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Published: June 16th 2009
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So I suppose it has been a few days since I last updated on here. It sure has been a busy few days!
ESA-Netherlands Last Thursday, a group of us students took a trip up to ESA in the Netherlands. After a drive that took twice as long as we expected due to wonderful traffic conditions around Brussels, we arrived, got badged, and toured around. It’s really a neat facility, and they have a large emphasis on microgravity and especially satellite technology. Their space simulator was pretty impressive, it could simulate nearly every aspect of a satellites mission in space(extreme pressure, temperature, sun light, exposure…etc). Afterward we went to the beach in Norwich, it was pretty chilly for being a beach, but still lovely. Work is still going well.
On to more exciting news:
London Met up with Evan around 11:00 or so in Heathrow… and we proceeded to underground our way(Evan’s suitcase and all) to the hotel. The hotel was absolutely perfect! Its location was so nice, right on the Thames literally adjacent to the tower bridge. It was beautiful. Really wanted to go kayak it, but I didn’t have my boat, and there
really wasn’t enough time.
We soon undergrounded it to the ExCeL Centre to see the London International Music Show/Drummer Live. We made it just in time to see the performance by one of today’s by far best drummers, Steve Smith! He was amazing, his timing is so in the pocket even with complex subdivisions! It was definitely the coolest thing I got to see in London, and it was so neat to be surrounded by so many people passionate about making music and drumming!
Later we eventually made our way out to Buckingham Palace, down the lawn, and into Trafalgar Square. There’s lots of nice architecture in London. On our way back from dinner, there happened to be a boat passing through the channel, and so we got to see the tower raise against the night sky and lights of London. Very Impressive.
Sunday we made it out to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, and out to the Imperial War Museum, where he managed to take a picture next to nearly every tank in the place, and these two GIANT guns outside of the museum! Ha! He was a happy guy for that hour and a half
or so! The search for Fish and Chips was also ultimately successful. It ends up that train fares change price, unlike regional trains where they are always the same(i.e. you don’t buy them online before you go). So we ended up spending approximately twice what I was planning…. Thank you Europe for draining my bank account.
Anyways, we made the most of our ~30 hour adventure in London, and in my humble opinion traveling with Evan is a good time. Went to the city(Brussels) Monday night! Found some good pitas, chocolate truffles(for me), waffles, and strawberry beer(It was interesting to say the least!). Good times, Good people, OK weather. Not a bad combination.
Plans: To Normandy and Paris this coming weekend!
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Di
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White truffle
The food looks fantastic! I love the photo of the Thames bridge. It looks a little rainy, but that makes London look wonderful, I think. Here it has been raining for 40 days and 40 nights. Kayaks might not be enough. Di