Czech it out!

Helloooo all! Almost 3 weeks ago now Meghan and I packed our bags to go to on our Europe trip.  On April 10th we caught a bus to Dublin at 4am.  At 10:30am we boarded our three hour Aer Lingus flight to Prague.

The Czech Republic is not on the Euro so Meghan and I exchanged some money into Koruny.  The currency has really high units.  Don't be fooled by this picture, each of these bills is about $27. If only these were bills from the US!

After we landed we took a bus into the city.  We checked into the Old Town Hostel right in the middle of Prague.  After dropping off our stuff we went walking around.  Prague had a week long Easter festival that was still going on so there were a ton of craft vendors, food vendors, and a big stage set up for dancers and singers!  Here are pictures of the Old Town Square.

One of the first things that we did was climb to the top of the Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square.  The view out of this clock tower was amazing! It was a beautiful day and we were able to see the whole city!  

After climbing back down to the bottom we went for dinner and drinks.  Pilsner as some of you know is the popular Czech beer. The traditional dish in the Czech Republic is goulash.  Both were delicious!

The next morning Meghan and I woke up early for a segway tour of Prague. When walking to the segway office we walked on the famous St. Charles bridge over the Vltava River.  We passed over it early enough where there weren't a lot of tourists and got some great photos! We also passed the United States embassy.  There was a Czech police man on every corner surrounding the embassy.  If any car drove down the road in front of the embassy, their car got searched and looked at underneath with mirrors.  It was pretty entertaining to watch.  We didn't see anything like this in front of any of the other embassys that we saw that day.

Meghan and I went on a 1.5 hour segway tour.  It was just me, Meghan, and our tour guide Adele.  Adele was so nice and told us a lot of interesting things around the city!  Meghan and I got the hang of segwaying pretty quick once we had a few practice loops around the side street. The tour was early so there weren't many people on the sidewalks, good thing!

After the segway tour we made our way up to Prague Castle.  The Prague Castle has the largest castle grounds than any other castle in the world.  

This is a picture of St. Vitus's Cathedral inside the castle grounds.  When looking at the outside, it was the most ridiculous church I have ever seen.  It was so different from any other Irish church that we have seen!

After the castle we made our way to the Strahov Monestary for a beautiful view of the city!  The monks at this monestary brew beer! We couldn't help ourselves and had to try a pint of Pivovar Matuska. It was pretty good!

After the monastery we walked around Petrin Park, had a couple more beers at a pub down on the river, and then took advantage of some great mexican food at The Cantina.  That night Meghan and I went on a pub crawl.  After 2.5 hours of unlimited beer, wine, vodka, rum, and absinth you can imagine that there aren't any blog worthy pictures.

On Thursday morning we walked around a part of the city called New Town.  We walked around Wenseslas square.  

I tried a traditional Czech pastry from the stall shown below.  It was a thin pasty rolled around a hot iron tube to cook and then rolled in cinnamon sugar.  As you can imagine, it was delicious!

On Thursday night Meghan and I went to a Cuban dance club that was recommended by Adele, our segway tour guide.  We had a couple mojitos and then headed back to the hostel.  The next morning we headed back to the airport. Destination Paris!

Prague has been one of my favorite cities that I have visited.  All of the buildings were so old, restored well, and the streets were all cobblestone.  It was so beautiful! Meghan and I felt like we were walking around in a different century almost.  We also enjoyed that weren't a lot of American tourists around.  Although most people spoke Czech, the Czech workers knew enough for us to get by!  I'll definitely be making my way back to Prague at some point in my life.

Here we come Europe!

In just three hours Meghan and I will be hoping on a bus to go to Dublin.  At 11am we will be boarding a plane to go to Prague, Czech Republic.  I won't have a computer with me for these next two weeks but I will be making posts when I can get to one!  Here's our itinerary again:

April 10: Arrive in Prague, check into Old Prague Hostel, explore Old Town
April 11: Segway tour of Prague, Prague Castle
April 12: Explore New Town
April 13: Fly to Paris

April 13-April 16: Paris, France.  In Paris Meghan and I will be traveling around with our friend Michael and his parents.  We will be staying in an apartment with them.

April 17: Fly to Venice, Italy with Meghan and Michael.  We will be arriving early, spending the whole day in Venice, then taking a late night train to Florence, Italy.

April 18-20: Explore Florence, Italy with Meghan and Michael.

April 20-23: Take a train to Rome, Italy.  Meghan, Michael, and I will be meeting up with my mom in Rome!  We will be staying at a B&B.

April 23: Meghan, my mom, and I will be flying back to Cork later in the evening.

Well there it is.  Meghan and I are SO excited!  We have spent the past couple days getting our stuff ready.  We have finished packing now and we are now just patiently waiting to leave my apartment for the bus!  I will talk to you all when I can.

Back to Galway!

On Thursday morning Andrea and I left Limerick and made our way to our last stop, Galway.  We stayed at  Snoozles Hostel.  This hostel was the nicest that I have ever stayed at!  It was very comfortable.  

On Thursday Andrea and I walked around the city, went into shops for souvenirs, and went to a cafe for lunch.  

We made our way down to Galway Bay and walked along the water for an hour or two.  It was a beautiful day!  That night Andrea made our rounds to a few local pubs.

This past weekend was the annual Galway Food Festival!  It looks like we couldn't have picked a better weekend to be there.  On Friday and Saturday they had food demos and lots and lots of booths with delicious local and ethnic food.

We walked through the Galway market where Andrea and I each bought a Galway painting from a local artist and I picked up some souvenirs.

Since it was a festival weekend there were a lot of musicians out on the street performing.  These were some local kids playing traditional Irish music.  They were great and drew quite a crowd!

Friday night was Good Friday.  Good Friday is one of the two days of the year (and Christmas) where the pubs close in Ireland. (Gasp!)  Alcohol can't be purchased in grocery stores or liquor stores either.  Andrea and I decided to make dinner in the hostel and go to the cinema (...as they call it) that night to see a movie instead.  We saw to 21 Jump Street.  If anyone's looking for a good laugh we highly recommend it!

On Saturday morning Andrea and I walked around the Food Festival some more then got on a bus to go back to Cork.  On Easter Sunday Andrea flew back to Minnesota.  We had a great week together!

Limerick & Cliffs of Moher

On Tuesday morning Andrea and I packed our bags and took a bus from Killarney to Limerick City.  In Limerick we stayed at a hotel called Jury's Inn.  It was a really nice hotel and we had a great view of the Shannon River!  Here's our view below.

One of my roommates in Cork, Lorna, lives just 20 minutes away from Limerick.  On Tuesday night Lorna picked up Andrea and I and brought us back to her house for dinner with her parents.  We had salad, lasagna, and apple tart.  It was delicious and great to have a home cooked meal!  After dinner Lorna drove us around a little village called Adare and showed us around Limerick City.

On Wednesday morning Andrea and I woke up bright and early to take a Paddywagon tour to the Cliffs of Moher.  Paddywagon is pretty much the tackiest tour company in Ireland.  They go to a bunch of different places in Ireland for a really good price!  

On the way to the Cliffs of Moher we drove through a region called The Buren.  Our first stop was the Poulnabrone Dolmen.  This is a 5,000 year old portal tomb in the middle of no where.  The mystery of this tomb is how the rocks were lifted and put in place.  The capstone on top weighs 5 tons!

We drove past many cemeteries.  In the picture below you can see those smaller boulders placed throughout the cemetery.  During the potato famine, cemeteries could not keep up with the demand for grave stones and ran out space for the number and rate of deaths in Ireland.  These unmarked boulders are mass graves that had to be made to bury victims.

We stopped in a small town called Doolin for lunch.

Next we made our way to the Cliffs of Moher on the western coast of Irealnd.  The Cliffs of Moher look out to the Atlantic Ocean.

Andrea and I had about two hours to walk around on the cliffs.  After walking around the park with safety walls and barriers we made our way past the "DO NOT CROSS" signs to explore the cliffs some more.  There are well defined paths past this sign and almost everyone crosses it.  Don't worry.

After you cross over this wall, there are absolutely no railings or walls between you and the 800 foot drop to the ocean.  In this picture about 6 feet in front of me is the vertical drop off!

On Wednesday night Andrea and I went out for dinner, listened to some Irish music, and went to a night club.  We had a great time!  I'll be back in Limerick City for my birthday weekend.

Killarney & Gap of Dunloe

On Sunday Andrea and I packed our bags for a six day adventure.  Our first stop was Killarney, a town just west of Cork.  We stayed in Neptunes Town Hostel, a hostel right in the city centre. 

On Monday morning we got up bright and early for our day at the Gap of Dunloe.  The Gap of Dunloe is a narrow mountain pass between the largest mountains in Ireland.  

When Andrea and I were booking this tour we had the option of walking, riding in a "jaunting car", or riding a pony through the Gap of Dunloe.  Andrea and I were seeking adventure and were hoping to ride a pony down the 7 mile road.  When we told the farmer our decision he looked us up and down, made this crazy face, and asked us if we had "pony experience".  We did not know this was requirement.  Unless he thought that riding a horse at summer camp once would cut it, I didn't think I was qualified.  We also learned that there would be no guide leading us.  Just me, Andrea, and two ponies.  We decided to go with the "jaunting car" which is essentially a horse and carriage.

Andrea and I hopped in the cart, got really cozy with a random couple, and started on the trail through the Gap of Dunloe.  Although it was overcast, the scenery was amazing!  

It was our horse's first day back from a long lazy winter so his owner ran next to the horse for the whole 7 miles!  

At the end of the 7 mile trail we entered the Killarney National Park.  

After eating lunch at a little cafe we got on the next leg of our journey, a boat!  This boat would take us through the chain of lakes and rivers back into Killarney.  

About half way back to Killarney it started down pouring rain.  Luckily the driver had some tarps for us.  Being on this small boat on a choppy lake was quite scary though!

That night Meghan, our friend Michael, my roommate Laura, and her boyfriend Johnny came to Killarney to go out.  They all joined Andrea and I in our hostel room.  Next stop...Limerick!