Northern Ireland was my favorite trip so far, words cannot describe what I saw the past few days and the photos do NOT do it justice (the pics are posted, click the link to the right). We had to catch the 9:35am train to Belfast but I stayed up late the night before with Joe and Derrick. I packed before going to bed. We were planning on leaving the apartments at 8am so I set my alarm for 7:30am. I must have shut it off in my sleepy stupor because I was woken up by Adam throwing things at my window at 8:05am. This led to a frantic scramble to get ready in 10 minutes resulting in no morning shower or shave. We didn't want to be late so we took a cab from St. Stephens Green to the Dublin Connolly station, it cost 9 euros but we actually had enough time to walk it. I slept most of the way on the train and we arrived in Belfast around 11:45am and the IES bus took us to a restaurant called The Crown Bar where I got Lasagna. Joe and Derrick got the Beef and Guinness pie which was delicious; I need to break from the norm and order stuff like that. At 1:30pm, we took a Black Cab Tour to the 'trouble spots' of Dublin.
After the tour, the bus took us to Portrush, the seaside town where our hotel was located. It was about 2 hours north of Belfast. Joe and I stayed in the same room. I had a migraine so I took some pills and a nap while everyone had dinner at around 8pm. After that, I met everyone in the bar downstairs in the hotel where we played some pool and just mingled for the night. We ended the night with Joe, Derrick, Holly, and I hanging out in my hotel room and finishing off a 3 litre bottle of cider that I brought on the trip to save some money at the bar.
Joe and I slept through breakfast which was 8-10am. We caught the bus at 10:15 am which took us to the Bushmills Whiskey Distillery. The tour was great, the tour guide was real informative as opposed to the Guinness Factory where the tour is self-guided. There was a whiskey tasting at the end of the tour but I passed mine to Derrick because I wasn't in the mood for whiskey at noon. We then took the bus to a place called "The Nook" where we had soup, sandwiches, and tea or coffee. It was a mediocre meal. At 3pm or so we then went to the Giant's Causeway. Even though it was not advised, Adam Derrick, Joe and I took the top trail first along the top of the cliffs overlooking the causeway. After about an hour we walked down to the causeway where I took the best photos of my life. The waves were huge and crashed onto the causeway. The whole place was surreal; huge, crashing waves on a causeway that no one knows for sure how it was built. Afterwards, we stopped at the Dunluce Castle on our way back to the hotel. We relaxed for about an hour at the hotel until we walked 25 minutes to downtown Portrush to the Coast Restaurant. We were allowed one drink, a main course, and either an appetizer or dessert. I got a pint of Guinness with a sliced rump steak dish in tomato sauce with onions. It was delicious; the pic is in my photo album. I paid extra to get cheesy bread as an appetizer (mediocre) and a double chocolate brownie cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert. After stuffing ourselves to the max, we went to a pub for a few pints for a few hours. Nothing too exciting, but to commence our night, Adam, Derrick, Joe, and I stayed up til 3:30 am just talking. It was a great time just laughing with the guys. I could have stayed up later but we would all be miserable the next day.
On Saturday, Joe and I made it to breakfast which wasn't all that good. I had some fruit and yogurt along with eggs and bacon. For our last stop for the weekend, IES took us to the Carrick a Rede rope bridge which was a bit scary, I won't lie. After making it over, I crossed over the roped off area to get a bit higher on the little island we were on. The 2 advisors were a little mad and the guy watching the bridge yelled at us. I figured we journeyed this far, why not take an extra 25 steps up higher. The high area was roped off due to the extremely windy conditions. From there we took the bus to Belfast, ate in the train station to get rid of the rest of our pounds (Northern Ireland uses the British Pound, not Euros, as currency). So far, this was my favorite trip. I just soaked in the scenery of the whole weekend and spent it with some great people. Giant's Causeway is a must see in Ireland. Cheers!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Galway and Aran Islands
This blog is long overdue. Last weekend I traveled west to the "Culture Capital" of Ireland, Galway Friday morning. Derrick, Adam, Joe, Kayleen, Jeanine, Monica, Elizabeth, and I all stayed in Galway at a nice hostel called Sleep Zone on Friday night. Derrick's ex-girlfriend Erica was there too; she is studying in London this semester. On Saturday, Erica and Derrick left to go back so he could show her around Dublin. We opted for the train ride instead of the bus west. It cost an extra 12 euros but it was more comfortable and quicker by about 1.5 hours. However, on the train ride there... I tried to catch up on some sleep but there was a group of approximately 8 women who were obnoxiously loud. They were all middle-aged probably on their mid-life no husband trip, seriously. They yelled no husbands and popped champagne and drank the whole way! Adam, Joe, and I arrived at Galway before the girls and Derrick and Erica arrived on their buses. We checked into the hostel (sorry no pics for the hostel) and the girl at the front desk suggested for us to eat at the "Couch Potato." This was a great little restaurant that offered all different types of baked potatoes. I got a potato with chili and cheese. They had some neat pictures on the walls of potatoes dressed like famous people such as Elvis or John Wayne. We went back to the hostel, which had a community kitchen, pool table, and TV. It was so much nicer than the Amsterdam hostel. It was a small room with 8 beds and a bathroom with showers. We then went shopping for a little and hit up an art gallery to kill some time until everyone else arrived.
We met up with Erica and Derrick at a pub where we all got a pint. We talked to the bartender and I forget what he said exactly but he didn't consider Dublin part of Ireland (someone must be a little sour that Dublin is so great... I love the big city). We then went down to a place called the King's Head so Derrick and Erica could get fish and chips while the rest of us had a pint. We met up with the girls and went back to the hostel to get ready for the night. We had a weird guy from London in our room that talked to us a lot. He was in Galway on business, he works with terminally ill HIV patients. He was on his bed watching Charmed. We talked about how we wanted to go to this bar called the LA Club but the English guy said it was a gay bar (I think he knew first-hand, if you know what I mean). We pregamed a bit at the hostel then we went to a crowded pub where a bad was playing. It was fun but we wanted to find a place to dance so we went back to the King's Head where there was a DJ. Of course, the Americans were the few people dancing in the whole pub, but we had a good time and Jeanine turned 22 at midnight.
The next morning we checked out at 10 am and we checked out Galway. We went to some stores, a mall, and an open air market. I bought some cool boxers that are an American flag on the left side and an Irish flag on the right side. I would have rather left Galway earlier to go spend the day at the Aran Island so we could rent bikes but we didn't. We had to take a one hour bus ride up the coast to catch the ferry that took us to the largest Aran Island called Inis Mor. It is 2 miles wide by 9 miles long. I got a bit seasick even when the captain said it was a fairly calm day on the waters. So needless to say I withdrew my application to be on the Discovery Channel show called "Deadliest Catch." We got to Inis Mor as the sun was down. We walked to our hostel which was quite interesting (pics online). We had to walk up a hill, past a bar with roosters outside, then hang a right down a dark road which was lit up by one lamppost (that had a red light bulb)! We then came to 2 small houses, one which we stayed in and another for the lady who ran the hostel. First about the lady... we thought she was a witch that was going to use her witchcraft or voodoo on us if we did not pay (The captain of the ferry called the lady who ran the hostel a druggie). Back to our hostel... it had 2 bedrooms with 2 bunk beds each. So Elizabeth, Jeanine, Monica, Kayleen and Adam stayed in the one room. Adam and Kayleen split a bed because the only other open bed was a single bed which was in its own room that was just big enough for a cot. This little room was gross; it was a small patio with a door to the outside that someone shoved a cot into. I used this room as a place to keep my bag in and change in. Now why wouldn't I just change and keep my stuff in my room? Because Joe and I slept on the top bunks of two 80-year old ladies (a pic of Helen is on my webshots). One was from Alaska and the other from Texas. They were here traveling throughout Ireland and Europe for a few weeks. The one even busted out pictures of her grandchildren!
We then we out to eat, but our options were limited with only 2 open restaurants on the island. The restaurant we ate at was delicious. I got a 3-meat pizza while others got burgers, soup, or skillet fajitas. We spent the whole time joking about our roommate or the hostel owner and her witchcraft. We also sung to Jeanine for her birthday. After that, we went back to the hostel and watched the newest episode of The Office on Jeanine's computer then got to bed early.
We woke up at 8 and made breakfast then ventured out to find the cliffs on edge of the island. We had to walk along a road seaside, then hike up a cobblestone road past a few houses and lots of rock walls until we reached our epic destination. I truly felt on the edge of the world. Check out my pictures; they made this whole trip worth it. Of course I was the risk taker in the group. I sat on the edge of the cliffs for pictures and I also jumped over a small gap to get even farther out. We were there for about an hour then we departed to get our stuff at the hostel and catch the noontime ferry back. We then took a double-decker bus back to Galway. The view form the bus was just gorgeous the whole way back. We then grabbed some lunch and Joe and I played some video poker for money. I was up 2 euros but then ended the game down 1 euro. The girls then caught their bus and we hopped on our train to return to this great city we call DUBLIN. I then spent my Sunday night in Joe's apartment writing a screenplay on a child growing up in a Dublin tenement in the late 19th century for our Irish Communal Identity class. Well... that was my trip and I urge you to check out my pics! Cheers!
We met up with Erica and Derrick at a pub where we all got a pint. We talked to the bartender and I forget what he said exactly but he didn't consider Dublin part of Ireland (someone must be a little sour that Dublin is so great... I love the big city). We then went down to a place called the King's Head so Derrick and Erica could get fish and chips while the rest of us had a pint. We met up with the girls and went back to the hostel to get ready for the night. We had a weird guy from London in our room that talked to us a lot. He was in Galway on business, he works with terminally ill HIV patients. He was on his bed watching Charmed. We talked about how we wanted to go to this bar called the LA Club but the English guy said it was a gay bar (I think he knew first-hand, if you know what I mean). We pregamed a bit at the hostel then we went to a crowded pub where a bad was playing. It was fun but we wanted to find a place to dance so we went back to the King's Head where there was a DJ. Of course, the Americans were the few people dancing in the whole pub, but we had a good time and Jeanine turned 22 at midnight.
The next morning we checked out at 10 am and we checked out Galway. We went to some stores, a mall, and an open air market. I bought some cool boxers that are an American flag on the left side and an Irish flag on the right side. I would have rather left Galway earlier to go spend the day at the Aran Island so we could rent bikes but we didn't. We had to take a one hour bus ride up the coast to catch the ferry that took us to the largest Aran Island called Inis Mor. It is 2 miles wide by 9 miles long. I got a bit seasick even when the captain said it was a fairly calm day on the waters. So needless to say I withdrew my application to be on the Discovery Channel show called "Deadliest Catch." We got to Inis Mor as the sun was down. We walked to our hostel which was quite interesting (pics online). We had to walk up a hill, past a bar with roosters outside, then hang a right down a dark road which was lit up by one lamppost (that had a red light bulb)! We then came to 2 small houses, one which we stayed in and another for the lady who ran the hostel. First about the lady... we thought she was a witch that was going to use her witchcraft or voodoo on us if we did not pay (The captain of the ferry called the lady who ran the hostel a druggie). Back to our hostel... it had 2 bedrooms with 2 bunk beds each. So Elizabeth, Jeanine, Monica, Kayleen and Adam stayed in the one room. Adam and Kayleen split a bed because the only other open bed was a single bed which was in its own room that was just big enough for a cot. This little room was gross; it was a small patio with a door to the outside that someone shoved a cot into. I used this room as a place to keep my bag in and change in. Now why wouldn't I just change and keep my stuff in my room? Because Joe and I slept on the top bunks of two 80-year old ladies (a pic of Helen is on my webshots). One was from Alaska and the other from Texas. They were here traveling throughout Ireland and Europe for a few weeks. The one even busted out pictures of her grandchildren!
We then we out to eat, but our options were limited with only 2 open restaurants on the island. The restaurant we ate at was delicious. I got a 3-meat pizza while others got burgers, soup, or skillet fajitas. We spent the whole time joking about our roommate or the hostel owner and her witchcraft. We also sung to Jeanine for her birthday. After that, we went back to the hostel and watched the newest episode of The Office on Jeanine's computer then got to bed early.
We woke up at 8 and made breakfast then ventured out to find the cliffs on edge of the island. We had to walk along a road seaside, then hike up a cobblestone road past a few houses and lots of rock walls until we reached our epic destination. I truly felt on the edge of the world. Check out my pictures; they made this whole trip worth it. Of course I was the risk taker in the group. I sat on the edge of the cliffs for pictures and I also jumped over a small gap to get even farther out. We were there for about an hour then we departed to get our stuff at the hostel and catch the noontime ferry back. We then took a double-decker bus back to Galway. The view form the bus was just gorgeous the whole way back. We then grabbed some lunch and Joe and I played some video poker for money. I was up 2 euros but then ended the game down 1 euro. The girls then caught their bus and we hopped on our train to return to this great city we call DUBLIN. I then spent my Sunday night in Joe's apartment writing a screenplay on a child growing up in a Dublin tenement in the late 19th century for our Irish Communal Identity class. Well... that was my trip and I urge you to check out my pics! Cheers!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Mon Oct 6th - Thurs Oct 9th
Monday, I slept in until 12:30pm (11 hours). I made it to class on time at 1:30pm. During our 2.5 hour classes we get a 10 minute break halfway through. During this I bought a coke and ham and cheese sandwich next door at the convenient store. After class I went downtown and went to a camera store where the guy popped my lens back into place (b/c i dropped it on my 21st bday night... never let the 21st bday guy be the camera man!) Hopefully it works ok and focuses. I will try it out this weekend and hopefully won't have to buy a new one next week. I then went to HMV which is a music store to get some headphones because my current ones hurt my ears. I paid using the 20 euro giftcard I won by answering the IES Question of the Week email. I was lucky that I was on my webmail right when she sent the message and I quickly replied. I then proceeded to walk around the St. Stephen's Green shopping center where I found a nice black long sleeve Giorgio Armani shirt for a remarkable 20 euros. It seems authentic too, all the tags are Armani. After that, I hopped on the Luas back home and stopped at the Dundrum shopping center to get groceries and stuff. The Dundrum shopping center is the biggest shopping center in Ireland... so come visit me! I stopped in at H&M to pick up a nice black wool pea coat as a Bday present for myself but they were sold out. They are getting more in and I plan on stopping back in. i then got groceries at Tesco and came home, threw some laundry in, cooked penne pasta and frozen chicken breasts (it says chicken steaks on the package, weird!). I then watched an episode of Sopranos (I'm addicted! halfway season 3).
The rest of the week was just an anxious build up waiting to leave for Galway and the Aran Islands. I just want to see the Cliffs of Mohr so bad! Thursday I stopped into H&M with Derrick to pick up the peacoat but they did not have a medium for me to try on. I am unsure if I should just get the Large. Anyways, I bought a nice light blue long sleeve button-up and a lgiht blue undershirt to go with it. Thursday night, Joe, his roommates, and I went to Kayleen's for the weekly dinner exchange. They made homemade supreme pizza. They even made the dough! The pizza had pepperoni, black olives, onions, green peppers, sausage, and mushrooms. Now many of you may know that I do not eat the majority of these things but I ate it because it was just delectable. I then hurried out to meet up with a friend from Penn State. He is studying abroad in Seville, Spain but visited Ireland for an extended weekend trip. He was shocked (so were his friends) about how expensive beer is here. Finally, someone else sees the financial pain I am enduring. He, Jason, was a summer analyst in the Nittany Lion Fund this summer just like I was. Thursday afternoon, I emailed the exec board of the Fund to inquire about a position in 2009, because I cannot make the interviews (for obvious reasons). They interview in early November so hopefully I still get some consideration. I'll post in a day or two about Galway and the Aran Islands. But I will upload the pics from my 21st Bday tonight
The rest of the week was just an anxious build up waiting to leave for Galway and the Aran Islands. I just want to see the Cliffs of Mohr so bad! Thursday I stopped into H&M with Derrick to pick up the peacoat but they did not have a medium for me to try on. I am unsure if I should just get the Large. Anyways, I bought a nice light blue long sleeve button-up and a lgiht blue undershirt to go with it. Thursday night, Joe, his roommates, and I went to Kayleen's for the weekly dinner exchange. They made homemade supreme pizza. They even made the dough! The pizza had pepperoni, black olives, onions, green peppers, sausage, and mushrooms. Now many of you may know that I do not eat the majority of these things but I ate it because it was just delectable. I then hurried out to meet up with a friend from Penn State. He is studying abroad in Seville, Spain but visited Ireland for an extended weekend trip. He was shocked (so were his friends) about how expensive beer is here. Finally, someone else sees the financial pain I am enduring. He, Jason, was a summer analyst in the Nittany Lion Fund this summer just like I was. Thursday afternoon, I emailed the exec board of the Fund to inquire about a position in 2009, because I cannot make the interviews (for obvious reasons). They interview in early November so hopefully I still get some consideration. I'll post in a day or two about Galway and the Aran Islands. But I will upload the pics from my 21st Bday tonight
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Amsterdam Weekend
This weekend, as most of you are aware, I embarked to Amsterdam meeting up with my 3 friends from my b frat... Maha in Barcelona, Leslie in London, and Amy in Florence. Joe and I found a cheaper flight from Belfast, Northern Ireland so we left Thursday night from Dublin on a Train. We figured it out, when it was all said and done that the Belfast idea did not make it much cheaper, and we will pay for the convenience next time. However, it was an interesting night in Belfast...
We took a 2 hour train ride to Belfast, so we thought we would catch some ZZzzzZZ's; however, the ladies in front of us talked the whole time. I couldn't even sleep with my ear plugs. When we arrived at the train station, we were told that the bus stopped running to the airport so we caught a taxi. We had to stop at an ATM to pull out some Pounds because Northern Ireland is a separate country and operates much like England thus uses the pound as currency. The taxi cab was an old-fashioned English car. It had fold out seats that faced backward as well as the backseat that Joe and I sat on. The cab ride ended up costing us around $50. As we walked into the Airport, we realized how it will be a long night... we were one of like 5 people in the airport. We killed some time at the mini casino they had by playing some video poker. We then tried to sleep on the seats they had in the baggage claim/common area. There was a couple doing the same. However, it was extremely difficult to sleep due to the frequent interruptions. For instance, they tested the alarm in the airport several times. Also, every 15 minutes we would hear "Please do not leave your luggage unattended. It will be confiscated." But the most annoying interruption was the soda machine that would play "The ringo bus is coming, and everybody's jumping" song every 15 minutes or so. This is a song I remember from Junior High and I even hated it then. We caught about 2-3 hours of sleep that night. We got up at 5am to check-in and take our 6:50am flight to Amsterdam. The flight took roughly an hour and a half. Note to all: Do not travel to Belfast International Airport for the night in order to save a few euros... it was NOT worth the few saved euros (if we even ended up saving any when it was all said and done).
We dozed off a bit on the plane, but nothing significant. We met our friends Amy and Maha in the baggage claim. Maha brought a friend from her Barcelona program that goes to William & Mary in VA named Eliza. She was meeting up with her friend from W&A who coincidentally is studying abroad in Dublin through the University College of Dublin (I think) where she has business classes for 6 weeks then a 6-week business internship. I was a bit jealous I did not do this program, but hey, I'm in Dublin living the good life. No complaints. FYI I did get Eliza's friend's phone number so we can meet up with all our friends some weekend that we are actually staying in Dublin.
We caught a train from the airport to get closer to our hostel. We checked into the hostel, which was 58 euros for 2 nights. I hit the bathroom before going to the room, while everyone else continued on (this is an important tidbit). So I go up to the door that says "Rooms E-F." Through this door is a hallway with lockers that were labeled E1, E2, F1.... you get the idea; but each locker was designated for your bed number. From the hallway there was the E-room directly to the right and the F-room was at the end of the little hall. I trek down to F-room and my friends were MIA. So I go back to E-room and see them setting up their bed sheets. So I just assumed they were right and went with the flow (this is why my bathroom pit top was important). We then journey out around the city a little bit. We stopped at a great breakfast place called "Sara's Pancakes." They offered every type of pancake imaginable. For example, a Mexican pancake had hot sauce, meat, peppers, cheese, and so forth. They had English breakfasts and American breakfasts as well as other things. I have only had only regular pancakes, I've yet to branch out... but I did this time. I got the banana and bacon pancakes which were delicious. We then proceeded to walk around a bit, and mapped out our plans for tomorrow. We stopped back at the hostel where Joe and Eliza took a nap.
Maha, Amy, and I ventured out to locate the canal tour place and we ran into a market. Amy and I got bratwurst from the street vendor and Maha got a chicken quesadilla. Coincidentally Leslie runs into us at the market on her way from the train stop to our hostel. It's a small world. We then return to the hostel where Joe is out cold and hasn't moved an inch. However, we have a problem... someone has rightfully claimed our beds (remember we were in E-room). So we then got out stuff and moved into F-room. Here we run into problem #2; someone is in one of our beds! So we just claim some other beds in this room (read on for problem #3). Right around sunset, we all went on a canal cruise through Amsterdam which was fantastic. It was cool to see parts of Amsterdam that I would not have seen otherwise. Afterwards we headed toward the Hostel and we ate at a nearby Italian restaurant (which was decent but nothing amazing). Joe went back to be a baby and go to sleep but the rest of us ventured out to see the infamous red light district. Talk about a culture shock!!! It was awkward, interesting, disgusting, and hilarious all mixed into one milkshake. We then went into a bar to hang out for a little. And like clockwork, Maha was hit on by a creepy guy (she's a really pretty Egyptian girl.. you'll see in the pics) so I had to step in and tell him off. I should have played the boyfriend card... but I'll save that for when she gets hit on in State College. We then left the bar and called it a night so we could tackle Saturday. However, we were woken up at 2 am (problem #3) where some people came in and tried to kick Maha out of her bed. The guy from the desk then came up and we stated how someone was in our beds so we were told to claim the correct beds for Saturday night.
We woke up at 9am to get to the continental breakfast before it closed at 9:30am. It is common for Europeans to have cold cut salami, ham, and cheese for breakfast. I had 2 sandwiches, taking full advantage of the cold cuts because my Dublin diet is the three main food groups: frozen pizza, pasta, and beer. Ok, to be honest, I throw some beans and rice in my pasta sauce as well as occasional cold cuts, cereal, PB&J's, and a few other cheap things. Not exactly Mama Kimble's cooking but I manage. We then ventured to the Van Gogh museum where we paid 12 euros for entrance and an extra 4 euros for the audio tour, which was well worth it. We walked around there for a few hours checking out hundreds of his works and works of others. The tour explained his life and his paintings. He took his own life at a young 37; it's a shame because he could have painted so much more! After the museum we walked to a flea market which had food, clothes, electronics, and even toiletries. I picked up a messenger bag for a cool 10 euros. Afterwards, we went to an interesting restaurant called "Bazar." I got Turkish pizza which was like a pita and meat to dip in some white sauce. It was "unique" but good. The girls got Falafels and soup (Lentil soup, seafood soup); Joe got some meat which ended up looking like a big burger.
From the Bazar, we walked on over to the Heineken factory which was closed for renovations, just our luck. We wanted to go see the Anne Frank museum but it was on the other side of Amsterdam and Eliza said she was already there earlier in the day and the queue was ridiculously long (lines are called queues here in Ireland). We then hit some shops where I almost bought a wool coat at H&M but after seeking the Amy's second opinion, I realized it was a bit weird and I would rather pay the extra 20 euros for the wool pea coat I like here in Dublin (which I tried to buy today but they were sold out, they are getting more though). We hit some other shops then ventured back to the hostel. We rested a bit until the ladies came back. I then showered and we all went to a bar called Cafe Cuba. I bought a drink called Hemingway something which was good. I then switched back to my girlfriend, yes beer. We then walked through the red light district so Joe could see it. There really are red lights. The lights were in the windows and across the bridge. It's unbelievable that girls just stand in the windows and try to lure men in. We then hit some more bars, got lost, and I led us the wrong way (thanks Dad for your dismal sense of direction). We got back on track and went back to the hostel. When we returned, Joe and I paid 1.50 euros for 15 minutes on the computer to check our email, the Phillies game, and PSU game.
We got about 4 hours of sleep and we woke up at 6:45 to get ready to leave. We left hostel around 7:15-7:30. We walked to the train station; we were in a rush because our flights left between 9:45-10:05. We got to the train station, bought tickets, and the 8:11 train was cancelled, so Maha and Eliza caught a 40 euro taxi tot he airport. Amy, Leslie, Joe, and I took the 8:29 train and got there around 9am. We got through check-in and customs in time, as well as the girls. I stopped at the duty-free shop to pick up 2 shot glasses for 2 friends (which had a window and a girl on it for the red light district), a shot glass for myself (NOT red light district), and a bottle of German Vodka (spelled Wodka in Germany). The flight wasn't too bad; we dozed off a bit. From our "favorite" airport in Belfast, we took a bus to the train station. We ate in the station and caught the 1pm train back to Dublin. The scenery on the train ride was spectacular, it was actually worth the 40 euro round trip ticket to Belfast. If I did this all again, I would have paid the extra money to flight straight out of Dublin instead of Belfast, but it still made for a hilarious, interesting story. Amsterdam was a fun trip and a good weekend trip. The buildings and quaint little town was great. The Van Gogh museum was remarkable, as well as the canal tour. I'm excited to finally start traveling on the weekends. I'll blog sometime Thursday before I embark west to Galway and the Aran Islands for the weekend. In the meantime, google "Cliffs of Mohr" and check out pics of the place I will be this weekend. Cheers!
We took a 2 hour train ride to Belfast, so we thought we would catch some ZZzzzZZ's; however, the ladies in front of us talked the whole time. I couldn't even sleep with my ear plugs. When we arrived at the train station, we were told that the bus stopped running to the airport so we caught a taxi. We had to stop at an ATM to pull out some Pounds because Northern Ireland is a separate country and operates much like England thus uses the pound as currency. The taxi cab was an old-fashioned English car. It had fold out seats that faced backward as well as the backseat that Joe and I sat on. The cab ride ended up costing us around $50. As we walked into the Airport, we realized how it will be a long night... we were one of like 5 people in the airport. We killed some time at the mini casino they had by playing some video poker. We then tried to sleep on the seats they had in the baggage claim/common area. There was a couple doing the same. However, it was extremely difficult to sleep due to the frequent interruptions. For instance, they tested the alarm in the airport several times. Also, every 15 minutes we would hear "Please do not leave your luggage unattended. It will be confiscated." But the most annoying interruption was the soda machine that would play "The ringo bus is coming, and everybody's jumping" song every 15 minutes or so. This is a song I remember from Junior High and I even hated it then. We caught about 2-3 hours of sleep that night. We got up at 5am to check-in and take our 6:50am flight to Amsterdam. The flight took roughly an hour and a half. Note to all: Do not travel to Belfast International Airport for the night in order to save a few euros... it was NOT worth the few saved euros (if we even ended up saving any when it was all said and done).
We dozed off a bit on the plane, but nothing significant. We met our friends Amy and Maha in the baggage claim. Maha brought a friend from her Barcelona program that goes to William & Mary in VA named Eliza. She was meeting up with her friend from W&A who coincidentally is studying abroad in Dublin through the University College of Dublin (I think) where she has business classes for 6 weeks then a 6-week business internship. I was a bit jealous I did not do this program, but hey, I'm in Dublin living the good life. No complaints. FYI I did get Eliza's friend's phone number so we can meet up with all our friends some weekend that we are actually staying in Dublin.
We caught a train from the airport to get closer to our hostel. We checked into the hostel, which was 58 euros for 2 nights. I hit the bathroom before going to the room, while everyone else continued on (this is an important tidbit). So I go up to the door that says "Rooms E-F." Through this door is a hallway with lockers that were labeled E1, E2, F1.... you get the idea; but each locker was designated for your bed number. From the hallway there was the E-room directly to the right and the F-room was at the end of the little hall. I trek down to F-room and my friends were MIA. So I go back to E-room and see them setting up their bed sheets. So I just assumed they were right and went with the flow (this is why my bathroom pit top was important). We then journey out around the city a little bit. We stopped at a great breakfast place called "Sara's Pancakes." They offered every type of pancake imaginable. For example, a Mexican pancake had hot sauce, meat, peppers, cheese, and so forth. They had English breakfasts and American breakfasts as well as other things. I have only had only regular pancakes, I've yet to branch out... but I did this time. I got the banana and bacon pancakes which were delicious. We then proceeded to walk around a bit, and mapped out our plans for tomorrow. We stopped back at the hostel where Joe and Eliza took a nap.
Maha, Amy, and I ventured out to locate the canal tour place and we ran into a market. Amy and I got bratwurst from the street vendor and Maha got a chicken quesadilla. Coincidentally Leslie runs into us at the market on her way from the train stop to our hostel. It's a small world. We then return to the hostel where Joe is out cold and hasn't moved an inch. However, we have a problem... someone has rightfully claimed our beds (remember we were in E-room). So we then got out stuff and moved into F-room. Here we run into problem #2; someone is in one of our beds! So we just claim some other beds in this room (read on for problem #3). Right around sunset, we all went on a canal cruise through Amsterdam which was fantastic. It was cool to see parts of Amsterdam that I would not have seen otherwise. Afterwards we headed toward the Hostel and we ate at a nearby Italian restaurant (which was decent but nothing amazing). Joe went back to be a baby and go to sleep but the rest of us ventured out to see the infamous red light district. Talk about a culture shock!!! It was awkward, interesting, disgusting, and hilarious all mixed into one milkshake. We then went into a bar to hang out for a little. And like clockwork, Maha was hit on by a creepy guy (she's a really pretty Egyptian girl.. you'll see in the pics) so I had to step in and tell him off. I should have played the boyfriend card... but I'll save that for when she gets hit on in State College. We then left the bar and called it a night so we could tackle Saturday. However, we were woken up at 2 am (problem #3) where some people came in and tried to kick Maha out of her bed. The guy from the desk then came up and we stated how someone was in our beds so we were told to claim the correct beds for Saturday night.
We woke up at 9am to get to the continental breakfast before it closed at 9:30am. It is common for Europeans to have cold cut salami, ham, and cheese for breakfast. I had 2 sandwiches, taking full advantage of the cold cuts because my Dublin diet is the three main food groups: frozen pizza, pasta, and beer. Ok, to be honest, I throw some beans and rice in my pasta sauce as well as occasional cold cuts, cereal, PB&J's, and a few other cheap things. Not exactly Mama Kimble's cooking but I manage. We then ventured to the Van Gogh museum where we paid 12 euros for entrance and an extra 4 euros for the audio tour, which was well worth it. We walked around there for a few hours checking out hundreds of his works and works of others. The tour explained his life and his paintings. He took his own life at a young 37; it's a shame because he could have painted so much more! After the museum we walked to a flea market which had food, clothes, electronics, and even toiletries. I picked up a messenger bag for a cool 10 euros. Afterwards, we went to an interesting restaurant called "Bazar." I got Turkish pizza which was like a pita and meat to dip in some white sauce. It was "unique" but good. The girls got Falafels and soup (Lentil soup, seafood soup); Joe got some meat which ended up looking like a big burger.
From the Bazar, we walked on over to the Heineken factory which was closed for renovations, just our luck. We wanted to go see the Anne Frank museum but it was on the other side of Amsterdam and Eliza said she was already there earlier in the day and the queue was ridiculously long (lines are called queues here in Ireland). We then hit some shops where I almost bought a wool coat at H&M but after seeking the Amy's second opinion, I realized it was a bit weird and I would rather pay the extra 20 euros for the wool pea coat I like here in Dublin (which I tried to buy today but they were sold out, they are getting more though). We hit some other shops then ventured back to the hostel. We rested a bit until the ladies came back. I then showered and we all went to a bar called Cafe Cuba. I bought a drink called Hemingway something which was good. I then switched back to my girlfriend, yes beer. We then walked through the red light district so Joe could see it. There really are red lights. The lights were in the windows and across the bridge. It's unbelievable that girls just stand in the windows and try to lure men in. We then hit some more bars, got lost, and I led us the wrong way (thanks Dad for your dismal sense of direction). We got back on track and went back to the hostel. When we returned, Joe and I paid 1.50 euros for 15 minutes on the computer to check our email, the Phillies game, and PSU game.
We got about 4 hours of sleep and we woke up at 6:45 to get ready to leave. We left hostel around 7:15-7:30. We walked to the train station; we were in a rush because our flights left between 9:45-10:05. We got to the train station, bought tickets, and the 8:11 train was cancelled, so Maha and Eliza caught a 40 euro taxi tot he airport. Amy, Leslie, Joe, and I took the 8:29 train and got there around 9am. We got through check-in and customs in time, as well as the girls. I stopped at the duty-free shop to pick up 2 shot glasses for 2 friends (which had a window and a girl on it for the red light district), a shot glass for myself (NOT red light district), and a bottle of German Vodka (spelled Wodka in Germany). The flight wasn't too bad; we dozed off a bit. From our "favorite" airport in Belfast, we took a bus to the train station. We ate in the station and caught the 1pm train back to Dublin. The scenery on the train ride was spectacular, it was actually worth the 40 euro round trip ticket to Belfast. If I did this all again, I would have paid the extra money to flight straight out of Dublin instead of Belfast, but it still made for a hilarious, interesting story. Amsterdam was a fun trip and a good weekend trip. The buildings and quaint little town was great. The Van Gogh museum was remarkable, as well as the canal tour. I'm excited to finally start traveling on the weekends. I'll blog sometime Thursday before I embark west to Galway and the Aran Islands for the weekend. In the meantime, google "Cliffs of Mohr" and check out pics of the place I will be this weekend. Cheers!
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