I had a great weekend!
Yesterday I went to a party, and figured out that one of the guys there was another belgian BAEF fellow. I made him happy with some of the chocotoffs my mom sent me.
This morning I had to get up way too early. My host family (assigned through the AMIGO project), planned to take me and their other exchange student Mike to the north of the state. We started by driving up to Amicalola waterfalls state park. My stomach was not too happy with the combination of chocotoffs, Stella and whiskey from the previous evening and the curvy road going up in the mountains. So I was a bit quiet in the back of the car and thinking I should have brought a bottle of water along...
Anyway, in the state park we had lunch on top of the mountain. The lunch itself was pretty good, and the view was simply terrific! The new things my taste buds explored here were fried ocra, southern style carrot salad (with raisins), pecan pie and some warm dessert with cherries that they top off with some soft ice... It was all very enjoyable! Oh, and I had sweet tea to go with my lunch... I'm becoming a bit of a Southern I guess, because when I arrived here I thought their sweet tea was way too sweet for me, but now I do enjoy it.
After lunch, we headed to the top of the falls, a viewpoint from which you can look down over the falls. We didn't hike all the way back down to the bottom of the falls, because it was a bit cold and windy. I might like to do that another time, though.
Our next destination was the apple house in Elijah. And, oh surprise, I got apples there. They're so much better than the ones from the supermarket.
Then we started our return to Atlanta. On our way back, we made a stop in Dahlonega, the place where the gold rush in Georgia took place, somewhere around 1830. It's a cute small town nowadays, with a country band playing close to the court house at the main square.
And then we drove back home, and after putting my photos on Facebook and writing my blog, I'm going to plunge my nose back into my dynamics book and do some more studying. Yes, I do study a lot, I really work my ass off here, but that's just not so interesting to write about compared to my trips around here.
zaterdag 25 oktober 2008
zondag 19 oktober 2008
Lynchburg and Huntsville
Yesterday, I visited Lynchburg (TN) and Huntsville (AL).
My day started extremely early: I got up at 5h35 and hit the road at 6am (half in zombiemode, half excited to see more of this crazy country).
The first destination was Lynchburg, TN where the world famous Jack Daniel's whiskey is distilled. When entering Tennessee, I noitced a small road sign, saying that we where entering the Central Time Zone. I was totally dumbstruck, as I never noticed Tennessee being in another timezone during my Nashville trip. But apparently, Tennessee is neatly split into an eastern timezone and a central timezone. Good to know! But that meant we would early before the distillery actually opens to the public. We used this opportunity to visit the historic heart of metro Lynchburg, which is basicly simply one square with old-fashioned looking shops... A weird fact about Lynchburg is that this place is in Moore county, and that is a dry county. The Jack Daniel's distillery is subject to some exeptional rule, that makes them able to distil their delicious liquor, but they cannot sell their whiskey in Moore County. Only in America...
Another funny fact is that in Georgia, the sales of fireworks is strictly regulated. Just over the border in Tennessee, you can find a whole lot of fireworks supermarkets. My logic has some trouble understanding what the problem is with selling fireworks in a place where guns are sold as if they were toys... No, I'm not judging, I'm just trying to understand this country and especially the South.
So in Lynchburg I followed a guided tour through the distillery. As it is a dry county, tasting was not possible, but I thought it was a very interesting tour. I did have some trouble understanding our guide, as he had a very distinct accent (and I still miss subtitles when it comes to Southerns). After this tour, the GPS sent us through the Middle of Nowhere in Tennessee and I really started thinking who I would be if I would have grown up there, without an academy of arts and surrounded by endless hills.
The next destination was the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. That is the place where I participated in the International Space Camp in 2002. I was so glad to go back there and relive my memories. The museum changed a bit, of course, and the Saturn V replica is now on the second floor of the IMax cinema, with a small exhibition to explain more about the Saturn. I enjoyed being back in the Space Shot (I admit, I screamed a little bit and I was swearing "putain, putain", but that's fine) and in the G-force centrifuge.
Afterwards, we headed towards the Waffle House, as this seems to be very popular around here. I must says that I really enjoyed my waffle. They seem to have a thicker structure than the Brussels waffles, and they're less crispy, but nonetheless, they're great. I was a bit surprised to see my waffle being served with bacon as a side, but apparently my ordering a waffle with pecan was misunderstood as a waffle with bacon.
Driving back to Atlanta was interesting as well. The GPS sent us via an Alabama highway, and I must say that I've never seen a night as dark as the ink-black night in Alabama. There was no moon to shine upon the road, no road lights, no light from houses as there were no houses along the road... it must have been the darkest night I've ever seen, it looked as someone had hung an ink-black velvet drape over the Earth...
My day started extremely early: I got up at 5h35 and hit the road at 6am (half in zombiemode, half excited to see more of this crazy country).
The first destination was Lynchburg, TN where the world famous Jack Daniel's whiskey is distilled. When entering Tennessee, I noitced a small road sign, saying that we where entering the Central Time Zone. I was totally dumbstruck, as I never noticed Tennessee being in another timezone during my Nashville trip. But apparently, Tennessee is neatly split into an eastern timezone and a central timezone. Good to know! But that meant we would early before the distillery actually opens to the public. We used this opportunity to visit the historic heart of metro Lynchburg, which is basicly simply one square with old-fashioned looking shops... A weird fact about Lynchburg is that this place is in Moore county, and that is a dry county. The Jack Daniel's distillery is subject to some exeptional rule, that makes them able to distil their delicious liquor, but they cannot sell their whiskey in Moore County. Only in America...
Another funny fact is that in Georgia, the sales of fireworks is strictly regulated. Just over the border in Tennessee, you can find a whole lot of fireworks supermarkets. My logic has some trouble understanding what the problem is with selling fireworks in a place where guns are sold as if they were toys... No, I'm not judging, I'm just trying to understand this country and especially the South.
So in Lynchburg I followed a guided tour through the distillery. As it is a dry county, tasting was not possible, but I thought it was a very interesting tour. I did have some trouble understanding our guide, as he had a very distinct accent (and I still miss subtitles when it comes to Southerns). After this tour, the GPS sent us through the Middle of Nowhere in Tennessee and I really started thinking who I would be if I would have grown up there, without an academy of arts and surrounded by endless hills.
The next destination was the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. That is the place where I participated in the International Space Camp in 2002. I was so glad to go back there and relive my memories. The museum changed a bit, of course, and the Saturn V replica is now on the second floor of the IMax cinema, with a small exhibition to explain more about the Saturn. I enjoyed being back in the Space Shot (I admit, I screamed a little bit and I was swearing "putain, putain", but that's fine) and in the G-force centrifuge.
Afterwards, we headed towards the Waffle House, as this seems to be very popular around here. I must says that I really enjoyed my waffle. They seem to have a thicker structure than the Brussels waffles, and they're less crispy, but nonetheless, they're great. I was a bit surprised to see my waffle being served with bacon as a side, but apparently my ordering a waffle with pecan was misunderstood as a waffle with bacon.
Driving back to Atlanta was interesting as well. The GPS sent us via an Alabama highway, and I must say that I've never seen a night as dark as the ink-black night in Alabama. There was no moon to shine upon the road, no road lights, no light from houses as there were no houses along the road... it must have been the darkest night I've ever seen, it looked as someone had hung an ink-black velvet drape over the Earth...
maandag 13 oktober 2008
Tennessee trip
Fall break was the ideal opportunity to get away from it all and explore some more of this country.
On Friday, right after class, we left towards Nashville. The first stop on the way (after the WalMart where we got an extra sleeping pad), was Chattanooga. We hoped to see something from the Lookout Mountain, but apparently the Lookout Mountain was more a collection of attractions and a small town than a place with a great view. So we continued to Nashville. In one word: Nashville is amazing! Small bars with live music, great atmosphere... it's all about music! On Friday evening we just went from bar to bar and soaked up the atmosphere of Nashville. The next morning, we visitid the Country museum and Hall of Fame, and I found out that I don't know anything about country music. I couldn't recognize any of the classics we could listen to and there were very little names I knew. But now I have some idea of it. Afterwards, we walked up to Fort Nashborough. It's called a "fort" but it's a bunch of wooden baracks. Interesting... Then we went to the western part of Nashville, the area of the Vanderbilt university. There, in Centennial Park, they have a copy of the Parthenon. Nashville thinks of itself as the Athens of the USA, so they copied the Parthenon. Seriously... The next stop was Music Valley, where we visited the museum of the Grand Ole Opry and the Gibson guitar shop. We had some extremely sweet icecream in Music Valley too, and then we hit the road again, towards the hostel in Knoxville.
In Knoxville, we didn't visit anything. The manager of the hostel told us that it would be very quiet there on a Sunday morning. I thought that they would all be sleeping in, but apparently everyone there is in church on Sundays. By the way, a hostel in Knoxville is not what we're used to as a hostel. It had just two dorms, one with 4 beds and one it 6 beds. Very cosy!
So, on Sunday morning we went to the Smokies. We arrived via Townsend, where we made some rough plans in the visitor center. We had to go to the Sugarland visitor center, because we intended to do some backcountry camping (we decided that on saturday evening). So at Sugarland the advised us some 7,4 mile dayhike and then a 9 mile dayhike... I think the lady at the visitor center must have tought we were really fit, because the hike we eventually did was already enough. But first we got back to the car and planned to visit some of the waterfalls along the Cherokee loop or something like that. Until we saw the traffic jam in the park around Gatlinbrug. So we just headed towards Clingmans Dome and started off our hike. As we had this very intense preparation for the hike, we needed to be a bit inventive (using shoestrings to tie up our sleepings pads and using school backpack as our hiking backpacks). After a 2,5 hour walk along the Forney Creek trail, we arrived at our campsite and had a good time around the campfire with Aussie and local hikers. The next moring, we woke up and thought it was still very early... but it was 9:40... the light was shining bright on the top of the leaves, creating a wonderful sight. Actually the whole hike down and back up was a series of breathtaking sights. And the camping itself was something I never did before, there was just a place to make fire and something to tie up our backpacks in the trees so that the bears wouldn't attack in the tents to get food. It was so great being there, away from the traffic in the national park and away from it all. I've had my mind totally refreshed there and am ready for some heavy studying the coming week(s). The hike back up was quite a challenge. Especially the firs20 minutes, I was constantly out of breath and having a very fast heartbeat. But after about an hour I found my rythm and kept on going and climbing all the way back up to Clingmans Dome (about a 2000 feet higher than the campsite, so it was a steep hike up!). I'm proud of myself that I made it to the top, and in quite a good time.
Then we started our way back to Atlanta. We made a stop for lunch at Sylva, North Carolina, a very small town with a railroad passing it. In Georgia, we also had a look at the Tallullah gorge, and then we got back in Atlanta in the evening.
I really liked the difference between busy Nashville and the silent breathtakingly beautiful Smokies...
On Friday, right after class, we left towards Nashville. The first stop on the way (after the WalMart where we got an extra sleeping pad), was Chattanooga. We hoped to see something from the Lookout Mountain, but apparently the Lookout Mountain was more a collection of attractions and a small town than a place with a great view. So we continued to Nashville. In one word: Nashville is amazing! Small bars with live music, great atmosphere... it's all about music! On Friday evening we just went from bar to bar and soaked up the atmosphere of Nashville. The next morning, we visitid the Country museum and Hall of Fame, and I found out that I don't know anything about country music. I couldn't recognize any of the classics we could listen to and there were very little names I knew. But now I have some idea of it. Afterwards, we walked up to Fort Nashborough. It's called a "fort" but it's a bunch of wooden baracks. Interesting... Then we went to the western part of Nashville, the area of the Vanderbilt university. There, in Centennial Park, they have a copy of the Parthenon. Nashville thinks of itself as the Athens of the USA, so they copied the Parthenon. Seriously... The next stop was Music Valley, where we visited the museum of the Grand Ole Opry and the Gibson guitar shop. We had some extremely sweet icecream in Music Valley too, and then we hit the road again, towards the hostel in Knoxville.
In Knoxville, we didn't visit anything. The manager of the hostel told us that it would be very quiet there on a Sunday morning. I thought that they would all be sleeping in, but apparently everyone there is in church on Sundays. By the way, a hostel in Knoxville is not what we're used to as a hostel. It had just two dorms, one with 4 beds and one it 6 beds. Very cosy!
So, on Sunday morning we went to the Smokies. We arrived via Townsend, where we made some rough plans in the visitor center. We had to go to the Sugarland visitor center, because we intended to do some backcountry camping (we decided that on saturday evening). So at Sugarland the advised us some 7,4 mile dayhike and then a 9 mile dayhike... I think the lady at the visitor center must have tought we were really fit, because the hike we eventually did was already enough. But first we got back to the car and planned to visit some of the waterfalls along the Cherokee loop or something like that. Until we saw the traffic jam in the park around Gatlinbrug. So we just headed towards Clingmans Dome and started off our hike. As we had this very intense preparation for the hike, we needed to be a bit inventive (using shoestrings to tie up our sleepings pads and using school backpack as our hiking backpacks). After a 2,5 hour walk along the Forney Creek trail, we arrived at our campsite and had a good time around the campfire with Aussie and local hikers. The next moring, we woke up and thought it was still very early... but it was 9:40... the light was shining bright on the top of the leaves, creating a wonderful sight. Actually the whole hike down and back up was a series of breathtaking sights. And the camping itself was something I never did before, there was just a place to make fire and something to tie up our backpacks in the trees so that the bears wouldn't attack in the tents to get food. It was so great being there, away from the traffic in the national park and away from it all. I've had my mind totally refreshed there and am ready for some heavy studying the coming week(s). The hike back up was quite a challenge. Especially the firs20 minutes, I was constantly out of breath and having a very fast heartbeat. But after about an hour I found my rythm and kept on going and climbing all the way back up to Clingmans Dome (about a 2000 feet higher than the campsite, so it was a steep hike up!). I'm proud of myself that I made it to the top, and in quite a good time.
Then we started our way back to Atlanta. We made a stop for lunch at Sylva, North Carolina, a very small town with a railroad passing it. In Georgia, we also had a look at the Tallullah gorge, and then we got back in Atlanta in the evening.
I really liked the difference between busy Nashville and the silent breathtakingly beautiful Smokies...
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