second part of the US/Canada trip

After our visit of the Algonquin Provincial Park, we went to the 30'000 Island Coast at the Georgian Bay. Unfortunately, we were 3 days too early - boat cruises were only offered after June 1st... so sad... so we decided to visit Killbear Provincial Park to get at least a little the impression of the Islands.
The day after we drove north in direction to Sudbury through a rought but very beautiful landscape. Sudbury was an industrial town which produces 95% of the world's Nickel. Therefore, we decided to do a tour through a mine. Otherwise the town did not offer much more, so we drove further to Sault Ste Marie. Back in the US we visited Mackinaw Island - an island only for pedestrians and bikes... no cars! It was very impressive and picturesque, especially due to the awesome weather. The next stop was Munising at Lake Superior where we took a boat cruise to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Due to the different metals in the rock, they show many different colors. Together with the shallow water it produced a great color play.
The next day was rainy - 24h... and we spent the day relaxing and drove south go Greenbay. During the last days we covered Door county in Wisconsin and visited Milwaukee: We made a tour through the Miller Brewery and visited the Harley Davidson Powertrain production site. In order have a great last evening, we went again to Ruth's Chris for a great peace of filet: this was a perfect end of our holiday and gave us the energy for the flight back home ;-)



I realy hope you enjoyed my blog with stories and experiences from Minneapolis and our holidays. The blog will not be updated that regularely as before, since I go back to my daily life, which is a little less exciting that being abroad :-)

first part of US/Canada trip...

It has already been quite a while since I left Minneapolis...

Carole and I started in Chicago where we spent the first three days of our vacation. I invited her to the Cité restaurant on the Lake Shore Tower where we enjoyed a delicious dinner on the 70th floor with view of downtown during dusk. We then went to Michigan City where we spent time in an Outlet Mall - I did already my shopping so it was her turn ;-). In Detroit we visited the African American History Museum which was absolutely great! Detroit did not offer much more and a planned tour through the F-150 Ford Truck factory did not work out since it was already sold out that morning... bummer! Nevertheless, we enjoyed american Car culture by watching a movie at a drive-in cinema. Next, we crossed the boarder to Canada and went on to te Niagara Falls. They are just great and very impressive. The following day we went over Niagara On the Lake to Toronto where we stayed at the Sheraton - Thanks to Hotwire for 59 USD instead of 209 USD :-) well, we enjoyed the jacuzzi, steam room and the pool :-) Toronto is pretty neat, especially the old part. After this two day stay in Toronto, we travelled alongside Lake Ontario to Kingston where we spent the night in a shabby motel... just the opposite of the room at the Sheraton ;-). The day after, we travelled alongside the Lawrence River on the 1000 Island Parkway - just great Canadian landscape... until we reached Ottawa, Canada's Capital. It is a cute city that offers everything in walking distance. We spent the last two days of our journey at the Algonquin Provincial Park at Bartlett Lodge - a beautiful Lodge withing the Park. It was a little above our budget, but the food (5 courses each night :-) ) and the spectacular location was worth it!

Today, we are in Barrie and relax a little. The remaining days will lead us to the 30'000 Island shore at Georgian Bay up to Sudbury and west to Sault Ste Marie where we enter the US again. After a visit to the Pictured Rock National Lakeshore we will drive south to Milwaukee and finally back to Chicago...

I uploaded a few pictures and I hope you enjoy (for facebook users; please see orginial post on my blog)....

the end....

last day in Minneapolis...

Well, after almost 4.5 month my time is over here in Minneapolis. The city has turned very green in the last few weeks and it is a little sad that I have to leave... nevertheless, I am also looking forward...

Therefore, here some things I am really going to miss:

- Dinkytown with its coffeeshops, bars, restaurants...
- All the great people I met and I spent time with...
- being part of one of the biggest US campuses...
- Bottled beer for 1 USD!
- everyday specials in food or drinks all week...
- the infrastructure at Carlson...
- the nature in the west of the US...
- the variety of restaurants and bars around a campus of 45'000 people...
- the young city (because of its students)
- good waiter and waitresses...
- affordable and delicious meet...
- no taxes on clothes...


On the other hand, I am also looking forward to:

- See finally Carole again and travelling around the Great Lakes...
- Opening the door of my new apartment that I have unfortunately not seen yet...
- Starting a new job...
- The Swiss public transportation system (bus and train) with smooth roads without wholes ;-)
- hanging out with my friends and organizing a grill party at my new place...
- not having to study anymore for exams... not writing papers for the U...
- a cup of Nespresso coffee...
- coming back to Florida in August ;-)
- much more...

To sum up; I very much enjoyed it here in Minneapolis. The city is great - not too big not too small and it offers all you need and people are very friendly. Furthermore, you are very quickly out in the nature and this makes it very enjoyable.

I will be back sometimes...

Minnehaha Falls and Fort Snelling....

On Saturday, Bulscu (a student from Rumania) and I visited the Minnehaha Falls and Fort Snelling south of downtown.
The falls are located close to the estuary of the Minnehaha river into the Mississippi. They are about 20 meters in hight and are very nicely located close to Minnehaha park. So on that nice Saturday a lot of people were in the park picnicing or just enjoying the nice weather.



After walking around a little, we then went to the Fort Snelling. The Fort was once the northern-most outpost of the US (for further information see this link). It is build on the bluffs above the Mississippi and the Minnesota Rivers. As a visitor you could tour around the Fort and at every interesting spot there were people in their 1820s clothes and roles withing the Fort. They were telling you how life was and one could also ask questions about the life and situation around that time. It was very interesting to hear about the history of the soldiers and the life of the people living at that time. Also, we learned a lot about the indigenous people's life at the time when the US army arrived in the Midwest.

Here you go with a movie about the loading and firing of a canon - very cool!

St. Anthony's Main and Stone Arch Bridge...

On Friday I made it to St. Antony's Main - a very nice place across downtown at the Mississippi. It offers a few bars and restaurants to sit outside as well as newly build lofts. They turned a lot of old mill buildings into costly lofts recently.
I walked alongside the heritage trail and also crossed the old stone arch bridge where once the train came from the east to its final destination in Minneapolis. Today, the bridge is a pedetstrian bridge and a nice spot to overlook the St. Antony Falls. These falls were the originally the end of the passage on the Mississippi, since it was impossible to overcome them in their original shape. So, Minneapolis has basically started here due to the need to unload the ships...
Nowadays, there is a big lock and the falls are streamlined... it's sad, since they looked pretty nice in their original shape (see picture).

Sculpture Garden, Lake Calhoun and Uptown...

Today was the warmest day so far this year; 30 Degrees Celsius or 86 Fahrenheit... blue sky and just awesome sunshine from early in the morning until late into the night.
First I had lunch with a partner of the Transaction Advisory from E&Y in Minneapolis... this was kind of cool, since I got his contact over my roommate's boss who joined us on Friday in downtown for a couple of beers...
After that I returned home, changed into shorts and t-shirt and took the bus downtown again to browse throught the market at the Nicolet Mall. I walked to the Loring Park where the famous Spoonbridge is. After that I took the bus to Lake Calhoun where I enjoyed the sun laying in the grass. There are a few nice places where you can play beach volleyball, beaches or parks to take a sunbath - just an invitation to relax. About an hour later I walked almost all around Lake Calhoun to Uptown, where I enjoyed an iced frappuchino from Starbucks - what a refreshment.



After this very nice trip, I returned to downtown where I was looking for Phil a homeless guy I met two weeks ago. After that I found him, I went home and returned with two bags of clothes he could use. I also invited him spontaneously for dinner... I think he liked it. He told me a little out of his life and how he ended up on the street... was kind of sad, especially when I thought about how much luck I had and how much better my situation is. well, he was very greatful for the clothes and made his way home to his sleeping place in order to share the stuff with his friend.

funny and amusing things :-)

Here are some funny things I have encountered over the last 4.5 months... enjoy with the caption underneath each picture...

Goodbuy lunch, BBQ and soccer game...

All exchange students met last Friday for a last lunch with the exchange coordinator. In the evening there was a BBQ with Globe, the International Student Association of Carlson School. Due to the beginning thunderstorms we had to stay inside and the BBQ turned into a catered event :-( yet it was fun to see everyone a last time and to exchange a few words with everyone's mentor...



In the afternoon - between the lunch and the BBQ - I attended the soccer game "First year MBA againgst Second Year MBA". Again, the weather did not work in favour of us... so the playground was wet and in a pretty bad condition... I don't know when there was someone who took care of the lwan the last time. It seemed to have been quite a while...
Well, we (First year MBA) went ahead pretty quickly ahead with 2:0... Our team comprised two Turkish, a French, an Indian, a Japanese and some US Students... After a lead 3:2, we finally lost in the last 10 minutes with 3:5... Bummer!

Trip to Chicago...

I spent the days from last Wednesday to Saturday in Chicago together with my Godmother Yvonne and her husband Markus. Since I did not find a good deal on Priceline, I stayed at the Hostel in the Loop, whereas Yvonne and Markus were at the Hyatt. :-( But the Hostelling International was a great location: Clean, modern and very central in the loop - it was even voted the best big hostel in the world! So if you decide to visit Chicago on your own, check it out!
It was rainy the first day, so we decided to go shopping in the Outlet Mall in Aurora. After a long shopping trip we returned to Downtown and went to Wilfire. There I ate a Trio of the filet with different crusts... it was awesome.
The next two days we toured around Downtown and also went to the Navy Pier where we watched a Imax movie due to the rainy weather. The second of the two days was sunnier, so we went up the Hancock Tower to the observatory to enjoy the view and the skyline of Chicago - the gold coast, the Loop and the Navy Pier. We then walked alongside the coast line to the Grand Park. This took quite a while and was over 5km long... So we were pretty exhausted once we enjoyed the sunny weather on the lawn with a sandwich and something cold to drink.
On the last evening we went to Ruth's Chris, a very well reputated Steak house... and guess, yes we ate filet again :-) that was probably the best filet I have ever had. ... 12 ounces (340 grams) and tender like nothing else... (seebthe pictures). After that we visited the Blue Chicago, a very well known Blues bar with live music every night. A band played great Blues and also performed some songs with a female singer that had a great voice...
On Saturday afternoon, I had to get back to the airport for my flight back to Minneapolis... so the four days in Chicago passed very quickly and we had a great time together... I am already looking forward to going back in two weeks, where I will meet Carole again... :-)

Kayaking on the Chain of Lakes...

A couple of guys went kayaking last Sunday on the chain of lakes close to downtown Minneapolis. It was a lot of fun, since I have never tried it so far.
Jennie and Annie lead the trip from the Center for Outdoor Activities. They instructed us with the basic techniques and safety procedures in case we flip over. After that we started at Cedar Lake and made our way through Lake of the Isles to Lake Calhoun. It was pretty windy on Lake Calhoun with pretty big waves... a lot of fun!
We stopped at a little beach on Lake Calhoun to eat lunch. After that the expected thunderstorm/rain was getting closer so the trip leaders decided to turn and paddle back. Well, the trip was therefore a little shorter than expected but still very enjoyable. Even though you can barely see it on the pictures, the trees are turning green right now. So it was a pretty day outside where we have seen also turtles, gees and other birds. Wecould even see the skyline from the lake which was awesome.

Here you go with a couple of pictures...

bomb threat after Virgina Tech shooting...

After the shocking incident at Virgina Tech on Monday, a couple of Universities received bomb threats on Tuesday. There was also a threat at the UofM on Wednesday, after which 7 buildings got evacuated. Luckily, these buildings were all on the other side of the Mississippi. So our classes took place as usual. It is still kind of desturbing, that there are other people who try to make a hoax out of this... Nevertheless, I am happy that the UofM takes it seriously.

Today, there will also be a memorial event for the students at Virgina Tech. I think the whole student community is mourning and feels also very sad about the event in Blacksbourg.