12-17
Barcelona – Rome
Today I got up early and walked up the Ramblas one more time. Today was gorgeous to bad I had to spend it all on Ryan Air. The flight was good, short. When I got off the plane I tried to withdraw some money, that didn’t work. Little scary for a bit. Mom was able to get some to me by the time that I got to the hostel though. The hostel is great. Everyone here is really nice. The girl running the place use to be in finance on Wall st. but decided she should get out (good timing). There’s an American named Armondo who just got done hitch-hiking across America for a year and a half, and a party crazed Austrian named Greg, quite the crew. I got in really late again so I stayed in ad hug out at the hostel.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Barcelona
12-16
Barcelona
Great day, the city is absolutely gorgeous. It rained off and on all day, which stank but ehhh what are you going to do? Traveling by myself if kinda strange. Not sure how I feel about it. It’s nice cause I get to places really quick, but not so much fun cause I don’t have anyone to joke around with.
Woke up early and headed out – after my free breakfast. First I went to the Roman Wall. It’s pretty much just an old wall, but that it’s been there since Roman times is pretty amazing. Today is the local hang out for pigeons as far as I could tell.
Then I made my way to the City Basilica. I’m sure it’s beautiful from the outside but they had it all blocked off for restoration. The inside though is a very cool courtyard with many little chapels each with a very cool statue with candles that can be lit on the outside. All of the statues are behind bars, which I must admit is a little disconcerting but I guess you do what you have to. The center of the courtyard is filled with giant palm trees. Right now they have a nativity scene with live chickens, geese and ducks. It’s really cool. There are actually nativities all over the city which is nice.
Then I made my way up the Ramblas which is a giant boulevard with an open air market in the middle famous for its flower and bird stands. It was really really cool. Outside one of the bird sands I saw a pigeon eating another birds food through the bars, this just didn’t seem fair.
Right off the Ramblas is an open air food market. It was massive. Everything you could possibly want, meat, fruit, vegetables, seafood, everything. It was really cool just to walk around. I thought it might have been a cool Idea to get lunch there but it was still really early so I didn’t do that.
Then I walked up the Ramblas till I bit the Catalonia Square. Barcelonans don’t actually consider themselves Spanish, but rather a separate nationality called Catalonian’s. I had no idea. Pretty cool though. They have a big square celebrating their history.
After this I headed up the road and took pictures of a bunch of buildings by an architect named Gaudi. He was famous at the turn of the century and has a series of just some beautiful buildings. They’re all very curvy and modern. Hard to describe but look at my facebook for pictures. My two favorite Gaudi’s were Parke Guell and Sagrada la Familia.
Park Guell is a park designed by Gaudi originally meant to be a rich housing estate. It’s filled with almost fairy tale architecture – including two gingerbread houses and a mosaic lizard.
Sagrada la Familia is Gaudii’s “masterpiece. It’s a massive cathedral with 12 towers – one for each apostle. It also has two styles – the front is very modern the back is very … well I’m not so sure but maybe gothic? In any case the back side is filled with tiny little sculptures of bible stories that are put into the sides of the building.
After Sagrada la Familia I made my way to Monteju….. not sure how to spell it. Translated though it means “the Jew hill. It’s this massive park were the Barcelona Jewish Ghetto was before they knocked it down to make way for the Olympics. It’s a massive and beautiful hill that’s today just one giant park. It looks out over the Mediterranean on one side and the city on the other.
That night I stayed in my hostel with some kids from Canada, the states, Brazil, and Australia (they’re everywhere). Good night, and wonderful day.
Barcelona
Great day, the city is absolutely gorgeous. It rained off and on all day, which stank but ehhh what are you going to do? Traveling by myself if kinda strange. Not sure how I feel about it. It’s nice cause I get to places really quick, but not so much fun cause I don’t have anyone to joke around with.
Woke up early and headed out – after my free breakfast. First I went to the Roman Wall. It’s pretty much just an old wall, but that it’s been there since Roman times is pretty amazing. Today is the local hang out for pigeons as far as I could tell.
Then I made my way to the City Basilica. I’m sure it’s beautiful from the outside but they had it all blocked off for restoration. The inside though is a very cool courtyard with many little chapels each with a very cool statue with candles that can be lit on the outside. All of the statues are behind bars, which I must admit is a little disconcerting but I guess you do what you have to. The center of the courtyard is filled with giant palm trees. Right now they have a nativity scene with live chickens, geese and ducks. It’s really cool. There are actually nativities all over the city which is nice.
Then I made my way up the Ramblas which is a giant boulevard with an open air market in the middle famous for its flower and bird stands. It was really really cool. Outside one of the bird sands I saw a pigeon eating another birds food through the bars, this just didn’t seem fair.
Right off the Ramblas is an open air food market. It was massive. Everything you could possibly want, meat, fruit, vegetables, seafood, everything. It was really cool just to walk around. I thought it might have been a cool Idea to get lunch there but it was still really early so I didn’t do that.
Then I walked up the Ramblas till I bit the Catalonia Square. Barcelonans don’t actually consider themselves Spanish, but rather a separate nationality called Catalonian’s. I had no idea. Pretty cool though. They have a big square celebrating their history.
After this I headed up the road and took pictures of a bunch of buildings by an architect named Gaudi. He was famous at the turn of the century and has a series of just some beautiful buildings. They’re all very curvy and modern. Hard to describe but look at my facebook for pictures. My two favorite Gaudi’s were Parke Guell and Sagrada la Familia.
Park Guell is a park designed by Gaudi originally meant to be a rich housing estate. It’s filled with almost fairy tale architecture – including two gingerbread houses and a mosaic lizard.
Sagrada la Familia is Gaudii’s “masterpiece. It’s a massive cathedral with 12 towers – one for each apostle. It also has two styles – the front is very modern the back is very … well I’m not so sure but maybe gothic? In any case the back side is filled with tiny little sculptures of bible stories that are put into the sides of the building.
After Sagrada la Familia I made my way to Monteju….. not sure how to spell it. Translated though it means “the Jew hill. It’s this massive park were the Barcelona Jewish Ghetto was before they knocked it down to make way for the Olympics. It’s a massive and beautiful hill that’s today just one giant park. It looks out over the Mediterranean on one side and the city on the other.
That night I stayed in my hostel with some kids from Canada, the states, Brazil, and Australia (they’re everywhere). Good night, and wonderful day.
Ireland - Barcelona
12-15
Ireland - Barcelona
So today I landed in Barcelona. I got in late so I couldn’t do much. My hostel is really cool. Very modern. What’s really nice is that each bed has three walls and then a curtain so it seems like you have your own little private room. Not like most hostels where you’re just there in the open. Free breakfast so that’s good. The bus out here was 20 euro!!!! I hate that. Also they charge extra for a blanket… things I wont be paying for.
Ireland - Barcelona
So today I landed in Barcelona. I got in late so I couldn’t do much. My hostel is really cool. Very modern. What’s really nice is that each bed has three walls and then a curtain so it seems like you have your own little private room. Not like most hostels where you’re just there in the open. Free breakfast so that’s good. The bus out here was 20 euro!!!! I hate that. Also they charge extra for a blanket… things I wont be paying for.
Belfast
12-14
Belfast
Went up to Belfast with Seth today. Great day. This being said we spent four hours on a bus for a one hour tour but ehh, what are you going to do, pass up a free nights stay? I didn’t think so.
Belfast was great. We got a black cab tour. This was more or less a cabbie driving us around to a lot of the Murals in Belfast. We went the Shankhill road (protestant area) and down the Falls road (Catholic area). What I hadn’t realized was that they were so close together. Literally the two roads are 1 block from each other. The peace wall from that was erected under Tony Blair is still up dividing the two communities. On Sunday’s (today) the walls are closed and there is only one-way in and out of either communities. We had a protestant tour guide but he was very even handed. His brother was in the PSNI and had been killed in an IRA attack, but he was still very cool about the whole thing. It was really amazing.
The murals were very powerful. Many talked about historical events, or groups. Others were commentary on the way the world is today – one very anit-bush one reading “America’s greatest failure.” What was interesting was that the protestant murals seemed much more militaristic than the Catholic ones. They would show armed UDA and UVFers while the Catholic ones were almost all geared towards peace or History.
The whole thing was just really, really, bizarre. It wasn’t quite as creepy as Derry, but it still was very strange. To think that such a small, closed community could have such divisions is really just beyond me.
One interesting thing that the tour guide brought up was the difference between people who lived through the troubles and those who watched from the outside. He said it’s really easy for people who didn’t live it to talk up the rhetoric and not move on, but when you’re there day in and day out knowing that you might not come home from getting your groceries it’s easy to move on, it’s the only option.
I also got to meet Chris’s mom tonight. She was a bizarre little lady. Didn’t seem very happy, but nice I guess. She was put off by my Belfast Tour and couldn’t understand that a Protestant talked about both murals. She had left in 1972 and I think really felt like it was still 72 in the North.
Made it back to Chris’ watched some South park with his roommates and went to bed. Ready to go to Barcelona!
Belfast
Went up to Belfast with Seth today. Great day. This being said we spent four hours on a bus for a one hour tour but ehh, what are you going to do, pass up a free nights stay? I didn’t think so.
Belfast was great. We got a black cab tour. This was more or less a cabbie driving us around to a lot of the Murals in Belfast. We went the Shankhill road (protestant area) and down the Falls road (Catholic area). What I hadn’t realized was that they were so close together. Literally the two roads are 1 block from each other. The peace wall from that was erected under Tony Blair is still up dividing the two communities. On Sunday’s (today) the walls are closed and there is only one-way in and out of either communities. We had a protestant tour guide but he was very even handed. His brother was in the PSNI and had been killed in an IRA attack, but he was still very cool about the whole thing. It was really amazing.
The murals were very powerful. Many talked about historical events, or groups. Others were commentary on the way the world is today – one very anit-bush one reading “America’s greatest failure.” What was interesting was that the protestant murals seemed much more militaristic than the Catholic ones. They would show armed UDA and UVFers while the Catholic ones were almost all geared towards peace or History.
The whole thing was just really, really, bizarre. It wasn’t quite as creepy as Derry, but it still was very strange. To think that such a small, closed community could have such divisions is really just beyond me.
One interesting thing that the tour guide brought up was the difference between people who lived through the troubles and those who watched from the outside. He said it’s really easy for people who didn’t live it to talk up the rhetoric and not move on, but when you’re there day in and day out knowing that you might not come home from getting your groceries it’s easy to move on, it’s the only option.
I also got to meet Chris’s mom tonight. She was a bizarre little lady. Didn’t seem very happy, but nice I guess. She was put off by my Belfast Tour and couldn’t understand that a Protestant talked about both murals. She had left in 1972 and I think really felt like it was still 72 in the North.
Made it back to Chris’ watched some South park with his roommates and went to bed. Ready to go to Barcelona!
Sliver Bridge
12-13
Silver Bridge
Wow what a bizarre day. Today I left Ann’s house for the last time. It was really sad. She’s been a great host mom. I really couldn’t have asked for more. Little crazy yes, but then again who isn’t and aren’t things better when they’re a little off kilter? I remember pulling up to her house the first day and just being in complete amazement and full of joy that I was there. I don’t think I was ever let down.
I left that morning and headed out to Silver Bridge. Took Ulster Bus to Newry and then transferred to a Local bus to Silverbridge. I missed the 12:00 bus so I had to wait till 1 to get the bus. Took about half an hour or 45 min to get there. It’s amazing. It’s a little tiny town with a grocery store/gas station, a pub, a coffee shop and a Chinese restaurant (yeah not really sure what’s up with that one).
I got off the bus and walked around a bit trying to find the cemetery that Dad had told me about. I wasn’t able to, but really wasn’t to concerned. The whole time I was just thinking about how many times my ancestors walked up and down these same roads, on that same place. It was amazing. I stopped in the pub for a pint and to ask directions. I walked in and felt exactly like the ever-present outsider in Irish lit. Everyone Kinda looked at me with this strange little look that said “who on earth is he?” I was sitting at the pub when an old guy at the end of the bar said “cold night” and I said “yeah, yeah it is” and he said “…Are you a Yank?” And our relationship took off from there. I asked him for directions to the two cemeteries and he gave them too me along with a little bit of history.
The cemetery that the Irvin’s are buried in (he said he thought that they would be in a certain one that I can’t remember the name of) is in the churchyard of the oldest serving church in Ireland. We’re also buried in the same burial ground as the O’Neil clan, the old Kings of Ireland.
As it turns out it was to far to walk because the sunset was setting so I wasn’t able to make it out there which made me sad. But I figure I’ll be back soon, and I’ll have adventures in Silverbridge.
His wife walked in and I asked if they knew the Toals. They said yeah that Michael and Margaret lived up the way and their son lived just down the road. They walked me up to the house but they weren’t home. They had built a new house and – I figured that they had knocked down the old family house. Fortunately I was wrong, but I didn’t find out until after dark so I missed out on the house as well.
The family didn’t want me just hanging out for the bus so they took me into their house and we had some tea. I love the Irish. Their names were the Kennedy’s and they were great people. They were really interested in my studies at school and what I thought of “the republic” and “the free state” – I’m thinking they had republican leanings.
The pub actually had been blown up by the IRA after they rushed in and gunned down a 14 year old boy, a man who had just been engaged, a man celebrating the birth of his first daughter as well as his friend. To think that that kind of violence could take place in a town that doesn’t even have a church and to me seemed so peaceful and perfect shocks and horrifies me. With 3,600 dead in the troubles and 1.5 million in NI everyone has a story, each just as heart breaking as the next.
I caught the bus home and stayed the night at my friend Chris’. We made spaghetti which was fantastic. There’s just something about bread, meat, cheese and pasta that makes everything perfect.
Silver Bridge
Wow what a bizarre day. Today I left Ann’s house for the last time. It was really sad. She’s been a great host mom. I really couldn’t have asked for more. Little crazy yes, but then again who isn’t and aren’t things better when they’re a little off kilter? I remember pulling up to her house the first day and just being in complete amazement and full of joy that I was there. I don’t think I was ever let down.
I left that morning and headed out to Silver Bridge. Took Ulster Bus to Newry and then transferred to a Local bus to Silverbridge. I missed the 12:00 bus so I had to wait till 1 to get the bus. Took about half an hour or 45 min to get there. It’s amazing. It’s a little tiny town with a grocery store/gas station, a pub, a coffee shop and a Chinese restaurant (yeah not really sure what’s up with that one).
I got off the bus and walked around a bit trying to find the cemetery that Dad had told me about. I wasn’t able to, but really wasn’t to concerned. The whole time I was just thinking about how many times my ancestors walked up and down these same roads, on that same place. It was amazing. I stopped in the pub for a pint and to ask directions. I walked in and felt exactly like the ever-present outsider in Irish lit. Everyone Kinda looked at me with this strange little look that said “who on earth is he?” I was sitting at the pub when an old guy at the end of the bar said “cold night” and I said “yeah, yeah it is” and he said “…Are you a Yank?” And our relationship took off from there. I asked him for directions to the two cemeteries and he gave them too me along with a little bit of history.
The cemetery that the Irvin’s are buried in (he said he thought that they would be in a certain one that I can’t remember the name of) is in the churchyard of the oldest serving church in Ireland. We’re also buried in the same burial ground as the O’Neil clan, the old Kings of Ireland.
As it turns out it was to far to walk because the sunset was setting so I wasn’t able to make it out there which made me sad. But I figure I’ll be back soon, and I’ll have adventures in Silverbridge.
His wife walked in and I asked if they knew the Toals. They said yeah that Michael and Margaret lived up the way and their son lived just down the road. They walked me up to the house but they weren’t home. They had built a new house and – I figured that they had knocked down the old family house. Fortunately I was wrong, but I didn’t find out until after dark so I missed out on the house as well.
The family didn’t want me just hanging out for the bus so they took me into their house and we had some tea. I love the Irish. Their names were the Kennedy’s and they were great people. They were really interested in my studies at school and what I thought of “the republic” and “the free state” – I’m thinking they had republican leanings.
The pub actually had been blown up by the IRA after they rushed in and gunned down a 14 year old boy, a man who had just been engaged, a man celebrating the birth of his first daughter as well as his friend. To think that that kind of violence could take place in a town that doesn’t even have a church and to me seemed so peaceful and perfect shocks and horrifies me. With 3,600 dead in the troubles and 1.5 million in NI everyone has a story, each just as heart breaking as the next.
I caught the bus home and stayed the night at my friend Chris’. We made spaghetti which was fantastic. There’s just something about bread, meat, cheese and pasta that makes everything perfect.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Fast Times at the IPA
Well it seems as if the curtain is about to close on my time here in Dublin. It's been great. Leaving all of my new friends behind will be sad, but I have to say that so far I have no regrets about my time spent here.
Last night a few of us went out to for some traditional Irish music, figuring that we'll remember the fun we had more than the time we spent studying for what is going to be a killer finals day tomorrow. It was wonderful. We went to a little seedy pub where these two guys played guitar and a banjo while singing some great Irish songs. Two kids with us - Molly and Chris - knew every word to every song, it was great.
Coming home will be great too. I can't wait to get back just in time for Christmas. Missing everyone tonnes.
My adventures in Europe will be great too. Barcelona, Rome and then back to the Emerald Isle for one more go of it!
Merry Christmas... or should I say Happy Christmas as they do over here.
Last night a few of us went out to for some traditional Irish music, figuring that we'll remember the fun we had more than the time we spent studying for what is going to be a killer finals day tomorrow. It was wonderful. We went to a little seedy pub where these two guys played guitar and a banjo while singing some great Irish songs. Two kids with us - Molly and Chris - knew every word to every song, it was great.
Coming home will be great too. I can't wait to get back just in time for Christmas. Missing everyone tonnes.
My adventures in Europe will be great too. Barcelona, Rome and then back to the Emerald Isle for one more go of it!
Merry Christmas... or should I say Happy Christmas as they do over here.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
The Night I Met the Future Prime Minister and Made a Fool of My Self
As some of you may know, I have a bit of a reputation for leaving my things places. I even have a facebook group about it. Tonight I lived up to my fame.
I went to a party meeting for Fine Gael who is currently in opposition but will more than likely come to power next election. On my way in I met the party leader Enda Kenny who I've been wanting to meet since I got here. He heard I was from Chicago (I figured I'd go for the familiar). He asked if I'd heard of a Richard Daley, I laughed and said yeah, and then he was like "well I hear you have a new boy... some one some one.... uhhh can't remember his name.....
I said B Something.. Ba ba Barack Obama thats it! And we laughed and headed inside behind him.
The meeting is packed full of constituants. We sit in the corner away from the door. We end up having to leave early to catch the bus. We walk out cause a huge comotion. Get outside and realize I forgot my coat....
I have to go back in, walk past everyone, cause a huge comotion, and walk back out cause a huge comotion right infront of Enda both times....
The second time HE ROLLED HIS EYES AT ME!
I have to say, I've done myself proud, now eve the leader of Fine Gael knows that I leave my stuff EVERYWHERE!
I went to a party meeting for Fine Gael who is currently in opposition but will more than likely come to power next election. On my way in I met the party leader Enda Kenny who I've been wanting to meet since I got here. He heard I was from Chicago (I figured I'd go for the familiar). He asked if I'd heard of a Richard Daley, I laughed and said yeah, and then he was like "well I hear you have a new boy... some one some one.... uhhh can't remember his name.....
I said B Something.. Ba ba Barack Obama thats it! And we laughed and headed inside behind him.
The meeting is packed full of constituants. We sit in the corner away from the door. We end up having to leave early to catch the bus. We walk out cause a huge comotion. Get outside and realize I forgot my coat....
I have to go back in, walk past everyone, cause a huge comotion, and walk back out cause a huge comotion right infront of Enda both times....
The second time HE ROLLED HIS EYES AT ME!
I have to say, I've done myself proud, now eve the leader of Fine Gael knows that I leave my stuff EVERYWHERE!
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