Belfast and Scotland - Pictures soon!

I hereby promise to post pictures of my recent trips to Belfast, Northern Ireland and Edinburgh, Scotland.
Melanie

In the meantime, I'm back in Cork preparing for finals, which begin in May. After 2 papers and 3 finals, I'll be coming home! (Hopefully with a couple more trips in between)

I went to Belfast April 14 - 17 with Maggie and Liz, her sister. We saw the political murals, took a black taxi tour, went to Giant's Causeway, saw the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge, and walked around Derry/Londonderry.

I just got back from a 3-day trip to Edinburgh in Scotland with Tracy and had a brilliant time. We went on a 3-hour walking tour of the city, got really freaked out on a ghost tour of the underground vaults, ate sushi, visited the Writer's Museum, went on a bus tour of the Highlands, and went on a boat 'round Loch Ness. And oh yeah, saw a picture of Nessie on the tour guide's camera. I loved the bagpipers on the streets, the rugged mountains of the North, and the gifts I got for my family.

Don't worry - I'm working on the photos!

Brussels, Belgium 3/25 - 3/29

In a much overdue post, this is a recap of my trip to Brussels, Belgium, with Callie and Tracy.

Most of the people here speak French as their first language, and Dutch is also very popular. Many shopkeepers spoke limited English, if any at all.

We stayed in a fancy hotel because the hostels in Brussels were all booked for this weekend. The change was much appreciated - our own bathroom, closet, couch and TV! We arrived in Brussels on Thursday night in the middle of the rain. The hotel concierge suggested an Egyptian restaurant for supper, so I had my first falafel at Le Nil.

The next morning we walked around the Grand-Place, the main square in Brussels (seen below).

This memorial statue to Edvard 't Serclaes is down a street off the main square. He led a successful citizens' rebellion in Brussels, and touching the statue's wrist is said to bring good luck.

On a street off Grand-Place, we found Manneken Pis, a statue of a small boy peeing. There are several stories about it, one being that he put out a fire that was going to destroy the castle in Brussels, and the king was so grateful that the boy became a local hero and a statue was built to honor him.


Sometimes they change the outfits.

There are many souvenir statues of Manneken Pis for sale.

Waffles are everywhere in Brussels!

... as are chocolate stores, fortunately offering free samples like these.

This is the Palais de Justice, the city's law courts, with a public outdoor elevator to the left.

Parc d'Egmont is a public park in the middle of many churches and next to the Place Royale.

Place Royale with statue of Godfrey of Bouillon, a medieval knight who was one of the leaders of the First Crusade and became the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1099.

Main street between the Royal Palace and the Parc de Bruxelles

This is inside the Parc de Bruxelles, with the Palais de la Nation in the background.

These types of murals are all over the city. Some of my favorites...

Botanical Gardens

Waffles!!!!

It was an afternoon of food... Frites - a Belgium original

Street market

Shopping mall

Chocolate-making demonstration at Planete Chocolat - Tracy got to help!

Grand-Place at night

Mussels in Brussels!

Metro wall - near the Midi Market, the second-largest street market in Europe. They had everything from fresh fruit to used clothing. It was huge!

Overall, Brussels was great, but now I really want to visit Bruges, too!

Segovia, España with MARIE!

The weekend with Marie in Spain was a blast! The weather was beautiful all weekend - only a couple showers. Marie's host parents hosted me and they treated me so well - lots of food, but I think that was mostly because I couldn't convince them (in Spanish) that I didn't need much to eat. I got used to the eating schedule pretty quickly and adapted as best as I could to the 2-ish hour siesta in the middle of the day. It's hard to take naps. We walked around a lot during the days - saw Marie's school and the Alcazar, a big old castle in Segovia. We also got tapas one evening and had plenty of movie nights (as usual!). It was hard to believe that we were in another country because we were together, and it felt just like at Saint Ben's, only with Spanish game shows during supper.

That's the Aqueduct in the background. And me in the foreground.

The Segovia Cathedral

The Alcazar

This was our day trip to Madrid - the Royal Gardens

a Mariachi

Plaza Mayor - lots of crazy people trying to get money from you. This is where we ate the bocadillos her mom made us (barely in peace)

Atocha Train Station - bombed by terrorists in 2004

Neptune's Fountain

North Station at night

Alcazar from the bottom of a big hill

It's greener than Ireland!