At 3AM my alarm went off. I groggily woke up, rolled out of bed, and walked to the taxi. A couples hours later I was on a plane headed towards the Netherlands. The weekend was packed with different museums, day trips, and food. In particular, Amsterdam is a beautiful city (if you can ignore the large piles of trash), and the canals surrounding it make for a surreal experience. (Landscape Painting from the Rijksmuseum) When booking tours and and activities in Amsterdam, we looked at two art museums: Van Gough and the Rijksmuseum. We went with the Rijksmuseum for two […]
(Howth Light House) Standing on top of Howth’s many hills, I could see city, greenery, mountains, and beaches all extending into the sea. As I walked down a sandy path that wound about the cliff side, the guide pointed out a lighthouse below us. The positioning of the light house allows it an expansive view of all four cardinal directions. The mot important direction faces the Irish Sea. It was originally used as a Viking look out, and it helped the Vikings control Dublin. Later, it was used during the Napoleonic Wars to look out for the Napoleon’s Armada. The […]
(The Giant’s Causeway) Have you ever seen a grown man cry? Well I have. On the Giant’s Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, our tour guide teared up as he proudly told us about the legend of the Giant’s Causeway because his family had been recounting this story for generations. In short, the Irish Giant build a causeway over to the Scottish Giant to beat the living day lights out of him. However, he realized he was half the size of the Scottish Giant, and he was forced to run. The Scottish Giant followed him, but his wife pretended he […]
(Guinness Barrels at the Guinness Factory) I want you to think about Ireland. When the word Ireland is said, what do you think of? Well, you are all alcoholics, and you thought about drinking copious amounts of Guinness on St. Patty’s day. I thought about Lucky Charms and Leprechauns. However, I would be remiss to tell you not to go to the Guinness factory (and the pubs). There have been many nights when I have taken advantage of the lower drinking age even though my ID is always triple checked (I have seen 15 years-old children that look older than […]
(The Rock of Cashel: The Romanesque Chapel Where Brian Boru was Crowned) Now, you’re probably thinking: “Wow another castle”. Well, you’re completely wrong. It is actually a monastic church, that looks like a castle. In many ways it did act as a fortress. The Catholic Church at the time was rich and powerful, and the bishops would build grand architecture. Even though it looks awful today and I would rather be in one of those graves than live there, it is actually a truly beautiful building. The bishops were inspired by roman architecture which is why you see the curved […]