Sunny's Blog

Location: Centre Pompidou, Metz, France. I will miss you Europe....

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:18:00 -0400

Cathedral, downtown Metz

Centre Pompidou, a modern art museum

Location: Centre Pompidou, Metz, France.

I will miss you Europe. I am sure we will meet again in the future.

I am a bad blogger

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:34:52 -0400

Been swamped these past 2 weeks. Sorry.

I am coming home in one week. I miss Zaxby’s, Barberitos, Taco Bell, Chick-fil-a, unlimited refills in drinks, not paying to use public restrooms, not having to put the price sticker on your own vegetables at the grocery store, sweet tea, a soft bed, not having anything to do, playing basketball, friends, roommates, family, and family of friends. Not in that order.

Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands. My thoughts on Amersterdam: It...

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:20:00 -0400

Ebelskiver in honor of my roomie Jarrett

Anne Frank House

So many bikes

Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands.

My thoughts on Amersterdam:

It almost felt like going to 2 places. During the day, Amsterdam is a lovely little city. Bikes and bikers are everywhere. My guess is probably 10 bikes for every car I saw. The city itself is built on a system of canals, so there are a lot of little bridges and pathways near the water. Boats everywhere too. I saw one guy on a boat with his friends, had a small grill, drinks and picnic while cruising around. Art around every corner. No 2 buildings were designed the same way, each one had its own face. Every person we met was really chill for the most part too. But that may be for other reasons.

Night time was probably everything you imagined. I was amazed at the number of tourists who brought their kids with them, which was more than zero. Eye-opening stuff.

Location: Reims, France (pronounced “Raas” strangely...

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:49:00 -0400

This is a lot of champagne.

Eric's lobster arms after biking

Location: Reims, France (pronounced “Raas” strangely enough) and Epernay, France

Reims is a really chill city in the Champagne region of France. A very relaxing weekend. I went with Mark and Eric once again, and we took a tour of some of the champagne caves and then eventually took a bike ride through the vineyards. More stuff happened, I don’t really remember. My blogging skills have decreased.

These make me extraordinarily happy.

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:57:51 -0400

These make me extraordinarily happy.

So my friend Mark is staying with me for awhile. He’s...

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:53:09 -0400

So my friend Mark is staying with me for awhile. He’s just coming off working at a hostel in Nice, France, and about to do research in England. A couple nights ago he made massive sandwiches with baguette, goat cheese, sausage, tuna, boiled egg, tomato, and Dijon mayonaise. They were big. (understatement)

Location: Paris, France A busy weekend with Eric and Mark. We...

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:33:00 -0400

Location: Paris, France

A busy weekend with Eric and Mark. We only had about a day and a half’s worth of time, so it was definitely a little bit of a blur trying to experience all of the City of Lights. The Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, etc., there was so much to see and so little time. We probably could’ve spent an entire day in the Louvre itself, instead of the 2-3 hours that we did. I think my interest in seeing all the touristy sights in each city I go to decreases little by little, instead of spending large amounts of time at a few places. At the same time, I’m always a little torn in that it may be my only chance to see some of these places for many years, or maybe even in my lifetime. Relatively speaking, a good problem to have.

By far my favorite time was from about 11 pm to 12:30 am Saturday night, me Mark and Eric settled down on the lawn in front of the Eiffel tower. The Tower itself is already really nice and lit up and night. However, every hour on the hour, there is a ~5 minute lights show when all the bulbs on the Tower flicker and shine like a giant Christmas tree. After running around all day it was great to be able to just chill without an agenda and have some time to relax. It reminded me a lot of waiting on the lawn for the fireworks on the 4th of July. Nothing like 3 dudes watching the lights in front of the Eiffel Tower. In hindsight, it probably would’ve been more fitting to bring a girl or two along, just to fit the mood better. Maybe in the future though :)

This weekend is exciting

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:22:21 -0400

because…

1.) I will be going to Paris this weekend with my boy Eric to meet my boy Mark. Nothing like three bros chilling in Paris.

2.) Mark will be returning to Metz and staying with me for awhile.

3.) The World Cup final is Sunday night.

Location: Rome, Italy

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:49:00 -0400

The Forum

Bad pic of the best thing I've ever had

Vatican

2 guys pointing

Basilica: largest church in the world

Location: Rome, Italy

Location: Cinque Terre, Italy; So just got back from a 4-day...

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:27:14 -0400

Location: Cinque Terre, Italy;

So just got back from a 4-day weekend in Italy this morning. We spent the first 2 days in Cinque Terre which is actually 5 separate towns on the cliffs of the Mediterranean, all interconnected by hiking and walking trails. Absolutely phenomenal. Pizza, gelati, beach, hiking, and incredible views. We took an intense hour and a half hike between two of the towns on the first day, there were steep slopes and 1-foot wide pathways with no railing. We also did a little cliff diving in one of the towns, and did a good bit of swimming. An obscene amount of money was spent on pizza, foccacia, and gelati. My time there was too short to say the least.

After those 2 days, we took a train to Rome. It was crazy how much history was at every single street corner, probably could’ve spent a week there as well: the Coloseum, The Forum, St. Peter’s Basilica, Spanish Steps (overrated), Vatican City, Sistine Chapel, etc. Once again, phenomenal.

We had a crazy time getting back to Metz from Rome, we ended up traveling through 4 different countries to do so. Here’s what it looked like:

Leave Monday at 7:40pm to get to Rome Airport.
Arrive at Rome Airport around 8:30pm
Flight from Rome Airport to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport in Germany 10:10 pm to 11:45 pm.
Layover in Frankfurt-Hahn airport until 4:20 am
Bus ride from Frankfurt to Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Arrive around 6:10 am.
Train ride from Luxembourg to Metz, arrive home around 7:15 am.

4 countries and 3 means of transportation within 12 hours. And then class at 9am. I will probably need a vacation from my vacation when I get back to Georgia.

Location: Munich, Germany Sorry, a couple weeks late on posting...

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:56:00 -0400

Biergarten

Germany wins = party in the metro

Dachau concentration camp

Idk

At the park

Location: Munich, Germany

Sorry, a couple weeks late on posting this.

Italy this weekend. Stoked.

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 05:30:43 -0400

Got a haircut.

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:11:12 -0400

Got a haircut.

Location: Barcelona, Spain By far my favorite city so far. The...

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:14:14 -0400

Location: Barcelona, Spain

By far my favorite city so far. The train rides there and back weren’t so great, but Barcelona itself had everything: beaches, architecture, Las Ramblas (a market strip), a massive park with a view over the whole city, excellent food, a zoo that I didn’t go to, etc. In total we probably had less than 36 hours in the actual city with travel time, but it was probably the most enjoyable.

Like I mentioned, the actual travel time was no fun. We opted to take a night train on the way there, with no couchettes (no beds, only seats) for a 9 hour ride, only because it was 20 euros cheaper. We sat down in our seats and a rather heavy-set lady with really bad body odor sat in front of us. After working in an ER for over a year, I thought I had grown immune to bad smells. But 9 hours with a stinky woman 3 feet in front of your face is astoundingly nasty. By the time I got off the train, I felt like her musk was engrained in my clothes, embedded under my skin, and in my mouth and nostrils. On top of that, she had a young girl with her who would wake up and cry periodically throughout the night. I wanted to tell her that I felt like crying too.

The train back was bad too, although only because we had to train hop onto 5 or 6 different trains for the entire day to find a route back to Metz. 13 hours of traveling on Monday, and we were back in sweet Metz.

But enough of my whining. Enjoy the pictures.

Dear team USA. Please just straight up win one unsuspenseful game. That's all I ask.

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:12:00 -0400

Locations: Hackenburg Fortress and St. Avold, France Hackenburg...

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:22:00 -0400

Hackenburg Fortress

Ladder to the artillery gun

St. Avold

Locations: Hackenburg Fortress and St. Avold, France

Hackenburg = a fortress on the Maginot Lines built between WWI and WWII as part of the Maginot Line.

St. Avold = the largest American cemetery in France, larger than Normandy. Approximately 10,500 American soldiers buried.

Took two very different field trips today.

In the morning we visited the fort. Spent a lot of time in closed, musty, dark spaces.

In the afternoon we went to the cemetery. Green grass, blue skies, and silence.

The cemetery was pretty awe-inspiring. Listening to the little lady tell stories about some of the individual soldiers was interesting as well. It’s always easy to forget that each soldier had his own life, his own story of sacrifice. It was crazy to think I was walking in the midst of 10,500 different stories. Honestly, it was a little overwhelming and humbling.

I am blessed.

Summer tobogganing was something we tried at the top of the...

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:25:00 -0400

Summer tobogganing was something we tried at the top of the mountain in Switzerland. Basically you sit down in a little sled with four wheels, and you have one long hand-brake you hold on to.

There is no steering, no seat belts, no size requirements. You basically are either going full speed or braking. Down a mountainside. Around sharp turns and slopes. Pretty sweet.

In honor of my (Atlanta) roommate Zach, I present Nutella-Spoon...

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:18:00 -0400

In honor of my (Atlanta) roommate Zach, I present Nutella-Spoon Time.

A Blur

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:06:00 -0400

these past weeks have been.

This past weekend was Switzerland. The Alps are beautiful. We took a gondola up a mountainside and the view was incredible. I looked down in the valley, and the mountains were big and I was small. It was that simple.

Today, back in Metz the president of Georgia Tech came to visit, along with the CEO of Coke, his body guards, and other people more powerful than me. They came because it was the 20th anniversary of the Georgia Tech Lorraine program. There were white catering tents and a buffet line with strange meats and free Coke products. Two ladies dressed like flight attendants were hired just to say “Bonjour” to the incoming visitors. Probably a little overkill.

Tomorrow there will be a field trip to a WWII American cemetery at St. Avold and to a fortress on the Maginot Lines. Me being the tourist that I am, I am stoked.

This next weekend is Barcelona. Estoy listo.

Locations: Interlaken, Switzerland; Random Mountain Towns,...

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:48:00 -0400

Locations: Interlaken, Switzerland; Random Mountain Towns, Switzerland

I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw the Swiss Alps again in Heaven.