so i am in morocco... the keyboard is crazy so sorry if i have little punctuation and bad spelling. i am exhausted cuz i spent the night at the airport last night and slept like an hour and then a few hours on the plane. then i got lost trying to find the hostel and some guy helped me but of course wanted a big tip... ah well. i was happy enough that i was at the hostel so it didnt matter, also i didnt give him as much as he wanted. anyway the room is being cleaned so i cant sleep so i think i am going on a tour of the souks and the jemaa el fna, main market place. i havent eaten since last night and i am very thirsty, apparently we are going to get orange juice on the tour. i walked through some of the markets, it is crazy and cool... also my hostel is amazing i will take photos.
i am looking forward to coming back to the states, it will be nice to catch my breath. every place i go is so different and cool that it takes a lot of energy to explore them... marrakesh might be the MOST exciting but i also have the longest amount of time here so maybe i can take a day or two off sightseeing and just chill. i leave marrakesh next thursday and fly to dublin, spend the night there and then head back to chicago friday morning. i am NOT spending the night at the airport, i booked a hostel haha i think it will be worth it. internet here is free so i expect to be able to check my email often
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
a funny coincidence
So the day I arrived in Berlin (saturday), I was walking down Unter den Linden (the main avenue that has the Brandenberg Gate at the end of it) and I noticed that each street had a set of three flags: The EU flag, the German flag, and then... the Irish flag???? I was confused. I walked a bit further past Humboldt University (Einstein taught there for a while before he got the hell outta Germany) and there was a sign saying that Mary MacAleese (president of Ireland) was giving a talk there tuesday the 26th! So i was like HMMM interesting.... and THEN yesterday I saw a bunch of police and black cars pull up to the Adlon Hotel on Unter den Linden and the President of Ireland got out and went to the hotel! And this morning, I went to the talk at the university and it was pretty cool. So I came to germany to see the president of Ireland. Awesome.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Ok
So. Thursday Martin and I took some ridiculous number of buses and trains to get from Heidelberg to Frankfurt (although its less than an hour on the train). We check into this... shady... hotel in a shady area (there was some confusion about us checking in early or something but we managed). So then we decide to walk to some kirche (church) and it was gray and ugly everywhere and i was like crap, frankfurt sucks! So we go to the kirche, and there was some sort of museum that was all in german and i understood nothing. Then we walked to the main square and talked to people in the info center about a bus tour, which was leaving in an hour and a half, so we decided to come back for it. In the meantime we went to the film museum on the other side of the river, and it was actually really fun. It was all interactive and shit. I have some photos. They had blue screen stuff to make it look like you were on a magic carpet and stuff. So anyway, then we go back to the tourist center and get on a big coach bus with the awesomest tour guide ever, he was SO GERMAN in the best way possible!!! I think his name was Yentz or something. Anyway he would say everything in german and then in english but with the same inflections so it was hilarious. the tour was 2 and a half hours, we saw pretty much everything there is to see in frankfurt, and martin and i couldnt stop laughing at the poor guide. We even took videos with our cameras to try to catch it but i am not sure how successful it will be when i get them loaded on a computer.
I think after the tour we went back to the hotel and took a nap, and then we decided to go to this area where they make apfelwein (apple wine, its like cider but not as sweet and not bubbly), and we went to this really REALLY local bar for dinner, we were so out of place.... there were like 4 older men in there watching soccer and then it was martin and me... oh man... awkward! But we drank 2 apfelweins each and decided to get the hell out of there. I think from there we went to some other sorta local place but there were more people in there. We sat at one of those big tables that everyone shares and we started talking to these 3 germans who were around our age. They were very nice and gave us some pointers about tipping and stuff. Martin and I had some local beer which was pretty good. Oh wait we might have been to another bar before this, i cant remember. Anyway my memory gets increasingly hazy as the night goes on... I also had more apfelwein at this place. And then a bunch of japanese people walked in and sat down behind us, which wasnt too strange (there are asians everywhere in germany) except that one of them was dressed as a vampire, and a few of the others were filming him! So martin and i kept looking over and trying to figure it out, and eventually i went over and asked what was going on. The guy didnt speak much english but said they were making a movie. I tried to ask some more questions, like why in germany? why eating bratwurst? WhYYY? he didnt get it. Then he said i should talk to the vampire guy while they filmed, and that i should talk in german... so i did the best i could. Sooo i might be in a japanese vampire movie. We'll see...
So then martin and i were pretty drunk, and we went to an irish pub and talked to the bartender for a long time, he was pretty cool. We had a few more drinks and then moved on to some other sorta shady bar with lots of lights in it. 5 americans walked in, 2 of whom are from chicago, they were all like 30 something, and so we all started talking and at some point the bartender lady decided we should be doing shots of cherry and vodka stuff.... i think we mighta had like 6 or 7 rounds of this.... omg.... i was so fucking 'bluttered' as the irish say..... i dont remember much. but martin and i decided to leave at some point, walked in some random direction, and somehow i ended up asking some guy in his car where the street our hotel was on, but i got it wrong and the guy didnt speak english so he was confused. martin talked to him in german and figured out we had gone in the wrong direction. so we got a cab and made it to the hotel somehow.
i am not sure that story sounds as funny as it really was, you might have had to experience the tour guide and the film museum first hand. so fun. and then the random people we talked to and the japanese vampire.... so good! anyway, needless to say we were pretty hung over yesterday.
Today I walked around berlin and saw actually a lot of stuff. I didnt go in to any museums cuz it was a bit late in the afternoon, but i have my bearings a bit now. I will update more on berlin in a few days. I am a little confused about what to do in the evenings since i am all alone. Any suggestions??? Let me know. I can read and make plans but... i dunno. 2 weeks of that at night?? I will try to meet some people here and in morocco but if that doesnt happen i guess i should just be a loser.
ok bye for now!
I think after the tour we went back to the hotel and took a nap, and then we decided to go to this area where they make apfelwein (apple wine, its like cider but not as sweet and not bubbly), and we went to this really REALLY local bar for dinner, we were so out of place.... there were like 4 older men in there watching soccer and then it was martin and me... oh man... awkward! But we drank 2 apfelweins each and decided to get the hell out of there. I think from there we went to some other sorta local place but there were more people in there. We sat at one of those big tables that everyone shares and we started talking to these 3 germans who were around our age. They were very nice and gave us some pointers about tipping and stuff. Martin and I had some local beer which was pretty good. Oh wait we might have been to another bar before this, i cant remember. Anyway my memory gets increasingly hazy as the night goes on... I also had more apfelwein at this place. And then a bunch of japanese people walked in and sat down behind us, which wasnt too strange (there are asians everywhere in germany) except that one of them was dressed as a vampire, and a few of the others were filming him! So martin and i kept looking over and trying to figure it out, and eventually i went over and asked what was going on. The guy didnt speak much english but said they were making a movie. I tried to ask some more questions, like why in germany? why eating bratwurst? WhYYY? he didnt get it. Then he said i should talk to the vampire guy while they filmed, and that i should talk in german... so i did the best i could. Sooo i might be in a japanese vampire movie. We'll see...
So then martin and i were pretty drunk, and we went to an irish pub and talked to the bartender for a long time, he was pretty cool. We had a few more drinks and then moved on to some other sorta shady bar with lots of lights in it. 5 americans walked in, 2 of whom are from chicago, they were all like 30 something, and so we all started talking and at some point the bartender lady decided we should be doing shots of cherry and vodka stuff.... i think we mighta had like 6 or 7 rounds of this.... omg.... i was so fucking 'bluttered' as the irish say..... i dont remember much. but martin and i decided to leave at some point, walked in some random direction, and somehow i ended up asking some guy in his car where the street our hotel was on, but i got it wrong and the guy didnt speak english so he was confused. martin talked to him in german and figured out we had gone in the wrong direction. so we got a cab and made it to the hotel somehow.
i am not sure that story sounds as funny as it really was, you might have had to experience the tour guide and the film museum first hand. so fun. and then the random people we talked to and the japanese vampire.... so good! anyway, needless to say we were pretty hung over yesterday.
Today I walked around berlin and saw actually a lot of stuff. I didnt go in to any museums cuz it was a bit late in the afternoon, but i have my bearings a bit now. I will update more on berlin in a few days. I am a little confused about what to do in the evenings since i am all alone. Any suggestions??? Let me know. I can read and make plans but... i dunno. 2 weeks of that at night?? I will try to meet some people here and in morocco but if that doesnt happen i guess i should just be a loser.
ok bye for now!
hi from berlin
i have to make this quick because i only have 4 minutes left on this computer but i have arrived in berlin, i am at the hostel, i speak no german.... crazy!!!!!! i will update later. martin and i had a great time in heidelberg and frankfurt.... i am KINDA looking forward to going home but also to going to marrakesh, so luckily i am going home right after marrakesh!
talk to you all later
talk to you all later
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
finallyyyy
hello people! dunno if anybody still checks this now cuz i never ever update! but i have been without internet for a while. im in heidelberg right now with my brother and were at an internet cafe. sorry about the lack of apostrophes i dunno where that key is on this keyboard.
so yeah there is lots to tell but actually nothing toooo crazy or interesting, mostly family stuff so that isnt so good for you guys. basically the past weekend was full of family. belfast was fun, i went out a few times with my second cousin catriona, she is really nice. but a lot of it was me walking around and looking at shit. i feel a little sick right now cuz i had sausage salad for lunch. that is exactly what you think, a salad made out of sausage. with pickled stuff in it. it was tasty.
alright im gonna go talk to you all later!
so yeah there is lots to tell but actually nothing toooo crazy or interesting, mostly family stuff so that isnt so good for you guys. basically the past weekend was full of family. belfast was fun, i went out a few times with my second cousin catriona, she is really nice. but a lot of it was me walking around and looking at shit. i feel a little sick right now cuz i had sausage salad for lunch. that is exactly what you think, a salad made out of sausage. with pickled stuff in it. it was tasty.
alright im gonna go talk to you all later!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
dublin -> belfast
well, i'm leaving dublin today for belfast. i think i'm getting on a 1pm bus. it's only €7 which isnt too bad. (i just wanted to use the € key...) anyway, i think i might be coming down with a cold, which sucks. conor has a cold so i imagine i got it from him. he is seriously cute, he gave me a big hug byebye this morning.... :) i want a baby!!! jk.
so, i walked for an hour and a half yesterday to get to kilmainham gaol from una's house. it was a long ass walk but i didn't know what bus went there so i decided to do it. i almost gave up and went to the jameson place, since i was meeting my cousin kiera at 1:30 and i didn't know how long it'd take me to get there, but i decided i should just go. and i did! and it was great! it was so cool, i saw all the cells of all these political prisoners in the 1916 easter rebellion and then in the civil war in 1922, all of whom have streets named after them in dublin. the best part, which some of you might laugh at, but i was excited because i didn't expect it, is that it's the jail where 'in the name of the father' was filmed!!! i walked into the east wing and i was like hmmm this looks familiar!! and then the tour guide said a lot of films had used that space, like the original italian job (i think?) and some others i can't remember. anyway, so that was cool for me. :) they also showed us the exact places where famous people were executed, which was kind of... chilling. i guess that's the point.
ok well i'm going to go get ready to head to belfast and maybe take some vitamins!
so, i walked for an hour and a half yesterday to get to kilmainham gaol from una's house. it was a long ass walk but i didn't know what bus went there so i decided to do it. i almost gave up and went to the jameson place, since i was meeting my cousin kiera at 1:30 and i didn't know how long it'd take me to get there, but i decided i should just go. and i did! and it was great! it was so cool, i saw all the cells of all these political prisoners in the 1916 easter rebellion and then in the civil war in 1922, all of whom have streets named after them in dublin. the best part, which some of you might laugh at, but i was excited because i didn't expect it, is that it's the jail where 'in the name of the father' was filmed!!! i walked into the east wing and i was like hmmm this looks familiar!! and then the tour guide said a lot of films had used that space, like the original italian job (i think?) and some others i can't remember. anyway, so that was cool for me. :) they also showed us the exact places where famous people were executed, which was kind of... chilling. i guess that's the point.
ok well i'm going to go get ready to head to belfast and maybe take some vitamins!
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Hello from Dublin
So i know i emailed everyone yesterday but i have a chance to post so i'm gonna do it! i'm still at my aunt una's house, i'm leaving for belfast tomorrow. i am somewhat over my jetlag, although the new sleep schedule i have is one that is only convenient if you're living in the house with a two year old (i.e. i fell asleep at 9:30pm last night and woke up this morning at 7:30am....) yeahhh. but i did get a chance to walk around dublin yesterday, which was fun. the weather was pretty good, a little chilly. it rained after i got home so that was nice. i went to a museum and i saw the famine memorial and i got info about the bus to belfast, and i also got lost a few times. i was trying to go to the jameson distillery (even though i have been there before, it was fun, so i wanted to go back) but i got lost and so i ended up just wandering through sketchy neighborhoods. haha! i may go to the distillery today if i get around to it. I am definitely going to kilmainham gaol (jail) because i've never been there. it is supposed to be a cool place to go, it's where lots of republicans (here that means catholics who wanted ireland to be independent) were imprisoned and executed.
i was in a bit of an awkward position because the cleaning lady is here this morning and she didnt know i was here, but that seemed to work itself out because she knocked on my door and i had to answer, so now she knows i exist. haha... awesome. i think i will go out for breakfast so i'm not in her way.
oh, and i checked the results of the primaries, jeeeez!! kind of unsurprising though, obama winning more states, clinton winning more delegate votes. i guess he can still pull it off?? btw if you wondered, people here are following the pre-election stuff, but they don't quite understand primaries and all that. i told them that neither do we! :) they seem to be happy enough with clinton and obama as far as i can tell.
hmm shall we have a word of the day before i go? how about an irish word of the day...
taoiseach: prime minister (pronounced tee-shach)
talk to you all later!
i was in a bit of an awkward position because the cleaning lady is here this morning and she didnt know i was here, but that seemed to work itself out because she knocked on my door and i had to answer, so now she knows i exist. haha... awesome. i think i will go out for breakfast so i'm not in her way.
oh, and i checked the results of the primaries, jeeeez!! kind of unsurprising though, obama winning more states, clinton winning more delegate votes. i guess he can still pull it off?? btw if you wondered, people here are following the pre-election stuff, but they don't quite understand primaries and all that. i told them that neither do we! :) they seem to be happy enough with clinton and obama as far as i can tell.
hmm shall we have a word of the day before i go? how about an irish word of the day...
taoiseach: prime minister (pronounced tee-shach)
talk to you all later!
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