Windsor castle and RAF museum.

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.....

Know who said that? Winston Churchill after the battle of Britain. The RAF had just saved the war for Britain. If they hadn't won the battle of Britain hitler would have invaded as he had planned.

ANYways. The museum was super sweet. They had probably ten supermarine spitfires on display and bf-109s and hurricanes, and b-52s and p-51 mustangs and mitchells and focke-wulfs. I'll stop now. But even for those who aren't enthralled by either world war two fighter planes or my nerdiness can agree; it's bloody cool.

You know what? So was Windsor castle!!!! The coolest part was that the audio guide you get even tells you that people like it so much because it looks like what people think a castle should!

 I did the extra tour too! Cmon, it was through the great kitchen. The GREAT kitchen! Like there is one there that is only half-assed!! It was huge! King George IV was a huge collector of stuff apparently and he made it so that the kitchen had all sorts of old copper pots and stuff. They are all hanging in display. Also on display are the old roasting spots from his time. Around 1820 I think. They still use a huge range from queen Victorias time!! The kitchen even has a beam if wood in the ceiling from the 1300s. That is a freaking old kitchen!!!

The rest of the castle was really cool too. I am now sitting in a pub watching the Manchester united game drinking a pint being told exactly what I do not know about football by some English guys. Apparently England won the world cup?? I'll go with it.

Tomorrow is Paris u don't know what time but I should start investigating how to get there and what to do there... Anybody have any ideas???

I don't know if I have Internet there so I will talk to you all soon?

Why are there no garbage cans?

Ok. Seriously, I have been wandering around paddington station for the past half hour with a gross "dark coffee" from a small place I found walking down the street. Not a bad deal I thought; coffee and breakfast sandwich for 3 quid. (yea, I call them quid now, turns out it's the same as a pound) coffee was instant and gross, at first I was offered a white coffee and decided....sounds deadly. So I went with the dark coffee. Poor decision. Either way I was still looking for a bloody garbage. I left it on a table eventually. Screw it, I even tried to throw it into the garbage in the bathroom but then I would have had to pay to get in!!!! WTF!

Either way, now rid of my coffee issue I continue on to Windsor castle today. Sweet.

London town. And all I'm looking for is a pint.

I have now done two of the most terrifying things of my life in the past 24 hours. I left for three months to a continent I don't know too well with no particular direction and I SHAVED MY BEARD!!!! Totally off. Clean baby faced ready to take on the world. I forgot what it was like to feel the wind on my cheeks, or to feel rain hit my chin. I must tell you all, I do not like it at all. Not one bit. This is the first time with no facial hair in a year and a half, no joke. I feel as though a part of be is missing. It is my majestic beard friend that is gone.

Ps. Not shaving or trimming till I get home. Word.

So I have heard that everyone always says you take way more stuff than you need. True. My bag, while not overly big, is still quite heavy. I may also be out of shape.


Let's start with the goodbyes. It was nice to see so many people before I left. Weird to realize I won't see them again for so long.
My mom and dad drove me to the airport, which was a nice goodbye. From there it was me on my own.
I followed through on my plan and grabbed a beer asap. Then after I sat down in the lounge to wait for then to board and for the sleeping pills to take hold. Let me explain the pills. I took off at ten on wed night and landed at ten thurs morn London time. So to avoid jetlag I slept the whole way. It more or less worked. I'm feelin pretty good.

As I was sitting in the lounge a woman starts talking to me. I'm thinking "sweet, makin friends already." apparently she had cut her hand and needed a tissue, not a new friend. Although I have now turned the not friends thing into a humanitarian relief award. So...winner.

Flight was good slept mostly. Woke up for food though. The food wasn't too terrible, they won me over with the bite of brownie things.

Customs line was long. I joked around with the customs agent.....word of advice. Don't.

Figured out the tube and train systems enough to get to the right station and met up with Shannon Todd! Woo Toddski!!!


She took me back to her place and then we grabbed lunch. Thai. Yum.

Then I walked with her to her library. By the way, her school library IS A CASTLE!!! Like serious.
The architecture on so many of the buildings here is magnificent. Just amazing. We walked all along the
Thames and such. It's really nice here, at least if it wasn't pissing rain I'm sure it would be at least.

After dropping her off I meandered around. Saw some cool stuff, but was mostly craving a beer. Apparently the Brits are crazy about how they order beer. Something about going up with your table number and then I dunno. Regardless. I spent a lot of time walking in the rain but all i wanted was a beer.

I an now soaking wet, sitting in a pub named after an arctic mammal that looked like a manatee with tusks.
Oh...and I found a friend. She is tall, blonde, and named Stella.

I love beer.

The Pre-Game Stretch

I leave tomorrow. Oh. My. God. I am leaving for around 3 months on a trip to Europe. I fly into London and stay for 4 days there with a good friend (yay Toddski!) From there i go to Paris for 7 nights and explore. After going to Paris i don't have any plans for about 2 weeks. The reason i haven't planned out anything is because i want to leave myself open for anything. I have a rough plan to travel through Brugge, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin and then to Munich...but that could change at any point. I really don't know.

Although im packing pretty well i don't feel as though im ready at all. I have socks and boxers packed so far. From there i've got like 8 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shorts, shoes, sandals, flip flops, travel towel, ipod, and some other basic things. I can't remember. (im also spacing out watching the finale of Hells Kitchen)

Basically im getting nervous about it all. I really have no idea what to expect and it's scary. I'm going to try to be updating on here as often as possible. Fuckin technology is amazing and i'm able to update this from my ipod when i have a wi-fi connection! WTF! imagine the fact that i could be sitting in a cafe outside the Louvre updating my blog. How freakin cool is that!!!

In london i have a ton of things planned so the first few days of this trip are going to be a whirlwind. The first day i land at 10am. So i have no idea how much time i will have to do anything that day. The second day i will be going to the Globe Theatre, London Bridge, HMS Belfast (last floating world war two battleship=im a nerd) and then the tower of London. The next day is Windsor Castle and then i don't know. We will sorta see.

That's about it for now. Wish me a good flight (where i can sleep, i leave at 10 pm and land 10 am london time so the flight is my sleep).

Miss you all mostly,

See you soon.

-Dean

The Basics

Name: Dean Volpe

Sex: Male Height: 5'11" (although i will always say 6' and DARE people to tell me different)

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Brown

Facial Hair: Of Course....but wait!!! NO! I have decided to really go at it new. I have shaved clean for the first time in over a year!!! Scary!

Body Type: Athletic (maybe not so much but i like to think it is)

Hobbies: Cooking fancy ass good tasting meals.

Pretending to play piano and guitar

I do love my video games

All sort of sports

What else is there? I should cover it mostly in the blog i guess.

I am a 23 year old University Graduate. Imagine this; I graduated University in 5 years..a little long yes, i know but hey, i came out with 2 major. One is a History major. I absolutely love history and anyone who knows me knows that i am more or less a huge nerd. I used to be terrified by the title because one just assumed that the title came with wedgies. Turns out nobody really gives wedgies anymore. So yea, i love trivia. Trivial Pursuit between you and me? You lose.

I also have a major in Theatre. Just to clarify before you ask...No i am not an actor. You wont find me on stage with a skull in my hand reciting from Hamlet. (Thats what all the actors i know do in their spare time). I went through school doing design, specifically lighting design. Im sort of a non-theatre loving Theatre Kid.

Anyways. I've never really found out what it is that i want to do with my life. I love designing theatre, but i dont know if it is something i want to pursue. I love History but what the hell do you do with that?

I've worked in a kitchen for the past year and i need a change. I need to do something different with my life something that is going to excite me more than the Mox. (Moxies, my current/old place of employment)

I dont know how long im going to be gone for i haven't even left yet (depending on when you read this) but im definitely going to have an adventure.