Locations

Glasgow: 
Amiens: The town of Amiens, France in the Picardie region of France has a long and ever changing history. The city got its start as Samarobriva, named by the Romans, it was the village that sat near an easy crossing of the Somme River. Throughout its history Amiens has been under the control of a wide variety of rulers, including the Normans, French, Barbarians, Romans, Prussians, and the Spanish. The Town of Amiens was officially recognized by the King of France in 1113, but did not come under French control until 1185. The city is originally was a destination for many church officials thanks to its monastery, cathedral, and its nun cloisters near the cathedral. However, the town grew into an important area for the textile industry, primarily for the cities ability to produce high end velours. This industry still makes a mark on the city today, although it has diversified its portfolio. The first railroad connected to Amiens in 1848 was to the coastal town of Boulogne-Sur-Mer. The town has been a battlefield in multiple modern day conflicts including the Prussian invasion in 1870, World War I, and was the first target for the 100 days offensive during World War II. During these conflicts the city incurred severe damage. After World War II it was easier to simply redesign the city than to rebuild what had been destroyed. Today the city is a small city just 75 miles north of Paris. The population is slowly growing towards 150,000 people. The main thoroughfare through the city center has been converted into a primarily foot traffic route thus eliminating the worry of any accidents in the town center. There is a bus system in the city which offers 7 day service, but is limited on sunday. A fun fact for our native Oklahoma, the sister city of Amiens is Tulsa, Oklahoma!

Galveston: The island of Galveston, TX is one of my favorite places to have a vacation at. It is a small island at the very southern end of Texas. it is only 32 miles long by 2 miles wide. This once booming town for imports and exports has had its ups and downs but is a favorite vacationing spot for me. I started coming down here with my family growing up and its those fond memories that helped me decide to bring my wife, then fiancé, down here for a week. We have returned for a second, shorter, vacation to see a few of our favorite things but mainly to just relax after our consulate visit. Some of our favorite places on the island include Bishops Palace, an old mansion built in the late 19th century, Fisherman's Wharf a nice restaurant with great views of the harbor and awesome food. Also we enjoy watching the waves crash in from our balcony as well a walking down the historic downtown strand. A lot of changes have been made to the island perpetuated by the large hurricane Ike which hit the island in 2008. However, these changes have been a welcome breath of fresh air to keep us wanting to come back and see what has been done to benefit the island. Although there are some drawbacks to the revitalization of the island. For instance, the parking spaces along the seawall blvd. are now all paid parking, in addition, most of the cities smaller local owned restaurants have been taken over by either Landry's Restaurant Corp., or the Galveston Restaurant group. However, both of these companies have put lots of many into the business they own and the quality of goods they produce. Another downside to all of this is that it is making me want to find a new "go to" hotel for when we come down here. i have always stayed at the Commodore on the Beach, but as the rest of the island moves forward they seem very set in their old ways and this includes any renovations or upkeep of the hotel. Next time we may stay at one of the other hotels such as the Laquinta, or depending on the price Hotel Galvez. All in all Galveston is still a great place to come and visit and I look forward to coming back.

Paris: The city of love. Jessica and I came to Paris for our first time on our honeymoon. Both of us had travelled to Europe previously, but neither of us had ever actually been to Paris so it made an obvious and excellent choice for our first trip to Europe together. We stayed at a hotel in the 13th arrondissement just a little down the street from the Gare de Montparnasse. We greatly enjoyed the area we stayed in with plenty of delicious, and not so delicious restaurants around us. In addition, being so close to a primary transportation hub made it easy for us to move around the city quickly and effortlessly. Some of our favorite sites we visited include: The Louvre, Arc de Triumph, St. Dennis, Notre Dame, Saint Chappell, and the Museum of the Middle Ages. Some of the things we saw which we did not like as much as we thought we would include the Eiffel Tower, the Palace of Versailles, and a few of the other minor side trips we made. We did come across an excellent restaurant called ironically, Le Marquis, which is the name of Jessica's 10th great grandfather. This restaurant was so delicious we went twice during our 8 day stay and we are planning to go back in the coming months for a special occasion, but more on that later. One of the things I notice looking back on the trip is that there is just to much to do and see in Paris and that you always need to plan a little time to just take everything in and just see what you can find that day without any planning. Our next trip to Paris will have some thing planned, but we will be sure to leave some time to just explore and see what we can find within this massive city to occupy an evening.