So it's been a long time since I've posted last. Sorry. I've actually had some exams and papers due over the last few weeks so we have been hanging out in Cork. I turned in my last lab reports today before my birthday weekend.
Next week things will be picking up pretty intensely. First, Joe is coming to visit from Germany on Wednesday. Thursday we are leaving for Scotland and hanging out there for a day. Friday evening we leave for Sweden and will return on Monday. It should be pretty exciting to see Scotland and visiting Sweden...well lets just say "Original IKEA".
I'll have a week of class then the family visits and we'll be traveling around Ireland. Once they leave its off to Germany, Italy, and Paris. There may be a few other stops along the way, but those are the definites.
I might post some pictures from my birthday if we decide to take a camera out with us, but we will probably leave it in. I have some more hockey pictures coming from the UCC team as well. I'll try and post before I leave and will have tons of pictures and stories on March 10th.
Talk to you all soon!
- Travis
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Weekend In Dublin
Hello all,
We spent the weekend in Dublin and had a great time. We saw a ton of stuff and walked until our legs hurt. Definitely check out the 267 pictures I took on the slideshow. I'll try to sum up what we did on here, but there is just too much. Best bet is to look at the pictures and every few i'll try to explain what we did.
Friday morning we went to the airport 2 hours before our flight and ended up getting through security in less than 3 minutes. There is hardly anything to do with ryanair if you dont check any bags. You print your boarding pass at home and walk to the gate. We hung out for a while then got onto the plane. There is no seat assignments on ryanair, which i found a bit funny. The plane took off and about 20 minutes later it landed. We were in Dublin.
We took the bus to the city center and found our hostel. I've never been in a hostel, so i didnt really know what to expect, but it was pretty nice. There were a 16 beds in the room and a bathroom connecting another room of 16. Quite a different way to live for a few days but definitely cheap. We were able to get locks and lock our stuff in cages under the beds, which was nice because we wouldnt have to carry our bags around all day.
First thing we did was go to Guinness. We had a few hours before it closed so we walked to the brewery and did the tour. Pretty fun times. They had a self-guided tour of the huge 7 story building. Check out the pics for sure of this one. Best part of all was free pint of Guinness at the 100m high Gravity Bar.
We returned to the room and got ready to go grab some food and check out the Temple Bar area which had all the pubs and clubs. We headed into town and found The Temple Bar of Temple Bar. It had Guinness as their cheapest pint and a live traditional irish band. So Reline and I are standing there watching the band and this guy walks buy with a Pittsburgh Steeler shirt on. Immediately I tap him on the shoulder and ask him where he is from and it turns out he is from the south park area. Pretty crazy. His friend was from Philly and we got to make fun of the Flyers for a little bit before we headed off.
Next we headed to the Porter House. This pub was recommended by our friend from Dublin who visits Cork regularly. This place was pretty fun and brews all of their own beer. There was a ton to choose from and they were reallllly good. We headed in early so we could get up and tour the city.
Saturday we woke up early and started to walk around. The sites we saw are in the following order and i'll do my best to caption the pictures.
1 - Christ Church Cathedral
2 - O'Connell St - saw many statues of the 1916 Uprising, the Dublin Spire, the huge general post office
3 - Trinity College
4 - St Stephens Green
5 - Dublin Castle
6 - St. Patricks Cathedral
7 - Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Royal Hospital
8 - Kilmainham Gaol
9 - Garden of Remembrance
So those we all the sites that we were able to get to in one day. Dublin offers a city tour bus for 12.50 and you can hop on and off at various stops. We chose to do that and it seemed to be an OK deal. Some stops were easier to walk between than fight for a bus seat. Check out the pictures for some descriptions. They should be complete in a few days.
This week I will be busy with a few papers I have due next week. I'm not sure whats going on this weekend, but I will update soon.
Finally, I removed most of the pictures from the slideshow bars on the side. All the pictures are on the picasa web account of buiklimektr. Any pictures new/old that you want to see can be found there.
Talk to you soon,
Travis
We spent the weekend in Dublin and had a great time. We saw a ton of stuff and walked until our legs hurt. Definitely check out the 267 pictures I took on the slideshow. I'll try to sum up what we did on here, but there is just too much. Best bet is to look at the pictures and every few i'll try to explain what we did.
Friday morning we went to the airport 2 hours before our flight and ended up getting through security in less than 3 minutes. There is hardly anything to do with ryanair if you dont check any bags. You print your boarding pass at home and walk to the gate. We hung out for a while then got onto the plane. There is no seat assignments on ryanair, which i found a bit funny. The plane took off and about 20 minutes later it landed. We were in Dublin.
We took the bus to the city center and found our hostel. I've never been in a hostel, so i didnt really know what to expect, but it was pretty nice. There were a 16 beds in the room and a bathroom connecting another room of 16. Quite a different way to live for a few days but definitely cheap. We were able to get locks and lock our stuff in cages under the beds, which was nice because we wouldnt have to carry our bags around all day.
First thing we did was go to Guinness. We had a few hours before it closed so we walked to the brewery and did the tour. Pretty fun times. They had a self-guided tour of the huge 7 story building. Check out the pics for sure of this one. Best part of all was free pint of Guinness at the 100m high Gravity Bar.
We returned to the room and got ready to go grab some food and check out the Temple Bar area which had all the pubs and clubs. We headed into town and found The Temple Bar of Temple Bar. It had Guinness as their cheapest pint and a live traditional irish band. So Reline and I are standing there watching the band and this guy walks buy with a Pittsburgh Steeler shirt on. Immediately I tap him on the shoulder and ask him where he is from and it turns out he is from the south park area. Pretty crazy. His friend was from Philly and we got to make fun of the Flyers for a little bit before we headed off.
Next we headed to the Porter House. This pub was recommended by our friend from Dublin who visits Cork regularly. This place was pretty fun and brews all of their own beer. There was a ton to choose from and they were reallllly good. We headed in early so we could get up and tour the city.
Saturday we woke up early and started to walk around. The sites we saw are in the following order and i'll do my best to caption the pictures.
1 - Christ Church Cathedral
2 - O'Connell St - saw many statues of the 1916 Uprising, the Dublin Spire, the huge general post office
3 - Trinity College
4 - St Stephens Green
5 - Dublin Castle
6 - St. Patricks Cathedral
7 - Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Royal Hospital
8 - Kilmainham Gaol
9 - Garden of Remembrance
So those we all the sites that we were able to get to in one day. Dublin offers a city tour bus for 12.50 and you can hop on and off at various stops. We chose to do that and it seemed to be an OK deal. Some stops were easier to walk between than fight for a bus seat. Check out the pictures for some descriptions. They should be complete in a few days.
This week I will be busy with a few papers I have due next week. I'm not sure whats going on this weekend, but I will update soon.
Finally, I removed most of the pictures from the slideshow bars on the side. All the pictures are on the picasa web account of buiklimektr. Any pictures new/old that you want to see can be found there.
Talk to you soon,
Travis
Monday, February 11, 2008
Its a hockey day in Dublin
Hello everyone!
This weekend marked a sad time for us in Cork. The Gateway, the local pub that we first went to and met all of our Irish friends at, got closed down. Apparently the owner didnt pay the bills. The Gateway was the oldest pub in Cork dating back to 1698. Sad times. Hopefully they'll get a new owner soon and open back up with their low prices. Until then we must find a new place to hang out.
Reline was in Galway this weekend and said he had a good time. If he does a write up or sends pictures over to my computer I will surely post them.
Sunday was my first hockey tournament in Dublin. I played mostly with Cork Revolution players vs a few other teams. We were 2-1 on the day. I had goals in the 2nd and 3rd games and we played pretty well. Should have won all 3, but o well. I got a friend to take some pictures of the last game we played. Some turned out nice, others not so good. Check them out!
This week I have my first exam of the year for my Botany class, it shouldnt be too bad.
Reline and I are off to Dublin on Friday and will be back Sunday. We should have a good amount of pictures and stories to tell when we get back.
Talk to you soon,
Travis
This weekend marked a sad time for us in Cork. The Gateway, the local pub that we first went to and met all of our Irish friends at, got closed down. Apparently the owner didnt pay the bills. The Gateway was the oldest pub in Cork dating back to 1698. Sad times. Hopefully they'll get a new owner soon and open back up with their low prices. Until then we must find a new place to hang out.
Reline was in Galway this weekend and said he had a good time. If he does a write up or sends pictures over to my computer I will surely post them.
Sunday was my first hockey tournament in Dublin. I played mostly with Cork Revolution players vs a few other teams. We were 2-1 on the day. I had goals in the 2nd and 3rd games and we played pretty well. Should have won all 3, but o well. I got a friend to take some pictures of the last game we played. Some turned out nice, others not so good. Check them out!
This week I have my first exam of the year for my Botany class, it shouldnt be too bad.
Reline and I are off to Dublin on Friday and will be back Sunday. We should have a good amount of pictures and stories to tell when we get back.
Talk to you soon,
Travis
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Its been a long time...
Hello everyone!
I just wanted to make a quick post since its been a while. This week has been pretty relaxed. We stayed around town this week. Tuesday I had a hockey game, we won 3-1 and moved to 4-0. We're winning the league pretty easily right now with 8 points...the next team only has 4. We have about 5 more games and if we win 3 we'll win the trophy hands down. The trophy is pretty sweet...the guys got a mini keg and got a hockey trophy mounted on top. The winners get their names engraved on it, so i'm hopin to get my name on the Cork Cup.
Wednesday was a fun night. The UCC Hockey Team had a "hockey night" at the UCC Pub. There was free food and we got to watch some ice hockey on the big screen. It was kind of funny watching all the Irish kids cheer for a sport where they dont know any of the rules.
I'm heading to Dublin this Sunday to play in a tournament with the Cork Revolution. It should be a good bit of craic (fun) as the Irish say. I'm going to try and find someone to take some pictures of the game on my camera since it'll be hard to play and take pictures (i'm not that good yet). I know a few people have been taking pictures but i have no idea where they put them.
Look for a post early next week since i wont be back until late sunday.
Cheers.
Travis
I just wanted to make a quick post since its been a while. This week has been pretty relaxed. We stayed around town this week. Tuesday I had a hockey game, we won 3-1 and moved to 4-0. We're winning the league pretty easily right now with 8 points...the next team only has 4. We have about 5 more games and if we win 3 we'll win the trophy hands down. The trophy is pretty sweet...the guys got a mini keg and got a hockey trophy mounted on top. The winners get their names engraved on it, so i'm hopin to get my name on the Cork Cup.
Wednesday was a fun night. The UCC Hockey Team had a "hockey night" at the UCC Pub. There was free food and we got to watch some ice hockey on the big screen. It was kind of funny watching all the Irish kids cheer for a sport where they dont know any of the rules.
I'm heading to Dublin this Sunday to play in a tournament with the Cork Revolution. It should be a good bit of craic (fun) as the Irish say. I'm going to try and find someone to take some pictures of the game on my camera since it'll be hard to play and take pictures (i'm not that good yet). I know a few people have been taking pictures but i have no idea where they put them.
Look for a post early next week since i wont be back until late sunday.
Cheers.
Travis
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Cobh
Hello everyone,
This weekend we visited Cobh (pronounced Cove) just outside of the city. It was a pretty fun trip and required taking a train rather than bus. Personally, i've never been on a train except for the tiny one at Kennywood and the rails at the airports, which i dont think count as real trains. I took a few pictures of the station and the train.
I should first include some facts about Cobh so if you're looking at the pictures it makes sense. Cobh was the main harbor for 2.5 million Irish immigrants between 1848 - 1950. The first ever immigrant to pass through Ellis Island was Annie Moore and she left Ireland at Cobh. Also, the Lusitania sank just off Cobh and many survivors were sent to Cobh. Many of those who died in the attack were buried at the Old Church Cemetery in Cobh. The Titanic also made its last port of call at Cobh before it left for the USA. Where the train station is in Cobh now is where the final bags of mail were loaded onto the ship.
We arrived at Cobh at 11:30 and right off the train station was the Cobh Heritage Center. The center included a ton of information about emigration, the Lusitania, the Titanic, and various other uses of the harbor in wars and during the famine. I'll try and put some captions on the pictures in the slideshow rather than explaining everything on here.
After the Heritage Center we saw the statue of Annie Moore and took some pictures of the view from the harbor. We walked through JFK Park which was just a small playground area with some vendors selling baked goods and fruits. We saw the town clock and made our way up the hill to see the massive St. Coleman's Cathedral.
It was quite a hike up a large hill and many steps to the cathedral steps. The view of the Atlantic was amazing. I felt closer to the clouds than the ocean. The Cathedral was massive. Just compare the first pics of the cathedral when i was near the ocean to the pics when i was standing right next to it. It was huge and extremely detailed. The doors to get in were massive and the inside was spectacular. The stained glass windows, altar, confessional booths, ceilings...everything was so beautiful. The inside was massive. There was a forklift inside the cathedral to do work on the ceiling. As we were leaving we noticed the organ. I have never seen anything like this before. The organ pipes had to be over 100ft high. They all pointed up to a huge round stained glass window. I can't really say enough about how beautiful this place was and the pictures surely do it no justice.
After the cathedral we looked for more to do in Cobh, but there wasnt much to see. The town was really small and there wasnt much else to see. We did manage to find the Titanic memorial which was basically just a tiny 3ft tall monument. After the Titanic memorial we saw the Lusitania memorial which was a bit bigger and more interesting. We tried to head up the Cobh museum, but it was closed. We grabbed lunch near the train station and then grabbed the train back to the city.
It was a nice day trip and although there wasnt much to see, what we did see was pretty sweet. The weather was sunny, but the temperature has dropped the past few days and we actually saw a bit of snow on Friday morning.
-----
Not too much else has been going on. I am actually starting to work on some papers and study a bit more since i do have an exam and papers due towards the end of February. Hockey is going well and my team is 3-0. I'm going to Dublin next weekend with the Cork Revolution to play in a tournament which should be a great time. The following weekend we will be heading to Dublin for a Fri-Sun trip.
I have also booked some flights for March and April to do some traveling in Europe. March 7th-8th my friend from Germany, Joe, is coming over and we are heading to Scotland. Then from Scotland we are heading to Sweden. I'm pretty excited about this trip because i'll get to see the original IKEA and see the real meatball scoopers.
March 27 - April 3rd i'll be in Munich visiting Joe then I'm off to Italy for 5 days visiting a few friends in Florence. After Italy i hope to get to Paris and Barcelona, but the plans are still up in the air.
----
I'll talk to you soon!
Travis
This weekend we visited Cobh (pronounced Cove) just outside of the city. It was a pretty fun trip and required taking a train rather than bus. Personally, i've never been on a train except for the tiny one at Kennywood and the rails at the airports, which i dont think count as real trains. I took a few pictures of the station and the train.
I should first include some facts about Cobh so if you're looking at the pictures it makes sense. Cobh was the main harbor for 2.5 million Irish immigrants between 1848 - 1950. The first ever immigrant to pass through Ellis Island was Annie Moore and she left Ireland at Cobh. Also, the Lusitania sank just off Cobh and many survivors were sent to Cobh. Many of those who died in the attack were buried at the Old Church Cemetery in Cobh. The Titanic also made its last port of call at Cobh before it left for the USA. Where the train station is in Cobh now is where the final bags of mail were loaded onto the ship.
We arrived at Cobh at 11:30 and right off the train station was the Cobh Heritage Center. The center included a ton of information about emigration, the Lusitania, the Titanic, and various other uses of the harbor in wars and during the famine. I'll try and put some captions on the pictures in the slideshow rather than explaining everything on here.
After the Heritage Center we saw the statue of Annie Moore and took some pictures of the view from the harbor. We walked through JFK Park which was just a small playground area with some vendors selling baked goods and fruits. We saw the town clock and made our way up the hill to see the massive St. Coleman's Cathedral.
It was quite a hike up a large hill and many steps to the cathedral steps. The view of the Atlantic was amazing. I felt closer to the clouds than the ocean. The Cathedral was massive. Just compare the first pics of the cathedral when i was near the ocean to the pics when i was standing right next to it. It was huge and extremely detailed. The doors to get in were massive and the inside was spectacular. The stained glass windows, altar, confessional booths, ceilings...everything was so beautiful. The inside was massive. There was a forklift inside the cathedral to do work on the ceiling. As we were leaving we noticed the organ. I have never seen anything like this before. The organ pipes had to be over 100ft high. They all pointed up to a huge round stained glass window. I can't really say enough about how beautiful this place was and the pictures surely do it no justice.
After the cathedral we looked for more to do in Cobh, but there wasnt much to see. The town was really small and there wasnt much else to see. We did manage to find the Titanic memorial which was basically just a tiny 3ft tall monument. After the Titanic memorial we saw the Lusitania memorial which was a bit bigger and more interesting. We tried to head up the Cobh museum, but it was closed. We grabbed lunch near the train station and then grabbed the train back to the city.
It was a nice day trip and although there wasnt much to see, what we did see was pretty sweet. The weather was sunny, but the temperature has dropped the past few days and we actually saw a bit of snow on Friday morning.
-----
Not too much else has been going on. I am actually starting to work on some papers and study a bit more since i do have an exam and papers due towards the end of February. Hockey is going well and my team is 3-0. I'm going to Dublin next weekend with the Cork Revolution to play in a tournament which should be a great time. The following weekend we will be heading to Dublin for a Fri-Sun trip.
I have also booked some flights for March and April to do some traveling in Europe. March 7th-8th my friend from Germany, Joe, is coming over and we are heading to Scotland. Then from Scotland we are heading to Sweden. I'm pretty excited about this trip because i'll get to see the original IKEA and see the real meatball scoopers.
March 27 - April 3rd i'll be in Munich visiting Joe then I'm off to Italy for 5 days visiting a few friends in Florence. After Italy i hope to get to Paris and Barcelona, but the plans are still up in the air.
----
I'll talk to you soon!
Travis
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