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Mittwoch, 18. Oktober 2006
Washington
mwand, 01:34h
Last weekend, I went to Washington DC for sightseeing. And wow! - I'm already creating the article!
I flew in on on Saturday morning, and I must say, the National Airport is located more convenient than any other airport I ever saw! I went to the city in a few minutes, checked into the HI Youth Hostel (I can recommend this place) and had lunch in Chinatown.
I took a city tour in a "duck", a kind of amphibian vehicle. Here are some pictures:
It was a very well-done tour with a lot of explanations which were funny and enlightening at the same time! It was great! Here are some random pictures of what I saw:
The Capitol
The White House
Union (Railway) Station
A group of tourists with Segways
In the evening, there was a sightseeing-and-clubbing-tour by the hostel. It was great fun, and I met a couple of great people! This is Maarten, who was on his way back from an internship in Chile.
The next morning, we went to the great National Mall, where all the museums are. These are I, Katie and John:
We visited first the National Air and Space Museum, acclaimedly the most visited museum of the world. Here are three pictures:
After this, we went to the National Archives, where, among other things, the original Declaration of Independence is displayed.
In that evening, we had a final dinner together, before we continued our trips: I took the overnight bus home, Katie went to Florida, and Maarten returned to the Netherlands. Only John stayed for a few more days. - All in all, it was a great experience, and I had lots of fun!
I flew in on on Saturday morning, and I must say, the National Airport is located more convenient than any other airport I ever saw! I went to the city in a few minutes, checked into the HI Youth Hostel (I can recommend this place) and had lunch in Chinatown.
I took a city tour in a "duck", a kind of amphibian vehicle. Here are some pictures:
It was a very well-done tour with a lot of explanations which were funny and enlightening at the same time! It was great! Here are some random pictures of what I saw:
The White House
Union (Railway) Station
A group of tourists with Segways
The next morning, we went to the great National Mall, where all the museums are. These are I, Katie and John:
We visited first the National Air and Space Museum, acclaimedly the most visited museum of the world. Here are three pictures:
After this, we went to the National Archives, where, among other things, the original Declaration of Independence is displayed.
In that evening, we had a final dinner together, before we continued our trips: I took the overnight bus home, Katie went to Florida, and Maarten returned to the Netherlands. Only John stayed for a few more days. - All in all, it was a great experience, and I had lots of fun!
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Sonntag, 8. Oktober 2006
Canada - a Revival Trip
mwand, 04:04h
Last weekend, I went to Canada. Sounds cool, eh? In fact, I went to Kingston, Ontario. As most of my faithful readers probably know, that's the place where I studied for one year as an exchange student, namely from summer '04 till summer '05.
It was a great trip! There was a lot of fun in visiting places I know and meeting my old friends! I won't bore you with a complete retelling of that year, though (I did a lot of great stuff, and there used to be a separate blog just for this); I will just show a few photos I took.
These photos are from downtown Kingston, the "Limestone City":
I visited Fort Henry, and old British Fort which is one of the major attrations of the city. It shows exhibitions of soldier life in the old days:
This is in Queen's Pub, the University bar where I went often during my year at Queen's, and this time again!
On Monday morning, before leaving the city, I went to Wolfe Island, on the St Lawrence River just across Kingston. A great place for students to relax, and with a couple of nice views!
It was a great trip! There was a lot of fun in visiting places I know and meeting my old friends! I won't bore you with a complete retelling of that year, though (I did a lot of great stuff, and there used to be a separate blog just for this); I will just show a few photos I took.
These photos are from downtown Kingston, the "Limestone City":
I visited Fort Henry, and old British Fort which is one of the major attrations of the city. It shows exhibitions of soldier life in the old days:
This is in Queen's Pub, the University bar where I went often during my year at Queen's, and this time again!
On Monday morning, before leaving the city, I went to Wolfe Island, on the St Lawrence River just across Kingston. A great place for students to relax, and with a couple of nice views!
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Donnerstag, 5. Oktober 2006
Saylor Trail Hike
mwand, 04:31h
Hey Readers!
Sorry for the absence, I was busy travelling in order to generate new stories... Anyway, here is my first one: One week ago, a group of CMU Explorers Club members hiked (a part of) the John P. Saylor Trail in Western Pennsylvania.
We camped one night on a nearby campsite and narrowly managed to have dinner before a thunderstorm forced us into our tents. One of them actually collapsed, but I may say that it was not mine :-)
On the next morning, we began our hike with a cloudy sky above us and a muddy path below us.
First our path led through forested areas not unlike the ones we have in Germany, climbing to hilltops and suddenly dropping down a steep rocky slope into even wetter marshland; then ascending again towards a forest road where we had a kind of lunch.
After leaving the road (the last trace of civilisation), we passed through grassland valleys where the dense vegetation reminded me of the rolling waves on the sea,
and the trees gave way to a clear and sunny sky! It was much warmer than in the morning, and soon our water bottles were used up.
In early afternoon, we arrived at a beautiful spot where some kind of moss gave the land a red color under a warming, gentle sun. Here we rested again, allowing ourselves the time to percieve the beauty of this landscape, the prettiest on the entire hike.
It is getting late, and I will cut short the telling of all the other things we encountered on our trail. We passed another group of wanderers who had actually kindled a fire near a narrow suspension bridge over a nearby river. They were friendly, and we chatted with them for a while before getting back to the trail.
The last part of our voyage went through the forest again, not far from the - much more prosaic - state road, which we eventually heard through the trees. It was already quite late when we arrived at the parking site and completed our travel by an eventless ride home to Pittsburgh.
Sorry for the absence, I was busy travelling in order to generate new stories... Anyway, here is my first one: One week ago, a group of CMU Explorers Club members hiked (a part of) the John P. Saylor Trail in Western Pennsylvania.
We camped one night on a nearby campsite and narrowly managed to have dinner before a thunderstorm forced us into our tents. One of them actually collapsed, but I may say that it was not mine :-)
On the next morning, we began our hike with a cloudy sky above us and a muddy path below us.
First our path led through forested areas not unlike the ones we have in Germany, climbing to hilltops and suddenly dropping down a steep rocky slope into even wetter marshland; then ascending again towards a forest road where we had a kind of lunch.
After leaving the road (the last trace of civilisation), we passed through grassland valleys where the dense vegetation reminded me of the rolling waves on the sea,
and the trees gave way to a clear and sunny sky! It was much warmer than in the morning, and soon our water bottles were used up.
In early afternoon, we arrived at a beautiful spot where some kind of moss gave the land a red color under a warming, gentle sun. Here we rested again, allowing ourselves the time to percieve the beauty of this landscape, the prettiest on the entire hike.
It is getting late, and I will cut short the telling of all the other things we encountered on our trail. We passed another group of wanderers who had actually kindled a fire near a narrow suspension bridge over a nearby river. They were friendly, and we chatted with them for a while before getting back to the trail.
The last part of our voyage went through the forest again, not far from the - much more prosaic - state road, which we eventually heard through the trees. It was already quite late when we arrived at the parking site and completed our travel by an eventless ride home to Pittsburgh.
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