I think I'll start with our trip long ago to Northern Ireland, which included the capital city of Belfast and Giant's Causeway. Most of the pictures I have are of the Causeway, but it's worth noting that Belfast is an interesting city. If you know the history of Ireland/Northern Ireland/England, you probably know that Belfast is a pretty volatile city still dealing with the political situation there. We were lucky enough to witness a parade while we were there, which was quite interesting and actually a bit strange, as apparently 12 year old kids are allowed to get wasted in the streets if there's a parade going on. Interesting. Anyways, here are some pictures of Giant's Causeway, one of the most bizarre landscapes I've ever seen. Those columns of rock were all formed naturally by volcanoes or something.
Now, London and Amsterdam. I have to say, this was probably the best weekend of my life. Traveling alone, and with such a complicated itinerary was quite challenging, and although I did massively screw it up at the end, it felt really good to know I could travel the world with no ones help but my own. I met up with Val in London, which is an enormous city where everything is ridiculously expensive, but still a really awesome place. We went and saw all the major sites. Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, The Parliament Building, and The London Eye. We also met up with our friend Kate for dinner, which was simply magnificent. It was odd being in London right after they had been attacked a couple times, but nothing scary really happened.
Then I went on to Amsterdam and met up with a friend, Bill, who was studying there. We wandered around what is, in my opinion, the greatest city in the world for a long time and made a lot of new friends at various bars. Amsterdam really is the most bizarre place in the world, it's really hard to imagine such a city existing in the same world as West Michigan. We think we have freedoms in America... I saw some very strange things in Amsterdam, and it was such an incredible experience I really can't even try to explain it here without sounding like a hyperbolic asshole, so just take it from me, if you ever have a chance to go, go.
We met up with a guy we know who actually lives in Amsterdam on the second day and spent most of the afternoon in Amsterdam's biggest park drinking white beer on the outdoor patio of The Film Museum and having fantastic conversations. If there's one thing that teaches you a lot in studying abroad, it's all the amazing conversations you'll have with people who are nothing like you. It really changes your perspective on yourself, on your country, and on the world in general. This kind of thing is why I wanted to do this trip, to learn and grow as a person. I've done so more than I could have ever imagined.
So that night we went to see my favorite band, The Hold Steady. Now, if a year ago you would have asked me what my dream night would have been, I probably would have answered, "seeing The Hold Steady in Amsterdam." It turned out to be a night beyond anything I could have expected. We had so much fun seeing the best rock and roll band in the world, and actually got to talk with the guys in the band afterward. Craig Finn, who is my idol and this generations Bruce Springsteen, was an incredibly nice guy. When he found out I was studying in Dublin he offered to put me on the guest list for the sold out festival they were playing there the next weekend, and even suggested we meet up and I show them around the city the night before. This absolutely blew my mind, and he and I emailed back and forth a couple times after that before realizing they would be getting in too late for it to work out. It didn't really matter, the fact was my favorite musician was emailing me and wanted to hang out. It's so refreshing to know that rock stars can still be nice guys.
The next morning, our friend Robin informed us that we would be going boating around the city on his friends boat. This was the greatest thing I have ever done. Amsterdam is a city of canals and beautiful architecture, and I got to see it the best way possible: from the water with lots of Heinekens. I still don't have the good pictures of the city but I can at least post a few of the boat ride. I did manage to fall into the water trying to board the boat. This was especially embarrassing considering I've been boarding boats my whole life.
After the boat ride and a whole weekend of not sleeping and drinking a bit too heavily, it was time for me to catch the train back to Eindhoven so I could get on a plane and head back to Dublin. This turned out to be a miserable failure as I fell asleep (or passed out, depending on how you look at it) on the train, missing the stop and by extension, my flight back to London. I had to get a hotel room in Eindhoven, an early flight to London, and then wait in the airport there for 12 hours before being able to get a flight back to Dublin. Quite a trip it was. I'll never forget this weekend, it was absolutely incredible.
I guess now I'll post some more Ireland pictures. The first is a few of us at The Brazen Head in Dublin, the oldest pub in the country I believe. Vikings used to drink there. We got caught in the heaviest rain of all time on our way there. The others are from the day trip to Howth I posted about, the one where I went swimming and lost my glasses to the Irish sea. That cliff with the rocky cove at the bottom in the area we climbed and went swimming. That was another awesome day, despite the loss of my precious glasses.
Then last weekend we went to Salzburg, Austria. Austria is an incredible place. Salzburg is snuggled right into the middle of the Austrian Alps and is the home of Mozart, The Sound of Music, and Red Bull. Fascinating! It is beautiful in every way, probably the most beautiful area I've ever been to. We climbed some mountains, saw magnificent churches, drank at a monastery where they wash out your (huge) mugs with holy water, took a tour through the Bavarian Mountains in Germany, and ate the world's best apple strudel. Quite a weekend!
So now is the home stretch. This weekend we head to Barcelona, Spain for a very hot, very awesome long weekend on the beach, and then we have one last week before heading back to the states on Saturday. I'll write more about what it's like that this is all coming to an end later. It's very hard to think about. Work has been good as well, I think I will officially be a published author soon!
Anyways, take care everyone. Of course I love you all and look forward to seeing you soon.
