Thanksgiving and Galway

They don't usually celebrate Thanksgiving in Ireland. Which quite the shame considering it's my favorite holiday. But I celebrated anyway, along with fourteen others on Thursday night. Then Friday Tony came to Dublin along with Jessica and Steve later that night. What a day! We've had a good weekend traversing the country and wandering around without really knowing what was going on. It was nice to have more people visit me, I like showing people around Dublin and exploring new places. This is just the account of my weekend with friends from the Midwest. I'll update on Tony's visit next.

The city of Galway, all decorated for Christmas!

Saturday morning we all got up early to catch a train across the country to Galway. It was a nice, sleepy, uneventful train ride. We landed in Galway about 10ish and got our hotel rooms sorted out and found a bus to take us to the ferry to take us to the Aran Islands. The Aran Islands are a set of 3 islands off the coast of Galway, which is on the west coast of Ireland for those who didn't know. We went to the largest one known as Inis Mor. It was 9 miles long and 3 miles wide. On the ferry over I found out that I get sea sick, so that was unhappy. Except it started out really fun splashing about in the huge waves.

Me, Steve and Jessica on the bus to the ferry that went to the Aran Islands.

Steve, Jessica, and Tony sleeping on the ferry.

Once we got to the island we realized we had no idea what to do, because it was a bit cold for biking like I thought sounded fun. Luckily someone shouted to us for a tour of the island. So we went about the island with narration from Rory, who had the sweetest accent I've heard yet. He left us on our own to explore the ring fort on the west coast of the island, which has these amazing cliffs. It was nothing short of amazing. And really windy too. I waved across the Atlantic to home, so I hope you saw me. We toured around the island and learned some interesting things. Like there are only 800 people who live there, and they all speak Irish. They also build so many stone fences as a way to clear the stones from the fields, and also, obviously, to mark territory. All in all, the Aran Islands are really cool and the four of us discussed how it would be nice to retire there or something. I decided that would be a bad idea because I would never want to take a ferry that often.

That looks dangerous Tony! (Don't worry Mom, it wasn't really)

Steve, Jessica and Tony hanging out on one of the 5 billion limestone walls on Inis Mor.

The half-ring fort of Dun Aonghasa. Beats me on how to pronounce that.

We found a kitty!

Donkey and old thatched roof barn. There are lots of those on the island.

That night we ate a delicious dinner, I had turkey and most of Jessica's potatoes. Afterwards we got cleaned up and went out for a night on the town with Tony's friend Nellie. She was conveniently staying in Galway the same weekend as us! Which made for an awesome mid-west reunion. I heard news about people from high school that I never thought I would hear about again. But it was really fun hanging out with her and she'll hopefully be spending her last night in Dublin with me before she heads back to Minnesota.

Nellie and Tony looking happy to see each other.

Me ruining a super-cute picture with Jessica.

Unfortunately we had to leave Galway for other fun adventures around Ireland. We barely got Jessica off to the airport in time (thanks to my general unobservance of the main street in Dublin being closed). Thankfully though she made her flight and got her dad a gift from duty-free! Life is good!

The train on the way back to Dublin looked like a den. Jessica said it was only missing a loon.

London bridge is falling down...

Actually it's not, I haven't gained that much weight. So November has been my month of travel, in accordance, I went to London, England this past weekend. It was loads of fun, Molly, Des and I had a good time being confused with the underground system, being able to only get take away the first night and then never knowing where to go to do things. Oh, traveling is wonderful. Here is the account of my travels to London:

Thursday:
This week we left early to maximize our time in England. We left around 4pm about half an hour after I packed. I barely remembered to bring underwear and socks, and definitly forgot to bring pajama bottoms (how embarassing!). The flight was good, uneventful, which is saying a lot for Ryanair. We had to take a train to get into London and then took the Underground (mind the gap!) to get nearer our hostel. After we dropped our stuff off we went out in search of food at about 11pm. Turns out that's closing time for like... every restaurant in that area of London. So after trying in vain to find a dine-in place we brought take-away Chinese food back to the hostel.

The hostel was fun in the way that I've become a better person for staying there. Here's a picture of our room:

Molly getting ready for our first day out.

Looks nice right? Well, in most aspects it was very nice. Except that the shower is just a stall at the end of the bunk on the right. No surrounding bathroom, or even space to get undressed. So we had to turn our heads whenever someone wanted to shower. Then we had to walk down the hall and down some stairs to get to a bathroom, which isn't a problem. Except there was only one toilet without a sink, which meant that we had to walk back to our room to wash our hands. It was just very strange. Especially because I had to get fully dressed every morning before peeing because I had no real pajama bottoms. Well, only two mornings, because the third I was tired of it and just walked to the toilet in my (new union jack!) underwear. Enough about the hostel.

Friday:
It was quite a rainy day Friday so we decided to spend it shopping, and what better place to shop than the biggest department store in Britain? Harrods! But first we had to find out how to get there. Thankfully some nice English lady noticed we were lost and gave us directions to the store. That was the start of our realization that the English give poor directions. What was suppposed to take 20 minutes took about twice that and we had to ask two more people for directions. But we had a nice stroll through Hyde Park!

Molly and I hanging out at Hyde Park.

This picture is funny because Des is Canadian and so are the geese. They got along well.

We had to walk down this road. I puked a little because of it.

Harrods! It's the brownish building with all the flags and takes up and entire block!

After shopping for a long while we went back to our part of town and I got my hair cut at Aveda. What an experience! I got a sweet back massage and tea. Their shampoo and everything smell really good, so it was a cool experience. Though I'm not sure how much I like the swoopy bangs, the rest of my hair is nice and I'm glad I got it done.

Not sure if I like my new hair cut. Swoopy bangs don't really work on me.

Later that night Des, Molly and I went out around Picadilly Circus and found a place to go watch a movie. It was a low key night due to the unfriendlyness of the rain. There were three movies playing at the theater, Saw 3, Borat and Scenes of a Sexual Nature. Of course we saw the last one. A very strange and very Brittish movie. It's like the anti-Love Actually. After that we were tuckered out and went back to the hostel for some good sleep.

Des and Molly hanging out after the rain.

Saturday:
This day was meant to be our tourist day. Being that, we took a bus tour around London and also went on the London Eye which is a big ferris wheel-like thing. Everyone gets into these big pods that fit like 15 people and you slowly go around. It takes about a half hour so you sort of get your 13pound money's worth. The line was ridiculous though, so Des and I went out in search of tea and cheesy chips to keep us warm in queue. We got three orders of cheesy chips for the three of us, which was actually a bit much. But we ate all of them! The people in line were jealous of our ingenious idea. I could tell.

The London Eye from the view of in line. Notice the little crown on the lamppost. That signifies that this area is under the crown for something. I'm not really sure what the area is called but it means that all the money-making places in this area have to give a cut of profits to the queen.

Molly and I waiting in line to get tickets to wait in another line.

The view from the eye! Also the only real picture that came out.

After the Eye we went and got tickets to a show for that night because apperantly London has a lot of theaters. Strangely enough we saw a show all about Motown and the songs that came from there. But it was really good and totally worth it to see old Brittish ladies dancing along to the music. After the show we wandered around the area and I think went to Soho, which is a bit sketchy. We discovered that people in London dress to the nines when they go out, and we weren't dressed as such. So it made it difficult to choose a place to go for a drink. When we did find just a regular pub there was a 3pound cover! Who charges to get into a pub? So then we just went back to the hostel for a quiet night.

The Houses of Parliament and the clock tower at night.

The London Eye at night. So pretty!

Sunday:
We started this day off with a traditional English breakfast which consisted of bacon, sausages, baked beans, grilled tomato, toast, eggs and tea. It was... ok. I'm not a real big fan of the sausages, beans for breakfast or sunny side up eggs. But, I'm glad I tried it. We then went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the gaurds, and had some fun along the way. We got there about an hour early and the place was already teeming with people. When it finally got to be time to change the gaurds there were tons of people around. Really quite amazing. My favorite thing about it was the little boy behind me who said that the soldier was carrying a floppy sword. Brittish accents on children always crack me up. The changing of the guards is an interesting affair, and the soldiers look a bit ridiculous with their tall fuzzy hats, stomping around and yelling. Buckingham palace was really pretty, quite large. I accidentally called it a castle and someone corrected me. So don't make that mistake when you go to London.

I just think this is a pretty picture. This is a war memorial because the English fight a lot of wars. The red wreaths are to commemorate those who died fighting.

This is the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walkway. Quite pretty. There's a nice sandy path for horses to walk on the right.

Molly and I demonstrating how the sandy pathway is to be used.

Buckingham Palace! It has quite the gate.

Queen Victoria fountain with riders in red. We weren't sure what their purpose was, but they looked nice.

Changing of the guards with ridiculous hats.

After the guards changed we got our stuff and went to the airport to go home. All in all I had a good time in London. It was really cool to see the sights that are so famous. But I didn't really like London as a city. Everywhere was so busy and just jammed with people. It was a bit too big for my taste. I'd be interested in seeing what other parts of England are like. In the end, I was just really happy to get back to Dublin and the Euro. Sterling is really tough to deal with since everything looks cheap, but really isn't. I've learned that I never want to drive in London, they view the lines on the streets as just decorations. No one drives in the lines and they're all crazy. So that was my experience in London!

Scotland!

This past weekend I went to Glasgow, Scotland! It was incrediby cool, but rainy. My friend Patrick is doing a semester there at the University of Glasgow, which gave me a good excuse to go visit Scotland.

The flag of Scotland. For those of you who don't know, it's a white X on a blue background. It makes of the blue and white part of the union jack.

This is Patrick's school. He giggles every time he gets to say he goes to school in a castle. So do I.

FRIDAY:
When I first got into the airport Patrick wasn't there to meet me. But I had a strange feeling that he wouldn't be there for some reason. So I was prepared to go it alone. Since I only had Patrick's address and no idea how to get there, I decided my first task would be to find a hostel. After getting some cheesy chips (one of the best things I've found in Ireland).

This is me enjoying some delicious non-cheesy chips. The first chipper I found in Scotland was out of cheese, what a disapointing introduction to a country!

I proceeded to look for the only hostel I could find in Glasgow using a map that didn't include the hostel's location. Eventually I got there, booked myself for two nights, and took a nap on the comfy couches.

The lounge of my hostel. This is really nice as far as the hostels I've been in. If I got to 7 more Scottish Youth Hostels I become a member!

After that I got my key, took a shower and got ready to go out exploring. Lucky enough there was a large park, called Kelvingrove Park right outside my door, so that's where I started. It was pouring buckets of rain though and became rather unpleasant. A nice Glasweigan was kind enough to give me ideas for things to take pictures of and even showed me down through the part to the art museum. There I saw Salvador Dali's "Christ of St. John of the Cross" which was really cool because I love Dali. I also hung out with Elvis.

Chilling with the King.

I got a cup of tea and a sandwhich as well to tide me over until I met up with Patrick. While at the hostel I checked my facebook and Patrick had messaged me his very legitimate reason for not meeting me at the airport (he missed his own flight and was still in London at the time). So I met up later that evening with him and his girlfriend Jessica who was over visiting for a few weeks. We ate dinner at Mother India's, a delicious Indian restraunt where I had my first real Indian food experience. It was delicious! Spicey, but delicious!

Indian beer isn't bad either!

After feeling fat and sassy we went to a local Scottish pub where I sampled a malt of the month. We then went to a house party where we hung out with loads of international people. The thing about studying abroad is that I've met an incredible number of people from all over the world, not just from Ireland/Scotland.

SATURDAY:
The next morning I explored more of the park and found the skate park and playground. Scottish grafitti is better than Irish grafitti, which isn't saying much. But at least it's not complete crap.

The art museum is in the background. Quite the fancy building for a skate park backdrop.

Being a child and climbing on the rope pyramid. Like my new-ish shoes?

Patrick, Jessica and I set out for city center to go try the Willow Tea rooms, which are based on the designs of someone named Mackintosh. He was a famous architect and made some fancy chairs.

Enjoying a refined cup of tea at the Willow Tea Room.

Jessica and Patrick having some tea.

Then we wandered around city center and saw cool buildings and stuff. Patrick then showed us around his castle of a university and I got all jealous because UCD is all concrete and... concrete. After that I went back to the hostel to get all fancy for a cocktail party at Patricks, and fell asleep for an hour. The party was sweet, I got to meet loads more international students which is always fun.

George's Square is really cool with Patrick and I.

SUNDAY:
My last day Patrick had to work for awhile so Jessica and I explored the Botanic Gardens, which were beautiful! There was a path going through the woods along the Kelvin River and all the trees had turned colors. Just as it started to rain we went into the greenhouse and saw some awesome plants. Some palm trees have leaves bigger than me! That was a really cool experience.

Making kissy with the pretty flowers in the Botanic Gardens greenhouse.

After we got hungry and went past this church-looking building which turned out to be a restaurant. We of course had lunch there for the novelty of it, and it turned out to be really good. In Scotland they put mozzarella on their cheesy chips instead of cheddar in Ireland.

It looks like a church but it's much more tasty!

We finished lunch and went to the bar where Patrick works for some delicious drinks and fun with random people who played football (soccer). Then it was time for me to go back to Ireland after a wonderful weekend in Glasgow. All in all I really liked Scotland, the scenery is gorgeous and the people are really nice. Someday I'll explore more of the country. For now I'm very satisfied with what I saw and experienced.

When in Rome... learn Italian

Which is advice I should have followed when I went to Germany, I should have learned German. Knowing what things are and how to get there would have been nice, I think I would have learned a lot more about Frankfurt and everything. Other than not knowing what anything was really, I had a good time. I traveled there with 7 other people, so there was a good group of us and at all times at least one person sort of knew what was going on. I've also come to appreciate the pictures of stick boys and girls on the doors of bathrooms. My recommendation to anyone travelling to a country with a language you don't speak, at least learn what boy and girl is so you don't have to stand in front of two doors wondering which to go in. It saves on embarassment.

Frankfurt! The city is known for its skyline because apperantly European cities don't really have tall buildings. This is true for Dublin. They also drive on the right side of the road (woo hoo!)

Travelling to Frankfurt didn't take too long. We took Ryanair which is a low-cost flight, I think tickets were like 50euro. But there really wasn't anything wrong with the flight or anything. When we got there we ended up staying in a hostel with some of the Irish students from the flight. And then going to the closest bar (O'Rileys - again Irish) and seeing them there too. So the first night we didn't really do anything new. Except most of the people at the Irish pub were speaking German (singing kareoke in English though).

This is our plane going to Germany. We got to walk on the tarmac! I think was cool, but really it's because Ryanair is that cheap.

This is inside our hostel as we're waiting to go out/watching the Daily Show. My favorite thing is the crooked picture on the wall. It adds a touch of class.

The next day we wandered around did some shopping and generally didn't know what to do. There is a cool old-fashioned touristy spot that we hit up. We had lunch as some place and I ordered schnitzle (spelling?) and a liter of beer. Which made for a full and happy rest of my day. That night we went to a night club called Living where I was yelled at in German by some girls who thought I stole a wallet. I didn't by the way, it turned out they had checked it into the coat check and forgot. But now I know what it feels like to be falsely accused of something and not understand at all what happened or why I was picked out. Overall, it was a pretty funny experience.

Hannah and I found this tower to be pretty and asked a random German to take our picture. Turns out it is really old and part of the orignal towers surrounding the city.

Enjoying a bit of German culture.

This is the more traditional looking area. I liked it. We went to the church in the background as well. It was old and reddish colored. I don't know much else about it because I don't know German.

Sunday we went to the Frankfurt Zoo and saw some sweet animals. The rhinos are dangerous though. We also too the underground/subway to get to the zoo which was really exciting for me because I've never been on a subway before. Apperantly this is something that large cities do, create efficient public transportation. I never knew. That night Hannah, Molly and I bought cheap Jagermeister and Red Bull (yum!) and then we all went around the block to the red light district and walked around.

I assume this sign says: Caution! Rhino trained to aim urine ignorant American tourists! Hannah and I were glad the Rhino was outside and wearing a diaper (or nappy as they would say here).

The wooden door with the ironwork is the door to our hostel. Notice the prime location right next door to the quality establishment "World of Sex." We stayed in a nice part of town.

It was only on the last night that it was discovered beer was sold in vending machines.

Monday was a strange day because we didn't really know what to do. We spent most of the day walking around the shopping street again and taking pictures/buying souveniers. I mailed postcards and life was good. We got in late that night and just crashed. So all in all Germany was really cool to be in because I never thought I'd go there. And I'm glad I got the opportunity to go to mainland Europe at least once while I've been abroad.