This blog will document the year of travel and work that comes my way in 2013. I am VERY excited and cannot wait to see how many stamps I can get in my passport (imagine Felipe from 'Eat, Pray, Love' saying this, scene at the market). Bring it on!
The day before I left NZ I remember having a conversation about cheap European airlines and was told about the tune that Ryanair played when they landed. I'll be honest because I did not believe it was actually true that a trumpet would sound (like the one in the video) but what do you know, it actually happened and I giggled. I also giggled to myself when I was walking through Dublin airport and overheard all the workers chatting to one another, it has to be said; the Irish have the BEST accent!
I was only in Dublin for 3 nights but really feel like I made the most of time there and saw a whole lot of the city. I wasn't too sure what to expect so left the planning in the hands of my Irish friend, Tom, to choose how he wanted to spend his last few days in Ireland. Tom was back home for a month for a friend's wedding and thankfully agreed to join me in Dublin. He's from Limerick, about a two hour bus trip from Dublin, and had never really explored Dublin so it worked out good for the both of us.
One of the things I was really keen to do was get to the Guinness Factory but I arrived too late on the first day. However, that didn't stop us going out to find a nice spot to try my first Guinness. Now, I'm not sure if it's a drink I would choose if I was out but it tasted pretty good at the time.
Dublin - best place to try your first Guinness
We also went for a walk through St. Stephen's Green, a lovely park in the middle of Dublin, and I was happy to see so many daffodils out. This means spring MUST be on it's way right?!
Oh I love daffodils!
To fill our evening we decided to go a bit crazy and try out the Ghostbus Tour... The oldest and best Ghostbus Tour in Dublin I should add. We were both a bit unsure about what to expect from this tour but I thoroughly enjoyed it (can't say the same for Tom though). Back home me and some of my friends have enjoyed watching the odd horror/thriller film and will often jump and hide behind our blankets but I'll tell you this for free, this tour chilled me on the inside and was worse than any scary movie I've ever seen. I was absolutely terrified. The guide was fantastic and really got into character. He even held a small light beneath his chin to make it extra spooky. He had keys to locked cemeteries and told us chilling stories about grave snatchers and witch burnings. We hopped on and off the bus as we went around the city and I felt like I was given quite a good history lesson from the tour.
Inside the bus...
Scary!
The world's only ghost bus?
The guide telling us something sinister
Tom's sister lives in Dublin and recommended we try out the bars in Temple Bar and we found a few nice spots. I enjoyed the live music by the U2 look alike band. It was freezing up in Dublin so I tried my first hot whiskey, warmed me up alright but was a bit strong for me.
We set our alarms so we could get up bright and early to make the most of our second day in Dublin. After we chatted to the helpful hotel staff we headed out to breakfast at a recommended cafe and had a modern take on the Big Irish Breakfast.
Breakfast in a pan!
After breakfast we jumped on a bus and headed out to Kilmainham Gaol (jail). The only way to go around the jail was by tour and we got there about half an hour before the tour started but that gave us a good opportunity to have a look around the museum. Kilmainham was not the main jail in Dublin but was important in Dublin's history because it was the first jail to keep prisoners in separate cells. This was in an attempt to stop the spread of disease because prior to Kilmainham all prisoners (men, women and children) were all put in together and obviously this meant disease spread very quickly. So for that reason it was quite special but naturally there were times when there were more than one prisoner held in each cell. Our guide was very informative and was very passionate about this period of history. It was a bitterly cold day and as we walked around the jail and the courtyards my heart went out to all the people that had to spend time there, it must have been absolute hell. It was stories of the children who were prisoners that really touched me. Our guide told us about one prisoner, a 5 year old girl, who was arrested for begging on the street. She was trialled and found guilty. How heart wrenching is that?! A 5 year old!
The courtyard where they did exercise; walking around in a circle with their heads down.
The cross marks the spot where men were executed...
Kilmainham Gaol 1787
It was a very sombering experience at Kilmainham so it was good that out next stop was a bit more upbeat, the Guinness Factory. I really enjoyed it there, learning about how beer is brewed and looking at the process in greater detail. It's pretty technical stuff. You could learn how to pour the perfect pint but we were a bit pushed for time so instead decided to take in the views from the top floor of the factory and enjoy a Guinness looking out over Dublin.
So many Guinness products!
Watching Guinness settle is fun :)
We got picked up from the factory by Tom's mum, dad and brother and gosh what lovely people they were. I very much enjoyed hanging out with a family for the rest of the day. We had lots of laughs and both Tom's parents studied in Dublin so could tell me a lot about the city from their years there. After a quick lunch we met up with his sister and her fiance and went on the Viking Splash Tour. This was a tour in a ship with wheels around Dublin where you had to put on Viking hats and roar at people on the street (Celts). It was a great and fun way to see Dublin.
Vikings! Tom's dad, Terry, in the purple
We then went exploring Dublin on foot and Tom's sister, Aisling, took us in the footsteps she had to get her engagement ring, was very cute. Another place we got to was Trinity College and I was very excited when I saw another Pomodoro sphere similar to the one I'd seen in the Vatican City (the Pope's was a lot bigger). I only knew it could be spun because of my guide doing it in Rome so that was my party trick for the Cusack's and I think they enjoyed it. Terry even had a go at spinning it. I never thought I'd see another one of these but now am on the hunt for others around the world and am pretty determined to see more of them :)
Another sphere shot
Having fun!
Inside the grounds of Trinity College
To show that the Pope has the best of everything, look at the size of that sphere!
It was Tom's last night with his family so I was prepared to leave them but they would have nothing of that and treated me to a lovely dinner and like I mentioned earlier it was so nice to spend time with a family. We had a lot of laughs and I just loved listening to them talk. It was a lovely night and I may just take them up on their offer and go stay with them in Limerick sometime :)
My Irish family :)
So that brings my Easter break to an end. What a fantastic time I have had, so many fantastic cities, sights and people. It has been so good catching up with old friends and making new ones. I went to a friend's birthday last night and there is talk of the three of us girls jetting up to Scotland for a long weekend in May so that may be my next stop. I'll get my kilt out and start practising my highland fling for then so I can make my Nana Jean proud.
I had a great day out in Bonn today. I really like this city. Easy to get around, cool shops and a great vibe. It used to be the capital of Germany after the war so that's why it has such a great transport system, a system which normally wouldn't be put in such a small city.
The main outings of the day were the Haribo Factory and the Koenig Museum but on the way I had a good tour of the city centre and here are a few things I found;
Market place with the town hall in the background
Zara's home? I wish!
Bonn University
We finally got to the Haribo Factory and I didn't quite no what to do with myself, I was surrounded by so many lollies I didn't know where to start! My nana would love this place!
So many sweets!
I couldn't choose which bags to buy so opted for the pick'n'mix option but I still found that hard.
Snapped!
Colour coded lollies, wonderful! No yellow ones for me!
While browsing the shelves I even found some for my brother :)
Hehe Panda lollies!
It was crazy to see people with shopping trolleys full of bags and bags and even boxes of lollies because it was so cheap and they are the BEST lollies! I got a bag full for only 5euros. It was great! I'll admit that my tummy aches a bit right now but they were just so good!
Bargain!
The Koenig Museum was our next stop and that's the zoology museum of Bonn. They had lots of animals there I'd never seen before and a whole lot of skeletons. I even saw a set of moa bones and a little brown kiwi. It was great to see so many young kids running around the museum and looking at all the exhibits, I could see my little cousins having a ball in there.
Not so scared of an orca skull as an actual orca...
Moa!
Another kiwi in Germany :)
I liked this one
We've just been trying to figure out what it's called when you stuff animals and found this while looking online, I thought it was pretty funny (and odd) so will include it. Maybe he helped out the Koenig Museum...? The animals did look very real.
Tonight we're off to dinner with Arthur's dad and to meet some of Arthur's school friends so it should be a fun night :)
Germany is country number 3 in 6 days and I made it here in one piece. I've quickly realised that travelling around the EU sucks if you want to get your passport stamped because it doesn't happen! So I'll just have to keep count in my head of all the stamps I should have.
My little cousin, Penny, has recently spent time in Germany and one of the spots she highly recommended was Cologne and the cathedral there. Luckily for me Arthur lives in Bonn, 25 minutes on the train from Cologne and as we arrived into Cologne the cathedral was first on our list of things to see.
Exterior
Interior
It was massive and the exterior and aspects of it reminded me of Notre-Dame although inside it was a lot lighter. We bought a pass to climb up the towers and it was a real hike. After a few steps my legs started to ache and I think this had a lot to do with all of the walking we did in Bruges. It was bit poorly organised because the steps were used for both people going up and down and it was a very narrow space. There were also lots of young children (6-10 year olds) running up and down who were obviously on a school trip but had got separated from their teachers along the way. There were also lots of small children crying and Arthur translated that they were scared of heights, poor little things.
What I found particularly interesting about this cathedral was how it had writing all over it. Visitors from all over the world have written their names on it and it was hard to find a space that hadn't been scribbled on. I'm not sure how that made me feel, a part of me thought it was disrespectful but another part of me thought it was pretty cool. Anyway that's one of the things I'll remember about this cathedral.
People have left their mark
I also got to see the bells and we pondered for a while as to how they got them up there because they were HUGE!
What a bell!
This is how I'd ring it
For lunch I had a German sausage (yummy) and then we headed to Bonn for a relaxing evening so we could rest our legs. Today we are going to check out some museums and I'm looking forward to see some German art!
Last breakfast in Bruges - such a good coffee that when we left I got one to takeaway!
A clever thing we did in Bruges was go to the tourist information office to chat with a guy who told us some great places away from the tourist hot spots. The shot above was taken in one of those places, a cute little cafe called 'le-o-lait' and man oh man what a coffee! Dad would have loved it because it was a vanilla cappuccino with cinnamon on top. With a full and satisfied belly I was then ready for all the walking that the day would bring.
Our first stop was the windmills which are on the outskirts of the town by the river. You could climb up them (VERY steep steps) but the bummer was that when you got to the top the windmill was in the way and you couldn't see any of Bruges. I guess to get the good view your best bet would be to go up the tower in the middle of town. It was still an enjoyable walk out there though as I thought they were particularly cute.
Balancing act
Aaaah!
As we were walking back into the town centre we found a museum that we poked around in for a bit. It told a brief history of life in Bruges and the part I found most interesting was about the lace making. It talked about how poorly these women were treated and how girls, as young as 5, would sit hunched over their lace pillow cases for as long as 12 hours a day! I was most intrigued by the actual process, it must have taken hours!
Lace making = intense!
One of my favourite things I did in Bruges was the trip around the canals. We had a very informative guide (I loved his harsh accent) who told us all about the buildings and gave a good history lesson. I'd highly recommend the boat tour to anyone who visits Bruges.
Getting ready to jump on
View from the boat
So many beautiful swans
We finished the day off a beer tasting place (there are loads) and I enjoyed this. For 8 euros you got 3 beers to try and the bar tender just asked you a few questions about your favourite flavours and brought you a selection he thought you'd like. I'm not (or wasn't until now) a huge beer fan but these Belgium beers may have changed my mind. Beers are so cheap too!
Goeiendag/Hallo from Bruges! What a very cute little city it is here! Much cuter than I thought Brussels was. I ended up only staying in Brussels long enough to meet up with my friend, Arthur, and then after we'd walked around for about an hour with no luck of finding an information booth or a place to eat where people weren't smoking inside we decided to get to the next train to Bruges.
We were greeted in Bruges by nice by a cloudless blue sky (gosh, I'm lucky). It took a while to find our hotel and wheeling my suitcase there wasn't that easy because all the streets were cobbled. Cobbles are cute but weren't designed for the modern suitcase. Lucky for me though I never wheeled it, Arthur took the pleasure in that task (an offer I'm sure he quickly regretted).
We dumped our bags and went on search for food and it was easy enough to find but was all very expensive. I finally found a soup I thought was reasonably priced and took it to the square to eat. I was so hungry by that point that I practically sculled it down and as you can imagine this resulted in a rather sore and burnt mouth. I then went in search of ice-cream to help heal my poor mouth. The ice-cream worked and I got a waffle to go alongside it which made it even sweeter. The owner off the ice-cream van was pretty odd though and when I got my picture taken he whispered in my ear; 'Now say you love me in Swedish and only I'll hear you'. Weird right?!
This is my 'I'm so creeped out right now' smile
It was delicious though!
Unfortunately the time change in Europe has fooled us both and we thought it was a lot earlier than it actually was so by the time we'd eaten and were ready to visit some museums it was near 6 and everything was closing. It was still so light though so we continued to explore the cobbled streets and went for a walk around the canals. We're both big fans of the Colin Farrel film 'In Bruges' so everywhere we went we were trying to place it within the film. All the streets were so deserted it actually did feel like a giant film set.
By a canal
Street buskers
The famous tower
A dinky church - they were everywhere
Finding a place to eat for dinner was quite hard too (because of cost) but tonight I'm going to splash out and go to a spot that Davide recommended to me so I'm looking forward to that. The one good thing about the Greek place we went for dinner was the owner suggesting a local bar that wasn't going to be full of tourists. I really enjoyed the wheat beer and will probably head back there tonight.
A new favourite
It's another beautiful day and I hope to do a trip on the canals and actually get into some museums today!
