Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
12/20
Goodbye Stockholm, Hello Milano. We got to Milan and caught yet another bus to the city center. We met up with Jen and her imaginary boyfriend Chad for dinner. After roaming around for at least 40minutes we decided the next place we saw would have to be good enough and wandered into some ristorante. It was perfect. 6-euro pizza, cheap wine, and damn good. After that we parted our ways and Lisa and I took a cab to our hotel.
12/21
Our only day in Milan we went to see the Duomo. We climbed the steps and got great views of the city. After that we tried to go see the last supper, but you have book in advance and there were no tickets left for that day. Oh well, maybe next time. We attempted shopping, but all Milano has to offer is Prada, Gucci and cheap crap. So, we enjoyed the aperativo [ you pay for a glass of wine, or beer, and you can eat as much food as you want; cold cuts, sandwiches, pastas etc] and then indulged in gelato.
12/22
8am, caught the train for Geneva. It was totally old school and a compartment train. We were with an old Italian man and a middle aged [Dutch?] man and his mother. The train wove in and out of the alps and along crystal clear lakes for about 5h before arriving in Geneva. I have never seen more beautiful scenery in my life. Too bad the windows were too dirty to take decent pictures.
We wandered around Geneva, spent 24 Swiss francs on McDonalds; the burger was microscopic but the fries were bottomless [almost]!
Back on the train to get to Lyon. They apparently sold more tickets than they had spaces on the train because we had people, bikes and suitcases in the aisles. It was absolutely ridiculous. At the next stop they added some additional cars, but there was no way we were making it the 3+ h to Lyon with people standing in the aisles!
We had an hour in Lyon, so we grabbed sandwiches to pass the time. Found our train, were practically the only ones in our car, and arrived in Clermont by about 11pm. Now, that’s a travel day!
Goodbye Stockholm, Hello Milano. We got to Milan and caught yet another bus to the city center. We met up with Jen and her imaginary boyfriend Chad for dinner. After roaming around for at least 40minutes we decided the next place we saw would have to be good enough and wandered into some ristorante. It was perfect. 6-euro pizza, cheap wine, and damn good. After that we parted our ways and Lisa and I took a cab to our hotel.
12/21
Our only day in Milan we went to see the Duomo. We climbed the steps and got great views of the city. After that we tried to go see the last supper, but you have book in advance and there were no tickets left for that day. Oh well, maybe next time. We attempted shopping, but all Milano has to offer is Prada, Gucci and cheap crap. So, we enjoyed the aperativo [ you pay for a glass of wine, or beer, and you can eat as much food as you want; cold cuts, sandwiches, pastas etc] and then indulged in gelato.
12/22
8am, caught the train for Geneva. It was totally old school and a compartment train. We were with an old Italian man and a middle aged [Dutch?] man and his mother. The train wove in and out of the alps and along crystal clear lakes for about 5h before arriving in Geneva. I have never seen more beautiful scenery in my life. Too bad the windows were too dirty to take decent pictures.
We wandered around Geneva, spent 24 Swiss francs on McDonalds; the burger was microscopic but the fries were bottomless [almost]!
Back on the train to get to Lyon. They apparently sold more tickets than they had spaces on the train because we had people, bikes and suitcases in the aisles. It was absolutely ridiculous. At the next stop they added some additional cars, but there was no way we were making it the 3+ h to Lyon with people standing in the aisles!
We had an hour in Lyon, so we grabbed sandwiches to pass the time. Found our train, were practically the only ones in our car, and arrived in Clermont by about 11pm. Now, that’s a travel day!
12/17
first day in Stockholm. We decided to invest in $20 unlimited T-bana passes since it was a bit too cold to wander around aimlessly. And Stockholm is situated on a couple islands and peninsulas so we figured it would just be a good idea to have the day passes. We wandered out to the Old town, Galma Stan, and immediately went back to the hostel for long underwear and tights. -6C was a bit more cold than we were used to. We treated Stockholm pretty much the same way we approached Prague. We basically wandered around and took pictures of things. Maybe not the most effective way to see a city, but it worked for us.
12/18
Second day in the city, dressed more warmly than the day before and headed out for more of the same. Got some beautiful pictures. That night we played poker with 2 English girls and a Dutch guy using pasta pieces to gamble.
12/19
since it was our last day we decided to go souvenir shopping for our wonderful families. We scored some good stuff and headed back to the hostel to try and pack it into our swollen carry on bags. One of my friends, Ben, from USC met up with us in Stockholm for dinner. He’s studying 45 min north in a small town called Uppsala and decided to hang with us cool kids for the night. After dinner we hung out at our hostel for a while before deciding to go to the Absolut IceBar. After shelling out 180SEK each we were allowed entry and one drink. We were pretty much the only ones in there and it was no where near as big as we were hoping, but it was definitely an experience!
first day in Stockholm. We decided to invest in $20 unlimited T-bana passes since it was a bit too cold to wander around aimlessly. And Stockholm is situated on a couple islands and peninsulas so we figured it would just be a good idea to have the day passes. We wandered out to the Old town, Galma Stan, and immediately went back to the hostel for long underwear and tights. -6C was a bit more cold than we were used to. We treated Stockholm pretty much the same way we approached Prague. We basically wandered around and took pictures of things. Maybe not the most effective way to see a city, but it worked for us.
12/18
Second day in the city, dressed more warmly than the day before and headed out for more of the same. Got some beautiful pictures. That night we played poker with 2 English girls and a Dutch guy using pasta pieces to gamble.
12/19
since it was our last day we decided to go souvenir shopping for our wonderful families. We scored some good stuff and headed back to the hostel to try and pack it into our swollen carry on bags. One of my friends, Ben, from USC met up with us in Stockholm for dinner. He’s studying 45 min north in a small town called Uppsala and decided to hang with us cool kids for the night. After dinner we hung out at our hostel for a while before deciding to go to the Absolut IceBar. After shelling out 180SEK each we were allowed entry and one drink. We were pretty much the only ones in there and it was no where near as big as we were hoping, but it was definitely an experience!
12/12
Depart Clermont Ferrand at 1:30pm… spent HOURS on the train on the way to Paris…
Of course, the train to Paris from Clermont is not direct. Nothing from Clermont is direct, efficient or effective… but that’s another story… so, we’re on the train and maybe 1/3 of the way there and these old people get on the train and start complaining. From what we understood they had trouble with their seats. 4 of them wanted to sit together but someone was in their seats… im not really sure, I think people over the age of 68 just like to complain. It’s universal.
So we have the quarreling French pensioners and then we make yet another stop. A woman aged about 75 gets on and the seat in front of me appears to be hers. She stops, takes off her coat, and allows a long line to accumulate behind her in the aisle. So I now have irritable French people at my side anxious to sit down and get this show on the road. The roadblock starts to lift her suitcase, its small, black and of the rolling carry-on variety. She starts to struggle as she lifts it to her shoulders in an attempt to get it to the overhead shelf, which is almost a full arms extension for me… She gets it to the threshold of the shelf, and as she wavers, decides the best bet is to slightly toss it…with an incredible follow through the suitcase is launched to her right… smack into the head of the woman in front of her who cries out… which you cant blamer her for since she just had a suitcase thrown at her…. The elderly woman is clearly distraught and apologizes profusely while the “injured” woman rubs her head and makes a pouty face. Now, my question is, why did none of the able bodied people around her not help this woman hoist up her suitcase? I was blocked by angry French people and was in no place to jump up and come to the rescue, but I’m sure someone could’ve had the heart to help… that’s how things get done in the south at least…
So, we make it to Paris about 5 hours later, get to the metro and try and buy a ticket for the RER to get to the stop where we can take the train to Orly [the airport]. So we find an automatic ticket machine, put down our bags and try and find exact change… we get the change and the machine we have chosen doesn’t do single use tickets, typical. So we get in line and wait our turn to use the ticket machines. Now, they are fairly simple, self explanatory, user-friendly touch screen operated distributers. The line moves slowly as all the non-Parisians fumble through the ticket options. Its almost our turn and one woman is taking a really long time. I peak out and she’s stabbing at the screen with her gloved fingers. Yes, gloves, the likely suspect. She keeps punching the same spot on the screen and is accomplishing nothing. Being the outspoken American I am, I shout “il faut enlever les gants!!”[you have to take your gloves off!] and she whips around and glares at the line growing behind her. I say something loudly to Lisa in English; of course the Americans cant speak French, absolved. So, the rocket scientist takes off her gloves and manages to get her ticket.
We get on the RER and continue to the stop for Orly. Looks like you need a different ticket to get to the airport. I ask the woman what kind of ticket you need and she asks to see the one I have, I show it to her, and a look of disgust crosses her face. She proceeds to tell me my ticket is no longer valid [too far outside the city] and if there had been a controller I would have been fined 25 euro. I blame it on being American and ask for 2 tickets to Orly. She hands them over and I fork over 15 euro.
Long story short we get to Orly, are allowed to carry on our bags and purses and proceed to our gate area. The flight was supposed leave at 8:10pm and we were supposed to board at 7:30. 7:30 rolls around and our gate is still not listed. Its not until after 8pm that our gate is finally listed. We weren’t really worried since everyone was checking the board and freaking out, so we figured it wasn’t leaving without us!
We got to Prague and tried to find the bus info. Well, everything at the airport in Prague shuts down before 10 apparently so we were outta luck as far as information booths were concerned. We go to where the bus info was and a man asked us if we wanted the bus. We said we did and proceeded to inform us “there is no more bus, it is closed, only metro. I drive taxi. I take you to center. 700 korona, 25 euro, good price, fixed price.” We looked at him in disbelief, and skeptical as we were, thanked him and walked away. As we walked away the price dropped to 600… I love fixed prices in the Czech republic! We get to the currency exchange guy and ask him if there was a bus, and he says its outside to the right, number 119. So we look for atms and spot them at the other end of the airport. Trek to the atms and withdraw money. Go to the bus stop and find the ticket machine… that only takes coins… so we go back inside and nicely ask the currency exchange guy if he can change one of our bills for coins for the bus. He says it costs 26 korona and hands Lisa some coins. We stare at them and fumble with them in our hands, trying to count. Only 50. We ask him again how much the bus costs and he, annoyed, says “26 and 26 is…??!!” and we both say “52. You gave us 50” and so he reaches in a drawer and gives us 20 and turns his chair back around. We walk out, get tickets, find the bus, get dropped off at the metro station, take the metro, get off the metro and then try and find our hostel in the dark… and we found it without a problem. 1 point lisa and liz.
12/13
Nowhere exciting as the travel day, Friday we just wandered around the city until Jen showed up that evening. We took pictures, jumped in front of stuff, and pretty much had a quiet day. Jen met us at our hostel around 6 and we went to dinner.
After dinner we got back to our hostel and immediately the German track calls. So we try and find them, and after wandering around the freezing cold for 20 minutes trying to find them. We finally asked a waitress where the place was and she sent us a roundabout way and we finally found them. We had a drink at the Brazilian restaurant and then went up to see their sweet apartment loft.
12/14
MY BIRTHDAY!! And that other holiday…
We were supposed to meet up with the German track at 10am… we suggested 10am French time, which is about 10:15. We get there at about 10:12 and the Germans are nowhere to be seen. So we call them and it turns out that they are going to be late… like 45 minutes late… so we walk around and take pictures for the half hour while waiting for them. We trekked across the Charles Bridge, found a festival, had some hot wine, and walked up the mountain to the Prague castle. After wandering around the top of the hill we walked into the first restaurant we saw and had lunch. After lunch we wandered around some more and then went home for a quick nap to recharge our batteries. We met up with the others that evening with the others and tried to find a place for dinner. We finally decided on a place, found directions on google and headed out. We found the building it was in but had a hard time locating the restaurant. We saw that it closed at 10 and looked at our watches… 9:40… probably closed. We wandered around the city for at least another 40 minutes before finding a place next door to our hostel. It was an Italian place and the pizza was phenomenal. Even Jen, who has had enough pizza in Milan to never want to have pizza again, said it was fabulous. After dinner they surprised me with a piece of honey cake with candles. Fabulous way to end my birthday.
12/15
Jen’s last day in Prague. We went to lunch at the Thai place that we had tried to go to dinner at the night before. It was absolutely fantastic. I didn’t want it to end! Since we loaded up on soup and spring rolls we had a lot of food left over for dinner! We made our way back to the hostel and helped Jen get all her stuff to the metro. We then decided to do a little bit of shopping and explore the parts of the city we hadn’t seen. We found this crazy building called Fred & Ginger. Pretty ugly, but pretty cool too. Went home, napped, and then had delicious Thai food for dinner!
12/16
Last day in Prague!
We packed our things and check out of the hostel. Left our bags in the luggage room and went out in search of lunch. Ended up at this place in Jen’s lonely planet guidebook called Bohemian Bagel. I had a bagel sandwich, and Lisa had a southern breakfast with biscuits and gravy, bacon, eggs, pancakes, a bagel and potatoes. The highlight of lunch was probably the fact that there was a beverage fountain and we could have AS MUCH SODA AS WE WANTED instead of paying $5 for 33cl of soda. We then went to the irish pub bc lisa really wanted strongbow… we ended up having strongbow, and in honor of our impending trip to Sweden, we had a couple kopparbergs.
We got our bags, hopped on the metro, found the bus and made it to the airport without incident. The kids on the plane behind us had clearly never been on a plane before and were taking pictures like crazy. So we took our own to commemorate our voyage!
We arrived in Stockholm, got bus tickets and boarded the bus for the 90min ride to Stockholm. We were so exhausted we slept for most of the trip. We got to the central station and tried to get tickets for the t-bana [metro] and the women said we could get tickets cheaper from the press stand across the way. We got 2 tickets… $6!! That’s just madness… I mean, we knew Stockholm was expensive, but $3 for each journey on the metro is a bit excessive.
We found our hostel and tried to ring reception to get in… turns out reception is only there from 9am to 9pm… we we called the emergency number and they gave us a code to get in. they said they sent us an email to tell them if we were getting in after 8pm… but I don’t think we ever got that email. Anyways, it was the most secure system ever! We punched in a 4 digit code, the door opened. We then found a lockbox with my name on it, punched in the code and inside found keys to the room. We got to the room and opened the locker to which we had the key and found 2 sets of sheets inside. Perfectly efficient.
Depart Clermont Ferrand at 1:30pm… spent HOURS on the train on the way to Paris…
Of course, the train to Paris from Clermont is not direct. Nothing from Clermont is direct, efficient or effective… but that’s another story… so, we’re on the train and maybe 1/3 of the way there and these old people get on the train and start complaining. From what we understood they had trouble with their seats. 4 of them wanted to sit together but someone was in their seats… im not really sure, I think people over the age of 68 just like to complain. It’s universal.
So we have the quarreling French pensioners and then we make yet another stop. A woman aged about 75 gets on and the seat in front of me appears to be hers. She stops, takes off her coat, and allows a long line to accumulate behind her in the aisle. So I now have irritable French people at my side anxious to sit down and get this show on the road. The roadblock starts to lift her suitcase, its small, black and of the rolling carry-on variety. She starts to struggle as she lifts it to her shoulders in an attempt to get it to the overhead shelf, which is almost a full arms extension for me… She gets it to the threshold of the shelf, and as she wavers, decides the best bet is to slightly toss it…with an incredible follow through the suitcase is launched to her right… smack into the head of the woman in front of her who cries out… which you cant blamer her for since she just had a suitcase thrown at her…. The elderly woman is clearly distraught and apologizes profusely while the “injured” woman rubs her head and makes a pouty face. Now, my question is, why did none of the able bodied people around her not help this woman hoist up her suitcase? I was blocked by angry French people and was in no place to jump up and come to the rescue, but I’m sure someone could’ve had the heart to help… that’s how things get done in the south at least…
So, we make it to Paris about 5 hours later, get to the metro and try and buy a ticket for the RER to get to the stop where we can take the train to Orly [the airport]. So we find an automatic ticket machine, put down our bags and try and find exact change… we get the change and the machine we have chosen doesn’t do single use tickets, typical. So we get in line and wait our turn to use the ticket machines. Now, they are fairly simple, self explanatory, user-friendly touch screen operated distributers. The line moves slowly as all the non-Parisians fumble through the ticket options. Its almost our turn and one woman is taking a really long time. I peak out and she’s stabbing at the screen with her gloved fingers. Yes, gloves, the likely suspect. She keeps punching the same spot on the screen and is accomplishing nothing. Being the outspoken American I am, I shout “il faut enlever les gants!!”[you have to take your gloves off!] and she whips around and glares at the line growing behind her. I say something loudly to Lisa in English; of course the Americans cant speak French, absolved. So, the rocket scientist takes off her gloves and manages to get her ticket.
We get on the RER and continue to the stop for Orly. Looks like you need a different ticket to get to the airport. I ask the woman what kind of ticket you need and she asks to see the one I have, I show it to her, and a look of disgust crosses her face. She proceeds to tell me my ticket is no longer valid [too far outside the city] and if there had been a controller I would have been fined 25 euro. I blame it on being American and ask for 2 tickets to Orly. She hands them over and I fork over 15 euro.
Long story short we get to Orly, are allowed to carry on our bags and purses and proceed to our gate area. The flight was supposed leave at 8:10pm and we were supposed to board at 7:30. 7:30 rolls around and our gate is still not listed. Its not until after 8pm that our gate is finally listed. We weren’t really worried since everyone was checking the board and freaking out, so we figured it wasn’t leaving without us!
We got to Prague and tried to find the bus info. Well, everything at the airport in Prague shuts down before 10 apparently so we were outta luck as far as information booths were concerned. We go to where the bus info was and a man asked us if we wanted the bus. We said we did and proceeded to inform us “there is no more bus, it is closed, only metro. I drive taxi. I take you to center. 700 korona, 25 euro, good price, fixed price.” We looked at him in disbelief, and skeptical as we were, thanked him and walked away. As we walked away the price dropped to 600… I love fixed prices in the Czech republic! We get to the currency exchange guy and ask him if there was a bus, and he says its outside to the right, number 119. So we look for atms and spot them at the other end of the airport. Trek to the atms and withdraw money. Go to the bus stop and find the ticket machine… that only takes coins… so we go back inside and nicely ask the currency exchange guy if he can change one of our bills for coins for the bus. He says it costs 26 korona and hands Lisa some coins. We stare at them and fumble with them in our hands, trying to count. Only 50. We ask him again how much the bus costs and he, annoyed, says “26 and 26 is…??!!” and we both say “52. You gave us 50” and so he reaches in a drawer and gives us 20 and turns his chair back around. We walk out, get tickets, find the bus, get dropped off at the metro station, take the metro, get off the metro and then try and find our hostel in the dark… and we found it without a problem. 1 point lisa and liz.
12/13
Nowhere exciting as the travel day, Friday we just wandered around the city until Jen showed up that evening. We took pictures, jumped in front of stuff, and pretty much had a quiet day. Jen met us at our hostel around 6 and we went to dinner.
After dinner we got back to our hostel and immediately the German track calls. So we try and find them, and after wandering around the freezing cold for 20 minutes trying to find them. We finally asked a waitress where the place was and she sent us a roundabout way and we finally found them. We had a drink at the Brazilian restaurant and then went up to see their sweet apartment loft.
12/14
MY BIRTHDAY!! And that other holiday…
We were supposed to meet up with the German track at 10am… we suggested 10am French time, which is about 10:15. We get there at about 10:12 and the Germans are nowhere to be seen. So we call them and it turns out that they are going to be late… like 45 minutes late… so we walk around and take pictures for the half hour while waiting for them. We trekked across the Charles Bridge, found a festival, had some hot wine, and walked up the mountain to the Prague castle. After wandering around the top of the hill we walked into the first restaurant we saw and had lunch. After lunch we wandered around some more and then went home for a quick nap to recharge our batteries. We met up with the others that evening with the others and tried to find a place for dinner. We finally decided on a place, found directions on google and headed out. We found the building it was in but had a hard time locating the restaurant. We saw that it closed at 10 and looked at our watches… 9:40… probably closed. We wandered around the city for at least another 40 minutes before finding a place next door to our hostel. It was an Italian place and the pizza was phenomenal. Even Jen, who has had enough pizza in Milan to never want to have pizza again, said it was fabulous. After dinner they surprised me with a piece of honey cake with candles. Fabulous way to end my birthday.
12/15
Jen’s last day in Prague. We went to lunch at the Thai place that we had tried to go to dinner at the night before. It was absolutely fantastic. I didn’t want it to end! Since we loaded up on soup and spring rolls we had a lot of food left over for dinner! We made our way back to the hostel and helped Jen get all her stuff to the metro. We then decided to do a little bit of shopping and explore the parts of the city we hadn’t seen. We found this crazy building called Fred & Ginger. Pretty ugly, but pretty cool too. Went home, napped, and then had delicious Thai food for dinner!
12/16
Last day in Prague!
We packed our things and check out of the hostel. Left our bags in the luggage room and went out in search of lunch. Ended up at this place in Jen’s lonely planet guidebook called Bohemian Bagel. I had a bagel sandwich, and Lisa had a southern breakfast with biscuits and gravy, bacon, eggs, pancakes, a bagel and potatoes. The highlight of lunch was probably the fact that there was a beverage fountain and we could have AS MUCH SODA AS WE WANTED instead of paying $5 for 33cl of soda. We then went to the irish pub bc lisa really wanted strongbow… we ended up having strongbow, and in honor of our impending trip to Sweden, we had a couple kopparbergs.
We got our bags, hopped on the metro, found the bus and made it to the airport without incident. The kids on the plane behind us had clearly never been on a plane before and were taking pictures like crazy. So we took our own to commemorate our voyage!
We arrived in Stockholm, got bus tickets and boarded the bus for the 90min ride to Stockholm. We were so exhausted we slept for most of the trip. We got to the central station and tried to get tickets for the t-bana [metro] and the women said we could get tickets cheaper from the press stand across the way. We got 2 tickets… $6!! That’s just madness… I mean, we knew Stockholm was expensive, but $3 for each journey on the metro is a bit excessive.
We found our hostel and tried to ring reception to get in… turns out reception is only there from 9am to 9pm… we we called the emergency number and they gave us a code to get in. they said they sent us an email to tell them if we were getting in after 8pm… but I don’t think we ever got that email. Anyways, it was the most secure system ever! We punched in a 4 digit code, the door opened. We then found a lockbox with my name on it, punched in the code and inside found keys to the room. We got to the room and opened the locker to which we had the key and found 2 sets of sheets inside. Perfectly efficient.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
but, before we can go, i ran to the store to get some food for sandwiches... of COURSE i ran into some sort of demonstration. it wouldnt be france if they weren't having marches and demonstrations all the time.
c'est la vie française!
c'est la vie française!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Ok, so we finally have EVERYTHING booked, well, almost everything. We lack a hotel in Milan and buses to and from airports. But that's not bad. The trip is as follows:
Thursday Feb 12th, Depart Clermont for PARIS via train
Arrive in PARIS, take RER to Orly and board plane to PRAGUE
Spend the 12th-16th in PRAGUE
Leave PRAGUE for STOCKHOLM
Spend 16-19th in STOCKHOLM
Depart STOCKHOLM for MILAN
Spent 19-21st in MILAN
Leave MILAN at 8am!! for GENEVA, via train
Arrive in GENEVA at 1pm
Depart GENEVA at 5pm for LYON via train
Arrive in LYON at 7:45pm
Depart LYON at 8:30pm and arrive in CLERMONT FERRAND at 11pm Saturday Feb 21st.
So our grand tour of Europe is: Paris - Prague - Stockholm - Milan - Geneva - Lyon
not bad for 10 days!
Thursday Feb 12th, Depart Clermont for PARIS via train
Arrive in PARIS, take RER to Orly and board plane to PRAGUE
Spend the 12th-16th in PRAGUE
Leave PRAGUE for STOCKHOLM
Spend 16-19th in STOCKHOLM
Depart STOCKHOLM for MILAN
Spent 19-21st in MILAN
Leave MILAN at 8am!! for GENEVA, via train
Arrive in GENEVA at 1pm
Depart GENEVA at 5pm for LYON via train
Arrive in LYON at 7:45pm
Depart LYON at 8:30pm and arrive in CLERMONT FERRAND at 11pm Saturday Feb 21st.
So our grand tour of Europe is: Paris - Prague - Stockholm - Milan - Geneva - Lyon
not bad for 10 days!
Last night we had the pleasure of attending the Clermont Pro B Basketball game with our Californian friend Stephen. He's out here visiting his friend Errick of his from USC [read; the OTHER USC] who played bball out there and is currently playing here in Clermont.
We met up with Stephen at 'his' place and went from there. We met Alicia and two french girls who were also along for the ride. Alicia is Derrick's girlfriend. Who is Derrick you ask? Why, he's Errick's twin brother who also played for USC. They must have some really proud parents!
On the way there Lisa was joking around and saying she hoped they had hot dogs because she really wanted one and it's a basketball game so they should. I said they would probably have Quiche and wine instead of hotdogs and beer. Well, i was mistaken. they had hot dogs... in baguettes! Best of both worlds! Lisa decided to indulge in one of said hot dogs during the very brief halftime.
I cant give you a running commentary, but it suffices to say that we won and it was a good game. And chilled with the mascot. I asked him what he was and he did not reply. So i asked him if he was a Marmot and he said "Yes! But not really". So I'm a little confused.
After the game we had tickets to the 'meet the team' and 'press conference' event. It was basically a room with lots of tiny tables that had cold cuts and bread and wine and cutouts of the players all over the walls. We socialized there and waited for Errick as the other players started to trickle in. Some where in a hurry to get home, others want to go celebrate their victory.
lisa with "Karim"
Stephen and Alicia
We went back to Stephens and chilled for a bit while he and Alicia freshened up. He then announced we would be going downstairs to Karim's [another player]. So we packed up shop and headed down the perilous spiral staircase. When we got to Karim's room it was PACKED with all the players and their friends. And what were they doing? Playing FIFA on the huge flat screen TV. Chelsea ManU were the teams of choice. Haha. I told them that I preferred Liverpool!
Stephen, Errick and Alicia; Our gracious hosts for the evening
Errick and Emma [plays on the womens team] doing "the Lisa"
We got to meet the players and chat with them a bit more and then headed out to le BBox! I thought I would NEVER go there again, but what do you know, when you hang with people that have cars, you go places. So we piled into the smart cars and headed to Bbox. When we got in they talked to the bouncers and herded us inside.
It was kinda nice go to with demi celebs since we got in free and had access to the VIP area all night with a separate bar. Lisa did not recognize we were in a VIP area until this morning when i told her. Then it all started to come together; a few steps up, separate access to a bar, guard at the steps, roped off, lots of seating... ah yes, VIP...
After a night of dancing we found the 24hr McDo and got some fries!! I didnt think there was anything 24h in france, but the players know where to get their food at all hours of the night. Might I add that McDonalds in France is a million times nicer and cleaner than the ones in the US. They put a little more pride in their food and the quality is much MUCH better.
And that's a wrap.
We met up with Stephen at 'his' place and went from there. We met Alicia and two french girls who were also along for the ride. Alicia is Derrick's girlfriend. Who is Derrick you ask? Why, he's Errick's twin brother who also played for USC. They must have some really proud parents!
On the way there Lisa was joking around and saying she hoped they had hot dogs because she really wanted one and it's a basketball game so they should. I said they would probably have Quiche and wine instead of hotdogs and beer. Well, i was mistaken. they had hot dogs... in baguettes! Best of both worlds! Lisa decided to indulge in one of said hot dogs during the very brief halftime.
I cant give you a running commentary, but it suffices to say that we won and it was a good game. And chilled with the mascot. I asked him what he was and he did not reply. So i asked him if he was a Marmot and he said "Yes! But not really". So I'm a little confused.
After the game we had tickets to the 'meet the team' and 'press conference' event. It was basically a room with lots of tiny tables that had cold cuts and bread and wine and cutouts of the players all over the walls. We socialized there and waited for Errick as the other players started to trickle in. Some where in a hurry to get home, others want to go celebrate their victory.
lisa with "Karim"
Stephen and Alicia
We went back to Stephens and chilled for a bit while he and Alicia freshened up. He then announced we would be going downstairs to Karim's [another player]. So we packed up shop and headed down the perilous spiral staircase. When we got to Karim's room it was PACKED with all the players and their friends. And what were they doing? Playing FIFA on the huge flat screen TV. Chelsea ManU were the teams of choice. Haha. I told them that I preferred Liverpool!
Stephen, Errick and Alicia; Our gracious hosts for the evening
Errick and Emma [plays on the womens team] doing "the Lisa"
We got to meet the players and chat with them a bit more and then headed out to le BBox! I thought I would NEVER go there again, but what do you know, when you hang with people that have cars, you go places. So we piled into the smart cars and headed to Bbox. When we got in they talked to the bouncers and herded us inside.
It was kinda nice go to with demi celebs since we got in free and had access to the VIP area all night with a separate bar. Lisa did not recognize we were in a VIP area until this morning when i told her. Then it all started to come together; a few steps up, separate access to a bar, guard at the steps, roped off, lots of seating... ah yes, VIP...
After a night of dancing we found the 24hr McDo and got some fries!! I didnt think there was anything 24h in france, but the players know where to get their food at all hours of the night. Might I add that McDonalds in France is a million times nicer and cleaner than the ones in the US. They put a little more pride in their food and the quality is much MUCH better.
And that's a wrap.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Last night we decided that we needed to do something random and fun today. We decided to wander around Clermont and take pictures of the sights and then compile a video for your enjoyment....
we were soo exhausted. lisa is going to work on her photography skills because catching someone midair is clearly an art.
Since our feet hurt too bad to go out dancing, we decided to cook a nice dinner and then catch a movie in v.o. For dinner we had steak [real steak, not french hamburger steak] 2 kinds of fries, salad and vin rouge. mustard played a major role in bringing the meal together in that mustard was put on everything... its a very versatile condiment.
We looked to see what movies were playing and it was either Les Noces Rebelles [revolutionary road?] or Slumdog Millionaire. i love how translated movie titles often dont match... American films coming soon to a theater near me:
Walkyrie
L'Etrange histoire de Benjamin Button
Coeur d'encre
Sept Vies
Tomorrow we're going to Vichy since its not closed on sunday. strange, i know, but the desire to do something when everything is closed is quite compelling. does that even make sense? lets just say i miss being able to go to target when the mood strikes me. even the grocery store is closed sunday. blah.
and since you've watched the movie by now, here's some photos for your enjoyment :)
we were soo exhausted. lisa is going to work on her photography skills because catching someone midair is clearly an art.
Since our feet hurt too bad to go out dancing, we decided to cook a nice dinner and then catch a movie in v.o. For dinner we had steak [real steak, not french hamburger steak] 2 kinds of fries, salad and vin rouge. mustard played a major role in bringing the meal together in that mustard was put on everything... its a very versatile condiment.
We looked to see what movies were playing and it was either Les Noces Rebelles [revolutionary road?] or Slumdog Millionaire. i love how translated movie titles often dont match... American films coming soon to a theater near me:
Walkyrie
L'Etrange histoire de Benjamin Button
Coeur d'encre
Sept Vies
Tomorrow we're going to Vichy since its not closed on sunday. strange, i know, but the desire to do something when everything is closed is quite compelling. does that even make sense? lets just say i miss being able to go to target when the mood strikes me. even the grocery store is closed sunday. blah.
and since you've watched the movie by now, here's some photos for your enjoyment :)
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