Really quick Eurotrip update so far.

This is basically a running blog from things I write down right before I go to bed at night. Obviously there needs some touching up (confirmation of place names I can't remember, etc.) but here's a general idea.



Thursday, 3/18 - Woke up around 7:00 and headed to Little Rock with mom and Caiden shortly thereafter. After a quick stop at granny and grandpa's, we were on our way. We detoured on 365 through Mayflower and Maumelle due to interstate traffic, but even so we were able to make it to the airport by 9:15..........On the flight from LIT to CLT, I said next to a grandma from Stuttgart who was taking her daughter and granddaughters to Rome, Paris, and London.........Florida/BYU, Robert Morris/Villanova, Murray State/Vanderbilt.........On the flight from CLT to MUN, I sat in seat 43A next to Mrs. Chiolino. I watched an awesome Indian movie called "Tum Mile," and I'm actually typing this somewhere over the Atlantic. *edit at MUN*

Friday, 3/19 - I slept for maybe two hours on the plane. I also watched an hour of "The Invention of Lying." I am currently in the Munich airport waiting to start the day. We leave for Budapest at 11 (it is currently 9:30)..........Arrived at Budapest, didn't go through customs (we're definitely not in the U.S. anymore), met by Paula our tour guide....suffer through an awful drive to the hotel (clueless bus driver, first example).........walk to Millenium Monument/Heroes Square; in our 15 minutes of free time there, I walk by Vajdahunyad Castle and Szechenyi Baths; then the group walks down Andrassy; Hailey, Jake, Zach, and I stop at Burger King; walk through part of Vaci Utca; I split from the group to walk by Inner City Parish Church; load bus to go to dinner; clueless bus driver strikes again, it takes us an hour to get to dinner (we passed the same museum THREE TIMES)..........dinner at Veranda or something like that. I sat with Katherine, Hailey, Jake, and Zach. Good mushroom soup.........come back to hotel.........I set out for Margaret Island alone at night. Improvise with a security guard by stomping and pointing to my feet to show him that I only want to talk around the park (free) rather than park a car (pay). Then the views over the Danube as seen from Margaret Bridge.........On the way back, I met two attractive Hungarian girls on STREET? who asked me for money. I said "I can't speak Hungarian" in Hungarian, and then they started talking in English. Finally, while walking up Vaci Ut, a guy tried to ask me a question but I didn't understand. A few feet later he came back and said, "have time?" We tried to do a little conversation up Vaci Ut (though we didn't get very far). He helped point me in the right direction when the road split, and I gave my appreciation by saying, "Kussi!" which I learned earlier means thanks. Then I stopped at a random hole-in-the-wall bar and tried some Arany Ászok (so good!). I apparently butchered "one Arany, please" because some Hungarian guys behind me laughed. They were mostly nice, though. And the lady who ran the bar was awesome. I don't think she spoke any English, but she let me in as she was locking up and served me with a smile. I got home a few minutes later, watched a few minutes of the NCAA tournament on MMOD, and fell asleep soon thereafter.

Saturday, 3/20 - Drove around Budapest, with our guide G____. We went to the Heroes Square for a minute, then drove around by the Vajdahunyad Castle, the zoo, and the Szechnyi Baths before one more time to Heroes Square. I was afraid the day was going to suck at this point, but he later turned out to be quite a good tour guide. We drove down Andrassy, eventually to the Great Synagogue. Then it was a drive-by the incredibly fantastic Parliament (freaking huge) before crossing the bridge and going to the Citadella for a stunning panoramic view of Budapest. We got out for a little while then and took some pictures there. Then we drove down to Castle Hill, where we stopped at a minute at the Royal Palace, walking about the president's white house (NAME?) and eventually going to the Matias Church. It was pretty cool. Loved the multiocolour roofs. Then, we drove out to the Elizabeth Bridge for some free time from 12ish-4:30.........My free time: walked up Vaci Utca and had lunch (gholoush, kolbasz, Dreher) at a little cafe; browsed the central market hall, amused by all the meat and paprika stores; walked across Liberty Bridge to the Cave Church and Gallert (?) Spa, went to the Hungarian National Museum (amazing photography exhibit), walk/tram mixture to the majestic St. Stephen's Basilica, walked through Vaci Utca (saw guys playing soccer by NAME? Ter)........we rode bus out to a boat, took a Danube Cruise (I mostly hung out with the four Dardanelle kids), ate dinner (vegetable soup/gholash/rice/dessert) on a different boat (I sat with Mrs. Tipton and Mrs. Burroughs though I talked to the kids behind me a lot).........bus back to hotel.........walked with Katherine, Mrs. Burroughs, Mrs. Tipton, Hailey, Jake, and Zach down Vaci Ut to West End shopping centre with a goal of finding "the most beautiful McDonalds in the world," as described by our guide, Paula. We browsed through West End for a bit before eventually finding the McDonalds next to the train station. It was a pretty nice one. I had a nagy shake and Jake had some ice cream. Afterwards, we attempted to catch a Metro ride, but that fell through when I couldn't understand the operator guy because a) he knew no English, and b) I couldn't understand him through the microphone. So, we walked back, regrettably.

Sunday, 3/21 - About to leave to drive through Slovakia all day en route to Krakow. w00t.

An unexpectedly great weekend.

Thursday night, I drove up to Indianapolis to visit my friend Kim. We met at the downtown mall again, and after driving around for awhile trying to find something to do, we settled on the Indiana/Illinois game in the Big Ten women's tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse. The game was fairly boring, but I really just enjoyed getting to sit next to Kim and talk with her. We left with a few minutes remaining and then we walked to Steak and Shake for dinner. After that, we walked down to the Slippery Noodle Inn. After talking some drinks for awhile, a local blues band, The Elect, started playing. They were really quite good. Some songs they did were Soulshine and Red House. But of course the best part was just being with Kim. I hate how she's decided to join the Air Force for the next four years; but, if that makes her happy, then I wish her the best, and will continue to try to hang out with her whenever she'll have me.

I left Louisville on Friday morning around 7:00 a.m. In Nashville, I was involved in an extremely minor auto accident around 9:00 CST. I clipped a guy's truck that was next to me with my mirror and cracked his passenger taillight. Well, that sucked, but get a police report and we'd be on our way. So we waited...and waited...and waited. A policeman didn't get there until just before 11:00, TWO HOURS LATER. Because of that, I knew I would miss Kyle's funeral. I didn't get out of Nashville til like 11:30. I went between 80-90 mph between Nashville and Brinkley and got there around 3:00....10 minutes after Kyle's funeral had ended. I'd been texting Sarah Warren and Candice Hoke along the way. Well, I missed the funeral, but I was able to make it to the interment. I found out I was horribly underdressed; I was in jeans and a rugby shirt and everyone else in dress clothes. Did I miss a memo about how formal funerals are? Oh well. The whole thing was a bit awkward. I went for Kyle, but I was reminded that I never really felt comfortable in Sigma Nu. Way too many awkward moments with my old "brothers." It was nice getting hugs from Sarah and Candice, though. And I enjoyed talking to Ben Fairchild and Jonas Donson. But regardless of my experience there, I hope Kyle is at peace now. He'd been battling demons for years, I know, and hopefully he's resting now.

After forcing a few conversations with people, I left the cemetery around 4:00 and went over to Subway, where I met up with Ben Martin. I couldn't believe it, but I hadn't seen him in over five years. How friggin fast does time fly?? It was nice to see him and chat awhile about a whole variety of things.

Around 5:00, I headed up to Jonesboro and, after driving through great towns like Fair Oaks and Weiner, I got there at like 6:00. Anyway, I met up with Josh and some people from his church at Blue Coast Burrito for dinner. It was pretty good, though not as good as Chipotle, Moe's, or Qdoba. After eating, we all went to the bowling alley there in Jonesboro. I finished last in our group of five the first round, but first in the second. Overall I had a really good time. The people in his church group were pretty nice.

The next morning I'd planned to leave Cooke's house around 8:00, but ended up not getting around til like 9:30. Since I didn't want to miss the Louisville v. Syracuse game, so I ended up staying at his house until 4:30. Josh got around at like 11:00 when his dad made us all (me, Josh, his mom, his sister) breakfast. I spent my time until the Louisville game talking to Josh, working on homework, and watching various soccer and basketball games. Then came the Louisville/Syracuse game. Syracuse was ranked #1 in the country. It was the last-ever game at Freedom Hall. And it was absolutely glorious. The Cards were down five at halftime; then the world was introduced to Kyle Kuric. The 6'4" white sophomore guard from Evansville, IN had been averaging 3.5 points a game. In the second half alone, he scored 22 points, including four three pointers and three alley-oops. It was absolutely incredible. He was the main story on Sportscenter the next morning. Oh yeah, Louisville won 78-68. What a way to close out Freedom Hall.

I got back to Louisville around 11:30; I somehow missed my turn on the Western Kentucky Parkway and ended up driving to Nashville instead of Louisville, adding two hours to the trip. Oops. Holly and I texted each other most of the way back. I stopped in Bowling Green and redeemed my Denny's coupon for a free burger and fries.

I think I have decided to become a vegetarian for as long as I can stand it.

I bought a crap ton of CDs and a few DVDs today from the Great Escape. I spent like $280 but got soooo much music.

Now, I am watching the Oscars and tweeting about them with Cory and Quetta. I'll post the list of winners when it goes final.

2010 Winter Olympics = epic win

I followed these winter Olympics more than I have any other. I absolutely adored them. It probably helped that I sent and received texts/tweets/facebook statuses from so many friends throughout, such as Ryan, Kirk, Josh Cooke, Justin Lovelace, Cory, and Stephanie McCullough. What will I remember?

• U.S. hockey's unbelievable silver medal run. Led by Ryan Miller, Brian Rafalski, and Zach Parise, the Yanks exceeded ALL expectations, and took Canada to overtime in the gold medal game. In the preliminaries, they dispatched Norway and Switzerland before pulling a stunning upset over Canada. They were the #1 seed overall going into the tournament, and after once again defeating Switzerland in the quarterfinals quickly put away Finland after an astonishing 6-0 lead 13 minutes into the semifinal game. In the gold medal game, they fell down 2-0 to Canada, but came back and tied it when Zach Parise got one past Roberto Luongo with 24 seconds remaining in the third period. Sidney Crosby would hit the game-winner in overtime, but that took nothing away from a superb run by the Americans. Goaltender Ryan Miller was named tournament MVP, and deservedly so.
  
• Nodar Kumaritishvilli, a Georgian luger, tragically died in a practice ride on the day of the opening ceremonies. He was thrown from his luge and hit a steel beam head first at 90+ mph.
  
• Watching probably 80% of the hockey games on NBC, CNBC, or USA. The only ones I didn't get to watch were the ones shown on MSNBC (though I did make an effort to watch the first US/Canada game online).
• Other hockey memories: Jaromir Jagr getting demolished by Alexander Ovechkin in the Russia/Czech Republic game; Jonas Hiller's unbelievable performance in Switzerland's 0-2 loss to Canada; Slovakia giving Canada all they wanted in the Canucks' 3-2 semifinal win.
  
• Sweden's Johann Olson coming out of nowhere to win three medals in the long-distance skiing events. He had a HUGE lead in one event before his countryman Marcus Hellner overtook him in the final sprint. But he'd never even come close to a top-three finish in any world-class calibre event.
• Norway's Petter Northugg, who was apparently the #1 long-distance skier in the world, had a horrible start, but ended up winning some medals, including gold in the 50k on the last day
  
• Norway curling team's awesome pants.
• U.S. curling team absolutely choking largely thanks to skip John Shuster. We finished dead last.
  
• Naked Danish curling girl! One of Denmark's curling girls appeared topless in a Norwegian calendar, it found its way to Deadspin, and subsequently blew up.
  
• Actually understanding the rules of curling thanks to Ryan's explanation after 12 years of being clueless.
• Johnny Spillane winning the first American gold in one of the Nordic events ever.
  
• Simon Ammann absolutely dominating the ski jumping field. Also, it was the first time I'd ever seen ski jumping; that sport looks so much fun!
  
• Apolo Ohno, the face of America's winter olympics team. He was DQ'd in the 500m after pushing a Canadian skater. In one of the qualifying rounds he hurdled over a couple of guys that had taken a spill. And in his first race, he got silver after trailing the two Koreans that crashed around the last turn.
  
• Sven Kramer, a Dutch speed skating beast. He dominated one of his races to get one gold, but was controversially disqualified in another for a lane infraction.
  
• Alexandre Bilodeau, the first Canadian to ever win gold in a Canadian Olympics thanks to his winning the men's mogul. He has a brother with cerebral palsy or something. Very inspiring stuff.
  
• Lukás Bauer, one of the Czech long-distance skiers, did well.
  
• Marit Bjørgen, a long-distance skiing Norwegian girl, had the best individual Olympics of anyone, winning five medals.
  
• Lindsey Vonn, America's skiing darling or something. She had a bruised shin just days before the Olympics but ended up being able to compete in all five of her events. She won one gold and one bronze, but either crashed or didn't medal in her other three events.
  
• Bode Miller, who was a major disappointment in Torino, actually got gold in one of the downhill skiing events. I think he competed in a couple of others but only won one gold.
  
• A Canadian figure skating girl competed in her event like two days after her mom, who had made the trip to Vancouver from Quebec, died.

Titan Spirit was the song used in the final montage by NBC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU0mu-qmy-U

At some point last night, I had perhaps a life-changing epiphany. I may or may not have figured out what sort of career path I wish to pursue. During the closing ceremonies, they had segments about the next games in London and Sochi, respectively. That got me to thinking about just how much planning there is that's required to put on an event of that magnitude. And then I realized...someone has to do it! I could be that someone! How cool would that be? Planning events like that, making site visits to the different cities and venues involved, marketing, etc. Therefore, I've decided to think about some sort of job with the Olympics or World Cup or some sort of major global sporting event. It would be perfect.

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On an unrelated note, I went to the Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band show at Skull Alley on Saturday night...incredible. I caught one of the drumsticks Cuz threw into the crowd after the show! Then after the show in the lobby, I bought a CD, had them all sign it, and then talked to the band about seeing them in Tulsa two years ago, places in Fayetteville like George's and Bikers Blues and BBQ, and about a beer that Cuz had coming out. Those guys are so down-to-earth. One of my best concert experiences ever.

On Thursday, I went over to Ben Creech's new apartment and planned how our TRASH team was going to divide up questions. It was me, Creech, Josiah, Ram, and Colton. We watched the last few minutes of a Lost episode and then played Scene It - Turner Classic Movie Edition for like two hours.

That's it for now. 11 days til I'm back in Arkansas.