Greetings from Amsterdam, or, should I say, "Groeten uit Amsterdam." Thank you Google Translator - you've come in handy. We got the tip to use Google Translator from our friend Kevin, who we've been crashing with since we arrived. He has been using it, with moderate success, to try to install his cable television settings. It's such a smooth, beautiful language to be exposed to, even more so when you're trying to decode "Voer televisie wachtwoord nu" (enter television password now).
It's good to have friends like Kevin - friends who you could e-mail saying "Hey, how would you like to have a few visitors?", then arrive and say, "Hey, how would you like to have a few visitors for two weeks?", and it wouldn't phase them a bit (we think.) He was relocated here from Baltimore a few months ago for work and seems to be enjoying the change. He and his golden retriever, Willy, have been amazing and patient hosts for our time here. It's been a perfect spot for us to do our laundry, use his computer to organize our next travel steps, and to be in a more residential world for a while. The first thing that Kevin had us do was to rent bikes, which is critical in Amsterdam. Apparently, there are 700,000 people in Amsterdam and over a million bicycles. Everyone uses them, and some in very interesting ways. We've seen people holding infants while riding, people with kids on the front and back of the bike simultaneously, people holding a full load of groceries while riding, and one person who was texting on a cell phone with one hand while talking on their Iphone with her other hand. What's even more interesting is how even though there a people on bikes all over the place and hordes of people passing through intersections all the time, there is some kind of smooth order to how it all flows. People here intuitively know who has the right of way and where all of the other bikes are going to go. The exceptions to this orderly flow are the idiots like us who aren't quite sure who goes where and why. We definitely were causing some problems for the first few days, but we've gotten the hang of it since. This has been a perfect place to be for Michelle, as her back has been hurting her a little bit; most sitting positions have been uncomfortable with the odd exception of sitting on a bicycle. It's been feeling better, though, which is good news since biking around the world would take quite a bit longer than how we planned.
I definitely validated my "history nerd" credentials last week with a visit to The Hague to check out the International Court of Justice, located in the Peace Palace, and with a visit to the Belgian city of Iepres (prounced like it rhymes with "jeepers". Seriously.) to visit the site of a famous World War I battle. While the city had interesting cemeteries and monuments, the crown jewel is a museum devoted to the battle in Flanders Fields. There's nothing quite like a visit to a museum that simulates a mustard gas attack, has random explosions every couple of minutes, and devotes a wing to the recreation of a battlefield, complete with trenches, bodies, barbed wire, and the sound of machine gun fire. Thank you for the nightmares.
Following this incredibly intense museum trip, I met up with Michelle and Kevin in Brugge, Belgium for the weekend, and we appreciated the medieval look of the city and it's fierce obsession with chocolate and waffles (individually and in partnership together.)
Amsterdam has been a great spot to be for a while. Beautiful parks, nice canals, delicious desserts, and occasionally friendly locals. But it's also a way more hip and fashionable place than we had expected, and we are out of league with our grimy travel gear. And since Kevin works for Under Armour, he has really helped to outfit us with comfortable athletic wear. But we would need a whole team of fashionistas to help us to blend in here: we'd need a whole lotta scarves (male and female), thin eyewear, skinny jeans (again, male and female), Italian leather shoes, sportcoats for every day of the week, etc. And that's just for starters.
Two other friends, Mike and Greg, are arriving in a few days to spend the long weekend here, and it should be great to see some more familiar faces and talk ad nauseam about Notre Dame football. We're going to get some more pictures up soon, including ones of Michelle and I visiting with some of her family in Cork, Ireland. We were successful in our second attempt to find her Irish relatives, and they graciously hosted us for an evening and took us to many of the family's historical spots. They were embarrassed that they hadn't cleaned up the house or had any food in the kitchen - I mean, after all, they had absolutely no clue we were coming and we just knocked on their door. They should have been more prepared.
We hope you all are doing well back home. More soon...
Love,
Anthony and Michelle
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Michelle's thoughts and tips on Ireland
Ireland is expensive. If you have money you should go to Ireland. If you do not have money, you should not.
If you are from Boston the Irish will want to talk to you about three things: Ted Kennedy, The Big Dig, and the Wrentham Outlets.
Tourists in Ireland like to take pictures of sheep. And cows. And castles. And rocks.
If you want to look up your ancestors and you know the town you are from you should visit your local parish. If you are Catholic you might find out that actually you are Protestant. It is ok. You will now have to go to a different church across town. This might give you some time to think about your identity.
If you are making your husband drive down a really tiny road promising that you will find your ancestors and you get to the end only to find a scary barking dog with dreadlocks and an equally scary old man holding a shovel, don't be afraid. He will offer you tea and direct you to the correct driveway.
The Irish like to drink. I think we knew this. But really they like to talk about drinking. They talk about pints all day long. PINTS. PINTS. PINTS.
Ireland is really beautiful. Truly. And there are palm trees here. I definitely did not know this.
If you want to see a Cathedral you will not. But you will see a CaTEEdral. Don't be confused.
You will see people in scully caps and they will actually tip it in your direction. People are so friendly and they unneccessarily touch each other on the arm or back.
It's very possible I'm not Irish.
We are having a blast and want to hear how everyone is doing!
Love, Michelle (and Anthony)
If you are from Boston the Irish will want to talk to you about three things: Ted Kennedy, The Big Dig, and the Wrentham Outlets.
Tourists in Ireland like to take pictures of sheep. And cows. And castles. And rocks.
If you want to look up your ancestors and you know the town you are from you should visit your local parish. If you are Catholic you might find out that actually you are Protestant. It is ok. You will now have to go to a different church across town. This might give you some time to think about your identity.
If you are making your husband drive down a really tiny road promising that you will find your ancestors and you get to the end only to find a scary barking dog with dreadlocks and an equally scary old man holding a shovel, don't be afraid. He will offer you tea and direct you to the correct driveway.
The Irish like to drink. I think we knew this. But really they like to talk about drinking. They talk about pints all day long. PINTS. PINTS. PINTS.
Ireland is really beautiful. Truly. And there are palm trees here. I definitely did not know this.
If you want to see a Cathedral you will not. But you will see a CaTEEdral. Don't be confused.
You will see people in scully caps and they will actually tip it in your direction. People are so friendly and they unneccessarily touch each other on the arm or back.
It's very possible I'm not Irish.
We are having a blast and want to hear how everyone is doing!
Love, Michelle (and Anthony)
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Galway
We spent the better part of 3 days exploring Michelle's family's ancestral home in the towns of Crosmolina and Ballina, located in County Mayo, Ireland. We roamed the countryside, looking at maps, searching for signs, and just aimlessly driving for quite a bit of time. We think the homes and villages no longer exist, but we did take time to appreciate the beautiful scenery and serenity of the area. On our second attempt, we did find people who occupy the land where her family lived, but all we found was an angry dog and a woman who didn't really have much info for us. But she did allow us to drive around and have a peek of the place.
We've met plenty of friendly people who have been offering us all kinds of advice on how to spend our time in the country. We've gotten good tips on hearing some good traditional music and to check out a music fest. The headliners were a U2 tribute band who were trying their absolute hardest to look and sound like U2, down to their outfits, poses, and banter.
We're now in Galway for the next few days before heading off to Cork for our second attempt to track down Michelle's family. We just watched a Hurling match, which if you're unfamiliar with the sport (much like we were prior to two hours ago), then you'd be surprised to discover that a sport exists that blends soccer, rugby, field hockey, lacrosse, and jai alai. No joke. Good luck trying to figure out the scoring.
We're trying to figure out how to post audio and pics, so when we do we'll have some other things for you to check out other than our lame commentary. But we're doing well and starting to get the hang of this traveling thing.
We've met plenty of friendly people who have been offering us all kinds of advice on how to spend our time in the country. We've gotten good tips on hearing some good traditional music and to check out a music fest. The headliners were a U2 tribute band who were trying their absolute hardest to look and sound like U2, down to their outfits, poses, and banter.
We're now in Galway for the next few days before heading off to Cork for our second attempt to track down Michelle's family. We just watched a Hurling match, which if you're unfamiliar with the sport (much like we were prior to two hours ago), then you'd be surprised to discover that a sport exists that blends soccer, rugby, field hockey, lacrosse, and jai alai. No joke. Good luck trying to figure out the scoring.
We're trying to figure out how to post audio and pics, so when we do we'll have some other things for you to check out other than our lame commentary. But we're doing well and starting to get the hang of this traveling thing.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Dublin
After three great days in London, where our friends were kind enough to give us a place to stay and solid advice on what to do there, we arrived in Dublin on Wednesday night. We're here for two nights before we rent a car in search of Michelle's long lost Irish relatives in County Mayo. I'm going to let Michelle do the knocking on doors part of that journey, as I don't think my 2% of Irish blood sticks out all that much in my appearance (sorry, Mom). Michelle blends a bit more than I do. We're doing well and are having a great time - miss you all!
Monday, August 2, 2010
London
Friends and family,
We have arrived in London for the first leg of our trip. We'll be here for a few days before traveling to Ireland, which will be our first extended stop. We're a little jet lagged, but we're excited to be on the road after planning and waiting for the day to come. We have a sinking feeling, too, that the rest of our travel legs won't be as luxurious as our first one on British Airways: two meals, a personal tv with loads of movies and tv shows, comfy socks, toothbrush, a "sleep mask" blindfold, tons of legroom, etc. We're staying with friends for a few days here in a funky little neighborhood named Fulham, but we're about to do some exploring. Hope you're all well.
We have arrived in London for the first leg of our trip. We'll be here for a few days before traveling to Ireland, which will be our first extended stop. We're a little jet lagged, but we're excited to be on the road after planning and waiting for the day to come. We have a sinking feeling, too, that the rest of our travel legs won't be as luxurious as our first one on British Airways: two meals, a personal tv with loads of movies and tv shows, comfy socks, toothbrush, a "sleep mask" blindfold, tons of legroom, etc. We're staying with friends for a few days here in a funky little neighborhood named Fulham, but we're about to do some exploring. Hope you're all well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)