Sláinte - a weekend in Dublin

So I'm picking back up on the blog.  We've fallen massively behind which can be demotivating.  The fact that we are headed back to Dublin again before even writing the first post was the wakeup call needed to get back to things.  So let's see what I can remember from our past Dublin trip.

It was a nice weekend in early February when we traveled to Dublin.  We were tempting fate a bit by going in Winter but the weather ended up being pretty nice (slight drizzle but generally warm enough with jacket and hat).  One of the benefits of the cold weather was how it complimented the Irish food (stew and roast), Irish beer (Guinness and much more) and Irish Whiskey (Jameson of course).  Upon arriving we had some Irish comfort food at O'Donoghue's Bar.  Their Buffet style allowed us to sample much and we got a listen to some live Irish music as well.  The rest of the night was spent pub-hopping and watching 6 Nations Rugby (Go Ireland)!

Saturday we brushed up on our Irish history through a walking tour.  Our tour guide was much like Dublin - laid back, charming, and self deprecating.  Some of the highlights included: Trinity College, Dublin Castle, street art and the Old Jameson Distellery.

James Joyce's Bloom watches over the Irish Bankers

That evening we went to a Gaellic Football game.  It's a physical fast paced sport that combines concepts from rugby, soccer and handball.  We made like locals and bought standing room only tickets for a game at the beautiful Croke Park.  One of the best parts was hearing the locals complain non-stop about how the referees were absolutely screwing their team.  Their disdain was so contagious I even started lamenting the blindness of the officials.

One of the highlights of the game was at halftime when the little ones got to play.  Some were littler than others.

After the game we headed out to explore more of Dublin's pubs.  We came across a nice pub that had live music.  While awaiting the live music we "made friends" with an extremely intoxicated Scottish man.  Between the booze and his Scottish accent it was quite difficult to understand anything he was saying.  Megan had the right idea and ignored him but I couldn't complete stiff-arm him.  He tried to talk to us about football and beer and politics but really none of it made any sense.  Once the band played he tried to sing, dance and join in.  The band was quite top notch and couldn't be bothered and in some ways I felt sad for them because their talent level deserved more respect.  Watch the bad ass fiddle guy go at it.

Our last day saw us visit the famous Guinness Storehouse.  I couldn't recommend this place enough.  The exhibits and building are really well done.  The history and production of Guinness is fascinating.  Megan particularly enjoyed the exhibit on how they made the wooden barrels.  During the tour they teach you how to properly taste Guinness and they explain why it tastes better in Ireland (partly the environment).  Lastly, the tour ends at the roof top bar with a nice view of Dublin and a great pint of Guinness.  It was a satisfying end to a spectacular trip.

Barcelona with the ND Ultimate Crew

Barcelona is a city of culture and passion.  So who better to explore it with than our undergraduate Notre Dame ultimate frisbee friends on study aboard.  Heather, Pat, Jonathan and Ian provided great companionship, perspective and entertainment.  We took this trip in mid-October.

Airport Shenanigans 

Walking the walk

We arrived mid-morning Friday and quickly caught up with Pat and Heather.  Jonathan and Ian would end up joining us later as they bozo booked flights for 8pm instead 8am.  Our Friday goals were quite modest with the intent to drink sangria, eat tapas, and explore Barcelona.

One of the many beautiful streets in Barcelona

We started off to visit the Bari Gothic museum near the medieval quarter.  While wandering we stumbled upon a museum which we thought was it.  It was not it.  Instead of learning about the Roman origins of Barcelona and seeing the ancient ruins, we visited what could be described as a museum of hoarding.  A rich gentlemen decided to collect many things: pipes, seashells, crucifixes, maps, weapons, printing presses, etc. which then were showcased as a museum posthumously.  An example of the curiosities is this bizarre naked child on an ugly fish sculpture.

Did not make my Christmas list

Park Guell

Saturday with the whole squad assembled we visited Park Guell.  It's one of the highest points in Barcelona and provides amazing views of the city and ocean.  The park was designed by the famous Barcelonian architect Antoni Gaudi.  It's a cool blend of nature and architectural design.

Great view of Barcelona

On top of the Guell.

The psychedelic part of the park designed by Gaudi

La Sagrada Familia

No visit to Barcelona is complete without visiting La Sagrada Familia.  La Sagrada Familia was designed by Gaudi and has been under construction for over 133 years.  It's an awe inspiring blend of art, architecture and engineering.  It towers over the neighboring construction and yet is elegant with it's impressively detailed sculptures and stained glass.  The project is just over 50% finished and has a planned completion date of 2026 but many challenges still exist.  It was amazing to see and is inspiring as a truly unique piece of art.  I recommend the wikipedia page to learn more.

The Nativity Facade

The Nativity Facade

The Glory Facade

Interior details of the columns that support the roof.

The Beach

After a day of sightseeing on Saturday we hit the beach near the center of the city.  The weather was sunny and delightfully warm.  The beach was packed and as we walked to a more empty spot we realized public nudity was accepted.  While none of our crew decided to engage in suitless bathing, we did test out the chilly Mediterranean waters.

Look closely and you may see a naked old man.

Delicious Food

While in Barcelona we had plenty of delicious food.  Being on the coast, Barcelona is heavy into seafood and the seafood paella was delicious.  It had a great blend of fresh seafood, Spanish spices, fresh veggies and rice.  The paella was a nice compliment to the cervezas and sangria.

We also had flavorful tapas (small appetizer dishes).  The most memorable was Can Paixano which served delicious cheap jamon sandwiches.  Heather, Pat, Megan and I shared four sandwiches and complimented them with tasty white wine.

The Nightlife

No trip to Bareclona would be complete without sampling the legendary nightlife.  Things in Barcelona start to get busy around midnight.  On Friday night we tried an 80's bar around 10pm only to find it empty and full of unpleasant bouncers.  At one point we got stared down by a bouncer, who was making sure we didn't have too much fun too early.

Selfie in the club.

Pat, Heather and Ian Doing their best to have fun

We left our first club of pessimism and journey in search of the epic Raz-Ma-Tazz.  Our journey was a bit Odyssey-esque in nature as we zig-and-zagged and ran into numerous hold-ups and distractions.  When we arrived we realized our Oz was less than we hoped for.  We found a line an hour long and a cover charge the size of small nation's GDP.  In a move we will never regret we headed back to the hostel to grab a kebab before the local shop closed.

Saturday night was wildly more successful.  We joined the Be-Sound Hostel pub crawl.  We frequented an Irish Bar (with some of the worst Karaoke), a Turkish hookah bar with exotic dancers, and a techno bar where they encouraged pants sagging.  During the pub crawl we made friends with two fellas from Texas A&M and a couple weird French dudes.  The last stop on the pub crawl was an Asian techno club that opened out onto the beach.  The crew soon tired of the club scene and spent the majority of the night drinking beers and relaxing on the beach until the wee hours of the morning.  Some of the group got separated but eventually by early morning we all made it back to the hostel for at least a few hours of sleep before our flights back to the real world beckoned.

Exhausted at the airport

My major takeaway was that Barcelona is a cool place full of life, art, and the interesting!  I highly recommend a visit.

Venice: Book Smarts and Canal Smarts

We write from aboard a train in Northern Italy; taking us from Venice to Florence.  The lush green fields with pastel houses are an interesting contrast to the canals and concrete urban-ness of Venice.

We loved Venice.  It’s a controversial tourist destination in that visitors either love or hate it.  We were in the former category based on: our ability to get off the beaten path, our interest in history, and our trip’s timing (late October – good weather with smaller crowds).

Venice’s population of 55 thousand is small relative to the millions of tourists that visit annually.  Consequently the economy is geared to serve tourists.  Common sites included tourists restaurants, stalls hawking souvenirs, gondola drivers offering rides and tourists meandering around with cameras.  There are heaps of tourists traps but there are also just as many great exciting places to try.  We took a great tour on our first full day and were rewarded with dense history, architectural trivia and insider dining tips.  A little bit of research and one can handle the hordes and skip the traps with ease.

San Marco Square - home of the tower and Saint Mark's Basilica

Venice as an idea is really cool.  It’s a city built in a lagoon on mud hills.  It came to prominence during the middle ages when barbarian invasions forced Italians to take safety in the seas.  Venice grew in prominence from the 9^th to the 15^th century.  Venice’s growth was fueled by trade with the East and managed expertly through political and military maneuvering.  Venice’s wealth was concentrated amongst the noble families.  The noble families returned the money to the city through churches, artwork, and celebrations.   Venice today is full of gorgeous churches ornately decorated on the exterior and interiors and chuck full of beautiful artwork.  There are also many museums housing the overflow of great artwork made by Venetian artists or sponsored by wealthy Venetians. 

One of the countless beautiful churches in London

We knew Venice was famous for canals but what surprised us was that it has only canals and sidewalks.  There are no cars, Vespas or bikes allowed.   The majority of buildings are right on top of the canals so getting from one place to another can be tricky as one has to zig and zag through sidewalks and plan strategically to find the bridges.  The first day was quite difficult.  By the second day we learned to use sign posts for key landmarks to navigate through the labyrinth.  Our intrepidness was an asset as we explored the paths less taken and were open to new experiences right around the corner.  The canals make Venice a scenic romantic place with plenty of good photography options.

The mean streets of Venice

Venice provided an opportunity to indulge in Italian cuisine.  We had our fair share of Gelato pre and post dinners.  The first night we found a unique local wine dispensary which provided great wines at low prices.  We purchased bottles of Prosecco and enjoyed them in a piazza at dusk. 

We also sampled an Italian aperitif called Spritz.  It’s a mixture of bitter sweet alcohol with club soda.  It goes down very easily and cleanses the palate to increase one’s appetite.  The Spritz helped clear the way for the pizza.  We found a local place, Ae Oche, that provided great thin crust pizza with a tasty tomato and mozzarella based sauce.  The most interesting type we had was Venetian which had mussels (in the shell), clams, prawns, octopus, crawfish, and calamari.  Somehow it all worked together to provide a tasty seafood experience. 

Lastly I will leave you with a great Mitch Hedberg joke: "In Venice, Italy they don't have streets, they have canals. So in Venice, we gotta keep the kids off the canals. In Venice if you're not book smart, but you do know what's going on, you are canal smart. "I got canal smarts [man]!"

Budapest: Ruin Bars, Baths, and ... (Belated Post)

Ruin Bars, Baths, and ….

The last stop on our Central Europe adventure before school (back in August) was Budapest, the capital of Hungary.  Hungary has an incredibly interesting history that differs from most of Europe.  The original Hungarians were a nomadic group from Mongolia and were later taken over by the Turkish empire.  This explains why Hungary has a culture and language that is strikingly different than much of Europe. Because we were at the end of our trip we were looking forward to more relaxing activities: dining and Turkish baths. 

Enjoying a beer at an outdoor cafe in central Budapest    

Like in Poland and Czech Republic, we started off our trip doing a free walking tour of the city.  This helped us to get our bearings and learn some of the history of Hungary and Budapest.  Our walking tour highlighted some of the beautiful architectural buildings in Budapest namely St. Peters and Mathias’ churches.  The architecture, rolling hills, and the Danube make Budapest a beautiful city.  We were able to take it all in by doing a river cruise at night and hiking to the top of Gellert hill to take in the sweeping views.   This was one city where it’s worth it to take the hop-on-hop-off tour given the diversity and spread of so many sights. 

Parliament Building at Night.

Hop on, Hop off, Tourist shot!

Budapest used to be two cities separated by the Danube: Buda and Pest.  The Pest side is made up of rolling hills and includes the Palace and St. Mathia’s Church.  It is generally considered to be the wealthier side of Budapest.  The Buda side, which houses St. Peter’s Church is a little grittier but houses the trendy up and coming Jewish Quarter district.  The Jewish Quarter is famous for its “Ruin Bars”, which are old dilapidated buildings or courtyards that have been turned into trendy bars and clubs.  We tried out a few and our favorites were Szimpla Kert (third best bar in the world) and Instant.  These are a must see if you go to Budapest.  This area also plays host to some of Budapest’s best restaurants.  Thanks to some recommendations from our friends we were able to eat very well in Budapest!

Szimpla Bar - it's massive, this ins only a tiny area.

One of the best ways to enjoy the Turkish influence in Budapest is to visit a Turkish Bath.  Budapest sits on over mineral hot springs, which supply numerous world famous Turkish bathhouses in the city.  Each bathhouse is a little bit different and can range from opulent indoor bath spas to open air night spa clubs.  Since it was really hot in August we set our sights on Palatinus, which is all outdoor and on San Margaret island on the Danube.  What we ended up getting was a Hungarian water park, complete with a wave pool, waterslides, and hot pools with floating chess boards.  It wasn’t exactly what we were expecting, but since it was off the beaten path we were the only tourists there we got some quality people-watching.   We also sampled the Hungarian equivalent of carnival food which is langos.  Langos are a fried doughy base with cheese and toppings on top.  Like a doughnout pizza.  As you can guess they scored high on taste and low on health.

Our trip included a dive into Hungarian history.  We visited the Hungarian history museum which boasted an extensive collection of artifacts and well written exhibits.  Hungary has been through some incredibly high times (near the end of the 19^th century) and through some incredibly lows ones as well: World War II and Communism.   

Liberty Statue - one of the few remaining communist monuments

We also took a communism walking tour to learn about life under communism and the political activity in Budapest.  Our tour had a special guide who was passionate about politics.  He spent the majority of time explaining the worrying trends in Hungarian politics.  Whereas the majority of Eastern Europe is moving towards more open markets and democracy, Hungary is become more isolated and despotic.  It’s a trend that is highlighted by the Holocaust monument debacle – where the current party created an insensitive and inaccurate portrayal to spin Hungary’s involvement in WWII.  

Buda Castle

 Our total time in Budapest was about four days.  We certainly saw and experienced much of what this fascinating city has to offer.  The end of our Central Europe trip marked our transition from funemployment to full time students at London Business School.

Krakow: Return to the Motherland

After leaving Prague and Cesky Krumlov we took a nigh-train to Krakow Poland.  This was hugely important to Jeffrey as his father's side of the family is 100% Polish with his grandparents coming arriving in the US at a very young age.  Those Polish roots had manifested themselves in cultural traditions such as polish dancing (in polish costume), polish food such as Kielbsa and of course Polish jokes.  Whether it was a romanticism or a sub-conscious drive - Jeffrey did feel connected to Poland and the people there.

Night-Train Night Pain

We took the overnight train from Prague to Krakow.
The Good:

• Train stations are close to the city centers making transport easy
• Sleeping in the train overnight eliminated the cost of a hotel/guesthouse room
• Train travel is relatively authentic

The Bad:

• The tickets from Krakow to Budapest, which we had to book last minute, were expensive
• The bed mattresses were pretty firm
• There wasn't a whole lot of space at the top

Good thing we are both small.

The Ugly:

• We had noisy/obnoxious passengers in our car twice.  First it was two male UK college students who gossiped and complained like spoiled brats.  The second time was three french girls who had a picnic complete with stinky food and loud conversation while we were trying to sleep.
• Temperature control was non-existent making it very hot at the top.

It was survivable and definitely not the worst experience of the trip.  I think I might even recommend it to others if they have a decent pain tolerance and a talent for heavy sleeping.

Once we arrived in Krakow we walked from the train station to our hostel to drop our bags off.  We came across a rather unique scene; groups of folks were marching together singing and carrying banners.  Because of our lack of Polish language skills it was difficult for us to understand.  We tried to use context clues.  One being the high proportion of clergy (priests and nuns) in the procession.  Another being the continuous flow of people and rather up-beat spirit.  

I joked with Megan that in order to figure out what the parade was for, we could follow it to its termination.  Boy was that a bad idea.  We ended up learning that the procession was a pilgrimage to the shrine of Jasna Gora that just started and would last for 10 days and 120 kms.  Safe to say that would of altered our vacation plans a bit.

Instead of walking to Jasna Gora we grabbed a quick breakfast at a local cafe.  It wasn't fancy by any means but filled the void and gave us some energy ahead of our walking tour and museum plans.

No frills Polish Breakfast.

Main Market Square in Krakow

Our sightseeing began at the Main Market Square.  It's the largest medieval town square in Europe.  It's a UNESCO heritage site and the surrounding buildings still have their medieval architecture roots.  In old times the parents would bring their daughters of age into the square and past the cafes in hopes they catch the eye of a young bachelor.  Today there are still many restaurants and cafes where locals and tourists can enjoy the scenery. 

In front of the massive and beautiful Cloth Hall

One of the really cool buildings was the Cloth Hall.  It was the center of trade in Krakow which put itself on the map as a trading town and key stop-off on trade routes through Europe.  In the past exotic spices, foods, and metals were sold there, now its just mainly cheesy souvenirs.  I'm not going to complain too much as I bought both a hat and shirt (fulfilling my polish pride).

Another beautiful building on the Main square is St. Mary's Basilica with two rising towers.  Every hour a trumpeter emerges to play a tune to tell the town everything is alright.  The trumpeter abruptly ends the song mid-note to comemorate a trumpeter that was shot in the throat while sounding the alarm of invading Mongol attack.

St. May's Basilica

The Basilica is very beautiful inside as well.  We dropped in and sad a few prayers and paid respects.  On the outside of the basilica are a number of beautiful memorials including this one of Pope John Paul II (a former archbishop and student of Krakow).

The Town Hall Tower is also a cool site.  It was attached to a complete town hall building but part of it was demolished in efforts to open things up.  Now just the tower remains and it is beginning to lean as it wasn't meant to standalone.

Last picture with dopey me in it for a while.  I promise.

Nice Classical Architecture

We caught a nice walking tour around town and saw these sites as well as the Krakow campus (a very old university) and the Wawel Castle complex.  The Wawel castle was the seat of the Polish empire.  It is composed of the King's residence, many administrative buildings, and beautiful religious buildings.  The Castle towers over the town and is a great spot for views.

Back view of the Castle.

During our walk through town we saw the Opera house.  It looked especially neat at night.

Hostel & Partying

We stayed at Tom and Greg's Beer Hostel.  True story: Tom and Greg's Party Hostel was sold out so we had to settle for the Beer Hostel.  Here we experienced the best and worst of hostel life.  On the good side we met a lot of social people and had no problem making friends.  Every night the hostel hosted drinking events such as Sangria night and a Pub Crawl.  Our first night we took it easy because we were going for some heavy sightseeing the next day at Auschwitz the next day.  Our plans to get a good night sleep were thwarted by hostel shenanigans.  At 4am a drunk belligerent hotel guest pounded on our door for 30 minutes to be let in.  Eventually he realized he was at the wrong room and then passed out on the couch.  Those thirty minutes were painful and awkward.  The next evening we decided to partake in the Pub Crawl to get a heavier night's sleep.  Don't worry we were safe and sound.  The bar and club scene in Krakow is outstanding.

Now that is a Sangria night!

Polish Ethnography Museum

The Polish Ethnography Museum was a hoot.  Maybe not quite as entertaining as the KGB Museum in Prague but just as fascinating.  It's density of artifacts and facts was impeccable.  Each exhibit came with a 10 page report on the thorough history of life in Poland.  For example we spent half an hour learning about early agriculture methods including honey farming.  The museum was more anthropology and less entertainment.  Not for the faint of heart.

Hey Look a Bear - Nope it's a Beehive!

The Polish traditional costumes were particularly cool.  They had over 30 and they traced the differences based on region, class and time period.

Polish Food

I like Polish food but I understand that I'm biased being 50% Polish.  When I told my Italian friend that we enjoyed the food in Poland he said "you must be kidding me.  Even American food is better than Polish food."  (ouch)  I tried my hardest to sell Megan on Polish food and we had a few feasts.  We searched out the best in Kielbasa and Pieorgies - Polish Musts.  At Pierogi Vincent we even tried blueberry pierogis (they had over 30 varieties which you can see at their website http://pierozkiuvincenta.pl/menu).  We also tried a few different foods too.

Golabki - cabbage stuffed with ground beef - tasty sauce

Herring

Home of Pope John Paul II

One of the most famous Krakow residents was Pope John Paul II.  He was a student at the local university and he later became the Archbishop of Krakow.  There is a museum where you can visit where he lived and see some of his artifacts.  There was a variety of stuff like the kayak he owned as a young man, a set of skis, many church outfits and gifts he was given by world leaders.  It was moving and inspiring seeing pictures of him throughout his life.  It made me very proud to be Polish.

Krakow was great.  We enjoyed our short stay and would definitely recommend it to others.