March 22 - Time spent closer to home

The last couple weekends I spent a bit closer to home in Juelich. It was nice to relax and regain my energy, as well as do a bit of exploring around Juelich/cities nearby. One Saturday I went to visit Burkhard (a friend who used to work with the UBC group) and his family in Bonn. They actually live in a very nice house in a very pretty little town just outside of Bonn, which has nice rolling hills, forests, and off in the distance the Siebengebirge – or 7 mountains. From Juelich, which is almost totally flat, you can't see any (real) mountains! Unfortunately I also couldn't see them in Bonn because the weather wasn't great and it was too foggy – but I heard they looked nice :). I had a nice visit with the whole family, and then we went into Bonn with Burkhard and his daughter Sophia to do some sightseeing there. As Sophie has lived most of her life thus far in Canada, she was very excited to speak English again.

We started at the university, which had some nice old buildings (which were once a castle, or at least belonged to some very important leader in the past..?), and then walked along the Rhein River. Apparently there are lots of castles on that part of the Rhein, but I also couldn't see those. I would really like to go back and visit and take a boat trip down the river to see them, and do a hike too. I hope I have time to! Afterwards we wandered down some cute old streets in town. I tried some currywurst for the first time and it was delicious! It's a sausage cut into small pieces with a ketchupy/spicy/curry sauce drizzled over top. Unfortunately I had to return to Juelich that night to meet up with some friends, so the visit was a bit short, but I really enjoyed it and hope that I can find time to return once again before I leave.

Sunday I biked up the river in Juelich to see a lake I was told about. It was really nice. I would love to live by a lake like that in the summer. It was surrounded by forest with a few little beaches scattered around it, and a nice path circled it. There were lots of birds (such as Canada geese - ???) and I saw a few rabbits too. It was a really nice area. I sat on one beach and read my book and had a picnic lunch. I was thinking it would be a nice place to go camping, and indeed I saw several tents there when I returned the following Friday after work. Oh how I wish I was here in summer! I would go swimming there every day after work! I should mention that the lake was actually a mining hole that was filled water – seems like a nice use of a mining hole!

This past weekend a few of us decided to check out the “mountain” /slag heap - Tagebau Hambach – the only larger hill that can be spotted across the horizon from Juelich. It is man-made and produced from all the dirt dug out of the ground beside it for coal mining. We were more excited about seeing the giant gaping hole, which you can actually see on google maps if you look east of Juelich. Since we don't have a vehicle and the others didn't have bikes, we walked there. It was about 1 hour to the bottom of the mountain. Then we followed a winding path up the mountain, which now is covered in trees and vegetation. It's kind of nice to see that destruction caused by mining could produce such a nice wildlife habitat. One friend at work had said that she went up the mountain but couldn't find the hole and it was getting dark so she left without seeing it, and we found that hilarious and laughed at her. However, once on the mountain, we totally understood how that could happen! The mountain was huge – not too tall but very wide – and paths wound all over it! The top was quite flat, so the “lookout” point only looked out over another expanse of flat land, and you couldn't see the hole. That's because they keep adding more and more dirt to the mountain, so it keeps getting wider! (In fact, they are continuing to expand the hole and mountain, and in order to do so, they are relocating entire towns!!!)

Since our original plan was to see the hole, we set out for another hour of walking just to get to the edge of the mountain. We walked past a number of hunting...tower like things, made of boards precariously nailed together. We didn't see any animals though. Finally we arrived at a few dirt roads that looked less traveled. Two roads had signs saying access was forbidden, but one didn't, so we followed that one. We ended up in a lunar/Mars like landscape with heaping mounds of dirt, which stretched on for several hundred barren metres. From then we went off road - with the edge in clear sight, we climbed over the mounds of dirt until we could see the giant machine they used to dig up the ground on the other side, and eventually we came to a lookout where we could see the hole. It wasn't as deep as I expected (although I have been informed that it's at least 300 metres deep), but it was vast and very interesting. We realized we definitely weren't supposed to be there, because walking to the edge on these mounds of dirt probably wasn't the safest! However, we had seen what we came to see, so we were happy. On the way back we saw dark clouds looming in our path, so we stopped for a break in a hut. Fortunately in our 15 minutes sitting there we completely avoided some absolutely pouring rain, and after it stopped we continued on our way. We saw an enclosure containing the ancestors of goats, which look like a cross between deer and goats. I have to check what they were called. We also saw giant ant hills, which were covered by man-made pyramid enclosures. 5 hours after we had left Juelich, we FINALLY returned, exhausted and sore-footed! It was a really interesting adventure though!

March 6, 2012 - Ireland

Last weekend was the last crazy weekend before a much-needed break from travel, and the destination was...Ireland! A friend Mike and I met in Australia, Keith, was my excellent host for the weekend. He picked me up from the airport and then we drove to Mullingar to meet another friend of ours, Clive, who lives in a house there with several other guys. Right from the get-go, I was greeted with Irish fun-loving friendliness and sense of humour, and immediately got along with all the guys in the house. One friend of theirs was a boxer, and they were joking around, impersonating the gypsy boxer Brad Pitt plays in Snatch..I found that amusing (excellent impersonation!) and interesting to discover that Brad Pitt actually spent several months living with the gypsies in Ireland to learn that accent. Just thought I'd share that tidbit.

That night was Clive's brother's birthday, and apparently friends' birthdays in Ireland are very serious occasions, and they party very hard. “Can only handle one birthday a month, otherwise you need to combine them.” And a good party it was. We went out to a club, where I was slightly disappointed to find out that although smoking is banned in most of the club, there's a big smoking room that has tables and seats and is basically just like a bar...so due to the fact that all my friends there smoke, we got to spend the entire evening in there :S. Boo. Also, the other part of the club was quite empty!! Regardless, it was a really great time. And thanks to the vodka Red Bulls and excellent musical talent of all the guys (they all play in bands), we were up to 7am hanging out and singing/playing music in the house after the club. At 1 pm when we woke up the next day, almost everyone was still asleep!




Then Keith and I made our way west to the town he lives in with his parents, Roscommon. On the way I saw a lot of beautiful green Irish countryside, with rolling hills and deciduous trees covered in ivy, farmland with sheep and cows, and a few lakes and rivers. The amount of ivy that coated the trees and forest floors made the whole place seem magical, although I felt sorry for the trees. We stopped at a few places on the way, including Carrick-On-Shannon (a town on the Shannon River), which was a very cute town with lots of little shops and a pretty riverside. There I saw the smallest church in Ireland, which was just a bit larger than a shed and built of old stone, and surrounded by buildings which towered over it. Inside were a couple of very old tombs. We went for a walk along the boardwalk at the riverfront and saw some interesting pillars which rose out of the water, and had strange string formations on the top. We wondered what they were, until we heard some eerie harmonies coming from them when the wind blew – very cool!

Next stop was Forest Park, which was a large section of forest beside a lake which had a lot of outdoor activities, including zip lining, hiking trails, and docks for boating. In the middle of the lake was a cool little castle – unfortunately, you needed a boat to get there. There were actually a few interesting old stone buildings/building remnants scattered about the area, including the remains of an old church and a tower which rose out of the water at the edge of the lake. I really felt like a was immersed in a once-medieval landscape, and tried to imagine what it was like hundreds of years ago. I went for a walk along a path through the forest by the lake and found a cool little hobbit-like hole. Inside were old stone steps that lead to a gate, which looked onto darkness and a deep pit. I'm not sure what it was. We also stopped to see “the man on the horse”, a statue of a man on a horse at the top of a lookout beside the highway, where you could see all the gorgeous countryside surrounding. I also saw an old stone abbey, which was being rebuilt/fixed up, so unfortunately I couldn't actually go inside.

In Ireland I really felt like I could imagine the history of the place, as old building remains which looked to be from medieval times were scattered throughout the countryside, and many family farms which were passed down through tons of generations still remained. I was really excited to find out that my friend lived with his parents on one of these farms!!! We had to drive part of the way on a dirt road to a little house surrounded by green grassy land and bogs, and upon exiting the car I was greeted by a VERY CUTE one year old puppy, Ellie, who I made friends with instantly. Keith's family raises cattle, although it is more of a hobby farm which they keep for tradition. Even though you can sell a cow for 2000 EUR, the cost of raising it is actually more. Keith's parents were super nice and welcoming. His dad's accent was very strong, however, and I often didn't understand him!



That night was my first real Irish pub experience, and it was almost complete with a fresh pint of Guiness, although missing the traditional Irish live music :(. Keith, his friend Dec, and I went to the tiny local pub in Roscommon called “Into the West”, although all the locals call it the Sheep Walk. It was quite small inside, with a cozy fire and little booths. I thought I wouldn't like Guiness, but it was actually quite good. It was very different from normal beer – filling and almost creamy. Apparently the pouring of the beer can really affect the taste, and Keith said this particular pub does an excellent job. The glass was filled about ¾, and then left to sit, and then filled again, with careful attention to the foam on the top. Then it had to sit for about 5 minutes longer before being brought over to the table, where you let it sit again before drinking!!

The next morning, Keith's mom made us a traditional Irish breakfast – consisting of eggs on pancakes, Irish bacon, sausages, beans and (duh duh duuuuhhh) black pudding. I was absolutely dreading trying black pudding from the moment Keith told me about it and showed me in its original form in the fridge – a black sausage formation, coated in plastic. I was also really not looking forward to find out what it was made of. However, I did try it, and I actually didn't mind it. It just tasted like the juice from meat, and barley (which gave it a crunch). It was served in little round slabs, which were cooked until they were a bit crunchy on the outside. I found out later that it was made of pig's blood mixed with bread crumbs, barley, etc. Yuck. I actually expected even worse though, so I didn't regret trying it. We also had Irish tea with milk and sugar, which was very delicious. Keith's mom gave me some tea bags to take home with me.

The remainder of the day was spent driving back across the country to Dublin so I could catch my plane. I think I really had (besides the lack of live Irish music in the pub) the perfect Irish experience.


Of course, it's never easy for me on the way home from these trips...although my flight went smoothly and I was on the platform with 8 minutes to spare, the last train I was supposed to catch back to Juelich was delayed by 90 minutes due to a “signal box malfunction”, so I missed my connection and had to spend the night with my friend Des in Dueren :(. I am forever losing faith in German engineering and trains.

Monday I went straight to work from Dueren, and then after work straight to Dusseldorf to see a Deichkind concert. It's a funny German band with hilarious lyrics that Christian showed me several years ago. Unfortunately I can't understand the words, but I really like the songs anyway, and I convinced the American at work, Michael, and Des to go with me. This time I got a ride with someone from work so that I didn't have to deal with the trains, and I arrived an hour earlier than the other friends from work I was meeting there were arriving, so I got to do some exploring. I walked along the Rheine River to the modern part of town – MedienHafen (media harbour) – which had VERY COOL modern architecture/buildings that overlooked the harbour. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me. I then walked towards the old part of town, which had maze-like cobble stone streets, old buildings, cute little stores, restaurants and breweries. I met Michael for dinner (he was late because his train didn't show up – I'm starting to see a trend here...) and we had Spanish tapas which were absolutely delicious. Of course, we took our time being used to Canadian/American concerts and arrived an hour late for the show...to find that Deichkind was already performing for a while!!!! :( :( The rest of the show was AMAZING but only lasted for an hour and a half. There wasn't even an opener!!!