Unusual travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God. - Vonnegut
Since I am keeping a prodigiously detailed journal of Chris' and my European trips (yes, keeping – I'm still in the process of writing it), I just thought I'd write this one LiveJournal entry for anyone who was still interested in listening to me blather on about them. It could also be useful in case I never do finish the journal, which is a possibility considering my pace. As everyone I’ve talked to about the trips has asked me, "What was your favorite?" and I didn't really have an answer, I'm organizing this entry in terms of superlatives. This entry covers three separate trips. On our first trip, we took a day tour of the lower Highlands of Scotland, spent a day in Edinburgh, and spent a day in York (in England, which I had already visited). The second trip, we traveled around Ireland, where we visited Dublin, Glenalough, Newgrange/Hill of Tara, the Erris area (where I did my masters research), Galway, and Cork. Our third trip was for three weeks and covered many of the major cities in Western Europe. We visited Paris, Bordeaux, Barcelona, Avignon, Florence, Rome, Venice, Vienna, Berlin, and Amsterdam.
Most unexpectedly favorite place: ( Barcelona )
Most historical city (ancient): ( Rome, Rome, Rome. )
Most disappointing (high expectations): ( Rome. )
Most disappointing (no expectations): ( Avignon. )
Most historical (modern): ( Berlin. )
Most oddly counter-cultural: ( Amsterdam. )
Most gastronomic: ( Bordeaux. )
Most artistic: ( Paris. )
Most beautiful (natural):( Western Irish Coast. )
Most beautiful (man-made): ( Venice. )
Biggest language barrier: ( Our hostel in Venice. )
Most livable: ( Vienna. )
Most desperate: ( Hitching from Ballycastle, Ireland. )
Most surreal: ( Herding sheep in Ireland. )
Most quaint: ( Pitlochry in Scotland. )
Most touristy but fun: ( Kissing the Blarney Stone. )
Most Just Plain Ancient: ( Newgrange. )
Scotland and York photos: http://oxford.facebook.com/album.php?ai
Ireland photos: http://oxford.facebook.com/album.php?ai
Continental Europe photos 1: http://oxford.facebook.com/album.php?ai
Continental Europe photos 2:
http://oxford.facebook.com/album.php?ai
Continental Europe photos 3:
http://oxford.facebook.com/album.php?ai
Most unexpectedly favorite place: ( Barcelona )
Most historical city (ancient): ( Rome, Rome, Rome. )
Most disappointing (high expectations): ( Rome. )
Most disappointing (no expectations): ( Avignon. )
Most historical (modern): ( Berlin. )
Most oddly counter-cultural: ( Amsterdam. )
Most gastronomic: ( Bordeaux. )
Most artistic: ( Paris. )
Most beautiful (natural):( Western Irish Coast. )
Most beautiful (man-made): ( Venice. )
Biggest language barrier: ( Our hostel in Venice. )
Most livable: ( Vienna. )
Most desperate: ( Hitching from Ballycastle, Ireland. )
Most surreal: ( Herding sheep in Ireland. )
Most quaint: ( Pitlochry in Scotland. )
Most touristy but fun: ( Kissing the Blarney Stone. )
Most Just Plain Ancient: ( Newgrange. )
Scotland and York photos: http://oxford.facebook.com/album.php?ai
Ireland photos: http://oxford.facebook.com/album.php?ai
Continental Europe photos 1: http://oxford.facebook.com/album.php?ai
Continental Europe photos 2:
http://oxford.facebook.com/album.php?ai
Continental Europe photos 3:
http://oxford.facebook.com/album.php?ai