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| New post:
www.stevartvorld.wordpress.com
It'll probably be in the Shield. So if you know what that is, you should read it there instead. | | |
| So tomorrow I go to the Mauthausen concentration camp with the group. Then Monday morning Danelle, Zak, Lydia, and I leave for our 14-day trip. The itinerary of our trip is as follows:
Monday: Train to Salzburg where I will probably stroll the town because I don't have much interest in the Sound of Music tour. I've never actually seen the movie, so it means nothing to me.
Tuesday: Train to Munich where we'll spend the day hanging out with Zak's classically German friend Stefan. Tuesday night we'll be sleeping on the train to Paris.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday: Paris-Tour d'Eiffel, Versailles, Le Louvre, Champs-Elysees, etc.
Saturday afternoon train to Barcelona for Sunday and Monday: Dali Museum, Picasso Museum, Beaches, Spain-li-ness
Monday: Train to Avignon until Wednesday
Wednesday: Train to Marseilles
Friday: Train to Geneva where I just made reservations for the four of us to go paragliding in the Alps. I repeat, PARAGLIDING IN THE ALPS.
Sunday: Back to the Schloss for group church at 8. | | |
| You can find me here having European adventures:
www.stevartvorld.wordpress.com
Also here:
http://photos.rc.edu/gallery/3130079#186435958
You can also leave comments. Without even having an account. Impressive, I know. | | |
| My best friend is moving to Texas tomorrow, and I'm not there to say goodbye. Everyone is partaking in last minute Naomi activities except pour moi. I am not okay.
On another note, here is a highlight of my four day camping trip in the Seneca Backcountry. Saturday and Sunday nights were the Perseids meteor shower, so we all went up to Spruce Knob (the highest point in West Virginia) both nights to lay down on our sleeping bags on the observation tower to watch the shooting stars and satellites. The first night was not the peak of the showers, so we were alone up there. We, naturally, talked and joked the whole time. The tower was amazing to watch a meteor shower. I'd never been up there at night. The stars are nearly as bright at home, but there you can see the entire horizon. You don't really see the fence around the tower, so it really seems like its just you and the entire night sky. More than anywhere I've seen, you can really perceive depth to the stars, not just expanse.
So anyway, Sunday night we went up there around 11. We got to the top of the tower and there were a man and a woman there laying on the deck, wrapped up with sleeping bags, on an air mattress. That's not weird-we all had our sleeping bags and pillows (might as well be comfortable if you're going to lay on concrete to watch the sky for an hour or two). But, she shined her flashlight in every single person's face as we walked up. THEN, as we were settling in and talking, she says in her gristled-scary-lady-smoker-voice, "I hope you guys aren't going to sit here and scream all night. You need to respect people's privacy." WHAT? EXCUSE ME? Sarcastic comments (such as my own, "Oh, I'm sorry-I didn't realize that the national parks service issued a decree that this national park observation tower is now private rental space...") came to each and every person's mind, but I was very proud of the kids for restraining themselves. Julie very politely said, "Oh, I'm sorry. It just takes us a minute to get settled in. We'll be quiet." An awkward silence ensured until we gradually started whispering. But seriously, what makes you think, LADY, that you have the right to claim ownership on any level of a piece of property on which we all pay taxes? She probably wasn't even from West Virginia...And what makes you think that, if you choose to sleep on public space, you have the right to complain about the conditions? Go find one of the several free camp sites around the area. Sleep in the grass. I don't care, just don't yell at me. And next time I decide to take a nap at your Billy Ray Cyrus reunion tour, please keep it down, will you?
BUT after that happened and we all had a furious rant session on the hike back to the parking lot, something great happened. We met these two old men in the parking lot who were obvious astronerds. They had a MASSIVE telescope, and they positioned it on Andromeda and let every one of us look at it, making sure after every person looked that it was still positioned correctly. Then they moved it so we could all see the Ring Nebula. They had a night vision monacle that we all looked through, and they used this awesome pointer that pointed clear into the sky to show us things. It was the most interesting astronomy lesson I've ever had because these guys were so enthusiastic about it and excited to share it with us.
On Sunday night alone we saw 50-70 meteors. I didn't bother to count, but that's an average. Jake and Carly saw in the 50s. Gina saw in the upper 70s. It was great, even with the crazy lady. | | |
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