Busy Busy Busy

It's been a while since the last time I posted and I apologize, but it has been an extremely busy couple of weeks. Last Sunday I moved down to Arlington, VA, giving me just enough time to meet my new housemates/classmates and start to settle before the 3 days of orientation at GW Law School started Wednesday.
Before all of that of course I took a long weekend trip to New Orleans 2 weeks ago (to this date actually) with a friend from home to visit another good friend of ours who moved down over a year ago. The timing might not have been great on my end, but as far as New Orleans goes it was great with 2 major events, SatchmoFest (By the way...I love the fact that you fly into Louis Armstrong International. It makes me think perhaps Newark should be renamed Bruce Springstein International) and White Linen Night (where everybody goes down to the art galleries dressed in white linen for the openings), both taking place. I'm certainly happy that I finally had the chance to get down there, see NOLA, and visit my friend though I wish I had the chance to go before Katrina just to compare.
Regardless, I got home late Monday night, leaving me less than a week to get myself ready, spend time with my girlfriend, friends, and family, have a big going away clam night by the pool at my aunt and uncle's (over 1000 clams at the start, 20 at the end) and get myself down here.
Now there are classes starting on Monday and I don't see myself posting as much as I was before. That said, I do still have every intention of keeping this blog going if for no other reason than to give myself a mental escape from law school. One of the speakers today actually suggested keeping a journal and I'm figuring this will be close enough.

Travel - Gettysburg

I went with my dad this weekend to visit my aunt and uncle in York, PA and while out that way took a day trip to Gettysburg. As someone who studied history it is a bit sad to admit that this was my first time being there, but it brought to me the even sadder realization that there are a ton of sites in the area that I have just never gotten around to. Oh well, perhaps I'll find the time to make a quick trip to Valley Forge before heading down DC ways. Anyway, beyond that little realization, the entire weekend was very good, very relaxing, and now I'm back for a few days before heading down to New Orleans. I know, a difficult life, but that will all be changing in a few weeks.
These are a couple of pictures from atop Little Round Top, a site where some of the battle's most significant fighting took place, and aside from strategic importance offers a very nice view.

Travel - Always a good decision

After my last day at work on Friday I took a trip up to Boston for the weekend to visit some friends from college. Despite all the driving it was still a good weekend all in all. I got to see a bunch of people at a party Saturday night, visited the campus and saw some of the additions that have been made since I was last up there (mainly a giant statue of St. Ignatius Loyola), and even picked up a much needed Boston College hoodie.
Unfortunately the weather kept us from following through on plans to spend a day on the cape, so instead my friend Doug and I did a tour at the Sam Adams Brewery.
While Sam Adams may not be my favorite brewer (still has some good ones), the tour did give me a new found appreciation for the fact that I was not around drinking beer 20-30 years ago. Thanks to the microbrewing revolution I never have to worry about going to the bar and finding nothing to choose from beyond Bud, Coors, and Miller, which is a very good thing.
With that said I'm going to wrap up this session by pointing you in the direction of the most recent podcast at http://instapundit.com/archives/cat_podcasts.php where they actually have a pretty interesting discussion about beer and brewing (from July 17).

Travel - Down in the DR

I know that it has been over 2 weeks since we got back, but my feeling is that it is better late than never so here I am with an entry. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about Joanna and I took a little vacation earlier this month to the Dominican Republic. We left Philadelphia International on Friday, June 9 and returned 5 days later on Wednesday, having spent 4 full days relaxing in the Caribbean sun (typically with a drink in hand). Having never been there before I had some obvious worries, ranging from food and water to the weather (it was their supposed rainy season), but after coming back I find myself hard pressed to come up with any complaints.

Our vacation was spent at the Viva Wyndam Dominicus Palace, found just outside of La Romana in the southern part of the Dominican. We found and booked the resort online with a package that was all-inclusive and very affordable (The Dominican is probably the most affordable vacation destination among the Caribbean islands). By all-inclusive I mean that upon arrival we placed our wallets in the room’s safe and excluding a snorkeling trip they were left there the entire time. Everything from the flight, to transportation to and from the hotel, the room, food, drinks, and entertainment were all included and we had no issues with anything.

The resort itself was absolutely gorgeous, as you can see from the pictures I’ve included, and right on the beach. That is where we spent most of our day just lounging with drinks from the poolside bar or swimming in the sea. Our room was less stunning perhaps, but very clean and comfortable, (all I was really looking for) and the balcony with a gorgeous view of the resort was a nice bonus. The food, likewise, may have been disappointing if you were looking for 4 stars, but we were more than happy, with the dinners especially at restaurants ranging from Italian to Mexican and a grille.

Before arriving we had talked about taking a day trip to Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital, but we ended up being very happy spending the entire trip at the resort and on the beach without worrying about the hastle of busing into and around the city. The one exception was the last day when we took the above mentioned snorkeling trip. It was actually my very first time snorkeling and a very cool experience. The highlight for the excursion was obviously snorkeling on the reef as well as in a natural pool that was home to a number of starfish, but we were also brought to visit a few small, nearby islands. All very gorgeous.

The following day we headed back to Philadelphia and as I said before, there really isn't anything I could think of worth complaining about with the trip, except maybe that it ended too quickly. We had a great time and even the weather was perfect, minus a brief downpour and thunderstorm Tuesday night.

That said I would note a couple of things for anyone thinking about going. One is that it is a major European travel destination and you shouldn’t expect to hear much English spoken while there, though the majority of the staff seemed to speak at least some English. It certainly helps if you have some understanding of Spanish, but completely unnecessary. Second, it is probably not a great place for singles looking to meet people, but it is a great resort for couples and families. And personally I think it would be a great place for a group of friends to get together (note for future). Hard to beat a place where you can drink for free all day and night on the beach, swim in the Caribbean, and play some volleyball, water polo, etc.

Now I’ll leave you with some pictures and with that, Hasta pronto.