Ireland

"...it's happened once again, I'll turn to a friend, someone that understands, sees through the master plan, but everybody's gone, and I've been here for too long, to face this on my own, well I guess this is growing up." - Blink 182

Our flight left Madrid at 1145 AM, which presented a problem to Shawn and I as we arrived at the airport shortly after 7. With these 5 hours of down time, from the inept spanish bus schedule, we slept and tried to make time pass. Then we finally stepped aboard the Ryan Air-craft and heard a delightful melody;(which if you don’t know their song, it is quite annoying) not long after we landed in Dublin. I gained a throbbing headache from the flight and the flight attendants, but I couldn't be down as I was excited to be in an English speaking country at last.

In Dublin there were many sites to see and do, and I feel like we were able to see a majority of the city in our short time there. We were able to go to the original Guinness factory as well as other tourist sites like Trinity College, Dublin Castle, the Jameson Distillery and the Temple Bar. We just so happened to stay right next to the Temple Bar, which is a famous bar and district in Dublin. They had a great Irish band playing there one night, and we went in and enjoyed the scene. It is easy to say that Dublin was a city where I felt very at home. I would like to take my father there someday, because I feel that it’s a city that he would enjoy (mother: southern France, Italy, Spain, ie warmer climate). Below is not the Temple Bar, but it is a festive and popular one nearbyin the same district.

The most shocking part of Dublin for me was that we were able to find places to stay for incredibly cheap. It must have been the low season, because we stayed in hostels, in one of the most expensive countries in Europe, for only 10 euros. These hostels were not revolting either as one was the nicest that I have been in during all my travels. I would even think of having my parents stay there on a future visit. What a time it was in the city of U2, where you can’t turn a corner without seeing their memorabilia.

During my time in Ireland I decided to go on a day tour to the County Wicklow, which is just about an hour south of Dublin. This was a highlight for me as it is one of the most beautiful areas I have ever seen. If you can imagine green rolling hills Ireland and Scottish highlands that is County Wicklow. It is also very famous because this scenery is used for the backgrounds of many movies, including the recent PS I Love You, King Arthur, and Braveheart to name a few. It was a great place, and I saw more history in that brief bus ride than the United States can even think about. I learned details about the area through the tour guide that were quite interesting, including many famous people that choose the area as their home like Enya, Bono, and Daniel Day-Lewis. All the while I was thinking, “I would too if I could”.

As the tour of Wicklow came to a close, I then headed to the west coast and Galway. I was on my own for this part of the journey, as Shawn was staying with other people near Dublin, through couch surfing (which I had chose not to do). The Galway area was interesting as it has a large population of Gaelic speakers, and it was strange to hear this tongue as it felt like I was in foreign Europe all over again. It was at this time that I noticed that not many Irish had red hair. I later asked an Irish friend why this was, and he told me that in fact only 10% of Irish have red hair, while most just have brown or blonde, and that Scottish have the highest percentage of redheads. Anyways, I was told I looked Irish by Irish people and I took this as a complement, as I was treated quite well by the local people in my time there.

In Galway I walked the city, along the bay, and shortly after went on another tour, this one to the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs are set against the Atlantic Ocean and they are stunning as they reach a height of 700 feet above the water. The views there and in that whole area, County Claire, were beautiful. The wind was howling from atop the cliffs, yet it was a picture perfect beautiful blue day to view the area as we had sun in the skies, something that is not too common in Ireland.

After the Cliffs I returned to Galway and prepared for my journey home. First though, I stopped by a pub and watched a football game with some devout fans. It was Manchester United vs Sunderland, and everyone in the pub was for ManU. Finally in the 90^th minute United was able to score, and it was quite a moment in that pub. I definitely relish this experience, as I haven’t been able to view as many soccer games in Spain as I would like because I travel so much.

I then boarded a bus for the airport, and in the airport waited for my plane home. I had to wait about 8 hours, because I got to the airport in the middle of the night. It was a good time though, as I thought about how similar Ireland was to the USA (there were even Papa Johns there). Then I watched the news and found out that Irelands meat had a virus in it. (althought I am fine) Finally, I boarded Ryan Air with Shawn and we returned home to Spain, sad that our time was nearing its end in Europe.

Paris

"Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt." - Lincoln

Having visited Paris before, I was disappointed at first that my group, API, would be heading there during my time here in Europe. Since it was a free trip though, I went and I saw and I conquered another city that I had previously misjudged.

We left Granada on Thursday, forcing me to miss a day of class, which I willingly accepted, and headed to Sevilla for our flight. After our bus trip there, we arrived about 4 hours early, so we waited, and finally were able to enter the checked zone. During this time I noticed that Sevilla’s airport was kind of lax on its security, as I passed the security check point holding Shawn’s ticket, and he with mine, an honest mistake, but all the while we were not told off.

A few hours later we arrived in Paris, and then headed by bus to our hotel in the Bastille district. Oh Bastille, Victor Hugo always comes to mind for me, as he wrote about the uprising on the Bastille in Les Miserables. Well, we stayed near this area, which today is only a monument because in the late 1800s the people tore down the real Bastille since it was a political prison that was despised by all.

Enough history, because so many trips before I have written far too detailed accounts, here is something shorter. A best of Paris.

The top five things that I did in Paris:

Number one was going to the Sacre Coeur and the Montmartre district of town. The Sacre Coeur is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, I believe, and I had a great time here once again, as there were people playing music, and others with tourist trick, all the while watching the sunset out over Paris. This district, the Montmartre, is on the north side of Paris, and it was the part of town where the intellectuals and artists lived during the early 1900s, like Picasso and Van Gogh. I could easily see myself living there.

Number two would be another walk that I did, this time it was around the Eiffel Tower at night. For five minutes every hour the Eiffel tower goes from its usual beautiful color to a glittering spectacular sight as thousands of lights show like fireworks exploding. Awe-inspiring is one way to describe it. We were also blessed to see the Eiffel tower blue at night, as currently France is celebrating being a part of the EU, and therefore it's blue.


Number three, we will keep with the walks, and this was as we spent some time on the Champs Elysees at night. The Champs Elysees is Paris’ big street, and they had a festival there during our visit which gave it a carnival feel. The lights on this street made it Christmas for me, and gave the city of lights a special appeal.


Number four, this would be my visit to the Musee d'Orsay. I loved this museum. If you are ever in Paris go to it. The Louvre may be the most famous museum in the world, and it deserves this recognition, but the Orsay has so many great painters, that I truly love. I was able to see Monet, Manet, Picasso, Renoir, and Van Gogh to name a few, as well as many of their most famous paintings.

Finally, there are too many other things that I would like to name, and cannot, so I will just list few things I did that I enjoyed. There was the short time I spent at the most exotic mall in the world, I would guess, the Galleries Lafayette. Situated next to the Paris Opera House, which is home to the Phantom of the Opera, I was in a mall that I could not afford even a pen. They had every designer store you could imagine, and it was packed. Then there was just walking around the streets of Paris that I loved, as the style of the buildings, and the cities set up just really intrigued me. Meanwhile, crepes, I ate a few, and they were delicious. This brings me to another food item, Nutella, if you don’t know it, I recommend buying it. Finally, I visited the grave of the late great Jim Morrison, the singer for The Doors. This was the most elaborate cemetery I have ever been in, with the graves being incredibly gaudy. Visiting Jim was a highlight because I took a Rock History class last year, and I thought it would keep me in good graces with my father back at home. Then there was my trip to Versailles. I have to give you some details on it. It was huge. I have visited way too many castles/palaces/ cathedrals at this point, because I wasn’t really thrilled with it, but the history of Versailles, the grounds, and the views made it a worthwhile side trip.

The return trip had us arriving at Charles D Gaul way too early, but eventually we made it to our plane, and then on to Malaga this time, before we headed home to old Granada.