Beans Comes to London!!!

Hey hey hey!!!

Soo, on Thursday, March the 10th, Brian "Beans" Battista embarked on a journey to London. He arrived around 1pm London time on Friday, March the 11th.

I left my dorm around 10am to meet Beans at Heathrow...it takes a little over an hour to get to the airport via tube. He was due in around 12.30, so I wanted to make sure I was there in time. So I got to the airport around 11.30, only to find out that Beans wasn't due to land until around 1, because of delays in MN. Anyway, this meant that I had some serious time to kill before he got through customs and whatnot. I finally saw on the arrival board that he had landed…then arrived at gate. I thought to myself “Beans should be here in less than an hour!!!” I was quite excited. It’s quite the different feeling waiting to see a family member, the first in more than 2 months. So as I waited, I continuously checked my watch. And phone. And arrival board. 1 hour past..no Beans. 15 more minutes…no Beans. Finally I see some people walk through the doors with Minnesota sweatshirts on, so I know Beans can’t be far behind. As I stood with my “Mr. Beans World Traveler” sign, I’m pretty certain that I was indeed shaking. Finaly, BEANS!!!! He looked around, didn’t see me. I yelled his  name, he turned, we made eye contact, and both smile hugely! He then walked around the barricade and we embraced in a rather large hug. I had just seen my first family for quite a long time. It was fantastic. We then made our way to the tube, and began our journey back to Alexander Fleming halls where I live.

After Beans put all his stuff away, I took him on a “short” tour of London. We ate dinner on Regent Street, walked from Oxford Circus to Piccadilly Circus, on to Trafalgar Square, and finished down The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace. Eventually Beans got quite tired, even though it was only 8pm London time, but we’ll give him a break, it was a long couple of days. We got back to the dorm, and crashed pretty shortly after that.

On Saturday I was going to Stonehenge and Bath with ISA, so Beans was on his own to explore. Stonehenge was very cool to see, but probably only once. It’s quite impressive to think about how they possible stood those rocks up and moved them, but then again, they are only rocks. Bath was also a cool place to visit…we saw the only naturally occurring hot springs in the UK…but nothing that was too very exciting, but a nice place to visit, at least in my mind. During this time, I believe Beans explored much more of the city, and then went to a local pub to watch the Arsenal v. Manchester United FA Cup Match…which was huge. I support Chelsea, so I was indifferent to the result, but he watched the game at an Arsenal bar, and he really got the feeling for how much people here love their football. You’ll have to talk to him about his experience with that…Or ask me about my own experiences, they’re quite interesting and fantastic!

On Sunday we journeyed with ISA to Cambridge. I’m glad Beans got to get outside of the city to see a smaller English town. Cambridge is dominated by the University, and is a very cool place. We started the day off with a walking tour through the rain, which ended in beautiful King’s Church. As we talked with the tour guide inside the church for a while, the rain stopped, sun came out, and it turned into a great day. After the walking tour, we went on “punts” (gondola type boats) on the River Cam. It was a very cool perspective of the university…we got to see Sir Isaac Newton’s Mathematical Bridge…he designed and constructed a bridge that didn’t use nails or screws, only the forces of each board upon other boards to hold itself up. Google it, I’m sure it will explain it better. Anyway, a few years after Newton completed this project, a graduate student asked him if he could take it down and try to repeat what he did. Newton allowed it…but the student failed. So they had to reconstruct the bridge using nails and screws, so its not quite as cool as it once was…but still pretty cool to see. After the punt ride, we went to the pub where Watson and Crick announced they had “found the key to life”…discovered the make up of DNA.  After some exploring in Cambridge, we took the train back to London with everyone, and got ready to go to one of favorite local watering holes…B@1. The drinks on Sunday are 2-4-1, the bartenders are awesome (and always remember us and what we like to drink) and they play awesome music. Saying that, I’m glad Beans was with us on this night at B@1 because it was probably the best one so far. Everyone was dancing and singing and having a great time. After the bar we came home and had a much needed sleep.

On Monday I had class from 2-4, and during this time, I told Beans he should check out the British Museum in Trafalgar Square. There was one problem…I mixed up locations, and actually sent Beans to the National Gallery (an art museum) for 2 hours. Oh well Mistakes Happen. After that, we went down the Thames and ate dinner (proper fish and chips) while looking over the Thames at Tower Bridge…it’s always an incredible view at night, and I hope Beans enjoyed it!

On Tuesday I don’t have class, and it was a beautiful day out, so Beans and I went to Hyde Park and took a nice leisurely ride through on some rented bicycles. It was quite enjoyable. After that, I showed Beans through Harrods…During this tour, we saw a £300,000 watch. A watch. £300,000. Ridiculous! After we did this, we made our way towards the Houses of Parliament and got in queue to sit in on the debate going on in the House of Commons. We got in, sat in for a while, and then left. I’m glad Beans got to see the inside of this amazing building…for free! We then met up with Chris Brigham and Zak Kaufman (two of our friends who live in London) and went to Brick Lane for some Indian food. Brick Lane is packed with incredible Indian restaurants. We literally stood outside of 3, as 3 different workers tried to lure us in. We decided to go with the offer of “30% off total meal and 2 free pints each”. How can you refuse that? The food was amazing, and it was very cool that Beans was able to meet up with some high school buddies. When we got back to the dorms, we hung out with some of my friends and then made our way to Sports Café in Piccadilly Circus for student night…we didn’t stay too long so we could catch the tube home (which stops running around 1230), but still had a good time.

Wednesday I had class at 11, and afterwards I took Beans to the actual British Museum. I think he really enjoyed seeing some really, really old stuff. After the British Museum I’m pretty sure we went to Abbey Road…I kind of forget, that may have been done on Friday. It was quite the action-packed week!

Thursday was St. Patrick’s Day. I had class from 1-4, and during this time, Beans went and checked out the Tate Modern Art Museum. Before my class, however, we enjoyed the classic Pizza Hut all you can eat buffet for lunch…never gets old! Class ended a little early, so I met up with Beans back at the dorm, and we began making plans. We wandered around looking for an Irish Pub, found a couple in The City that were filled with Suits, and then eventually made our way back to Fleming. We ended up just hanging out there for a while before we went out around the dorm for a while.

Friday was Bean’s last day in London unfortunately. At 12.30 we went to communion at Westminster Abbey…I think Beans was pretty impressed with the Abbey, its quite amazing. After that we went up in the London Eye, which offered a very amazing perspective above the city. After the eye, we ventured over to St. Paul’s Cathedral where we attended the Evensong service…Westminster Abbey is amazing…but St. Paul’s, on the inside, is unbelievable!!! The service was quite good (all male/boy choir) and some of it was in Latin. The sound resonates inside that building incredibly well. After the service, Beans and I came back to the dorm, made some dinner, and Skyped with Mom and Dad for the last time together before he had to head home on Saturday. We laid low on Friday night, got Beans all packed, and went to bed.

On Saturday we woke up, made sure Beans had everything, and made the long, and pretty sad trip, back to Heathrow. We got Beans all checked in, I gave him one last big hug, and through security he went. I headed back to the dorm, feeling both happy that Beans was here and that we had such a great time together, and sad that he had to leave and that that time was now up. No more family for another 2 months…its tough.

I loved having Beans here. It was an absolute blast!!! It was definitely touch seeing him leave, but I’m glad he got to see the city that I’ve come so accustomed to living in, and go to see how I go about everyday life here. It was truly a great experience for us both I believe. I might be forgetting some stuff, so just ask any questions or add any comments…I just got back from a day trip to Liverpool today, so I’ll be blogging about that soon.

Cheers

Amsterdam

Heyyoo

Soo I this past weekend I took a little vacation to Amsterdam for 3 days with Amanda, Sam, Kate, Izzy, Cori, Cori's friend Bryttie, and Izzy's friend Grace. Our flight left London Luton at 6.50 Friday morning, so for some reason we thought it would be smart to leave for the airport late thursday night. We thought we would be better off sleeping a few hours in the airport before checking in rather than maybe an hour or 2 here before we would have to navigate the night busses to victoria and whatnot. I mean we left our dorm at 11.15pm so we could catch the tube to Victoria station where we had to take a bus that left at midnight to Luton. This was a poor decision. Sleep at the airport was uncomfortable and didn't really happen. Eventually, 5.00 rolled around and we got through security and again, sat and waited. We arrived at the airport in Amsterdam around 9...flight is about an hour, with a 1 hour time change. We bought a train ticket to central station, from where we would take a tram towards our hostel. Turns out, we didn't need to buy any tickets, because they never checked for them. Oh well, it was only 3 euro. We got to our hostel around 10ish...it was awesome!! Literally infinitely better than the hostel in Paris. Great location. Very friendly, young staff. It had a large bar and lounge where everyone at the hostel could hang out and just chill. It was very cool. It's called the Flying Pig Uptown...consistently rated one of the top 10 hostels in the world.

Anyway, after we got settled, we searched for food. We found a place where we could get a proper Dutch breakfast, which included eggs, bread, croissants, ham...it was very delicious. After we got some food in our stomachs, we embarked on a journey to find a place that offered canal tours. Amsterdam is a very unique city, in that the city center has large, navigable canals running throughout, its quite cool. We finally found a spot that offered tours, and it lasted about an hour. It was very interesting and different viewpoint to see the city from the water. After the cruise...nap time.

Everyone was pretty wiped after the day of travel, so we took a longer than expected nap. We eventually went out and got dinner around 7, and after that split up for a little bit. Izzy and Kate didn't get to Amsterdam until later Friday night because Izzy had to work at her internship on Friday, so our group was minus them on Friday. Cori and Bryttie wanted to go out on Friday night, so they did, while Sam, Amanda, and I went exploring. Our first stop...the red light district.

Ok, so right now, I want you to think of what you think the red light district is like. Draw a mental picture. Now, if you had the same assumptions as I did, I ask that you erase that picture completely, and replace it with what I'm about to describe. The red light district is an amazing place. It is lively, safe, clean, and overall very interesting. Prostitution in Amsterdam is legal. It is regulated, and very safe actually. The women are their own bosses, have to acquire licenses (and can only do so after testing for and being clean of STD's). They rent out a room, which includes a window to stand in and attract customers, for 8 hour shifts, for 75-150 euro, depending on the time and location. A standard 15 minute session costs a customer 50 euro (we learned all of this on the walking tour we took on Saturday). The thing I didn't expect, and that struck me the most astonishing, is that the women are gorgeous! at least for the most part. I was expecting dirty, nasty looking women. Not the case. They are young, beautiful, and really, just engaging in a very lucrative business opportunity in Amsterdam. The red light district if bright, organized, and...completely different than anything I have ever seen before lol. I expected the atmosphere to be like the neighborhood outside our hostel in Paris...not at all the case. Anyway, if you ever get a chance to go to Amsterdam, visit the red light district, I think you'll be surprised. Oh, and you can't take pictures of the women in the windows...rumor has it that they will literally come out of the room, take your camera, and smash it on the ground.

Anyway, Izzy and Kate and Grace were now with us, and on Saturday we took a walking tour of the city. The cool thing is, is that it is technically free. The guides make all of their wages off of tips, so they have to be good. Our guide's name was Geert (pronounced with a flemmy H sound instead of the G). He was awesome! He took us everywhere in the city, showed us everything we would want to see, and more. He was very knowledgeable and told some pretty funny stories. There are bicycles everywhere in Amsterdam! Literally, everywhere. So, naturally, one of the stories he told was about bicycles. In the canals, there are literally thousands of bicycles. Yes, you read that right, IN the canals. Its a "joke" in Amsterdam that people play when they get drunk. They walk out of the bar, find 2 bicycles that aren't locked, and throw them into the canal to see who's makes the bigger splash. Mean, I know, but they find it hilarious, until it happens to their own bicycle. But, the funny thing is, is that you can't get in trouble by the police, because Amsterdam law says that there has to be evidence of you committing a crime. And, well, the evidence is at the bottom of the canal. It's said that people trying to steal bicycles will just throw them in the canals if they see police coming, cuz then technically they didn't break any laws. Laws in Amsterdam are funny, I'll touch on that later.

The tour lasted 3.5 hours, so afterwards we were quite tired. Nap time again. This time nap time didn't last as long. After our nap, we went to this Moroccan restaurant that Geert had recommended...it was delicious!! I had some chicken Kabob things, great life choice on my part. After dinner we were planning on doing a tour that was actually a bar crawl, where you go to 6 different bars/clubs and get a drink at each and see what they're like, all for 15 euro. Dinner went longer than we expected, so we missed that, and instead just went back to the hostel and chilled in the lounge area for a while and we all called it a pretty early night.

Sunday we had a lot to get done...first stop, Anne Frank house. The Anne Frank house was amazing! It was incredible to see the secret annex and experience what the Frank's and many other hiding out during WWII went through. Again, if you're ever in Amsterdam, this is a must see place. Of the 8 of use in Amsterdam, 5 bought the Diary of Anne Frank after going to the house...the other 3 are going to borrow it when people are done reading it. After going to the house, I think that we are required to read the book far too early in school. It should be read either in late high school or college. It's too hard to grasp what actually happened and the complex situation that occurred during this time. Needless to say, I will be re-reading the book soon.

After the Anne Frank house we went on a bicycle tour of the city...It was soo much fun!! It allowed us to see a lot of things that are too far away to walk, and we covered a vast majority of the city. It lasted for about 2.5 hours, and towards the end, we had to ride through downtown to get back to where we started. It was such a rush riding in the street with cars zooming past and everything...again, I would recommend this to anyone, if you can ride a bicycle that is.

After the bicycle tour we went towards the red light district because Izzy, Kate, and Grace hadn't seen it yet. There we ate a chinese restaurant, which was delicious, and afterwards went to get dessert pancakes, which were amazing and HUGE!!! Imagine a huge plate, with a huge pancake on it, covered in chocolate syrup, strawberry syrup, whipped cream, and vanilla ice cream...literally amazing. After that we walked back to the hostel and chilled in the lounge for our last night.

The next morning we left the hostel at 6.15, caught a bus to the airport, and ended up getting back to the dorms around 12.45. I had to leave for class around 1.30, so I wasn't home much. I didn't get back until about 8.30pm...it was a long day. But hey, the sun has now been out 3 days in a row!!

Yesterday I went to Hyde Park, fell asleep for a while there, and then rented bicycles with Amanda and Jordan, and biked through the park for like 3 hours...so much fun. I'll put up photos on facebook soon, it was a beautiful day!

Beans comes to London on Friday!! SO EXCITED :) The Battista brothers will be reeking havoc in the streets of London for 8 days! No, actually we'll be doing a lot of site-seeing and giving Beans a feeling for what life in London life is like...should be very fun.

Cheers