Datsyuk and Friends

Welcome back! Day 5 - Free Day in London With this being a free day, we decided to go see some things that weren't on the planned agenda. We woke up and had breakfast, and then joined Kristy, Michael, and John P for a trip to Windsor Castle. First thing we did was get to Paddington Train Station. Anyone remember Paddington Bear from when we were kids? This is where he's from. We took a train to Slough, where we changed trains to Windsor. The whole process was easy and efficient. The change at Slough was kind of cool because, as we waited for the train to Windsor, a high-speed train back to Paddington came through at about 100mph. Very cool stuff. Brief sidenote before I begin. Apparently, the Queen had been staying in the castle the night before we visited and had left to head to Dublin just about an hour before we arrived. So close. Now, Windsor is a very quaint, almost stereotypical "Old English" town. Narrow streets, old construction, cobblestone streets. ...

Welcome back! We woke on day 4 preparing for a London city tour. Breakfast was, again, typical European fare - bread, bread, meat, and more bread. No beer this time, or for the rest of the trip, unfortunately. After breakfast, we had a brief walk to Hyde Park where we met our tourguide, Simon. Simon first walked us through Hyde Park, which was massive. While walking through, we saw Kensington Palace, one of the royal residences. Even from afar, it was massive. As we walked further, we encountered a Princess Diana memorial park and some of the royal guards on horseback, which we would see more of later. Exiting the park, we walked through Hyde Park Corner, one of the busiest roundabouts in the UK. Pretty cool, but nothing you couldn't see elsewhere. Following the park, we took a short walk to Buckingham Palace. One of the reasons we had gone to Buckingham that day was to see the Changing of the Guard. Well, luck was not with us on this day. The Queen was making her first ...

Welcome back to the Datsyuk and Friends blog! After an extremely lengthy absence, I am returning to broadcast the escapades of my monthlong European journey. A little background about the trip before I begin. The trip was presented to me by my parents as a graduation gift. The trip was led by college alumni travel organization AESU. I have to say this trip was really fantastic simply due to its organized nature. Everything was planned down to the second, which was really nice given the length and breadth of the trip. I traveled with about 40 other graduates from Michigan State, the University of North Carolina, and Georgia Tech University, as well as my parents and my girlfriend, Shannon. I met so many great people on this trip and will have lifelong friends as a result. I couldn't have spent a month in a better way. Without further ado, here is the recap of my month in Europe! Day 1 - Travel to London Quick note: My family and I left for London a day early. This was for r...