More from Sumer

Since I'm on here, I might as well put some stuff up from my trip to the mountains this summer!

This is Jenny. I love her and I miss her. We hiked to the top of a mountain in Oregon... sort of. What really happened was we took a TRAM to the top... and from there, walked around. :) But this is a picture that I show people and they think it's from Nepal or something. So hooray for the Rocky Mountains!

The deer have absolutely no fear at all of people. It's crazy. This is with a wide-angle lens. I am a lot closer to this deer than it looks.

I could have touched him, but I didn't want to scare him.

Ain't she purdy?

From Dylon With Love

To the North

It's been sixteen days since I wrote anything at all, and I feel horrible for that. So here's a little note on my excursion to Cologne, or Koeln (in German), Germany.

We wanted to make a trip somewhere... anywhere... for the weekend. We looked into Ireland, Ibiza, Greece... all those ended up being GREAT deals to get there, but awful ones to get back. So in the end, we chose to use the "Beautiful Weekend" train pass for five to travel to the big city of Cologne. It's about three hours north-ish of here, and ends up being about 8 Euros each way with the pass. There were nine of us total, Jamie, Anna, Corrina, Margarita (from Latvia), Paz, and Paul (English boys), Augusto (Italy), and William (Belgium). We looked for hostels, but ended up finding the best deal to be three separate rooms in a small hotel. It was a very nice hotel, and was quite cheap with a group rate.

The city was beautiful. I wish there was more time. There were many museums, and all we really saw was the Dom (Cathedral) and the Altstadt (Old City Center type place). For the most part, it was basically just an old German city, but this is the place that first interested me in visiting Germany in the first place, six years ago. So I made the most of it.

The Dom is the tallest in Germany, I believe. It is very pretty. I think it's either Baroque or Gothic, but I'm not totally sure. It's very tall though, that I know. We paid a Euro or two and climbed 30 minutes to the top in the smallest, windiest staircase I've ever seen. It was still cool, although my legs were burning big time. Plus we got to fight the crowd going the opposite direction the whole time, too. :) It was quite the trek, but the views were spectacular. You could see the whole city, in a 360 degree panorama. Then you got to walk back down! I'm glad I got to see the Dom. I've wanted to since I was young, but really, it was just a church, and I actually found myself a bit disappointed. The cathedral here in Trier is much nicer on the inside. I don't know... it was all a bit crowded and one couldn't really reflect on the history or meaning of all that was there. Maybe it was just too overwhelming. But it was still nice and I liked it and it was beautiful.

After the Dom, we found some dinner and I had some weird spiced liquor drink. I didn't like it. It was called a Zoco. Very strange, and I think a coke sounded a lot better.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel (in a suburb of Cologne) to get ready for the evening. Cologne is world-renowned for being one of the best party cities in the world. So we had to check that out.


We found a bar in the suburb, and had a drink before heading back into town. We went to the city and found a nice club. The music was good and it wasn't so big that it was crazy. It was just nice, with a coat check and a cheap cover. We stayed out til 2 or so, and headed back. I was in a double room with my English friend, Paul. We stayed up and watched German TV til 4 in the morning. They have a German version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?!" but the theme song is the same as the English title. We didn't do very well on this version... too much German. :)

We came back the next day, just a quick trip! Lots of fun and not too much money.







This is the Dom. I am quite far away from it. It's very big, very old, and very pretty.



































This is an old church in the Altstadt, where we had dinner. I don't know what it is really called. But it's cool.














This is a picture of something besides a church. It appears to be some buildings across the river from me. The river is the famous Rhein.





This is Augusto and me in front of the Dom. Basically this proves that I am here and I did go. :-)

No more long hair anymore! I got it cut off today!
















From Dylon With Love

Country

I haven't written much, lately, about any traveling. Well, I did make it out of the country recently. We discovered that Tuesday (last week) was a German national holiday. It was Unity Day, so every single shop was closed in Germany, it seemed like. We had the day off from school, so we were split between going to Koblenz (a free trip with our rail cards from school) or to the City/Country Luxembourg. It was raining pretty much all day, and with the closure in Germany, we decided to go with Luxembourg with the hopes that we might find something to do inside, escaping the rain.

The ticket was only 8 Euro; excellent price for a return ticket (two-way). We walked around town and found some places to shop and a Mexican restaurant to eat at. Next to London, Luxembourg is the most expensive city in all of Europe. But it was very well-maintained and clean. So aside from the rather expensive... everything, it was a great trip. I didn't buy anything but lunch, so I mostly took pictures and looked at stuff.

This is taken from a bridge that doesn't go over water. Under it is apparantly some kind of park.

This is basically just a cool-looking building. I don't know what it is, but I liked it.

This is a little panorama of some palace and a tower. The Luxembourg (I think) flag is on the left. I thought it was pretty, these two buildings. Kinda shows the "high society" of Europe, it seems.

From Dylon With Love

When We Leave The Ones We Love

How does one express how they truly feel about the people they love the most? You can say that you love them, but you can also say that you love ice cream or the 427 Hemi. It's hard to describe the way that you feel toward your family. Having said that, I have decided that I will say something different. To my family, the people that I care more for than anything else, and who care more about me than almost any other person ever could, you are irreplaceable. There will never, ever be anyone that could ever take your places.

My mother. This woman has endeared more than any person I've every met. I sit in my dorm, knowing that this month, I will not experience any of the stress that she will tomorrow before the lunch break that she doesn't actually have. Mom. I admire you more than anyone in the world. I admire your spirit, your will, and your relationship with the heroic man that is my father. It is quite simple; you will be in my heart forever.

I really hope that Mom doesn't mind this picture, because it's my favorite. :) It's from her birthday party and to me, she looks just like she did when I was a baby. Love you Mom.

To my father. This is a bit of a touchy subject for me to write about, as my relationship with my father is honestly, the best relationship of mine than with any other person. My dad is the guy I've looked up to ever since I was a kid. He is the most self-sacrificing person I've ever met. When he left the bank, a job he really enjoyed, or so I've been told, to do lawn care so that my brother and I would not have to go to a daycare or stay home and get into trouble, I saw what it really means to be a good person. When I think of what kind of life I want for myself, I think of my dad standing in the back yard with Mom and the DOG, knowing that they did it right. I want to be like that. I want to do it right.

This is my favorite picture of my dad. He probably won't like it, but it really does show his greatness. It's not about how much money you have or make or spend. It's about enjoying life with those you hold dearest. And dad, you make the list.

For my brother. I remember the day Bryon was born, quite vividly. I was spending the day with my grandma Nelson, taking a nap on "rattles blanket", her wearing a light blue robe. I snuck into the hospital room, wanting to surprise the family and new baby, and that was the first time I laid eyes on the ugly little thing that would grow into my best friend forever. We fought all the time, as kids, but also played rather well together. When we got older, we got closer and closer. Now, we're both entering the adult part of life, and he's become my best friend, hands down. He's my homee, my brother in arms, and my brother. Thick or thin, we have a bond that can't be broken. Right or wrong, I'll always back him up, and I know he would do the same thing. If he gets himself into a bit of a scrap, no matter what the circumstances are, I'll be there. 20 on 1 will never happen for him, because it will always be 20 on 2. And I like 'dem odds.

This is a motorcycle ride into the Big Meadows. The little miner's cabin behind us is gone now, burned up in a forest fire. Though it may be gone, we'll never forget it, or the ride. And I'll never forget you, bro-han.

I love my family.

Your son and brother,

Dylon Chord Starry

From Dylon With Love

Hiking

So yesterday, Saturday, we had the day off to do as we want, so a group of us took the opportunity to go on a hike. We were either going to go on a hike through some archaeological sites or up to the top of a mountain nearby to a statue. Well, for the archaeological hike, we had to take a train, so we decided to wait until our transport passes were valid (1st of October). So we decided on the mountain hike. The statue turned out to be quite difficult to find and took us about an hour just to find the trail leading to the statue. We finally found it, and it was a rather difficult hike, just because it's quite uphill. So we took it slow and when we got there, it was quite the sight. The statue is probably 100 feet tall and at the top is Mary. It's very beautiful. At the top, we met a German man and his two young children. He told us some of the history and about the landscape. From the top, we could see all the major sights and could really put them into perspective as to their sizes and locations. It was pretty fun and it wasn't hot out, so it was just a nice way to spend an afternoon. Later that night, we went out to eat at a restaurant/bar. I had a beer and a hamburger and I couldn't even finish it. It was good though.

This is the view from the top of the mountain. Quite nice. The castle-looking thing on the left is actually the Dom, or cathedral. It is two parts, and is the oldest Bishop's Church in the country. Well over 1000 years old, and if you go inside, you can pay 1 Euro 50 and look at the treasury. Inside is a book dated from the year 753. Also, there are relics from the alters and the heads of the bishops' canes. A lot of gold and a lot of history. It is very pretty, indeed. The big building on the right is the Basilika, and it is twice as old as the Dom. It was built for the Roman Emperor Constantine. Very big, and very old. I haven't gone inside yet, so more to come on that one.

Above is the statue. I wish I could get a picture of Mary, herself, but it's just too tall. Very pretty though.

This picture on the right is of some American friends standing next to a huge, VERY old cross. The lettering in the cross is Latin, and I can only guess, but I believe it is somewhere in the range of 1000 years old. Pictured are, left to right, Brian from Texas, Jamie from Washington, Anna from Idaho and my school, and Tristan from Nebraska.

From Dylon With Love