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Berlin

OK! So here is the second post! I went to Berlin after St. Patrick's Day for my Spring Break. We left on Wednesday morning and got to Berlin at about 1 o'clock. It took us forever to get to our hostel because it was kinda in the middle of nowhere. That night we just walked around West Berlin. On Thursday we took the buses out to East Berlin and took a 3 1/2 hour free walking tour of East Berlin. It was really informative, we saw a lot of things. We saw the Brandenburg Gate, Der Reichstag, The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the place where Hitler died, Gendarenmarkt, Babelplatz, The Nazi Armory, The Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, The Memorial to the Victims of War and Tyranny, and Museum Island. It was a great tour, and if anyone is in a city that has a NewEurope Tour I would highly suggest going on it. Later that night we went to some of the museums because on Thursday nights from 6-10 the museums on Museum Island are free. There were some great paintings in the National Gallery. Last thing we did that night was go to Der Reichstag. They are open and free to the public to go in the glass dome on the top. From the dome you can see down into the Parliament Chambers, and the idea is that if the politicians ever forget who they are there for they can just look up and see all the people walking around and remember that they are there for the people. I know, the people that are up there are generally not the German people, they are tourists, but I still really liked the premise. While we were there Parliament wasn't in session since it was 9:30 pm, but the views were really cool. Berlin doesn't really have that many lights at night, it was refreshing. On Friday we decided to go to the Zoo and Aquarium. There were some great animals there, some that I can't see at the Potowatami Zoo. We then travelled back to East Berlin where we took artsy pictures at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and then made our way to the TV Tower. At the TV Tower you can take an elevator to this globe and see panoramic views of the city. It was really cool up there, but it wasn't the most conducive to taking pictures. Later we went to the DDR Museum, which is an interactive museum of East Berlin. You can touch and play with anything there and they encourage to you open drawers and push buttons and all that fun stuff. It was really cool. While we were there of course we tried the bratwurst and I made the girls try a doner, which is like my favorite there (it is kinda like a gyro). After one last night in our hostel, which we were the only three people at, we made the trip back home to Ireland.

St. Paddy's Day

Hi everyone! Today I am going to write two different entries. The first one is going to be about St. Patrick's Day in Dublin. It was interesting. We left really early to catch a bus and rode into the city. To get a spot to watch the parade you have to go really early. We walked around for a little while and went to the big souvenir store to get some gear for the day. I found a great Obama shirt while I was there. We had to find a spot to watch the parade from by 10 am, and the parade didn't even start til noon. We got a front row right on the main street, O'Connell Street. The parade sure was interesting even though it started over a half an hour late. It had a lot of people that I just didn't understand the point of their parade entry. After the parade we wanted to find where the Today Show was taping, but by the time we got there they were already breaking down the sets. We walked around the city for a little while but it was absolutely nuts. It got so crazy that we didn't want to have to brave the Dublin pubs. We took the train back home and went to one of the pubs in town.

So this weekend I went with the Saint Mary's girls to Kilkenny and the Carlow Dolmen. In Kilkenny there is a very large castle that is partially restored, so we actually got to see a castle that wasn't just a shell of stone. Unfortunately, while in the castle you can't take pictures, so there aren't any of that. It was the castle of the Butler family, one of the most prominent families in Ireland. We were told that multiple kings and queens of England visited the castle as guests of the Butler family. We had a very knowledgable tour guide throughout the tour. Kilkenny is also a medevil city with a lot of throwbacks to that period, but they are so scattered about that they kind of blend into the more urban feel of the city. Next we went to the Carlow Dolmen, which is a capstone, not that I really know what that is. It was essentially a pile of rocks, very large rocks. What I thought was interesting was that it was literally in the middle of a crop field. There was a sidewalk to it and it was fenced in with grass and a couple benches, but in traditional Irish fashion of using all fertile land, they created a field around the monument. We had a lot of fun on our excursion at the Dolmen, especially when my friend Nicole decided that she wanted to climb up to the top of the capstone. It took a lot of tries and a couple scrapes but she ended up on the top with a little help from some friends.

Other than all of that classes are going well and I am really looking forward to my spring break and my trip to Berlin on the 18th. I should have a lot of fun. I hope everything is going well for everyone else. Love you all!

Hey everyone! This weekend has been fun, yesterday I went on a Saint Mary's Trip to go see The Bog of Allen and Dunadea Forest Park. We were accompanied by Seamus, a local historian who knows everything. As we were driving we found out that we were driving on the straightest road in Ireland, we heard about it multiple times as he was talking. Once we got to the Bog of Allen nature center we went through a long presentation in a very cold museumish thing, and I mean cold, it wasn't that warm of a day but when we walked outside it had to have been about 10 degrees warmer outside. We then traveled to the actually bog. A bog is different. It isn't like a swamp at all, you can walk out onto it without really sinking in because of the build up of moss and dead plant life, it is just very wet. Once we walked out onto it the woman that was telling us about the bog had us all squeeze this sphagnum moss, which is the moss that grows the most on the bog. It can hold up to 20 times its weight in water, so she wanted us all to squeeze it. Well when it got to my turn I squeezed it and then looked at my hand and I had a cut, I guess there must have been a branch from the bog cotton in the moss. When I said something the woman then told me that the moss soaks up blood really well. So from then on at the bog I looked pretty weird holding moss on my hand, but it worked, I never needed a band aid and it did bleed. The bog is a very bouncy place, we jumped up and down and it felt like a water bed. Next we moved over to the cutaway bog and cut rush and made St. Brigid's Crosses, those are supposed to protect you from disease and fire. After the bog we drove over to Dunadea Forest Park and to the Castle and Church that was there. Seamus told us all about the history of the Castle and the Church. We also found out that in 455 A.D. St. Patrick actually came here and built a church. We saw the site of that church and all the other churches that were at one point on that site. We also found a memorial to the Irish that died on 9/11. I thought it was pretty interesting that there was a memorial here in Ireland. I guess it was built because someone who was originally from the area was a New York Police Officer or Firefighter (I can't remember which) and he was killed that day. Later that night I went with a few of the girls to one of the local pubs to watch the Ireland vs. England rugby match. That is a big rivalry and excitingly Ireland won, 14-13.

Today I went with my friend Katie off to the closest shopping mall, it was a bit of a bus ride but every once in a while you just need some retail therapy. I also needed some more going out clothes because this upcoming week is called Rag Week and it is just a week of drinking and partying here on campus. It should be interesting.

I posted pictures of the Bog and Dunadea so check them out!!

Love you!