Chelfie14

Recently took my first visit to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. The Biltmore was originally constructed in 1895 by George Washington Vanderbilt. The Estate at its height included 125,000 acres. Now it includes 8,000. Much of the previous land is now a part of Pisgah National Forest. It still includes the house, the stables, Deerpark, Lionel Crest, a winery, Riverbend Farm, gardens, guest homes, servant homes, trails, a village, gift shops, a gatehouse, a farmers' cottage, and wildlife. The house itself has 250 rooms spread amongst 4 floors. The basement houses an indoor swimming pool, a bowling alley, a gym, dressing rooms, kitchens, and pantries. There's an indoor winter garden, an intercom system, a grand staircase, bedrooms, a banquet room, a library, a music room, an organ, batchelors' quarters, a billiards room, a gun ... read more

While in Williamsburg, I took a day trip to Jamestown. Jamestown is the first permanent English settlement in the United States. While there, you have two options to check things out. The first is Historic Jamestown. This is run by the National Park Service and they charge you a maintenance fee to enter. The excavations of the original fort are going on there and they have exhibits and other things to see. The next one is Jamestown Settlement. I opted to go here. It's a museum and there's a fee included. During the winter, they have guided tours that leave once every hour, on the hour, that take you outside. Outside, they have a replica of a Powhatan village. The Powhatans are the native Indians of that area. Pocahontas was a Powhatan. There's also a replica ... read more

Okay so my second day in Gothenburg was interesting. The snowstorm wasn't as bad, but it was still windy and cold. We left the apartment and took the tram to the Central Station. From there, we walked around to find that the Chinese place we were going to have dinner at was no longer there. So we saw a few things like the Domkyrkan, Mariakyrkan, and some statues. I got to see the famous Avenue and the Rose Garden. We went by the indoor and outdoor stadiums too. Anyway, we walked around and then went to the movie theater and saw Vantage Point. The movie theater was near the indoor arena (Scandinavium). We met up with William, then headed to another Chinese place. The sweet and sour chicken was good, accompanied with sticky rice. Of course ... read more

So I decided to write an entry that pretty much describes a typical day in my life and maybe explains a few things about life here. 5:30 AM I wake up. I get dressed in long underwear, jeans, a hoodie, a jacket, a scarf, a hat, and boots or tennis shoes. 6:15 AM I catch the bus out in front of my apartment building to Vasterhaninge Station. It's a bus and train station. Anyway, it's a 9 minute ride from my apartment. 6:31 AM I switch to another bus and it leaves the station. I get off at Osterhaninge Church and then walk to work. It's about a five minute walk and there's now light outside while I'm doing it. 7-3 I'm at work doing that sort of thing. 3-5 PM I do errands which my ... read more

Well it's been some time since I have written in this blog, so I supposed today was a good day to start. For those of you who are unfamiliar with my life, you might not know how reassured I feel that I can once again click Sweden in the location box. Anyhow, I am south of Stockholm in a suburb and so far it has been interesting. There are still some patches of woods here, which is nice. It hasn't been as cold as it was in Lulea. It still gets dark early though. Anyhow, I live pretty close to my friend, Robin, who you may remember from my Lulea entries. Mia, also from those entries, is in the city. I see her from time to time. Robin's mom is visiting right now from Gothenburg, so ... read more

Well, I left on Friday the 9th from Brussels Airport to Stockholm. We managed a cheap flight with Sterling, an outfit from Denmark. It was good for such a short flight. Anyway, we arrived without any problems, exchanged our money, and then wandered through everything until we found Johan and Robin. Monica spotted them first, much to my embarassment. We walked through the airport, thinking to eat there, but everything was closed. There was a Convention going on and they were doing a conga line with some women dressed up like Carnivale. You could see alot. Anyway, we took the airport train to the Central Station and ate there at O'Leary's, which I had experienced before. It's an American Irish pub. They have alot of them in Sweden. They're based out of Boston. I had a ... read more