So we've been in Bordeaux, wine capital of the world, for the past 3 days now- and its been great! we arrived at about 2am on Thursday morning, found our way to the hostel, and got some much needed sleep after 36 hours of travelling. We spent the first day mainly getting a feel for the city, and planning out our next few days here. We saw a cathedral and climbed up a bunch of stairs to get to the top of the St. Michel Bell tower, which overlooked the whole city--gorgeous! The next day, we got up early, ate breakfast, and went to school...wine school! L'Ecole du Vin is Bordeaux's main wine school, and they offer an introductory wine courses on wine from the Bordeaux region. We learned about the history and types of wine, and the methods used to make it. They taught us about the different regions of Bordeaux, and what types of wine each region produces. Then yesterday, we went took a tour of two different vineyards and got to hear and see how they make their wines. I think that was our favorite part of Bordeaux-- the city of Bordeaux is great, but the countrysides where all of the vineyards are is just amazing.
Oh; and yesterday, before we saw the vineyards, we went to a park and Jon caught three fish. With his bare hands.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Ireland!
I know, its been a while since we've posted... but Ireland was amazing! here's the rundown of the highlights:
we were in Dublin for 2 days and had a blast. On our first day there, we got in pretty late, just in time to go to a pub for dinner (and a guinness). At the pub, we met this craaaazy old Irishman named Con. He and Jon bonded over their guinnesses, and Con told us all about the irish music playing. The next day, we went on a 3 hour guided tour of the city, led by a local college student. It was really cool, we learned about the history of the country and met some really great friends, too- a guy from Canada, a girl from australia, and then another girl, Kaaren, who we met on the ferry. Later that night, we all went out to a pub in the Temple bar area, and hung out and listened to local irish music.
Our next stop was Galway, on the west coast. Galway is the picture-perfect, green Ireland you think of, much more rural and homey than dublin. During our stay here, we saw the Cliffs of Mohrer, the Ailwee Caves, and our favorite- the Aran Islands. On the Aran Islands, after taking a ferry to get there, we spent the day biking around, and seeing tons of sheep, cows, an awesome old lighthouse, and the most gorgeous cliffs ever, right on the ocean. The cliffs were by an old Fort that protected the island way back in the day. They weren't even roped off, we were able to crawl up on our bellies and look straight down into the ocea, at least 200 meters down.
After that, it was back on the ferry/cruise ship, and back to france, which is where we're at now, on our way to Bordeaux.
we were in Dublin for 2 days and had a blast. On our first day there, we got in pretty late, just in time to go to a pub for dinner (and a guinness). At the pub, we met this craaaazy old Irishman named Con. He and Jon bonded over their guinnesses, and Con told us all about the irish music playing. The next day, we went on a 3 hour guided tour of the city, led by a local college student. It was really cool, we learned about the history of the country and met some really great friends, too- a guy from Canada, a girl from australia, and then another girl, Kaaren, who we met on the ferry. Later that night, we all went out to a pub in the Temple bar area, and hung out and listened to local irish music.
Our next stop was Galway, on the west coast. Galway is the picture-perfect, green Ireland you think of, much more rural and homey than dublin. During our stay here, we saw the Cliffs of Mohrer, the Ailwee Caves, and our favorite- the Aran Islands. On the Aran Islands, after taking a ferry to get there, we spent the day biking around, and seeing tons of sheep, cows, an awesome old lighthouse, and the most gorgeous cliffs ever, right on the ocean. The cliffs were by an old Fort that protected the island way back in the day. They weren't even roped off, we were able to crawl up on our bellies and look straight down into the ocea, at least 200 meters down.
After that, it was back on the ferry/cruise ship, and back to france, which is where we're at now, on our way to Bordeaux.
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