On the Road

Hello everyone,
Mike and I are sending you this update from beautiful little Brugge. Funny, Dad, that you would mention Stillwater as being like Brugge, because we were actually discussing that today. There are an insane amount of shops here that can't really sell all that much (i.e. antiques and the biggest thing in town, lace), lots of restaurants and touristy shops, just like Stillwater. However, Stillwater doesn't have a swan pond. Mike and I amused ourselves there for quite a while this evening, watching the ducks try to eat the leftovers dropped out of the swans' mouths. I actually saw a duck fight, which was pretty awesome. The two mallards puffed out their chests and got in each others faces, and eventually one backed down.
As you can see, we've been taking it easy. We are both relieved to be in a hotel (family run) while we're here. We camped in Amsterdam, which was an experience in itself. The campsite had, among other things, goats and chickens. Not to mention cold weather and hard ground. But we had a good time, and loved seeing our Mac friends in the city. We actually took a free walking tour one day that lasted 3 hours and learned a ton about the city. So now when I show you my pictures, I might actually know what they're of.
Tomorrow we're going to go see some windmills, do laundry and get some more beer (tonight we had some local stuff which was pretty good). Then it's back to Brussels for a short time, before we embark on our extremely long train ride to Milan. Hopefully we won't run out of things to read for the train. I think we leave at 6:30am on Friday and arrive at 9:30pm that evening. Should be an experience. But at least we know that Milan has good pizza and gelatto.
Well, that's it for now. Hope you're all doing well, and if we get internet access again we'll try to post something. Sorry for the lack of pictures, but the downloading here is too slow. See you all very soon, and hopefully you won't all be horribly shocked by the hundreds of pounds that Mike and I have gained from eating frites (french fries) from street vendors (Just kidding, we're trying to eat at least somewhat healthy while on the road).
Love,
Liza

some last photos before we fall off the face of the earth

Hey Everyone,

This time it's Liza, not Mike, although his post seemed to be fairly popular. Right now I'm sitting on the couch in the apartment we've rented, trying to find train tickets from Brussels to Bruges, because everyone is insisting that we have to go there. It is, after all, the Venice of the North. I have to actually go drop off my other huge suitcase at my foyer now, so I can't really write much, but here are some pictures from the last couple of days.


Here's shakespeare and company, the really cool english bookstore that let's people stay over in it...I think that Lars' friend did that when she was in Paris.
Mike in the metro...


This was taken in the catacombes, and the door says "stop, here starts the empire of the dead." happy, huh?
This is the courtyard in from of the Pompidou center, I thought it was a cool view of all the people hanging out. Mike and I got gelato at a shop along here.
Mike is really happy about these crazy striped pillars in the Palais Royal courtyard. See, fun.
This is a Rhino-sort-of-look-alike that I saw at the Louvre and had to get a picture.

Night time picnic on the Seine with my friends Caitlin and Addie. So sad to have to say goodbye!
And here's a little park by the canal where Mike and I sat this morning. They have some really great houseboats in the canal. And though it was raining, the canopy of trees kept us totally dry.

Ok, so I'm off to deliver a really heavy suitcase to lucky Anna, who gets to keep both of my cases for 10 days. So fun for her. And Mike has just informed me that he will be taking his laptop traveling, so we will perhaps be able to post once more before we arrive back in the states. Well that is it for now. See you all very soon! I'll say goodbye to Paris for you,
Liza

Some form of update...

This is Mike, taking over Liza's blog for a bit while she works on her memoir for her program. Rather than start a new blog, I've decided to just post on here.

The plane ride over wasn't too shabby. I thought I would have been more stressed than I was, but maybe getting over to see Liza helped out a bit too (I hate flying, for those unaware). My fellow passenger on the way to Philadelphia was the silent type, not that I was eager to start up a conversation. My seat-mate on the way over the Atlantic was a true-blue Parisian who had just been to Boston visiting her boyfriend who works at some restaurant. We didn't chat all that much, but we did talk about the States a bit and (the little I knew) about Paris.

It was pretty cool to finally get a stamp in my Passport. The formality of proving that I had indeed stepped foot out of the country, let alone the continent, was pretty slick. Finally seeing Liza after a semester, of course, trumped all.

But, because my Mom has been asking for pictures of me "having fun" I'll post what I've got! My camera has been taking snapshots of mostly architecture. Liza had some more people-focused shots.

I'm not sure about the chronology of all of these, so I'll just throw them down, and Liza can correct if need be:

Our friend Diana (who arrived on the same day as I did) was also in town and so the two of us hung out while Liza was busy being an intern. Here's a flattering picture of us at lunch in the Luxembourg Gardens with Liza:


It was nice to have Diana around, on account of her cheery comapny and ability to speak French. The lady at Liza's foyer was pretty keen on holding onto my ID, and so it was nice to have a translator around while Liza was at work. Among our "Liza's at work" activities was going to the Eiffel Tower.

In my opinion, the Eiffel Tower is much better looked at from the ground. Diana and I walked up to the second level (why drop more Euros to ride elevators- have you checked the exchange rate?!) The view is pretty spectacular, but I wasn't completely blown away. Not for the amount of money I paid to walk up stairs. I guess you've got to pay for the paint on the tower somehow. There were a bunch of kids with euro-mullets spitting off the observation deck, plus tourists. That ought to give everyone enough imagery.

We attempted to also go to the Musee Dorsay (pardon my lack of accents on French words). Unfortunately there was a strike, and the museum was closed for the free night. Bummer. While waiting for Liza to arrive after a IFE arranged learning experience, Diana and I watched some American kids skateboarding on Museum property.
Liza showed up and snapped this photo. See- fun!

So to be perfectly honest, blogging is sort of a time consuming process, and it is getting late. I also don't want to steal all of Liza's fire, so I'll depart with this:
Which proves that indeed I Liza and I have re-united! I'll also plug my web-album of snapshots I've taken (of architecture mostly- you can click the link).

Finally, for my father, here's what the Champs-Elysees looks like (as close to rider's eye view as I can get- the middle of a crosswalk) as you go towards the Arc du Triomphe. On one of Liza's workdays I took a stroll past all the shops and restaurants. When the Tour de France isn't going on it's packed with cars and motorbikes:

That's it folks, I'm checking out for the time being. Maybe if you comment enough Liza will re-commandeer her blog and give you some more stuff to read about!

-Mike

Spring has Sprung!

So I am sorry for not writing sooner. I had every intention of doing so, especially after Linnea pointed out my slacking off. But the problem is that every time that I go on the internet, I get really distracted and then spend lots of time chatting and things and end of wasting too much time when I should be writing my paper. So, I've been trying not to go on the internet too much, and that is why the blog hasn't been updated.
It's really beautiful here, just to rub it in for all you Minnesota folks who are still getting snow. It's been kinda hot in my little room, so I've been trying to work in libraries or parks around Paris. Last weekend it was a 4-day weekend because of May Day, and this weekend is a 5-day weekend because of May 8 being the end of WWII in Europe and because today is Pentecost. Unfortunately, because I have this paper to write, I can't fully take advantage of these long weekends, but I've been trying to make up for it by working with friends out in the sunshine.
No really exciting news, as you can tell, but I did take some pictures so that will make this post a little less boring at least.

This is my bus stop going home from work. The boulangerie (bakery, it's the red shop) is always really crowded at that time with everyone buying baguettes to take home for dinner.

This is just some street art in Belleville that I liked. This guy is actually commissioned by different businesses and the district to do his art in the Belleville neighborhood (if you want to look up where it is, it's in the north of Paris, in the 20th arrondissement). His work always has that guy, chasing the red umbrella. It's cool, because when he started, a decade or so ago, the guy was a little boy, and as time has passed, he's grown up. So his oldest murals have a boy, and the newest ones have a grown up.

This is a member of a DJ group that I saw at this club called the Fleche d'Or (Golden Arrow). They wore boxes on their heads and played music that sounded like it was from a game boy game. Very strange.

Camille and I at the Fleche d'Or, playing with settings on my camera to see how to take good pictures in the dark. We obviously didn't figure it out.

Mom, here is the Institut du Monde Arabe (the Institute of the Arab World) that you've been hearing about. It's right on the Seine and has a really lovely view. I haven't been to the museum yet, but they have a really nice library that I've done work in a few times.

Last week, the place where I work had a bunch of seminars for a group of Indonesian masters and PhD students that study Islam in the Netherlands. It was held over at Trocadero, which is right by the Eiffel Tower. This picture was taken right when I got off the metro. You can imagine that I was stunned by the view, having never seen the Eiffel Tower from this vantage point before. It's really incredible. It just opens up and you have this amazing panorama stretching out in front of you.

This is Parc Montsouris, which is just a few tram stops away from my foyer. I go there to do my homework, but as you can see, I'm not the only one. When it is nice out, Parisians come out in droves, get in their bathing suits and sprawl over every spare inch of grass in every park. It's a little overwhelming, but really good people watching. Too bad I have to write a paper.

So there are just a few glimpses into Paris life in the warm weather. I think my last post had a picture of snow, but we are way past that now. I will try to write again a couple of times before I leave, but who knows. Mike and Diana show up on Wednesday (very excited) and then Mike and I leave to go traveling on the 25th. So I just need to pack and finish my paper, plus enjoy Paris, before then, no biggie, right?
Hope it warms up for everyone in Minnesota, because I'm going to be there soon! Miss you all and can't wait to see everyone in less than a month!
Liza