We are no longer using this website for updates regarding our tip
Please visit this site for photos and blog entries:
http://photojournalworldtrip.shutterfly.com/
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Brussels and Amsterdam
Since ireland we have visited Brussels in Belgium, Amsterdm in The Netherlands, and Berlin Germany - the current location.
Brussels was full of Belgian Waffles, yummy flavored fruity beer which I loved, and many replications of the famed Manekeen Pis (a statue of a little boy peeing in a fountain) and inevitably lots and lots of belgian chocolate shops! Brussels had a pretty good personality about their city. They replicated the statue of this little boy peeing in nearly all of the shops we walked into. You could even buy chocolates in the shape of this chubby little guy. And if you were willing to play a little hide and seek for the afternoon you could look for Jeanneke Pis, perhaps his sister? This was a less famed fountain of a little girl peeing. She represented loyalty for a loved one... Because most people clearly associate peeing in public with unconditional devotion and love.? ;). If you eat a Belgian waffle here, have it plain without all the whipped cream, chocolate and fruit. It is much better off on it's own! We wandered the city for 2 days and found a cool outdoor bar where we lounged at and tried some framboise rasperry beer. I miss the fruity beer already!
Amsterdam, oh amsterdam! We actually flew into Brussels from Dublin as a means of geting into Amsterdam for "Queens Day" on April 30th... One of the largest street parties this side of the Mississippi ;) Rules for Queens day: Dress in Holland's national color, orange, and debaucherize the city streets to celebrate the Queen...Seemed easy enough! We were able to meet up with a few friends I studied abroad with, Steinar (Michael's patner in crime for the weekend) from Norway, and Judith from Germany. This would without a doubt be a fabulous weekend! Queens day arrived and we were awaken by eagre party goers already painting the streets orange -Wakie wakie! Our goal for the day was for mikey to meet a girl who would be partying on a boat in the canal, so that we could party on a boat in the canal. Mikey was our most eligable bachelor and this would be a group effort. We met Americans from Colorado instead, but they were cool so we spent the day with them - WALkING along side the canal ;) We met some Londoners there for a stag party (bachelor party) we stayed with them for a while as they embarassed the groom to be and entertained us. The rest of the day was spent wandering the red light district canals, meeting interesting people, dancing to music, mikey attempting to jump into boats passing by along the canal, and street food - lots of it. This day could only be described as "Fun", with a capital "F"! We napped then found a bar that played a mix of hip hop, house, and rock and roll - the surprises kept on coming. I went to the bar and asked for a water - it was time. The bartender looked at me like I was crazy, said "this is much better" and poured me a beer. He did not charge me for this :) By the end of the night we had formed a circle consistent of sweedish, switzerland, german, norwegian, and american descent. We jumped, danced, sang - all accents combined must have been so harmonizing to hear ;) Mikey and I bought an American football in Ireland and because it was orange we chose to bring this football to the bar that night. Our walk home consisted of interceptions and touchdown passes to passers by. Because the shape of a football is foreign to most Europeans these throws were not quite as accurate as they should have been and a taxi cab windshield as well as a man's head had to fall victim to this relaity. This football was entertainment.
One thing about Amsterdam, i have heard from numerous people - watch out for the bicyclists!!! This is a true story. We witnessed a pedestrian get hit square on by a bicyclist. This was tragic. They fell, hard, ouch! Despite the fact that the bicycle has its own bike lane, it is still difficult for the innocent tourist to avoid the cars as well as worry about the bikes. Food wise we tried french fries and mayonnaise, Holland is known for this and they are supposed to have the best fries ever. They were pretty good :) Coffee shops here, as most people know, do not focus primarily on brewing coffee. The red light district, where we stayed has coffee shops everywwhere as well as the "girls in the window" ..... It's a bit awkward seeing people walk out from there and carry on down the street like nobody saw them.
After winding down from the party filled weekend we visited the Van Gough museum which had works from Van Gough of course, Picasso and a few others. I really enjoyed this museum and being face to face with some of Van Gough's less well known works. It's inspiring that he started his career as an artist later in life and with no formal teaching. And in just 10 years created all the works he did. We also went to the Stedelijk Museum and later took a boat ride on the canal. We walked by the Rembrandt House were he had his studio for years and years, and wandered that general area with the markets, canals and cafe's. That night we met up with Steinar's sister who happened to be in Amsterdam that weekend as well.
So after Amsterdam's tulips, Heineken, the red light district, the bikes, Queens Day celebration, coffee shops and canals I'd have to say that we had a great time there!
Berlin was the next stop. At this point in our trip we have no plan until early June. So we contemplated going from Berlin, down through Frankfurt through the "Romantic Road" and on to Munich, but we decided unsted to head to Prague after this and if we can make it to Southern Germany we will go after Switzerland. More upates on Berlin to come!!!
Brussels was full of Belgian Waffles, yummy flavored fruity beer which I loved, and many replications of the famed Manekeen Pis (a statue of a little boy peeing in a fountain) and inevitably lots and lots of belgian chocolate shops! Brussels had a pretty good personality about their city. They replicated the statue of this little boy peeing in nearly all of the shops we walked into. You could even buy chocolates in the shape of this chubby little guy. And if you were willing to play a little hide and seek for the afternoon you could look for Jeanneke Pis, perhaps his sister? This was a less famed fountain of a little girl peeing. She represented loyalty for a loved one... Because most people clearly associate peeing in public with unconditional devotion and love.? ;). If you eat a Belgian waffle here, have it plain without all the whipped cream, chocolate and fruit. It is much better off on it's own! We wandered the city for 2 days and found a cool outdoor bar where we lounged at and tried some framboise rasperry beer. I miss the fruity beer already!
Amsterdam, oh amsterdam! We actually flew into Brussels from Dublin as a means of geting into Amsterdam for "Queens Day" on April 30th... One of the largest street parties this side of the Mississippi ;) Rules for Queens day: Dress in Holland's national color, orange, and debaucherize the city streets to celebrate the Queen...Seemed easy enough! We were able to meet up with a few friends I studied abroad with, Steinar (Michael's patner in crime for the weekend) from Norway, and Judith from Germany. This would without a doubt be a fabulous weekend! Queens day arrived and we were awaken by eagre party goers already painting the streets orange -Wakie wakie! Our goal for the day was for mikey to meet a girl who would be partying on a boat in the canal, so that we could party on a boat in the canal. Mikey was our most eligable bachelor and this would be a group effort. We met Americans from Colorado instead, but they were cool so we spent the day with them - WALkING along side the canal ;) We met some Londoners there for a stag party (bachelor party) we stayed with them for a while as they embarassed the groom to be and entertained us. The rest of the day was spent wandering the red light district canals, meeting interesting people, dancing to music, mikey attempting to jump into boats passing by along the canal, and street food - lots of it. This day could only be described as "Fun", with a capital "F"! We napped then found a bar that played a mix of hip hop, house, and rock and roll - the surprises kept on coming. I went to the bar and asked for a water - it was time. The bartender looked at me like I was crazy, said "this is much better" and poured me a beer. He did not charge me for this :) By the end of the night we had formed a circle consistent of sweedish, switzerland, german, norwegian, and american descent. We jumped, danced, sang - all accents combined must have been so harmonizing to hear ;) Mikey and I bought an American football in Ireland and because it was orange we chose to bring this football to the bar that night. Our walk home consisted of interceptions and touchdown passes to passers by. Because the shape of a football is foreign to most Europeans these throws were not quite as accurate as they should have been and a taxi cab windshield as well as a man's head had to fall victim to this relaity. This football was entertainment.
One thing about Amsterdam, i have heard from numerous people - watch out for the bicyclists!!! This is a true story. We witnessed a pedestrian get hit square on by a bicyclist. This was tragic. They fell, hard, ouch! Despite the fact that the bicycle has its own bike lane, it is still difficult for the innocent tourist to avoid the cars as well as worry about the bikes. Food wise we tried french fries and mayonnaise, Holland is known for this and they are supposed to have the best fries ever. They were pretty good :) Coffee shops here, as most people know, do not focus primarily on brewing coffee. The red light district, where we stayed has coffee shops everywwhere as well as the "girls in the window" ..... It's a bit awkward seeing people walk out from there and carry on down the street like nobody saw them.
After winding down from the party filled weekend we visited the Van Gough museum which had works from Van Gough of course, Picasso and a few others. I really enjoyed this museum and being face to face with some of Van Gough's less well known works. It's inspiring that he started his career as an artist later in life and with no formal teaching. And in just 10 years created all the works he did. We also went to the Stedelijk Museum and later took a boat ride on the canal. We walked by the Rembrandt House were he had his studio for years and years, and wandered that general area with the markets, canals and cafe's. That night we met up with Steinar's sister who happened to be in Amsterdam that weekend as well.
So after Amsterdam's tulips, Heineken, the red light district, the bikes, Queens Day celebration, coffee shops and canals I'd have to say that we had a great time there!
Berlin was the next stop. At this point in our trip we have no plan until early June. So we contemplated going from Berlin, down through Frankfurt through the "Romantic Road" and on to Munich, but we decided unsted to head to Prague after this and if we can make it to Southern Germany we will go after Switzerland. More upates on Berlin to come!!!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
The Last of Ireland
We are now in Amsterdam and will be here for about a week. The second half of our trip to Ireland was great! Thanks to having a rental car we were able to cover everything we wanted to see. The west and south coasts were the most beutiful places we visited, thats the typical image you would imagine ireland to be, all the green hills, narrow roads, and just absolute beauty for miles. The ring of Breara was by far my favorite thing we did. We also visited Galway which was where the Irish ring was invented. We stayed on the main street downtown where there are tons of bars and nightlife. We visited the Cliffs of Mohr and photos dont convey how huge they actually are. Next was Northern ireland where you switch to using pounds instead of Euros and miles instead of KM. We hiked to and around Giants Causway just hefore sunset and it was amazing!!! The rocks that formed here near the ocean are mostly uniform hexagonal shapes, all similar in size as well. They were supposedly formed from a volcano that erupted nearby. We spend about 2 or 3 hours here, just climbing the rocks and watching the sun go down. The next day we visited the rope bridge that connects part of the mainland to a small cliff island. Also an amazing place to hike and explore :) Belfast was our next stop and we were only going to be here for a night so decided to go out. We head out at about 11:00pm and to our surprise most of the bars tell us they are closing and we cannot go in. At the same time there are an abnormally high amount of drunk people wandering the streets for 11:00 at night.... Was there a time change we missed? When did it become 4am??? We stopped to ask someone why the Friday night nightlife semed to be dwindeling so early. He paused then laughed at us and said, "you know you're in one of the most religious cities around.... Its good Friday! Its illegal for the bars to serve alcohol past a certain hour tonight.". We kinda just looked at him, then relaized we would not be experiencing Belfast in its entirity that night. But, we did manage to experience one of the most terrible hostels i have eer stayed in, and we would ge to now go back to that place. Linen House. When we checked into Linen House we did not expect much. We were only staying in Belfast for one night and got the cheapest accomodation we could find. When we arrived to check in the man working at the front notified us we would not be staying in the 6 person dorm we had booked, but the other dorm was 4 Euros cheaper so we figured it was fine. We paid and he pointed us in the direction of our room, right accross from the check in counter and near the kitchen and the common area everyone hangs out in. "Oh, we almost forgot the keys!" I exclaimed excitedly, as if these keys might somehow open up a door to a room that was more appealing than the gloom of the lobby. "Your room has no key" he said, then smiled back. I'm sure he was laughing at us deep down inside and I wondered if this could be the most satisfying part of his day. We walked into our keyless room and looked up to about 30 beds scattered throughout. That might not have been as much of a problem for me, i know we are on a budget so we'd have to deal with this at times. But i was afraid, grossed out to touch anything. One person had created a sort of fort of blankets Nd luggage aroumd their bunk. How long had they been here for?! That night i slept in my sleeping bag making sure that not even a hair on my head touched the mattress, listening to sweet sounds of glass bottles being thrown and breKing outside with a large group of peope laughing and attempting to sing me sweet lullabys. We woke up and left without showering. Dublin we are coming! We stayed in Dublin for 4 nights, Isaacs Hostel. Great awesome clean fun hostel! Yay! Dublin was very fun, Temple Bar was the place to be at night so we spent our nights here and in small pubs listening to live bands play Irish music. During the day we mostly just wandered around town. I saw a midget dressed as a leprechaun but i was reluctan to take a photo of him, feeling i would be endorsing his stereotype and possibly lessening his confidence. My brother reminded me he had chosen to dress as a leprechun and was probably fully aware he was in fact also a midget. Oh well!! As much as i liked the city of Dublim, i'd still have to vote for the west coast and Galways nightlife. While in Dublin we met a friend from Canada, Geordie. While meandering the city with him one day we were goinf through a park, on easter actually, and were approached by a group of 12 year old Dubliners. One of the girls had some sass. She requested a dance off and then proceeded to snap her fingers back and forth in the air while reciting all of the swear words in her memory bank. One that was new to me, and seemed to be her particulR favorite was "pox bottle" pox bo-lE as she said it. I probably should not be saying this now because i still have no idea what it means. The 12 year olds wouldn't tell us. We roomed with 2 girls from Holland, Esther and Lizbeth who we hung out quite a bit while we were there. They were very nice and our last night in Dublin we wen out for Esthers birthday. Had twake up at 5am for our flight out of Ireland, but why not live it up, it was our last night! We woke up in time to catch our bus to the airport.... Belgium here we come!
PHOTOS:
PHOTOS:
Monday, April 25, 2011
Some Ireland snipets
Here is a link to some of our photos from our first few adventures in Ireland :)
http://photojournalworldtrip.shutterfly.com/pictures/223
http://photojournalworldtrip.shutterfly.com/pictures/223
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
London Photos
We've had some trouble loading our photos, but here are some London Highlights (London 4/1 - 4/11 2011)
http://photojournalworldtrip.shutterfly.com/pictures/14
http://photojournalworldtrip.shutterfly.com/pictures/14
Monday, April 18, 2011
THE "Rings" in Ireland
So far so good with driving on the roads in Ireland ;). Yes they are super narrow, but I think I am going to become a race card driver after perfecting some of these loops and turns! We are about halfway through our trip in Ireland. Started off visiting the small town of Wicklow - we actually got a parking ticket on our first day but they were nice enough to waive it for us....silly tourists ;). We contemplated sleeping in out rental car that night because London broke the bank, but our mom was not very okay with that so we are just eating pbjs and apples to make up for the amount of pubs we have been visiting. We are going to continue visiting the pubs.
After Wicklow we headed to Glendalough which had some amazing hiking trails, one that led to a beautiful waterfall we ate our lil packed lunch at and spend a few hours exploring! There was a group of about 30 girls staying at the hostel we were at in glandalaugh. They were about 14, 15 years old and in their "free year" at school, or something to that effect. Basically, at that age everyone gets a year off from organized classroom schooling and instead does things like travel around and learn outside the classroom. They said they do it to recharge the kids batteries and decide what they want to study further before they have to go back and take their upper level classes and exams.....I think that's an awesome thing to do for kids! Catch on US ;)
We then drove to Waterford where I toured the Waterford Crystal factory, got to hold the replica/model for the super owl trophy they use each year...kinda cool to see! Waterford was a quick stop, but we chatted with someone in a small store for about 20 minutes about our trip and where to go and what it's like in the states...they are so chatty here!
Next was Kilkenny, another one of our favorites! A very small town which takes about half a day to wander, but once you stop and talk to the locals a full day to experience! We checked into our hostel that night and headed to a pub nearby where we met a bartender who was planning a trip to Vegas and California. We chatted with him for about 2 hours and told us about some cool places to go in Ireland! Went out that night and the next day went to an outdoor market and got some homemade pies. The popular one here is steak and Guiness, but I have not tried this once yet. We stopped at a cute coffee shop called choch o latte and visited with the store owner for a bit before heading out to our next destination.
Cork was a big city we visited after this and stayed for the night before heading further down south Kinsale. I should elaborate on Kinsale because it was one of the most quaint and adorable, colorful, friendly towns we have visited! We went to the well known Fishy Fishy cafe for some fish n chips and went out that night to the local pubs. Everyone knew everyone so we seemed to be the new people in town.
From Kinsale we drove further south west to drive the Ring of Beara. The Ring of Kerry is the more touristy route, which we are going to drive today, but we figured we'd check out the road less traveled first. It was an amazing drive, lots of windy turns overlooking vast valleys of green with yellow spotted shrubs and lords cows sheep and horses. Not tons of trees here like on the east coast, more shrubs and tall mountains. Side note, I told mike i really wanted for us to have to stop our car while driving because there was a heard of sheep crossing the road. You know like in any movie that takes place in Ireland this happens and the people get out of their car and have to scare the sheep away ... I wanted it like that ;) well I have not got my heard of sheep yet, but yesterday we did get a cow lying in the road, alive don't worry. This might have been even cooler than my hopes for sheep.
After the cow We stopped to check out a stone circle and had to basically walk through these people's farm to get there....literally, mike almost got charged by a goat and a cow nearby got in a combat position when we got too close to it's baby calf. I didn't know farm life could be so dangerous. When we got to the stones and they were on top of this mountain with the Atlantic ocean gleaming a deep blue in the background. After wandering the circle for a bit we started to head back and out of this little pin comes running these 2 little jack russel looking doggies. When they finally go to us they rolled over on their backs to be petted, it was one of the jilightx of my day because it was so authentic and just so adorable. Made me miss Liberty and Cooper!!! So, mike and I hung out with our new friends for a while, holding them, petting them, they actually followed us to our car and we had to bring them back up the hill and sneak away. Next we decided to drive to a nearby beach. I did not expect the beaches in Ireland to be a clear blue, but this one was. I'll let you know if they are all like this or if this was our diamond in the rough! Mike and I decided to take a swim and although the water was cold it looked so inviting so we just enjoyed the views until our toes went completely numb. I think about an hour lat we regained feeling in our feet. I wore my beanie in the water with me, it was a warm sunny day, but it was still Ireland ;)
After Wicklow we headed to Glendalough which had some amazing hiking trails, one that led to a beautiful waterfall we ate our lil packed lunch at and spend a few hours exploring! There was a group of about 30 girls staying at the hostel we were at in glandalaugh. They were about 14, 15 years old and in their "free year" at school, or something to that effect. Basically, at that age everyone gets a year off from organized classroom schooling and instead does things like travel around and learn outside the classroom. They said they do it to recharge the kids batteries and decide what they want to study further before they have to go back and take their upper level classes and exams.....I think that's an awesome thing to do for kids! Catch on US ;)
We then drove to Waterford where I toured the Waterford Crystal factory, got to hold the replica/model for the super owl trophy they use each year...kinda cool to see! Waterford was a quick stop, but we chatted with someone in a small store for about 20 minutes about our trip and where to go and what it's like in the states...they are so chatty here!
Next was Kilkenny, another one of our favorites! A very small town which takes about half a day to wander, but once you stop and talk to the locals a full day to experience! We checked into our hostel that night and headed to a pub nearby where we met a bartender who was planning a trip to Vegas and California. We chatted with him for about 2 hours and told us about some cool places to go in Ireland! Went out that night and the next day went to an outdoor market and got some homemade pies. The popular one here is steak and Guiness, but I have not tried this once yet. We stopped at a cute coffee shop called choch o latte and visited with the store owner for a bit before heading out to our next destination.
Cork was a big city we visited after this and stayed for the night before heading further down south Kinsale. I should elaborate on Kinsale because it was one of the most quaint and adorable, colorful, friendly towns we have visited! We went to the well known Fishy Fishy cafe for some fish n chips and went out that night to the local pubs. Everyone knew everyone so we seemed to be the new people in town.
From Kinsale we drove further south west to drive the Ring of Beara. The Ring of Kerry is the more touristy route, which we are going to drive today, but we figured we'd check out the road less traveled first. It was an amazing drive, lots of windy turns overlooking vast valleys of green with yellow spotted shrubs and lords cows sheep and horses. Not tons of trees here like on the east coast, more shrubs and tall mountains. Side note, I told mike i really wanted for us to have to stop our car while driving because there was a heard of sheep crossing the road. You know like in any movie that takes place in Ireland this happens and the people get out of their car and have to scare the sheep away ... I wanted it like that ;) well I have not got my heard of sheep yet, but yesterday we did get a cow lying in the road, alive don't worry. This might have been even cooler than my hopes for sheep.
After the cow We stopped to check out a stone circle and had to basically walk through these people's farm to get there....literally, mike almost got charged by a goat and a cow nearby got in a combat position when we got too close to it's baby calf. I didn't know farm life could be so dangerous. When we got to the stones and they were on top of this mountain with the Atlantic ocean gleaming a deep blue in the background. After wandering the circle for a bit we started to head back and out of this little pin comes running these 2 little jack russel looking doggies. When they finally go to us they rolled over on their backs to be petted, it was one of the jilightx of my day because it was so authentic and just so adorable. Made me miss Liberty and Cooper!!! So, mike and I hung out with our new friends for a while, holding them, petting them, they actually followed us to our car and we had to bring them back up the hill and sneak away. Next we decided to drive to a nearby beach. I did not expect the beaches in Ireland to be a clear blue, but this one was. I'll let you know if they are all like this or if this was our diamond in the rough! Mike and I decided to take a swim and although the water was cold it looked so inviting so we just enjoyed the views until our toes went completely numb. I think about an hour lat we regained feeling in our feet. I wore my beanie in the water with me, it was a warm sunny day, but it was still Ireland ;)
Saturday, April 16, 2011
THE Luck of the Irish
Our last few days in London were great! Thanks so much aaron and anya for letting us stay with you! Even though we had about 11 days to spend in London there is so much to do and see there I'll have to go back someday ;) On Suday, our last day in London we visited emily one last time before leaving. She took us to a park nearby her house to spend some time in the sunny weather. We played frisbee with her and her friend and like she said, when the sun comes out everyone goes to the park. It's like their day at the beach i guess. The weather in london and ireland has been great, its only rained once since we've been on our trip...very lucky! On Sunday we also visited Abbey Road where the Beatles crossed the street for their famous album cover. I was VERY excited we got to fit that into our trip. There is quite a bit of traffic on that road so it was a challenge trying to take a decent photo without risking your life ;) one guy was literally in the road stopping traffic so he could get a good shot..... I definately felt like a tourist that day ;)
We flew out of London on April 11th and arrived in Dublin Ireland. We decided to rent a car for our time in ireland since we will be here until the 26th. Figured we could make our way around the island and stop and go as we please.... No set plan.... Just going- which has been working out great! Well, i did have one reservation about renting a car... I told myself I would never rent a car again after a road trip my girlfriends and I took in Australia... And although that is a completely different trip and a totally different story its worth taking a break from beautiful Ireland to explain...
Basically myself and 3 of my girlfriends who I studied abroad with in Australia decided to rent a car and head up the east coast of Australia to Carins for a little road trip on our summer break from college or Uni as they call it. We were traveling from Brisbane and had about 2 weeks to travel. I was the oldest so put my name on the car - cheaper that way! Now before I start this story let me just say that im shocked it even happened, it surprises me again and again each time I tell the story. So here we go...
We headed out in our compact 4 door red little rental driving on the odd side of the road but loving the slight challenge of it... We were taking turns driving and i think each of us has our own little experience with this car. First, im driving along and a bird hits the windshield. Probably killed it not sure, but who hits a bird?! We drive on. We decide to stop in Airlie Beach and take a walk along the water. We get back to the car and realize we have a bent rim and a flat tire....probably the pot hole we hit a few miles back... They dont work in maintaining the roadways too well in between cities. And some cities in au are quite far apart so you are just driving through bush for a while. Back to the flat tire, my friend cristalle luckily lnows how to change a tire. The jack is not working too well tobpift the car so after 10 minutes of trying she reaches her hand underneath the tire to see how much room there is. The jack gives, and the car falls on her hand! We pull her hand iout from underneath the car and she has to go to the hospital :(. We get a new rim since ours is bent and a new tire. Cristalle gets a cast and we decide to thik positive and not let it ruin our trip. On to the next stop! We made a mistake and drove as it was starting to get dark, you're not supposed to do this. We r looking for the next town to sleep in and out of nowhere out jumps a kangaroo, smack in the middle of our car. We hit it. We cant stop because on either side of us is just bush and the road is completely dark and empty. We hear clunk clunk, clunk clunk and realize we need to get to a town fast. We finally find an exit and a gas station and i'm the first to get out to look at the damage... Half of our front bumper is literally removed, ripped off the car, completely gone and along the enges of the torn bumper is fur, poor kangaroo!!!! We dont know what we will tell the rental car company, but whats done is done, keep calm and carry on as they say. This car is obviously giving us some trouble and we kinda sit back and laugh at it all. We finally make it to Carins and here we get to snorkel, go to the white sandy beaches, go out, and just enjoy our destination! The trip is great and time to head home with a bit of a cracjed windshield - bird, a substitute rim and new tire - pot hole, and half of a front bumper protecting the car - kangaroo. Oh this car!!! We are about half way home, Denise and I are sleeping in the back seat and we wake up to the car swirving, twisting, circles, glides...hill...then, flip. The car flups and we land on all 4 wheels on the opposite side of the road facing the opposite direction we were headed. Somehow all i was thinking as we were tumblung was shoot this car is under my name, my dad's going to kill me!! Screams were followed by silence as we stop. Then panic. We all get out, check ourselves and somehow we are all okay. Our car, not so okay. The police come, towe our car away and report it totaled and shocked and speechless we head back on a greyhound bus to Brisbane. I guess we dont need to explain the windshield, rim and tire and busted bumper to the rental car company now... We now look back and laugh at this story of our Aussie Roadtrip which despite this crazy rental car still ended up being one of the best vacations ever. Lesson: always purchase full coverage insurance, kangaroos are noccturnal animals so seriously dont drive at night, look out for potholes and if this all goes wrong at least you have a good story to tell!
So far so good as far as driving goes in ireland. Our route so far has beed Dublin - Wicklow - Glendalough - Waterford - Killkenny - Cork - Blarney (we kissed the stone!!) and now at a B&B in Kinsale (adorable town). Went out last night and hung out with some hilarious Irish guys! Stood outside the pub after it closed for about another hour, purely entertined by our new found friends and got in at about 3:30am. We are happily sleeping in this morning!
Roadways here are very narrow, but they areactually kinda fun to wind in and around on! In
southers Ireland now, Kinsale - adorable town! Heading up the west coast today which is supposed to be scenic and beautiful. Everything so far has been breathtaking so I can only imagine whats next!
We flew out of London on April 11th and arrived in Dublin Ireland. We decided to rent a car for our time in ireland since we will be here until the 26th. Figured we could make our way around the island and stop and go as we please.... No set plan.... Just going- which has been working out great! Well, i did have one reservation about renting a car... I told myself I would never rent a car again after a road trip my girlfriends and I took in Australia... And although that is a completely different trip and a totally different story its worth taking a break from beautiful Ireland to explain...
Basically myself and 3 of my girlfriends who I studied abroad with in Australia decided to rent a car and head up the east coast of Australia to Carins for a little road trip on our summer break from college or Uni as they call it. We were traveling from Brisbane and had about 2 weeks to travel. I was the oldest so put my name on the car - cheaper that way! Now before I start this story let me just say that im shocked it even happened, it surprises me again and again each time I tell the story. So here we go...
We headed out in our compact 4 door red little rental driving on the odd side of the road but loving the slight challenge of it... We were taking turns driving and i think each of us has our own little experience with this car. First, im driving along and a bird hits the windshield. Probably killed it not sure, but who hits a bird?! We drive on. We decide to stop in Airlie Beach and take a walk along the water. We get back to the car and realize we have a bent rim and a flat tire....probably the pot hole we hit a few miles back... They dont work in maintaining the roadways too well in between cities. And some cities in au are quite far apart so you are just driving through bush for a while. Back to the flat tire, my friend cristalle luckily lnows how to change a tire. The jack is not working too well tobpift the car so after 10 minutes of trying she reaches her hand underneath the tire to see how much room there is. The jack gives, and the car falls on her hand! We pull her hand iout from underneath the car and she has to go to the hospital :(. We get a new rim since ours is bent and a new tire. Cristalle gets a cast and we decide to thik positive and not let it ruin our trip. On to the next stop! We made a mistake and drove as it was starting to get dark, you're not supposed to do this. We r looking for the next town to sleep in and out of nowhere out jumps a kangaroo, smack in the middle of our car. We hit it. We cant stop because on either side of us is just bush and the road is completely dark and empty. We hear clunk clunk, clunk clunk and realize we need to get to a town fast. We finally find an exit and a gas station and i'm the first to get out to look at the damage... Half of our front bumper is literally removed, ripped off the car, completely gone and along the enges of the torn bumper is fur, poor kangaroo!!!! We dont know what we will tell the rental car company, but whats done is done, keep calm and carry on as they say. This car is obviously giving us some trouble and we kinda sit back and laugh at it all. We finally make it to Carins and here we get to snorkel, go to the white sandy beaches, go out, and just enjoy our destination! The trip is great and time to head home with a bit of a cracjed windshield - bird, a substitute rim and new tire - pot hole, and half of a front bumper protecting the car - kangaroo. Oh this car!!! We are about half way home, Denise and I are sleeping in the back seat and we wake up to the car swirving, twisting, circles, glides...hill...then, flip. The car flups and we land on all 4 wheels on the opposite side of the road facing the opposite direction we were headed. Somehow all i was thinking as we were tumblung was shoot this car is under my name, my dad's going to kill me!! Screams were followed by silence as we stop. Then panic. We all get out, check ourselves and somehow we are all okay. Our car, not so okay. The police come, towe our car away and report it totaled and shocked and speechless we head back on a greyhound bus to Brisbane. I guess we dont need to explain the windshield, rim and tire and busted bumper to the rental car company now... We now look back and laugh at this story of our Aussie Roadtrip which despite this crazy rental car still ended up being one of the best vacations ever. Lesson: always purchase full coverage insurance, kangaroos are noccturnal animals so seriously dont drive at night, look out for potholes and if this all goes wrong at least you have a good story to tell!
So far so good as far as driving goes in ireland. Our route so far has beed Dublin - Wicklow - Glendalough - Waterford - Killkenny - Cork - Blarney (we kissed the stone!!) and now at a B&B in Kinsale (adorable town). Went out last night and hung out with some hilarious Irish guys! Stood outside the pub after it closed for about another hour, purely entertined by our new found friends and got in at about 3:30am. We are happily sleeping in this morning!
Roadways here are very narrow, but they areactually kinda fun to wind in and around on! In
southers Ireland now, Kinsale - adorable town! Heading up the west coast today which is supposed to be scenic and beautiful. Everything so far has been breathtaking so I can only imagine whats next!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
THE Tube Town
So we have been in London for 9 days now and I will say it has been hard to find time to sit down on a computer long enough to write something thoughtful - so yes, we've been having a great time!
Unfortunately, I fell sick just a day before our flight so the highlight of day 1 in London had to be the moment my head hit the pillow of my hostel bed, which then became my new best friend for the next 3 hours, or 4 - best nap of my life. That night we went for a quick bit to eat at a nearby hole in the wall restaurant. What did we eat?- Pho. Clearly diving into the British culture already ;) It gets better I promise.
Day 2 we met up with a friend of mine who I studied abroad with in Austalia, Alice. She and her sister Emily showed us around London for the day. We moseyed through Covent Garden watching street performers make fun of small children, witnesses (and walked through) a flash pillow fight in Trafalgar Square, from there - Westminster Abbey, the House of Parliament and Buckingham Palace - the flag was up so the queen was in! Our day ended at some Cider Pub with tons of other cider drinkers drinking lots of cider and getting louder and louder. The night ended with Alice announcing as we headed for the tube... "But I just want to daaaance!" - Welcome to London!
In between then and now my favorite places we have been are our trip to Stonehenge and a visit to the adorable little town of Bath, walking through the busy streets of Camden and the Stables Market with tons of cheap but delicious food, stumbling upon amazing places such as Highgate Park which we spent hours at and of course hanging out with friends! I'm starting to get British humor, or at least the concept of it ;)... And - this is not all that important, but the faces of Prince William and Kate are in every London Tourist shop you go into...shirts, mugs, mannequins, even flags have their faces printed on them. It's been tempting, but so far I will not be smuggling memorabilia of British Royalty back into the US ;)
Timing was great on this trip and we were fortunate enough to be able to see Emily and Alice, as well as 2 of my friends from college Anya - who lives in London with her husband and son and whose house we are staying at now :) - and Rachel and her boyfriend Mike who happened to be visiting London when we were. We all went to dinner last night and had a good traditional english pie, then Anya introduced Rachel and I to "Pimms" at the pub - YuMMY!
Although we have been here over a week there is so much to do in London alone so I am sure we have not yet seen everything, but we are very satisfied so far! We have found that wandering around has been the best way to find cool places or stumble upon things. We plan on ending the trip with a BBQ at Emily's house tomorrow night, then flying out Monday morning to go to our next stop - Dublin!
Important Words or Phrases:
Bloak, Rubbish, Buggie, Toilets, Pleasant, Quite, or Quite Pleasant, Lovely, Bin, Tube
Things to Remember that confused me at first:
Don't ask for the "Restroom" it's "Toilet", the Tube is the Underground and it can take you anywhere around London, to stand on an escalator go to the right to walk up it go to the left (it's this way in Australia, somehow I forgot), buy an Oyster card for the tube, Carlsberg Beer was not so bad and one of the cheaper options
Friday, March 25, 2011
THE Countdown
The countdown is coming to a close because
in less than a week
we will be........
in less than a week
we will be........
Artwork compliments of Christy Chang
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
THE inspiration
After realizing that approaching your mid 20's meant you should think about starting to become an accomplished human at some point very soon, I began to question my checklist of adolescent dreams. One of those dreams was to travel the world. Stay in hostels with rowdy Aussies, find cultures that baffled and inspired me, and experience something I would never trade for a thing. I thought of one of my favorite and most motivating quotes, simple bud direct, "if not now when".
This quote has seemed to drive me towards some of the most memorable moments life has ever shown me, so why should I doubt it now?
So, perhaps in thanks to Rabbi Hillel who's quote inspired me, and my brother who was just as eager to explore as I was, here I am creating this blog for what I have no doubt will be the best experience of my and michael's life! For the next 5 months, starting March 31st 2011, Mike and I will be traveling through Europe, South Africa and Asia ... Countdown is less than 2 weeks!
This quote has seemed to drive me towards some of the most memorable moments life has ever shown me, so why should I doubt it now?
So, perhaps in thanks to Rabbi Hillel who's quote inspired me, and my brother who was just as eager to explore as I was, here I am creating this blog for what I have no doubt will be the best experience of my and michael's life! For the next 5 months, starting March 31st 2011, Mike and I will be traveling through Europe, South Africa and Asia ... Countdown is less than 2 weeks!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)