jimbobwaay's Xanga

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 02:24:30 GMT

um, yeah....

I'm going to the Tonys on Sunday. Tee hee ;)

Red carpet, here I come.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 03:36:55 GMT

freaking snow... wintry mix, whatever.

Fuck you, groundhog.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Sat, 07 Oct 2006 18:06:18 GMT

I move to New York tomorrow. I start a job as a freelance architect with Vandeberg Architects in Manhattan (www.vandarch.com) - it's pretty nice, cause I get to earn money immediately while I get more time to look for a good fulltime architect position that fits well with me. I have an interview with Robert A.M. Stern Architects on Tuesday, so wish me luck.

Gotta find a place now too. Hm.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 03:59:50 GMT

We're back in the States! Last few days have been rough - I got sick again, this time with a little more of a flu-like sickness, so I was queasy and coughing for awhile. But we still got to accomplish most of what we wanted to do while we were in our last two destinations. After the last posting, we decided to head out to Stare Mesto, the old town, and do some sight seeing around the historical buildings. Got to see the astronomical clock on the hour which was really cute, and then do a little shopping around the main square. The one museum we wanted to check out there was unfortunately closed for renovation through September - it was the Museum of Czech Cubist Art and Architecture, which was what we were focusing on in our search for architecture earlier that morning. We also missed out on seeing the St. James Church which apparently has a shriveled up arm somewhere in it. :(

The next morning we took a trip to Kutna Hora, about 45 mins from Prague, to see the famed Kostinec i Sedlec - the "Bone Church." Pretty cool, I might say, especially the chandelier with every bone in the human body, although the whole church is pretty small. It seemed that every Czech person we met said that all of the bones were from those who died from the "plaque." Bad teeth, I guess, right?

We returned to Prague and went up to the Castle Quarter and decided to check out St. Vitus Cathedral and all the sites up there. It was real touristy so we didn't stay too long. Then we went off to residential Prague (ah, sweet relief!) and discovered some really cool houses in a neighborhood called Baba - basically, these were the Baba Villas, all designed by Czech architects.

The next morning we were off to Berlin. We arrived at Berlin's new Hauptbahnhof station - very nice, because it's definitely a sight to see. The station I think only opened earlier this year, this summer even. Walked to our hostel (LONG walk.) and then checked out some sights nearby in the Mitte - Checkpoint Charlie, Potsdamer Platz, saw the GSW Building (which we learned from arch classes), and ended the day at the Jewish Museum.

We were worn out by the end of the day, so we went back to the hostel, had a few drinks and then went to bed so that the next morning we could continue our sightseeing before our flight had to leave that night from Schoenefeld Airport. Our first stop on the last day of our trip was at the Church of Reconciliation, the site of a previous church which had been destroyed by Communists when the Berlin Wall was being built (the church was right on the wall line). We went down to Brandenburg Gate where we had a small breakfast/brunch and then checked out the Holocaust Memorial and Reichstag nearby, then were able to catch a walking tour that took us around the Third Reich sites in Berlin - got to see the Soviet War Memorial in Tiergarten, Nazi Propaganda Building, Hitler's Bunker, and Nazi Air Force building. Our tourguide was really good - he's a native New Zealander who moved to Germany, getting a masters in history at the local university, Humboldt Univ in Berlin, specializing in 20th Century German History. Almost too good, his tour was very thorough, and we got a LOT of history of the place. We had to duck out early in order to catch our train to the airport, but I'm sure the end of the tour would've been great. Strangely enough, I have to mention, we barely saw any Asian tourists in Berlin, but they were all over the place everywhere else we went (well, except for Ljubljana... but that was because it's so not touristy yet, thank god.)

Anyways, last night, we arrived in London's Stansted Airport and stood in line for more than an hour to get through passport control. Got our bags (which had been going around the carousel for a while), and then went around and staked claim to the floor along with many others. It was a night of muchly interrupted sleep - I think my head was rolled over by luggage carts and children at 6AM - but it was free nonetheless, and we didn't have to go through London's expensiveness again. We proceeded directly to Central London the next morning to catch the metro to Heathrow - and after a long 8 hour flight, we're back home. Jetlagged more than ever. It's like midnight here, but really like 7AM for us the past month.

Thanks to all of you for keeping up on our entries, and hoped you had fun reading about our trip as we had experiencing it all! I promise to have pictures up soon, once i get back to Wichita next Wednesday! Gotta go to bed now, I suppose.... As we finally say in the good old US of A....

GOOD NIGHT!

-Jim and Mary

Czech it out.

Sat, 19 Aug 2006 12:46:53 GMT

Last night, we got into Prague around 11:30, taking a bus from Brno. It was an interesting experience... nobody spoke English except for the young woman who was sitting in front of us, and she happened to be from Kutna Hora, a city about an hour away from Prague where we will be making a day trip to. In any case, the 2.5 hour drive up was fun - the bus trip cost Mary and I 110 Kc each, which is about $5.50. Included in that was a newspaper/magazine for you to keep, a drink (cappuccino, tea, hot chocolate, water), and a movie during the trip (My Big Fat Greek Wedding... also in Czech). Quite a bargain, if you ask me.

This morning we woke up and walked around the Nove Mesto area of the city. Armed with our 20th Century Architecture in Prague guidebook, we barrelled through about 10 buildings in about 4 hours. Pretty nice, right? And that also included a pretty hearty Czech lunch at a local pub/"restaurace" So, right now, Mary's taking a quick nap, and I'm here updating the site. We've got 3 nights in Prague, so we'll spread out our time here pretty nicely. Then we head to Berlin for a night, and then head back to London to get on our flight home to the States. Gotta go now, another hostel guest wants on the computer. Na shledanou!

Dobry den from Brno!

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 06:02:23 GMT

Hi all, Mary and I are now writing from the Czech Republic! We are in the city of Brno, the second largest city in population in the country. It's a very cute little city, with practically no tourists at all. We came in from Budapest crossing through Slovakia before we reached here. It took a little bit of cunning thinking in order for us to actually reach here, but we're here!!

When we got up (albeit a bit later than expected), we decided to head off to visit the Budapest Great Synagogue, which is the second largest in the world, after New York's. There was a monument there to Raoul Wallenberg, who is of special interest to Mary, as the money she had won to specifically go on this trip was because of the scholarship at U of M that bears his name. Went to the supermarket, got some paprika and more wine, and then left for the train station. We arrived yesterday at the Budapest train station Keleti palyaudvar about half an hour before our train (not so good idea when you still have to get tickets) - and planned on getting in line. Too bad the line stretched out the door and there was maybe... maybe a 2 hour waiting time. So we decided, whatever, we'll jump on the train, use our Eurailpass (which on this trip would only be valid for the first 20 minutes or so that took place in Hungary), and then see if we could buy ticket segments as the train rolled into the next country. It actually worked, well sort of... crossed into Slovakia, and we needed to pay the conductor 14 euros each to use the railways from border to border within Slovakia. Only accepted Euros or Slovakian Koruna. Between the two of us, we had like.. 20 euros, but with some extra salvaging (and really bad exchange rates from the bartender in the bar car), we were able to cover both of our trips. We decided to get off at the border on the Czech side in Breclav, and try to get a ticket to Brno from there.

Got to Breclav, and went to the ticket booth, asked for a 2 tickets to Brno on 2nd class. Apparently, within the CZ, if you buy more than one ticket (at "group" rates), it's much cheaper - like, basically you're buying one ticket full price, the second half off. We payed a total of 96 Kc for our Breclav-Brno ticket altogether, about less than $5. Pretty nifty.

So, we arrived in Brno last night, proceeded to our hostel. Another different type of place - this time, this hostel is a school during the year, a hostel only during the summer months. It's pretty slipshod, not very many amenities at all and for sleeping arrangements, we have rickety beds with barely any mattress and no pillows. Luckily we're only here for a night.... and i mean, it's 290 Kc, like less than $10, so what can you do, right?

Today we'll venture out into the city, check out Vila Tugendhat, another building by the great Mies van der Rohe. We'll see what else the city has in store for us... and then we leave for Prague later in the day!

Na shledanou, J&M

Segwaaaay

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 23:49:37 GMT

Today we woke up to a really nice morning in Budapest. Left the hostel around 9ish, and went to the offices of the City Segway Tours company here to see if we could get in on doing a tour of Budapest on those nifty little segway scooters. Got reservations for the evening ride at 6:30, so then we continued on to see more of the city. The hostel is right behind the Hungarian State Opera House, which is really quite beautiful. Walked up Andrassy ut, one of the main boulevards in Pest (Budapest is split into two sides - Buda and Pest, separated by the Danube), and had some brunch at a really cute cafe in Liszt Ferenc ter (aka Franz Liszt Square, for those music buffs out there). Afterwards, continued on to the House of Terror Museum, which was quite informative, talking about the Soviet and Nazi occupation of Hungary during WWI, WWII and afterwards. Nice museum, used the English audio tour which was more than informative, so we tended to skip some things that were just too boring to listen to.

We then decided to check out Lehel ter, which is one of Budapests markets, but not the main one - we went to this one because the market was designed very modernly by a Hungarian architect. It's actually quite a sight to behold; very modern, and doesn't quite fit in to the surroundings. We got some pretty nice (and cheap!) alcohol here to bring back to the states: Unicum, a liqeur very similar to Jaegermeister; and Tokaji edes, a very sweet white dessert wine from the Lake Balaton region of Hungary. We then decided to continue to see the city by heading to the Szechenyi Furdo, the baths that are located here in Pest in the Varosliget (City Park). The baths were pretty nice and refreshing - entertaining for awhile because there were some fun whirlpool areas we just swam in for awhile, but also a lot like a breeding ground for all sorts of mildew and bacteria. We only stayed for about an hour and a half, so then we took the metro down to Vorosmarty ter, near the pedestrian walk of Vaci utca. Did a LOT of shopping for souvenirs back home - well not necessarily a lot, they were just kinda expensive, but definitely gorgeous handmade Hungarian fabrics. We got done a little late and then hauled ass to get back to the segway offices to do our tour.

The Segway tour was quite fun. It's really not that hard to use. It's got a couple different speed settings, and we were well on our way to speeding down the riverside at around 8 mph when the tour got underway. Got to see a lot of Budapest during the time, and had a lot of fun getting around using the segway. We returned back to the offices to return the machines, and then went for dinner at a nice Hungarian restaurant, and are now back at the hostel socializing and drinking with the other hostel guests. Lots of Egeszegedre! (Magyar for to your health!)

Tomorrow, we continue seeing a few more sites in Budapest, perhaps even on the Buda side.. and then we're off to Brno!

Hello! (as they say goodbye in Budapest, lol!)

-J&M

I'm a little Hungary.

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 19:14:43 GMT

Frankly, Vienna sucked. It was a bust. We woke up this morning after having quite a night out figuring out how Viennese nightlife would be. Met with our new Australian friends Beatrix and Ramya, and decided to follow the hostel receptionists' advice by going to a set of clubs that was near the metro station at Nussdorfer Platz. They were supposed to be free, but alas, only one of them really was. Several of them were kinda shady; the one we actually walked into was pretty stupid, and it was almost Coyote-Ugly like in its atmosphere. So we went to this one club called "Bow 4," or what appeared to be "Bowl" - basically, we couldn't figure out the name of the place since the neon was unreadable. Walked in and were told it was 5 euros entry, but we got a free shot since it was "Asian Special" night. Uh... yeah. So we left, decided to make a night of it at the Wombar at our hostel. And yet another fun night was to be had, with the makeshift dance club made downstairs. :)

So today we woke up and decided to check out a little of Vienna. Went to the one modern building that the guidebooks mentioned and it really wasn't even worth seeing. The Hundertwasserhaus, clear on the east side of the city is a set of apartment buildings which people are living in which has turned into a great big tourist spot. I feel sorry for the people who have to live with the constant flashbulbs and mobs of people around their living spaces. Went back to the area around the Westbahnhof to wait it out before our train to Budapest.

Train ride was 2.5, 3 hours to Budapest. Already we were seeing a big difference. This city is huge, but so much different than any others we've seen. There is such a great uniqueness in the diversity of architecture that exists here in this city. We were considering going to the big music festival called Sziget, tonight, but opted not to after we grew tired from our heavy Hungarian dinner. Had the goulash soup - it's really different and much better compared to its American counterpart. Lots of paprika in all the dishes, so everythings a tiny bit spicy. Bottled water here in Hungary tastes a little weird. You ask for no-gas, but it still has alittle bit of fizzy taste in it... oh well, right? Tomorrow, we will try to book a Segway tour around the city, and then head to the Szechenyi Baths to relax. More soon.

Szia,
Jim and Mary

Do a little waltz

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 19:58:32 GMT

Writing from Vienna now! Last night we arrived in Vienna and found our hostel pretty easily. We´re staying at the Wombats City Hostel - The Lounge, real close to Westbanhof, one of two major Vienna train stations. Unfortunately, we don´t use that station until tomorrow when we leave for Budapest. Last night, after checking in, we went to the hostel bar and had a pretty fun time. Met a couple of girls from Australia - Ramya and Beatrix (I think that was what their names were... the music was really loud in the bar), and tonight them, Mary, and I, and a couple of their friends that are with them are going to check out a Viennese club. We´ll see how it is, compared to the two others weve already tried out.

Vienna is different and the same than a lot of the places weve been to. More or less like some of the other pretty cosmopolitan cities like Paris or London, but also has a different attitude. I dont know if I should call it "stiffer" but its a little more haughty to say the least. So this morning we actually skipped out on seeing Vienna, and decided to go see some more modern stuff and went to Graz, a city 2 1/2 hours south of here, which was actually a stop we passed on the way up from Ljubljana. There, we saw what is probably Austria´s most interesting attraction... probably Europe´s most "interesting" building... the Kunsthaus Graz. Basically, the buílding is shaped like a giant blue stomach. Unfortunately it was closed, but we still go to go into the cafe inside the museum (its a modern art museum, go figure), and eat there. We also visited the Aiola Island, a structure in the middle of the Mur River that was designed by Vito Acconci, an architect who spoke at Michigan this past year. Its got a really ingenious playground, and some nifty architecture. We returned to Vienna and are getting ready for a night out. Tomorrow we´ll try to see a couple things before we head out to Budapest.

I´m tired of speaking German... or hearing it, we had about enough of only-German speakers in Switzerland. Anyways, I´m out. See ya in Budapest!

Auf wiedersehen... J&M

last entry from Ljubljana

Sun, 13 Aug 2006 12:04:58 GMT

Free internet at the hostel, go figure. So we woke up today late after going to the club, Global last night. Pretty fun night. Met this one guy who had helped us find the way to the hostel, named Mike - for those architecture people reading this, he was literally the Slovenian version of our own Josh Smith. There was also this one girl we saw on the way up, looked a lot like the actress Toni Collette except that she had the worst color foundation on her face. It was olive green, more like the color of something you'd see on a witch, haha. In any case, fun night to be had. Mary got to dance with a guy in a wheelchair and then some creepy guy who had the worst dance moves i've seen on the planet. Hah!

This morning, we slept in... woke up around 9:45ish. Went to Tivoli Park, about a 15-20 min walk from our hostel and just enjoyed the scenery. As we were leaving we spotted a museum that had an architecture exhibit for ˝Socialism in Slovenian Architecture.˝ Unfortunately it was all in Slovenian, haha. But the accompanying Modern Art exhibit of Slovenian artists was pretty nice. We actually ran into Ula (from the train) again - Ljubljana is really a small city, so we tended to run into some of the same people more than a couple times. Strolled back to the hostel where we are picking up our luggage, having a few drinks at the hostel bar before we board our six hour(!?) train ride to Vienna, which arrives at 10PM tonight. Leaving in less than an hour, so na svidenje to y'all!