Amsterdam, Netherlands (September 2006)

September was a busy month for travelling - cheap flights and close proximity to London gave me the opportunity to hop across to Amsterdam with my housemate Mary and a few friends for the weekend.

Amsterdam is quite a charming city, with it's impressive architecture, crooked houses, cobbled streets, tree-lined canals that criss-cross the city, great shopping, friendly people, and bicycles everywhere! Bicycles are by far the preferred mode of transport around Amsterdam. You have to keep your eyes open and make sure you don't meander into a bicycle lane and get bowled over by the ruthless locals!

Arriving in Amsterdam on Saturday morning after a ridiculously early start to the weekend (at Heathrow at 5am - the things you have to do to get budget flights!), checking into the hostel then downing a typically Dutch breakfast comprised of lots of pancakes, we joined a bicycle tour in the afternoon to see as much of the city as possible (and stay awake!). The tour had it all, especially as we hit the outskirts of the city - windmills, clog-makers and cheese farms - everything you expect from a day in Holland!

We hit the crazy and totally buzzing Red Light district at night (empahsis on the word 'crazy'). An eye-opening experience to say the least, but definitely something different and heaps of fun. With this and the "coffeeshops" everywhere, it really does show how open the Dutch are.
So after a big night out, our second day was a nice and relaxed affair - we took a cruise through the canals, did a bit of shopping, and even sighted the Queen of Netherlands coming out of the Rembrant museum!

We also paid a visit to the Anne Frank museum - the most famous canal house in Amsterdam where a young Jewish girl famously documented the horrors of WWII while in hiding with her family in the attic of this house. Despite the fact that it's a tiny space and the place is constantly packed with visitors, it still provides quite a powerful (and emotional) experience, focusing on the ordeals of a Jewish family that hid in the attic throughout the second world war, where they survived until they were mysteriously betrayed to the Germans in August 1944 (so achingly close to the end of the war).


A few photos:

Salzburg, Austria (September 2006)

Our base for our Oktoberfest trip was Salzburg - a little town nestled in the Alps near the Austrian border, famous for being the setting of the Sound of Music (both the movie and the true story), and also the birthplace of Wolfgang Mozart (you know, that composer...).

Salzburg has to be one of the prettiest cities I've seen. Everything about it is just so cute, and the scenery is just amazing everywhere you look. A great city for exploring on foot. We managed to see most of it in half a day, and the other half we spent on a tour out into the Alps - the theme of which was the Sound of Music! So we got to see a lot of locations from the movie and learn a bit about the real story, all with the Sound of Music soundtrack playing on the whole tour!

The view from our hostel - the 'Salt' Castle:

Narrow winding streets:

Every shop had a unique, gorgeous cast iron sign... even McDonalds!

Some of the views across the city:

...and across to the Alps:

It must confuse some people, I guess...

We're in Sound of Music territory now. The Mirabella Gardens (from the 'Doe, a deer..' scene):

Behind me is the scenery from the opening scene of the movie:

A small town we passed through on the way that was having a little festival (pretty sure it wasn't in the movie!):

And this is the Von Trap family house:

Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany (September 2006)

Oktoberfest was quite an experience! I went with my housemates Mary and Sinead for the first day of the biggest beer festival in the world. We caught the early train from Salzburg (our base for the weekend) and arrived just before 9:00, and the place was packed! On the first day, beer isn't served until 12:00 (after a parade and a ceremony where the mayor of Munic taps the first keg) but people get there mega-early to get a seat in one of the beer halls (which are massive, holding trhousands of people each). We had so much trouble finding somewhere to sit, but in the end we settled on a spot outside the Lowenbrau tent (each tent is named for one of the local brewers and has it's own theme and atmosphere).

The entrance to the Löwenbräu tent is decorated with a massive lion, which is about 4.5 meters high, and every two minutes it roars, before letting out a booming “Lowenbrauuuuuuu!!!!!”. And our spot was directly beneath that lion - do you think it got annoying after a while??? Nah - wasn't too bad - once the beer started flowing, the bands were playing and everyone was singing and shouting, the poor lion was completely drowned out!
And what a great day - lots of steins were downed, so much great food enjoyed, and lots of new friends made! Such a great festival - it will definitely be worth a comeback at some stage!

Seville, Spain (September 2006)

My first trip over to 'the Continent' since I got here in April was to Spain's fourth largest city and the capital of the southern Spanish region of Andalucia. Steph and I made the trip in honour of my birthday, and as a place to kick back and relax, see some great sights, eat some fantastic food and enjoy some absolutely splendid weather - well, it was perfect! The architecture is amazing and quite unique - a mix of middle-eastern (Moorish) and Roman influences.

Seville now sits a close second in my list of favourite European cities (right behind Venice. Ahhhh, Venice.).

The main, and most obvious, feature of the Sveille is the absolutely enormous cathedral - one of the biggest I've ever seen! In fact, I think it's the largest of all medieval and Gothic cathedrals in Europe (or could be the world?). It was actually built (about 500 years ago) on the site of the city's former mosque and still features some of the original columns and elements.

Seville is also famous as being the birthplace of the guitar, as well as flamenco - a combination of Spanish dancing and guitar. Pretty cool and high-energy stuff - this is from a a Flamenco show we went to one night.

The Torre del Oro on the river - an old watchtower on the river.

This is the Plaza de Espana - a huge crescent shape complex of palaces and monuments (it was actually very exciting to be here as some of the scenes from the new Star Wars movies were filmed here!). They had tile mosaics built into the plaza to represent each of the regions of Spain - these were quite cool too.

There's also the Alcázar - the city's old Moorish Palace. Again, huge, and the gardens were amazing - a blend of Moorish, Andalusian and Christian traditions.

The local bull-fighting stadium - we did a tour in and around the ring and got a detailed (and often quite disturbing) insight into the quite brutal sport of bull-fighting, which is still one of the most popular sports in Spain.

This is the bridge of triana that crosses the river, as seen form the outdoor restaurant district of the town (where we spent many a night enjoying tapas, gorgeous wine and a lot of sangria!).

It's also worth mentioning our hotel - we got a ridiculous bargain on a room in a luxurious converted 18th century palace. It was bsolutely gorgeous, with lots of marble and fountains, and cute little outdoor courtyards. And a rooftop restaurant with views across the city.

Seville is an inland city, but not too far from the coast so many saeside towns are easy enough to get to and back in a day. Feeling the need for a swim, we took a bus south to Malaga for a dip in the Mediterranean. The beach itself isn't amazing, and it has a very touristy feel (and is full of English people!!), but after topping up on the sunburn we went into the town itself and explored a bit, and discovered some really cute buildings and a great fort to wander around in.

And that was Seville - go there, you'll love it! :)

Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Scotland (August 2006)

Every August, Edinburgh hosts the biggest arts festival in the world. I made the trip north back to Scotland's capital to check out the tail-end of the festival. There are literally hundreds of venues and over a thousand different shows on during the month, everything from theatre and comedy to music and dance. There's such a great atmosphere in the streets with lots of street performers to keep you entertained as you walk around.

With only a limited amount of time I only got to check out a few shows, but the highlight was the Snow Patrol concert. I was pretty pumped about seeing them - they've been one of my favourite bands since I saw them support U2 last year in Dublin. But it was all about them this time - they played to a huge crowd at the Meadowbank football stadium and the were absolutely amazing. They just played every song with so much energy and enthusiasm. The crowd loved it - with perhaps a little too much excitement at some stages though... apparently it's quite normally for full cups of beer to be randomly hurled around within the crowd!

The Underbelly - one of the comedy venues:

The Assembly Halls, also hosted a lot of comedy acts:

Out on the streets:

At Meadowbank before the Snow Patrol concert:

The mighty Snow Patrol:

For any Snow Patrol fans out there, here's the set-list from the night:

Wow / Chocolate / Beginning To Get To Me / Spitting Games / Hands Open / Headlights / Grazed Knees / Chasing Cars / Shut Your Eyes / How To Be Dead / An Olive Grove Facing The Sea / Make This Go On Forever / Ways And Means / Run / You're All I Have / Open Your Eyes / Tiny Little Fractures