Much has happened since last we met...
At the moment, I'm writing from our old familiar surroundings in Stamford, CT: the Stamford Sheraton. The past several months have been a whirlwind! Let me give you some highlights...
February: After the last post, the gang and I went over to Brussels, the capital of Belgium for a fabulous weekend. Rajat, Shalima, January, and even Reyna all joined me for that adventure. We saw all around the city, the main square, and the castle! On Sat night, January, Reyna, and I went out on the town. It was awesome. Reyna was the belle of the ball there! All the guys were looking as she walked down the streets and we even got into the club without having to wait in line! Haha! Check out the pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/MattJBrooks/070218TripToBrussels
March: The first weekend of March I headed out to Florence, Italy (or Firenze as the Italians call it) to visit my "Aunt" and "Uncle" Stephens. Firenze is my favorite city in Europe so far. Check out the post from my last trip over there: http://www.brooksny.net/myblog/2005/08/june-14-june-23-2005-florence-italy.html. I stayed with Mike and Christine in their loft apartment, which was huge and gorgeous! It's located in the heart of historic Firenze right near Il Duomo.
One of the things I love the most about Firenze is the energy and life of the city. People are all over the place, but not in a bustling, busy way like in New York or other US cities. They are there relaxed, walking around, eating, chatting, taking pictures, going to the churches, shopping outside along the streets, or just...living... It's an amazing feeling! I highly suggest going to experience this. Here are the pictures from that trip. There are a couple videos in there as well which will help bring the atmosphere to being for you (I hope!): http://picasaweb.google.com/MattJBrooks/070304TripToFirenzeItaly
The next weekend after I got home, my friends Jamie and Johnnie came to visit me in Paris. Unfortunately I had to work through most of their visit, but they got a lot of time to themselves to see all the sites they wanted to. We had time in the evenings to go along together to places like the Eiffel Tower, Sacré Cœur, & the nightclub "Queen" to name a few spots. It was great to see them!
Later in March I went home to Albany, NY for a weekend. Yes, one weekend. The Capital District had a mild winter with very little snow, but you can bet the weekend I showed up it let it all out! I landed in JFK airport in New York City on March 16th to find out that all outgoing connection flights were canceled due to weather. I made my way to the Hertz dealership as fast as possible (which was an adventure in itself! Be careful flying through JFK...it's a confusing airport!); got the last car they had available; and headed north to Albany. What should have been a two hour drive turned into over five hours! The rest of the trip was wonderful. I got to see nearly everyone in just a couple days. My trip back to Paris was a bit manic, but in the end, the whole trip was worth it!
Two weeks after that one, we finished the first half of our audit in Paris (which was a great success!) and my wonderful friend Brent (aka Mama...or Mà mà as it's spelled in French) came for his visit. At the same time my partner in crime, January's friend Liz came for the weekend. We had an amazing time showing those two all that Paris has to offer. Mà mà had been to Paris a few times before so he was able to do his own thing during the days where I did have to work. It was great having a roommate for a while and sharing our stories of the day at night over dinner or before going to bed. We took tons of pictures that weekend...check them out here: http://picasaweb.google.com/MattJBrooks/070331070404MamasVisitToParis
April: April in Paris...reference the song by Frank Sinatra (lyrics here: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/f/frank+sinatra/april+in+paris_20055552.html). Finally April had come and our audit was rapidly swinging into phase two. Starting the month off, January and I had a wonderful, relaxing Easter together. While both of us missed our families, we didn't let that get us down. It was a fantastic weekend! On Easter Sunday we had brunch down by the Siene and walked from Le Louvre, through le Jardin de Tuileries, through le Place de Concorde, up Les Champs Elysées, and finally to Le Arc de Triomphe. It was a long walk! Oh, yes, by the way we also walked up the 284 stairs to the top as well. I mean hey, why not! :) We were already there. After that we took a quick ride on le métro to Le Bastille where we enjoyed a nice cold Desperado beer (sooo good! How can you go wrong adding tequila to beer...and no, it's not Mexican...it's French!). It was a long day, but a great day.
Before long, April 13 came and with it came my mom and Aunt Janie for their first adventure outside the US! Both of them came and spent a week with me...a wonderful vacation week over which we saw everything Paris had to offer. On top of that, we took a day trip to Versailles to check out le château, les jardins, and go for a row boat ride on the lake. We also took day trips to London, England and Brussels, Belgium. Their favorite was Paris...who could blame them :) We took hundreds of pictures and about 15 videos. Feel free to go through them on http://pictures.brooksny.net/. The videos mostly feature my mom, aka Minnie. She's so strange...in a cute "I've never been outside of the country and this is fabulous" kind of way. Haha! It's a good thing my aunt came along, though, otherwise I think I would have lost her somewhere with all the craziness! We don't call her Minnie for nothin' you know.
The day they left to go back to the US, my friends Chang, Maria, and Joseph arrived and we left to go on a trip for the weekend to Le Loire Valley in southern France. There are over 35 châteaux along le Loire river and we only got to see 5 of them while we were there. We stayed in a beautiful bed & breakfast outside Tours, France and over the two days we were down there we saw so much history and beauty! When you go outside the cities in the European countries you really get to see untouched, wonderful places full of a certain atmosphere that instantly takes your mind hundreds of years backwards in time. What were the people of that day like? What did they do for fun? How did they live? I just couldn't help casting my mind back on those questions. It was a great unwind for me... Check out the pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/MattJBrooks/070421LoireValleyTripDay1 & http://picasaweb.google.com/MattJBrooks/070422LoireValleyTripDay2
Finally, the next weekend (yeah tell me about it...my apt had a revolving door installed for the month :), my good friend Matty O came out to visit me from Manchester-ish, NH. It was his first time out of the US for a trip as well so I took him on the standard walking tour of Paris :) I got good at it after a while! We didn't end up going out to the club that weekend because I was so tired from working loooong hours, but we still got to see everything and have a good time together. We went to get fondue at my favorite place, Le Maison Blanche down by Place St. Michele and discovered an impromptu concert happening on the side of the street near le place. It was hilarious to us because they were singing American songs and we understood them and knew the words. There was a huge crowd listening, laughing, and loving the music. I live for moments like that where people are just full of life!!! Check out all the pictures from his trip here: http://picasaweb.google.com/MattJBrooks/070428MattyOSTripToParis
May: May came quickly in Paris. Before I knew it we were wrapped up, and I was heading home to Albany, NY the Fri before Mother's Day (May 11). I got to go to the Cystic Fibrosis Walk to support my little niece and nephew who both have CF; got to enjoy Mother's Day with my moms and family; got to work the following week in Schenectady where I caught up with my former colleagues; and got a couple days to relax before flying out to Jacksonville, FL for the Corporate Audit Staff (CAS) conference.
Jacksonville was great. The conference was more relaxed than the past one had been in January (which was awesome! Don't get me wrong). The best part was that it was in a nice warm place at a gorgeous golf resort, and my little brother, Dave, was there with me as well! He just joined the audit staff in May. On top of hanging out with him, I got to hang out with my old buddies from orientation. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures from the resort (the Sawgrass Marriott). It was so tropical and spectacular, though, that I really regret not getting them. If for some reason you get a chance to stay there, do it!
I flew back to Albany, NY for a couple days on May 23. After enjoying Memorial Day at home, I drove down to Stamford, CT to start our next audit with every intention to fly out to Los Angeles, CA on June 3 to continue with it. At the last minute, approximately 5:30p on Sat, June 2, I got a phone call saying to cancel my plans for LA and prepare to go to Mexico City, Mexico to help with an emerging issue there. I have no idea when I'm leaving, where I'm staying there, or what I'll be doing when I arrive at this point, but that's all part of the excitement of my new lifestyle as an auditor! In any case, I'm sure I'll get a lot of nice pictures while I'm down there, so stay tuned!
Sorry for the very long posting. Hopefully I'll do a better job of keeping things up to date here. Wish me luck as I continue my adventures around the world...! :)
Cheers,
M@
At the moment, I'm writing from our old familiar surroundings in Stamford, CT: the Stamford Sheraton. The past several months have been a whirlwind! Let me give you some highlights...
February: After the last post, the gang and I went over to Brussels, the capital of Belgium for a fabulous weekend. Rajat, Shalima, January, and even Reyna all joined me for that adventure. We saw all around the city, the main square, and the castle! On Sat night, January, Reyna, and I went out on the town. It was awesome. Reyna was the belle of the ball there! All the guys were looking as she walked down the streets and we even got into the club without having to wait in line! Haha! Check out the pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/MattJBrooks/070218TripToBrussels
March: The first weekend of March I headed out to Florence, Italy (or Firenze as the Italians call it) to visit my "Aunt" and "Uncle" Stephens. Firenze is my favorite city in Europe so far. Check out the post from my last trip over there: http://www.brooksny.net/myblog/2005/08/june-14-june-23-2005-florence-italy.html. I stayed with Mike and Christine in their loft apartment, which was huge and gorgeous! It's located in the heart of historic Firenze right near Il Duomo.
One of the things I love the most about Firenze is the energy and life of the city. People are all over the place, but not in a bustling, busy way like in New York or other US cities. They are there relaxed, walking around, eating, chatting, taking pictures, going to the churches, shopping outside along the streets, or just...living... It's an amazing feeling! I highly suggest going to experience this. Here are the pictures from that trip. There are a couple videos in there as well which will help bring the atmosphere to being for you (I hope!): http://picasaweb.google.com/MattJBrooks/070304TripToFirenzeItaly
The next weekend after I got home, my friends Jamie and Johnnie came to visit me in Paris. Unfortunately I had to work through most of their visit, but they got a lot of time to themselves to see all the sites they wanted to. We had time in the evenings to go along together to places like the Eiffel Tower, Sacré Cœur, & the nightclub "Queen" to name a few spots. It was great to see them!
Later in March I went home to Albany, NY for a weekend. Yes, one weekend. The Capital District had a mild winter with very little snow, but you can bet the weekend I showed up it let it all out! I landed in JFK airport in New York City on March 16th to find out that all outgoing connection flights were canceled due to weather. I made my way to the Hertz dealership as fast as possible (which was an adventure in itself! Be careful flying through JFK...it's a confusing airport!); got the last car they had available; and headed north to Albany. What should have been a two hour drive turned into over five hours! The rest of the trip was wonderful. I got to see nearly everyone in just a couple days. My trip back to Paris was a bit manic, but in the end, the whole trip was worth it!
Two weeks after that one, we finished the first half of our audit in Paris (which was a great success!) and my wonderful friend Brent (aka Mama...or Mà mà as it's spelled in French) came for his visit. At the same time my partner in crime, January's friend Liz came for the weekend. We had an amazing time showing those two all that Paris has to offer. Mà mà had been to Paris a few times before so he was able to do his own thing during the days where I did have to work. It was great having a roommate for a while and sharing our stories of the day at night over dinner or before going to bed. We took tons of pictures that weekend...check them out here: http://picasaweb.google.com/MattJBrooks/070331070404MamasVisitToParis
April: April in Paris...reference the song by Frank Sinatra (lyrics here: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/f/frank+sinatra/april+in+paris_20055552.html). Finally April had come and our audit was rapidly swinging into phase two. Starting the month off, January and I had a wonderful, relaxing Easter together. While both of us missed our families, we didn't let that get us down. It was a fantastic weekend! On Easter Sunday we had brunch down by the Siene and walked from Le Louvre, through le Jardin de Tuileries, through le Place de Concorde, up Les Champs Elysées, and finally to Le Arc de Triomphe. It was a long walk! Oh, yes, by the way we also walked up the 284 stairs to the top as well. I mean hey, why not! :) We were already there. After that we took a quick ride on le métro to Le Bastille where we enjoyed a nice cold Desperado beer (sooo good! How can you go wrong adding tequila to beer...and no, it's not Mexican...it's French!). It was a long day, but a great day.
Before long, April 13 came and with it came my mom and Aunt Janie for their first adventure outside the US! Both of them came and spent a week with me...a wonderful vacation week over which we saw everything Paris had to offer. On top of that, we took a day trip to Versailles to check out le château, les jardins, and go for a row boat ride on the lake. We also took day trips to London, England and Brussels, Belgium. Their favorite was Paris...who could blame them :) We took hundreds of pictures and about 15 videos. Feel free to go through them on http://pictures.brooksny.net/. The videos mostly feature my mom, aka Minnie. She's so strange...in a cute "I've never been outside of the country and this is fabulous" kind of way. Haha! It's a good thing my aunt came along, though, otherwise I think I would have lost her somewhere with all the craziness! We don't call her Minnie for nothin' you know.
The day they left to go back to the US, my friends Chang, Maria, and Joseph arrived and we left to go on a trip for the weekend to Le Loire Valley in southern France. There are over 35 châteaux along le Loire river and we only got to see 5 of them while we were there. We stayed in a beautiful bed & breakfast outside Tours, France and over the two days we were down there we saw so much history and beauty! When you go outside the cities in the European countries you really get to see untouched, wonderful places full of a certain atmosphere that instantly takes your mind hundreds of years backwards in time. What were the people of that day like? What did they do for fun? How did they live? I just couldn't help casting my mind back on those questions. It was a great unwind for me... Check out the pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/MattJBrooks/070421LoireValleyTripDay1 & http://picasaweb.google.com/MattJBrooks/070422LoireValleyTripDay2
Finally, the next weekend (yeah tell me about it...my apt had a revolving door installed for the month :), my good friend Matty O came out to visit me from Manchester-ish, NH. It was his first time out of the US for a trip as well so I took him on the standard walking tour of Paris :) I got good at it after a while! We didn't end up going out to the club that weekend because I was so tired from working loooong hours, but we still got to see everything and have a good time together. We went to get fondue at my favorite place, Le Maison Blanche down by Place St. Michele and discovered an impromptu concert happening on the side of the street near le place. It was hilarious to us because they were singing American songs and we understood them and knew the words. There was a huge crowd listening, laughing, and loving the music. I live for moments like that where people are just full of life!!! Check out all the pictures from his trip here: http://picasaweb.google.com/MattJBrooks/070428MattyOSTripToParis
May: May came quickly in Paris. Before I knew it we were wrapped up, and I was heading home to Albany, NY the Fri before Mother's Day (May 11). I got to go to the Cystic Fibrosis Walk to support my little niece and nephew who both have CF; got to enjoy Mother's Day with my moms and family; got to work the following week in Schenectady where I caught up with my former colleagues; and got a couple days to relax before flying out to Jacksonville, FL for the Corporate Audit Staff (CAS) conference.
Jacksonville was great. The conference was more relaxed than the past one had been in January (which was awesome! Don't get me wrong). The best part was that it was in a nice warm place at a gorgeous golf resort, and my little brother, Dave, was there with me as well! He just joined the audit staff in May. On top of hanging out with him, I got to hang out with my old buddies from orientation. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures from the resort (the Sawgrass Marriott). It was so tropical and spectacular, though, that I really regret not getting them. If for some reason you get a chance to stay there, do it!
I flew back to Albany, NY for a couple days on May 23. After enjoying Memorial Day at home, I drove down to Stamford, CT to start our next audit with every intention to fly out to Los Angeles, CA on June 3 to continue with it. At the last minute, approximately 5:30p on Sat, June 2, I got a phone call saying to cancel my plans for LA and prepare to go to Mexico City, Mexico to help with an emerging issue there. I have no idea when I'm leaving, where I'm staying there, or what I'll be doing when I arrive at this point, but that's all part of the excitement of my new lifestyle as an auditor! In any case, I'm sure I'll get a lot of nice pictures while I'm down there, so stay tuned!
Sorry for the very long posting. Hopefully I'll do a better job of keeping things up to date here. Wish me luck as I continue my adventures around the world...! :)
Cheers,
M@
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