Twenty-One

Day Eighty-Four

2009-06-07T10:10:00.002-03:00

Paris, France

On the first Sunday of every month the Pompidou Centre and the Louvre are free to visit, so we today we went to both. The Pompidou Centre is a fantastic modern art museum that was filled with great films and interesting photos and paintings. The Lovre on the other hand was far too overwhelming. There were thousands of different paintings, statues, and artifacts, but very few of them were exciting. It's weird seeing things like the Mona Lisa after seeing them in movies for years. It's not like I had high expectations for it or anything, but it just wasn't that impressive.

Tomorrow we start our trek back to the UK so we can catch a plane back to Canada. We are going to be in the airport foreverrrrr.

Pat

Day Eighty-Three

2009-06-06T10:10:00.003-03:00

Paris, France

Today we walked across town to the Catacombs. The bones of thousands of people line the tunnels. They were all moved here from different graveyards around Paris. It was pretty eerie, but it was worth the long wait. Afterward we got some fastfood pasta and some creme brulé. We took it easy for the rest of the night and sat around watching some TV.

Pat

Day Eighty-Two

2009-06-05T10:09:00.003-03:00

Paris, France

Today we adventured to the Eiffel Tower again, except this time we did it during the day. We climbed up to the second level and decided that we couldn't be bothered going to the top. I really wanted to, but no one else wanted to wait, so we climbed down and moved on. We spent the rest of the day walking around and shopping. We went to Galeries Lafayette which was quite astounding, though I didn't find anything worth buying.

Pat

Day Eighty-One

2009-06-04T10:09:00.004-03:00

Paris, France

Today we explored, then we got drunk.

Paris is a great city: it's very clean, there are tons of things to do, and the people seem cool. I find the language more difficult than the language in any other country, which is weird because I was in french immersion from grade 7-11. I think it's that people don't speak nearly as much English as any other country we've been to. It's making me want to start learning French again though, which is good.

Today we took the metro to the Tuilerie Garden for a picnic, its right beside the Lovre so we went and walked around outside of there too. It is free on the first Sunday of the month, so we may come back on Sunday to see the Mona Lisa and whatnot. After walking around by the Louvre we headed up Champs Elysees, finishing at the Arc de Triomphe.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out in our room drinking and telling funny stories. The people at the front desk are starting to get suspicious about how many people are in our room. eek.

-Pat

Day Eighty

2009-06-03T10:08:00.003-03:00

Paris, France

Today I saw the Eiffel Tower.

After arriving in Paris we quickly located our hotel and checked in. We are fooling them into thinking we are three and not four. Hopefully we can pull it off this one last time. The place is super nice, but the only downside is that there is no wifi and internet access is crazy expensive. Something like 8 euro for half an hour. Bogus. The bathroom is incredible though, and it more than makes up for the lack of internet.

After getting situated we got pizza hut and some alcohol and went back to our hotel room. We drank a bit and then made our way towards the Eiffel Tower. By this time it was dark and it was all lit up. It looked incredible. I have seen so many pictures, but it is far more impressive up close. We are going to come back in a few days and go up to the top.

-Pat

ps My ipod has been broken for a couple weeks and I am going insane. I keep getting ridiculous songs like the Pippy Longstocking theme song stuck in my head.

Day Seventy-Nine

2009-06-02T10:08:00.002-03:00

Nice, France

Today we went to the beach.

I never realized how awesome beaches were until we went to one today. Even coming from PEI, an Island surrounded by beaches didn't prepare me for how enjoyable the water would be or how relaxing lying on the rocks would be.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out and eating food, the way a vacation should be.

-Pat

Day Seventy-Eight

2009-06-01T10:07:00.002-03:00

Nice, France

Today we skipped stones.

I was sad to leave Cinque Terre, and Italy too, but it would have been hard to pick a better place to visit next. Nice is great so far. Its definitely a cool place to have a vacation from our vacation. The beach is entirely made of smooth rounded rocks, so I am not sure how great it will be to lie on, but that is all we have planned for tomorrow. I can't wait.

-Pat

Day Seventy-Seven

2009-05-31T10:07:00.002-03:00

Cinque Terre, Italy

Today I ate the best pizza of my life.

Holy moly, that is all I can think. Cinque Terre is absolutely stunning. The view is unexplainable, the only way to experience it is to come here yourself. This place raises far too many questions for me. The main one being why. Why would you build five villages on the side of a mountain above the Mediterranean Sea? Laura says they built it here because of the great view, but as adorable as that is, it doesn't really answer my question. I am beyond amazed by this place. We were a little hesitant to pay the 5euro to use the walking path, but I am very glad we did. It was great.

We also met an awesome couple who were staying in the same room as us in our hostel. They were from Minnesota and had just gotten engaged a couple hours before we met them. Their names are Jenny and Nate and we are hopefully going to be able to meet up with them in Paris next week. They are really friendly and are also pretty familiar with Canada. They said they have a saying for whenever things get rough in the states, "We're moving to Canada". I'd welcome them.

-Pat

Day Seventy-Six

2009-05-30T10:07:00.002-03:00

Rome, Italy

Today we visited the Ancient City and met up with Mitch.

We met up with Mitch around 2:00pm at the metro by his hostel. It was nice to see him again, it's been weeks since we were at his place in oxford, even though it feels like yesterday. We spent the day walking around the ancient ruins and touring around the Colosseum. The Colosseum was unreal, but the rest of the ruins were kinda unimpressive. I find the giant structures to be cool as hell, but I also find it hard to relate to ancient history. Zac loves it because he studied it in school, but I find it rather boring. I think that's why I liked Berlin so much. Its history is fairly recent in comparison.

Afterward we went to a Chinese restaurant and were very close to going to an icebar after that, but we were all tired and were ready for bed.

I came to Rome with few expectations and it has really impressed me. The place is so old and famous. There always seems to be something exciting going on as well. We may have just missed the giant soccer tournament by a day, but we did manage to be in the middle of a giant G8 protest. Oi oi oi!

Tomorrow we are going to Cinque Terre, I just realized how long I have been pronouncing that wrong for.

-Pat

Day Seventy-Five

2009-05-29T10:06:00.002-03:00

Rome, Italy

Today we hung out with the Pope.

Not really, but we did go check out where he lives. We got to Vatican City around noon and got in line for the Vatican. There were dozens of tourguides promising the opportunity to skip ahead of the 3 hour line up for a small fee, luckily I had just gotten an email from my mom telling me that the line moves incredibly fast and not to pay attention to any of those people. not that i would have anyway, they were fun to egg on though. We ended up waiting in line for less than 20 minutes and probably stayed inside for about half an hour. It wasn't mind blowing, but it was cool to be at the center of the dominating religion of the world.

We spent the rest of the day walking around what we thought was going to be a park, but ended up being a giant hill with a view of the city. It was a good surprise, but my feet have never hurt more in my life.

-Pat

Day Seventy-Four

2009-05-28T10:06:00.002-03:00

Rome, Italy

Today we went to Rome.

It may have taken four hours of walking around to find our hostel, and we may have almost gotten raped/kidnapped/murdered in the process, but so far so good. Our hostel is located right next to the Olympic Stadium, which happend to host the champions league finals last night. Everything is still setup there, so it feels like a weird sporty graveyard. We ended up rounding up a bunch of leftover water bottles from the place and taking them back to our hostel. Free water is amazing, especially in this heat.

-Pat

Day Seventy-Three

2009-05-27T10:05:00.004-03:00

Florence, Italy

Today we went to a GIANT toystore.

It wasn't large in a Toy's r Us kinda way, but more in a huge whippersnappers kind of way. One huge floor of every toy you could imagine. They had an entire room dedicated to Lego.

After that we went to a Serial Killer museum. I didn't want to go, but I figured I wouldn't be the stick in the mud and bought a ticket. It sucked, but there were a few laughs, so it was worth it in the end.

Oh yeah, we saw Michelangelo's David too, that was cool. He is a lot taller than I had imagined.

Florence is a nice place. I can definitely see myself coming back here someday, I really want to go back to that restaurant we went to when we got here. mmmmm.

Tomorrow we are off to Rome!

-Pat

Day Seventy-Two

2009-05-26T10:05:00.003-03:00

Florence, Italy

Today we ate gelato and went to a giant cathedral.

I also came to the realization that I don't really like traveling with people. No offense to these guys, they are a lot of fun to be around, but traveling in such a big group is difficult. We are all pretty similar in taste, and we all get along, but we are not as like minded as I thought we would be on this trip. We (mainly Zac and I) are always arguing over simple things like directions and it takes us forever to get anywhere. I do walk fast, I admit that, but it shouldn't take us so long to walk down a street. If I were traveling by myself I could see so much more. I also find that traveling in a big group is intimidating to other travelers. The only time that I ever get to talk to people around our hostels is when I veer off from the group. Tonight, for instance, I had a sweet conversation about traveling with a guy named Cliff from Australia and two Danish girls. Never would have happened if I didn't go off by myself.

Traveling with them is definitely an incredible experience, there really isn't that much I would change. They are hilarious to be around and there is rarely a dull moment, it's just so inefficient and tiring. I'm conflicted because I feel like I'm missing out on so much, but I know if I hadn't gone with them there is so much I wouldn't have seen or done. I never would have met that couple in The Netherlands, and I never would have gotten that tour from Andrew for example.

To sum up: this trip so far has ruled, but I'd never do it again with so many people.

Anyway!We went to see the Duomo today. It's a GIANT cathedral in the center of town, it was pretty breathtaking, and it was freeeeee. The line was pretty big, but we entertained ourselves by trying to make the street vendors think that Elisha really wanted to buy something from them. hehehe.

-Pat

Day Seventy-One

2009-05-25T10:05:00.006-03:00

Florence, Italy

Today Jillian decided to go home :( :(

This morning we got on a train headed to Florence. We neglected to get a reservation for two reasons. 1) We have ballin' Eurail passes, and 2) because we were so used to the German rail system and its fast free (for Eurail holders) trains. Turns out this was a bad idea because you need to get a reservation (they aren't too expensive) for highspeed trains here. Luckily the conductor was pretty nice about it and just kicked us off at the next stop instead of making us pay. This stop turned out to be Bologna, the city where Sarah lived for a semester. It was warm and all we could really do was sit and wait for the next train. The heat was obviously taking its tole on Jillian, and while we were waiting she decided to call her dad and ask for help getting home. He told her to go to the next travel agent we saw and get them to set up a plane home. :( It was pretty sad to hear, but she really isn't feeling well and she will be much happier/healthier in PEI.

The train from Bologna to Florence was slow and extremely warm, but it was breath taking. It was through some sort of national park. There were mountains and valleys, trees and tunnels. Very cool, figuratively speaking of course, because it was so warm, even the breeze was warm.

Tonight we didn't do much other than gt supper and find out where we were staying.
We ate supper at a sweet restaurant down the street from our hostel. It was run by an older couple and it was run semi-under the table so that they didn't have to pay taxes. This meant we had to sign a waiver though, which was alright because it was only 10 euro for an amazing three course meal. There was bread, water, caprese salad, pasta, and delicious chickpeas. The man who ran it called me Mr. Bubbly because I was the only one who got carbonated water at the table haha.

Tomorrow Jillian leaves for home, and we go in search of whatever makes this city cool.

-Pat

Day Seventy

2009-05-24T10:04:00.003-03:00

Venice, Italy

Today we switched countries and swindled another hotel.

After an exhausting overnight ride from Germany we have finally arrived in Venice. We got here shortly after 6:00am and it was already hot as hell. We aren't used to this kind of weather. It is so hot that if I want to clean my glasses I can't breathe on them to fog them up. No condensation appears. Useless, I have resorted to licking them or running them under taps.

We have managed to convince another hotel that there are far fewer people staying in our room than there actually is. Part of me feels guilty, but at the same time I feel very little remorse, because we are poor and we aren't inconveniencing them in the slightest.

After finding a hotel, we got cleaned up and set out to explore a bit of the city. We walked down confusing alley ways and over many canals until we got to St Marco Square. It was a pretty beautiful place, but it was super hot and there were thousands of tourists around, so we ducked out of there pretty fast and made our way back to our hotel.

The heat is taking its tole on Jill. She is really tired and seems to be dizzy all the time. Hoping she gets better soon.

-Pat

Day Sixty-Nine

2009-05-23T10:04:00.004-03:00

Between Germany and Italy

Today we traveled... a lot.

We headed south from Berlin around 11:00am by train and arrived in Munich around 5:00pm. We had a few hours to spare, so we got some good ol'Subway (they have a "veggie-pattie" here. It is delicious) and ate it in a park near the train station. Afterward I went for a walk downtown by myself. I figured I may as well explore a bit while I'm there. The walk was nice, it seems like a very happening city. There were a lot of street entertainers and soooo many dressed in football jerseys.

When you are traveling with a large group you really start to value your alone time. Not to say that being with the group isn't fun, its just that adventuring around and being in complete control of where you go is liberating and very refreshing.

Before we got on the train for Venice we were hanging out in the trainstation amidst hundreds of people wearing red football jerseys, tons of police officers and riot squads dressed to the nines. I will never get tired of European's dedication to all things soccer. Its hard to believe there is that much tension over a sports game.

Time to try and fall asleep on this train, I can already tell that I am not going to be a fan of the overnight ones.

-Pat

Day Sixty-Eight

2009-05-22T10:03:00.002-03:00

Berlin, Germany

Today we visited Jill in the hospital.

Our original plan was to go to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp north of Berlin, but we threw those plans away once Jill went to the hospital. Making sure she was alive was much more important. We had no idea which hospital she went to though, so we set out to track her down. Luckily she called to let us know where she was and how she was doing.

She was at a hospital near by so we took the metro over to see her. The hospital was a bit of a maze, and none of the nurses spoke English, but we did manage to find her. We were helped by the hilarious whale sticker that was conveniently placed outside her door. She told us all about her night at the hospital (she watched an old man pee in the hallway) and we laughed about the creepy old German lady that she was sharing a room with. It was good to see her and to see that she was alright. We could finally report back to her dad that she was alive and well. Hopefully she will make a full recovery before we leave tomorrow.

-Pat

Day Sixty-Seven

2009-05-21T10:02:00.004-03:00

Berlin, Germany

Today Jillian went to the hospital.

Major bummer. We woke up to Jill freaking out because she had been sick all night. It was really sad, we weren't sure what to do. She got some breakfast and started feeling a little better, but she decided to stay at the hostel to rest while we went for a walk. When we came back from walking around southern Berlin in the rain, we found Jillian about to hop in a cab to go to the hospital. Again we weren't sure what to do, but she insisted that she would be fine by herself, so we let her go. The nice people at the hostel called her a cab and told her what hospital would be better for her to go to.

The rest of the day was spent eating Mexican food, sipping delicious drinks, playing drinking games and worrying about Jill.

It was very bitter-sweet.

-Pat

Day Sixty-Six

2009-05-20T10:02:00.003-03:00

Berlin, Germany

Today we went to the Holocaust Memorial and the National Jewish Museum.

Both were great, but I was more partial to the memorial. It was constructed four years ago with over 2700 giant concrete blocks placed in a grid formation over uneven ground. Much like Berlin itself, it doesn't tower above the land. It is huge, but at the same time it is discrete and doesn't actually have any visible markings to tell what it is or why it is there. you have to actually go underneath it to an information center to find out. The holocaust isn't flaunted around the city for obvious reasons, the German's know what happened and they don't need a huge sign to remind them. The memorial is perfect for exactly that reason. Everyone knows what it is, why it is there, and what it is meant to symbolize, but it isn't shoved in their faces.

Before visiting the memorial we went to see the Reichstag. It was the building that housed Hitler's government up until it was burnt to the ground in 1933. We didn't go in, but we hung out outside of it and listened to Zac give us a sweet history lesson, which I imagine was just as good as any tour they could have given us haha.

I am loving the WWII history more than i could have imagined.

-Pat

Day Sixty-Five

2009-05-19T23:34:00.002-03:00

Berlin, Germany

Today we got shown around by a German man.

Our luck is impeccable, seriously. We woke up, showered, lathered on sunscreen, and headed out to explore Berlin. Our first stop was the giant TV Tower that soars above the city. There was an information center set up for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, so we mulled around there for a bit before heading over to check out some cool dancing fountains. While we were there waiting for the fountains to come back on two German boys no older than us came over and propositioned Jill and Laura for sexual favours in VERY broken English. "You fuck me? You fuck him? Yes?" They had a girl with them and we could tell they were just joking around, so we got a kick out of it.

Later on while we were checking out a giant fountain of Poseidon an older German man came up to Jillian and Laura and started telling them all about the fountain. This caught our interest and before we knew it we were following him around the city for nearly four hours. It was incredible. His name was Andrew and apparently he tours people around the city every Saturday ,free of charge, as a way to get out and exercise. He showed us around to the coolest places. We saw things that we never would have seen had we been walking by ourselves. He also gave us a great perspective on how Germans feel about WWII and the holocaust.

-Pat

Day Sixty-Four

2009-05-18T23:20:00.002-03:00

Berlin, Germany

Today we found a new favourite city.

We have made it to Berlin, and we are in love. Who could have thought such a huge city could be so warm and inviting. Not to mention we are seeing the sun for the first time in a long time. Booo ya. We arrived this afternoon and met up with Megan at our hostel. It is super cheap and run by a couple from New Zealand. The guy has a sweet accent and walks around all day in a pair of rugby shorts.

We are staying in what would have been East Berlin and under communist rule 20 years ago. Prettty crazy. We didn't do much since we arrived, other than eat and go for a walk. We are pretty tired and want to save our energy for tomorrow. Megan has a sweet day planned. Usually we visit Megan in a city she is familiar with, so it'll be fun to explore a city together for once.

-Pat

Day Sixty-Three

2009-05-17T21:23:00.004-03:00

Frankfurt, Germany

Today was a lot to handle.

Today we decided to leave Amsterdam and travel south towards Frankfurt, stopping only in Nijmegan to visit the Groesbeek Canadian War Memorial where my great-uncle is buried. We arrived in Nijmegan shortly before noon and began to wander around the somewhat small city trying to figure out where we had to go. We really had no idea where it was, all I had been told was that is was only 'ten minutes' from the train-station, so we found a map and tried to find it. We found a street called Groesbeek, so we figured we'd try there. After walking for 15 minutes we had had no luck finding anything other than some small residential cemeteries, so I decided to ask an older woman on the street for directions. What happened next was one of the luckiest, most memorable things to happen to me, ever.

Through a thick dutch accent the lady went on to tell us that, not only did she know where it was, but that she loved the Canadians and that her and her family have a deep admiration for them and everything they did for The Netherlands during WWII. Not only that, but her husband had housed Canadian soldiers, in the house they currently live in, near the end of WWII after the Germans were driven out of their country. They even keep in contact with the decedents of the Canadian soldiers to this day. Words cannot describe house nice they were. They invited us all in for tea and offered to drive us ten minutes out of town to the memorial. We never really got their names, but if I am ever in Holland again I am going to go to their house to say thank you.

After tea, a little conversation, and a picture the husband drove us to the memorial and said goodbye. We walked into the memorial to see a sea of identical graves. They were slightly eerie and one of them belonged to my great-uncle. I found a duotang by the entrance that had all of the dead soldiers' names and looked through until I found his name. Pvt. George Preston Smith. It gave the location, but we weren't entirely sure where it was, so we just walked in that general direction until we found the right row. Once we had found the row it wasn't hard to find his stone because placed in front of it was a single white rose (it was relatively fresh looking too) lying parallel to his grave. This might not sound strange, but there were no flowers by any of the other graves, and my family hasn't been to Holland since my mom and her sister visited in the 70s. Either way, we had found it.

I had obviously never met the guy, he died 64 years before I was born, and my grammy hasn't told me much about him. All I really know is that he was my grandmothers brother and that he died in WWII, so I didn't feelhave much of a connection to him and I really wasn't sure what to expect when I came to his grave. It wasn't until I saw his age inscribed on the headstone that I felt any strong emotion.

He was my age when he was killed. He was only Twenty-one years old. Never have I felt so mortal. A million things raced through my head at that moment. I had never really put two and two together. The fact that these soldiers were so young had never been so tangible before. I couldn't contain myself, I was sobbing as I looked around at the graves of thousands of teenagers and people my own age. I guess before when I thought of soldiers I naively pictured the wrinkly old men that we see at Remembrance Day ceremonies. Truth is, those old men were most likely my age or younger when they fought in WWII, along side all of the young men that populated that cemetery. Not knowing what to do, and becoming increasingly overwhelmed with the entire experience, I un-clipped the little cross my grammy gave me for good luck and left it on his grave. I figured getting there and meeting that couple was testament to our incredible luck thus far, so I thought I'd leave it there.

I've seen many documentaries about the war and learned about it in school, but this was my first real taste of WWII history since we've been here, and it has blown everything I've ever learned out of the water.

As for the rest of the day. It was spent riding along the Rhine (beautiful) to Frankfurt and yelling at Zac at a trainstation somewhere in Germany. Emotional day, sorry about that Zac.

-Pat

Day Sixty-Two

2009-05-16T20:14:00.005-03:00

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Today was much more productive.

Jill and I ended up getting frustrated with the others today so we made a deal. If she came with me to the Press Photo 09 exhibit, I would go to the Anne Frank House with her later that day. This worked out great because I wanted to see both things and I really didn't feel like going by myself.

The Press Photo 09 exhibit (above) was incredible. It is put on by a group that strives to promote art within the photo journalism world, so not only were the photos awesome, they each told a story which made them that much more incredible. Some pictures were ridiculously sad, like the ones of the earthquakes in China or the wars in Georgia, but some were super uplifting, like the photos of Obama or the pictures from the Olympics.

The Anne Frank House was also incredible. I had never read The Diary of Anne Frank before going in, so I wasn't sure if it would have a very profound effect on me, but it was definitely memorable. Being in the place where they hid out for two years was interesting, but hearing the first hand accounts, reading quotes from her diary, and reading the story of her family's struggle really blew me away. It's really hard to conceptualize what they went through. They lived in the top floor of building for two straight years; they couldn't make a sound and they couldn't even open the windows to get some fresh air.

-Pat

Day Sixty-One

2009-05-15T00:58:00.001-03:00

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Today we ventured into the red light district.

Amsterdam is just like I imagined. Its weird, beautiful, but not all that its made out to be. It may be the weather getting to me, but I just haven't found the city to be all that endearing. I do like the Canals though.

We spent a lot of time walking around today, but we didn't really do anything. Zac doesn't want to pay for anything that isn't sold at MacDoanld's or H&M, Elisha and Laura are indifferent about most things, and I want to see as much as possible. Unfortunately for me, it is much easier to convince people not to pay for things rather than pay for things. Ahh wellllll, this is what I signed up for. I'll probably end up going off by myself if I really want to see something.

As for the red light district, it wasn't all that great. It was just a busy shopping district with cramped alleyways and an air of pot. Not really my thing, but it was definitely worth seeing. So far the canals are still at the top of my list though.

-Pat

Day Sixty

2009-05-14T00:58:00.001-03:00

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Today Zac got robbed.

Not really, but kinda.

We hopped on another train early this morning and left the lovely city of Bruges. We headed north toward Holland, stopping first for an afternoon in Antwerp Belgium before crossing the border.

Since we had our packs we decided it would be best to shove them into a locker while we roamed the city. While we were getting our bags situated, and eating some free doughnuts courtesy of ING, a man came up to us and asked for a Euro so he could afford the train. instead of just saying no Zac reached into his pocket and whipped out a fistful of small change. he explained to the man that he had no change because he needed some of the coins for the locker, and some for something else. The man muttered something about making change and then reached in and grabbed a Euro from Zac's hand. We all just stared and laughed as Zac said "I think I just got robbed". It was definitely one of the funnier moments of the trip so far. We even saw the guy later that day bumming a cigarette off of another guy.

After witnessing the robbery of the century we walked around Antwerp for a couple hours with no real destination in mind. We ended up doing some shopping and getting some food at an incredible sandwich shop. I'm sure it would have been an awesome city had we given it a fair chance, but for the short while we were there it was pretty crappy. It just felt like a big busy city street, but without the class or character that sets most cities apart.

Almost as soon as we had arrived, we were back on a train toward the next city. We arrived in Amsterdam around 5:00pm and walked around for an hour looking for a good place to stay. After striking out a few times we happened upon a cheap hotel where we are splitting a double/triple room between the five of us for around ten Euro each. It is pretty cramped, but we can make it work.

I'm pretty excited to explore the city tomorrow, I don't have the highest expectations, but from what we saw today it looks pretty great.

Day Fifty-Nine

2009-05-13T21:45:00.002-03:00

Bruges, Belgium

Today our only goal was to find ridiculously cheap waffles.

We succeeded and they were delicious. Mine was dipped in chocolate and covered with pineapple and strawberries.

We spent the rest of the day people watching and climbing the giant Bell Tower.

A simple day, but a good one none the less.

-Pat

Day Fifty-Eight

2009-05-12T21:44:00.002-03:00

Bruges, Belgium

Today was Jillian's birthday.

We woke up at 8:30 this morning, but apparently last night everyone woke up a number of times because the window kept banging shut and because Jillian kept yelling in her sleep "Ohhhh ya! I like the way you dance Diane!" haha.

After we were all situated we went out in search of waffles. We found some relatively cheap ones at a little restaurant down the street from our hostel. They seemed to be covered in a layer of caramelized sugar or something .They were soo good. We also got Belgian french fries from a street vendor. Never have french fries or mayonnaise tasted so delicious.

For Jill's bday we decided to rent some bikes and have a picnic by the windmills. It started to rain as we biked there, but it didn't stop us from having a good time. We also went out for some birthday gelato too, birthday candles and everything. I think she enjoyed it. I know if that was my birthday I would have been very happy with it.

-Pat

Day Fifty-Seven

2009-05-11T21:44:00.003-03:00

Bruges, Belgium

Today was ridiculous.

Today was the day that we were to leave the UK for Belgium. We left Edinburgh by bus around 8:30 with the understanding that it wasn't very far to Glasgow and from there not very far to the airport. It ended up being an hour each way and we got to the airport with only an hour to spare.

Long story short, we ended up having to pay an extra 50+ Pounds and we missed the luggage checking deadline, so we had to carry on our huge backpacks. In order to do this they had to be under 10kg. Mine was 13+ and Jill's was not far off, so we had to shed a few pounds before they would let us on, all the while worrying that we would run out of time and miss our flight completely. So there we were, luggage strewn about all over the Prestwick Airport floor, swearing, panicking, and ripping our hair out. I ended up losing a pair of shorts, my pjs, a plug converter, and all of my toiletries. I also put on most of the clothes in my bag in order to lighten the load even more.

Luckily, our flight was delayed and we managed to get our packs under 10kg in time to make the flight. Once we were sure that we would make the flight we switched from worrying about our flight to being excited for where the plane was going to take us.
We were going to be in another new country, but this time we wouldn't know anyone, and it wouldn't be an English speaking country.

Our day really started to brighten up when we landed in Brussels. We were able to get our Eurail pass validated and start traveling on trains instead of shitty buses and planes. We also decided upon arriving that we were going to go to Bruges for two nights, then go to Brussels for two nights, and then go to Antwerp for an afternoon before going to the Netherlands.

When we got on our train to Bruges we had to stand in the back compartment of a car because there were no seats left for us. This was ok though because we ended up having a conversation with an American woman named Kari who thought we were starving students traveling around with no money. This was only partly true, but it didn't stop her from giving us each a fistfull of change and a bunch of maps of Paris. She was really nice, even if she did ask if we had facebook in Canada, and if we had a hard time adjusting to the 'warm' weather. She also paid for the cab that she asked if wanted to split with her. She rules, we are hopefully going to see her sometime while we are here.

After saying goodbye to Kari we wandered over to a hostel that was recommended by our guidebookthing. Turns out it is an amazing, simple, hostel that is only charging us 15 Euro a night for what appears to be our own room. Couldn't have asked for a better place. No puking foreign girls either. Boo ya.

This city is great so far. After walking around the quiet streets, eating Pizza Hut, and checking out the sights at night we have decided to stay two extra nights here. We love it too much to leave.

Tomorrow is Jillian's birthday. It should be a blast; we are renting bikes!

-Pat

Day Fifty-Six

2009-05-10T21:43:00.003-03:00

Edinburgh, Scotland.

Our last day in Edinburgh has been fantastic.

We spent the better part of the day exploring the city while Megan studied for her exams. We did some shopping at H&M, visited the Scottish National Art Gallery, and walked around a gigantic comicbook store. Jill also showed off her somersault skillz to a group of guys doing flips and shit at a park. They replied to her skillz with "You can't do what we do!". Amateurs.

Later that afternoon we met up with Megan and headed to Arthur's Seat which is a giant hill formed by some sort of ancient volcano. It seemed like we were walking forever and Elisha nearly had a heartattack, but we did manage to make it to the top. The 'summit' wasn't super impressive, but the view was pretty beautiful, and the sun had decided to come out while we were up there, so that was nice.

Good times.

-Pat

Day Fifty-Five

2009-05-09T21:41:00.004-03:00

Edinburgh, Scotland.

What a long day.

We arrived in Edinburgh around 8:30 after having traveled for 9 hours on a bus. I can't sleep on buses, so I got really far in my FF3 game. We arrived at Megan's around 9:00 and said our hellos. It was great to see her after such a long time.

Visiting Megan has become a sort of tradition for Laura and I. It is what spurred the idea for this trip in the first place. For the past two years we have visited her in Montreal shortly after exam time. So this year we decided to do the same, except we would travel in the opposite direction and stay for much longer.

We did some touristy sightseeing in the afternoon (Edinburgh Castle, among other things, though we were too cheap to pay) and hit up some delicious Thai Food for supper ("Gooooooood evening spicebox").

Our hostel is alright. It's kinda dirty and it smells really bad. This, of course, wasn't helped by the Spanish girl puking in a bucket when we walked in tonight. :S

-Pat

Day Fifty-Four

2009-05-08T21:40:00.004-03:00

Oxford, England.

Today was our last day in Oxford, so we got up pretty early and made the best of it.

We took the bus downtown and walked around the botanical gardens for an hour or so. It was pretty remarkable, if not because of all the interesting plants, but because it was started in the 1600's. J.R.R. Tolkien spent a lot of time in these gardens and it even lays claim to holding his favourite tree (see above).

We left the gardens, did some shopping, and eventually went back to Mitch's house to make UK's version on Mac and Cheese, which ended up being more like Sidekicks than anything else. We also drank an ungodly amount of Irn Bruu. That stuff is going to be the death of us. Especially Elisha, she has probably consumed 4L since we arrived.

After saying our goodbyes we walked to the bus station to begin our long bus ride to Scotland.

-Pat

Day Fifty-Three

2009-05-07T21:39:00.003-03:00

Oxford, England.

Today was our first full day in Europe.

We planned on waking up fairly early so we could get the most out of our short visit to Oxford, but we ended up sleeping in until about noon. We definitely needed the sleep, so it was no big deal.

We followed our sleep with some food and then headed out to Christ Church. I didn't see too much that I recognized, but apparently some of the Harry Potter movies were filmed there. CRAZY.

Afterward we did some shopping got some supper and walked around. All of the walking outside is very relaxing, especially the walk from Mitch's house to downtown.

Tonight Laura Elisha and I attempted to get a little drunk and watch Lost and ANTM on the internet. We weren't all that successful at getting drunk, but we did manage to watch Lost and ANTM which made up for our lack of buzz.

-Pat

Day Fifty-Two

2009-05-06T21:39:00.004-03:00

Oxford, England.

We made it alive.

Laura, Jillian, Elisha, Zac and myself are safe and sound at MitchJennaEmma's place in Oxford. The ride from Gatwick to oxford was crazy. We were so shocked to see so many trees and fields in full bloom. We thought that the green colour was different from home, but really I think it was just a shock coming from home where we just got out of the dead of winter. Either way, it was nice to see leaves.

We haven't done much since we got here, we're just happy to be Europe. We did go out for supper though and I got some traditional English curry from a pub. It was incredible.

Our plan from here is to hang out with these guys for a couple days, then take a bus up to Edinburgh to visit with Megan.

Its really great to see these guys, they came here in January so it has been months since I've really talked to them. We are hopefully going to get to hang out with them in Ireland and Italy when we go there.

-Pat

Day Fifty-One

2009-05-05T21:37:00.006-03:00

Halifax, Canada

Today started about as early as it possibly could.

I was at work all night/morning photoshopping and getting a bunch of different projects out of the way before I left for Europe, so I never really had a chance to sleep, but it's probably for the best considering my internal clock is going to be screwed up anyway once we get there.

The rest of the day was spent packing and traveling. We left Charlottetown around 4:00pm and drove straight to Halifax, minus the u-turn once we realized we were going to miss the boat, and a brief stop at Jungle Jim's in Truro. The drive from Truro to the airport was terrifying. It started to pour rain as soon as the sun started to go down. Definitely not my favourite driving conditions, but I managed to get us here safe and sound.

Now we are sitting in Stanfield waiting for our plane to England. It's only supposed to be 5-6 hours or something, but with the time change I have no idea what time it'll be when we get there. I could probably figure it out, but I would rather play FF3 on my DS.

-Pat

Day Fifty

2009-05-04T01:06:00.001-03:00

I got my incometax return back today, so i decided to get something to entertain myself on the plane/train.

We leave tomorrow.

At 4 o'clock we are driving to Halifax to catch a plane that will take us to an entirely different continent. We will then spend 5 weeks living out of our backpacks and traveling around by train. We may meet some cool people along the way, we may not. We may get into trouble, we may not. I'm sure we will all have our differences, and we may want to kill each other at some point, but I am sure we will all come out of this trip closer than we are today. It'll definitely be a learning experience for myself too. I've gone on a few trips, but I've never been away from home for such an extended period of time.

While I'm in Europe I don't think I'm going to be able to update as frequently as I usually do, if at all, but I am going to try my best. If all else fails I am going to be keeping a journal, so I will make updates when I get back for every day that I miss. Also, I can guarantee that there will be plenty of pictures. Laura and I have
over 10GB of space combined.

Au revoir,

Patrick

Day Forty-Nine

2009-05-03T00:09:00.001-03:00

Today I adventured with Katie, Jeff'm, Sarah, and Carver to the eastern most tip of PEI. No real rhyme or reason, it just seemed like a good thing to do on such a nice day. We made a stop in at a diner on the way there where we were treated to the largest servings of food I have ever seen. The grilled cheese was awesome. That plus some scratch tickets, bouncyballs, and a sweet Joel Plaskett sing-along made for a great day. It was kinda fitting that I would go to the eastern most tip of the province before heading to Europe. Tourists apparently go there and mistake the land seen across the water for Ireland, when in fact it is really Cape Breton. Crazy tourists.

This evening we all went to Baba's for the going away party that Carver (thanks again) had organized. Morgan got everyone a round of Baba's famous Sweet-O and we danced and had a great time. Sadly, China Garden was closed, so I didn't get any drunk Chinese food. Ah well!

I leave so sooon, it still hasn't sunk in.

Cheers,

Patrick

Day Forty-Eight

2009-05-02T03:52:00.003-03:00

Today was fairly relaxed.

-Woken up at 10:30am by Mom calling from Europe (they are having a good time).
-Went back to sleep until 12:00pm
-Jeff'm picked me up and we met Connor AlDoug and Jcam at the market.
-Got all of my favourite market foods as it will be my last time there for a while.
-Photoshopped for a few hours.
-Went to Laura's and kicked everyone's butt at a game of Settlers of Catan.

Now I'm at work photoshopping like mad trying to get all of these pictures edited. It's 4:00am :S maybe I should go home, hmmm.

Goodnight,

Patrick

Day Forty-Seven

2009-05-01T18:33:00.000-03:00

Today was fairly boring.

I decided to go to work for a few hours to photoshop some stuff, but I ended up just facebooking/youtubing instead. So I'll have to go back in tomorrow to finish up some stuff.

Afterward I stopped into the Delta for the CCFF reception. It was nice to see some of the people there that I hadn't seen in a long time, like Serena, Jill, Will and Ryan. I also got to see Tracy, who is the lady who works for Shinerama in Toronto and helps me out whenever I have a problem. She is great.

Later on in the night I met up with Sarah and watched the last couple songs of The Northlakes' set. They were pretty great, but the crowd at the place was pitiful, due to the moron running the show, so we left as fast as possible.

They decided to head home, so I stopped by Dan MacNeill's house to hang out with him,Elisha, Matt, Laura, and Steve Love, who I hadn't seen in ages. A few of them were a little drunk, so it made for a pretty funny time.

Cheers,

Patrick

Day Forty-Six

2009-04-30T17:12:00.000-03:00

Another busy day.

-Went shopping with Laura and Elisha for some last minute necessities for the trip.
-Met up with Matt Gill. Took some photos of him for a possible album cover.
-Went to Carver's and watched The Office and 30 Rock with him and Sarah.

Tomorrow I am going to a dinner for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundations Annual General Meeting. Afetrwards I may go see the Barnkats and the Northlakes play at the Murphy Center.

Cheers,

Patrick

Day Forty-Five

2009-04-29T21:40:00.000-03:00

Today i realized how to spell forty. Bravo.

Wednesdays are always sweet. We get together and eat Formosa, then we sit around and watch ANTM and Lost. We do this no matter what. We could have an exam the next day or have to be up at six the next morning for work, it doesn't matter. We never play Settlers of Catan on Wednesdays anymore, which is sad, we should probably bring that back.

Tomorrow is my last day of work before we head out. Although I can see myself spending a lot of time in the office photoshopping this weekend.

Cheers,

Patio

Day Forty-Four

2009-04-28T01:57:00.000-03:00

Best photo-shoot to date; I am really starting to get the hang of it.

I took pictures for Sunsets on the Eastside tonight. It was a very gratifying experience. I usually feel kind of awkward when I'm taking pictures, but I actually felt competent as photographer tonight. As exhausting as it was, the shoot went very well. I took over 600 shots and I'd say most of them are usable. Allison (above) and Kirstin were fantastic models, especially for having no prior experience. I was impressed; they caught on quickly! Also, thanks to Jackie for her excellent direction. Always helps these things go faster and smoother.

Anyway, I am super tired and it is 2:00am, I think its time to go home.

Goodnight,

Patrick

Day Fourty-Three

2009-04-27T11:22:00.001-03:00

Busy day.

I'm stretching myself too thin. I keep trying to do too much in one day. Too many hangouts and too many photo-shoots and too much work. Not that i didn't enjoy the hangouts or photo-shoots (I did very much!), it's just that I need to have some time to relax and get my shit together. I really haven't had a chance since school ended.

That's alright though, just over a week and we'll be flying into Europe. Booo ya. Speaking of Europe, Laura and I booked our first hostel tonight. We will be staying right across the street from Megan in Edinburgh!

Cheers,

Patio

Day Forty-Two

2009-04-26T01:01:00.003-03:00

Goodbye James. He leaves for his own euro-adventure on Tuesday.

No big update today; I didn't do too all that much. I spent most of the day driving home from Halifax with Laura and Jen, which was good, but tiring. I made it back in under three and a quarter hours, I thought this was pretty respectable considering what i was driving (2000 Dodge Caravan). Moments after I got home Tristan picked me up and we went to the Frosty Treat for ice cream with Katie, Connor, Jeff'm, and another car full of hooligans. As tired as I was, this was also a lot of fun. I am loving how many frosty treat adventures we are going on. Feels like summer, especially with the weather we've had lately.

Cheers,

Patio

Day Forty-One

2009-04-25T21:08:00.001-03:00

The plan went off without a hitch. My parents are now in Rome and I got to spend the day in Halifax with Jen, Laura, and David (Laura's brother). We ate out at some great restaurants (Star Anise and The Wooden Monkey), sat atop Citadel Hill, and went to the Boxer the Horse show at The Seahorse. It was funnnnnnn.

We also watched two movies at David's house that have changed my life: Total Recall and The Room. The first was actually an amazing movie, even if Arnold Swarssgnfgsdfas can't act. His one liners are great and their attempt at creating a futuristic world in 1990 was awesome. The second movie was easily the WORST movie I have ever seen. Terribly shot, horribly acted, and sooo poorly written. That being said, this movie was phenomenal and everyone should find it and watch it. You will laugh so much; especially when you know that the movie is completely serious, and that it was funded (all $6000000), directed, and produced by the one man. The same man who stars in the movie. I could imagine it being weird to watch by yourself, but with a small group of people it is incredible. Especially the awkward sex scenes and the terrible (incredible) dialogue.

Cheers,

Patio

Day Forty

2009-04-24T01:57:00.001-03:00

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

This afternoon Darrah picked me up to go for lunch. We went to the Monsoon Tea House for some Tea and Sushi. Because of its strange hours, 11:30-3 (or something equally ridiculous), I never get the chance to go there. I actually thought the place had been closed down for the past couple years. No joke. It was delicious, and I plan on going back soon.

After lunch we went to Darrah's mom's office to check out the cute kitten that she was looking after. As you can see from the picture above, it is definitely "bawwwomgkittin" worthy. What made it even more adorable, was that it was about the size of the PAW on the giant Newfoundland Dog we saw just moments earlier. Seriously, it was gigantic, but very friendly as well.

Later in the evening Laura and I concocted a master plan to get us to the Halifax Airport next Tuesday. It is SUPER complicated (boring), but it means that I will be spending the better part of tomorrow, and some of Sunday, in Halifax. Woo woo. It also means that we have to drive them there in less than five hours. Hmm, should probably get some rest.

Goodnight,

Patrick

Day Thirty-Nine

2009-04-23T02:10:00.001-03:00

Its still 12 days before we leave for Europe, but I am already packed. This is mainly because my parents leave for their trip in two days, and my mom insisted I be packed before they go. I think she is convinced I will forget everything if I don't get it done now. Ah well, it was good to get it out f the way. Made me realize what I still have to pick up before I leave.

Things I am bringing with me:

-3 Short-sleeve t-shirts
-2 Long-sleeve t-shirts
-1 Button-up shirt
-1 Cardigan
-1 Hoody
-1 Belt
-1 Rainjacketinabag
-2 Pairs of jeans
-2 Pairs of shorts
-4 Pairs of boxers
-5 Pairs of Socks
-1 Light sleeping bag
-1 Laura's travel guide
-1 Eurorail pass, plus the attached map/guides
-1 iPod
-1 Nikon d80, with 50mm+shitty17-55mm+charger+ remote shutter release
-3 Juggling balls
-1 Journal, with pencil, pen, and notepad
-1 Deck of cards
-1 Mini checkerboard
-1 Mini Connect-4
-1 First-aid kit
-1 Bottle of sunscreen
-1 Stick of Oldspice
-1 Money belt
-1 Passport
-1 Debit card
-1 Credit card
-60 Euro
-50 British Pounds
-1 Combination lock
-2 Luggage locks
-1 Bunch of elastic bands
-1 Roll of duct-tape
-1 Roll of electical tape
-10 AA batteries (don't think I will need these)
-1 Can of nice smelling stuff
-1 Toothbrush, tube of toothpaste, roll of dental floss.
-3 Tins of vitamins/Tylonal
-1 Electric razor (although I doubt I will end up shaving)
-1 Ridiculous comb from 1992 McDonald's happy meal.

I was amazed that this all fit into my backpack; I was also surprised how small you can compact a pair of jeans.

I now have a week and a half to get my life in order before I go. Yikes.

Cheers,

Patrick

Day Thirty-Eight

2009-04-22T15:39:00.001-03:00

Today I was invited to Carver's for a BBQ. One of his bands, Milks and Rectangles , are recording a CD and Carver finished his drum tracks, so he decided to have a few people over to celebrate. It was a good time, a lot of BBQ veggie burgers, a few beer, and some really funny people.

One of those people being Daniel Ledwell, who was producing Milks new record. He isn't super famous or anything, but I do enjoy (and listen to) his music quite a bit, so I was kind of awestruck to be sitting around laughing with someone like him. It also provided for some laughs whenever Nathan was casually looking at my iPod and announced, "Oh, you have Dan Ledwell on your iPod". hah

That, combined with Allison getting the best photo on ANTM, made for a pretty solid day.

Cheers,

PAT

Day Thirty-Seven

2009-04-21T01:10:00.001-03:00

Whenever I'm at home and I'm really bored, I like to cook food. I never have a recipe, and I really have no idea what I'm doing. The only skills I have are those I've picked up from living with my mom, The Iron Chef of Sherwood. I know what flavours I like, and have a pretty good sense of what goes well with what, so things usually turn out well.

For not doing anything today, other than working for a couple hours, it was a pretty sweet day. I woke up to my mom bringing in a fedex package this morning. It was my Eurail pass! Came with a great map too. I now have almost everything I need to get to (and around) Europe! I also spent my $35 Bookstore gift card on a notebook, pens, and new headphones for the trip. I managed to get my taxes done tonight too, so I'll have another $500 dollars to bring with me.

The Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Annual General Meeting is coming up soon too, only a few days before we leave. It is being hosted in PEI this year, so I've been asked to help out as much as I can. If anyone wants to help out, just let me know, I think there is going to be a UPEI Shinerama booth of some sort. Should be a fun weekend. Its going to make for a busy week of preparation though. Bring it onnnnn.

Cheers,

Patrick

Day Thirty-Six

2009-04-20T12:41:00.000-03:00

lol jeff is gettin' sooooooo high off dem chips omg we luv 420!1!. Just kidding, but we did find it quite funny that there were 420g in that bag of chips. The 'smoke' isn't real, just poorly photoshopped.

Today was great. Kate invited us over for a sweet summer BBQ. We got some movies from jumbo and a ton of food from the superstore. Even though we* weren't smoking pot, like many do on this day, we made sure to show our support by getting a lot of munchies anyway. The chip aisle was ravaged by the time we got there.

The BBQ went well. We ate delicious food and watched Kill Bill on Blueray. There was so much detail that you could see Uma's pores and the strings holding up the model plane. We couldn't figure out if the last one was intentional or not, but it ruled either way. Fun night.

Cheers,

Patio

Day Thirty-Five

2009-04-19T02:18:00.000-03:00

For the most part today was spent recovering the sleep I lost last night. I did, however, manage to get out of the house for a little while. If I hadn't it would have felt like such a waste of a day.

I stopped by the apt. Laura is housesitting this evening to help her tidy up from the party and fold up the ridiculous futon. She is pretty much finished housesitting at that place, this would be kinda sad if it weren't for its lack of internet connection. I will miss the cat though.

Afterward I went for a walk around town and took a few pictures on the parkade. Cliche, I know, but I was bored and had slept all day, so I needed to do something. All I had was my Nikon D80 and a 50mm lens, so I didn't have much to work with, but I got some cool pictures. I especially like the one that I posted above. I would love to go back there some night when I have a couple flashes on me. Also, the new building they are putting up on Fitzroy looks incredibly easy to sneak into. Getting in there to take a couple pictures would be amazing.

Cheers,

Patio.

Day Thirty-Four

2009-04-18T19:39:00.001-03:00

Notice Sarah's facepalm.

Not gonna lie, I'm a little late making with the update, but Last night (Saturday) was pretty exhausting, so you'll have to excuse me.

Laura is house-sitting for a friend of hers, so she decided to have a party to celebrate exams being finished, or something like that. It was quite the night. I'm really tired though, so I don't think I'm going to go into great detail about what happened. Plus, if I did, you would probably think a lot of my friends are morons, and/or very gay. Your would probably be right, but believe me, it just wouldn't translate well to a blog post. Just know that everyone got very drunk, there was a lot of joking about a certain person's genitals, Jeremy and Woodsie are lyrical geniuses, there were a few 'prank' calls, and an exciting trip to China Garden.

The end of the night was pretty funny as well. Five-six people cramped onto a folded out futon, watching Veronica Mars until 6:30am. We attempted to sleep, but only Richard could manage to get any Zs. He actually slept sound from 6-11:45am. He even managed to sleep through us talking and laughing around him, a smoke detector going off, and Jeff making pancakes in the same room while the rest of us watched TV.

Probably not the craziest party to ever happen, but it was definitely memorable for all involved.

Day Thirty-Three

2009-04-17T02:46:00.000-03:00

Success! We made it to the Frosty Treat!

We decided to drive to Kensington once again, this time for Choose Your Own Adventure Day V2. It was a cold day, but we wanted to continue the tradition that we started last year, so we loaded up my van and headed out. In the spirit of the day we ventured off the beaten path and explored some crazy dirt roads with my Minivan, eventually arriving at our destination. This should not be attempted by anyone who is not me. I'm pro at minivans.

Tomorrow night Laura is having a parrrrrtayyy at her place. It should provide for some goodtimes and hopefully some funny pictures.

Goodnight,

Patrick

Day Thirty-Two

2009-04-16T12:24:00.000-03:00

Today was great. I wasn't sure if I would be able to do all of things I wanted to accomplish, as my plans were quite ambitious, but I managed to do everything on my list.

I worked all morning in order to bank some hours lost earlier in the week due to exams. Then, after work Kailee and I wandered around campus taking pictures with an old camera from work (Bronica S2A for those who may care). I'll put them up on flickr whenever I get them developed. I think it went very well.

Afterward, Kailee and I went back to the studio to meet up with Nathan, to do his headshot. I've known Nathan since highschool, but we're not very close. We're the kind of friends that say hi when we see each other in the hallway, but never really hangout. So, naturally, we resorted to talking about highschool, and the conversation ended up being quite hilarious.

Laura picked me up after her exam and we headed in town for our Europe meeting. The meeting was fun, and now we are proud owners of $800 Eurail passes. Yay. After the meeting, Jen, Laura, and I watched 4 episodes of Veronica Mars and laid around being all sleepy and stuff.

That is how I want to spend the rest of my summer break. Just taking pictures and lazing around watching Veronica Mars. It doesn't get any better... well, I guess if Veronica Mars were real and my friend, then it would get better, but until then.

Cheers,

Patio

Day Thirty-One

2009-04-15T01:30:00.001-03:00

It was really nice out today, so I walked to work.

Great call Patrick, great call. It was the perfect spring day.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy, photo-filled day.
-At 10:30am I am helping Shelly take pictures of Canine Acupuncture in the studio.
-At 5:00pm I am taking pictures of Kailee with the Bronica we have at work.
-At 7:00pm I am taking a headshot in the studio for an actor friend of mine.

Excited!

Patio

Day Thirty

2009-04-14T13:44:00.000-03:00

Today brought with it the end of exams and the start of my summer vacation.

The exam kinda sucked, but I'm just glad to be finished. Nothing could get me down really. All I have to worry about now is taking picture and getting set to go to Europe! Speaking of which, we leave in twenty days! Woah.

Tomorrow I am going to work in the morning, and then I'm going curling for the last time with Carver Sarah and Tim. Followed by some Lost chez Laura. It should be a good day.

Cheers,

Patio

Day Twenty-Nine

2009-04-13T13:07:00.000-03:00

Chloe and Tim's girlfriend (Erica) were home for the weekend from Montreal/Ottawa, so Tim and I took them curling. Jillian joined us for a while as well, as you can see from the picture. hah. It was a lot of fun and it was nice to catch up with Chloe; I hadn't seen her in a year.

Curling has always been a part of my life, for as long as I can remember. My parents both curled for years before I was born, and my dad has been the head bartender at the curling club, here in Charlottetown, my entire life, so it is not surprising that I have grown up playing the sport. I started playing when I was in the first grade. My cousin Matt and I would go to the curling club every Tuesday and Thursday and goof around on the ice for an hour, then my mom would take us to go buy POGS at the dollar store. We were actually pretty stellar for our age, and I have so many ridiculous little trophies to prove it.

In my later elementary school days I started to resent the fact that I curled, I guess because it wasn't perceived as being as coooool as hockey, but I am really glad that I stuck with it. Curling has brought me all over the country, and that is more than most kids who played hockey can say. I had the chance to play in tournaments as far away as Victoria BC and Stephenville Newfoundland. Curling also has an amazing ability to attract the nicest people in the world, and I have been lucky enough to become friends with a lot of them, even if I only get to see them once or twice a year, in the dead of winter.

Turning 21 is actually pretty significant in the curling world, as it means I can no longer compete in junior tournaments. I am officially an adult in curling terms. Because of this I think I will take a couple years off from curling, I'm not going to have enough time to play against 40 year-old men every weekend, but I will be back someday. That's one of the great things about curling, it's like riding a bike, once you learn how to do it, you never really forget.

Cheers,

Patrick

Day Twenty-Eight

2009-04-12T01:41:00.001-03:00

Meet Bennet. He is the newest member of our family and my first cousin once removed, I do believe. He loves the camera.

This morning I woke from an incredible sleep. It was fueled by a fun, but exhausting, day at the market yesterday. It wasn't until I went out into the kitchen that I realized that it was Easter, though. Mom had laid out some candy for me and my brother (he doesn't even live with us hah). I even won $13 on the Easter themed scratch ticket. Woo.

Later on I went to my grandmothers house for Easter supper with most of my relatives. It was a fun, and it was a good chance to get to see them all before I leave for Europe. My grandmother gave me a little care package; which includes, among other things, a first aid-kit, a sewing kit, sunscreen, and a hair comb which quite obviously came out of a McDonald's Happy Meal from ~1986. It rules.

Other than that all I did was watch ANTM Cycle 9 and think up a bunch of sweet photoshoots for the summer. I can't wait for nice weather so I can take some pictures outside. If anybody is interested in modeling, give me a shout!

Cheers,

Patio

Day Twenty-Seven

2009-04-11T14:24:00.000-03:00

Saturday April 11th 2009

7:30am - Alarm went off. Woke up. Well back asleep.
7:45am - Woke up again.
8:00am - Ate breakfast.
8:15am - Left for new temp-job at the Farmer's Market.
8:30am - Started washing dishes/hanging out with Darrah and Kira.
10:00am - Tristan and Katie stopped by for a while.
1:00pm - Kailee and Jeff'm stopped in for almost two hours.
2:40pm - Stopped washing dishes!
2:50pm - Went to the bulkbarn with Kailee and Jeff'm to get dill pickles and snacks.
3:10pm - Ate delicious pickles.
3:30pm - Found Katie, Tristan, and Christabelle.
4:15pm - Played Madden 2008 against Tristan.
5:00pm - Lost horribly to Tristan.
5:30pm - Played sweet beats on an old Casio keyboard.
6:00pm - Stopped playing sweet beats :(
6:30pm - Kailee and I reminisced about highschool as she drove me home.
7:00pm - Internet.
7:30pm - Facebook.
8:00pm - Ate some delicious bread that Darrah gave me from the market.
8:30pm - Started to watch The Royal Tenenbaums.
8:31pm - Fell asleep.

Sunday April 12th 2009

11:30am - Woke up.

Patio

Day Twenty-Six

2009-04-10T00:56:00.001-03:00

Tonight I went to the Benevolent Irish Society to check out a show. There were a bunch of bands from PEI and a couple from off Island. All in all is was a pretty good time. The bands were great (even though I'm not a huge fan of hardcore/metal) and there were a lot of great people there (JOSH COLES). The crowd was sooo young though, most of the people there couldn't have been 14-15 years old. As old as it made me feel, it did make me think back to when I was their age and I was starting to go to shows and how great it was.

I've been going to shows since August of 2003, just shortly before entering highschool. I'm really glad I became part of the "scene", it has opened me up to so much different music, and it allowed me the opportunity to meet some of my closest friends. The best of which I met at my very first show, but that is another story. I think that getting involved in a local music scene is a great opportunity for any young teenager. It allows them, especially the awkward ones, a place to go to let off some of their angst in an accepting and exciting environment. Much better than getting into drugs and crime, or sitting in your room playing video games(The latter can most definitely be debated). It also provides youth with direct access to art that isn't taught in schools. I honestly owe a lot to the music scene here on PEI, and I know the same can be said for a lot of Charlottetown youth. I believe that going to shows not only allows you to blow off some stress, but it opens you up to an entirely new culture and it lets you be apart of something that is much bigger and more important than any class room or hockey team.

Cheers,

Patrick

Day Twenty-Five

2009-04-09T02:22:00.003-03:00

Late night semi-celebratory ice Cream parties, boo ya.

I think it was after the fifth time I called home from school with a belly ache that my mom started to think something was wrong with me. She knew I wasn't faking it, because I think I set the record for the most public pukings that year (throwing up grape juice in front of your class=hilarious/embarrassing), so she set out to figure out what was making me sick. My mom is a pretty smart lady, so it didn't take her long to figure out that it was milk I was drinking at lunch everyday that was causing me to upchuck. Once I got the official diagnosis from the doc my milk tokens were traded in for Juice tokens faster than you could say cheese.

I got used to being Lactose Intolerant pretty fast and it never really inconvenienced me beyond a slight upset stomach when I'd forget to take my pill before eating some pizza. I actually ended up growing out of it entirely in grade ten, just shortly after becoming a vegetarian. I never figured out if that was a coincidence or not. Oh well, just glad to be cured.

Looking back on all the soy milk and Lactese pills I've consumed over the years, I have to consider myself to be pretty lucky. I could have had it much worse; I could have been born with Celiac disease, or worse yet, Cystic Fibrosis or Cancer. I can't help but think that someday I'll be diagnosed with a terrible disease, but until then, yay for being relatively healthy!

Would anyone like to hang out tomorrow? I have a couple study free days ahead of me and I want to make the most of them.

Cheers,

Patio

Day Twenty-Four

2009-04-08T11:59:00.000-03:00

hehehehe; very mature, I know.

No time to update. Exam tomorrow. Need to study.

I didn't do anything overly exciting today anyway.
Just ate a ton of Formosa and watched Lost at Laura's instead of studying, it was a good choice.

Cheerio,

Patrick.

Day Twenty-Three

2009-04-07T02:38:00.002-03:00

This morning I helped take pictures of a Doctor in the AVC giving chiropractic therapy to a horse. My job is so weird sometimes.

I also helped Sarah move out of her apartment this afternoon. It was a pretty big job, she rented a U-Haul and everything! Did you know its only $20 dollars to rent one of those big trucks? I kinda want to rent one, just for kicks. Anyway, it was kinda sad to see her move out of there; she had a few fun parties at that little place. At the same time I think it was time she left.

Back to paper writing.

Ciao,

Patio.

Day Twenty-Two

2009-04-06T01:28:00.000-03:00

I don't have much time and I don't have too much to say.
Worked on my paper all day, so I didn't do anything exciting.

Wooooo.

Exciting I know. We are almost free though! Just another couple weeks!

In the meantime everyone should watch some Chi-City videos. I never get tired of this guy.

Cheers,

Patio

Day Twenty-One

2009-04-05T00:59:00.000-03:00

Today was a complete write off.

After sleeping in until 12:30, I spent the rest of my day doing the following:

Watching youtube videos.
Reading Alchemy.
Cooking food.
Reading photo websites.

Most of the day was spent reading the above book though, which is definitely a terrible idea during exam time. I just can't get it out of my head that a month from today I will be on a plane, with four of my best friends, headed for another continent. I thought being addicted to Tetris during exam time in first semester was bad for the work ethic, its got nothing on planning a trip to Europe.

Cheers,

Patio

Day Twenty

2009-04-04T14:24:00.001-03:00

Hearing from a totally irreputable source on the internet that there was a minuscule possibility that the Frosty Treat was open, we decided to go on an adventure.

It was a sunny and warm afternoon, so Kate, Laura, Isaac, Connor and I ventured to Kensington to get some ice cream at the Frosty Treat. Known for its delicious soft-serve ice cream, diner food, and annoying commercials ("Don't drive by! Drive in!"), The Frosty Treat has become a favourite of anyone within an hour drive of Kensington.

We weren't going to miss an opportunity to go there on such a nice day. but by the time we had gotten close to Kensington the sun had left and was replaced by some dreary clouds that were definitely foreshadowing the fact that Frosty Treat would be closed. Seeing this once we arrived we changed our game plan and booked it to Summerside in search of Micheal's Pizzeria. After a couple calls and some u-turns we found the place and put in an order for a giant pizza. Having twenty minutes to spare we wondered around the bustling city center that is Downtown Summerside. On our walk we discovered stickers advertising www.vampirefreaks.com, were made fun of for taking pictures, and were belatedly April fooled (we think) by the Baptist church. It was an interesting walk to say the least. The Pizza was pretty good too.

Later that night I picked up my friend Bethany and we headed downtown to see 'The Lesson' at the Guild. It was a one act play put on by a local theatre troupe called Sheep-for-Wheat. It was hilarious, dark, and very well orchestrated. Chris, Meaghan, and Kelsey put on a very convincing performance. Major props.

Even later that night I met up with Katie, Tristan, Chris, and Jeff and drove out to Al Doug's for his birthday party. It was whitetrash/southern style themed; this made for some interesting costumes, especially Tristan's :S *shutters*. Jeff decided on the spot to become a southern baptist minister and I became the liberal vegetarian cousin from New York who was in town for a family reunion. I couldn't find my cutoff jean shorts, so it had to do. It was a good time, but I was definitely ready to go once 3:00am rolled around and everyone seemed sufficiently drunk.

Cheerio,

Patrick.

Day Nineteen

2009-04-03T02:37:00.003-03:00

Laura and I are serious about taking pictures.

My apologies for not having a picture attached to this post. I had actually taken all sorts of pictures today, but I left my camera/kitbag in the office at school, so that I wouldn't drunkenly break something. Don't fret though, once I get my camera back, I will edit the picture into this post.

Today was long and tiring, but I had a lot of fun. In one day I managed to go to the dentist, get a filling, take pictures with Laura down at peakes quay, dress sharp, attend the UPEISU banquet, catch THT's set at the cafe, hang out with Katie Darrah and co., and go to hunter's for Brenton's birthday.

Tomorrow night should be fun too. We're going to see The Lesson at the guild, followed by AlDougs birthday party maybe? Hmm? Yeah? We'll see.

Goodnight,

Patrick

Edit: edited for picture.

Day Eighteen

2009-04-02T23:41:00.003-03:00

Last class cupcakes, deliciously provided by Darrah.

Besides work and hanging out with Laura, these are some things that I did today:

-Finished my third year of classes at UPEI.
-Ate so much DQ.
-Witnessed Jeff'm trying to throw up on K-Rock
-Watched almost an entire season of ANTM (skipping over the drama/reality crap).

Productive day Patrick, good job. After Saturday I am really going to have to study, but until then...

More reality TV!

Cheers,

Patrick

Day Seventeen

2009-04-01T01:35:00.003-03:00

I think it was somewhere between pumping coins into that contraption at BK trying to score some free sodas and photocopying our hand prints at Walmart that Jill and I realized we don't act normal for our age. No biggie.

I'll let Jill take care of this entry, I think she summed up my day fairly well.

April 1st- Give Away Your Money Day v.2
Patrick and I have made this a tradition. We hit up Burger King and won small fries and a large softdrink playing their coin game. Then we went to Jumbo (saw Mallory!) and got free popcorn, a bunch of gumballs (no free rentals), a spongebob sticker, and put a bunch of dough in the Children's Wish donation boxes. Theeeen we went through the McDonalds drive-thru twice and put money in their Ronald McDonald House slots that are right under the windows. Then we bought 5-cent candies, through money in a kindergarden yard, made photocopies of our hands, left them in an abandoned binder (owner: Katie Hood). We also threw a lot of money out the window.
Also, unrelated to giving money away, but related to getting stuff for free, this morning I got a free slice-a-pizza and a free movie rental from That's Entertainment just for being in the Student Center. Big day!

Those kindergarten kids are going to thing they struck gold tomorrow. In case you were wondering what 'Give away your money day v2' is, you should check out Jillian's Holiday Calendar. It provides a lot of fun adventures, like the one we took today. It ruled.

Other things that ruled today:

-Lost
-The haircut Laura gave me.
-Finishing my Entrepreneurship class.
-Melcat april fooling me by telling me my jeans were red. She got me good!

Goodnight,

Patrick

Day Sixteen

2009-03-31T23:10:00.005-03:00

Work work work (that is where I work).

Working kinda sucks a lot.

Granted, I've had a couple jobs that weren't too bad, the one I have now for instance, but I've also had jobs that I have absolutely abhorred. For example, in the summer of 2004 I got hired at Bulkbarn as a store clerk. I was in charge of refilling the bins, cleaning the god forsaken all natural peanut butter tubs, and mopping the stupid floor. It should be illegal to only pay someone minimum wage to do that type of job. The worst part about it was that Wednesday was the only day I would get a discount. Lucky for me Wednesday was already senior and student discount day. Grrr. I don't think I could ever work there again, even if they offered me $15 an hour, and if they allowed me to eat as much candy as I wanted. It was simply the most unfulfilling way to spend a summer ever.

I'm so glad that I have my job, even it only pays $8.51 an hour. The amount of things I've about photography and the hands on experience that I've gained are immeasurable. Sometimes after I've worked for eight hours, I will stay for an extra five or six, just so that I can play with cameras and photoshop till my fingers bleed. If I could take pictures and photoshop for the rest of my life I probably would.

In other news, there are only 34 days until we leave for Europe!

Cheers,

Patio

Day Fifteen

2009-03-30T00:20:00.001-03:00

Today was a weird day. I don't feel like typing, so it will be short and in point form.

-Slept in until 12:00pm.
-Went to work for 2:00.
-UPEI closed at 3:00.
-Hung out in the SU offices and made up funny/dumb awards to give out to council members at the banquet.
-Bought a lot of stuff off of cheapamericanapparel with Sam Younis.
-Watched Carver and Justin play drums/DJ. Kinda cooool.
-Drove around a cooler om wheels :S.
-Ate sweet eats at East Side Mario's with Carver, Sarah, Justin, Jesse, Shawn, Sam, and a bunch of people I've never met.
-Came home.

UPEI shouldn't open tomorrow; I'd like that.

Cheerio,

Pat

Day Fourteen

2009-03-29T01:42:00.000-03:00

*Sigh of relief*

Just finished off all of my assignments for the year. All I have left is a philosophy paper due the 8th, an accounting exam on the 9th, and a stats exam on the 14th. Then I am home freee.

The last few days have been so incredibly warm and sunny, but apparently we are supposed to get some pretty shitty weather in the next couple of days. I'm hoping that it'll force me to get some of my paper done, but I know I will just use it as an excuse to sleep. Whatever though, I deserve it.

The last student council meeting of the year was tonight. It lasted way too long, over 3 hours, but it wasn't all bad. I got some Shinerama business out of the way, and I kinda got excited at the idea of going back to UPEI next year. Kate got the Job as Cadre Editor, Jillian got the job as Chair of council, and there is a fun job open as an events and promotions coordinator that I might apply for.

As shitty as this weekend was, it was pretty great.

Arrivederci,

Patrick

Day Thirteen

2009-03-28T00:51:00.000-03:00

To quote the movie Dennis the Menace, "This is my buddddddy, this is my pallll."

In other news; today ruled.

I awoke around 11:00 to a text from Darrah and Salmy wondering if I was going to the market. They kindly picked me up and we went and met up with Jeff'm, Katie, and Little Buddy. We got delicious food (I was a fatty and got a beansprout and havarti sandwich, 2 veggi-samosas, ginger beer, and a chocolate croissant), we talked, and we laughed at Darrah getting hit in the head with a champagne cork the night previous, hah.

Afterward, I went home to hangout with a pile of homework, only to get bored with it after finishing two assignments. I then spent most of the rest of the day outside in the newly discovered sun. Where did it come from?! While out there I decided to ghetto rig my camera, Lomography style, by hooking up a wideangle adapter to a 17-55mm lens. bahaha. It turned out great; it will be perfect for bringing to Europe in may.

Throughout my life I have been a night owl, it is rare that I ever get to be before 2-3am, even on school nights (I'm a badass, I know). And I seem to get more done between the hours of 11pm-2am than I can when the sun is up. This is when I do most of my paper writing, photoshopping, blogging, etc. So I came up with a fool proof plan to capture my peak productive hours, while remaining awake and refreshed. I would nap from 7:30-11:30 and then wake up and finish my assignment. Boo ya. Great nap too, I had a dream that I was a photographer for the whitehouse, and I got all my friends to come down and have a sweet party with Barack. If only dreams came true :'( haha

Cheers,

Patio

Day Twelve

2009-03-27T00:14:00.000-03:00

This is Annie, she's been a loyal friend of mine since we brought her home in 2001. She is part Boxer, and to my mothers dismay, part Pitbull. She looks exactly like Backup from veronica mars whenever she has her mouth open! She sounds tough as nails, but she is a big baby. She was found abandoned in a dumpster as a puppy, luckily, somebody brought her to the AVC, and they fixed her right up. My Aunt works their and called dibs, and we took her home a couple days later.

She was our first family pet, and I honestly don't know what we would have done without her. I mean, I love my family and all, but we aren't the closest family to ever exist. Around the time that we got her I remember our family being kind of distant from each other. It was probably just because I was 13 and was trying to be my bad-ass self (H), but whatever it was, our family seemed to be missing something. I had my lame poppunk music, Dad had his golf, Mom had her cooking, and will had his new cool friends. We didn't have anything in common that could bring us together. Annie fixed this. When she came along she was the center of attention, and she has been ever since. I'm not sure what would have become of our family had she not come along. Frankly, I don't really want to know, because I know we've never been closer, we've never been healthier, and we've never been happier.

Adios,

Patrick

Day Eleven

2009-03-26T23:52:00.004-03:00

A shimmer of hope on a gloomy day.

I don't have a lot of time for an update tonight, as I am chest deep in business plan, but I think I will be up all night, so a little break couldn't hurt right? Right.

Today was pretty psfsadfg, but it had its moments. Lunch was fun; I especially liked when we were plotting ways to turn Schurman Square in MacDougal Hall into a place to host sweet dance parties. Honestly though, if the Dean can host sweet parties (ours would be better) there why can't we? She/he doesn't pay to go there. Pfft, it'll happen, just you wait. We even scoped out a spot for the DJ booth.

In other more exciting news...I finally got my passport. Boo ya. Our trip to Europe is actually becoming a reality. Hard to believe that in a month and a half I'll probably be somewhere in the UK trying not to get beat up for imitating their sweet accents. Mmm, can't wait.

Also, I suggest everyone look closely at the hologram on their passports. It shows what appears to be a Mountie jousting with a Canadian flag. Patriotic? Badass? Both? Yeahhh, I'd say so.

Cheers friends,

Patio.

Day Ten

2009-03-25T21:34:00.004-03:00

Sad morning. Long Day. Good Evening.

This morning we all went to Maid Marian's for breakfast; it was nice. It was our last real chance to hang out with Andie before she left for her Korean adventure, so we had a good time eating and reminiscing. We then brought her to the bus station, and wished her fairwell. Like I said before, I'm going to miss Andie. What a pal.

After Maid's I went home; and then shortly after I caught the bus to UPEI. I spent my day photoshopping at work 'till my heart was content. Then, stressin' about school work, I decided to finish up my presentation. At 4:30 I moseyed over to the business building to give it. Honestly, I think it went well, but really I am just glad to get some of my work out of the way. I can't wait until April 14th. Then begins my favourite part of the year. No school, very little work, and the weather is just right. All I will have to worry about is what we are going to do once we get to Europe. It's gonna be sweeeeet. The 14th may be less than 20 days away, but it feels like a yeaarrrr. bah.

Oi!

Now I'm at Laura's, watching Lost, and being hungry. I haven't eaten since breakfast, so i think I will raid Laura's fridge.

Cheers,

PPaattiioo.

Day Nine

2009-03-24T00:05:00.000-03:00

Laura = cupcake.

I am a terrible student. It is 12:00am and I am just starting work on my presentation for tomorrow's (today's :S) class. Actually, that is a lie. I am updating my blog. Zut alors. I spend all of my time taking pictures, working, and updating this blog. I really don't have time for school. I am taking this as another sign that I shouldn't be going to university right now.

In other news, I got offered three photography jobs today. Two of them are for one couple. They want engagement pictures, and wedding photos done this summer. They sound like fun! The only reason I am contemplating doing the wedding pictures is because they already told me they aren't too worried about how they turn out. They don't have much money to spend, so they don't want a professional, so they aren't expecting top notch super quality. Just some casual wedding photos. I like this because, I am getting all the experience, but without the stress of doing actual wedding photos. The other job is for graduation photos; I think I will be able to pull them off pretty easily.

Anyway, it's about time I get to work. I'm meeting Andie and co. at Maid Marian's in five hours for Andie's goodbye breakfast. It will be both delicious and sad.

Cheers,

Patio.

Day Eight

2009-03-23T23:59:00.004-03:00

Christabelle, K-ranks, and D-Babes hanging with their apples in the Modern Languages lounge. Darrah was the only one smart enough to eat hers though.

Today was a pretty boring day. I didn't really have the energy to do anything after driving all last night, so I called into work this morning to tell them I wouldn't be there and then curled up in bed to sleep the morning away. I ended up going to school around 1:00 to catch my philosophy class and do a bit of homework. This worked out well because right after my class I ended up running into Chris, Darrah, Katie and Tristan in the Modern Languages lounge. Its such a nice little cozy room, and it always provides for some relaxing and entertaining hangouts. The few times that I've hung out up there have been great. They usually involve embarrassing stories, sweet music(Joel P, Born Ruffians, nsync, etc), and good friends.

These are the sort of things that I should try not to take for granted. Sure, it seems like an ordinary afternoon, but these are the sort of moments that make my day. They are carefree, take no effort to appreciate, and they are definitely the sort of thing you miss when they're gone.

I think things would be better for everyone if people would stop to smell the roses more often and realize just how lucky we are to have what we do.

Ciao,

Patrique.

Day Seven

2009-03-22T20:15:00.000-03:00

This afternoon I was asked by Jeff and Connor to take pictures of their Organizational Behaviour group; for some sort of presentation they were working on. It was actually a lot more fun than it sounds. The one above is a picture of Jeff climbing the corporate ladder of success. There were also pictures of him being fired, finding out his wife was pregnant, and one of him ballin' like Kanye with loads of Monopoly Money.

After taking pictures we spent the afternoon trying to round up enough people to drive to Sackville to see The Weakerthans, again. Luckily, we found just enough people, with about 15 minutes to spare. Once the van was gassed up and snacks were bought, Jeff'm, Mallory, Jen, Connor, Mikey, Steve Brown and I left town at about 6:15. We spent the drive eating food and laughing at how ridiculous the Confederation Bridge radio station is. Seriously, next time you drive over the bridge, change the radio to 93.9FM. Jeff'm said it best: "It's like a radio station with ADD." Once we got out of range of Confederation Bridge Radio we set our sights on Sackville, and wondered if we would be able to get tickets or not. We called ahead earlier and they told us that there were roughly 20 tickets available at the door and that doors would be opening at 8:30.

We arrived at around 8:15 to see a line of people standing at the door to George's. Fearing the worst, we ran to the line just in time to fill the last 20 or so spots. We bought our tickets, and then headed to Mel's Tea House. We ate some delicious greasy food and Mikey performed some sweet magic tricks. While we were there we ran into Jess Palmer and Willie McQuaid, that was pretty great as well. Feeling content, we headed back to the show around 10:00, just in time to see Rebekha Higgs play. She was great, her music was awesome and she was a babe too. The Constantines played next, and they put on another good show, but I was more entertained by Jeff, Jen and Mallory trying to build a damn to protect themselves from the drink the lead singer carelessly spilt on the stage. Nothing could prepare me for the next set. Even though it was our second time seeing The Weakerthans in two days, I couldn't help but be blown away. The venue was so much more intimate than the night before. We were right up front, the stage was much lower than the wave, and we could pretty much reach out and touch John K Samson. We got him to sing a song from Anne of Green Gables (he is a big fan apparently), coerced him into playing My Favourite Power Chords, and Steve Brown actually got to go on stage and play a solo with his guitar. It was incredible.

After having our minds blown for the second night in a row we decided it was about time we called it a night and hit the snow covered, windy, sketchy road back to Charlottetown. Arriving just after 4:30am.

It was a great night/early morning.

Cheers,

Patio.

Day Six

2009-03-21T03:38:00.003-03:00

I first heard The Weakerthans in the fall of 2003 when my friend Caitlin sent me a song off of their then new album Reconstruction Site. I fell in love with that CD, and I have long since fallen for the rest of their albums, especially Left & Leaving. I can safely say, without a doubt, that they are my favourite band. There are a few bands that nearly beat them out, but The Weakerthans have earned their spot at the top. There is something special about them that I can't quite put my finger on. I think it is mainly the lyrics that get me, every song seems to tell a story and the way John sings them is amazing. Over the past five years I have missed out on several opportunities to see them live, coming soooo close, but my plans always fell through. So, you could understand my excitement when I found out they were going to be playing in Charlottetown 5 days after my birthday. I had never been more excited to see a band play in my life. Going into the show I knew that no matter how awful they were I wouldn't be disappointed, but I must say, without being biased, that it was one of the best shows I have ever witnessed. The set list was incredible, the band played incredibly well, and the crowd was fantastic. Except for the one guy that punched me in the eye, but he was a douche, and I didn't let that bother me. Nothing could have ruined that set. Hopefully, if all goes well, I may get to see them tomorrow night in Sackville. That would rule.

As for the guy that punched me, I'm not really sure what happened there. One minute I was singing along to Plea from a Cat Named Virtue, and the next there was a guy being a drunken dolt to Mallory, Jeremy, and Jen. He kept running into them and singing in their faces. I told him to cool his jets, but instead he just got right up in my face and pinched my neck really hard, and then went on about how he wanted to taste my tinny blood :S. To be fair, it was a lyric from the song, but he kept repeating it to the point where it was creepy as fuckkkkk. I then told him to eff off, and to leave us alone, because we wanted to watch the show. Instead of being a nice guy, he decided to put his hand in front of the lens of my camera in order to further prove how much of an idiot he was. At this point I was furious, and being the rebel rouser I am, I told him to fuck off once more. Then out of nowhere he punched me in the eye; nearly breaking my glasses. As quick as he was being dragged out by security, I was back to watching my favourite band playing one of my favourite songs. I would also like to point out how much I appreciate all of my friends jumping in to defend my honour, haha, it was pretty swell. Especially Woodsie, who punched an 'iceberg' (snowbank) in my defence. Heroes, the lot of you.

All in all it was a great and very memorable night. I will never forget the first time I saw the Weakerthans or the first time I got punched in the face.

Goodnight,

Patrick

Day Five

2009-03-20T01:06:00.003-03:00

Tonight at Ceder's we had a little going away dinner for a friend. She made a blog entry about me, so I thought it would only be fair to make one for her too. Above is a picture of a picture (favourite one I could find on Facebook) of my friend Andie Bulman. She is heading off to Korea to teach English and I am going to miss her a lot.

I met Andie through Katie and Darrah, I think sometime around the start of the fall semester. We both seemed to be really good friends with them, but I remember thinking that it may be weird when we all hang out, because we didn't know eachother. I was very wrong. In the short time that I've known her, she has grown to be a really good friend. She has been a confidant, provided a lot of exposure to my photos (Check it out!), and she has never failed to make me laugh. She is witty, dorky, and has lost so many debit cards that you can't help but chuckle. She has also tried to set me up with a few girls. Partly to be a good friend, but also to live vicariously through me while she missed her boyfriend at sea, haha. Even if her attempts were unsuccessful, the effort was still appreciated. In closing, Andie rules, and things definitely won't be the same without her!

Cheers Andie! Have a safe trip.

Patrick

Day Four

2009-03-19T01:51:00.004-03:00

These pictures were a lot of fun to take, even if I swore a lot, and nearly froze to death. Thanks again Danielle, Jeff'm, and Andie.

I love photography; I don't think I have ever been so enthralled by anything else. It is the only real art that I have been able to really sink my teeth into. Throughout my life I have been interested in the arts and I have tried my hand at a lot of different forms, though I was never very skilled at any of them. I never really learned how to draw, I got bored with the clarinet, and I was never that great of a writer. I don't have the greatest attention span either, so it never took me long to move on after I failed at one of these things. Photography is different though, it came to me quickly, and it has been able to keep my attention more than anything else, ever. I think that is what makes the distinction between a hobby and a passion. Something that you truly enjoy doing, and can never possibly grow tired of.

I find myself contemplating my existence at UPEI a lot lately. As much fun as I've had meeting people and being a university student, I feel as though my passions lie elsewhere, and that maybe university just isn't for me. I think it is about time that I start working towards something I truly enjoy doing.

Adios,

Patrick

Day Three

2009-03-18T00:51:00.002-03:00

In general, bars kinda suck: they smell, they are expensive, and stupid drunk people tend to flock to them. That being said, when I'm one of those stupid drunk people, bars can rule. A lot. Last night was no exception.

Lost, wine, Laura's house, artsy short-films, sweet friends, and fun dairyqueen adventures made for a fun start to the evening. The first two made for a semi confusing evening, but that's ok, I'll forgive them. This was followed by a trip Hunter's to see Mardeen with Katie, Andie, Little Buddy, and James. There weren't too many people there, but the stranger/awesome-person ratio was incredible. This provided for a lot of laughs, fun dancing/singing, and sufficient enough embarrassment. As for the music, Mardeen (seen above via my sweeet cameraphone), were pretty great. It wasn't the greatest set I've ever seen them play, but nothing was going to stop me from enjoying it (even the news that I lost the UPEISU election). The show was followed by an extremely hilarious trip to China Garden with Jcam, Brenton, and Behn. This was filled with nerd talk, hilarious alchemy quotes, and hj's under the table from ~Bwenton~. Kidding?

One thing that I love about bars, is there ability to connect people. Its great how you can see a person you haven't talked to in years and hangout/talk like it was a regular thing. Whether its a friend from elementary school or an old coworker, there are no weird boundries that prevent you from hanging out and having a good time. I guess this could be said about any situation where there are alcohol and people, but I find it happens at bars all the time.

Cheers,

Patio.

Day Two

2009-03-17T21:16:00.001-03:00

My name is Patrick and I am Irish, but I find it hard to dig the 17th of March. Don't get me wrong, St. Patrick seemed like a cool enough guy, even though the legend about snakes is so much cooler than what he actually did, but there is just something about the day that stops me from wanting to celebrate. I really don't know what caused me to dislike it. It might have been the overabundance of green streamers/balloons present at my birthdays, or because some kid called me a leprechaun back in elementary school. I'm not sure what happened, but it did the trick. I only remember going to a St. Patrick's Day party once, and it stunk. The thing is, I shouldddd like it! Me not liking St. Patrick's Day just doesn't make sense. I love being Irish, I love green, and I love things that share my name. I even like beer and being rambunctious every once in a while. Maybe next year I will reconsider and get crunk off of some green beer. But until then.

Also, I may not have gone out drinking tonight, but I did peel 30lbs of potatoes, that was pretty fuckin' Irish.

Ciao,

Patrick

Day One

2009-03-16T23:00:00.000-03:00

Hello,

My name is Patrick Callbeck. Today I turned 21.

Life thus far has been pretty great. Besides breaking both of my arms in grade two, losing some loved ones, and a little heartache, I have no reason to complain. What I will do with the rest of my life is still a mystery, but what I do know is that I have a knack for photography, and a penchant for staying up late. So, I am going to put them to good use.

I figure this year will be life changing, so I have decided to document it.

One picture, one post, everyday.

Boring, or exciting.

Happy, or sad.

Cheers,

Patio.