anywho, this is something i drew for perspective. it's a picture of the salon rouge in the chateau. not the best, but i was still pleased with the way it turned out. goodnight.
-k.
12.08.2006
done and done
can i just say that i have never experienced a finals week as painless and stress-free as the past four days? i didn't even realize it was that time. in fact, i am done a week before you fools at the art institute in chicago. tomorrow morning we're leaving for switzerland. unfortunately, i don't think i'll be snowboarding, mostly because there is no snow. spending 50 euro to fall down a glacier four times doesn't sound like fun.
anywho, this is something i drew for perspective. it's a picture of the salon rouge in the chateau. not the best, but i was still pleased with the way it turned out. goodnight.
anywho, this is something i drew for perspective. it's a picture of the salon rouge in the chateau. not the best, but i was still pleased with the way it turned out. goodnight.
12.05.2006
the most boring entry ever
hmm, so it seems that almost all of my posts on this blog have been about excursions and trips to places other than strasbourg. i think it would be interesting to write a bit about my day-to-day life and the french experience, no? probably mostly pictures though, because i don’t think you want to read five pages about the grocery store.
living at the chateau has limited the amount that i am in strasbourg. first of all, it takes some effort to get into town. it’s a mile-ish walk to the bus stop, then a 15 minute ride to the tram, then a 10 minute ride into town. so it’s sort of hard to leave on a whim. more or less, the day-to-day experiences are much the same as in america. the biggest difference is that here i’m in an isolated bubble of non-communication, where i hope that the seven words of french i know will help me, or at least the years of acting will help me accurately pantomime my intentions. it will be strange to return to a city where i can actually understand what people are saying to each other as they walk down the street. i’ve gotten pretty good at interpreting body language.
my daily routine is pretty monotonous. i wake up at 9:45 and head down to breakfast, which they stop serving at ten. apparently our food offerings are more german than french; bread with honey or jelly, some type of meat, maybe cheese. and they always have cereal. sometimes our other meals are served in the dining room, but other times we walk to the restaurant that’s at the entrance to the grounds and have a meal there. the food is okay, but still i am preparing a list of things i want mom to make for me when i get home.
living at the chateau has limited the amount that i am in strasbourg. first of all, it takes some effort to get into town. it’s a mile-ish walk to the bus stop, then a 15 minute ride to the tram, then a 10 minute ride into town. so it’s sort of hard to leave on a whim. more or less, the day-to-day experiences are much the same as in america. the biggest difference is that here i’m in an isolated bubble of non-communication, where i hope that the seven words of french i know will help me, or at least the years of acting will help me accurately pantomime my intentions. it will be strange to return to a city where i can actually understand what people are saying to each other as they walk down the street. i’ve gotten pretty good at interpreting body language.
my daily routine is pretty monotonous. i wake up at 9:45 and head down to breakfast, which they stop serving at ten. apparently our food offerings are more german than french; bread with honey or jelly, some type of meat, maybe cheese. and they always have cereal. sometimes our other meals are served in the dining room, but other times we walk to the restaurant that’s at the entrance to the grounds and have a meal there. the food is okay, but still i am preparing a list of things i want mom to make for me when i get home.
le breakfast
eating breakfast
walking to the restaurant
le restaurant
anywho, i still go to the grocery store for lots of my meals. our nearest grocery store is a block past the bus stop. it’s called atac. some helpful tips for anyone who might be buying your groceries at a french supermarket: when buying produce, you must weigh it yourself and get a barcode sticker for the bag before you go to check out. failure to do so will result in the cashiers developing quite an unfriendly attitude, as well as holding up the line behind you as the stockboys run to weigh your tomatoes. also, make sure you bring your own bag. they charge for every bag that they give to you, something like 10 cents. or you can buy a reusable bag for a small fee, and then bring it back every time, i bought one which has come in handy, plus i can bring it home with me and use it when i go to dominicks. that’s a capitalist approach to saving the environment. well done, french grocery stores. finally, cashiers at the grocery store (and all stores for that matter), sit down on stools as they work. they do not help you bag up your groceries, and they wear obscene amounts of makeup. all of them; it’s rather scary.
attack atac!
instead of a one-stop walgreens for all personal needs, they still have separate stores. the monoprix is good for buying shampoo, soap, and other toiletries. you have to go to a pharmacy for any sort of medicine, but pharmacies confuse me because i can’t read anything on the labels and they rarely have what i’m looking for. i had a really hard time tracking down a bottle of contact lens solution last week, but i finally found it at a store that sold glasses. i didn’t even think of going there.
i mentioned the transportation system earlier. we have a bus pass that lets us onto any strasbourg public transit. just swipe your card as you board and voila! bon voyage! they have buses and trams. the main tram station in the city center is called “homme de fer”. we ride on tram c, towards esplanade to go home, and elsau to head to the city center. our tram stop is called observetoire.
waiting for the bus
on the bus
le tram
almost forgot about classes. the classroom is across the courtyard, so i basically roll into both of my classes wearing my pajamas and holding a coffee cup. the classroom is standard; fine for my french culture class, but difficult when it comes to drawing during my perspective class. i would have really appreciated a drafting table and parallel bar, but we made it work.
le petra in le classroom
i guess that’s pretty much it for the most boring parts of my life in strasbourg. it’s finals week, so this entry is more for my own procrastination. i’ll be home in eight days.
our christmas tree.
over and out.
-k
11.23.2006
sweetly sleeping sweeping of the seine
got back from paris on monday night. apologies for the delay in updating this blog, but it takes a while to get back into the swing of things. plus, i seem to have come down with a bit of the flu, so further apologies if this entry degrades into quasi-delusional ramblings lacking cohesion and sanity. so now i’m hanging out, drinking apfelsaft (applejuice), and trying to ignore my fiery-hot forehead and cold feet.
where was i? paris was wonderful. this was the only city i’ve been to so far that i had previously visited on other european trips. before the trip, i was a little hesitant. i didn’t have the greatest impression of the city from my first visit. however, i’ve since realized that my previous dissatisfaction was probably based more in my culture shock slash jetlag slash juvenility slash stupid sixteen-year-old girl than actual negative vibes towards paris. as i’ve mentioned many times before, i appreciate my independence, especially when it comes to exploring new places and seeing the sights that i am interested in. i was afraid at first that i wouldn’t feel as comfortable on the metro as i did in london because i don’t speak french. as it turns out, navigation is pretty universal and i had absolutely no problems at all. well, with the exception of my metrocard ceasing to work for a time, but that’s hardly the point.
i can’t say that i’ve picked up that much french since being here. but i do think that i absorbed more language in the four days in paris than the rest of my time in strasbourg. if anything, i can now pronounce the names of parisian landmarks with a convincing french accent. so i guess i have that going…
we left the chateau on thursday afternoon for the train ride to paris. it took about four hours on the conventional train. apparently they’re building high speed tracks for this part of western europe, so next summer it will only take two-ish hours to reach paris from strasbourg. that would have been super fun; i’ve always wanted to ride on a high-speed train. maybe they’ll install one from quincy to chicago. or maybe i’ll just come back to europe next summer. dad and dan, i blame you for instilling a geekish fascination with transportation in general and trains in particular. i tried so hard to ignore you. sorry, that’s the fever talking.
at approximately 7:00 we rolled into the gare d’est station in paris. our tour manager, annettee, was waiting with our coach to take us to our hotel. first of all, annette was the best tour manager we’ve had thus far, and that is saying something. she even made mix cds for our time on the bus. i can appreciate that effort. after dropping our things off at the hotel, we went to dinner. normally i wouldn’t mention something as boring as dinner, but it was the most delicious meal i have had in nearly three months. we ate at a lebanese restaurant. hummous and baba ganusch and a whole bunch of other delicious delicious things. mmmm, i’m hungry just thinking about it.
the next morning, we woke up for our customary bus tour of the city. i still think it’s the best way to orientate yourself upon arrival, and quite interesting to boot. plus, then i didn’t feel guilty about not visiting landmarks such as napolean’s tomb or any of the shopping areas, because technically i did see them. after the bus tour, we got lunch. karissa and i grabbed a sandwich somewhere, then ate it on a bridge crossing the seine. as we were enjoying our picnic, some crazy woman started dancing on the bridge. clearly, it was her own style, but i might describe it as a cross between classical ballet, t’ai chi, and something that i might bust out at a party. as we were laughing at this spectacle, a different parisian pastime was happening to our right. we witnessed a fashion shoot in its full glory. the model walked gracefully in her designer suit and too much makeup, as photographers snapped and hairstylists touched up the look. i think we were interfering with their shots, but gosh darn it we were there first.
after lunch, we visited the museé d’orsay to see the impressionist. my favorite part of traveling with a bunch of art students is that our guided tours of museums do not mess around. almost all of us have taken some sort of class in art history, so we can put together a pretty decent context for the works of art that we visit. we can ask substantial questions, and also shown the less-appreciated works of art that sometimes get overlooked. plus, we would probably rather spend more time at these museums than visiting tourist traps such as the moulin rouge.
after the museé, we had free time to do as we wished. a group of us walked down the seine to visit notre dame. i was amazed (again) by notre dame. cathedrals across europe all seem to blend together sometimes, but i can’t get over how impressive notre dame is. my only regret is we arrived too late to climb to the top, which is something that i really wanted to do. hmm, perhaps a reason to return to paris.
friday night was really fun. a group of us got our cameras and decided to visit monuments at night so we could take pictures. i got a few cool shots of the eiffel tower, but then my battery died and i was pretty much out of luck. oh, you should really visit my friend james’ blog. he takes amazing pictures which put mine to shame. here’s the address: http://web.mac.com/thirdjh
saturday morning we had a visit at sacre coeur. this cathedral i think is quite mystical. perched high above paris on a hill, its brilliant white domes look stunning contrasted to the bright blue sky. it doesn’t seem like a catholic church, but would fit in much better somewhere in india or something. we had an introduction and brief lecture of the history of the cathedral from a benedictine nun. i think most of the group slept through what she had to say, but i was quite interested. the cathedral was build as a symbol of paris pulling itself out of the sinful life it was living. it took many years and great sacrifice, but sacre coeur is a testament to the spirit and faith of many parisians.
we wandered around montmartre for a while, then had dinner at a hilarious “french interpretation of american culture” theme restaurant. it was called buffalo bill’s or something like that, and filled its décor and menu with references to cowboys and the wild west. i had some delicious onion rings.
i think if i had come to paris expecting a stereotypical experience, filled with romantic strolls through the streets and sketching over a cup of coffee in a café, i would have been disappointed. instead, i visited all sorts of museums and wasn’t afraid of tainting my parisian experience by eating at such cheese-fests as buffalo bill’s café.
my new-found streak of exploring random parts of the city in search of obscure attractions remained unbroken. saturday afternoon, jessica and i went in search of architecture by le corbusier. we’re making a presentation on him for our french culture and civilization class, so we took this opportunity to do some firsthand research and field trips. it wasn’t as hard to find as the temple in london or as random as the pub in dublin, but still it was an adventure. we found it eventually, toured the villa, took lots of great pictures and did some excellent research.
saturday night was our visit to the top of le tour eiffel. standing in line, i felt a tinge of nervousness within me. ok, more than a tinge. for a moment i considered not venturing to the top for fear that my newfound aversion to heights would prevent me from maintaining consciousness or provoke another panic attack. but then i thought of you, my faithful blog readers, who so enjoyed reading about my experience on the london eye. if anything, i could rename my blog “katie mays has panic attacks on top of famous european monuments of great heights”. still, i ventured upward. as it turns out, i was fine. there was a touch of nervousness as i got close to the edge, but overall i was completely able to handle it.
sunday was our visit to versailles. i was interested in going back to versaille because we studied this castle extensively in my architectural history class. but i ended up being pretty apathetic to the whole situation, perhaps due to my total exhaustion and crummy weather. adding to my disgust were the throngs of asian tourists who had absolutely no manners or tact. they would literally bowl you over in order to snap a picture in front of something famous. and they would take pictures of each other, completely expressionless. they didn’t seem to care about what they were looking at, but instead wanted proof that they were there. quite an extreme cultural difference. i guess if you stepped back it was pretty amusing. i even took a picture or two in their style.
i was most interested in seeing the gardens of versailles. but it was cold and rainy, and i was tired. when we walked outside i spotted some golf carts that were for rent. what could be a more perfect solution to my hesitations of exploring? jessica, shruti, karissa and i got really pumped for renting the cart. however, our dreams were shattered when the lady informed us that a 150 euro deposit was necessary for people under 25, and they didn’t accept credit cards. honestly, 25 is the new 21. you still can’t do anything cool until you’re over 25.
so we went back to paris, completely exhausted. we ended up taking a nap for most of the afternoon, but then went to the latin quarter for dinner. mmm, mexican food. after dinner we walked around a bit, and stopped in a bar/club for a drink. when i got back to the hotel, i turned on cnn international for the greatest surprise of the trip: the daily show with jon stewart! broadcast for some reason on cnn. now that i got my fix, i could stay here another three months. kidding, mom!
monday morning we went to the louvre. it was amazing, as you might expect. saw the mona lisa and venus de milo, as is required. it’s hard to grasp the idea that so many masterpieces of art are under one roof. also, it’s impossible to understand how enormous the museum actually is. there’s some statistic that observing every artwork in the louvre for 5 seconds would still take a really long time to complete. hmm, that statistic might be impressive if i actually tried to find what it said, instead of hinting at something cool. once again at the louvre, asian tourists were all over. our tour guide actually yelled at a couple of them, which was pretty amusing.
monday afternoon was our train ride back to strasbourg. i had a great time in paris, but still really want to go back. even riding on the bus to the train station, i looked out the window and saw all sorts of places that i didn’t get to visit but really want to go to. paris, i’ll be back.
in other news, i’m completely addicted to the new damien rice cd. i encourage any and all to download it immediately. i only have three more weeks left in europe. eeek! back to the real world. finally, tomorrow is thanksgiving. i have class in the morning. we’re having a “traditional american thanksgiving dinner”, but i can’t imagine what we’ll actually be served. if it’s funny, i’ll write about it.
over and out.
-kate
where was i? paris was wonderful. this was the only city i’ve been to so far that i had previously visited on other european trips. before the trip, i was a little hesitant. i didn’t have the greatest impression of the city from my first visit. however, i’ve since realized that my previous dissatisfaction was probably based more in my culture shock slash jetlag slash juvenility slash stupid sixteen-year-old girl than actual negative vibes towards paris. as i’ve mentioned many times before, i appreciate my independence, especially when it comes to exploring new places and seeing the sights that i am interested in. i was afraid at first that i wouldn’t feel as comfortable on the metro as i did in london because i don’t speak french. as it turns out, navigation is pretty universal and i had absolutely no problems at all. well, with the exception of my metrocard ceasing to work for a time, but that’s hardly the point.
i can’t say that i’ve picked up that much french since being here. but i do think that i absorbed more language in the four days in paris than the rest of my time in strasbourg. if anything, i can now pronounce the names of parisian landmarks with a convincing french accent. so i guess i have that going…
we left the chateau on thursday afternoon for the train ride to paris. it took about four hours on the conventional train. apparently they’re building high speed tracks for this part of western europe, so next summer it will only take two-ish hours to reach paris from strasbourg. that would have been super fun; i’ve always wanted to ride on a high-speed train. maybe they’ll install one from quincy to chicago. or maybe i’ll just come back to europe next summer. dad and dan, i blame you for instilling a geekish fascination with transportation in general and trains in particular. i tried so hard to ignore you. sorry, that’s the fever talking.
at approximately 7:00 we rolled into the gare d’est station in paris. our tour manager, annettee, was waiting with our coach to take us to our hotel. first of all, annette was the best tour manager we’ve had thus far, and that is saying something. she even made mix cds for our time on the bus. i can appreciate that effort. after dropping our things off at the hotel, we went to dinner. normally i wouldn’t mention something as boring as dinner, but it was the most delicious meal i have had in nearly three months. we ate at a lebanese restaurant. hummous and baba ganusch and a whole bunch of other delicious delicious things. mmmm, i’m hungry just thinking about it.
the next morning, we woke up for our customary bus tour of the city. i still think it’s the best way to orientate yourself upon arrival, and quite interesting to boot. plus, then i didn’t feel guilty about not visiting landmarks such as napolean’s tomb or any of the shopping areas, because technically i did see them. after the bus tour, we got lunch. karissa and i grabbed a sandwich somewhere, then ate it on a bridge crossing the seine. as we were enjoying our picnic, some crazy woman started dancing on the bridge. clearly, it was her own style, but i might describe it as a cross between classical ballet, t’ai chi, and something that i might bust out at a party. as we were laughing at this spectacle, a different parisian pastime was happening to our right. we witnessed a fashion shoot in its full glory. the model walked gracefully in her designer suit and too much makeup, as photographers snapped and hairstylists touched up the look. i think we were interfering with their shots, but gosh darn it we were there first.
after lunch, we visited the museé d’orsay to see the impressionist. my favorite part of traveling with a bunch of art students is that our guided tours of museums do not mess around. almost all of us have taken some sort of class in art history, so we can put together a pretty decent context for the works of art that we visit. we can ask substantial questions, and also shown the less-appreciated works of art that sometimes get overlooked. plus, we would probably rather spend more time at these museums than visiting tourist traps such as the moulin rouge.
after the museé, we had free time to do as we wished. a group of us walked down the seine to visit notre dame. i was amazed (again) by notre dame. cathedrals across europe all seem to blend together sometimes, but i can’t get over how impressive notre dame is. my only regret is we arrived too late to climb to the top, which is something that i really wanted to do. hmm, perhaps a reason to return to paris.
friday night was really fun. a group of us got our cameras and decided to visit monuments at night so we could take pictures. i got a few cool shots of the eiffel tower, but then my battery died and i was pretty much out of luck. oh, you should really visit my friend james’ blog. he takes amazing pictures which put mine to shame. here’s the address: http://web.mac.com/thirdjh
saturday morning we had a visit at sacre coeur. this cathedral i think is quite mystical. perched high above paris on a hill, its brilliant white domes look stunning contrasted to the bright blue sky. it doesn’t seem like a catholic church, but would fit in much better somewhere in india or something. we had an introduction and brief lecture of the history of the cathedral from a benedictine nun. i think most of the group slept through what she had to say, but i was quite interested. the cathedral was build as a symbol of paris pulling itself out of the sinful life it was living. it took many years and great sacrifice, but sacre coeur is a testament to the spirit and faith of many parisians.
we wandered around montmartre for a while, then had dinner at a hilarious “french interpretation of american culture” theme restaurant. it was called buffalo bill’s or something like that, and filled its décor and menu with references to cowboys and the wild west. i had some delicious onion rings.
i think if i had come to paris expecting a stereotypical experience, filled with romantic strolls through the streets and sketching over a cup of coffee in a café, i would have been disappointed. instead, i visited all sorts of museums and wasn’t afraid of tainting my parisian experience by eating at such cheese-fests as buffalo bill’s café.
my new-found streak of exploring random parts of the city in search of obscure attractions remained unbroken. saturday afternoon, jessica and i went in search of architecture by le corbusier. we’re making a presentation on him for our french culture and civilization class, so we took this opportunity to do some firsthand research and field trips. it wasn’t as hard to find as the temple in london or as random as the pub in dublin, but still it was an adventure. we found it eventually, toured the villa, took lots of great pictures and did some excellent research.
saturday night was our visit to the top of le tour eiffel. standing in line, i felt a tinge of nervousness within me. ok, more than a tinge. for a moment i considered not venturing to the top for fear that my newfound aversion to heights would prevent me from maintaining consciousness or provoke another panic attack. but then i thought of you, my faithful blog readers, who so enjoyed reading about my experience on the london eye. if anything, i could rename my blog “katie mays has panic attacks on top of famous european monuments of great heights”. still, i ventured upward. as it turns out, i was fine. there was a touch of nervousness as i got close to the edge, but overall i was completely able to handle it.
sunday was our visit to versailles. i was interested in going back to versaille because we studied this castle extensively in my architectural history class. but i ended up being pretty apathetic to the whole situation, perhaps due to my total exhaustion and crummy weather. adding to my disgust were the throngs of asian tourists who had absolutely no manners or tact. they would literally bowl you over in order to snap a picture in front of something famous. and they would take pictures of each other, completely expressionless. they didn’t seem to care about what they were looking at, but instead wanted proof that they were there. quite an extreme cultural difference. i guess if you stepped back it was pretty amusing. i even took a picture or two in their style.
i was most interested in seeing the gardens of versailles. but it was cold and rainy, and i was tired. when we walked outside i spotted some golf carts that were for rent. what could be a more perfect solution to my hesitations of exploring? jessica, shruti, karissa and i got really pumped for renting the cart. however, our dreams were shattered when the lady informed us that a 150 euro deposit was necessary for people under 25, and they didn’t accept credit cards. honestly, 25 is the new 21. you still can’t do anything cool until you’re over 25.
so we went back to paris, completely exhausted. we ended up taking a nap for most of the afternoon, but then went to the latin quarter for dinner. mmm, mexican food. after dinner we walked around a bit, and stopped in a bar/club for a drink. when i got back to the hotel, i turned on cnn international for the greatest surprise of the trip: the daily show with jon stewart! broadcast for some reason on cnn. now that i got my fix, i could stay here another three months. kidding, mom!
monday morning we went to the louvre. it was amazing, as you might expect. saw the mona lisa and venus de milo, as is required. it’s hard to grasp the idea that so many masterpieces of art are under one roof. also, it’s impossible to understand how enormous the museum actually is. there’s some statistic that observing every artwork in the louvre for 5 seconds would still take a really long time to complete. hmm, that statistic might be impressive if i actually tried to find what it said, instead of hinting at something cool. once again at the louvre, asian tourists were all over. our tour guide actually yelled at a couple of them, which was pretty amusing.
monday afternoon was our train ride back to strasbourg. i had a great time in paris, but still really want to go back. even riding on the bus to the train station, i looked out the window and saw all sorts of places that i didn’t get to visit but really want to go to. paris, i’ll be back.
in other news, i’m completely addicted to the new damien rice cd. i encourage any and all to download it immediately. i only have three more weeks left in europe. eeek! back to the real world. finally, tomorrow is thanksgiving. i have class in the morning. we’re having a “traditional american thanksgiving dinner”, but i can’t imagine what we’ll actually be served. if it’s funny, i’ll write about it.
over and out.
-kate
11.12.2006
cheers darlin'
dublin trip:
this was my first “open weekend”, traveling only with my new friends, free from the itineraries and guidelines of our group. all twelve of us made it from france to ireland with little hassle. it seems like air travelers are more friendly in europe. in america, i almost never talk to the person next to me. but i had substantial conversations with strangers on both flights this time. on the way to dublin, i sat next to a guy headed to ireland for his sister’s wedding. his name was naill (pronounced “nile”), and he had the greatest accent i’ve ever heard. it was nice to have someone who is able to point out interesting things from the sky. for instance, he informed me when we were flying over the english channel, and bono’s house. or at least the posh island where bono lives.
shared a hostel room with all eleven others. this was my first time staying in a hostel, but i don’t think i got the full experience. our room had twelve bunked beds lining the walls. it must be crazy to be sharing a room with strangers, but then again strangers might have been preferable to a few of the people i was traveling with. actually, the hostel ended up being lots of fun. cozy, really. maybe a little too much information shared with my new friends, but whatever.
after the tour, karissa and i split from the group in order to escape the bureaucracy of doing things in a large group. on the way to the castle, we spotted a quizno’s, so that’s where we wanted to have lunch. sidenote: i’ve yet to have mcdonalds and only had starbucks once while in europe. ok, thrice. generally i’m against eating at american chains abroad, but that sandwich was delicious.
after lunch, we somehow managed to get on the right bus, and rode out to kilmainham gaol. i learned a lot at this particular attraction. first of all, “gaol” means “jail”. this particular jail was built in 1796 and operated until 1924. during this time, it was host to thousands of inmates, each of whom told part of the history of ireland. during the potato famine, many people were incarcerated. however, it soon became clear that spending time in jail was preferable to being homeless on the streets. leaders of irish rebellions were held here, including the leaders of the 1916 rebellion who were also executed in this complex. in addition to the fascinating information about the history, the jail is a unique example of victorian architecture. this was the second coolest place we visited.
taking the prize for the best attraction, of course, is the guiness storehouse. it really is disneyland for alcoholics, without the rides. i learned everything you could ever want to know about guiness: how it is made and the history of the beer and the past advertisements and my goodness my guiness and the impact it has had on irish life. the tour ended at the top of the gravity bar on top of the storehouse, overlooking dublin city. we got our complimentary pints and enjoyed the view. i can honestly say it’s the best guiness i’ve ever had. unlike my father, i am not burdened with many many years of drinking weak american beer. i’m sold.
friday evening we headed out to the pubs around temple bar. the area reminded me of bourbon street in new orleans, but without the skankiness. we made our way through several pubs, but i was pretty much exhausted from the lack of sleep the night before (you get what you pay for at a hostel… uncomfortable mattresses). i headed back to the hostel a bit earlier than the rest of the group (runs in the family), but still had lots of fun.
saturday was more sightseeing. half of the group trekked out to malahide castle, a medieval-looking castle with a surprising rococo interior. the tour was mildly interesting, but looked cooler from the outside. after lunch, we headed back to the city center.
apparently i’ve started a bit of a tradition of wandering around with only a vague idea of direction and purpose, through areas of town hardly visited by tourists. (see london entry for search for hindu temple). saturday afternoon, post-nap, we divided according to what we wanted to do. i wasn’t feeling another museum, but i did want to see the st. patrick’s cathedral and walk around. so eric and james and i set off walking. well, it ended up that st. pat’s was closed to the public because there was some sort of graduation thing going on. anywho, james wanted to find a particular pub because of it’s name. something having to do with his girlfriend; i never got the full story. without much thought and only a vague idea of the location, we figured out a bus to board and set off on our way. the bus driver asked if we needed directions, but we couldn’t really tell him where we wanted to go. an hour later, after walking the wrong way for a solid mile, we finally found the pub. james got his picture, and we returned to the city center.
we went out again saturday night, this time with a vengeance. truly a pub “crawl”. back to some of the same places as the night before, but this time with a larger group. we had tons of fun and managed to all make it home in one piece. someone got the idea to buy ridiculous shamrock hats, so of course we looked like tourist idiots. i’ll admit, i wore the hat. i’ve got the green glitter in my hair to prove it.
sunday morning we woke up early and headed to the airport. a bus ride, a plane flight, then another bus, and we were back at the chateau, home sweet home.
that's it for the trip. i added a link to additional facebook pictures, if you're interested. also, the 13th marked exactly one month until i am home. it's gone by so fast...
cheers
-katie.
p.s. happy birthday dan!!
this was my first “open weekend”, traveling only with my new friends, free from the itineraries and guidelines of our group. all twelve of us made it from france to ireland with little hassle. it seems like air travelers are more friendly in europe. in america, i almost never talk to the person next to me. but i had substantial conversations with strangers on both flights this time. on the way to dublin, i sat next to a guy headed to ireland for his sister’s wedding. his name was naill (pronounced “nile”), and he had the greatest accent i’ve ever heard. it was nice to have someone who is able to point out interesting things from the sky. for instance, he informed me when we were flying over the english channel, and bono’s house. or at least the posh island where bono lives.
sunset from the airplane
speaking of bono, i was glad i had my ipod to provide an appropriate soundtrack to the weekend. lots of u2 and damien rice. i didn’t think far enough in advance to load on some “oh danny boy” action. thankfully.
new damien rice album yeah!
shared a hostel room with all eleven others. this was my first time staying in a hostel, but i don’t think i got the full experience. our room had twelve bunked beds lining the walls. it must be crazy to be sharing a room with strangers, but then again strangers might have been preferable to a few of the people i was traveling with. actually, the hostel ended up being lots of fun. cozy, really. maybe a little too much information shared with my new friends, but whatever.
the group in the hostel room
i would describe dublin as london’s slightly scruffy, drunk cousin. a little rough around the edges, perhaps, but dublin still manages to make you feel welcome. it was nice to be able to communicate with other people when out in the city, instead of dumb faces and hand gestures. then again, driving back into france where i don’t understand anything was slightly disheartening.
dublin’s public transportation system is… ridiculous. there are plenty of buses going around, but i never once saw a map that outlined the system. “system” is a generous term in this case. more like total randomness that possibly was decided while under the influence of one to many pints of the black gold. i’m glad i wasn’t the one in charge of figuring out which bus we needed to take.
friday we woke up early-ish to start our sightseeing. first up, dublin castle, which might be compared to the white house in the united states. it was interesting, but not quite what you’d expect out of an irish castle. the gift shop (and all other souvenir shops i visited) had a healthy amount of merchandise featuring family coats-of-arms. particularly interesting were all the malone items i saw. i didn’t buy any, but pointed it out to any and all travel companions who happened to be in speaking distance to said merchandise.
dublin castle
after the tour, karissa and i split from the group in order to escape the bureaucracy of doing things in a large group. on the way to the castle, we spotted a quizno’s, so that’s where we wanted to have lunch. sidenote: i’ve yet to have mcdonalds and only had starbucks once while in europe. ok, thrice. generally i’m against eating at american chains abroad, but that sandwich was delicious.
after lunch, we somehow managed to get on the right bus, and rode out to kilmainham gaol. i learned a lot at this particular attraction. first of all, “gaol” means “jail”. this particular jail was built in 1796 and operated until 1924. during this time, it was host to thousands of inmates, each of whom told part of the history of ireland. during the potato famine, many people were incarcerated. however, it soon became clear that spending time in jail was preferable to being homeless on the streets. leaders of irish rebellions were held here, including the leaders of the 1916 rebellion who were also executed in this complex. in addition to the fascinating information about the history, the jail is a unique example of victorian architecture. this was the second coolest place we visited.
at the gaol
inside the jail
my very own cell!
no explaination for this weird nest thing inside the cell...
taking the prize for the best attraction, of course, is the guiness storehouse. it really is disneyland for alcoholics, without the rides. i learned everything you could ever want to know about guiness: how it is made and the history of the beer and the past advertisements and my goodness my guiness and the impact it has had on irish life. the tour ended at the top of the gravity bar on top of the storehouse, overlooking dublin city. we got our complimentary pints and enjoyed the view. i can honestly say it’s the best guiness i’ve ever had. unlike my father, i am not burdened with many many years of drinking weak american beer. i’m sold.
yes there is.
yes they are.
resting. . . waiting
my goodness
friday evening we headed out to the pubs around temple bar. the area reminded me of bourbon street in new orleans, but without the skankiness. we made our way through several pubs, but i was pretty much exhausted from the lack of sleep the night before (you get what you pay for at a hostel… uncomfortable mattresses). i headed back to the hostel a bit earlier than the rest of the group (runs in the family), but still had lots of fun.
saturday was more sightseeing. half of the group trekked out to malahide castle, a medieval-looking castle with a surprising rococo interior. the tour was mildly interesting, but looked cooler from the outside. after lunch, we headed back to the city center.
strange forest of elephant ears en route to the castle
malahide castle
apparently i’ve started a bit of a tradition of wandering around with only a vague idea of direction and purpose, through areas of town hardly visited by tourists. (see london entry for search for hindu temple). saturday afternoon, post-nap, we divided according to what we wanted to do. i wasn’t feeling another museum, but i did want to see the st. patrick’s cathedral and walk around. so eric and james and i set off walking. well, it ended up that st. pat’s was closed to the public because there was some sort of graduation thing going on. anywho, james wanted to find a particular pub because of it’s name. something having to do with his girlfriend; i never got the full story. without much thought and only a vague idea of the location, we figured out a bus to board and set off on our way. the bus driver asked if we needed directions, but we couldn’t really tell him where we wanted to go. an hour later, after walking the wrong way for a solid mile, we finally found the pub. james got his picture, and we returned to the city center.
all we saw of st. patrick's cathedral
and the outside
we went out again saturday night, this time with a vengeance. truly a pub “crawl”. back to some of the same places as the night before, but this time with a larger group. we had tons of fun and managed to all make it home in one piece. someone got the idea to buy ridiculous shamrock hats, so of course we looked like tourist idiots. i’ll admit, i wore the hat. i’ve got the green glitter in my hair to prove it.
not my hat.
but those are my antenna
that's not me either. the one on the right is my roommate.
silly james.
sunday morning we woke up early and headed to the airport. a bus ride, a plane flight, then another bus, and we were back at the chateau, home sweet home.
that's it for the trip. i added a link to additional facebook pictures, if you're interested. also, the 13th marked exactly one month until i am home. it's gone by so fast...
paris on thursday!
cheers
-katie.
p.s. happy birthday dan!!
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