I heart Europe...
I am the biggest Europhile on the planet. I want to be all Continental (having lived as an Islander all of my life) and drive across borders into different countries and not understand what anyone is saying to me in shops and eat the lovely chocolates and pastries all day long. However, as I don't live on 'The Continent' I have to do the next best thing and get my short-term fix whenever I can. Here are some of my highlights:
Three cheers for Belgium!
One of my favourite trips was to Belgium, where my littlest sister lived for a while (I was so jealous; she got to have hot chocolate and pastries for breakfast EVERY MORNING) in the student town of Leuven. I went with my middle sister and we managed to fit in Brussels, Leuven, Bruges, and Ghent in a week.
I had so much fun and loved Belgium: I very much appreciated Belgian frites and mayonnaise; the wonderful public transport system; the obsession with comic books and street art (including some amazing graffiti and random Tintin cartoons on buildings); and hugging the Ugly Tree in Leuven to show it some love (because it's so ugly). Most of all, however, I loved the Petit Beurre cake in De Werf in Leuven... seriously good, and such a lovely, cosy atmosphere: a major thumbs-up from the Irish girls!
I had so much fun and loved Belgium: I very much appreciated Belgian frites and mayonnaise; the wonderful public transport system; the obsession with comic books and street art (including some amazing graffiti and random Tintin cartoons on buildings); and hugging the Ugly Tree in Leuven to show it some love (because it's so ugly). Most of all, however, I loved the Petit Beurre cake in De Werf in Leuven... seriously good, and such a lovely, cosy atmosphere: a major thumbs-up from the Irish girls!
Malta
I travelled to Malta with Anthony a few years back, and it is an incredibly interesting and culturally rich country. Sadly, many of the cute yellow and orange buses that were such a trademark of the island (see the picture at the top) have now been decommissioned, but we were fortunate enough to see them in their heyday, and spent many hours being thrown from side to side as we rattled around Malta. We saw everything; spending nearly every day on the road (we're not very good at relaxing on holidays), even heading out to the smaller islands of Gozo and Comino. The ferry to Gozo was fine, but I was sure I was going to die sailing to Comino - it was such a tiny little boat, and the water was really rough, and I was so cross with the other passengers for moving around (I was convinced they were going to capsize us), who were completely oblivious to our peril. It was all fine, though. We then proceeded to circumnavigate Comino while everyone else swam and sunbathed, which took HOURS, and we got all bitten and scratched and sunburned, and then it was time to get the boat back to Malta, followed by hours on a rickety old photogenic bus to Valletta. Totally worth it!
Baden-Baden
I went to Baden-Baden, a spa town in the south-west of Germany, one summer with my two sisters. I knew absolutely nothing about it, apart from the fact that some of the wives and girlfriends of the English soccer team had stayed there during some football competition a while back. However, it's possible to get flights to Karlsruhe (which is near Baden-Baden) from Stansted in London (once my nearest airport) so off we went. I had never been in Germany before but I loved it so much! Everything was so pretty and dinky, and Baden-Baden is located on the foothills of the Black Forest, so the scenery was really beautiful. For me, the 'highlight' of the trip was Eimear and I nearly killing ourselves climbing to the top of a mountain in the middle of some vineyards just outside Baden-Baden. There are three villages (Steinbach, Neuweier, and Varnhalt) that comprise the wine-producing region of Baden-Baden - we had passed through them on a bus the previous day en route from Strasbourg, and we had to go back to get a closer look as they were just so lovely. Anyways, we walked and walked and walked and it was EXTREMELY hot and we didn't have proper shoes or water, and then we saw the mountain. I had read in my guidebook that there was a restaurant at the top of said mountain so suggested climbing to the top to get something to eat/drink/be hospitalized. So off we went, up the mountain. Well, we climbed and we climbed and we climbed: the mountain didn't look very high from ground level but the path was really windy and it took about three hours (three hours!) to get to the summit. We were both nearly in tears at this stage and I honestly thought I was going to expire from dehydration - so THIRSTY - and/or shin splints. We were never so happy to see a restaurant, and made a beeline for the entrance, only to be hit with the cruellest word in the German language: Geschlossen (closed). I think I did cry a little, but Eimear, being made of sterner stuff, spotted a cabin selling ice-creams, which we devoured (the ice-creams, not the cabin), before making the long trek back to Baden-Baden. I don't think she'll ever go anywhere with me ever again.
Some other Europe photos...
A few of these were taken with disposable cameras (it took me forever to become digitized) and a shaky hand, so I apologize for the quality!