My Blog

Summer in Europe

noreply@blogger.com (Hector) — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 12:44:00 +0000

Hello everyone!

Hope this day finds you in good spirits. I am doing well and as usual it is way to long since I have last wrote to my blog. Lots have happened since I last wrote. I have finally moved into my new flat in Richmond. I am almost completely unpacked and home to be done by this weekend. Richmond is nice and provides me a better environment than Windsor. Although Windsor was nice, it was a bit far out for someone like myself. I have now been in Richmond for about 6 weeks and my flat is great. I like the location, since its in between London city centre and Bracknell where my work is located.

My travels of late have taken me to Greece and the Czech Republic for work. Athens was really nice but was only there for 2 days. I did enjoy myself there and can’t wait to go back there one day. I was able to next spend a few days in Prague, which is really one of my favourite cities in the world. Prague was really untouched by World War II and the architecture shows it. The city is very old the streets and shops are really what Europe is all about. I cannot tell you how many times, I have walked through that city (this was my second time there) and have been in awe of the place.

Athens on the other hand, still requires more time to enjoy. It does seem like they did not have a lot of zoning when it came to residential development in Athens. There are lots of residential buildings there of all shapes and sizes with really no pattern. I imagine the Greek islands are really beautiful and hope to go there soon. One interesting note about Athens that stuck in my mind was the number of stray dogs in the streets. The dogs did not seem too unhappy, but were definitely stray. My favourite part of the trip was going to the Acropolis. I climbed the steep hill where its located in the city and made it with some time to spare. It seems to close around 7PM. The ruins are amazing and the sites from the top overlooking the city are even more spectacular.

Currently, I am at least getting into more of a pattern and have been able to run a bit more. I even have been able to carpool with a co-worker who lives in the same city as me and of course works at Dell. Overall, the summer has been great here and I am really enjoying the weather in Europe sooo much more than the winter months. It literally gets daylight here at 4:30AM in the morning and night time is around 10PM. Needless to say, lots of people are outside nowadays.

I am heading to the US in the next week or so for personal reasons. I sincerely hope everyone is doing well and I still miss everyone.

Cheers,

Hector

In New Flat

noreply@blogger.com (Hector) — Fri, 11 May 2007 10:11:00 +0000

Hello Everyone,

Its been awhile since I last wrote. I just have settled into my new flat here in Richmond. I have officially left Windsor. Windsor was a nice town, but a bit far from the city for me and a bit too quiet. I am almost completely unpacked here in Richmond. Since I last wrote, I have continued my crazy travels if you will. I was able to visit the US again after several months away. It was so good to see friends and family. I think I ate WAY too much Mexican food. So to those of you I did not get to see while I was there, I am sorry. I was actually there for work, so my schedule was a bit crazy to say the least. I do miss a lot about Texas, but really do enjoy the travels here in Europe.

Last week, I went back to Amsterdam for Queens Day. That was one massive party (see pic) and quite a good time. The whole country celebrates the Queens birthday although I am sure the current queens birthday is now in January, but they have kept it in April (I am assuming the better weather and such). Joe and I were there with some really good friends we meet while working there in March. Had great food and even better time hanging out with them.

This weekend a good friend of mine Elaine has one of her daughters coming in from France to hang out in the city and see all of London. Nancy will be coming into Waterloo station a bit later today and will stay with me. We will do a lot of the tourist stuff and may even hit a pub or two. This Saturday is a party in London with some friends of mine, so may head there if we are not too tired from the day's activities.

Cheers until next time.....................

Hector

Prague and Amsterdam

noreply@blogger.com (Hector) — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 15:15:00 +0000

Hi, and again too long before I have written to my blog. Currently I find myself in Amsterdam. Wow, life has been great to me of late. I am sitting in a café in Amsterdam and this trip across Europe has found me in good spirits. I have been on the road now for about 2 weeks for Dell. Last week I was in Copenhagen, Denmark. Copenhagen was great, enjoyed being there, but did a lot of work and I did not get to appreciate the city as much as I would have liked to. Went out a few nights and enjoyed myself there, but can’t say much more than that.
I did however get an opportunity to visit Prague in the Czech Republic last weekend with a co-worker and one if his buddies. It’s safe to say I had one of the best weekends of my life. The city of Prague is amazing and at times found myself in awe of my situation which brings me to places like Prague. The city is very much dominated by the gothic architecture and it glorious past. We went to some authentic restaurants and some of the coolest night clubs in the city. It was good to get out and enjoy the city while I was there over the weekend.
This was really the first time since my divorce that I actually went out on my own for a trip other than work related. I guess my point may be that I finally feel like I am branching out on my own a bit and feel like I have grown up a bit more over the last few weeks. My best memories of Prague will be the Charles Bridge and the amazing churches from a time long long ago in the med-evil ages. I have attached below a pic of one of the squares in Prague.
I now find myself in Amsterdam. Quite possibly the greatest city I have ever visited. I am here for three weeks and have now been here for one of those weeks. I have to honestly say right now and I can’t really explain it, but I would say I am the happiest I have been in a long while. I think the fact the project I am working on for my job is going well and we have a pretty good team ALONG with the travel has been something I really needed.
Parts of this city are really cool. Yes I have visited a few of the coffee shops, but its all part of the experience here in the city and its still great even without that part. The red light district is pretty interesting to say the least and sometimes sad all in one walk through that part of the city. Today I was able to run for at least 4 miles, and then walked around the city for another 3 hours taking in all the culture as I can. I went to the Van Gogh museum and another museum which escapes my mind right now. The other museum had Rembrandts and other famous artist from Europe.
What will happen next?????? Have no idea. I fly into London next weekend during the middle of this trip to Amsterdam and Denmark. I have to fly there to find another flat. I am moving closer to London. I REALLY need to be close to the city. Windsor is great and I can’t say anything bad about it, but at this stage in my life, I need to get closer to the city life and the one thing I said to myself was: “I don't know how long I will be in this area and I want to make sure I am in the city of London and living the life in the city.
I will leave with this note:
As the last few months have shown me, the world is big and has lots of different people, cultures, traditions, food, social events ect. and if you get a chance to see other parts of it in your life, then do it……. It is SO worth it. …………..
Me in Amsterdam this past week-->

My First Royal Sighting………..

noreply@blogger.com (Hector) — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 10:08:00 +0000

Hello everyone, hope all is well where ever you reside. Life is going well here in the UK. Funny thing happened over the weekend. I went for a long run on Saturday morning in Windsor Great Park (See October 17th entry for picture of park) and was humming along, when I heard a carriage being pulled by 4 black horses. I did not think much of it and as it got closer behind me, I moved over a bit. (It is not usual for park wardens officials to ride in the park, but never seen them on horses before). So as the carriage become parallel with me, the driver jokingly asks if I need a ride, I did not hear him a first and said “Excuse me”, then he asked me a again and of course I replied somewhat laughing, “No thank you”, knowing he was joking. (Or perhaps though I looked pretty tired?). Anyways, it was not until a second later after I had made eye contact with him, that I realized it was the Prince Phillip, the “Duke of Edinburgh” ( http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page5551.asp ). For those of you who are not familar with him, he is Queen Elizabeth's husband. I thought it was pretty cool to actually see him, but to have small chat with him was real cool. Anyways, that is my minor brush with the British royalty this weekend.
My weekend was not too exciting, I actually drove 100 miles each way on Saturday to Bristol to an IKEA. I needed to get some small items and a desk for my flat and was told it was easier to drive a bit farther west than to go into London and fight the traffic. I finally got a car last month. It’s a used Audi A4, which is good enough for me at this point. I have attached a pic.

Cheers for now,
Hector

Finally a post!

noreply@blogger.com (Hector) — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:19:00 +0000

Wow, seems like it has been a while since I have written to my blog! Sorry for the delay, it has been pretty busy of late. The holidays in the States were good and it was really nice to see family and friends. It was really nice to see Leo my little dog back in the US, not sure if he will actually remember me when I eventually get back there. Here in the UK, I have been assigned to a short term project that will allow me to do some extended traveling. I was able to go to Ireland last week and now have been here for three weeks total. Here is a pic of me this weekend in Dublin, I will update my blog a bit more this weekend.

Small British History Lesson

noreply@blogger.com (Hector) — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 11:19:00 +0000

Hello everyone,

Last week has been fun with my friends in from San Antonio. We made our way to several of the sites in England and of course the city of London. Jenny’s last blog indicated our travels to the English country side, but the trip into London was real fun as well. We visited the London Eye (big ferris wheel), SOHO, Westminster Abby, Tower of London and several other sites. One of my favorite things we did was visit the world famous Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. It was rebuilt late in the 19th century and was modeled after Shakespeare’s original theater, which was burned down by the Puritans. That religious sect thought theatre was bad and corrupted people.

Another cool stop in London is the Tower of London, which has been around since the 11th century and has some rich history. It has acted as a defense castle and royal jail for a long time for over 900 years. The crown jewels are also stored there in addition to all the gory weapons and armor used over the 10 centuries of British history. One interesting story about the Tower of London is there are 6 ravens (3 spare as well) on the grounds of the complex and they have been there since Charles II (around 16th century) and legend has it, that if the ravens are killed or no longer at the tower, the British monarchy and country will fall. Funny thing is all the birds have their wings clipped so there really is not much of a chance of them flying away. Last interesting piece of info on this is during WWII, when the British were getting bombed quite a bit from Germany and before the Yanks came along all but 1 of the ravens were killed (bomb noise or direct hits I suppose) and Britain was close to falling, but as history goes, they did not fall.

Lastly, if anyone gets a chance to visit London, one must see is Westminster Abbey, this church was built as well in the 11th century and is the home to every coronation since Edward I in 1060 or close to that year. It also houses many of the remains of famous kings and queens of the past including Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) and her sister Queen Mary (1553-1558) also known as bloody Mary. Attached picture is front of the abbey, with Big Ben in the background.

Ok, enough history. I am off to the US this week and will be there through the holidays. As they say in England, “Happy Christmas”.

Cheers,
Hector

Jenny's Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Hector) — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 22:39:00 +0000

Hello all! So, we arrive at London Gatwick airport at 9:00 am on Wednesday morning and Hector is waiting patiently for us. Tony and I are disoriented- as anyone would be 6 hours from home- and our adventure begins!

We get the luggage and we're on our way! Hector takes us on a journey straight to Windsor. We drop the luggage and get oriented with his upscale "flat" and we're on our way to the Windsor Castle.

On the way, we meet an historian from Windsor. He tells us about so many events in Windsor-- from the local church to the unpopular wedding at the town square of Charles and Camilla. As Americans, we think we are getting scammed, but he insists that he just loves history and doesn't want any money for the lesson.

We hit a pub (or two) and take a tour of the castle. This is the biggest occupied castle in the world and we can't help but notice the powerful and scary history that goes with the monarchy. The weapons and historical maps show that the British Empire conquered (and we do mean conquered) so much of the world! I guess it makes us even more cocky as Americans- because we defeated them!

Our day was pretty short- bedtime was a late 8pm local time. We woke up at 1 am and then at 4 am! The time change is a killer! Finally at 8am- we woke once again and decided to go running. There is nothing like a quick jog around the castle to get the blood pumping. Tony and Hector ran 6 miles and saw at least 100 deer and I did a short 2-3 miles. Tony ran all the way to the top of the hill to see George on his horse (not George W for sure!) It was just enough to get us ready for a big day.

After showering, we immediately drove out toward Stonehenge. We stopped briefly in Marlborough for lunch and a pint. Then we took the abbreviated version of the Stonehenge audio tour. It was freezing because of the wind and we couldn't take the full version! The history and the monument are amazing, though- wind or not.

We left and headed for Bath. We toured the Roman Baths- what an interesting and old historical place. We really enjoyed the tour here as well. The experience makes us ponder the "youngness" of the USA! It was a day of driving and thinking- but well worth each mile!

After returning to Windsor- we decided to hit the pubs! We visited 4 pubs and drank an undisclosed number of beers! We found a tapas bar and ordered almost the whole menu. It was awesome. We met some interesting locals (they thought we were Canadian) and we found a football team that we can all cheer for- the Hotspurs! Since we are all Spurs fans- it seems an easy transition! Go Spurs Go! See?

We have attached some photos of our day and we will update at least one more time on this trip.

Take care and Happy Christmas! The British is sticking already!

London Calling

noreply@blogger.com (Hector) — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 15:04:00 +0000

Made my way to London on Sunday and met some new friends that I was introduced through a US colleague. We had a great time as I was able to have Sunday lunch in London. Sunday lunch here is an English tradition which dates way back to Sunday being the day to spend with family. Had a couple of beers with my lunch, which was an excellent meal. Liberty is a department store here in the UK we ended up at, is certainly a place I would recommend. It has an interesting history (http://www.liberty.co.uk/store_info/history.asp) to say the least and the items they have are pretty cool. I plan on taking Tony and Jenny there this weekend when we hit the city again. It is on the Oxford Circus underground stop.
I finished painting my room this weekend, which was a pretty interesting adventure since I have not painted in ages. Flat is coming together slowing and have purchased a larger, better TV. The one I had was pretty small and came with the flat when I moved in, but figured I needed to upgrade a bit.

Here is a pic from Sunday; it’s the official Christmas tree at Parliament.
Cheers for now,
Hector

More Than Just BBC Now

noreply@blogger.com (Hector) — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 14:17:00 +0000

Hello,

England has been interesting to say the least. I was finally able to get cable TV, which is saying a lot since I had like 4 BBC channels for almost 2 weeks. I learned more about birds in the arctic and rolling pastures of Wales, than I really care to share. Oh well, made me read a lot more! I am getting used to work here in the UK, but really can’t wait till the Christmas break. I still have some catching up to do here and I am hoping my belongings get here before I head back to the US for the holiday break. Weather has been raining and rather cold, but great to run in. I have been able to catch up on my running over the last week or so, which is good. This past weekend, I hit some of the local pubs and clubs in Windsor with some co-workers. Needless to say, it was a fun evening and got to see some of the more interesting parts of the city. I attached one picture prior to the mates and I heading to the pubs. That is the before picture, the after is even funnier.
My car situation is really just amusing at this point. It seems like every time I actually find a car I would consider buying, it sells before I can get anywhere. With that being said, I have decided just to wait until next month when I get back to purchase a car. I can take trains and use other transportation until then. The main thing I have learned here in the UK (I imagine a lot of Europe is this way) is that things move slower here. You can get used to getting things done quickly in the US, in regards to banking, shopping or whatever, but you really have to take a bit more time and have patience here. That is just the way it is here and you just have to roll with it I suppose.

Cheers,
Hector

In the UK Officially

noreply@blogger.com (Hector) — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 14:41:00 +0000

Finally made it to the UK this past week for good. The flight was long of course, but glad to be here at last. There are many things in the UK that are quite different than the states. I am renting a car right now and driving on the left side of the road, which can be interesting to say the least, especially with all the round-abouts. The weather is cold and mostly raining at this point, but it does get sunny from time to time. I was able to make it into downtown London to meet up with the Texas Exes to watch the UT/A&M football game, but the result was not too good for the Longhorn fans! There were lots of Aggies there as well. Good to see Americans in one place of course, even if some were Aggies.

Overall, I am grateful for the opportunity to live here and have already learned there are things we Americans probably take for granted, but really never thought of, like cheaper gasoline and great Mexican food. Over the next few months, I will have to get good at cooking my own Mexican food, because here, it just does not exist or is not good. There is one Mexican place in Windsor I will try soon, but am not that desperate yet.
Need to sign off now.

Cheers,
Hector

Last Weekend in US

noreply@blogger.com (Hector) — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 17:06:00 +0000

Hello, this is my official last weekend here in Austin. I have been back and forth to the UK a few times in the last eight weeks, but now I will be there for a while. As I mentioned before, it has been kind of busy lately with the move and of course work. I am looking forward to living the UK now and think this will be a great step for me. At this point, I actually do not know anyone in the UK, other than a few co-workers I have met recently at the office. I suppose this will be a good start considering I am going there alone and not married anymore. It is unfortunate that Lisa and I are no longer together, but know that at this stage (with everything I know now), it was in fact the best move for us both. I will not dwell on that subject much more.

So my flat in Windsor is pretty interesting. I have some items to change, because it is furnished, but overall is in a great location in the center of Windsor. I chose the town of Windsor because it is close to work and Heathrow Airport. In addition, I have learned how to get around on the English trains a bit. Two weeks ago when I was in Windsor I had to go into to the office to work a bit on the weekend and was able to get into Bracknell (town where my office is) on the train, but with the connections and even a cab, it took about an hour. With that piece of info alone, I am compelled to purchase a car when I arrive in the UK this upcoming week. I will probably get a BMW 3 Series or Audi. At this point, its hard to say, but will be cool to drive something with a bit more power than what I drove here in the states.

I have some really good friends coming to the UK to visit in December. I met Tony and Jenny when I was a nurse in the USAF back in 1995 and have been fortunate to keep in touch with them since. Funny thing is last time I believe they were in Europe, we were celebrating the 6th Tour De France victory of Lance in Paris in 2004. Tony and I even tailgated there on the Champs-Elysees in Paris that day! This trip, we are hoping to visit every pub in Windsor, go to Stonehenge and of course check out London.

Finally, I am also looking forward to slowing down and getting settled into a home. I have been a nomad over the last 3 months living in hotels, flats and my house sometimes in Austin. Thanksgiving is coming up and this will be my first in the UK.
I am looking forward to the holidays and will write more soon.

Hector

Still In Texas (But Almost in England)

noreply@blogger.com (Hector) — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 12:50:00 +0000

It has been a while since I last wrote anything. It has been busy as usual with the move and job change happening to say nothing of other things happening. I have been back and forth to London for my job a few times since I last wrote in this blog. I was able to find a flat in the town of Windsor, which is right outside London. Windsor is a cool town that is big enough for me, but close enough to the office and of course Heathrow airport. Windsor is of course home to Windsor castle (see Pic), which was initially built in the year 1064, so it is pretty old and I am looking forward to learning alot more about it and all of English and European history.
Looks like I will be permanently moved to the UK by mid November. I will miss my friends and family, but I think this is a good move for me considering a lot of things going on in my life right now. There are things going on I probably will not share yet, but still are affecting me quite a bit. Living in the UK will give me a different perspective on life and what is out there. Sometimes we can become myopic in our thoughts of what we think the world is (I know I have done it), so I am looking forward to broadening my horizons of the world. Not sure at this point if I will get a car right away when I get to the UK, but may need one eventually to travel to Wales and Scotland.
Work is really busy right now since my team is undergoing a lot of changes and this time of year is usually pretty busy. I will write more as time allows.

Hector

Crazy Times

noreply@blogger.com (Hector) — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 17:51:00 +0000

Its been real crazy lately, and I suppose it will stay that way for a while. I formally accepted my offer to work in London. I will fly over there in September for some time to find a place to live and ramp up a bit on the new job. Then I will come back here and wrap some more things up related to job and personal life. At this point it also looks like I will be traveling in October to South and Central America. About 90% sure at this point on that trip, but who knows. Either way, I am looking forward to the travel and visiting lots of other countries.

Hector

First Entry

noreply@blogger.com (Hector) — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 18:41:00 +0000

Hello Everyone,

This is Hector Perez Jr. I currently live in Austin Texas and work at Dell. This is my first blog entry and hopefully I will have many more. My life is kind of crazy right now. I will be moving to London in the next 6-8 weeks or so for work. It will be great living there, but there is still alot of unknowns at this point. By the way, I have posted my dog Leo on my first blog. He is a great dog. I will write lots more later, but wanted to get my first blog out there.

Hector Perez