When I woke up to sunshine and (respectively) warm weather this morning, I was inspired to go a-wandering. Unfortunately, midday sun isn't ideal for photography, but I did scope out some sick spots that I'll return to as the sun moves lower in the sky.
I ventured across one of the bridges to the other side of the Vltava River. More specifically, I chose the bridge just to the south of the tourist-ridden Charles bridge (the Most Legii), and got to experience a bit of Praha that differs from the typical go-to spots.
I found an awesome little park that's off the beaten path...and it followed suit in having random gorgeous artwork strewn about.
I definitely have no idea what this represents, but these guys were standin' in the park
A little artsy stuff from the Guinness Storehouse tour:
I didn't get cheated on my brew, they pour it the right way in Ireland (duh). You've gotta pour the glass almost all the way, leaving about 2 inches. Then, you 'rest' the beer for a few minutes so the mixing (which we learned is due to some nitrogen escape or something) can commence, then you fill the rest up ensuring a nice creamy head...
the only thing better than an empty beer is having another waiting for you
Thanks to those who have let me know that there are some issues happening with the Paris at warp speed post. Since there was so much to talk about, and we didn't have internet when words started pouring from my head, I typed the post up in Word. Apparently, Blogger hates Word. So much that it makes me wonder if Word stomped on Blogger's toes, or if Blogger is jealous that you can make tables in Word. Maybe they shared a love for Excel and had a duel over it...
Okay, I'm rambling. To make a long story short, I'm working on fixing the damn post. My techie stepdad mentioned that you can see it in Firefox, but not Internet Explorer. I tried to save my Word doc as something other than a document, like a webpage, to no avail. The trials will continue...I will win the Blogger/Word war.
((update: I added a hyperlink to the post itself above, hoping that it would magically take you to a post you could actually read. If it works, let me know. If not, don't mention it, because I may cry.))
day 1 (March 16) After the shitshow that is RyanAir, we arrived in Dublin just 3 hours behind schedule. Our schedule, you ask?! To drink Guinness and be Irish. That's it. That's all we'd planned. As we wandered looking for our hostel, 2 different Irish folk came up and offered to help. Without being asked, people. I couldn't tell you the last time I encountered such a situation in the US. And their awesome accents made the whole conversation ooze with joy.
Our hostel was adorable, we basically chucked our bags into our rooms and set off in search of beer. I'm not sure which pint of Guinness was my favorite (although the one at the brewery might be the winner...so fresh, so cold, so delish, so loveable), I had been looking forward to the first from the moment we decided to visit the Land of Ire (or wait, maybe that's Jamaica...Irie?! I'm lost).
We attempted to visit the Jameson whiskey factory on our first day, but the last tour was sold out...bummer. Since we were in Ireland, we ate (lackluster, although this was not unexpected) Thai food for dinner. Hehe...we're rad, so we can do that. We decided to hit the hay early to rest up for the shenanigans that would ensue on St. Patricks Day.
day 2 (March 17) During our full Irish breakfast on the big day, our hostel arranged for an Irish band to play while we ate. Fun music + fried eggs, potatoes, real bacon, sausage, red beans, soda bread and tea = a kick-ass morning. The Guinness brewery opened at 9:30am, so we hit the road early. They even let me in the building, and nothing was damaged - that puts my track record at 2 safe - 1 unsafe brewery, by the way! Woot!We had intended to blast through the brewery and be on to Jameson by noon, but the place was so rad (with beer tastings on EVERY one of the five floors) that we dawdled and soaked up the green. I was jazzed by how dressed up people (even locals) got for St. Patrick's Day...
possibly my fave picture of the whole trip. Guinness' rooftop bar is called the Gravity Bar, and this is obviously pointing us in the right direction. as I snapped this pic, I knew it was a winner and instantly busted up laughing...with which a nearby security guard was infected and started a laugh of her own. awesome.
After wrapping up at the Guinness brewery, we headed to Jameson and enjoyed an Irish coffee while waiting for our tour. During the tour, I was lucky enough to be selected as one of eight whiskey taste-testers at the tour's end. Schweet! The guide mentioned that it would be blind, so I paid extra-close attention to her descriptions of how Jameson differed from other whiskies. Only later did I find out that the test would not be blind (she wasn't joking when she said it would be, I swear). I was surprised at how different the whiskies really do taste - Johnnie Walker (a Scottish whiskey) is really smokey and Jack Daniels just tastes like throwing up in reverse. Good to know, huh?
one of my fellow tasters (Rob and Kel got to sample the differences too)
Up next was a power nap, some pizza, and a pre-game beer before heading down to Temple Bar. We wandered over around 7pm and thought we'd be waaaay early for the super-rowdy crowd, but should have known better. Chaos. Shenaningans. Whatever you want to call it...it was crazy. I loved it. As with most 'drinking holidays', there were the usual amount of scantily-clad, boozed up girls, there was a guy in a man-kini, there was revelry and dancing and shouting and drinking. The bars were packed, but everyone was in a great mood (with smiling Irish eyes, of course).
sunset on the River Liffey (on our way to Temple Bar)
I almost don't know how to explain this...a leprechaun, maybe?
over the whole night, the entire street in both directions looked like this
We rounded out the night by heading back to our fave bar (conveniently located across the street from our hostel), O'Sheas for Guinness and to listen to an awesome Irish band.
day 3 (March 18) On Wednesday, we decided to avoid the hungover crowd and headed out of town to Killarney. In my planning, I thought we'd surely be able to take a quick n' cheap train, but found out that it would be much more expensive than expected, so we took a bus instead. It took about eight hours to cross Ireland through the countryside. It was gorgeous...
For dinner, we checked out a pub around the corner from our hostel, where they served the biggest hamburger I've ever seen! Rob and Kellie ordered potato cakes to die for...
day 4 (March 19) Since we'd trekked out to Killarney for a countryside experience, we got up early and rented bikes. Our bus was due to depart at 4pm, so we pedaled our little hearts out. In the process, Rob helped save a poor sheep that was snagged on some barbed wire, we found some Asians, climbed a beautiful waterfall and drank from an Irish spring (really!).
And, to prove that I, in fact, rode a bike (I still maintain that the bikes I rode in Guatemala and Hawaii were not set up correctly...), here's a wee bit of documentation:
The day was gorgeous and sunny, and we worked up quite a sweat during our ride. Once we dropped the bike off at O'Sullivan's, we headed over to O'Sullivan's for lunch. No joke...almost everything in the town was named O'Sullivan's. Creative. Kellie spotted an ice cream shop, and totally twisted my arm to get a scoop. Check out the flavors below:
Kel's ice cream flavor: Irish Coffee the shop literally made Irish Coffee and froze it...with whiskey in it
Rob's ice cream flavor: Guinness
they actually mixed Guinness, sugar and milk and popped it in the freezer
my ice cream flavor: Whiskey Cream toss some sugar, some whiskey and some cream in a bowl and freeze it, and voila!
After enjoying our moonshine ice cream (seriously going to attempt to make my own when we get home), and with minutes to spare, we hopped on the bus to head back to Dublin.
day 5 (March 20) Kellie had an early morning flight on Friday : [ so Rob and I were super-lazy. After breakfast, we lounged around the hostel and finally ventured out to Trinity College. My mom and stepdad have been raving about the place, but we didn't know what the deal was: Is it just really old? Are there leprechauns on campus? What the hell is the Book of Kells?
The campus is amazing, with cobblestone walkways and giant campaniles and looming spires. Everything in Ireland was so green, and the landscaping of TCD was no exception. We latched onto an in progress tour and heard a little about the Book of Kells. We thought that you could just walk on into the library to see it, but naturally a fee was involved. Since we were a little shell-shocked at how much we'd spent so far, we skipped this step to look up the book online : ]Instead, we spent 7Euros and had beer and chips on the patio overlooking the football pitch...
Since no day in Ireland is complete without a Guinness, we finished the day with Irish stew and some delicious Guinness-y goodness.
I was beyond bummed to wrap up our trip in Ireland, and a little tiny tear might have escaped my eye as we took off for Prague...
The architecture in Prague is astounding. And I'm not even referring the the castles and churches...where you'd least expect it, there are ornate carvings and gargoyles and spires. Even unassuming buildings, like the apartments across from ours, have amazing busts and cherub sculptures on them:
our view, one way (I've not yet figured out what that spire is, but there is a second one...)
After scooping Kellie up in London at the gate of our connecting flight to Paris, we boarded the plane with moments to spare. After living in airports and on airplanes for the last 24 hours, what was another hour and half?
Once we got to Paris and got to our respective hotels, Rob and Kel forced me to hit the ground running, since all I wanted to do was sleep. Thanks to a night of tossing and turning on our last night in Mexico, followed by a night of sleeping on an airplane, I was dead to the world and ready to collapse. Instead, we headed into the tangled world of the Paris Metro (which Rob is champion of and I have come to adore) and on to Sacre Coeur, a giant basilica on top of a hill, to get a good view of the city. The place was beautiful, and Kel and I started to feel like we were really in Paris when we saw the Eiffel Tower in the distance.
We climbed 300 stairs to go up into the tower, and the view was awesome! Since it was a smidge overcast, I was in photo-light utopia and blasted through 150 or so shots from the tower alone. I subscribe to the (Dad, you'll like this) Wayne Gretzky model: you miss 100% of the shots that you don't take. I'm a nerd.
Then, since we were on a roll, we headed toward the Arc de Triomphe. I’ve been hearing about the Arc for 4 years now, since it’s one of Rob’s fave sights in Europe. I was completely unprepared for how HUGE it really is. Even cooler, there
mini-parade. Naturally, it was in French, so I haven't a clue what was going on, but it seemed pretty important.
After the Arc, we sauntered down Champs-Elysses and found a little creperie for dinner. Somehow, we each managed to order something with egg in it, and we capped it off with this beauty – a crepe filled with homemade pistachio ice cream finished with fresh whipped cream and caramel:
After dinner, since it was all of 8pm and we were exhausted (damn you, jet lag!), we headed back to rest up for an early day 2…
day 2 (March 14)
To make the most of our time and money, we started our day early…and in search of coffee. Rob studied in France for a few months, so he knows a little French, but still had Spanish on the brain, so ordering food at McDonald’s was an adventure of its own.
We wandered through a nearby outdoor market (don’t people in France know that it’s FREEZING?!) and found a boulangerie that sold the most adorable little macaroons. I loved that while we were pretty close to a huge tourist trap, we still felt like we were far enough from it that we could really get into the daily lives of the French…
We headed back into the city, grabbed a delectably warm baguette and tackled Notre Dame, which was nothing short of incredible. We managed to wander inside during an evening mass, which made the inside even more magnificent. The mood of it made me feel all artsy and got some shots that I really love. There was just enough light left in the sky to illuminate the fabulous stained glass windows, but it was dark enough to be a bit eerie. I was a smidge annoyed by all the tourists that used their camera flashes and weren’t whispering….it’s a church, folks. Ugh.
We quickly checked out the Lourve (the outside only…knowing that the Mona Lisa is only a foot tall, behind 5 inches of glass, and surrounded by throngs of tourists was a turnoff for us).
I then saw the Tower at night for the first time. Phenomenal. I don’t care how touristy I sound, it was gorgeous. We arrived at the Trocadero Square (a prime viewing spot) just as the top-of-the-hour light show began…and it was spectacular.
day 3 (March 15)
Since we’d knocked many of the main sights off our list, we checked out something a bit odd on Sunday – the Catacombs. The Catacombs can be explained best by saying that the French needed land, so they dug up cemeteries and moved the bones to former underground quarries. Here’s a site with more info, if you’re interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs_of_Paris. Needless to say, it was a bit creepy. We wandered a mile or so underground for about a quarter mile before we encountered anything to distract us from the fact that we were inside the earth. Nothing like being under the Metro system to make you a bit claustrophobic, eh? The stacks and stacks and stacks of bones (some of which were organized to make a cool pattern/design) were interesting…and while most of the signage was in French, it was eerie to see skulls with obvious bullet holes and marrow inside old broken bones:
After wandering around inside the earth for about an hour, our eyes welcomed daylight once again and I experienced my first sidewalk WC. Interesting, to say the least.
We’d decided to save the Eiffel Tower for sunset on our last day, to give ourselves a chance to get our bearings in the city, see in detail the things we’d see from the top, and to really appreciate the Tower (and avoid some of the tourists). Sunday night, we headed up. Because the lines for the elevator ‘legs’ were so long, we chose to hoof it up the stairs. All 704 of ‘em to level two. Phew. If I don’t come home with the ass of a 16-year old, I’m a loser. Here are some shots from the top:
random traffic cone + Kellie = hilarious
We loitered up there for about 3 hours (Kellie was a Popsicle) and were actually on the Tower during the first light show of the evening. Naturally, we were on our way down the stairs, so I started hauling ass to get some cool shots from the first level. After thundering my way down the stairs, I reached the first level and raised my camera to my eye…only to have the lights suddenly stop – DAMMIT!
Being atop the Tower was a great way to end our trip to Paris. We crawled, exhausted, back to our hotel and crashed, ready to wake up early for our trip to Ireland!
…if only we’d known of the shitshow awaiting us at the Beavais airport, an hour outside of the city. Note to readers: do whatever you can to avoid RyanAir. If that means you pay more to fly another airline, do it. You’ll end up saving money and sanity in the long run. I implore you.
Since I'll seriously need 3 days to blog about our adventures in Paris and Ireland, please enjoy the following tidbits...and get used to seeing those black North Face jackets, since they're the only things between us and frostbite.
on the Charles Bridge
on the Charles Bridge
dinner (something fried, of course) on our first night - and our first beers...Budvar (a.k.a. Budweiser) tastes different here
twenty countries in ten years doesn't sound like much, and as far as I'm concerned, it isn't enough. consider this a little diary of sorts on our travels, general escapades and the boring days in between.
I definitely have no idea what this represents, but these guys were standin' in the park
even the lampposts here are fancy
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