Ooooooo Baby!

Ok, enough whining about my health and schoolwork. Don't have the test results yet and comps is going to happen whether I want them to or not. Soooo...

Here's looking ahead!

Las Vegas!
Wooooot! Leaving March 22 for four days three fantastic nights in Sin City! And you best believe I'll be taking part in all of it coming off my comps. ;) Here's to shopping, eating, partying, and sleeping (we're staying at the Wynn!) like a total rock star. Go big or go home!

Car!
Daddy waxed my car (and cleaned everything in it, including the engine), got me mats with the Saab logo, fixed everything little thing that was even slightly out of wack. Oh man, I can't wait to get back to the 'burgh and drive this baby!

Denmark & Finland!
Graduation present to myself. Going abroad again (because what else do I do?). Scandinavia is the greatest place in the world and on this trip I'll check the final two Nordic countries off the list to vist. Woooooooot!

Playing Catch-up

I'm realizing I never gave a whole lot of detail about any of my trip to Europe. I posted the photos and had one general entry about it, but no stories or memories, or play-by-plays. So, I'm going to try and commit a few entries to looking back and telling some stories about my time overseas.

Poland Train Station Search

After my four days in Stockholm, I flew into Poznan Poland via Warsaw to spend two delightful days with Kathy, my friend from undergrad who is now attending med school in Poland. At the end of my visit, I had to find my way to the train station in Poznan to go on my 14 hour adventure to Friedrichshafen, Germany and meet up with Lisa. Well, my train left at 2:25pm on Wednesday; Kathy had class beginning at 1pm. So, I was on my own to get to the train, but no worries: she bought me a tram ticket, showed me the stop I got on at, and, even though she didn't know the exact stop I got off at, she described the trip I would have and gave me an idea of what to look for.

No problem, right?

Well, enter life. I get to the tram station and there are a lot of people standing there. Usually a good sign. However, I look down the road and see that there is a tram sitting there with its lights blinking. The tram was not operating.

Poop.

Ok, so, I'm in Poznan, Poland. I don't speak Polish; no one in this relatively small town speaks English. It's not a touristy place and there are no maps available anywhere. I have no idea where the train station is, just that I needed to take the tram there. I have about an hour at this point until my train leaves, and, even if I knew where I needed to walk, I have no idea if it's a hour walk or less.

Big poop.

Well, whatcha gonna do? I decided to just walk in the direction I was to take the tram, follow the tracks, and, whenever I got to a place where the tracks split off in multiple directions, I would just wait for the tram I was supposed to take (the 2) to come from the other direction so I could see which way to walk. I knew this would work for a certain amount of time, but I also knew (from Kathy's instruction) that I would not be able to see the train station from the tram stop even when I got to it. So, basically I just felt it out until it seemed like I was in the right place, strayed from the tracks, and miraculously found it.

I know, I should be a special agent. ;)

Photo Fest

The rest of the trip!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2235703&l=e2de8&id=14205063

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2235829&l=e255c&id=14205063

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2235838&l=22b6e&id=14205063

Check It Out, Yo!

Here are the pics from Stockholm!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2234336&l=913e4&id=14205063

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2234337&l=c664e&id=14205063


Poland, Germany, and Switzerland to come...

LET'S GO PENS!

Last night was pretty much the best night of my life. Well, that may be an overstatement, but only because I've had so many other good ones. Upon arrival in Stockholm on Friday (after flying from 6am on Thursday--without having EVER gone to bed Wednesday night--till 1:30pm on Friday--without sleeping on the plane Thursday night), I checked into my hostel (which is absolutely delightful), walked about the town a little, treated myself to a much too expensive dinner, and went to bed early to catch up on sleep. Yesterday was all about seeing the town as I walked from my hostel's part of town to the Globen Arena, where the Pens would play. There were a lot of Penguins fans here, and, surprisingly, many of them European, which was really cool, but at the same time made finding other Pittsburghers more difficult than I had suspected.

But, as luck would have it (and it always does for me), I sat next to the most bad ass Pens fans ever--this awesome couple from the 'burgh living in Germany for a year. We watched the game together, which was freaking awesome. A win in OT?! It doesn't get better. Then we met up with their other friends they'd met here, some Sweeds, some Americans living in Europe. We partied until about 4 in the morning and I crashed on their floor overnight. Of course, the entire time making American fools of ourselves screaming "LET'S GO PENS!" at random intervals throughout the night. I cannot describe to you how much fun we had.

Meeting up with some of them from last night tonight. There are plenty of tickets available from scalpers so I have every intention of going to the game tonight as well. Wish me luck and I'll post photos upon return to the States.

Vasa Museum

How cool is this?! My awesome prof. used to live in Sweden and gave me the lo-down on all the best things to do while I'm there. His number one, must do it, you'll regret it forever if you don't, there's nothing else like it recommendation was the Vasa Museum, a 17th century sunken war ship that was underwater for over 300 years before being brought to the surface, preserved, and placed on display in Stockholm. You can read more and see photos here:
http://www.vasamuseet.se/sitecore/content/Vasamuseet/InEnglish/About.aspx
Well, the Pens are blogging daily on their website while they're overseas (they arrived in Stockholm on Sunday morning), and guess where they took a field trip today? You guessed it, the Vasa Museum. Ummm...I pretty much can't contain my excitement. GO PENS! GO SWEDEN! =D

The BIG trip

I'm leaving for Europe on Thursday. Here's what I'll be up to:

Thursday, October 2nd: In the morning, fly from Denver to Chicago, depart the US at 6:30 pm for England

Friday, October 3rd: arrive in Manchester at 8:05am, 2 hour layover, then to Stockholm, Sweden. 1:30 pm arrival. Check in at City Lodge Hostel, enjoy the city.

Saturday, October 4th: explore the city & sight-see until 8:30 pm --> PITTSBURGH PENGUINS SEASON OPENER AGAINST OTTAWA SENATORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, October 5th: continue to take in the city; take a ferry out to the islands, & find a bar to watch second Pens' game (or find ticket from scalper =D)

Monday, October 6th: say goodbye to Sweden, depart via plane for Poznan, Poland (via Warsaw) at 6pm

Tuesday, October 7th: arrive in Poznan at midnight. Kathy meets me at the airport, only 10 minutes from her place! Sleep in while Kathy has class anad then spend the day with her.

Wednesday, October 8th: Quick visit, depart for Germany by train for the tour of every major German city in less than 48 hours. Poznan to Berlin to Munich (arrive at 1:30am)

Thursday, October 9th: 6:25am departure from Munich to Ulm to Friedrichshafen where I'll arrive at 9:08am. Lisa's plane lands at 9:05am (how about that timing). we meet and figure out transport for the 14 miles to Konstanz where we'll be seeing American Steel

Friday, October 10th: follow AmSteel to Lucerne, Switzerland for a second show, and possibly meet up with Lisa's friend who lives there

Saturday, October 11th: travel back to Germany to continue my slam-bang tour of every major city. This time Nuernberg for our final show with the guys

Saturday, October 12th: bus from Neurnberg to Frankfurt (the final major city I get to high five) where I'll fly back to the States arriving in Denver later that eveninig.

That's right people: 4 countries, 3 concerts, 2 friends, and one hockey game in 10 days.

I know, my life is awesome. But hey, I really do appreciate it. =)

Life is sooooooo good

Just to give everyone an idea of how great things are (and really, they always are =D), here is my tentative event schedule for the fall:

Thursday September 18th WVU @ CU
Saturday September 27th Triathlon in Colorado Springs; Sigur Ros @ Red Rocks
Thursday October 2nd-12th EUROPEAN ADVENTURE!!! (specifics of that trip T.B.A.)
Thursday October 16th-20th Dara visits
Friday October 24th-26th visit Stephanie/see The Fashion in Philly
Friday October 31st-November 2nt The Fest w/ Lisa in Gainesville
Friday November 7th-9th Mom and Dad visit
Thursdays November 20th-23rd NCA in San Diego
Monday November 24th-30th Thanksgiving Break
Tuesday December 16th-January 19th Winter Break in Pittsburgh
Saturday January 20th Pens game in Denver