End of the Term

Here are some random pics from the autumn term...

Birmingham celebrates Christmas with a German Market

My roommate Angela and classmate Kelli, eating some weird cream treats at the German market

Andrey and I enjoying the same

My classmates threw a little birthday party for me

My friend Deniz and I at my birthday party

Classmates posing for a pic at the Political Science Christmas party

A another pic of the University campus

My Indonesian colleague, Najam, and me

Windsor, Stonehendge and Bath

Some classmates and I rented a car for the day and did a little road trip. First, we drove to Windsor castle, which is the largest working castle in the world. One of the homes to the Queen. Then to Stonehenge, which is in the middle of nowhere, we made just before the sunset. Finally, we made it to the city of Bath, which is named for the roman baths that still stand in the city.


We ate at this great restaurant for lunch, it was located across the street from the castle

One of the entrances to Windsor Castle, there was also a little Christmas parade that afternoon, which is what all the people are waiting for

Jenna and I sitting on a bench waiting for the parade to start

Stonehenge, obviously, was great to see... however, a little smaller than I thought

Jenna and Kelli posing for a pic, unfortunately the park was closing when we arrived, so this is the closest we could get

In the city of Bath, we visited a German market located behind an Abby

Paris, France

I went to Paris for a long weekend with one of my classmates. Luckily she spoke French so I just sat back and enjoyed my time. We packed a lot in the four days we were there, I would have to say my favorite was probably the Louvre Museum. Where we saw the Mona Lisa, the armless Venus, Code of Hammurabi... You could spend days there and not see it all.

Jenna and I in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral

Not too far from our hostel was the Sacre-Coeur Basilica

Here is the Effiel Tower from a far on a cloudy day

We went up the Effiel Tower at night, then walked around the Tower which has a little light show every so often

Here we are at the gates of the Palace at Versailles, a massive palace with a beautiful garden

A part of the garden at the palace which flowers would fill during the spring time

The famous Arc de Triomphe

We managed to make it into the Catacombes of Paris, there are thousands of humans bones in the catacombes that were moved here from cemetaries in the 18th century.

The outside of the Louvre Museum

More Birmingham

This is a picture of Victoria Square, the Council house and a fountain; a naked women sitting in a pool of water (when the water is on), the locals call this the "Floozy in the Jacuzzi"

This is a picture of the entrance way to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallary

This Greek looking building is the Birmingham Town Hall

Birmingham has a system of old canals

This is the Church of St. George

London

I visited London for a couple of days and went exploring. I met some really fun people and had a great time. London is very interesting and full of history which I love.

A random group; an Italian, a German, a Brazilian and two Americans - one from LA

A photo of the London Eye (a giant ferris wheel) sitting on the Thames river

Hanging out in a Pub

The infamous Buckingham Palace as the changing of the guards is happening



The British Museum

Big Ben and Westminster Abbey

The Tower Bridge

Cape Town, South Africa

I decided to travel down to Cape Town to see Derek who is now the Head Meteorologist for one of the TV stations in South Africa. It is a very beautiful place and as you can see we had no fun.....no fun at all!

Walk out of Derek's front door and there is nothing but water between you and Antarctica

Derek and I trying to act tough before we went for a freezing swim in the ocean



Enjoying a beer at a BBQ as the sunset ends

Having some of the best seafood of my life with Derek and Kat at Codfather

We climbed to the top of Lion's Head mountain to catch the sunset





Cape Town has about 4 million people, its very spread out

We rode the gondola up to Table Top mountain

A look at Lion's Head Mt. from Table Top Mt.





Surfin' Time...

...or not, that's right ladies I had to fend off a shark to save three, cute, little puppies!

The Dr. was good, only 6 stitches