***Webshots free-bee album number 1 maxed out at 1000 pictures. Hence, checkout webshots album 2 link to the right for continued photo uploads or copy and paste this link: www.webshots.com/user/chic1015852 ****
Well... Ireland was spectacular. On Saturday I took a trip to Cork with my rail pass. My last trip with it. I'm a little sad my privileges of unlimited travel have come to an end. Anyways, I got to see a lot of the countryside. It is beautiful. Mostly green farm fields with hedgerow fences and either cattle or sheep grazing. You can also usually see some mountain range in the background. Cork was a lot like Dublin. Although these cities have large populations, they feel small because their centers have mostly three story or lower buildings. What you don't see is their sprawling suburbs. Anyways, I looked around Cork for a bit and then took the bus to Blarney to see the one and only Blarney Castle. It was nice to see a castle in the stereotypical sense of castles: dark stone ruins of a fortress variety. All the castles in central europe had plaster on them... they looked like villas. While at Blarney castle, I kissed the Blarney stone... its supposed to give you the gift of gab. We shall see. I did some more looking around in Blarney and bought a few 'special presents' before heading back to Cork and eventually on to Dublin. By the time I arrived in Dublin, I had already finished reading The Man Who Was Thursday by CK Chesterton. I had purchased it in Cork just before leaving for Blarney. Yes, I liked it that much. I highly recommend it.
Sunday I went on a tour of the Boyne Valley. I got to see the Hill of Tara- the ancient crowning place of Ireland's past kings. I also got to see Trim Castle (Braveheart was filmed here). Finally, I got to go to the Boyne Valley vistor's center and tour the Newgrange Tomb circa 5000 BC. Older than the pyramids, this tomb shows that Neolithic peoples had knowledge of the Winter Solstice. For the shortest 5 days of every year, the sun pours in each morning for 17 minutes through a window box looking due east. The rest of the year it is totally dark. The absence of smoke residue on the ceiling further suggests that no one ever went in the tomb except for this brief time each year, as it is doubtful that neolithic people had flashlights. :) Super interesting.
Monday turned into an all day flying experience. I left the hostel in Dublin at 9, got to the airport around 10. Waited for my delayed flight to leave. Arrived finally in London Gatwick around 2, and then took public transit for almost 2 more hours. By the time I was in my hostel room it was 4:30. Too late to do much, plus it was raining and I was beat. So I took myself to see the new Fantastic 4 movie, which is not all that fantastic, but had a lot of London in it suprisingly. Then I hit the internet, finished reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and went to sleep.
Tuesday was my big sightseeing day... Tate Modern had an amazing urbanism exhibit, and its free to get into! Then I took the ferry over to Tate Britain where I had lunch and did a quick walkthrough. After that I saw the Parliament building, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye (ferris wheel), Trafalgar Square, etc. I also had coffee, because that is what I do. Later on I came back to the hostel area and bought new bottles of sunscreen, bugspray, and all the other toiletries that were too heavy to come on my Ryanair flights.
I think tonight I will go back downtown and take some night photos. Tomorrow is my last day in London. I have to spend the night at the airport because my flight leaves at 6 AM and the metro will close at midnight. In a way it will be nice to not have to worry about waking up at 3 AM to leave. I think tomorrow I will see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace at 11:30 before heading over to the Tower of London, London Bridge, and the Design Museum. And maybe the Freud Museum. And thats all folks. Then I am going to AFRICA! I can't believe it. So until then, signing off... Sally.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
Week 18: France, and Ireland
Well my European adventures are coming to an end. France was just great. My first real stop was Bayeux in Normandy. I saw the D-day musuem, the American cemetery, and a 90 meter long tapistry almost 1000 years old depicting the history of the region. It was pretty sweet. Then I headed to Mont St Michel. The abby is pretty incredible, but the walk across the bay at low tide was the real adventure. I met two girls who were studying in Paris and we had a heck of a time. We returned to Paris together, and the next night they had me over for dinner, laundry, and internet. What a perfect combination. All in all, their hospitality was incredible. That day I went to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa, but it was the arabic art that was my favorite. I also saw the Paris Opera House, Sacre Couer, and Moulin Rouge.
The next day I toured Versailles with Ashleigh and Tommy, two Seattle natives that I was sharing a hostel with. That fulfilled my aspirations of seeing the home to Louis XIV and later Marie Antoinette that developed in European History AP sophomore year of high school. The audioguide was pretty good and the gardens were beautiful.
Brittany and Jeff met me that night at our budget hotel and we stayed up way too late just chatting. The next morning we went to see the Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier... we are talking architecture with a capital A. Its kind of a big deal. Then we saw pretty much every museum on the planet over the next two days (including pompidou center and the Musee d'Orsay), as well as going to the top of the eiffel tower, seeing the Arc du Triumphe, the Pantheon, Jardin du Luxembourg, Notre Dame, etc.
Thursday night was the Summer Solstice, and the scene of the night of music for Parisians (Fete de la Musique)... as the longest night of the year all the musicians perform on the street until the wee hours. Fun... except that I needed to get up at 5:15 this morning. And so the adventure of budget airlines begins.
Ryanair is so cheap. Supposedly. But they fly out of Paris Beauvais... a hour and 15 minute train ride followed by a 30 minute bus outside Paris. Oh and that 15 kg checked bag allowance... that wasn't per bag... that was total. So I had to pay 88 euro for my second bag to come with me. Painful, but I had no choice. And Im going to have to do it again when I go to London... sigh. So my flight is going to end up costing about the same as a regular one would have... oh well.
I can't be too sad right now because I am in Dublin. Despite rain, today was filled with exciting activities such as seeing the book of Kells, a book of 4 gospels made by Monks over 1000 years ago with detail that could barely be acheived today. I also toured Trinity College and got to see its old library... its "long room" is the largest single volume library in the world and its books (some 400 years old) are organized by size... so if you want to find one you have to know its exact dimensions and go around measuring. Pretty hilarious.
After that I took the Guinness factory tour. I enjoyed it... and the building is pretty neat. There is a light well through the middle of the building shaped like a large beer glass... its cool.
Oh, and when I got here I went through a small culture shock... I haven't been submersed in an english speaking culture in close to 5 months now... it was a shock at first but I have to say it is really nice now that I have had a few hours to get used to it. My brain doesn't have to work so hard all the time! Thats pretty much it for now. Cork tomorrow. Ciao.
The next day I toured Versailles with Ashleigh and Tommy, two Seattle natives that I was sharing a hostel with. That fulfilled my aspirations of seeing the home to Louis XIV and later Marie Antoinette that developed in European History AP sophomore year of high school. The audioguide was pretty good and the gardens were beautiful.
Brittany and Jeff met me that night at our budget hotel and we stayed up way too late just chatting. The next morning we went to see the Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier... we are talking architecture with a capital A. Its kind of a big deal. Then we saw pretty much every museum on the planet over the next two days (including pompidou center and the Musee d'Orsay), as well as going to the top of the eiffel tower, seeing the Arc du Triumphe, the Pantheon, Jardin du Luxembourg, Notre Dame, etc.
Thursday night was the Summer Solstice, and the scene of the night of music for Parisians (Fete de la Musique)... as the longest night of the year all the musicians perform on the street until the wee hours. Fun... except that I needed to get up at 5:15 this morning. And so the adventure of budget airlines begins.
Ryanair is so cheap. Supposedly. But they fly out of Paris Beauvais... a hour and 15 minute train ride followed by a 30 minute bus outside Paris. Oh and that 15 kg checked bag allowance... that wasn't per bag... that was total. So I had to pay 88 euro for my second bag to come with me. Painful, but I had no choice. And Im going to have to do it again when I go to London... sigh. So my flight is going to end up costing about the same as a regular one would have... oh well.
I can't be too sad right now because I am in Dublin. Despite rain, today was filled with exciting activities such as seeing the book of Kells, a book of 4 gospels made by Monks over 1000 years ago with detail that could barely be acheived today. I also toured Trinity College and got to see its old library... its "long room" is the largest single volume library in the world and its books (some 400 years old) are organized by size... so if you want to find one you have to know its exact dimensions and go around measuring. Pretty hilarious.
After that I took the Guinness factory tour. I enjoyed it... and the building is pretty neat. There is a light well through the middle of the building shaped like a large beer glass... its cool.
Oh, and when I got here I went through a small culture shock... I haven't been submersed in an english speaking culture in close to 5 months now... it was a shock at first but I have to say it is really nice now that I have had a few hours to get used to it. My brain doesn't have to work so hard all the time! Thats pretty much it for now. Cork tomorrow. Ciao.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Week 17: Europe Galore
****EDIT****
To view photos click the link to the right under photos called webshots. Or just click the following link: http://community.webshots.com/user/chic101585
Just a warning though, they havent been rotated or sorted... sorry but I am doing this on the run. You get the idea though.
******
Oh the places I have been. Where to start? I guess the fact that I am on a very foreign keyboard is a good places to start. Please excuse typos... I am out of my element here.
So when I left Praha I headed to Cesky Krumlov which was really cool. It is a small town on the border of Austria and the Czech Republic. I checked out the castle, ate a local cinnamon roll, etc. This roll was literally a cylindrical piece of dough, hollow on the inside. Delicious. Then I headed on to Vienna. Meanwhile, my train was late so I missed my connection and ended up on a double decker bus to Linz to meet another train. This bus was insane, or at least the driver was. I was in the front on the top floor so I basically had a windshield and wiper all to myself. Me and this guy from Mexico were playing blackjack and chatting with these other American girls. Funny.
We lived to Linz despite feeling a little carsick, and I proceeded to hop a train to Vienna. Yeah railpass. I find myself in a car with a Nigerian footballer, or soccer player, who not only wants to go to dinner tonight in Vienna but also be friends forever. I find a way to get out of this, naturally. Vienna was cool, but just not really my style. I took a lot of neat night pictures of the architecture. I finished checking out the rest of the town the next day before heading to Bratislava.
Bratislava was ridiculous. I suddenly felt the power of eastern europe before I was off the train. But I had a good time basically running through it because I only had 3 hours there. They have a very traditional castle which was neat to see and I think economically the town is moving up. I bet in a decade it will be a totally different place. So I continued on to Budapest.
Budapest was a blast. I saw the sights, got the nightlife in, checked out the baths... everything. I really liked it there... plus they had a vegetarian restaurant... perfect.
On the way from Budapest to Lichtenstein I shared a night train car with a guy from Vienna. We watched Never Die Alone while riding through Austria. Bizarre, but in a good way.
I arrived in LIchtenstein at 5 AM... Buchs really. That is still Switzerland. But after a short bus ride or 3 I was hiking the Furstensteig... incredible. That was the first time I have ever had vertigo, and probably the worst time to have it. But I lived and I really enjoyed it.
So after seeing the rest of Lichtenstein because its that small that I could do it in a day, I headed on to what I thought was Berne, Switzerland. I ended up in Bremen Germany... NORTH Germany the next morning. Too far to go back, I decided to cut my losses and press on to Coppenhagen. After all, I had a Swiss cheese sandwich in Buchs, which is Switzerland, and it was the worst sandwich Ive had in a long time. I got to see all of Denmark from the train, but unfortunately not much Coppenhagen because my train was delayed due to heat affecting old train tracks and making the trains fun slow to avoid accidents. Sigh.
So I went to Luxembourg where I had a hostel waiting for me. Keep in mind I went HIKING 2 days ago now... still no shower... DISGUSTING. I was sooo happy to get to my hostel. And then I realized that Luxembourg is really really cool. Look up Luxembourg city.. its like a fairytale castle with a moat and everything. Amazing.
Then I hit Amsterdam. Did the Heineken Experience aka brewery tour. Saw Rijksmuseum, Vondelpark, Oude Kirche, Niewe Kirche, the Anne Frank Haus, and of course the Redlight district... ironically Oude Kirche is in it... hence accidentally wandering into it. I also checked out a Buddhist temple while I was over there, just for good measure. Finally, I finished my book A Prayer For Owen Meany... a tear jerker I will say. And then I went to see Oceans 13 at a Art Nouveau theater in town.
Today I arrived in Brussels. I like the town, and I really like the waffles. I don't like the rain... but I will live. Anyways, my fair share of internet time has more than expired, so Im off, but I just wanted to get some of that down before I forgot.
Laters, Sal
To view photos click the link to the right under photos called webshots. Or just click the following link: http://community.webshots.com/user/chic101585
Just a warning though, they havent been rotated or sorted... sorry but I am doing this on the run. You get the idea though.
******
Oh the places I have been. Where to start? I guess the fact that I am on a very foreign keyboard is a good places to start. Please excuse typos... I am out of my element here.
So when I left Praha I headed to Cesky Krumlov which was really cool. It is a small town on the border of Austria and the Czech Republic. I checked out the castle, ate a local cinnamon roll, etc. This roll was literally a cylindrical piece of dough, hollow on the inside. Delicious. Then I headed on to Vienna. Meanwhile, my train was late so I missed my connection and ended up on a double decker bus to Linz to meet another train. This bus was insane, or at least the driver was. I was in the front on the top floor so I basically had a windshield and wiper all to myself. Me and this guy from Mexico were playing blackjack and chatting with these other American girls. Funny.
We lived to Linz despite feeling a little carsick, and I proceeded to hop a train to Vienna. Yeah railpass. I find myself in a car with a Nigerian footballer, or soccer player, who not only wants to go to dinner tonight in Vienna but also be friends forever. I find a way to get out of this, naturally. Vienna was cool, but just not really my style. I took a lot of neat night pictures of the architecture. I finished checking out the rest of the town the next day before heading to Bratislava.
Bratislava was ridiculous. I suddenly felt the power of eastern europe before I was off the train. But I had a good time basically running through it because I only had 3 hours there. They have a very traditional castle which was neat to see and I think economically the town is moving up. I bet in a decade it will be a totally different place. So I continued on to Budapest.
Budapest was a blast. I saw the sights, got the nightlife in, checked out the baths... everything. I really liked it there... plus they had a vegetarian restaurant... perfect.
On the way from Budapest to Lichtenstein I shared a night train car with a guy from Vienna. We watched Never Die Alone while riding through Austria. Bizarre, but in a good way.
I arrived in LIchtenstein at 5 AM... Buchs really. That is still Switzerland. But after a short bus ride or 3 I was hiking the Furstensteig... incredible. That was the first time I have ever had vertigo, and probably the worst time to have it. But I lived and I really enjoyed it.
So after seeing the rest of Lichtenstein because its that small that I could do it in a day, I headed on to what I thought was Berne, Switzerland. I ended up in Bremen Germany... NORTH Germany the next morning. Too far to go back, I decided to cut my losses and press on to Coppenhagen. After all, I had a Swiss cheese sandwich in Buchs, which is Switzerland, and it was the worst sandwich Ive had in a long time. I got to see all of Denmark from the train, but unfortunately not much Coppenhagen because my train was delayed due to heat affecting old train tracks and making the trains fun slow to avoid accidents. Sigh.
So I went to Luxembourg where I had a hostel waiting for me. Keep in mind I went HIKING 2 days ago now... still no shower... DISGUSTING. I was sooo happy to get to my hostel. And then I realized that Luxembourg is really really cool. Look up Luxembourg city.. its like a fairytale castle with a moat and everything. Amazing.
Then I hit Amsterdam. Did the Heineken Experience aka brewery tour. Saw Rijksmuseum, Vondelpark, Oude Kirche, Niewe Kirche, the Anne Frank Haus, and of course the Redlight district... ironically Oude Kirche is in it... hence accidentally wandering into it. I also checked out a Buddhist temple while I was over there, just for good measure. Finally, I finished my book A Prayer For Owen Meany... a tear jerker I will say. And then I went to see Oceans 13 at a Art Nouveau theater in town.
Today I arrived in Brussels. I like the town, and I really like the waffles. I don't like the rain... but I will live. Anyways, my fair share of internet time has more than expired, so Im off, but I just wanted to get some of that down before I forgot.
Laters, Sal
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Week 16: Departure from Praha
Wow. The last four months have been some of the fastest of my life. Things have wrapped up for me pretty well so far! On Friday my digital camera arrived at Fotoskoda all shiny and new for pickup. I got my last stipend picked up and turned in studio! Woof. All things considered I think it turned out rather well. Here is my final layout.
My professor didn't find the project "dirty" enough for the village... I'm hoping that must be some kind of translating error... but considering I basically whipped this thing out in 48 hours I don't feel too bad about it!
In any case, it was certainly an experience going to school in a different country. Things definitely run a bit differently, particularly in the areas of attendance, punctuality, and sobriety.
So Friday was a lot better of a day than Thursday was. I pretty much passed out from exhaustion in my clothes at 7PM Thursday and woke up at the crack of dawn Friday. I did a little surgery on my computer and got my spacebar in semi-working order again after removing a large chunk of something from its inner workings and finished my studio project. After I turned it in I went for a run, during which I had a spiritual experience of sorts. First off, I had a Rocky moment because I ran the whole loop and all the way up the hill without stopping... first time ever. This hill is massive... it took me a song and a half to get up it, but I made it. Yeah. Then I had to detour off my normal route due to some Harley exhibition going on and ended up running through this field of tall grass where I realized how much I actually enjoy running. Then finally on my way up the stairs I stopped and sat for a minute, not because I was tired, but because I didn't want to leave. And I think thats how I feel about Prague in general. Im just not ready to go.
Friday night was a dangerous combination or beer pong, a power hour, and Nebe... needless to say Saturday was not the most productive day ever, but I did manage do get one last round of laundry done and go see Swan Lake at the National Theater with Carrie and Emily. It was the only theater I hadn't been to yet... check that off my list. :)
Sunday I ventured off to Karlovy Vary to check out the sights, mineral water, and wafer cookies. Its also home to Beckerovka... it was pretty sweet. I got home in time to go dancing with Alena and Ondrej one last time.
Monday was full of goodbyes. Goodbye to Krystina at breakfast, Pavel at the park, Martin at dinner, Slava over a drink, my roommates in the kitchen, and others wherever I happened to run into them first. (some were coming in from a party as I was heading out to my train Tuesday morning lol) But lots of stuff got done that needed to happen. Bags were packed, much was thrown away. Mail forwarding was set up at the post office and my academic record turned in. My friend Scotty is being so kind as to take my laptop back to the states with him, so I don't have to worry about that. Brittany and Jeff are bringing my big roller bag to me in Paris. Currently I am sitting at my hostel in Vienna enjoying the sound of acoustic guitar from the bar. Its time for bed. Today was a fun day. I saw Cesky Krumlov, missed a train, took a wacky double decker bus, played cards with a guy from Tiajuana, apparently became lifelong friends with a Nigerian footballer out of Linz, and had some delish falfel for dinner. All in a days work. Also, some sweet night photos of Vienna were taken. But my internet time is up and its time to sleep!
My professor didn't find the project "dirty" enough for the village... I'm hoping that must be some kind of translating error... but considering I basically whipped this thing out in 48 hours I don't feel too bad about it!
In any case, it was certainly an experience going to school in a different country. Things definitely run a bit differently, particularly in the areas of attendance, punctuality, and sobriety.
So Friday was a lot better of a day than Thursday was. I pretty much passed out from exhaustion in my clothes at 7PM Thursday and woke up at the crack of dawn Friday. I did a little surgery on my computer and got my spacebar in semi-working order again after removing a large chunk of something from its inner workings and finished my studio project. After I turned it in I went for a run, during which I had a spiritual experience of sorts. First off, I had a Rocky moment because I ran the whole loop and all the way up the hill without stopping... first time ever. This hill is massive... it took me a song and a half to get up it, but I made it. Yeah. Then I had to detour off my normal route due to some Harley exhibition going on and ended up running through this field of tall grass where I realized how much I actually enjoy running. Then finally on my way up the stairs I stopped and sat for a minute, not because I was tired, but because I didn't want to leave. And I think thats how I feel about Prague in general. Im just not ready to go.
Friday night was a dangerous combination or beer pong, a power hour, and Nebe... needless to say Saturday was not the most productive day ever, but I did manage do get one last round of laundry done and go see Swan Lake at the National Theater with Carrie and Emily. It was the only theater I hadn't been to yet... check that off my list. :)
Sunday I ventured off to Karlovy Vary to check out the sights, mineral water, and wafer cookies. Its also home to Beckerovka... it was pretty sweet. I got home in time to go dancing with Alena and Ondrej one last time.
Monday was full of goodbyes. Goodbye to Krystina at breakfast, Pavel at the park, Martin at dinner, Slava over a drink, my roommates in the kitchen, and others wherever I happened to run into them first. (some were coming in from a party as I was heading out to my train Tuesday morning lol) But lots of stuff got done that needed to happen. Bags were packed, much was thrown away. Mail forwarding was set up at the post office and my academic record turned in. My friend Scotty is being so kind as to take my laptop back to the states with him, so I don't have to worry about that. Brittany and Jeff are bringing my big roller bag to me in Paris. Currently I am sitting at my hostel in Vienna enjoying the sound of acoustic guitar from the bar. Its time for bed. Today was a fun day. I saw Cesky Krumlov, missed a train, took a wacky double decker bus, played cards with a guy from Tiajuana, apparently became lifelong friends with a Nigerian footballer out of Linz, and had some delish falfel for dinner. All in a days work. Also, some sweet night photos of Vienna were taken. But my internet time is up and its time to sleep!
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