I'm glad I have friends that send me fun videos. enjoy!
I wasn't sure weather to call this one pokergesicht, or polka face.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
oh yeah, and...
to those of you without access to facebook, I'm posting the pics from my vacation as we speak. It might take a while, because I have to use craptop to do it, but they will all be up soon!! hope you enjoy them!
Monday, April 20, 2009
English is a foreign language.
So over the past three weeks, Karen and I have encountered more language barriers than either of us ever have here in Germany. Most of the time, it was pretty funny, sometimes, annoying, but it was usually pretty quickly cleared up. I saved some of my favorite quotes, for my own enjoyment, and also to pass them along. Here are a few:
This one has more to do with the fact that apparently I can't hear anything, but still pretty fun.
Whitney: “Have you heard of Chopshop? It’s a tranny clothing store.”
Sean:(blank stare, snickers) “…that’s an appropriate name…”
What was actually asked: “Have you heard of topshop? It’s a trendy clothing store”
This one I enjoyed just because.
“Let’s get it on!” -Philip (a German), attempting to encourage us to go out to another pub.
Sean: (incredulous eyes, blatant laughter)
this one is one of the more typical ones we encountered. It took a good 90 seconds before we could understand each other.
Sean: “Do you have a map of the town?”
Store clerk in Lake District: “Pardon? I don’t understand what you’re asking me.”
Sean (in loud, special English): “A MAP. OF THE TOWN”
Clerk: (blank stare)
another fun one.
Philip: “You really stroked me off!” –trying to tell one of his friends that he had beaten him by some huge margin in Guitar Hero
Some of them don't count, because they're by Germans or Americans, but it was still really funny to encounter language barriers in a place that supposedly speaks the same language you do.
This one has more to do with the fact that apparently I can't hear anything, but still pretty fun.
Whitney: “Have you heard of Chopshop? It’s a tranny clothing store.”
Sean:(blank stare, snickers) “…that’s an appropriate name…”
What was actually asked: “Have you heard of topshop? It’s a trendy clothing store”
This one I enjoyed just because.
“Let’s get it on!” -Philip (a German), attempting to encourage us to go out to another pub.
Sean: (incredulous eyes, blatant laughter)
this one is one of the more typical ones we encountered. It took a good 90 seconds before we could understand each other.
Sean: “Do you have a map of the town?”
Store clerk in Lake District: “Pardon? I don’t understand what you’re asking me.”
Sean (in loud, special English): “A MAP. OF THE TOWN”
Clerk: (blank stare)
another fun one.
Philip: “You really stroked me off!” –trying to tell one of his friends that he had beaten him by some huge margin in Guitar Hero
Some of them don't count, because they're by Germans or Americans, but it was still really funny to encounter language barriers in a place that supposedly speaks the same language you do.
last easter break post
aaw, back home. sad that vacation is over, but glad that I'm back to real life. My brain, my liver, my pancreas, and my wallet are all glad that I can start my regular routine again.
Weds, Apr. 15- Nenagh, Kilkenny
Today might have been one of the most fun days of my life. Em and Karen and I started off the day by sleeping in, and then settling down to an amazing breakfast that Mrs. Geaney set out. At around noonish, we drove down to Kilkennny, which is apparently where our family is from, and wandered around for a few hours. The way there was un, in that the directions we had were in direct conflict with a construction site, and road closings, when we asked one of the construction guys how to get to Kilkenny, he gave us a paragraph of oral directions, then laughed, and said “Welcome to Ireland, its an adventure! You’ll find where you want to be eventually!” We did make it, and it was an adventure, and actually also really pretty along the way. Karen and Emily helped me navigate by waking up from their naps to yell LEFT or RIGHT. Helpful. We went to Kilkenny castle, which was really pretty, and then wandered around the medieval town for a bit, taking pictures, and visiting Blackstone Abbey. We headed back up to Nenagh, had some true Irish dinner, Bacon and cabbage, and then headed to the local pub, which plays traditional music. The pub, Paddy Rohans, was tiny and comfortable. The girls who were still there came by, and our party eventually filled up the entire back room (which is half of the pub.) Caoimhe’s dad came out to the pub too, and joined in the drinking and singing, and it was “great craic,” as they say here. The owner of the pub, coincidentally named paddy Rohan, came down, and partied with us, and we partook in a Paddy Rohan tradition of making it Karen’s birthday. Paddy Rohan came out with his signature birthday platter, which consists of slices of cheddar cheese with birthday candles in them, and jelly fruit slices. We sang Karen happy birthday, and danced, and she got to blow out her candles. After that, Paddy hung out with us, and we had some great conversations and songs and dances, (of which there is video, the girls teaching Karen and Emily how to jig!) and Paddy ended up talking to me about America, Maryland, and politics, which ended up with us singing the national anthem and waving a miniature American flag around. He asked me where my family was from, and I eventually told him Kilkenny. Paddy also took me aside, gave me a present of Irish orange marmalade, and wrote me a note on the envelope, which states: “To Sean Brennan, of Maryland and Kilkenny, from Paddy Rohan of Nenagh, County Tipperary Greetings from the Emerald Isle” Needless to say, its getting framed. We ended up closing down the bar at 330 in the morning, and Caoimhe, her dad, Karen, Em, and I all ended up staggering home at about 4.
Thurs, Apr. 16- Driving to Dublin, Dublin
We all woke up around noonish, only slightly worse for wear, had some breakfast/lunch, and packed up the silver hornet. We figured we had plenty of time to make the two hour drive into Dublin, to have the car back by 5, but we neglected to take into account the terrible directions we had, and Dublin traffic, which apparently is the equivalent of trying to get from one side of Manhattan to the other at 5 pm. We asked for directions, called the rental car office, and eventually, after almost 2 hours of driving in lost circles, (stop and go traffic, of course,) we got the car into the office at 4:55. We met up with Karen, another Fulbrighter who is in Dublin, and took the train back to her house, made dinner, had some drinks, and then passed out.
Fri, Apr. 17- Dublin
This morning was a little cloudy, but we got up early, and headed into the downtown area with the plan for the day in hand. We started off going to Trinity College, and went into the library to see the Book of Kells, which was amazing, and incredibly intricate, as well as the exhibit about bookmaking and the history of the Book of Kells. After that, it was after noon, so we headed to the old Jameson Brewery for the tour. We went through the tour, and Emily got selected to be a taste tester, which meant she got even MORE whisky than the rest of us, which actually worked out well, because she doesn’t like whisky, so she shared all of her samples with Karen and me! While there, we met an American family, who was in Ireland for a family reunion. Towards the end of the tour, after the tasting, they assembled for a picture, and called themselves the Brennan clan. My eyes got pretty big, and I told them I was one too. Apparently their family is from Galway, so we might be related, (and probably are,) but who knows for sure. After that, we stumbled over to Brazen Head, the oldest Pub in Dublin, which has apparently been there since 1198. We had some great bangers and mash, and then headed off to the Guinness storehouse, otherwise known as heaven. The tour itself was fun for me, because I love Guinness, but I suspect the girls didn’t have as much fun as I did. At the end, we all got free pints, which meant more drinking for me, being that Emily also does not like Guinness. I also got to finish Karen’s pint, and then I buzzed my way back to other Karen’s house to hang out and cook dinner. We had decided to have a “night out,” so we headed out to a club/pub around 11, where we met one of Karen’s friends Dustin, and hung out for a bit, had a few pints, and then made our way to a club to do a little dancing. The music was strange, and the club was packed, but it was fun going out and relaxing a little bit. Plus, I got to get my dance on, which is always fun for me, and probably amusing to everyone around me. We got home pretty late, and I’m about to pass out. Tomorrow is our last day of vacation, and it makes me sad.
Sat, Apr. 18- Dublin
Today was absolutely gorgeous, it was sunny and warm in Dublin, and everyone was outside, enjoying it. The group of us, the Karens, Emily, and I, walked around downtown, in St. Stephen’s Greene, and Grafton street, a big shopping/outdoorsy area. We wandered around downtown for a bit, looking for various things, and then went café hopping. We ended up in two great little cafés, one panera-type place, and then another one called butler’s chocolates, which, coincidentally, makes chocolate. We hung out and had some great (and very funny) conversations, before deciding to head back to Karen’s to relax, and for us to start packing to go home. Lesigh. I had plans to meet up with Aibhistin, one of my old friends from BC, who now lives in Dublin, but he ended up getting in late, so we went out to a pub instead. We started off at a nice little pub, caught up on life a bit, and then went to a club, and met up with a couple of his other friends, all of whom were really nice. Before I knew it, it was 4am, and I had to head back to Karen’s, in order to grab my stuff, and head out the door at 5 to catch my plane back to Göttingen. Needless to say, got on the plane and passed out.
Weds, Apr. 15- Nenagh, Kilkenny
Today might have been one of the most fun days of my life. Em and Karen and I started off the day by sleeping in, and then settling down to an amazing breakfast that Mrs. Geaney set out. At around noonish, we drove down to Kilkennny, which is apparently where our family is from, and wandered around for a few hours. The way there was un, in that the directions we had were in direct conflict with a construction site, and road closings, when we asked one of the construction guys how to get to Kilkenny, he gave us a paragraph of oral directions, then laughed, and said “Welcome to Ireland, its an adventure! You’ll find where you want to be eventually!” We did make it, and it was an adventure, and actually also really pretty along the way. Karen and Emily helped me navigate by waking up from their naps to yell LEFT or RIGHT. Helpful. We went to Kilkenny castle, which was really pretty, and then wandered around the medieval town for a bit, taking pictures, and visiting Blackstone Abbey. We headed back up to Nenagh, had some true Irish dinner, Bacon and cabbage, and then headed to the local pub, which plays traditional music. The pub, Paddy Rohans, was tiny and comfortable. The girls who were still there came by, and our party eventually filled up the entire back room (which is half of the pub.) Caoimhe’s dad came out to the pub too, and joined in the drinking and singing, and it was “great craic,” as they say here. The owner of the pub, coincidentally named paddy Rohan, came down, and partied with us, and we partook in a Paddy Rohan tradition of making it Karen’s birthday. Paddy Rohan came out with his signature birthday platter, which consists of slices of cheddar cheese with birthday candles in them, and jelly fruit slices. We sang Karen happy birthday, and danced, and she got to blow out her candles. After that, Paddy hung out with us, and we had some great conversations and songs and dances, (of which there is video, the girls teaching Karen and Emily how to jig!) and Paddy ended up talking to me about America, Maryland, and politics, which ended up with us singing the national anthem and waving a miniature American flag around. He asked me where my family was from, and I eventually told him Kilkenny. Paddy also took me aside, gave me a present of Irish orange marmalade, and wrote me a note on the envelope, which states: “To Sean Brennan, of Maryland and Kilkenny, from Paddy Rohan of Nenagh, County Tipperary Greetings from the Emerald Isle” Needless to say, its getting framed. We ended up closing down the bar at 330 in the morning, and Caoimhe, her dad, Karen, Em, and I all ended up staggering home at about 4.
Thurs, Apr. 16- Driving to Dublin, Dublin
We all woke up around noonish, only slightly worse for wear, had some breakfast/lunch, and packed up the silver hornet. We figured we had plenty of time to make the two hour drive into Dublin, to have the car back by 5, but we neglected to take into account the terrible directions we had, and Dublin traffic, which apparently is the equivalent of trying to get from one side of Manhattan to the other at 5 pm. We asked for directions, called the rental car office, and eventually, after almost 2 hours of driving in lost circles, (stop and go traffic, of course,) we got the car into the office at 4:55. We met up with Karen, another Fulbrighter who is in Dublin, and took the train back to her house, made dinner, had some drinks, and then passed out.
Fri, Apr. 17- Dublin
This morning was a little cloudy, but we got up early, and headed into the downtown area with the plan for the day in hand. We started off going to Trinity College, and went into the library to see the Book of Kells, which was amazing, and incredibly intricate, as well as the exhibit about bookmaking and the history of the Book of Kells. After that, it was after noon, so we headed to the old Jameson Brewery for the tour. We went through the tour, and Emily got selected to be a taste tester, which meant she got even MORE whisky than the rest of us, which actually worked out well, because she doesn’t like whisky, so she shared all of her samples with Karen and me! While there, we met an American family, who was in Ireland for a family reunion. Towards the end of the tour, after the tasting, they assembled for a picture, and called themselves the Brennan clan. My eyes got pretty big, and I told them I was one too. Apparently their family is from Galway, so we might be related, (and probably are,) but who knows for sure. After that, we stumbled over to Brazen Head, the oldest Pub in Dublin, which has apparently been there since 1198. We had some great bangers and mash, and then headed off to the Guinness storehouse, otherwise known as heaven. The tour itself was fun for me, because I love Guinness, but I suspect the girls didn’t have as much fun as I did. At the end, we all got free pints, which meant more drinking for me, being that Emily also does not like Guinness. I also got to finish Karen’s pint, and then I buzzed my way back to other Karen’s house to hang out and cook dinner. We had decided to have a “night out,” so we headed out to a club/pub around 11, where we met one of Karen’s friends Dustin, and hung out for a bit, had a few pints, and then made our way to a club to do a little dancing. The music was strange, and the club was packed, but it was fun going out and relaxing a little bit. Plus, I got to get my dance on, which is always fun for me, and probably amusing to everyone around me. We got home pretty late, and I’m about to pass out. Tomorrow is our last day of vacation, and it makes me sad.
Sat, Apr. 18- Dublin
Today was absolutely gorgeous, it was sunny and warm in Dublin, and everyone was outside, enjoying it. The group of us, the Karens, Emily, and I, walked around downtown, in St. Stephen’s Greene, and Grafton street, a big shopping/outdoorsy area. We wandered around downtown for a bit, looking for various things, and then went café hopping. We ended up in two great little cafés, one panera-type place, and then another one called butler’s chocolates, which, coincidentally, makes chocolate. We hung out and had some great (and very funny) conversations, before deciding to head back to Karen’s to relax, and for us to start packing to go home. Lesigh. I had plans to meet up with Aibhistin, one of my old friends from BC, who now lives in Dublin, but he ended up getting in late, so we went out to a pub instead. We started off at a nice little pub, caught up on life a bit, and then went to a club, and met up with a couple of his other friends, all of whom were really nice. Before I knew it, it was 4am, and I had to head back to Karen’s, in order to grab my stuff, and head out the door at 5 to catch my plane back to Göttingen. Needless to say, got on the plane and passed out.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Dingle, Cork, Blarney, Nenagh
Mon, Apr. 13- Dingle Peninsula
This morning, I woke up early, walked down into the city, and picked up the car we’re going to be renting till Thursday. It is a lovely 4-door Toyota Yaris, which I immediately nicknamed “the silver hornet.” It took a little while to get used to driving on the left side of the road, and also, shifting gears with my left hand, but so far, no accidents or problems. I have the girls remind me at intersections to make wide right turns, just so I don’t forget! We drove down to the Dingle peninsula, arriving in the town of Dingle around 1pm, and then drove down to the point. There is a road along the head of the peninsula that reminds me very much of driving through the Italian alps (queue: music from the opening of the original Italian job.) Karen and Emily and I stopped as often as we could to take pictures of the amazing scenery and cliffs along the head of the peninsula, and still managed not to get into any wrecks, even though the road was barely a lane wide, and it was two-way traffic!! Thank god the silver hornet is tiny!! We made our way back out to Tralee, a town inland from the peninsula, and found a hostel to crash at there. The hostel was this really cool old Victorian house, with giant rooms, and we passed out early, me from exhaustion after driving for 8 hours, the girls, exhausted from napping while I drove… my phone ran out of minutes.
Tues, Apr. 14- Blarney, Cork, Nenagh
Woke up relatively early this morning. (I had to coax Karen out of bed with the whisper: “free breakfast!” ,which helped a lot!) After that, we headed down the wrong side of the road towards Cork and Blarney. We arrived around noon, after navigating the often difficult and windy roads, and made our way towards the Blarney castle, and got to kiss the blarney stone! Thankfully, the man at the top of the castle had disinfectant spray right next to where he was sitting, so I hope I didn’t catch lip crabs or something! After that, we had a quick lunch on the road, (read: Sean spilling his lunch all over himself) and arrived in Cork at 1:03. I know it was 1:03 because the tourist office closes from 1-2, and we missed it by only 3 minutes. Being that none of us had any clue what there was to do in Cork, we meandered around for 45 mins, trying to find a parking spot, before finding a garage to park in. Then, we wandered around towards the info office, got a map, and then wandered around downtown for about two hours. When we had had enough aimless wandering, we got back into TSH, and headed up towards Nenagh, which took some navigating through Cork traffic, and impossible road signs that direct you in circles! (thanks cork, you suck!) Now, to further complicate this issue, my UK cell phone, which I bought in Scotland, had run out of minutes the previous evening. I figured it wouldn’t be a problem to “top up” my phone anywhere, being that this is a civilized country, but it turns out that no, T-Mobile does not exist at all in Ireland. In fact, they have never even heard of it. As I asked around, I got stared at like I was mentally deficient, before finally coming to grips with the fact that the only way I had of contacting the people we’re sleeping with tonight was: 1) out of minutes, and 2) out of battery power. Lovely. Thankfully, I also have 2 OTHER cell phones with me, so we got in touch with Caoimhe, and met up with her in Nenagh. Her mom made us an amazing dinner, and then we went out with most of the other girls from the Yacht Club last summer. It seems like so long ago, but really only yesterday that we all hung out, but we got to catch up, exchange stories, and share laughs over a few pints at one of their favorite local hangouts.
There is a plan for tomorrow, but I have no idea what it is! now, its bedtime!
ps, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEAGAN!!! you're old now!! and HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN!!! you're old now too.
This morning, I woke up early, walked down into the city, and picked up the car we’re going to be renting till Thursday. It is a lovely 4-door Toyota Yaris, which I immediately nicknamed “the silver hornet.” It took a little while to get used to driving on the left side of the road, and also, shifting gears with my left hand, but so far, no accidents or problems. I have the girls remind me at intersections to make wide right turns, just so I don’t forget! We drove down to the Dingle peninsula, arriving in the town of Dingle around 1pm, and then drove down to the point. There is a road along the head of the peninsula that reminds me very much of driving through the Italian alps (queue: music from the opening of the original Italian job.) Karen and Emily and I stopped as often as we could to take pictures of the amazing scenery and cliffs along the head of the peninsula, and still managed not to get into any wrecks, even though the road was barely a lane wide, and it was two-way traffic!! Thank god the silver hornet is tiny!! We made our way back out to Tralee, a town inland from the peninsula, and found a hostel to crash at there. The hostel was this really cool old Victorian house, with giant rooms, and we passed out early, me from exhaustion after driving for 8 hours, the girls, exhausted from napping while I drove… my phone ran out of minutes.
Tues, Apr. 14- Blarney, Cork, Nenagh
Woke up relatively early this morning. (I had to coax Karen out of bed with the whisper: “free breakfast!” ,which helped a lot!) After that, we headed down the wrong side of the road towards Cork and Blarney. We arrived around noon, after navigating the often difficult and windy roads, and made our way towards the Blarney castle, and got to kiss the blarney stone! Thankfully, the man at the top of the castle had disinfectant spray right next to where he was sitting, so I hope I didn’t catch lip crabs or something! After that, we had a quick lunch on the road, (read: Sean spilling his lunch all over himself) and arrived in Cork at 1:03. I know it was 1:03 because the tourist office closes from 1-2, and we missed it by only 3 minutes. Being that none of us had any clue what there was to do in Cork, we meandered around for 45 mins, trying to find a parking spot, before finding a garage to park in. Then, we wandered around towards the info office, got a map, and then wandered around downtown for about two hours. When we had had enough aimless wandering, we got back into TSH, and headed up towards Nenagh, which took some navigating through Cork traffic, and impossible road signs that direct you in circles! (thanks cork, you suck!) Now, to further complicate this issue, my UK cell phone, which I bought in Scotland, had run out of minutes the previous evening. I figured it wouldn’t be a problem to “top up” my phone anywhere, being that this is a civilized country, but it turns out that no, T-Mobile does not exist at all in Ireland. In fact, they have never even heard of it. As I asked around, I got stared at like I was mentally deficient, before finally coming to grips with the fact that the only way I had of contacting the people we’re sleeping with tonight was: 1) out of minutes, and 2) out of battery power. Lovely. Thankfully, I also have 2 OTHER cell phones with me, so we got in touch with Caoimhe, and met up with her in Nenagh. Her mom made us an amazing dinner, and then we went out with most of the other girls from the Yacht Club last summer. It seems like so long ago, but really only yesterday that we all hung out, but we got to catch up, exchange stories, and share laughs over a few pints at one of their favorite local hangouts.
There is a plan for tomorrow, but I have no idea what it is! now, its bedtime!
ps, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEAGAN!!! you're old now!! and HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN!!! you're old now too.
Monday, April 13, 2009
easter in galway!
Sat, Apr 11- Galway!
today was a fun mixture of leisure and pain. First of all, we all got to sleep in, which was lovely! I didn’t sleep well, because I woke up with severe stomach pain around 4am. Afterwards, went back to sleep, felt ok. When we finally made it into town, we had a full Irish breakfast, which no one finished. Afterwards, we wandered around town, while I was struck again with stomach pain. After a bit of nausea and vomiting, I wandered around in a bit of nausea and pain for a few hours, slowing down Karen’s greatbig planned tour of galway. I finally started feeling better after buying some pepto, and then went to a nice pub for dinner, before heading back to the hotel, and passing out.
Sun, Apr 12- Cliffs of Moher, Happy Easter!
Today was amazing. The weather was warmish and actually sunny, and we had reserved seats on a tour of the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. The Burren is a limestone wasteland, basically, and has really cool geological thingies. After that, we spent an hour on the cliffs, took some great pics, and fell asleep on the bus back. When we got back to Galway, we wandered around in search of dinner, before settling on a fun place on the river, where I had some great pizza with Serrano ham and goat cheese. Tomorrow, we’re renting a car, and heading down to the Dingle peninsula!! Hopefully I can manage to drive on the wrong side of the road, while shifting with my left hand. If there aren’t any more blogs after this, you know I didn’t manage to do it.
today was a fun mixture of leisure and pain. First of all, we all got to sleep in, which was lovely! I didn’t sleep well, because I woke up with severe stomach pain around 4am. Afterwards, went back to sleep, felt ok. When we finally made it into town, we had a full Irish breakfast, which no one finished. Afterwards, we wandered around town, while I was struck again with stomach pain. After a bit of nausea and vomiting, I wandered around in a bit of nausea and pain for a few hours, slowing down Karen’s greatbig planned tour of galway. I finally started feeling better after buying some pepto, and then went to a nice pub for dinner, before heading back to the hotel, and passing out.
Sun, Apr 12- Cliffs of Moher, Happy Easter!
Today was amazing. The weather was warmish and actually sunny, and we had reserved seats on a tour of the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. The Burren is a limestone wasteland, basically, and has really cool geological thingies. After that, we spent an hour on the cliffs, took some great pics, and fell asleep on the bus back. When we got back to Galway, we wandered around in search of dinner, before settling on a fun place on the river, where I had some great pizza with Serrano ham and goat cheese. Tomorrow, we’re renting a car, and heading down to the Dingle peninsula!! Hopefully I can manage to drive on the wrong side of the road, while shifting with my left hand. If there aren’t any more blogs after this, you know I didn’t manage to do it.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Belfast, bus trip
Thurs, Apr. 9- Belfast
Woke up this morning at 4:30, and got on the road. We caught the tube to take the bus to catch the plane, and everything worked out wonderfully well, for a change. After less than 4 hours of sleep, I’m a bit exhausted, but we spent most of the day exploring Belfast. It’s a fun little city, but there is a huge divide between the newer developments, like malls, expo centers, etc… and the old parts of town, which are still a little seedy and “gangsta,” as Karen calls it. Karen and I walked out to H&W shipyards, where the Titanic was built, which took abt 90 minutes. Karen described it as “fun,” which should tell you a lot about Karen. It was overcast and really windy, and therefore, also a bit chilly. Karen and I took some pics, read about the shipyard and the ships they built, and then hopped into a café for some needed internal heating, followed by my insistence that we take the bus back to the city center. We wandered through the mall that’s here, and Karen tried on some fun outfits. I’ve decided that, in addition to my lederhosen, my other “German” costume is going to be the tightest pair of jeans I can find, the tightest t-shirt I can find, with a brightly colored skintight cardigan overtop, paired with some outrageously pointy dress shoes. Preferably all of these parts in many different fluorescent colors. After that, we met up with Melissa, my cousin, who is getting her masters in Belfast. We went out to dinner, and then went pub hopping. I haven’t seen her in almost 15 years, so it was great catching up, or, rather, getting to know her as an adult.
Fri, Apr. 10- Giant’s Causeway, Bus
This morning, Karen and I got up ungodly early, and hopped on a bus to the Giant’s Causeway. It’s on the north coast of northern Ireland, and is a really amazing natural phenomena where there is an entire stretch of cliffs and beach made up of octagonal pillars of rock. Got some great pictures, even though it was rainy, the sun finally came out, and I even got a pic or two of a rainbow over the Causeway! Then, we hopped on a bus for the next 11 hours, and made our way down to Galway. Ireland really is lovely, but one thing they really need to work on is roads. This country has no main roads. You drive in two-lane twisty country paths from one side to the other, and a trip that SHOULD take a few hours takes all day. Should be fun driving it though! We got in, took a cab to our hotel, and met Emily Todd here. She’s one of Karen and my friends from BC, who is gonna be traveling with us this week. Yay! Tomorrow, we’re going to explore, mebbe go to the cliffs of moher, and then experience some galway nightlife. Should be a lovely time.
happy easter weekend!
Woke up this morning at 4:30, and got on the road. We caught the tube to take the bus to catch the plane, and everything worked out wonderfully well, for a change. After less than 4 hours of sleep, I’m a bit exhausted, but we spent most of the day exploring Belfast. It’s a fun little city, but there is a huge divide between the newer developments, like malls, expo centers, etc… and the old parts of town, which are still a little seedy and “gangsta,” as Karen calls it. Karen and I walked out to H&W shipyards, where the Titanic was built, which took abt 90 minutes. Karen described it as “fun,” which should tell you a lot about Karen. It was overcast and really windy, and therefore, also a bit chilly. Karen and I took some pics, read about the shipyard and the ships they built, and then hopped into a café for some needed internal heating, followed by my insistence that we take the bus back to the city center. We wandered through the mall that’s here, and Karen tried on some fun outfits. I’ve decided that, in addition to my lederhosen, my other “German” costume is going to be the tightest pair of jeans I can find, the tightest t-shirt I can find, with a brightly colored skintight cardigan overtop, paired with some outrageously pointy dress shoes. Preferably all of these parts in many different fluorescent colors. After that, we met up with Melissa, my cousin, who is getting her masters in Belfast. We went out to dinner, and then went pub hopping. I haven’t seen her in almost 15 years, so it was great catching up, or, rather, getting to know her as an adult.
Fri, Apr. 10- Giant’s Causeway, Bus
This morning, Karen and I got up ungodly early, and hopped on a bus to the Giant’s Causeway. It’s on the north coast of northern Ireland, and is a really amazing natural phenomena where there is an entire stretch of cliffs and beach made up of octagonal pillars of rock. Got some great pictures, even though it was rainy, the sun finally came out, and I even got a pic or two of a rainbow over the Causeway! Then, we hopped on a bus for the next 11 hours, and made our way down to Galway. Ireland really is lovely, but one thing they really need to work on is roads. This country has no main roads. You drive in two-lane twisty country paths from one side to the other, and a trip that SHOULD take a few hours takes all day. Should be fun driving it though! We got in, took a cab to our hotel, and met Emily Todd here. She’s one of Karen and my friends from BC, who is gonna be traveling with us this week. Yay! Tomorrow, we’re going to explore, mebbe go to the cliffs of moher, and then experience some galway nightlife. Should be a lovely time.
happy easter weekend!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
London, Bath, HENGE OF STONE!!!
Tues, Apr. 7- Stonehenge and Bath
Woke up ongodly early this morning, and headed off on a train to Stonehenge!! (IT'S A HENGE OF STONE!!!) Stonehenge is in the middle of nowhere, basically, but it’s really amazing to walk around, and see in real scale. It’s unbelievably huge, and to think its been there for thousands of years is crazy. I got some great pictures around the henge (which means hanging in some old language,) and also took some goofy shots, of course. We then headed off to Bath, which, coincidentally, was named after a bath! It’s a really old hot spring that people have lived around for centuries, and has a really cute city built around it now. We met up with Elaine and Tyler, and had dinner there, after wandering around for a while. We went on a tour of the ancient roman bath, which was really cool, and quite extensive. My camera suffered from some sort of malfunction where it got to 63 pictures, and then told me that my memory was full. The 4 gigs of memory were def not full, so I didn’t get to take pictures for most of the afternoon… thankfully, I got Stonehenge and the baths!
Weds, Apr. 8-London- Let’s get it on!
Today was great, Karen and I woke up early, went down to Kensington, and met Ariel for breakfast at her house (which I cooked, of course.) I made some pancakes with strawberries, bananas, and chocolate chunks! They were quite yummy, and really filling. After that, we rode the tube to the bus station, to buy tickets for tomorrow, to take us to the airport, and then attempted to leave London for Cardiff. Turns out London loves us a lot, or the tube hates us. We waited for almost an hour for ANY train to come through the station, before deciding that, even if we left now, we’d have less than an hour in Cardiff and caerphilly before having to come back, and, at 40 pounds, that’s not worth it! So, instead, we got organized for the trip tomorrow, did some quick laundry, and made contact with people in Ireland, to prepare them for our arrival. Since it was a gorgeous sunny day, we also booked tickets for the London Eye, which is a HUGE ferris wheel over the Thames river, which provides great views of the city. We wandered into town, grabbed some fish and chips, and then hit up the eye. It takes about 30 minutes to go all the way around, and I got some great pics of London, and the parliament and big ben in particular. Afterwards, I contacted my friend Philip, who studied abroad at BC, and is now living in London, and we went out to meet him and some of his German friends in Wimbledon, and spoke German, and drank for a few hours, just relaxing nicely, and catching up on life. It is now bedtime, as it is almost 1, and I have to be up at 430 to catch a train to catch a bus to catch a plane. Yay travel!
Woke up ongodly early this morning, and headed off on a train to Stonehenge!! (IT'S A HENGE OF STONE!!!) Stonehenge is in the middle of nowhere, basically, but it’s really amazing to walk around, and see in real scale. It’s unbelievably huge, and to think its been there for thousands of years is crazy. I got some great pictures around the henge (which means hanging in some old language,) and also took some goofy shots, of course. We then headed off to Bath, which, coincidentally, was named after a bath! It’s a really old hot spring that people have lived around for centuries, and has a really cute city built around it now. We met up with Elaine and Tyler, and had dinner there, after wandering around for a while. We went on a tour of the ancient roman bath, which was really cool, and quite extensive. My camera suffered from some sort of malfunction where it got to 63 pictures, and then told me that my memory was full. The 4 gigs of memory were def not full, so I didn’t get to take pictures for most of the afternoon… thankfully, I got Stonehenge and the baths!
Weds, Apr. 8-London- Let’s get it on!
Today was great, Karen and I woke up early, went down to Kensington, and met Ariel for breakfast at her house (which I cooked, of course.) I made some pancakes with strawberries, bananas, and chocolate chunks! They were quite yummy, and really filling. After that, we rode the tube to the bus station, to buy tickets for tomorrow, to take us to the airport, and then attempted to leave London for Cardiff. Turns out London loves us a lot, or the tube hates us. We waited for almost an hour for ANY train to come through the station, before deciding that, even if we left now, we’d have less than an hour in Cardiff and caerphilly before having to come back, and, at 40 pounds, that’s not worth it! So, instead, we got organized for the trip tomorrow, did some quick laundry, and made contact with people in Ireland, to prepare them for our arrival. Since it was a gorgeous sunny day, we also booked tickets for the London Eye, which is a HUGE ferris wheel over the Thames river, which provides great views of the city. We wandered into town, grabbed some fish and chips, and then hit up the eye. It takes about 30 minutes to go all the way around, and I got some great pics of London, and the parliament and big ben in particular. Afterwards, I contacted my friend Philip, who studied abroad at BC, and is now living in London, and we went out to meet him and some of his German friends in Wimbledon, and spoke German, and drank for a few hours, just relaxing nicely, and catching up on life. It is now bedtime, as it is almost 1, and I have to be up at 430 to catch a train to catch a bus to catch a plane. Yay travel!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
one more blocblog! this one is exciting!! (or something)
Thurs, Apr. 2- Liverpool
This particular entry is entitled: Japanese Beatles and white spandex.
It will become apparent why later. So today, Karen and I explored Liverpool, which is actually a really cool city. It’s modern and old at the same time, and pretty fun. There are little neighborhoods, kinda like in Boston, where very different types of people live, and there are all different sorts of entertainment and music venues of all shapes and sizes all over the city. Its also got a ton of history, and pride in that history, and in the city itself, is pretty apparent in most of the people we saw. We started off the day exploring along the coastline, on the piers, and went through the Beatles story exhibit, which was really neat. It took about two hours to walk through how the Beatles came to exist, where the individual band members came from, and how they’ve become an intricate part of what Liverpool is. We then went to the famous Cavern club, which the Beatles made famous by playing there a ridiculous number of times, and took some fun pics, before grabbing lunch, and checking emails, etc… We then went back up to Helen and Jude’s, and cooked some dinner, before heading back to the cavern to see a beatles coverband, which was Karen’s dream Liverpool experience. We got into the club, and there was a guy playing guitar and singing Beatles songs, which was nice, we sang along, and then the official act came on. It was four Japanese guys, probably about my age, who spoke little to no English. Karen was a little shocked that we were being treated to the Japanese beatles, and barely managed to suppress her outrage. Turns out, they were just the intermediate act, so it wasn’t a HUGE disappointment, musically. (the japanese band was actually pretty good…) While there, we also got a great chance to people-watch, one of my favorite activities. Karen and I noticed, at the same time, a group of ladies walk into the club, dressed up very nicely. Somewhat short of prom attire, but still quite formal. The group averaged probably somewhere in the mid- to late- 50’s. The last woman to walk in sent Karen and my mind almost immediately into shock and appallment. She was wearing what can only be described as a white spandex unitard that had been severely attacked by ruffles in all the wrong spots. Karen now swears that she will have any amount of plastic surgery necessary to keep all her bits in their right places, and I’ve decided to go gay.
Fri, Apr.3- Stratford-Upon-Avon, Oxford
This morning was ungodly. Sometime before the sun rose, Karen and I were up, and on the train, headed to Shakespeare’s hometown. With all of our luggage in tow (on backs,) we walked from the train station to the tourist information center, which, with fun British logic, are on completely opposite sides of the town. Fun times. We then deposited our baggage, and walked around the actually quite pretty little English village for a few hours, before hiking back to the tourist center, and then hiking to the train station for Oxford. We got to Oxford a little while later, once again crossed the entire length of the town to find the tourist info center, again deposited our bags, and again walked around the town. Although there are about 5 million universities in Oxford, they’re apparently all closed to the public, so we got some great pictures of most of the universities outer walls, but are unfortunately not smart or British enough to enter the sacred campusi. (campuses?) We wandered down to the Oxford castle, which is really cool. It’s been renovated, and now encompasses a market/mall type thingy, which includes a krispy kreme!! YAY! Sean got his hot donut fix for the day. So much better after that. We then got on the train to London, and arranged to meet Elaine near her house, but had complications on the tube (of course,) where one of the girls in our train car was having a seizure, and so we had to vacate, and ended up taking the bus. Successfully found Elaine, went out to the neighborhood pub, and then passed out.
Sat, Apr. 4- London
First day in London was a sausagefest. We walked over to the London bridge, which, honestly, is fairly boring, and unpretty. Wandered down the Thames to the tower bridge, which is much prettier, and took lots of pictures on the perfectly clear, warm, sunny day. The weather here really has been amazing… we’ve really lucked out as far as weather goes while being here in the UK! We walked around the tower, and then met Ariel, a friend from BC near the Borough market, where we went for lunch, and spent almost 3 hours eating and talking about life. They had a whole variety of all different kinds of food and food products from all over the world, but Karen and I decided that we missed Germany, so we went with Bratwurst with sauerkraut. Mmmmm. This was the first part of the sausagefest. We then continued our walk along the river, past the Globe theater, the Tate modern, and finally, to the eye. The line was outrageously long, so we decided to put that ride on hold till tomorrow. Ariel was meeting one of her friends at the British Film Institute for an independent film, and invited us along. The film we saw, which was part of the Lesbian and Gay film festival, ended up being very odd and interesting, but good. Karen and Ariel were two of four women in the theater. This was the second part of the sausagefest. The film itself was the third part of the sausagefest, and I’m going to leave that to your own personal interpretation, while keeping this blog PG-13. We then went to a pub, had dinner, and spent the rest of the evening chatting and catching up, and generally having a great time. Tomorrow, we’re going to ride the eye, see big ben, the parliament, and Westminster abbey for church. Other than that, we’re just going to explore!
Sun, Apr. 5- London
This morning, Karen and I decided to go to Westminster Abbey for palm Sunday mass. It was gorgeous inside, and full of sarcophagi, which was neat. I got to see the coronation chair behind the high altar, and the tombs of Isaac Newton, amongst a ton of others. The mass itself lasted about 50 million years, but was still pretty cool. Afterwards, we met up with Ariel, and wandered around the town for the day, taking pictures, and exploring after Ariel pointed us in the right direction. We went from Sloane square to St. Paul’s Cathedral, and then ended up in Soho for dinner, which was Indian and lovely.
Mon, Apr. 6- London
This morning, we met up with my friend Wish from LA, who is here visiting some of her other friends, took some more pics, and explored some more. She knows a whole bunch of fun little neighborhoods that she took us around in, and we got to see a whole other side of London. We tried to go for High Tea at a really posh store near Leicester Square, but they required reservations (and it was 40 pounds per person, OUCH!) so we went to a little café, and had tea and cake for muchmuch cheaper. We then met up with her friend Morgan, who lives and works here, and hit up a couple stores, trying to find some souvenirs, and then hit up a couple really good pubs. One of them had homemade chocolate truffle stout, which was amazing! We then headed back to his place to sample his quite amazing collection of whiskeys, whiskys, and bourbons. Mmmmmm. Tomorrow: Stonehenge and Bath! YAY!
This particular entry is entitled: Japanese Beatles and white spandex.
It will become apparent why later. So today, Karen and I explored Liverpool, which is actually a really cool city. It’s modern and old at the same time, and pretty fun. There are little neighborhoods, kinda like in Boston, where very different types of people live, and there are all different sorts of entertainment and music venues of all shapes and sizes all over the city. Its also got a ton of history, and pride in that history, and in the city itself, is pretty apparent in most of the people we saw. We started off the day exploring along the coastline, on the piers, and went through the Beatles story exhibit, which was really neat. It took about two hours to walk through how the Beatles came to exist, where the individual band members came from, and how they’ve become an intricate part of what Liverpool is. We then went to the famous Cavern club, which the Beatles made famous by playing there a ridiculous number of times, and took some fun pics, before grabbing lunch, and checking emails, etc… We then went back up to Helen and Jude’s, and cooked some dinner, before heading back to the cavern to see a beatles coverband, which was Karen’s dream Liverpool experience. We got into the club, and there was a guy playing guitar and singing Beatles songs, which was nice, we sang along, and then the official act came on. It was four Japanese guys, probably about my age, who spoke little to no English. Karen was a little shocked that we were being treated to the Japanese beatles, and barely managed to suppress her outrage. Turns out, they were just the intermediate act, so it wasn’t a HUGE disappointment, musically. (the japanese band was actually pretty good…) While there, we also got a great chance to people-watch, one of my favorite activities. Karen and I noticed, at the same time, a group of ladies walk into the club, dressed up very nicely. Somewhat short of prom attire, but still quite formal. The group averaged probably somewhere in the mid- to late- 50’s. The last woman to walk in sent Karen and my mind almost immediately into shock and appallment. She was wearing what can only be described as a white spandex unitard that had been severely attacked by ruffles in all the wrong spots. Karen now swears that she will have any amount of plastic surgery necessary to keep all her bits in their right places, and I’ve decided to go gay.
Fri, Apr.3- Stratford-Upon-Avon, Oxford
This morning was ungodly. Sometime before the sun rose, Karen and I were up, and on the train, headed to Shakespeare’s hometown. With all of our luggage in tow (on backs,) we walked from the train station to the tourist information center, which, with fun British logic, are on completely opposite sides of the town. Fun times. We then deposited our baggage, and walked around the actually quite pretty little English village for a few hours, before hiking back to the tourist center, and then hiking to the train station for Oxford. We got to Oxford a little while later, once again crossed the entire length of the town to find the tourist info center, again deposited our bags, and again walked around the town. Although there are about 5 million universities in Oxford, they’re apparently all closed to the public, so we got some great pictures of most of the universities outer walls, but are unfortunately not smart or British enough to enter the sacred campusi. (campuses?) We wandered down to the Oxford castle, which is really cool. It’s been renovated, and now encompasses a market/mall type thingy, which includes a krispy kreme!! YAY! Sean got his hot donut fix for the day. So much better after that. We then got on the train to London, and arranged to meet Elaine near her house, but had complications on the tube (of course,) where one of the girls in our train car was having a seizure, and so we had to vacate, and ended up taking the bus. Successfully found Elaine, went out to the neighborhood pub, and then passed out.
Sat, Apr. 4- London
First day in London was a sausagefest. We walked over to the London bridge, which, honestly, is fairly boring, and unpretty. Wandered down the Thames to the tower bridge, which is much prettier, and took lots of pictures on the perfectly clear, warm, sunny day. The weather here really has been amazing… we’ve really lucked out as far as weather goes while being here in the UK! We walked around the tower, and then met Ariel, a friend from BC near the Borough market, where we went for lunch, and spent almost 3 hours eating and talking about life. They had a whole variety of all different kinds of food and food products from all over the world, but Karen and I decided that we missed Germany, so we went with Bratwurst with sauerkraut. Mmmmm. This was the first part of the sausagefest. We then continued our walk along the river, past the Globe theater, the Tate modern, and finally, to the eye. The line was outrageously long, so we decided to put that ride on hold till tomorrow. Ariel was meeting one of her friends at the British Film Institute for an independent film, and invited us along. The film we saw, which was part of the Lesbian and Gay film festival, ended up being very odd and interesting, but good. Karen and Ariel were two of four women in the theater. This was the second part of the sausagefest. The film itself was the third part of the sausagefest, and I’m going to leave that to your own personal interpretation, while keeping this blog PG-13. We then went to a pub, had dinner, and spent the rest of the evening chatting and catching up, and generally having a great time. Tomorrow, we’re going to ride the eye, see big ben, the parliament, and Westminster abbey for church. Other than that, we’re just going to explore!
Sun, Apr. 5- London
This morning, Karen and I decided to go to Westminster Abbey for palm Sunday mass. It was gorgeous inside, and full of sarcophagi, which was neat. I got to see the coronation chair behind the high altar, and the tombs of Isaac Newton, amongst a ton of others. The mass itself lasted about 50 million years, but was still pretty cool. Afterwards, we met up with Ariel, and wandered around the town for the day, taking pictures, and exploring after Ariel pointed us in the right direction. We went from Sloane square to St. Paul’s Cathedral, and then ended up in Soho for dinner, which was Indian and lovely.
Mon, Apr. 6- London
This morning, we met up with my friend Wish from LA, who is here visiting some of her other friends, took some more pics, and explored some more. She knows a whole bunch of fun little neighborhoods that she took us around in, and we got to see a whole other side of London. We tried to go for High Tea at a really posh store near Leicester Square, but they required reservations (and it was 40 pounds per person, OUCH!) so we went to a little café, and had tea and cake for muchmuch cheaper. We then met up with her friend Morgan, who lives and works here, and hit up a couple stores, trying to find some souvenirs, and then hit up a couple really good pubs. One of them had homemade chocolate truffle stout, which was amazing! We then headed back to his place to sample his quite amazing collection of whiskeys, whiskys, and bourbons. Mmmmmm. Tomorrow: Stonehenge and Bath! YAY!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
bloc post- sorry!!!
hey guys, sorry, i haven't been able to connect my lappy to the internet, so i've been saving my blogs, and here is the blocblog post. read it if you have lots of free time.
Sat, March 28- Edinburgh
Today was exhausting, for no apparent reason. I slept reasonably ok in our dorm-style hostel, and actually slept in until about 9, a tribute to just how tired I was from the previous two days. Woke up, took a shower, and went down to breakfast. Karen and I decided to go on a guided tour through Edinburgh, and so we left to go to that. On the way there, I stopped at a cell phone store to see if there was any way to switch my second cell phone over to a UK number. They told me no, but a SIM card is free, so I bought myself some minutes, and got a card. Turns out T-mobile isn’t really international, because my German cell wouldn’t take the UK card. Instead of paying the 15 pounds it would cost to unlock the German cell, I bought a 9 pound prepaid cell. Sean’s cellphone count: 3. Why am I dragging 3 cell phones around?!?! So rude. In any case, the sales guy was very helpful and very Scottish, which means: we couldn’t understand what the other was saying most of the time. We stared at each other with blank stares while the other talked. Then, after we got that all squared away, Karen and I headed off to the tour. The tour was about 4 and a half hours long, outside most of the time, in the 30 degree weather, plus 20-30 mph winds. I didn’t take too many pictures during the tour because sean-sicle fingers don’t point or click very well. After the tour was over, Karen and I headed to a restaurant we saw on the tour, called “oink,” and got some fantastic pulled pork sandwiches. Mmmm…. After that, we headed to the “Scotch Whisky Experience,” and got the process of scotch making explained to us, before we got to taste it for ourselves. Warms you right up, lemme tell you… these Scots sure know what they’re doing. After that, we met up with Vroni, a mutual friend, and hung out for a bit, before Karen jetted off to say hi to god. After mass, we grabbed a quick bite to eat (at pizza hut, where apparently you can reserve tables for Easter Sunday!!!) We then wandered around the city after the sun set, and walked up to the castle, to get night pictures of Edinburgh. There was a film crew at the castle, so i took some pics of the castle from the outside, with the bare-sliver of a moon behind it, before suddenly the film crew and the crowd started counting down, and when they hit zero (or, shortly thereafter,) the castle went completely dark. Apparently all of the famous sites in the UK went dark for an hour tonight, to signify something with the G20 conference going on in London next week. (during which time we’ll be in London, oh joy!) We didn’t walk into the castle, because we would probably get lost and die. Ended up attempting to look for a quiet pub for a pint or two, but because of a soccer game (Scotland against Norway,) all the pubs were packed with screaming fans. No dice. Made it back to the hostel, had a drink at the bar here (after wandering around most of the downtown area trying to find said pub.)
Miles walked since arriving in Edinburgh: somewhere around 25, not including incline.
Calories eaten since arriving in Edinburgh: somewhere around 250,000.
Joints in pain since arriving in Edinburgh: all of the ones that move.
Number of times Karen has gotten us lost: every time she has the map.
Number of times Sean has almost gotten hit by a bus/car/bike because he looked the wrong way before jaywalking: somewhere around 10,000.
So far, so good!
Sun, March 29- St. Andrews
Today, Karen and I decided to go up to St. Andrews, which is a really old historic port city north of Edinburgh. It is home to a really old cathedral ruin, and accompanying cloister. It is also apparently the Mecca of golf. We hopped on a train north, took a nap for an hour, and then got to the city. It was a gorgeous day, not a cloud visible for most of it, and so I deluded myself into thinking that since it was sunny, it must also be warm. Thankfully, I wasn’t completely wrong. Although warm in the sunlight, the wind brought quite a chill to the air, so it was a battle to find a protected, yet still sunny spot to sit down and enjoy. We wandered around the town, visiting the castle ruins, the cathedral ruins, the old graveyard, and the harbor. We then wandered down one of the main drags in the city, and eventually made it to St. Andrews Links, which is one of the best golf courses in the world. (yippee?) Stopped for some fish and chips along the harbor for lunch, and then after the golf tour, stopped for some afternoon tea in the sun. It was really quite lovely, and the town was very quaint. St. Andrews is also home to a ridiculously old university. There was a memorial to one of the first martyrs of Lutheranism, who was a student at the Uni, who had been executed in 1420. Strange to think that people were arguing over religion before America was discovered. (is that self-centered thinking??) After that, we headed back to Edinburgh, where we met up with Vroni and James, some mutual friends, with whom we’re gonna be staying for the next couple days, had dinner, and a great conversation, before finally deciding to settle down to bed. Tomorrow will be either the highlands, Stirling castle, or something, but there will definitely be hiking and pictures involved. Stay tuned!
Mon, March 30 Stirling
Today we went out to Sterling. On the way out, on the train, Karen and I both decided to write out our postcards, and were discussing what we were writing when the couple across from us asked us where we were from. Turns out, its an American and his English girlfriend, and we quickly got acquainted, and learned that they, too were going to Sterling. We toured around the castle together, and had lunch, before splitting up, and going to do our own things. We exchanged phone numbers as she is from Liverpool, and offered us a place to crash, and he’s going to be in Belfast about the same time we are, and offered to come around with us. Sterling itself was really pretty, an old town with a castle on top of the mountain it’s built on, surrounded by battlements and all the fun castle-y things. It was the childhood home of Mary, Queen of Scots, which is pretty cool. We got to explore the grounds and play around a little bit, running around on the grass, exploring the old kitchens, and going into a tapestry studio, where this lady was weaving a GIGANTIC tapestry in the old style. It apparently will take 10 years to finish. I would never ever ever have the patience… After we wandered around the town, Karen and I headed up to the William Wallace memorial. One of the big battles he fought against the British was right outside the town, so they’re very proud of him, and there are statues everywhere. The memorial is on top of a bluff outside of the town, and offered a great view of the surrounding valley as well. We wandered around town a bit more, had a coffee/carrot cake break, and then hopped on the train to go back to Edinburgh. We met up with one of the teachers from Karen’s school who studied here for dinner, and went to “the bad ass” for some haggis. Its pretty good, for those of you that haven’t tried it yet, I def recommend it. Afterwards, we headed over to a pub where they were playing some great music, and had a pint before heading back to Vroni and James’. Now, is bedtime. Tomorrow, we’re going to tour the cathedral in Edinburgh, then head off to Glasgow for the day.
Tues, March 31- Glasgow
So today was definitely more misadventure than food. Karen and I started out visiting St. Giles Cathedral with Vroni, and touring around. She gave us a great tour of all the little things that we normally wouldn’t have noticed, and we got to explore a little bit. The thistle chapel off the side of the cathedral was amazing, and so intricate. Its hard to believe it was built in only 2 years… After that, we headed to Glasgow, and were excited to explore a new city. We got off the train, found the tourist center, bought an entirely useless map, and then set off to explore everything that looked interesting. What should’ve been a 2 hour tour ended up taking about 6. After our first stop, the barras market, we headed towards the Glasgow cathedral, only to have to go about 2 miles out of the way because one intersection has been completely blocked off. We eventually made it to the cathedral, after much accidental exploring through some not-so-great regions of Glasgow, and wandered around that cathedral for a bit as well, taking pictures. After that, we went to the performance center, of which we could see absolutely nothing, then, to Willows Tea room, which was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, a Glaswegian. It was a gorgeous little shop, and so we had some tea and scones (Karen,) and a caramel shortcake (me, obviously….) After that, we headed back to the train station, slightly annoyed with Glasgow, after previous misadventures, and only being able to find one bank that we could use, with a broken ATM outside, and no till inside. Lovely. We had to kill 90 minutes before we could use our train tickets back to Edinburgh, so we stopped at the local borders, and I picked up some books, and we did a little borrowed researching on the lake district, which is where we’re headed tomorrow. We made it back to Edinburgh and met up with Vroni and James, and two of their friends for dinner in the Grassmarket, before going out for a pint at ------Bells, and then heading home to organize and pack everything in.
Weds Apr. 1- Lake District
Woke up this morning at 6, and headed off to the Haymarket train station to catch our ungodly early train to Windermere. We arrived at Windermere at around 930, and the sun was just starting to peek through the clouds. After asking the info people where to go, and where we could leave our stuff, we climbed up a little hill behind the town that provides excellent views of the lake, and the surrounding countryside. After that, Karen and I walked down to Bowness, in order to catch a ferry up to ------- . When we got there, we grabbed some lunch at a café (I had a venison/black pudding burger… so good!) and then headed off to explore the town, and surrounding nature. We came across the ruined foundations of an ancient Roman fort at the top of the lake, which I found really cool, and Karen probably thought was boring as hell, I’ll have to ask her opinion on them. We followed one of the tributary rivers up into the hills and mountains surrounding the lake, and almost made it to one of the waterfalls, before having to turn around and head back, to make the last ferry. We got back to Windermere around 6 pm, and bought some quick food to eat on the train, and hopped the train to Liverpool. Got in here around 9, and went to find “the Cathedral,” which is where our friend Helen lives. Turns out, in Liverpool, there are two cathedrals. We went to the wrong one first. Thankfully, they’re not too far away from each other, so we eventually found Helen, and are crashing in her amazing apartment just off the cathedral grounds. It has a great view of both the cathedral, and of the city beneath it. Tomorrow is going to be beatlemania for Karen, and it’ll also be pretty exciting for me, as long as Karen doesn’t cry. She has been warned that I will abandon her on the streets if I see hero-worship tears. More on that tomorrow, most likely.
Sat, March 28- Edinburgh
Today was exhausting, for no apparent reason. I slept reasonably ok in our dorm-style hostel, and actually slept in until about 9, a tribute to just how tired I was from the previous two days. Woke up, took a shower, and went down to breakfast. Karen and I decided to go on a guided tour through Edinburgh, and so we left to go to that. On the way there, I stopped at a cell phone store to see if there was any way to switch my second cell phone over to a UK number. They told me no, but a SIM card is free, so I bought myself some minutes, and got a card. Turns out T-mobile isn’t really international, because my German cell wouldn’t take the UK card. Instead of paying the 15 pounds it would cost to unlock the German cell, I bought a 9 pound prepaid cell. Sean’s cellphone count: 3. Why am I dragging 3 cell phones around?!?! So rude. In any case, the sales guy was very helpful and very Scottish, which means: we couldn’t understand what the other was saying most of the time. We stared at each other with blank stares while the other talked. Then, after we got that all squared away, Karen and I headed off to the tour. The tour was about 4 and a half hours long, outside most of the time, in the 30 degree weather, plus 20-30 mph winds. I didn’t take too many pictures during the tour because sean-sicle fingers don’t point or click very well. After the tour was over, Karen and I headed to a restaurant we saw on the tour, called “oink,” and got some fantastic pulled pork sandwiches. Mmmm…. After that, we headed to the “Scotch Whisky Experience,” and got the process of scotch making explained to us, before we got to taste it for ourselves. Warms you right up, lemme tell you… these Scots sure know what they’re doing. After that, we met up with Vroni, a mutual friend, and hung out for a bit, before Karen jetted off to say hi to god. After mass, we grabbed a quick bite to eat (at pizza hut, where apparently you can reserve tables for Easter Sunday!!!) We then wandered around the city after the sun set, and walked up to the castle, to get night pictures of Edinburgh. There was a film crew at the castle, so i took some pics of the castle from the outside, with the bare-sliver of a moon behind it, before suddenly the film crew and the crowd started counting down, and when they hit zero (or, shortly thereafter,) the castle went completely dark. Apparently all of the famous sites in the UK went dark for an hour tonight, to signify something with the G20 conference going on in London next week. (during which time we’ll be in London, oh joy!) We didn’t walk into the castle, because we would probably get lost and die. Ended up attempting to look for a quiet pub for a pint or two, but because of a soccer game (Scotland against Norway,) all the pubs were packed with screaming fans. No dice. Made it back to the hostel, had a drink at the bar here (after wandering around most of the downtown area trying to find said pub.)
Miles walked since arriving in Edinburgh: somewhere around 25, not including incline.
Calories eaten since arriving in Edinburgh: somewhere around 250,000.
Joints in pain since arriving in Edinburgh: all of the ones that move.
Number of times Karen has gotten us lost: every time she has the map.
Number of times Sean has almost gotten hit by a bus/car/bike because he looked the wrong way before jaywalking: somewhere around 10,000.
So far, so good!
Sun, March 29- St. Andrews
Today, Karen and I decided to go up to St. Andrews, which is a really old historic port city north of Edinburgh. It is home to a really old cathedral ruin, and accompanying cloister. It is also apparently the Mecca of golf. We hopped on a train north, took a nap for an hour, and then got to the city. It was a gorgeous day, not a cloud visible for most of it, and so I deluded myself into thinking that since it was sunny, it must also be warm. Thankfully, I wasn’t completely wrong. Although warm in the sunlight, the wind brought quite a chill to the air, so it was a battle to find a protected, yet still sunny spot to sit down and enjoy. We wandered around the town, visiting the castle ruins, the cathedral ruins, the old graveyard, and the harbor. We then wandered down one of the main drags in the city, and eventually made it to St. Andrews Links, which is one of the best golf courses in the world. (yippee?) Stopped for some fish and chips along the harbor for lunch, and then after the golf tour, stopped for some afternoon tea in the sun. It was really quite lovely, and the town was very quaint. St. Andrews is also home to a ridiculously old university. There was a memorial to one of the first martyrs of Lutheranism, who was a student at the Uni, who had been executed in 1420. Strange to think that people were arguing over religion before America was discovered. (is that self-centered thinking??) After that, we headed back to Edinburgh, where we met up with Vroni and James, some mutual friends, with whom we’re gonna be staying for the next couple days, had dinner, and a great conversation, before finally deciding to settle down to bed. Tomorrow will be either the highlands, Stirling castle, or something, but there will definitely be hiking and pictures involved. Stay tuned!
Mon, March 30 Stirling
Today we went out to Sterling. On the way out, on the train, Karen and I both decided to write out our postcards, and were discussing what we were writing when the couple across from us asked us where we were from. Turns out, its an American and his English girlfriend, and we quickly got acquainted, and learned that they, too were going to Sterling. We toured around the castle together, and had lunch, before splitting up, and going to do our own things. We exchanged phone numbers as she is from Liverpool, and offered us a place to crash, and he’s going to be in Belfast about the same time we are, and offered to come around with us. Sterling itself was really pretty, an old town with a castle on top of the mountain it’s built on, surrounded by battlements and all the fun castle-y things. It was the childhood home of Mary, Queen of Scots, which is pretty cool. We got to explore the grounds and play around a little bit, running around on the grass, exploring the old kitchens, and going into a tapestry studio, where this lady was weaving a GIGANTIC tapestry in the old style. It apparently will take 10 years to finish. I would never ever ever have the patience… After we wandered around the town, Karen and I headed up to the William Wallace memorial. One of the big battles he fought against the British was right outside the town, so they’re very proud of him, and there are statues everywhere. The memorial is on top of a bluff outside of the town, and offered a great view of the surrounding valley as well. We wandered around town a bit more, had a coffee/carrot cake break, and then hopped on the train to go back to Edinburgh. We met up with one of the teachers from Karen’s school who studied here for dinner, and went to “the bad ass” for some haggis. Its pretty good, for those of you that haven’t tried it yet, I def recommend it. Afterwards, we headed over to a pub where they were playing some great music, and had a pint before heading back to Vroni and James’. Now, is bedtime. Tomorrow, we’re going to tour the cathedral in Edinburgh, then head off to Glasgow for the day.
Tues, March 31- Glasgow
So today was definitely more misadventure than food. Karen and I started out visiting St. Giles Cathedral with Vroni, and touring around. She gave us a great tour of all the little things that we normally wouldn’t have noticed, and we got to explore a little bit. The thistle chapel off the side of the cathedral was amazing, and so intricate. Its hard to believe it was built in only 2 years… After that, we headed to Glasgow, and were excited to explore a new city. We got off the train, found the tourist center, bought an entirely useless map, and then set off to explore everything that looked interesting. What should’ve been a 2 hour tour ended up taking about 6. After our first stop, the barras market, we headed towards the Glasgow cathedral, only to have to go about 2 miles out of the way because one intersection has been completely blocked off. We eventually made it to the cathedral, after much accidental exploring through some not-so-great regions of Glasgow, and wandered around that cathedral for a bit as well, taking pictures. After that, we went to the performance center, of which we could see absolutely nothing, then, to Willows Tea room, which was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, a Glaswegian. It was a gorgeous little shop, and so we had some tea and scones (Karen,) and a caramel shortcake (me, obviously….) After that, we headed back to the train station, slightly annoyed with Glasgow, after previous misadventures, and only being able to find one bank that we could use, with a broken ATM outside, and no till inside. Lovely. We had to kill 90 minutes before we could use our train tickets back to Edinburgh, so we stopped at the local borders, and I picked up some books, and we did a little borrowed researching on the lake district, which is where we’re headed tomorrow. We made it back to Edinburgh and met up with Vroni and James, and two of their friends for dinner in the Grassmarket, before going out for a pint at ------Bells, and then heading home to organize and pack everything in.
Weds Apr. 1- Lake District
Woke up this morning at 6, and headed off to the Haymarket train station to catch our ungodly early train to Windermere. We arrived at Windermere at around 930, and the sun was just starting to peek through the clouds. After asking the info people where to go, and where we could leave our stuff, we climbed up a little hill behind the town that provides excellent views of the lake, and the surrounding countryside. After that, Karen and I walked down to Bowness, in order to catch a ferry up to ------- . When we got there, we grabbed some lunch at a café (I had a venison/black pudding burger… so good!) and then headed off to explore the town, and surrounding nature. We came across the ruined foundations of an ancient Roman fort at the top of the lake, which I found really cool, and Karen probably thought was boring as hell, I’ll have to ask her opinion on them. We followed one of the tributary rivers up into the hills and mountains surrounding the lake, and almost made it to one of the waterfalls, before having to turn around and head back, to make the last ferry. We got back to Windermere around 6 pm, and bought some quick food to eat on the train, and hopped the train to Liverpool. Got in here around 9, and went to find “the Cathedral,” which is where our friend Helen lives. Turns out, in Liverpool, there are two cathedrals. We went to the wrong one first. Thankfully, they’re not too far away from each other, so we eventually found Helen, and are crashing in her amazing apartment just off the cathedral grounds. It has a great view of both the cathedral, and of the city beneath it. Tomorrow is going to be beatlemania for Karen, and it’ll also be pretty exciting for me, as long as Karen doesn’t cry. She has been warned that I will abandon her on the streets if I see hero-worship tears. More on that tomorrow, most likely.
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