Philadelphia The next day while Wes was at work, we spent the afternoon in Philadelphia. After visiting NYC the day before, Philadelphia seemed a lot more peaceful. We were able to drive directly into the city and park, using a parking meter. Not much time went by before Sandra found a store where she did a bit of shopping. Afterward we walked a bit more, before stopping to get some lunch at a Quiznos. Lucky for us, the weather was good the whole weekend. We were a little sore from all of the walking, but other than that, it was quite [View Full Entry]

---

---

Two days and 1000 miles This past weekend, Sandra and I took a trip down to the New York / New Jersey area. She had come to Maine for three weeks, before her school in Germany starts. All of her life, New York City was her dream destination. I guess after watching american movies her whole life, and New York City being the most populated american city, she wanted to see it with her own two eyes. Also, neither of us had been there to see ground zero, and we thought that this fact would make an NYC trip worthy. Wes [View Full Entry]

---

---

One of the greatest reggae bands ever is 'The Black Seeds'. They're from New Zealand, and I never got a chance to see them while I was over there. Lucky for me they did an american tour and played in South Burlington while Sandra was visiting from Germany. It was a great show and well worth the 5 hour drive. Katie (sister) accompanied us out there, and Sandra and I were able to meet up with one of our friends from New Zealand, Jenny, and we got to meet her baby, Rae. To top it off, at the end of the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Heidelberg Just before I left we spent a day in a city called Heidelberg, which I particularly enjoyed. The city lies along the Neckar River, and has a castle that sits on a hill just near the inner city. There is a bridge that runs over the river that I got a few good pictures of, and a university right in the city. We walked through the campus for a sedong to check it out. This university could potentially be school that I could attend on a study abroad program in a couple years. Sandra sometimes works in a shoe store [View Full Entry]

---

---

Berlin First, I must say that Berlin is a beautiful city. I was expecting it to be nice, but was still surprised with everything. We took a train from Frankfurt to get there, which was about 5-6 hours. We saw a lot of the city while we were there, including tourist attractions, monuments, and of course restaurants. Sandra pre-booked two nights in a hotel that was a short subway ride from the attractions. One of my favorite experiences is that I was able to see the historical "Wall". In the city, there are remains of the wall still standing. I took [View Full Entry]

---

---

First Days In Germany Day 1 - I landed in Frankfurt at 5:35am after a six and a half hour flight. The Flight from Boston to Frankfurt was actually one of the better flights that I have been on. Everything went very smooth, unlike some of my other experiences with airports and travel. The plane arrived early, my bag was the 4th to come off of the conveyer belt, I was the first in line at customs, and Sandra was outside the gate waiting. In a nutshell, this all equals a successful journey. No lost luggage, long lines, or strict customs [View Full Entry]

---

---

Toughing The Weather After the California thing didn't work out, I ended up back home to figure things out. Since I have been back, I have organized a job, and am currently working on getting a second one, and I bought a car from my friend Jake. I am planning on starting school in the fall, but I am making sure that I can do some of it online. Sandra had come to the US for two weeks to visit. Arriving on a Sunday, Katie (sister) and I had picked her up from Logan airport. Our first mission was to bring [View Full Entry]

---

---

A Failed Plan Well, it seemed like a good idea at first. However, it turned out to be not so good of an idea, not for me anyway. In an attempt to save the money I need to go to school and to be with the one I love, I moved with my friends to California under the assumption that the money would be "better". Well, the money is better, but only when you make it. Apparently the economy is worse in California than anywhere, which didn't sit too well for our plan. The only good thing is, we roughed it [View Full Entry]

---

---

Returning Home Once again, a ridiculously disgusting flight back to the states. I just watched movie after movie after movie on the plane, hoping that it would distract me enough to make the flight just fly by. I think it made the flight longer or something, because it felt like I was on that plane for a century. Plus, it took me like 2 hours to even get on the plane because I had a stand-by flight, so I was the last one to board the plane. Stressful much? Yeah, a little bit. Also, I had to say goodbye to Sandra [View Full Entry]

---

---

Paris I have to say, In my opinion Paris is a bit over rated. Our experience here was nothing in comparison to the experience of going to Amsterdam, and it’s not because of the smoking laws. I simply find French people a bit rude, and arrogant. In fact, I haven’t been annoyed as much as I was in Paris, in a long time. However, I wont get into details about the specific instances that annoyed me. Have to be as positive as possible. Also, if French people are reading this in disgust and disagreement, I dont give a shit. In fact, [View Full Entry]

---

---