apriha.com » Eurotrip II http://apriha.com Personal Travel Blog Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:28:37 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 London http://apriha.com/2008/03/25/london/ http://apriha.com/2008/03/25/london/#comments Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:43:27 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2008/03/25/london/ After Edinburgh came London. London was alright, but I think it would’ve been better to 1) have accommodation pre-booked and 2) visit with a friend. Once I arrived, I looked for hostels, but everything was booked (on a Thursday in November even!). So, I spent the night on the street. Needless to say, it was a long night, and quite the experience.

The one full day I had in London I managed to walk along the river, see the famous bridges, straddle the Prime Meridian, ride the London Eye, fill up with an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet, and tour Westminster Abbey.

My flight back to the Netherlands was an early Ryanair flight, so I spent my second night in London at the airport. Overall Eurotrip II was a success, but looking back I probably would’ve done London a bit differently.

The night on the streets.

Piccadilly Circus water fountain with a newspaper: my home in London!

The Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

Standing in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

Big Ben and Parliament from the London Eye.

Buckingham Palace.

My bed at the airport - it’s better than a water fountain!

]]> http://apriha.com/2008/03/25/london/feed/ 0 Edinburgh http://apriha.com/2008/03/10/edinburgh/ http://apriha.com/2008/03/10/edinburgh/#comments Tue, 11 Mar 2008 05:22:51 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2008/03/10/edinburgh/ Edinburgh – with its distinct Old Town and New Town districts – is an amazing city, and I have yet to meet someone who hasn’t thoroughly enjoyed it. I spent two really great nights in Edinburgh (one of which was Halloween), based at Budget Backpackers in the Old Town.

As the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh has quite the history. The photos below, and their captions, tell some of that story, at least the version I heard.

Ronan, myself, and another Budget Backpacker at the Frankenstein on the nightly Old Town pub crawl.

Greyfriars Bobby, the fervently loyal dog, has become somewhat of an Edinburgh icon.

A stained glass window in St. Margaret’s Chapel, which is the oldest building in Edinburgh Castle.

Greyfriars Kirkyard (the graveyard a stone’s throw from Budget Backpackers) on Halloween. Very, very spooky.

The Black Mausoleum inside Greyfriars Kirkyard on Halloween. Google “Covenanters Prison” to read about all sorts of haunted tales that originate here.

Edinburgh castle and the Princes Street Gardens, which separate Old Town and New Town.

]]> http://apriha.com/2008/03/10/edinburgh/feed/ 1 Newcastle http://apriha.com/2008/03/09/newcastle/ http://apriha.com/2008/03/09/newcastle/#comments Mon, 10 Mar 2008 02:23:40 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2008/03/09/newcastle/ Upon arriving in Newcastle, I made the decision to spend half of my time in the UK in Scotland (Edinburgh) and the other half in England (London). I bought a train ticket to Edinburgh, and I allowed myself enough time for a quick walk around Newcastle.

The Tyne Bridge.

Downtown Newcastle.

]]> http://apriha.com/2008/03/09/newcastle/feed/ 0 From Bergen to Newcastle http://apriha.com/2008/03/09/from-bergen-to-newcastle/ http://apriha.com/2008/03/09/from-bergen-to-newcastle/#comments Mon, 10 Mar 2008 01:41:25 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2008/03/09/from-bergen-to-newcastle/ After Bergen, my next destination was the UK (specifically Newcastle) by way of the MS Queen of Scandinavia. The ~28 hour journey gave me a chance to enjoy the views of the North Sea and catch up on some homework.

Sunrise over the North Sea.

Doing some homework over a tasty all-you-can-eat seafood buffet.

MS Queen of Scandinavia at Newcastle’s port.

]]> http://apriha.com/2008/03/09/from-bergen-to-newcastle/feed/ 0 Bergen http://apriha.com/2008/03/09/bergen/ http://apriha.com/2008/03/09/bergen/#comments Sun, 09 Mar 2008 21:20:18 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2008/03/09/bergen/ In order to get better acquainted with the Norwegian culture, I utilized the CouchSurfing netvork to not only find a couch to sleep on, but also to meet a number of other CouchSurfers for conversation, drinks, and lefsa. Below are some photos from Bergen!

Brynjar and Julie (one of my hosts) playing in the leaves on our tour of Bergen.

Watching a concert in the underground Hulen concert hall.

Bergen, with more typical weather.

The (expensive!) nightlife in Bergen at Rick’s.

Brann, Bergen’s soccer team, won their first championship since 1963. So, there was a parade!

Brynjar and I cooking up some salmon pasta during my last night in Bergen.

Henriette (my other host), her boyfriend, and their cat after the salmon dinner.

]]> http://apriha.com/2008/03/09/bergen/feed/ 0 From Dublin to Bergen http://apriha.com/2008/03/09/from-dublin-to-bergen/ http://apriha.com/2008/03/09/from-dublin-to-bergen/#comments Sun, 09 Mar 2008 20:05:13 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2008/03/09/from-dublin-to-bergen/ Blah, sorry for the lack of posts. Time for the finale of Eurotrip II.

After Dublin, my next destination was Bergen, Norway after a (very) short night spent in Oslo. My objective of visiting Norway was to both get a taste of the scenery over the six hour train ride from Oslo to Bergen and then to experience the culture by hanging out in Bergen for a few days.

The fog that caused our Ryanair pilots to abort the landing in Torp, Norway before trying again a few minutes later. Quite alarming.

On the way to Bergen.

The glacier near Finse, which was the highest point on our way to Bergen (1222 meters).

The fjords near Bergen on an unusually clear day.

]]> http://apriha.com/2008/03/09/from-dublin-to-bergen/feed/ 0 Winter in Delft http://apriha.com/2007/12/22/winter-in-delft/ http://apriha.com/2007/12/22/winter-in-delft/#comments Sun, 23 Dec 2007 02:05:08 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/12/22/winter-in-delft/ The student life has kept me busy throughout December finishing up work for my classes. As such, I haven’t had much time to update my blog, and with three days left until Christmas, I’m going to have to postpone the finale of Eurotrip II until I return from Eurotrip III. I leave tomorrow for Germany to spend Christmas with Carsten and his family in Leipzig. After that I head to Munich to visit Verena and witness Andi and Huyen’s wedding. And after that, I fly to Spain for New Years to visit Ramón in Madrid and Bakio.

Today presented Delft residents with the perfect winter photo op. It was really beautiful, so before I leave again, I wanted to share some photos and a video. Have a very prettig kerstfeest en een gelukkig nieuwjaar (Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year)!!

Delft’s 600-year-old Oostpoort (Eastern Gate).

A partially frozen canal.

The Nieuwe Kerk (New Church).

Delft’s Christmas tree in the city center, in front of the City Hall.

The Oude Kerk from the tower of the Nieuwe Kerk.

]]> http://apriha.com/2007/12/22/winter-in-delft/feed/ 0 Hill of Tara and Newgrange http://apriha.com/2007/12/16/hill-of-tara-and-newgrange/ http://apriha.com/2007/12/16/hill-of-tara-and-newgrange/#comments Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:57:35 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/12/16/hill-of-tara-and-newgrange/ Since Dublin is relatively isolated from many of the traditional Irish destinations, I chose to spend my full day in Ireland visiting the nearby Boyne Valley and taking in the the countryside. Specifically, I joined a tour by Mary Gibbons that took us to the Hill of Tara and Newgrange.

The Hill of Tara dates to Neolithic times (~3000 BC). It’s most popularly known as serving as the seat of the Irish kings (~600 AD), and more recently (~1900) it was excavated by British Israelites who thought that the Ark of the Covenant was buried there. Currently (October 24, 2007), it’s basically just a hill.

Newgrange is part of the Brú na Bóinne complex (a collection of Neolithic chamber tombs). Built between 3300-2900 BC, it’s an UNESCO World Heritage Site that’s 500 years older than the Great Pyramid and predates stonehenge by 1,000 years. The Newgrange tomb was excavated and restored between 1962-1975, and it was discovered that on the Winter Solstice, the sun’s light illuminates the inner chamber for 17 minutes. I joined the tour group and squeezed through the entrance to see the inner chamber firsthand (no pictures allowed), and I entered the lottery for a chance to watch the Winter Solstice in person.

The view from the Hill of Tara.

Newgrange.

The view from Newgrange.

Megalithic art at the base of Newgrange.

The white quartzite restoration of the Newgrange facade.

]]> http://apriha.com/2007/12/16/hill-of-tara-and-newgrange/feed/ 0 Dublin http://apriha.com/2007/12/16/dublin/ http://apriha.com/2007/12/16/dublin/#comments Sun, 16 Dec 2007 16:56:47 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/12/16/dublin/ Based at Barnacles Hostel in the Temple Bar district, I spent three days touring Dublin and the surrounding area. I liked the city, and the people I met in the hostel made it easy to adjust to traveling solo again. Here’re some photos from Dublin.

The Temple Bar in the Temple Bar district.

Parliament Square at Trinity College.

The Ha'penny Bridge over the River Liffey.

Dublin from the Gravity Bar at the Guinness Storehouse.

Bedford Tower at Dublin Castle.

]]> http://apriha.com/2007/12/16/dublin/feed/ 0 Eurotrip II http://apriha.com/2007/12/10/eurotrip-ii-2/ http://apriha.com/2007/12/10/eurotrip-ii-2/#comments Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:35:12 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/12/10/eurotrip-ii-2/ From October 23 – November 3, I traveled solo on my second major trip through Europe. Over 11 days, I managed to visit four countries (Ireland, Norway, Scotland, and England), explore a monument older than the pyramids, experience an aborted plane landing, meet new people through CouchSurfing, sail across the North Sea, celebrate Halloween in Edinburgh, and spend a night on the streets of London. My goal is to have Eurotrip II blogged before Christmas.

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