Last Minute Trip to Antwerp

Myself and herself decided to have one last hurrah before I leave this week and headed down to Antwerp for the day. At 32EUR return it's an absolute bargain for a train ticket but keep in mind it will take 2 1/2 hours to get there. What better way to celebrate a sixth month trip abroad than going to Belgium for the day?

We got there about 13.00 in the afternoon and the first thing herself decided to do is step in dog poop. I couldn't even look at her for about ten minutes I felt so queasy but she cleaned herself up and we persevered.

I won't be able to tell you much about the city itself or the history. Our intention was to go somewhere neither of us had been before and soak up the feel of the place. Antwerp has a beautiful old town centre. It has elaborate building facades and tall city houses. It wasn't as medieval as we thought it might be but it;s a fabulous place for a day trip.

So, what did we do all day...?

• ate Belgian chocolate (obviously) 
• drank Belgian beer (see above)
• got a tour on a horse and cart (I felt bad for the horses)
• walked for hours through windy city streets
• ate in a Mexican restaurant and were served by a Cork man (as you do)

If I were to go back I'd get a walking tour of the place and spend a couple of hours at the zoo. It's right outside the central stations front door and it's reported to have amazing gardens. Then again, same as with the horses above, I'd probably only feel bad for the animals.

We rounded off the day waiting in the station for our train. I found a cycle station where I could pedal to charge my iPad. It was a bit of hassle though, ten minutes cycling only got me from 5% power to 7%, I thought I'd get a super charge for my efforts. Mentioning the train station, Antwerp Centraal is a beautiful station, one of the nicest I've ever seen. We were walking with our faces towards the ceiling taking it all in when what happens only herself walks into dog poop again. And I had to sit beside her the whole way back to Amsterdam. Grand.

Packing Up

We are now in the midst of saying our goodbyes and packing up. I'm feeling the excitment, finally. My last day in work was last Friday. What a feeling it is to throw out all the crap I've collected in my drawers over the last three years. I didn't even mind giving back my iPhone, not even a little bit. I said my goodbyes to my desk and a few of us headed to Hannekes Boom, a lovely bar close to Amsterdam Centraal station. It looks over the water with a fabulous view of the old customs house and the Nemo Science musuem. Safe to say we didn't recognise the one that was one too many but I do recall saying to someone at some stage that this was the 'tipping point'. It was.

The Saturday night was himselfs going away drinks; a house party. I was seriously struggling from the night before but I made a good go of it. I managed to stay awake and functioning until 3. Although, I do admit I was found around this time curled into a sleepy little ball on the couch cuddling my iPad. I have to say that I admire the way the Dutch think about the gifts they give. Basically, 'the boys' came up with giving himself a care package; a Munich survival kit. He got good Dutch cheese, Utrechtse brewed beers along with a Munich guide book and a first aid kit. I can't imagine Irish men being that thoughtful. Although saying that, they did give him a Playboy and some wet wipes. Boys will be boys I suppose.

Sunday we went cycling over to the pancake house to sure our hangover. The area there, Rhijnauwen, is beautiful and covered in bunkers from both world wars. Himself said the area was an important strategic point to defend from the Germans and that all the bunkers were built here with the Rhijnauwen river acting a natural barrier. It's quite a spectacular place and just twenty minutes cycling outside of Utrecht. It was also nice to just be outside near some nature and animals. Amsterdam is covered in green parks but nothing beats the actual countryside. We were able to cycle past fields of cows and sheep. At one point we stopped to take a picture of sheep walking in single file along a stream. We were talking about how if one sheep gets an idea to do something the rest of them will do the same. Although, being a sheep, you wouldn't get ideas very often so if one of them did think of something, you'd do it like.

The beginning of the beginning

I started the packing. There isn't much to do in fairness especially since I'm coming back in a couple months. Just need to clear my room and throw away anything I won't be thrilled to see when I come back. It's such therapy to throw away a load of crap. I love it. I made 3 trips down to the skips. One for genuine rubbish, one for old clothes and one for a load of cardboard boxes that were squatting rent-free in the closet. 

My room is bare now. All that's left is my furniture and clothes and to give the floor a good thorough cleaning. Which reminds me, was in himselfs house at the weekend. We were woken up to a mad flurry of feathers; a magpie was throwing itself up against the window desperately trying to find a way out. It not being my house, himself, on autopilot, put his contacts in and stuck his legs in his trousers which he put on backwards. He noticed straight away and just as if he was leaving the house for work, went about putting them on the right way. Which made me laugh because I'm pretty sure the magpie wouldn't have noticed. Anyway, as soon as his feet touched the ground floor the bird was out the window. But not before he deposited a fair amount of, eh, deposit, all over the couch. Actually, all over the couch, walls, radiator, floor, laptop and curtains. Putrid. The look on his face was priceless. I must have giggled for a solid 15 minutes at him daintily trying to clean it up holding the sponge with as little fingers as possible and not vomit at the same time. 

How and ever, he had the last laugh. I ended up cleaning it up for him. What?! He wasn't doing it properly.

 

Happy in Holland

Myself and himself are leaving Holland in ten days. Confirmed. We'll both head to Munich where he'll stay for 7 months and I'll go on my way from there. This countdown period is killing me. I've been saying lately that I wish leaving day was either tomorrow or three months away. One or the other. 

But the plan is to come back to Holland, specifically Amsterdam. I'm not done with the place yet and i feel sad leaving. The last couple of weeks has seen me show a couple of visitors around the place and that always makes you look at it in a different way. Even himself, who's Dutch, said so after giving some Irish friends of mine a cycling tour of the city. Amsterdam is just one of those places with a particular personality. I find it hard to put my finger on it. It's super relaxed and there's always something to do. Actually, it's the kind of place that no matter what you do you are missing out on something. Which makes paying the expensive rent annoying because you're never in the fecking house. 

To give you a taste of what I'm talking about, I made a list below of the nice things I've been up to the last couple of weeks. 

Pluk de nacht

Twice this week I've made a visit to this special little outdoor film festival. It was named as one of the top ten outdoor cinemas in Europe, right behind a hot-tub cinema in London, I think. But then, it would be tough enough to beat a hot-tub cinema. Both times I hadn't a clue what was on the agenda but it hardly mattered. Thursday evening we turned up at 7.30 to get a place with our reserved deck chairs even though the movies don't start til the sun goes down. No matter. You can bring your own food and drinks and chat away in a lovely, lively atmosphere. They play great independent movies, let you play interactive games on screen and with the crowd and even have a bllind-date, two person deck chair. Bliss. 

De parade

Tough one to explain. It's a pretty random, circus-like, theatre festival with a lot of alcohol, good food and music. Oh and not to mention a silent disco. The entry is a pricey 15eur but you won't regret it. Even if you don't attend the many little short performances you will soak up the lively atmosphere in Martin Luther King park on the Amstel. 

Cocktails at the beach

In Holland, if you are lucky enough to get a few good days of beach worthy weather then by all means, go. Dutch beaches are great. The best ones, I think, are more to the north but require time and effort to get to. After a long day at work, I would suggest catching the train from Amsterdam Centraal out to Zandvoort (30 mins at the most) and setting up base at one of the many, many bars there. We sat from 7 til well after the sun went down and even had a paddle in the cold sea.

Pancakes 

Having a Dutch boyfriend, I have the luxury of spending some quality time with a real-life Dutch family in their natural habitat. This weekend I went along to the birthday celebration of my boyfriends grandmother, congratulating not just her but the whole family on her new age. Yeah, I don't get it either. Anyway, we went to a beautiful little pancake house, 'Theehuis Rijnauwen', in the Utrechtse countryside just outside Utrecht. We sat bravely out under a watery sky and watched as people went by on the river in their kayaks. Gezellig. 

BBQ in the park

Doesn't require much explanation. Pick a park, get yourself a disposable BBQ, some snacks and beers and call some friends. Done. 

Multiple boat rides on the canals

The best way to enjoy Amsterdam is from the water. The city seems even more relaxed and beautiful from this perspective. Twice now I've booked an electrical powered boat, max 6 people, to spend a couple of hours. In one word; fabulous.

Festivals 

A colleague of mine read to me the other day from a newspaper; 'Amsterdam's level of festivals has stabilized for the first time in 4 years.' Yup, that's what it said. Not the economy or house prices or crime levels. There were 4 dance festivals alone in Amsterdam last weekend. Myself and herself went to 'Loveland' and were probably the only ones in attendance not under chemical influence. That was fine, we danced ourselves silly for 6 hours in a row on top of swimming pool to Fedde le Grand and DJ Sasha. That's how we roll. 

The above make my decision to return after my travels easy. I do love Ireland but Amsterdam, and indeed Holland, is a special place. I'll be here for a while yet.

...but let's see how things pan out because you never know after all...

On my way to Laos

So I'm having a bit of a panic. I am just starting to realise how very little time I have to do all the things I want to do in South East Asia. 8 weeks to travel Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, then 8 weeks volunteering in Cambodia and then 6 weeks afterwards to fill in. It's not very long at all. I think it might be good to fly from Singapore to Phuket, have a few days on 'The Beach' and then on to Chiang Mai, Laos etc. etc. That sounds good to me. I'd prefer to focus on Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia first. And at only 40EUR per flight it's a bargain. We'll see closer to the time how it will take shape.

But just take Laos for example. I know little to nothing about the country and would have thought I'd only spend a week there. Now I change my mind after a brief Google and I have no idea how I am going to travel all these beautiful places in such a short space of time. I've been told by many that Laos has been their favorite out of the 4. I didn't realise they had been through so much. It's basically the world's most bombed country, with 2 billion tonnes of bombs having been dropped on the country in a couple of years. There's been a brutal, brutal civil war and many of the bombs dropped on the country did not explode nor have they been cleared. And yet the country still maintains it's soul.

On the sightseeing side of things, Laos also has ownership of the biggest waterfalls in all South East Asia, The Khone Papeng and home to the Plain of Jars, 3 sites of megolithic stone jars pottered around the landscape and more.

What I absolutely will not be doing in Laos is 'tubing' or engaging in the drunken tourist brigade floating down the Mekong river in a rubber ring being pulled into ramshackle bars along the banks. Ok, so I might float but I'm not drinking. Ok, I can't promise that either. Fuck.

Good Karma

Up until now I've avoided writing about a particular part of my travels. Now that just seems a bit weird to ignore it. From November to January this year I will be volunteering with Scoop, a small Irish Organisation in a school out in Cambodia.

The reason why I've avoided it is because I was finding it difficult to write about it without coming across as cheesy or up on my proverbial 'high horse'. See below:


- I want to give back to the world!
- I want to help those less fortunate than myself!
- I want to do something meaningful!

It all seem so, well, cheesy. The truth is that I do want to give back to the world. I do want to help those less fortunate tham myself and after three years in the ad industry, I absolute do want to do something that has some depth and meaning. So there.

Anyway, the organisation I'm going with are called Scoop and they do great work out in Cambodia and India, educating children and keeping them away from hard labour. They really believe that education is the key to unlocking yourself from the poverty trap. I can't argue with that.

This is bigger than me

Everything is under control. Only a couple of more weeks left in the country and I have mostly everything done or is scheduled to be done. Vaccinations underway, roommate found for my room, notice handed into work and flights booked.

Everything is under control. Nothing left to do but sit back and relax. 

I can’t relax. This is what happens when my brain has a couple of minutes to itself. It starts exploring everything that I should/could/would be doing in this and that circumstance. I’m only glad that I have most of my initial travel plans made and there isn’t too much room to change them all around.

Why would I change my plans? In the words of my parents, ‘Why would you give up a well paid job?’ Well, because I’m not happy. ‘Not being happy is hardly a reason to quit your job!’ I have to say they have a point in ‘these times of austerity’ around the world and starving babies in Africa. And so I’m wondering if I’m acting like a spoiled child wanting to quit school because it doesn’t thrill me out of bed every morning like it used to.

Nah it’s bigger than that. Fuck, the whole decision is bigger than me. I’m leaving in September to see what non-European parts of the world look like and I’m even doing a spot of volunteering for two months. I want my brain to reboot. I want to feel excited about the world and I want to do some things that actually seem like they matter.

At this point in time, my wandering brain has to bow down to the feeling that traveling from September onwards is something that I cannot say no to. Like I said, the decision is bigger than me now.  I have no idea what the output will be at the end of it but it’s bound to put some pep in my step. 

Sweetheart Dubrovnik

We had a long winter this year. We were so sick of it in Holland that we booked a good week where we could be guaranteed some sun. It didn't happen. No one could calculate the accuracy with which a spell of bad weather and our holiday would collide. Oh well, what can you do?

We flew into Split on May 22nd and decided to jump on a bus straight to Dubrovnik. We seriously underestimated our travel time on the bus. 3 hours stretched to a very tedious 5.45 hours. But it didn't matter. We got to our little apartment in Lapad, got changed and asked our landlord, Mattheus to order a taxi into the old town. Mattheus refused. We took the bus.

The first thing we saw when we reached the old town centre of Dubrovnik were its walls. Katie estimated a good two hours to walk the whole way around and we grabbed our chance once we saw the sun popping out from behind the clouds. It was a good moment too as other tourists didn't want to risk getting soaked. Long story short, it was 45 minutes even with the hundreds of photographs we managed to take. The view was stunning. On one side you have all the red roofs of the city and the other you have the Adriatic Sea and the islands. It's jaw dropping. Mind you, it costs about 12EUR to do it and at the wrong times you'll feel like herded cattle going one-way only around a wall.

After the walls, wine tasting is the next most important must-do in Croatia. A friend recommended we go to a wine bar called D'Vino off the main street of Dubrovnik where we could taste some local wine. We chose to take a set menu of three small glasses of white from three different regions of Croatia. Fantastic. I won't try to describe the wines because I am no expert. We went on to taste the red, but of course. Fast forward a couple of hours and we are best friends with middle-aged couple Jude and Nige from Wales and hanging out of a pole in the Fuego nightclub outside the main city gate. But that's not included in the set wine menu.


Dubrovnik is set in a very special spot. Just off it's coast there are many beautiful islands to admire and visit and down the coast you can see the mountains of Montenegro. Taking the cable car to the top is well worth the 10EUR - so long as high winds don't cancel the service like it did for us. After the wine tasting the night before we were in fragile shape and I won't lie when I say I was relieved that it wasn't running.  But herself found a solution. She got talking to a taxi man who was out spotting an opportunity. For the same price as the cable car fare he would drive us up to the top and give us a little tour lasting an hour. The only catch was that we had to find at least 2 more people which was easily achieved. Tom, the taxi man, was very nice, took us to the top and gave us a perspective into what it was like to be living in Dubrovnik during the war. He showed us old barracks that were used by Croats and destroyed by the Yugoslavs. He pointed out the Bosnian mountains in the background and where soldiers died. He told us to look down on Dubrovnik and that every orange coloured roof was a roof that survived the war, and there weren't too many of them. He also told us we wouldn't reach Hvar town the next day. And so we rang Mattheus and see if he'd keep us another night. Grand.

Actually, here's a virtual version of Dubrovnik's Cable Car.

Not to bring the tone down but when your biggest problems in the world growing up are what to wear to the next teenage disco in town it's hard to imagine what living through a war really means. The War Photo Museum is not for the sensitive but I think every now and then we should be reminded that terrible things happen in the world and we need to be good to each other. We didn't know too much about what had happened in this part of the world (to be honest it's still not clear). But the war photo museum brought the fear and anxiety it to life for us. At only 4EUR entry fee it's worth every cent to take a look.

I could go on and on here about Dubrovnik. I've decided that our time in Split and Montenegro deserve their own posts. How and ever, in a nutshell here are some other things to take a look at in this fabulous city:

• Some scenes of Game of Thrones was filmed here. See if you can spot some of the backdrops!
• Listen to jazz at Troubadour Jazz Cafe. 
• Eat some amazing fresh sea food from any of the restaurants. 
• Go to the Cave Bar out in Lapad. 
• Check out some beautiful places of worship. 
• Take a day trip to Lokrum Island. 

What would I do if I go back? Basically a lot of island hopping. We were robbed of reliable warm weather and if we were to go back anytime soon we would visit Hvar, Lokrum Island, the Elaphite Islands and Korcula where Marco Polo was born. I'd also like to go exploring the oyster farms on the coast and the vineyards. What I won't be doing is hanging out of a pole again in the Fuego nightclub outside the city walls in Dubrovnik.

Or so I say.

My Alternative Travel Bucket List (Part 2)

I'm back again with my little list of destinations associated with legends and fairytales. I think the below have a little more meat where the story is concerned. Well, that's my opinion at least.

Douarnenez, France

Another location I am just learning about now, this seaside town in France is associated with two legends. You can imagine my excitement with this 'discovery'.  Douarnenenz is a small fishing town that is now declining in population. However, it has strong associations not only with the legendary city of Ys that is believed to lie beneath Douarnenez Bay but also the story of Tristan and Iseult.
Ys. The Plot:
Well, a King builds a city unwittingly below sea level on the coast of France with a dike to protect it from the waves. His spoiled daughter comes to influence the city. She turns out to be a nightmare, organising orgies and killing her lovers come morning time. There are many versions of the story but in short, the devil visits her, convinces her to steal the key of the city from her father, open the gates and flood the city beneath the sea. The princess is turned into a mermaid and her good father the King survives by taking his magical horse to his new city on a hill. Magical horses are the best.
Tristan & Iseult. The Plot:
Just off the coast of Douarnenez lies the island of Tristan. To be completely honest, I am not entirely sure why. It could be the French claim to the legend for all I know. All the same it has been an important island through local history despite its tiny size (450m x 250m). In the version that I'm familiar with, Tristan was a noble from Cornwall and Iseult an Irish Princess. Tristan, charged with brining Iseult back to marry his Uncle Mark falls madly in love with her, as she does him. In some versions this is because of a love potion and the work of some tricky people. Anyway, as you can imagine, madness ensues. This legend has been cited as the predecessor for the Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere love triangle so it has to be good.

Loftus Hall, Wexford, Ireland
This could be a blog post all of it's own. Let's be clear, I'm not easily scared and have an obsession with the weird and wacky because I know they are stories. But there is something not quite right with this house. What's the plot? Back in the 18th Century a stranger turns up at the house gates. He is welcomed in and over the following days, the young, lonely daughter of the house falls in love with the stranger. They play games one night and after the young lady drops her cards on the floor, she finds that the strangers feet are actually cloven hooves. The stranger transforms into a demon and flies out through the roof. And so the young lady goes mad from grief and shock and is locked in her room from there on. People who have stayed in her room throughout the centuries have reported horrible poltergeist experiences and animals have refused to enter the room. The hole in the roof where the demon escaped is still there (or reportedly still there since there are claims the house was levelled and rebuilt in the early 19th Century). Another version of the story places the girl as falling pregnant out of wedlock and is locked in her room. Subsequently a baby's body was reported to have been found sealed into the wall of her room. Other strange going's on would include three deaths occurring spontaneously and separately on the same back stairs for no apparent reason. I visited the house less than a year ago as it is now open to the public for viewings. I didn't like it. But then again, I grew up with the story. Being stereotypically Irish, safe to say my parents and grandparents were less than happy with me.... holy water at the ready!

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

This is less of a fantasy destination as it isn't directly related to any legends, more a murder mystery. Although, I admit there are reports that it was the inspiration for Disney's iconic castle. Easy to see why. But back to the murder mystery. The castle was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria. The King had a couple of nicknames, most notably 'The Swan King', 'The Fairytale King', and less complimentary 'The Mad King'. You know you are on to a winner when you find someone called 'The Mad King'.  Ludwig financed Wagner who went on to produce one of his most famous pieces 'Tristan and Isolde' - it's all connected ;). Ludwig's story doesn't end well. He was a known 'eccentric' who had struggles with his sexuality. He was paranoid and began to spend all the Kingdom's money building extravagant castles like Neuschwanstein. His death is shrouded in mystery. He was reported as having drowned in waist deep water but an autopsy stated there was no water in his lungs. His companion had blows to his head and marks round his neck. How and ever, official reports were released stating that Ludwig murdered his companion and then killed himself by drowning. Yeah right.

That's it for now. I think the above three are now my favourite legend inspired destinations but the list is growing fairly fast. More to follow while I count down the days to my 6 month adventure.

Canal Cruising

Yesterday was spent cruising along Amsterdams famous canals in a boat. I cannot think of a better way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon. I am paying for it today with one of the worst hangovers in history. That's a story for another day.

We rented a fairly big boat for the afternoon to celebrate a colleagues birthday, getting on at Rokin. I won't describe the route because I can't remember but we did a good round of the city canals ending up with a jaunt down the Amstel which was glorious in the sun.

What I will tell you is that on the boat there were two Irish girls, a few Dutch, a handful of Americans, two kiwi couples and a Chinese mom and son combo. Too much fun cruising around, making cocktails, blaring loud music and shouting at other boats. 

A canal boat cruise is mandatory in Amsterdam when the sun is out. Let's be honest, it doesn't happen very often.