So today is my last official day in Ireland. Tomorrow I am taking a 3:30 (am!!!) bus to Shannon and will be arriving back in CA at about 1pm. It is SO weird to be going home. On the one hand, I am ecstatic to see friends and family again (plus actual warm weather will be really nice) but on the other hand, I will definitely be missing Ireland. I feel like I have had so many experiences here that really can't be duplicated, and it will be so odd not to be able to walk down to Salthill in the afternoons, or go to the market on Saturdays.
On a lighter note (all the reminiscing makes me kinda depressed...) I just got back from a trip to Prague with my friend Jenni. We also spent a night in Belfast since neither of us had been to Northern Ireland before and wanted to go there before we left. Prague was GORGEOUS. The weather was fantastic, and we actually could walk around at night without being cold ( a novel concept!!) One thing I noticed is that is there are so many more people there who spoke English than in Germany, which was kinda funny, but also nice. We stayed at a hostel and were booked for a 7 person dorm, but by some accident, no one else was in our room the entire time, so we had a huge room to ourselves, which was nice.
When we were actually in Prague, we went and saw Prague Castle, which was really beautiful (we rented an audioguide...but since we were poor, we only got one, so I narrated it, and we learned all about the amazing cathedral and surrounding area of the castle, including this story about a saint whose tongue miraculously re-grew in his mouth after he died...only it was really his brain.) and the Charles Bridge, and the astronomical clock, and basically just wandered around taking pictures of everything.
One of my favorite things that we did was go to the opera. Le nozze de Figaro (the marriage of Figaro) was playing at the Prague National Opera and we decided to splurge (since center box seats were actually really cheap) and go. It was SUPER. My favorite part was seeing Figaro army-crawl under a blanket of leaves, and the characters have a cake-fight onstage. It is a great opera.
In Belfast, we'd booked a 22 person dorm because it was only 5 pounds to stay there, but in an oversight, someone had taken my bed, so we got moved to a smaller room with only 2 other people for the same price! I think God definitely had our backs in the living situation! Belfast is fun, but more like a big city. The accents there are so crazy...and kind of hard to understand. We mostly just walked around there...we saw the St. George's market, The Belfast Wheel (very similiar to the London Eye), The Botanical Gardens and Queens University, because at this point we were basically broke. Still it was a cool trip.
So now I am back in Galway, packing things up. I hope to continue blogging (probably under a different title) but will probably add another entry about my last night here. Town is crazy now though because of the Volvo Ocean Race being here...Cheers!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Deutschland Adventure!
So I have just returned from my EPIC adventure in Germany with my friend Alecia. We spent I think nine days in Germany, seeing Berlin, Munchen (Munich), Fussen, Augsburg, and Heidelberg. Alecia speaks German, so we were able to navigate fairly well, and got to see:
The Berlin Zoo: OMG...so many animals! I felt a little like an excited kindergartener, running around and saying things like "Look! A gorilla! Look! A camel that has two humps! Look! Penguins!"
The Brandenberger Tor: We found this whole area kind of by accident, mainly using Alecia's memories of a children's book she read when she was little.
The University of Munchen, Frauen Kirche, and the Englisher Gartens in Munich
Neuschwanstein Castle and Hohenschwangau...We walked like 10 miles that day, but it was totally worth it...those castles are AMAZING...one actually has a tiny grotto in it!
Heidelberger Schloss, which was totally cool and run-down, unlike most of the Bavarian castles, which are so incredibly opulent and decorated, it is almost distracting.
Germany is really different from Ireland, not just weather wise (I actually got sunburnt!) There were actually very few people who spoke English to me, and I mainly had to ask Alecia what to say, since it was a new experience being in a country where I literally didn't understand anything beyond "Hello" and "Thank You." The people were really nice, although much more reserved, and I also noticed an unsettling tendency of the young men to wear capris, or man-pris, as Alecia and I termed them.
Some favorite memories: Making dinner in Berlin and walking down the street holding Wurst, apple rings and spatzle (definitely got some strange looks from that one!)
Riding the bus to Fussen and sitting next to a seat with a half-eaten candy bar. A man sits down next to me and asks if the candy is mine. I say no. About 15 minutes later, I hear some rustling next to me. Man is eating candy bar. This probably wouldn't have been so funny if he hadn't been wearing one of those German hats with the feather.
Being harassed by an old man in Lederhosen at the bus station at 9:30 in the morning. I didn't know people actually wore those, but apparently they wear them all the time!!
Exploring the Heidelberg Schoss and climbing down this strange German recreational playgound thing.
Playing a forbidden temple kingdom board game in German at 1:30 am while waiting for out flight
So...in conclusion, I would highly recommend visiting Germany as soon as possible. It is a country of excellence for sure! I am going to post pictures of it soon, but my camera is out of batteries right now, so I will have to save it for later. As they say "auf deutsch" (in German) "Ciao!" (Yeah...I know...not German...but everyone says it!)
The Berlin Zoo: OMG...so many animals! I felt a little like an excited kindergartener, running around and saying things like "Look! A gorilla! Look! A camel that has two humps! Look! Penguins!"
The Brandenberger Tor: We found this whole area kind of by accident, mainly using Alecia's memories of a children's book she read when she was little.
The University of Munchen, Frauen Kirche, and the Englisher Gartens in Munich
Neuschwanstein Castle and Hohenschwangau...We walked like 10 miles that day, but it was totally worth it...those castles are AMAZING...one actually has a tiny grotto in it!
Heidelberger Schloss, which was totally cool and run-down, unlike most of the Bavarian castles, which are so incredibly opulent and decorated, it is almost distracting.
Germany is really different from Ireland, not just weather wise (I actually got sunburnt!) There were actually very few people who spoke English to me, and I mainly had to ask Alecia what to say, since it was a new experience being in a country where I literally didn't understand anything beyond "Hello" and "Thank You." The people were really nice, although much more reserved, and I also noticed an unsettling tendency of the young men to wear capris, or man-pris, as Alecia and I termed them.
Some favorite memories: Making dinner in Berlin and walking down the street holding Wurst, apple rings and spatzle (definitely got some strange looks from that one!)
Riding the bus to Fussen and sitting next to a seat with a half-eaten candy bar. A man sits down next to me and asks if the candy is mine. I say no. About 15 minutes later, I hear some rustling next to me. Man is eating candy bar. This probably wouldn't have been so funny if he hadn't been wearing one of those German hats with the feather.
Being harassed by an old man in Lederhosen at the bus station at 9:30 in the morning. I didn't know people actually wore those, but apparently they wear them all the time!!
Exploring the Heidelberg Schoss and climbing down this strange German recreational playgound thing.
Playing a forbidden temple kingdom board game in German at 1:30 am while waiting for out flight
So...in conclusion, I would highly recommend visiting Germany as soon as possible. It is a country of excellence for sure! I am going to post pictures of it soon, but my camera is out of batteries right now, so I will have to save it for later. As they say "auf deutsch" (in German) "Ciao!" (Yeah...I know...not German...but everyone says it!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
