Love Is Everywhere!

LIKE ALWAYS, MY PICTURES CAN BE FOUND AT www.flickr.com/photos/jamierushell. I know I haven't written in a really long time, But I did say in my first blog that I make no promises as to my consistency! After Prague I went to Bratislava, Slovakia - it's a beautiful historical city, but really small. I did get a free private tour, though! I was out in the town center and met a guy originally from Nigeria who grew up in the UK. He's been studying history in Bratislava for two years, so he took me all around the city and actually knew most of the stories behind all the sights. And as far as random nights go, I think Bratislava holds the title so far! A group of about 12 of us went to a shisha/"chill out" bar one night and just as we were getting ready to leave a waitress and bartender came out and put a giant loaf of buttered bread with chopped onions (a Slovakian thing, I guess?) on our table and gave us each a free shot. Next, a guy wearing wooden clogs came around and served everyone pickled sausages out of a wooden wagon! We saw a sign that we think explained what it was all about, but of course it was in Slovakian so we still have no clue. But that just adds to the randomness, I guess! My next stop was Ljubljana, Slovenia (pronounced loob-lee-ana), where I met a group of about six guys travelling the heavy metal festival circuit through Europe. Ljubljana is another small historical town really only known for it's palace. The great thing is part of the palace is open through the night, so you can get great views of the city and the mountains in both light and dark. There was a beautiful lightning storm one night, too! It had been so hot before that I was just excited to see rain again. I also found another artist squat turned bar, similar to Tacheles in Berlin, but the artists didn't live there anymore. There was a small stage inside for live bands, but most of the tables were outside, among the art. The outer wall of one building was all done in mosaic using broken dishes, bottles, and jars, and also had a miniature David-like sculpture. The other buildings had all different styles of decoration: painting, sculpture, graffiti, mosaic - you name it. I didn't stay long in Ljubljana before moving on to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, where I had my first couchsurfing experience! There were two people who lived in the flat, and three of us were surfing there, so there were lots of people to meet. While we were there one of the other surfers and I met up with two local girls who had previously surfed with him. They showed us all around the city before taking us out for a traditional Croatian lunch; it was more or less a kebab, but still really good. Later I took myself to see the new Harry Potter movie, because I felt like I was missing out - I still haven't read the new book yet! I took a night train to a beach town called Split and didn't realize until I got there that I'd left my wallet at the train station in Zagreb - I don't recommend that anyone do that. I did lose my debit card but luckily I still had my credit card, so it was only a minor hassle. I stayed in a great little guesthouse while in Split, where my roommates were a Chilean girl, three turtles that live in the garden, and a baby lizard who hung out on the wall by my bed. I did a bit of sightseeing in Split - the city center is built inside the ruins of the old castle and castle walls. For the most part, though, I sat at the beach and didn't do anything worthwhile with my time - which is exactly what I had gone there to do! I moved on from Split to Munich, Germany, where all my plans changed completely, and still are changing! I was going to stay for about a week just to relax a bit, but once I got to the Tent, an ex-hippy commune turned campground just outside the city, I quickly decided to stay for three weeks. I met some of the most amazing people there, lots of whom were staying the whole summer, or at least a few weeks. Almost immediately I met an American named Sarah, and two Lauras - an English one and an Australian. There were loads of cool guys there, but I think we all kind of missed having "girlfriends" so we all got pretty close. Then there's Dominik, a legend at the Tent. He was born and raised in Germany, but fancies himself Irish. He speaks fluent English with a perfect Irish accent, and knows most Irish folk songs better than the Irish do. For some reason even he can't seem to explain, he's fallen in love with the Irish culture. He's the type you either love or you hate, though - he's a punk with a red mohawk who wears a kilt all the time and comes off as pretty extreme. You can't help but be friends with him, though! We had a campfire every night and nearly always someone had a guitar, and I got to introduce s'mores to all the non-Americans! While in Munich I was able to get a job handing out flyers for the free bike tour, which was great because it gave me something to do during the days and put a bit of extra cash in my wallet. If anyone's going to Munich soon, ask me for the spiel about how great the tour is! Of course I did some sightseeing as well - Munich especially, but Bavaria as a whole has a lot of really interesting history. I'm finding I like Germany more and more every time I learn something new about it. Aussie Laura and I made a day trip to see Neuschwanstein Castle - the famous one that the Disney castle is modeled after. We didn't go inside, but we hiked all around it and saw lots of gorgeous views of the castle and the surrounding area. We were also able to hike to the bottom of a waterfall flowing straight from the Alps. I don't know if it was just my imagination, but when we filled our bottles, it really was the best water I've ever tasted! My favorite place in Munich, I think, was the Death Park. It's a children's park near the campsite that children should never be allowed to play at! All the toys spin or rock or swing or do something to make you fall off them - it's near impossible to leave the Death Park without a wound and a story to go with it. One of my last days in Munich I woke up with no plans, but feeling a bit drastic. By the end of the day my hair was black and purple and I had a shiny new nose piercing! I'm not really sure what happened - it started with purple tips for the Love Parade, and one thing just let to another. I'm quite happy with my changes, though. When it was finally time to leave the Tent I couldn't believe the time had gone so quickly - I'd just gotten there! But now I had someone to travel with: an Australian named Christina who'd been at the Tent for about a week. She came with me to the Love Parade in Essen, Germany, where this year's theme was "Love is Everywhere". That was their way of flipping the bird to Berlin, who's been trying to get rid of the parade for years. Essen was also my second couchsurfing experience - and it was even better than the first. We stayed with a guy named Gunther, who showed us all around the city and introduced us to some of his friends. I don't think this year's Love Parade lived up to the reputation it had in Berlin, but it was still absolutely fantastic! We got there early and people watched until the music started, then we walked the parade route for a while dancing behind all the different floats. There was nowhere to sit down (Essen's one major flaw that Berlin didn't have), so Christina and I went home to rest for a bit before going to the main stage for the final show. We hadn't been meeting many people until we got the idea (or rather, stole the idea from two German guys) to make a Free Hugs sign, and we were suddenly so popular! We met lots of locals to dance with for the finale, which was a great show. Blue Man Group even made a surprise appearance! After being in Munich my plans to stick to Eastern Europe fell through, so Christina and I went to Brugge, Belgium after the Love Parade. My first time travelling everyone told me I had to go to Brugge because it was so beautiful and amazing. It was beautiful, but I think my expectations were a bit high. I found it pretty small and touristy; Belgium is famous for it's waffles and fries, though, so of course we had to indulge in he local delicacies. A group of us from the hostel did meet some locals while there, and a few of us got a (pretty bad) tour of the city that consisted of things like "this is where I went to school till I was 8" and "this is the intersection where I fell off my bike and broke my arm once." After two days in Brugge, the next was Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, which so far is one of my favorite cities. It's a student and artist city, with so much see and do! We spent an entire day going to different art galleries and quirky shops. We even attended an art show opening party, but didn't feel posh enough to stay long. We spent another day exploring the city looking for street art - and there's heaps to be seen! We found a few different "series" of stickers that we followed all over town, and we saw spray painted shoes hung up all over the city! They were all brand new k-swiss shoes, that had been painted black and were strung up on signs, posts, bike racks, or whatever else they would stay on. Naturally, I stole a pair as a souvenir. We also got to see a skateboard/BMX/breakdancing competition, which was something random and out of the ordinary to do. Christina and I came to Amsterdam the other day, where we're staying at another campsite outside the city, and have been searching for more street art. Tomorrow, though, we go our separate ways! She's still decided between France and Spain, and I'm flying back to Ireland (but to the North this time) to visit my friend Damon, who was a staff member at the Tent - I just can't get away from my Munich friends!

Happy Birthday to Me!

AS ALWAYS, ALL OF MY PICTURES CAN BE FOUND AT www.flickr.com/photos/jamierushell
I've always said that Prague is my favorite city, and it's still up there on the list, but it just lost it's title to Berlin. This was my third time to Berlin, and every time I go I find something else to do and learn something new about the city. I took a bike tour one day that shows you all the "major" tourist sites and there's so much culture and history, but it's all so recent! You can talk to people who remember when the wall fell and you can still tell the difference between east and west Berlin. I also took an alternative Berlin tour, which I think is something everyone should do if they make it to the city. It shows you so many things you would completely miss otherwise! We saw a lot of local graffiti artists - did you know that Berlin has both the longest (Berlin wall East Side Gallery) and the biggest (Tacheles - google it) graffiti canvases in the world? We happened upon a punk protest/sit-in (in case you ever need to know, the first step to world wide revolution is beer) and saw the Turkish slums - they literally live out of Soviet trucks and vehicles that had been abandoned! And almost next door the Space Beach that I always tell people about is a Reggae beach called Yaam that's way better than Space Beach! There was so much more I wanted to see, too, that I didn't get the chance to. That's ok; it just means I'll have to come back again. I got to Prague the day before my birthday sick as can be - with seriously red and swollen tonsils, a pounding headache, and a fever that was sending me from hot flashes to chills and back again. My first two days, including my birthday, were spent lying in bed feeling sorry for myself. I did make it to the hospital my third day, where I was seen by a very nice nun who spoke no English whatsoever. With the help of charades and an interpreter who was "not so premium with the English" (if you've ever seen or read "Everything is Illuminated", he reminded me of that guy) we determined that I had strep throat and did manage to get me some antibiotics. Since then, Prague has been grand, but it has lost a bit of it's magic for me, I'm afraid. I decided to officially change my birthday this year to Friday the 13th, and my new friend Suzanne came out to help me celebrate. The plan was to start with a quick drink at a bar called the Shadow Cafe across the street from the hostel and then go to the town square, but when have I ever been one to stick to my plans? We ended up meeting a group of English guys over on holiday, and one of them was celebrating his birthday, too. After a few drinks at Shadow, we moved on to Cafe Ujezd, the bar two doors away, where we stayed for the rest of the night just having a good laugh. When we realized it was getting light out, Judge, Gaz, Laurie (3 of the Brits), Suzanne and I walked down to Charles' Bridge for sunrise, which was absolutely beautiful - and that's the only time you can see the bridge empty of tourists. But of course, that's when my camera had to die on me - I'll have more photos once other people send me theirs. I have been seeing the sights while I'm here, but it's been ridiculously hot so much of my days are usually spent lounging in the shade at the park or with my feet in a nearby fountain. The old town square is really beautiful, and the astrology clock is worth seeing - all these figurines come out and dance around, and a skeleton tolls the bell. It's actually a bit underwhelming, but when you think of it in the context of how technological it was for it's time, it really is quite impressive. Tomorrow I'll be going to see the bone church just outside of Prague - a church who's inside is decorated with the actual bones of 40,000 people! Then it's off to Bratislava in Slovakia! I haven't a clue what there is to do there, but i"ll let you know when i find out!

Green Acres is the Place to be...

ALL OF MY PICTURES CAN STILL BE FOUND AT www.flickr.com/photos/jamierushell. I have more photos, but I've run out of uploads for June - the rest will follow in July.
So I don't think I'll ever live on a farm, but I'm quite enjoying my stay here at Ardagh Castle Goat Farm. Don't let the name mislead you - all that's left of the castle is a stack of stones almost completely overgrown with grass. The property is still gorgeous, though, with your typical Irish rolling green hills. My host is a great woman named Judy who manages the farm only with the help of WWOOFers like myself; how she does it is a mystery to me. Aside from caring for 8 female goats, 1 to-frisky-for-his-size male, and 3 "kids", she also makes cheese from their milk, keeps chickens, a boarding kennel, and rents out a cottage (a converted dairy cow stable) to holiday makers. On top of constantly being busy, she has to retrain and put up with inexperienced workers every time a new WWOOFer comes in. I wouldn't have the patience for it all!
Judy's house is a beautiful one that had been abandoned for over 20 years before she took it on as a project - inside she found old furniture, lots of garbage, and a shrine to the pope amidst a chimney full of crows, a house full of sparrows, and a balcony full of honey bees. Over the next 2 years she turned it into a livable place and working farm again. In the picture you see, the house on the left is Judy's, the small building in the middle is the creamery where the goats are milked, and on the right is the cottage that used to be the cow shed. To the right of this is the vegetable garden and the tiny white building almost covered by the hedge is the chalet where I sleep.
Mornings and evenings are spent milking goats and walking dogs - both more time consuming than you would expect. The days are filled with whatever else needs to be done, be it battling the stinging nettles in the garden, or mending hay racks; and I can muck out an entire goat shed in no time flat! I also get to trap magpies - as cruel as it sounds, I quite enjoy that job only because I know what a nuisance they are! And the trap is the greatest invention I've ever seen! I was the only WWOOFer my first week here, which can get a bit lonely working during the day, but since then a Frenchman named Laundre has come and this week we're expecting a full house - a Spanish guy, 2 French girls, and a German couple. I mistakenly made the comment that there won't be anything to do and in return I got a list of projects to be finished this week. That will teach me to keep my mouth shut!
I walked down to the Lough Ine (pronounced Lock Hyne) on my last day off; it's a saltwater lake that meets the ocean over a narrow rapid. There's a giant hill you can hike up for an absolutely fantastic view of the area. On 2 sides all you see is ocean and rolling green hills with farms and cows. The sailboats on the water look like little toys that are barely moving. Another great place to go is Cape Clear island, a 45 minute ferry ride from Baltimore. It's a tiny island with not much to do - you don't need more than a few hours, but it's worth seeing. It's got great walking trails and beaches comparable to some in Seattle (you Californians would still call them fake beaches), and the views are incredible. Overall, South Cork is a quiet are and the people are great. Again, Not the type of place I think I'll end up, but perfect for a quiet holiday.

Oh how easy it is...

ALL MY PHOTOS CAN BE FOUND AT www.flickr.com/photos/jamierushell

How easy it is to re-adapt to the traveller lifestyle. It's a constant whirl of new people, new places, lots of sights, and exhaustive amounts of walking - all while running on as little sleep as possible to stay on your feet. I love it!

New York in 12 hours really isn't very interesting. I definitely want to go back, but once airport and transport times are factored in, I had just enough time to glance at one sight before dashing off to the next one. I started in Times Square after meeting another Seattleite named Ralph on the subway. He kept claiming to know this great breakfast cafe but it didn't seem to exist, so we settled on bad omelets instead. Other than shopping, there's really nothing to do in Times Square except to marvel at the number of people that can fit in such a small place. I was able to nap in Central Park for a short while, which was much needed - I hardly slept on the plane at all. I also got to see ground zero, which was kind of eerie. I could picture people running through the streets I saw on TV and couldn't even imagine what it must have been like. The monument they're building is going to be called the Freedom Tower - who's surprised? I'm not anti-American in any way, but aren't we going a little overboard on this whole freedom-this and freedom-that name thing? Maybe it's just me, but I think it's too much.

I got to the hostel in Dublin at 9am, but I couldn't check in till 2, so I ventured out in the same pajamas I'd been wearing for 2 days, counting down until I could shower. When you start to smell yourself, you know you have a problem. If you don't know much about Irish history, it would be worth reading up on - or rent the movie Michael Collins. I visited Kilmainham Gaol, which started out as the first (unsuccessful) rehabilitation jail in Ireland, but eventually became the place where most political prisoners were held, and a lot of them executed. I know almost nothing of Irish history and I thought it was a really interesting place to be able to see. Being as this is my third trip to Dublin, I've already seen the sights I want to see and this time around I've done a lot of lounging around at St Stephens Green and meeting other travellers. I love to sit and people watch, especially when you get snippets of conversation - you can sit and ponder what they're actually talking about. My favorite snippet I've caught so far went exactly like this: "ok so now this vagina has balls..." hmm the jokes that could be told...

Anyhow, my roommate Lucy and I went out on a pub crawl the other night, where we met 4 guys from another hostel - the Canadians Richie, Gorp, and Rouie (rhymes with Louie), and the Californian George. It was Brazil night at the last bar we went to - there was a band playing traditional Brazilian instruments, but it was still dance music, and a kind of bad DJ with a hat that made him look like Kevin Federline - I tried to steal it but he wouldn't let me keep it :( I'll dance with anyone who wants, but only if they don't touch me - I need my bubble and I wasn't getting it at this place. Finally I got sick of pushing people away, so I jumped up on the stage and danced with one of the band members. He tried to teach me a Brazilian dance, but I think I just embarrassed myself in front of a bar full of people. I'm cool with it though because who else gets to say they learned to dance to Brazilian music in an Irish bar, embarrassing or not!

Tonight I'm venturing to Trim in county Meath to visit my friend Yvette - and Yvette is always a good time! I get to go to a real Irish pub - not the mainstream touristy pubs you find all over Dublin. And after that, it's off to the goat farm! Wish me luck and I'll let you know how my adventures in cheese making go.

Cheers!

Welcome to my blog

So I feel like I should be starting my blog by now, much like I feel like I should be doing a lot of things I haven't yet in preperation for my trip. I'll most likely end up procrastinating with a lot of things I shouldn't, but half the fun is the last minute decisions, right?

People ask me if I'm excited for my trip, and my answer is always 'of course I am!' Then people ask me if I'm scared, and my answer is always 'not at all.' In reality, though, I'm scared shitless! I don't know what I'm getting myself into, or what's going to go wrong, but the thought of regretting not doing what I've dreamed about for years scares me more than anything else. How many people have you ever heard that said "man, I wish hadn't spent that summer in Australia!" or "volunteering in Africa - that was a waste of my time!" So off I go, to meet whoever I can meet, and experience whatever I can, and become really aware of the world around me. I know that I'm going to have great times, and I also know that there will be days when I want to sit down and cry and catch the next flight home - but that's all part of the adventure.

I don't have much to say at this point, but now I've established my place to tell people about my adventures - I make no promises, but I'll try to keep it updated reguarly.