Clearly I have some catching up to do, but that will have to come later. This is (potentially) my last morning in Dublin and certainly my last morning at Trinity. If a miracle happens, I'll make my flight today and be back stateside by the early evening.
I'm full of mixed emotions, which I guess brings the trip full circle. I have been homesick for a while, but now that departure day has finally arrived, I realize I'm not ready for it. Living in Ireland and traveling around Europe for a month has been an amazing experience, one I will never forget. I could stay longer, but there are also people back home that I can't wait to see. It's bittersweet for sure.
I am once again flying standby, and the flights are overbooked today, so I'm 99% sure I will have an extra day in Dublin. I'm still attempting to get out today, but my chances are pretty slim. In fact, they may be slim pickings until the 6th of July (hopefully I get out sooner than that). I'll be making the trek out to the airport every morning until I finally make a flight. The good news about this is that I will have plenty of time to catch up on my blogging, which I so desperately need to do :)
Look for posts in retrospect to come soon, and wish me luck!
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Ein, Zwei, Drei, PROST!
Disclaimer: Pardon the grammar in this entry, it was written pretty rashly and on a tight time schedule b/c today I leave on my next trip around Ireland with Lyndsey!
Where to begin.... Munich was AMAZING. Beautiful Bavarian architecture, delicious food, even tastier bier, and the sights were to die for. I have to say, I'm kind of wishing that I had studied abroad in Bavaria...
We initially intended to go to the Hofbrauhaus for some good eats the first night, but instead jumped on a beer tour that was leaving from our hostel. After 6 hours of travel, my stomach was complaining, but the beer tour actually proved to be worthwhile. We learned a Bavarian drinking song (video to soon follow) and saw our student manager best the tour guide at chugging bier (video also soon to follow). At one of the biergartens on the tour, I was able to rustle up some bratwurst and sauerkraut to calm my hunger pangs. The bier in Germany? Delicious. And LARGE. Bier is served in liters and half liters at most places, so naturally I ordered a few liters throughout the course of my stay in Munich. Go big or go home right?
The agenda for the next day included a trip to Dachau. I feel it's necessary to say how surreal it was to be standing in a place where such devastation occurred. There was a strange juxtaposition between the serene woods and birds singing around a place of torture and death. I was really unsure of how to react to be honest. The air was thick with tension. It was definitely a somber experience, but one I'm glad I've had.
I only took a few pictures at Dachau. I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures of the ovens or gas chambers, whether out of respect or out of the sheer fact that I really only needed to see those things once. I'll be posting the pictures I did take in a separate entry.
Our whole group was pretty drained after that visit so we all took naps before heading out to Hofbrauhaus with Sohae that evening! Ladies and gentlemen, if you ever get a chance to try pork knuckle, DO IT! It's like the pork version of a turkey leg and it is out of this world. Bier maidens glide through the Crowds carrying 5 liters Of bier in each hand, its almost like a dance.
I'm glad Sohae got to come share a liter with us at Hofbrauhaus because I didn't get to see much of her the rest of the weekend. She did give us a mini tour of Marienplatz and explained the story of the church that the devil built.
The next day I was really torn between going to Schloss Neuschwanstein and doing a walking tour of Munich. There were only three people in our group interested in going to the castle and it was a holiday weekend, so there was a chance that it would be too crowded to get in. Two of us decided to risk it and I have to say it was the best decision I made the entire trip.
The train ride to the castle was a bit rough (we had to stand for over an hour on the train from Bucloe to Fussen), but we did have some entertainment. There was a Bavarian bier festival going on so hoards of lederhosen and dirndl clad guys and gals piled into our train singing drinking songs. We waited an hour for tickets to tour the castle and our tour time was set for 5:20pm. Since we had 4 hours to kill we stopped at a biergarten where I had the most delicious bratwurst I've ever had in my life. It came complete with King Ludwig's mustard.
We trekked up to st. Mary's bridge, which is where all your typical images of Neuschwanstein come from. Just past the bridge there were some tiny mountain trails off the beaten path. I'm not entirely certain that they were meant for the public to climb, but we did anyway. It was fairly treacherous and one step in the wrong direction may have led to the end of this story, but I survived and got some awesome pictures to boot. I also felt a certain sense of accomplishment, climbing an Alp and all :)
I already felt that the train ride was well worth the trip before we even stepped foot into the castle. When it was time for the tour, I was just ecstatic to be there. Let me give you a lil info about King Ludwig and his castle. Ludwig just wanted a place to chill where he could escape from the rest of the world. It took the dude 17 years to build his castle and he never finished it. He was arrested and taken from the castle 172 days after moving in on the grounds of 'insanity'. He allegedly drowned himself soon after, but most believe that he was murdered. The guy had the first automatic flush toilet (in the 1800s mind you) and it took artisans four years just to carve his bed. Oh and he had a man cave that opened up out of his parlor room. A literal cave. With stalagmites and stalactites. That last one is what authorities claimed was irrefutable proof of good ol' Ludwig's insanity. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside one of the tightest cribs in Europe, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
Where to begin.... Munich was AMAZING. Beautiful Bavarian architecture, delicious food, even tastier bier, and the sights were to die for. I have to say, I'm kind of wishing that I had studied abroad in Bavaria...
We initially intended to go to the Hofbrauhaus for some good eats the first night, but instead jumped on a beer tour that was leaving from our hostel. After 6 hours of travel, my stomach was complaining, but the beer tour actually proved to be worthwhile. We learned a Bavarian drinking song (video to soon follow) and saw our student manager best the tour guide at chugging bier (video also soon to follow). At one of the biergartens on the tour, I was able to rustle up some bratwurst and sauerkraut to calm my hunger pangs. The bier in Germany? Delicious. And LARGE. Bier is served in liters and half liters at most places, so naturally I ordered a few liters throughout the course of my stay in Munich. Go big or go home right?
The agenda for the next day included a trip to Dachau. I feel it's necessary to say how surreal it was to be standing in a place where such devastation occurred. There was a strange juxtaposition between the serene woods and birds singing around a place of torture and death. I was really unsure of how to react to be honest. The air was thick with tension. It was definitely a somber experience, but one I'm glad I've had.
I only took a few pictures at Dachau. I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures of the ovens or gas chambers, whether out of respect or out of the sheer fact that I really only needed to see those things once. I'll be posting the pictures I did take in a separate entry.
Our whole group was pretty drained after that visit so we all took naps before heading out to Hofbrauhaus with Sohae that evening! Ladies and gentlemen, if you ever get a chance to try pork knuckle, DO IT! It's like the pork version of a turkey leg and it is out of this world. Bier maidens glide through the Crowds carrying 5 liters Of bier in each hand, its almost like a dance.
I'm glad Sohae got to come share a liter with us at Hofbrauhaus because I didn't get to see much of her the rest of the weekend. She did give us a mini tour of Marienplatz and explained the story of the church that the devil built.
The next day I was really torn between going to Schloss Neuschwanstein and doing a walking tour of Munich. There were only three people in our group interested in going to the castle and it was a holiday weekend, so there was a chance that it would be too crowded to get in. Two of us decided to risk it and I have to say it was the best decision I made the entire trip.
The train ride to the castle was a bit rough (we had to stand for over an hour on the train from Bucloe to Fussen), but we did have some entertainment. There was a Bavarian bier festival going on so hoards of lederhosen and dirndl clad guys and gals piled into our train singing drinking songs. We waited an hour for tickets to tour the castle and our tour time was set for 5:20pm. Since we had 4 hours to kill we stopped at a biergarten where I had the most delicious bratwurst I've ever had in my life. It came complete with King Ludwig's mustard.
We trekked up to st. Mary's bridge, which is where all your typical images of Neuschwanstein come from. Just past the bridge there were some tiny mountain trails off the beaten path. I'm not entirely certain that they were meant for the public to climb, but we did anyway. It was fairly treacherous and one step in the wrong direction may have led to the end of this story, but I survived and got some awesome pictures to boot. I also felt a certain sense of accomplishment, climbing an Alp and all :)
I already felt that the train ride was well worth the trip before we even stepped foot into the castle. When it was time for the tour, I was just ecstatic to be there. Let me give you a lil info about King Ludwig and his castle. Ludwig just wanted a place to chill where he could escape from the rest of the world. It took the dude 17 years to build his castle and he never finished it. He was arrested and taken from the castle 172 days after moving in on the grounds of 'insanity'. He allegedly drowned himself soon after, but most believe that he was murdered. The guy had the first automatic flush toilet (in the 1800s mind you) and it took artisans four years just to carve his bed. Oh and he had a man cave that opened up out of his parlor room. A literal cave. With stalagmites and stalactites. That last one is what authorities claimed was irrefutable proof of good ol' Ludwig's insanity. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside one of the tightest cribs in Europe, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Like a Boss
I haven't had much time to update ye olde blog since my trip to the Wicklows so I'll give a quick run down to play catch up.
Last Saturday the entire group took a bus trip out to Glendalough in the Wicklow mountain region. The countryside was a refreshing change of pace from the urban sprawl of downtown Dublin. There were a few ruins of a village and cemetery that we meandered around before trekking down some mountain trails. At first, we thought we were on an easy lil jaunt that would take us by one of the lakes. We thought wrong.
After winding around at a managable incline, our group came across some intriguing stairs that led up the side of the mountain. These aren't you're average stairs mind you, they were wooden planks with protruding metal rings to provide traction to mountain climbing feet. Naturally these piqued our curiosity, especially when two older Irish ladies passed by saying "Oh you have to climb up to see the views. It's about 300 steps, you can do it if you're young!".
Note: OLD IRISH LADIES ARE DIRTY LIARS.
Last Saturday the entire group took a bus trip out to Glendalough in the Wicklow mountain region. The countryside was a refreshing change of pace from the urban sprawl of downtown Dublin. There were a few ruins of a village and cemetery that we meandered around before trekking down some mountain trails. At first, we thought we were on an easy lil jaunt that would take us by one of the lakes. We thought wrong.
After winding around at a managable incline, our group came across some intriguing stairs that led up the side of the mountain. These aren't you're average stairs mind you, they were wooden planks with protruding metal rings to provide traction to mountain climbing feet. Naturally these piqued our curiosity, especially when two older Irish ladies passed by saying "Oh you have to climb up to see the views. It's about 300 steps, you can do it if you're young!".
Note: OLD IRISH LADIES ARE DIRTY LIARS.
The number of steps up to the summit vastly surpassed 300. I didn't keep track of the count because halfway up I became out of breath and started hearing the blood pumping in my ears. Despite reminding me how brutally out of shape I am, the ascent truly was worth it. The views were incredible at the summit and now I can officially check climbing a mountain off my bucket list.
Like a BOSS.
Like a BOSS.I certainly have a million more things to post here, but I'm really sleepy and flying to Munich right after my 8am on the morrow, so I'm off to bed. Stay tuned for updates on my company project and of course on my adventures in Germany next week!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Dub(lin)stepping
So many little differences exist between the states and Ireland. For example, instead of saying "Restroom", all the signs proudly display "Toilets". It really makes more sense in the end; no one actually "rests" in the loo, but they most always make use of the toilets. What doesn't make sense is the way they describe handicapped restrooms here. Those are dubbed "Disabled Toilets", which in my mind translates to an out-of-commission commode, and nobody wants that.
Anyway, the last two days have been grand. Yesterday marked my first classes and my first trip to my six sigma company. My team is assigned to an Irish pharmaceutical company and my first impressions tell me that we'll have a cool project. Sure, we did have to sit through some long training videos on good manufacturing practices and go through some fairly boring standard operating procedures, but the guys at the company are really friendly. They'll talk your ear off if you let them.
In order to tour the plant we had to "gown up" which meant put booties over our shoes, wear long lab coats/gowns, and don shower cap-esque head gear. Everything is documented in incredible detail and the production lines move at warp speed. Some employees' sole purpose is to pick products off the line and place them in boxes. There's no way I could spend 8 hours a day doing that same repetitive motion, but these people do it five days a week, all year long. We haven't been fully briefed on our project yet, but our next site visit is on Tuesday. That's when we'll start delving into the details.
I was still in a bit of a groggy stupor after the site visit. It's taking my body a couple days to completely get adjusted to the time difference.
Last night, the program arranged for a welcome dinner at a place called Mess McGuire's (locals call it The Mess). We had delicious pork, potatoes, and chocolate cake. I also tasted my first true Irish Guiness last night and, let me tell you, it is SUPREMELY better over here. It's so creamy and smooth it's like drinking a glass of milk. Apparently the FDA is to blame for why it tastes so different in the states. U.S. law requires all imported beers to be pasteurized before coming into the country. The Irish don't pasteurize it here, so the fermentation process goes uninterrupted, giving the Guinness it's bold flavor and smooth as silk texture.
Speaking of Guinness, I toured the Guinness Storehouse today. The storehouse itself is very touristy, but we got to perform taste tests and see (sort of) how Guiness is brewed. I was a little disappointed because I thought we were actually going to get to tour a part of the brewery. The storehouse is more of a museum that details the brewing process. I did get to learn how to pour a perfect pint of Guinness though :) I even earned a prestigious certificate. It should look very nice hanging next to my diploma. The woman who was teaching the ways of the Guinness complimented me on my pour, saying "That's the best pour I've seen all day, we ought to give you a job here!" So if the whole MBA thing doesn't work out, I guess Guinness bartender isn't a bad plan B.
Fortunately, Dan captured a pictorial play-by-play of my pour de perfection so I can show you how it's done. It takes precisely 1 minute and 19.5 seconds to pour a Guinness.
Step 1: Hold glass at a 45 degree angle to the tap. Quickly pull the tap down toward you and fill the glass to the midline of the harp (on the official Guinness pint glass of course)
Step 2: Set the glass down and let it sit for one minute to settle out the bubbles. (this is where the official Guinness lady first noticed my beer pouring talents)
Step 3: Top off the beer by holding it in the center of the tap and "Back-Tapping", which means pushing the tap backwards to pour pure Guinness (without carbonation):
Step 4: Admire the masterpiece! BRILLIANT!
Step 5: Imbibe the masterpiece in the SKY BAR!
That's it for the perfect beer tutorial. I'm going to the Wicklow Mountains on the morrow and I'll have plenty more to post over the weekend, so stay tuned!
Anyway, the last two days have been grand. Yesterday marked my first classes and my first trip to my six sigma company. My team is assigned to an Irish pharmaceutical company and my first impressions tell me that we'll have a cool project. Sure, we did have to sit through some long training videos on good manufacturing practices and go through some fairly boring standard operating procedures, but the guys at the company are really friendly. They'll talk your ear off if you let them.
In order to tour the plant we had to "gown up" which meant put booties over our shoes, wear long lab coats/gowns, and don shower cap-esque head gear. Everything is documented in incredible detail and the production lines move at warp speed. Some employees' sole purpose is to pick products off the line and place them in boxes. There's no way I could spend 8 hours a day doing that same repetitive motion, but these people do it five days a week, all year long. We haven't been fully briefed on our project yet, but our next site visit is on Tuesday. That's when we'll start delving into the details.
I was still in a bit of a groggy stupor after the site visit. It's taking my body a couple days to completely get adjusted to the time difference.
Last night, the program arranged for a welcome dinner at a place called Mess McGuire's (locals call it The Mess). We had delicious pork, potatoes, and chocolate cake. I also tasted my first true Irish Guiness last night and, let me tell you, it is SUPREMELY better over here. It's so creamy and smooth it's like drinking a glass of milk. Apparently the FDA is to blame for why it tastes so different in the states. U.S. law requires all imported beers to be pasteurized before coming into the country. The Irish don't pasteurize it here, so the fermentation process goes uninterrupted, giving the Guinness it's bold flavor and smooth as silk texture.
Speaking of Guinness, I toured the Guinness Storehouse today. The storehouse itself is very touristy, but we got to perform taste tests and see (sort of) how Guiness is brewed. I was a little disappointed because I thought we were actually going to get to tour a part of the brewery. The storehouse is more of a museum that details the brewing process. I did get to learn how to pour a perfect pint of Guinness though :) I even earned a prestigious certificate. It should look very nice hanging next to my diploma. The woman who was teaching the ways of the Guinness complimented me on my pour, saying "That's the best pour I've seen all day, we ought to give you a job here!" So if the whole MBA thing doesn't work out, I guess Guinness bartender isn't a bad plan B.
Fortunately, Dan captured a pictorial play-by-play of my pour de perfection so I can show you how it's done. It takes precisely 1 minute and 19.5 seconds to pour a Guinness.
Step 1: Hold glass at a 45 degree angle to the tap. Quickly pull the tap down toward you and fill the glass to the midline of the harp (on the official Guinness pint glass of course)
Step 2: Set the glass down and let it sit for one minute to settle out the bubbles. (this is where the official Guinness lady first noticed my beer pouring talents)
Step 3: Top off the beer by holding it in the center of the tap and "Back-Tapping", which means pushing the tap backwards to pour pure Guinness (without carbonation):
Step 4: Admire the masterpiece! BRILLIANT!
Step 5: Imbibe the masterpiece in the SKY BAR!
That's it for the perfect beer tutorial. I'm going to the Wicklow Mountains on the morrow and I'll have plenty more to post over the weekend, so stay tuned!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
A First Class First Day
Well, I made it! I am finally here in Dublin!
The flight from STL to Chicago was more than slightly stressful. I am fortunate enough to have an amazing friend who's mom works for American Airlines. She let me use her buddy passes to fly over on the cheap, the only catch is that I had to fly as a standby passenger. This meant that I didn't know for sure if I would make the flight until the last possible second. I was the very last passenger to board the aircraft. That wrecked just a little havoc on my nerves but I made it and all was well. I sat next to these two women who had already partaken in a few cocktails and proceded to order two more on the 45 minute flight to Chicago, but other than that, the flight went fairly smoothly.
As soon as we deplaned, I made a beeline for my next flight and fortunately they already had a boarding pass printed out for me.... in FIRST CLASS no less. Let me just say that I had never flown first class before and it pretty much blew my mind. The seats are motorized to fold out into beds which makes for a much more comfortable overnight flight. Upon boarding the plane, I was given a care package complete with Burt's Bees chapstick, a toothbrush, toothpaste, socks, tissues and an eye mask. Once everyone is settled into their personal sky-thrones, the flight attendants walk around and offer everyone juice, water, or champagne. Basically my every need was attended to. OH and the food? DELICIOUS. It started with a shrimp and smoked salmon appetizer, followed by salad and bread. The main course was a "melt-in-your-mouth" filet of beef with a side of risotto and spinach. To top it all off I had a Ben and Jerry's sundae for dessert (which I could barely eat). I also had a glass of Grand Cru with my meal.
In short, it was amazing and totally made up for all the stress of the first flight.
I arrived in Dublin around 2:00am Missouri time, 8:00am here. Going through customs wasn't terrible. I was mildly interrogated about my reasons for studying abroad, but that only took a few minutes. Thankfully our student managers met us at the gate and we took a bus back to Trinity. Security is really tight at Trinity College (TCD) since it is such a tourist attraction. The entire school is surrounded by thick walls and all the entrances are heavy wooden doors. It feels like a fortress... a fortress of KNOWLEDGE.
I couldn't really sleep when I first got here, so I wandered around Grafton Street with my roommate and got a vodafone for calling other Irish folk. Grafton is crowded and there are street performers everywhere. We passed by three young Irish lads who were performing a rock cover of "Airplanes" by B.O.B. which was interesting to say the least. It's so cool to hear so much live music in the streets though and all of the street performers we heard seriously could have been headlining their own show.
I meet with Helsinn tomorrow and get the details on my six sigma project. I also have class at 8am local time. I just woke up from a much needed nap, but since it's about midnight here, I'll be getting back to bed soon.
My anxiety was kicking in full force before I left and everyone had to keep reminding me how much fun I'm going to have over here. Now that I'm here I am excited and ready to absorb all I can!! I'm trying my hardest to commit everything I see to memory. There is so much to take in and I've only been here a day!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
"The longest road out is the shortest road home."
HI there!
I'm crossing the big pond in less than five days! If you don't already know, I will be studying abroad in Dublin, Ireland this summer. I've decided to start this travel blog to track my adventures and keep my thoughts straight while I'm in the Emerald Isle.
Right now, I'm making preparations for my trip. I'm all full of nerves and excitement. It will be difficult to leave family and friends for such a long spell, but at the same time, I can't wait to get over there and experience Europe!
Packing sucks though. Here's a picture of a suitcase I've filled with packaged foods and medicinal remedies for any and all possible maladies that might strike while abroad:
Will I actually need all this? Probably Not. Does it make me feel better to have it? Definitely. The best part is that I can fill this suitcase with souvenirs on the trip home :)
I'm crossing the big pond in less than five days! If you don't already know, I will be studying abroad in Dublin, Ireland this summer. I've decided to start this travel blog to track my adventures and keep my thoughts straight while I'm in the Emerald Isle.
Right now, I'm making preparations for my trip. I'm all full of nerves and excitement. It will be difficult to leave family and friends for such a long spell, but at the same time, I can't wait to get over there and experience Europe!
Packing sucks though. Here's a picture of a suitcase I've filled with packaged foods and medicinal remedies for any and all possible maladies that might strike while abroad:
Will I actually need all this? Probably Not. Does it make me feel better to have it? Definitely. The best part is that I can fill this suitcase with souvenirs on the trip home :)
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