Rome, Italy

Been soo busy lately! Back in Cork now, but needing to update my blog with a lot of information:

Arrived in Rome on Friday, the 16th of April and left for London, England on Wendesday, the 20th of April. Stayed with two friends from Wheaton who are studying abroad there, Pablo and Chris. We headed to their apartment and relaxed from our day of traveling. For dinner, we bought some Italian pizza and a suppli (which is delicious!). We met up with some of their friends at an Irish pub (they're all over Europe). During my visit, we walked all over Rome. We saw the Spanish Steps, Piazza di Spagna, the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, Via del Corso, Piazza del Popolo, Piazza Colonna, Palazzo di Giustizia, Piazza della Repubblica, Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II (The Wedding Cake), Castel Sant'Angelo, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, St. Peter's Basillica, the Vatican Museum, which has the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Square. I met up with a family friend, Tony Forte, who is a priest in Rome who teaches at a school by the Trevi Fountain. We had dinner and walked around the city for a little bit. He told us every little detail about the Trevi fountain. We went to the mass in St. Peter's Square on Sunday that was given by Pope Benedict XVI. We made our own Italian dinner with pasta, tomato sauce, and carbonera. It totaled for about 5 Euro; an extremely cheap and delicious dinner! Tony had taken us to the Vatican on Monday and gave us a great tour with detail you wouldn't find in a book! Such a unique place packed with history. Went to dinner at an Italian family's house that is friends with Tony. Tuesday, I went to the Ardeatine Memorial with Tony. This memorial was about the 135 Italians that were dragged from Rome to an outside village, Aredeatine, and massacred in a cave. The actions were brought on by two communist Italians that threw grenades at passing German troops (killing 33 Nazis). The massacre was Hitler's response. Pope Benedict XVI visited the memorial a few weeks before us. Tuesday night, I went to the Roma vs. Inter game. Italian fans are insane! Flares were shot off from the fans at all points of the game and whenever a Roma player missed a shot, all the fans would kick the seats or glass that was next them. Quite the experience! Definitely going to have to go back to Rome someday because there is too much history to see in 5 days!

Osttirol Photos

Here are the pictures from Osttirol, Austria; terrible scenery! Enjoy:

Venice, Italy

Arrived in Venice later in the evening on Wednesday the 13th. Our orginal hostel failed, but they gave us a number to another hostel. I called, but the lady didn't speak any English, but after a few minutes I booked a room. The place was awful though. Terrible service and the place smelled like crap, literally. Matt and I woke up at 6am to the sun beaming through the no-curtained windows. At around 7am, construction next door kept us up for the rest of the day. We checked out as soon as possible and with great difficulty found another hostel. It was 10x better and the guy at reception was very sympathetic with our awful experience the night before. Without further ado, we headed towards St. Mark's Square. We took the boat bus down the Grand Canal, which was pretty cool. Gondola's were definitely out of the budget (around 80 Euro a ride). Walked into St. Mark's Square and immediately went into St. Mark's Cathedral. We weren't supposed to take photos, but everyone seemed to disregard that request so I took some as well. Cathedrals have become the norm for me traveling throughout Europe, but it has been a pleasure exploring the myriad of churches. We then decided to just walk around the maze-like streets and canals. The streets are consumed with shops and pestering men trying to sell useless trinkets and ripped off designer bags. The shops are full of pricey clothes and blown glass from Murano Island (just a short boat ride north of Venice). The narrow streets and canals have a lot of character. They were a blast to walk through. We checked out a few bars at night just to get a tiny taste of the night life. We enjoyed a much needed quiet night of sleep. We left for Rome on Friday.

Munich, Germany

Arrived in Munich, Sunday night on the 10th. Martin and his friend met up with us at the train station and we took it easy and made some food. Next day we took out some bikes to see the city. The river in Munich is the cleanest river I've ever seen in any city; you could actually see the floor. It was a gorgeous day and people sat out by the river and were swimming. We biked along the river into the City Center passing by the Opera House, the Old and New Town Hall, and went up to some tower for a view of Munich. We checked out Hofbräuhaus am Platzl, known as the largest Beer Hall in the world. Since it was such a nice day out, we rode over to the English Garden by some canals and hung out in the beautiful weather. Had a dinner that is popular in Munich that is white asparagus with potatoes and a special sauce; quite tasty! Tuesday, we found a tour to see Dachau Concentration Camp. Quite depressing to see all of the things that happened there. Definitely puts things into perspective when you see it with your own eyes. The place was massive so took a few hours to see everything, including the crematorium. Had a delicious pasta dinner that night and checked out some unusual but very relaxing bars that night. Wednesday we caught our train down to Venice, about 7 to 8 hours. Pictures for past trips coming soon!

Lienz & Ostirrol, Austria

On Friday, we arrived into Lienz, Austria and Tamara's friends Anja and Eva picked us up thankfully. Didn't have internet so wasn't quite sure how we were going to get to Tamara's. We went to a few cafe's and bars and waited until Tamara arrived home from her school. We headed off for a home cooked Austrian meal in Tamara's town, Osttirol; it was deliciousss! A lot of friends and family came over and we hung out and drank Austrian beer and schnapps! Saturday we explored the town of Lienz for a little bit and then went to Tamara's grandparents 50th anniversary. A great family party! Had dinner and then went out with Tamara's sister and friends in the town. Had a great time learning some new Lienz drink orders! Sunday we hung around and took a walk along the mountains (where Tamara's house is). It's gorgeous, wait for the pictures! Then we headed off to Munich to meet up with Martin.

Prague Pictures

Here are the Prague pictures! Everything was meant for picture taking, so there might be too many to look at, but it's a gorgeous city! Enjoy:

[The Beginning of Charles Bridge]

[Statues galore]

[St. Nicholas Church]

[View of the city on the walk to Prague Palace]

[Prague Palace]

[Palace Guards]

[St. Vitus Cathedral]

[Other tower in the Cathedral]

[Old Town Square Tower]

[The National Museum]

[Odd statues in a park]

[The John Lennon Wall]

[Yellow Submarine]

[Fight Club]

[Wall of locks left by travelers]

[Old Town Square]

[Sunset with Prague Skyline, with Palace]

Vienna, Austria

Arrived in Vienna on the 5th, on Tuesday. Checked into our hostel and walked around for food. We mapped out some plans on a map for the next few days. Took advantage of the cheap beers during Happy Hour at our hostel. On Wednesday we walked to the city center, in the first district and walked around the Museum District. We caught a tour in the Parliament building and then walked over to St. Stephen's Cathedral. Checking out Cathedrals has become the norm for us, so we've become quite the cathedral critics. It was massive though. Then we grabbed the metro to Schonbrunn Palace, which was beautiful. The place has acres of gardens and fountains. Not too sure on what the palace's use was, but it was very nice nonetheless. Stuck around for Happy Hour once again and hung out. Traveling is starting to take a toll on us. On Thursday, we got a good nights rest and headed out to Kunsthistorisches Museum. It was massive, which we learned by a never ending supply of art. There was Renaissance painting from all over Europe, Egyptian sculptures and caskets, antique vases, jewelery, and various other goodies. After the long museum walk around, we headed over to Rathaus Park in hopes for a festival we thought we saw getting set up the previous day. Thankfully we were right! People were dressed in traditional Austrian clothes and Austrian food and clothes were for sale. It was great to relax in the 25 C/77 F weather with some bratwursts and beers. Got some laundry done at the hostel and headed out to meet up with a high school friend, who's studying abroad in Vienna. Off to Lienz, Austria to see Tamara and her family and friends!

Berlin Pictures!

Bare with me, but there is so much history in Berlin, so there are a ton of pictures. Many Third Reich and World War II pictures, hope you enjoy!

[Courtyard that Hitler would execute/hang thought-to-be traitors]

[Naked statue representing Hitler's technique of hanging traitors naked]

[Building that made it through World War II]

[Still has most of its bullet holes and shell damage]

[Around 60-80% of Berlin was destroyed in WWII so there are only a few buildings left from those days]

[A memorial]

[Interesting walk/stop signals]

[Soviet Memorial; 1 of 4 in Berlin]

[60 million people died from WWII; 30 million were Soviets]

[T-34 Soviet Tank]

[Reichstag Parliament Building]

[Trace of where the Berlin Wall used to be]

[Bradenburg Gate]

[Hotel Adlon anyone?]

[Window that Michael Jackson waved his child, Blanket, out of]

[Controversial, abstract Jewish Memorial]

[Empty ground above Hitler's bunker]

[Berlin Wall next to Gestapo's Headquarters]

[Words of Hope]

[Berliner Fernsehturm]