Paris

So, I am going to post a bunch of stuff at once. I have been slacking on posting, but I have been writing. So here goes.

Paris was great for the most part. Host for the first night met me at the main station and gave me a tour of the city via his moped, pointing out sights and asking if I had heard of things. Of course I was about to point out the louvre and efile tower and the arch of triumph. After getting rid of my luggage we went exploring again and went to a little part of Paris I don't remember the name of. It was a separate village until it was annexed into Paris 150 something years ago. A church at the top of the hill results in a view of all of Paris. We then went to a small market and picked up a panini for dinner and went and enjoyed this under the efile tower at night, staying long enough to watch the light show. The next day I explored Paris solo. Spent 5 wonderful hours in the Louvre. July 3 I went to Caen for a day trip. Explored the little city and enjoyed a French market. The Normandy memorial museum was cool. While I didn't pay for museum admission I did visit the American memorial dedicated to our soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice on the beaches and elsewhere to stop the evils of Hitler during WWII.
The Following day I hung out with my friend Jesse whom I had met in Paris. We explored some more sites an ended up spending the evening on an adventure to walk to the train station as I had to leave very very early.

Traveling Maps

I finally have a somewhat established itinerary. This is either going to be a map, or just computer code, depends on what Google feels like doing.

View Directions to Barcelona, Spain in a larger map

Spanish Life

Its been a full week in Espana and I am starting to speak in Spanish with a lisp. No bueno. The Spanish life style is absolutely fascinating. They say here that the US lives to work, where in Espana they truly embody the philosophy of working to live. Its a Sunday and almost everything in town is closed for the day off. A few restaurants and bars remain open and many parks are holding festivals . That said, supermarkets, pharmacies, city offices, and retail stores all have the day off. During the week, life in the city starts about 9am, with people working until about 1-2 in the afternoon. Then siesta time kicks in and just about the entire city shuts down. Then, by 5 everything is back in order, with many stores staying open until 9 or 10. Families are often out with their children eating dinner around midnight. Then bed and repeat the next day. Definitely a lifestyle I could get used to.

Also, to everyone reading this in the States. Can I get your opinion on how a true Granada style Spanish Tapas bar would do in the states? Free tapas with every round? Yeah :)

For those of you following who I am not friends with on Facebook, Blogger is limiting photo upload. Everything I take is going on Facebook however, add me if you wanta see more.

Voy a la tapas con mis amigos!
Hasta manana!
-Kyle

Tres dias en Espana

Hola amigos! Que pasa? Yo vivo en Espana! Estoy explorando la ciudades de Espana con mi amigos de la universidad. La comida es muy buenasimo y tambien, las bebeidas son ricas y delcisosos. ahorita, estoy disfutando la siesta. Los fotos en el Facebook. Hasta luego!

Hangin Out in Toranto

So I just got off an Air Canada flight into Toronto, Canada. That's exactly 2,172 miles from LAX. 2 hour layover, then take Lufthansa to Barcelona, Espana. There was just a MasterCard commercial in French interrupting a hockey game on TV. Canada? Sure seems like it.
Anyways, people in Santa Maria, thanks for the awesome week. Had a surprising amount of fun for the old home town. See ya all in August :) For those of you I didn't get to see while I was home, my bad. See ya all eventually. With that I need to go grab some lunch and take a nap.
Ciao,
-Kyle

Home

20ish hour drives are long. Leaving Colorado saw lots and lots of rain, with thunder, lightening and even snow through Vail. We made it into the Palisades area just in time to watch a beautiful Colorado sunset. The 70/15 though Utah is just as boring during the middle of the night then it is during the day. Took an hour nap just east of Barstow, CA and woke up to an amazing CA sunrise. About 8 hours later home and unpacking. Will post some pictures of the trip soon.

Done with works forever :)

Not really.. Just these work places. Perk Hill Cafe and Rise & Rise Biscuit Kitchen are both pretty awesome. If your in Denver you should go. Seriously though, it's been a lot of fun working at both. Now to do today-
Finish homework, plan more of where to sleep in Europe, and check out the Denver zoo :)