Skate America 2014

Back in October, I traveled up to the Chicago area to attend Skate America. This was my fourth time at Skate America — I previously attended the competition in 2006 (Hartford, CT), 2009 (Lake Placid, NY), and 2012 (Kent, WA). Before the new year begins, I wanted to share some of my favorite memories of the competition as well as a few pictures. (If you would like to see more of my pictures, visit my Flickr album.)

What I want to remember...

• The American dance teams finishing one-two in the ice dance competition. Even with Meryl Davis and Charlie White out, Madison Chock and Evan Bates (above) and Alex and Maia Shibutani skated well. I also enjoyed Stepanova and Bukin, the Russian team that finished third. 
• Jeremy Abbott's short program to Sam Smith's "Lay Me Down." Just beautiful.
• Both of Tatsuki Machida's performances in the men's competition.
• Waking up early to attend the practice sessions on Saturday.
• Elena Radionova's joyful skating in both the short and long programs. She was too young to compete in Sochi, but she's making up for lost time now.
• American pair Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier winning the silver medal in the pairs competition after skating an exciting long program to music from The Lion King. It was the highest finish for an American pair in the Grand Prix since 2008.
• Meeting Meryl Davis and Charlie White during the first night of competition. It was the highlight of my trip, if not the year.
• Seeing Gracie Gold, Jason Brown, Elena Radionova, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Chock and Bates, and many others skate live for the first time.

And some of my favorite pictures...

Maia and Alex Shibutani 

Jeremy Abbott 

Jason Brown 

Gracie Gold 

Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin 

Madeline Aaron and Max Settlage 

Samantha Cesario 

Elena Radionova

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva

P.S. I wrote about my trip into Chicago here.

Chicago | October 2014

Last month, I traveled up to the Chicago area to attend Skate America. While I was there, I had the opportunity to visit the city for a few hours on Friday, October 24 before the competition started that evening. It was a short visit, but I enjoyed seeing some of my favorite sites from Chicago once again.

The trickiest part of the day was actually making it into Chicago. My hotel was in Hoffman Estates, which is quite a ways from the city. I decided to take the train, but first I had to drive to the Rosemont CTA Station. There was so much traffic on I-90 I was afraid I wouldn't have any time once I made it into Chicago, but I did eventually make it to Rosemont. The train ride into the city was long, but it was nice to be on public transportation again.




I arrived in the city a little after 11 and walked over to Millennium Park to visit the Bean ("Cloud Gate") first. It was just as cool as I remembered it but also very crowded. I took a few pictures and then walked around the rest of the park. The trees were decked out in their fall finest, and I had to restrain myself from taking too many pictures. Since it was so pretty (and warm — 60 degrees in October!), I decided to walk down to the waterfront. I found a bench where I could sit down for a few minutes and take everything in. Having such beautiful weather during my stay was such a blessing.







My next stop was the Art Institute of Chicago on Michigan Avenue. I visited the museum a few years ago with my parents, but it was nice to go again. This time I went to the Impressionists area and the American art. It was interesting to see Monet's paintings and realize my mom and I had visited the real places earlier this year. I also enjoyed seeing a painting of Les Andelys, the little town we visited on the Seine.




After I left the museum, I walked over to Giordano's, a restaurant Esther had recommended for dish-deep pizza. It was definitely a popular place, so I ended up sitting in the bar area. The pizza was wonderful, and I was excited the restaurant had Dr Pepper too. Once I finished eating, I walked over to the Chicago River to look around for a little bit and then headed to the subway station. It took a little while for the train to come, but I was still able to make it back to Rosemont a little after 4 and avoid rush hour traffic driving back to Hoffman Estates.

Even though I was just in the city for a few hours, it was great to experience Chicago once again. The warm, sunny weather and gorgeous fall colors made it memorable — it definitely felt like a small gift after the last few weeks.

P.S. I took my first trip to Chicago in 2011 with my parents (a few pictures from that trip).

European Adventure | Day 12

I've been putting off writing this post since this is my last one for our European trip. It's hard to believe four months have passed since Mom and I returned from Europe. Our last full day in London was a busy one, but we definitely made the most of our time there.

After eating breakfast that morning, we headed out to the Churchill War Rooms, which were truly fascinating. These were the rooms where the British government strategized and coordinated the Allied Forces during World War II. The museum has carefully preserved how things looked back then, so it was interesting to look around and think about all of the history that had taken place there. The War Rooms also included a special museum on Winston Churchill that we both enjoyed visiting.





Our next stop was the London Eye, so we walked across the Thames to get in line. It took well over 30 minutes to board, even though we had tickets for a specific time. Once we made it on board, we went around one time and gained an interesting perspective on the city below. I loved taking pictures from the different angles. After we finished the ride, we decided to share a waffle covered in cream, chocolate sauce, and strawberries for lunch. Yum!




Once we finished lunch, we tried our luck with the Tube. We first went to King's Cross Station so I could see Platform 9 3/4 (Harry Potter pilgrimage complete!) and then rode on to Old Street Station to visit John Wesley's Chapel and the museum attached to it. As Methodists, it was very special for Mom and me to visit the birthplace of Methodism, and it was nice to go somewhere nice and quiet (especially compared to the rest of London).

Unfortunately, I began to feel a little sick at this point (tummy and back, I'm looking at you), which made it difficult to enjoy the last few things we wanted to see. It didn't help that we had trouble finding the British Museum — we think we completely circled it one time — and had to wait in a long line for the restroom once we made it in. Since we were both tired, we found the Rosetta Stone and some Egyptian art and decided to say we had seen the British Museum. Maybe I'll make it back someday.



Since it was getting later at this point, we headed back toward the hotel and decided to eat dinner at Pizza Hut of all places. It actually ended up tasting pretty good (or maybe I was just tired and ready for American-style food). Afterward, we walked back to the hotel, where we were able to rest.

And with that, our two-week European adventure came to a close. It really was a dream trip, and I'm so glad I was able to spend it with my mom.

European Adventure | Day 11

Mom and I spent our last two full days of vacation exploring London. On April 16, we took a bus from Oxford into London. It was definitely more eventful than it should have been — we missed our first stop in London and the handle on Mom's suitcase broke — but we still made it to the hotel in one piece. We both enjoyed the cab ride to the hotel since our cabbie was an avid bird watcher who had visited Texas before.





Once we arrived at the hotel, we left our bags in the room and set off exploring again. Our hotel was located near Green Park, so we walked through it to get to Buckingham Palace. We enjoyed looking around the palace, but the area was definitely crowded because of the Easter holidays. We took a few pictures and then headed to St. James's Park, where we both had hot dogs for lunch.





Our next stop was Westminster Abbey, which was one of my top places to visit in London. Fortunately, the line to get in wasn't that long, so we made it in quickly. We saw a lot of churches during this trip, but this one was by far the most impressive. I had to keep pinching myself to believe this was the place I had seen on TV during Will and Kate's wedding. The Poets' Corner at the end was one of my favorite spots, and I was able to find the plaques for Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters.




After we left Westminster Abbey, we walked over to the London Eye. We had hoped to go up that day, but the earliest tickets were for 9 p.m. Instead, we bought tickets for noon the following day and decided to do something else. Since most of the museums were already closed at this point, we just walked around, visiting the Horse Guards Parade, Trafalgar Square, and Piccadilly Circus. We ate dinner at a place called Garfunkel's and then walked back to the hotel, stopping at a bookstore along the way.

European Adventure | Day 10

Even after all the beauty of Paris and Normandy and the fun of the English countryside, today was the day we had been looking forward to the entire trip. We were going to Highclere Castle that evening!

In the morning, we took a guided tour of Oxford with Alistair, one of our guides. During our tour, he explained how the college system works (students apply to one of 38 colleges and attend weekly one-on-one tutorials with their professors) and took us to several of Oxford's most famous sights, including the Saxon Tower of St Michael at the North Gate (the oldest building in Oxford), the Martyrs' Memorial, the Bodleian Library, the Radcliffe Camera, the Covered Market, and the Ashmolean Museum. We also toured Trinity College, where a black cat came out to greet our group.





After the tour, Mom and I ate lunch and then split up for the next few hours. I toured Christ Church College, where many of the scenes from the Harry Potter movies were filmed. The most famous locations are the grand staircase and Dining Hall (Hogwarts' Great Hall). The Dining Hall was fascinating to explore as the walls were covered with portraits of famous alumni (including John Wesley), royalty, and other English greats. My time alone was also remarkable for another discovery: my first Dr Pepper since leaving the U.S. a week and half earlier. I definitely savored it.





Around 2:30, we boarded the bus for Highclere Castle, and you could just sense the excitement in the group. Before we went to the Castle, we stopped at Bowdown House for tea. Bowdown is still a real home owned by a couple who are friends with the owners of Viking. It was amazing to look around the house and think about all the history that had taken place there.



After we left Bowdown House, we were on our way to Highclere Castle. We arrived there around 5 and had time to explore the grounds and visit the gift shop before entering the door at 5:30 (after the guests for the day had left). They served us champagne and then took us on a tour of the home. It was amazing to see all of the rooms I had watched on TV so many times. While we were touring the upstairs, Lady Carnarvon, the current owner of the house, came out to greet us with her dog Bella. She talked with us for a while and even allowed us to take a few pictures downstairs. It was quite a treat.




That evening we ate dinner at a local pub called The Yew Tree. I had fish and chips for dinner and a chocolate brownie for dessert. It was our last night with the Viking group, so it was time to say goodbye and remember all the good times from the last week and a half. After dinner, we came back to the hotel for our last night in Oxford.