Wicklow Mountains

So during my last weekend in Ireland Abrahm took us up to the Wicklow Mountains. It was gorgeous! It was a rare sunny day in Ireland and windy as hell and oh so perfect. The mountains are more beautiful than anything so I will let one place tell that story, Sally Gap

So lovely

this is someone's private lake, by the way. Not a shabby backyard, eh?

examples of windiness and coldness

After our mini hike we headed to Avoca handweavers, a famous Irish wool company. The old looms are so intricate and daunting, I don't know how they do it. We had a deliciouslunch there and then headed back to Dublin. It was a lovely day and I got to see another part of Ireland thanks to my gracious tour guide. I am so grateful he let me stay and that Sarah mentioned the idea in the first place. Wicklow was my last adventure in Europe and man was I sad to come home. But we all know there's more adventuring in store for me; can't keep me in one place too long!

So I was San Francisco bound.

Now the only question is, what's next?

Northern Ireland

I was pretty sad to come back to Ireland, only because I knew that meant my adventure time was almost over, BUT I had something to be excited about...NORTHERN IRELAND, plus my mom came over to spend my last few weeks bummin' around with me. It felt good to really know Dublin when I got back. I knew which buses went where, which way was east, and could tell cabbies where to go with certainty and correct them if they turned on the wrong street. It felt like I was home again. It was nice. But as always, you gotta head out and EXPLORE!

Soooo.....to Belfast I went! The city itself is pretty ordinary, especially downtown, but there is this neat thing you can do called a black cab tour. There are these old timey guys that take you into the "neighborhoods" of Northern Ireland. The tour is centered on the religious conflict in Northern Ireland. The Catholics vs. the Protestants. These neighborhoods are literally one street away from one another, but to help cut back on violence there is an actual barrier between them. Things have calmed down so this gate is opened during daylight, but still closed every night. As I am sure you're tired of reading it was nuts to see a building after a bombing and then in the present...the violence and destruction we inflict on one another is disheartening.

Our cab driver was very very very Protestant and made comments when driving through the Catholic neighborhood. Apparently he also completely skipped the memorial on the Catholic side, where as he MADE us get out of the car and take pictures at the protestant ones. The working class folks definitely still have some bad blood between them, but the country has a whole has calmed down significantly. The murals, at least on the Catholic side, have been redone with worldwide political concerns and artwork, versus just IRA propaganda. For example...

The Protestant side was a bit of a different story...

yes, yes that gun is FOLLOWING you

Just in case you cannot read this, "Catholicism is more than a religion it is a political power therefore I'm led to believe there will be no peace in Ireland until the Catholic Church is crushed," Oliver Cromwell

And despite being raised Catholic, I did not bias these! The guy took us to a very apolitical selection of murals on the Catholic side, minus on the actual IRA political party head quarters which had a picture of Bobby Sands, a Parliament member who died in a hunger strike, but it is the political headquarters, so I think its okay. These Protestant ones are on housing developments!

After exploring Belfast a bit, I convinced my mom to head up the north coast road to an area called Giant's Causeway. Along the way though I got to see beautiful coastline, old castles, and got warmed up at the Bushmill's distillery! All in all, an AMAZING combination. I got to hike a bit and then head down some sketchy old stone stairs. Any of you who have witnessed my klutziness will be impressed! At one point along the way, we stopped for a snack and I found these!

I feel I should get royalties on this business!!

And now to the lovely sites!

This is where the Carrik-a-rede rope bridge is when it is not November, so we didn't get to cross, but sheesh its beautiful!

Dunluce Castle, beautiful!!

Some happy bovines!

looking down on giant's causeway from the cliff hike

The way down to giants causeway from the cliff hike...

Success!

(imagine me giving you a thumbs up whilst saying that, because I totally did!)

Rocky intertidal!

Crazy hexagonal stones that make up the causeway, so pretty!

Seriously do not skip this trip if you ever find yourself in Northern Ireland! It was such a lovely day! Castles, whiskey, hiking, and ocean time...what else do you need in life?

Next, it was back to the republic with me!

Berlin

When I arrived in Berlin I remembered how much I liked Germany. Berlin is very different from Munich though, that is for sure. Berlin is really modern and hip. The city is also HUGE. I had to break down and take public transit because it took me too long to walk places! I like to walk everywhere because I feel like you get to take in so much more, and I did have a couple chances to do that in Berlin. I stumbled upon neat little things like this:

Lego Giraffe with Daises!!

heart in the grass!

I was in Berlin for five days and had a great time. Sadly I was sick the first few days, BUT still managed to do quite a bit. Museum Island is AMAZING. The quality of the museums in Europe just blows my mind constantly. My favorite one was on the island was definitely the Perganom. Ancient Roman, Greek, Babylonian, and Islamic architecture? Um, yes please!

Oh, you know, just the Ishtar Gate...no big deal

The procession also from the Ishtar Gate

Museum island also holds some iconic views, like this one:

The Berliner Dom and the TV tower.

Berlin, like most big European cities, is rich in history. The vast majority of the city was destroyed in WWII, so it is less like walking through time and more like with each newish looking building you realize something else was there first. The city has been replaced for the most part and in some areas given that shiny coating like nothing ever happened, but when you look at it all in context its mind blowing how much was lost from this place. Then you have the history from the aftermath of the war, which luckily is mostly still standing. Take Bradenburg Gate, or the sections of the Berlin wall that still remain, or Kaiser Wilhem Church (photos of two below, wall will come later).

So surreal to walk through this thing!

Kaiser Wihlem aka the hollow tooth church. One of the only buildings left after WWII.

Not only are there these historical monuments, but also monuments built to honor the history. The one I found to be the most striking of all can be seen below...I stumbled upon this as I was walking home one night and was quite literally taken aback. This is an ENTIRE city block of coffin shaped stones and very few lights. It creates a somber mood immediately. There was no way you could pass this by and not think about the holocaust and again the history of the country. I know I have mentioned this before but it is just such a new experience to stand in a spot where such history took place. These events transform from simple words on a page to reality in an instant.

...

So more history, happier topic, ART! Berlin, is known for many things, but its street art is up there. They have an urban art tour through the city and its so worth the money! It's a walking tour and takes you through some great spots in Berlin!! I fell in love with the areas we went through and was bummed I went later in my trip, because I would've spent way more time there! The Berlin art scene was booming up until about five years ago and it began after the wall fell. There was a loop hole in the law that stated that you could alter any building you did not find "ascetically pleasing." Neat hu? I thought so! A lot of the art was grassroots style with squatters opening up art schools and then making connections with colleges and sharing the same spaces. The street art is so beautiful too! I put a few of my favorite pieces below!

Gorgeous no?

There was one building especially that will blow your mind if you ever go there. Tacheles. This place is made of squatters who run classes and studios out of an abandoned building. They sell some of their work (a few pieces I now call my own) upstairs and they also actually work with the local colleges and share space. There doesn't seem to be that ohhh you don't go to school for this attitude. It's just artist to artist and its awesome. Here is the staircase of the main building and some shots of the metal pieces below. AMAZING!

awesome staircase, leading to a wonderful world of creativity!

I love this one.

"I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike..."

After all this the tour leads you to the East Side Gallery, before you reach it though, you cross over the river Spree. This area of the river is still untouched, but is slowly being bought up by corporations that just want beach bars and expensive high rises. Right now this lower income neighborhood has green space along the banks for kids, for recreation, but not for profit. Unfortunately we all now profit wins everytime and now that the contracts are up, the buildings are being built. I took this picture because when/if I make it back that way these banks will be full of high rises-metal and glass, no green.

Now onto the Gallery...

The East Side Gallery is the longest section of standing Berlin wall. Contrary to popular belief it was not painted prior to the fall. The whole idea is to honor the fact that if anyone had come close enough the wall to paint in on the east side, they would have been shot and killed immediately. If anyone got by the wall, the river is next. Artists painted political messages or simply beautiful pieces, something the east side hadn't seen in a long time. What was really neat was that while I was there I was days away from the 20th anniversary of the wall coming down and in honor of that Germany invited the original artists (or their families if they were deceased/unable to come) to come repaint their original pieces, or if they are no longer relevant politically, revamp them!

PIECE OF HISTORY FOLKS!

So, now to rant a bit more about politics. O2, a phone company in Europe, built a stadium near the East Side Gallery. Now for the terrible part...not only did they build this arena, they got a sanction to MOVE the east side gallery. They split up the longest piece of standing Berlin wall. The reason? So their guests could then have river access/boat transport to and from said arena. WHAT?! Historical monument? ORIGINAL PIECE OF HISTORY ALTERED FOR A BS REASON...do you feel my anger?? I hope so, and you should be pissed too!! I know at least one artist agrees, the revamped piece on the wall?

need I say more?

That was pretty much it for Berlin, minus an odd encounter with this guy in a Christmas Market, which you can ask me about in person...

And finally I went up to a magical place, the region called Spreewald. This region is BEAUTIFUL! The towns are all on rivers, these folks still get their mail via boat! They have kayaks for rent and you can just get yourself lost in the systems. The fall colors were in full swing, and I was in heaven...sadly my camera died so be sure to click that link above and for sure go there if you're in the Berlin region!!

Berlin was my last stop in mainland Europe, it was back to Ireland with me!

Paris

So kids, let's pick up where I left off...


(dramatic tone) so there I was writing the desperate email to Sarah and just praying she read it in time! I came to find she did not receive my letter until we were reunited that evening though. So, there I am getting on the plane at 4pm, leaving my phone on as long as possible in hopes that Sarah, who I believe is frantically looking for her long lost friend at the bus station, will call.

She didn't.


I sat on that two hour flight with my phone in hand the entire time. just waiting for the tires to touch down so I could call Fanny, Sarah's friend, and try to get an update on her status/talk to her and make sure she was okay. I land, I call, I hear Sarah is fine and I hop on the metro into the city.

When we were reunited I found out Sarah encountered similar trouble. Her bus from Amsterdam was stopped for two hours after crossing the French border. She was borrowing some one's phone and trying to call me during my flight and thinking oh noes! Brianna is sitting in a bus station looking for me. Alas, we got to Paris at the same time.

So, having gotten in much later than anticipated I headed to meet the crew at dinner, rolling suitcase in tow. We then went to a concert (Fanny is a concert promoter is France). Heyene was the band and it was lots of fun. Here is a photo from the show...

He isn't standing on the stage, people are holding him up by the ankles

Fanny let us stay at her apartment, which I am eternally grateful for. She is an amazing lady! The next day Sarah and I just wandered the city. This was my first time, so I let Sarah take the lead and show me the sights. Paris is full of beautiful buildings, amazing restaurants, and beautiful people...I found sensory overload to be common theme in Europe. We walked along the Seine, and the fall colors, the pastel buildings...all of it, just breath taking.

oui?

We strolled the river banks until we hit Notre Dame! The flying buttresses are pretty amazing and the building is just stunning. I have studied it in art history classes and you see pictures in history books, but standing in front of such a landmark is just so darn awe inspiring. It's surreal. The whole trip was a unique, surrealistic fantasy that I did not want to end....speaking of I will end that tangent and show you pictures!

That famous facade!

To get the facade pic we had to lean so far back we ended up with out heads in the spikes, cute picture of said incident was necessary.

more amazingness

The next day was my twenty-second birthday...I have been incredibly lucky these past two years to celebrate my life by doing new things, which is what life is all about I think. So, 22=Paris. We tried to go to the Picasso museum, but it's closed until 2012(ish), and wound up just walking around the city and strolling through the many parks until Sarah's dad, Margaretta, and Oscar arrived from Dublin. I came across a pretty impressive piece of street art along the way though,

a beautiful piece

Then, we spotted prickly pares at a fruit stand and that naturally inspired the singing of bare necessities from the jungle book...

naturally

We had our reunion and then all went to lunch, where I was sung happy birthday with candles in my french onion soup (bad idea for any other creative souls, soup melt wax for future notice). Our waiter was quite handsome and Margaretta wanted to take a picture of him, but he thought she meant he would take a photo of us...a funny situation ensued, but Margaretta got her photo!

We decided to go to see the Eiffel Tower, which I had glimpsed at the day before, but Margaretta and Oscar had never seen. Against all of Abrahm's instincts we did something touristy and went to the top of the tower. I will always be able to remember the day and year I went to the top of the tower, which I think is pretty special.

This photo is fun because Abrahm just wanted a picture of me and Sarah (ps that is grammatically correct because you would say photo of me, not photo of I, so don't correct me!) ah hem...AND asked Marga and Oscar to move out of the frame, alas they just moved closer, but continued to be oblivious. We have Marga talking to Sarah and Oscar dreaming about his video game while we are just trying to not crack up...silly moment

This is not the most flattering photo of either of us, but EVIDENCE we went to the top. We did the damn thing!

We then went to a lovely dinner filled with fun conversation, amazing salads, and plenty of fantastic French wine. Pretty fantastic 22nd birthday if I do say so myself.

The next day we went to the Pompidou, which is a modern art museum that looks like a giant hamster fun house from the outside (check it out on google image search, I am 100% serious). They had great exhibits and I recommend going there if you are in Paris. Right near the museum is a pretty sweet statue too,

it took me a while to get one when a child wasn't climbing the hand...

Sarah and I headed to the metro and to the a stop on the 12 line called Abbesses. It was an amazing place. The neighborhood is quite close to the Pigalle (sex shop central), but we took the exit with like 4 flights of stairs and then went left down the main street there and found amazing restaurants and bars. It is definitely a neighborhood I would like to visit again. 

As I mentioned we walked through this lovely, quaint neighborhood and into sex central. The Pigalle is not a place to bring your kids, folks! But, I did get that classic shot

The Moulin Rouge!

We all headed back and then met up for some champagne outside on the streets of Paris and Sarah and I headed to a fun bar we had found and I tried Absinthe for the first time. Being someone who hates licorice, it was gross. But damn it! I can check it off the bucket list. The next day was silly. We were supposed to wake up, get pastries and head over for a lovely breakfast and to say goodbye to Abrahm...but surprise surprise! Europe's time changes a week before Americas. So my alarm didn't go off and I shoot up at 82o and freak Sarah out, she then says no my clock says its 720...I check the computer and it says 720, but all other clocks say 820...it was confusing, but we figured it out and breakfast happened as planned. 

The next item on the agenda? The Louvre! Sarah and I spent our entire day there and it was lovely. I didn't finish the whole museum, but was just mesmerized by the place. I saw Hammurabi's code! and one of my favorite pieces, the Winged Victory...

ta da!

If you go to Paris dedicate at least one day to the Louvre, at least! Along with the Mona Lisa, you see less well known but stunning pieces! The details in the building, everything about the place is magical...there is a beautiful statue garden as well and knowing my affinity for statues I spent a lot of time there, this was one I feel in love with

And that my friends was Paris. It was time once again to say good bye to Sarah and another country. I was returning to a familiar country though, Germany. 

Next stop: Berlin.

Budapest!

My trek to Budapest began on an overnight train from Prague. I am cheap, as most of you well know, and decided not to pay the 40 euro to upgrade to the sleeper car...this led me to an individual I now dub bloody hand man. The story is just not as satisfying or creepy unless it is told in person, so I will just leave that little teaser for you all. Also bloody hand man was followed by the one day Hungarian train strike...it was an interesting ride. But seriously, don't be a cheap ass. Get a sleeper car! One more bit of travel advice before my trip details, if you are going to Budapest stay at Tiger Tim's hostel (reviews on hostelworld). It was a great location, fun atmosphere, and just a real family feel. I got my own pot of vegetarian Goulash!

ah hem, and now for my Hungarian escapades...

When I arrived at my hostel all I wanted was a shower and it was oh so lovely when it happened. The next item on my list was sleep, but sadly that was delayed gratification. I arrived around 830 am and my bed was not going to be ready until mid-day. What to do now you ask? EXPLORE!

I set out to see what this city had to offer and it lived up to its reputation. Like Prague Budapest's building were all striking and filled with detail. I decided to walk along the river and enjoy the sites. The river that runs through the city is the Danube. This pesky river flows through or makes up the borders of TEN countries! The banks of the river hold a lot of history and reveal the many eras the city has seen. There is castle hill on the Buda side of the city, the seven bridges joining the two sides, most recognizable the chain/castle bridge (more info and a fun anecdote on the way). The Parliament building is right on the banks as well. This is the second largest Parliament building in all of Europe and modeled after the largest one, which is in London.

The buildings along the Danube reflect its history, but to me a very simple memorial was the most striking feature. You stumble upon it really, there is a lovely walking path along the river and then, all of a sudden, there is this line of shoes. This memorial is aptly called the shoes on the Danube and is dedicated to the victims of the Third Reich. The memorial itself relates more directly to the Jewish-Hungarian citizens who were shot and killed at the edge of the river so their bodies could just fall in rather than be dealt with.

One of the many shoes on the Danube with the castle and castle bridge in the background.

After my stroll I went back to the hostel where I ate my special goulash and made friends with some of the other travelers. There was one in particular I got along with and we stuck together for the rest of my time in Budapest. Our first escapade however was a trip to the grocery store where I learned that Bison grass vodka is not a joke, but actually high quality stuff! I made fun of it in the store and was promptly corrected, rightly so! The hostel I stayed at took you to local spots each night and this first night was a fun introduction to the town.

The next day, after a bit of a late start, we headed out to find more sights. Our first stop was lunch though and on our way I found this!!

Beckett's for those who don't know is an Irish pub in Berkeley, one I happened to frequent weekly for their pub quiz!

After that exciting moment it was on to a place called Hero's square, which is full of amazing statues. Then we wandered under a bridge and had some quality time with some Hungarian Mallards and found our way to a castle area. The details were amazing. The architecture was awe-inspiring as always, but the statues in the section of town were particularly striking to me, I have included three of them below.

After we left the castle grounds we went walking through a park and stumbled upon a familiar statue...

yes, yes my friends that is George Washington.

The next stop was Budapest's Terror Museum. This Museum is extremely well done. It depicts the rise and fall of both the Third Reich and the Soviet occupation. I felt sick after I walked out because of how much evil and cruelty there can be, but I was educated on the history of this city and country. I believe it's important to learn about the places you go, same idea as a person...you learn about a person's past and experiences in order to understand who they are. Budapest, and Eastern Europe in general, has so much history, most of it violence and poverty ridden, that helps you understand and appreciate where these cities are today. There was an image of all seven bridges being blown out, but when you stroll along the Danube you would never know that kind of violence occurred. Knowledge is important in every situation.

After that we decided a light hearted evening was in order. We strolled over to the river and on our way found an art gallery with flutists and a crazy store front window...how crazy you ask? check it out

yes, yes that's a ram and a tiger with really long eyelashes.

Once at the river we crossed the chain bridge and on into Buda. Apparently the bridge designer said if you find anything wrong with my bridge I will kill myself, and then one day a little kid walked up to it and said, wait the lions have no tongues! The designer said, not my problem, the sculpture screwed up not me and lived for however long after that. Once in Buda, the older part of the city, we were going to climb up to castle hill, but decided a beer first would be a good call. We found this awesome bar, which I stalked and found on google maps, definitely go to this bar. I had some of the best beer I ever tasted there and it was a good vibe, plus I had good company. After the bar we decided walking up the big hill was a bad idea and we went on to go find food. We found decent Mexican food actually, went to another bar and then headed home as I had to catch an early flight to the Paris the next morning.

I woke up got out to the airport only to find Orly was striking and my flight was not leaving until 4 pm, it was 7am when I found this out. I hopped back on a train to Budapest as quickly as possible, because you see this new plan put me in a bit of a dilemma...I was supposed to meet Sarah at a bus station at 430pm, when her bus arrived from Amsterdam. Sarah had lost her phone so we had to have a set meeting place before hand. I raced back to the hostel and sent an email as soon as I could, but it was too late, she had already left for the bus station...more on our complicated reunion later though!

I decided I was going to sleep a little longer, but then set out to an art museum with my trusty travel buddy. On our way back a saw a girl jogging and swore it was a familiar face. I turned around to check again and it was! It was Cate, Molly's roommate from Berkeley. It is truly a small, small world!

After that encounter it was time for me to head back to the airport and sadly said goodbye to my travel buddy and the city, but Paris and reuniting with Sarah were to come. I really had no right to complain.

This is my favorite picture from Budapest and maybe the whole trip...the chain bridge at night!

I will make it back here one day, that's a guarantee.