Ireland

For a different type of traveling experience in Ireland we decided to do the Paddywagon Tour. It was basically a tour bus, complete with a tour guide-Joe in our case, that took us on a 3 day tour of southern Ireland. The first day we started in Dublin, where the Guiness factory happens to be located, and traveled to Galway. Along the way we stopped at Clonmacnoise- the sight of a really old monastery and castle. Next, we drove along the countryside some more and then ended up in Galway for the night. We had a couple Guiness at a more low key bar and then moved on to a more lively/younger crowd bar. While listening to Bob Marley and Led Zeppelin at "King's Head" we made friends with some Aussie's who were on a similar Paddywagon Tour (no matter where I go- I seem to meet more Aussies than natives). Looking for a taste of some traditional Irish music we headed to a pub called "Traditional Irish Music"- thinking we might find what we were looking for. And it was- we barely could move because it was so packed with people listening to the band in the corner playing some Irish and Celtic tunes. I was finally able to chat with some Irish people, thank god, who were lovely and ended up buying us a round- of Guiness no less. The next day we rode along the Atlantic ocean as we cruised down the West Coast. We made a pit stop to run around the lunar landscape of the Burren before gazing in awe at the cliffs of moher. The cliffs were absolutely intimidating and absolutely incredible. And I dear not say how close we got to the edge (huge adrenaline rush) for fear of my mother reading this and having a heart attack. Once we left there we headed to Killarney, where we went to another Irish pub with some more traditional music. This time everyone was singing along to the band, well mainly the Irish people who knew the words and a few drunk people who thought they knew the words. We also got to witness some authentic jigging this time-one was riverdance reminiscent and the other was called the "Brush dance" or maybe it was bush? Eventually we did some singing and some jigging of our own-after some Guiness of course. It was a feck'n terrific night. The next day we went to kiss the blarney stone and headed back to Dublin. Ireland was definitely "happy days"- a line used often Joe.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam was a very interesting trip to say the least. We arrived Thursday night at our hostel "Durty Nelly's", which later earned the name durty because i was woken up in the middle night to some roommates screaming about a mouse in our room. ya that was fun. Friday we went to the Van Gogh museum. I think we spent 3 hours there, and when i say we i mean 5 Midwestern boys too, so you know it had to be quite good. One of the things that stood out to me- they had a floor of all his inspirations and sketches leading up to his final masterpieces- who knew brilliant artists had to practice too?! After that we went to the Anne Frank house. Its been awhile since I've read the book but it is just as i had pictured it. It was kind of a morbid experience but it was neat to be a part of history like that. It was perfect weather all weekend so we walked everywhere we went. The city was filled with beautiful canals, trendy people sipping their lattes outside and speaking languages I have never heard of, kids playing in the park, and french fries vendors on every corner (I have a new found love for french fries with ketchup and mayonnaise. i know it sounds weird but I swear its delicious). The city during the day is absolutely fantastic and the city at night is well, flashy, for lack of a better word. All the creepers decide to come out- whispering drug offers as you go by. And walking through the infamous red light district- well there is a whole different breed of creepers there. My friend jenny and I decided to prove we were strong independent women so we headed out by ourselves one night and much to the guys surprise, as well as our own, we managed to survive "hell's circus" as i might describe it (i forgot to mention that our hostel happened to be located in the red light district- the guys preference).

Edinburgh

hello from the mother land! well a couple weekends ago I made my first voyage out of England and into Scotland, more specifically Edinburgh. And I believe that Edinburgh is actually the "windy city", not Chicago, and add a lot of rain and you have the lovely weather we endured on our first day. Hood up and boots flooded, we went on a walking tour of the city. First stop we went to see Friar Grey's Bobby (a dog that stood on his masters grave until his own death- i promise its alot better story when told in detail) and the graveyard where he lay. This lead into the introduction of Edinburgh being the most haunted city in Britain (maybe why RL Stein began and finished writing the Harry Potter series there?). We went to see the castle then ended our day like it began with another tour underneath the city where plague victims were found. The next day we did our own, less scary, exploration of the city. This exploration included bumping into "William Wallace", numerous bagpipers, St. Giles Cathedral, and Dolly the sheep in the Scotland Museum. That day also happened to be Australian Day, oh i forgot i think half the population might be Australian. But the part of the population that is Scottish well tell you exactly how proud they are to be Scottish and that they wanted to association with England- I eventually learned to fail to mention where I was going to school due to the latter. Our final day we climbed Canton Hill to reach a breathtaking view of the entire city. It was a creepy, yet fantastic weekend.