so it looks like my april fools came a little bit early because yesterday england pulled another one its lets be different for no reason stunts and we had daylight savings. Luckily I'm living a life free of appointments right now. I was just in the computer lab and a lady comes by and said they were closing at five and I was like....ok, about an hour and a half left. Then another guy comes by a bit later and says they're closing soon. And in my head I thought, oh come on and hour and ten minutes is not soon. Then it all clicked. The Brits do daylight savings March 30th.

And that was the most eventful part of my Sunday. Over here I've got three weeks of Spring Break and I'm on my last week now. Most of my friends are still traveling around Europe so there hasn't been much to do. I've focused on finishing school stuff, playing ukulele and watching movies. I watched silence of the lambs last night, pretty creepy.

So back to my family's time here. After Paris we took a tour out to Bath and Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral. I had never seen the Cathedral and it was really enormous and impressive. I've got a couple pictures below. It was a fun little tour. My family also agreed that Bath was the best part and we wished we could have spent more time there.

The next day it was back to London touring. We hit up St. Paul's, the Tate Modern, Tower Bridge, Tower of London and Abbey Road. My family was not impressed with what Modern Art had to offer and Kyle, Maggie and I discussed all the different "artworks" we were going to do to get famous. Kyle is going to frame dirt and Maggie is going to have a hammer hammering in a screw. Pretty deep stuff. I took a fantastic Abbey Road picture of my family, which is also below.

The next day we did a very long walking trip to get to the Prime Meridian but it was worth it because Kyle got to do this.

It was really great to have my family come, lots of fun times and it made me look forward to this summer when I'll be back home again. It also made me miss eating real delicious meals and joking around with Maggie and Kyle was hilarious. So, again, England is still great but I am looking forward to getting back home.

Thanks for reading,
Roy

PS. The picture of me standing awkwardly below is me standing on the Prime Meridian.

Hello Cyberspace,

It's me Roy Verspoor again, I've got something knew to tell you. This time its about the City of Love: Paris, France. But before I get ahead of myself let me begin where all good stories begin, at the beginning. My family arrived in London last Saturday morning. In some extremely good timing Kait and I met up with them right as they were walking out of the apartment we rented. After some expensive Italian Breakfast and after I had escorted Kait to the airport I headed back to the apartment to really see the fam. I brought back a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts for everyone but not even that could wain them from the clutches of jetlag. After everyone's extensive siesta we headed out for some authentic London cuisine: Pizza hut. In case anyone has forgotten (I know Kyle hasn't) Pizza Hut stuffed-crust pizza is, in fact, really delicious and if it is at all possible you should go get some right this minute. I think I'll have Pizza Hut cater my welcome back home party.

That was just first day, by the second day we hit the ground running. I did my now patented London-in-a-day tour. Saw the London Eye, Big Ben, Westminister, the Royal Parks, Buckingham Palace and Tralfalgar Square. After realizing that our family wasn't cut-out for the central london, no-table service, pub scene we found a nice restaurant called Garfunkels. After lunch, the london-tour was extended to its furtherest sightseeing bounds and we went to the National Gallery, crossed the Thames and saw the Globe, Southwark cathedral and London Bridge. All of this in one day.

The second real day of the vacation we didn't sightsee at all, instead we went to Kingston to see my home away from home. I showed my family around town, we got TGI Fridays and my Dad got to ride on the top level of a double-decker bus...all in all a complete success.

The next day we woke up bright and early for Paris. We headed to the station and took a lightning fast train through the chunnel into France. The train ride was really nice and we all got croissants to put us in the mood. We had a nice set-up with a tour group. There were these buses that rode all around the city and we could up on and off them at each sight as we pleased. The first sight we saw was that famous giant Arch, I don't know its exact name. For the second time now I was in a country that didn't speak English and it gave me the same sudden i'm in another country feel. Adding to the confusion I found that Paris is very busy, with traffic that rivals New York. Also the streets and roads aren't really marked with lanes or directions very well. Good thing I wasnt in a rent a car because I would have crashed no more than thirty feet from the train station. Also, unlike London, there are linesssss for everything in Paris. To get to the top of the Eiffel Tower would have easily been three-four hours and when we were only in Paris for a day it didn't seem worth it. On top of that, unlike London, the Museums aren't free in Paris AND there are huge lines just to get in to buy a ticket. AND on top of that, there are all these gypsys and beggars asking you for money and trying to trick you. At least in London the people who need money learn a talent or something to get easy money. Or they just sit on the streets and ask for money. In Paris we were swarmed. It was a bit of a turn off.

Still the city was really beautiful. Actually, I think every single building we saw that day was really magnificently crafted. So much so that you started to get jaded to it. We accomplished all the sightseeing possible: that famous arch, eiffel tower, national assembly, hotel del invalides, lourve, Notre Dame, mini-statue of liberty, opera house...a good hand fill more too. In the end it was really great to see Paris, but it doesn't hold up to all the razzle-dazzle that surrounds it and its not a place I'd want to live. It wasnt quite what I expected it to be, which was this.

Here are some pictures, I'll continue with the second half of the family-visit next blog.

Until then au revoir and merci for reading,

Roi

Blog-o-rama 2008 continues:

So last Monday to Wednesday Kait and I went to Ireland to celebrate St. Patricks day. We got there just on time for a parade through Cork. Afterwards we checked into our hostel and walked around the city to see everything some more. At night time, we went to some pubs and met australian and new zealand people and went to a line-dancing place and had a great time. The next day we took a bus to Blarney. Seeing the village of Blarney was the best part of the trip. Kait and I shared a Irish Breakfast which had black pudding made of pig’s blood. It was pretty traditional. Then we saw the castle and kissed the Blarney Stone. The grounds of the castle also had a walk called “Rock Close”, this part was really beautiful. Everything was so green and magical looking. They had a bunch of signs talking about different legends that are associated with the area about witches and fairies and things. We took the bus back and then went to an Irish pub again. On our last day we looked around Cork a bit more and saw some sights we missed before: an art museum, a couple breweries, a cathedral and a bird sanctuary. The sanctuary was really pretty also. Then we headed off to the airport for our flight home. Ireland ended up being on of the nicest places I’ve visited, especially in Blarney. This is a shorter blog, I know, but I figured I’d let the pictures do the talking. I’m still in london with my family and we are having breakfast and ending out soon. Eventually I’ll have some time to post about their visit and our trip to paris. Until then enjoy the pictures:

Thanks for reading,
Roy

Hello internet, its Roy, long time no see,

I’m now on my Spring Break which is enormously long: three weeks. I’m now on my second week with my family visiting me in London where we are staying in a flat. It’s a really nice place and it even has internet sporadically. Pretty stupendous. Last week Kait visited me and that was fantastic. There is so much to talk about; I’ve decided to split it up. This entry will be about Kait visiting me in England. We also took a trip to Ireland, but I’ll save that for the next entry.

Kait’s plane was delayed because some passenger got emotionally overwhelmed before take off, but eventually Kait arrived over in the good old UK. It was strange to see her again for the first time, because we’ve been used to seeing each other everyday in New Paltz. Seeing a familiar face again was surreal, I guess going back to New Paltz again will be the same experience. We took the bus back to Kingston and soon everything was just as if I had never left and we both agreed it seemed like it had only been yesterday that we had saw each other.

The next day we went into London for the first time. I gave the basic sightseeing tour: Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Royal Parks, Buckingham Palace, National Gallery and Trafalgar Square. It was fun to show everything off to someone for the first time, now that I’ve seen it so much. Not surprisingly I think Kait liked the park the most, especially the strange looking ducks. We also saw a bunch of pelicans in the park, that was great. They have huge wingspans and remind me of Jumanji There was also a protest going on in Trafalgar Square against....well pretty much against everything. Anti-War, that whole Israeli/Palestine thing, killing baby seals....they really covered all the radical bases. There were a bunch of communists there too. With all the birds out in the parks and all the liberals out in the streets it was like London was adapting to Kait’s personality. Once the protesters marched away to continuing fighting the good fight we went to the National Gallery. Seeing the gallery with Kait was nice because you don’t need to buy an audio guide. With all her art history courses Kait knew something about tons of paintings I didnt even realize were that famous. As we walked through I told her to just nudge me when something was famous so I would pay attention to it. It worked out great. Afterwards, we went back to Kingston and made pizzas at my house. They were really tasty. When I’m on my own I’m not really one to cook, because all the meals I’ve made in the past have been for my whole family, not just one person, so it was nice to actually make something. Even if it was just pizza. Though, the pizza had peppers on it which is another part of the preparation process. I thought some International Student might still be around, even though most had traveled to other places for break already, so Kait and I walked into town. Little did I realize that the first Saturday of Spring Break must be a busy night. The pubs were packed and, consequently, pretty disgusting. We both didnt see the appeal in crowds, loud music and long drink lines so we passed on the pubs and headed back home.

The next day we went into London again and went to another art museum, this time the Tate Modern. The Tate was good too, even with its halls of illegitimate, minimalist junk. We then walked along the Thames and saw Shakespeare’s globe theater. That was really cool, it was cold so we spent a long time looking around that gift shop. We kept walking and saw a bunch of stuff that appeared famous: a Cathedral, a big boat that looked like a pirate ship and a big black egg. We walked all the way down to Tower Bridge and crossed over to see the Tower of London. This all walk was really fun because Kait was still really tired from jetlag and I was getting tired too from trying to be a tour guide and we would sort of alternate being delirious. The Tower of London was really nice, especially because it was something I hadn’t seen before. We kept walking/tubing and got to St. Paul’s to look around and be religious. Then we kept walking and ended up of Fleet Street, home of the demon barber himself, Johnny Depp. I think we even through in Covent Gardens while we were at it and saw an Opera Singer, before heading home. We got back home and went to bed because the next day was Ireland, which I’ll talk about in the next blog.

After returning from Ireland you’d think that we would step on the breaks or switch into low gear. No sirree bob. We went into London the next day to see Bealtes Stuff! We went to Abbey Road where I took a picture of Kait crossing the crossing. Prior to this trip Kait would sometimes say that I never take pictures of her when we go places, mostly because I never bring my camera anywhere. Wellll this trip I made up for it because I got Kait in some of the most desirable tourist photo-ops on the planet. Really stunning photography, I think I’ll have to switch majors. I’ll post some of the best below. Ok, so, after Abbey Road we went to Paul McCartney’s house. We aren’t sure if its his real house or former house, but we like to think its his real house because it doesnt have one of the blue English heritage signs like all the other former residences. So, yeah, we saw Paul McCartney’s real house. It was awesome. Also we saw the house of singer Billy Fury, which is on the same street. Can anyone tell me who that singer is? Because it was a huge tease for Kait and I as we were searching for some sign of Paul’s house. We then went and saw the building where the Beatles did that roof top concert. The building has now been turned into a Abercrombie and Fitch. Then we stumbled upon the Sherlock Holmes Museum, which was neat and very Britishy. We ended the day in Camden Markets where we bought a crepe which was disgusting and then brought a belgian waffle and chocolate strawberries which were great. Then it was back to Kingston once again. Kait had convinced me to try Thai food so we when to a restaurant in Kingston and I was pleasantly surprised because it was really delicious and nice place. We even got a fried banana with ice cream. Talk about exotic, I mean what will they come up with next? Soon they’ll be frying the ice cream too.

This is probably the longest entry I’ve ever written if you are still reading it and haven’t just skipped to the pictures you are a true titan. On Kait’s last day we must have really been feeling the wear and tear of constant traveling. We went into London and rode the London Eye Ferris Wheel. It was great and even worth the long, long line and pricey price. We walked around a bit more, but it was getting rainy and the trains were all being repaired and off-schedule so we couldn’t get around easy. We ended up eating lunch in a nice pub, which was nice to slow the pace down. Back in Kingston we packed up and the next morning were back in London. We met up with my family for a bit and then I brought Kait to the airport to say goodbye. It was really terrific to have her visit and I’m glad my family is here now too before I’m back to living with my landlady Mary. England has been an amazing time and a fantastic experience, but there’s no doubt I’m psyched to get back to seeing all my friends in New Paltz.

So wow, really, thanks for reading all that. Enjoy the pictures and keep an eye out for all the next blog on Ireland which was an even more fun time!

Holy cow this is a long entry,

Roy

PS. Most of my blog readers would be willing to climb up to 3 flights of stairs before resorting to riding an elevator. FACT.

England is really great, I like it here.

This weekend I had a lot of fun and got a lot closer with a new group of friends. Last night I saw Vantage Point at the cinema here, it was ok, but by the end it was just too far-fetched. Today my second class got canceled. Its ridiculous how fast time is going by, it seems like yesterday that I had just arrived and was all mopey, thinking that it would be forever before I saw all my friends again. Now I've got a much of nice people to hang around with and I'm already just four days from three weeks of break. I get to see Kait again and then my family. It doesn't seem real yet because I've been thinking about and talking about with them since whenever I first decided to go abroad. Its going to be so much fun. Then a week from today I'll be in Ireland for St.Patricks? So many good times ahead, it does seem very unreal, but very, very exciting.

While I did have a ton of fun I didn't have any traveling adventures this weekend, but here are a few more interesting tidbits on the UK:
-at the movies you don't just sit anywhere, you have to pick out a certain seat and they are priced accordingly.
-The movie popcorn comes salted or sweet. If you want sweet its sprinkled with sugar. Pretty gross.
-The traffic lights aren't just green, yellow red. They also have the red and yellow lights go on at the same time and this means "get ready to go".
-The English didn't do Day Light Savings Time. This really threw me off because now American is only 4 hours behind us. However, to make matters better/worse? they will be doing Daylight Light Savings...but not until March 30th.
-I really want some eggo waffles and more double stuffed oreos...but thats not UK-related.
-This is the first rainy week I've had in England so far.
-There is a new poll up.
-On the last poll "She Belongs to Me" won. Also, one contestant picked 'other' but did not tell me what the song was in a comment.

Thats all for now, thanks for reading,
Roy

i'm seeing my main man ANDREW BIRD in london, april 26th!

hey everybody,

So here I go, bringing everyone up to date.

I'll start by saying two congratulations. First to Heather and Kait on getting into their Italy abroad programs. That's going to be awesome and I hope you guys decide to set up blogs, because let me tell you they are fun stuff. My second congratulations is to the writers of LOST because they are just blowing me away this season. Keep up the good work guys (they are frequent readers of the blog).

Anyway, this passed Saturday I visited two of the oldest sites I've seen in my life: Stonehenge and the Roman Baths at Bath. Stonehenge was really awesome, its so cool to see these famous sites in person. You always see those postcard images of the thing, but to see it in reality is something. Stonehenge is pretty interesting because it hasn't become tourist-ized. There is a small gift shop and a small food stand and a ticket booth. You just walk around the site and take pictures. There are no monorails or guided tours or overpriced arcades. It was kind of refreshing to be at such a touristy spot without any signs of tourism. Both Stonehenge and Bath are further away, about a two hour drive and it was really great to see the English countryside. Everything was so beautiful, the grassy hills began to move into more mountainous areas, it was a great scenic drive.

Bath was a city I really had no expectations for because I hadn't really heard of it before, but it ended up being the most beautiful city I've seen so far. That's right, it beat out London, Amsterdam, Oxford, Brighton and Kingston. The place is just gorgeous. Its much quieter than the bigger cities, very clean, set into a valley and all the buildings are these great limestone color and built in a Roman style architecture. It definitely looked like an Italy countryside town. There was just so much great architecture and parks. Really fantastic. We got a tour through the Roman Baths that are built on these natural hot springs. The Romans built them centuries again and had all these complex drainage systems with the water that are still intact and working today. It was really cool, a good history lesson.

We drove back to Kingston and I was throughly impressed and also exhausted. I got some much needed sleep and that was that.

I've put up a new poll and I'll be expecting four food parachutes this week.

Thanks for reading,
Roy

Hey everybody,

I was just kidding I will update today.
Wednesday night I saw the play “Major Barbara” at the National theater. It was good, a really nice theater and everything. Cool play.

Thursday morning I left my home sweet home in good old jolly England to fly to the wretched hive of scum and villainy: Amsterdam. Star wars reference. The whole getting to the airport by 7 in the morning went great. Got a tea and croissant before the plane and I was off. Security was no problem, got to Amsterdam in 45 minutes, everything was moving like clockwork. Of course I was meeting Kaitlyn at the airport but...meeting was harder than expected. After some tumult we finally met up, got train tickets and were on our way into the city. The first view of the city was so nice, it felt really European seeing the trams and foreign language. Much more European than England feels.
So we walked a short bit and checked into our hostel which had 90 degree angle stairs. It was a lovely establishment. Then we walked around to explore the city. Saw all these town centers, canals and churches. Then we walked through an outdoor shopping place. It was all really beautiful. Bicycles were everywhere. Also a bunch of sleazier sex shops and drug shops. We got a bite to eat at this small sandwich place, pretty tasty. Then we stopped back at the hostel and asked people what was a good pub. They recommended the “old Sailor”, and they were right it was a great place. We walked there, the pub was on the edges of the red light district. It was so surreal to see all the Amsterdam stereotypes of women in the windows and things. We hung out at the bar for a while, brought some rounds and talked about how much everyone back home would be loving Amsterdam. It was so much fun, really a great time.
The next morning we awoke, all feeling pretty disgusting from not having showers and being in the same clothes, but I think that is part of the hostel experience. We got a little breakfast (hard boiled eggs, tea, and ham and cheese cold cuts with white bread) and headed out walking to the Van Gogh museum. Along the way we saw some really cool stuff, lots of pretty walkways along canals, the Heineken Brewery, lots of awesome buildings. We got to the area and it was right by this huge park called Vondel park. They had a giant I Amsterdam sign. It was a really gorgeous place. The Van Gogh museum did not disappoint and I got another new appreciation for him. We then walked back towards the center of town. Got some hotdogs from the numerous hotdog stands around Amsterdam. Stopped at a coffeehouse, grabbed some burger king, it was really nice. I got my last glimpses of the city and ended back to the train and airport. All in all, an amazing time.
I bummed around the airport terminal for a bit, brought some souvenirs and got on my plane. Weather delayed things for an hour a take off and another hour in the air before we could land. Lots of turbulence, flying in winds up to 100 mph, pretty exciting but surprisingly not frightening. We landed safe and sound, I took a bus back home and got a Kait’s fantastic stop-film in the mail. Watch it, was throughly impressed, and went to sleep. Six hours later I was up to go to Stonehenge and Bath. The thrilling topic of my next entry.

Thanks for reading and thanks for the good tidings,
Roy