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
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