Ireland!

Right after returning from Strasbourg I started packing for Ireland. I work in the office of an Irish MEP, and I was really excited to see a place that I had heard so much about.

In order to get our cheap flight we had to leave at 6:45 am, which proved to be especially difficult since we were departing from a "Brussels area" airport that is an hour bus ride away. We had to take a taxi to get to the train station in time to catch the 4:30 bus to the airport, but after a few taxi difficulties and an hour long bus ride we were at the airport and ready to go.

The first thing that we did when we arrived was check into our hostel, and then set out in search of a full Irish breakfast. Our plates were piled high with sausages, potatoes, beans and toast, bacon, and some kind of "pudding" that I later learned was made of pig's blood (who knew?). It was delicious, and enough to keep me full for the rest of the day!

The rest of the day was spent walking around Dublin. We took a tour of the Guinness Factory, wandered around O'Connell Street, stopped into Christchurch Cathedral, and lounged in the sun near St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was a really wonderful day!

The next day, we woke up bright and early and hopped on a tour bus out to Wicklow county to see the beautiful countryside. We spent the day riding the bus through beautiful hills and valleys, and had lots of time to get off the bus and walk around. I was blown away at how beautiful Ireland is! The hills were so gorgeous, and I was just amazed by it. It was also great to have our tour guide pointing out some subtle but beautiful things, explain to us why the lake was the color of Guiness, and go over some of the history of the region.

We stopped for lunch in a little town, and had a delicious carvery lunch. Then we set out to spend the afternoon in Glendalough, a really gorgeous little section of Wicklow.

Glendalough was the location of St. Kevin's monastic order, and there were lots of interesting stone towers and ruins of beautiful old churches. We wandered around, marveling at the beautiful forests, the sparkling lakes, and the towering mountains. We were all just completely blown away by the beauty.

After a full day of exploring we headed back to Dublin, excited to see more of Ireland. We wandered around the Trinity College Area and St. Stephens green. Then we hopped on the DART (Dublin Area Regional Transit) to go see the sunset in Howth.

Howth is a little fishing village about a 25 minute DART ride from Trinity College. When we arrived we strolled along the water, and watched the sun set over the rocky shoreline. It was simply perfect.

We set off in search of fish and chips, but as we walked along the water we heard some strange noises and decided to investigate only to find several seals swimming nearby! This was such a wonderful surprise and a real highlight of the trip! It was so cool to see these animals up close. I don't think my camera did it justice, but it was truly amazing.

After about 20 minutes of snapping pictures and marveling over the seals we left in search of some fish and chips. We stumbled upon a nice place that gave us a pretty good deal for some fresh fish and chips, and then headed to the pub to chat it up with the locals and watch Ireland take on Bulgaria in football.

We chatted with a former sailor who told us all about his days sailing and assured us that, having traveled all around the world, that Howth was the best place in the world. Ireland ended up tying with Bulgaria, but despite the anti-climatic result we really had a blast hanging out with the locals.

The next morning we packed up bright and early, were met with more taxi troubles (I seriously have the worst luck with taxis) but found our way to the airport anyway and headed home. It was really sad to leave Ireland. It was just such a beautiful country, the people were very friendly, and the convenience of being able to speak english was truly a comfort. Though I know it won't happen before I leave in May, I really hope to be able to visit Ireland again soon.

Pictures!

St. Patrick's

I saw this spray painted on the side of a building in Dublin and I thought it was pretty cool.

Wicklow

So Beautiful!


A lake the color of Guiness

Stone tower in Glendalough
Tombstones with the hills in the backround. Beautiful!


Is was soooo pretty!


View of the sunset over the ocean from Howth


Seals!

As Promised...

Pictures!

Strasbourg:

Petit France! Beautiful!

Really a very pretty city

The Office in the Parliament

The Parliament Building

Look Mom, I hung up my clothes!

Leuven and Strasbourg

So, it's been a busy couple of weeks. I've felt particularly lazy and probably wouldn't be updating this right now except that if I don't update before Italy I will get so far behind there will be no catching up. Let me rewind a bit.

Two weeks ago Lori's friend Jasmine came to visit from France. Jasmine is in an immersion program in Bordeaux, and so she was particularly handy to have around because she is fluent in French. She was also just a lot of fun in general.

Lori and Jasmine had decided to take a day trip to Leuven, and I thought I would tag along with them. Leuven is a neat city that is about a half hour long train ride away. It has a large student population. We went for a few hours to look around. We enjoyed some churches, hung out in the Markt, chilled in the park in the sunshine (there were tons of students around and I felt like I was hanging out on the quad at UR), and ate the most delicious ice cream.

Now I know that I'm going to get crap for this later from my parents, but I really do need to pause to tell you about this ice cream. I don't care if I get criticized for being food crazy or "writing as if I work for food network"; I am alerting you to this for the greater good of humanity. I have recently encountered the phenomenon known as Speculoos and, I believe, that it may change the course of my life forever.

Speculoos cookies are these thin, crunchy little cookies that are sold here in Belgium (and apparently the Netherlands and France) and they are the most delicious thing ever. My favorite part abouot Speculoos cookies is that they come in many different forms. Recent discoveries have been Speculoos ice cream (in Leuven), Speculoos Mcflurries, and my (personal favorite) Pate de Speculoos. That's right folks, some clever entrepenuer had the idea of grinding these up these fantastic cookies and mixing them with butter or something, to form a speculoos spread! What could be better then being able to spread sugar-cookie flavored deliciousness onto anything you want.

So yes, I had tasty ice cream in Leuven.

After our afternoon in Leuven we came back to Brussels and tried out this really interesting bar called "Le Corbeau" (translates into English as "the raven"). This place has been described as a "Brussels legend". Basically, it is an average bar 5 nights a week. On Fridays and Saturdays it is also an average bar, until about midnight. Once the clock strikes midnight a DJ starts blasting music and the entire bar leaps up on top of tables, chairs, counters, and any other surface and dances! It was just so much fun, but before I knew it the weekend was over and I was shipping out to Strasbourg for the Parliament's monthly plenary session.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the procedures of the European Parliament, every month the Parliament meets for a plenary session in Strasbourg France. There is a huge building there, and they all have offices. Many of them have interns that work only one week a month. They also have trunks that they load into the back of these trucks in Brussels that carry the trunks to Strasbourg. Basically, the entire Parliament packs up and heads to Strasbourg for no reason other then to appease the French and to ensure that the EU is officially the most inefficient institution in the world.

Anyway, despite my thoughts about the entire purpose of moving to Strasbourg, I was really grateful for the opportunity to go and to see all the cool things that happen in Strasbourg. I hopped on the train Monday morning very early in the morning, and spent 5 hours listening to music, and fighting for leg room with some Eurocrats from the Socialist party who (ironically) were not so good at sharing space.

When I got off the train I had few hours to walk around and tour the city, so I set out to stroll about Strasbourg. I was completely amazed with how gorgeous the city is!! The architecture is beautiful, and there are several pretty cathedrals and churches. I walked alone the river and enjoyed the architecture. Then I set out to find Petit France, a little cluster of beatiful little buildings. They were really pretty. I snapped about a thousand pictures, enjoyed the sunshine, and mentally praised France for having clean public bathrooms.

After a few hours of touring alone, I started to get a little hungry, so I looked for a kebab restuarant. When I went into the little restaurant the shop owner was incredibly nice to me. He listened carefully to my bad French and guess that I was from Germany. I was flattered. It was nice to not immediately be pegged for an American.

The plenary session begins at 5 on Monday, so I walked across the city to find the Parliament building. The Parliament buildings are beautiful! They are set up on both sides of the river, and have a little hallway/bridge that crosses completely over the river, which I thought was super cool. I had a ton of difficulty learning to navigate this new (and enormous) building.

After my short attempt at tourism Monday, the rest ofthe week gave way to long hours and a lot of interesting work. Given that our hotel was outside the bounds of public transportation, I was basically attached to Kathy. It gave me the opportunity to get a better idea what a day in the life of an MEP is like. Kathy works soooo hard! I was amazed that, even after a 12 hour day when I got back to the hotel and pass out she would stay up working on speaking time, and keeping in touch with constituents.

The work I got to do was super interesting, too. I am really fortunate to be placed in an office where my MEP trusts me, and is very patient with my inexperience. Even when I make mistakes I'm not scolded or berated; they simply tell me how to do it correctly, and insist that I'll get it right the next time. I know I'm really lucky.

Highlights of the week in Strasbourg include:

-Hanging out in the back of the plenary room watching nearly 800 MEPs vote.

-adventures with Kathy as we tried to check into our hotel, and were repeatedly taken to the wrong hotel

-meeting the Strasbourg interns

-attending a German hippie meeting where I felt incredibly out of place

-Watching Kathy give speeches

-Mass at the Parliament with a bunch of MEPs

-having a bathroom to myself that I didn't have to share with small children who sometimes forget to flush

-delicious steak dinner that I know I will be reimbursed for :)

-Gordon Brown's visit

-Watching British Conservatives yell at Gordon Brown

Overall it was a great, albeit exhausting week, and when I hopped on the train home I was sad to go.

I arrived in Brussels from Strasbourg and have less then 12 hours to pack before heading out to Dublin. I'll have to spell check this entry, add pictures, and discuss Ireland when I get back because I leave for Italy in a few hours. Much love!

Em