I got to visit Nashville, TN in April with Yener and we spent a couple days there. I managed to meet up with several of the locals for a few drinks and such and it was a really wonderful time. The people treated us warmly and we managed to walk down to the area of downtown where all the country musicians performed. I managed not to get nauseous as we walked around there. (Those of you who know me understand my aversion to country music.)

I managed to go visit Vanderbilt University while I was there. It was such a lovely campus! There was some sort of festival event going on there, so we managed to get to mill around the campus with the students. This area of Nashville reminded me of Ann Arbor or East Lansing in feel, but it seemed quite a bit smaller. You could also tell where the University ended and the downtown began!

While in Nashville, Yener and I decided to go walk down to the Centennial Park where the Tennessee version of the Parthenon is built. I took some photos of the place. Below are the photos that actually came out ok.

	This is the front of the building. As you can see, it was a beautiful day. There was a tour group going through it at the time, so it was a little crowded. Below this building is an art museum that actually had some very nice pieces displayed. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take any pictures there.
	Once you get into the Parthenon, you can see the recreation of the statue of Athena. Wow...she was HUGE! That's actual gold leaf on the statue. I took some pictures of the shield so you can see the detail.

I am proud to report that we managed to avoid eating at chain restaurants during our visit. There was an AMAZING Thai food restaurant just down the street from where we were staying. We also found a local restaurant that was completely non-touristy! My thanks to the locals for providing such good information!

One of the locals I met took the two of us out to Opryland and we wandered around the hotel there. It was HUGE ...about 4, 000 rooms or so and there was a vast river walk with lush plants in the center of the hotel. Paths going through the plants let you have a wonderful walk around after a meal or just for a change of scenery. It was very impressive. Unfortunately, the amusement part that used to be next to the hotel has been converted to a mall...very reminiscent of Michigan's Great Lakes Crossing outlet mall in Auburn Hills.

This was a great trip; if you have a chance to go to Nashville, I think you should take it. There is a lot to explore there and the people seem very hospitable. Just make sure to take more pictures than I did!