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 sw [View Full Entry]

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So I arrived in Williamsburg and checked into my timeshare. I am staying at the Wyndham Kingsgate. My unit has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a pullout couch, a dining room, and a kitchen, as well as a washer and dryer. I love it. The facility has both an outdoor and indoor heated pool, an outdoor hot tub, a fitness center, a restaurant, and an arcade with unlimited play. It's near a KMart as well, which is convenient. Wyndham has three properties in the area. Governor's Green is the big, new one. Besides Kingsgate, there is also Patriot's Place. I have access [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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I arrived yesterday in Gothenburg. Angela described it to me as a really large Gamla Stan (old city in Stockholm) and I think she's right. This means I have so far decided I like Gothenburg. There are trams and busses, which reminds me of Brussels. Robin's Dad's apartment has a great view and I can see the bridge that crosses the ocean. Anyway, the only hitch in the visit is that there is a snowstorm. Everything is covered and it's only now that I can see anything really. Still, it's pretty. So what to say about the city... If you arrive [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday was my birthday. I slept in, then I got up and took the bus to the terminal. Then I took the commuter train to the city, where I took the subway to Gamla Stan. Gamla Stan is the old part of Stockholm. I walked around and bought a notebook and some postcards. Then I had some hot chocolate and a sandwich before meeting Mia and Elin at the subway. We went to the movies and saw Gone Baby Gone, which was okay. We went to the SF Bio at Hotorget. There's a Pizza Hut there for those Americans looking for [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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Well my first visit to the United Kingdom was both good and bad, but isn't everything? We left Brussels on the Eurostar hispeed train which was lovely. We shared a table that had 4 seats around it. Since we only needed three, we had one empty to leave stuff in. To our delight, besides having friendly staff, the train also fed us breakfast. It was good too. I had hot chocolate, an omelette, yogurt, orange juice, a croissant with strawberry jelly and butter, a roll with butter, cheese, and various other things I can't remember. So then we arrived at St. [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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