Pubs – Yoojin Cho

Frohe Ostern von Berlin!

How did I let this happen? Seriously? HOW COME I STILL HAVEN’T WRITTEN ABOUT MY FAVORITE WEEKEND TRIP? I blame it on the madness that was April – moving out, packing for Italy and studying for final exams – and May – pigging out on home-cooked meals, shopping with mom and enjoying the Texas sun.

Well, anywho… I did go to Berlin, Deutschland for the long weekend in April, the Easter weekend, and to this day, I love love love telling the story of how we almost ended up in Dresden, instead. Lesson learned: Always double check train’s destination before you hop on it, especially in a foreign country after you’ve been up since 2 a.m. to catch the 6 a.m. flight.

Leaving whatever happened at the Berlin Shoenefield Airport train station behind, Jack and I eventually made it to our hostel, located right next to Berlin Haupbahnhof station. Meininger was the biggest and the most modern hostel we stayed at the entire semester. While small hostels, such as the ones we found in Dublin and Sicily, have their own perks of cozyness, comfort and personal attention, big hostels are well-maintained and offer more big-group activities.

After we dropped off our backpacks, we began our German adventures with…THE FREE TOUR! The same deal as the ones in Dublin and Paris. I quickly found Berlin was full of interesting ironies. Brandenburg Gate, at least 300-year-old historic monument, stood right next to the all-glass, extremely modern Parliament building. The Holocaust Memorial, with no clear sign of what it’s supposed to represent, simply sat in the middle of the city. All in all, we saw numerous historic sights, ate almost too many sausages and fell in love with the German culture.

(Brandenburg Gate)

(Holocaust Memorial)

Since close to two months have already flown by since my trip to Berlin, I will actually make categories and lists of places I visited, food I ate, things I loved, etc. – with lots of pictures, of course!

First things first, FOOD & DRINKS. (I mean, are you surprised?)

1. Bratwurst: Yes, sausages. Why else would you ever visit Germany? Grilled perfectly – burnt a little outside but still tender and juicy inside. Moreover, I discovered something absolutely amazing called CURRYWURST. Jack was daring enough to try it first, but basically, it is perfectly grilled bratwurst cut into small pieces with curry sauce and curry powder on top. I know, sounds a bit weird. The taste, however, is superb. By far my favorite food discovery in Europe.

2. Berliner Pilsner: Great German beer. Regardless of what size beer you ask for, you will most likely end up with a huge stein.

3. Cheap Thai/Vietnamese Food: For only 3 euro, I had a big bowls of Vietnamese noodle for lunch. Then for only about 10 euro, I had a huge plate of Thai noodle for dinner. Yum!

(Sightseeing) ACTIVITIES:

1. Climbing to the top of the Parliament building for a gorgeous city view: One downside is you have to start lining up at around 7:45 a.m. for its 8 a.m. opening time. Multiple upside factors are amazing view and no need to pay to enjoy the view.

2. Pub Crawls: Truth – Berlin S-Bahn and U-Bahn operate 24 hours a day on weekends. Need I say more? Great night life – we went to all sorts of pubs/bars during our pub crawl. We started off at Zapata, an outdoor hangout place, went to Die Fisch (Yes, The Fish!), a hip dance-y bar, then moved on to a bro-ish club and finally, sorta Euro-trash club. So. Much. Fun. We also made friends from NY and Norway. Sweet deal.

3. Picnic at Museuminsel: By Museuminsel, I mean The Museum Island where all the major museums in Berlin surround a gorgeous green. By picnic, I actually mean Currywursts. On a warm afternoon, just try it. Couple of Currywursts and a couple cans of Berliner Pilsner!

[Sidenote: At the Museum Island, you can also visit Pergammon Museum, which houses ancient Greek statues and Babylonian architecture. You can also get student discounts!]

4. Oranianburg Daytrip: About an hour away on the U-Bahn, this site of former concentration camp is definitely worth a visit. We ended up spending an entire afternoon there. Not sure how to describe it in words, but you just learn so much and realize how wonderful it is to have your freedom, happiness and simply, joyful life.

Oh Berlin! What a fun city! Throughout the weekend, I also noticed Berlin was full of tourists – almost more than London! I was a bit thrown off by how many people spoke French and complicated Eastern European languages around me, but nevertheless, blended in just fine and had a great time.

If I ever get a chance, I definitely want to visit Frankfurt, Dresden (not accidentally this time) and Hamburg. And also, practice my German skills!

A Weekend in Dublin

My Goodness My Guinness! My trip to Dublin, in short, consisted of a lot of food, a lot of Guinness, a lot of walking and a lack of sleep. Now, does that count as an epic weekend?

Jack, Garrett, Christina and I somehow managed to leave at 2 a.m. to catch the night bus, N74, to catch the Easybus to Stansted Airport and finally to catch our flight to Dublin. So we started our first day in Dublin with a short nap at our hostel, Harrington House. I actually recommend this hostel to anyone who is visiting Dublin in the future. Even though it’s about 20 minutes of a walking distance from the center of the city, it is quite cozy, has en suite bathrooms and best of all, has the nicest reception lady ever. During the 20 minute walk to downtown, you’ll walk on Camden Street, which is one of main streets with many pubs and restaurants, so the walk really isn’t a big problem at all.

We started our Dublin excursion with a 3-hour walking tour of the city, led by a local Dubliner. (Thanks Garrett for finding out about this!) While 3 hours may sound daunting at first, the tour actually went by quickly, and by the end, we had walked around the entire city, seen all the major tourist attraction and learned a whole lot about the Irish history. I must say, the Irish struggle for independence was a long and gruesome one. But hooray! The Republic of Ireland stands today as an independent country – albeit a couple ongoing issues.

http://www.neweuropetours.eu/ That is the website for the tour company. They offer FREE tours for major cities in Europe. I definitely plan on going on these in Paris and Berlin.

So here are some highlights of food, places and drinks we absolutely loved:

Full Irish Breakfast at Copper Alley Bistro: It is very similar to the full English breakfast, except you get blood puddings, on top of the beans, the eggs, the sausages and the bacon. Not many people are familiar with blood puddings, and nor was I until I tried it (quite bravely) and enquired about the ingredients AFTERWARD. My conclusion on blood puddings – interesting texture, glad I tried it, probably won’t eat it daily in the future.

Dublin Castle, Trinity College, the Parliament, St. Stephen’s Green, the Ha’Penny Bridge: Those are some of the major sights we visited on our walking tour. Each place has a story about their independence movement or the Catholics vs. Protestants struggle.

Jameson Distillery: Now, who doesn’t love whiskey? A bit out of the way (so is the Guinness Storehouse), but absolutely worth the 15 minute walk. The guided tour lasts for about an hour, and it teaches you what kind of mixers go well with Jameson. Though I felt like the whole thing was a big, fat ad for John Jameson – the intro video is all about him and his fancy buckled shoes…, I enjoyed learning all about why Jameson is so special.

Fish & Chips at Leo Burdock: As you can see, it is the oldest Chipper in Dublin. For about €9, you can satisfy your hunger with the biggest cod and the thickest chips (fries). They don’t have any seating area, so during the day, you’ll see people lined up against the fence across the street, devouring their fish and chips. That’s exactly why we decided to try this place out and loved it. Also, the pub next door with an outdoor seating has a sign that says “DO NOT eat your fish and chips here.” That alone is a convincing evidence.

Temple Bar: Unfortunately, or fortunately?, there are no pictures from our pub crawl adventure. I can tell you, however, Temple Bar is a FUN area with many bars, coffee shops and so much Irish Spirit. Many pubs have live music, which makes it even more entertaining. Some we visited during our stay are Turkshead, the Purty Kitchen, Pravda and Czech Inn.

Guinness Storehouse: Man, oh man. Dublin is home to Guinness at its finest. All the pubs will serve the best Guinness you’ve ever had. One even lets you pour your own Guinness at your table! A must-see is the Guinness Storehouse, where you can easily spend three hours admiring the brewing process, the history and the Gravity Bar overlooking the city. While it is a self-guided tour, the exhibitions are very easy to follow, and the cafe on the 1st floor serves Guinness and Bailey’s cupcakes that makes a perfect mid-tour break. The tour eventually ends at the “sky” bar on the 7th floor and makes it the perfect ending to the 3 hour journey through the history of Guinness with a refreshing pint and a gorgeous view.

Clearly I absolutely enjoyed this fun weekend getaway to Ireland. Even though early morning flights doubled our exhaustion, being surrounded by loads of Irish spirit and Guinness definitely woke us up instantly. On the other hand, the steep price of EVERYTHING caught us by surprise. After all, it is considered one of the most expensive places in Europe.

But come on, how can you not love this?

My diet for the 3 days in Brussels = Waffles and Chocolate

On Sunday, I experienced the “Chunnel” for the first time. Chunnel = Tunnel + English Channel = Eurostar to continental Europe =My journey to Brussels, Belgium. As part of my European Business class (IP 405), we hopped on the train to go check out the capital of Europe. Really, not a big deal. 😉

This was my first weekend trip since I arrived in London, so needless to say, I was extremely excited. Not that I’ve run out of things to do in London, but the thought of escaping the cloudy, dreary, misty weather for three days seemed appealing.

Eurostar, the train with particularly comfortable seats, travels at 208 miles per hour, thereby reducing the travel time to only 1 hour and 25 minutes to Brussels and 2 hours and 30 minutes to Paris. The only time I’ve been to Brussels in the past was when I stopped by for about 3 hours while driving from Paris to Amsterdam. So spending 3 days this time was definitely a different, more fun and exciting experience.

When we arrived Sunday evening, I was at first disappointed to find everything closed at 7 p.m. Apparently, stores in Brussels like to close early on Sundays. We ended up rushing to the first restaurant we saw (The Cheesecake Cafe) for a quick dinner. After all, we were all starving. After a wonderful burger and a milkshake (YUM) we went on an adventure.

Brussels is a fairly small city. In fact, you can see everything you need to in less than a day. We got a Belgian waffle, obviously, and experienced a super-smokey Irish pub. Yes, an Irish pub in the middle of Brussels. With live bands. Walking out of the pub with my sweater reeking of cigarette smoke isn’t exactly my favorite activity, but I enjoyed hanging out for a few hours and listening to live bands.

Monday was filled with “educational” sessions at NATO and the European Parliament, and we ended the day at Delirium. Oh, Delirium. This place carries over 1,000 kinds of beer – their beer menu is a binder. Between about 6 of us, we had just about everything from cactus beer to honey beer. Definitely a must-see if you’re planning on visiting Brussels. http://www.deliriumcafe.be/. That is the website! Check it out!

And here are the pictures:

-Waffle #1!

-European Parliament

-Waffle #2! Obviously…

-Oh, and did I mention we acquire a DAS BOOT??? Really, NBD 😉

-And the last waffle of the weekend. Miss the waffles. Oh man.

Overall, what a great trip! My mouth still waters when I think about those waffles and loads of Belgian chocolates. 🙂

-Yoojin