tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38445647412452157582024-03-13T14:49:39.980-07:00Dublin Meets Sarah O'KonradI'm a badger from Wisconsin working as an actuary in the great state of Connecticut, and started this blog to share my experiences in Dublin, Ireland where I'll be living and working for 6 months. Enjoy!Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-26024952875092295952011-08-01T10:58:00.000-07:002011-08-03T14:02:17.793-07:00Trekkin' in Croatia & Bosnia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This past weekend was pure bliss!! I spent the long bank holiday weekend in Dubrovnik, a small coastal village in Croatia on the Adriatic sea, and I must say, I am in LOVE with this place!!! The city is absolutely gorgeous, and the clear turquoise water is so refreshing after laying out in the hot sun. Made sure to spf it up so i didn't come home looking like a tomoato. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I arrived early Friday afternoon and checked in to my hostel. The hostel is family-run: mom, dad, and their 6 kids. The mom was absolutely amazing and really treats all the travelers as if they're her own kids - I was greeted upon check-in with a delicious spaghetti with mussels and home-made tomato sauce. SOOOOO yummy. I think I gained like 5 pounds over the weekend just eating all of her amazing cooking. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After the great meal I really just wanted to take a nap (I'd been up since 4am for 6am flight), however, I pushed through the pain and hopped on a bus to explore the old town. I didn't have my camera with me, but here are some pics of what the city looks like:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sJwXgU_MtyM/TjbW9EFK3TI/AAAAAAAADEA/kikFVAAqY4E/s1600/Dubrovnik2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sJwXgU_MtyM/TjbW9EFK3TI/AAAAAAAADEA/kikFVAAqY4E/s320/Dubrovnik2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1xqdwdj_-2w/TjbW9pYF9xI/AAAAAAAADEE/TCvC61LknrM/s1600/Dubrovnik3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="109" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1xqdwdj_-2w/TjbW9pYF9xI/AAAAAAAADEE/TCvC61LknrM/s320/Dubrovnik3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wqbJdCUmxqI/TjbW-HhKQYI/AAAAAAAADEI/qcoKRG1PUxg/s1600/Dubrovnik4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wqbJdCUmxqI/TjbW-HhKQYI/AAAAAAAADEI/qcoKRG1PUxg/s1600/Dubrovnik4.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BGXBVyzurfQ/TjbW_VeJ1XI/AAAAAAAADEM/u6M4-Qp8zTo/s1600/Dubrovnik5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BGXBVyzurfQ/TjbW_VeJ1XI/AAAAAAAADEM/u6M4-Qp8zTo/s320/Dubrovnik5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The next day I got up early to try to plead my way into the hostel's Bosnia day trip (all 6 slots had been filled). Luckily our guide (one of the sons of the hostel owner) was in a good mood and let me squish in the backseat of the van. Our group consisted of one Argentinian, one Brazilian, 3 girls from Ohio State who were studying abroad in Italy, and one girl from the Isle of Man. I asked her if people from there call themselves "Mannish", but i guess it's not that easy - they're actually called "Manx." Apparently "Mannish" didn't fly with the ladies from the Isle.<br />
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First stop: coffee break at random shop/bar in the middle of nowhere in Croatia mountains.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xdG9bMLXXYw/TjbXBOpLd-I/AAAAAAAADEQ/uvJeSVS-LMc/s1600/P7302294a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xdG9bMLXXYw/TjbXBOpLd-I/AAAAAAAADEQ/uvJeSVS-LMc/s320/P7302294a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> The random villagers we met were some of the most generous people on earth. They were a group of old men, drinking wine at 10am, and grilling meat over charcoal in a wheelbarrow. Yes, a wheelbarrow. And I thought Ryan and I were unique with our parking-lot tailgates...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z15N1bDTSLQ/Tjm3D_A9AjI/AAAAAAAADF8/68_3qb-nTO8/s1600/Born+to+Grill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z15N1bDTSLQ/Tjm3D_A9AjI/AAAAAAAADF8/68_3qb-nTO8/s320/Born+to+Grill.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">the essential summer accessory</div><br />
We wanted to take a group picture with them and I thought it would be funny to take it with a watermelon, but then the men were so generous (or else misunderstood) that they just gave us the watermelon!! So our guide chopped it up and we were in watermelon heaven.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rXH_XiFZmF0/TjbXCoelM0I/AAAAAAAADEU/trZtLUw4EL0/s1600/P7302296a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rXH_XiFZmF0/TjbXCoelM0I/AAAAAAAADEU/trZtLUw4EL0/s320/P7302296a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O8lbPIBmT4w/TjbXDsgfH1I/AAAAAAAADEY/snuoJLKMOEQ/s1600/P7302297a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O8lbPIBmT4w/TjbXDsgfH1I/AAAAAAAADEY/snuoJLKMOEQ/s320/P7302297a.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Argentinian riding the tractor - probably what the men used as transport to get to the bar! </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oNBdaSi3RAE/TjbXFo8LjkI/AAAAAAAADEc/t5_w87ol9_A/s1600/P7302301a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oNBdaSi3RAE/TjbXFo8LjkI/AAAAAAAADEc/t5_w87ol9_A/s320/P7302301a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Tiny church in the hills. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nCFCJSMAJTE/TjbXHBiwCII/AAAAAAAADEg/bbcoLBzvAJM/s1600/P7302307a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nCFCJSMAJTE/TjbXHBiwCII/AAAAAAAADEg/bbcoLBzvAJM/s320/P7302307a.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Ibi (our guide) was all about the pictures...</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s0Kd_Y-Uv14/TjbXIJmVqDI/AAAAAAAADEk/iExRspqyiiE/s1600/P7302328a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s0Kd_Y-Uv14/TjbXIJmVqDI/AAAAAAAADEk/iExRspqyiiE/s320/P7302328a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ibi took us to a cave that he'd actually never been to before but thought we'd enjoy exploring since it only recently opened to the public. It's the oldest and largest cave in Eastern Europe. The OSU girls were obsessed with taking O-H-I-O pictures everywhere...ughhh. Although, they're clearly not english majors given their spelling of O-I-H-O above...</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uSttUO3YyQA/TjbXJAhgp9I/AAAAAAAADEo/ecUdhFZUCNo/s1600/P7302344a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uSttUO3YyQA/TjbXJAhgp9I/AAAAAAAADEo/ecUdhFZUCNo/s320/P7302344a.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ySPGcmMPfsY/TjbXJzHNw5I/AAAAAAAADEs/3h_D4aWkwKM/s1600/P7302360a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ySPGcmMPfsY/TjbXJzHNw5I/AAAAAAAADEs/3h_D4aWkwKM/s320/P7302360a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The "human fish." It's the skinny white worm-looking thing. It's albino and blind, and a species unique to this cave. It's called human fish because it has skin instead of scales - one of the guys in our group actually picked it up and let it slither on his hand!!! I guess it's like some prehistoric type of creature or something. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pey2sfoQ0UM/TjbXK3cyYAI/AAAAAAAADEw/VVmVliJwr2s/s1600/P7302372a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pey2sfoQ0UM/TjbXK3cyYAI/AAAAAAAADEw/VVmVliJwr2s/s320/P7302372a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">and we made it out alive! </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nOuTbIDQge4/TjbXL4NX1tI/AAAAAAAADE0/WytOwLq1wp4/s1600/P7302374a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nOuTbIDQge4/TjbXL4NX1tI/AAAAAAAADE0/WytOwLq1wp4/s320/P7302374a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> ughhh...again?</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rWLS_nkGugU/TjbXMmUaWrI/AAAAAAAADE4/kPX9QPwzsu8/s1600/P7302375a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rWLS_nkGugU/TjbXMmUaWrI/AAAAAAAADE4/kPX9QPwzsu8/s320/P7302375a.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We stopped at a really old necropolis in Bosnia. The gravestones tell a story about the person buried underneath. There were also cannabis plants growing all over the place which one of the guys in our group took a particular liking to and took like 30 pictures! </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-26ocAew7LPU/TjbXN3X_KBI/AAAAAAAADE8/bKHLJvXvH-Q/s1600/P7302376a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-26ocAew7LPU/TjbXN3X_KBI/AAAAAAAADE8/bKHLJvXvH-Q/s320/P7302376a.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U2vDSbMi9Qg/TjbXOyE1uzI/AAAAAAAADFA/75XhKATr7Lk/s1600/P7302379a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U2vDSbMi9Qg/TjbXOyE1uzI/AAAAAAAADFA/75XhKATr7Lk/s320/P7302379a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-145Nho7G_ac/TjbXP_53yTI/AAAAAAAADFE/bA9jTOpvSNI/s1600/P7302388a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-145Nho7G_ac/TjbXP_53yTI/AAAAAAAADFE/bA9jTOpvSNI/s320/P7302388a.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Old castle in the background at another stop where wild pomegranates were growing. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kOfNDEnW3I0/TjbXR7SYi5I/AAAAAAAADFI/17pP57cq-kg/s1600/P7302399a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kOfNDEnW3I0/TjbXR7SYi5I/AAAAAAAADFI/17pP57cq-kg/s320/P7302399a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">And the best attraction of the trip which everyone came to see was the Kravice waterfalls in Bosnia.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BR5addVHd4E/TjbXTV-zz9I/AAAAAAAADFM/ECSVMIIf6n8/s1600/P7302404a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BR5addVHd4E/TjbXTV-zz9I/AAAAAAAADFM/ECSVMIIf6n8/s320/P7302404a.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sOOs34pcRrg/TjbXVf6QBLI/AAAAAAAADFQ/iRc_hSC5Zok/s1600/P7302424a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sOOs34pcRrg/TjbXVf6QBLI/AAAAAAAADFQ/iRc_hSC5Zok/s320/P7302424a.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-COX8KwCRzmI/TjbXWsy6a_I/AAAAAAAADFU/JyO5zd0-LKw/s1600/P7302430a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="106" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-COX8KwCRzmI/TjbXWsy6a_I/AAAAAAAADFU/JyO5zd0-LKw/s320/P7302430a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-90GFmMJarLw/TjbXYn3iKUI/AAAAAAAADFY/NCBaogGmtNw/s1600/P7302431a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-90GFmMJarLw/TjbXYn3iKUI/AAAAAAAADFY/NCBaogGmtNw/s320/P7302431a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MI3pqg5abmY/TjbXaCR0iBI/AAAAAAAADFc/vNRGEbYxzPM/s1600/P7302435a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="129" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MI3pqg5abmY/TjbXaCR0iBI/AAAAAAAADFc/vNRGEbYxzPM/s320/P7302435a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I sabotaged this OSU picture by making a "W" instead of an "O." Muah ha ha ha haaaa...</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dX7faB-6f5M/TjbXbflFPQI/AAAAAAAADFg/Egzr6kBkeWY/s1600/P7302437a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dX7faB-6f5M/TjbXbflFPQI/AAAAAAAADFg/Egzr6kBkeWY/s320/P7302437a.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4FH3U24hZ78/TjbXeFyu98I/AAAAAAAADFk/utLhUt_Lbx4/s1600/P7302441a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4FH3U24hZ78/TjbXeFyu98I/AAAAAAAADFk/utLhUt_Lbx4/s320/P7302441a.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">In case you didn't know, i'm the albino one on the left. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ubYVPWXopSE/TjbXgwgfBEI/AAAAAAAADFo/ps3DZqQqJeE/s1600/P7302445a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ubYVPWXopSE/TjbXgwgfBEI/AAAAAAAADFo/ps3DZqQqJeE/s320/P7302445a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hB6nIRKMsME/TjbXhzwecbI/AAAAAAAADFs/LJ7IEh5CxDE/s1600/P7302451aa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hB6nIRKMsME/TjbXhzwecbI/AAAAAAAADFs/LJ7IEh5CxDE/s320/P7302451aa.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Our guide Ibi - trying to make is muscles look big...haha </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-467Z0AZwQUc/TjbXjQeUSGI/AAAAAAAADFw/hrbERHkgKE8/s1600/P7302452a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-467Z0AZwQUc/TjbXjQeUSGI/AAAAAAAADFw/hrbERHkgKE8/s320/P7302452a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">One last pic before saying goodbye to Kravice. </div><br />
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One of the guys wanted to stop at Medugorje Catholic church - it's the 3rd largest pilgrimage location in Europe due to reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary and the site of several miracles, and more than a million people travel to this tiny village every year to pay their respects. <br />
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After visiting the church, we had a bit of a late lunch at 6pm. I think were about 4 hours of so behind schedule (the cave tour was not planned), but our guide said we were the best group he'd ever taken and so he was happy to give us the "VIP" tour!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LJLv93wIp8Q/TjbXk3saxSI/AAAAAAAADF0/dLr_VCx7-7E/s1600/P7302455a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LJLv93wIp8Q/TjbXk3saxSI/AAAAAAAADF0/dLr_VCx7-7E/s320/P7302455a.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> I love the Brazilian's eyes in the background - ready to dig in! The meal we were served started with homemade bread, organic local salad, sheep's cheese that you can only find in the tiny village we were in, roasted lamb on a spit with potatoes (again, all local), and chocolate cake for desert - grandma's recipe. This was by far the best meal of the whole trip!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aP9Ger7IA3c/TjbXllaZAKI/AAAAAAAADF4/Wiw_hLldJs0/s1600/P7302464a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aP9Ger7IA3c/TjbXllaZAKI/AAAAAAAADF4/Wiw_hLldJs0/s320/P7302464a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Our final stop was to see a famous bridge in Mostar, Bosnia. People actually jump off of it (30 meters or so), but only professionals.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So after that we began the long trek back to Croatia, with a hiccup along the way. The Brazilian had no problem getting out of Croatia and into Bosnia, but then on the way back they didn't want to let him back in to Croatia because his passport was invalid!! Apparently he has 2 passports (one with US visa but cancelled), and the other is valid. Well, he brought the wrong one! I guess they were able to sweet-talk their way over the border, but it was kind of scary because the hostel was still 2 hours away and we didn't want to leave him in Bosnia. We also took a different route the way back, so we had to cross over between Croatia and Bosnia several times. After the first hiccup, the Brazilian had the clever idea of just stacking all the passports together, opened to the photo page, so what border control wanted to see was quickly available and they didn't page through all the passports (all the other pages of his passport were stamped invalid). And it actually worked!!! Border control barely looked at the passports, and didn't even look in the van to see if the people actually matched the pictures in the passports! A bit different from US border control... We finally got back at 12:30am (instead of 8pm as planned), but it was well worth it for getting to see some of the extra sites.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">On my last day I just relaxed on the beach and swam in the clear blue water. Ate some more of Mom's great cooking and took another trip into old town to say goodbye one last time. After dinner I watched the Big Lebowski with some Aussies in the movie room downstairs and played with a stray kitten the hostel owners had found that day and decided to adopt. He fell asleep right on my stomach and was the most precious thing ever! He definitely found the right place to wander to because I know this family and all the travelers will take very good care of him and Mom will surely fatten him up. :)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Three days was definitely not enough time for Dubrovnik and I really hope to get back here again (with Ry this time) to do some more exploring and enjoy the beautiful scenery and blue waters. It went by way too fast! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div>Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-77710868026736754032011-07-14T10:59:00.000-07:002011-07-14T10:59:17.921-07:00Rugby PhotosOne of the IT guys came to watch our championship rugby game last thursday and took something like 600 photos! i won't post all 600, but here are some of the best ones...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MJ107xcWb5k/ThtuWD4nokI/AAAAAAAADCI/zz0CuWyICnA/s1600/i-4zRdgGS-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MJ107xcWb5k/ThtuWD4nokI/AAAAAAAADCI/zz0CuWyICnA/s320/i-4zRdgGS-L.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> i can tag him with my eyes closed!</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fH92DDN9q7M/ThtuWoeqGGI/AAAAAAAADCM/3WDdgO4zho4/s1600/i-5hccc4x-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fH92DDN9q7M/ThtuWoeqGGI/AAAAAAAADCM/3WDdgO4zho4/s320/i-5hccc4x-L.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5UYRbaX90VM/ThtuXTX_l4I/AAAAAAAADCQ/iXYs8PlXHHc/s1600/i-8H9VXCg-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5UYRbaX90VM/ThtuXTX_l4I/AAAAAAAADCQ/iXYs8PlXHHc/s320/i-8H9VXCg-L.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">our injured players on the sidelines</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SGhCUJ8JVwI/ThtuYuOm5QI/AAAAAAAADCY/ZeslOh-7mBk/s1600/i-FJTjBkW-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SGhCUJ8JVwI/ThtuYuOm5QI/AAAAAAAADCY/ZeslOh-7mBk/s320/i-FJTjBkW-XL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">go for the TAG seamus not the..err...oh boy.</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n0xPEdnfwRg/ThtuZK3p2jI/AAAAAAAADCc/gIjziX70Ltg/s1600/i-fMSmTN5-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n0xPEdnfwRg/ThtuZK3p2jI/AAAAAAAADCc/gIjziX70Ltg/s320/i-fMSmTN5-XL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">unstoppable</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qrL9iFoMPCc/ThtuaBx6jVI/AAAAAAAADCg/UycZHNM_Ox8/s1600/i-JvXmffq-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qrL9iFoMPCc/ThtuaBx6jVI/AAAAAAAADCg/UycZHNM_Ox8/s320/i-JvXmffq-L.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">the look of determination</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jFDygYm1o8M/ThtubWhukgI/AAAAAAAADCk/DHBwqNQJ7tY/s1600/i-kMGCDZ2-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jFDygYm1o8M/ThtubWhukgI/AAAAAAAADCk/DHBwqNQJ7tY/s320/i-kMGCDZ2-XL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">for some reason i'm always smiling </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F5niTZ6mRbU/ThtucN1ITMI/AAAAAAAADCo/hxiWhprvvjQ/s1600/i-LPvs4rD-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F5niTZ6mRbU/ThtucN1ITMI/AAAAAAAADCo/hxiWhprvvjQ/s320/i-LPvs4rD-XL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">gotcha! HA!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CNhTDxf4jB8/ThtudjWib3I/AAAAAAAADCw/iDj4zMyGbks/s1600/i-NQfhHkV-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CNhTDxf4jB8/ThtudjWib3I/AAAAAAAADCw/iDj4zMyGbks/s320/i-NQfhHkV-L.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">don't even think about it buster.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EmYhwLa5bJc/Thtuf7JHqrI/AAAAAAAADC8/WHR3FbNQKOg/s1600/i-sTkj46B-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EmYhwLa5bJc/Thtuf7JHqrI/AAAAAAAADC8/WHR3FbNQKOg/s320/i-sTkj46B-L.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Daniel learned he can't go through people on this play...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LMSpeB1MrGw/ThtuggvdphI/AAAAAAAADDA/ghU6fvsKZVE/s1600/i-svdxcpC-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LMSpeB1MrGw/ThtuggvdphI/AAAAAAAADDA/ghU6fvsKZVE/s320/i-svdxcpC-XL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">which one! oh no! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MjDq7dvRDDM/ThtuhR4SQZI/AAAAAAAADDE/tErLB1P7eT0/s1600/i-TJtWHCC-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MjDq7dvRDDM/ThtuhR4SQZI/AAAAAAAADDE/tErLB1P7eT0/s320/i-TJtWHCC-L.jpg" width="233" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">fashion shoot!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4jgHNefCcjg/ThtuiAzulJI/AAAAAAAADDI/TsZnLrDv2_8/s1600/i-vDrGg9H-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4jgHNefCcjg/ThtuiAzulJI/AAAAAAAADDI/TsZnLrDv2_8/s320/i-vDrGg9H-L.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">what the?!...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jGJ4-hW4n0M/Thtui2oZPUI/AAAAAAAADDM/V0ts9JJ32Rc/s1600/i-vpZCKdW-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jGJ4-hW4n0M/Thtui2oZPUI/AAAAAAAADDM/V0ts9JJ32Rc/s320/i-vpZCKdW-XL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">that is a look of ferocity</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-smAyxw7NEIQ/ThtujYkzcbI/AAAAAAAADDQ/EZyIb3_yUN4/s1600/i-vVsxF6P-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-smAyxw7NEIQ/ThtujYkzcbI/AAAAAAAADDQ/EZyIb3_yUN4/s320/i-vVsxF6P-XL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">how low can you go...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kBIqaocAH9Y/ThtulIrUXdI/AAAAAAAADDY/mgI0vuqXIkA/s1600/i-xb6WfGd-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kBIqaocAH9Y/ThtulIrUXdI/AAAAAAAADDY/mgI0vuqXIkA/s320/i-xb6WfGd-L.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D9rlJqh-sc8/ThtumBE3d-I/AAAAAAAADDc/D4Z1BpB6p0I/s1600/i-xkd5gqs-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D9rlJqh-sc8/ThtumBE3d-I/AAAAAAAADDc/D4Z1BpB6p0I/s320/i-xkd5gqs-XL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">watch out - he's gonna hurl!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J4QVRJTqvFo/Thtunurn5wI/AAAAAAAADDk/_QQ0N8iwsPs/s1600/i-ZfBnNdS-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J4QVRJTqvFo/Thtunurn5wI/AAAAAAAADDk/_QQ0N8iwsPs/s320/i-ZfBnNdS-XL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FRkk9SaK9Eo/Thtuoibz0SI/AAAAAAAADDo/KPLju70G0WM/s1600/i-zPVVCXQ-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FRkk9SaK9Eo/Thtuoibz0SI/AAAAAAAADDo/KPLju70G0WM/s320/i-zPVVCXQ-XL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0odgm-FB2nA/ThtuehrGOZI/AAAAAAAADC0/zfunKRESUtk/s1600/i-PLXCxMf-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0odgm-FB2nA/ThtuehrGOZI/AAAAAAAADC0/zfunKRESUtk/s320/i-PLXCxMf-L.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Champions!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lItoNdrroM4/Thtum7TZvuI/AAAAAAAADDg/Io2nxGXdrzI/s1600/i-XThkbZc-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lItoNdrroM4/Thtum7TZvuI/AAAAAAAADDg/Io2nxGXdrzI/s320/i-XThkbZc-L.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The End!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So now that we got a taste of glory, I think we're ready to go pro. :) But really, it was such a fun season and even more fun to win a trophy! it's really a great bunch, and hopefully we can do another season because i have no idea what to do with my thursday nights anymore...</div>Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-48580358021827721452011-07-10T04:07:00.000-07:002011-07-10T04:21:44.371-07:00BerlinHello again! So Berlin was a pretty cool city. My brother has lived there for a while so he knew the place pretty well and was able to show me around. Since I only had 2 days there, I had to narrow down the sights to see. The highlights of the trip were definitely the Stasi Prison and the city bike tour (i know, another bike tour!) Unfortunately I got robbed in Dublin last weekend in a nightclub (wallet, 500 euros, credit cards, car keys, apartment keys, ID's, camera, phone...basically everything except my passport!), so i no longer have my pictures from Berlin. So i'll paint the pictures for you the best i can...<br />
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The Stasi Prison was outside the city center, and i think most tourists never make it there since it's quite a ways off the beaten path. After WWII the Soviet Secret Police took over the prison and held Nazi war criminals there. However in 1951the East German Ministry took it over, it soon became a place of imprisonment for anyone deemed a threat to the communist regime of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The interesting thing about this prison is that all the tour guides are ex-prisoners of this Stasi prison themselves, so they're able to share their personal stories and experiences with the visitors. Our guide was imprisoned there for 6 months, and her crime was "having thoughts of action against the GDR." Her interrogators still live freely in the area near the prison.<br />
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There were so many torture methods used here and a couple especially stood out. As part of interrogations/punishment, Stasi guards enacted Chinese water tourture - a slow, steady drop of water to the forehead for days, weeks even. At first it feels like a drop of water, but after a while each drop feels like a boulder being smashed into the head, and prisoners literally went mad and lost their minds forever after such torture. The reason this method was used was because it left no marks of physical abuse on the body, so it was very difficult to prove that you had been tortured if you had received this abuse. <br />
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The second shocking torture method was solitary confinement in a completely dark room, circular in shape with rubber padded walls. Because there was no light and the room was circular, the prisoner would very quickly lose his orientation and not be able to tell how large the room was, or how many days had passed. In addition, the prisoner was left with a bucket to use for going to the bathroom. However, due to the lack of orientation, prisoners often tripped over the bucket of their own waste, and then in an effort to wipe themselves off, only spread the waste over their bodies even more. Eventually, after being locked in a room like this for days, or even weeks, the prisoners would be released, and come out of the room covered in their own feces. Pretty disgusting.<br />
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On a more positive note, the bike tour the next day was a lot of fun. My tour guide was from Dublin, so we were able to joke about some of the pubs and areas of the city. On the tour we cycled through the Brandenburg Gate (separated East/West Germany), former sections of the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Hitler's Bunker, Reichstag (Germany's famous parliament building), Bebelplatz (sight of infamous Nazi book-burning), and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. <br />
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Checkpoint Charlie was really neat because there was a big wall with different stories of attempted escapes of people trying to get from the East to the West - some more successful than others. My personal favorite was a story about a boyfriend and girlfriend. Basically, when the Wall went up, it went up overnight one night and no one had been prepared for this - it was a complete surprise to the population. So families were separated, people who worked in the East but lived in the West were stuck on one side and could no longer get to the other, etc... One couple got separated because the guy was in the West and the girl was in the East at the time. So, the guy found a different girl in the West who looked just like his girlfriend and wooed her and started to date her. He took her on a trip to the East (westerners could travel east, but easterners could not travel west). Once in the East, he ditched that girl, stole her passport, found his real girlfriend, and got himself and his real girlfriend back over to the west using the passport of the girl that he just left over there on the East! Talk about a smooth operator...haha<br />
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It was a short weekend, but got a lot packed in. It still amazes me that I can get on a 2-hour flight and be in Berlin!!! It's a very new city - everything got destroyed in WWII and has been rebuilt. The Berlin Wall only came down in 1989, so a lot of the history of East/West is still alive. It's eerie thinking that the Stasi interrogators just live a few blocks away from where my tour guide works. There's still many former Stasi guards and former secret police informants who live all over Berlin, and i think that's what gives me the heebie-jeebies. <br />
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On another note, we had a Finance/Actuarial team-building night out last weekend which was fab! We went to the dog races at Harold's Cross where I bet on (and lost!) every single race. But it was a lot of fun and something i'd never done before. The only races i've been to are the piglet-races at State Fair in Wisconsin every summer - where the pigs chase an oreo cookie and they probably all get turned into bacon afterwards...<br />
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And one more announcement - the Hartford s-TAG's won the division championship (we got a trophy!!) Here's a team photo:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vEnpkZJYKVg/ThmLIvXelGI/AAAAAAAADB0/VvNZ8VerGh4/s1600/DSC_0040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vEnpkZJYKVg/ThmLIvXelGI/AAAAAAAADB0/VvNZ8VerGh4/s320/DSC_0040.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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That's it for now. Happy belated 4th of July! :)Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-30169641680389914212011-06-20T14:31:00.000-07:002011-06-22T04:00:58.024-07:00SheepishTop o' the afternoon my blokes and birds! As I write this I’m on a plane to Berlin to visit my brother, so I’ve got some time to kill to recap the past couple of weeks. Let’s see…well of course the highlight of the month was another wonderful visit from Ryan – he came out to see me for a week at the beginning of June. Although I had to bring home the bacon during the week, Ryan and I made the most of our time and went out in the evenings and had a great weekend. For starters – we went to see The Hangover II in city center. Not as good as the first one, but still had us laughing as we were brought back to the wolfpack days…<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ryan was lucky enough to score some highly sought-after front row seats to the Hartford sTAG’s rugby match vs. Yer Ma, in which the sTAG’s destroyed Yer Ma. Despite a late arrival to the match due to getting lost en route, yours truly held her own against Yer Ma’s advances. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Here’s some exclusive footage of the nail-biting match:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vgB97-2jNVU/Tf-nWCLv9WI/AAAAAAAAC-4/H1yBYeTMi-Y/s1600/DSC05425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vgB97-2jNVU/Tf-nWCLv9WI/AAAAAAAAC-4/H1yBYeTMi-Y/s320/DSC05425.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">That weekend we took the train up to Howth to do some hiking around the cliffs of the fishing village. We ate a marvelous dinner at Octopussy’s, and just outside the restaurant I was able to score some fish scraps from the kitchen staff to throw to the seals! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SdxcWBd8cVk/Tf-o0Wwt7vI/AAAAAAAAC_A/bDULoX5aq-o/s1600/DSC05433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SdxcWBd8cVk/Tf-o0Wwt7vI/AAAAAAAAC_A/bDULoX5aq-o/s320/DSC05433.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aQGCJGO43Xg/Tf-o5H3u97I/AAAAAAAAC_E/ub9MOLfJOvk/s1600/DSC05435.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aQGCJGO43Xg/Tf-o5H3u97I/AAAAAAAAC_E/ub9MOLfJOvk/s320/DSC05435.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center">some German hikers noticed Ryan's 2006 Germany World Cup t-shirt and we could hear them all laughing "Germany is ze greatest county on ze Earth!"</div><div align="center"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lLd7c5SyvOg/Tf-o-Nj11qI/AAAAAAAAC_I/_0jaLtq1okM/s1600/DSC05436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lLd7c5SyvOg/Tf-o-Nj11qI/AAAAAAAAC_I/_0jaLtq1okM/s320/DSC05436.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_oWVujhPRwQ/Tf-pD4rwu9I/AAAAAAAAC_M/IWSJthPyctU/s1600/DSC05438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_oWVujhPRwQ/Tf-pD4rwu9I/AAAAAAAAC_M/IWSJthPyctU/s320/DSC05438.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jRwlkF4otEw/Tf-pJ7JBKoI/AAAAAAAAC_Q/sRyKtsBDmx4/s1600/DSC05440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jRwlkF4otEw/Tf-pJ7JBKoI/AAAAAAAAC_Q/sRyKtsBDmx4/s320/DSC05440.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g95oSSc4RIk/Tf-pOocl0FI/AAAAAAAAC_U/n_a14PBVJJ0/s1600/DSC05441.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g95oSSc4RIk/Tf-pOocl0FI/AAAAAAAAC_U/n_a14PBVJJ0/s320/DSC05441.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">mmmm...seafood </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P8EImbizdIo/Tf-pUkP9FKI/AAAAAAAAC_Y/4YlG5OLjPXY/s1600/DSC05445.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P8EImbizdIo/Tf-pUkP9FKI/AAAAAAAAC_Y/4YlG5OLjPXY/s320/DSC05445.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">hi there! </div><br />
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And more seal feeding...<br />
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</div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dywIo5ZCjCydSeoEMpo03nxaWpZKPKLgXyS1Ay8y3fYRlXmh0uBDMyjkbzFpFUFGp3uWCJv18GK5swwdKpLHg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwSqAe6yvbL9xFiG8fvmP7JMazUuuVFkC5AlURmwDWXNNKRErDFEWyq-oNYBm2otPFzALuv2tpz4DL8Y7_EJw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">The following weekend my parents came for a visit. The highlight of their visit was definitely the weekend trip we took out into the countryside. We spent a night in Kenmare, and then spent the next day driving around the famous Ring of Kerry – absolutely stunning. Now, I’d only had my car for about a week, so of course there was one “American” driving moment where I found myself driving head on into oncoming traffic. Fortunately my Dad was sitting in the front seat to yell “WATCH OUT!!” as I swerved to avoid the not-so-amused drivers coming at us. Nonetheless, I’m thankful to have lived to tell you all about it! <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">On our way to the Ring of Kerry we stopped in Cork, and drove to Blarney Castle where my dad took the plunge and kissed the Blarney stone for good luck. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sWWHoruePaU/Tf-tIEKLmJI/AAAAAAAAC_k/VObkuBp8I6g/s1600/DSC05458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sWWHoruePaU/Tf-tIEKLmJI/AAAAAAAAC_k/VObkuBp8I6g/s320/DSC05458.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KiCmHc1V6WA/Tf-tPtWlhXI/AAAAAAAAC_o/82kIozX_PWE/s1600/DSC05460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KiCmHc1V6WA/Tf-tPtWlhXI/AAAAAAAAC_o/82kIozX_PWE/s320/DSC05460.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MICLtHDIOY8/Tf-th8d7XrI/AAAAAAAAC_s/aV1WQ5Bnyaw/s1600/DSC05464.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MICLtHDIOY8/Tf-th8d7XrI/AAAAAAAAC_s/aV1WQ5Bnyaw/s320/DSC05464.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">one of many to make the pilgrimage for good luck... </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2SYbXUyrOZc/Tf-tm2qqxEI/AAAAAAAAC_w/2zN3ZVj4azI/s1600/DSC05466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2SYbXUyrOZc/Tf-tm2qqxEI/AAAAAAAAC_w/2zN3ZVj4azI/s320/DSC05466.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QCGSMuVZSso/Tf-trtr6dWI/AAAAAAAAC_0/fp-NlsQK4v0/s1600/DSC05468.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QCGSMuVZSso/Tf-trtr6dWI/AAAAAAAAC_0/fp-NlsQK4v0/s320/DSC05468.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">next to the castle was a "poison plant" garden. at the marijuana exhibit there was a sign that read "we apologize for the absence of the plant in this cage. It has been seized by the garda (irish police)." oh boy.</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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I can definitely see why everyone says to see the Irish countryside – all the patchwork fields in endless shades of green and white specks of sheep decorating the hillsides are exactly as you’d imagine it in a fairy-tale. Kenmare was a charming town with plenty of character. The B&B was really nice and definitely the way to go. My mom definitely appreciated the lads in a stag party at a fish ‘n chips place who asked how long “my sister” and I were staying in Ireland….</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip (there's a few here, so get ready):<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XYHicP1yWFQ/Tf-1q8fOhqI/AAAAAAAAC_4/ZSRJFwlUSf8/s1600/DSC05472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XYHicP1yWFQ/Tf-1q8fOhqI/AAAAAAAAC_4/ZSRJFwlUSf8/s320/DSC05472.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">one of many winding one-lane roads </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KluRuGoDdd0/Tf-1wXAygSI/AAAAAAAAC_8/G2Q-Df1DIBs/s1600/DSC05479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KluRuGoDdd0/Tf-1wXAygSI/AAAAAAAAC_8/G2Q-Df1DIBs/s320/DSC05479.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">lady's view in killarney national park </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gU--Oak-FIQ/Tf-16ZVVyTI/AAAAAAAADAE/CGHqYFRx_0s/s1600/DSC05486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gU--Oak-FIQ/Tf-16ZVVyTI/AAAAAAAADAE/CGHqYFRx_0s/s320/DSC05486.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LUGBMlAOOeY/Tf-1_QY8ewI/AAAAAAAADAI/39FcvcU64Iw/s1600/DSC05487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LUGBMlAOOeY/Tf-1_QY8ewI/AAAAAAAADAI/39FcvcU64Iw/s320/DSC05487.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">sheep! </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t3yBBF2UfgM/Tf-2DUCFgbI/AAAAAAAADAM/_KGAfd0NaoI/s1600/DSC05492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t3yBBF2UfgM/Tf-2DUCFgbI/AAAAAAAADAM/_KGAfd0NaoI/s320/DSC05492.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">MOOOOO </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mu-RMbz_Xjk/Tf-2H6sT7zI/AAAAAAAADAQ/WPAiokI94yI/s1600/DSC05494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mu-RMbz_Xjk/Tf-2H6sT7zI/AAAAAAAADAQ/WPAiokI94yI/s320/DSC05494.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">this cow was taking her calf right past our car to the pasture </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9-Q-WfnSXyU/Tf-2M2twcCI/AAAAAAAADAU/4Ln1AffcC24/s1600/DSC05501.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9-Q-WfnSXyU/Tf-2M2twcCI/AAAAAAAADAU/4Ln1AffcC24/s320/DSC05501.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">more cute sheep </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9gRQICwUbao/Tf-2VyvDeyI/AAAAAAAADAc/q9PwrDDNT3A/s1600/DSC05503.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9gRQICwUbao/Tf-2VyvDeyI/AAAAAAAADAc/q9PwrDDNT3A/s320/DSC05503.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qOdrHWMZrKs/Tf-2ahd8NvI/AAAAAAAADAg/Ay9lqr-QdjQ/s1600/DSC05504.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qOdrHWMZrKs/Tf-2ahd8NvI/AAAAAAAADAg/Ay9lqr-QdjQ/s320/DSC05504.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xaK2VsNJSCE/Tf-2fbfY1qI/AAAAAAAADAk/lrP4mkEQDGo/s1600/DSC05505.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xaK2VsNJSCE/Tf-2fbfY1qI/AAAAAAAADAk/lrP4mkEQDGo/s320/DSC05505.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">fort from 1000 B.C. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-37rgqih--9Q/Tf-2vPOntCI/AAAAAAAADAw/NRAGb4gGsqo/s1600/DSC05517.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-37rgqih--9Q/Tf-2vPOntCI/AAAAAAAADAw/NRAGb4gGsqo/s320/DSC05517.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zOV32ZXgMIU/Tf-2zfxmHEI/AAAAAAAADA0/YkND8CQJPaY/s1600/DSC05518.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zOV32ZXgMIU/Tf-2zfxmHEI/AAAAAAAADA0/YkND8CQJPaY/s320/DSC05518.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">patchwork fields </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LcuTDYkvW3A/Tf-24Rf9xYI/AAAAAAAADA4/4ttqXMS4L8Y/s1600/DSC05520.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LcuTDYkvW3A/Tf-24Rf9xYI/AAAAAAAADA4/4ttqXMS4L8Y/s320/DSC05520.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B9MZQvXQ7xM/Tf-2_xNZDFI/AAAAAAAADA8/3k4YZew5PsU/s1600/DSC05521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B9MZQvXQ7xM/Tf-2_xNZDFI/AAAAAAAADA8/3k4YZew5PsU/s320/DSC05521.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NYiQ95n-ZHc/Tf-3Eg9OVTI/AAAAAAAADBA/wcrAL7YwWJY/s1600/DSC05522.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NYiQ95n-ZHc/Tf-3Eg9OVTI/AAAAAAAADBA/wcrAL7YwWJY/s320/DSC05522.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5cfNvIllMsI/Tf-3JMRR0yI/AAAAAAAADBE/1i54I0VAY4c/s1600/DSC05524.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5cfNvIllMsI/Tf-3JMRR0yI/AAAAAAAADBE/1i54I0VAY4c/s320/DSC05524.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> westernmost coast of ireland - overlooking Skellig Michael which was once a retreat for irish monks</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MPqu9Vignjw/Tf-3SIgX7ZI/AAAAAAAADBM/4CzeTGjKwIo/s1600/DSC05527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MPqu9Vignjw/Tf-3SIgX7ZI/AAAAAAAADBM/4CzeTGjKwIo/s320/DSC05527.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-axvQvcFDjKk/Tf-3aLk6sxI/AAAAAAAADBQ/r-Ej4rZCZdQ/s1600/DSC05530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-axvQvcFDjKk/Tf-3aLk6sxI/AAAAAAAADBQ/r-Ej4rZCZdQ/s320/DSC05530.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">view of Portmagee town from Valencia island</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HUYI1CCDdxg/Tf-3ewetefI/AAAAAAAADBU/H21G3Oi4xeE/s1600/DSC05531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HUYI1CCDdxg/Tf-3ewetefI/AAAAAAAADBU/H21G3Oi4xeE/s320/DSC05531.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">cute little restaurant in Valencia where we had lunch</div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">After the lovely weekend my parents spent the next few days exploring Dublin, took a day trip up to Howth, and were kind enough to immaculately clean my ENTIRE apartment!! And it was slightly amusing to return home from work to see that my dad had rearranged all the furniture in the living area…oh boy. I guess that’s what parents do… They definitely left the place cleaner than they found it. <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">On another note, I’ve collected a few more useful words of the irish language:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Check – refers to checks in a checkbook, so always ask for the bill instead at a restaurant.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Hunkers – knees/quads (you squat on your hunkers)</div><div class="MsoNormal">Dear – expensive (those shoes are quite dear)</div><div class="MsoNormal">Knackers – offensive term for troublesome kids</div><div class="MsoNormal">Fanny – female lady parts down under (i.e. a fanny pack means something entirely different from what we travel with - it’s called a bum-bag here instead)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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It was so great to finally have a car and be able to make 5-hour trek out to the countryside. All in all it took about 5-6 hours to get to Kenmare, an entire day to drive around the Ring, and 5-6 hours to get back home. I definitely got plenty of driving practice in!! Now I can see why people rave about the Irish countryside - it's absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait to get back out there soon!</div>Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-90424343951908236462011-06-05T15:40:00.000-07:002011-06-06T01:45:25.722-07:00Got Your Tickets to the Gun Show?I'm finally getting around to finishing up blogging about the rest of my eastern europe extravaganza. Budapest was my final destination, and I spent 4 days there. The first 2 days were by myself, and then the last 2 days my friend Sara came to visit from Poland. <br />
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Believe it or not, within my first hour of being in Budapest I'd already screwed something up. Hungary has their own currency, so you have to be very careful taking money out of the ATM. Now being an actuary you'd think I'd be able to handle the calculation for the exchange rate: 1 euro = approx 250 forints. I guess I could've really used my calculator that day because I ended up taking out the equivalent of $600 in hungarian currency. And I'd already paid for the hotel, so there really weren't any major expenses to cover... Long story short, I ended up paying for everything Sara and I did together, and she just paid me back electronically rather than me having to go to a currency exchange and get a crappy rate on euros.<br />
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After checking in to the hotel I went out for a walk around the city before it got dark, grabbed some dinner, and chilled in the hotel room for the night. Here's some pics from the walk:<br />
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</div>At about 10pm all the power went out in the hotel (and apparently half the city), including all telephone lines and internet connections. There were police sirens all over the place, and looking out my window i could see tons of people walking out onto the street looking very confused. Luckily everything went back on about an hour later, but it was not exactly the most comforting experience - although at least I wasn't trapped in another elevator!<br />
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The next day I decided to just walk around both sides of the city. Buda is the older, more historic half, while Pest is more modern with all the high-end shops and fancy restaurants / hotels. Apparently they used to be completely separate villages, but then at some point combined to become one. <br />
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I spent the afternoon at the outdoor Szechenyi bath - the largest of the roman baths of budapest. There were several indoor baths areas that smelled like pee and sulfur so I stuck to the outdoor warm pools with a bit more fresh air flowing. To be honest, it really just seemed like a big swimming pool, except the water was warm / hot. One of the pools was really fun though - it was circular with strong jets about waist-level that pushed you in a clock-wise direction all around the edges of the pool. When the jets got stronger, everyone in the pool was pushed by the force of the water in a circle, and people would laugh and bump into each other because it was impossible to stay in one place. Thank God I went on a day when bathing suits were mandatory...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BBahoGTon-Y/Tevs6cGpfeI/AAAAAAAAC8Y/P5vFGg_8haY/s1600/DSC05360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BBahoGTon-Y/Tevs6cGpfeI/AAAAAAAAC8Y/P5vFGg_8haY/s320/DSC05360.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">outside view of the bath </div><br />
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On my way home I came a cross a random parade of ponies...<br />
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This one must've been naughty...<br />
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The next day Sara was in town and we went to the Rudas baths together. Rudas was actually better than Szechenyi in my humble opinion, and was definitely more turkish/roman in style. People used these baths for their geothermal healing effects as early as the 1500's - crazy thinking that we were sitting in the same baths used by people 500 years ago. The baths here were entirely indoors, however, there was no smell of pee - only sulfur. The pools ranged from cool to extremely hot, and we spent a few hours just going from one to the other and progressing to the hottest one, then going into the coldest one to get refreshed. The only complaint I have was that there were a ridiculous number of people making out and getting a bit too cozy for comfort all around - to the point where it was hard to find a place to sit in the bath without being surrounded by overly-affectionate lovebirds...About once a month they have a night party from 10pm-4am, with dj's spinning house music and a crazy light show. We missed the party this time around, but perhaps next time...Here's a picture of Rudas:<br />
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Sara and I also did a really nice wine tasting of all Hungarian wines at the Faust wine cellar in historic Pest. The cellar literally seats only 4 tables, so we were really lucky to get in. We decided to go with the short tour, which was 6 wines. And no, we did not spit them out - that would be a waste of good wine! They were all really good, but the last one was especially interesting - it was from 1989. I think the people working there found us amusing because we weren't being all serious about the tasting - and each wine tasted better than the last! <br />
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</div>We also did a bike tour of the city to complete my goal of doing one in each city of the trip. We rode all over town, drank some sulfur water, saw the Nazi party headquarters (now a Nazi / Communism museum), saw gorgeous views of the city, and ate a home-made Hungarian goulash meal at a tiny little restaurant run by the grandmother herself. Here's some pics from the tour:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GqtYeptS8x0/TevwivZx17I/AAAAAAAAC80/1BEdmPB7-WM/s1600/DSC05367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GqtYeptS8x0/TevwivZx17I/AAAAAAAAC80/1BEdmPB7-WM/s320/DSC05367.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">historic streets of Buda </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qz82nyTcyh0/TevwvAxfhgI/AAAAAAAAC9A/Zfgg-BaD4oE/s1600/DSC05371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qz82nyTcyh0/TevwvAxfhgI/AAAAAAAAC9A/Zfgg-BaD4oE/s320/DSC05371.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> view of Buda from historic part of town</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QxutbmPZItA/Tevwyj_sFRI/AAAAAAAAC9E/o8GtK93U3Zc/s1600/DSC05374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QxutbmPZItA/Tevwyj_sFRI/AAAAAAAAC9E/o8GtK93U3Zc/s320/DSC05374.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Buda cathedral </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9rkc5eOxyi8/Tevw3W4wtqI/AAAAAAAAC9I/HnjYsuRHxQg/s1600/DSC05376.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9rkc5eOxyi8/Tevw3W4wtqI/AAAAAAAAC9I/HnjYsuRHxQg/s320/DSC05376.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> views of Pest from Buda and chain bridge</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4MQJKwjAsfM/TevxLGKmijI/AAAAAAAAC9Y/yDOoHmVNlwI/s1600/DSC05381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4MQJKwjAsfM/TevxLGKmijI/AAAAAAAAC9Y/yDOoHmVNlwI/s320/DSC05381.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> parliament building</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-srwrChVOW4E/TevxQ5q0CfI/AAAAAAAAC9c/gT1rUfNoumU/s1600/DSC05412.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-srwrChVOW4E/TevxQ5q0CfI/AAAAAAAAC9c/gT1rUfNoumU/s320/DSC05412.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">park near Szechenyi bath with lots of water activities for kids </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9JtyWTeV2ls/TevxVjXWAiI/AAAAAAAAC9g/y7wrpFkU1oM/s1600/DSC05414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9JtyWTeV2ls/TevxVjXWAiI/AAAAAAAAC9g/y7wrpFkU1oM/s320/DSC05414.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nuvGpVA6Rg4/TevxaTpBTrI/AAAAAAAAC9k/T0TgXhzvqtI/s1600/DSC05415.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nuvGpVA6Rg4/TevxaTpBTrI/AAAAAAAAC9k/T0TgXhzvqtI/s320/DSC05415.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> statue of some guy on a horse. if you look closely, you can see that the horse actually has gold manly bits. our tour guide said that when he was a kid they used to rub them for good luck, and that tradition still carries on to this day...</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q4Xo2MFxcF4/Tevxe-eLsiI/AAAAAAAAC9o/dg6hHrtCe84/s1600/DSC05416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q4Xo2MFxcF4/Tevxe-eLsiI/AAAAAAAAC9o/dg6hHrtCe84/s320/DSC05416.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">the delicious goulash we had for lunch - best i've ever had!! nice and spicy too. :)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The highlight of Budapest was going shooting. Sara and I got up early in the morning to head off to Celeritas Shooting Club, which is pretty much in an undergound bunker in some random industrial park outside of town. Seemed a bit dodgey at first...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bfPazbzoZuA/Tevz3AB5rlI/AAAAAAAAC9s/doq3JvBRHy0/s1600/DSC05382.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bfPazbzoZuA/Tevz3AB5rlI/AAAAAAAAC9s/doq3JvBRHy0/s320/DSC05382.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">However, soon we were set up with our instructor, Peter, who helped us to feel a little more comfortable (he was a cop for 10 years and worked as the police firearms instructor, so he definitely knew what he was doing). We purchased the "shoot 'em all" package, which means we got to shoot every single gun they had!</div><br />
This is the table where we shot all the guns from:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_mGH3Jgv_GE/Tev0BUL7GRI/AAAAAAAAC9w/Cjhbozrxbis/s1600/DSC05384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_mGH3Jgv_GE/Tev0BUL7GRI/AAAAAAAAC9w/Cjhbozrxbis/s320/DSC05384.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0KGn_rXbmmg/Tev0F7VbN_I/AAAAAAAAC90/yZha4FUZqXk/s1600/DSC05385.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0KGn_rXbmmg/Tev0F7VbN_I/AAAAAAAAC90/yZha4FUZqXk/s320/DSC05385.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">mentally preparing </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qJ8NtmGXYLw/Tev0LUEZ9kI/AAAAAAAAC94/clBrdwAUIyg/s1600/DSC05386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qJ8NtmGXYLw/Tev0LUEZ9kI/AAAAAAAAC94/clBrdwAUIyg/s320/DSC05386.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K-FIVgBmLXc/Tev0QI5NdgI/AAAAAAAAC98/WQIFgpQ3SG0/s1600/DSC05387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K-FIVgBmLXc/Tev0QI5NdgI/AAAAAAAAC98/WQIFgpQ3SG0/s320/DSC05387.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">he started us out with the handguns</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nPMLgT15Je0/Tev0VGMmHiI/AAAAAAAAC-A/u14cYNSoSq4/s1600/DSC05388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nPMLgT15Je0/Tev0VGMmHiI/AAAAAAAAC-A/u14cYNSoSq4/s320/DSC05388.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pG9cXshhkK4/Tev0aVLtDQI/AAAAAAAAC-E/9fSW_cXlw7s/s1600/DSC05393.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pG9cXshhkK4/Tev0aVLtDQI/AAAAAAAAC-E/9fSW_cXlw7s/s320/DSC05393.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">then we progressed to some bigger ones like the AK-47</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UVE0kjPd5fw/Tev0ksslA8I/AAAAAAAAC-M/qpWPfIw8lnw/s1600/DSC05397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UVE0kjPd5fw/Tev0ksslA8I/AAAAAAAAC-M/qpWPfIw8lnw/s320/DSC05397.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H1boUqOGPr4/Tev0pDMFmdI/AAAAAAAAC-Q/A6rvb_ArFYo/s1600/DSC05399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H1boUqOGPr4/Tev0pDMFmdI/AAAAAAAAC-Q/A6rvb_ArFYo/s320/DSC05399.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">i think this one's going on next year's christmas cards...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Overall, we got to shoot the following: Ruger mk, beretta 92, sig sauer p226, glock 17, colt 1911, skorpion vz61 (apparently not legal so we couldn't take pictures), taurus 941, colt king cobra, smith & wesson 629, GSG-5, H&K MP-5, GSG-47, AK-47, SA vz58, Dragunov, Mossberg 500, and a Saiga 12k. So 17 guns + lots of ammo = lots of fun! I definitely liked the fully automatic guns the best - they were CRAZY!! These things can shoot like 1000 rounds per minute. I kept my silhouette cut-outs as a souvenir of my impeccable aim (well, maybe not impeccable - Peter mentioned he did NOT think we'd make good cops / soldiers after our demonstration...)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">It was a great way to start the morning and really fun! Peter was surprised that we came all the way to Budapest to shoot guns - he thought this was something that anyone could do anywhere in the states. Perhaps in some states, but I really don't know - I'd never heard of a place like this before back home! Either way, i'm sure it was much cheaper to do it in Budapest. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div> So that wraps up the Eastern Europe Extravaganza! It was an adventure, and I'm really glad I did it. My favorite part was probably the Vienna bike tour and gun-shooting in Budapest, but each place was wonderful on its own and gave me some great memories. Rarely did I feel alone despite traveling by myself, probably because I met so many kind and fun-loving people along the way in the hostels and on the bike tours. Now back to reality and work in Dublin. Until next time...Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-75142403935368773172011-05-31T14:12:00.000-07:002011-05-31T14:13:46.325-07:00Bratislava<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hello again! My first stop in Bratislava was to get to the hostel where I’d booked 2 nights. It took a while to find the place, and when I finally did I wasn’t all too impressed. The one I booked was rated Number 1 in Bratislava, so that’s not saying much! The hostel was located in a pretty dodgy area (later I found out that it was pretty much prostitute lane), and not quite in the city center as had been advertised. I was feeling a bit nauseous from the strong smell of urine outside my room, and the crumbs on the floor and lack of fresh air didn’t help either. Sooo, long story short, I decided to pamper myself a bit and found a lovely hotel (the "Skaritz"), right in the center of the old town on the main street. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This place was gorgeous, and I felt like a queen to have my own real super-soft bed, my own bathroom, and my own living space! It’s amazing what a week living in hostels can make you appreciate… I was exhausted and nothing felt better than some peace and quiet in my tranquil room and a refreshing shower. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After rejuvenating and getting some relaxation in, I took a stroll around the old town, loving every minute of it! The pedestrian-only cobblestone streets and baroque architecture give the city a small, quaint atmosphere, and lining the streets were outdoor restaurants and bars with a bustling crowd. To make up for the larger than budgeted expense of the hotel, I went to the grocery store and picked up some fruits, veggies, and croissants for a cheap dinner in my room.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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After a night of uninterrupted sleep it was easy to wake up in the morning and find my way to the starting point of yet another bike tour. For a while it was just going to be myself and the two guides because a group from the Hague (holland) didn’t show, but they finally arrived about a half hour late, so at least we had a full group! I was a bit disappointed since it was a group of senior citizens, however, they turned out to be a lovely and entertaining group. One thing I found amusing was that they definitely knew the history of Slovakia better than the guides who were 20-21ish, since they’d lived through a lot of the cold war / iron curtain events. They probably taught the guides more than the guides taught us!<br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">It was nice to get some exercise again and get outside the city walls. We rode all the way to Devin castle, had some coffee /snacks, and then took a boat back to the starting point. Near the castle there’s a memorial to remember all the Slovaks who tried to escape from the communist rule in the east to the west. This spot is actually where at least 400 civilians where shot dead by their own government while they tried to cross the Danube to escape (that's Austria across the river).<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mxRNv92U3ic/Td6-mOrhYwI/AAAAAAAAC7U/5s0sFWalRK4/s1600/DSC05311.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mxRNv92U3ic/Td6-mOrhYwI/AAAAAAAAC7U/5s0sFWalRK4/s320/DSC05311.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">The UFO observation deck - apparently the #2 thing to see in Bratislava.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">After the tour I said farewell to my senior friends and headed back to my hotel. On the way I bumped into another backpacking girl, about the same age as me, who was trying to find the hostel that I’d originally planned to stay at! So we chatted for a bit – she’s from England – and I led her to the hostel and we made plans to meet up for dinner later that evening. It was nice knowing I’d have someone to eat and walk around with later in the day.</div></div><br />
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Once back at my hotel, I took a quick shower and headed to this unique ayurvedic spa about 2 mintues away for an abhyangam massage and shirodhara treatment (huh??? yes, my thoughts indeed). I didn’t really know what I was in for, but this was listed as the number 1 thing to do on tripadvisor.com in Bratislava, so I figured why not? The massage was amazing, focusing on the major meeting points of energy in the body. The following head treatment seriously took me into another dimension!! Basically for about 45 minutes the woman poured hot oil onto my forehead (the “third eye”) and I definitely found myself in a dream-like state, drifting in and out of consciousness during the treatment. So weird! But afterwards I felt so refreshed, calm, and rejuvenated – I sat in the “relaxation room” with some tea afterwards for about a half hour just to come back to reality! Here's the website of the place if you're interested in learning more about it: http://www.darsana.sk/en<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JFr2_T2JUdM/Td7EaoeEWWI/AAAAAAAAC7s/TobqPNB81rQ/s1600/DSC05320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JFr2_T2JUdM/Td7EaoeEWWI/AAAAAAAAC7s/TobqPNB81rQ/s320/DSC05320.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> random statue</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Following the treatment I met up with Helen (the english girl I’d met) and we found a nice restaurant to have a traditional slovakian meal. I had the goulash which was pretty good, although I can’t wait to get back to Ireland and get back to eating my regular diet! i feel like i've had a meat overload on this trip...<o:p></o:p></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">During dinner a parade of manly men marched though the street waving flags and chanting things, all dressed in blue: <o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwlcPF_VlJbmI-PVWZScNMEKX_rzD5Je5t_qtuYyug-ICllZPuII_Iwk523o2ECFlpjL9SWwinP4iuVtSr-Sw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
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</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">We had no idea what was going on so we decided to follow them to the main square and found this:<br />
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</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Yes, heavy metal screaming Slovak band in the middle of the square, tons of people waving flags, fire crackers going off all over the place – it was absolute mayhem! Later we went to an outdoor hookah bar to hang out for a bit, and the waiter there told us that the celebration was because the Bratislava football team won the national championship. So this was definitely not a typical night in the city center. It was quite crazy to see all this and all the crazy Slovak manly men chanting and going crazy – another entertaining night in eastern Europe!</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: auto;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;">Helen and her hookah.</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">At the moment I’m on the train headed to Budapest, which will be the last stop on this trip. Apparently there’s a volcanic ash cloud from Iceland again so hopefully my flight doesn’t get cancelled. However, at least I’ll be in a cool city if it does! That’s it for Bratislava - a short stay but totally worth it!<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div>Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-80656686106732336242011-05-25T15:48:00.000-07:002011-05-25T15:48:13.844-07:00ProstDay 6 of the big trip has brought me to Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. However, let's backtrack a couple days to Vienna, where I spent the previous 2 nights. The train from Prague took about 5 hours, and surprisingly we didn't have to do any sort of border check / passport control. Which is a good thing because I only have a couple pages left in my passport. From the train station it was super easy to get to the hostel; the subway system in Vienna is great! One of the first things I noticed was that they have an honor system for purchasing newspapers. Also, no one jay-walks, even if there's not a single car in sight, people wait until the light turns green to cross.<br />
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As I hadn't eaten all day yet, a traditional Austrian meal seemed quite appetizing. I decided to go with their house specialty spare ribs - an extremely massive meaty platter. And it was delicious! This place also brews their own beers, so when in Rome...<br />
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After getting lost and wandering around for about 2 hours (at least on a full stomach!) I made my way to Belvedere gardens and palace - great way to walk off the massive lunch.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And here's a pic of my lovely hostel - I stayed at the Wombat (stayed at same chain in Munich) and it was probably the nicest, cleanest hostel I've ever stayed at. They just opened in January, so everything was really new. There were 2 girls from Argentina and 1 from Australia in the room too. </div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Just by coincidence, it just so happened that the Aussie girl who was staying in the hostel room with me also happened to be doing the same bike tour with me the next day. So it was nice starting the next day off with a friend to have breakfast with before embarking on the long 10-hour bike trip through the Wachau valley. There was a group of 4 young canadian lads (20-21ish) who were on the tour as well, and I had to sit in front of them the whole bus ride to the bike starting point. They were still drunk from the night before, so I had the pleasure of listening to them recount tales of binge-drinking from the night before, throwing up in a cave inside the bar they were at, playing with ice-pics, and then continuing to down absinthe, shots, and beers all night... Definitely an entertaining journey to say the least!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We spent the day biking through Wachau Valley, tasting various Austrian wines and different vineyards, and relaxing along the Danube. And this was not your typical wine-tasting. The first stop was a winery where we all had 4 glasses (full!) of different wines - three white and one red. No one spat out the wine, it was literally 4 glasses of wine at 10 in the morning!! Everyone was a bit buzzed as we started the biking, and it was funny watching people stumble a bit on their bikes. I guess that's why they made us sign a waiver basically saying we wouldn't sue the company if we fell off the bike and got hurt.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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We paid a visit to a random graveyard which was actually quite beautiful. Each grave had a garden planted on top of it with various kinds of flowers. A few actually had rhubarb and lettuce growing on them which seemed quite strange - I really hope no one's planning to make their dinner salad from those plants!<br />
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Next to the graveyard was a small chapel, with an alter made of human skulls and bones. <br />
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Gorgeous views all around, and it turned out to be a beautiful day...<br />
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We had a big group - I'd say there were probably about 20 of us. We had Aussies, Canadians, and 2 other Americans from Texas (now living in Saudi Arabia).<br />
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My bike.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This was where we had lunch and three more full glasses of wine...</div><br />
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The noisy lads from the bus are in the front of the group photo...<br />
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Danube River!! My grandpa used to go fishing on this river when he was young, so it was really special to get to go down and splash around in the water for a bit. :)<br />
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This was a little town we stopped in for 3 more glasses of wine, as well as a chocolate tasting.<br />
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Not so flattering photo of our lovely tour guide, Marla. <br />
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And back on the bus at the end of the tour, Marla had plastic cups and our group polished off 3 more bottles of wine. Apparently it's legal in Austria for passengers to drink in the car - crazy!! No more being classy and swirling the wines around in our glasses for this road trip!<br />
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Two Aussie friends who went on the tour and stayed at my hostel - I thought they had a striking resemblance to two of my friends from high school, only with a different accent. Just another example to prove that everyone's got a twin out there somewhere in the world!<br />
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All smiles after 10+ glasses of wine and biking all day! That's the hostel lobby by the way behind us.<br />
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</div>It wasn't all smiles for about 30 minutes though because I got stuck in the elevator with 5 other people in the hostel. It was actually quite scary because the elevator dropped 3 floors while we were inside, and it was really really hot inside and started to feel quite claustrophobic, like there wasn't enough oxygen or something. Needless to say, after we were rescued I stuck with stairs.<br />
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Here's the hostel bar / night club...<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">No alcohol served if you're under 16! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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I didn't spend much time in the city center of Vienna since I spent the entire day out in the countryside on the bike tour, but did manage to capture a few photos of the architecture and St. Stephen's Cathedral in the main square.<br />
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The next day was a bit rough considering the excursions of the previous day, but there's no better cure than a lovely boat ride down the Danube River to the next destination - Slovakia! The boat only takes 15 more minutes than the train, and reaches up to 60km/hr. I couldn't believe how fast it went!<br />
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Farewell Austria!<br />
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Hello Slovakia!<br />
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This is Bratislava castle. The long blue boat at the bottom is actually a hotel boat that came down the river from the Netherlands.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Overall Vienna was really nice - I wish I'd had another day to see more of the city center and perhaps see a concert or something, but it was really wonderful to get out into the countryside, see the "real Austria", and make some new friends. On to the next town!</div>Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-26149200087292096572011-05-22T11:11:00.000-07:002011-05-22T11:11:46.557-07:00Czech it out!Hello friends! This should be a fun post - lots to share! I'm in the midst of a backpacking trip through eastern europe and finally have a chance to update the blog. So far the hostels have been fab, not even close to a quentin tarantino horror film (knock on wood). The 3 days I spent in Prague were absolutely wonderful. Prague is a gorgeous city, cobblestone streets everywhere, beautiful buildings, and lots to learn about communist history which I'll get into later... <br />
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My first hour in the city I had a very strange and funny encounter. When I finally found my hostel the gate seemed to be locked and no one answered the buzzer. So I did what probably anyone would do and walked down some stairs into the next door bar to ask if I was at the right place. The bartender was super nice and even called the hostel for me with the number I gave him. Only when he was on the phone did my eyes adjust to the darkness inside and I had a look around the place...oh my! There were leather harnesses and dildos all over the place, along with about 30 types of lube and other strange looking sex toys at the front counter, and plenty of pictures of naked men (customers I assume) covering the interior...I also noticed that the kind gentleman who was helping me happened to be wearing only briefs (no pants). Well, he helped me out and someone came from the hostel to let me in. Later I looked up the club online and read that it's Prague's biggest gay bar / nightclub open 24/7 , complete with an underground "dungeon" and you don't have to pay the 20 euro entrance fee if you come in naked! Welcome to Prague!<br />
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I followed my visit to the gay bar with some sight-seeing once I got all settled in. Here's some pics of the city center and Vltava river:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zs6etpOqoWM/Tdk4inaNgPI/AAAAAAAACys/B096cZZ3vLY/s1600/DSC05131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zs6etpOqoWM/Tdk4inaNgPI/AAAAAAAACys/B096cZZ3vLY/s320/DSC05131.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bV0-3eS1ryo/Tdk4lCr_M5I/AAAAAAAACyw/VIgMlQ1qYpI/s1600/DSC05132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bV0-3eS1ryo/Tdk4lCr_M5I/AAAAAAAACyw/VIgMlQ1qYpI/s320/DSC05132.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Charles Bridge - famous because it has 2 towers on each end and was built in medieval times.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kgwLi3kSp-0/Tdk4rRnFkGI/AAAAAAAACy8/Y7GEZMbyBh0/s1600/DSC05135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kgwLi3kSp-0/Tdk4rRnFkGI/AAAAAAAACy8/Y7GEZMbyBh0/s320/DSC05135.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-voxPOVccZXs/Tdk4sx1gLTI/AAAAAAAACzA/Kj-MQRrSsx4/s1600/DSC05136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-voxPOVccZXs/Tdk4sx1gLTI/AAAAAAAACzA/Kj-MQRrSsx4/s320/DSC05136.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">castle</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Prague has a communist history, so one of the first things I did was check out the communism museum in city center. It was actually pretty interesting - especially all the propaganda that's displayed which used to portray Americans as the "evil capitalists." At one point there was a gigantic statue of Stalin in city center 30 meters high - almost as tall as the giant statue of Jesus in Brazil. Soon after they put up the Stalin statue his crimes were revealed to the world, but the czechs took a while to actually take the statue down since so much work had gone into it. So after Stalin was deemed a war criminal there was still a gigantic statue of him eerily overlooking the city for a few years. Finally they blew it up and replaced it with a giant michael jackson statue to promote his big prague tour. Now MJ's not there either - i think it's just a church site or something now. Anyway, some smaller statues were on display in the museum:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6RYOyu3B0bE/Tdk4t9HEQkI/AAAAAAAACzE/61kudUNpkeE/s1600/DSC05138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6RYOyu3B0bE/Tdk4t9HEQkI/AAAAAAAACzE/61kudUNpkeE/s320/DSC05138.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> don't see this every day</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OuHry0gr394/Tdk4uyCXPrI/AAAAAAAACzI/RpTK1u6yNHE/s1600/DSC05140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OuHry0gr394/Tdk4uyCXPrI/AAAAAAAACzI/RpTK1u6yNHE/s320/DSC05140.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--TkHInHoZWs/Tdk4vyY0z1I/AAAAAAAACzM/TsvCJoQvjq8/s1600/DSC05142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--TkHInHoZWs/Tdk4vyY0z1I/AAAAAAAACzM/TsvCJoQvjq8/s320/DSC05142.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> yo what's up dogg</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7uRAO-Im8cM/Tdk4ynh99AI/AAAAAAAACzU/umcd4_z4bsI/s1600/DSC05144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7uRAO-Im8cM/Tdk4ynh99AI/AAAAAAAACzU/umcd4_z4bsI/s320/DSC05144.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AnzNlTXWnWY/Tdk4zplzkVI/AAAAAAAACzY/zlg4s4htO2I/s1600/DSC05145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AnzNlTXWnWY/Tdk4zplzkVI/AAAAAAAACzY/zlg4s4htO2I/s320/DSC05145.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">interesting sign on the time punch-in clock - i guess to encourage people to come into work on time? </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vb0zDOq9LG8/Tdk46OOHPPI/AAAAAAAACzk/P8boe5p6TNg/s1600/DSC05148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vb0zDOq9LG8/Tdk46OOHPPI/AAAAAAAACzk/P8boe5p6TNg/s320/DSC05148.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">everyone had gas masks for protection just in case of nuclear war - this ones for a toddler. </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tTe1iVqw6f4/Tdk4-kXxSHI/AAAAAAAACzs/_YrNpeKC0xw/s1600/DSC05152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tTe1iVqw6f4/Tdk4-kXxSHI/AAAAAAAACzs/_YrNpeKC0xw/s320/DSC05152.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">more anti-american propaganda </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1QUIiGXVYfk/Tdk5A88KjwI/AAAAAAAACzw/WX5JZWo_EsI/s1600/DSC05153.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1QUIiGXVYfk/Tdk5A88KjwI/AAAAAAAACzw/WX5JZWo_EsI/s320/DSC05153.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3p7nLAO3tvk/Tdk6xJkxPZI/AAAAAAAAC2w/vhoGp3hU-TI/s1600/DSC05231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3p7nLAO3tvk/Tdk6xJkxPZI/AAAAAAAAC2w/vhoGp3hU-TI/s320/DSC05231.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">a personal favorite is the communist version of candyland.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">It was really relaxing just strolling around all the winding alleyways and getting lost all day. Beers were really cheap there too - the equivalent of about 1 euro. And lots of gelato stands everywhere which was definitely my downfall! Here's some more pics of city center:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GTMpTQJVQDE/Tdk5DnwtOaI/AAAAAAAACz4/WoLxVZmWjF0/s1600/DSC05155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GTMpTQJVQDE/Tdk5DnwtOaI/AAAAAAAACz4/WoLxVZmWjF0/s320/DSC05155.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The famous "astrological clock." The largest of its kind anywhere in the world. It tracks the passing of time according to the movements of the planets and stars. There were always hundreds of tourists standing around this clock and gawking...kind of annoying because it was impossible to get through the crowd! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A77ao1nT3wg/Tdk5FAXs-WI/AAAAAAAACz8/WM5J1JY_FuY/s1600/DSC05156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A77ao1nT3wg/Tdk5FAXs-WI/AAAAAAAACz8/WM5J1JY_FuY/s320/DSC05156.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> This is Old Town Square. Along with Wenceslas Square this was where a lot of student protests took place back in the 60's thru 80's to protest the communist dictatorship. In Wenceslas Square one student actually set himself on fire and burned himself to death as a protest against the communist regime. Sadly there were at least 13 other students who did the same.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kv3EIl5CMxQ/Tdk5G17E5dI/AAAAAAAAC0A/2foHpbtxI2E/s1600/DSC05157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kv3EIl5CMxQ/Tdk5G17E5dI/AAAAAAAAC0A/2foHpbtxI2E/s320/DSC05157.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Another view of the square. Nearby is the old Jewish quarter, where all the Jews were forced to live during WWII. It's actually the only Jewish quarter in Europe which was not destroyed during the war. Hitler demanded that this one be preserved because he had planned to turn it into a museum of the "extinct race" - almost as something to be boastful about...really strange. </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DPjOKrgwXs4/Tdk5WTAHmbI/AAAAAAAAC0k/2CyRTkC-JQU/s1600/DSC05166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DPjOKrgwXs4/Tdk5WTAHmbI/AAAAAAAAC0k/2CyRTkC-JQU/s320/DSC05166.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oB5BQh9t9Ho/Tdk5X5bTpyI/AAAAAAAAC0o/P1Ugay6ThoY/s1600/DSC05167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oB5BQh9t9Ho/Tdk5X5bTpyI/AAAAAAAAC0o/P1Ugay6ThoY/s320/DSC05167.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Another pic of the castle and bridge. Prague castle is the largest castle in the world. </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZXQ2eRyzkGc/Tdk5duSPusI/AAAAAAAAC0w/vPZm3PjuEkQ/s1600/DSC05170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZXQ2eRyzkGc/Tdk5duSPusI/AAAAAAAAC0w/vPZm3PjuEkQ/s320/DSC05170.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> cool buildings. all the buildings are so intricate and beautiful - i could walk around for hours and never get bored here.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rQYc52mhInA/Tdk5g56IfsI/AAAAAAAAC08/zZqEI3kE1Zk/s1600/DSC05177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rQYc52mhInA/Tdk5g56IfsI/AAAAAAAAC08/zZqEI3kE1Zk/s320/DSC05177.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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My bike tour one afternoon got cancelled because I was the only one who showed up, so I randomly walked past this spa and found something else to try out...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ChAPt1Xzpq0/Tdk5n8ObsWI/AAAAAAAAC1M/1jVlo64bzYk/s1600/DSC05183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ChAPt1Xzpq0/Tdk5n8ObsWI/AAAAAAAAC1M/1jVlo64bzYk/s320/DSC05183.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Beer Spa!! Yes - I bathed in a wooden barrel of hops (great for skin) and had an endless supply of beer to help myself to during the bath. It was a very relaxing afternoon, and I followed the beer bath with a nice foot massage since my dogs were killing me!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The next day I went on a panoramic bike tour of the city - it ended up just being the guide and another guy from Russia, so we pretty much had a private tour all to ourselves! I took this picture from the top of one of the parks we rode through.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VuwBURw7sg4/Tdk5rlDfF0I/AAAAAAAAC1Q/aeCz-PUP1M8/s1600/DSC05186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VuwBURw7sg4/Tdk5rlDfF0I/AAAAAAAAC1Q/aeCz-PUP1M8/s320/DSC05186.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Cathedral that was part of the castle complex - at the top of Petrin park.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s5p19CxdANs/Tdk5uSlJaqI/AAAAAAAAC1Y/XbiW68A5kpc/s1600/DSC05188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s5p19CxdANs/Tdk5uSlJaqI/AAAAAAAAC1Y/XbiW68A5kpc/s320/DSC05188.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HcL3ZOSb1ME/Tdk5wC3AfoI/AAAAAAAAC1c/wsUzA3vtddc/s1600/DSC05189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HcL3ZOSb1ME/Tdk5wC3AfoI/AAAAAAAAC1c/wsUzA3vtddc/s320/DSC05189.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Welcoming entrance to the castle. I totally want those statues outside my house someday!!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9stDC5tGjLo/TdlEyldCk1I/AAAAAAAAC3E/0DIJRnxpWB4/s1600/DSC05190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9stDC5tGjLo/TdlEyldCk1I/AAAAAAAAC3E/0DIJRnxpWB4/s320/DSC05190.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Random sculpture. It's actually a moving statue with the two men peeing back and forth, and the pool they're peeing into is in the shape of the czech republic. There's actually a phone number you can send a text message to and the statue will pee your message out for you! Romantic engagement story perhaps?? </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mf2QpD-7Bao/TdlEuPK8YVI/AAAAAAAAC24/ddNgGW3Oxjo/s1600/DSC05169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mf2QpD-7Bao/TdlEuPK8YVI/AAAAAAAAC24/ddNgGW3Oxjo/s320/DSC05169.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Back at the tour office at the end of the bike tour I noticed this - a 7 passenger bike with a table for beers! Totally crazy. The next day I saw a group of guys riding this bike and it was pretty funny because they kept riding into things and really couldn't ride it straight...not sure if it was the bike or the beers...</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rDV8L8SWZjM/TdlEvk9gD6I/AAAAAAAAC28/f3DGfuw5PDc/s1600/DSC05174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rDV8L8SWZjM/TdlEvk9gD6I/AAAAAAAAC28/f3DGfuw5PDc/s320/DSC05174.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Ad for vodafone in one of the bathrooms - not really sure how this is an ad for a mobile phone company - if anyone can read czech perhaps you can enlighten me!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lr2CrTHqaq8/Tdk5zuicWRI/AAAAAAAAC1g/MX_sUJqj034/s1600/DSC05192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lr2CrTHqaq8/Tdk5zuicWRI/AAAAAAAAC1g/MX_sUJqj034/s320/DSC05192.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> My last day in Prague I was taking a stroll through the nearby park and encountered another slightly creepy statue of gigantic faceless babies. </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VZYkTqtojP8/Tdk51YRnTZI/AAAAAAAAC1k/sLSOUwF7Gfo/s1600/DSC05193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VZYkTqtojP8/Tdk51YRnTZI/AAAAAAAAC1k/sLSOUwF7Gfo/s320/DSC05193.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> penguin parade along the river</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sjy1zctJXHk/Tdk53GykUBI/AAAAAAAAC1o/jQtAgJGazdU/s1600/DSC05194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sjy1zctJXHk/Tdk53GykUBI/AAAAAAAAC1o/jQtAgJGazdU/s320/DSC05194.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> another view of Charles Bridge</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1cgVYWwUpVA/Tdk6EFbxHkI/AAAAAAAAC18/eAGJzSTY_OY/s1600/DSC05200.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1cgVYWwUpVA/Tdk6EFbxHkI/AAAAAAAAC18/eAGJzSTY_OY/s320/DSC05200.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">and yet another creepy statue. apparently it's sigmund freud hanging from a rooftop. don't worry - not a real person! :)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The highlight of my trip was definitely the communism & nuclear bunker tour. We got to actually go down inside a bunker that could hold up to 5,000 people just in case there had been a nuclear attack. There's something like 300 or so of these bunkers throughout the city. The tour really gives you a sense of the paranoia over nuclear warfare that was prevalent at the time.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fR7561kdgis/Tdk6S2zS2JI/AAAAAAAAC2I/VqOFn05CDDs/s1600/DSC05206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fR7561kdgis/Tdk6S2zS2JI/AAAAAAAAC2I/VqOFn05CDDs/s320/DSC05206.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">the bunker is actually now an underground bar / nightclub where they have raves and bands. it's a pretty huge underground area. Although i think i'd be to freaked out to party down there - all i could think of is how would people get out if there was a fire? there's only one way in and out - and that's the winding stairway above about 50 feet up.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"> Map of the good communists (red/pink), evil capitalists (green), and almost evil nations - green stripes. This was especially funny because the tour consisted of our czech guide, 6 canadians, 2 mexicans, and myself. So the guide kept making awkward jokes about how we were all evil capitalists, and the mexicans were "so-so"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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And finally, the best part! Yes, that's original czech communist army attire, along with genuine gas mask and AK-47!! The skirt really completes the outfit in my opinion. I'm bringing sexy back! :)<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">After the tour I went out with the Canadians to the propaganda bar nearby. It was a night filled with Canadian and American jokes, plenty of "ey?'s" and a nice dinner. I called it a night around 11 or so since I had to wake up early the next day to catch a 6am train to Vienna. Prague's definitely a fun city, and I hope to get back there again someday to explore more of the nightlife. Well, I'm starving at the moment so my work here is done and now time to eat! (and drink my free "welcome" drink at the vienna hostel!) :) My roommate here's from Melbourne, and coincidentally she's going on the same all-day bike tour with me tomorrow, so at least someone else will be getting up early with me tomorrow!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div>Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-59895879258037577942011-05-13T13:18:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:42:41.224-07:00Meet JEDWARDHiya! I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post! Time flies when you're having fun. It's been a crazy month - Obama released his birth certificate, US forces killed bin-Laden, and William & Cate got married!! On a less worldly scale I haven't gone on any major trips or anything lately, but that's not to say things haven't been busy. Ryan came to visit over Easter, and it was nice to get a few days off - the Irish get TWO holidays off for Easter, as well as a monday bank holiday the following weekend. Had I been working in a UK office I'd also have gotten the day of the Royal Wedding off. But, alas, I had to take a day of PTO instead to watch the wedding...<br />
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One tidbit I noticed on Easter Sunday was that the churches were empty (at least St. Patrick's Cathedral where we went for a service), but the pubs were still raging! Only in Dublin... Another interesting fact is that it is not possible to purchase alcohol on Good Friday - not in bars, not in liquor stores, not anywhere...<br />
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Except the airport! So, I learned from my fellow co-workers that the airport is actually quite a popular place for young lads on Good Friday. Groups of guys actually purchase cheap ryanair flights to a random spot, with no intention of ever even boarding the plane, just to get through security and have a massive piss-party in the airport! I'm seriously impressed.<br />
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My brother came to visit this past weekend (he's currently living in Berlin), and he helped me to discover that there's actually a train station about a block away from my apartment! We took the train to Howth to do some hiking along the cliffs on the coastline, and the views were absolutely gorgeous. One thing we forgot to do was bring any water, or real food, so after the 4-5 hour hike (with the last hour ALL uphill!) we were pretty ravenous. Found a restaurant and pretty much devoured our meals like animals, followed by a generous portion of ice cream at a shop next door. I'm definitely planning to go there again next time I have a visitor - had no idea a place that beautiful was practically right in my backyard!<br />
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On another note, there's a really popular boy-band duo of two brothers. I think their names are John and Edward, and they call themselves JEDWARD. How creative. Anyway, teen girls and younger are absolutely crazy about these guys. I guess they were on the X-Factor or something (UK's American Idol). When Ryan was over we had to walk through a massive crowd of these crazy teenie-boppers on our way through town. Most were completely decked out in "I love JEDWARD" t-shirts, with their mothers or fathers taking them to the show. More often than not the fathers looked like they were about to kill themselves. Reminds me of when my father took my friends and I in 6th grade to a dave matthews concert...although DMB is actually a talented band. So, as a result, I've decided to start collecting pictures of Jedward that appear in the morning newspaper EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!! Here's a couple; there will be more to come.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gtoUmk462fQ/Tc2LId8GpoI/AAAAAAAACyE/Gmg0MYGkDBA/s1600/DSC05120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gtoUmk462fQ/Tc2LId8GpoI/AAAAAAAACyE/Gmg0MYGkDBA/s320/DSC05120.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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This past week was also a very intriguing week for news in the morning paper. Here are some of my favorite articles...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-deSm56Ck9xo/Tc2NM49tWjI/AAAAAAAACyM/SxpE_8AJmV0/s1600/DSC05112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-deSm56Ck9xo/Tc2NM49tWjI/AAAAAAAACyM/SxpE_8AJmV0/s320/DSC05112.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> some girl didn't appreciate her boyfriend complimenting Pippa's bum in the dress she wore for the royal wedding. this girl's clearly got some issues. a day in september a week after Pippa's birthday has now been designated as "Pippa Middleton Ass Appreciation Day.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lzj8whzDAi4/Tc2NRMlFsZI/AAAAAAAACyQ/1k3X7PQ9_Dg/s1600/DSC05113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lzj8whzDAi4/Tc2NRMlFsZI/AAAAAAAACyQ/1k3X7PQ9_Dg/s320/DSC05113.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">chubby kid claiming to have magnetic powers. of course it couldn't possibly be the extra snickers bars...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6ugPjIjdP2k/Tc2NVntNY7I/AAAAAAAACyU/zm9P_Hws0gE/s1600/DSC05117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6ugPjIjdP2k/Tc2NVntNY7I/AAAAAAAACyU/zm9P_Hws0gE/s320/DSC05117.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A favorite this week. There's a mysterious granny in some tiny town in ireland that's been spotted leaving a convenience store in a, wait for it,... BUGATTI VEYRON!!! Despite the car's ability to reach 400km/hour, the granny left the store at "a snail's pace", barely able to see over the steering wheel. One onlooker said, "well she didn't exactly burn off like a bat out of hell...you could have probably jogged faster than she was driving, but to each his own." I also really liked the caption under the picture of the witnesses: "Shocked onlookers: Shocked." </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gDW7zQ_nrd0/Tc2NbKKQV6I/AAAAAAAACyY/lk2AbmqLsFM/s1600/DSC05124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gDW7zQ_nrd0/Tc2NbKKQV6I/AAAAAAAACyY/lk2AbmqLsFM/s320/DSC05124.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> this was apparently an advertisement, though i'm not really sure what for.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PHYeln_pCEI/Tc2NfsJEYPI/AAAAAAAACyc/wrH8zTVyMGc/s1600/DSC05125.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PHYeln_pCEI/Tc2NfsJEYPI/AAAAAAAACyc/wrH8zTVyMGc/s320/DSC05125.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">scientists have apparently linked human evolution to...BEARS??? If this was still part of the advertisement I honestly have no idea what is being marketed. Bears?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">Well those were my favorites this week. I've also picked up some more lessons on language over the past few weeks:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Boot = trunk (of a car)</div><div style="text-align: left;">Creche = day-care</div><div style="text-align: left;">Pitch = playing field</div><div style="text-align: left;">Deadly = "cool" "awesome" (i.e. the hike in Howth was deadly) </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I love the last one - it sounds so bad-ass!! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">We had our first tag-rugby match too last night. The Hartford sTAGs got killed, however, at least we looked good in our BRIGHT ORANGE jerseys!!! The game was great fun though, and we actually played much better than in the practice we had on Tuesday. My favorite rule is that guys' touchdowns ("trys") are worth 1 point, while if a girl scores it's worth 3. Helps encourage the guys to not be ball-hogs and actually pass to the girls. It was really a tiring match, but loads of fun and the teammates are great. Hopefully we can pull off a victory next week.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">That's all for now! Happy Friday!! :) :)</div>Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-79414217467674156342011-04-11T13:36:00.000-07:002011-04-11T13:43:23.135-07:00Lovely Day for a GuinnessHeya lads and lassies! Just finished a fun weekend in Dublin with my friend Lisa who came to visit from CT. She really lucked out - we had gorgeous weather. It was a great excuse to do some of the touristy things around town too... <br />
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Guinness Storehouse was cool - Lisa wanted to go there "just to get some pint glasses," however, since they wouldn't let us just go in the gift shop we were forced to buy tickets and drink some beer and get brainwashed...<br />
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Next stop was Kilmainham Gaol (jail) - pretty interesting tour. We learned all about the Irish fight for independence from the English, and this is where many Irish political prisoners were executed.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KCZ5EG4hlWA/TaNenyF65EI/AAAAAAAACxI/2_f6wYVP8so/s1600/DSC05081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KCZ5EG4hlWA/TaNenyF65EI/AAAAAAAACxI/2_f6wYVP8so/s320/DSC05081.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">memorial outside the jail to the 14 irish leaders who were executed for fighting for irish freedom. Streets, train stations, bridges, and buildings all over the city are named after these guys. </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pOxhs4tp6YA/TaNe0bLFDBI/AAAAAAAACxQ/PXhpryyJpj4/s1600/DSC05083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pOxhs4tp6YA/TaNe0bLFDBI/AAAAAAAACxQ/PXhpryyJpj4/s320/DSC05083.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">guinness trucks are a pretty common sight in Dublin. They look like oil tankers to me - always get a laugh when i see several drive by at a time. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zQR8i9PMaLE/TaNe-6oNiFI/AAAAAAAACxY/WB6f7IykQy0/s1600/DSC05086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zQR8i9PMaLE/TaNe-6oNiFI/AAAAAAAACxY/WB6f7IykQy0/s320/DSC05086.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We went to Johnnie Fox's pub for some dinner / entertainment at their famous "Hooley Night" show. Apparently it's the highest pub in Ireland, and you have to take a shuttle bus about 30 minutes through winding roads up a mountain in the countryside to get there. It was a pretty great crowd - and lots of singing on the bus on the way back home at the end of the night... :) </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qWf5FcizPYg/TaNfFCr6QzI/AAAAAAAACxc/HEjHxj-KaYc/s1600/DSC05088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qWf5FcizPYg/TaNfFCr6QzI/AAAAAAAACxc/HEjHxj-KaYc/s320/DSC05088.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> the inside of this place was all decked out in antiques, old pictures, pots and pans hanging from the ceiling - really cute place. you could probably hang out here for hours just looking at all the decorations!</div><br />
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I taught the bartenders there how to make my famous green minty drink - i wonder if it'll end up on their list of cocktails... the bus ride home was really fun too - everyone was singing "nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey...goodbye" everytime someone got off the bus at a different stop! I'm sure the bus driver was relieved to be done with his shift once everyone had been dropped off.<br />
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Sunday was another gorgeous day - perfect for just relaxing and walking around town. We spent a few hours looking at artwork all around Merrion Square (out every Sunday), and I actually ended up buying some beautiful paintings for my apartment - so now my place finally feels cozy like home. :)<br />
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After 4 nights in Dublin I think Lisa will sleep very well when she gets home to her hubbie. :) Yet another amazing weekend here in Ireland - and now back to the grindstone until the next one.Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-70628710704551597482011-04-11T12:26:00.000-07:002011-04-11T12:26:37.306-07:00SaltyAfter touring Auschwitz-Birkenau in the morning, I met up with my friend Sara in Krakow (we play soccer together in CT). Sara's been living in Poland (Wroclow) for about 4 months, and has about a year left there for a work assignment. We ended up driving to the Wieliczka salt mines to do a tour. Here's some pics from the mines - everything including walls, ground lighting fixtures, statues - made of salt.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">salty gnomes (which reminds me, i still haven't seen gnomeo and juliet!)</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">huge salt church 130 meters underground - still functioning for mass, weddings, worship, etc...i wonder if they use saltines instead of wafers...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yhynQUhx_bU/TaGNhTxAIdI/AAAAAAAACuU/B5g1EOw3OQo/s1600/DSC05000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yhynQUhx_bU/TaGNhTxAIdI/AAAAAAAACuU/B5g1EOw3OQo/s320/DSC05000.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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After we were all salted out, Sara and I found a tiny restaurant with authentic Polish cuisine. The meal started with bread and lard with chunks of stuff in it:<br />
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for the main course we each had a pork knuckle (they had 15 different varieties of pork knuckle to choose from!)<br />
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and perogies...<br />
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the seats in the restaurant were covered with big wooley blankets<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lMnRbWvOV9A/TaGPfaEjE4I/AAAAAAAACvI/OVzyHS4F_9g/s1600/DSC05024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lMnRbWvOV9A/TaGPfaEjE4I/AAAAAAAACvI/OVzyHS4F_9g/s320/DSC05024.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwJUiFli8OvUVvN-wO21qOpnrDfILBCQd_rOFYi97TysA9CsXBjQ8puwcnrYldx2jNNV_AM4woPVKtab1_gww' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;">After dinner we found a bar with some live music - and discovered that Bob Marley is a legend everywhere!</div><br />
some artwork we encountered on the walk back to our hotel.<br />
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today's headlines:<br />
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Our last day in Krakow we did a bike tour of the city. Our guide, Phil, gave us and 2 other girls (american) a great tour of the city and its surroundings. Coincidentally the 2 other girls are studying abroad in Dublin! Here's some pics I took along the tour:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O3j-ebZEcjU/TaGPqyvRkkI/AAAAAAAACvU/pbU8reilDMM/s1600/DSC05034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O3j-ebZEcjU/TaGPqyvRkkI/AAAAAAAACvU/pbU8reilDMM/s320/DSC05034.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Main square in city center</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dIe8GqcaQuk/TaGPyoDSOJI/AAAAAAAACvc/ebERXdnMFfE/s1600/DSC05036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dIe8GqcaQuk/TaGPyoDSOJI/AAAAAAAACvc/ebERXdnMFfE/s320/DSC05036.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">random guy walking a lamb</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oqhgxtI5QP4/TaGP2_xSoGI/AAAAAAAACvg/XAxclALK0Ds/s1600/DSC05038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oqhgxtI5QP4/TaGP2_xSoGI/AAAAAAAACvg/XAxclALK0Ds/s320/DSC05038.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">mom & pop rock band</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kQfOs8TSkaM/TaGP6oFHl1I/AAAAAAAACvk/wXYiBY3DrXw/s1600/DSC05040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kQfOs8TSkaM/TaGP6oFHl1I/AAAAAAAACvk/wXYiBY3DrXw/s320/DSC05040.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GLRIjrDGhEw/TaGP-We9-bI/AAAAAAAACvo/a7vRh637YNo/s1600/DSC05041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GLRIjrDGhEw/TaGP-We9-bI/AAAAAAAACvo/a7vRh637YNo/s320/DSC05041.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">the residence of Pope John Paul II. He's extremely popular in Poland as it was his birthplace and the country is 95% Roman Catholic. You can spot pictures and statues of him everywhere! Our guide told us that when he died, it was a very sad time for the country. Two rival soccer teams that often had violent clashes between the fans actually refrained from fighting for an entire week out of respect for the pope - something that had never happened before between the two teams.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wRmgK7jrnsE/TaGQB2jgA-I/AAAAAAAACvs/pmArJ-cYm0I/s1600/DSC05042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wRmgK7jrnsE/TaGQB2jgA-I/AAAAAAAACvs/pmArJ-cYm0I/s320/DSC05042.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">the "priest factory" where hundreds go to study the priesthood.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h24Y22WXJOA/TaGQMdER2yI/AAAAAAAACv0/UVU8h71wVus/s1600/DSC05046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h24Y22WXJOA/TaGQMdER2yI/AAAAAAAACv0/UVU8h71wVus/s320/DSC05046.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AgrsgbhFxi0/TaGQRQhAcJI/AAAAAAAACv4/SArB18EZsm4/s1600/DSC05052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AgrsgbhFxi0/TaGQRQhAcJI/AAAAAAAACv4/SArB18EZsm4/s320/DSC05052.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">this was the center of the Jewish ghetto where SS soldiers lined everyone up and made selections as to who would be allowed out of the ghetto to work in Oscar Schindler's factory. The chairs are a memorial to all the people who underwent the frightening inspections and were forced to move into this cramped area of the city, leaving their homes behind.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tYRx7ThE5ec/TaGQgNJNZSI/AAAAAAAACwI/Uxo8AUxQItQ/s1600/DSC05060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tYRx7ThE5ec/TaGQgNJNZSI/AAAAAAAACwI/Uxo8AUxQItQ/s320/DSC05060.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The walls surrounding the Jewish ghetto were actually designed to look like tombstones - a cruel message from the SS soldiers to all those trapped inside.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iDTefbXaysQ/TaGQck49MUI/AAAAAAAACwE/NlpkaXDQ88U/s1600/DSC05058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iDTefbXaysQ/TaGQck49MUI/AAAAAAAACwE/NlpkaXDQ88U/s320/DSC05058.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">outside Schindler's factory - memorial plaque reads "whoever saves one life, saves the world entire."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5oEkhJzlpLw/TaGQkjejORI/AAAAAAAACwM/8NYtYaC99XM/s1600/DSC05061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5oEkhJzlpLw/TaGQkjejORI/AAAAAAAACwM/8NYtYaC99XM/s320/DSC05061.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Statue of man's best friend. :)</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wn7YVhUQZUg/TaGQF3iMWwI/AAAAAAAACvw/EUcmXmCFvaU/s1600/DSC05043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wn7YVhUQZUg/TaGQF3iMWwI/AAAAAAAACvw/EUcmXmCFvaU/s320/DSC05043.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Wawel Castle </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The bike tour was really great - we had an awesome guide who took us on a great route. The weather was beautiful that day too - around 70 degrees!! :) Took a flight home that evening and got up early the next morning for yet another week at the office...Not bad being able to go to Poland for a weekend! :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-68867562678051428112011-04-06T13:58:00.000-07:002011-04-06T13:58:13.554-07:00Auschwitz-BirkenauThis past weekend I went to Krakow, Poland. The first place I visited was the site of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest concentration camp with the highest death toll during WWII (1.5 million lives). To see the site of such massive hatred and suffering with my own eyes was a very emotional experience. This post is solely focused on my visit to Auschwitz, so just a warning in advance that the pictures I'm sharing will be very unsettling and some graphic.<br />
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I woke up at about 5:30am Saturday morning to catch the train (about 90 min) to Oswiecim, the town where the camp is located. The ride was very eerie - the train route was very quiet and desolate, and unsettling thinking that this was one of the routes that prisoners on their way to the death camp took not more than 60-70 years ago.<br />
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Here's the station:<br />
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The museum site itself is actually split into 2 concentration camps. The first, Auschwitz I, was built initially to imprison and exterminate Polish prisoners. However, the Nazis soon began to deport prisoners from all different populations to the camp, mainly Jews, Soviet POW's, and citizens of various occupied European territories: Hungarians, Romas (gypsies), Czechs, Yugoslavians, Frenchman, Austrians, and Germans. This first camp held up to 20,000 prisoners at a time. Upon arrival at the camp, the prisoners were already exhausted from the trip which was often 7-10 days cramped into a train without food, and many prisoners were already dead. Those who survived the brutal trip were forced off the train and into the camp entrance, often beaten along the way.<br />
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</div> Upon arrival, SS guards stripped prisoners of all their personal belongings and valuables, including eyeglasses, prosthetic limbs, cookware, shoes, toothbrushes, makeup brushes, etc... The items were all organized together and intended for future use or sale by the Nazis. Hair was cut off the heads of women and girls and packaged to be shipped off to factories to make cloth or other textiles. When the Soviet's liberated the camp at the end of the war they found 7 TONS of human hair that had not yet been shipped from the camp. One of the most disturbing exhibits was an entire mountain of this hair - enough to fill several large rooms. It really gave a sense of the massive scale of this horrific operation.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LTRc20r3lb4/TZt-27Uw9ZI/AAAAAAAACq0/8uYD9VM8ZAs/s1600/DSC04922.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LTRc20r3lb4/TZt-27Uw9ZI/AAAAAAAACq0/8uYD9VM8ZAs/s320/DSC04922.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7C8r1B6vNyA/TZt_G08LVNI/AAAAAAAACrA/q090fy9pHks/s1600/DSC04926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7C8r1B6vNyA/TZt_G08LVNI/AAAAAAAACrA/q090fy9pHks/s320/DSC04926.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">exhibit of childrens' shoes </div><br />
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One of the main causes of death in the camp was starvation - prisoners were barely fed at all and forced into excruciating work, many died while working, or of rampant disease, or of starvation. The women pictured below weighed about 130-140 pounds before arrival; and only 50-60 pounds when the camp was liberated. They were the lucky few who actually survived.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Others suffered and died of cruel experimentation.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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This is the "death wall" between two of the barracks where SS guards shot or hung thousands of prisoners, often for no reason at all, and in front of the other prisoners. Prisoners could be murdered for helping a fellow sick prisoner, obtaining extra food, taking breaks while working...pretty much for anything at all.<br />
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More barracks. There is now a barrack for each of the populations who fell victim to the Nazi death camps, so you can learn more detail about the sufferings of specific ethnic groups.<br />
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Childrens' drawings...<br />
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Appalling humiliation of a female prisoner who had just given birth.<br />
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Photo of SS soldier murdering a mother holding her child.<br />
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</div> Prisoners were tortured through backbreaking labor, flogging, spending hours even days in tiny "standing cells" too tiny to sit down in, and hung by the wrists causing shoulder dislocation for hours.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-avPcaxGeJZ8/TZuAWHhPLLI/AAAAAAAACsA/lcXiEdGrCOg/s1600/DSC04943.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-avPcaxGeJZ8/TZuAWHhPLLI/AAAAAAAACsA/lcXiEdGrCOg/s320/DSC04943.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> barbed wire electric fences kept prisoners from escaping. some committed suicide by electrocution.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TMLhQ9IzTAY/TZuAagJHIOI/AAAAAAAACsE/iWvaa2CZVxA/s1600/DSC04944.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TMLhQ9IzTAY/TZuAagJHIOI/AAAAAAAACsE/iWvaa2CZVxA/s320/DSC04944.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The gas chamber at Auschwitz I where thousands of prisoners were murdered. After death gold fillings from the teeth of prisoners were extracted and melted into blocks for future usage, in addition to any remaining hair. </div><br />
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After a year the SS forced the prisoners to build a second camp 3km away - Auschwitz-Birkenau II, which held up to 100,000 people at a time and became a gigantic factory of death - 75% of each new transport of prisoners was immediately sent to the gas chambers here (including 100% of all children and elderly), while the remaining 25% were seen fit to work. <br />
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Birkenau is 425 acres - you can't even see the other end when you're standing on one end. This place is absolutely huge and makes you realize how massive this operation was. The most haunting thing about this camp was just how mechanical it all was - it was really like one big assembly line of death, a place of pure evil. How anyone could commit these crimes and torture another human being like that is beyond me. It made me sick to my stomach seeing all this with my own eyes.<br />
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Entrance.<br />
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The camp stretched beyond those trees in the background, and was at least twice as wide.<br />
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Unloading dock where 3 out of 4 prisoners and all children and elderly were marched straight to the gas chambers.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: auto;">Drainage ditches the prisoners dug themselves.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3dIl7t55z0Y/TZzIYTwrb0I/AAAAAAAACsk/K_AZT-xSk_c/s1600/DSC04953.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3dIl7t55z0Y/TZzIYTwrb0I/AAAAAAAACsk/K_AZT-xSk_c/s320/DSC04953.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
One of many pools / pits where dead bodies were piled; and often burned in the open air because they ran out of room in the crematoriums. Babies were thrown into the burning pits alive.<br />
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The Nazis tried to hide their crimes by blowing up all the gas chambers with dynamite just before the liberation. All that's left is the remains.<br />
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</div> The air still smelled like ash at Birkenau - very haunting. I saw lots of ant hills like the one here that looked to be made of ash as well - probably from ants digging it up from underground.<br />
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Pools where ashes were dumped.<br />
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At the very end of the train tracks you can barely see the tower of the main entrance. And the camp went almost as far back in the opposite direction. <br />
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I didn't know what to expect before visiting Auschwitz, but it really gave me a different perspective about the crimes committed during the war by seeing it with my own eyes. What was done was absolutely devastating and my heart breaks for all the men, women, and children who lost their lives and families. I still don't understand how something like this was allowed to happen, how all this was even possible. It's beyond me. But I hope that humanity can learn from this tragedy and never allow this to happen again.Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-2877558924706097742011-03-26T09:12:00.000-07:002011-03-26T09:12:46.341-07:00Patty's Day WeekendDrumroll please...What you've all been waiting for...Patty's Day!! Patty's Day weekend was terrific. Even more so because Ryan was here for the week, so I finally got out to the pubs and had a few pints of guinness (i didn't want to go alone to the pubs - irish men can be a wee bit too friendly!) On Patty's Day Eve (the night everyone goes out) Ryan and I went to the Temple Bar area. Lots of crazies were out - lots of green, lots of drinking and stumbling tourists...that area was pretty much chaos. Nonetheless, we found a great spot in one of the pubs that had pretty amazing live irish music:<br />
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People really get dressed up for Patty's - it's almost like halloween, but everyone's dressed in crazy green outfits. My personal favorites were those dressed as leprechauns and as priests (perhap's St. Patrick?)<br />
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</div>The next day everyone gets off work since Patty's is a national holiday. Ryan and I crawled out of bed around 11am and headed down to the center of town to see if we could catch the parade. People get lined up for this parade starting early in the morning, so we really couldn't get any closer than 4 or so rows back. The parade itself was very futuristic - not what I expected. I was kind of hoping for irish dancers and bands, but there were more floats with techno and futuristic themes than anything else. The irish bagpipe bands that went through were really great though! My favorite part about the whole day was really just people watching and seeing everyone dressed up all crazy! Babies with shamrocks painted on their faces, adults dressed as leprechauns and priests, and just a sea of green everywhere you looked. Anyone lucky enough to have the name Patrick, Patricia, or some other derivative got free admission into the guinness storehouse for the day - normally 15 euros! <br />
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Believe it or not - no green beer! I got strange looks from people when i asked if there was green beer anywhere...must be an american thing. We met up with my friend Elaina from work and her boyfriend / friends later that night and hung out at the Hairy Lemon. The Lemon is next door to the hotel I stayed at, and thank God I made friends with the hotel staff because the bathrooms at the Lemon were horrific that night! Luckily I knew the staff working that night at the hotel so they let me in to use their facilities as needed, no problem. Phew!<br />
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My friend's sister-in-law was really excited because she's taking a trip to the US in a few weeks. And where? To Nashville and Memphis! The "Real America" as she explained it. She was sooo excited and telling us her plans to go to Graceland, Dolly-Parton-World, Elvis-land, and to wear cowboy boots and ass-less chaps everywhere! Sure hopes she brings back pictures!<br />
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Friday was a day of rest. We got up for "breakfast" at about 4pm (whoops!) and went to Church. And by Church, I mean a famous bar/restaurant/nightclub that was converted from an old Church. Ten commandments carved into the stone walls, stained-glass windows, and fully working original pipe organ! Arthur Guinness was actually married here (see bust in center).<br />
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After breakfast if was off to The Woolshed - the only sports bar around that has March Madness playing on one of their 30 or so TV's off in the corner. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time there watching the tournament. <br />
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On Saturday that weekend my friend Shampa was kind enough to drive Ryan and I with her boyfriend to Powerscourt Gardens in County Wicklow for a relaxing afternoon stroll. Beautiful gardens and a huge mansion owned by some really wealthy guy years ago and now open to the public. Here are a few pics:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qSo_58fWFbQ/TY4JrBPMSWI/AAAAAAAACqA/4bTwup9kMQ4/s1600/DSC04905.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qSo_58fWFbQ/TY4JrBPMSWI/AAAAAAAACqA/4bTwup9kMQ4/s320/DSC04905.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">cool tree</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">After Powerscourt Shampa dropped us of in Ballsbridge where all the great Rugby pubs are right outside the stadium. The crowd was absolutely wild! Ireland played Englad in the 6 Nations match (annual tournament between England/Ireland/Scotland/Wales/France/Italy) and totally killed them! Happy days all around because the Irish were not expected to beat England, and certainly not by that much. To top it off you could snack on a piece of roasted pig that was turning around on a spit outside...or pass.<br />
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Sadly, Ryan had to go home on Tuesday and the long weekend came to an end. Definitely wasn't long enough, but I guess it never is. It was really great that he could come out here and meet my friends and see where I'm living and everything. I think he liked the Guinness better over here too. :) Hope to get him out here again soon.<br />
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Well before I get all teary-eyed and start missing him again, I must share with you my experience at the market this morning! Little did I know, there's a fresh farmer's organic market 1 block away from my apartment every Saturday morning! And it was really fab. I'm a totally obsessed with good food, so this was like a heaven for me! Got some beautiful salad fixings fresh from the local farms, freshly baked brown irish soda bread, fresh sheep's cheese, and some great olive oil. Also got some pork sausages (delicious! tried a sample) directly from the hands of the farmer that raises the pigs. Tasted so much better than anything I'd ever tried - no preservatives or additives at all - just organic pork and seasonings. Happy animals = happy food. And my absolute favorite stand was the fish-monger from Donegal, about 3 hours north, who brought in all sorts of freshly caught fish and seafood from his locality. I bought 4 scallops and walked home and cooked them for lunch - delicious! I know where i'm going every saturday now... :) So great eating food when you know exactly where it came from. What a great way to start the weekend! Here's there website: http://www.supernatural.ie/<br />
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Cheers!<br />
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</div>Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-26090115561873917252011-03-25T16:53:00.000-07:002011-03-26T08:14:28.888-07:00Haggis in Edinburgh<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Heya! It's been a while since I've posted, but the past couple weeks have been very busy. After a long week at the office (and a long day stuck at the immigration bureau this morning) I finally have some time for an update.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">First of all, Edinburgh was AMAZING!!! I truly loved the city - it's very gothic and harry-potter-esque (i think parts of the movie were actually filmed here). Despite the snow on the first day, i still made sure to get out, attempted to climb the steep hill up to the castle, listened to street performers, and filled my belly with some scottish haggis: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">a dish containing </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheep" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">sheep</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">'s </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Offal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">'pluck'</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> (</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">heart</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liver" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">liver</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> and </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lung" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Lung"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">lungs</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">), </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minced" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Minced"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">minced</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> with </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">onion</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oatmeal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">oatmeal</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suet" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">suet</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spice" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Spice"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">spices</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, and </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">salt</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, mixed with </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_(food)" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Stock (food)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">stock</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, and traditionally </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simmer" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Simmer"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">simmered</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> in the animal's </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stomach" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">stomach</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> for approximately three hours.</span></span><br />
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<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-uHvlge9o374/TY4ClxBI21I/AAAAAAAACpg/37OEAFgl9TM/s1600/haggis.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-uHvlge9o374/TY4ClxBI21I/AAAAAAAACpg/37OEAFgl9TM/s1600/haggis.jpeg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">How they come up with these recipes, i'm afraid to ask, but surprisingly it was quite delicious!! Especially if you mix it up with your scrambled eggs for breakfast. mmmmmmm. Sorry to all you vegetarians out there!</span></span></div></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: small;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Edinburgh's quite a small city, so very easy to navigate. Everything centers around the castle, and the city is split into old town (gothic architecture, cobblestones) and new town (fashion district, businesses). You can easily get from one side of the city to the other in a 15-20 minute walk.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Here's the castle:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-YdAeRJ0wbWI/TY0lvP_HxNI/AAAAAAAACo4/e9DL73-1yuI/s1600/DSC04889.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-YdAeRJ0wbWI/TY0lvP_HxNI/AAAAAAAACo4/e9DL73-1yuI/s320/DSC04889.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_KaDURRJ63Q/TY0l1mn57QI/AAAAAAAACo8/BuEdEvot3Fw/s1600/DSC04890.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_KaDURRJ63Q/TY0l1mn57QI/AAAAAAAACo8/BuEdEvot3Fw/s320/DSC04890.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-z09TQu3qOvU/TY0oVT-T8RI/AAAAAAAACpY/6t6ydcAzHBs/s1600/DSC04875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-z09TQu3qOvU/TY0oVT-T8RI/AAAAAAAACpY/6t6ydcAzHBs/s320/DSC04875.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">looking out from inside the castle entrance</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Perhaps the funniest part of the trip was the fact that the first thought that came to my mind when i got on the bus to get from the airport to my hotel, was how much the bus driver sounded like Fat Bastard from Austin Powers!!! (keep in mind it was pretty late when i got in). And it only got better from there - because soon I discovered that every man sounded like him! I know I know, it's completely politically incorrect, but c'mon - it was funny. :) At least they didn't look like him! Although I think if I stayed there any longer I'd probably start to get a wee bit rounder - the food is so rich and heavy. Everyone at work told me to try the deep fried Mars bars - maybe next time.</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8h_0s9H3w5M/TY4CzLLhAfI/AAAAAAAACpk/oHPKe46s3_8/s1600/fat+bastard.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8h_0s9H3w5M/TY4CzLLhAfI/AAAAAAAACpk/oHPKe46s3_8/s1600/fat+bastard.jpeg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Mary King's Close was a really interesting tour. Believe it or not, there's actually an entire city beneath Edinburgh - it's how the city was initially constructed, with 5-6 or so levels below ground before the above ground parts were built. The poorest of the poor lived at the bottom with no light (and with rats and all the raw sewage that got poured out of windows at 7am and 7pm). Four families would live in a room that's about the size of my bedroom. There were entire underground markets and everything. During the plague, those unfortunate enough to catch it would be stuck down there and not allowed to leave - and no one would be allowed to get within 6 meters of them because there was such a fear of it spreading.. Lots of hauntings down there too from murders and all the people (and children) who died of the plague. The entire city's haunted as far as I could tell! Seemed like everywhere you look some gravedigger/haunted cave/ghost tour is advertised. </span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">You might ask why the people lived in such cramped quarters and didn't spread out further into the country. At the time it just wasn't safe to stray from the city center because the Scottish were at war with the English, and there was no protection outside the city boundaries. So people really had no choice but to live cramped on top of each other. Now the underground tunnels, or "closes," are really just traveled by tour groups - no homes or businesses down there anymore. </span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">On a lighter note, here's a Scottish street performer:</span></span><br />
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</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx49219SFx0kDYVjU2QTuBXtKkJ7y_XuvW63fMceEHjTOAzrp0g_C0y1Wri7mmMXpLULtl6rgxrU6S5Q-sdLw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
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</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Hearing this music everywhere while taking a stroll down the old cobblestone part of town up to the castle just makes you feel like you're living in another century - it's brilliant!! Here's some pics of the streets in the old part of town.</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dpPeFQtwlKM/TY0mXWFm85I/AAAAAAAACpA/fANa1WrNVbc/s1600/DSC04871.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dpPeFQtwlKM/TY0mXWFm85I/AAAAAAAACpA/fANa1WrNVbc/s320/DSC04871.JPG" width="320" /></span></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Ls4MDVmF1rY/TY0mckzVehI/AAAAAAAACpE/ziV10jiTg_s/s1600/DSC04876.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Ls4MDVmF1rY/TY0mckzVehI/AAAAAAAACpE/ziV10jiTg_s/s320/DSC04876.JPG" width="240" /></span></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Count on me to find the one thai restaurant around. Had a nice lunch here.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-DMVwJa1xH9E/TY0mkuvtJ9I/AAAAAAAACpI/Lbj8mgK3044/s1600/DSC04877.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-DMVwJa1xH9E/TY0mkuvtJ9I/AAAAAAAACpI/Lbj8mgK3044/s320/DSC04877.JPG" width="320" /></span></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">My second night in the city I went on a literary pub tour - in hopes of meeting some new faces to share a pint with, as well as maybe learn a thing or two. Well....I got 2 out of 3. You are correct if you guessed the friends and pints. This tour was hilarious because I could hardly understand a word the actors said during the entire thing! (I did pick up "slainte" which is scottish for cheers). Coincidentally I was not alone - I met some fellow Americans and a Swiss couple who also confided to me that they couldn't understand what the heck the guides were saying. Granted, the Swiss couple was there to learn/practice English. I think the irony lies in the fact that this was a "literary" pub tour. As a followup - I'm trying to brush up on my Scottish by reading an Irvine Welsh book. I have to actually read the words out loud in order to understand what he's writing. You know what I mean if you've read any I.W.</span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here's some pics from a local kilt shop - buy any kilt get a jacket FREE! Better stock up!</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-CPpv3Gf4vFg/TY0kPqLcoTI/AAAAAAAACoo/bEK6SUoRl00/s1600/DSC04862.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-CPpv3Gf4vFg/TY0kPqLcoTI/AAAAAAAACoo/bEK6SUoRl00/s320/DSC04862.JPG" width="320" /></span></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-w-zN-lXXYJQ/TY0kSffScxI/AAAAAAAACos/rSIFyftcWVc/s1600/DSC04863.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-w-zN-lXXYJQ/TY0kSffScxI/AAAAAAAACos/rSIFyftcWVc/s320/DSC04863.JPG" width="240" /></span></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Check out the legs on these fellas!</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-v195TMWxpzc/TY0kXATjanI/AAAAAAAACow/pbp9yU7N_mI/s1600/DSC04864.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-v195TMWxpzc/TY0kXATjanI/AAAAAAAACow/pbp9yU7N_mI/s320/DSC04864.JPG" width="320" /></span></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">My last day in the city there happened to be a wedding at my hotel - I was right outside just at the perfect time to watch this:</span></span><br />
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</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxuKFcEp5BZKduM9g1xevfEWKEjrG5tVFh1EWZRkcUQVNgnLuEIxeFoSIP17b8wyp5vhXQcp8fokqhsxfXvxA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So beautiful! I know I've said I really want to get married on a sandy beach...but maybe we could throw a bagpipe player in there too? </span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here's some more pictures of the city...</span></span><br />
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</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-mgXezzozEC8/TY0nV8wY6lI/AAAAAAAACpM/m_dXPyjsiU8/s1600/DSC04873.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-mgXezzozEC8/TY0nV8wY6lI/AAAAAAAACpM/m_dXPyjsiU8/s320/DSC04873.JPG" width="320" /></span></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M9ZtkfkN4SU/TY0nZ4zCpZI/AAAAAAAACpQ/wb3mZjSB3V0/s1600/DSC04874.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M9ZtkfkN4SU/TY0nZ4zCpZI/AAAAAAAACpQ/wb3mZjSB3V0/s320/DSC04874.JPG" width="320" /></span></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-B_l2ioVltpY/TY0nd-RJUfI/AAAAAAAACpU/LDZ4iXXADB4/s1600/DSC04884.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-B_l2ioVltpY/TY0nd-RJUfI/AAAAAAAACpU/LDZ4iXXADB4/s320/DSC04884.JPG" width="320" /></span></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">At the Scotch Whisky Experience you can try 300 different types of Scotch whisky! I took a pass on this one...</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-pxewhOxDQlk/TY0pCPv_IxI/AAAAAAAACpc/j_I873i98EM/s1600/DSC04872.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-pxewhOxDQlk/TY0pCPv_IxI/AAAAAAAACpc/j_I873i98EM/s320/DSC04872.JPG" width="240" /></span></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The weekend went by way to quickly, but it was a great getaway and hopefully I can get back there sometime in the future. And despite the difficulty I had with the accent, the friendliness and warmth of the people really made for a wonderful trip. I highly recommend a visit if you ever get the chance!</span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</div></span>Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-84790471940295997012011-03-13T14:46:00.000-07:002011-03-14T05:00:44.712-07:00Street PerformersBack from Scotland - more on that later. But for now, here's the pics as promised and a little something extra.<br />
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First off, Dublin has the best street performers!! Last weekend I was taking a stroll down Grafton street and came across these fellas. Not sure what they're saying, but it sure does sound good! (note- you probably need to download adobe flash to view this if you don't have it already)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxkZEjZtDIRHX9Nr9nWnIAOmzjKNeQvbez45lIow7PqtKqVlPUFf2uAB0RZ1XN6Vh7Tda57UO1elEyMozdHoQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
Here are some more coffee mugs I've had at work - trying to use a different one each day. Keeps the work day interesting when you never know which one you'll end up with.<br />
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One MILLION dollars...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-BgdffLN7I0w/TX05_1i_WYI/AAAAAAAACoY/GXlvhIGnvNY/s1600/DSC04853.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-BgdffLN7I0w/TX05_1i_WYI/AAAAAAAACoY/GXlvhIGnvNY/s320/DSC04853.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Pancake Day!!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-XvQz3iqH8nc/TX06Ip0Mz4I/AAAAAAAACog/SDMZaSv6ahs/s1600/DSC04857.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-XvQz3iqH8nc/TX06Ip0Mz4I/AAAAAAAACog/SDMZaSv6ahs/s320/DSC04857.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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This is the castle in Swords (village I work in) - pass it every day on my way to work. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-66HUq8ArPR0/TX05X_tGKmI/AAAAAAAACoQ/Xtil_ptecSY/s1600/DSC04858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-66HUq8ArPR0/TX05X_tGKmI/AAAAAAAACoQ/Xtil_ptecSY/s320/DSC04858.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And finally, Dublin's version of Johnny Rockets:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FLLrTko5nr4/TX06EbucuBI/AAAAAAAACoc/G5Er3GJUxf4/s1600/DSC04856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FLLrTko5nr4/TX06EbucuBI/AAAAAAAACoc/G5Er3GJUxf4/s320/DSC04856.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-14946780497584770782011-03-11T11:27:00.000-08:002011-03-11T11:33:41.217-08:00Where's the Crack?Yes, that's right - the Irish are really fond of their crack. This is something that confused me several times during my first couple of weeks here - everyone's always talking about the great crack they had over the weekend! Turns out crack (spelled "craic") is actually just the word for "fun." I can see how it would be easy for an Irishman to get into trouble asking for craic in the states...<br />
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Week 2 has been fab. I'm finally moved into a beautiful apartment in the city center, making new friends at the office, signed up to play on a coed-rec rugby team, and getting the hang of work. One of my co-workers goes into the city center every so often, so we've met up for lunch on the weekend and she's shown me some great areas for shopping. I have one person reporting to me at the moment at work, but I'll probably be seeing less of him over the next 6 weeks because he's taking an exam soon. <br />
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They love American shows in Ireland, so it's great having people to talk to about those great shows like Teen Mom, Celebrity Rehab, The Hills, Pimp my Ride, Laguna Beach, Cribs, and Jersey Shore...you get the idea. Ryan thought I'd be devastated without my awful VH1 shows! muahahahahahaaa....<br />
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I'd post some new pictures, but I'm actually in the airport at the moment and forgot to pack my cord to connect my camera to my laptop. So you'll just have to wait in suspense...:)<br />
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Work has sent me on a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland for the weekend because I need to exit and re-enter the country to get my work permit stamped. Not a bad excuse for a weekend trip!! They're really taking good care of me here. Looking forward to trying out some interesting Scottish food - like haggis and square sausage. <br />
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Tuesday was Pancake Day in Ireland. Everyone in the country eats pancakes, pancakes are served in the canteen (cafeteria) at work, and all the grocery stores were selling packages upon packages of pre-made pancakes. So random!! It's how they celebrate Fat Tuesday over here - a day to be gluttonous and eat yummy goodness before Lent. I love that here they've decided that it's national Pancake Day - what a great idea! Pancakes are sort of a rarity here - people only have them once a year as a treat - and my co-workers found it very odd that in the states people will eat pancakes for breakfast, and it's normal to have them more often than just on Pancake Day!<br />
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Some new vocab...<br />
lodging = depositing (i had to ask about this one during my mandatory money-laundering training at work because i didn't understand the question on the test)<br />
hire = rent<br />
gilt = UK issued bond<br />
quid = slang for euro<br />
massive piss party = big drunk-fest (i.e. St. Patty's is gonna be a massive piss party!)<br />
slagging = teasing<br />
how are you keeping? = how's it going?<br />
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One other interesting tidbit - the national language of Ireland is Irish, but hardly anyone speaks it except in some parts of the west coast. One of my Irish teammates is actually taking Irish language lessons at the moment.<br />
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Flight's boarding - gotta go! More pics soon!Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-84261191988504870052011-03-02T13:51:00.000-08:002011-03-26T08:16:03.238-07:00Porridge. With or without Whiskey?Top 'o the evening my lads and lassies! It's been quite a busy few days, but a lot has been accomplished. Dublin is a beautiful and amazing city, and I think I will be quite happy here. The people are absolutely the friendliest people of all the cities I've been to, and everyone - co-workers, hotel staff, and strangers - have been extremely helpful in getting me settled. <br />
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You're probably wondering about the title of this post. Porridge (oatmeal) is a popular breakfast dish, and they happen to serve it with cream and "a dash of irish whiskey" at the hotel where I'm currently staying. Thinking this was a traditional irish breakfast item, I of course had to give it a shot. And it's delicious!! However, after telling my co-workers about my whiskey porridge experience, I've learned that it is definitely NOT a traditional irish breakfast item, and no one had ever even heard of it before...go figure. <br />
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Believe it or not, happy hours are actually outlawed in Ireland. As an attempt to curb heavy drinking, a law was passed that made it illegal for a pub to hold an hour of the night where drinks are cheap. End result? Pubs now hold entire nights in which the drinks are cheap (rather than a single hour), and people get even more smashed. <br />
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Finally found an apartment in the heart of dublin! It's a nice 2 bedroom place 10 minutes walk from grafton street, a block from Trinity college, and 5 min from the bus stop where i pick up the bus to get to work every day. Officially moving in on Saturday. And just as an example of how nice people are here, the woman who's leasing the apartment to me has offered to pick me up with all my luggage and take me to the apartment, and then take me around town for any errands I may need - like groceries, linens, etc... Because she knows what it's like to move to a new city. Wow!<br />
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Note to self - The Hairy Lemon pub around the corner has AMAZING buffalo wings. Thank you cab driver for sharing this secret with me. :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-cCiugk1rYVY/TY4DLWcWjQI/AAAAAAAACpo/JdoCP-z-ngU/s1600/hairy+lemon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-cCiugk1rYVY/TY4DLWcWjQI/AAAAAAAACpo/JdoCP-z-ngU/s1600/hairy+lemon.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Some new translations:<br />
dodgey - sketchy (i.e. "don't get an apartment near o'connell street - it's quite dodgey and you need to watch out for needles from the junkies")<br />
porridge - oatmeal<br />
pissed - drunk<br />
table quiz - trivia<br />
black pudding - NOT jello-chocolate pudding. according to wikipedia, black pudding "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">is a type of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sausage" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;">sausage</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> made by </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_as_food" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Blood as food">cooking blood</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> or dried blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled."</span><br />
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Food here is actually fantastic - I've had some great thai, and just had the best indian food tonight i've ever had for dinner. so it's not all meat and potatoes. it's definitely there for the eating, but the city has pretty much every type of restaurant you can imagine.<br />
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Most of my co-workers don't live in city center, so I'll need to figure out ways to make friends here (suggestions welcome). Eating dinner alone isn't exactly the most fun thing to do, and going to a pub alone will probably just open the doors to unwanted attention from the drunk lads, which is the last thing I need. So, my first attempt at making friends (besides co-workers and hotel staff) will be to meet up with a group of couch-surfers for a Korean dinner on Monday night. There's a couch-surfing club here in Dublin that goes out to dinner together every monday at a different ethnic restaurant - so far some people from Ireland, UK, and Holland have signed up. I'll be the token american. :)<br />
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Here's some local news from today:<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">????</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And my personal favorite read this morning...</div><br />
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Perhaps the most bizarre place I've been since arriving in Dublin is the gym I just joined, Crunch. I think they must have turned an old night club into a fitness center, because the place looks like a gothic palace/dungeon inside. Here's what the entrance looks like. I wonder if Bono goes there.<br />
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There's a kitchen at work with a cappuchino machine (sweet!!) and you get to pick from an assortment of mugs each day for your coffee/tea. Today's mug speaks for itself.<br />
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And finally, I took these photos of the Liffey river on my walk home from work this evening. I never get tired of this view. That's all for now. Cheers!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-83972970934301222372011-02-14T20:14:00.000-08:002011-02-14T20:14:52.385-08:00RoundaboutOnly recently did I learn that there are a lot of roundabouts in Dublin. Hopefully I don't encounter any beasts like this... might have to buy some additional life insurance before the big move. (which is now expected to be 2/24 by the way)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cZqPTqedrmA/TVn5_8IaXcI/AAAAAAAACnA/V-QhYYyraR4/s1600/magicroundabout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cZqPTqedrmA/TVn5_8IaXcI/AAAAAAAACnA/V-QhYYyraR4/s640/magicroundabout.jpg" width="192" /></a></div>Sarah Konradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09404696831559817046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3844564741245215758.post-17238453138427133962011-01-30T16:02:00.000-08:002011-01-30T16:02:26.624-08:00Getting Ready<div>My start date for work has been set to February 21st (only 3 more weeks!) To prepare for the big trip, I'm trying to have less of this...</div><br />
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</div><div>And more of this...</div><div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Practice makes perfect.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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