Running of the Bulls 2008 in Pamplona, Spain! July 10, 2008

Well… I made it to Pamplona for Running of the Bulls. Wow,when I read Ernest Hemingways, “The Sun Also Rises” I didn’t realize I would actually ever get to see this city and amazing event. We had to get the eurail reservations the day France would allow to make them, but we got them. Plus we had TGV trains the whole way home! (This means it didn’ take 22 hours, only 11!) A little history… The running of the bulls is 9 day festival that takes place every year in Pamplona. They allow anyone above the age of 18 to run with the bulls at 8 am every day of the festival. The run is a half mile down the tiny cobblestone streets all the way to the arena, where the bullfights will take place every night, and the bulls will die. Each runner is given a newspaper, I read two different stories behind the newspaper, we thought they were just the daily news, haha. Apparently you roll it up and hold it while running to judge the distance between you and the bull. Another theory is you use it if a bull is charging you to distract them. There are hundreds if not thousands of people running every morning, but there are only 6 bulls and 6 steed. The bulls if separated from the steed will get disoriented and will charge anything. There are professional herders running behind the bulls to try to keep them moving towards the arena. At the end, they release 4 oxen to get any of the straggling bulls. The whole run takes about 2 and a half minutes. At the beginning they pray, and then shoot a gun at the release of the bulls, when all the bulls are released a second gunshot is sounded. I think that’s about all I learned!

When we first arrived it was already 1 am, but everyone was awake partying on the streets! The 1st, 6th and 9th days of the run have all night parties leading up to 8am. We went to a concert in one square, and we realized we were not dressed in all white with red belts, and bandanas, so we fixed that right away! Earlier in the night they were throwing red wine on people that were in all white, to prepare them for the “blood stains.” We then went to another square where they were having a live band singing “dance songs.” It’s so funny to me that Europeans listen to American music all the time, and everywhere! We are lucky to have British singers on our radio. That’s Hollywood for you I guess. At 4 am we lined up for the run. Somehow I never got tired even after standing on my feet for 8 hours all night long. Even the next morning when we got on our train I wasn’t tired. Of course as soon as the train was moving I fell over asleep.

So for the run, I was traveling with 11 people, but we met up with 3 more Georgia Techies in Pamplona. 2 of the guys from our group actually ran in the run. Here is a photo before the bulls came.

Dale said it was the scariest thing he had ever done! well duh… After the run they went inside the area where they take the bulls out and put in a calf (which still has horns). As much as I enjoyed his stories, and watching the event, I think I can live without the actual running experience. Ciao!

Barcelona & Madrid, Spain July 10, 2008

Sorry for not updating the day after I got back, it sure has been a busy week! Tests, Homeworks, and a certain concert had me tied up all week, not to mention the sleep I had to make up from this weekend. Spain is a gorgeous country. Last year, I spent a 3 day weekend in Barcelona, so for me, a day and a half this summer was just enough to get reacquainted with the city, and view a few missed spots. When you take a train from France into Spain, you stop in Port Bou, and then take a train along the southern coast of France into Spain. This is an absolutely beautiful sight to see outside your window when you first wake up in your couchette. Passing by the French Riviera, you most definitely wish to be outside instead of in your small compartment. Our first stop in Barcelona is a Gaudi favorite, Sagrada Familia. I have to say I think I saw a tiny bit of progress from the past summer on the outside of the building, nonetheless it’s still beautiful. This is one of the most famous buildings you’ll see in Spain. Gaudi is a very famous architect who lived in Barcelona and dreamed up this modern cathedral you see on the left. He knew he would die before it was completed so he drew up alot of plans and allowed gaps for new architects to add their own personal touch to it. However, he had a premature death under a street car, and most of his plans were demolished in World War II. Therefore, the only real part of the outside designed by Gaudi are the 4 spires you see in this picture. The inside is quite a site to see if you ever get the chance. My next stop was the beach. Like I said, I wasn’t up for that much sightseeing. Ha! We had a great time though, and no sunburn! If you see the rocks in the distance in the photo. A couple of us swam out there to them. Talk about fun! We also enjoyed a few beers on the beach, and layed out. The beach is what really makes Barcelona. With a great Beach, beautiful architecture, fun sightseeing, good food, and a crazy night life. What else can you ask for from a city? For dinner we ordered paella for our group at a restaurant. We ordered for 7 people, and they cooked it all together and brought out a huge pan for us! Yummy! Afterwards, we spent a long time meeting up with people and finding a club to watch the sunrise at. I won’t give you all the details, but it was a fun night, and a 4 hour sleep to prepare us for the next day. A group of us split off in the morning to go see the Barcelona Stadium that the club teams play in. It was really neat to see an actual football (soccer) stadium. We got a tour of the locker rooms, press rooms, the stadium, and then a museum at the end. It was really cool to learn the history of soccer from Barcelona’s standpoint, and to see a “football” from the 1800’s! It looked like a cross of a leather “american” football and a dodge ball. I’ll let you decide.

Our next stop was Madrid! Madrid is a pretty big city that is famous for its bullfights. We walked around the city and to the palace. We saw the “Center of Spain” which all distances are measured from anywhere in spain. It was set with a plaque in the ground. We also went to the Prado museum and saw some Spanish art. The Prado is supposed to be second to the Louvre. We didn’t get to see a whole lot of it because we were quite rushed. We also went to a restaurant and had some excellent Spanish Tapas. Tapas are like small entrees or appetizers that you usually order several of and then share with a table. Another awesome picture was of the inside of the train station. They had a rainforest complete with animal noises. I couldn’t decide if the bird noises were real or recorded. Maybe I’ll look that up soon. Next stop… Pamplona: Running of the Bulls!

My favorite spot in Germany. July 1, 2008

Habe die Ehre! Well this past weekend I made it to München (Munich in English) for the second time in my life. I love this quaint little German town. It’s like it came out of a picture book, with a huge glockenspiel, a great little downtown area, and picture-perfect beer gardens. I love this place. This time, we only went for 2 days, and I had a day trip planned. It was exactly what I wanted. Plus… the EuroCup finals were on Sunday evening with Germany and Spain playing! The first thing we did when we arrived and after we checked into the Wombat we met up with two people at a free bike tour. There was a total of 11 of us in Munich ready for a great weekend. The bike tour was definitely made for young people, and we stopped in the English Garden’s for a beer break. The best part was watching the surfing that people do in a make-shift river/wave pool. A bunch of drunk guys on our tour decided to strip down to their underwear and jump in. Our poor tour guide was trying to tell them how dangerous it was, but of course stupid boys don’t listen. One ended up with a bloody foot, but they seemed okay.

After the bike tour we made it to the Hofbrauhaus for some fun.

On Sunday morning, the girls and Jonathan made the two hour train ride out to Füssen to see Neuschwanstein Castle. This castle is what the Cinderella Castle in Disney World is designed after. We had to take a bus to the base of a hill, and then walk about 30 minutes uphill to get to the castle. It was worth the whole trip. The architect was actually a theatrical set designer from the 1850’s, and every room was designed after one of Wagner’s operas (which is a really boring composer if you ask me). It was soooo gorgeous. I think a few court architect’s were actually brought int to make sure the castle stood. The castle was even complete with a cave, and the bedroom took 4 years just for the wood carver to complete. It was breathtaking. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed of the inside of the castle. Here are a few of the outside though. If you look carefully, you can see about twenty paragliders/hangliders in the picture of the castle from a distance. I can’t believe they didn’t run into each other. If we had stayed here for a weekend, that is what I would have done.

After returning to Munich, we found the closest beer garden to the train station to watch the game. Our train left at 10:30, so we had to miss the game. But Spain was winning 1-0, so we didn’t think we were going to miss too many festivities. The German crowd was huge though, and we arrived 2 hours prior to the game to secure a table at the far back of the beer garden. It was so much fun. It’s like watching the Super Bowl in America. Except, they don’t have commercial breaks during soccer.

We took a long route home, to avoid paying 25 euros for a night train. This meant we took about 10 hours to reach our destination only 6 hours away. And our route also included 5 trains, with a 2 hour layover at 3 am. Needless to say, I was dead tired on Monday Morning. Yay Munich!

Just another rainy day in Ireland… June 24, 2008

I think I found my new favorite country!  Ireland is absolutely gorgeous!  The city is absent of skyscrapers and litter, and filled with young people wanting to have fun and learn a little history.   Outside of Dublin is filled with beautiful Irish countryside, cute animals, and people who know good beer.  I think I could live here forever.

Our first stop was Dublin, Ireland of course!  There is only one airport in Dublin, so Ryanair didn’t fly us 2 hours outside of the city.  We were actually only a cab ride away!  First thing Saturday morning we bought a ticket for a hop on/hop off bus, so we could avoid the rain and metro, and see the main sights of the city with some narration.  Our stops included Dublin Castle (which was closed until 2pm on Saturday wtf), The Guinness Brewery, Jameson Distillery, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  We saw a Molly Malone statue, which apparently has a famous song associated with it, and our international friend Stephanie sang the song for us the whole trip .   Here are some pictures documenting the above sights!

So… regardless of how Dublin sounds, there really isn’t much to do there except party in the night life.  We missed out on this and made our way to Killarney the next day.  Killarney is the Irish countryside and has things to do such as surfing, horseback riding, sailing, and hiking.  We weren’t staying but a couple of hours in Killarney, so we took a carriage ride through the parks and forests to see Ross Castle.  It was gorgeous, and we even saw deer with antlers.  Our time here was short and sweet, but I’m glad we made the trek.

We then took a 3 hour train to Cork!  Home of Blarney Castle, and more importantly the Blarney Stone.  Kissing the Blarney stone is an old Irish Legend you can read about here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blarney_stone

So if you didn’t think so before, I am now eloquent.  However… I think using the word eloquent, makes me pretty eloquent indeed.  Anyways…. here our some pictures of our escape to Blarney Castle.  (A picture of me kissing the Blarney Stone is soon to come)

If the castle looks a little primitive to you, please try to remember it dates back prior to 1200 AD.  So for them to get the huge stones in place was quite a feat.

Needless to say, my trip to Ireland was well worth the airplane flight.  Ashleigh and I went a little crazy on the souvenirs.  Here is the last picture of me.  Drinking my first favorite beer of my 21ness in its original birthplace, the Guinness St. James Brewery.  Cheers!

Interlaken, Switzerland June 16, 2008

So last year when I went to Interlaken, I had a great time. I went paragliding, which is the most adventurous thing I’ve ever done. By the time we had decided that we wanted to go hiking, it was a little too late. Due to bad planning, I never really got to experience the Swiss Alps. This time I was prepared to go hiking (even though my brand new white asics were not) it was great! I’m not going to bore you with the facts of our hike. I’ll just say that most of us had not been up close with cows in awhile, if ever. It was lightly raining, and cloudy which mean we didn’t waste our money going to the “top of Europe” or the highest train station in Europe, and we slid around a little bit. It was totally amazing, breathtaking, and as you can see by the following pictures… beautiful. I have new plans to go hiking in the alps for a week in a warmer, future, summer. Enjoy! (p.s. hp photo panaramic stitch is the coolest software)

EuroCup 2008 June 16, 2008

Well on Friday morning people were talking about sleeping in train stations after spending the evening watching football games in the fan zone in Zurich (there were two games taking place there in real time), and I wasn’t up for that. But at about 10:30 in the morning, an email was received from a hostel that would take us in in the middle of the night, and leave a key for us at the door. So I decided to skip my classes and head off to Zurich by noon! It was so much fun! If you’ve never had the chance to experience European football (which is soccer btw), think about American football (the “real” football) and think about all the hype that goes into it. When the Euro Cup, or the World Cup for that matter is going on, each individual country is like each state of the US competing in the super bowl. Guys dress up crazy, girls wear costumes, babies’ faces are painted. Basically, it’s amazing. The minute we got off the train we knew we made the right decision… There were statues waiting for everyone’s arrival.

They were absolutely massive, and they touched the ceiling of the huge train station! We then went to the fan zone where we partied with the Europeans watching the Netherlands vs. France game. Netherlands won (sad), but they seem to have a pretty good looking team this year, well at least they have a huge fan base. Tons turned out for the viewing, and the tv screen looked like the stadium was quite full of orange as well. The fan zone held 45,000 people, and the fan mile leading up to it was pretty packed as well. We stuck around the town after the two games, and danced around the streets filled with parties. It was so much fun! We then took a 1.5 hour train ride to a small Swiss town at 2 am, and found out hostel. What a night.

Scandanavia June 11, 2008

Well, I made it!  That one crazy place I thought I would see a long time from now.  Ashleigh and I went to Oslo, Norway this weekend.  It only took two trains, two buses, and one plane to make it from Metz to Oslo in about 11 hours.   We were tired, but the first thing we did was head to the hostel, and then straight to the water.  The hostel was a little difficult to find due to the sparse directions.  “Walk under the underpass” was the last thing it said, however there was still a road, and about 1km up a grassy park/hill to our hostel.  We made it, and then went to the waterfront to look at the port and the beautiful sailing boats.  It was about 11  pm and the sun was starting to set.  Yep… 11 pm.  I think I remember my dad telling me that long ago.  But Norway has about the same sunset schedule as Alaska.  Meaning, in the summer they can have about 23 hours of daylight, and in the winter they can have about 24 hours of darkness.  Fortunately the sun rose for us at about 3:30 am, so we went to Norway at the right time.  Here’s Ashleigh in front of our hostel at midnight.  The hostel is the small white building, behind her, on the hill.  That night we met a 22 year old guy from Australia who was traveling alone for 6 months after finishing his structural engineering degree.  We invited him to travel around with us the next morning at breakfast on Saturday.  He was really nice, and we had alot of fun exploring the Oslo fjord on a boat ride, and then some museums.  We made it to the Viking Ship museum, and the Fram museum.  The Fram had a boat that was used from 1890-1910 to travel to the South and North poles.   It was huge!  But I’m sure if I was on a boat for more than six months, I would not think it was big enough.  The ship in the picture is a viking boat.  The vikings used them to bury their important dead.  Since they were buried in rocks and dirt, they were preserved from the 9th century.  All the gold and treasures buried with the dead had been robbed long ago, but the ships were able to be pieced together and put on display for today.  After the museums we took a tram to the North West of the city and saw the ski jump used in the 1952 olympics in Oslo.  The pit that is used to stop was filled with water.  We couldn’t quite figure out if they used it to land in or what.  It looked like some kids were wearing small skis, but they were done practicing for the day.  It would have been awesome to see some people jump, even if it was off the small jump.  We then went to the Vigeland Sculpture Park and saw the sculptures created by Gustav Vigeland. He said he was trying to depict the life of man, but part of me thinks he was trying to depict an orgy.  Oh well, it’s art.  On Sunday, all the stores were closed, and we had seen mostly everything that we wanted to see.  Unfortunately, Parliament was only open on Saturdays.  We did however find quite an interesting lunch.  My professor had told me we had to try whale.  After looking an outside grill on the port.  The cook pointed and told us we could have salmon, fish, or whale!  It looked like a regular hamburger, no joke, but it was whale.  We decided to be brave and try it.  I forgot to say that most Norwegians speak English and Norwegian.  They grow up in school learning English.  He asked us where we were from, and when we said GA, US, they gave us funny looks.  I guess Americans don’t eat whale because of the controversial issues.  Oh well, when else would we ever try it?  My mussels were amazing too.  Norwegian beer was also great.  Another cool sight was Oslo’s  Opera House.  It’s not that old, and it cost over $1,000,000,000 to build.  It’s fully marble, and totally walkable.  When I say totally walkable, I literally mean you can walk up onto the walls, and onto the roof.  It was really amazing.  I wish I could see the Sydney Opera House one day, I wonder if it’s better…

On Sunday afternoon we decided to go Island hopping.  The metro pass works as a ferry pass to take you to an island in the Oslo Fjords.  We didn’t have bathing suits, so we lounged around for a little while, and wrote our postcards.  We also saw “Sex and the City” in English at the movie theater (very good btw).  Afterwards we met up with my sister-grandma Ashley St. John!  I haven’t seen Ashley since her wedding my freshman year, and she had contacted me the morning I was leaving to tell me she would be in Oslo, Norway as well this week!  What a coincidence!  We had dinner and caught up!  It was crazy.  Ashley and I were sad we couldn’t make it to Bergen to see the beautiful Norwegian fjords you see when you look at the landscapes pictures of Norway.  But maybe one day we’ll make it back.

Why go Smart car? June 10, 2008

So in Oslo this weekend, I think my group came upon another reason to own a smart car. I think the picture can explain without words. I’ve seen some crazy places where smart cars were parked: between the big parking space with a car already in it and a pole, or on sidewalks. However, this really takes the cake…

Dinner at the profs? June 5, 2008

GTL has a great atmosphere between teachers and students. After every weekend, the teachers always take a few minutes out of class to ask us about our weekend. In French class, this isn’t as much fun, because it’s definitely a French speaking exercise. This year, my professor, Henry Owens and his wife, invited all the students from their classes to dinner at their apartment. Jean Sands, his wife, cooked a very French meal for us. It was great! She also laid out at least 4 different cheeses, and had a book explaining them and what region they’re from. They didn’t serve us wine, because it was a Georgia Tech function, but it was fun nonetheless. Here’s a menu of our dinner, their beautiful/paid for by Tech apartment, and their view of Place St. Jaçues (The main square in town). The only thing they complain about is the yelling from the bars downstairs when there is a football (soccer) match being shown on television. Uffda, what a life.

Menu Chez Henry et Jean

Escargo

Mussels

Pear and blue cheese salad

Boeuf Bourguignon with noodles

Green bean casserole

Tarragon Carrots

Brownies

Cookies

Chocolate Mousse

Assorted Cheese

p.s. I like mussels just fine, but escargo is a little much…

apparentely, escargo is popular in France, because snails attack the vineyards. Not eating them would just be a waste right? They usually cook them with lots of garlic and butter, so you wouldn’t know you’re eating one of their pests that destroy their beloved grapes. You slide out the snail from the shell (yes they’re served in the shell) and put it on a piece of bread or eat it plain. Not appetizing.

And if you haven’t heard…. I’m going to Oslo, Norway tomorrow! Everyone that is staying in France, or going to Italy/Spain on the 4 day is going to have 70 degree weather and rain. On the other hand, Ashleigh and I will have beautiful scenery, clear skies, and 80 degree weather to worry about. Uffda!

Van Gogh Stomping Grounds… June 2, 2008

While being in Europe can mean crazy Spanish parties or meeting Red Jump Suit Apparatus at the most touristy bar in Brussels: Delirium (yes this really happened to 11 of my friends) we opted for a 2 day weekend in the South of France. Away from the loud Ferraris of Monaco and the rocky beaches of Nice, we spent a day in Avignon, and a night and morning in Arles. Fortunately, there are some pretty cool sites in both of these cities, and they were alive with Japanese tourists, so they have to be cool right? First stop in Avignon Palais des Popes (after a pizza breakfast of course). This is a pretty neat thing to see. Built in the 1300’s about 11 popes lived here for a couple of centuries. They escaped the deteriorating Rome to find a beautiful home in South France. The building was breathtaking, even though all the decorations were long gone, and the faint remains of paintings on the walls

Next we went to see Pont Saint-Bénezet, and we walked to the end, and even sang the old nursery rhyme. Apparently it’s popular in France, probably their own rendition of London Bridge is falling down.

So then we were running late for our bus to see Pont du Gard… so we booked it to the bus station, only to see our bus pulling away when we decided which one to get on. Since it was the last bus of the day, and there was a planned route in Rick Steves for how to get home, we opted to take a Taxi. With 5 people, it only cost a couple of euros more, and it took us to the starting point. The only problem was the crazy taxi driver who tried to kill us. I know Shellie and Ashleigh are a little afraid of my breaking habits… but this guy liked to pass people and play that game of Chicken. I even think he laughed when I held on to the door. Oh well, we made it there safely!

The next day in Arles was spent looking at the Van Gogh sites. I do not recommend girls to walk alone in this city. I walked to the train station in the morning to see if the TI was open, and was thoroughly sketched out. Ashleigh swears she was followed after leaving us to get something back at the hotel. The town has alot of history in it, and Van Gogh painted and sketched 900 pieces in the few years he lived here. Someone found beauty in it a century ago, but now it lays in mostly ruins. They sure have plenty of tourists, so I don’t understand why they don’t fix it up, and double the amount of tourists who just want to come and see a cute French city. I enjoyed our morning spent there, the following pictures are the highlights, and I’m sure you can guess why I arranged them this way.

I wish I knew just how much money Van Gogh’s (not originally yellow) cafe was sold for when tourists started trekking to Arles to see it.  There is so much money behind tourism.

Next Weekend:  Oslo, Norway!  Uffda!