Coming to a new place you expect to experience new things and witness events that you’ve never seen before, but the Brighton PRIDE Parade far exceeded my expectations.  Signing up for this trip, I knew that the gay community in Brighton was large and well represented in all aspects, but I didn’t know whether or not the community as a whole respected them.  In America, homosexuality is a subject that is hard to talk about in most settings, because as a general rule it is frowned upon in the states, but what I found in Brighton is that the whole community is really proud of its gay component.  This made it very fun to be around.  I have never had an issue with anyone that is gay, partially because some of my family is gay, but I have never seen the interaction between gays and straights like I did in Brighton, especially in the Pride Parade. 
    The Parade started off with smaller floats, but still carried the same intensity as the later ones.  The crowd, which was massive, cheered from the beginning to the end.  I have been to a lot of parades in my life and I have never seen a crowd or floats and participants that are happier to be there.  It was really a great experience to see the communities mesh together to celebrate such an integral part of the city of Brighton, and the country of England as a whole.  It wasn’t just a walk through the city to showcase who and what is in the community, it really was a party.  Even the mayor of the city made an appearance to support the people of his town.  His float was massive and had a lot of prominent gay people in Brighton.  I think that American cities have a lot to learn about supporting the people of their towns and country regardless of sexual orientation, or any difference for that matter, and Brighton is a great example of what can come from a community that is accepting of all people.  It brings about a lighter air to the community, and from this you get happier people, which result in a town that is as interesting and fun as Brighton was for me on this trip.

I have been lucky enough to travel to many countries in Europe and around the world in my life, but Ireland seemed to be the first time I was really shocked by a country I thought I knew so much about.  I am glad we went on a tour around the country, because it allowed me to see so much more than just the big cities of Dublin and Galway.  I found out how much space and land such a small island has and can still have so much history and tourist appeal.  With just over 5 million residents, it manages to have a robust economy and still avoid the busyness of all of the other European countries I have been to.  In Ireland, you managed to never seem crowded, even in popular spots like Galway, and it was nice to have that be the case, instead of the hectic streets of Paris or the even the pier down in Brighton.  And once you get into the country, you see why Ireland was so surprising to me.  In a country that is so popular to visit, and at the same time very small, the amount of beautiful landscapes and fields are tremendous.  In the states, we have our national parks and protected nature areas, but it was different here, because you didn’t see huge communities next to each park, you saw a small town.
It was like I was taken back in time, to a much simpler area, much more community based, with a single meeting spot like a pub, and where everyone knows everyone.  It was also interesting how Ireland follows their own ideas when it comes to culture.  Their sporting games and music are not conventional, with Gaelic football being their number one sport, followed by hurling, but anyone in any bar would teach you the ins and outs of the sport.  It just felt like you were included here, which is such a contrast from the anti-personal treatment you get in the metropolis cities like Paris or London, where you just blend in to the masses.
In Ireland, you are part of the city, the scenery, and the country.  It didn’t hurt that I have a lot of family history there, and I spent a lot of time reading up, which made me feel more connected, but with or without this family connection, it is easy to say that Ireland is by far my favorite country I have ever visited in the world.

To be honest, there have been very few nights on this trip that have lived up to my expectations of what Europe would be like, but our Thursday night in the Temple Bar of Dublin went above and beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of.  Our hostel, which was located in the Temple Bar district happened to also be located directly next to the Temple Bar, which quickly determined our location for that nights entertainment.  Upon enter this small doorway into the Temple Bar, I found myself disappointed by the size of it, being about 15 feet by 15 feet, with a single bar, something you would find in an American city like New York, but then I was quickly cheered up once I realized that this really was only acting as a foyer for the massive bar that flowed back into the building.  There were all sorts of people there singing in hundreds of languages, something that I had been hoping for this entire trip.  I wanted to see a mix of cultures different that just the Americanized versions.  I wanted to try and break through the language barrier and get real perspective on the different places around the world.
I was lucky enough to come into contact a group of French people, English people from Leeds, and Spanish, which allowed me to really get to talk to a diverse group.  I had the most fun talking to the French group because we talked about everything.  I asked what type of music they liked, what they thought of Americans, what sports they liked, everything I could.  They spoke very broken English, but that is what made it so fun.  I got to understand their perspective on America, which isn’t what most people think.  They generalize Americans as all George Bush clones, which they were happen to find out wasn’t true when talking to me, and when we became better friends they taught me all their soccer chants to sing in the bar.  I really felt like a global citizen when I was singing French songs in an Irish bar wearing an English soccer jersey, and at that moment I really started to appreciate what this trip has done for me.
That night broadened my view of the world so quickly and intensely that it was all I could think about for the next few days.  I have never felt so out of place culturally, but so at home personally in my life, and that is why these trips and experiences are so important and educational.  Sure, we learn in the class Monday through Thursday, but there is so much more to learn and take in over here, and the Temple Bar is my greatest example of what you can learn with a diverse group of people.

What a wonderful place in the world.  I’ve never really experienced a foreign amusement park, but now I can say that I have successfully survived a french one.  It was funny to see an American invention in a foreign place like this.  We went in to do some research, but instead made the decision to have the time of our lives.  I can honestly say that I’ve never been much of an amusement park person, and to go further I had never been on a roller coaster or thrill ride in my life, but I made the decision to remove that from my list.  We came into the park MGM and were quickly bombarded with the options of Krush’s Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Rockin Roller Coaster, which we were determined tackle.  So we did.  With our brilliant minds the guys all got fastpasses to Krush’s Coaster and made our way to the most intense ride of our lives…The spinning Cars ride.  Great way to start of the trip.  Although we were old than any other rider by 10 years, we certainly had the most fun, in fact we evoked a request to place our hands inside the cars in both french and english.
It was then time for the Tower of Terror.  Very rarely in my life have I felt this uncomfortable.  It is not like me to enjoy elevation changes at a rapid pace, and I suppose I just had to prove it to myself.  It did spark the rest of the day including only roller coasters and souvenir shopping.  All in all, EuroDisney was both hilarious and a let down, which sounds like a contradiction, but i suppose you’ll have to go there to really understand what I mean.

This night was by far one of the most fun so far.  Even though I had a fever and it essential broke that night, it was still a crazy experience.  Not only was I in my favorite city in the world, but I was there during their Independence Day “Bastille Day.”  It was so fun.  We had only been in France for a few days before we traveled from Reims to France to have our free day, but after our tour in Paris we were off to go experience it for ourselves.  I was appointed the guide to the hostel where we stayed, and made it there fairly easily and checked ourselves into the 3ducks Hostel.  It was my first real experience with a hostel, and it was pretty nice.  There was a courtyard that was placed in the middle of the structure and then surrounding the courtyard was our rooms, mine being a 6 bed dormer.  It was fine for conditions, a sink, a mirror, 6 beds, no sheets, and exposed piping.   Very industrial chic.  But fortunately they did have internet, which had avoided me for the past few nights, and I was now able to see if I had missed anything important on email.  I had.  Dom had emailed me his room number at the Hilton Paris, and I was expecting to hang out with him that night, his last in Paris.  I quickly got ready, and headed out to the Eiffel Tower, which was 300 feet from the Hilton Paris and went searching.
I got his room number on his facebook, and went and knocked on his door, and was greeted by Josh Peters, not Dom, but Dom quickly emerged around the corner relieving my uncomfortable feeling.  We hung out in his room, which overlooked the tower, and then got something to eat before the fireworks.  French steak is not good.  But I fought through the meal and got ready to see the show.  There was a huge show on the Champs de Mars, the lawn in front of the Tower, and we went closer to the tower to avoid that crowd.  From there, we watched it and listened to classical music while observing fireworks explode through the Eiffel Tower.  It was by far the most beautiful thing I have seen.  The fireworks where actually artful, much different from America, that shoots all the fireworks at the same time, and the music fit perfectly.  They even played my favorite opera piece, which was just icing on the cake.  So we walked back to the hotel room after the show, watched the light show from the balcony, and decided to try and make it to a club, which I never made it to, because of my fever.  I traveled through the metro on my own, and made it back to the room right around the same time the rest of the crew came back from their exciting night.  Enjoyed the night, or that remaining, and slept soundly.  We had breakfast included the next day, which was awesome, and toured the sights, Tower, Orsay, Tulleries Gardens, Concorde Plaza, and Champs Elysses.  Tough Day.

This last week has really been a crazy time.  We’ve traveled from Brighton to Reims (Champagne Capital of the World) to Paris, back to Reims, to EuroDisney, to Brussels (to eat waffles) back to Reims, back to Brighton.  During this time, fun was had.  Reims was an awesome town to be stationed in.  It was about the same size as Brighton, a little smaller, but much more pedestrian friendly.  We were staying in the middle of the shopping area, and this made it so easy to get around and see some of the stores and cafes it had to offer.  We were there for Saturday and Sunday, and then made our way to the great city of Paris.  All this time, we had no internet, or no access to FREE internet rather, which caused an issue with blogging.  On the other hand, I had very little issue spending money on other things in Paris and the rest of France, which displayed itself once I got to access my bank accounts, via internet.
The tour of Paris we had was very jumbled and oddly organized, with a three hour lunch sandwiched in the middle of the day…inside, but having been before, and knowing that i would have the following day to actually see the sights we just briefly passed.  I did however manage to lead a tour around the Louvre in just under 2 hours, still managing to see the main sights, including some I’d never seen before like Napoleon’s Apartments.  It appears that I’ve become a sort of reference point on this trip for international travel advice, in which leading tours is just one of my duties.  I don’t mind it at all, in fact, I quite enjoy it, because it enables me to see what I’d like to see, all in the name of assistance (selfish, I know).  But that ended our tour day in Paris, and in my next entry I’ll talk more about the night and day in Paris.  But needless to say, at the end of tuesday the 15th I was back in Reims.  Actually, it was around 3 PM, which was as a result of me forgetting my previously purchased tickets in Brighton when we left.  But all ended well, because Travis and I were horrible exhausted and needed to get back quickly.  I had enough time to go get food from the grocery there, get medicine for my illness (which caused the exhaustion), and sleep.  I was able to actually stay awake for 3 to 4 hours after my return to Reims, but at 7 PM I feel asleep, until morning.  Technically that’s not true, because I was waken up by the bunch coming back from the clubs at 2 AM, that entered the room through our adjoining room.  They were mad because I hadn’t gone out, which I am constantly pestering people to, when I’m healthy.  So after a brief intermission to my short coma I woke up at 10 and was ready for what the world had in store, which happened to be a Champagne House tour at Vraken Pommery.  It was sweet, but less like a wine tasting tour, and more like an art gallery.  It was sweet, but also very odd.  Almost scary.  But that day eventually came to a close at 9 PM where I slept forever again (which can’t really happen, but my exaggerations seem more dramatic) and woke for Brussels.  It was a totally necessary 3 hour bus ride to eat a waffle and see the EU for another 3 hour bus ride.  Totally worth it.  We did manage to find a local brewery though, where we decided 2 Liters of beer a piece would be a good idea.  And it was.  The following day we went to EuroDisney, and I’ll talk about that next entry.

So after three terribly uncomfortable days without Internet, and a few that had other activities planned, I am writing you for the first time in my temporary residence.  It’s been a crazy already, and increasingly difficult to sleep, seeing as I’d like to really know the town before I leave.  The plan ride was more difficult than I had expected, because although I really did want to sleep on the flight, I decided that drinking Starbucks would be a good idea.  It was not a good idea.  I was basically wired for the whole flight.  But that came and went, and we landed in Gatwick, meandered through a 30 minute immigration line and grabbed our luggage.  All 22 of us made it through with our luggage.  In fact, our entire trip had luggage, so kudos to the airlines.  Then we hopped on a train to Brighton, which had there been a language barrier I would have been on the wrong train, and arrived quickly.  Our flats aren’t much to look at, but they are comfortable for what we’re doing.  My only complaint is that there is no general “hang-out” area.  All the flats lock behind you, and no one is really comfortable with who’s in each room, so its been a bit awkward for a few days.  We went out as a group that night to dinner and for drinks, and it was a great way for every one to relax and get to know each other.  It was a fun night.
Then the morning came.  We may have had too much the fun the following day of travel, but I and the rest of us managed to make it through an awesome day.  We visited Salisbury, a smaller town, with a massive cathedral, and walked into a orchestral rehearsal that was one of the most amazing things I’d ever seen or heard.  Amazing.  It was a pretty full day of touring with an old British lady named Judy, whose walking pace was much faster than her speaking, and finally got to our Holiday Inn (ahh the comforts of home).
The following morning was Stonehenge.  After a wake up call for 5 am set through my TV, which made the loudest noise prior to rupturing ear drums, I got ready, realized I brought no warm clothes in my day bag, and boarded the bus.  It was really cool to go on the special access tour, really cool.  We were allowed almost free reign over the area, with the exception of climbing on the stones, and I got some pretty memorable photos.  This was all over by 6:45 AM, which is even more impressive if you think about it in EST.  But the tour didn’t stop there.  Nor did Judy.  We at breakfast, checked out, and moved onto Woodhenge, Avebury, and any other stone circle made at least 2000 years ago.  I passed more sheep and sheep droppings than I previously ever had, and trekked through more rain and wind than most would expected on a guided tour.  All together though, it was an amazing experience.  Stonehenge is an internationally recognized landmark, and to be able to walk inside the circle was really interesting.  But the weekend has passed, and now we’re on to class.  It’s a bit more fast paced than I would have thought, but when you take 3 credits in 4 days, things change.  I’ll be writing more this week, and plan on heading to London thursday, so you’ll hear from me shortly

Cheers,
Matt