France and New Years! Not together unfortunately

New Years:

It was a fun time that's for sure. Lot's of food to be had. It was during this time that I made some presents for my girlfriend because I was left to enjoy New Years without her. Sad but true. I will be giving those gifts at a later date.

As for pictures I have a few not too much but just enough to give you an idea of what went down.








France:

France was one of the best experiences in my life. I would have to say that it was indeed the best semester in my entire career at school. Well my last one was pretty amazing for other reasons but back to France! I studied in the city of Rennes, where I went to the highly exclusive ESC Rennes School of Commerce. I say highly exclusive because besides having a test to get in you have to work for 1 year before even considering to apply. Well that was then, now students are able to go right after High School. But enough about the logistics, let's get to the fun part.

The international students became a family. After having spent a crazy weekend with the French students, we became closer and more appreciative of cloths. And I will say no more on that matter. But if you ask nicely and in private, I will tell you a tale of yonder and such.

The city of Rennes is big. Not New York City big, or Paris Big, but big enough that I had to get up at 6 am to get to school for my 8 am. The transportation system is great so that was helpful. I would wake up and take the 6:30 bus down to the city center. I had 2 options from there.
Option 1. I could take the metro to a closer stop and then hope on another bus to get dropped off at school.
Option 2. I could take another bus and avoid the metro completely and that would drop me off at the same point. Just takes a little longer.

I switched it up every now and then so there wasn't 1 select route I took. Roughly though it took me 45 minutes to get to school.

That's more of the boring part. Here are the highlights w/ pictures of course.

Le Metropolitain! Best Kebab place in Rennes. Don't know what a kebab is? I have a picture for your learning pleasure. This was the haven, sanctuary if you will of all the guys I was with. My Canadian friend and I being the was who took part in it quite a bit.



Plaza St. Anne- Where I would go to take the metro. During one of the options I mentioned before, as well as the meeting place for many of us.


There was a levy there which didn't really get too much attention but I enjoyed the occasional walk down it.



Kenland the first bar and usual bar of choice for us internationals.


Star metropole- The transit authority I guess you can say of Rennes. Silly they have a circle for a logo.


Rue St. Michele- Aka Drunkards way. Solely because it was home to a large amount of bars.



Plaza de Bretagne- The meeting point for the open bar parties our school threw through out the semester.


A funny sign my friend found on the way to school.


The Irish pub which has only English speaking patrons. Funny too in a French City.


The Christmas Market: You could find some good foods and treats here.


and Republique, the local post office and the very center of town.


Hope you enjoyed. Leave some comments if you have any.

Recent happenings w/ Pic's

I took a trip to VT this past week and as it turns out it didn't go the way I planned but what can you do. Nothing really, just take it with a grain of salt. But that's not the point of this blog entry. It's the things I learned from this tragic event that I do want to point out. Although things are still "in the works" I hope for a positive outcome. Memories can't be forgotten so either they stay where they are or more are added. I myself prefer making more! That will be all I say on this matter but to continue, here are my learning numbers.

1st. When your down on your luck, friends will always be there. And I realized I have a great group of friends in VT. I plan on visiting them in the coming weeks once again. Thank you Lisa, Julie, Rachael.

2nd. I have too much time on my hands not to help others out. I may have my own problems to figure out but mine have time to get fixed. I can't dwell on things or it will overwhelm me. I just want be able to stay motivated to go out and look for the job opportunity that I desperately need. SO. I have recently become a volunteer at a Home for the elderly here in Greenwich, CT. Nathaniel Witherell to be exact. I volunteered there when I was in high school and loved the experience. Not to mention being able to interact with different characters. I have been appointed to the position of transportation in the area of Physical Therapy. Something I can relate to because I've gone to PT twice in my life already. Long story short. I was a not so big kid playing the position of someone who should of be at least 50 more pounds then me. So shoulders got a little destroyed. I was introduced around to the PT crew and shown the way around once again. I will not be talking about much that happens there because "what happens at Witherell, stay at Witherell" according to my supervisor.I begin the 21st and look forward to providing some joy to anyone who could use it.

3rd. I have been signed up with my brother and his Girl-Friend to run the Jersey Shore Marathon. This would be the first time I've ever entered in one of these events but it has been on my to do list for a while now. That good ol' bucket list I have not yet done. I have a new spirit right now, sort of a determination that can't be broken so as for training, I have already begun. Should anyone read this and have some insight as to how you train, please feel free to comment or contact me. My training will consist of running at least 2 miles a day, and slowly progress and push my way up until I am doing 10 a day. Then I will push myself to completing 18 every 3 days.

4th. I am going to be building my dad a website for his company. Yeah, it's time my pops joins the online revolution! On top of that. I will be using my knowledge of SEO, keyword development, organic search, etc. to centralize his business in the greater Greenwich, CT Area. Go me!

6th. And last but not least, I went to Florida around Dec. 15th. Let's just say that it wasn't as warm as I expected. Sitting by the beach drinking a daiquiri I got the shivers. I didn't expect it to be this chilly because I was at Key Largo, the intro key to the Florida Keys. Yeah the trip was by road and it took 24 hours to get there but it was accomplished with a 24 foot Penske truck, which was governed at 75... but not limited at 75 ;). Yeah, I got that baby up to 77. My co driver beat me and got it to 78. As for pictures, I didn't take many for either of the trips but the ones I did are to follow this sentence. So enjoy. I meant this sentence.

The Golf Course - Managed to get a few holes in now that I am a "golfer". Quotes because I just started this past summer.
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4. Pimpin.


5.Road to paradise


6. May look nice but it was cold.

Destination Ireland.

i went to visit my lovely girlfriend in Dublin for about 12 days. During the course of the stay, I managed to get out and do a lot of touristy things such as visit the Guiness Storehouse, the old Jameson distillery, the Gaol, and bridges in Dublin over the levi. Here are the pictures I liked:
Guiness Storehouse (Brewery):
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Jameson Distillery:
1.Expensive bottle thats for sure. Price is next picture.


2.Yeah. That's what I thought too.


3.Would of been perfect had that thing been out of the way top right.


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Bray - Weekend trip with the GF
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9.Yeah, she's amazing. I'm a lucky guy.


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Random
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2.I found this funny. I don't know my humor.


3.I found this odd.


4.I found this amusing.


5.For the birds.


6.Seriously. She's fun. Don't be deceived by the seriousness!


The Levy and its bridges.
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4.I don't know why it's there but it's an old school boat, which draws a great amount of attention.


5.Candid shot. Only way she will let me take her picture is when she doesn't expect it.


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7.Oh yeah, and a church. Lot of those in Ireland. That's for sure.


8.You want to avoid this place. Superior court of sorts.


9.Crossing the levy


The Gaol! aka Jail.
1.Old school grudges.


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3.A little montage.


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6.Montage over.


7.Can't have one with out the other.


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10.Yeah, I was a tourist on a tour. What of it?


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17.I was being naughty and didn't stay with the group.


18.Scary movie jail cell scene? Yeah I agree.


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20.Here is where executions were carried out. A little story to go with this. The group of 12 or so gunman would fire at the condemned. But only 11 would have a working bullet. 1 Would be firing a blank so as to be able to say that their bullet was the one that was blank and they didn't have to carry the burden of killing someone.


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This was my Ireland Adventure. I hope to return one day and experience a little more but who knows what the future is in store. Hope you enjoyed.