok. The city itself is great as you can see from my pictures on facebook. There were never a ton of people wondering about, like an over-abundance, there were always people around but never like a huge city feeling. The streets were all brick or cobblestone and the houses were so cool looking. There were so many interesting buildings and I don't know it is hard to explain I just enjoyed my time there immensely. I went on a day trip with one girl from indiana and we had really no prior knowledge of the city or map or anything just kind of wandered around for the day and I wouldn't of had it any other way. It was so peaceful and casual. Insted of taxis or many cars there were a ton of horses with carriages that would take people from place to place. Just a nice overall city. Now having done two smaller trips the past two weekends I had planned this out for a reason because this past weekend which I just returned from was a 2 1/2 day trip to London and next weekend is Rome. I loved London so much as well but for completely different reasons. The entire city was so proper and professional. All the men walking around were wearing not necessarily expensive clothes but just had a nice style which appeared more fomal. The city was very clean and seemes and seemed more like an American city more than any other ones i've been to(I did not expect any different since US and England are very similar). On top of that everything was finally in English again which was so convenient. No guessing what you were ordering to eat (except the night we ate indian food for some reason), no confusion in the stores or on the metro. The one thing that took a bit to get used to was the traffic on the streets, not just the fact that it was a big city and there was a lot of traffic but they also drive on the opposite side of the road so when crossing the street you have to look the other way. It is nice because they painted like "look left" and "look right" on the street right before you crossed. The taxi cabs were also very classy looking too, they looked almost like a 50's style car but a little more modern but not like a normal taxi you would see anywhere else. They did also have all of the double decker busses and the telephone booths. I was a little disapointed though because one the guards at buckingham palace were so far away you couldn't get close to them and two the ones you could get close to at the palace where the princes and stuff lived they put up like a chain rope thing so you couldn't get close enought to take a picture with them. Funny story though apparently the reason they did this was because some guy pissed one of the guards off so much recently that the guard just flipped out and went off on the guy haha. So I guess that makes sense but still they were wearing grey coats instead of red, Lame. Oh well haha still really cool to see. I also got the chance to check out this evening service at St. Paul's Cathedral which apparently is pretty famous i had never heard of it. But that place was insane and the service was soo cool. The Organ and choir sounded amazing in the giant dome of the cathedral. Did a lot of other random stuff as well in London tough to recall though just thinking about it because a lot of it was random when you were walking around and it was sparatic. I did love the fact that they called oatmeal porridge, and yes I had two bowls of it haha. I also had two types of fish and chips while there which was delicious. Overall I enjoyed London a lot and the trip was a lot of fun, the 7 hour overnight bus ride there wasn't the best but was interesting when the bus got on to this train that took us under the water to get to London but definitely glad we took a speed train home instead.
The best thing about seeing all these different places and cultures is being able to take what I enjoyed the most from all the lifestyles and implement them into to my own. I love how professional they were in London and have always admired that type of style and the contrast between big city or more of a chill place like Bruges will always be a tough one. I have learned that all big cities are definitely not the same and even different parts of different cities are very different. Well that is enough reading about my two trips but if you have any more questions feel free to email me!
This week is also thanksgiving but as you may realize they do not celebrate it over here for obvious reasons haha. But a couple of my American friends and I are trying to organize some type of dinner for thursday with turkey and potatoes and green bean casserole and pie so wish me luck in that haha. Really trying to just let all of our friends from other countries experience our culture a little bit while we are here too. It is nice also to have a little bit of home while i'm here. Definitely going to miss seeing all the family and friends over the holidays. I will be in class for those day but oh well make it through this week and the working ahead for next week and it'll all be worth it for Rome!
Thanks for all the support and it is always nice to hear from everybody from back home and always trying to respond as soon as possible,

Much Love,

Devon Latimer

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