First Few Days In Dublin November 12, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Dublin , 2comments
- Image by chris181m via Flickr
The last leg of our six month journey is nine days in Ireland. In Dublin, where we are staying, we have met with my mother, Alice, and her friend, Cindi, for what resembles more of a vacation with tours scheduled in advance and the purchasing of trinkets. Its really nice to see familiar faces in the flesh.
We have been treated to tours of the city, including a Hop-On Hop-Off bus tour of Dublin (I recommend this for the first official day in any city since it allows you to get a feel for the area). Then there were other tours that went into the history of the people who inhabited this area. Mostly Vikings, although there have been many others over the centuries.
Today we went on a tour that brought us into a crypt beneath a church where we saw Mummies (Apparently the right combination of dryness, cool temperature, and Methane really preserves a corpse). They even let us touch one of the Mummified corpses, saying that if one shakes hands with the mummified bodies, then it brings good luck (Then again they say that about Blarney Stone and the stone is used every where around here).
Holland: Amsterday And Leiden July 2, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : holland , add a comment
- Image by chris181m via Flickr
On Wednesday we said our goodbyes to our hosts and got on an over night bus to Amsterdam via London. That was a poor decision. I figured I could sleep on the bus since I have no trouble sleeping in cars, but I now stand corrected. There was no sleeping until the final hour before we arrived, which made us even more groggy than before.
So after we got to the hotel and realized that our room was not ready for us since check-in time starts at 2PM and it was currently 7 AM, we left our bags at the hotel and went to the city center for some breakfast (small selection of places are open at that hour in Amsterdam) and anything to kill some time (I think we both really wanted a nap more than anything). Amsterdam collectively is not a morning person, if you catch my drift. Needless to say time crept by that morning.
So after getting checked in and having possibly the best nap of our lives, we went back to the city center for some people watching. Amsterdam seems to lack benches in most of the city, but there are many planters that work just as well and with lovely views of the canals. The entire city was decorated with orange banners and balloons for the World Cup (soccer), which the Netherlands won today, in case you were wondering. At one place that we went to there was a group of street performers that were break dancing. It was amazing!
- Image by chris181m via Flickr
Yesterday there was a heat wave of some sort that has continued on today as well. I suppose we should be used to much hotter (considering it’s about 90F around noon) but there are very few places that have air conditioning. So we sit and sweat where ever we go.
So today we packed up and headed to Leiden where Minas picked us up and introduced us to his family and to the duck that choose to turn their garden into her nursery. The eggs hatched some time yesterday, so the baby chicks were so tiny and fluffy. So we had to catch them so his children could hold them. Then the mother duck decided that it was time to go to the canal right behind Minas’ garden, so then the chicks got all confused and stuck on the wrong side of the fence (so we helped them get out to the water).
Then he took us for the Greek food that was delicious for dinner. After eating way too much we went for a walk around Leiden’s city center. This city is lovely! There were tons of people celebrating their soccer victory in the streets with loud music and a lot of drinking. Many people in their cars (or even the city buses) honked repeatedly and people in their gardens set off fire works and blew horns. I suppose we shall see what Leiden really looks like tomorrow after the clean up crew does their job.
As for the Work away thing any the remaining time we have before we meet with my mother in Ireland, we have a plane in Normandy to work at that is owned by a friends of one our previous hosts. We shall see!
The Cricket Match May 23, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : England , add a commentToday we were pretty set on going to Stonehenge but then we got invited to go to a Cricket match. We thought to ourselves, “Stonehenge will be there every day, but going to a Cricket match is pretty rare for us”. So we got in the car with our host family and when we got there we discovered that admission was not 5 pound; it was 22 pound. Thinking that we weren’t going to experience Cricket, we were a bit depressed.
But Rob and Karen had an idea- go to a different Cricket match. There are apparently many of them going on all the time for different leagues. So we got back in the car and headed to the Bath Cricket Club, which both of their sons are members of, and watched a match between two teams from different areas of Bath (which is funny considering how small Bath is).The best part was that we got to experience it completely free!
It was an interesting experience since the spectators go to the game to only watch the game in between being social or even doing a crossword puzzle. It was completely different from what I have ever experienced at a sport event. The original game lasted about five days but the newer versions are much quicker (the 20/20 or the 40/40 matches). The game we saw was the 40/40 meaning each team gets 40 opens which consist of 6 pitches each (it still isn’t very quick). Right in the middle of the game they have a break for tea and sandwiches and throughout the game they take several breaks to have some juice.
It was hilarious in the way of the game taking so long. A player on the field spent most of his time against a wall with his girlfriend while the game was in play. He would get up and walk towards where the ball was headed and then, when it didn’t actually need him to do anything, he would go back to the wall and talk to his lady friend. Rob was making jokes about how the spectators just start clapping probably because they don’t know what is going on and someone else started clapping. Either that or people just clap when the players move around a bit (how many people actually pay attention?). Also, the game is so long that one has to pause the game and eat something? The whole thing is one big British comedy. Today was a lot of fun.
Tomorrow we begin the work week again, so I’m not too incredibly sure if anything exciting will happen. Chris has been working with Rob to make his websites better and much more manageable while I move and sort kitchen supplies from their temporary storage area in the music room (they need the music room in working condition so they can reopen it to the guests for meetings and seminars). Although we’re thinking about taking an afternoon this week to go to Stonehenge since it will probably be less crowded during the work week.
London To Bath May 19, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Bath, London , add a commentDay three in London was nice. While Chris was at his conference I went to Ikea to see what they are like outside of the US. I got very lost for about 30 minutes after exiting the Tube station that the ad said it was at. I have since learned that when they offer a shuttle from another station, take it or be prepared to walk for an indefinite amount of time. It was interesting to see because the building was perhaps larger than the one I’m used to in Houston, and since European cities are always short on space, it was was amazing. The prices were even lower there too. I picked up a “Tea Towel” for 17 Pence which is a good size and I think it’ll come in handy for Picnics and such.
After three lovely days in London we headed to Bath, England to do some more Workaway. The place we’re staying at is a very nice and spacious B&B. The building itself is over 200 years old and is considered a historical sight. Our hosts are constantly working towards being eco friendly and encourage others to do the same. Chris will be working on their website and possibly when we leave he will have another company to do SEO work remotely. There are some other opportunities for Chris to work his computer magichere long after we have continued our travels. It sounds promising but we shall see.
First Day In London May 18, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : London , 1 comment so farThe Ferry ride to the UK was quite the experience. I figured it would be a flat boat with cars and people intermingling with nothing to do for the long trip across the Channel. I was dead wrong! It was a full- blown cruise ship with four movie theaters, a couple of restaurants, and classes (like cooking and craft classes). There were even cabins people could rent. I was impressed. However, everything costs money, so I suppose, it was more like a moving shopping mall and hotel.
Today is the first official day in London but we arrived yesterday afternoon. We were going to go straight to the hotel and maybe walk around the area near the hotel, but while we were waiting in line to buy a one way Tube ticket, a lady approached us asking,”do you need zones 1 and 2?” and we confirmed. She gave us two day passes that she said she didn’t need. So, happy as a pair of clowns, we thanked her and went around the intercity for the rest of the day.
I am on my own today, for Chris is at his conference for most of the day. I went to Hyde Park and saw the chicks with their mothers (the Swans take great pride in their young and love to show them off). Besides the swans there is also the Egyptian Geese with their young (they looked really lazy and didn’t mind that I was practically hovering over them). The Egyptian geese chicks ran right up to me when I put my hand out which was adorable. I talked to a woman at the park and she said there were Coot chicks (little black fluff balls about the size of a Ping Pong ball) but I didn’t see them. It was quite lovely.
Beautiful Normandy May 7, 2010
Posted by Chris in : Uncategorized , add a commentWe arrived in Flers, Normandy a couple of days ago and were and are stunned by the beauty of the region. Yesterday, we spent a decent part of the day weeding the lavender gardens, a necessary chore to keep them growing at their best. While weeding the gardens, we saw that there are two neighbors with sheep, Tiffany was ecstatic. Near the end of our day, I glanced up and saw, in the field with 1 sheep and 2 lambs, that the adult sheep had a chicken perched on its back.
After we finished work yesterday, we had dinner and were informed that we would probably be cleaning out their pond today; the pond has become filled up with silt and other sediments flowing downstream.
Note: We are having some technical difficulties with inserting images so we will be updating this post with images and further tales as soon as we have that solved.
Agroturismo La Cicala April 22, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Carassai, Uncategorized , 1 comment so farYesterday’s travels included an eleven hour train ride and 30 bus ride to get to the small village that the farm we’re working at (the village is called Carassai). The train ride was complicated and cheap (50 euro for the both of us and many train changes) but the views were stunning.
When we got to the farm house we were amazed!
The place is immaculate and the views from around the place are stunning. Guiseppe (pronounced like Joseph) and his wife, Madga, own the farm and 30 hectors of land around it. They grow both Sangiovese grapes (you need 85% Sangiovese grapes to make Chainti wine) and Olives.
Today we worked with the young grapes (about one year old). Pruning and making sure they will grow straight. The work is not too hard and there is a lot of it. Since this would cost us about 80 Euros a night to stay here plus the cost of lunch and dinner, if we were being paid, we would be paid 8 Euros an hour (breakfast is included in the price although with our work, they are obligated to feed us 3 meals a day, and we are only obligated to work for five hours a day each). Also, Guiseppe and Chris are working on his website this afternoon.
So Chris is in love and I thin
k I am too. The place is charming, the views are amazing, the people are very welcoming and generous, and the food is fresh and has a lot of flavor (which is a big change of pace from generally bland food that we could afford). Last night we had Spaghetti with spicy sausage, bread, salad from their garden, and eggs from their chickens.
There is a beach near by that we’re thinking about checking out when we have some free time. It looked nice from the train (white sand, really blue water). We have the farm house to ourselves this week, since there are no guests until next week and our hosts have their own home about a half a mile away. We are definitely going to be spoiled by this place!
Welcome to Venice! April 8, 2010
Posted by Chris in : Venice , add a commentVenice is so not an island but a town built on a sandbar. It is quite nice though, today we walked through probably half of the city on our way to Saint Mark’s Square. Despite knowing our initial goal when we set out, we still spent about 2 hours getting there, wandering through alley-like streets and through streets lined with shops while we followed signs to the square.
We’re staying in a hotel across the water on the mainland but it’s only a short bus ride across the bridge to the city proper and there are water busses (boats) running around the island and through its Grand Canal. We arrived in Venice and decided to walk to Saint Mark’s Square because Tiff had been there before and said that it was a great place to see.
During our walk, we crossed many picturesque waterways crisscrossing the city and thoroughly occupied with gondolas and other boats. We finally stopped to have lunch at a pasta shop and pizzeria just off the Grand Canal where I had pasta with mushrooms and Tiff had lasagna, both were fantastic and we left very satisfied with the food but disappointed with the mediocre service.
Along the path from lunch to St. Mark’s, we passed through a couple of different streets filled with shops on both sides and I think I could go another month without seeing another of the masks, despite their intricacy and their occasional outlandishness. There were masks reminiscent of the black plague, cyborg masks, and the traditional opera mask.
On one of these streets, there was a bridge over a canal that was also covered in shops, all the way over the bridge. The shops were, alas, the same type of shops along the rest of the street. Farther through the day, we saw shops selling blank books with custom leather bindings that were very gorgeous.
Upon reaching St. Mark’s Square, the first thing I noticed wasn’t St. Mark’s but the large bell tower built in the same square. Apparently it has been rebuilt no less than 3 times since its original construction because of lightning strikes destroying parts, cracks running up the entire tower, and more.
The church was a large and gorgeous building covered with intricate carvings and paintings. The square was very open and filled with people and more shops. The shops around the square were more clothes shops, jewelry shops, and even a Faberge store; however, we didn’t see a Faberge egg on display there.
After wandering the square, we had some gelato while wandering up and down the water looking at the great old buildings, enjoying our gelato, and watching the fake purses avoiding the Police. We’ve decided that those men resemble rats, they scatter when they are trying to sell the bags but they group up to run away from the police; it’s a thoroughly entertaining dance to watch.
First Day In Zurich April 1, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Zurich , add a comment
We took a TGV train to Zurich today and we’re planning to stay for three days. We arrived and learned that our hotel was not completely honest about their location and we ended up spending a large amount of Francs on cab fair. I suppose we have learned a lesson; “10 minutes from the city center” should not by taken into consideration unless the mode of transportation is taken into account(10 minutes on a Swiss freeway equals 40 Francs).
Switzerland is interesting in the fact that they are not a part of the EU, they have four official languages (French, English, Italian, and German), and they still use the Swiss Francs (current value: 1.00USD to 1.05 Franc).
So today we wandered around what appears to be a bedroom city to Zurich(much like Bellaire is to Houston) and found a couple of interesting things to look at. We saw a candy warehouse and couldn’t help ourselves. We had to go and check it out! It was all candies that Haribo (the company that makes gummy bears) makes, so they were all assorted gummy candies. There were milk cows, eggs, lizards, and of course bears all made of candy.
So, from the looks of Zurich it seems like a very run of the mill European city but as we do more and more research into what we can do while here,we are learning that it has so much that we may end up feeling like we’re running a marathon! There is a whole area of Zurich that apparently looks very much like it did in the 16oo’s (apparently the people who work there act the part too). Also, from our impression today, Swiss people are usually happy to help and forgive you for messing up their language (even though there are four to choose from, not everyone speaks all of them).
First Day in Strasbourg March 25, 2010
Posted by Chris in : Strasbourg , 2commentsWe met up with Austin in Strasbourg today after taking the TGV from Paris. Despite coming out the entrance we were directed to by the platform of the train, Austin ran around the station to the main entrance, a side entrance, and finally the entrance that we were at. When he finally saw us, he bee-lined straight for us gasping for air while greetings were shared all around.
After saying hello, Austin walked us to his flat, a nice 2 floor place in a nice part of town. Apparently he has 3 roommates and one of them has some friends staying over as well but luckily Austin has 2 beds in his room so no worries about sleeping space, we may even be able to use the more comfortable futons downstairs!
After giving us the grand tour of his flat, Austin showed us a delicious restaurant not far from there where we had lunch. On the way there, we saw the ‘Notre Dame of Strasbourg’, a large, thoroughly intimidating church in the middle of the city. The cathedral is a Gothic style cathedral made of red stone and containing a large steeple off to the left side of the door.
Apparently there are packages that offer great tours of the church as well as a boat ride around the river(s?) in Strasbourg in addition to the top of the bell tower being accessible for free on Sundays so hopefully we will be able to visit it and get a bunch of great pictures.
After lunch, we walked back a different route, seeing many different shops and street vendors selling a large variety of goods. Along the way, we also saw the mall in which Austin does his day to day grocery shopping; apparently there are things that are cheaper to buy in France and sometimes it’s cheaper to travel to Germany to go shopping!
