I havent written anything in a long time because there really hasnt been much going on recently. I have been studying for exams which I have FINALLY finished. I had my last one today. I am going to Wales tomorrow morning to visit my cousin! Hurrahz! So I will take many pictures and post about that. After that Im pretty much done maybe there will be something cool to write. I usually dont write anything if something somewhat large hasnt happened. If I go out on the town, meh. Not that interesting. So anyways sorry for the long break! I know you all are very disappointed!

Had some visitors this week...nothing clever about that

This past week I had a few visitors so I have been busy running/driving around Ireland doing fun stuff! First up was Elise and her friend Caitlin who came to Ireland from Paris. During the day they wanted to do much of the touristy things that I had done before, so I did not accompany them. I was able to show them around a few of the local pubs and took them to eat some burgers. We also went down the coast to Bray to get out of the city and hung out at the beach.

Elise, Me and Caitlin


Caitlin and I



Soon after they left my Dad came to visit. It was a pretty spontaneous trip for him which was cool, but it showed by our lack of direction the 3 days he was here. He got in the evening of the 6th and we wondered around the city and took a drive down to the southern edge of the city in his rental BMW 118i. Since its a car we dont get stateside, it was pretty cool, but other than that, its a pretty basic car.

The only small hatchback you can buy with rear wheel drive!


Right hand drive!


Manual! The transmission all cars should have...



The next morning we decided that Belfast would be a pretty cool city to check since neither of us had been there. We were wrong. While it was cool to say we'd been there, it didnt look much different than any other city. There was nothing really special about it. Over all it was pretty boring. The only redeeming feature of the city were a few cool political murals painted on the sides of a number of buildings. The murals in many cases were for either the Republicans (Catholics) or Loyalists (Protestants).

Republican mural



Loyalist Mural



Awesome Mural



We ate lunch a pretty cool pub that had been pretty much unchanged since its construction in the late 1800's. Although it had seen some action as it was located right across the street from the most bombed hotel in Europe, thanks to the IRA.

The pub where we ate lunch


Above me you can see where a bomb blast damaged the mirror in 1994


Across the street from the pub is the most bombed hotel in Europe

(the above three pictures are courtesy of my father)

The next day we got up early to travel again to Northern Ireland to go on a hike to an interesting rock formation called the Giant's Causeway. It took us a good 5 hours to drive up to the northern most coast of the island where the Causeway is located. I drove most of the way there and back. Driving on the left hand side of the road was weird at first but it was not hard to get used to after a bit. The hardest part was making sure not to straddle the lanes and judging the width of the car.

The roads were great


Before we got to the Causeway we stopped by the ruined Dunluce castle that was built in the 1200's




At one point part of the kitchen of the castle fell off into the sea



We then parked the car and began our walk along the coast to the Giant's Causeway


The rock formations at the Causeway were really pretty neat


Liquid magma formed these hexagonal shaped rocks




Other pictures

Prague!

This weekend I decided to take a trip to the Czech Republic to visit my good friend Julia who is studying in Prague. First of all I have to say that is a BEAUTIFUL city. Of all the cities Ive been in Europe, like 4, Id say this one was the coolest. The weather was magnificent. Around 20C/70F degrees which in my mind is pretty much perfect. With the exception of one day of rain, it was close to perfect. Considering the fact that the weather was pretty bad up until that weekend, I can only conclude that I own the weather. Its the only logical explanation.

The first day I got there we wondered around the city
This is a crappy picture of the Milunić and Gehry's Dancing building which is made to look like two dancers...dancing



We also checked out the Charles Bridge which has many cool statues that are actually all replicas because the originals are kept in museums to keep them from being defaced




Kanye West also filmed one of his videos on the bridge which is pretty cool. You can see the statue of the Crucifix in the video. If youre in a hurry, skip to 1:09
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Fgqd80026xU


Then we went to the John Lennon wall which is the only legal place to graffiti in the city, but you wouldnt know it. There are tags and graffiti everywhere.








The architecture is beautiful



This is an artist's rendition of what communism does to a person.



The US dollar also goes farther there which is nice seeing that it is $1.60+ to the Euro. A beer can be had for $2!

Those mugs are pretty sweet too, they made me want to sing sea shanties and become a pirate.


A cool astronomical clock



A sweet cathedral


Jewish cemetery which was pelted by acid rain during the environmentally concerned communist era which caused the rough texture of the stones


Statue of Charles the IV


And an artists rendition of the statue



Over all I had a really great time. It was good to see Julia, and meet her roommates! Good times were had all around. I have to run to class soon so this will have to do!

Other random pictures

Im going to Prague this weekend to visit my dear friend Julia! I wake up at 430 for a flight at 7. Oh joy. This time I will take a lot of picture. I promise!


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A picture is worth a thousand words...and since I have no pictures....

OK! So we lost our internet for a little bit for some odd reason so I couldn't post last night. And I apologize for not posting this earlier, I was lazy.

Anyways now I will FINALLY report on my trip to France. This past weekend as you should already know, I went to France to visit my sister. I left on Thursday and flew into Geneva at around 3pm. After a nice 3 hour flight, I got a shuttle to take me the rest of the way from the airport to Eliza's quaint and cozy studio apartment over looking the French Alps.

After I arrived, we ran a few errands and got me the nicest rental snowboard that I have ever ridden on. They tend to be pretty much crap all around. This one however, had nicer bindings than the board I use at home with boots that were in better condition than my own as well. That night we went out to a bar to see a small group play old American classics like Hendrix and Cream, and met up with some of Eliza's boyfriend, Patrick's friends. Thats a cumbersome sentence.

We woke up at 830 the next day to get ready and eat breakfast before the hill opened. Patrick was nice enough to let be borrow all the winter gear that I didn't bring from the States except for gloves which were acquired at a cheap 15Euro. Before we even set foot on the mountain I got some idea of what was to come. To be sure that nothing TOO exciting happened, we put on harnesses and avalanche beacons, just in case one of us fell down a gaping crevasse or was swallowed by a large cascading snowbank.

When we got to the top of the 2700+ meter gondola, we set off. I was pumped, I hadn't ridden in a while and I was excited to get to go once more before the summer. The first run was EXHAUSTING. The snow was packed powder which had been chewed up by many people before us. This left pockets of crème brulée type snow more that eager to gnaw my legs to bits and shove my face in the snow. It was probably the hardest terrain I've even encountered simply due to how tired it made me.

After a couple of runs I started to warm up and string a few lines together. Luckily we were with Patrick who was sympathetic to my burning quads and didn't leave me behind. A couple of our runs took us over a very impressive glacier. By the end of the day I was burnt out, but really enjoying myself. Just before our last run the clouds began rolling in, bringing with it the snow. On our final decent we could hardly see at all due to the falling snow. It looked like it would be good skiing the next day.

The next day we got up at a bright and early at 630. Patrick wouldn't be joining us because he had a job later (hes a mountain guide) and didn't want his clothes to be wet. That would turn out to be a DEADLY mistake, with out the death. Anyways, Eliza and I met up with a few of her friends and we set off. When we reached the top of our first run the view was amazing. The low clouds that blanketed the valley made the mountain look as if it was 20,000 feet high instead of 10, 000. The sun was shining and there was not a single cloud above us. Not to mention, the snow was PERFECT. It had dropped about a foot or more of fresh powder and the first couple runs were amazing. I have to say, I LOVE powder.* The feeling of cutting out a fresh line while grabbing a hand full of snow as it flies by is indescribable. Its awesome. After a few runs however, it started to get a bit choppy and finding fresh snow was more tricky. One had to keep behind the person leading and not stray too far off to either side as it could cost you YOUR LIFE! Not really, but it was possible. This time around the snow was more forgiving but the people we were with were less willing to give my thighs a break. This was probably a good thing because it forced me to push myself and it showed. The last run I could hardly keep myself from falling over the smallest lump of snow.

After our last run we went to a bar where I practiced my French listening skillzz. The next day was uneventful, and I caught my flight at close to 4. It was a great weekend, I really had a good time. I was not able however, to take many pictures because I did not really want to bring my camera up the slope to get wet/broken in any way. Sorry! I did take a few pictures from my sister's balcony which has a pretty damn nice view.





And I hope you don't mind Eliza but here is the largest room in the studio apartment which was taken from the kitchen...if you can call it a kitchen.


And one more mountain picture


So before I lose the internet AGAIN I want to get this up!

*And yes, I realize how much it sounds like a reference to illegal drugs.

In France visiting my sister for the weekend. Chamonix to be exact! Snowboarding in the French alps! Be good!


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Glendalough!

Or in Gaelic, Gleann Dá Loch, meaning Glen (valley) of two lakes is a ruined village which contains a former monastery located in County Wicklow. It was founded in the 6th century by St. Kevin then later destroyed by British troops in 1398. Damn British. It was nice to get out of the city even if it was only for a few hours. Our friend Luke from England came with us which was nice because he had a car making it easier to get around. Once out of the city the empty roads seem to have been draped over the rolling hills making for great driving. Too bad I cant take advantage of them! The surrounding countryside is beautiful with more large boulders than you have ever seen.







This is what is left of the village, a large tower and monastery:








Cliche'




A Large waterfall





And here are some more flower pictures from today:



And dont forget...