By Zadar I actually mean two islands off of Zadar. A friend of Jill’s mom has an apartment in Preko, which is a town on an island I can’t remember the name of. Silvana picked me up from the bus station and drove me back to her place. I actually got to stay in an apartment next to hers owned by a friend of hers. I had it all to myself. She lived less than a block from two different beaches. She also was the best cook ever. I wanted to stay forever.
I have another friend who was near Zadar though who I’d told I’d meet up with. Nik and I were both doing research at Riverside in California last summer. His mom is from Croatia and his family owns a house on the island Vir. On Monday I took the ferry back into Zadar and met Nik and his family. They were even more amazing than Silvana. I’d only planned on staying one night, in fact I’d only really packed for a night, and I ended up staying three. That just goes to show how kickass my backpacking skills have become. Every day on Vir was pretty much the same. You’d get up around 9 and have breakfast with the whole family (which consisted of Nik, his brother, sister, mom, dad, and grandparents). We’d sip coffee for a while before going swimming. Swim until the water got too cold, then sit on the same rock and chat until the sun got to hot. Then we’d watch whatever was on TV in English. Since there were only 4 channels that was pretty limited. Most days it consisted of Red Dwarf and Star Trek. Once the station mixed it up and showed Baywatch. Then we would have lunch and go swimming again. Finally dinner and then we would either take a walk and look for shooting stars, or chill on the balcony of the house and look for shooting stars.
I was really sad to leave. I love the whole family. His sister and I talked makeup and hair products, his brother and I played poker (I won) and Parcheesi (he won). His grandmother only spoke Croatian but she was convinced that I never had enough to eat.
After three nights I went back to the other island for a few nights before I planned on taking a ferry to Ancona in Italy. After one night Silvana got a call from out of the blue from her Nephew that he was coming to stay. He had two little girls, three and one.
I HATE CHILDREN
Really, I do. These kids were the most poorly behaved children I’ve ever seen in my life. I don’t think they ever stopped screaming or crying. From the three year old was a mantra of ‘mama, mama, mama, mama, mama’. It was never ending. I have never wanted to punch a three year old before.
After a couple of days of that I was more than ready to get away. On Sunday I took the ferry into Zadar and got on another ferry to Ancona. That night in Zadar was a big festival for the full moon. There were thousands of people. Tons of street performances and all the lights were turned off. Made ofr an interesting time with my full backpack. I took some video of that. Hopefully I’ll get to put it up.
When I got on the ferry I had to find a place to sleep. There was one couch left and I promptly claimed it. I finally fell asleep and only woke up to one of the crew shaking me. Pretty much everyone had already gotten off the ship. I had slept through it all. If there’s one thing this trip has done is make me able to sleep through things that used to keep me awake.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Zagrab, Croatia
On the Train from Budapest to Zagrab two Americans sat in my car. Turns out they were from Seattle and were cage fighters. Once again our train was delayed, but the cage fighters had brought wine. They also bought beer at one of the longer stops. It was probably my best train ride yet. After drinking the cage fighters fell asleep but I wasn’t at all tired. So, I made friends with some kids from Denmark, We played rock paper scissors for who would have to go in the luggage racks. I lost and spent 10 minutes up there. They also sang a lot of Spice Girls. In Brataslava these guys had been arrested for swimming in a fountain.
Zagrab was amazing, if a little too hot. It was the last place I had reliable internet, which endears it to me.
On the second night there I went over to the hostel where the cage fighters were staying. They cooked dinner and after we went out to a club. I met two local Croatian girls both named Maja. We were fast friends and they taught me to dance European, whatever that means. In the end of the night they showed me exactly how to get home.
The next day I caught a bus to Zadar, another town in Croatia. The cage fighters were going there too so they were on my bus. At first I had two seats to myself which was great. But as we started off one of the cage fighters decided to move seats and sit next to me. Ok, fine. Except not really because almost immediately he starts getting all touchy feely. Most uncomfortable bus ride of my life. I had to pretend to be asleep to keep the level of awkward down a little. Although it didn’t really work.
As soon as we got to Zadar I peaced out. Waved goodbye, said I’d be in touch, I had no intention of keeping in touch. I’ve gotten multiple messages from them about getting together. I’ve just been pretending I don’t have internet, which is kind of true.
Zagrab was amazing, if a little too hot. It was the last place I had reliable internet, which endears it to me.
On the second night there I went over to the hostel where the cage fighters were staying. They cooked dinner and after we went out to a club. I met two local Croatian girls both named Maja. We were fast friends and they taught me to dance European, whatever that means. In the end of the night they showed me exactly how to get home.
The next day I caught a bus to Zadar, another town in Croatia. The cage fighters were going there too so they were on my bus. At first I had two seats to myself which was great. But as we started off one of the cage fighters decided to move seats and sit next to me. Ok, fine. Except not really because almost immediately he starts getting all touchy feely. Most uncomfortable bus ride of my life. I had to pretend to be asleep to keep the level of awkward down a little. Although it didn’t really work.
As soon as we got to Zadar I peaced out. Waved goodbye, said I’d be in touch, I had no intention of keeping in touch. I’ve gotten multiple messages from them about getting together. I’ve just been pretending I don’t have internet, which is kind of true.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Budpest, Hungary
The trip from Krakow to Budapest was one of the worst experiences of my life. I’m not going to go into too much detail but it consisted of 19 hours on trains and in train stations. I didn’t sleep. There were crazy people taking off clothes. No one spoke any English anywhere. Terrifying.
Basically, only take direct trains in eastern Europe.
When I finally did make it to Budapest I was a day late and as I walked into my hostel I was beyond exhausted. I tried to check in with the guy who seemed to be in charge and he just got really angry with me. I explained the situation. He told me he’d been waiting all night for me to check in and why didn’t I call. Honestly, it hadn’t occurred to me. I hadn’t been to a hostel yet that wasn’t 24 hour reception, and after the night I’d just had, calling my hostel was the last thing on my mind. He walked out of the room, motioned for me to follow and pointed at a bed in a large room then walked away. There were no sheets, no pillow. I just took off my nasty two day old sweat soaked clothes fell on it and passed out. I slept through most of that day.
When I finally woke up I tracked down the hostel worker again to apologize. He seemed in a much better mood. We had a nice chat and he showed me on a map were to go for a good cheap meal. In the end he was one of my favorite hostel people. He always made a point to offer me coffee in the morning.
Also the place that he showed me was delicious, although I have no idea what I ordered.
The first full day I was in Budapest I went on a walking tour the hostel worker had shown me. It was free although not through the same company I’d been using up until now. It turned out to be run by two university professors of linguistics just for kicks. It was awesome. The city is probably one of the most beautiful cities I’ve seen.
Basically, only take direct trains in eastern Europe.
When I finally did make it to Budapest I was a day late and as I walked into my hostel I was beyond exhausted. I tried to check in with the guy who seemed to be in charge and he just got really angry with me. I explained the situation. He told me he’d been waiting all night for me to check in and why didn’t I call. Honestly, it hadn’t occurred to me. I hadn’t been to a hostel yet that wasn’t 24 hour reception, and after the night I’d just had, calling my hostel was the last thing on my mind. He walked out of the room, motioned for me to follow and pointed at a bed in a large room then walked away. There were no sheets, no pillow. I just took off my nasty two day old sweat soaked clothes fell on it and passed out. I slept through most of that day.
When I finally woke up I tracked down the hostel worker again to apologize. He seemed in a much better mood. We had a nice chat and he showed me on a map were to go for a good cheap meal. In the end he was one of my favorite hostel people. He always made a point to offer me coffee in the morning.
Also the place that he showed me was delicious, although I have no idea what I ordered.
The first full day I was in Budapest I went on a walking tour the hostel worker had shown me. It was free although not through the same company I’d been using up until now. It turned out to be run by two university professors of linguistics just for kicks. It was awesome. The city is probably one of the most beautiful cities I’ve seen.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Krakow, Poland
I know, it’s been a while. I’ve been mostly without internet in the last few weeks. Even right now I’m at a campsite that makes you pay for wifi.
Anyway, Poland. It was amazing. Krakow is a really interestingly organized city. Everything you’d really want to see is contained within this small area in the center of the city and that area is surrounded by a park. This city center is full of adorable shops and cafes. There were tons of food stalls. Right outside this city center was the largest shopping mall I’ve ever seen in my life. It was huge. Took me an hour and a half to walk through it and I’m pretty sure I still missed some.
In the shopping mall I found an American bookstore. When I left the US with only one book the idea was that I would leave it and find a new one and then repeat that cycle. It didn’t occur to me how difficult it would be to find English books. So here was an American bookstore. Everything is in English. In it I find an anthology of Malcolm Gladwell’s best stories from the New Yorker. AWESOME. Freaking loved this book. Gladwell is pretty much one of my favorite people in the whole world. I get the feeling that if we could sit down and just talk we could go for hours, and I probably wouldn’t do more than ask questions.
Other than finding the bookstore, eating some wonderful food, and watching the finals of the world cup Krakow was fairly uneventful. The only other aspect worth comment was the street performers. It’s fairly standard fair to find street performers in the center of any big city in Europe. Krakow, on the other hand had the oddest performances I’ve ever seen. At one point there was an interpretative dance by some highschoolers. It more or less resembled a Westside story/ Romeo and Juliet set up as far as I could tell. Except they would break from that occasionally and just breakdance.
One of the things I’ve been doing as I go along is think about where I would want to bring people if I could only take them to one of the places I’ve been. For Jerry it was Munich, John would be Berlin. I’ve decided that Jill and I would have the most outrageously awesome time in Krakow. It’s easy to navigate, so the likelihood of getting too lost is small, and it has everything we could want in a short distance.
Plus they automatically serve coffee with a straw.
Anyway, Poland. It was amazing. Krakow is a really interestingly organized city. Everything you’d really want to see is contained within this small area in the center of the city and that area is surrounded by a park. This city center is full of adorable shops and cafes. There were tons of food stalls. Right outside this city center was the largest shopping mall I’ve ever seen in my life. It was huge. Took me an hour and a half to walk through it and I’m pretty sure I still missed some.
In the shopping mall I found an American bookstore. When I left the US with only one book the idea was that I would leave it and find a new one and then repeat that cycle. It didn’t occur to me how difficult it would be to find English books. So here was an American bookstore. Everything is in English. In it I find an anthology of Malcolm Gladwell’s best stories from the New Yorker. AWESOME. Freaking loved this book. Gladwell is pretty much one of my favorite people in the whole world. I get the feeling that if we could sit down and just talk we could go for hours, and I probably wouldn’t do more than ask questions.
Other than finding the bookstore, eating some wonderful food, and watching the finals of the world cup Krakow was fairly uneventful. The only other aspect worth comment was the street performers. It’s fairly standard fair to find street performers in the center of any big city in Europe. Krakow, on the other hand had the oddest performances I’ve ever seen. At one point there was an interpretative dance by some highschoolers. It more or less resembled a Westside story/ Romeo and Juliet set up as far as I could tell. Except they would break from that occasionally and just breakdance.
One of the things I’ve been doing as I go along is think about where I would want to bring people if I could only take them to one of the places I’ve been. For Jerry it was Munich, John would be Berlin. I’ve decided that Jill and I would have the most outrageously awesome time in Krakow. It’s easy to navigate, so the likelihood of getting too lost is small, and it has everything we could want in a short distance.
Plus they automatically serve coffee with a straw.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
London, England
Lizz is currently in Poland, but is so far behind on posts for the blog...
Nick and I left Leeds on Tuesday and it was sad. I had such a wonderful time and I kind of wanted to stay in my little room upstairs forever, becoming an official roommate. The bus ride back to England was uneventful in that Nick fell asleep almost immediately. That first night we had dinner at a delicious Chinese place and then went to see shrek in 3D. Nick suggested we go see the Twilight movie. He played it off as if he were doing me a favor, but I think he actually wanted to see it. Not sure what to make of that. I vetoed that idea immediately and the shrek movie was pretty good.
The next day we went on the free walking tour. I really loved london. It was beautiful. All the buildings are picturesque and there's history behind everything. When we were at the palace where Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry live the gates opened and a car came out with a police escort. Inside was Prince Charles. Probably the closet I will ever be to royalty.
After the tour we decided to walk all the way back to the hostel. It was a very long walk, but we went through hyde park and kensington gardens. I didn't feel at all like we were in a Jane Austin novel, but I couldn't help but think of all the fancy pants people who had walked there before me.
Our hostel was situated in pretty much the nicest area ever. We were actually in Notting Hill. There were streets of cute shops and adorable apartments.
That night we went out to watch the semi-final game between germany and spain. I'd made Nick miss
The next day we got up at 10 and packed to leave. I was sad to be going until I realized (and by 'I realized' I mean Nick looked at my ticket and realized) that the ticket says 6:40 as the departure time. I had for some reason assumed it was 6:40pm, completely forgetting that they only use 24 hour time here. So, I'd already missed my flight.
I worked out ever imaginable scenario to get out of England but in the end the best way was to get another flight for the next day. So I booked a flight for Krakow that was supposed to leave at 6pm the next day.
Nick and I proceeded to waste the rest of the day napping in hyde park. I then went with him to the bus station to see him off. It was hard enough to leave Ads in Leeds, but now I was alone again, and it was sad.
Luckily I got massively lost on the way back to the hostel, so that kept my mind off it.
The next day as I was packing to leave the hostel for good I started talking to another guy in my room. He was from the channel islands and is either a genius or completely insane. He ended up asking if he could buy me lunch and read me some nietzsche. I figured a free meal was worth it. I have never met a more random person ever. We went to a greek restaurant where he ordered the most expensive thing on the menu then talked at me for an hour. We then walked forever to a bookstore where he bought me a book of nietzsche. We shook hands and parted ways. I still don't really know what to make of this encounter.
That afternoon I left for my flight hours early, and caught a bus that should have gotten me to the airport in plenty of time. Traffic being what it is, I missed my flight again. I had to book another flight for the next morning and I slept in the airport.
I didn't realize how many people would be doing the same thing. When I sat down I claimed one of the few chair rows without armrests so you could actually sleep. At around 11:00 I realized that I really needed to use the restroom. I also realized that the second I got up the girl across from me was going to steal my spot. So, I powered through until 4 am, when the gates opened and I could go through.
When I got on the plane I had a little trouble getting my bag in the overhead compartment. It was way too big. I pushed it in though. Some women sitting across from me saw and started complaining to the flight attendant about how my bag was too big and it shouldn't have gotten through. I wanted to kill some bitches. I turned to them and explained that I've been in the airport for over 12 hours and that things might have gotten looser in the multiple times I had to pack and re-pack my bag. I wanted to tell them to shut up and if they got me kicked off the plane I would eat their children.
Luckily the flight attendant didn't care, and I flew to Krakow no problem.
I love England, and England loved me so much it didn't ever want to let me go.
Nick and I left Leeds on Tuesday and it was sad. I had such a wonderful time and I kind of wanted to stay in my little room upstairs forever, becoming an official roommate. The bus ride back to England was uneventful in that Nick fell asleep almost immediately. That first night we had dinner at a delicious Chinese place and then went to see shrek in 3D. Nick suggested we go see the Twilight movie. He played it off as if he were doing me a favor, but I think he actually wanted to see it. Not sure what to make of that. I vetoed that idea immediately and the shrek movie was pretty good.
The next day we went on the free walking tour. I really loved london. It was beautiful. All the buildings are picturesque and there's history behind everything. When we were at the palace where Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry live the gates opened and a car came out with a police escort. Inside was Prince Charles. Probably the closet I will ever be to royalty.
After the tour we decided to walk all the way back to the hostel. It was a very long walk, but we went through hyde park and kensington gardens. I didn't feel at all like we were in a Jane Austin novel, but I couldn't help but think of all the fancy pants people who had walked there before me.
Our hostel was situated in pretty much the nicest area ever. We were actually in Notting Hill. There were streets of cute shops and adorable apartments.
That night we went out to watch the semi-final game between germany and spain. I'd made Nick miss
The next day we got up at 10 and packed to leave. I was sad to be going until I realized (and by 'I realized' I mean Nick looked at my ticket and realized) that the ticket says 6:40 as the departure time. I had for some reason assumed it was 6:40pm, completely forgetting that they only use 24 hour time here. So, I'd already missed my flight.
I worked out ever imaginable scenario to get out of England but in the end the best way was to get another flight for the next day. So I booked a flight for Krakow that was supposed to leave at 6pm the next day.
Nick and I proceeded to waste the rest of the day napping in hyde park. I then went with him to the bus station to see him off. It was hard enough to leave Ads in Leeds, but now I was alone again, and it was sad.
Luckily I got massively lost on the way back to the hostel, so that kept my mind off it.
The next day as I was packing to leave the hostel for good I started talking to another guy in my room. He was from the channel islands and is either a genius or completely insane. He ended up asking if he could buy me lunch and read me some nietzsche. I figured a free meal was worth it. I have never met a more random person ever. We went to a greek restaurant where he ordered the most expensive thing on the menu then talked at me for an hour. We then walked forever to a bookstore where he bought me a book of nietzsche. We shook hands and parted ways. I still don't really know what to make of this encounter.
That afternoon I left for my flight hours early, and caught a bus that should have gotten me to the airport in plenty of time. Traffic being what it is, I missed my flight again. I had to book another flight for the next morning and I slept in the airport.
I didn't realize how many people would be doing the same thing. When I sat down I claimed one of the few chair rows without armrests so you could actually sleep. At around 11:00 I realized that I really needed to use the restroom. I also realized that the second I got up the girl across from me was going to steal my spot. So, I powered through until 4 am, when the gates opened and I could go through.
When I got on the plane I had a little trouble getting my bag in the overhead compartment. It was way too big. I pushed it in though. Some women sitting across from me saw and started complaining to the flight attendant about how my bag was too big and it shouldn't have gotten through. I wanted to kill some bitches. I turned to them and explained that I've been in the airport for over 12 hours and that things might have gotten looser in the multiple times I had to pack and re-pack my bag. I wanted to tell them to shut up and if they got me kicked off the plane I would eat their children.
Luckily the flight attendant didn't care, and I flew to Krakow no problem.
I love England, and England loved me so much it didn't ever want to let me go.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Leeds, England
Lizz is currently struggling with the internet at a hostel in London, when she should be in Berlin…
I made it to Leeds on Friday. Ads picked me up from the bus station with one of his roommates Franco. It was awesome to see him again. We went back to their place. I was surprised at how nice it felt to be back in a college town. Luckily for me Ads had an extra room with a bed and everything. It was easily the nicest accommodations I’d had in a month. Privacy is a luxury I’ve been lacking for a while now. There was also a washing machine. Basically it felt like a five star hotel.
We went out on Friday night to a very cool bar and I drank some sort of flavored beer concoction. Surprisingly delicious.
Saturday we decided to take a trip to the park. It was a little cloudy and windy, but they assured me this was pretty nice weather for Leeds, so we went anyway. Ads had a giant Frisbee, so we took that and some badminton rackets. We were having a lot of fun until the Frisbee got stuck in a tree. It was too high for anyone to really get at. So the obvious solution was to boost me up into the tree to climb up and shake it down. I realized about halfway up the tree that 1. it has been years since I’ve climbed anything, and 2. I’m not very good at it. I did eventually get the Frisbee down but I was more than a little scratched up because of my adventure
On Saturday night there was the Fourth of July celebration. A club in town was supposedly having a full blown celebration for the Fourth. There will be pictures on facebook as soon as the internet decides to allow me to post them. We had an amazing time. There was a hot dog eating contest (very American) and a chili eating contest, (slightly less American). Ads’ roommate Franco was the only person who entered both. We’d joked for the whole day that if one of us entered we needed to dunk the hotdogs, because it’s the only way to win. While Franco was eating hotdogs we started chanting, ‘dunk it, dunk it.’ And he did. Despite the fact that Franco didn’t win either of the competitions, he got a gift bag for entering both. This bag contained some really awesome stuff. There were nerd glasses which we proceeded to wear for the rest of the night. There were also moustache tattoos. All in all, the celebration wasn’t very American. I went the entirety of the Fourth without hearing a firework, but I had a wonderful night.
On Sunday, which was actually the Fourth of July, The guys I was staying with and I made a proper American meal. It consisted of hamburgers and hotdogs. Doritos and Pringles (the only American brand of chips I could find) and french fries. I also made an actual apple pie from scratch for dessert. I think they appreciated it. It was nice to have people to celebrate with. They were enthusiastic about it, even though they were technically celebrating their own defeat.
The rest of my time in Leeds more or less involved hanging out with people, watching movies, going into town. It was actually really relaxing and exactly what I needed at this point in my trip. I also feel like I made some life long friends in the deal.
Ads, Franco and Jas (the three roommates) had only moved into their house a day before I showed up. They told me when I left that it felt like I was a roommate too. The room I stayed in will always be known as Lizz’s room.
I left Leeds on Tuesday with Nick who came up to Leeds on Sunday. We headed back to London for a few days
I made it to Leeds on Friday. Ads picked me up from the bus station with one of his roommates Franco. It was awesome to see him again. We went back to their place. I was surprised at how nice it felt to be back in a college town. Luckily for me Ads had an extra room with a bed and everything. It was easily the nicest accommodations I’d had in a month. Privacy is a luxury I’ve been lacking for a while now. There was also a washing machine. Basically it felt like a five star hotel.
We went out on Friday night to a very cool bar and I drank some sort of flavored beer concoction. Surprisingly delicious.
Saturday we decided to take a trip to the park. It was a little cloudy and windy, but they assured me this was pretty nice weather for Leeds, so we went anyway. Ads had a giant Frisbee, so we took that and some badminton rackets. We were having a lot of fun until the Frisbee got stuck in a tree. It was too high for anyone to really get at. So the obvious solution was to boost me up into the tree to climb up and shake it down. I realized about halfway up the tree that 1. it has been years since I’ve climbed anything, and 2. I’m not very good at it. I did eventually get the Frisbee down but I was more than a little scratched up because of my adventure
On Saturday night there was the Fourth of July celebration. A club in town was supposedly having a full blown celebration for the Fourth. There will be pictures on facebook as soon as the internet decides to allow me to post them. We had an amazing time. There was a hot dog eating contest (very American) and a chili eating contest, (slightly less American). Ads’ roommate Franco was the only person who entered both. We’d joked for the whole day that if one of us entered we needed to dunk the hotdogs, because it’s the only way to win. While Franco was eating hotdogs we started chanting, ‘dunk it, dunk it.’ And he did. Despite the fact that Franco didn’t win either of the competitions, he got a gift bag for entering both. This bag contained some really awesome stuff. There were nerd glasses which we proceeded to wear for the rest of the night. There were also moustache tattoos. All in all, the celebration wasn’t very American. I went the entirety of the Fourth without hearing a firework, but I had a wonderful night.
On Sunday, which was actually the Fourth of July, The guys I was staying with and I made a proper American meal. It consisted of hamburgers and hotdogs. Doritos and Pringles (the only American brand of chips I could find) and french fries. I also made an actual apple pie from scratch for dessert. I think they appreciated it. It was nice to have people to celebrate with. They were enthusiastic about it, even though they were technically celebrating their own defeat.
The rest of my time in Leeds more or less involved hanging out with people, watching movies, going into town. It was actually really relaxing and exactly what I needed at this point in my trip. I also feel like I made some life long friends in the deal.
Ads, Franco and Jas (the three roommates) had only moved into their house a day before I showed up. They told me when I left that it felt like I was a roommate too. The room I stayed in will always be known as Lizz’s room.
I left Leeds on Tuesday with Nick who came up to Leeds on Sunday. We headed back to London for a few days
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Berlin, Germany
Lizz is currently sitting in hyde park watching some shirtless lads play football…
I know I’m not technically in Berlin anymore, but most of this post is about Berlin, so it counts. I really enjoyed Berlin. It is incredibly edgy. They have a culture of graffiti. I’m used to associating graffiti with a really bad part of town. In Berlin, it just means, you’re in town. There are no parts that aren’t graffitied. I also felt as if I was seriously lacking in tattoos and piercings. My hair wasn’t ridiculous enough and my clothes weren’t torn enough. Despite the fact that I didn’t fit in, I really loved the feel of the city. Unfortunately while I was there I didn’t really get to go out much. My room was mostly full of one group of people from the UK. They pretty much stayed to themselves. Listening to their conversation was fairly entertaining though. They decided they were going to get a van to travel the rest of Europe. While they were talking about what they wanted in the van they started off with really practical things that would be necessary to keep the car running. They quickly digressed to things like fuzzy dice and fake grass, beanbags, and a shower in the back. One guy even drew a picture. I have to admit if they actually manage to pull it off it would be a pretty bad ass van. Not that I would want to travel Europe in it.
While I was in Munich Tina offered to do my laundry for me. I accepted this incredibly kind offer and gathered all my dirty things into a laundry basket she gave me. I didn’t put my towel in there, it didn’t need to be washed. When I came back from the day out all my clothes were hanging up drying. I immediately noticed that something was different. They were all pink. Tina had thrown my towel in with the rest of the laundry. The towel is red. It wasn’t too much of a problem for the things that were pure white, they just turned really pink. But I had some blue things in there too, and those just turned the nastiest shade of gray. I wore all my pink things through Munich, and Frankfurt. In Berlin I broke down and went shopping. The other mistake I’d made in coming to Europe was packing only 4 pairs of underpants. I thought, “Oh, I can just wash them every few days’. THAT IS HORRIBLE LOGIC. WHY DID NONE OF YOU TELL ME THAT IS TERRIBLE LOGIC? No one wants to wash their underwear every three days. So I bought more. A couple of tank tops, and a going out dress. (Libby it was a dress that you would have made me try on and they I would have told you I have no where to wear it and then you would have made me buy it anyway).
This made things interesting for packing to come here to England. The airline I was flying with is really strict about size of baggage you can carry on. And you’re only allowed one carry one. Checking luggage is like an extra 40 euro. So I was dead determined I was going to get everything down to one bag that would fit. This meant ditching my travel book (I tore out the pages that were still relevant to the rest of the trip). It also meant cutting off my old jeans into shorts. They were just too bulky to carry around anymore. Especially because it was starting to get warm here. That was an adventure. I’ve never cut off jeans before. The whole hostel room got involved. Figuring out where to cut, and how to fold them. In the end they look pretty awesome. They might be my new favorite shorts.
I take a bus up to Leeds tomorrow, and Ads is supposed to meet me at the bust station. Nick joins us on Saturday for our fourth of July party. Then on Tuesday Nick and I are taking a bus back to London to sight see.
So far I really like England. I kind of wish that I was staying here longer, or that it wasn’t so expensive to stay here. Although I’m sure I’ll be back.
I know I’m not technically in Berlin anymore, but most of this post is about Berlin, so it counts. I really enjoyed Berlin. It is incredibly edgy. They have a culture of graffiti. I’m used to associating graffiti with a really bad part of town. In Berlin, it just means, you’re in town. There are no parts that aren’t graffitied. I also felt as if I was seriously lacking in tattoos and piercings. My hair wasn’t ridiculous enough and my clothes weren’t torn enough. Despite the fact that I didn’t fit in, I really loved the feel of the city. Unfortunately while I was there I didn’t really get to go out much. My room was mostly full of one group of people from the UK. They pretty much stayed to themselves. Listening to their conversation was fairly entertaining though. They decided they were going to get a van to travel the rest of Europe. While they were talking about what they wanted in the van they started off with really practical things that would be necessary to keep the car running. They quickly digressed to things like fuzzy dice and fake grass, beanbags, and a shower in the back. One guy even drew a picture. I have to admit if they actually manage to pull it off it would be a pretty bad ass van. Not that I would want to travel Europe in it.
While I was in Munich Tina offered to do my laundry for me. I accepted this incredibly kind offer and gathered all my dirty things into a laundry basket she gave me. I didn’t put my towel in there, it didn’t need to be washed. When I came back from the day out all my clothes were hanging up drying. I immediately noticed that something was different. They were all pink. Tina had thrown my towel in with the rest of the laundry. The towel is red. It wasn’t too much of a problem for the things that were pure white, they just turned really pink. But I had some blue things in there too, and those just turned the nastiest shade of gray. I wore all my pink things through Munich, and Frankfurt. In Berlin I broke down and went shopping. The other mistake I’d made in coming to Europe was packing only 4 pairs of underpants. I thought, “Oh, I can just wash them every few days’. THAT IS HORRIBLE LOGIC. WHY DID NONE OF YOU TELL ME THAT IS TERRIBLE LOGIC? No one wants to wash their underwear every three days. So I bought more. A couple of tank tops, and a going out dress. (Libby it was a dress that you would have made me try on and they I would have told you I have no where to wear it and then you would have made me buy it anyway).
This made things interesting for packing to come here to England. The airline I was flying with is really strict about size of baggage you can carry on. And you’re only allowed one carry one. Checking luggage is like an extra 40 euro. So I was dead determined I was going to get everything down to one bag that would fit. This meant ditching my travel book (I tore out the pages that were still relevant to the rest of the trip). It also meant cutting off my old jeans into shorts. They were just too bulky to carry around anymore. Especially because it was starting to get warm here. That was an adventure. I’ve never cut off jeans before. The whole hostel room got involved. Figuring out where to cut, and how to fold them. In the end they look pretty awesome. They might be my new favorite shorts.
I take a bus up to Leeds tomorrow, and Ads is supposed to meet me at the bust station. Nick joins us on Saturday for our fourth of July party. Then on Tuesday Nick and I are taking a bus back to London to sight see.
So far I really like England. I kind of wish that I was staying here longer, or that it wasn’t so expensive to stay here. Although I’m sure I’ll be back.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Frankfurt, Germany
Lizz is drinking a free beer because
I got into
When I got to
The rest of my time in
We watched the
I’m off to
Considering the fact that we’re going to be out in the countryside(ish) of
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Munich, Germany
I got into Munich around 11 pm and luckily my hostel was right next to the train station. After one night there I moved in with Tina who I know from Truman. She's been studying abroad here for a semester and because their semesters are offset by a couple of months, she's still in classes. I can't say I love Munich as much as I did prague. Their unrealistic affinity for beer is amazing. On my second day I was already tipsy before noon. At this point I feel like I've given all their beers a fair shot, and I still don't like them. The only thing I haven't tried yet that I want to is a drink called a Radler.
I finally broke down yesterday and bought a new camera. Mine is still coming to Tina and she will be able to give it back to me when she comes back to the US, but I was sick of waiting for it to catch up with me. Now I'll actually be able to take pictures of things again.
Yesterday I went on a walking tour with some people who I knew from my internship last summer. I hadn't seen them in a year, so that was a nice reunion. After the tour I had two hours to kill until the US Algeria game. There was a really nice park in the middle of the city so I decided to go there and listen to some music. I ended up falling asleep and missing the first 10 minutes of the game. Which, if you watched it, wasn't missing much.
Today I'm on a quest to restock shampoo, conditioner and contact solution. I'm also going to see if I can find some pants that actually fit, so I don't have to hold them up while I walk.
I finally broke down yesterday and bought a new camera. Mine is still coming to Tina and she will be able to give it back to me when she comes back to the US, but I was sick of waiting for it to catch up with me. Now I'll actually be able to take pictures of things again.
Yesterday I went on a walking tour with some people who I knew from my internship last summer. I hadn't seen them in a year, so that was a nice reunion. After the tour I had two hours to kill until the US Algeria game. There was a really nice park in the middle of the city so I decided to go there and listen to some music. I ended up falling asleep and missing the first 10 minutes of the game. Which, if you watched it, wasn't missing much.
Today I'm on a quest to restock shampoo, conditioner and contact solution. I'm also going to see if I can find some pants that actually fit, so I don't have to hold them up while I walk.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Prague Czech Republic (part 2)
I truly cannot believe how wonderful my experience in Prague was. On the first day I just did laundry and relaxed. On the second day I went to breakfast and met a guy from Scotland who was traveling with a friend. We went on a free walking tour together and then shopped. The first night I was in my hostel the bunk beds next to mine were occupied by two guys from the Netherlands. When I came back from the walking tour I assumed it was still those two guys who were incredibly lazy. When the boy on the top bunk popped up his head and said hi I realized they had been replaced by two boys from England. They eventually woke up and we started chatting. They were named Adam (Ads) and Nick, and they are the coolest people I’ve met on this trip so far. The first night was the England game where the score ended up being 0 – 0 but I still enjoyed it more than any other game I’ve watched. After the game we ended up walking around the city for a long time. I’m pretty sure we walked every single street at least twice. Occasionally we’d stop in a pub or bar for a drink. While we were drinking they managed to convince me to go on the walking tour with them again tomorrow. Unfortunately we didn’t exactly make it up in time for the early tour, so we went on the late one. While on the tour we decided to go on the pub crawl organized by the same company.
The pub crawl was amazingly fun. We started out in a bagel shop where there was unlimited Czech beer, wine and shots of rum vodka and absinth. Not surprisingly I didn’t drink after that stop. The second stop of the crawl was a church turned dance club. Brilliant music, environment, everything. When we were in the bagel shop there was a group of American boys who were stereotypically chanting ‘USA USA’. When we got to the church they, once again stereotypically, took off their shirts. So there was a large group of shirtless boys in the center of the dance floor. Ads and Nick dared me to go into the middle of them, just to see what would happen. So I did. Their reaction was priceless. At first the shock of a girl being in their presence was too much for them. It was almost like they were looking at each other going ‘It’s a girl! What do we do!?’. They figured it out pretty quickly though and closed in. Luckily I managed to extract myself. The third stop on the pub crawl was a club that was underground. While we were in the bagel shop a couple of Americans sat down with us named Patrick and Vanessa. They were instant hits with both me and the British boys. Earlier Nick, Ads and I were joking about how the US goes into anything, guns blazing while Britain is more likely to stand right behind America waving a fist going ‘yeah, take that!’. At one point in the evening Vanessa was joking with one of the shirtless guys and he got angry. Patrick immediately intervened and intimidated the shit out of the guy while Nick and Ads stood behind. The last stop of the crawl was a huge labyrinth of a club that I can barely even describe.
Around 4 am we decided it was time to head back to the hostel. Early on in my knowing him, Ads established himself as the ‘human compass’. Despite the fact that he had only been in the city one day, he could find his way almost anywhere without a map. It was truly amazing. This night, however, he was tipsier than either Nick or me. So we decided we should be the ones to guide the group home. After maybe 15 minutes of wandering Ads finally asked us if we wanted him to get us back to the hostel yet. He got us back in only a few minutes.
The next morning around 11 am Nick was shaking me awake. I sat bolt upright in my bed and Nick asked me if Ads had slept in the room last night. He wasn’t in his bed and the bed didn’t look slept in. The night before when we got back to our room both Nick and I were exhausted, but for some reason Ads was full of energy. So I gave him my headphones, he left and we went to sleep. The next morning, Nick and I realized he had never come back. We almost immediately started freaking out. We searched the entire hostel. Nick went down to reception with his camera and showed them a picture of Ads in hopes they had seen him, they hadn’t. We had horrible images of Ads walking the streets of Prague at 6am finding a door step to sleep on. I was looking up online what to do when someone goes missing when Ads walks into the room like nothing happened, smile on his face. Apparently he had met up with the Irish girls next door and crashed in their extra bed for the night.
Later that day we had to go to a castle tour we’d bought tickets for the day before. Unfortunately we were all still quite hung-over by the time we needed to be on our tour. It was the most pathetic sight you could have seen. The three of us lagged so far behind the group we missed most of the explanations. Every time we sat down Ads would fall asleep. At one point I went to the restroom and they waited for me in front of a cathedral. The line for the toilets was really long, so it took a while. When I came back they told me an American girl had approached them and told them the looked like models, and asked if she could she take their picture. I never heard the end of this, for the rest of the weekend.
Because we had been so slow getting started going for the tour we didn’t get to eat before hand. We all thought there would be a break for food during the tour and there wasn’t. By the end of it we were starving. For some reason we all had an immense craving for KFC. We took a tram to the KFC and got more food then I’ve eaten in a long time. We then proceeded to stuff our faces. It was amazing.
We went out drinking again that night and found a gem of a bar were no one spoke English but us and we got over 8 drinks between the three of us for less than $12.
This morning we woke up, packed and checked out of the hostel. We wandered the city one last time before Nick and Ads took me to the train station. They had a flight to catch later in the day. It was the saddest parting I’ve had so far. We hugged and cheek kissed (because they do that over here). I can’t believe how quickly we bonded over only three days but I hope we get to stay in touch and that they get the opportunity to visit me in the US.
Things that happened that didn’t get explained up there:
We were wandering at one point and came across old men dressed as sailors. They were singing. We found out it was Shanty fest 2010.
Periodically one of them would slip and use and American word instead of a British one. I would laugh. Examples are: Hamburger instead of beefburger, restroom instead of loo, z instead of zed.
Mindy skyped me at one point while I was with them. When I got off with her they were looking at me funny. Apparently my American accent got really strong while I was talking to her. I didn’t notice anything.
I would occasionally say something that meant something completely different in England. Example: We were about the leave for the day and I was wearing shorts. It looked gloomy outside and potentially cold, so I asked them if they thought I should put on pants. There was a really prolonged awkward pause. Finally Ads asked me if I wasn’t wearing pants, and I said no, I’m wearing shorts. They started laughing and told me they thought I meant underwear, which is pants, what I meant were trousers.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Prague Czech Republic (part 1)
I came into Prague rather early two days ago. The flight was fine (other than managing to lose my phone). I navigated the public transportation system here like a champ.
Everything in Prague is so cheap (especially the alcohol)
I met two British guys, we went out last night and watched the England game on a big screen in the middle of old town square. They are both fabulous and we enjoy comparing cultures and commenting on our knowledge of only one language.
Going out on a pub crawl with them tonight. I've also just met 8 Irish girls who I convinced to come out to the pub crawl also. Should be a fantastic evening.
Everything in Prague is so cheap (especially the alcohol)
I met two British guys, we went out last night and watched the England game on a big screen in the middle of old town square. They are both fabulous and we enjoy comparing cultures and commenting on our knowledge of only one language.
Going out on a pub crawl with them tonight. I've also just met 8 Irish girls who I convinced to come out to the pub crawl also. Should be a fantastic evening.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Stuff Irish People Like
5. Irish Gaelic: Despite the fact that everyone in Ireland speaks English all of the signs are in two languages. Irish is apparently an official language of the country right along with English, meaning all official signs need to be posted in both languages. You may wonder why I call it ‘Irish’ instead Gaelic. Apparently there is Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic. The only difference (according to the fisherman I met on the Aran Island) is that Irish Gaelic has more religious references.
4. Hurling: I had never heard of this game before I came to Ireland. The first night I was here one of the girls in my room was missing a tooth. She explained to me she’d lost it while sh
e was learning how to play a game called hurling. My next encounter was in the Guinness store house where they have a monument of a man with a hurling stick on top of a mountain of what appears to be the dead bodies of fallen opponents. I started to notice references to hurling everywhere. They love it here.3. Pubs: There is no wrong time of the day to go to a pub in the mind of the Irish. Guinness for breakfast is perfectly acceptable.
2. Stone Walls: The Irish affinity for stone walls only becomes apparent the further east you go. It gets to the point where there are more stone walls then there is grass to separate the stone walls. When we were on the Aran Island and we went on the ‘backroads’ the only thing distinguishing them was the distance between the stone walls. Not only are these stone walls everywhere but I can’t imagine the amount of effort and time put into the building of the walls. It’s really overwhelming.
1. Drinking: I feel like this goes without saying. I think they do it to decrease the
depression of the rain and clouds.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Aran Islands, Ireland
Lizz is currently sitting in the lounge of the hostel contemplating how it's possible to get a sunburn in Ireland...
I'll be sure to give a description of my night out on the town with Au pairs and biology researchers from around the world. But, the events of today are so superior I'd much rather share them.
Theresa, a girl I met in Dublin who is now in Galway looking for work, and I decided yesterday that we wanted to take a day trip to the Aran islands. It involved getting up at 8 in the morning and catching a bus that would take us to a neighboring town. We then had to get on a ferry that took us out to the island. When we got up it was cold and rainy. I put on almost every layer of clothing I brought with me and I was still freezing the whole way. When we got the the island we decided not to rent bikes, but to just walk. We made this decision because 1. We thought the island was fairly small and walkable, 2. Theresa hadn't been on a bike in over eight years and didn't know if she would make it, and 3. It was kind of raining which is miserable to bike in. So, we took off on foot and immediately got lost, had to ask for directions, finally got on our way. As we walked the weather very gradually improved. At first it stopped raining, then the clouds goth thinner. Finally, the sun actually started to come out. I also gradually started shedding layers as it warmed up. By the time we made it to the main attraction, which is an old fort and some cliffs, we were fairly hot, and tired, and hungry. As we approached a bend in the road we saw a food vender in a cart called 'The Chipper'. I ordered some curry fries and sat on a wall to eat them. As we're eating a group of local boys drove up and parked and they got out and started talking to the guy running the stand. Another guy then drove up in a backhoe carrying a large stone which he dropped on one side of The Chipper. He then got out of his backhoe and started yelling at the guy working the stand. Despite the fact he was speaking English, I couldn't understand anything and I wasn't sure if he was serious or joking. Theresa and I ended up moving to the other side of the Chipper as backhoe man moved a couple more stones to his pile. As we were watching this show two of the local boys who were at the stand sat next to us. We found out from them that the man with the backhoe owns the land that the Chipper was parked on. Apparently this guy is super rich and owns tons of land, and shops, including a cafe that is a few meters away from the Chipper. And apparently the Chipper was stealing his business. This guy was moving stones to try and block the Chipper in so it couldn't park there again. They told me that the guy who owns the Chipper plans on parking it in front of Backhoe's house tomorrow.
After chatting with the two locals for a while we told them we were trying to walk to the cool places on the island. The told us there was no way we could make it all the way to all of them and make it back to the ferry on time. So they offered to go get their Jeep and drive us around the island. The thing about the jeep is that it doesn't have any back seats. They said they can get more people in there that way.
The first place we decided to visit was the 'worm hole'.
The thing I need to make clear about the roads in Aran Islands is that there really aren't any, not in the way we think of them. There are some paved streets that one car might make it down on its own. They are also full of potholes and dips. Don't forget I'm in the back without seats.
We finally make it to where we can get out and start walking. I would equate the hike to mountain climbing on rocks without the incline. The view was amazing. and when we finally made it to the worm hole it was also mind-blowing.
As we walked we talked to the two guys and found out that they're named Stephen and Cole and they're fishermen. Stephan fishes for lobster on a small boat that his family makes while Cole is on a larger fishing boat that goes out for two weeks at a time. As we walked with them Steve and Cole would periodically slip into talking to each other in Irish which was fantastic. I asked about it and they said they speak both English and Irish regularly. Irish is more formal, so they would be expected to speak it to parents and anyone older, while English is more informal and spoken with friends.
After the worm hole we decided to go see the tower. Steve asked me if I wanted to take the back roads or the main road. I did not realize what we had been driving on so far was 'main road' so I said back road. Back roads in the Aran islands are not actually roads at all but over grown areas in-between ancient stone walls that are just barely large enough for a Jeep. There are branches of bushes scrapping against the side of the car and I am not at all sure how we didn't hit the walls.
We eventually made it to the tower, jumped a fence and climbed around in it. We also went to a fort and some cliffs before Steve and Cole dropped us off at our ferry.
I cannot imagine how my Aran Island experience could have been better.
I'll be sure to give a description of my night out on the town with Au pairs and biology researchers from around the world. But, the events of today are so superior I'd much rather share them.
Theresa, a girl I met in Dublin who is now in Galway looking for work, and I decided yesterday that we wanted to take a day trip to the Aran islands. It involved getting up at 8 in the morning and catching a bus that would take us to a neighboring town. We then had to get on a ferry that took us out to the island. When we got up it was cold and rainy. I put on almost every layer of clothing I brought with me and I was still freezing the whole way. When we got the the island we decided not to rent bikes, but to just walk. We made this decision because 1. We thought the island was fairly small and walkable, 2. Theresa hadn't been on a bike in over eight years and didn't know if she would make it, and 3. It was kind of raining which is miserable to bike in. So, we took off on foot and immediately got lost, had to ask for directions, finally got on our way. As we walked the weather very gradually improved. At first it stopped raining, then the clouds goth thinner. Finally, the sun actually started to come out. I also gradually started shedding layers as it warmed up. By the time we made it to the main attraction, which is an old fort and some cliffs, we were fairly hot, and tired, and hungry. As we approached a bend in the road we saw a food vender in a cart called 'The Chipper'. I ordered some curry fries and sat on a wall to eat them. As we're eating a group of local boys drove up and parked and they got out and started talking to the guy running the stand. Another guy then drove up in a backhoe carrying a large stone which he dropped on one side of The Chipper. He then got out of his backhoe and started yelling at the guy working the stand. Despite the fact he was speaking English, I couldn't understand anything and I wasn't sure if he was serious or joking. Theresa and I ended up moving to the other side of the Chipper as backhoe man moved a couple more stones to his pile. As we were watching this show two of the local boys who were at the stand sat next to us. We found out from them that the man with the backhoe owns the land that the Chipper was parked on. Apparently this guy is super rich and owns tons of land, and shops, including a cafe that is a few meters away from the Chipper. And apparently the Chipper was stealing his business. This guy was moving stones to try and block the Chipper in so it couldn't park there again. They told me that the guy who owns the Chipper plans on parking it in front of Backhoe's house tomorrow.
After chatting with the two locals for a while we told them we were trying to walk to the cool places on the island. The told us there was no way we could make it all the way to all of them and make it back to the ferry on time. So they offered to go get their Jeep and drive us around the island. The thing about the jeep is that it doesn't have any back seats. They said they can get more people in there that way.
The first place we decided to visit was the 'worm hole'.
The thing I need to make clear about the roads in Aran Islands is that there really aren't any, not in the way we think of them. There are some paved streets that one car might make it down on its own. They are also full of potholes and dips. Don't forget I'm in the back without seats.
We finally make it to where we can get out and start walking. I would equate the hike to mountain climbing on rocks without the incline. The view was amazing. and when we finally made it to the worm hole it was also mind-blowing.
As we walked we talked to the two guys and found out that they're named Stephen and Cole and they're fishermen. Stephan fishes for lobster on a small boat that his family makes while Cole is on a larger fishing boat that goes out for two weeks at a time. As we walked with them Steve and Cole would periodically slip into talking to each other in Irish which was fantastic. I asked about it and they said they speak both English and Irish regularly. Irish is more formal, so they would be expected to speak it to parents and anyone older, while English is more informal and spoken with friends.
After the worm hole we decided to go see the tower. Steve asked me if I wanted to take the back roads or the main road. I did not realize what we had been driving on so far was 'main road' so I said back road. Back roads in the Aran islands are not actually roads at all but over grown areas in-between ancient stone walls that are just barely large enough for a Jeep. There are branches of bushes scrapping against the side of the car and I am not at all sure how we didn't hit the walls.
We eventually made it to the tower, jumped a fence and climbed around in it. We also went to a fort and some cliffs before Steve and Cole dropped us off at our ferry.
I cannot imagine how my Aran Island experience could have been better.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Galway Ireland
Lizz is currently sitting on a bunk bed that "might fall down anytime"...
This morning I checked out of the incredibly unfriendly Kinlay house and hopped on a bus to Galway. It was a three hour trip through the countryside of Ireland. There were, disappointingly, no castles. The only thing to distinguish it form driving across Missouri, as far as I could tell, was the increase in the number of sheep.
When I got here it took me almost no time at all to find my hostel. It is everything that was promised by the reviews online. The beds seem dangerous of collapsing (I made sure to get a top bunk so if they did collapse I would be more likely to survive). The manager of the hostel wasn't even here. When he eventually showed up he had me write my name in a notebook and give him 16 euros. That was all the more checking he did. There is a code to get in the door at night, which is a nice perk.
That being said, the bathroom is much nicer than I had in Dublin. The shower is inside a room where you can partially see outside and the view is beautiful.
After settling in I set out on the town to explore. The area I'm in seems to be like the Plaza on crack and less expensive. It's all pedestrian walking and there are street performers everywhere. I stopped at watched four men from Africa do an acrobatics routine. They were so energetic. I wanted to make it back to my hostel for the US v. England game so I left before they were done, but as I left I dropped off my change in their hat. As I walked away one of the guys shouted 'your phone number too' and everyone in the crowd laughed. It was a really neat experience.
When I came back for the World Cup game the only people in the lounge were the old manager and a few of his friend, but I figured, what the hell. So I sat down with them to watch it. A few minutes in a group of guys show with beer. I find out that they're from Turkey, Slovakia and Columbia and they're in Ireland to do Biology research for the summer. We talked biology throughout the whole game. We also talked about the US player with the ridiculous beard...
Tonight I'm going to a club behind my hostel with the three biology guys and three au pairs from southern Ireland who are in Galway for the weekend. Should be an interesting evening.
This morning I checked out of the incredibly unfriendly Kinlay house and hopped on a bus to Galway. It was a three hour trip through the countryside of Ireland. There were, disappointingly, no castles. The only thing to distinguish it form driving across Missouri, as far as I could tell, was the increase in the number of sheep.
When I got here it took me almost no time at all to find my hostel. It is everything that was promised by the reviews online. The beds seem dangerous of collapsing (I made sure to get a top bunk so if they did collapse I would be more likely to survive). The manager of the hostel wasn't even here. When he eventually showed up he had me write my name in a notebook and give him 16 euros. That was all the more checking he did. There is a code to get in the door at night, which is a nice perk.
That being said, the bathroom is much nicer than I had in Dublin. The shower is inside a room where you can partially see outside and the view is beautiful.
After settling in I set out on the town to explore. The area I'm in seems to be like the Plaza on crack and less expensive. It's all pedestrian walking and there are street performers everywhere. I stopped at watched four men from Africa do an acrobatics routine. They were so energetic. I wanted to make it back to my hostel for the US v. England game so I left before they were done, but as I left I dropped off my change in their hat. As I walked away one of the guys shouted 'your phone number too' and everyone in the crowd laughed. It was a really neat experience.
When I came back for the World Cup game the only people in the lounge were the old manager and a few of his friend, but I figured, what the hell. So I sat down with them to watch it. A few minutes in a group of guys show with beer. I find out that they're from Turkey, Slovakia and Columbia and they're in Ireland to do Biology research for the summer. We talked biology throughout the whole game. We also talked about the US player with the ridiculous beard...
Tonight I'm going to a club behind my hostel with the three biology guys and three au pairs from southern Ireland who are in Galway for the weekend. Should be an interesting evening.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Dublin Ireland
Lizz is currently sitting on a bench in a garden of Trinity College in Dublin Ireland…
One of the things I’ve noticed about international travel is that it’s very hard to keep track of time. I don’t just mean what time of day it is, but more what day of the week or even what month of the year. I have to think about how long I’ve already been over here. At times it seems like moths already. One of the girls I met was finishing travel for a month and she thought it was still may when it was already June 8.
My flight over was harrowing as any lengthy flight would be expected to be. I had a little girl behind me and two talkative teenagers next to me. They were from Houston Texas and on a graduating field trip. In fact my flight was full of highschoolers on field trips.
When I finally got into Dublin everything went smoothly until I tried to find my hostel. There are apparently no street signs in Europe. What I eventually realized is that the signs are just in a different location rather than entirely absent.
On my first night I met two really nice girls, both from Canada, who were staying in my room. We went out to the pub that night, as far as I can tell that’s all anyone does in Ireland. I had a pint of some irish cider and listened to an irish band. There were two girls doing irish dancing. It was all very irish.
On the very first night as we were going out to the pubs I walked past someone who looked familiar, and he looked at me like he recognized me. We both stopped and awkwardly stared at each other before we realized we both went to Truman. Apparently he’s doing an internship in Dublin for the summer. What is the likelihood I would come all the way to Ireland to see someone from Truman, on the first night.
The next day we went on a walking tour of Dublin. It was and amazing experience. The tour guide was passionate and an amazing public speaker. I was blown away. I now know more about the history of Ireland then I ever really wanted, but I enjoyed learning it all.
The real downside of this country is how damn cold it is. When I flew in the boys next to my told me we were going to visit ‘the cloud people’ which, after a few days here, is undoubtedly true. It is depressingly gray here all the time. The only bright side is that it hasn’t actually rained yet.
This afternoon I’m going to the Guinness storehouse. Which I know Jill will be jealous of.
I’m off to Galway tomorrow where I’ll be staying in the jankiest hotel ever. The reviews online are awful. It was the only one available and I’m chalking it up to experience. After that I fly to Prague.
One of the things I’ve noticed about international travel is that it’s very hard to keep track of time. I don’t just mean what time of day it is, but more what day of the week or even what month of the year. I have to think about how long I’ve already been over here. At times it seems like moths already. One of the girls I met was finishing travel for a month and she thought it was still may when it was already June 8.
My flight over was harrowing as any lengthy flight would be expected to be. I had a little girl behind me and two talkative teenagers next to me. They were from Houston Texas and on a graduating field trip. In fact my flight was full of highschoolers on field trips.
When I finally got into Dublin everything went smoothly until I tried to find my hostel. There are apparently no street signs in Europe. What I eventually realized is that the signs are just in a different location rather than entirely absent.
On my first night I met two really nice girls, both from Canada, who were staying in my room. We went out to the pub that night, as far as I can tell that’s all anyone does in Ireland. I had a pint of some irish cider and listened to an irish band. There were two girls doing irish dancing. It was all very irish.
On the very first night as we were going out to the pubs I walked past someone who looked familiar, and he looked at me like he recognized me. We both stopped and awkwardly stared at each other before we realized we both went to Truman. Apparently he’s doing an internship in Dublin for the summer. What is the likelihood I would come all the way to Ireland to see someone from Truman, on the first night.
The next day we went on a walking tour of Dublin. It was and amazing experience. The tour guide was passionate and an amazing public speaker. I was blown away. I now know more about the history of Ireland then I ever really wanted, but I enjoyed learning it all.
The real downside of this country is how damn cold it is. When I flew in the boys next to my told me we were going to visit ‘the cloud people’ which, after a few days here, is undoubtedly true. It is depressingly gray here all the time. The only bright side is that it hasn’t actually rained yet.
This afternoon I’m going to the Guinness storehouse. Which I know Jill will be jealous of.
I’m off to Galway tomorrow where I’ll be staying in the jankiest hotel ever. The reviews online are awful. It was the only one available and I’m chalking it up to experience. After that I fly to Prague.
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