Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop!
Oh
my goodness, oh my Guinness! What an eventful 2 weeks it has been! After
returning from Ireland, I had less than 24 hours in Leiden to unpack, get to
classes, and then repack for Paris, thus there is plenty to fill you in on (so
please understand the long entry). Before leaving for Ireland, I had a class
field trip to the Dutch city of Urk. The town has a reputation for being
incredibly autonomous (it used to be an island before being connected to the
mainland), very religious, a love for fishing, and high levels of drug use
(although the speaker at the town hall assured us their problems were no worse
than Amsterdam!) We went to see Urk’s fish market and compare it to that of the
Tsukiji fish market in Japan and study both places from an anthropological
perspective. I was very impressed at the sustainable practices the fishermen
follow and even tried some fillets (I forgot how much I missed fish). The
people of Urk love fishing so much even their churches have boats in them and
pictures of Jesus with fish. It was quite an adventure.
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| My professor and tour guide telling us the value of the fish |
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| Neerlandia Urk fish market and auction |
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| Urk tour guide |
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| They love each other so much, they build their houses literally on top of each other! |
The
next morning it was off to Belfast in Northern Ireland. In Belfast I met up
with my travel buddies, Danean and Megan and headed to my favorite place in
every city—the market. St. George’s Market was full of delicious foods, free
samples, crafts, and lively Irish music. From there we walked along the water
to Queen Anne’s University where we would meet our first hosts. Our hosts were
university students who took us out for our first Irish Guinnesses and to watch
the rugby match (although we were warned to never root for England while in
Northern Ireland—still a very sore subject there). After an excellent first
evening, we hopped on a bus the next morning for St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin!
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| Belfast City Hall |
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| Most bombed hotel in Europe! |
In
Dublin, we were greeted by our Brazilian host (there were a surprising number
of Brazilians all over the city also celebrating the holiday). Although we
didn’t catch the parade, the streets were alive with people dressed in green
and having a stupendous day and night. The next day we wandered the city,
strolled along the Liffey River, walked through some lovely parks, saw Trinity
College and passed the Book of Kells and finally ate on the James Joyce balcony
before hopping on another bus to Galway!
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| St. Paddy's Day |
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| St. Paddy's Day full costume |
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| Trinity College |
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| Potato Famine Monument |
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| By the River Liffey |
Galway
was definitely my favorite place in Ireland. It’s the third largest city in
Ireland, but very small, manageable, and authentic. We stayed at a fantastic
hostel called Snoozles and went out to a pub called the King’s Head for some
traditional Irish music. The next day we went on a free walking tour of the
city with a guide who was full of zingers and corny jokes about his beloved
city. Fun facts: there is an old window where a man by the name of Lynch was
hanged, hence the term lynching and Galway is also the town where the word
boycott was coined after Boycott raised his rent too high. From the tour we
walked along the coastline and explored the Galway City Museum before once more
getting on the bus to Cork and Kinsale.
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| Galway tour guide... VERY Irish |
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| The Irish's favorite Irish Catholic celebrity, JFK, in one of their church |
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| Galway Coastline |
We
did not arrive in Kinsale until very late and by some miracle a New Yorker
living in Ireland drove us to our farm lane where we were staying the night.
The house was full of French permaculture students and would have been perfect
if they hadn’t run out of oil to heat the house (they assured us it would be
warm soon… just not tonight)! Nevertheless, we were only there briefly before
exploring the small town of Kinsale and making our way to Charles Fort for some
lovely views. That afternoon we journeyed to Cork (not a glitzy city but very
welcoming and livable) for a delicious Irish breakfast. In Cork there was
plenty of shopping to do at our new favorite UK store Primark as well as at the
English Market. We also strolled through the historic Shandon Quarter then went
to our final host, whom was an Italian student studying abroad there. From top
to bottom and long bus rides through the rolling green hills of Ireland I think
I got quite a good taste for the place!
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| Charles Fort in Kinsale |
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| Charles Fort |
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| Cork |
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| DELICIOUS Irish breakfast |
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| What most of Ireland looks like |
PARIS
As
I mentioned after a brief stop in Holland, I took Megabus to Paris! The ride
was about 7 hours long, but it gave me ample time to rest and appreciate the
drive through Belgium and the French countryside. My couchsurfing host Roman
welcomed me to the city and invited me to Indonesian food with his friends and
a party at his friend’s swanky apartment near the Louvre. Afterwards, his
friends (who couldn’t get enough of imitating my American accent) gave me a
night tour of Paris and invited me to join them at Dali exhibition at the
Centre Pompidou (but it was 2am and bedtime for me!)
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| Centre Pompidou at night |
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| Roman and his friends on the Seine |
The
next morning, my friend Nancy who is studying in Montpellier met me bright and
early for my first full day in Paris. We walked through the Luxembourg Jardin,
the Jardin de Plantes, through a mosque, the Pantheon, and a Roman arena (the
arena was more of a place to play soccer than ancient ruins). After catching
our breath for a moment we took the metro to the Montmarre area and climbed the
hill to Sacre Couer, an astonishingly beautiful cathedral with a wonderful view
of the city. We then ate delicious Moroccan food with Nancy’s friend from home
and ended up meeting a bunch of Americans who invited us to join then for the
evening. Not only were they Americans but, most of them were from Rutgers and
one of them was someone Nancy and I knew from NFTY (what a small world!)
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| Chess at the Jardin Luxembourg |
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| Practicing my gladiator at the Roman arena |
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| Pantheon |
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| Montparnasse, Paris's only and and least favorite skyscraper |
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| Paris Mosque |
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| With Nancy outside the Sacre Couer |
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| Sacre Couer |
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| Sacre Couer by night |
After
Nancy left, I decided to explore the old Jewish Quarter before most of it would
be closed for Passover (I thought being a vegetarian in Paris was challenging,
but keeping Passover in Paris is a whole other battle). There I saw the Shoah
memorial and had some of the best falafel I’ve ever had. Afterwards I met my new
friends in front of St. Michel Fountain for a free walking tour of the city
guided by a Bulgarian woman who came to Paris following the love of her life
(they are no longer together). Over 3 hours we saw all the crucial sights,
including the Obelisk, learned why Henri IV was France’s favorite king, the
Jardin Tuileries, the palace of justice, and much more. We then braved the long
line for the Musee d’Orsay, which is known for it’s impressive collection of
impressionist artists and the building itself, which used to be a grand train
station. We tried to visit Notre Dame but, it was a zoo since it was Palm
Sunday, (although we were able to watch the mass on a giant screen while
waiting in line). That evening I said my farewell to Roman and went to stay at
my French friend Lexi’s house, who I had met when he studied abroad at UC
Berkeley. He gave me an excellent night tour of the city since we had to
vamoose from his flat because his home was being used as an exhibition for an
art gallery!
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| This falafel was comparable to the one I had in Israel |
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| New friends near the Obelisk |
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| Notre Dame |
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| Inside the Musee d'Orsay |
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| All the bridges are COVERED in locks of love |
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| Grand Palais by night |
Monday
morning I met with one of my new friends at the Louvre. IT IS MASSIVE and
exhausting. The ornate building used to be where the French royalty lived until
Versailles was built. We hit all the main sections including Egypt, Rome,
Greece, the Italian painters, Mona Lisa (shockingly tiny), Venus de Milo, and
Napoleon’s apartments (excessive amounts of gold). After the decadence of the
Louvre, I trekked to St. Oeun, which is one of the largest flea markets in
Europe located on the outskirts of Paris. With the exception of the building
focused on antiques it was largely a North African market. Exhausted but full
from the both savory and sweet crepes I bought, I headed to my Clark friend’s
apartment for the evening.
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| Mona Lisa |
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| Louvre and Pyramid |
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| Venus de Milo |
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| Crepe #1: Savory |
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| Crepe #2: NUTELLA! |
On
my final day in Paris, I walked and climbed the Eiffel Tower (not all the way
to the top though because I have no patience for such lines!) Nearby I went
underground to the Musee d’Egouts or the sewer museum to appreciate the complex
water system and the former place of resistance (apparently people still go missing
under there today from secret parties and a whole sector of the police force is
dedicated to patrolling it!) Despite his hectic schedule in French law school,
I met up with Alexis again for a lovely French lunch and a stroll on the Plante
Boulevard (similar to the High Line in New York City) before he left me at the
Bastille (the monument, since the jail is no longer there). Finally, I wandered
through the Marais and along Rue St. Martin for some Parisian thrift shopping
before once again collapsing from exhaustion.
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| View from Eiffel Tower |
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| Climbed it, no problem! |
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| Lexi on the Plante Boulevard |
On
my last morning I made a stop at Pere Lachaise, the massive cemetery where
famous French artists such as Delecroix and Seurat are buried as well as French
politicians, Jim Morrison, and Edith Piaf. The cemetery had people from all
cultures and religions buried in everything from simple gravestone to structures
that looked like mini cathedrals! Just like the rest of Paris they were
massive, ornate, and very old.
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| Pere Lachaise |
As jaw dropping as Paris is, it is not for
me. The buildings start to look very similar after a while and there is no real
nature since every French garden is perfectly manicured and the grass is not
meant to be walked on. While, I was pleased to see an incredible network of
bike shares and electric car shares throughout the city there is definitely
some greening to do (very little recycling!) With the exception of my hosts,
the French are not exactly the most welcoming or progressive (there was a
massive anti-gay rally during my stay). Nevertheless I would return to the city
of love and dog poo in Spring or Summer to see their gardens in bloom
(especially Versailles) and return to their numerous museums! For now, I do
some have quite a bit of homework to catch up on over Easter weekend before my
next trip to Copenhagen!
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| Electric Car Share! |
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| punny |
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| bike share! |
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| French Environmentalists =) |
