home again home again

So my travels have come to and end and I am back in the US, Kansas City to be exact. It actually feels pretty good to be home for a bit after all the traveling. I think my body is really confused because I am still exhausted and on top of that I have a sinus infection. Everyone I've talked to has told me just to stay up and then I'll get over the whole jet lag thing but apparently they're wrong, I've stayed up late every night I've been back and yet I still wake up at 8 or 9 and am still tired the next day. I think living in a different country for a few months effects your body differently than visiting for a week so I am guessing I have a few more days before I feel normal again.
Last time I left off I think I was in Madrid, after which I went to Barcelona and stayed with Veronica and her husband Jao. I've known Vern since I was 7 when she was my Aunt and Uncle's foreign exchange student and I haven't seen her for about 5 or 6 years so it was great to stay with her. Plus she is pregnant which was really wild because her being pregnant is like my brother or cousin having a child. I think there is still some debate over the first name but the middle name is going to be Morrissey, after the singer who was also in The Smiths, obviously they're big fans. But not only is that a cool name but I also enjoy the man whom their soon to be boy is going to be named after.
Anyhoo, it rained again in Barcelona but that didn't bother me and I had a amazing time. I would have liked to have stayed longer but the time I did spend there was relaxing. Since it was the weekend Vern and Jao were able to show me around. They showed me the Olympic stadium and the castle and lots of beautiful buildings but the best part was sleeping in and taking breakfast to the beach.
After Barcelona I returned to Dublin for a few days before I trekked back to the US. But before that I randomly ran into a fellow Chicagoin, Pat Doran in Topshop and found out that we were on the same flight to Chicago. The poor kid, I think I scared him a bit or at least left a colorful impression on him on the morning of our flight. After running into him again in the airport, at about 9 AM, I told him to meet me in the bar for a final pint. He very politely reminded me of the time and how early in the morning it was and I very politely repeated my invite to the bar. I don't know exactly why, but after passing the bar once, I felt the urge to go in and have my last pint. I think it was a mixture of needing a good drink before my flight so that I could sleep better, just kind of wanting a drink, and using it as a kind of final hoorah to my time in Ireland.
The past five or so months have been amazing. After having time to think about it, I don't think I would have done my trip any other way, nor do I wish I had traveled around Europe before this. If I was any younger I don't think I would have appreciated it as much as I have so I think I've been very lucky to experience it the way I did. If you didn't notice, that's my really awkward way of saying 'thank you' to mom and dad for letting me spend their hard earned money this past semester. Plus they were actually pretty cool the whole time I was away, rarely giving me grief for all the money I spent, which if you know Mel and Larry, is hard for them to do. (That's a joke mom!)

But now I am back in Kansas City for a week. Its really hot and humid and I keep waking up in the middle of the night wondering where I am and of course, I am still kind of living out of my bags. I go back to Chicago in a week which is pretty exciting. Until then here are a few pictures of the end of my travels. Oh and I am going to keep up with the blog. While my life may be a bit less exciting without the exotic traveling, I think my life is still interesting, or at least humorous enough to write about.

The Lourve in Paris. I tried going the day before but it was closed but my second attempt was successful and sunnier.

This was one of the exhibits of the Lourve. I want this couch.

Jardin du Luxenburg in Paris. This was the best park I've been to. Not only was it gorgeous but there were kids riding ponies, you could rent toy sailboats and sail them with a stick, and plenty of places to sit down and relax. I almost missed my train to Madrid by hanging out in this park.

Madrid hostel.



Bon Jovi was playing at the Olympic stadium the next day. There were like three fans camped outside and it was raining all day. Sucks for them.

Castle in Barcelona. It was on top of a mountain and we were in a cloud. We couldn't see the city but it was kind of cool and eerie at the same time.



View from Vern's apartment.

Vern and Jao on our beach breakfast.


Final days in Ireland..Ariella and I decided to take a day trip to Howth which is like twenty minutes outside of Dublin.

Goodbye Dublin!

living out of a bag

Well its been a while since I've updated.  I am trying to think of the best way to talk about the places I've been lately without boring you too much so I am just going to list the cities and what I thought of them.  Berlin was awesome, really wish I was there longer.  There were tons of things to do and it was really easy to get around, not to mention that the people were also pretty nice.  Met some guys from the southwest of Germany who I hung out in the hostel bar with for a bit. They were cool and told me how I shouldn't go to Munich.  I should have listened to them because Munich was kind of a downer.  My hostel, like the city, was kind of worn down.  Berlin was a modern city built in conjunction with the older parts while Munich was like an odd town that just doesn't seem to have changed.  Seemed like a tourist trap to me but who knows. Maybe it would have been better if I had been with someone else because it seemed like the only things to do were get really drunk and eat a lot.  I tried to do some things but it was rainy and expensive so I ended my nights early and hung out at the bar in the hostel or watched German MTV at the hotel.  

I happily left Munich for Vienna even though doing so was hard.  Literally almost missed my train by jumping on while the doors were closing.  I got my foot stuck in the door and had to be helped up because my huge backpack was holding me down. The train ride to Vienna was amazing because I went through the mountains but it started raining and by the time I got to Vienna it was cold and rainy.  That kept up the whole time I was there but Vienna had a lot of museums and indoor things for me to do so even though I got soaked, I did dry off while walking around.  Did lots of stuff in Vienna, the museum of modern art was pretty cool, but St. Stephan's catacombs was the weirdest most interesting part.  I also ate tuna pizza which I don't recommend.  I think Vienna would have been a lot better had it not been raining the whole time but I still had a good two days there.  

Milan was my next stop.  The hotel was really nice but the city wasn't my favorite. There wasn't a lot to do there, it was expensive, the people seemed overly annoyed by everything, and it was still raining.  Best parts were watching the Champion's League final at a bar with a bunch of guys and the police.  The waiter and I became friends, ate some pizza, and Manchester United won an amazing game. Other than that going to the top of the Duomo, I think the first church or something, was awesome.  Probably not the safest thing but it had the best views of the city, plus the whole church was beautiful.  While  I love fashion and Milan is the fashion capital of the world, the shopping was boring.  Same shops you can find in any major city just more compact.  I ate gelato, had a panini, and wore lots of black.  Milan had its good moments but just didn't seem to pick up from them.

Left Milan this morning for Bern.  Missed my train, got on one an hour later that dropped me off in some small town in Switzerland and caught another one to Bern.  The rain is gone and the train ride was amazing, better than going through Austria to Italy.  The Mountains were never ending with huge lakes and cute houses and villages in between.  Bern is amazing.  Its like a make believe town where everyone is smiling and walking around or riding bikes.  Its such a small city that you can walk from one end to the other in fifteen minutes or so.  But so far I've gone to Albert Einstein's house, walked around, and hung out at a cafes, and went to two pretty neat art museums.  It rained today but got sunny. I was asked if I was a professional photographer which was weird and some other odd things have happened too but its been a good laugh. If you ever have a chance to go to Bern, do it.  This place is like a breath of fresh air from all the huge grey cities that I've been in lately. Plus my hostel has laundry facilities so I did my laundry for the first time in...two weeks? ha, sorry. 

I am getting eager to get back to Dublin and even more so to get back to KC/Chicago.  It will be nice to stop living out of a bag and have a roommates that aren't lame.  Paris is next, then Madrid, and lastly Barcelona to visit Vern.  Hopefully I'll have the internet for the rest of my time so that I can update this more often.  This post was hard! phew!

Pictures aren't uploading so the next post will be just pictures, hopefully up tomorrow.