Robbie's Visit

March 21st-25th, 2011

Dublin, Ireland

Since Robbie had already booked tickets home to London over spring break, he was able to take a few days out of the middle of his break to hop over to Dublin and visit me. Although I still had class, I made a point of getting all my work done in advance so that by the time Robbie came, I was able to enjoy a mini-vacation of my own.

I'm not great at taking pictures of myself, so our next best bet was to go to touristy places (in this case, the Trinity College campanile), and ask tourists to take our picture for us. It worked pretty well.

At the globe outside the library. Notice my library shop bag, completing my image as a proper tourist-- Robbie had just got me my Trinity College sweatshirt. Guess that makes me official now.

It was lovely to spend a few days just relaxing, having picnics in the park, going out to dinner, watching movies, and walking around Dublin. The only thing that put a real damper on the trip was the fact that I got sick-- just my luck.

Paddy's Day in Pictures

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

Dublin, Ireland

Yes, that's Paddy's with dds, not Patty's. Apparently Patty with tts is a girls name, which would just be insulting to dear St. Patrick, patron Saint of Ireland. Anyhow, here is a little snapshot of my Irish St. Patrick's Day.

People were crowding onto statues to get a height advantage to watch the parade. Anna and I had to walk a long way before we found a suitable vantage point. This is near the start, on O'Connell Street by the spire, and it was mobbed.

Well, really, the whole city was mobbed. Absolutely saturated with people. Even on Dame Street, where we ended up, there were people standing on window ledges to get a good view.

...And the parade. Nothing like American parades, with simple boxy floats and people smiling and waving. It was artsy, interpretive, and kind of confusing. This might be a firebird?

If you look over the viking hat, you'll see flamingo dancers on stilts. Don't know why.

But the flamingos liked to come say hi-- this one bobbed its head right over the top of us.

Fluffy's girlfriend, perhaps? A giant, pink, 3 headed dog, with moving, blinking heads.

Post-parade, the slow movement of the masses of people was insane. Everyone was trying to get somewhere, no one was going very fast. The pictures don't do justice to all the green-- it was like a sea of kelly green people.

The ferris wheel set up outside of Marion square park. It looked really cute all lit up at night, but apparently it stopped traffic for days. Guess its worth it for the Paddy's Day festival.

St. Steven's Green Shopping Center was just one of many buildings that switched to green lights for Paddy's day. In fact, even the ambulance had flashing green lights in honor of the occasion.

Follow the Train Tracks: Bruges

March 2nd, 2011

Bruges, Belgium

We started our day trip to Bruges like we started most days-- quick breakfast of croissants at Carrefour, followed by mass confusion about public transportation. We figured out the train eventually, and scored a good deal by getting one 10-trip pass to share, rather than each buying our own round-trip ticket.

The wandering was lovely. Twisty, tiny streets, so well cobblestoned that even the pedestrian crosswalks are made with white cobbles, not painted on.

Our first plan in town was to climb the clock tower, which literally found by wandering and looking for the tallest buildings we could (not just stupidity, but actually the directions of the lady at the tourism center). It was lovely wandering, and we even found Anna a copy of Harry Potter in Dutch on the way.

Found it! The clock tower dominates Markt square, one of the central squares of Bruges.

366 steps later, on the most ridiculously steep, tightly wound spiral staircase I have ever seen, we reached this amazing view of the city. Well worth the climb.

The massive bells. We stayed long enough to hear them play, and not just chime the hour, but actually play music. Loud, but very cool.

Back on the ground, it was time for lunch. "Markt" square means "market," and there was indeed a functional market set up, so we set about finding something tasty and cheap to eat. I settled on sharing strawberries with Emma and getting some hot food at the very multilingual burger stand. This was my first experience not knowing what language to order in, as Bruges is actually in Flanders, the Flemish portion of Belgium, where the speak Dutch or Flemish, although many still speak French, as well as English, or even German. So confusing! After getting our food, we sat in the sun on the steps of the post office to enjoy our fair with a lovely view of the square.

The market sold everything from produce, to raw meet, to hot foods, to flowers.

Along with the grand buildings like the clock tower, Markt square was also lined with these smaller, brightly colored shops in the architectural style characteristic of the area.

Our next goal was Chocostory, the chocolate museum. But, given the twisty european streets, our inadequate maps, and the strange habit of not having street signs or, when they did, labeling the street in a different language from the one on the map, it took us a while. No worries, though. We were content to wander through such a beautiful city, and stumbled on some lovely surprises on the way.

Wandering in Bruges, just enjoying the sunshine (in spite of the cold) and the architecture.

We stumbled upon the grand City Hall building, in Burg square.

We also made the welcome discovery of the smallest, cutest chocolate shop I have ever seen. Just look at how small Emma and Kathryn look in front of it. We sampled their specialty-- praline, a sort of hazelnut truffle common in the area, and we each ended up with a box of chocolates.

In the end, we asked for directions in a toy store and found our way to the museum, where we learned all about the history of chocolate and the process of the chocolatier, complete with demo and samples (the best way to win over an audience). Best part hands down-- they actually had a pressed euro machine.

A play-mobile diorama visual aid-- this museum would be what you call "kid-friendly."

For those of you unfamiliar, I have a LOT of pressed pennies at home, so the chance to press a 5 euro piece as a souvenir is nothing short of thrilling. Thank you, Chocostory.

After the museum, we returned to the streets of Bruges for a little souvenir shopping as our day wound down. The last thing to check of the list? Belgian fries. So we picked out a stand back near Markt square, selected from a long list of condiments (I ended up with garlic mayonnaise), and settled down on the steps to eat and enjoy the view in the golden afternoon.

Souvenir shopping. The little store fronts were really adorable-- that may seem like a strange thing to say about architecture, but it seems to be universally what people say about Bruges, and it just sort of fits.

Back in Markt square for days end. The elaborate architecture really looks amazing lit up by the setting sun.

I watched the line of horse carts, waiting where the market had been earlier, ready to take passengers on an afternoon tour of the city. It was lovely to take it slow for the day, and just sit and enjoy. A nice break from the super-tourist speed, and it seemed a shame to leave.

Follow the Train Tracks: Brussels

February 28th-March 2nd, 2011

Brussels, Belgium

Anna and I successfully met up with Emma just as we were boarding the train from Paris to Brussels, and the three of us enjoyed a relaxing train journey munching leftover pringles and listening to the announcements made in Dutch, German, French, and English. In Brussels, we struggled with long lines and a new metro system, but finally purchased 3-day passes and hopped on what we hoped was the metro to our hotel. Easier said than done. Between Anna's out-dated map, the multi-lingual maps posted in the metro, and the friendly passengers who tried to help us but couldn't quite hear us clearly, it took a while. Thanks to the confusing street system and inadequately close-range maps, our hotel itself was equally difficult, but when we found it, it was well worth it.

The group of us had split the cost of a 4-person hotel, which ended up being cheaper than a hostel, and MUCH nicer. Real beds, a real private shower, and actual space to move around, not to mention peace and quiet.

That's when the bad news came in from Dublin-- Maggie, who was supposed to meet us in Brussels, was down and out with food poisoning. Poor thing! Kathryn, our other travel companion, was still on her way though, and we met up with her and headed in to the city center to explore while we still had some light left.

The main building on Grand Place, a large cobblestoned square of very unique old architecture.

More of Grand Place-- the architectural style is very ornate, including lots of gold leaf and sculpture. This area of town was very different from the area our hotel was in, which was more of a business district.

Some of the streets were very narrow. This one was mostly restaurants, all with the strange habit of soliciting you to come eat there by having someone stand out front and get very in your face with the nightly specials.

An arcaded street, meaning the street is covered with glass arching over between the shops. It made it just a little bit warmer inside.

Manneken pis, the statue of the little boy peeing. It is a major symbol of Brussels, supposedly because of the youth and playfulness it embodies. The statue itself is much smaller than I expected, perhaps only a foot high. While in Brussels, we saw versions of Manneken Pis that involved it made of chocolate, peeing chocolate, peeing beer, and peeing champaign. It was a little odd...

You can't quite see it, but this picture captures the Belgium trifecta, all in a row: waffles, chocolate, and beer. Don't worry, we experienced all three. So healthy.

After our explorations, which included dinner and our first Belgian waffle along the way (delicious!), we rallied at the motel room and met up with some of Kathryn's friends studying in Brussels to go to the Delirium Cafe. A classic for visitors, the Delirium brews its own beers and has more than 2,500 beers in house. Yeah. I didn't know that many even existed. I started with the Delirium Dark, then had Trapist Chimay, a beer made by monks and very rare and expensive most places. Both were delicious, and in the Belgian style, unusually alcoholic. There is a reason they serve glasses instead of pints in Belgium-- most of there beers are 10-12% alcohol instead of the say 6% that would be strong in Ireland. A little goes a long way.

The next morning, we woke up bright and early to hop the metro out the the Atomium. But first, quick breakfast at the Carrefour, including fresh squeezed orange juice.

These machines were really common here-- just pull the tap, and the oranges move their way through, split, and juice into your jug. My little jug was actually cheaper than a tropicana of the same size, and it was so much more fun!

The Atomium was made for the World's Fair that was held in Brussels, and now houses various exhibits (yes, you can go inside it). But mostly, it just looks gigantic and absurd, and like it shouldn't be able to stand. We didn't go inside, since we'd heard it was cooler to look at from outside and we were on a budget. But it made for some good pictures.

The Atomium. Because... why not?

Once you get up underneath it, it's really huge. Kind of ridiculous.

With the Atomium checked off, we headed back to the city center for a little more exploration.

St. Michaels Cathedral. It was really gorgeous inside, very bright and airy.

Parc de Bruxelles. Notice the trees that have been trimmed to basically form nets into each other. They had lights strung on them, but we're still not sure what their purpose was. The park was also full of joggers-- apparently you have to work off all that beer, chocolate, and waffles.

Palace Royale, including the giant cobblestoned area out front which is possibly a roundabout, possibly for pedestrians... it's impossible to tell where anyone is supposed to go because no one wants to paint lines on old cobbles.

Statue in front of Palace Royale, after playing a little human frogger.

The Musical Instruments Museum, or the MIM. It was a really cool old building, but we're not sure why it said "Old England" on the top.

The MIM involved wireless headphones that meant as you walked up to each old instrument, you could hear what it sounded like. Here's Anna rocking out to a lute-- she's a big fan of interactive, kid-friendly museums.

Last stop in the MIM-- the view from the top. The spike you can see in the distance is the main building of Grand Place that we saw the night before.

We met up with Kathryn again, who had opted out of the MIM in favor of a different museum, and headed for waffles round 2, to be eaten in Grand Place. Then we made our way back to the hotel, stopping at the grocery store to grab provisions for dinner-- baguette, brie, and paprika ribbles (apparently the Belgian version of ruffles). Kathryn and Emma met up with Kathryn's friends again, but Anna and I stayed behind to recoup, eat, and watch 7th Heaven in Dutch.

Follow the Train Tracks: Paris

February 26th-27th, 2011

Paris, France

My journey began in Dublin at 3am as I walked along Dawson Street in the dark, looking for Anna and the bus stop, and realizing much later than I should have that 6am flights are cheap for a reason. Such is the life of a poor college student trying to see the world! For this reason, we were also flying Ryanair, also known as the "air taxi," stingiest airline in existence, AND we were taking only carry-ons for our week-long trip. Yup, three countries, one backpack.

It's a common joke that Ryanair charges extra for EVERYTHING. Although they don't go as far as charging for the air you breathe, I know someone who had to pay by the minute to speak to customer service when they didn't send his boarding pass.

Checking the size of my carry-on. Ryanair is notoriously strict on size, and won't even allow a purse in addition. Luckily, my trusty orange backpack turned out to be the perfect size.

Although it wasn't posh, we got what we paid for-- safe passage to Paris. We arrived exhausted but determined, found our hostel, and struck out to be tourists.

The view from the window of our hostel-- the white building in the distance is Sacre Coeur. We stayed in Montmartre, the area of town with the Moulin Rouge.

We found a creperie for lunch (one of my favorites of French food), then made our way to the Louvre, where we outwitted the lines by entering the back way and buying tickets on automatic machines. Most people enter through the landmark glass pyramid, and the ticket lines there were atrocious. Thank you Anna's uncle for the tip.

The inverted pyramid by the entrance we came through, underground. Da Vinci code, anyone?

Inside, we saw some of the classics (yes, the Mona Lisa IS small, although I don't know why people whine about that so much), but Anna and I both tended to prefer statues. Its astounding how sculpters can create a likeness of cloth, skin, and hair using solid stone. I also enjoyed the relation to Greek and Roman mythology.

My favorite statue-- "Psyche revived by Cupid's kiss." It goes with the story of how Cupid, god of desire and romance, fell in love the mortal Psyche. Their love is initially forbidden, but eventually Psyche is granted immortality and becomes the goddess of the soul. Interestingly, the story is considered to be the first version of Beauty and the Beast.

Of course, we didn't skip the pyramid. And by the time we got to it, the sun was even peaking out.

From the grounds of the Louvre, we made our way down the Jardin des Tuileries towards Place de la Concord and L'Obelisque. Although not quite in season, it was lovely wandering through the park.

My favorite part-- the giant fountains complete with toy sailboats that you could set on their course by pushing out with a stick. It was just windy enough for them to really scoot along. Sad that we're too old for it, but this little girl was sure having a blast.

Thuroughly exhausted and with the weather starting to turn rainy and cold, Anna and I decided to head to the hostel for a nap. Easier said than done. We were literally on top of the metro station for a good 30 minutes wander around before finally finding the entrance-- Paris needs clearer signs. Seriously. After recouping, we struck out to find dinner in Montmartre in classic student fashion, shopping the mini-marts and bakeries until we had rounded up a lovely (if not healthy) spread for dirt cheap.

Anna, chowing down on our dinner of fresh baguette, chocolate waffles (a French equivalent of ho-hos), paprika pringles, and bulk candy. Yum.

For Paris day 2, we pulled out all the stops. Fully rested and aware that this was our last chance, we gladly played "super tourists," as Emma would say. And top on our list was, of course, the Eiffel Tower. So we made an early start with breakfast at the hostel (better than expected-- they even had coco puffs), figured out how to buy metro day passes to facilitate our adventures, and after a stop off at the Moulin Rouge (it happened to be on the way, so why not?) we reached the metro stop for the Eiffel Tower: Bir-Hakeim (or Beer-Hawk-Island, as we called it).

We had to stop our selves from taking thousands of pictures as we walked towards it-- each view seemed prettier than the last.

It really is HUGE-- the vertigo you get from looking up is crazy.

We dodged the street vendors and beat the lines again by being the smart tourists and taking the time to walk to the line on the back side. It was easily a quarter the length of the more obvious line.

View from the first observation deck. The shadow of the Eiffel Tower stretches all the way across the Seine. You could really see everything, if you knew where to look.

It was incredibly windy, but the view was well worth it. Although it got colder the higher we went, the weather was cooperative-- you couldn't ask for prettier clouds!

The obligatory me-with-Eiffel Tower picture when we reached the ground again and walked through the Champs de Mars.

In search of food, Anna and I wandered our way out of the Eiffel Tower area and played our favorite game: follow the baguette.

Step 1: spot someone with a baguette (not hard in Paris)

Step 2: walk in the direction they are coming from

Step 3: see another person with baguette

Step 4: repeat until you trace your way back to the bakery of origin

This time, however, follow the baguette led us to a hidden market street on Rue Cler where we spent a while dog watching, book shopping, and browsing before stopping at a bakery for some delicious croissants. Properly fed, we pulled out the map to find the nearest metro and continue our super-tourist day.

The metro may not always be obvious, but I love the character of the metro signs.

Our next stop was the Centre Pompidou, museum of modern art. Anna and I both enjoy modern art, plus this one is kind of a landmark for Paris.

Centre Pompidou was very controversial when it first went up-- not exactly classical Parisian architecture.

Anna and I liked to call this the anti-Louvre. They were fond of interactive art-- very kid-friendly.

The crazy tubes mounted on the outside of the building house the escalators to access the other levels and a viewing walkway on the 6th floor that gives a great vista (one that can include the Eiffel Tower, unlike when we were on top of it).

We used that great view to navigate our way to the next destination: Notre Dame. Unfortunately, Paris has more than one giant cathedral. We ended up going in completely the wrong direction, finding a completely different church (although still lovely), and walking all the way to Place de la Victoires before locating ourselves on a map and finding our way back to a metro to correct our mistake. Yay for the all-day metro pass. The whole thing wasn't a bust, though-- we stumbled on a really cool poster store and both Anna and I picked up some really cool souvenirs.

Even after we took the metro to the Notre Dame stop, we were almost afraid we weren't going to find it. How hard can it possibly be to find a giant cathedral, right? We got there just as the sun was setting, with time enough to take some daylight pictures.

Once you find it, there's certainly no doubt it's the right one. Notre Dame is HUGE, beautiful, and ornate.

I loved the doors-- the wrought iron work on them is amazingly intricate.

We left Notre Dame to walk along the Seine and through the Quartier Latin as the sun was setting, stopping at a few shops on our way to the metro stop that would take us home.

Street art we stumbled on, titled "Rue du Chat qui Peche," or "Street of the Fishing Cat." I thought this was random graffiti on an alley way, but it turns out that is the name of the narrowest street in Paris.

After another cheap student dinner, this time with the addition of brie that we had to cut using one of my club membership cards for lack of silverware, we left the hostel again to see the night time sights.

We went back to the Moulin Rouge to see it lit up, now with the windmill spinning. Much cooler at night. Also note the horse trailer out front. It said on the side, "The little horses of the Moulin Rouge." Wonder what minis were doing in a cabaret show...

We also returned to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up, including a brief 5-minutes of sparkling. We ran into a couple of foreigners who were nice enough to snap a picture for us.

Our last stop took us up to the L'Arc du Triomphe, which, for the record, is much larger than I thought it was. Oh, and that's me proving I can balance on one foot.

L'Arc du Triomphe is at the start of Champs Elysees, a street famous for many things, but mostly for this song. I was incredibly disappointed when Anna had never even heard of it, and I had to sing to myself as I walked down the street.

Exhausted, we made our way back to the hostel to pack up and head to bed, ready to hit the road for Brussels the next day.