Castle - Blogabond

Manobier Castle is a really well preserved castle in an idyllic setting by the sea in South West Wales.

It's a great day out for the kids. There is a really interesting tour around the castle and then you can hit the beach afterwards and chill out in the sun.

Prague, Czech Republic

I made it to Prague, Czech Republic yesterday after a long bus ride that can only be described as "epic." I left Amsterdam at 10:30pm and arrived in Prague at 2:30pm... My bus to Italy is even worse. On Friday (July 18) I have a 6.5 hour bus ride to Budapest, Hungary. Then on July 20 at 8:00pm I'm taking the bus from Budapest to Ancona, Italy. I'll arrive in Ancona around 2:00pm but then later that night I have an all-nighter ferry to Split, Croatia. It's more hectic and time consuming to do it this way, but it is considerably cheaper.

Now when you hear about the Czech Republic you probably think of the Soviet Union. And when you hear about the Soviet Union (or eastern Europe in general) you probably think of Buildings with huge holes in them and paint chipping off the walls, or something along the lines of these pictures:

While I did take those pictures in Prague, that's not what it looks like at all. Prague has surrendered to almost all European wars in order to preserve it's history. Prague was never bombed or anything so everything here is ancient. You can see huge golden tipped spires and cathedrals as far as the eye can see in all directions.

Today I took the metro to the Old Town Square and saw some of the sights there. The Astronomical Clock in the square was gigantic and very intricate. I even got the chance to walk up to the top of it. I also checked out the Salvador Dali exhibition they had going on in the square; Unfortunately I was unable to take pictures of the exhibit.

Here's the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn from the top of the clock.

Notice the gold on all the buildings.

Everything is very cheap here too since they don't use the Euro. A pint of premium Czech beer downtown cost me 22 koruns (pronounced crowns). That's like $1.51 American. The hostel I'm staying at has one of the priciest drink menus in town. Here I believe the same pint of beer goes for 46 koruns.

The day I arrived I was very hungry. I have been craving tacos for a long time now and I decided that an "authentic Mexican" Czech burrito would be a good substitute. And at 39 koruns from a local bakery, how could I resist? Well I now know why back home why there is Taco Cabana if you want a taco and Krispy Kreme if you want a donut. I also know why you don't see Mexican restaurants in the Czech Republic and why you don't see Czech restaurants in Mexico. Czech food is to Mexican food just like a goldfish is to a telephone pole.

It may look legit at first glance, but it's obviously not a burrito when you crack it open.

Also I tried a traditional Czech dish today. Goulash! I don't even know what to say about it or how to even describe it. It wasn't bad, but it was far from good. Interesting dish that's for sure.

Yo Andrew Minard, what it do?

written by

pathaley on July 16, 2008 from Prague, Czech Republic

from the travel blog: Eurotrip

tagged Castle, Prague, Czech, Praha, Goulash and Burrito

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Bangor, United Kingdom

On 19 January I finally made it to Wales! It rained all day, and during the bus ride to Bangor the rain turned into lots of snow flurries, which was amazing to watch, since I could also see the ocean (I never think of it snowing on the beach!)!

It turns out that I'm living in an international hall. My flatmates include David (from Germany), Sonia (from Spain), Simona (from Italy), Freddy (Ecuadorian from Chicago), Katrin (from Austria), Emma (from Oxford), and Georgina (from Manchester). We've all become friends, and helped each other with class schedules, finding out where to get our ID cards, and translating various words into English.

Polina, Katrin, Isabel, Hillary, Sonia

The first few days of the first week I spent in boring and slightly nerve-wracking orientation meetings and registration meetings. Instead of everything being digital, like at SU, we had to go to each school department individually and get a lecturer to sign their initials next to modules (classes) we wanted to take. Assuming everything goes according to plan, I will be taking:
Arthurian Literature
Intro to Medieval Studies: Heroes and Villains!
Practical Music Technology and
History of Punk Rock.
Classes start tomorrow and I'm pretty excited.
I'll be taking the English lit modules in the Main Arts hall, which they call the Hogwarts Building, as it looks like a clearer version of this:

Main Arts "Hogwarts" Building

Bangor is pretty small, and at first was quite cold and rainy, but it's been really nice crisp weather for the past two days, so we decided to walk to see some of the sights of Bangor. Apparently Bangor hosts the second largest Victorian pier in the U.K. and it is beautiful.

victorian pier

tea room on the pier

view of Wales from Pier

We also tried going to a nearby castle, which is apparently a fake castle that was built by an American, but when we got there it was closed!

fake castle

Tonight Georgina is cooking us a traditional English dinner called a Hot Pot, which is like stew with a pastry top on it. It smells really good!
Hwyl (Cheers)!

written by

outlawedwings on January 25, 2009 from Bangor, United Kingdom

from the travel blog: triple_strung_heart

tagged Rain, Castle, Travel, Pier and Bangor

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Malaga, Spain

\As we walk to the Alcazaba we saw this interesting Fountain and multiple horse drawn carriages passed us by.

Then we arrived at the Alcazaba, an ancient moorish palace from the 9th century. In front of the palace was a Roman theater shown in the picture. Here is a picture of my sister and I standing in one section of the castle and here is another picture of my sister fumbling with a no hands water Fountain.

Here's a picture of Daddy getting used to using a clothesline.

Manorbier Castle

Pembroke Dock, United Kingdom

Praha

Prague, Czech Republic

north wales

Bangor, United Kingdom

Around Malaga

Malaga, Spain

Heading South?