peruanodan

The good and the bad thing about staying in hostels is that no two are alike by any means. Essentailly, there are a number of things you want to look for when you choose a place to stay. So far, on our trip its been a pretty short list: free breakfast, no (or short) lock-out time, free sheets/towels, laundry facilities, bar, baggage storage, and finally - no curfew. If you can manage to find a hostel with all of those (and a cheap nightly rate of course), you've hit the jackpot. Unfortunately for Nick and I, the hostels we've stayed in normally fall short on at least two to three of these things. But you make do, and essentially the struggle adds to the experience. Once your able to get past the fact that no place ... read more

We awoke in the morning to sunny skies that would remain for the majority of the day. Our current hostal is a lot like a dorm for really cool people. Breakfast this morning included a decent choice of food, lunch trays, and a line for entry into a cafeteria. It was a good meal, and I was certain that it would be a start to another great day of exploring and I was right. One great thing about being over here is that every single day, if not every single hour, brings completely new experiences that are totally unexpected. I've used the term "welcomed surprise" a number of times on this blog for good reason. Every day is full of new firsts - first time in a catacomb, first time speaking politics with foreigners, first time ... read more

Things have been pretty fast paced since we left Limerick. We finished finals last friday and got really smashed to celebrate our mediocre performances. It made for a great last night and we ended up staying at the Trinity Rooms in city centre until they closed. It was great fun, but we had a terrible day of traveling saturday morning when we had to get up at eight because of it. Nonetheless, we made it to Paris. Though Nick and I really didn't feel right until we went to sleep that night. But before we did that, we managed to work in a few hours of strolling, climaxing with a night-time view of the Arc de Triomphe. The next morning, we woke up and decided we'd knock out the Eiffel Tower as a means to A) ... read more

We were a bit slow getting up this morning, but still managed to make the cross-town hike to meet up with the rest of the group at The Four Courts for our tour. The building has a lot of history, and the interior and architecture are good evidence of it. It seemed to be very busy with barristers, judges, and what I assume to be clients walking all over the place and chatting. The Irish legal system still holds over the tradition of judges wearing white wigs along with their robes. It was interesting, to say the least, to see a woman judge with a full head of brown hair and a ratty white wig literally just laying on top of her head. The visit was quick, and we learned that their system is very similar ... read more

Now that I have some more traveling time under my belt, I thought it'd be good to address a few alleged misconceptions that American's commonly have about Europe. My observations during my travels thus far have produced some interesting discoveries. Before you political correctness freaks get offended, keep in mind I'm just observing cultural differences. I'm not judging. Misconception 1: Europeans hate Americans. conclusion: FALSE It's been a difficult half decade for the old US of A. Some decisions by the higher ups have been questionable, leading many people - myself included - to believe that Europeans think we're stupid, lazy, and want to take over the world. In my experience in Europe thus far, this couldn't be any further from the truth. Everyone has been extremely nice, and the fact that we're American has encouraged ... read more