Grace and I woke up early to hop on a shuttle bus to the airport, where we got on a plane to Copenhagen. The flight was very quick, since we both slept through a majority of it. When we got there, we figured out which bus to take into central station, and from there how to walk to out hostel (we later figured out that there was an option to take the train, which took 40 minutes less...). Anyways we got into city center and walked to Woodah Hostel, which was the best hostel I have ever experienced. It had the atmosphere of a Yoga studio: candles lit most of the areas, organic food always available (free organic breakfast), Yoga classes at 7:30am every other day, relaxed and helpful staff, and a small environment. Everyone hung out in the common area most of the time, which was fun. I would recommend it to anyone, and would go back if I get the chance to be in Copenhagen again. Anyways, enough about the hostel, we asked them where we should to spend some time before dinner, and they recommended The Trivoli Gardens, which was currently filled with the most famous Christmas market in Copenhagen. We went there and it was like a Christmas land! Check out my facebook album for pictures of this place. Anyways, it had rides, TONS of food, cool little shops with anything and everything you could think of, including non-Christmas stuff, and lights everywhere. It made me want to bring Christmas markets back to the states. Once we got fairly hungry enough to want an actual meal, we headed back towards the hostel and asked what was good. We went to a place called Madglads, which was all organic and vegetarian meals. It was also very frugal at 12 euro for a buffet. Everything was VERY organic, but also very tasty. It was funny how this trip was very different from all other trips we took; this trip was more relaxing, and calming for the body, instead of consuming alcohol and getting little sleep and exercise. Anyways, we found a small bar and got a glass of red wine and chatted. We realized that everyone in the country is beautiful: blonde, blue eyes, beautiful faces. We went back to the hostel around 11 and called it a night, since we were tired from traveling and knew we had to get up for 7:30 yoga the next morning.
We got up in time, and had a nice class with 4 other travelers. The teacher was awesome, and explained everything thoroughly, which is more than what I expected. It was an hour and a half session, and it was a great way to wake up. Right after, we went into the common room of the hostel for an organic breakfast which consisted of homemade rolls (you could taste the seeds and everything) with homemade hummus, apple/peach jam, fruit, yogurt with local honey, and tea. It was crazy how opposite this hostel was compared to EVERY other hostel I have been to. After starting the morning off right, we headed out to explore the city. We went to some big palace that the Queen lives in, and saw some really cool pieces of art, and libraries inside. We continued on and found 'The Church of Our Saviour' which was amazing! We went to the top of it, which was literally breathtaking...both the view and the walk up to the top. Then we went into Christiania, which is a self-proclaimed free-town, which means it under the laws of the state, but not the city of Copenhagen (it's really confusing, I don't fully understand it, and I don't think it is fully understood by anyone). We walked around there and it honestly felt like a fake place; there are no cars or bikes allowed inside of the area, you can only walk around. You also can't take any pictures inside. We walked around there along the river for awhile, until we got hungry again, and headed back for the city center area. We were so hungry that we ended up settling for the first place we found, which was a Pakistani restaurant; this was yet another one-of-a-kind restaurant experience that we had. It was delicious, and it was a great experience, yet odd that we decided to go here in Denmark. Anyways, we then went to the hostel to relax for a bit and regain some energy before going out later for a proper dinner and a couple drinks. We talked with the staff, and some of the other travelers while relaxing. We went to a Thai food restaurant for dinner, where I ate with chopsticks (random fact, but I was proud of my skill). Then we found a cozy, yet trendy, bar and had a drink; I ordered a drink, and it ended up being a fruity drink, with colorful garnishes...they looked at me like I had never been to a bar before, but whatever. We then headed back to the hostel around 11:30 and went to bed, expecting to get up early the next morning to fill our day before heading back to Ireland.
We set our alarm for 8:30, but realized after the fact that our Ireland phones were still on Ireland time (one hour earlier), so we missed breakfast, but ended up buying a similar breakfast from the counter. Since we we're already a little late to start, we headed off to the Little Mermaid; this was a tourist spot, but neither of us found it to be very impressive. It was cool to see, but it was far out of the way and cold by the water. We then just meandered around the streets and got a couple souvenirs, and enjoyed the lights and scenery. Stopped by the Nyhaven Christmas markets and ate some snacks before heading to the hostel to gather our goods and off to the airport. We figured out that the train is much more efficient, and gets us to the airport much quicker. We were there about two and a half hours early, so we went through security and had a delicious meal of chicken pasta and sandwiches; they had the best orange Fanta too. We still had time so we walked around, the inside of the airport was similar to a mall with shops on shops on shops. Anyways, we got on our plance eventually and flew home. I felt like being intellectual so I grabbed an international newspaper and read that on the plane ride home. Unfortunately, we had to wait 2 hours until the next bus home to Limerick, and arrived in Limerick at 4am this morning!
Now I am off to study the next couple days for a test on Wednesday, before a final family dinner and then off to Florida for Christmas! :-D
I will probably write one or two more blog entries, but nothing will be as exciting as the past posts! For those that read this, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed experiencing it!
Until the next adventure,
Slán
Monday 17 December 2012
Belfast/Dublin
I got up early on a Tuesday morning to catch a bus, then a train, to Belfast. I missed the first bus, but managed to make it on the second bus to Dublin, then hopped on the train to Belfast. I arrived in Belfast at 1:30ish and checked in to the hostel; I then walked to Lagan Meadows, which is a nature preserve that I wanted to check out. It was also a good way to spend the time waiting for Kelly to meet me; she had a later exam then got on the train. When we met up, we went right to the Christmas, which was right by the City Hall. It was both of our first Christmas markets, so we were fully impressed. Lots of different types of foods, sweets, trinkets, and lighting throughout. We hopped from stand to stand eating and browsing. We went to the hostel to drop of Kel's stuff and then headed out to a bar. We couldn't find the suggested bar, but we found a cozy one with live music. It was great to have the live irish music experience, probably for the last time. We chatted about how rare it is to find a place like it in the States, while in Ireland you can usually find a couple pubs like this every night. It was a great night and we ended it by getting chicken goujons and chips before heading to bed; we had an early morning to head to Giant's Causeway.
We woke up and ate amazing porridge before getting on a bus to Giant's Causeway. It was perfect because they stopped at a couple other places on the way, so we got to see a lot of Northern Ireland in one day. We saw a couple castle's (I don't remember all the names), Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, Bushmill's Distillery (oldest one in world according to bus driver: licensed to distill since 1608), Giant's Causeway, and the beautiful views on the way up there. We took the coastal road for amazing views. The people on the bus were hilarious; typical asian tourists (based on my own experiences, not stereotypes) that were always late at the stops, and one time had to flag down the bus after it had already started driving away from the rope bridge parking lot. One of them decided to puke in a bag (with a small hole in the bottom) due to motion sickness, even though the driver told everyone to inform him if they started to feel ill, instead of telling him after they got sick on the bus. It was quite a scene.
We got back to Belfast at 6 that night and headed back for the Christmas market for more food. We loved the mulled wine and the Bailey's hot chocolate. We got a meal and Guiness at a restaurant close-by, before realizing we had no more pounds, so we headed back to the hostel. We agreed to meet up at 6:15 in order ot get the train at 6:50, but Kelly decided to sleep through it (on accident apparently ;)), so we got on the later train and met up with Moira and Grace in Dublin for Breakfast.
This was the first time I had gone to Dublin so I decided to just follow the other's around to what they wanted to see. We saw Trinity College, the Book of Kels (it wasn't on display the day we were there so we just saw the museum and the old library, which was still cool), Saint Stephen's Green, Grafton Street, O'Connell Street, and the famous Temple Bar. It was a great city, but I have seen much more exciting cities (no offense Ireland). Kelly and Moira headed back for Limerick, while Grace and I headed to our hostel to get ready for our adventure to Copenhagen early the next morning. We dropped our stuff off and went to dinner at a nice burger place (I know, not a typical Irish meal, but we were feeling burgers). We grabbed a quick drink at a bar, then went back to the hostel for an early night; another early morning and day full of traveling coming up.
See the next entry for the Copenhagen trip details!
We woke up and ate amazing porridge before getting on a bus to Giant's Causeway. It was perfect because they stopped at a couple other places on the way, so we got to see a lot of Northern Ireland in one day. We saw a couple castle's (I don't remember all the names), Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, Bushmill's Distillery (oldest one in world according to bus driver: licensed to distill since 1608), Giant's Causeway, and the beautiful views on the way up there. We took the coastal road for amazing views. The people on the bus were hilarious; typical asian tourists (based on my own experiences, not stereotypes) that were always late at the stops, and one time had to flag down the bus after it had already started driving away from the rope bridge parking lot. One of them decided to puke in a bag (with a small hole in the bottom) due to motion sickness, even though the driver told everyone to inform him if they started to feel ill, instead of telling him after they got sick on the bus. It was quite a scene.
We got back to Belfast at 6 that night and headed back for the Christmas market for more food. We loved the mulled wine and the Bailey's hot chocolate. We got a meal and Guiness at a restaurant close-by, before realizing we had no more pounds, so we headed back to the hostel. We agreed to meet up at 6:15 in order ot get the train at 6:50, but Kelly decided to sleep through it (on accident apparently ;)), so we got on the later train and met up with Moira and Grace in Dublin for Breakfast.
This was the first time I had gone to Dublin so I decided to just follow the other's around to what they wanted to see. We saw Trinity College, the Book of Kels (it wasn't on display the day we were there so we just saw the museum and the old library, which was still cool), Saint Stephen's Green, Grafton Street, O'Connell Street, and the famous Temple Bar. It was a great city, but I have seen much more exciting cities (no offense Ireland). Kelly and Moira headed back for Limerick, while Grace and I headed to our hostel to get ready for our adventure to Copenhagen early the next morning. We dropped our stuff off and went to dinner at a nice burger place (I know, not a typical Irish meal, but we were feeling burgers). We grabbed a quick drink at a bar, then went back to the hostel for an early night; another early morning and day full of traveling coming up.
See the next entry for the Copenhagen trip details!
Monday 10 December 2012
Italia - Florence/Rome
1/12/12
We arrived in Rome in the morning and headed right to the train station to go to Florence. We had 6 days in Italy, so we figured we would use some of the days in Florence. Quick grabbed a cappuccino and it tasted like 'burnt' according to Charlie; it definitely did the trick after a night with little sleep. The views from the train were spectacular so I stayed awake and watched the countryside pass us by. We got into Florence fairly quickly and searched for or hostel. The hostel didn't have a big sign - it was literally just a tiny name next to the doorbell, so it took us two or three laps around the block, but we found it. We were all hungry so we got coffee and pizza on our way to the David.
We got to the David, and when we entered the museum it was stunning. We almost didn't even see the other statues on the way to the David. His pose and facial expression is amazing when you think about what he had just accomplished (Goliath - I didn't know this before for some reason...). By the time we were outside it was dark so we decided to get some Gelato and wine and head to the hostel before getting dinner. We had some wine and cheese and headed out for 'apertivos', but when we got the place the was suggested, it was a sushi place...they only had apertivos on Wednesdays. Somehow the guy convinced us to stay so we had overpriced sushi and wine for dinner. We stopped at a market on the way back to the hostel and got chocolate covered bananas and strawberries; it was an awesome little market!
2/12/12
The next morning we got up and headed to the bridge with all the shops (I forget the name but it's well known), and stopped for a bite at 'self-service' for panini - we had about 2-3 panini a day. We headed to the Giardino di Boboli - it was a MASSIVE park with cool trees and walkways with a ton of sculptures. We hiked to the top of it where there were amazing views of the city as well. We took a lot of pictures of the group (Charlie, Kelly, Amira, Marione [Charlie's French roommates]). We headed to Duomo, a cool church that looked like it had textiles on the outside.
In order to make it to Rome in time for Charlie to meet his girlfriend, we hopped back on the train. We got there and met with Kaitlyn for dinner; the dinner was 3 euro pizza's and great cheap wine. Kaitlyn then took us out for chocolate shots (chocolate shot 'glass', bailey's, chocolate sauce, whipped cream) before heading to Scholar's Lounge for Karaoke (it happened to be an Irish Pub...who woulda thought??). It was pouring...literally POURING rain, so we went to the pub early. The beers were 6 euro, even for a cheap beer, so we started taking Jaeger bombs, they were 6 euro too. Kelly and I ended up singing 'I want it that way' and 'Almost', two great songs. We made the trek back home for the night since we had a big day ahead of us. On the way back we saw the Trevi Fountain lit up; we were lucky that no one was there so we had the fountain all to ourselves! It was pretty neat.
3/12/12
We woke up and went straight to the Colosseum and Roman Forum. We were tipped off to go to the Forum first since the ticket is valid for both places, and most people wait in a long line at the Colosseum. We got an audio tour, but got lost and didn't know exactly what buildings/pillars they were talking about, so we just walked around and soaked it all in. It was an amazing thing to see! When we got to the Colosseum we took a bunch of pictures; luckily we had amazing weather all day this day and the pictures all turned out amazing.
We were carrying our bags this day since we were changing hostels, so we decided to go to the Yellow Hostel (our hostel the next 3 nights) and put our bags in our room. Turned out that our hostel was a 9 person apartment style room. It had two bathrooms, two separate bedrooms (2 beds and 3 beds in each), and 4 beds in the main room. It also had a fully functioning kitchen inside of it. It was awesomeeeeeeee - best hostel I have ever stayed in. We took quick naps and had dinner while waiting for the other girls to join us. We started sipping wine until they showed up, then they decided they didn't want to go out. We ended up going downstairs and just checking out the basement party, which sounded like a rager, and it turned out to be a typical college basement party. It was a lot of fun, but it was scumy, with a lot of sketchy dudes, and people smoking cigarettes. It was a good time, but we didn't go back to it while we were staying at the hostel. We went to bed somewhat early this night as well (midnightish?)
4/12/12
We woke up and had a big day ahead of us. Since we met up with the new crew, we went to the Trevi Fountain and made our wishes. Then off to the Pantheon; this was a quick visit but it's an awesome building. Some of our friends got caught by the tourist trap of taking pictures with the 'Spartans that were just being nice to them', and ended up paying. Classic. Anywho, we went to the Spanish Steps, and onto the Villa Borgese. Kevin suggested that we get bikes and bike around the park for awhile; this may have been my highlight of the trip! Charlie and I got a two person car-bike, and did doughnuts around a vacant lot. We both took videos doing doughnuts separately and I flipped the car :O! It was hilarious! Ask me for the video and hopefully I'll be able to show you...my computer isn't letting me get it off my camera as of right now. Anyways, it started raining when we finished that, so we headed back and grabbed more Gelato on the way (Charlie and I got two larges...woops).
We took quick naps and headed off to meet the Creighton girls Sorority sisters for a dinner at Carlo Menta - Kel and I ordered the best pasta in the world; it was their house pasta sauce on penne. We decided to split a second one, but it never came, so we just ordered another bottle of wine. To kill some time before going to Scholar's again with Kaitlyn, we went to a wine bar where all the girls started crying about how happy/sad they were, I don't really know it was weird and Charlie wasn't there to do guy things with me. Then we went to Scholars for more singing and met some funny Italians. I had to remind Kelly of the movie 'Taken' a couple times, but everything turned out well. We started walking home the wrong way for about 30 minutes, but ended up finding food and ended up going the right way and made it home. Great night, slept very well.
5/12/12
Quick morning wake up we decided to get blessed by the Pope, and Kelly got pickpocketed on the metro on the way there; it was weird how packed it was and she didn't even notice it happened until later. We ran around St. Peter's square looking for the Pope, and made it about 5 minutes before it started. It was an awesome experience. We met up with another group of girls (yes, more girls...) and had lunch before walking through the Vatican Museum. We were all fairly tired after so we got crepes and had cheese sandwiches and fruit and wine for dinner and just had a couple drinks at the bar downstairs, not the basement party bar.
6/12/12
The Creighton girls went to the Colosseum this day, so we (Charlie, Kelly, Amira, Marione) hung out in a piazza in the sun for an hour or so, then I met up with Enrico, a guy Kevin tutored when he was in Rome studying abroad. We had lunch and he brought me to an amazing view of Rome before heading off to the airport. Kelly and I had a miscommunication and I almost missed the last bus to the airport...but I made it as the bus was pulling away! Thanks god. We got on the plane and took the bus home at 4am on Friday! Amazing trip, definitely would go back to Florence! Rome seemed very touristy to me, but I still loved it! Last trip is coming up these next couple days before a final exam and then heading home! Wish me luck!
Slán
We arrived in Rome in the morning and headed right to the train station to go to Florence. We had 6 days in Italy, so we figured we would use some of the days in Florence. Quick grabbed a cappuccino and it tasted like 'burnt' according to Charlie; it definitely did the trick after a night with little sleep. The views from the train were spectacular so I stayed awake and watched the countryside pass us by. We got into Florence fairly quickly and searched for or hostel. The hostel didn't have a big sign - it was literally just a tiny name next to the doorbell, so it took us two or three laps around the block, but we found it. We were all hungry so we got coffee and pizza on our way to the David.
We got to the David, and when we entered the museum it was stunning. We almost didn't even see the other statues on the way to the David. His pose and facial expression is amazing when you think about what he had just accomplished (Goliath - I didn't know this before for some reason...). By the time we were outside it was dark so we decided to get some Gelato and wine and head to the hostel before getting dinner. We had some wine and cheese and headed out for 'apertivos', but when we got the place the was suggested, it was a sushi place...they only had apertivos on Wednesdays. Somehow the guy convinced us to stay so we had overpriced sushi and wine for dinner. We stopped at a market on the way back to the hostel and got chocolate covered bananas and strawberries; it was an awesome little market!
2/12/12
The next morning we got up and headed to the bridge with all the shops (I forget the name but it's well known), and stopped for a bite at 'self-service' for panini - we had about 2-3 panini a day. We headed to the Giardino di Boboli - it was a MASSIVE park with cool trees and walkways with a ton of sculptures. We hiked to the top of it where there were amazing views of the city as well. We took a lot of pictures of the group (Charlie, Kelly, Amira, Marione [Charlie's French roommates]). We headed to Duomo, a cool church that looked like it had textiles on the outside.
In order to make it to Rome in time for Charlie to meet his girlfriend, we hopped back on the train. We got there and met with Kaitlyn for dinner; the dinner was 3 euro pizza's and great cheap wine. Kaitlyn then took us out for chocolate shots (chocolate shot 'glass', bailey's, chocolate sauce, whipped cream) before heading to Scholar's Lounge for Karaoke (it happened to be an Irish Pub...who woulda thought??). It was pouring...literally POURING rain, so we went to the pub early. The beers were 6 euro, even for a cheap beer, so we started taking Jaeger bombs, they were 6 euro too. Kelly and I ended up singing 'I want it that way' and 'Almost', two great songs. We made the trek back home for the night since we had a big day ahead of us. On the way back we saw the Trevi Fountain lit up; we were lucky that no one was there so we had the fountain all to ourselves! It was pretty neat.
3/12/12
We woke up and went straight to the Colosseum and Roman Forum. We were tipped off to go to the Forum first since the ticket is valid for both places, and most people wait in a long line at the Colosseum. We got an audio tour, but got lost and didn't know exactly what buildings/pillars they were talking about, so we just walked around and soaked it all in. It was an amazing thing to see! When we got to the Colosseum we took a bunch of pictures; luckily we had amazing weather all day this day and the pictures all turned out amazing.
We were carrying our bags this day since we were changing hostels, so we decided to go to the Yellow Hostel (our hostel the next 3 nights) and put our bags in our room. Turned out that our hostel was a 9 person apartment style room. It had two bathrooms, two separate bedrooms (2 beds and 3 beds in each), and 4 beds in the main room. It also had a fully functioning kitchen inside of it. It was awesomeeeeeeee - best hostel I have ever stayed in. We took quick naps and had dinner while waiting for the other girls to join us. We started sipping wine until they showed up, then they decided they didn't want to go out. We ended up going downstairs and just checking out the basement party, which sounded like a rager, and it turned out to be a typical college basement party. It was a lot of fun, but it was scumy, with a lot of sketchy dudes, and people smoking cigarettes. It was a good time, but we didn't go back to it while we were staying at the hostel. We went to bed somewhat early this night as well (midnightish?)
4/12/12
We woke up and had a big day ahead of us. Since we met up with the new crew, we went to the Trevi Fountain and made our wishes. Then off to the Pantheon; this was a quick visit but it's an awesome building. Some of our friends got caught by the tourist trap of taking pictures with the 'Spartans that were just being nice to them', and ended up paying. Classic. Anywho, we went to the Spanish Steps, and onto the Villa Borgese. Kevin suggested that we get bikes and bike around the park for awhile; this may have been my highlight of the trip! Charlie and I got a two person car-bike, and did doughnuts around a vacant lot. We both took videos doing doughnuts separately and I flipped the car :O! It was hilarious! Ask me for the video and hopefully I'll be able to show you...my computer isn't letting me get it off my camera as of right now. Anyways, it started raining when we finished that, so we headed back and grabbed more Gelato on the way (Charlie and I got two larges...woops).
We took quick naps and headed off to meet the Creighton girls Sorority sisters for a dinner at Carlo Menta - Kel and I ordered the best pasta in the world; it was their house pasta sauce on penne. We decided to split a second one, but it never came, so we just ordered another bottle of wine. To kill some time before going to Scholar's again with Kaitlyn, we went to a wine bar where all the girls started crying about how happy/sad they were, I don't really know it was weird and Charlie wasn't there to do guy things with me. Then we went to Scholars for more singing and met some funny Italians. I had to remind Kelly of the movie 'Taken' a couple times, but everything turned out well. We started walking home the wrong way for about 30 minutes, but ended up finding food and ended up going the right way and made it home. Great night, slept very well.
5/12/12
Quick morning wake up we decided to get blessed by the Pope, and Kelly got pickpocketed on the metro on the way there; it was weird how packed it was and she didn't even notice it happened until later. We ran around St. Peter's square looking for the Pope, and made it about 5 minutes before it started. It was an awesome experience. We met up with another group of girls (yes, more girls...) and had lunch before walking through the Vatican Museum. We were all fairly tired after so we got crepes and had cheese sandwiches and fruit and wine for dinner and just had a couple drinks at the bar downstairs, not the basement party bar.
6/12/12
The Creighton girls went to the Colosseum this day, so we (Charlie, Kelly, Amira, Marione) hung out in a piazza in the sun for an hour or so, then I met up with Enrico, a guy Kevin tutored when he was in Rome studying abroad. We had lunch and he brought me to an amazing view of Rome before heading off to the airport. Kelly and I had a miscommunication and I almost missed the last bus to the airport...but I made it as the bus was pulling away! Thanks god. We got on the plane and took the bus home at 4am on Friday! Amazing trip, definitely would go back to Florence! Rome seemed very touristy to me, but I still loved it! Last trip is coming up these next couple days before a final exam and then heading home! Wish me luck!
Slán
Saturday 8 December 2012
Lone Wolf Part II - Lisbon
One week of hell working on school allowed me to take this extra trip before the last week of classes! I left late Thursday night to catch a bus to Dublin for an early morning flight. I got into Lisbon Friday around 1:00 and ate rabbit with rice at a local restaurant in a square. It was delicious and the server was amazingly nice to me! I walked around all day looking at numerous churches and views of the city. It is a really hilly city which allows for amazing views. I had an interesting experience with locals which I'll leave unsaid for now, but ask me about it in person and I'll explain! Great story!
I walked and saw St. George's Castle, the National Pantheon (just walked by it since it was already closed), the city center plaza, as well as a number of other churches. Since it gets dark so early, I headed to my hostel around 6pm. I met a German girl that was in Lisbon for a week visiting a friend that was studying there for a semester. She told me a couple cool places to eat and drink some beers. I went back to the city centre for a couple beers and dinner. There was fun people watching and a lot of street shows going on so I walked around and watched those. I ended up going back to the hostel around 10:30 and fell asleep by 11. I was exhausted, and was planning on doing a bike tour around Lisbon the next day!
I woke up around 8:30 and headed to the meeting point for the bike tour only to find out that it was raining. It did not stop raining from that point until I left (it was still raining when I was in the plane leaving). I was kind of bummed because I went to Lisbon to get some warmth and sun before a cold winter. It was warm, but soaking wet! Anyways, the bike tour didn't show up and I needed to find shelter so I got on a bus tour. They drove around Lisbon and stopped at a small city outside of Lisbon called Belem. I had a couple places I wanted to see here so I hopped off. I ended up caving and buying a 5 euro umbrella (worth 1 euro maybe), and walked around for 4-5 hours. I saw the Discoveries Monument, Belem Tower, and Jeronimos Monastery, which are all very touristy, but since it was raining, I'm assuming it was less busy than usual. I had heard about the Belem Palace, which was a fifteen minute walk from the main area, but I heard it was a diamond in the rough, so I made the walk. I found a cemetery on the way and walked through it. I have pictures that show how different their tombstones are; they are more like small rooms where an entire family will have their coffins put in. They were beautiful set ups. I eventually found the Palace and was the only one walking around it! It was awesome and talked about Kind Luis I (of Lisbon) and showed his bedrooms and all the other interesting rooms in the palace; of course there are way more rooms than they actually needed. I was allowed to stay past 2pm, which is closing time, and a lady actually gave me a little tour as she followed me around before closing. She explained all the art on the walls and all the rooms and their significance which made it much more meaningful. She surprised me at the end by opening a door into a 180 seat dining hall where they have important meetings, both national and international. They still have these meetings here to this day.
I went back to Lisbon and explored a couple more spots before heading to my hostel. Everything was SOAKED, so I just found a pizza around the hostel and cooked it in the kitchen. I met a German guy in the hostel this night that had been in Lisbon for the past week on a school trip. He felt bad for me due to the weather these last couple days since it is usually so much nicer there. He seemed like a cool guy and I went out and got a beer with him and one of his friends that was still there with his class.
I woke up the next day and ran to the Libon Cathedral, which is the oldest church in Lisbon dating back to the 1100's. I didn't have time to get to the Casa-Museu Doutor Anastacio Goncalves, which sounded like a cool art museum/house of an old rich doctor (back in the day). Next time I suppose.
After the Catherdral I headed to the airport and hopped on the plane again back to Dublin; another successful Lone Wolf trip. I came home to a short week of classes before heading off to Italy to explore Florence and Rome! See the next blog entry for more!
Slán
I walked and saw St. George's Castle, the National Pantheon (just walked by it since it was already closed), the city center plaza, as well as a number of other churches. Since it gets dark so early, I headed to my hostel around 6pm. I met a German girl that was in Lisbon for a week visiting a friend that was studying there for a semester. She told me a couple cool places to eat and drink some beers. I went back to the city centre for a couple beers and dinner. There was fun people watching and a lot of street shows going on so I walked around and watched those. I ended up going back to the hostel around 10:30 and fell asleep by 11. I was exhausted, and was planning on doing a bike tour around Lisbon the next day!
I woke up around 8:30 and headed to the meeting point for the bike tour only to find out that it was raining. It did not stop raining from that point until I left (it was still raining when I was in the plane leaving). I was kind of bummed because I went to Lisbon to get some warmth and sun before a cold winter. It was warm, but soaking wet! Anyways, the bike tour didn't show up and I needed to find shelter so I got on a bus tour. They drove around Lisbon and stopped at a small city outside of Lisbon called Belem. I had a couple places I wanted to see here so I hopped off. I ended up caving and buying a 5 euro umbrella (worth 1 euro maybe), and walked around for 4-5 hours. I saw the Discoveries Monument, Belem Tower, and Jeronimos Monastery, which are all very touristy, but since it was raining, I'm assuming it was less busy than usual. I had heard about the Belem Palace, which was a fifteen minute walk from the main area, but I heard it was a diamond in the rough, so I made the walk. I found a cemetery on the way and walked through it. I have pictures that show how different their tombstones are; they are more like small rooms where an entire family will have their coffins put in. They were beautiful set ups. I eventually found the Palace and was the only one walking around it! It was awesome and talked about Kind Luis I (of Lisbon) and showed his bedrooms and all the other interesting rooms in the palace; of course there are way more rooms than they actually needed. I was allowed to stay past 2pm, which is closing time, and a lady actually gave me a little tour as she followed me around before closing. She explained all the art on the walls and all the rooms and their significance which made it much more meaningful. She surprised me at the end by opening a door into a 180 seat dining hall where they have important meetings, both national and international. They still have these meetings here to this day.
I went back to Lisbon and explored a couple more spots before heading to my hostel. Everything was SOAKED, so I just found a pizza around the hostel and cooked it in the kitchen. I met a German guy in the hostel this night that had been in Lisbon for the past week on a school trip. He felt bad for me due to the weather these last couple days since it is usually so much nicer there. He seemed like a cool guy and I went out and got a beer with him and one of his friends that was still there with his class.
I woke up the next day and ran to the Libon Cathedral, which is the oldest church in Lisbon dating back to the 1100's. I didn't have time to get to the Casa-Museu Doutor Anastacio Goncalves, which sounded like a cool art museum/house of an old rich doctor (back in the day). Next time I suppose.
After the Catherdral I headed to the airport and hopped on the plane again back to Dublin; another successful Lone Wolf trip. I came home to a short week of classes before heading off to Italy to explore Florence and Rome! See the next blog entry for more!
Slán
Belgium
After a great weekend in Amsterdam, I met up with Richie, a boyfriend of a friend, and we headed off to Belgium: First stop, Brussels. Side note: the funny thing about this trip is it was an impulse trip. i extended my plane ticket back to Ireland and I had only met Richie twice before we planned this. We were lucky enough to have places to stay for free the entire trip. We took a train Sunday night into Brussels headed right to his Father's aunt's house. They had a beautiful home with five stories and an elevator inside! It we each got our own beds and stayed in an amazing room.
The next morning we woke up nice and earl around 9 and headed into the city with Ruby, the grand daughter of the grandma. She was 20 years old which was great because we could all relate to each other. We went to a tourist office and then walked around the entire city. Saw a couple buildings: the university library (it was HUGE) and a bunch of churches and government buildings. We were freezing cold so we stopped by a market and bought an extra sweater and gloves; my sweater was 2 euro and it's the warmest sweater I own! There were swords, random dishes, old phones, camera lenses, literally anything you could imagine at this market just piled up. It was kind of dirty, but it was so inexpensive it was worth it. When it started getting dark out, we went to the top of a parking garage to see the view of the city. It was unbelievable and a clear night so we could see the Atomium lit up from there. The best part was the view was free!
Then we headed back to the house and ate dinner with the family. It was so kind of them to make all this food for us, especially since they did not know Richie before we showed up. We went out with Ruby that night and she showed us around. We started at a touristy bar called Delirium Bar - they have 2,000 beers and 30-some beers on tap that they switch around. It was great, but then we headed to a local bar with Ruby where we hung out there for the remainder of the night.
We woke up the next day and had a quick breakfast before heading to Leuven for the next day. We explored Leuven which was much less touristy and is known to be a college town. The longest bar in Europe is there, which is just a block of bars on both sides of the street. It is where all the students go to party hardy we are assuming. We didn't stay the night so we missed the night scene there which I can only imagine to be out of control. We walked around Leuven, but then headed to the Stella Artois brewery where we went for a tour. We saw how it is made, and how it is bottled; they brew beer 24 hours a day. We met a group of kids studying in Belgium which was fun to talk to them about their travels. After the tour we hopped on a train to Brugge where we were going to stay the night with another relative of Richie (his Dad's cousin). They actually live in Roeselare, which is 20 minutes out of Brugge. We went to a bar with the father for a couple local beers and learned about the Trappist beers; these beers are made by monks in order to fund their lives. They are all different and are not that expensive, but are very popular because they are so locally made.
The next morning we got up and walked around Burgge, but I had to go to the train station extra early in order to make sure my train came. You see, the trains in Belgium were on strike on Wednesdays, so they were very unreliable. After missing a couple trains (they didn't come), I finally made it to the airport and headed back to Ireland. It was an amazing trip and opportunity that I got to see local people in Belgium and stay in their homes. I saw so much more of a country that I otherwise never would have traveled to.
I got back on a Thursday morning (I had to stay in a hostel in Cork due to buses not running late at night), and worked my butt off in school for a week before heading on to Lisbon!
Monday 26 November 2012
Amsterdam weekend
After a short school week I headed off to Amsterdam with Zach, Jordan, Madeline, Katrina, Clarke, Lukas, and Meesh; a group of people from Indiana and Illinois schools. We left for Cork Thursday evening in order to make our 6am flight to Amsterdam. I had not planned anywhere to stay, expecting to maybe sleep in the airport, only to find it doesn't open until the following morning (Dublin airport is open 24 hours). However some of the girls booked a hotel room right next to the airport so I just gave them some cash and stayed in that room - only 20 euro so basically the price of a hostel.
We got to Amsterdam the next morning and split up to find our hostels. I was waiting for Ryan Costello to arrive that night to meet up with me. I went with the Depauw girls (Madeline, Katrina, Clarke) to check-in at their hostel, and check-in at my hostel which was close by. They ended up backing out of their hostel due to the condition it was in: nasty, sketchy people, sketchy employees, overall unpleasant place. They had to pay the total price (around 200 euro) for the stay, and booked a hotel somewhere close by.
Side bar: They purposefully didn't book the hostel I was staying in because it got bad reviews...my hostel was clean, had pleasant staff and people in the hostel.
We went to the city centre and explored a couple touristy spots: the Van Gough Museum, different parks.
They wanted to go take a nap so I walked around and took pictures of the canals and different buildings during the sunset. Quick ran back to the hostel and took a nap before Costello arrived. I met up with him and we started the evening. We had a few brews in the hostel and headed out on the town.
**Attention: parents and family members in the generations above mine and below mine may want to refrain from reading between the rows of stars - I know this may not deter you, but I warned you**
*********************************************************************************
We went out to a local coffee shop and met some people from Paris and continued to have a very pleasant conversation with them. We bought drinks there because apparently you have to in order to stay there. They don't offer alcoholic drinks in the coffee shops, which makes perfect sense - they don't want people getting to twisted and crazy in the nice calm environments. We tried to meet up with the other crews of kids I came with, but our agendas didn't line up and they ended up going in earlier than us that evening. We explored further in the town and ended up in the red light district, which is pretty disgusting. Women standing in front of glass doors waiting for people to walk in and pay for services...so I figured why not? Just kidding, that's nasty. We ended up at a bar and posted up at a table and enjoyed the vices of the city, while watching Nascar. We meandered back to the hostel around 3am or so, and fell right asleep to prepare for another fun filled day.
The next day we woke up and HAD to get the pancakes because we were told they were delicious, and they were. Another day of working our way around the city - the coffee shops and canals made it very difficult to find our way around. However we did make it to a couple more touristy spots. We came upon a delicious treat that was apparently their seasonal treat - some apple filled danish type thing. It was fantastic. The next evening and night was very similar to the first, but we headed to different places. A lot of the coffees hops had some of the nicest environments in my opinion. Nothing too crazy like a club, or over crowded bar. We didn't go to the clubs because we didn't actually know where the 'cool' ones are, and didn't meet up with the other group that went to a club.
*********************************************************************************
**Continue reading here: Sunday morning we woke up and met up with the rest of the group and hung around the city getting ready to get on the plane. I met up with Richie to begin our next adventure: Belgium! See the next post for details on that!
Slán
We got to Amsterdam the next morning and split up to find our hostels. I was waiting for Ryan Costello to arrive that night to meet up with me. I went with the Depauw girls (Madeline, Katrina, Clarke) to check-in at their hostel, and check-in at my hostel which was close by. They ended up backing out of their hostel due to the condition it was in: nasty, sketchy people, sketchy employees, overall unpleasant place. They had to pay the total price (around 200 euro) for the stay, and booked a hotel somewhere close by.
Side bar: They purposefully didn't book the hostel I was staying in because it got bad reviews...my hostel was clean, had pleasant staff and people in the hostel.
We went to the city centre and explored a couple touristy spots: the Van Gough Museum, different parks.
They wanted to go take a nap so I walked around and took pictures of the canals and different buildings during the sunset. Quick ran back to the hostel and took a nap before Costello arrived. I met up with him and we started the evening. We had a few brews in the hostel and headed out on the town.
**Attention: parents and family members in the generations above mine and below mine may want to refrain from reading between the rows of stars - I know this may not deter you, but I warned you**
*********************************************************************************
We went out to a local coffee shop and met some people from Paris and continued to have a very pleasant conversation with them. We bought drinks there because apparently you have to in order to stay there. They don't offer alcoholic drinks in the coffee shops, which makes perfect sense - they don't want people getting to twisted and crazy in the nice calm environments. We tried to meet up with the other crews of kids I came with, but our agendas didn't line up and they ended up going in earlier than us that evening. We explored further in the town and ended up in the red light district, which is pretty disgusting. Women standing in front of glass doors waiting for people to walk in and pay for services...so I figured why not? Just kidding, that's nasty. We ended up at a bar and posted up at a table and enjoyed the vices of the city, while watching Nascar. We meandered back to the hostel around 3am or so, and fell right asleep to prepare for another fun filled day.
The next day we woke up and HAD to get the pancakes because we were told they were delicious, and they were. Another day of working our way around the city - the coffee shops and canals made it very difficult to find our way around. However we did make it to a couple more touristy spots. We came upon a delicious treat that was apparently their seasonal treat - some apple filled danish type thing. It was fantastic. The next evening and night was very similar to the first, but we headed to different places. A lot of the coffees hops had some of the nicest environments in my opinion. Nothing too crazy like a club, or over crowded bar. We didn't go to the clubs because we didn't actually know where the 'cool' ones are, and didn't meet up with the other group that went to a club.
*********************************************************************************
**Continue reading here: Sunday morning we woke up and met up with the rest of the group and hung around the city getting ready to get on the plane. I met up with Richie to begin our next adventure: Belgium! See the next post for details on that!
Slán
Wednesday 7 November 2012
Lone Wolf - Prague
Hello hello again,
Halloween weekend I decided to stick around Limerick, and catch up on some homework so I would be ready for the upcoming month. I went on a PaddyWagon tour with Moira, Kelly, and two of Kelly's visiting friends. We visited the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren, Bunratty Castle, and a little more of the West coast of Ireland. It was a great visit, and we couldn't have asked for better weather!
This past weekend however, was the first time I traveled alone (Prague). For some reason I decided to make it a trip to Eastern Europe...which is where the movie "Hostel" takes place. I'm just glad to be able to say I'm alive. Jokes jokes, but it was actually a wonderful weekend.
I arrived on Friday evening around 6 and got settled in the Blind Eye Hostel and Guest House, which I enjoyed. It was a little out of the way for the main area, but the city wasn't all that big anyways. I was starving, so I headed into the town, which the person at the front desk told me about a place, which I spent about 45 minutes looking for (found it on the third day). Later, I went on the famous Prague Pub Crawl, and met some great people. It was the first time I had gone to a bar by myself, but it was an awesome experience because I talked to people that I otherwise would have never talked to. Two German guys that seemed uninterested in me, so I moved onto a group of people that sounded American. They were all studying in Paris; it just so happened that one girl, Sofie, goes to University of Denver and know Samantha (my cousin). Weird, small world out there i tell ya. Another group of people I met were from Russia, Sweden, Florida, and Baltimore. One of the guys was based in Berlin, and wanted to go on a last 'euro-trip' before he was going to Afghanistan; one of his friends was there doing the trip with him. The others were all studying abroad as well. It was funny when I realized I was probably the only person that did this pub crawl by myself. We ended up going to two other bars, and a big club, but I called it an early night since I was by myself and didn't want to be drunk walking home.
The next day I got up and just started walking. I had a pretty good map and had some places that I knew I wanted to see. I started with a river walk and saw a bunch of important buildings (most of the buildings are on Facebook with the names; too many of them to explain here). I went over to the Petrin Tower just in time for the sunset at 17:00ish. It had beautiful views, which is easy to do since Prague is beautiful. Then I walked through some parks and made it to another amazing lookout point, and just sat down for awhile and watch the city. Then I went into town and grabbed a beer at a pub, and headed back to the hostel around 22:00ish; I was avoiding a 'hostel' experience.
The next morning I got up and went right to the Jewish Quarters, which has a TON of history, and beautiful synagogues. Most of them don't allow photography once you get in, but it makes it seem a little more special when you are there. Luckily most of the information was available in English, so I got to learn a lot about the Jewish history in Prague. I grabbed a quick bite to eat (at the place I was looking for on Friday night: U Parlimentu) and headed over to Exhibition hall which is located in Praha 7. Again; the sun was setting at this time so there were some beautiful pictures. Since it was somewhat uninhabited, I was able to sneak around and get some good pictures. I explored through another park right next to the building, which was awesome. Lot's of fall colors and people walking there dogs and children. It was awesome seeing so many people out, regardless of the dark, since it was so early in the night (if that makes any sense). I continued to walk around until around 11 this night. I stopped by an Absinthe bar and had a delicious absinthe mojito, and chatted with some other Americans I met there. It was fun and I got to see a lot by myself, but at the same time it got boring not talking to people. BUT, I would have seen about half the stuff I saw if I was with anyone else, so I enjoyed the trip.
Monday morning I woke up and walked across Charles Bridge (less people there during the week - it was absurd the amount of people there on the weekends). I headed over to Prague Castle and got the audio tour and walked around the entire 'fortress'. My favorite part was the Golden Lane - it was the old houses that people lived in during the medieval times. The last person left their house in 1952. Pictures of these are on Facebook again. It went in depth of what used to be in each house, and they had set-ups of what it would look like. The history of the city is UNBELIEVABLE. So glad I took the time to read the descriptions, as opposed to just looking like I used to do.
I then headed over to the airport and headed home. Great trip, great craic. I will definitely be going back to Prague (with others next time). AMAZING CITY!
Blah blah blah, it's a lot easier to explain the trip in person with the map, so I will be sure to do so when I see you!!
Until this next weekend (Amsterdam and Belgium),
Slán
Halloween weekend I decided to stick around Limerick, and catch up on some homework so I would be ready for the upcoming month. I went on a PaddyWagon tour with Moira, Kelly, and two of Kelly's visiting friends. We visited the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren, Bunratty Castle, and a little more of the West coast of Ireland. It was a great visit, and we couldn't have asked for better weather!
This past weekend however, was the first time I traveled alone (Prague). For some reason I decided to make it a trip to Eastern Europe...which is where the movie "Hostel" takes place. I'm just glad to be able to say I'm alive. Jokes jokes, but it was actually a wonderful weekend.
I arrived on Friday evening around 6 and got settled in the Blind Eye Hostel and Guest House, which I enjoyed. It was a little out of the way for the main area, but the city wasn't all that big anyways. I was starving, so I headed into the town, which the person at the front desk told me about a place, which I spent about 45 minutes looking for (found it on the third day). Later, I went on the famous Prague Pub Crawl, and met some great people. It was the first time I had gone to a bar by myself, but it was an awesome experience because I talked to people that I otherwise would have never talked to. Two German guys that seemed uninterested in me, so I moved onto a group of people that sounded American. They were all studying in Paris; it just so happened that one girl, Sofie, goes to University of Denver and know Samantha (my cousin). Weird, small world out there i tell ya. Another group of people I met were from Russia, Sweden, Florida, and Baltimore. One of the guys was based in Berlin, and wanted to go on a last 'euro-trip' before he was going to Afghanistan; one of his friends was there doing the trip with him. The others were all studying abroad as well. It was funny when I realized I was probably the only person that did this pub crawl by myself. We ended up going to two other bars, and a big club, but I called it an early night since I was by myself and didn't want to be drunk walking home.
The next day I got up and just started walking. I had a pretty good map and had some places that I knew I wanted to see. I started with a river walk and saw a bunch of important buildings (most of the buildings are on Facebook with the names; too many of them to explain here). I went over to the Petrin Tower just in time for the sunset at 17:00ish. It had beautiful views, which is easy to do since Prague is beautiful. Then I walked through some parks and made it to another amazing lookout point, and just sat down for awhile and watch the city. Then I went into town and grabbed a beer at a pub, and headed back to the hostel around 22:00ish; I was avoiding a 'hostel' experience.
The next morning I got up and went right to the Jewish Quarters, which has a TON of history, and beautiful synagogues. Most of them don't allow photography once you get in, but it makes it seem a little more special when you are there. Luckily most of the information was available in English, so I got to learn a lot about the Jewish history in Prague. I grabbed a quick bite to eat (at the place I was looking for on Friday night: U Parlimentu) and headed over to Exhibition hall which is located in Praha 7. Again; the sun was setting at this time so there were some beautiful pictures. Since it was somewhat uninhabited, I was able to sneak around and get some good pictures. I explored through another park right next to the building, which was awesome. Lot's of fall colors and people walking there dogs and children. It was awesome seeing so many people out, regardless of the dark, since it was so early in the night (if that makes any sense). I continued to walk around until around 11 this night. I stopped by an Absinthe bar and had a delicious absinthe mojito, and chatted with some other Americans I met there. It was fun and I got to see a lot by myself, but at the same time it got boring not talking to people. BUT, I would have seen about half the stuff I saw if I was with anyone else, so I enjoyed the trip.
Monday morning I woke up and walked across Charles Bridge (less people there during the week - it was absurd the amount of people there on the weekends). I headed over to Prague Castle and got the audio tour and walked around the entire 'fortress'. My favorite part was the Golden Lane - it was the old houses that people lived in during the medieval times. The last person left their house in 1952. Pictures of these are on Facebook again. It went in depth of what used to be in each house, and they had set-ups of what it would look like. The history of the city is UNBELIEVABLE. So glad I took the time to read the descriptions, as opposed to just looking like I used to do.
I then headed over to the airport and headed home. Great trip, great craic. I will definitely be going back to Prague (with others next time). AMAZING CITY!
Blah blah blah, it's a lot easier to explain the trip in person with the map, so I will be sure to do so when I see you!!
Until this next weekend (Amsterdam and Belgium),
Slán
Wednesday 24 October 2012
Barcelonaaaaa
What a weekend! We honestly got about 3.5 hours of sleep on average every night, but it was well worth it.
We got into the airport around 10pm on Friday, and the adventure began. Another group we went with decided to take a taxi, but we wanted to save some cash, and have an adventure. Without any city maps, we found our way to the hostel, which was on the 4th floor of an unmarked building...took around an hour and a half for us to get there. The mattresses had questionable stains, there were two showers on the entire floor, and one key for all six of us. We got what we paid for I suppose.
We ended up going out to get a bite to eat at around 1am, and found that every kitchen was closed, until we found the last place with about 15 minutes till closing time. We ate a couple tapas, and had a few drinks, expecting to go out. Little did we know that Barcelona is huge, and we didn't know how to work the metro quite yet.
We walked for about an hour or so before asking someone where the beach was, and were told it was another 45 minutes to an hour. Very disappointed, we went back to the hostel and passed out, expecting to do great things the next day. We woke up at around 10, and casually got ready. The group was wayyyyy too big and had a few too many girls in order to get out in time. Sorry for those that may read this....but we got to Sargrada Familia and decided to skip it that day due to the huge line. Grabbed a bite to eat, and metroed to Parc Güell, which had some AMAZING views of the city, and some funky architecture. Amazing place to say the least. Check out some picture on my facebook.
We got some delicious ice cream after that, and headed to Las Ramblas, to explore the city a little more and find some food. Got a full meal and 'Sandwich and Friends', which was interesting because they barely spoke english, but that made it a little fun. Headed to the hostel, and geared up for the night. We met up with Kristin (a girl from Cedarburg that was studying in Barcelona), and she did an awesome job showing us around! It was also great to see her again! We went to a couple cool bars; Dow Jones bar and Chupitos before heading to the club. The club seemed to be bumping to me, but apparently Barcelona is a little more rowdy than Limerick...who woulda thought?
The next morning we struggled again to get out on time, but made it to Sagrada in time to go in and see how absolutely beautiful it is! (Many picture on facebook again to check out). We then headed to a lunch place called 'Bo De B', which has fresh ingredients and fills their 'sub' sandwiches up to the brim. Amazing food. All a little tired, we decided to live a little Spanish culture, and took a quick siesta to prepare for another night out...or so we thought.
When we awoke, we headed to a classy hotel called the W Hotel, and got dressed up and drank the most delicious drinks ever known to man. Paying 12 euro per drink was a bargain. They had different types of fruits and I don't know what else mixed into these beverages. Amazing drinks, and it makes you feel like you're an important person.
We ended up finding out the Metro closes after 12pm on Sunday nights...when we were heading to The Opium Bar (a club, not a bar with opium) which had free entry and a chocolate fondu thing going on. Bummer we missed it; definitely my thorn of the weekend. The good news from that however, is that we made it on our flight in time, and got home safely. It was a wonderful weekend, and I NEED to go back again soon because I saw only a fraction of the city.
Great times. Now time to catch up on some much needed sleep after a longggg week of studying and paper writing...not done yet.
Slán!
We got into the airport around 10pm on Friday, and the adventure began. Another group we went with decided to take a taxi, but we wanted to save some cash, and have an adventure. Without any city maps, we found our way to the hostel, which was on the 4th floor of an unmarked building...took around an hour and a half for us to get there. The mattresses had questionable stains, there were two showers on the entire floor, and one key for all six of us. We got what we paid for I suppose.
We ended up going out to get a bite to eat at around 1am, and found that every kitchen was closed, until we found the last place with about 15 minutes till closing time. We ate a couple tapas, and had a few drinks, expecting to go out. Little did we know that Barcelona is huge, and we didn't know how to work the metro quite yet.
We walked for about an hour or so before asking someone where the beach was, and were told it was another 45 minutes to an hour. Very disappointed, we went back to the hostel and passed out, expecting to do great things the next day. We woke up at around 10, and casually got ready. The group was wayyyyy too big and had a few too many girls in order to get out in time. Sorry for those that may read this....but we got to Sargrada Familia and decided to skip it that day due to the huge line. Grabbed a bite to eat, and metroed to Parc Güell, which had some AMAZING views of the city, and some funky architecture. Amazing place to say the least. Check out some picture on my facebook.
We got some delicious ice cream after that, and headed to Las Ramblas, to explore the city a little more and find some food. Got a full meal and 'Sandwich and Friends', which was interesting because they barely spoke english, but that made it a little fun. Headed to the hostel, and geared up for the night. We met up with Kristin (a girl from Cedarburg that was studying in Barcelona), and she did an awesome job showing us around! It was also great to see her again! We went to a couple cool bars; Dow Jones bar and Chupitos before heading to the club. The club seemed to be bumping to me, but apparently Barcelona is a little more rowdy than Limerick...who woulda thought?
The next morning we struggled again to get out on time, but made it to Sagrada in time to go in and see how absolutely beautiful it is! (Many picture on facebook again to check out). We then headed to a lunch place called 'Bo De B', which has fresh ingredients and fills their 'sub' sandwiches up to the brim. Amazing food. All a little tired, we decided to live a little Spanish culture, and took a quick siesta to prepare for another night out...or so we thought.
When we awoke, we headed to a classy hotel called the W Hotel, and got dressed up and drank the most delicious drinks ever known to man. Paying 12 euro per drink was a bargain. They had different types of fruits and I don't know what else mixed into these beverages. Amazing drinks, and it makes you feel like you're an important person.
We ended up finding out the Metro closes after 12pm on Sunday nights...when we were heading to The Opium Bar (a club, not a bar with opium) which had free entry and a chocolate fondu thing going on. Bummer we missed it; definitely my thorn of the weekend. The good news from that however, is that we made it on our flight in time, and got home safely. It was a wonderful weekend, and I NEED to go back again soon because I saw only a fraction of the city.
Great times. Now time to catch up on some much needed sleep after a longggg week of studying and paper writing...not done yet.
Slán!
Sunday 7 October 2012
Cork
So this past weekend I went to Cork, Ireland with a group of Indiana people: Zach, Madeline, Katrina, and Richie. Great people, laughed most of the time we were here.
Saturday morning we got on a bus, as usual, and headed off to Cork where we were going to meet Katrina and Richie who got there a day earlier. When we got there we dropped our stuff at the hostel and grabbed a quick bite to eat. Then we walked. The lady at the hostel told us the cool places to go, of which were an old jail, a couple cathedrals, some parks, and the university. Cork is a much bigger city than what I expected, and it is extremely hilly; this made the walking very interesting and limited. However, you can see all the houses and churches on the hill which is next to a river; makes for magnificent pictures. After we walked around the entire city and had dinner, we met up with Katrina and Richie who had been looking for us all day; neither of them had a phone, so we needed to hang out at the hostel to use the wifi.
Then the night began, it was 4:30 but we didn't know what else to do, so we had a couple casual beers, and met our roommates. Later on, we went out to a couple pubs and did a lot of dancing! We came back to the hostel because Richie had to hop on a bus to the airport at 2:30am, so we decided to play some pool and just hang out in the hostel bar. It turned out that our roommates for the night (from California, studying in London) had to leave for a flight at 6am and were not planning on sleeping, so Zach and I just hung out with them until they left. Needless to say, it was a long night.
The next day we were awoken by the cleaning lady knocking on our door, and reminding us of the 11 o'clock check out time, and we reassured her we knew. However, we didn't know it was 10:45...quickly showered and ran down in time to check out. All of us tired and groggy, decided to go to a city 30 minutes away via train. It was all of our first trains together, and it was a grand experience. We stopped and ate at a small restaurant, walked up the hills and into another huge chapel, stepped in dog poop because no one picks up their shit, and relaxed next to the water. We didn't get to go to the island where the jail was, but we had a relaxing day.
Later on we hopping on the bus and made our way home. Got to skype the rents tonight too, and my Mom comes this Friday morning!! Can't wait, it will be the greatest!
I'm off to bed now, it's been a long one.
Slán
Saturday morning we got on a bus, as usual, and headed off to Cork where we were going to meet Katrina and Richie who got there a day earlier. When we got there we dropped our stuff at the hostel and grabbed a quick bite to eat. Then we walked. The lady at the hostel told us the cool places to go, of which were an old jail, a couple cathedrals, some parks, and the university. Cork is a much bigger city than what I expected, and it is extremely hilly; this made the walking very interesting and limited. However, you can see all the houses and churches on the hill which is next to a river; makes for magnificent pictures. After we walked around the entire city and had dinner, we met up with Katrina and Richie who had been looking for us all day; neither of them had a phone, so we needed to hang out at the hostel to use the wifi.
Then the night began, it was 4:30 but we didn't know what else to do, so we had a couple casual beers, and met our roommates. Later on, we went out to a couple pubs and did a lot of dancing! We came back to the hostel because Richie had to hop on a bus to the airport at 2:30am, so we decided to play some pool and just hang out in the hostel bar. It turned out that our roommates for the night (from California, studying in London) had to leave for a flight at 6am and were not planning on sleeping, so Zach and I just hung out with them until they left. Needless to say, it was a long night.
The next day we were awoken by the cleaning lady knocking on our door, and reminding us of the 11 o'clock check out time, and we reassured her we knew. However, we didn't know it was 10:45...quickly showered and ran down in time to check out. All of us tired and groggy, decided to go to a city 30 minutes away via train. It was all of our first trains together, and it was a grand experience. We stopped and ate at a small restaurant, walked up the hills and into another huge chapel, stepped in dog poop because no one picks up their shit, and relaxed next to the water. We didn't get to go to the island where the jail was, but we had a relaxing day.
Later on we hopping on the bus and made our way home. Got to skype the rents tonight too, and my Mom comes this Friday morning!! Can't wait, it will be the greatest!
I'm off to bed now, it's been a long one.
Slán
Aran Islands
Hello again!
I'm a little late, but I will tell you first about the Aran Islands trip I made last weekend, then about this past weekend in Cork.
Charlie, Kelly, and I left early on Saturday morning to head to the Aran Islands. I didn't know much about them, but heard they were beautiful, and they were. On the bus ride there, be got a glimpse of the Cliff of Moher, but stayed on the bus in order to make our ferry ride. The views were amazing from the ferry port. We got on the ferry and did not know what we were in for; since it was a fairly windy day, the boat was rocking pretty well, a couple people got sick, but the three of us were able to keep it down. Once we got there we didn't really know what to do, so we just started walking, got lost a little bit, and ended up just walking on an empty road down the coast. We stopped at a ledge to eat or dinner which consisted of 6 loaves of fresh bread, a block of cheese (one for each of us), and a little wine, because what goes better with cheese than wine?
Later that evening we went to a couple pubs, most of them being dead. I don't know what I was expecting from an island that has a population of 900? Lucky for us, there was a group of about 14 UL grads there having a little reunion, so we spent most of the night having the chat with them. One of the guys was fascinating; he has traveled all over Europe and only stops when he runs out of money. And when he works, he just picks a country and goes there. He went to Norway awhile ago to work just because he wanted to see what a true winter is like; in a week from now he's moving to Canada for a year to work. It seems like a pretty sweet life!
The next day we got up and did more walking, went into a church, and had to hop on the ferry by 11:30 because of the bus schedules. Kelly and I had lunch in Doolin and watched the All-Ireland Hurling final, which was between Galway and Kilkenny (Doolin is very close to Galway, so they were all supporting Galways).
Luckily the bus came, and we made it home safely. Great craic of a weekend, but if someone else was to go there, I would say give yourself a full day, and rent the bikes because you will see way more.
Later, on to this past weekend.
I'm a little late, but I will tell you first about the Aran Islands trip I made last weekend, then about this past weekend in Cork.
Charlie, Kelly, and I left early on Saturday morning to head to the Aran Islands. I didn't know much about them, but heard they were beautiful, and they were. On the bus ride there, be got a glimpse of the Cliff of Moher, but stayed on the bus in order to make our ferry ride. The views were amazing from the ferry port. We got on the ferry and did not know what we were in for; since it was a fairly windy day, the boat was rocking pretty well, a couple people got sick, but the three of us were able to keep it down. Once we got there we didn't really know what to do, so we just started walking, got lost a little bit, and ended up just walking on an empty road down the coast. We stopped at a ledge to eat or dinner which consisted of 6 loaves of fresh bread, a block of cheese (one for each of us), and a little wine, because what goes better with cheese than wine?
Later that evening we went to a couple pubs, most of them being dead. I don't know what I was expecting from an island that has a population of 900? Lucky for us, there was a group of about 14 UL grads there having a little reunion, so we spent most of the night having the chat with them. One of the guys was fascinating; he has traveled all over Europe and only stops when he runs out of money. And when he works, he just picks a country and goes there. He went to Norway awhile ago to work just because he wanted to see what a true winter is like; in a week from now he's moving to Canada for a year to work. It seems like a pretty sweet life!
The next day we got up and did more walking, went into a church, and had to hop on the ferry by 11:30 because of the bus schedules. Kelly and I had lunch in Doolin and watched the All-Ireland Hurling final, which was between Galway and Kilkenny (Doolin is very close to Galway, so they were all supporting Galways).
Luckily the bus came, and we made it home safely. Great craic of a weekend, but if someone else was to go there, I would say give yourself a full day, and rent the bikes because you will see way more.
Later, on to this past weekend.
Sunday 30 September 2012
Arthur's Day
So as many of you may know, Arthur's Day is the celebration of Arthur Guinness and his famous Irish Stout, the Guinness. They day started as any other, going to class, blah blah blah, then I got out of my last class at 6 and headed to a friend house to have a casual pint with Zach, Jordan, Charlie, Brian, and Kelly. We then headed over to The Stables to check out the celebrations that were going on there, before heading into Limerick City. As expected, The Stables was bumping, but we just grabbed a pint, and headed into town before it got too late.
We started off at a pub called Flannery's; initially we thought it was the pub where Mumford and Sons was supposed to play at, but quickly realized that there were many Flannery's throughout Limerick. This Flannery's turned out to be a quaint, local pub with a local family playing live music for us. It was great craic there, and we ended up having the chat with a couple older couples, just chatting about anything and everything. Kelly got to go behind the bar and learn how to pour a Guinness correctly. The Guinness was delicious. Later on, we decided to meet up with two other girls, Lukas and Michelle, at a place called the Sin Bin. We only went to the bar section, since the club section was already full. We danced around and had a bunch of fun, before we grabbed some food, and a quick cab back home.
To say the least, it was a great success. It was great to talk to the local's and just listen to their stories, tell them some stories about us, and listen to the local band play Irish music. Everyone here is very outgoing, and willing to talk to you and listen to you.
Luckily for me, I did not have class on Friday so I went grocery shopping and prepared some dinner for the other Minnesotan's (Kelly, Brian, and Charlie). We had a casual Friday night in preparation for an early departure to the Aran Islands the following day. Check out the next post to hear all about that; it was a class time.
Slán!
We started off at a pub called Flannery's; initially we thought it was the pub where Mumford and Sons was supposed to play at, but quickly realized that there were many Flannery's throughout Limerick. This Flannery's turned out to be a quaint, local pub with a local family playing live music for us. It was great craic there, and we ended up having the chat with a couple older couples, just chatting about anything and everything. Kelly got to go behind the bar and learn how to pour a Guinness correctly. The Guinness was delicious. Later on, we decided to meet up with two other girls, Lukas and Michelle, at a place called the Sin Bin. We only went to the bar section, since the club section was already full. We danced around and had a bunch of fun, before we grabbed some food, and a quick cab back home.
To say the least, it was a great success. It was great to talk to the local's and just listen to their stories, tell them some stories about us, and listen to the local band play Irish music. Everyone here is very outgoing, and willing to talk to you and listen to you.
Luckily for me, I did not have class on Friday so I went grocery shopping and prepared some dinner for the other Minnesotan's (Kelly, Brian, and Charlie). We had a casual Friday night in preparation for an early departure to the Aran Islands the following day. Check out the next post to hear all about that; it was a class time.
Slán!
Monday 17 September 2012
Foam Party/Galway
The foam party was last Wednesday, and it was way overrated. It was in a bigger area, but still outside, so it was freezing cold. Some of us left early. It would be way more fun if it was inside in a warmer climate!
But enough complaining, this weekend I went to Galway with Kels, Moira, Kiersten, and Greg. We left early Saturday morning, but Kels and I missed the first bus and had no idea where we were going at first. Luckily, we figured it out and hopped on the next bus and made it to Galway around half 12 (12:30). Galway is an amazing city on the coast that has beautiful views. We walked around in and out of some small shops, got coffee at a delicious place called Elle's, walked down the coast and down a path to a lighthouse. Unfortunately the lighthouse was closed, but the views were still amazing. We checked out the Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas, which is huge, and very peaceful. A lot of walking and just looking around, which is exactly what I wanted to do. We went to the square and listened to some authentic music; one of the guys in the band played the guitar, irish bagpipe, some sort of flute, and a banjo. We then checked into our hostel which was located right in the middle of the walking areas, and went out on the town. We explored a couple different pubs and were led into some sketchy bar where they were offering us free shots if we came with them? We went there, but the atmosphere was lame and too American, so we went to The King's Head, which I apparently have already been to with my family. Crazy!
Sunday we woke up and got some breakfast at Elle's again; I would highly recommend going there for their breakfast. Strawberry hot chocolate is a MUST! It has real strawberries in it. We went to a market where me and Kels bought four friendship bracelets for the two other Minnesotans that weren't able to make the trip. The weather was as expected, on and off rain all day. I honestly don't mind it as of right now, but I may have a different opinion in three months.
Exhausted, we found our way to the bus station and headed back to Limerick. Some crazy guy on the bus was screaming at his child because he was crying; the dad was much louder than his child was; what a dick.
Dinner last night was over cooked rice and spiceless chicken; probably the grossest dinner thus far, but the people made the dinner better...haha cheesey. We then met up with others and started looking into planning trips outside of Ireland. I ended up booking a flight to Barcelona for October 19th this morning with Charlie and Kelly. We're urging some other people to join, but we just wanted to book it before it gets too expensive.
That's all for now! Below are some pictures from Galway; check out my Facebook for all the pics.
Slán!
But enough complaining, this weekend I went to Galway with Kels, Moira, Kiersten, and Greg. We left early Saturday morning, but Kels and I missed the first bus and had no idea where we were going at first. Luckily, we figured it out and hopped on the next bus and made it to Galway around half 12 (12:30). Galway is an amazing city on the coast that has beautiful views. We walked around in and out of some small shops, got coffee at a delicious place called Elle's, walked down the coast and down a path to a lighthouse. Unfortunately the lighthouse was closed, but the views were still amazing. We checked out the Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas, which is huge, and very peaceful. A lot of walking and just looking around, which is exactly what I wanted to do. We went to the square and listened to some authentic music; one of the guys in the band played the guitar, irish bagpipe, some sort of flute, and a banjo. We then checked into our hostel which was located right in the middle of the walking areas, and went out on the town. We explored a couple different pubs and were led into some sketchy bar where they were offering us free shots if we came with them? We went there, but the atmosphere was lame and too American, so we went to The King's Head, which I apparently have already been to with my family. Crazy!
Sunday we woke up and got some breakfast at Elle's again; I would highly recommend going there for their breakfast. Strawberry hot chocolate is a MUST! It has real strawberries in it. We went to a market where me and Kels bought four friendship bracelets for the two other Minnesotans that weren't able to make the trip. The weather was as expected, on and off rain all day. I honestly don't mind it as of right now, but I may have a different opinion in three months.
Exhausted, we found our way to the bus station and headed back to Limerick. Some crazy guy on the bus was screaming at his child because he was crying; the dad was much louder than his child was; what a dick.
Dinner last night was over cooked rice and spiceless chicken; probably the grossest dinner thus far, but the people made the dinner better...haha cheesey. We then met up with others and started looking into planning trips outside of Ireland. I ended up booking a flight to Barcelona for October 19th this morning with Charlie and Kelly. We're urging some other people to join, but we just wanted to book it before it gets too expensive.
That's all for now! Below are some pictures from Galway; check out my Facebook for all the pics.
Slán!
Wednesday 12 September 2012
Paint Party
Today's the third day of classes, and it is just a lovely day outside. The weather changes rapidly, so it may turn out to be less lovely later, but right now it's wonderful. We had another "family dinner" with some girls from Creighton yesterday; it was an amazing lasagna dinner with salad, cheesey bread, and some wine. To say the least, it was the best family dinner we've made os far. Last night I took it easy and just got some hot chocolate with some friends and hung out at the Scholars club, which apparently is known for their hot chocolate (it was delish). I'm glad some of my better friends actually go to Minnesota so I will be able to see them often when I get back. But I'm not thinking about that right now, just enjoying Ireland.
The paint party Monday night was a riot. In the afternoon I went to a store called Penneys to get super cheap clothes to wear to the party. I got 6 shirts and a pair of pants for 26 euro...AMAZING deals there. I went to the Stables club with a white shirt on, and came back covered in different colors (pink, green, blue, etc. etc.). The music was crazy and when I was in the middle of the group I got pushed around; I literally could not control where I was moving, I just went with the flow of crazy Irish people. It was a great time, but I lost all of my friends I went to the party with.
I have also been able to get to know my Irish roommates a little more since we have had more time around the house. All of them play soccer and are a part of the soccer club, which I will be joining later today. From 5-8 there's a recruitment for the different clubs and societies for UL; I'm planning on joining soccer, tennis, international society, and outdoor pursuits. I don't know if I'll have time for all of them, but we'll see.
Off to class again now!
Slán
P.S. Here's a link to the song that's the theme for the trip thus far:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGghkjpNCQ8
P.S. Here's a link to the song that's the theme for the trip thus far:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGghkjpNCQ8
Monday 10 September 2012
First Day of Class
Today I woke up thinking I knew what my schedule was going to look like, until I met up with my friends this morning and realized I scheduled about half the classes I needed to go too...
Ended up fixing my schedule, but just in time to miss my first class. Great way to start the year eh?
So far I only went to Marketing Comm and some literature class, both of which seem to be fairly manageable. It's weird actually enjoying going around campus feeling like a froshie, getting lost and asking everyone where the room is. Only two classes today, and one tomorrow, but later into the semester I guess we have more classes. I went downtown with some ladies and found a store called Penneys; they sell super cheap clothes, which is what I needed since I only brought over four T-shirts?
Tonight there's a big "Paintglow UV Paint Party", which should be interesting. Another fascinating factoid I learned about UL is that they all go out Tuesday-Thursday and go home on the weekend...where does homework fit in?
Time to go make a sandie and soup with the lads before the big night, but I'll be back tomorrow for more info on this paint party.
Slán!
Ended up fixing my schedule, but just in time to miss my first class. Great way to start the year eh?
So far I only went to Marketing Comm and some literature class, both of which seem to be fairly manageable. It's weird actually enjoying going around campus feeling like a froshie, getting lost and asking everyone where the room is. Only two classes today, and one tomorrow, but later into the semester I guess we have more classes. I went downtown with some ladies and found a store called Penneys; they sell super cheap clothes, which is what I needed since I only brought over four T-shirts?
Tonight there's a big "Paintglow UV Paint Party", which should be interesting. Another fascinating factoid I learned about UL is that they all go out Tuesday-Thursday and go home on the weekend...where does homework fit in?
Time to go make a sandie and soup with the lads before the big night, but I'll be back tomorrow for more info on this paint party.
Slán!
Sunday 9 September 2012
Last Day of Summer
The day has finally come that I will actually have to go to class again in the morning and I am not looking forward to it. No idea where my classes are so it should be interesting. But today was a pretty remarkable day; Kelly, Charlie and I got to learn how to play hurling and gaelic football, two of the most popular sports to play in Ireland. Hurling is similar to lacrosse except there is no basket to catch the ball in and you can use your hands; gaelic football is a mix of soccer, rugby, basketball, and volleyball. Both of these sports are played on a much bigger field than any fields used in the US.
Later on we met up with all the fellow hurlers at the Sports Pub to watch the hurling championship between Kilkenny and Galway, unfortunately it ended in a tie, which means they will be playing again in a couple weeks to find a winner.
Other than that, a couple of us went to the library to set up our e-mail and get school stuff ready for tomorrow, met up with some others to cook some dinner, and now I am getting ready for a wonderful day tomorrow.
Also today was the first day it rained since we got here...what happened to it raining every day??
Later on we met up with all the fellow hurlers at the Sports Pub to watch the hurling championship between Kilkenny and Galway, unfortunately it ended in a tie, which means they will be playing again in a couple weeks to find a winner.
Other than that, a couple of us went to the library to set up our e-mail and get school stuff ready for tomorrow, met up with some others to cook some dinner, and now I am getting ready for a wonderful day tomorrow.
Also today was the first day it rained since we got here...what happened to it raining every day??
Saturday 8 September 2012
First Week
Finally found the time to sit down and start blogging! I figured I would blog instead of journal so I can always have access to the stories from anywhere, and everyone else can know what I'm doing too.
I arrived on Tuesday in Shannon with a fairly large group of students from all over. A lot of them were surprisingly from the midwest. We hopped on a bus and rode into Limerick; it was very surreal, most of us were still in a daze from the flight and couldn't wrap our heads around the idea that we were ACTUALLY in Ireland! We all moved into our "houses" and got acquainted with the area. I met up with the people we met on the bus ride and we went to get our phones and other essentials from city center; the downtown area was awesome! We had our first beers and chatted with the locals, super nice and super talkative/drunk.
Later on that night we went out to grab dinner and met up with more people that were from Chicago. They somehow convinced us to go out to the bars that night despite the jet lag and walking around the entire day.
The next couple days we did a bunch of orientation stuff which was very interesting and useful, but boring to write about. Night life here is awesome; there's a bar on campus that most first years go to, which has been sufficient for us these past couple nights. I'm hoping that we meet some upper class locals that know the off campus places to be. People here are unbelievably friendly and easy to talk to; I've already met a ton of new people that love to do the same stuff I do...Drink! Just kidding; they love to travel, meet new people, etc. etc. I think I am going to like this place!
I'll try to keep updated on a more day-to-day basis, depending on how interesting the day is. I'm really tired now and going to take a nap, even though its 1pm...
Until next time, cheerio
I arrived on Tuesday in Shannon with a fairly large group of students from all over. A lot of them were surprisingly from the midwest. We hopped on a bus and rode into Limerick; it was very surreal, most of us were still in a daze from the flight and couldn't wrap our heads around the idea that we were ACTUALLY in Ireland! We all moved into our "houses" and got acquainted with the area. I met up with the people we met on the bus ride and we went to get our phones and other essentials from city center; the downtown area was awesome! We had our first beers and chatted with the locals, super nice and super talkative/drunk.
Later on that night we went out to grab dinner and met up with more people that were from Chicago. They somehow convinced us to go out to the bars that night despite the jet lag and walking around the entire day.
The next couple days we did a bunch of orientation stuff which was very interesting and useful, but boring to write about. Night life here is awesome; there's a bar on campus that most first years go to, which has been sufficient for us these past couple nights. I'm hoping that we meet some upper class locals that know the off campus places to be. People here are unbelievably friendly and easy to talk to; I've already met a ton of new people that love to do the same stuff I do...Drink! Just kidding; they love to travel, meet new people, etc. etc. I think I am going to like this place!
I'll try to keep updated on a more day-to-day basis, depending on how interesting the day is. I'm really tired now and going to take a nap, even though its 1pm...
Until next time, cheerio
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