Munchen Fun!

Our last stop on the European tour was Munich. We took a 6-hour, un-air-conditioned train all the way there from Prague, making it into the city at about 5 pm. We checked into our hostel, and immediately headed out to see the city. We walked all the way over to the English Gardens, this big park where thousands of people were out enjoying the sunshine and great temps. It was crazy how many people were out there, some of them even nude. Hey, it’s Europe. In the gardens, there was a large beer garden that was showing the first World Cup match of the day. We caught just the end of it, but there were so many people there watching it on a big outdoor screen. It was really nice, so we sat down for a massive pretzel before heading out for some more sightseeing. We continued to walk the streets, and I mean walk nearly all of Munich. We went back across the city to check out the hotel we were switching over to for the next two nights. Then, we made our way to the Augustiner beer hall to watch the US soccer match.

The English Garden beer hall after Uruguay's World Cup win. So cool!

This beer hall was really cool. We had some good typical Bavarian food, sat with some pseudo-Americans (well, they were Canadian, but close enough), and endured a brutal defeat of the US by Ghana. But hey, the beer and food was good, the atmosphere fun, so no complaints here.
The next day, we woke up and switched over to our other, nicer hotel. We then made our way down to Marienplatz, the main plaza, to take a free tour of the city. When we got there, there was a finish line set up in the plaza for a half marathon that took place in the city. If only I knew about it sooner. And was in shape. Before the tour started, we changed our mind at the last minute and went out to Dachau to see the concentration camp while it was open. This was a great experience to have, very moving. We walked the entire camp, bought audioguides that told us the history and tragedy that occurred here, and saw some intense sites. I had seen the concentration camp in Berlin, but this one was even bigger. I’m glad that my two brothers got to see one while they were over here, and I feel like everyone should see them to know even more about the atrocities that occurred there.

Dachau gates, which read "Work makes free."

After leaving Dachau, we headed back into the city to go see Germany play their first elimination match against England. We went to the Lowenbrau beer hall that was over by our hotel, and watched it was hundreds of other Germans. It was such a crazy experience to have. When they scored, the people went crazy. Luckily, Germany won and it was a crazy night.
After the game, we regrouped back at the hotel before going out to see Munich’s Olympic Park. It was a really modern facility, with an amazing stadium and many other nice complexes. It was also right next door to the BMW factory, so we got to see a lot of cool buildings while we were out there. Although nothing was open, it was a great place to walk around.
The next day was our last full day in Munich, so we took advantage of it by going out to the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles about 2 hours outside of the city. They were the boyhood home and adult home of King Ludwig, the crazy king of Bavaria. Neuschwanstein was a castle that Ludwig built, but died a mysterious death (found drowned in a lake with his psychologist) halfway through and it was never finished inside. But its claim to fame is that Disney used this castle as inspiration for his Disney castles. After seeing it, I can see why. The castle and all its surroundings were very picturesque.

The amazing lake in the castle town. The water was so pure, you could drink it.
Us in front of the Hohenschwangau castle with Neuschwanstein in the background.Matthew on the bridge with an amazing view of the castle.

When we made it back into the city, we walked some more around the center until we found the Hofbrauhaus. Unfortunately, it was extremely overpriced and hot inside, so we went to a pizza place by our hotel where they served Hofbrauhaus beer! Great compromise.
The last day in Munich, we were only there for the morning before beginning our long journey home. We decided to go on part of a free city tour to hear a little of the history, then took the train ride out to the budget airport we were flying out of. From there, we made our way back to northern Spain. When we got there, we found out that we had to wait about 5 hours in the little Spanish town of Reus for a bus back to Madrid. There was a huge parade going on in the town, but we were able to find one open place (Domino’s, of course) to watch the Spain game before boarding the 6-hour night bus ride. After hours and hours of travelling on trains, planes, and buses, we finally made it back to my apartment in Madrid at about 6:30 on Wednesday morning. All in all, it was a great trip and one that I’m glad I made with my brothers.

The sunset in Reus as we waited hours for our bus.

From Paris to Prague!

After Paris, we boarded an early early flight from Paris Beauvais airport (don’t fly from there! too far out of the city) to Prague. We made it there at about noon, finally found our hotel, and had a relaxing day napping and doing a little city touring. We also watched the World Cup game on a big-screen TV in the main town square with thousands of others, which is an experience we’ve been fortunate to have in 3 different countries.

Our first full day in Prague, Matthew and I went out on another NewEurope free tour while Robbie caught up on some more sleep. We got to see pretty much the whole city, which was extremely well-preserved and amazing. We then went back to the hotel to pick Robbie up and head over to the Prague castle. Unfortunately, the castle was closing right when we got there at 6, but we were still able to see the amazing St. Vitus Cathedral and walk along the castle grounds. All without paying for entrance, which was nice. The castle is located up on a hill across the river, and provided great views of the city and great views within the castle quarters. I see why so many people say the castle is so nice.

Matthew and I in front of the river and the castle.

The castle gates.

The three of us in front of the castle.

The next day, we made a trip that most tourists don’t really make—to the Prague Zoo. It is in Forbes’ list of top 10 zoos in the world (#7), and it was obvious why. The zoo itself was huge and in amazing condition, plus it only cost 4 euros to enter. We spent 4 hours seeing the numerous animals and taking in great views from Prague. We concluded with lunch at the zoo. Normally you would think that would be expensive, right? Nope. The food at the zoo was just as cheap, if not cheaper, than in the city center. It is definitely a place I recommend visiting if you are going to be in Prague. We then spent the night walking around the city some more until we made our way back to the big-screen in the Old Town plaza to watch the Spain soccer game. Luckily, they won, and I was able to celebrate with the numerous other Spaniards that made their was out of the woodworks to watch the game.

Matthew at the zoo.

The castle at sunset.

We woke up early the next morning to catch a t rain to Munich. But more on that to come later.

While Prague was more low-key than Paris, it was one of my favorite cities I’ve visited so far. Full of history, cheap, and small enough to navigate with ease.

Off to Paris

June has come and gone, which means my time here is nearly complete. But of course, I couldn’t go out without a bang. To assist me in this, I had cameo appearances from my brothers Robbie and Matthew. They made their first voyages over to Europe to make our own “O’Doyle rules”-style Euro trip.
The first one to arrive was Robbie, who made it to Madrid on June 14. He was in Spain while I worked my last week of school. Let me just say, it was sad to say goodbye to my teachers and students. They were a great group, and made my job both fun and easy. And my favorite class of seventh grade hellions even gave me a little going away shirt and flag that they all signed. I’m really going to miss them.
But anyways, back to the brothers. Robbie got here, but of course my last week of work was also one of my busiest. In my downtime, we were able to explore Madrid, see Santiago Bernabeu stadium, catch many-a World Cup football match (including watching Spain play with thousands of others outside of Real Madrid’s stadium), say goodbye to the great Rebecca Westlake, and enjoy a little Madrid life.
By the end of his week in Madrid, it was time to move on. And move on we did. All the way to Paris. We boarded a plane early Friday morning headed to Paris, where we spent the next 5 days. When we first got there, we took a free city tour (NewEurope tours, highly recommended, in many European cities), walked around the center, then settled in to watch some World Cup action. The next day, we walked around our hotel area before I had to leave to pick my little brother Matthew up at the airport. After getting to the airport and waiting for about an hour, I collect call my house in the US to find out Matthew’s plane from Louisville to Memphis was cancelled and he wasn’t going to arrive into Paris until Sunday morning. Sucks, but I made it back into the city and Robbie and I set out for Notre Dame.
When Matthew finally did arrive on Sunday, we hit the ground running. We bought these museum passes that gave us 2-day access to all kinds of museums in the city, and you bet we put them to use. The first day, we went to the D’Orsay and Orangerie art museums where we saw a lot of great impressionist work, Napoleon’s tomb, Rodin’s museum where we saw his famous thinker statue, and of course the Paris Sewer System museum. Yes, there is a sewer museum. And yes, it did smell terrible. We were also able to enjoy some fine French cuisine along the way, too. Many croissants were eaten. Many a baguette were also consumed. Needless to say, Matthew was extremely worn out after traveling and a full Parisian day.
The second day, we didn’t let up on the museum hunt. We woke up early, grabbed a croissant and coffee, and headed to the Louvre. We got there right when it opened, made it right in, and spent about 4 hours exploring the massive structure. In my opinion, it wasn’t as cool as the D’Orsay museum, but still nice. We got to see the Mona Lisa (which is a lot smaller in person) and many other masterpieces. The sheer size of the museum was overwhelming, so I was proud of us for making it as long as we did. After that, we made our way back over to Notre Dame, but didn’t brave the long line to climb the tower to the top. Instead, we made our way by metro over to Montmartre, an area of the city that is not only the Red Light District, but also one of the shadiest/dirtiest areas we visited. We got some good views of the city from the hill with the Sacre Coure church, saw some pretty bad breakdancers, got asked for money about 85 times, and got to see the Moulin Rouge. From there, we made our way (walking, of course) back into the city centre to go to the Pompidou modern art museum. Weird. It was one of the strangest museums I’ve ever been in. But hey, it was free. We called it a night after that.

Me in front of the Louvre.

Tuesday was our last day in Paris, so we again made the most of it. We took a train out to the Palace of Versailles. We were able to tour the palace, the gardens, and everything else on the premises. It was a huge complex, but we had perfect weather so we saw almost all of it. Oh, and a small Asian woman with a bedazzled neon pink visor almost get pickpocketed in the palace, at which point she started yelling and punching the pickpocketing woman.

Us in Versailles' gardens.
The gardens were awesome, and this is one of my favorite pics I've ever taken.

From Versailles, we made our way back into the city to the Eiffel Tower. After taking a few pictures from outside and taking a break to watch the France soccer match with about 2,000 other Frenchmen on a big screen outside the Eiffel Tower, we made our way to the stop. By stairs. We didn’t actually go all the way to the top because it was a really long line, but we went up to the second of three levels. It provided great views of the city, and allowed us to say that we had climbed the Eiffel Tower. We called it an early night because we had to catch an early-morning flight to our next desitnation: Prauge. But more on that later.

Of course I had to jump here!
All the brothers in front of the Eiffel Tower.

In all, Paris was a great place. It was a lot more expensive than Madrid, and of course we didn’t understand the language, but we still had a great time. There were so many famous sights and amazing experiences we were able to have here, and I’m glad I was able to have them with my brothers.

Finally made it up north

After three straight weeks of travelling, I finally spent one back in Madrid. And man, was I glad I did. The city is just getting nice and warm, and it was great to see it in the springtime. Also, my roommate told me on Friday the 28^th of May that she was moving out on Saturday and not paying her part of the rent for June. It really caught me off guard, and I spent all Friday and part of Saturday upset about this. This meant I was out 390 euros, which is definitely something that I don’t have to spend with expensive graduate school coming up next year. But I can’t dwell on the fact that I had a bad roommate. She has pretty much isolated herself from all her friends here in Madrid, was not re-hired back next year at her school here in Spain like she wants to be, and will be in community college next year while living at home. So Karma has already started to catch up for her.

But after that nasty weekend, I was able to take a 4-day weekend up in León, with Vicki, Becca, and Miguel. Vicki and I went up on Wednesday night, Becca on Thursday morning, and Miguel on Friday. Vicki’s half Spanish, and her mom’s parents live in León. Also, Vicki’s family has an apartment in the city. So we were able to stay at their apartment and explore many different cities.

The first full day we were there, Vicki showed me all around León. It has an amazing castle, some cool other cathedrals and plazas, and a house designed by the architect Gaudí (who designed some really cool buildings in Barcelona). After Becca got there, we went and met Vicki’s grandparents. It was really fun to sit with them and hear their stories. Also, we were able to spend some time with Vicki’s aunt while we were in town. It was really nice.

Gaudi's house in León.

On Friday, the three of us already in town took a day trip to the town of Burgos. It was a little far of a bus trip, but the city had a great riverfront, an enormous cathedral, and a nice lookout point to see both the city and the countryside. We spent the day there, then went back to León to meet up with Miguel and enjoy some typical food from the area.

Me in front of the Burgos cathedral.

Eating some great Spanish tapas and enjoying the León nightlife.

On Saturday, we got a little of a crazy start. The night before, we bought bus tickets to head up to Gijón, a beach city in Asturias for the day. It was a late night the night before, and I thought that the bus left 15 minutes later than it really did. So I woke Miguel and the rest of them up, but only Miguel was ready in time. We ran the whole way to the bus station and luckily were able to make the bus. Becca ended up joining us later in the day, and Vicki stayed in León to visit more with her family. Gijón is apparently a really pretty beach city. Unfortunately for us, it was cloudy and cold the whole day. We took a long nap before Miguel got there, then wandered around the city and braved the beach, Miguel and Becca were two of the few who actually went in the water that day. I put my feet in, but immediately went back and put my sweatshirt back on. It was too cold for the water. We made it back late to León, but it was still a nice day.

The view on the way home from Gijón. It was pretty amazing.

And of course the trip had to end with a little more fun. The bus ride, which was supposed to take 3 and a half hours, ended up taking 5 and a half after we broke down on the side of the road and had to wait an hour for a new bus. Luckily, the weather was nice and we got to see a great sunset.

After the drama of the weekend before, it was a great way to spend my long weekend out of Madrid. Now I have less than 5 weeks left, and predict even more crazy adventures to come!

Back to the beach

To continue my long string of travels, the next Friday morning I took off to Mallorca, a small island in the Belearic Island chain in the Mediterranean. I flew in with Katarina, Becca’s Austrian roommate in Madrid, and Becca joined us later that night. When we got to Palma, the largest city on the island, we spent the day leisurely exploring the coastal town. We saw the famous cathedral and fortress and walked all around the city.

In the city of Palma for the day.

When Becca got there that night, a German guy named Ulf picked the three of us up in Palma and drove us up to the north of the island to his hostel in the city of Alcudia. Alcudia was much more of a beach town, and definitely a tourist town. There were German and British people, culture, and restaurants everywhere. But the beach was nice, and this is basically all we did there. I didn’t have to work on Monday, so I stayed a day longer than Katarina and Becca. This is where I spent my time until Monday night, when I took a bus back to Palma to fly out.

Becca and Katarina riding in an Alcudia boat.

Jumping on the beach in Alcudia.

Three full days on the beach is exactly what I needed. The weather was perfect, the water was clear and so nice, and I was able to sneak into a beachside resort and set up shop by their pool. It was such a relaxing and great weekend to work on getting my tan back.

Sunset in Alcudia.

Yes, they sold ham and a bike as a combo.