Eire

Eire, Ireland in English, has been my home for almost 5 days now. I love this country. The weather has been abnormally sunny and warm and I have yet to experience the famous Irish rain. The people are friendly and the country side is beautiful (just like it is in the movies!).

Liz and her dad picked me up from the airport. Seeing the familiar face made me realize how close to Canada I really am now. It was a little strange seeing Liz, my friend from Japan in her home country. They drove me to their home in Dublin on the north side of the Liffey in an area called Glasnevin. Here I was welcomed by lizs mom, and two sisters, Emma and Mary. They told me to make myself at home, and I really do feel comfortable and at home here. I have my own room and ensuite bathroom in their old townhouse.

I acclimatized myself with Glasnevin during the day on Friday and enjoyed a play in town with Liz and her siblings on Friday night. Liz and her twin Michael ran a 10 mile race on Sat morn so we just went to the pub for a short while on Friday night. Here I met Liz's boyfriend Lada. Saturday after the race, Liz and I took public transport into town and walked around. I was actually a little shocked being in an English speaking country. It felt and still feel weird to understand people talking in the streets or on the buses and to know they understand me too. Our first night out I was almost nervous having to order food in English. Like, peoples expectations of me as a native English speaker are higher then peoples expectations of my Japanese and I don't like the pressure. I wish I could explain this better, but Liz says she felt the same way and that it didn't last long. Saturday night Liz and I met up with her friends and sisters and another Irish friend of mine in town. good times.

Yesterday we travelled south of Dublin to Glendalough. It is a beautiful scenic area with rivers and lakes and Irish hills. Really, this country is unbelievable. I know I will have to come back again, rent a car and experience it properly. I also had my first Rugby match experience last night. The Rugby World Cup is in France and Liz and her family are hardcore Irish Football and Rugby fans so I celebrated the Ireland/Namibia match Carolan (Liz's last name)style. Donned in Irish Jerseys the Carolan troupe (sisters, brother and Sig. others) went to a bar 2 hours before the game to save seats in a prime location. They gave me a crash course in Rugby rules and gave me a play by play as the game progressed. Even I could tell that it was a pretty weak showing by the Irish team, but they still managed to beat Namibia with an appallingly low score of 37 to 17. It was a sombre walk home to say the least but an exciting 'authentic' Irish sporting experience for me! Hopefully next Saturdays match will be better. Go Ireland!

Tears and Rain

Rain..that's what my last two days in Budapest were filled with. The temperature actually reached a low of 14degrees, not cool! During my last couple days I explored the Buda side of the Danube, walked up a forested hill to the Citadel making sure to take all the wrong turns as to walk along every possible path, saw Budapest Castle, sampled Hungarian beer and enjoyed the company of my fellow travelers.

On my last day most of our hostel opted for a relaxing afternoon in The Loft snuggled up to warm, freshly dried laundry and umpteen episodes of Scrubs. This was a nice end to my travels in Asia in Europe. We followed the lazy afternoon with a group outing to a local bar. The hostel owner had friends visiting and it was their last night so everyone in the hostel all celebrated together at a really small, dark, kind of dingy Hungarian Pub on the Buda side. We just ordered cheap Hungarian wine ($4 for a litre) and sat around and enjoyed each others company. It felt really homey, like we'd all known each other for ages.

Last Thursday I left Budapest as the sun came out and temperature rose to mid 20's and headed for The Emerald Isle.

Don't worry mom, my title is misleading cause there were NO tears, just rain. But Tears and Rain is a James Blunt song title.

A River Runs Through It

I made it to Budapest!
My train departed Prague at 11o2 and arrived in sunny Budapest at 8am. I was lucky and only had to share my 6 person cabin with two others, a young Spanish guy and an old Czech guy. Both friendly, although the older guy wanted to go to sleep right away and we wanted to chit chat so he kind of through a hissy fit which resulted in us standing in between cars for a little. The funny thing was that our wagon attendant, who was super nice, offered to open an empty cabin for the old guy to have a place for himself but the old guy refused.
My hostel is called The Loft and is exactly what the name implies. It is really comfy and clean and more like a shared apartment then a typical hostel. I really like it and have met some nice girls from Quebec here.
Today I spent the day walking around with the Spanish guy from the train who is staying at a hostel nearby. The weather is warmer here then in Prague, which I am very appreciative of. We wandered thoroughly around the Pest side of the river. Including an island park which was beautifully green which made me feel more like I was in the tropics rather then Europe.
I am having a little break then heading out for dinner. It is really nice having 'backpacker' company again, our budgets are similar, we want to explore the city the same way, shared interest in travelling etc.

Dad and Car- it was great talking to you both the other day! Cant wait to see Roxy!

Good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen...

As you may or may not have known, King Wenceslas was a real Czech king back in the day.
Today I saw his statue and read may book in Wenceslas Square.

It was my last day in Prague and I took it really easy. My morning was filled with stories of Stalin and Vaclav Havel in the Communism Museum. In school we learned bits and pieces about The USSR and communism in Soviet times but not much about Czechoslovakia. I was fascinated with the info and artifacts such as school books, images of agriculture propaganda and secret police phones.

Yesterday I joined a 3.5 hour walking tour of Prague. Everyday locals lead an English tour around the old town, lesser town, Jewish town and Prague Castle. They tell interesting stories, answer any and all questions and work strictly off the tips people pay. Since I don't like walking around with my guide book reading about all the buildings, this tour provided an easy to understand background/history on the important sites and Czech in general. Yesterday afternoon I grabbed a piece of picnic table at a Folk Festival near the Old Town Square and sampled local food and beer while watching people from around Eastern Europe dance and sing away.

Tonight I leave Prague on an overnight train bound for my last stop before Ireland and the UK, Budapest. Lets hope its an easy journey!