And here I am, back at Muhlenberg after a great semester!
The flight was fine...long, but what I expected. Finished a book or two, and took a nap. Met my parents at the airport, drove down to the Berg, and dropped off my stuff. Next morning, we drove down to Virgina (after a nice lunch) and got all ready for the graduation party, which was a lot of fun. Then drove back to Muhlenberg, and here I am!
It was a great experience, I'm really lucky to have been able to have gone. Thanks for reading about it. Hope you enjoyed the blog!
Love,
Justin
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Dublin, take 2
Last trip of the season, I fear, but it was a fun one. Dan and I went to Dublin for a day. We had to get up really early to catch the bus, and it took like 3 hours to get there. But get there we did, then we went right over to the book of Kells, which was AMAZING. It told us all about how they made Vellum (calf skin) and binded the book together, and about the symbolism of some of the symbols and stuff. I hadn't realized how small, and thus intricate the book was. It was really amazing how fine the detail looked, even after all these years. It was stunning. Then there was this old library we walked through to get out that had lots of old books like that, too.
Then we walked to go to a river cruise, but luckily the tide was out and not due back in until 4pm, cuz I didn't want to go anyway. So after that we went to the tourist office to find out how to get to the brewery and newgrange, an place built 1000 years before Stonehenge, with a hole in a rock formation that only catches the light on the winter solstice. But it was too far out of the way for us to go, unfortunately. So we continued on to the guiness factory, which was neat. We learned all about how guiness was made, from the barley (it's the roast barely that gives the drink its distinctive dark red, almost black look) to mashing the barley, to adding water, to adding yeast, to boiling it, to adding hops (which act as a preservative as well as adding flavor, so they'd load up the beers with hops if they had to go on long journeys overseas). We saw some cool guiness ads, learned how to sample different beers (but they only gave us one...jerks), and got to the top where they let you pour your own pint, which was neat. I tried to make a shamrock, but it didn't work out too well. There's a picture. Also, little known fact, it takes a guiness exactly 119.5 seconds to completely settle. After that, it was getting kind of late, and shops were closing down, so we took an earlier bus back, which was way to long and hot and I felt sick on. But we got back, and there you have it. The last trip in Ireland. Probably.
So thanks for reading about my travels, hope you enjoyed them, and I'm sure I'll be telling all of you about them in person fairly soon.
Love,
Justin
Pictures:
Then we walked to go to a river cruise, but luckily the tide was out and not due back in until 4pm, cuz I didn't want to go anyway. So after that we went to the tourist office to find out how to get to the brewery and newgrange, an place built 1000 years before Stonehenge, with a hole in a rock formation that only catches the light on the winter solstice. But it was too far out of the way for us to go, unfortunately. So we continued on to the guiness factory, which was neat. We learned all about how guiness was made, from the barley (it's the roast barely that gives the drink its distinctive dark red, almost black look) to mashing the barley, to adding water, to adding yeast, to boiling it, to adding hops (which act as a preservative as well as adding flavor, so they'd load up the beers with hops if they had to go on long journeys overseas). We saw some cool guiness ads, learned how to sample different beers (but they only gave us one...jerks), and got to the top where they let you pour your own pint, which was neat. I tried to make a shamrock, but it didn't work out too well. There's a picture. Also, little known fact, it takes a guiness exactly 119.5 seconds to completely settle. After that, it was getting kind of late, and shops were closing down, so we took an earlier bus back, which was way to long and hot and I felt sick on. But we got back, and there you have it. The last trip in Ireland. Probably.
So thanks for reading about my travels, hope you enjoyed them, and I'm sure I'll be telling all of you about them in person fairly soon.
Love,
Justin
Pictures:
 |
| Dublin |
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Two trips for the price of one!
So, a few quick trips. First we went to Dingle for an overnight, which was quite fun. Stayed at the Grapevine hostel, got some shopping done, walked along the harbor for a bit, and then went to the pub for a drink and some great music. Interestingly, when we got back to the hostel, there was an older guy in our room (it was an 8 person room, the only one they had left), and he didnt' have any pants on while he was sleeping. Quite nude from the waist down, which is usually where you keep your clothes. Ah, well, an experience, anyway.
The next morning, we got up, went to a great bakery, and started chatting with the proprieter, which was kinda cool. For the first hour. Then we missed our bus. Yet still we kept talking
3 hours later we FINALLY got out of there, and none to soon. He had some great stories (they passed a law outlawing the name Dingle, they can only call it An Daigain, the Gaelic name, even though the population voted to overturn it by a 95% majority. So his son made a 16-foot high sign out of wood that looks like the hollywood sign, and it says Dingle.) Interesting stories, but not 3 hours interesting.
So then we'd missed our bus, so we walked around again for a while, before catching the bus back. Really pretty scenery.
Part II
Then this weekend I travelled to Leeds to see Nana and Gramps. It was quite a lovely trip. Got in on Friday morning, after not being able to find the taxi that was supposed to pick me up. I got in a bit early, I guess, and I didn't see him, so I walked to where they parked, then figured I should go back, and then found him. It took about 45 minutes to make it to Nana and Gramp's, and then we had a great Irish breakfast of eggs and bacon. Then we relaxed for a bit before going to the coal museum, which was actually a more fun than that sounds (though I guess that's not hard).Afterwards, we watched some snooker on TV, which is a really cool game! it's like pool, except better. You have 5 colored balls on the table, and then a triangle full of red ones. You have to sink a red ball, then you hit a colored ball, then a red, then a colored. The balls all have different points: red 1, yellow 2, green 3, brown, pink, and black at 7. When you hit a colored ball in, they take it out and put it back in its position. So you hit a red, then you hit the black, and that gives you 8 points (1 for red, 7 for black). but then they put the black back, so you can hit a different red, then the black again, for another 8 points. And you keep going until you can't hit a ball any more. And once all the reds are in, you have to hit the colored balls in the pockets in order. It's really great! we watched the championship, too. Then we went to a fish and chip shop, which was great, and they knew the waitress, which was cool. Afterwards we went to the golf club, which was really nice. Beautiful inside and outside. I tried some English beers, which was fun. Afterwards, we headed to bed, since it'd been a long day for me.
Next day I was supposed to meet up with a friend in Leeds, but she didn't get back to me, so we walked around Sandal castle, which was really cool. Only a few walls still stand, but it was still cool. Then Gramps and I had a half pint at a local pub, and then we headed out to the sculpture museum, which was pretty neat. Then Nana and Gramps had some friends over, which was nice to get to talk to them. (and yes, the phrase "cheeky monkey" was uttered). Then Bright and Early I got up, drove to the airport, got on the plane, only to have the stairs not retract back into the plane. Yup. So the other engineers couldn't' fix it, because the other planes didn't have retractable stairs. So they were going to fly a guy over from Dublin, but we ended up taking a ryanair plane that had just flown in and taking that back to Shannon, so i ended up back in Shannon at 11 instead of 9, so it was fine. Luckily it was at that leg of the flight. And now I'm back safe and sound!
Maybe one more trip to Dublin to go...
The next morning, we got up, went to a great bakery, and started chatting with the proprieter, which was kinda cool. For the first hour. Then we missed our bus. Yet still we kept talking
3 hours later we FINALLY got out of there, and none to soon. He had some great stories (they passed a law outlawing the name Dingle, they can only call it An Daigain, the Gaelic name, even though the population voted to overturn it by a 95% majority. So his son made a 16-foot high sign out of wood that looks like the hollywood sign, and it says Dingle.) Interesting stories, but not 3 hours interesting.
So then we'd missed our bus, so we walked around again for a while, before catching the bus back. Really pretty scenery.
 |
| Dingle for the Weekend |
Part II
Then this weekend I travelled to Leeds to see Nana and Gramps. It was quite a lovely trip. Got in on Friday morning, after not being able to find the taxi that was supposed to pick me up. I got in a bit early, I guess, and I didn't see him, so I walked to where they parked, then figured I should go back, and then found him. It took about 45 minutes to make it to Nana and Gramp's, and then we had a great Irish breakfast of eggs and bacon. Then we relaxed for a bit before going to the coal museum, which was actually a more fun than that sounds (though I guess that's not hard).Afterwards, we watched some snooker on TV, which is a really cool game! it's like pool, except better. You have 5 colored balls on the table, and then a triangle full of red ones. You have to sink a red ball, then you hit a colored ball, then a red, then a colored. The balls all have different points: red 1, yellow 2, green 3, brown, pink, and black at 7. When you hit a colored ball in, they take it out and put it back in its position. So you hit a red, then you hit the black, and that gives you 8 points (1 for red, 7 for black). but then they put the black back, so you can hit a different red, then the black again, for another 8 points. And you keep going until you can't hit a ball any more. And once all the reds are in, you have to hit the colored balls in the pockets in order. It's really great! we watched the championship, too. Then we went to a fish and chip shop, which was great, and they knew the waitress, which was cool. Afterwards we went to the golf club, which was really nice. Beautiful inside and outside. I tried some English beers, which was fun. Afterwards, we headed to bed, since it'd been a long day for me.
Next day I was supposed to meet up with a friend in Leeds, but she didn't get back to me, so we walked around Sandal castle, which was really cool. Only a few walls still stand, but it was still cool. Then Gramps and I had a half pint at a local pub, and then we headed out to the sculpture museum, which was pretty neat. Then Nana and Gramps had some friends over, which was nice to get to talk to them. (and yes, the phrase "cheeky monkey" was uttered). Then Bright and Early I got up, drove to the airport, got on the plane, only to have the stairs not retract back into the plane. Yup. So the other engineers couldn't' fix it, because the other planes didn't have retractable stairs. So they were going to fly a guy over from Dublin, but we ended up taking a ryanair plane that had just flown in and taking that back to Shannon, so i ended up back in Shannon at 11 instead of 9, so it was fine. Luckily it was at that leg of the flight. And now I'm back safe and sound!
Maybe one more trip to Dublin to go...
Monday, April 21, 2008
Tour of Ireland with Mom and Dad
Mom and Dad got in early Tuesday morning. I wasn't quite ready for them, I was still shaving, but they were good about my room being a mess. I guess they've gotten used to it. We had breakfast at that pub by the library, which was a good traditional Irish breakfast, of which we would have many more over the course of our B+Bs. They were pretty jet lagged, so after they got settled in they took a quick nap and I changed some money and got stuff packed so I wouldn't have so much stuff to bring back. After that we went out to city center to get some shopping done, and go to the library, and stuff like that. We went to Doalns for dinner and pub music. We kinda got lost finding the first B+B, but got there eventoually, and I stayed there instead of driving all the way to UL again, what with the roads being narrow, a ton of roundabouts, and a stick shift.
So we got up, and drove out to Bunratty, which means 'end of the river'. There was much more to it that I saw last time, we walked around the grounds and saw peacocks and Irish Wolf Hounds, which were huge and awesome and used to get rid of the wolves on the island. The castle itself was cool, and we had the same guy we had last time giving the tour. We learned the prefix 'mc' means 'son of,' and 'O' means 'grandson of'. Interesting tidbit.
After Bunratty we went to Craggaunowen, which was a cool place with a castle and a ring fort on the lake. They'd build on the lake so invaders couldnt' get to them. And there was an awesome walk that was all lush and green and mossy in the forest, and they had wild boars, too, which was kidna cool. Then on to the Cliffs of Moher, which weren't as easy to see as I remember, but still really cool. Really windy, too. After the cliffs we went down to Doolin, and ate at that same pub. We had had a huge breakfast, so we only had soups, a theme we'd continue after eating huge breakfasts at every place. Then we had to drive all the way to Dingle, take a ferry over the crossing, but we finally got to this nice place called the lighthouse, overlooking Dingle Harbor, which was cool. We checked in, got a Pizza and a few beers, and listend to some traditional music at the pub.
The next day we did some shopping at Dingle, which actually had a few really cool, hippy-type shops. Then we drove to the dingle peninsula and drove that little ring, which was really neat! The roads were really narrow, though, but the views were spectacular. Lots of tall mountains, sparce brush, lots of Sheep, and the ocean right there. We saw some old 4 BC stone forts and huts, all made out of un-mortared stone, and what are called Beehive huts, which are cool stone huts with tops. They look like beehives, go figure. We drove out around the point, and on te way back we hit the Gallarus Oratoary, which was another cool stone dwelling, used as a church. Really neat. Drove the rest of the way and got to Killarney. This one was a little off the beaten path, and the map was useless, but we got it eventoually. We had some pub food, but there was a band practicing next door, and they were loud and bad. But it's all good. We were planning on doing the Ring of Kerry, but seeing as we'd already done all that driving, we decided against it. We went to Muckross house instead, which was really cool, and had BEAUTIFUL grounds. Rock walls, various plants, huge trees, and the house was pretty cool too. This drive from Killarney to Cork was really neat; we actually did do a bit of the Ring of Kerry, and took a nice scenic route, but towards the end we were all fed up with driving and got to Cork, but the trip was nice and green. Cork was a nightmare getting into; we came at it a different way and there was TONS of traffic. We only looked around for a little bit, but we walked to St. Finnebarr's cathedral, which was really cool. Passed the Beamish brewery, which is sweeter than a guiness, but i dont' like it as much. Then we drove to Kinsale, which is the Gorme capitol of Ireland, and also a harbor, which was really neat. We had a DELICIOUS Italian dinner for Dad's birthday, and it was really good. Checked into the B+B (Which was a GARISH yellow) and went into town to have a drink. Turns out one of the guys was working in Waterville (Ireland) so I struck up a conversation with him. Kinda cool.
Then next morning, after the obligatory delicious breakfast, we drove back through Cork and did Blarny castle, which was AMAZING! The castle was big and imposing, and they built it on a cliff, and made the sides come to a point, kinda, so it looks even bigger and taller than it is. The grounds around the castle are really cool, they have some sweet caves and stairs and trees and a sacrifical rock and druid's circle. It's awesome. And the castle itself was really great, too. The stone was cool, but they guy who had to help you was very "GO GO GO!", so you didnt' really get a chance to appreciate it, but I do remember it had a kinda chunk taken out of it. Though I do feel a bit more loquacious...After Blarny, we went to the Fota wildlife park, but it was expensive and cold, so we kept going to the Jameson Whisky distillery, which was really cool. I got to do the taste testing!! I learned that Scotch is Scotch Whisky, and the difference is that Irish Whisky is distilled thrice, Scotch twice, and American only once. Also, Irish Whisky uses a smokelss heat source to heat the barley, while Scotch uses peat, which gives it that (gross) peaty taste and smell. But I learned I like Powers Whisky best, then Jameson, then Paddy, then Jack, and Scotch is just disgusting. But it was well worth the trip. I even got a certificate!
After that we (and by 'we' i mean 'dad', because I sort of passed out after those 6 shots of whisky) drove through Waterford, where they make waterford crystal, and over to Graiguenamangh, where our B+B was. Took a while to find it, it was kind of out of the way, but nice. There was NO food to be found, though, so we just had some stuff from the grocery store. Dad and I went to a small Irish pub, and he taught me how to drive standard. Kinda of. We found a church parking lot, but it was on a hill, and I smoked the clutch. Ahh, well.
Next day we drove to Kilkenny, which had a really cool castle, still kept up, and set up like victorian times. Really neat, and big grounds, too, though not as impressive. We went to St. Mary's cathedral, as well as St. Candice's, which were both cool. Then we traveled on to the Rock of Cashel, which was really cool. A big castle on this huge precipice. It was the center of Munster King's power until 1101, when they gave it over to the Church. You can see the Romanesque style chappel, and the huge gothic cathedral, too. It was pretty sweet.
Then, we just drove back to Limerick! We got everything fully packed up, and I stayed the night at the B+B, since they had an extra voucher, and I probably wouldn't be able to use it. In the morning, they dropped me off, I spent 20 minutes trying to print boarding passes (because the library is horrible), and Mom and Dad headed home!
It was really great seeing them, and now I've only got about a month left before I'm home again...at least one or two more posts before then, though
So we got up, and drove out to Bunratty, which means 'end of the river'. There was much more to it that I saw last time, we walked around the grounds and saw peacocks and Irish Wolf Hounds, which were huge and awesome and used to get rid of the wolves on the island. The castle itself was cool, and we had the same guy we had last time giving the tour. We learned the prefix 'mc' means 'son of,' and 'O' means 'grandson of'. Interesting tidbit.
After Bunratty we went to Craggaunowen, which was a cool place with a castle and a ring fort on the lake. They'd build on the lake so invaders couldnt' get to them. And there was an awesome walk that was all lush and green and mossy in the forest, and they had wild boars, too, which was kidna cool. Then on to the Cliffs of Moher, which weren't as easy to see as I remember, but still really cool. Really windy, too. After the cliffs we went down to Doolin, and ate at that same pub. We had had a huge breakfast, so we only had soups, a theme we'd continue after eating huge breakfasts at every place. Then we had to drive all the way to Dingle, take a ferry over the crossing, but we finally got to this nice place called the lighthouse, overlooking Dingle Harbor, which was cool. We checked in, got a Pizza and a few beers, and listend to some traditional music at the pub.
The next day we did some shopping at Dingle, which actually had a few really cool, hippy-type shops. Then we drove to the dingle peninsula and drove that little ring, which was really neat! The roads were really narrow, though, but the views were spectacular. Lots of tall mountains, sparce brush, lots of Sheep, and the ocean right there. We saw some old 4 BC stone forts and huts, all made out of un-mortared stone, and what are called Beehive huts, which are cool stone huts with tops. They look like beehives, go figure. We drove out around the point, and on te way back we hit the Gallarus Oratoary, which was another cool stone dwelling, used as a church. Really neat. Drove the rest of the way and got to Killarney. This one was a little off the beaten path, and the map was useless, but we got it eventoually. We had some pub food, but there was a band practicing next door, and they were loud and bad. But it's all good. We were planning on doing the Ring of Kerry, but seeing as we'd already done all that driving, we decided against it. We went to Muckross house instead, which was really cool, and had BEAUTIFUL grounds. Rock walls, various plants, huge trees, and the house was pretty cool too. This drive from Killarney to Cork was really neat; we actually did do a bit of the Ring of Kerry, and took a nice scenic route, but towards the end we were all fed up with driving and got to Cork, but the trip was nice and green. Cork was a nightmare getting into; we came at it a different way and there was TONS of traffic. We only looked around for a little bit, but we walked to St. Finnebarr's cathedral, which was really cool. Passed the Beamish brewery, which is sweeter than a guiness, but i dont' like it as much. Then we drove to Kinsale, which is the Gorme capitol of Ireland, and also a harbor, which was really neat. We had a DELICIOUS Italian dinner for Dad's birthday, and it was really good. Checked into the B+B (Which was a GARISH yellow) and went into town to have a drink. Turns out one of the guys was working in Waterville (Ireland) so I struck up a conversation with him. Kinda cool.
Then next morning, after the obligatory delicious breakfast, we drove back through Cork and did Blarny castle, which was AMAZING! The castle was big and imposing, and they built it on a cliff, and made the sides come to a point, kinda, so it looks even bigger and taller than it is. The grounds around the castle are really cool, they have some sweet caves and stairs and trees and a sacrifical rock and druid's circle. It's awesome. And the castle itself was really great, too. The stone was cool, but they guy who had to help you was very "GO GO GO!", so you didnt' really get a chance to appreciate it, but I do remember it had a kinda chunk taken out of it. Though I do feel a bit more loquacious...After Blarny, we went to the Fota wildlife park, but it was expensive and cold, so we kept going to the Jameson Whisky distillery, which was really cool. I got to do the taste testing!! I learned that Scotch is Scotch Whisky, and the difference is that Irish Whisky is distilled thrice, Scotch twice, and American only once. Also, Irish Whisky uses a smokelss heat source to heat the barley, while Scotch uses peat, which gives it that (gross) peaty taste and smell. But I learned I like Powers Whisky best, then Jameson, then Paddy, then Jack, and Scotch is just disgusting. But it was well worth the trip. I even got a certificate!
After that we (and by 'we' i mean 'dad', because I sort of passed out after those 6 shots of whisky) drove through Waterford, where they make waterford crystal, and over to Graiguenamangh, where our B+B was. Took a while to find it, it was kind of out of the way, but nice. There was NO food to be found, though, so we just had some stuff from the grocery store. Dad and I went to a small Irish pub, and he taught me how to drive standard. Kinda of. We found a church parking lot, but it was on a hill, and I smoked the clutch. Ahh, well.
Next day we drove to Kilkenny, which had a really cool castle, still kept up, and set up like victorian times. Really neat, and big grounds, too, though not as impressive. We went to St. Mary's cathedral, as well as St. Candice's, which were both cool. Then we traveled on to the Rock of Cashel, which was really cool. A big castle on this huge precipice. It was the center of Munster King's power until 1101, when they gave it over to the Church. You can see the Romanesque style chappel, and the huge gothic cathedral, too. It was pretty sweet.
Then, we just drove back to Limerick! We got everything fully packed up, and I stayed the night at the B+B, since they had an extra voucher, and I probably wouldn't be able to use it. In the morning, they dropped me off, I spent 20 minutes trying to print boarding passes (because the library is horrible), and Mom and Dad headed home!
It was really great seeing them, and now I've only got about a month left before I'm home again...at least one or two more posts before then, though
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| SouthWest Ireland with the Parents |
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Sangria on the Beach
So, Spain was pretty awesome. We got there, and it was actually warm! I'd forgotten what that was like in Ireland. We ended up on the wrong bus, without knowing it, but luckily some nice lady who also spoke English heard us freaking out and told us the other buses and stuff we had to get on. So we got to the hostel, all settled in, and walked along the beach, which was 1/2 a block away from our hostel, it was amazing! And the people at the hostel were really nice too. My roomate was from Argentina. It was the off season, but apparently Palma de Mallorca, the Island we were on, is a huge destination for German partiers,like our spring break stuff. We saw a huge 'super pub' called Mega Park, it was a huge beerhall thing. We had schnitzel in there, it was ok. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
So we got there, walked around a little, and ended up at a cool Italian place. The old guy taking care of us must have been bored, cuz he kept coming over and doing magic tricks and stuff, or pull a fake gun on one of us, or give someone an exploding pen, or give us 75% shots, it was pretty crazy. After that we got a few things of Sangria and this thing called Shandy, which is half beer half lemonade. No one else liked them, but I thought they were really good. We drank them at the beach at night, which was beautiful, and just hung around.
The next day was pretty much spent at the beach drinking sangria with these huge straws. There are pictures on the blog. It was awesome. There was a grocery store right across the beach, and a gallon of Sangria was like 2 euro. Oh if only we had those prices in Ireland!! So we did that, we read, we talked, we jumped in the water (which was cold! It wasn't really super-warm on the beach yet), made a sandcastle, and drank more sangria. We ended up taking a nice long nap after it got cold out, then going into the city. Stuff was closing, so we ate at McDonald's (for Shame!) and ended up at this hole in the wall ex-pat pub, that was kinda nice. I had a Caronita, and they offered a lime, but put a lemon in. Ahh, well. Couldn't stay long cuz we had to hit the last bus, but it was good.
Next day we went to the beach, Dan and Carolin (his German Girlfriend) had to leave, so we spent the day with them on the beach, then when they left we took another Siesta. Sitting in the sun really takes a lot out of you! We went to the German Beer hall for lunch, and because it was the offseason everything was like 30% off. I had the schnitzel, which was like breaded pork, but it was just ok. For dinner we bought wine and cheese and baguettes and ham and sat on the beach and watched the waves and ate...it was heavenly. At night we got some drinks and had White Russians, which were really good, and played cards and stuff. Pretty chill.
Next day, it was cold and windy, so we didn't' spend to much time at the beach, but we went into the city to shop around and stuff. We had Tapas, which are appetizer thingys. Not bad. Got back, had more bread and cheese in the room this time, because the girls were too cold, then we had black russians, because we still had all the stuff left for russians, just no milk, so we got coke instead. Then, the awesomeness happened. We decided to go out to this cocktail bar the hostel recommended. So we went, and it was a Canadian guy, John, who owned it. He was really nice, gave us a free shot to sip on while we were deciding, and gave us good, off-season prices (4 euro for a drink instead of 6) So we were excited. And Cielito used to work as a bartender, so she was asking about all these drinks, what he had for ingredients, and that stuff. He didn't have any limes, but we had bought like 5 for our drinks beforehand, and only used one, so she ran off to get limes to make mojijtos for us! He had her get behind the bar, gave her mint and rum and she used our limes, and made us and him one. And then she stayed behind the bar all night, pouring drinks for the 10 or so people that were there, and also for us. It was awesome! John was so cool, Cielito kept feeding us drinks all night, there was actually good music on, and there were funny austin powers pick-up lines in the bathroom. It couldn't have gotten much better! But wait, it does! At the end of the night, he was like '15 euro, we'll call it even.' We must have drank at least 100 euro worth of alcohol between the three of us (well, two of us, Brette didn't really drink to much), but we only had to pay 15! In fact, we went to another pub afterwards with him and I bought him a beer, and our two beers came out to almost that much, for 2 beers! And we were drinking all night! it was great! Everything you wish to happen to you at a bar, and it did. AMAZING times. There are a few pictures, and Cielito's going to make a drink list of everything we had that night, so I'll put that up later.
Needless to say, I wasn't feeling to great the next morning, but I didn't have to throw up or anything, so I'll count it as a victory. And the hostel had a great breakfast, which helped, too. So the last day we got up, walked around Palma for a bit, the girls did some shopping, we had some nice sandwiches which were called something, but I forget, and we headed for home. Plane ride was fine, got back safe and sound, and here we are!
Next trip is Ireland with the Parents!!
Drink List (for all of us, I didn't have that many on my own)
3 shots apple schnapps
2 beers
3 super strong mojitos
2 japanese slippers
2 appletinis
1 cheeky monkey
1 squashed frog
1 screaming orgasm
3 shots sambuca
2 flaming sambuca shots
3 jagerbombs
3 kiwi drip tray shots
and here are the pictures
So we got there, walked around a little, and ended up at a cool Italian place. The old guy taking care of us must have been bored, cuz he kept coming over and doing magic tricks and stuff, or pull a fake gun on one of us, or give someone an exploding pen, or give us 75% shots, it was pretty crazy. After that we got a few things of Sangria and this thing called Shandy, which is half beer half lemonade. No one else liked them, but I thought they were really good. We drank them at the beach at night, which was beautiful, and just hung around.
The next day was pretty much spent at the beach drinking sangria with these huge straws. There are pictures on the blog. It was awesome. There was a grocery store right across the beach, and a gallon of Sangria was like 2 euro. Oh if only we had those prices in Ireland!! So we did that, we read, we talked, we jumped in the water (which was cold! It wasn't really super-warm on the beach yet), made a sandcastle, and drank more sangria. We ended up taking a nice long nap after it got cold out, then going into the city. Stuff was closing, so we ate at McDonald's (for Shame!) and ended up at this hole in the wall ex-pat pub, that was kinda nice. I had a Caronita, and they offered a lime, but put a lemon in. Ahh, well. Couldn't stay long cuz we had to hit the last bus, but it was good.
Next day we went to the beach, Dan and Carolin (his German Girlfriend) had to leave, so we spent the day with them on the beach, then when they left we took another Siesta. Sitting in the sun really takes a lot out of you! We went to the German Beer hall for lunch, and because it was the offseason everything was like 30% off. I had the schnitzel, which was like breaded pork, but it was just ok. For dinner we bought wine and cheese and baguettes and ham and sat on the beach and watched the waves and ate...it was heavenly. At night we got some drinks and had White Russians, which were really good, and played cards and stuff. Pretty chill.
Next day, it was cold and windy, so we didn't' spend to much time at the beach, but we went into the city to shop around and stuff. We had Tapas, which are appetizer thingys. Not bad. Got back, had more bread and cheese in the room this time, because the girls were too cold, then we had black russians, because we still had all the stuff left for russians, just no milk, so we got coke instead. Then, the awesomeness happened. We decided to go out to this cocktail bar the hostel recommended. So we went, and it was a Canadian guy, John, who owned it. He was really nice, gave us a free shot to sip on while we were deciding, and gave us good, off-season prices (4 euro for a drink instead of 6) So we were excited. And Cielito used to work as a bartender, so she was asking about all these drinks, what he had for ingredients, and that stuff. He didn't have any limes, but we had bought like 5 for our drinks beforehand, and only used one, so she ran off to get limes to make mojijtos for us! He had her get behind the bar, gave her mint and rum and she used our limes, and made us and him one. And then she stayed behind the bar all night, pouring drinks for the 10 or so people that were there, and also for us. It was awesome! John was so cool, Cielito kept feeding us drinks all night, there was actually good music on, and there were funny austin powers pick-up lines in the bathroom. It couldn't have gotten much better! But wait, it does! At the end of the night, he was like '15 euro, we'll call it even.' We must have drank at least 100 euro worth of alcohol between the three of us (well, two of us, Brette didn't really drink to much), but we only had to pay 15! In fact, we went to another pub afterwards with him and I bought him a beer, and our two beers came out to almost that much, for 2 beers! And we were drinking all night! it was great! Everything you wish to happen to you at a bar, and it did. AMAZING times. There are a few pictures, and Cielito's going to make a drink list of everything we had that night, so I'll put that up later.
Needless to say, I wasn't feeling to great the next morning, but I didn't have to throw up or anything, so I'll count it as a victory. And the hostel had a great breakfast, which helped, too. So the last day we got up, walked around Palma for a bit, the girls did some shopping, we had some nice sandwiches which were called something, but I forget, and we headed for home. Plane ride was fine, got back safe and sound, and here we are!
Next trip is Ireland with the Parents!!
Drink List (for all of us, I didn't have that many on my own)
3 shots apple schnapps
2 beers
3 super strong mojitos
2 japanese slippers
2 appletinis
1 cheeky monkey
1 squashed frog
1 screaming orgasm
3 shots sambuca
2 flaming sambuca shots
3 jagerbombs
3 kiwi drip tray shots
and here are the pictures
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| Spain |
Monday, March 24, 2008
All Around Italy!
We pretty much did Rome in a day! We took the bus to the main station, which is HUGE. We spent half an hour looking for a map. Then we got some authentic Italian Pizza, which was GREAT! Most of their crusts are really thin, except when you get to the Naples area. And each piece is like a quarter of the Pie! The food in general was AMAZING. (Molly was telling us that the American idea of Italian food is not always the case; it comes from the south of Italy, where they have huge portions and lots of people in the family and stuff. Not all Italian food is like that). Anyway, We went to San Maria Maggiore, a really pretty Church. Then we walked to the Barberini-fontana di Trevi, because Molly suggested the Trevi Fountain. But this wasn't the right one. We found the right one, and walked to it, It was pretty cool, lots of sculptures and stuff. Then we walked to the Pantheon, which was once again disappointing. Not many sculptures. Got some Gelato, which is AMAZING. (Italian Ice Cream, but so much better and richer) We kind of got lost trying to get to the Parliament building, which turned out to be disappointing. Then we decided to go to the Spanish Steps, because Molly suggested it. We were close to the Piazza del Popolo, which was cool, a nice fountain with statues and stuff. Lots of those Living Statues. Also, side note, pretty much every street has a Piazza, a little circle thing with an obelisk in the middle. But most of the obliques have Egyptian hieroglyphs...weird. Anyway, then we went to the Spaninsh Steps, which also weren't that great. Just steps. Woo Hoo. We decided we'd go try to see the Colosseum. Originally them. we were going to wait for Molly, but we figured what the heck, and walked there. On the way, they had this cool building decked out with statues. I guess the Italians call it the Typewriter, it's a modern building. We walked the Dei Font Imperiali, the main road to the Colosseum, and it had statues of the Cesars, which was neat. At the Colosseum, they have people dressed up like Romans to take your pictures with. So we walked all around te Colosseum, but couldn't find out how to get in. Apparently it closed at 4:30, so we figured we'd go with Molly later. Then, wince we still had a few hours to kill, we walked to the St. Giovanni in Laterano Church, which was beautiful. Lots of sculptures of saints, which were really neat. Then we went back to the Colosseum, walked around for a bit, and walked the Circo Massimo, a big grassy area. We took a break, cuz our feet were killing us. Then we walked along the Tevere river, past 9 bridges,m and past this cool castle of St. Angelo, which has three different layers, all built on top of each other. One is medieval, one is renaissance, and one is something else. It was a long way to get to Mollys, but we got there eventually.
(It was really weird being somewhere i don't' speak ANY of the language. I keep wanting to respond in French, that's the first other language that comes to mind. But i can't even ask 'do you speak English', because i dont' now how. But the weather was AMAZING...can't beat it. i think it's the first time i didn't have to wear a coat! and the food is amazing. And the little houses and shops are all Italian design and stuff, so it was a very good fist day. Lots of smokers, though)
When we got to Molly, she took us back to her place, talked a bit, had some pasta, checked e-mail, showered, pretty much relaxed, it was nice. But we had to wake up at 6 to get the train to Pompeii. Slept on the train to Napoli, which was our changeover. Got on a train to Pompeii, but we should have gone to Pompeii escavi, not the city of Pompeii, which we did. So we had to go back a few stops. But we met some nice older Americans, and talked to them and found it together. Ate lunch at a nice little place, more thin-crust pizza. Pompeii wasn't as cool as i was expecting. lots of parts of old stone buildings. Got to see some of the pottery and bodies that were preserved by the ash, that was cool. The city is REALLY big, so we spent a long time walking. We took a break in t a cool Colosseum, really nice view of the city and Mt. Vesouvious, because Pompeii is on a hill. On the way back we split a thick crust pizza, which was good, but salty. Got the train tickets, but it was supposed to leave in 3 minutes, so we were freaking out, and some guy helped us. We thought he worked there, but he wanted euro and stuff. Kinda awkward, because we didn't' really have much change to give him and he got mad. Anyway, we got back to Molly, had more pasta, played chess, and slept.
Next day was a fairly early start. Went to the Colosseum, whcih was cool. Fairly big, and i guess they still have concerts and stuff there. I think there was a jazz concert coming up, beachhead they piped in some Jazz, which was cool, if not the ambiance I was expecting. Colosseum was neat. In the center they had a bunch of particians, i guess, that would have been under the wooden stage, for animals, and to make channels when they had naval battles. Before that, we went up to the Foro Romano and the Palantino, which was cool. You buy tickets for all three, those and the Colosseum, so we skipped the long lines at the Colosseum, and got our tickets there. Then, after the Colosseum, we went to the Vatican. Saw St. Peter's Basilica first, because the line for the he Sistine chapel and musi vaticani was super long. We got to see a tv screen of the pope giving mass, which was cool. But it started raining, while we were in line for the basilica, but it was still nice. The basilica was cool big, lots of neat sculptures and wavy columns. La Pieta was there! Then we tried to se the Cupola, and waited in line for it, but it was like 7 uro, so we changed our minds. But we met a nice family from the states and talked to them in the line, so it was nice. Then we waited in line for the museum, which took an hour, but moved quickly. The musi was cool, lots of sculptures. The Thinker, this famous one with the guy and his sons and the snake..i forget what i's called. Anyway, at the end was the Sistine chapel, which was huge and amazing. Also saw the classical school of Athens, which took up an entire wall and is part of an entire room, that was really neat. After that, our feet really hurt, but we walked over to St. Angelos again, but we couldn't really see it. Then we went back to Mollys, had a nap, and took her out to a neat little Italian restaurant, the falcone. We had this cool fried rice and cheese things, called panzerotti or something like that. Then we got tickets to Florence, which we had to wake up at 4 in the morning for. Napped on the train, and got to Florence fine.Walked past San Lorenzo market, which was really cool. picked up some beaks and stuff for hemp making. Then we found the Duomo, which was beautiful! All green stone and intricate sculptures. Saw the bell tower, which was really big and cool, done in the same style. Then we saw the Bapistry Doors, which were all Gold, and had scence from the bible on them. Really, really neat. Then went into the Leonardo da Vinci museum, which was kinda cool. They had a sculpture garden, which was cool, and had a copy of Michelangelo's David. And some Adonis one, and Hercules, too. We waited in line to see a weird little thing, which was kinda useless, just a lame museum. Then we went down tot eh bridge called Ponte Vecchio, which had Tons of Jewlery, all gold and diamonds and stuff. Then we waited for the Musi D'Uffizi, which was cool. Had lots of famous stuff, some da Vinci, Botticelli (birth of Venus, and La Primavera), Caravvagio, Durer, Michelangelo, raphel, titiann, Rubens, Rembrant...lots of them. We had to miss the Bargello, which had Donatellos David, and the Accademia Dell'Arte, which had Michelangelo's David, but it was ok. We walked back, got a t rain ticket to Pisa. It was freezing, raining, windy, and miserable. But we saw the tower, which was neat, and smaller than i expected. Got some cool pictures. We got tickets to the other train station we were leaving out of, because it wasn't the main station. Then we went to dinner. But i guess we thought the ticket to get to the other station was at 12, when really it was at 11, so we stayed to late at dinner and had to walk in the freezing rain to get to the train station,. Not fun. And the station was really sketchy, and out train was 45 minutes late. We didn't' get out of there until 2:30 in the morning, and the train was so crowded, we had to fight to get any where. We finally found our compartment, but the whole thing sucked. We got in around 6, so we went walking around Venice, which was really neat. Lots of small houses, canals, and by midday there were lots of vendors. I spent too much money, got more beads, a shirt, and mostly food. But at like 8 in the morning, the tourist info place finally opened, and we got a map. We saw the Ponte di Rialto, which is a famous bridge, i guess. Saw San Marco Basilica, which was almost as intricate as the one in Florence. I realized i hadn't needed to delete pictures, silly me. So i don't have as many as i'd like, but i'll get some from Dan. There was also this really tall tower, and a live orchestra playing, which was neat. We were going to go into Duncale Palazza, but we cheaped out and walked around some more. Ate at a kinda good place, and wandered around aimlessly for a bit. Went into a casino, which was interesting. Dan played Blackjack, and broke even, which is good. In order to get in, you had to pay 10euro, but you got a ten euro chip. The kicker is, that chip is non-redeemable, you have to play with it. So dan got out on his first try, then played with mine and got 20 euro, so we each got the ten we put in back. We then walked around some more, ate at various places and had lots of good pastries. Then we left on the train for Bergamo station, which is by Milan. Walked around Bergamo for a bit, it was kinda nice. But the airport SUCKED. I guess they had a policy against sleeping, so every hour or so they'd coe around, wake everyone up, and move us to the other side of the station. Grr... But we got to London, and it was Snowing! Kind cool. Dan had wanted to go into London, but he changed his mind, which was good for me, i didn't want to pay the 25 euro to take the train there and back, because i'd already been to London. We had like an 8 hour layover, and it was Easter. But it was nice, there was this really big window, and we sat underneath it and read in the sunlight, it was great. Then we got back to Shannon, took a bus, and i slept for like 14 hours! took me all day to upload pictures and blogs, so now i'm going to bed.
Pictures are here:
(It was really weird being somewhere i don't' speak ANY of the language. I keep wanting to respond in French, that's the first other language that comes to mind. But i can't even ask 'do you speak English', because i dont' now how. But the weather was AMAZING...can't beat it. i think it's the first time i didn't have to wear a coat! and the food is amazing. And the little houses and shops are all Italian design and stuff, so it was a very good fist day. Lots of smokers, though)
When we got to Molly, she took us back to her place, talked a bit, had some pasta, checked e-mail, showered, pretty much relaxed, it was nice. But we had to wake up at 6 to get the train to Pompeii. Slept on the train to Napoli, which was our changeover. Got on a train to Pompeii, but we should have gone to Pompeii escavi, not the city of Pompeii, which we did. So we had to go back a few stops. But we met some nice older Americans, and talked to them and found it together. Ate lunch at a nice little place, more thin-crust pizza. Pompeii wasn't as cool as i was expecting. lots of parts of old stone buildings. Got to see some of the pottery and bodies that were preserved by the ash, that was cool. The city is REALLY big, so we spent a long time walking. We took a break in t a cool Colosseum, really nice view of the city and Mt. Vesouvious, because Pompeii is on a hill. On the way back we split a thick crust pizza, which was good, but salty. Got the train tickets, but it was supposed to leave in 3 minutes, so we were freaking out, and some guy helped us. We thought he worked there, but he wanted euro and stuff. Kinda awkward, because we didn't' really have much change to give him and he got mad. Anyway, we got back to Molly, had more pasta, played chess, and slept.
Next day was a fairly early start. Went to the Colosseum, whcih was cool. Fairly big, and i guess they still have concerts and stuff there. I think there was a jazz concert coming up, beachhead they piped in some Jazz, which was cool, if not the ambiance I was expecting. Colosseum was neat. In the center they had a bunch of particians, i guess, that would have been under the wooden stage, for animals, and to make channels when they had naval battles. Before that, we went up to the Foro Romano and the Palantino, which was cool. You buy tickets for all three, those and the Colosseum, so we skipped the long lines at the Colosseum, and got our tickets there. Then, after the Colosseum, we went to the Vatican. Saw St. Peter's Basilica first, because the line for the he Sistine chapel and musi vaticani was super long. We got to see a tv screen of the pope giving mass, which was cool. But it started raining, while we were in line for the basilica, but it was still nice. The basilica was cool big, lots of neat sculptures and wavy columns. La Pieta was there! Then we tried to se the Cupola, and waited in line for it, but it was like 7 uro, so we changed our minds. But we met a nice family from the states and talked to them in the line, so it was nice. Then we waited in line for the museum, which took an hour, but moved quickly. The musi was cool, lots of sculptures. The Thinker, this famous one with the guy and his sons and the snake..i forget what i's called. Anyway, at the end was the Sistine chapel, which was huge and amazing. Also saw the classical school of Athens, which took up an entire wall and is part of an entire room, that was really neat. After that, our feet really hurt, but we walked over to St. Angelos again, but we couldn't really see it. Then we went back to Mollys, had a nap, and took her out to a neat little Italian restaurant, the falcone. We had this cool fried rice and cheese things, called panzerotti or something like that. Then we got tickets to Florence, which we had to wake up at 4 in the morning for. Napped on the train, and got to Florence fine.Walked past San Lorenzo market, which was really cool. picked up some beaks and stuff for hemp making. Then we found the Duomo, which was beautiful! All green stone and intricate sculptures. Saw the bell tower, which was really big and cool, done in the same style. Then we saw the Bapistry Doors, which were all Gold, and had scence from the bible on them. Really, really neat. Then went into the Leonardo da Vinci museum, which was kinda cool. They had a sculpture garden, which was cool, and had a copy of Michelangelo's David. And some Adonis one, and Hercules, too. We waited in line to see a weird little thing, which was kinda useless, just a lame museum. Then we went down tot eh bridge called Ponte Vecchio, which had Tons of Jewlery, all gold and diamonds and stuff. Then we waited for the Musi D'Uffizi, which was cool. Had lots of famous stuff, some da Vinci, Botticelli (birth of Venus, and La Primavera), Caravvagio, Durer, Michelangelo, raphel, titiann, Rubens, Rembrant...lots of them. We had to miss the Bargello, which had Donatellos David, and the Accademia Dell'Arte, which had Michelangelo's David, but it was ok. We walked back, got a t rain ticket to Pisa. It was freezing, raining, windy, and miserable. But we saw the tower, which was neat, and smaller than i expected. Got some cool pictures. We got tickets to the other train station we were leaving out of, because it wasn't the main station. Then we went to dinner. But i guess we thought the ticket to get to the other station was at 12, when really it was at 11, so we stayed to late at dinner and had to walk in the freezing rain to get to the train station,. Not fun. And the station was really sketchy, and out train was 45 minutes late. We didn't' get out of there until 2:30 in the morning, and the train was so crowded, we had to fight to get any where. We finally found our compartment, but the whole thing sucked. We got in around 6, so we went walking around Venice, which was really neat. Lots of small houses, canals, and by midday there were lots of vendors. I spent too much money, got more beads, a shirt, and mostly food. But at like 8 in the morning, the tourist info place finally opened, and we got a map. We saw the Ponte di Rialto, which is a famous bridge, i guess. Saw San Marco Basilica, which was almost as intricate as the one in Florence. I realized i hadn't needed to delete pictures, silly me. So i don't have as many as i'd like, but i'll get some from Dan. There was also this really tall tower, and a live orchestra playing, which was neat. We were going to go into Duncale Palazza, but we cheaped out and walked around some more. Ate at a kinda good place, and wandered around aimlessly for a bit. Went into a casino, which was interesting. Dan played Blackjack, and broke even, which is good. In order to get in, you had to pay 10euro, but you got a ten euro chip. The kicker is, that chip is non-redeemable, you have to play with it. So dan got out on his first try, then played with mine and got 20 euro, so we each got the ten we put in back. We then walked around some more, ate at various places and had lots of good pastries. Then we left on the train for Bergamo station, which is by Milan. Walked around Bergamo for a bit, it was kinda nice. But the airport SUCKED. I guess they had a policy against sleeping, so every hour or so they'd coe around, wake everyone up, and move us to the other side of the station. Grr... But we got to London, and it was Snowing! Kind cool. Dan had wanted to go into London, but he changed his mind, which was good for me, i didn't want to pay the 25 euro to take the train there and back, because i'd already been to London. We had like an 8 hour layover, and it was Easter. But it was nice, there was this really big window, and we sat underneath it and read in the sunlight, it was great. Then we got back to Shannon, took a bus, and i slept for like 14 hours! took me all day to upload pictures and blogs, so now i'm going to bed.
Pictures are here:
 |
| Italy |
Dublin for St. Patricks Day!
Got to the bus and airport, no problem. Got to Dublin eventually, by this time we were starving. But all the places had jacked up their prices for St. Patties Day. We eventfully found a fairly good cheap place, and had some breakfast food.s Then we walked around for a bit, found our hostels and stuff. Brette had tons of trouble getting out of her second night, because she wanted to leave early. My hostel strait-up cancelled my booking without telling me. I guess there was a huge thing going on, and they said they sent an e-mail, but i never got it. They did find me another hostel, but it was 27 euro instead of 17. I'm going to try to get them to pay for it. Anyway, dealing with those things took up a while. Afterwards, we wandered around. Saw Trinity College, which was pretty, but the Book of Kells was closed. We tried to find some Jazz Bars, and some random guy on the street told us where one of them was, and also explained all the famous Irish musicians over the ages. We were supposed to go to JJ SMiths, but that jazz didn't start until 8, so we went to try to find food. On the way i saw these cool braziers with actual fire outside some shop, and went over to check it out. Turns out they had live Jazz upstairs, which was sweet! It was the Dublin Jazz orchestra, and they were really good. They played a lot of stuff we had played in our jazz band at Muhlenberg, and had some cool vocals and solos. We met up with Cielito, then pretty much passed out. Before that, we ate at Supermacs, because everything else was too expensive (no relation to a McDonalds with Super Powers...I asked)
On St. Patties day, we got up, met at their hostel, and met a bunch of other people from their hostel, which was cool. Two dudes were from Zimbabwe, one guy was Israeli, and another girl was American. They were pretty cool. We saw the parade, which was neat. They didn't' really have any floats, only two, a cool robot and a motorcycler. Not many balloons, either. An owl and some cool dragons, and they made them dip down over the crowd, it was cool. Mostly walking people dressed up in really neat costumes. There were so many American marching bands, though...i think more than the Irish stuff! We saw Council Rock South, props to Jeff. Grabbed some pub food and drinks at one or two different pubs, pretty cool. Did the pub crawl for a bit, but it was really crowded, so we went back to the hostel to hang and play some games and stuff, which was fun. THen Dan and I caught the bus to the airport, and caught the plane to Luton, London, and slept at the airport. It sucked. Got up early, slept on the plaine, and off to Italy!!
Here's the Album:
On St. Patties day, we got up, met at their hostel, and met a bunch of other people from their hostel, which was cool. Two dudes were from Zimbabwe, one guy was Israeli, and another girl was American. They were pretty cool. We saw the parade, which was neat. They didn't' really have any floats, only two, a cool robot and a motorcycler. Not many balloons, either. An owl and some cool dragons, and they made them dip down over the crowd, it was cool. Mostly walking people dressed up in really neat costumes. There were so many American marching bands, though...i think more than the Irish stuff! We saw Council Rock South, props to Jeff. Grabbed some pub food and drinks at one or two different pubs, pretty cool. Did the pub crawl for a bit, but it was really crowded, so we went back to the hostel to hang and play some games and stuff, which was fun. THen Dan and I caught the bus to the airport, and caught the plane to Luton, London, and slept at the airport. It sucked. Got up early, slept on the plaine, and off to Italy!!
Here's the Album:
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| Dublin for St. Patties |
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