Done and Done

After 4 1/2 months of traveling, studying, and experiencing Europe in ways unimaginable, its over. Like any experience that finally runs its course, all good things must come to an end.

My group and I have parted ways, my travel visa has run out, and the war chest is all but depleted. Brittany and I are reminiscing in our hostel on a Venetian canal in the heart of the seaside town. With volcanic delays still rippling throughout the European transport systems, we're not entirely sure when we'll be back stateside.

I'll miss Europe, but I won't try and deny or hide my excitement about coming home.

I appreciate all the well wishes and support that all my friends and family have relayed to me throughout the duration of my tenure abroad. I hope you have enjoyed my blog and encourage readers to keep checking back. Although my worldly travel may be coming to an end, I'll still be inclined to post the happenings of my life for those who are interested to read on. Soon enough I'll have put up a second website that will show pictures of my Summer adventures and eventual return to Clemson.

See everyone soon!

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Fun in the Sun

We pulled into Barcelona Sants train station right at midnight on the 2nd of May. After 14 hours of riding in passenger cars from Brussels to Paris to Pegnana to Port Bou and ultimately Barcelona we were exhausted. We made the taxi ride to Equity Point Hostel and pretty much went straight to bed.

Sunday ended up blessing us with gorgeous weather. A full sunny day with temperatures topping out in the high 60s and low 70s couldn't have been better spent than on the sand of a Spanish beach.

We had a dinner of Spanish Paella and spent the evening walking around the city looking at the local markets and vendors.

Unfortunate today has been much less pleasant. We awoke this morning to find the city victim to a torrential down pour and relatively cool temperatures. Although I'd much rather be relaxing on the beach reading in the sun, its still nice just sitting in the hostel's cafe taking it easy with no real concerns.

Yesterday morning we bought an overnight train ticket to Milan on May 6th. We don't plan on spending much time there, but instead plan to jump onto a connector and make our way to Rome and the Vatican.

As for now, I'm going to continue doing nothing, which is exactly what I want to do.

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Loaded Up and Headed Out

Tomorrow morning marks the beginning of my final European excursion. With exams all finished, my lease run up, and bags packed, its all a-board for Barcelona, Spain!

The past two weeks were rough. We had our final round of testing followed by finals that ultimately determined our academic standing for the semester. Ensuing many late nights of studying, multiple upon multiple pots of coffee, and last minute cram sessions we finally finished. The sophomore year of my college career has come to a close and with it, the beginning of summer.

Brittany Hall, Charlie Sipple, Andrew Blayton, and I all head out early tomorrow morning for the white beaches of Barcelona, Spain. We're meeting up with a fellow Clemson student, Brittany Clinton, who spent her semester studying Cantonal in Barcelona. A practical native of the city, she'll be a great asset to our vacation in Espana.

Where we go from there is still a bit of a mystery. Due to complications from the Icelandic Volcano we still aren't sure of our following travel arrangements. We will hopefully find means of transportation to take us south to the Italian boot, however, if all else fails we may be making an early departure back to the United States of American from Barcelona.

I'll do my best to keep the world posted now that my time is a bit freer due to lack of school work. Keep an eye out for soon to come pictures of Spanish beaches, and Mediterranean sun.

All good, all the time,

Thomas

Final Call: Departure for Barcelona

A semester abroad, half a world away from everything we know as home, finally comes to an end.

Last night marked the closing ceremony for the Spring class of 2010 Clemson University Brussels Center. With a smorgasbord of mixed emotions, we bid each, other as well as the CUBC faculty and staff farewell. Having come to appreicate Brussels and the memories gained while studying abroad, we found the ending of the semester bitter sweet. Many of us are anxious to return home but we know that deep down, in all reality we'll miss the place we've called home for the past half a year.

As I've said before, its hard to explain what study abroad is truly like. Its one of those adventures in life you actually have to partake in to really understand. You develop a newfound respect for the world outside your own little bubble, but you also begin to realize how much you truly love home.

I'm ready for my return to the states, but there is not a doubt in my mind that we will all miss Brussels very much in our own ways. I thank those that helped get us here, and I wish everyone the best.

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Problems of Volcanic Proportions and Nature

With over a week of delays and backlogs, Europe is now full of tens of thousands of stranded travelers which has ultimately cost airline companies over 1.7 billion dollars. Is the worst of the trouble over or yet still to come?

I've mentioned my intentions to spend the two weeks following the conclusion of the academic semester traveling through Spain and Italy before returning to the states, however the recent volcanic activity in Iceland that has sent the European travel infrastructure into a tizzy is presenting some unforeseen obstacles. I've spent the past five days visiting the Brussels Midi train station in attempts to purchase railway tickets and reservations for my planned travels. Regardless of my attempts, the backlog of travelers in the airports has put considerable strain on the railway systems and to be quite honest, they are inept at handling this influx of demand. There is such a high demand for tickets that train stations have been unable to handle any booking outside of the current working day. Yesterday was the first opportunity they've given travelers to begin buying advance tickets. By the time I reached the booking counter, the train schedule I wanted was already over booked and unavailable. The railway worker ultimately helped us find an alternate route but not without serious layovers and rail changes.

Train stations throughout Europe have been experiencing this increase in volume of travelers. The result has not only strained staff and availability, but also strained the railway network and servers. We are unable to book any connections or trains outside of the current country network. This means that although we're trying to travel through Italy, we're unable to book lodging accommodations because we cannot guarantee where we'll be or when we'll be there.

On top of this obstacle, seismologists have reported increased seismic activity in the region and are concerned about the possibility of renewed volcanic activity, and which could re-cripple European airspace travel.

So where does this leave myself and fellow comrades?

We really just aren't sure. We are currently deliberating and toying with the idea of an early return home. With flights booked and paid for currently set to fly out of Venice on the 13th of May we question the possibility of if we could even get to Italy on time and by reasonable manner.

As of now I have no answers, only questions. I'll do my best to let every one know what happens when I can.

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Not Your Everyday Excuse

Wednesday morning my roommates and I were packing for our departure to Dublin, Ireland when suddenly all of our email accounts Buzzed simultaneously with an update from Ryanair concerning the status of our pending flights across the English Channel. They had been canceled. Earlier in the day, a volcano in Iceland erupted spewing gas, ash, and debris as far as Germany causing the E.U. to close all airspace affected by the dangerous conditions. This is my second attempt to visit Ireland, but yet again my efforts were thwarted by circumstances outside my control.

I've heard some seriously far fetched and creative excuses before. Heck, I myself have even daringly chanced a few personally constructed tails, but never before have I heard anything about a volcano disrupting a person's plans. It sounds ridiculous honestly, however scientists predict that the volcanic activity could disrupt flight patterns for up to several weeks.

What does this mean for myself and my fellow study abroad comrades?

Well many of my classmates are currently scattered throughout the E.U. without a means of transportation back to Brussels or back to the states for that matter. All non emergency air traffic has been grounded which has resulted in clogged bus and railway systems. I have been unsuccessfully trying to book train passage to Spain and ultimately Italy for the past 4 days to no avail. The train stations are so overflown with stranded passengers that services for future bookings are not even being currently offered. With no reliable prediction as to when air traffic will resume, prospects are not looking good for those of us who still have travel arrangements to be made.

Could I be stuck in Europe for a longer duration than planned?

While I sure as heck hope not...its starting to look like a possibility at this point. Only time will tell.

All good; all the time (except if I spend my summer stuck here)

Thomas

Workin' Hard or Hardly Workin'?

My family flew out of B.R.U. in the early morning hours of this past Monday morning with near 100 lbs of extra luggage than they arrived with. We had a great time and Switzerland as well as France trying to cram in as much as possible in the short time available. Being around them for the past two weeks kind of stuck me with a bit of renewed homesickness as my mind wanders to summer activities back on the shores of Carolina. With less than a month to go until my return to the states I find myself more and more anxious about returning to the southland.

This week is shaping up to be an academically demanding one as I prepare for my third round of tests following rapidly by finals. I'm currently researching and writing a position paper on gun control and law for my American Law 322 class, which precedes work for the three tests I have on Monday and Tuesday of the coming week.

With all that being said, and myself quite occupied with academia over the next couple days its probably best not to expect another post until this weekend. Its getting to the breaking point and I know what needs to be done. Academics.

However, I am headed off to Ireland this coming Friday and you can be sure that I'll have many a tale and picture to share upon my return.

Hope all is well!

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Sky High Skiing

What do you get when you mix 6 inches of fresh snow, an essentially deserted ski resort, and put it all together in the Alps of Switzerland? A darn good time, that's what you get.

My family and I skied a full two days at Engelberg's Titliss ski resort. With new snow fall everynight totaling plus 6 inches, it goes without saying that the conditions were perfect.

I personally haven't skied in over 2 years as a result of an accident during my Senior year high school spring break that involved myself, a tree, high speed down hill skiing, and over confidence in my abilities. However, after a few hours on the slopes and one or two humorous 'sudden stops' I was back on the slopes shredding it up.

The part that made this skiing experience so unique and memorable (aside from the fact it was in Switzerland!) was that there are absolutely no slope boundaries. Meaning, that if I think my skis can take me there, nothing is going to stop me from exploring every inch of snow covered terrain. 'Danger, Avalanche Warning' signs did little to deter such exploration and in fact seemed to encourage everyone in the park to actually ski beyond it (of course I personally headed such notices...)

Rachel managed well with slow and steady skiing despite her leg's handicap. She of course couldn't pull the daredevil card this trip, but she atleast managed to get out on the slopes and enjoy the experience.

After visiting and skiing in such a manner, state-side east coast 'ice skiing' is pretty much going to seem pointless. I'm spoiled.

As far as the location and scenic side of everything...its hard to put into words. I posted a good many pictures taken by all family members and you simply need to look at them. Aruba is probably my favorite beach location but Engelberg, Switzerland now holds the distinguished award as my favorite mountainous region.

We're currently headed back on our Eurolines 'scenic' rail bound for Brussels Central. I'm happy to report that the sun is out and that the temperatures are breaking 60 for the 2nd time here in Belgium. I'm hoping that such weather will stay because now that my snow skiing adventures are finished for the season I feel the need to sport nothing aside from a bathing suit and sunglasses here on out.

Thursday, following a Finance exam, my family and I are bound for Paris. This will be my second time in the 'City of Lights' and hopefully I'll see a slightly different side of the culture as my budget extends a bit further as my parents are currently covering the check.

Hope all is well!

All good; all the time,

Thomas

ReUnited, No thanks to United

I groggily arose from sleep at 6:55 AM after Andrew, my roommate, yelled at me to cut my alarm off. I donned my workout gear and continued about my morning routine of starting the coffee pot. I was preparing myself mentally for an early morning jog when I decided to check the flight status of my family's Atlantic flight to Brussels. The flight status nearly made me drop my mug when I read 'arrived' flashed across the screen...2 hours early.

I quickly dialed the United Airlines number via Skype connection and asked for operator assistance in determining if in fact flight 5620 had landed almost a full two hours early. She confirmed it. I pressed the escape button, ending the call and stared blankly at my computer screen for a few seconds. I was trying to think. What to do? I quickly threw on a different set of clothes, stomped on my Georgia boots, and flew out the door in a desperate attempt to get to Brussels Central Platform before my folks.

As luck would have it, the United operator was so far off target with her estimate that it caused me to spend 3 hours wandering aimlessly between platforms 2,4, and 6 of Grand Centarale station of Brussels.

Ultimately I was reunited my family and not a moment too soon.

We headed to my apartment, dropped of some of their gear, and went out in search of a bite to eat before our departure to Luxembourg.

Walking through the city, catching up, and onlooking as my family experienced many of the same initial culture shock moments that I went through upon my arrival was as much as I'd hoped for. I've been greatly anticipating the their arrival and was just as excited to see them as I think they were to see me.

Later in the afternoon we boarded a high speed train destined for Luxembourg, Luxembourg.

Upon our arrival the sun had already set and it was raining (what else is new?). We checked into our regal hotel seated not far from many of the European Union buildings located in the capital city. Due to the late hour many of the businesses and food establishments were closed so we opted for some oriental and took our time to continue catching up with each other.

We turned in early and got a jump on our trip to Engelberg, Switzerland.

As the high speed train pulls us closer and closer to the Swiss Alps I can feel my excitement to do a little skiing growing.

Can't wait to see what comes next!

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Planete Chocolate

"To respect a tradition of Belgium chocolate making; to offer a new product with genuine design, and to offer an impeccable service to our customers"

This is the motto and mantra of one of Belgium's finest chocolate producers, Planete Chocolate. The C.U.B.C. class was offered a chance to take a walk through their establishment as well as take an active role in the production of the world's most favored sweet, chocolate.

Mere hours before the start of our second Law exam, my fellow classmates and I found ourselves wandering into the confines of Planete Chocolate's operational home. After a short instructional video and interactive trivia quiz (contestants were rewarded for correct answers with chocolate) we headed back into the kitchen, sterilized our clothes/hands, and scrubbed up to hands on with some traditional chocolate making.

The tour was short in duration but very informative and enjoyable for myself and my fellow classmates.

Just another factor in Belgium's overall international standing [chocolate, waffles, and beer].

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Business as Usual

With the weather warming, the clouds retreating, and the first signs of spring beginning to appear here in Brussels, I find myself shedding layers of clothes and creeping from the depths of the cave my roommates and I out lasted the winter in.

Since my return from Cologne life has been business as usual. The beginning of the week was host to a test in all of my classes (conveniently enough).

Thursday afternoon, with temperatures reaching upwards in the 60s, my roommates and I decided to put on a good ol southern fashioned BBQ with a charcoal grill that I recently acquired. Grilling steaks, hamburgers, brawts, and chicken over an open flame was a great change of pace from our usual budget meals.

As I write this, I'm sitting under the overhang of our front porch swinging slightly in my Eagle Nest Outfitters hammock. The weather has changed so dramatically (and for the better) over the past 2 weeks that Brussels has taken on an entirely different appeal for me. Shortly put, I find this place much more desirable under a little bit of sun light and warmth.

My family will be arriving within the next week and soon I'll be on my way with them for a whole new array of adventures.

Wishing everyone the best!

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Trinken Wir!

Our second day in Cologne was much like the first. Andrew and I wandered the streets aimlessly just taking it all in.

We did make our way back across to the city to the Dom Cathedral only to find it was yet again in service for a noon mass. We got in the lobby (which was still as large as many churches back home) and managed to get a short look around.

Afterward we headed to a crafts section of the market where I purchased a Bier Stein. Its pretty cool looking and actually wasn't overly expensive either.

Not too long after I found a coin shop and bought a German mark minted in 1934 that would have been used during the 3rd Reich under Hitler. The front shows Hindenburg and the opposite shows the Nazi gold eagle grasping the swastika. Interestingly enough, the merchant told me that Hitler never had any coins minted with a bust of himself. His plan was to win the war and then implement a world currency system with his face on all currency (obviously this never happened) ergo no Hitler coins.

The German people themselves are very American like. They primarily speak German but I have yet to meet a citizen who couldn't string together some basic English sentences. On a whole they are more than happy to help you and answer your questions. They're pretty curious and generally want to know your story and why you're wandering through the Rhineland.

Cologne was a great trip and highly recommended as a weekend destination for any who care to experience some German culture.

I'm currently back in Brussels and preparing for a week of testing and finalizing some plans with my family for Easter Break!

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Cologne, Germany

My bus pulled up at the Cologne bus & train station around 8:00pm Thursday, March 19th. Andrew and I walked less than 2 blocks before we came across a Longhorns Steakhouse, KFC, Dunkin' Donuts, McDonalds, Starbucks, and Wrangler Jeans outlet. We looked at each other, both utterly confused and thinking the same thing, "Are we even in Europe?"

Cologne is the fourth largest city and Germany. Seated directly on the Rhine river, it has significant historical and present value as a major trade city. Founded in 38 B.C. by the Holy Roman Empire, the city has undergone numerous territory changes throughout the ages.

The city's trademark structure and architectural landmark is without a doubt the Dom Catholic Cathedral. The building underwent the beginnings of it's construction in 1284 A.D. but was not fully completed until 1880 A.D. (those dates are correct, feel free to do a double take). Andrew and I first saw it last night on our walk to the hostel from the bus station. It is fully illuminated all day every day giving it a really eerie appeal in the dark of night. We came back first thing this morning and made the 90 something meter climb to the top (which is a narrow spiral staircase aside from 4 flights at the tip top). Situated on the banks of the Rhine river, the view from the top is absolutely incredible. It provides a birds eye view of quite literally the entire city.



The Gothic structure is the seat of the Arch Bishop of Cologne who is currently Cardinal Joachim Meisner. In 1996 the structure was added as a World Heritage Sight and is stop to millions of visitors annually. The structure was hit on 70 different occasions by Allied bombers during World War II. Pilots eventually realized that it was a valuable landmark and towards the conclusion of the war decided to leave it be for navigational purposes.

We arrived at the Cathedral today right as mass was about to begin and we thought it best not to disturb it so we have yet to walk through the grand isles of the Cathedral (the tower ascension is located in an entirely different area of the structure).

After wandering down to the Rhine river itself we headed to a preserved Gestapo Prison Museum. For those of you who don't know, the Gestapo were essentially the secret police of Germany under Hitler in the 3rd Reich. (The German equivalent of the K.G.B.)

It was pretty cool and really made you think about how awful it would have been being locked up in such a place. Most of the literature on the walls was in German so I don't have a ton of information on it. I plan on doing some research on it later and I'll post some of my findings in the coming days.

We walked through the market (new one and old one) just taking it all in. Its hard to imagine this city 60+ years ago following the devastation of World War II. Many of the buildings seem so new and modern when compared to the rest of Europe and we figured this is partly due to the fact that Allied forces essentially leveled the city.

At this point we're craving some food and a Bratwurst feels appropriate.

Check out the rest of the pictures here at my Study Abroad Website.

All good, all the time;

Thomas

Two Months Abroad: A Look Back.....

I remember stepping out of terminal A23 at B.R.U. and the feelings of anxiety, nervousness, and excitement I experienced back on January 8th with my arrival into Belgium. I knew not a lick of French (or Dutch for that matter), no clue how to get to my new residence, and was hence forth on my own in nearly every aspect of the next 5 months as an expat. Was I a bit scared? Let the record state that I was not, but in all reality, I was a tad bit uneasy about the whole experience that lay before me.

So 'where the heck is Thomas McGuire'?

I'm currently cruising at an altitude of 31,000ft, traveling approximately about 650mph while transcribing my thoughts onto the back of a partially shredded Ryanair boarding pass.

I've been to a lot of cool places and I've met a lot of really interesting people.

I am frequently asked, "Hey Thomas, whats you favorite place to visit? Whats the coolest thing you've seen?" And a variety of other similar questions. Its usually pretty hard for me to come up with answer. Not because I don't have an opinion or a preference but just because Europe is so diverse, it makes comparison across borders very difficult. The E.U. is so diverse in quality, culture, architecture, music, tradition, creativity, and innovation that comparing one to another is essentially impossible.

Regardless, as I am a study abroad student and people will always be inherently curious about what I'm up to, I've created a short evaluation of each of the places I've been as well as what I thought.

BRUSSELS

• The Good: Political and business center of Europe. Most culturally diverse place I've ever been. Large variety of people to meet.
• The Bad: Cold enough to make a polar bear dream of warmer climates. Also, if you don't speak Dutch or French, you're S.O.L.

PARIS

• The Good: Parisians have more style and class than anywhere else I've been. The cuisine, if you can afford it, is a sensory overload and the national monuments are a must see.
• The Bad: Parisians are definitely not looking to make friends. If you're not French, they really want nothing to do with you. Also, very very expensive (for everything). Street gypsies out the wazoo.

NETHERLANDS

• The Good: Intensely rich in history and architectural uniqueness. Offers essentially every pastime you could think of (including some you probably don't want to think of). A very laid back gear towards life and the most welcoming society to outsiders as of yet. Heineken factory is a must see!
• The Bad: Things can get a little weird at times. Enough said.

PRAGUE

• The Good: Very old, great food, great prices.
• The Bad: You'll probably spend too much money since everything is so cheap just to indulge.

BRUGGES

• The Good: Town looks like it was frozen in time during the Medieval ages. Great day trip.
• The Bad: Pricy food. I love food and if you charge me too much for it, I'll dock you favor points. Also, once you walk around the town once, you've seen everything (like I said, great Day trip).
  

CANARY ISLANDS

• The Good: Warm. Sun. Sand. = European Paradise
• The Bad: Caters to the elderly, and I mean the elderly elderly. Basically the Florida of Europe. Also, you will be haggled by street vendors once every 5 steps you take. Get used to it.

I currently have plans to travel to Dublin, Venice, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and a return trip to Paris with my family during the Easter Holidays. On top of those destinations, I'm sure I'll visit a few more places before its all said and done, further expanding my horizons.


European Climate

Okay, for any of you that have been following this blog even somewhat less than religiously as I'm sure my mother has, you've no doubt picked up on the slight cynicism I harbor with regards to the European climate.

Essentially I'm just not a fan of -5 degree Celsius temperatures mixed with constant snow/rain/sleet.

I grew up in South Carolina, USA; I enjoy my sun and 105 degree Fahrenheit temperatures (maybe not quite that hot, but just anything that gives me an excuse not to wear a shirt). If you h ave future ambitions to travel Europe, I strongly encourage you to book your plans around the Euro addition of the farmer's almanac, if such a thing exists. You'll enjoy the experience much more if you're aren't shaking in your duck books.

Luckily for me the temperatures here in Brussels have begun to cap the freezing point. Although it was snowing upon my return to the E.U. capital, as I look out my window now, its actually quite sunny. By the end of the month temperatures will be hovering around high 40s and low 50s (F) which in comparison will be quite pleasant.
Recap: Sun - a.k.a. Canary Islands = Awesome; Snow with no access to 4x4s and/or ATVs = Miserable.


Life Abroad

If there's one thing this experience has thus far taught me, its accountability. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I was ever a person greatly lacking in such principal but traveling/studying abroad has taken life's education to another level.

My fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha, focuses heavily on this virtue during the initiation process and with good reason. We teach that being accountable for ones self is above all else, the most important of self maintained ideals. It connects everything together and is the foundation of making a person truly responsible in life.

Such personality behaviors are learned through experience and personal mental reflection. I am of the opinion that far too individuals ever learn, comprehend, or practice being accountable. People are in general (myself included) too quick to point fingers and lay blame elsewhere when in reality taking control of the situation and working with what you've been dealt would essentially be more cohesive.

The high road is rarely the easy road.

Please don't misunderstand me. I am in no way trying to misrepresent myself as an all righteous, egotistical prick. We all have our days and sometimes life just pushes too hard. We find ourselves upset whispering, "Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

At this point I've ranted and raved long enough where you're probably thinking how in the world does any of this relate back to studying abroad?

Being here, being away from friends, family, and all familiarity, it change's a person's perspective. At first I resented it. I wasn't trying to be adaptive, but I soon realized its part of the experience. Everything I do, every action I embark upon, every decision I make - its all on me. Mom and Pops are 4600 miles away and if I ever needed physical help, the most instant action of assistance I would receive would be a crackly 'sorry' voiced via skype. I know that this is probably scaring the bajeezes out of my mother right now, but its true. There is very little anyone can do for me here and that just causes me to undertake that much more personal responsibility.

Personally that sort of knowledge is empowering. And I love it.


I'm making my own decisions, living my own life, and creating my own experiences. No one teaches study abroad students how to go about life outside of their native areas. Its all about trial and error. We figure it out on our own.

I remember experiencing some similar thoughts back when I first started college but being abroad tops that 10:1. The choices I make, for better or for worse, are my own. There's no two ways about it. Ergo, a person must be accountable.

Anyone that knows much about me will concur that I personally am a creature that learns through experience. I prefer hands on as opposed to simply learning the theory. Studying abroad is in all meanings of the phrase, a 'hands on experience'. The situations you find yourself in while abroad, some good some bad, all ultimately teach you something new and give you one more piece to life's puzzle. While I am enrolled in school as well, there is no doubt in my mind that learning I've done while traveling trumps the previous.

This is the type of real world application and experience you take with you for the rest of your life. Its applicable everywhere. Granted, there are still many times when I miss home, but ultimately I feel that coming here was probably one of my best decisions.

I was nervous when I first arrived in Brussels. I had a lot of questions, very few answers, and really no where to turn for help. I'm over half way into my study abroad tenure and have zero regrets about my choice to come here. I am no more certain about what the future holds than when I first arrived; the only difference between now and then is I have 100% confidence in myself that I can take whatever comes my way.

Bring it on life.

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Cantillon Brewery Quintessence

We arrived at Cantillon Brewery a little after 9am on the 16th of March. With no distinctive entrance or sign, I cautiously pushed open the ancient oaken bay doors only to have the smells of malted barley and yeast come wafting into the streets behind us. We were at the right place and early, giving me plenty of time to snap a few unhindered shots of the historic Cantillon Brewery of Brussels.

Formed in 1890 by the Cantillon family (still the present day owners and workers), sits atop the same foundation it did 100 years ago. The brewery survived both World Wars only to have very little change about its brewing process. The brewery functions and operations exist today as they did when it was first built with few, to no technological innovations or advancements.

The Cantillon is the last industrial beer brewery within the city limits of Brussels (many micro breweries exist). It also is proudly the only organic brewery in Belgium. All beers are brewed from 100% raw organic materials in the same fashion and methodology since the beginning. All biproducts are recycled into the agricultural sector of Brussels as either feed for cattle or mulch for city landscaping projects.

Being a Lambic beer producer for more than the past 100 years, the Cantillon knows how to make a brewsky. Lambics are characterized as a still beer or a cereals wine. During the fermentation, the carbon dioxide escapes through the wood oak barrels and as a result does not saturate the beer, ergo no foam or bubbles when poured. All in all, the process of brewing a lambic rests somewhere right around 3 years.

Ingredients for brewing a Lambic beer:
> 35% Raw Wheat
> 65% Malted Barley
> Dried Hops [3 years old]; 5g per Liter

The Process of brewing a Lambic beer:
> Brewing from 45 to 72 degrees Celsius
> Collect wort (the sugary waters) by filtering
> Boiling and hopping in the boilers
> Cooling in the cooling tun
> Natural infection of the wort by wild fermentation (bacteria and yeast)
> Pumping wort at temperature of 18 degrees Celsius into oakwood Barrels
> Transformation of all sugars into alcohol within 3 years

The brewery was a damp dark place, that as I said, smelled strongly of...well exactly what it should smell of, beer. For myself it had the kind of exciting appeal that all new places have for little kids. I wanted to explore, touch, and ask questions about nearly everything in eye's sight.

The tour took about an hour and at the end, you got to try two of their different beers; the first was Gueze.

Lambic, which is the base for the making of Gueuze, is a spontaneous fermentation beer. All beers made with Lambic are naturally sour, but some will be more sour, more bitter or "softer" than the others.The Gueuze is the result of a well-considered blending of Lambics of different ages and with different tastes.

The main task for the brewer, however, is tasting. He will taste about ten Lambics from different barrels in order to select five or six which will be used for the Gueuze 100% Lambic presenting the typical characteristics of the beers from the Cantillon brewery.

The bottles are closed with a cork, capped with a crown-cork. They will remain horizontally in a cellar for a year on average, in order to allow the sugars to be converted into carbon dioxide (second fermentation in the bottle). The saturation of the beer is slow and natural. When the Lambic becomes sparkling, it is called Gueuze. At that moment, this crown-jewel of the Cantillon brewery will leave the cellar and find its way to the cellars of the lovers of the traditional Gueuze.

Every blending will produce a different Gueuze. Since the Cantillons work according to a natural process, it is impossible to make a standard beer.

This beer is not only unique because of its brewing process, but also because it can be conserved for a long time. When kept in a good cellar, a Cantillon Gueuze will still have an exceptional taste and flavor after 20 years.

This beer was actually very tasteful after your senses got used to the very acidic reaction. By the end of my glass I found myself wishing for more and ended up purchasing a bottle for myself.

The second of the two beers we tasted was Rosé de Gambrinus. A slightly easier to handle beer, the flavor consists of a multitude of fruits added during the brewing process that gives this beer its distinctive taste. As I said, its fruity, and just didn't fit my palate.

I met a couple while on the tour who were visiting the city from San Diego, California. They had arrived in Brussels early on in the morning and made a bee line for the brewery. Apparently, as far as beer connoisseurs go, Cantillon beer is in high demand and fetches a steep price in San Diego. The couple had come to see first hand how their beloved drink was brewed.

The tour, although not near as flashy or as advanced when compared to the Heineken Experience, did offer its audience a much more in depth and authentic look at the brewing process.

I've got my workout to complete today, but after that, I'll be popping the cork on my bottle of Cantillon.

To take a look at the pictures I took, head here.

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Fast Cars and Freedom

Being the Red, White, and Blue loving patriot I am, you could easily say that I am inherently predisposed to the 'American Motor Head' mentality. That being, as a whole, Americans have a reputation for owning road hogging, gas guzzling, speed daemon sorts of vehicles. Not that I'm complaining, because in all honesty, who doesn't like the idea of parking their chromed out chevy two-toned camo 4X4 over the sun roof of a smart car? Sounds like home to me.

Americans have long romanticized the mentality over ownership of a personal vehicle. Manufacturers pump millions of dollars each and very year into market advertising to continually foster this sense of self-pride at purchasing an automobile. We see it everyday from music (Big & Rich, Lil Wayne), to movies (James Bond, Talledega Nights), to magazines (Du Pont Registry, Motor Tread), to TV shows (Pimp my Ride, Home Improvement).

Often time the luxuriousness of a person's automobile can be indicative of their wealth, class, and status. Other times its not and the person essentially put multiple mortgages on their house so they could go out and purchase that fresh, off the line Mercedes. Regardless of how they financed their acquisition, the point is, they did.

Automobiles are an accepted and integral part of American society. Alas, such is not the case here in Europe.

I was walking to the dry cleaner earlier today and noticed an elderly man with his head under the hood of some foreign two door hatchback. I purposely slowed down for want of catching a glimpse of his motorized matchbox. As I passed, I was pretty surprised at the internal workings of this foreign wonder. The engine resembled a 2 stroke back pack blower and in all honestly seemed you could have gotten more torque out of a hamster wheel. That car inparticular is a fairly popular budget model automobile here in Europe.

Europeans hold a distinctively different view towards their 'motor carriages', as they were once called, than their American counterparts do. Vehicles serve a purely functional purpose here and as such, they give little concern to how flashy, fancy, or superior it actually is. The lack of emotional attachment to their automobiles has resulted in millions of small, functional, standard vehicles. Basically a nation of Model Ts.

Between the multiple cheap public transit options and high petrol prices, many European don't even feel the need to own a vehicle. If they do own a vehicle, there's a good chance its one per family, or even shared across multiple people.

The smaller engines, diesel fuel, less options, and essentially 100% manual transmission are all factors that play into Europe being ahead of the curve when it comes to energy efficiency and sustainability.

While the Europeans practice social and environmental responsibility by limiting their carbon footprints via transportation, America continues to bolster the personal assets by buying the next biggest model to roll out of Detroit.

I can understand where both sides come from. Efficiency v. Customized Personality.

In my own opinion I'd be happy with a combination of the two. Who knows what we'll be driving in the future. A nuclear powered jacked up 4x4? Maybe, just so long as I can still have a redneck exhaust system. However until the oil companies die out, which isn't happening any time soon, I'd say America is stuck in a energy rut with the automotive industry. Best just put it in a 4 wheel drive hang tight until the future gets here.

All good; all the time,

Thomas

European Cuisine

Earlier this week my mother sent me an email outlining some of the family travel plans they've made for an Easter Holiday excursion to come visit me in Europe. At the base of the email she included a few side notes and anecdotes outlining some happenings from back home. One such reference talked about how they had just finished dining on a gourmet meal based off of a custom recipe by yours truly. The thought of home cooked food got me going and I was instantly watering at the mouth.

I don't know how you do things at your house, but where I come from we eat well, and we eat a lot. Anyone who has ever been extended an invitation to dine at the McGuire household will attest that my family, majorly my mother, does a good job in going above and beyond with the meals (although my little sister will argue that since the 'big eater' of the family has moved away from home, the frequency of such feasts has decreased marginally). Regardless of the corner of earth the cuisine originates from, I think its safe to say, my family does it right. Whether we're chowing down on a 3 course meal of Mexican or we're frying up some beer batter onion rings to go with our venison steak burgers, its all homegrown/killed, its all fresh, and its all good [all the time].

Europeans do things a bit differently thought. They eat much smaller portions and tend to have many meatless meals. By my definition, its just a snack if there's no meat. ('Wheres the beef?') Also, the selection of restaurants in Europe isn't nearly as diverse as back home. In the states you can walk down pretty much any strip and bank on finding some sort of Italian Pizzeria, San Jose (or the equivalent), China Wok I, II, or III, Average Joe's Burgers, and a 'snack' restaurant for all the vegan and veggie lovers. Over here, your options are limited. You're pretty much stuck with either kebabs, french fries, or a local pub that has their own select recipes.

I speculate that the smaller portions, higher food prices, and lack of nutritional variety account for parts of the reason that on average 90% of Europeans are smaller than the average American (I'm not talking width either, we'll get to that another day).

However, that limited selection in Europe isn't exactly bad. Since being here, I've grown to love anything grilled and smothered in andaulouse (a spicy mayo based sauce). Although I do miss my "all you can eat chips 'n' salsa" and 5 guys burgers and fries patty with EVERYTHING on it, the cuisine isn't all too bad once you get used to it.

Just a heads up though, I'll be checking a big appetite on my return flight home so yall best go ahead and get the charcoal burning.

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Back to the Real World....

The Canaries were gorgeous; the sun felt amazing, and our trip out of the cold couldn't have gone any better. Its back to business as usual in Belgium with new classes starting this week and snow falling as I type this.

We arrived at Charleroi Sud (our airport) yesterday evening and made our way back through the metro system to our house in Koelelburg, Belgium. Comparative to the Canary's tropical climate, the bitter winter winds of Belgium were hardly welcomed.

As far as all our travels have gone, we did the least in the Canaries, which is exactly what I wanted. I remember being younger and not understanding why parents wanted to just lay on the beach and read or sleep. I always wanted to do something and easily got bored just 'lounging around'. This was different. For once I understood the whole ideal of just laying around. I spent two days sleeping, laying in the sun, and reading books. I did no sight seeing (unless it was in front of my towel on the ocean), I did little exploring (unless it included ritual morning jog down the beach), and I was in no way productive. I loved it and I would go back in a heart beat.

Back in Holland, we met a group of American students who were likewise studying abroad and took a weekend trip to the Netherlands. They were our neighbors in the hostel and we hung out a bit as we meandered around the city. We parted ways at the end of the week and I personally did not give it much more thought. However, on our second day in the Canaries, who came trudging by the pool yard, luggage in tow? Yep, the same American girls from the Netherlands. It was a pretty wild coincident and we again ended up hanging out with some fellow English speaking, American students (which is always a relief from trying to communicate in another language). This was their 'spring break' and they ended up staying a few days after we left but we definitely enjoyed having them around.

I knew I had gotten some sun on the beach but ultimately did not feel like it would amount to much considering how pale I was when I arrived. However, upon entering CUBC today and seeing how pale the rest of my class mates were, we immediately realized we were in fact far better off than previously thought. Our comrades looked on with jealousy because we, unlike them, had color in our skin.

Academically, my semester abroad is divided into quarters. I finished my first set of classes last week and this week I start Finance, Law, and Management. I'm especially looking forward to Law and Finance as I know very little definitive information in either of these areas and am always looking for ways to expand my real life education. I feel confident I will do well them.

We're headed to Dublin following class this Thursday evening to catch the start of the Saint Patrick's festival in Ireland. I'm excited about the trip but more on that later this week once I'm actually there.

Time for a jog...in the snow...not on the beach.

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Gran Canaria

Two full days of sun, fun, and relaxation. That's been our experience thus far in the La Isla de Gran Canarias. With not a cloud in sight, the fun continues!

Our hostel is the remake of an older hotel that was bought out, renovated (somewhat), and then put back on the market as short term apartments or rentable overnight rooms. Its nothing terrible and perfectly suitable for a group of college males on a tight budget. The building is about a five minute walk from the surf and that is by no means a hassle in my book. Just being out side, walking around in the sun and the warm air is a luxury I've hard far too little of recently.

We've spent the majority of the past two days just relaxing in the sand. Its a darker blend of sand than back home but just as fine and just as clean. Off in the distance you can see the volcanic mountains covered in lush tropical vegetation. Although ominous thunderheads linger in the distance, they've yet to interfere with our glorious take of the sun.

I'm sure you've all seen the old Bud Light commercials featuring "True American Heros". It was generally something along the lines of an extremely overweight male with skin so pale it rivaled Carrot Top. This 'American Hero' would be wearing an all too revealing speedo and the narrator would spout something similar to "If you've got it, flaunt it...and you're definitely got it." This mentality is shared and employed by a good portion of the locals as they take to the nudist sections. Trust me on this one, if you ever visit the Canaries...just steer clear of this area. In the interest of you own mental preservation, stay away.

An odd fact about the island dwellers...they do not like sea food. Let me clarify that statement. They live on an island, surrounded by tropical ocean, and choose not to eat sea food. I can't comprehend it, but was truly amazed with how difficult it was to find a sea food restaurant.

I've got to run now, but tomorrow we head back to Brussels. Regardless of our flight in the mid afternoon, I will still get in a few hours of sun light on the beach for one last time.

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Canary Islands; Paradise at Last

Its 4:30am and I hear the buzzer of my alarm ringing as I gradually arise from a sleep induced coma. Despite my general disdain towards being awoken for any reason aside of Christmas morning, I crawled out of bed (literally crawled) and mashed the start button on the coffee maker. While propping myself up against the living room table a sleepy sideways grin slid across my face...because on this morning, we're setting off for the Canary Islands.

Our plane lifted off from Charleroi Sud at 7:40am on a cold crisp morning. After spending four hours in the air listening to screaming infants triangulate my position and a Robert Barone (Everybody Loves Raymond) look alike flight attendant who couldn't speak a word of audible English to save his life, I was happy when the plane touched down in the sunny Canary Islands. A step onto the tarmac was essentially a rebirth from cold dismal Belgian climate. After instantly shedding my jacket, vest, overshirt, undershirt, scarf, and hat we jumped in a cab, and made our way to 'Playa de Palms' beach and hostel.

We checked in, dropped our bags, threw on some swim trunks, and made a mad dash for the beach. The sun was shinning, the air was warm, and it was humid (reminds me of home sweet home in Dixieland). I considered myself to be in paradise at this point. I'd been longing to be someplace remotely warm and sunny for weeks now and the time had finally come. Although you really don't appreciate it on a regular basis, the sun plays a major factor in a person's overall well being (as I've learned).

I crashed on a deserted stretch of sad and ended up sleeping in the sun for a couple hours. A perfect start to a great vacation.

Internet here is a bit dodgy but I'll do my best to update my happenings when I can. Wishing everyone the best!

All good; all the time,

Thomas

A Trip Back in Time

Last Friday the CUBC student body headed to the small town of Brugges (Dutch) or Bruge (French) for a short day trip. The quiet, slow town appears to have been dropped out of a movie centered around Arthurian Legend due to the preserved Medieval architecture and seldom sight of anything modern. It's egg shaped borders, encircled by winding canals, meandered through the city doing nothing to speed up the pace of life for this sleepy town.

Brugges is Beglium's most visited tourist destination. Everything seems to be stuck in time and from what I can tell, the residents like it that way. We took an organized tour with a native Belgian who happened to also be our guide for the tour of Brussel's during the first week abroad. His knowledge gave us a very indept insight into the city's past and why it appears to have never moved forward.

The city was 'rediscovered' in the late 16th century and dubbed a romantic and restful place. Due to city laws and strict limitations in real estate, the city's architecture remains a testament to the work of engineers long past.

Despite all of the sights, tourist traps, and beautiful scenery the one experience I enjoyed most about Brugges, was the chocolate. There is literally a chocolate shop on every corner and all of them sell 'the world's best chocolate'. Honestly though, it does taste like the world's best chocolate. They have every flavor, every variety, every assortment you could ever wish for. Its so good you'll probably end up eating so much it makes you sick. I know this from experience.

By my book, Brugges is definitely a worthy day trip for anyone in the area. See the sights, check out the architecture, and eat the chocolate; day well spent.

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Occupation: Advertising - Google, Inc.

Three days ago I posted a blog concerning the recent appearance of Google advertisements on my blog and website. I casually suggested that readers should click on a few links and help a poor college student earn some walking around money.

I thought at best I would end up with 15 or 20$ by the time this blog had run its course upon my return to the states...three months from now. I had no idea that after 3 days I would have accrued over $25!

Now in my mind this means one of two things:

1) You people really love me and have way too much free time on your hands to continually sit around and click on advertisements on my blog (not that I'm complaining though).

2) Its actually not as hard as I originally thought to earn a little revenue via web advertising. The fact that a handful of my faithful readers (which is ultimately all of you) clicks on one or two links a day is actually earning me some extra dough.

But lets not get ahead of ourselves.

As much as I'd love to think I'm going to be rolling in the Benjys before too long, in reality that probably isn't going to happen. This could just be Google's way of saying, 'Hey welcome to the world wide web kid. Take a number." These high grossing payments could be the initial kickbacks given to new recruits.

Despite my skepticism, lets just keep on left tapping those mice people.

Today I set up Google Analytics which is a nifty little web hosting tool that allows website owners to assess the traffic their site's receive. It breaks down all the user content to valuable information such as channels used to access the site, average time spent, links clicked, pages viewed, where their IP address is hosted, so on and so forth.

Its actually very interesting material; hopefully with such information I can ultimately increase the inflow of traffic to my sight thereby increasing my revenues.

Regardless, until the time comes where my site receives more hits/day than the almighty Google itself, I'm trusting in YOU to keep on being the dedicated readers I know you are! Your time is valuable to me. Literally.

Deviating momentarily from my propaganda, the CUBC student body and myself visited Brugges, Belgium today for a relaxing day trip. I'll be posting a blog on related material tomorrow so keep an eye out for it!

Wishing everyone the best.

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Touch Down, Man Soup!

Soup that eats like a meal -Hearty. Nutritious. Delicious; that's the slogan for the mini microwavable Cambell's chunky soup commercials.

You've more than likely seen commercials featuring Philadelphia Eagle Donovan McNabb eating his small 1 1/2 cup portion of the selected brand of Cambell's Chunky Soup. The camera zooms in, holding his paper dixie cup sized bowl of 'filling' soup. He takes a bite, smiles, and is instantly gratified because the meager 1 1/2 cups of sustenance managed to stifle this 6' 2", 240lb quarterback's hunger. Well let me tell you folks, McNabb has obviously never heard of Man Soup. That's right, Man Soup.

Carrefour, the world's second largest retailer (under Walmart), has recently had to go through a restructuring here in Brussels. Generally this wouldn't bother me so much except that it actually means my local grocery store went out of business a few days ago and I am for the moment, left without an alternative. I think that the immediate response from most readers would be,

"So, just go to another store."

And believe me, I see your point. However, when you're on foot, carrying everything you purchase, and the closest retailer is over a mile away, it makes me a bit inclined to start telling stories like Ol' Jack LeGrand featuring tremendous trecks through snow, up hill both ways, 15 miles, frost on your mustache, ice sheets on your bald spot, carrying your stone tablet, and barefoot because they hadn't invented New Balance running shoes yet. You get the picture.

[Its times like this my Silverado would sure come in handy.]

So what happens when you get 4 hungry, fairly active, male, college students locked in their house with nothing but scraps and enough individual random left overs to leave an anorexic hungry?

MAN SOUP.

The glorious combination of every particle and morsel of food a common college student would think to eat (minus taco bell). Folks, we're talking chicken, ham, bacon, beef, tortellini, onions, tap water, bell peppers, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, dropped eggs, gouda, garlic, sugar (I mixed it up with the salt), milk, butter, pepper and then salt. All swilled together to form one ultimately epic dish, that I dubbed, MAN SOUP.

Now don't get too excited. I know it sounds delicious, but before you dash off to the kitchen to try and wip up your own batch, you aught to know that I left a key ingredient out. Its actually not that hard to come by and costs me less than half a euro, but I'm going to keep it to myself for now. Who knows, I might one day make a killing in a restaurant with my specialty dish as MAN SOUP. So for now, it stays secret. (Lucky for me I don't have some sketchy talking golden retriever trying sell my secret recipe every time he gets off his leash.)

What was the point of this blog other than to waste five minutes of your day and give you ample time to click on my advertisements and make me extra money? Nothing really, except to let the world know that no matter where they are, who you're with, how sunny it is, and what bill Obama is failing to pass...you are still missing out because YOU don't have Man Soup.

Enough said.

All good; all the time,

Thomas

This is the kind of physique that can only be obtained after 100 years of barefooted, uphill, snow trudging.


SHOUT OUT FOR MUSTACHIO!

A Capitalist in a Socialist Country

Everyone is always looking for ways to make an easy buck [or euro] and I am no different. Be it returning grocery carts to their dispenser for the deposit or counting every single cent I find on the street, I'm always in the business of looking for more business.

I've had several questions over the past couple days concerning the sudden appearance of Google advertisements on both my blog and website.

"Thomas, why can I all of the sudden find 'singles in my area' from advertisements on your website?"

Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is another personal attempt at further funding the 'Thomas McGuire Retirement Fund'. Every time you visit my website or blog Google debits me fractions of a cent. I get paid just because so many of you are faithful readers of my life (although I can't imagine why).

Now, if the advertisements actually entice you enough to click on them, I get paid fractions more. How exciting!

As far as the actual content of the advertisements go, I assure you that I do not personally have any choice over what Google posts. Apparently the adds are cleverly chosen based on the content present on the site (which really doesn't explain the 'singles in your area'). I'm skeptical as to how much revenue I'll actually bring in considering the dividends per visit are so minuscule, but hey, a dollars a dollar no matter how you look at it!

I've got finals next week as well as a lot of last minute work to do, so that enough personal promotion for one day. Hope all is well!

[Click away people, click away! Just kidding. But seriously. Click.]

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Cpt. Kangaroo, Thunderboxes, & Crunchy Heads

"Oih, wheres your thunderbox?"
"Our..., our what?"
"Your thunderbox, I gotta use the thunderbox"

Just one of the many cultural differences and discrepancies I encountered this weekend while attempting to understand 'aussie'. As with everything abroad from the United States, it was a learning experience.


While staying at our hostel in Prague we met some interesting people. This of course can be expected anytime you throw 30 random individuals of all ages, sizes, and ethnicity in a room and tell them to sleep. (Have you ever tried to rest while a 45 year old male Bulgarian is sawing logs in the bunk above you? Have you?)

This is where Candice & Tiffany Quinlan come into the story. We first met the Quinlan sisters in the hostel's kitchen our second night in Prague. I sat at the table eating a well rounded dinner (which probably included multiple portions of every food group) and watched them hopelessly try to saute sun dried tomatoes, chucked zucchini, and ridiculous amounts of salt. In the end I couldn't help myself and had to casually poke fun at their attempts. Its pretty hard to cook sun dried anything past it being sun dried and I felt like it was worth pointing out to them. We struck up a conversation and they ultimately joined my comrades and I on multiple excursions throughout Prague.

When we parted ways we told them to look us up if they ever headed our way and passed through Belgium.

Who came knocking on our door a week later? Yep, the Quinlan sisters.

In reality, they actually cleared it with us first via facebook and we gladly re-extended the invitation for a weekend pit stop in Brussels.

Tiffany and Candice are on their summer 'holiday' from 'Uni' (University) in Australia, touring around Europe for a month. Both are a year from graduating and saw this as a final opportunity to hit the road and see the world before having to enter the wide world of grownups. The sisters share a spunky and happy-go demeanor concerning just about everything, making them very enjoyable to have around in the dismal Brussel's weather. While they did sport very strong Australian accents, it hardly compared to the stereotypical American's depiction of Outback Steakhouse commercials. Their English was English none the less, but at times it was hard to decipher what exactly they were trying to say. Imagine putting two males in the same room, one from the deep south and another from a well to do family in the north, and you'd likely have a similar translation problem. Here are a few of the more comical conversations we had with each other.

"Oh yea, you were dominating the d!" - Aussies
"What? "- Me [Completely bewildered. You can probably imagine why.]
"Dominatin' the d." - Aussies
"What the hell are you talking about?" - Me
"Dancing! You were dancing a lot on the dance floor. Dominating the dance floor." - Aussies
"Please don't ever tell another American male that he was 'dominatin the d'. That is not okay, I promise." - Me


"Oih, wheres your thunderbox?" - Aussies
"Haha...our what?" - Americans
"Your thunderbox, the outbox, the thunderbox. Do you have one?" - Aussies
"I honestly have no clue what you want. Speak American." - Me
"The bathroom! Its a thunderbox. Bathroom/thunderbox. Same thing" - Aussies
[I lost it laughing at that point for obvious reasons.]

"Forget that noise." - Americans
"What noise?" - Aussies
"No, not like literal noise, I just mean that is dumb." - Americans
"Then why call it noise if there is no noise?" - Aussies
"Aigh', never mind." - Americans

They also say:

• 'mate' = friend
• 'sheila' = female/woman (shawty get low? or sheila get low?)
  
• 'tkep' = ketchup
• 'Uiy' = pickup truck
• 'Uni = University/College
• 'Holiday' = Vacation
  

Not so much a conversation, but in case you ever run into Paul Hogan and he calls you a crunchy, I'll go ahead an enlighten you as to the implications of the statement.

In America, we make fun of blond women for...well for being blond women [why wouldn't we?] Well the Aussies were one step ahead of us. At one point or another (probably multiple) we made fun of their blond hair and fitting demeanor; they countered by calling us crunchies. Initially we laughed, because once again we were at such a loss as to what they were saying it was incredibly humorous. They went on to explain to us that, like a crunch bar, crunchies are brown hair on the outside and blond demeanor on the inside. While actually trying to insult us, they inadvertently empowered males everywhere with evidence to sight not only blond women, but now brunettes as 'blond' like persons.

I speak on a personal position here, but I easily got along with them better than anyone else we've met in our travels. They wore cowboy boots, listened to American country music & classic rock, hunt kangaroos (not split-toe), and like to eat meat (minus the sun dried tomatoes incident). Could Australia be my second home? Maybe.

Oh and they dislike the French, which gives rise to the question, why do I not have more Australian friends?

We took them around Brussels; sampled the fine chocolates, 'sampled' the Belgian beer, and grabbed a waffle. We had a great time and told them that if they ever (again) came through Brussels to let us know.

Candice & Tiffany are somewhere between here and Paris at this moment, the final stop on their European excursion. We had a blast and wish them the best of luck in the remainder of their travels.


4600 thousand miles from home and I meet someone who, although from a different homeland, its incredibly similar to myself. Who would have thunk it?

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Czech Me Out!

Situated on the Vlatva River in central Bohemia, Prague has been the political, cultural and economic centre of the Czech state for more than 1100 years. For many decades during the Gothic and Renaissance eras, Prague was the permanent seat of two Holy Roman Emperors and thus was also the capital of the Holy Roman Empire Today, the city proper is home to more than 1.2 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 1.9 million.

The taxi ride from Prague central airport to Hostel One took a little over 20 minutes and cost about 600 crowns (the Czech currency). Luckily between the 8 of us, that is actually pretty cheap since 20 Crowns is equivalent to about 1 US $.

Prague is a relatively cheap city food and drink wise comparative to everywhere else in Europe. Their inflation is through the roof though and carrying around a handful of 1000 crown bills feels a bit strange.

The city is essentially divided into two parts: New Town and Old Town Center. Old Town is where the majority of the historic sights and tourist attraction are including the Royal Palace. There is a large open square with food market and many odds & ends for sale at an elevated price comparative to elsewhere in the city. This area of town is littered with historic churches. Almost every other block has a chapel/basilica/cathedral but this makes sense when you consider the fact that hundreds of years ago, the Papacy was based out of Prague and not Rome.

The New Town (I found it ironic that its name includes 'New' because it literally looks like something pulled out of the 1970-80s era Soviet block) is a bit run down. It was hard to see the city as it is meant to look because of the serious amount of snow accumulation on everything. I met a girl from Prague that spoke amazing English and she told us that this is the most snow Prague has gotten during her lifetime (this seems to be a strong winter world wide).

Everything is very spread out though. Most days we ended up walking 12+ miles to get to and from the landmarks we dubbed as worth seeing.

We came to Prague for Mardi Gras and although the main festival is today there was still plenty to see and do in preparation for the event. Unfortunately I couldn't stay for the grande finale because I have a test tomorrow evening but the portion we did experience was pretty awesome.

The trip was great; the people were the closest to American we've encountered, and the food was cheap. I loved it.

Hope all is well.

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Worldly Travels

Last Thursday my comrades and I headed out for Prague, Czech Republic. We had an amazing trip and arrived back in Brussels yesterday evening late.

Some of you may have seen on the news that there was a major train wreck in Brussels involving a line that connects Brussels' city center with Charleroi - Sude (thats our airport). Some 20 people died and other 50 were seriously injured when the train derailed after a head on collision with another train. Fortunately our flight was delayed and we didn't make the train. Had conditions in Prague been clear; my companions and I would have more than likely would have been on that train. That thought definitely makes you stop for a second and think.

Fortunately we're all fine and back to business as usual here in Brussels. Check back over the next couple of days as I post content and details from my trip to Prague.

Hope everything is going well for all those back home!

All good; all the time,

Thomas

Amsterdam (Continued)

The tour of the Red Light District was an 'eye opening' experience. You saw exactly what you expected but Ryan threw in all the history and modern day regulations of the business giving the tour a very interesting spin. Only 5% of the District's customers are Dutch where as 75% of the service users are UK men between the ages of 18 and 33.

The tour lasted roughly 2 hours and we wandered about a bit more on our own before calling it a night.

Amsterdam, while obviously one of the most international controversial business places in the world, is undoubtedly one of the most accepting, unlikely to judging, and all around hospitable places I've visited.

If you ever decide to travel to this funky town; keep an open mind.

All good; all the time.

Amsterdam, Arrival & Day 1:

Amsterdam....

Although you may have never visited this historic city, you have no doubt heard of its reputation. To accurately describe the city in its entirety while still maintaining a PG rating on my word choice....lets just say its going to be pretty difficult. Ladies and gentlemen, you're just going to have to bear with me and use your imagination (if you want).



The Arrival:

Our EuroLines bus pulled up to the Amstel Central Station around 9:45pm. A large portion of the city is built in a radial fashion with canals that wind and twist through the city streets and alley ways. After a series of wrong turns, broken Dutch conversations, and 30 minute treck through the city we arrived at our temporary residence, Hotel Linda. My comrades this trip included Andrew "JewJew" Blayton, Charlie "Chuck" Sipple, Nils "Grandpappa" Peterson, and Brittany "BHALLarious" Hall.

We shared a room with 5 other individuals, but none were to be seen when we arrived. We walked around for an hour or so our first night just taking in the night life but ultimately called it a day as to get an early start on the following day.



Day 1 in Amsterdam:

We arose at 8 am and set out to find some food (Usually the number one priority on my mind. I can handle cold/hot; I can handle tired; I can handle stressful...but I sure have a hard time handling anything if I'm hungry.) After searching for something within our budget I settled on a small bakery that had some fruit filled pastries.

There is an organization that puts on tours for "those on a budget that still want the full experience. They are based in numerous tourist destinations throughout Europe and I fully plan to use them when possible because of how well done our tour was. We met up with our tour guide at 10 in front of the National Monument. (The dutch are terrible at naming things. The name of their central national monument is...The National Monument, which is half a block from New Church, which is two blocks from Old Church, which is in turn down the road from "the Bridge" [which is a bridge, believe it or not]; so on and so forth).

Our guide, a lively Australian named Ryan, has been moving from major European city to city over the past decade or so and claims that Amsterdam is without a doubt his personal favorite. I was pretty skeptical about how entertaining and informative a "budget" tour could be, but Ryan's engaging oration and constant jumpy demeanor kept everyone in the group focused on what he was saying. Most who travel to Amsterdam have a sense of mysticism concerning the direct activities of the city. People hear about the Red Light District, they hear about the Cafe shops, they hear its a party city, but they never really know what to expect. I was no different. Ryan spent the next 5 hours walking around the city with us hitting all of the major points (i.e. Anne Frank House, Red Light District, Coffee Cafes) as well as the smaller and finer aspects of Dutch life (law, culture, and general info about the cities citizens). When it was all said and done, I had a pretty good bearing on knowing my way around the city as well as understanding the in and outs of how day to day life works in such a funky city.

One thing I noticed upon my arrival to Amsterdam was that all of the buildings looked askew and not at all squared off with one another. Door jams leaned one way, windows leaned another, and sometimes the entire building leaned way forward as if it was going to tip outward into the street. At first I just thought the Dutch were terrible builders (except for Dikes) but Ryan set the record straight. The offset door jams and windows were a result of the city being built entirely upon marshland, but the buildings leaning into the streets was in fact on purpose. Being an old shipping town, many of the buildings had storehouses in the upper levels and building the buildings slanted outwards allowed for goods to be hoisted up without them banging into the side of the structure and damaging the goods. I looked at the building and then asked, "Why not just extend the main roof beam out into the street and save yourself the trouble of building a slanted building?" He looked at me for a second, smiled, and then responded that it took the Dutch hundreds of years to solve this problem and that I'd just solved in 5 minutes (maybe my college education is paying off, but don't get your hopes up mom & dad).

After the tour Ryan offered to take myself and my fellow travelers to one of his local hangouts and we gladly followed. We met several of his "mates" and it seemed he was a fairly popular guy in the town. We hung out with him for a while before he had to leave and give another tour but before leaving, he convinced us to come on his Red Light District tour that evening and see a slightly darker and less censored side of Amsterdam.

We walked around aimlessly just taking it all in for a while longer. Each rode looks exactly like the last. Each of the buildings; all equally jammed between one another, line the canals all the way around the city. When I thought of Amsterdam's scenery I pictured cobblestone bridges, small canals, lots of bicycles, and windmills; that is pretty much the jest of it.

Speaking of bikes, apparently its a felony in the Netherlands to steal someone's bike (let me remind you that this is the same country that legalized marijuana and prostitution back in early 2000. As well as the same city that legalized pissing in the streets so long as it doesn't splash on someone else's shoes and that you may engage in 'intimate' activities after dark in a park so long as you are more than 100m from an elementary school.) Bike theft can get you up to a 15 years in prison; however, like everything in Amsterdam there is a back door rule. If you get caught with a stolen cycle; the only way you can escape punishment is if you fling the bike off of a bridge in a canal and it sinks completely. If any part of the bike is visible, tough luck chief, you're going to jail.

While I'm on the subject of strange laws; if you somehow manage to drive your vehicle into a canal you can be charged for littering in the canal systems which of course is a felony. But wait! There's a back door rule here as well! If you're still sitting in your car (which is in the canal) when the police arrive, they are obligated to jump in after you and save you because you are a citizen in distress, thereby relinquishing any penalty you would have incurred for littering the canal with your car...(which I'm sure was intentional).

We met back up with Ryan at his meeting point and set off to the Red Light District with a group that was composed largely of the same individuals we went with earlier that day.

To be continued..........


All good; all the time,

Thomas