Amsterdam (Jan 12, 13, 14)

Made it to Amsterdam and as soon as we hit the street our hostel was on I could already tell that we were no longer in London. We got there the night of the 12th and our hostel was located in what seemed to be the heart of the city. It was called the Flying Pig and the entire first floor was basically a bar that played classic rock during the day and pumped techno music all night...literallly all night. The first day we woke up and headed to the Anne Frank House. We took a few wrong turns and got a little lost...understandable due to the fact that none of could read the street signs very well (our first experience in a country where english isn't the main language) but we made it. Touring the house was indiscribable. I have read the diary and being in the actual house...what can you say? It was one of the most amazing and impactful places I have ever been, and I think the rest of the group would agree. Touring the Van Gogh museum the next day was also an incredible experience.

London (Jan. 9, 10, 11)

Arrived in London on the 9th. It was pretty late once we got there, had to take a ferry over from Dublin then a few train connections. Once we got to our hostel in the Victoria district of London, we threw our bags down then went and tried to find a place to relax. We ended up choosing a pub near by, appropriate considering we had been only out of Dublin for no longer than half a day. We all couldnt believe how quickly everything shut down at night. Everything in our area shut down around 10:30 pm, much different than what we were accustomed to in Dublin. I think it was good for us though. The first day we took a cab to Buckingham Palace and made it just in time for the changing of the gaurd. After taking some pictures around the palace, we headed to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. We didnt get to tour the inside of Westminster Abbey becuase it was sunday, but just seeing the detail of the exterior of the cathedral was worth the walk itself. We closed out the rest of the afternoon by going to the national gallery (seeing a few original pieces by Van Gogh, Picasso, and michelangelo) and the national museum (rosetta stone, pieces of the parthenon, the flood tablet, as well as numerous egyptian artifacts, some of which dated back 5000+ years). That night Chris and I rode the subway a ways out of the heart of london and met a family friend of his (Katie) and her husband (Mike). We went to a small pub near their home. Chris and I both had some authentic fish and chips for the first time and its a safe bet to say that both of us were satisfied. Overall, the night was packed with a good atmosphere, good food and good conversation. In addition, Mike and Katie suggested an american sports bar in the city which showed NFL games and other american sporting events. Chris and I met Alex and Eric at this place after dinner to watch the packers playoff game. The place was literally called "Sports Cafe", and I was surprised to see that there were a decent amount of packer fans there. I wish the outcome of the game would have turned out differently, but it was a fun experience and green bay's fight made us stay all the way until 2 am (Sports Cafe's extended closing time that night). The next day we hopped across the water and went to Tate Modern. We saw a bunch of "interesting" pieces and exhibits, some of which we didnt understand but we all did enjoy the massive Andy Warhol exhibit...pretty cool. After Tate Modern we walked to the London Tower Bridge, which was awesome -- probably my favorite sight in London. Right next to the Tower Bridge is the actual London Tower, which is appropriate given the titles...it was another favorite amongst the group. Overall, London was another great city. More proper than Dublin, and less of a nightlife but another great city. I hate to sound cliche or repetative, but the "coolest thing" about London for me was seeing in real life all of the mainstream "London" sights which I've read about, seen in movies, and so on. All of those things can be linked directly with how much history is in the city itself -- too much to take in with only two days here. I wish we would have had more time but thats part of the deal.

Dublin, Ireland (Jan. 6, 7, 8)

We made it through the first country in one piece. Besides for the pint prices and the daytime temperatures, Dublin was great! We knew beforehand that it was going to be expensive and cold so it wasn't a big surprise. We got into Paris around 9:30 on the morning of the sixth. The flight felt extremely cramped and hot. However, it went fairly quickly (due in part to the massive amount of free movies, tv shows, and games available) and the food wasnt bad either. It got a little hectic once we arrived in Paris because our flight had gotten in an hour late and we had to go through a full security check once again to make our connection. We made our connection to Dublin though and that's what's important. We found out later that day that they had shut down all incoming flights to Dublin about two hours after we got there because of the ice. Our landing was pretty sketchy so I wasnt too surprised. Once we got to the Dublin airport, we got our passports stamped and then caught a bus to our hostel. The Avalon House was a nice hostel. It was attached to a barista which served free breakfast every morning; we only made it to breakfast one time. There were a decent amount of computers in the lobby. All had free internet and we were able to watch the national championship game at 4 in the morning on friday. As far as the days went we were fairly productive. We werent able to get too much done the first day because our flight didn't get in until the afternoon. So, we got something to eat (Pizza consisting of potatos, garlic and oil, pesto, and mozzarela) it was great. Once we ate lunch we went back to the hostel to take a nap -- none of us had gotten much sleep on the flight to Paris. That night we went out to a place called Sheeba. We all had burgers. From what we saw in Dublin, it seemed like on every single street you could get burgers and pizza, most of the time at the same place. We had a few pints at Sheeba and then walked to a corner pub right accross the street from our hostel to close our the night -- John Lynch's. The first full day there we walked to Saint Patrick's Cathedral, went to Marsh's Library, walked cross town to the Chester Beatty Library, and ended the day with a self tour of the Guinness Factory. The history that is in this area is absolutely incredible. It felt majestic simply walking the streets of Dublin on this first day--cold, cloudy, foggy, kind of how I had pictured it would be. That night we ended up going out to a place called Hogan's, had a few pints and played some cards. The next day we woke up still jet lagged but were able to stay productive. While walking to visit Trinity College we noticed a few kids that appeared to be skipping school throwing snowballs at innocent bystanders. We looked them directly in the eyes as we walked passed them and then got drilled with snowballs. So, we basically ended up getting in a snowball fight with a bunch of ten year olds, and its a pretty safe bet to say that we lost. After stopping by Trinity college, we went to the Wax Museum which was interesting, and then trekked to the Jameson Distillary for a tour and whiskey tasting session. Everyone was able to submit their ticket at the end of the tour for a complimentary shot or mixed drink of Jameson, but a select few (including Alex and Eric) were able to participate in an "official" whiskey tasting conducted by our tour guide. We left the Jameson Distillary feeling rejuvinated, got some dinner, and headed out for our last night in Dublin -- drinking a few more pints, playing cards, enjoying the experience.

Welcome

Hey Everyone! Welcome to the new blog! If you visited www.bobsvoyage.blogspot.com last spring, you'll probably recognize similarities between the two. I am hoping to update this blog with one entry from each country we visit. Last spring I tried to update for everyday in each country. I loved the "end" product, but was disappointed that I was only able to update the blog through Thailand. If you're still interested in my journeys throughout the final countries of my Semester at Sea experience, I might have time to post those final entries this second semester. However, I can't wait for this upcoming experience. For those of you who do not know already, DePauw is set up as a tri-mester. The month of January is called our Winter Term. This month, students at DePauw are able to do internships, independent study projects, school-sponsored study abroad trips, or independent study abroad trips. Three of my fraternity brothers and I will be traveling throughout Europe for 22 days. During this trip, I will be conducting a research project entitled "The European Travel Experience - By Rail". I will be experiencing and researching the European Train System during this voyage. Alex, Chris, Eric and I will be traveling throughout Western Europe via the rail system. Our flight for Dublin leaves today at 5 pm, and all of us are extremely pumped for this trip. As it is stated above, this blog will be updated with a summary of my experiences in each country. Enjoy the blog and stay tuned for updates! We will be in Dublin tomorrow!