Another 10 Minute Blog Post

I'm retracing my footsteps back to Dublin, but only for an evening. I'm leaving in the morning for Kilkenny, and Hannah is leaving for San Francisco. I'm sorry I still don't have any pictures up, but the hostel has that part of the computer blocked off. If any one is still looking at this thing a month from now, I'll have some time before school starts, and I should be able to get some of the 1,500 photos I've taken on here. Probably not all of them though.

Galway was amazing by the way. Really beautiful country side, and a cute city. We went on a tour of the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher which was nice. The driver was a little nuts though. He did a low chuckle after every other word that reminded us of the Zodiac or someone similar.

"There's a yellow car ahead. He he he. A lemon car. A vivid lemon, he he he."

Tonight is the final game of Euro 2008, Germany vs. Spain. Obviously, I'm supporting Germany since I've been supporting them since the beginning...but if I don't get to the pub soon I won't be able to get a seat, so it's time to go. Wish Hannah a safe trip home...I'm going to miss her, even if we fight everytime we get lost (which is all the time).

Paris...

Getting to Paris was an adventure on its own.

Our flight from "Milan" aka Bergamo to "Paris" aka Beauvais, was at 6:30 in the morning. If your not familiar with Ryanair, this is pretty much standard for them. Since Bergamo is not the same place as Milan, it's not as easy to reach, meaning we had to take the 7:40 bus the night before and hang out at the airport until 4:30 AM when the check in counter opened. Red Bull is an amazing thing. Not surprisingly, there were a lot of people in the airport doing the same thing for different Ryanair destinations. But don't get me wrong, Ryanair is cheap (45$) if you're willing to put up with this kind of stuff.

When we arrived in "Paris," Hannah and I bought our bus tickets to real Paris and went outside. Suddenly, we realized that we forgot our checked luggage, and we had left the security area so we couldn't get back in. Luckily, the security area isn't very secure and we just walked back in, grabbed our bags, and left.

At 10:30am (yes, it was a 2 hour bus ride from "Paris" to Paris), when we reached real Paris, I was completely overwhelmed. Getting a ticket for the Metro was an ordeal, but soon enough we were on our way to the hostel.

After we left our stuff there, we went on the "free" tour of Paris, which wasn't as good as the "free" tour of Berlin, but still better than sleeping through one of our two days in Paris. Later, we went to the Pere Lachise (??? I don't have time to look up the name) Cemetery, where all of the famous people are burried, but we didn't have time to find any of them, since it closes at 6PM. We went back today and visited Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison. Even the graves of the non-famous are interesting though.

So, what else did we do today...well, we spent the morning in the Louvre, and yes, I saw the Mona Lisa and the Venus de (di?) Milo, along with hundreds of other paintings and sculptures. The hype surrounding the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo isn't really justified. Yes, they're beautiful, but the whole museum is filled with beautiful paintings and scupltures that hardly any of the visitors go to because they're not as famous. Kind of like Venice. Everyone walks down the same streets, and if you go one street over you feel like you're the only person in the entire city, which is nice when you have to hide from the Venice police and eat a sandwhich like Hannah and I did.


We had a (legal) sandwhich at the Louve, and then walked down the Champs Elysee to see the Arch de Triumph (yet again, I'm not going to look up the spelling). Next was the Eifel Tower, and then back to the cemetery. We tried walking from the cemetery to the hostel, but it was so far that we ended up having to take a more indirect route on the subway. Oops.

About the Parisians being rude, I don't know. I haven't really interacted with them. This city is really stressful though, and certianly full of crazy people.

I'd love to write more, but my internet time is nearly up, and Germany is playing Turkey in Euro2008 right now, so obviously, that is my priority at the moment.

Tomorrow I'm off to the west coast of Ireland, and I can't wait.

btw: the spell check is broken, sorry

Italia!

Yesterday evening we arrived in Italy by train from Munich. I don't think that I've written about Munich yet, and well, there isn't too much to say. The weather was pretty cold and rainy, so we just spent a lot of time indoors with Hannah's family, who we stayed with.

Luckily, the weather in Italy has been amazing. Today we went with my friend Barbara to Verona, where she goes to school, and we walked around the city while she took an exam. We met up with her later and had lunch, saw the arena, and also the Juliet House. Although, Verona is where Romeo and Juliet is set, everyone is pretty sure that this was NOT Juliet's house. It's just a really old house that has been turned into a tourist trap. There is some cool graffiti on the walls nearby though. In the afternoon we took the train back to Desenzano del Garda, which is a town close to Barbara's house. She lives in one of the small towns on Lake Garda, and the view from the second floor is absolutely amazing. From the front yard we can see a medieval castle. It's incredible.

What else? Well, I've had gelato three times since I've been here, and tomorrow we're going to Venice for the day. Love it!

Nürnberg

So, now we're in Nürnberg, or in English, Nuremberg.

We arrived here yesterday, and it's been nice so far. We're staying with my former flatmate, Lisa, and we've met lots of her friends so far.

Last night we went to her university to watch a public showing of Euro 2008: Germany vs. Crotia. Afterwards, when Germany lost, we went to mourn at the beer garden next to the castle. Today we walked around more of the historic city center, and then we went to the Documentation Center, which is a museum about the rise of the Nazi party, housed at the location of the Nazi rallies. They also had some information on the Nuremberg trials as well, which I guess is what Nuremberg is most famous for in the US, but there is a lot more to the city than that, and in Germany Nuremberg is really famous for it's Christmas market and a special kind of sausage.

This evening we had a barbeque, and Hannah and I got to make the hamburgers since we're the Americans. I think they turned out pretty well. Everyone ate too much though, and I still feel really full.

I don't know what we're doing tomorrow, except that I want to try a Berliner doughnut at some point, and in the evening we're taking the train to Munich.

Dresden!

Dresden is my location at the moment, and I'm having a great time here. The first night I was tired, so I just went to a park near the hostel and relaxed. The second day, Hannah and I borrowed bikes from the hostel and rode up the Elbe River to the Blue Wonder Bridge and back. I guess the whole trip was around 10 kilometers. It was a really nice way to spend the morning. We got to sit by the river a little bit, and see some really nice houses along the way. Of course, we saw some not so nice East German apartment blocks as well. Later, we met with my friend Andreas who lives outside of Dresden, but studied in Finland during the past year. He showed us around the old part of the city, which isn't really that old since it was all rebuilt after German reunification. We then went to the new part of the city, which is actually older since it wasn't completely destroyed during the war.

Today we went to Saxon Switzerland, which is a nearby national park with lots of beautiful rock formations, and trees. Another traveler we met at the hostel went with us, and luckily, he actually knows some German, which was really helpful. Otherwise, we would have been completely lost trying to find the hiking trail.

After we walked around the park we rode on the train to a little town and had some food. The woman at the snack counter was so nice! I think she was really impressed with Mario's German, and the fact that we aren't from Europe. At the end of our meal she offered us free cake, but we were too full, so she gave us little bottles of a local liqueur instead. She said that we're not allowed to drink it though, so I guess I'll just hang on to it for luck. It was a really good time, and I got some beautiful photos of cute little German towns, and the beautiful Elbe valley.

Well, I'm nearly out of internet time so I have to write fast. Hopefully my writing isn't too hard to follow. Tomorrow we're off to Nuremberg, and I hope we have just as good of a time there.

Edit: I was just looking at my last post, and remembered that I wrote about running into someone from Davis High in Berlin. In a totally crazy coincidence, I actually saw more people that I know from California in Berlin. In the fall I took a German lit. class, and while I was waiting for the subway I saw my professor, along with a bunch of HSU students touring Germany. Crazy... this world is so small!

Day 3 in Berlin

I'm feeling better, so it seems like my cold was pretty short. The beds at the last hostel were unbelievably comfortable, which was just what I needed. I was able to get lots of sleep, and that helped a lot. Today we had to move to another hostel, and I don't like this one as much. It's not as pretty, and they charge for nearly everything. The actual charge per night is pretty low though, so I guess we'll break even in the end.

Today, Hannah and I went on an amazing free walking tour of Berlin (of course, we tipped at the end, so it wasn't really free, but it was still worth it). The guide was hilarious, and we saw lots of interesting things. At first, Berlin doesn't seem very impressive, but once you hear the stories behind the buildings, and look a little closer at things which could easily be over looked it's really an incredible place. Among some of the things we saw were the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, and the parking lot where Hitler's Bunker once was.

Before we went on the tour we walked around the Holocaust Memorial a little bit, and we ran into a guy I went to high school with. How weird is that?!? Apparently, he was studying in Sweden during the past semester and had decided to travel during the summer as well. It was bizarre and cool at the same time. He told me that while he was in London he also ran into someone else from Davis High. So who knows, maybe this isn't the last person from California that I'll run into.

Hmmm...what else? Yesterday, we spent nearly an entire afternoon in the Jewish Museum, which was wonderful. There was just so much to do there, and the building itself was fascinating. We also went to the largest stretch of the Berlin Wall, which isn't too far from our last hostel. I got some amazing pictures there, but they'll have to wait, since this computer doesn't have a place for USB cables, and the internet here is too expensive any way.

Tomorrow, we're going on the Alternative Berlin tour, which should be a blast. The guy who organizes it was hanging around our old hostel, and he is quite the character. There is supposed to be a lot of abandoned building and flea market exploring. Good times.

Something more substantial

I didn't nap today, so I don't have much energy to go out this evening. The hostel computers are free, luckily, so I have writing to occupy my time. I think I'll just do a stream of conciousness style description of my past couple days. I already wrote about the Anne Frank Museum, and after that all Hannah and I did was just wander around the canals some more, and take a quick peak into the red light district. It's a bizarre place, but not as scandalous as one would think. The locals seem so comfortable with the whole thing that it really takes away the taboo edge of the district. I think the red light district in San Francisco is a lot worse, because everything is made to look more illicit and underground. Of course, in San Francisco there aren't half naked women in the windows, but that's what makes Amsterdam what it is, I guess... I don't know, I'm still processing it.

The next day, so I guess that would be yesterday, the 4th, Hannah and I got a later start. We checked out of the hostel around 10:30AM, and we took the tram to the central station and stored our bags. We then took the free ferry to North Amsterdam. It wasn't really that exciting, but it was something to do. I don't know if I mentioned this already, but Amsterdam was really quite humid, but since it wasn't so hot, it was actually nice. My hair was extra curly.

After our North Amsterdam adventure, we headed back to the Jordaan for Electric Lady Land, which is a gallery of florescant art on top of the world's first ever museum of florescent art. It was absolutely amazing. The owner/creator/artist gave us a guided tour through the museum, and explaned the scientific process behind florescence, gave us a huge pamphlet on it, and showed us various types of flourescent art. If your ever in Amsterdam, I highly recommend it!

Also, you can check out the website here. I got some great photos, but I can't put them up at the moment.

Hannah and I then killed more time walking around the city, looking in shops, buying fries off the street, eating ice cream cones, and sitting by the canals. Eventually it was time to go to the bus station though. As we were waiting for the train this guy came up to us and started telling us that the international trains were in some other part of the station. Since we were just taking a local train to the bus station I just kind of ignored him, but he got more persistent, like we didn't understand him. Eventually, I just had to tell him "we're not taking an international train, we're going to Amstel station," but he didn't let up, he had to tell us, "oh, that train is here."

"Yeah, that's why we're waiting here."

When I actually need help in a city, no one is there, but all of a sudden when I have stuff figured out, someone has to come up and ruin mz moment for me. Sure we have big backpacks on, but that doesn't mean we're taking the international train! So annoying.

Speaking of the international train, so yeah, we took the bus. The driver only made the announcements in Polish, and by the end of the ride someone had managed to piss over every single sq. inch of the bathroom, but it was still good. I got some sleep, and it only cost 24 euro. Amazing.

We had an epic time checking in to the hostel this morning, and Hannah nearly fell asleep on the train, but some how everything worked out.

Tomorrow, I'm going to get up a decent hour and check out a walking tour.

Word.

Berlin no. 1

Around 6:30AM, Hannah and I arrived in Berlin by bus. Quite an adventure, but we made it in one piece. Unfortunately, both of us have picked up colds on the way. Hannah's is a lot worse than mine, and she didn't get any sleep last night, so she's been napping on and off all day. I don't know how much we'll be able to do today, but that's alright since we have a while in Berlin. The German language is a little intimidating though. Dutch was so fun because I felt like I could almost understand it. After the little bits of Swedish that I picked up in Finland, along with English, Dutch seemed to make some sense, but German is a lot harder. Again, I wish I could go on and on in detail, but internet is a luxury, and German keyboards are impossible. The z is where the y should be, and when I want ' I get # or ä or ö. So, just know that I'm doing alright, despite the slight cold, and I'm looking forward to exploring Berlin.

Amsterdam, again...

Hi again. I found another chance to write, so I thought I would take advantage of it. It's almost 11PM, and I'm getting ready to go to bed. Hannah and I decided not to go to the Rijk's Museum today because it's a little expensive, but we did go to the Anne Frank House, Van Gogh, and on a canal cruise. The Anne Frank House was the best place we went today, by far, but it was also incredibly emotional. Tomorrow, we have until 8:30PM in the city, so we should be able to see a couple other museums before we leave. Then we'll be on a bus for 10 hours. We're definitely packing some snacks with us. I wish I could share some photos, but the computer here isn't so good, and the internet is a little expensive, so it would take too much time and money to get them up. Speaking of paying for the internet, my money has nearly run out so I need to go...

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Amsterdam

We made it to Amsterdam! I love this city. Even with a bus strike, rain, and random weirdness, it is perfect. Even though we've only been here since yesterday afternoon, I already like Amsterdam so much more than Dublin. Dublin was too crowded, and there were just too many cheesy tourist things, like really bad street performers, and people dressed like leprechauns. There were also a lot of trashy hen parties all over the place. I'm still looking forward to going back to Ireland at the end of the month, but I will only be in Dublin for one more night. Amsterdam, on the other hand, is so great that I wish I would stay here until the end of the month. The buildings and the canals are just so beautiful, and this city really feels a lot safer and calmer than Dublin. Today Hannah and I are planning on visiting the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House, and possibly going on a boat ride through the canals. We'll see how things go.

I only have about 10 more minutes of internet left, but I think I need to leave now so we can get to the Van Gogh Museum around the time it opens. I really wish I could write more, but I just don't have time. Just wanted everyone to know that Hannah and I are doing well, and we're having a great time.

Dublin

I made it to Dublin on Friday, and I'm finally reunited with Hannah. The weather here is pretty warm, and I've been struggling with the change in climate and time zone as Hannah guides me throughout the city. At the moment we're in an internet cafe trying to catch up life and book some hostels for our return to Dublin. We've discovered that nearly everything that we wanted to see in Dublin can be done in two days, so when we return at the end of the month we'll go to a different part of the country.

So far we've been to the Christ Church Cathedral, Dublinia (a Viking museum), and the Guiness Storehouse among other places. I really enjoyed Dublinia, but I felt like I was being brainwashed at the Guiness Storehouse.

After were done here, we're probably going to head to St. Patrick's Cathedral and maybe the Oscar Wilde monument. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow...Viva Amsterdam!