Day 61-67: Let the Games Begin.. Tomorrow

Who's ready for the Olympics? I am. I've now been trained for my job. The past few days I have been touring the Olympic venues and airports to get a better feel for the layout and meeting points, learning more about the Coca Cola Company/ it's connection with the Olympic Games, and getting to know my co-workers in formal and informal settings.

Had a pair of off-days which was nice to rest up and enjoy the rare nice weather in London. Last night, Coca Cola treated us to seats at the Opening Ceremony technical rehearsal. Although I need to save the surprise, I can tell you it is worth watching tomorrow (at whatever time it shows).

And today was day 1 on the job, welcoming Coca-Cola's international VIP guests and leading them to the hotel. Yes it was an early start but I had an awesome time getting into the groove of things! finished early enough to sight the Olympic Torch on its move through London this afternoon too!

If you follow me on Twitter (@khais3), I will be dropping knowledge/ fun facts on London, the Olympics and what Coca Cola is doing to make it these Games the most green, sustainable yet.

In the meantime, enjoy some pics of the venues and such!

Day 60: Coca-Cola happiness, Colorado sadness

Today was a weird day for me, with highs and lows occurring simultaneously. I woke up this morning pumped to start orientation for my Coca Cola Global Hospitality job at the Olympics- showered and showed up an appropriate 15 minutes early to pre-registration breakfast. Before the program starts I take a chance to check Twitter. "Thinking about everyone in Colorado" from Erin Andrews is at the top of my timeline. This of course raises questions in my head- what happened? I refresh the page and BBCnews (London news source in close proximity) already has a story/link about the tragic unfortunate awful random theatre shooting in Aurora at the "Dark Knight Rises" midnight showing, 45 minutes from my home. What? 12-14 were shot dead? 50-60 more wounded? Young people that just wanted to have a fun late night at the movies with friends and/or family?

Orientation starts. Phone away. Thoughts still there. People back home were home still unaware of the happenings (about 3am Colorado time). Families were being informed of relative casualties. This could have happened anywhere, to any family, any family that had a kid, or parent, that loved the story of Batman.

I couldn't be more excited about the opportunity I have in front of me to serve Coca-Cola's VIP clients/ guests and do what I can to create an amazing international experience for them at the London Olympics this summer. It was great finally seeing the Coca-Cola Family together and learning more about my duties / the plan this summer. But Aurora, Colorado, affected families, those that lost lives and dreams were all on my mind.

I was able to periodically check social media sites throughout the day and I appreciate those that reached out to me to make sure my family was okay. Fortunately they are but others are not.

After work I went to find a gym, debrief the day, regroup, etc. Sure enough, right next to the Pump-up work-out music videos was another tv with breaking news of the Denver shootings. Had a home(hostel)-cooked stir-fry meal for dinner with the sis and friends then stayed in tonight to reflect on this day I just had.. Had lots of moments of silence today. It's always good to slowdown and reflect, just unfortunate it had to be under these circumstances.

I'm planning on getting back to it best I can tomorrow. Thoughts and prayers to all affected from this unfair occurrence.

Day 54-59: Ciao Italy, hello Lun-Dun

In the blink of an eye it's 5 days since my blog post. We haven't been in the best Internet spots and there has been a lot going on wrapping up in Italy (eating my last pizzas) and getting settled into London, reuniting with old friends and trying to get rested up before my 23 straight days of work for Coca Cola at the Olympics begins.

After Florence, my sister and I found ourselves in Rimini, a fun beach city on Italy's East Coast, for a couple days. We stayed in a really cool hostel called Sunflower Beach Backpacker and logged some solid beach time before our night in Milan and flight to London.

We arrived in the city hosting the 30th Summer Olympics a couple days early to get a feel for the place. We met up with one of my best friends from home Oliver and his sister Kalina to do a free walking Tour the first day. Attached you'll see a photo of Ollie and I posted up with a soldier. Afterwards, i got a necessary haircut (it was a good run). We all went on a pub crawl that night (to see if it was a worthwhile event for Coca Cola guests when they arrived of course) and yesterday we checked into our well-located hostel (in proximity to the Coca-Cola hotel/base) where we will be staying most of the 4 weeks here.

Yesterday and today were all about getting situated- getting our Olympic accreditation to enter events and use London's public transportation, getting groceries, finding good/quick eats, reading the work manual, etc. I've been taking it really easy, sleeping in and reading the book "Outliers" in free time. That's about to change as orientation starts tomorrow morning.

Sorry this was maybe the least intriguing of my blog posts thus far but it's bound to get interesting once I start work and the Olympics begin! Just for fun though take a deep look at a lady on the walking tour and let me know if anything strikes you as funny.

Day 51-53: Crushed Florence

My great college friend, Daniel Bernstein, is down in Peru doing some medical volunteer work right now. Just over a year ago though, he studied abroad in Florence. I have to thank him so much for the efficient and extremely helpful 5-5-5 (things to see, places to eat, best nightlife spots) guide he took the time to create for me prior to my arrival in Italy. Thanks to that, in less than 48 hours, my sister and I managed to do Florence pretty alright.

We went through the Uffizi museum to see some of the best art from the Renaissance (Michelangelo and Bartorelli), Santa Croce to see the tombs/monuments of Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Dante and Galileo, Duomo to hike the steps and explore the Cathedral, and of course the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David (pic attached, don't tell the museum I took one!).

Quick note on Machiavelli- I can thank rap music for my interest in this politician/philosopher. When 2pac was in jail in the early 90s, he got really into reading. One of his favorite topics was Machiavelli and his theories on efficient power gains. One of his thoughts off of this was that faking one's death while rising in power is the ultimate way to forever become a powerful remembered figure. When 2Pac came out of jail he returned to power within the rap game and switched his name to Makaveli for his last album "The 7-day Theory" released right after his questioned death in Las Vegas.
Not saying it's what went down but definitely an interesting conspiracy thought.

Food-wise we had two great dinners and found a healthy smoothie spot to keep our diets mildly in line. The first night we ate at an awesome hole-in-the-wall pizza place called Gusta Pizza where I got a huge spicy salami, mushroom, basil za and a glass of wine for under 10€. Night 2 we went to another recommended spot called Zazas where I endulged in a mixed grilled meat platter with potatoes and spinach. Really good.

We had 2 nights in Florence. The first one we just hiked up to Plaza Michelangelo to watch the sunset over the city and took it easy. The second night we partook in the Florence Bell Tower Pub Crawl which went to a few bars (including Lion's Fountain for those familiar) and ended at a dance club called Space Electronica. Lots of fun and I ended up getting offered a gig with the pub crawl for a week post-Olympics if I'd like to return to Florence, make/save some money, yada yada. I think it would be a blast but so would lounging in the Greek islands so we'll see how it plays out I guess.

One of the best parts about backpacking / traveling is not knowing what's going to happen the next day and being open to new ideas / schedule readjustment.

The Italy itinerary has fluctuated from Rome 2 days, Florence 3, Venice 2, Milan 1 to Rome 3 days, Florence 2, Venice 0, Rimini 2, Milan 1.

With this being said, we are in Rimini at the moment staying in a sweet beach hostel 50 meters from the Adriatic Sea. We went hard for 5 days in Rome/Florence so we decided it would be best to chill / rest up a bit before London/ the Olympics happen.

Day 48-50: Romin' around Italy

With my sis flying into Rome from the states, and Ryan and I training up from Naples, meeting up flawlessly was a beautiful beginning to our shared travels.

The first day we went and saw the Coliseum, Roman Forum and other old, old structures. Although it was incredibly hot we still had a good time seeing such cool ancient architecture. As it comes with no surprise, the Coliseum was beyond phenomenal. It was actually my 2nd time seeing it (weekend trip with my nana when I was abroad in Madrid and she was bucket-listing through Europe) but it was awesome getting to see it a couple years later with friends. Trust me, nana and I had some great pictures at it (and did a mini tour) but the ones we captured of us fighting like gladiators with water bottles are pretty money- and inaccessible at the moment since they're on my computer-less sister's camera.

That night, we went out for a nice meal- I had wine, bread w/ olive oil and balsam, veggie soup, veal, spinach.. and wine.
Post-dinner we tried this hostel advertised pool party- 10 euro with a drink at bar them transport to a pool for.. A pool party. It just wasn't anywhere near awesome like we had envisioned. It took over an hour to get to, like the outskirts of Rome via metro and bus, and it was a really sketch party once there. Took us so long to get back that we didn't have time to check anywhere else out. Can't win them all.

The next day we slept in. Rachel and I grabbed the necessities for a proper picnic and proceeded to a nice plaza before entering the Vittoriano to get the best Panoramic view of the simultaneously ancient and modern city of Rome. A free walking tour after showed us the Spanish steps, this church and that one, the Pantheon (WOW), etc. It ended at the Trevi fountain where we made our wishes before going back for quick showers/ dinner and a close by pub crawl with other travelers, including our friend Claire from Naples/Pompeii, her boyfriend, and some of her friends she met before Naples/Rome.

We had a really good time doing it- and it was definitely the people that made it because the bars were basically just us (Monday night in not popular bar area, but so close to our hostel). It was 20€ for 1.5hrs all you can drink beer/wine/cocktails, pizza, shot at each new spot, entrance to club and t-shirt.
We ended up getting a 2€ discount because we arrived in a group. Side note- those 2€ were not saved but in fact later used in a late night Donnies (McDonalds) run. The promoter gal from the pub crawl also hooked us up with a good, affordable afternoon tour of the Vatican.

Next day, we had to move hostels. Did that, then went to the Vatican. We were told it would start at 230 but it didn't until 330 (so much for the saving time by skipping lines perk). We definitely weren't stoked about the delay but it ended up working out really well since the crowds clear out later on in the day. The main attraction is the Sistine Chapel which was really great to see because I got a nice chiropractic treatment looking up at it.. It also happens to be phenomenal mind-blowing art by Michelangelo. My favorite painting in the place is Raphael's "School of Athens." not going to get down to the nitty gritty here but Wikipedia can help explain it http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_School_of_Athens#section_1.

After the Vatican tour, and it's incredibly large (largest or top 3) cathedral in the world, we grabbed a quick power nap, went out to dinner with friends from the pub crawl (Cali, UK, Slovenia) and had a more relaxed night. Great after an action-packed few days.

Final thought here- I went from seeing a showcase of the finest music/art of Skrillex last Tuesday to the finest art of Michelangelo and Raphael this Tuesday. I think one thing I love so much about Europe is the different experiences it can offer you in such a small amount of time and space.

In Florence now, saw some cool things already, had some good food but you'll hear about that in my Florence post in a day or two. Let me just go see the Duomo, Accademia (if not fully reserved), Santa Croce, etc first.

Day 47: I Saw Dead People (Pompeii)

Day 47: I saw dead people (Pompeii)

Up at 9:20 for the free hostel breakfast and on our way by 10:30. It wasn't as clean a trek to Pompeii as we envisioned- just one of those classic "just missed this tram, this train, etc"- but we did make it and although I lost more water body weight sweating than hot yoga we had fun waiting on transportation and chatting with a new friend.

Ryan and I met a really nice pleasant young lady Claire in our hostel room. She's a geography teacher for 11-18 year olds back in Brighton, UK. She was interested in doing Pompeii to the max too which was cool. She brought to my attention the fact you can do more than see the affected town of Pompeii but actually venture up the still active beast of nature and go in its crater. Sure it costed 20€ more but for me, it was just like when else am I going to find myself in Naples, Italy, especially Pompeii? Might as well go up the volcano and in the crater in addition to seeing the affected village. I also had a buddy to do it with because Ryan wasn't down for the additional traveler splurge. It was an added bonus that my new British friend Ms. Power was knowledgable on the history of Mount V / Pompeii so I ended up with a top notch tour.

When traveling with a friend it's not necessary to be attached at the hip at all times and thats fine. It doesnt mean you're not compatible or anything it's just wanting a different thing here and there. it's important that if there's something you want to do to make it happen and not let the other's lack of interest prevent you from doing it. Traveling is a unique and special opportunity to have new experiences, see new places, meet new people and reflect (often overlooked). It's an opportunity to do things you can't do everyday.

Thanks to a book i read as a 6 year old, I remember being beyond fascinated with the volcano eruption that disrupted Pompeii back in 79AD all my life and it was great getting to put a real life image to something I've only read about and imagined. Here's the pictures from the day

Had a great pizza dinner again with Ryan and Claire and off to Rome early tomorrow to meet up with the little sis Rachel- excited to be a part of her first time in Europe!

Day 44-46: Skrill dropped it hard

The past few days of my life have been passed in Ibiza, an interesting place Labeled the party island of the world. Here you can find world famous producers/djs spinning any night of the week- from Tiesto on Monday to Skrillex on Tuesday to Swedish House Madia on Wednesday to David Guetta on Thursday etc.

The top 3 highlights of the few days (in no specific order)
1) Skrillex / Annie Mac at Amnesia
2) Yes! Ibiza boat party
3) pregame real talk/thoughts with watts on our balcony

Skrillex- just a great hyped energy and fun dub step drops. Learned a lot about him and the composition of his songs in the Beat Making Lab I took last semester so it was cool seeing this 5'3 little dude just rock the house in Ibiza. Annie Mac- didn't really know of her beforehand but she was killin' it and I look forward to investigating her music more next time I'm bored.

Boat party- incredible. Great chill electro music from 5-10pm with nice swims, dinner and all you can drink beer/sangria/wine (I only had 2 drinks ;). We got to see the Ibiza sunset (one of the best in the world) and yes we rocked the party shirts for it.

Balcony talks- just great conversations about college, the present, and the future.

The last night was cool- we saw Fatboy Slim and Laidback Luke rock the preparty at Cafe Mambo for free. Fatboy, who's 48 yrs old by the way, was sporting the party shirt.

Apologies for the lack of bloggage the past few days while here- our hostel/apartment place lacked WiFi (so I had to connect to the cafe next door but was minimally using it).

We made it safely to Italy today. Had a dank pizza for dinner. Pompeii and a beach tomorrow.

Day 42-43: water to sound waves

After a decent night rest in Olga's Place hostel (although my 4 alarm snoozes lead me to believe there was more sleep to be had), i got up yesterday morning to catch some waves at the go to surfing beach in San Sebastian that was conveniently located a 2 minute walk from the hostel. I rented a board for an hour to make sure I remembered what I learned a month plus back in Costa Rica. The water was a cool 70 but it was refreshing getting out there again, and getting some real physical activity for the first time in a while.

Great start to the day but it was a hustle getting from hostel to bus station to Bilbao to airport to Ibiza's airport to San Antoni, Ibiza to hostel. While it is easy to get caught up in spending lots of doll hairs in Ibiza, we decided were going to do it with a reasonable budget in mind (some apartment-cooked meals, a couple not-club nights, etc) and its off to a great, fun start. We made dinner in our private appt, had a couple beverages on our balcony and went out to bars last night where Ryan convinced a bunch of non-Americans we were stars from One Tree Hill. Today we slept in (whats new) and made it to the beach a bit. We have a salad, chicken, pasta and broccoli on deck for dinner and Skrillex to attend to this evening in Club Amnesia. Mustache you to have a look at our balsamic/cucumber appetizer layout here.

Day 39-41: Spain Reflection, Ibiza tomorrow

Is it too late for me to study abroad in Salamanca? Maybe so because I'm now graduated but I remember considering staying abroad for another semester after Madrid to further improve my Spanish, and enjoy the easygoing, yet fun lifestyle in the Chapel Hill/ college town of Spain. While it would have been incredible to extend my stay, I'm happy I decided to come back to UNC because I ended up having a great semester getting back into things, building new/old friendships, taking on my major switch from business to econ and int'l studies after being away for a full year (Duke one semester, Madrid the next), and playing hockey again. It's crazy though to think how different things can turn out given the decisions you make. I feel like I couldn't go wrong with this one but still, things could have turned out very different otherwise. it's one of the reasons why my approach has always been to make the most of every situation you end up in (it might be the best, might be the worst).

Anyway, Salamanca was great. We have both done the touristy things there so we basically repeated the procedure of sleeping in, eating lunch, siesta'ing, going for tapas and enjoying the vibrant nightlife of the small city.

Post-Ibiza Italy with Ryan and my sister Rachel will be the time for the more go-go-go traveling, with plenty of unseen sights and great eating to do.

Cut the train super close today but we're in San Sebastian now, where Ryan and I just watched Spain own Italy in the Euro2012 finals. What a great experience viewing the match in the victorious country. 1st half with the hostel owner, 2nd half at a bar. We could go out and celebrate with the country but a rest before 4 nights in Ibiza (starting tmrw) is getting prioritized. Plus, I want to wake up a little early to go surfing before we have to bus it to the Bilbao airport, see if I still got it from Costa Rica

Pics of Salamanca's Plaza Mayor lit up last night in prep for the big match and Ryan and I at a fun bar in town.