Genève ends..

We visited the UN building, took a tour of their premises and got to see where many of our world leaders meet to discuss important things. Later that evening we went to a small venue to watch a band play, where it soon got very packed with people. After over a week of powering through wonderful sceneries in Ireland, we finally got to slow down a bit to soak in all of the beauty we have encountered. Beauty can sometimes be missed and less appreciated when people power through them, slowing down was definitely necessary. It was for me anyways. 

 

Then next day, we got up early in the morning to catch the train we book called the 'Golden Rail Pass'. A train ride that takes you through the Swiss country side. Unfortunately, the fog settled itself upon most of the beautiful scenery. We yet again visited a castle, which was one of the best I've seen through out this trip. The castle was called Château de Chillon. (A gorgeous looking castle to say the least). We also got to see some of what the Alps scenery could offer. We didnt snowboard down one but we at least saw it from a distance, which would conclude our time in Geneva. 

After almost a whole day of connecting train rides (from Geneva to Milan To Rome. also, Jason and I can now say that we've been to Milan, however briefly), we ARRIVED in ROME. And after following and watching Jason get frustrated at the very poor directional job the Rome train station provided, we  found ourselves in a hostel 5 min from the train station and 5min away from the Colosseum. 

Tomorrow we will pay the Pope a visit in Vatican City. Apparently he will show himself and give the good people a wave. Jason and I are hoping to maybe share a chest bump with the Pope, or a high five. Or a sexy dolphin, maybe?!

till next time.

Final days in Ireland... On to Genève.

The adventure continued from Galway down the winding, 6 foot wide coastal highway to the tourist epicentre of The Cliffs of Moher. This spot has been featured in many movies and is possibly the largest tourist destination in Ireland. It was quite a spectacular sight to see to be sure but it reminded me of many tourist spots in the USA due to the concrete walkways and many restrictions as to where you are allowed to go. The cliffs were our main destination for the day but we were surprised to find that a random cave tour that we spotted on the way back happened to be the highlight of the day. The cave, featuring the world's second largest stalactite, and an interesting story can hardly be described by the pictures...

On to Dublin for our last pint in Ireland and an early flight to Geneva, Switzerland. Our first day was spent roaming the old city of John Calvin, until we found the house of our couch surfing host for the week, the lovely Corrinne. French bread, Swiss cheese and a 16 dollar glass of rum and coke later and we finished our first day in the most expensive city I have ever seen. I went to sleep eager for the next day when we were to finally see Cern, the headquarters of the Large Hadron Collider.

Waking up an hour and a half late the next morning and running to the tram station to try and figure our how to get to Cern put a bit of a damper on the morning but after arriving only 15 minutes late for our tour and them still allowing us to join made up for it. Needless to say it was a pretty remarkable tour. St Pierre's Cathedral, the Museum of the Reformation, and giant chess boards are just a few of the other features that have so far marked Geneva for us.

Today, the UN building, tomorrow a train through the swiss countryside, and Saturday to Rome!

Challenged

Jason and I challenged nature, more specifically, the Atlantic Ocean.

and the Atlantic responded

a quick summation...

Belfast:
After a pretty random yet amazing first day and night in Ireland, Jason and I headed north to Belfast. Watching Jason drive on the left hand side of the road whilst driving a right hand drive car was, to say the least, entertaining. (a frustrated Guenther is a funny Guenther). We reached Belfast, found our hostel (which had a very helpful owner. Also, Ireland has the most insane parking jobs that we have ever seen), dropped our packs and headed to the city center.  After a couple of pints of Guinness in The Crown Bar, picture talking of some Castles that was turned into a shopping center, we headed listening to Fibber Magees and listened to live Irish music (sooo goood). The next day we took a tour called 'The Black Taxi' tour which took us around Belfast, aboard a black taxi, where the driver took us to some sights of great Irish history (mosly about the tention between the Catholics and Protestants). Its a very short summation of our time in Belfast.

For the next couple of days I will let the pictures we took tell you the stories my 'second language' cant translate. 

 "MORE ALE, WENCH!"

 these would have to suffice.
till next time.

peace

I Like the Irish...

So we left Winnipeg behind and 12 hours later (18 if you count the time change) we were in Dublin. our plane was pretty decent with several movies and 2 meals but sleeping on a plane is like trying to fit a tetrahedron into a circle... So we faced Dublin with whatever energy we had left from the night before (well fritch had none). Dublin was beautiful from the sky, and when we landed to the ears. But you'd be surprised how quickly you get used to everyone having accents.

When we landed we were pumped and ready to go so we hopped on the first bus we found hoping it would take us into Dublin.We landed in central Dublin and weaved our way back and forth through the streets until we found our hostel. It was handy for that Dublin has a huge 120 meter... thing... (they call it a spire... Frich said he'd seen bigger...) about 2 blocks from our hostel so we could keep our bearings. We couldn't check into the hostel until around 2 so I bought a map and umbrella and we started wandering with 30 pounds gently massaging our backs. I wanted to see the statue of Oscar Wilde, as well as the house that he lived in so we headed in that directed and stumbled onto Grafton Street which is like a trendy circus/market. There were street performers, shops, and tons of people. Not really sure how else to describle it so I'll move on... But it was pretty sweet...

Anyways, we managed our way to Oscar Wilde's statue only to find some guys with a video camera hogging the statue when I clearly wanted to sprawl across the famous playwrite and take some pictures that my mother would be proud of ;) Long story short, those kind fellas paid us each 20 quid (euros for you uncultured people) to be in a tourist commercial that they were filming. So they had Frich and I walk past and notice things while they filmed (possibly the most clothes I've ever worn on film). The guy said we looked almost toom much like tourists that it would look manufactured... nice...

At this point we hadn't relieved ourselves since before our morning coffee so we were hurtin for a... bathroom, and stumbled into the National Gallery of Ireland which had original painting from artists such as picasso, Michealangelo, Rembreandt, Van Gogh... maybe you've heard of them... As we headed back to check into the hostel we noticed Trinity College and I remembered that The filmmaker guys said something about a long hall here. So we paid to see this incredible 2 story library with a huge dome ceiling high above the hall which was filled with the schools oldest books, probably all of which are older than Canada...

Exhausted from walking with our packs we checked into the hostel, dropped them off and headed to the Guinness Storehouse. On the way we walked past several castles and churches including St. Augustine's cathedral, and let me tell you, Catholics like their pad ballin'... uh... it was very beautiful... The Guinness Storehouse was pretty fantastic too, plus the tour came with some free guinness at the end in a tower that overlooks the city. Twas excellant.

We polished the evening off with dinner at a real pub and slept for about 11 and a half hours.

Boom done.

less than 12 hours from epic escapdes

All packed, ready to leave.
As the hour closes to the desired time of departure, we decided to try out our packs. The result?  Incomprehensible epic grandeur.

Boom, Done!

Tonight we sleep, for tomorrow our adventure begins.

-f