One amendment,
I forgot that I can only upload 5 photos at a time, and on this wireless internet connection it would take forever, so I will have to upload the rest of my Barcelona photos another time.
I apologize for any inconvenience or stress this may have caused.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Barcelona, Spain
On the 19th of March my Easter Break began and my Ottoman friend and I set out from London Gatwick for Barcelona, Spain and arrived around 4:30 PM. Unfortunately, we walked right past the baggage claim because we were too busy talking about a "Ben and Jerry's" advertisement. This set us back about 45 minutes because we had to go back through security to get to the baggage claim again, and then we didn't see our bags on the conveyor belt. We searched for aid, but only found one lone assistant who was busy repeating the same sentence to someone on the other end for about a half hour: (in a heavy Catalan accent) "Yes, I call Easyjet Liverpool and leave a message with them. I am very afraid. Yes, my name Jose." After listening to that mind-numbing conversation for a half hour, he walked us to a different conveyor belt than the one we had been waiting at; so we could have had our bags and been on our way much earlier. Oh well, we moved swiftly nonetheless, got some cash, and grabbed the bus to the Plaza Catalunya. We eventually caught the L3 green metro line to the Paral.lel stop and continued on foot. It was a bit difficult to find our hostel so we had to ask around. There was what looked like an information booth with two chubby elderly women sitting in it. I asked them for directions but they just solemnly shook their heads. I really wonder what they were doing in that cramped kiosk. After eventually finding our hostel a few streets down, we set up camp in our room and took a nap. Here's a picture of the outside of the Mambo Tango hostel at night:
After our nap, we were informed by our host, Igor, that Nic Wise had returned from dinner and was waiting downstairs. He moved from the first floor from the night before to our room the night we got there. We decided to get some grub soon after and walked along the street looking for a cafe. After randomly choosing one, since they all looked fairly similar, we went in and got down to business. I got two tapas: Calamari romano and Albondigas (meatballs). They were pretty good. Nic used his Spanish to secure us the best champagne the place had to offer. After a few glasses we began to plan our own Basque separatist movement. I'll toast to that:
We then decided to head to Las Ramblas, the big main street in Barcelona where most of the action is, but got lost along the way. It took us a bit longer than expected, and we couldn't believe when everyone kept telling us to "go straight down this road and you will find it." The road just happened to be a very long road. Once on Ramblas, we looked for a bar that might contain a fun atmosphere. We walked into some Australian themed bar which was alright. After lingering for a bit, we called it a night and went back to the hostel to get some sleep. The next morning we were up at 8:45 to grab the hostel breakfast before heading to Las Ramblas to see what it was all about in the day time. I would definitely say it is a much more interesting place to visit in the morning and day time. There were a few street performers that had some snazzy costumes so we decided to take pictures:
and this guy:
Moving right along, we ate paella at an overpriced restaurant after waiting an absurd amount of time for our food. Once we finished our meal we walked over to the huge outdoor market called La Boqueria. It was quite an impressive operation with tons of different stalls, some devoted to meat, others to fish, and even more to sweets. Things may have been a bit expensive, but they were well worth it. Here's some examples of things to be found in the market:
Candy
Half-skinned ducks:
After the market we made our first of a total of three excursions to La Sagrada Familia, the enormous Cathedral, not started by, but made famous by Francisco Gaudi. Our first visit was simply preliminary since we only got to see the Cathedral from the outside. After scoping out the Cathedral, we walked around Barcelona some more before resting outside of a Bull Fighting stadium. It was a pretty laid back day. We returned to the hostel towards the evening, took the obligatory nap, and then got up for dinner which was an interesting chorizo (sausage) stew that the hostel made for us. The next day at 4 AM Nic sadly had to leave, but the Ottoman and I stayed there for another two days. In those two days, we managed to do a proper tour of La Sagrada Familia which was really fascinating, and then walk around the famous Park Guell. I took many photos of Sagrada Familia which you will be able to view at the bottom of the page, but here is just a taste of its imposing architecture:
Sunday night we got tapas again. We got on the metro and got off at the Jaume stop and strolled for a bit before passing what looked like an upscale restaurant that was charging 2 euro per tapas. I thought this was a bit much so we kept walking. We stumbled across a place that looked a bit shabbier, but still appealing and went inside. Big mistake. The waiter, bartender, and owner were all unpleasant. Not to mention they made us wait forever and the food wasn't even that good, AND it was 3 euro per tapas. I decided not to get that many and saved my appetite for KFC. I got the Boxmaster, I'm not sure if we have it in America. It is chicken, hash brown, lettuce, cheese, and tomato sauce in a tortilla. Luckily good ol' American enterprise did not fail me and I went back to the hostel full... That is after walking around the bay area in the rain. The bay had some very cool modern art and lighting. We also went back to Sagrada Familia thinking that it would be lit up at night, but it was completely dark and no one was there. After booking our night bus to Madrid the next day, we journeyed to the Park Guell and walked around for a few hours. There is definitely a lot to see, most not worth it though. I was a little let down after people in the hostel had built it up to be unmissable and amazing. However, there was a neat hill to climb that had quite a panoramic view of the city at the top, and we spotted a large castle on an opposite mountain:
We walked for the rest of the day before we thought it was time to head back to the hostel to grab our luggage and catch a cab to Nord, the main bus station in Barcelona. Thankfully, we finally made it to Quimet Quimet, a tapas bar located literally right next to our hostel. Apparently it is some of the best tapas in Barcelona. I believe it. The tuna, mayonnaise, bread, honey, and soy sauce combination was scrumptious. That more or less ended a great stay in a great city.
After our nap, we were informed by our host, Igor, that Nic Wise had returned from dinner and was waiting downstairs. He moved from the first floor from the night before to our room the night we got there. We decided to get some grub soon after and walked along the street looking for a cafe. After randomly choosing one, since they all looked fairly similar, we went in and got down to business. I got two tapas: Calamari romano and Albondigas (meatballs). They were pretty good. Nic used his Spanish to secure us the best champagne the place had to offer. After a few glasses we began to plan our own Basque separatist movement. I'll toast to that:
We then decided to head to Las Ramblas, the big main street in Barcelona where most of the action is, but got lost along the way. It took us a bit longer than expected, and we couldn't believe when everyone kept telling us to "go straight down this road and you will find it." The road just happened to be a very long road. Once on Ramblas, we looked for a bar that might contain a fun atmosphere. We walked into some Australian themed bar which was alright. After lingering for a bit, we called it a night and went back to the hostel to get some sleep. The next morning we were up at 8:45 to grab the hostel breakfast before heading to Las Ramblas to see what it was all about in the day time. I would definitely say it is a much more interesting place to visit in the morning and day time. There were a few street performers that had some snazzy costumes so we decided to take pictures:
and this guy:
Moving right along, we ate paella at an overpriced restaurant after waiting an absurd amount of time for our food. Once we finished our meal we walked over to the huge outdoor market called La Boqueria. It was quite an impressive operation with tons of different stalls, some devoted to meat, others to fish, and even more to sweets. Things may have been a bit expensive, but they were well worth it. Here's some examples of things to be found in the market:
Candy
Half-skinned ducks:
After the market we made our first of a total of three excursions to La Sagrada Familia, the enormous Cathedral, not started by, but made famous by Francisco Gaudi. Our first visit was simply preliminary since we only got to see the Cathedral from the outside. After scoping out the Cathedral, we walked around Barcelona some more before resting outside of a Bull Fighting stadium. It was a pretty laid back day. We returned to the hostel towards the evening, took the obligatory nap, and then got up for dinner which was an interesting chorizo (sausage) stew that the hostel made for us. The next day at 4 AM Nic sadly had to leave, but the Ottoman and I stayed there for another two days. In those two days, we managed to do a proper tour of La Sagrada Familia which was really fascinating, and then walk around the famous Park Guell. I took many photos of Sagrada Familia which you will be able to view at the bottom of the page, but here is just a taste of its imposing architecture:
Sunday night we got tapas again. We got on the metro and got off at the Jaume stop and strolled for a bit before passing what looked like an upscale restaurant that was charging 2 euro per tapas. I thought this was a bit much so we kept walking. We stumbled across a place that looked a bit shabbier, but still appealing and went inside. Big mistake. The waiter, bartender, and owner were all unpleasant. Not to mention they made us wait forever and the food wasn't even that good, AND it was 3 euro per tapas. I decided not to get that many and saved my appetite for KFC. I got the Boxmaster, I'm not sure if we have it in America. It is chicken, hash brown, lettuce, cheese, and tomato sauce in a tortilla. Luckily good ol' American enterprise did not fail me and I went back to the hostel full... That is after walking around the bay area in the rain. The bay had some very cool modern art and lighting. We also went back to Sagrada Familia thinking that it would be lit up at night, but it was completely dark and no one was there. After booking our night bus to Madrid the next day, we journeyed to the Park Guell and walked around for a few hours. There is definitely a lot to see, most not worth it though. I was a little let down after people in the hostel had built it up to be unmissable and amazing. However, there was a neat hill to climb that had quite a panoramic view of the city at the top, and we spotted a large castle on an opposite mountain:
We walked for the rest of the day before we thought it was time to head back to the hostel to grab our luggage and catch a cab to Nord, the main bus station in Barcelona. Thankfully, we finally made it to Quimet Quimet, a tapas bar located literally right next to our hostel. Apparently it is some of the best tapas in Barcelona. I believe it. The tuna, mayonnaise, bread, honey, and soy sauce combination was scrumptious. That more or less ended a great stay in a great city.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Dublin, Ireland
Last Thursday the 11th I skipped my seminars so that I could go to Dublin for the weekend. I got up at 6:30 AM to begin what would prove an easy trip to the Irish capital. Fortunately, flying Ryanair was not a problem contrary to the negative reports I have received on it from friends and acquaintances. When we landed, my Persian friend was detained for a bit because she didn't have a visa which is required of people of her empire to enter Ireland. Luckily, I was on hand to vouch for her dedication and reverence for the Western world and she was ultimately let through on a warning. After getting on to the airport bus, we had about a half hour ride to get to the Four Courts Hostel. This time was extended a bit because we missed our stop and had to backtrack from Heuston Train Station. However, it was a sunny day, so it was an enjoyable walk. After receiving conflicting reports on the location of our hostel, we finally found it. The directions the hostel provided were convoluted and unnecessary. All they need to say was, "we're right across from the Four Courts building, the one with the big green dome":
Our room wasn't ready yet so we dropped our bags off in the luggage room and went to look for something to eat. Again, the hostel pointed us in the completely wrong direction of where all the food was and we ended up having to find it on our own. I can't quite recall what we had for lunch, but we had some pretty good Italian for dinner. After dinner we walked around and explored the Temple Bar area which also includes the famous bar of the same name. This is me gettin' my hustle on in front of it:
There was also this guy in a Leprechaun suit across the street taking pictures with people. At one point he took off his mask for a smoke. This is the picture I wanted. I approached him and asked if I could have a picture with him. He said sure and went for his mask and I said, "you can leave the mask off." Kind of awkward, but boy did I get a good picture:
We continued walking around the Temple Bar area and eventually made our way into a pub called Farrington's. There was some really good craic (pronounced "crack") here, as the Irish refer to good atmosphere. There was a musician playing and plenty of drunk Irish and Welsh people having a good time in anticipation of the Ireland versus Wales rugby game that would come on Saturday. We had a pint of Guinness and then decided to see what other pubs there were waiting for us elsewhere. We didn't have to travel far before discovering another pub that looked like it had some really good craic. It had a Gaelic name that I can't pronounce nor remember, but I think it was also called The Quays Bar (pronounced "keys"). We spent the rest of the night here and had a great time conversing with lots of middle-aged men and women. For example, there was a group of Welsh mothers who were enjoying getting smashed at the bar and flirting with any guy they came across. Kind of disturbing if you ask me. We got a picture with some of them:
There was also this really kind and funny Irish guy who talked with us and flirted with the Welsh women. After a while though, he mentioned something about losing enough money to one divorce and then left us to go have a cigarette, poor guy:
We left soon after to return to our hostel for the night. After being asleep for about 2 hours, I was abruptly awoken from my slumber by a fat French man falling off his bunk bed, and in the process, bringing the whole bunk bed down with him to the ground. This was our introduction to the 10 revolting middle-aged Frenchmen with whom we'd be sharing our room. They kept trickling in throughout the night and making tons of noise and basically being as disrespectful and discourteous as possible. Here's a picture of my room:
It was alright, nothing special though. The next day, my friend got a room change though, so the rest of the trip it was me and these creepy Frenchmen who never stopped staring at me. On Friday we did a walking tour of the city that seemed a bit suspect since it was free. Nevertheless, I got to see and take pictures of some landmarks including Trinity College.
One thing I have to say about Dublin is that it is a beautiful city, but only when it is sunny. All the buildings are gray, and when it is overcast, everything seems washed out and dreary. Luckily, it was sunny for most of the walking tour so we got to see most monuments in their full glory. After the walking tour, we decided to get something to eat. While looking for food, we came across this street performer who reminded me of Pierre from Tim and Eric, especially when he started to clap his hands:
After he got us thinking about our dads for a bit, we ate some kebabs and then went back to the hostel for our routine mid-day nap. After getting up, we showered and ate some dinner at the hostel before meeting these cool Canadian kids in the hostel who happen to be studying abroad in Chichester which is a town to the West of Brighton that I passed through on my way to Portsmouth. We went out to a bar called Fitzsimmons with them and had a good time, drinking Guinness, dancing a bit, and chatting. Coincidentally, two of them are going to be in Berlin when we are there, so we might meet up. After Fitzsimmons we went to a club that seemed like it was private or invitation only or whatever, but we just waltzed in through the front door. We chilled here for a bit and then went back to the hostel for the night. On Saturday we did a great deal of walking on our way to the Kilmainham Gaol (jail). We saw some of the less attractive parts of Dublin:
It was still nice to see the other side of the city and what life was like in the lower income neighborhoods. By the time we finally made it to the jail itself, we had to wait another 45 minutes before the next tour started since that was the only way of seeing the interior of the jail. We got some tea in the cafe on the top floor to pass the time. I was fairly unimpressed by the tour itself, but I still took pictures of the cells and significant points of interest:
That night we ate at the oldest pub in Ireland, The Brazen Head:
We both got burgers which were quite delicious. We met up with the Canadians later in the night at a club called Purty Kitchen. It was nothing special. The real place to go in Dublin for a good time is the pubs where you get to interact with the warm-loving Irish people. Sunday morning we ate at a nice little cafe called The Queen of Tarts which proved to be a good choice. I thought we should try it because in the song "On Raglan Road" by The Dubliners, they reference a Queen of Tarts. I don't know whether it is the same Queen, but it was a great place nonetheless. After that we went to the Guinness brewery which proved to be quite a let down. There was this sweet picture though:
The best part of the tour comes at the end when you go to the top of the building to the Gravity Bar. It is a bar that provides a 360 degree panoramic view of the entire city. The views entertained for a bit, especially the view of the Wicklow Mountains:
After the Guinness Storehouse we went back to the Temple Bar area one last time before we left. We had a good Italian lunch and enjoyed the sunny afternoon with all the activity on the quaint streets. That more or less concluded a fantastic weekend. This Friday will mark the start of my month spring break and the first stop is Barcelona, where I will be meeting none other than the infamous Nic Wise!
Our room wasn't ready yet so we dropped our bags off in the luggage room and went to look for something to eat. Again, the hostel pointed us in the completely wrong direction of where all the food was and we ended up having to find it on our own. I can't quite recall what we had for lunch, but we had some pretty good Italian for dinner. After dinner we walked around and explored the Temple Bar area which also includes the famous bar of the same name. This is me gettin' my hustle on in front of it:
There was also this guy in a Leprechaun suit across the street taking pictures with people. At one point he took off his mask for a smoke. This is the picture I wanted. I approached him and asked if I could have a picture with him. He said sure and went for his mask and I said, "you can leave the mask off." Kind of awkward, but boy did I get a good picture:
We continued walking around the Temple Bar area and eventually made our way into a pub called Farrington's. There was some really good craic (pronounced "crack") here, as the Irish refer to good atmosphere. There was a musician playing and plenty of drunk Irish and Welsh people having a good time in anticipation of the Ireland versus Wales rugby game that would come on Saturday. We had a pint of Guinness and then decided to see what other pubs there were waiting for us elsewhere. We didn't have to travel far before discovering another pub that looked like it had some really good craic. It had a Gaelic name that I can't pronounce nor remember, but I think it was also called The Quays Bar (pronounced "keys"). We spent the rest of the night here and had a great time conversing with lots of middle-aged men and women. For example, there was a group of Welsh mothers who were enjoying getting smashed at the bar and flirting with any guy they came across. Kind of disturbing if you ask me. We got a picture with some of them:
There was also this really kind and funny Irish guy who talked with us and flirted with the Welsh women. After a while though, he mentioned something about losing enough money to one divorce and then left us to go have a cigarette, poor guy:
We left soon after to return to our hostel for the night. After being asleep for about 2 hours, I was abruptly awoken from my slumber by a fat French man falling off his bunk bed, and in the process, bringing the whole bunk bed down with him to the ground. This was our introduction to the 10 revolting middle-aged Frenchmen with whom we'd be sharing our room. They kept trickling in throughout the night and making tons of noise and basically being as disrespectful and discourteous as possible. Here's a picture of my room:
It was alright, nothing special though. The next day, my friend got a room change though, so the rest of the trip it was me and these creepy Frenchmen who never stopped staring at me. On Friday we did a walking tour of the city that seemed a bit suspect since it was free. Nevertheless, I got to see and take pictures of some landmarks including Trinity College.
One thing I have to say about Dublin is that it is a beautiful city, but only when it is sunny. All the buildings are gray, and when it is overcast, everything seems washed out and dreary. Luckily, it was sunny for most of the walking tour so we got to see most monuments in their full glory. After the walking tour, we decided to get something to eat. While looking for food, we came across this street performer who reminded me of Pierre from Tim and Eric, especially when he started to clap his hands:
After he got us thinking about our dads for a bit, we ate some kebabs and then went back to the hostel for our routine mid-day nap. After getting up, we showered and ate some dinner at the hostel before meeting these cool Canadian kids in the hostel who happen to be studying abroad in Chichester which is a town to the West of Brighton that I passed through on my way to Portsmouth. We went out to a bar called Fitzsimmons with them and had a good time, drinking Guinness, dancing a bit, and chatting. Coincidentally, two of them are going to be in Berlin when we are there, so we might meet up. After Fitzsimmons we went to a club that seemed like it was private or invitation only or whatever, but we just waltzed in through the front door. We chilled here for a bit and then went back to the hostel for the night. On Saturday we did a great deal of walking on our way to the Kilmainham Gaol (jail). We saw some of the less attractive parts of Dublin:
It was still nice to see the other side of the city and what life was like in the lower income neighborhoods. By the time we finally made it to the jail itself, we had to wait another 45 minutes before the next tour started since that was the only way of seeing the interior of the jail. We got some tea in the cafe on the top floor to pass the time. I was fairly unimpressed by the tour itself, but I still took pictures of the cells and significant points of interest:
That night we ate at the oldest pub in Ireland, The Brazen Head:
We both got burgers which were quite delicious. We met up with the Canadians later in the night at a club called Purty Kitchen. It was nothing special. The real place to go in Dublin for a good time is the pubs where you get to interact with the warm-loving Irish people. Sunday morning we ate at a nice little cafe called The Queen of Tarts which proved to be a good choice. I thought we should try it because in the song "On Raglan Road" by The Dubliners, they reference a Queen of Tarts. I don't know whether it is the same Queen, but it was a great place nonetheless. After that we went to the Guinness brewery which proved to be quite a let down. There was this sweet picture though:
The best part of the tour comes at the end when you go to the top of the building to the Gravity Bar. It is a bar that provides a 360 degree panoramic view of the entire city. The views entertained for a bit, especially the view of the Wicklow Mountains:
After the Guinness Storehouse we went back to the Temple Bar area one last time before we left. We had a good Italian lunch and enjoyed the sunny afternoon with all the activity on the quaint streets. That more or less concluded a fantastic weekend. This Friday will mark the start of my month spring break and the first stop is Barcelona, where I will be meeting none other than the infamous Nic Wise!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Dublin Report to Come Soon
I just finished uploading a good deal of the pictures, but I am too tired to write an entry. It will be up sometime this week though.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Hard at work...
I am currently trying to plan my travels between the 3rd and 12th of April. I am aiming for Romania and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
http://www.romaniatourism.com/
http://www.bhtourism.ba/eng/
First things first, I need to figure out where I'm going to be on the 12th and how I am going to get to Prague.
http://www.romaniatourism.com/
http://www.bhtourism.ba/eng/
First things first, I need to figure out where I'm going to be on the 12th and how I am going to get to Prague.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Caen, France
This past Friday the 26th, I made my first outing to mainland Europe. I got up at 8 and prepared to take the train from Brighton Station to Portsmouth around 10. Everything went smoothly, and I was in Portsmouth by 11:30 or so. I got a cab to the Ferry, and the driver asked me where I was going. I told him, Caen in France, and he said, "Well why the hell are you taking the ferry, you should have gotten a plane out of Southampton, it would have been a lot faster!" Anyways, when we got to the station I opened my door and the wind blew it heavily against its hinges and he got pretty annoyed. I then paid him with a 20 pound bill which he wasn't pleased about either. I may be vindictive, but I was satisfied by the time we parted ways. My ferry wasn't until 2:30 and I couldn't check in until 12:30 so I walked around outside and took a picture of the port building:
I then waited for a couple hours and had a very non-gluten free lunch of three sandwiches. This was only the beginning of my food consumption trespasses. Eventually everyone boarded the boat, but first we had to go through security, just like the airports, and had to take a shuttle bus to the boat itself. Once on, I found a table and started doing some work. The rest of the 5 hours was spent alternating between reading and going out onto the deck for fresh air. I snapped this seagull right above me:
I finally got in to the port of Ouistreham around 10 and got a taxi to the Hotel Astrid. This is the outside of the joint:
Here's what my room looked like:
So, I checked in and then attempted to go straight to bed. Despite my tiredness, the bed was so uncomfortable it took me hours to fall asleep. I got up at 8 and the husband who owns the hotel with his wife brought breakfast to my room at 8:30. It consisted of a croissant, loaf of bread, and cheese. Not ideal, but I ate it. After that I set straight out for my first destination which was the Abbaye-aux-Hommes. William the Conqueror had it built, and it looked a little something like this from the outside:
Unfortunately, the tours were only in French, so I didn't understand anything the guide said, but I took pictures of anything she pointed at. The interior was alright, didn't exactly knock me off my feet. However, once we reached the church/cathedral part itself, I was more impressed. The only sunlight of the day must have come out during the one and a half hours of the tour. On the bright side, the light shining through the windows really inspired a sense of awe and holiness about everything. I particularly like the light in this picture:
So, there was some cool stained glass windows, and paintings, and bones. Actually, in what is supposed to be William the Conqueror's tomb, the church only has one of his thigh bones. During the Religious Wars, his body was dug up and dragged through the streets and everyone grabbed whichever bone they could get their hands on. 205 bones are unaccounted for which I find quite remarkable. I feel like the only reason to steal the bones, besides to disrespect his memory and what he stood for, would be to sell them. However, no one knows where the others are located. Anyways, I finished taking some primo photos in the church and then took the exit onto a side street and started walking in what I thought was the direction of the Chateau Ducal, also known as William the Conqueror's Castle. I was also feeling quite hungry at the time so I stopped into a little bakery and grabbed a baguette with chicken, egg, and lettuce. At this point I resigned myself to the fact that I would be eating nothing but gluten products for the rest of my time in France. When I finished, I looked for a bathroom, and found a sign that said toilettes pointing in a certain direction, but I searched high and low and couldn't find the toilettes. I did find this stray dog though:
When he sneezed he fell over which was pretty adorable. After crossing paths with a fellow vagrant, I decided to just walk into the nearest restaurant and use their bathroom. The Chateau Ducal actually turned out to be a lot less impressive than I expected. The castle walls were cool from the outside, and they got me really hyped and excited about what would be on the inside. Much to my dismay, there was nothing on the inside. They're just walls for the sake of fortification, they aren't really fortifying anything too special. I did get this cool picture though:
I'm not sure what the significance of the church in the background is, but I really liked its architecture. After completing the Chateau, which didn't take long, I went to the tourist office and booked my tour of the D-Day beaches for Sunday. I then went to the Abbaye-aux-Dames which was built by William's wife, Matilda. It was clearly second best and the neglected of the two abbeys:
It was located in a much more secluded part of town, and it didn't have the contemporary reception hall that adjoined the Abbaye-aux-Hommes. I missed the tour which I thought was supposed to start at 4:30, but it started at 4. I wasn't too upset, I just went and got some pizza. As with every other meal, I had to be creative in using hand language to try and get the people to understand what I wanted. Half the time I'm pretty sure they spoke English, but they just liked to watch me struggle. However, I feel like the woman in the pizza shop was genuine. After eating my dinner, I went and got some sweets from a shop that I passed in my travels that day. I got a meringue loaf which was really unspectacular, but the woman gave me a free chocolate/cream croissant which was quite delicious. I went back to my hotel after this and did a good bit of my reading for this coming week. Then I tried to sleep again, but with little success. Nevertheless, the next day I was up at 8 again and ready to go by 9. However, the weather was miserable, cold, windy, and rainy, and there were hardly any shops open to get food from. I ended up finding a bakery and got an apple-pie-ish thing. Not bad, but not nearly enough. I also bought a sandwich to eat on my outing later that day. There was a McDonald's down the street though, so I ventured there and looked for some more substantial food. They had none. But they did have a woman who was not quite right in a the head who was verbally assaulting me in French despite my protestations that I did not understand her. There was one other patron and the cashier and they were having a good laugh from it. I left, and then went to the bus stop which turned out to be the right one, but I had to wait in the rain for at least half an hour. During that time, quite a few characters came out of the woodwork. There were these women that looked like toads, and to be honest were quite frightening, who I didn't see at any other time, but during the rain. I boarded the bus after a long wait and eventually found my way to the National Memorial for Peace which is where the tour was going to leave from. There were some giant worms all over the pavement. I've provided a picture of one with my foot for comparison:
The museum itself was a complete letdown. Everyone kept saying that I would need like 4 hours to get through and see everything. I did it in one. I knew almost everything they had to offer through history classes growing up, so the only way they were going to redeem themselves would be to have some cool artifacts, i.e., guns on display. None were to be found because they were all about peace and non-violence. Lame. About a half hour passed between the time I finished looking at everything and my tour group, which consisted of me, and Jeff and Debbie, an old married couple from California, were ready to go. It took about a half hour to get to the beaches, and we started with Gold. Everything seemed so calm on the water that it was tough to picture the carnage that took place in 1944. In case you were wondering, I asked, and yes, they are still digging up bombs and bodies on and around the beach. Just last year in fact, Caen had to be evacuated because a farmer stumbled across an active bomb in his field. It really gives you a scope of the magnitude of death that occurred. There is a cemetery next to Omaha beach that actually belongs to America, so for about an hour I was on American land. It was pretty humbling seeing the sea of tombstones. Same kind of effect as Arlington, There are only 3 Medal of Honor recipients in the cemetery. The first is Theodore Roosevelt Jr:
He was awarded the medal because he went in with the first wave on D-Day despite his heart condition, and died of a heart-attack. This was deemed particularly courageous. The other two, Montieth, and Peregory were a bit more conventional in that they did something like capturing ten German soldiers single-handedly. Next stop was Omaha beach which we only stayed at for a little bit, but I did get a picture:
Last but not least was the Point du Hoc which is also technically an American territory. At this point, the tour guide and the old couple were exhausted, cold and wet, not that I wasn't, but they really wanted to leave. So, unfortunately, I did not make it all the way onto the Point itself where there is a stone dagger as a memorial, but I did snap a few photos from a distance:
That more or less concluded the sight-seeing of my trip. Of course I still had the ferry trip and train ride the next morning, but those were nothing special aside from the fact that I had a headache and there were several coach buses of French children running around and screaming on the ferry. It was a good, educational experience, if albeit, a bit lonely. I'm switching my Munich flight this Friday because I don't feel like getting up at 4 am or earlier to catch a 6:20 flight. I just need to figure out where and when I will switch it to. Next up though is Dublin not this coming weekend, but the one after for St. Patty's Day!
I then waited for a couple hours and had a very non-gluten free lunch of three sandwiches. This was only the beginning of my food consumption trespasses. Eventually everyone boarded the boat, but first we had to go through security, just like the airports, and had to take a shuttle bus to the boat itself. Once on, I found a table and started doing some work. The rest of the 5 hours was spent alternating between reading and going out onto the deck for fresh air. I snapped this seagull right above me:
I finally got in to the port of Ouistreham around 10 and got a taxi to the Hotel Astrid. This is the outside of the joint:
Here's what my room looked like:
So, I checked in and then attempted to go straight to bed. Despite my tiredness, the bed was so uncomfortable it took me hours to fall asleep. I got up at 8 and the husband who owns the hotel with his wife brought breakfast to my room at 8:30. It consisted of a croissant, loaf of bread, and cheese. Not ideal, but I ate it. After that I set straight out for my first destination which was the Abbaye-aux-Hommes. William the Conqueror had it built, and it looked a little something like this from the outside:
Unfortunately, the tours were only in French, so I didn't understand anything the guide said, but I took pictures of anything she pointed at. The interior was alright, didn't exactly knock me off my feet. However, once we reached the church/cathedral part itself, I was more impressed. The only sunlight of the day must have come out during the one and a half hours of the tour. On the bright side, the light shining through the windows really inspired a sense of awe and holiness about everything. I particularly like the light in this picture:
So, there was some cool stained glass windows, and paintings, and bones. Actually, in what is supposed to be William the Conqueror's tomb, the church only has one of his thigh bones. During the Religious Wars, his body was dug up and dragged through the streets and everyone grabbed whichever bone they could get their hands on. 205 bones are unaccounted for which I find quite remarkable. I feel like the only reason to steal the bones, besides to disrespect his memory and what he stood for, would be to sell them. However, no one knows where the others are located. Anyways, I finished taking some primo photos in the church and then took the exit onto a side street and started walking in what I thought was the direction of the Chateau Ducal, also known as William the Conqueror's Castle. I was also feeling quite hungry at the time so I stopped into a little bakery and grabbed a baguette with chicken, egg, and lettuce. At this point I resigned myself to the fact that I would be eating nothing but gluten products for the rest of my time in France. When I finished, I looked for a bathroom, and found a sign that said toilettes pointing in a certain direction, but I searched high and low and couldn't find the toilettes. I did find this stray dog though:
When he sneezed he fell over which was pretty adorable. After crossing paths with a fellow vagrant, I decided to just walk into the nearest restaurant and use their bathroom. The Chateau Ducal actually turned out to be a lot less impressive than I expected. The castle walls were cool from the outside, and they got me really hyped and excited about what would be on the inside. Much to my dismay, there was nothing on the inside. They're just walls for the sake of fortification, they aren't really fortifying anything too special. I did get this cool picture though:
I'm not sure what the significance of the church in the background is, but I really liked its architecture. After completing the Chateau, which didn't take long, I went to the tourist office and booked my tour of the D-Day beaches for Sunday. I then went to the Abbaye-aux-Dames which was built by William's wife, Matilda. It was clearly second best and the neglected of the two abbeys:
It was located in a much more secluded part of town, and it didn't have the contemporary reception hall that adjoined the Abbaye-aux-Hommes. I missed the tour which I thought was supposed to start at 4:30, but it started at 4. I wasn't too upset, I just went and got some pizza. As with every other meal, I had to be creative in using hand language to try and get the people to understand what I wanted. Half the time I'm pretty sure they spoke English, but they just liked to watch me struggle. However, I feel like the woman in the pizza shop was genuine. After eating my dinner, I went and got some sweets from a shop that I passed in my travels that day. I got a meringue loaf which was really unspectacular, but the woman gave me a free chocolate/cream croissant which was quite delicious. I went back to my hotel after this and did a good bit of my reading for this coming week. Then I tried to sleep again, but with little success. Nevertheless, the next day I was up at 8 again and ready to go by 9. However, the weather was miserable, cold, windy, and rainy, and there were hardly any shops open to get food from. I ended up finding a bakery and got an apple-pie-ish thing. Not bad, but not nearly enough. I also bought a sandwich to eat on my outing later that day. There was a McDonald's down the street though, so I ventured there and looked for some more substantial food. They had none. But they did have a woman who was not quite right in a the head who was verbally assaulting me in French despite my protestations that I did not understand her. There was one other patron and the cashier and they were having a good laugh from it. I left, and then went to the bus stop which turned out to be the right one, but I had to wait in the rain for at least half an hour. During that time, quite a few characters came out of the woodwork. There were these women that looked like toads, and to be honest were quite frightening, who I didn't see at any other time, but during the rain. I boarded the bus after a long wait and eventually found my way to the National Memorial for Peace which is where the tour was going to leave from. There were some giant worms all over the pavement. I've provided a picture of one with my foot for comparison:
The museum itself was a complete letdown. Everyone kept saying that I would need like 4 hours to get through and see everything. I did it in one. I knew almost everything they had to offer through history classes growing up, so the only way they were going to redeem themselves would be to have some cool artifacts, i.e., guns on display. None were to be found because they were all about peace and non-violence. Lame. About a half hour passed between the time I finished looking at everything and my tour group, which consisted of me, and Jeff and Debbie, an old married couple from California, were ready to go. It took about a half hour to get to the beaches, and we started with Gold. Everything seemed so calm on the water that it was tough to picture the carnage that took place in 1944. In case you were wondering, I asked, and yes, they are still digging up bombs and bodies on and around the beach. Just last year in fact, Caen had to be evacuated because a farmer stumbled across an active bomb in his field. It really gives you a scope of the magnitude of death that occurred. There is a cemetery next to Omaha beach that actually belongs to America, so for about an hour I was on American land. It was pretty humbling seeing the sea of tombstones. Same kind of effect as Arlington, There are only 3 Medal of Honor recipients in the cemetery. The first is Theodore Roosevelt Jr:
He was awarded the medal because he went in with the first wave on D-Day despite his heart condition, and died of a heart-attack. This was deemed particularly courageous. The other two, Montieth, and Peregory were a bit more conventional in that they did something like capturing ten German soldiers single-handedly. Next stop was Omaha beach which we only stayed at for a little bit, but I did get a picture:
Last but not least was the Point du Hoc which is also technically an American territory. At this point, the tour guide and the old couple were exhausted, cold and wet, not that I wasn't, but they really wanted to leave. So, unfortunately, I did not make it all the way onto the Point itself where there is a stone dagger as a memorial, but I did snap a few photos from a distance:
That more or less concluded the sight-seeing of my trip. Of course I still had the ferry trip and train ride the next morning, but those were nothing special aside from the fact that I had a headache and there were several coach buses of French children running around and screaming on the ferry. It was a good, educational experience, if albeit, a bit lonely. I'm switching my Munich flight this Friday because I don't feel like getting up at 4 am or earlier to catch a 6:20 flight. I just need to figure out where and when I will switch it to. Next up though is Dublin not this coming weekend, but the one after for St. Patty's Day!
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