Hello Dublin, Goodbye Ireland

Most of the fun of Dublin is the actual getting to Dublin, the coast is amazing:



Of course once you're already there, it's time to party!! :-) I certainly got my money's worth that night going to 10+ bars, this one having the best live band I'd heard in a long time!



Unfortunatly that was the only website friendly pic I have from the night, most of the rest is through the hungover eyes of the day after, including this one of the bar right next to the cheap and convenient hostel I stayed at (and used the bed for like only 4 hours before having to check out!):



Unfortunatly my quick foray to Ireland did not occur during Hurling season (a great Irish sport as brutal as hockey, which is of course why I love it!), however I did catch a game on TV and this chap downtown walking with a stick:



Phonix park right in the heart of Dublin is plroof that Dublin is the big-small city. The day was great and the view was even better:



More from the HUGE park:



A pretty sexy rental car if I do say so myself. Notice the Tim Hortan's sign in the background, it's at the Dublin Zoo now! Although only on weekends :-( and only with 12 euro admission :-( :-(



The south and north coast right inside/outside Dublin is great, I can't believe it didn't rain a single drop my entire stay here!



Dublin docks:



There's some cool small islands just 500-1000 meters off the Dublin city coast:



Ok, well some are a little farther away than that, but you get the point:



They've even got a mini-hill for quick hiking and great views, and with that I was off to say my farwells to Germany...



Tags: Ireland, Dublin, Coast, EuroRoss

Killkenny Without The 'H'

Having loved Cork/Blarney and the surounding so much we arrived in Killkenny a little later than expected. Combine that with the absurd darkness starting at like 4pm and you at least get cool church pics from the city:



The next day (no comments on the night before!) we hit the castle which is located right downtown. At first I wasn't so impressed, it's neither big, exotic etc. etc.:



...until you walk through the gates and see the other side! I couldn't believe my eyes, it was like walking through the mirror into Narnia or something! On one side you've got the center of the city and some rather inconspicuous looking castle wall... and on the other a forest oasis! I had to go in and out to check out how the grounds could possibly extend the way they do from where it's located! Wow, a shocker! (and extremely cool place for some spassieren!)



Of course the brewery is a must ;-)



It was starting to get dark and therefor time to rock up to Dublin for the final leg of the journey...



Tags: Killkenny, Ireland, Castle, EuroRoss

High Seat Bar

Mixing things up until I can get the last of the Ireland pics up, here's the gang sitting up top the seats at "high seat bar" downtown Stuttgart this past Saturday, teasing the locals and having a grand old time :-)



Who you talkin' bout' Willis!?!?



Gribley :-)



What's Timmy saying? Me Tarzan, you Jen ;-)



Can't beat Stuttgart for a good time! :-)

Tags: Stuttgart, Party, EuroRoss

Ireland Wrapup

I can't believe it's been a week already since I returned from Ireland! I'm still uploading pics from this past weekend when I realized there's so much more to get out there from the last trip, so without further ado, more of the unexpected from Blarney (totally worth the trip out), although it felt like there was something huge weighing me down ;-)



One is the loneliest number ;-) The match I was watching wasn't so popular in Ireland, anyways needed a short pit-stop for refreshment, and the bartender was cool :-)



When I got back to Cork I was just enjoying the skyline...



...when...



Crazy seeing a fire spring up like that out of nowhere! Anyways no lasting hard to the skyline :-)



Just outside Cork they've got an island on an interior bay, this is taken from just over the bridge:



The locals and tourists alike go to the island for a taste of the coast and the famous church there (which of course I totally can't remember the name for):



Sittin' on the dock of the bay...



Next, on to Killkenny!

Tags: Cork, Ireland, Blarney, EuroRoss

New Outlook Needs New...

New contracts, new fitness plan, new healthy diet, new outlook, new travels... new shoes :-)



Tags: Shoes, New, EuroRoss

Doughboys - Shine

Shine

I'm not alone.
I'm not alone.
Feel like I'm buried and obscured beneath,
this non-impressionable.

I'm not alone.
I'm not alone.
I'm like a one in a million faces,
bound to your front door.
And then you call.
And then you call...

Make me feel so bright.
Make me feel real and so white,
It's like I shine [x7]

Dull, dark is how I feel,
and to shine would be unreal,
and it's really no big deal.
Cus your eyes are bright enough,
your eyes are bright enough for everyone to shine,
It's like I shine [x7]

It's like I shine...

- Doughboys

Tags: Shine, Doughboys, Lyrics, EuroRoss, Montreal

Ich Bin Nich Ich

Meine Augen schaun mich müde an und finden keinen Trost
Ich kann mich nicht mehr mit ansehn, bin ichlos
Alles was hier mal war, kann ich nich´ mehr in mir finden
Alles weg - wie im wahn
Ich seh mich immer mehr verschwinden.

Ich bin nich ich wenn du nich´ bei mir bist
Bin ich allein
Und das was jetzt noch von mir übrig ist
Will ich nich sein
Draußen hängt der Himmel schief
Und an der Wand dein Abschiedsbrief
Ich bin nich ich wenn du nich´ bei mir bist
Bin ich allein.

Ich weiß nich mehr, wer ich bin
Und was noch wichtig ist
Das ist alles irgendwo, wo du bist
Ohne dich, durch die Nacht
Ich kann nichts mehr in mir finden
Was hast du mit mir gemacht
Ich seh mich immer mehr verschwinden.

Ich bin nich ich wenn du nich bei mir bist
Bin ich allein
Und das was jetzt noch von mir übrig ist
Will ich nich sein
Draußen hängt der Himmel schief
Und an der Wand dein Abschiedsbrief
Ich bin nich ich wenn du nich bei mir bist
Will ich nich mehr sein.

Ich lös mich langsam auf, halt mich nich mehr aus
Ich krieg dich einfach nich mehr aus mir raus
Egal wo du bist, komm und rette mich
Ich bin nich ich wenn du nicht...

- Tokio Hotel

Tags: Ich Bin Nich Ich, Tokio Hotel, Lyrics, EuroRoss

New Beginning

There are some things in life that move you beyond words:



A toast to the next greatest German hockey player! Congrats babe to you and your brother, amazing!!

Tags: Baby, Beginning, EuroRoss

WikiHow

WikiHow is a collaborative wiki focused on, what else, how to do things. It's pretty early in its development but there's already some great stuff there on Travel, Sports and other topics. I loved this pic scammed from the "how to plan a backpacking trip" entry :-)



Tags: Travel, wiki, wikihow, EuroRoss, Hiking

EuroRoss Kazakhstan Bound?

I've just installed a BlogMap for the site but I seem to have gotten the longitude and latitude wrong hense the EuroRoss site is listed as being located in Kazakhstan! I wonder if the Kazakhstani government will have as big a problem with me temporarily misrepresenting myself as they do with Ali G's Borat character ;-)



I'll try and correct this as soon as possible :-)

Tags: Kazakhstan, BlogMap, GPS, Borat, EuroRoss

Choice Pic of the Day

Today's Gadling photo of the day rocks, surfing in Norway. Get the entire pic sequence over on Flickr.



And in funny news, the entire cleaning staff at a Slovenian casino was fired after they realized some of the employees were using industrial strength vacuum cleaners to literally "suck" the money out of slot machines. Will wonders never cease!



Tags: Surfing, Norway, EuroRoss, Pic, Casino

EuroRoss Site Upgrades

I've been implementing some new tools and services to EuroRoss, hopefully you'll see (and like) the changes (although some like the trackbacks of the last post) will be transparent to most users.

Thanks for riding alone with EuroRoss!

Trackback Implementation

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

More To Blarney

Everyone knows about the Blarney stone, but what isn't talked about so much are the other things Blarney has to offer. I've already posted a pic of the rock-on! bars in the small village, but here I'd like to emphasize the amazing grounds surrounding the castle and town, perfect for a little bit of hiking and getting in touch with mother nature - the Irish way. The gateway to the forest path:



The picturesc scenerey made me feel like I was in a Robin Hood movie:



I was lucky with weather the entire 4 days in Ireland, not a drop of rain, even if it was just atouch frosty sometimes:



A very cool tree stump thrown. Here I am, king of the forest plotting what lands to invade... or was I wondering what was for diner? ;-)



There are plenty of wishing bridges, rivers and wells to throw in a penny for good luck. It was funny watching a couple boys roll up their pants and wade through the freezing cold water looking for a few silver pieces. I threw my lucky penny in downstream where I doubt anyone will be looking for it ;-)



There's so much more to Blarney than just kissing the Blarney stone. I was pleasently surprised how much Blarney had to offer and I'll definatly be hitting it again for a few more days!

XML Feed Update

I'm working on the site RSS/feed stuff, hopefully I haven't broken it for anyone who is already subscribed. If you subscribe to my feed please shoot me a comment so I know I didn't totally screw it up.

...and thanks for being subscribed! :-)

Ireland Part Deux

Not even 15km outside of Cork is the famous Blarney castle, home of the Blarney stone. It all sounded very touristy to me but you know what they say, when in Rome...

It started out good, more fantastic pubs which are litterally anywhere and everywhere in Ireland. Rock on!



The path to the castle:



The castle was really cool, surprisingly interesting (I had figured it'd be more of the same, and it is although different somehow). Here's the view from the battiments:



The landscape around Blarney is amazing:



Picture-esc:



Drumroll please... of course I had to kiss the stone for good luck. I'm not sure about when that luck actually kicks in, is it right away or stored up for a rainy day? Well I did have some great beers that night so it probably works intantly ;-)



No visit to any castle is complete without a visit to the dungeons, here's looking to the future:

Reflection

It's unbelievable that as the year winds down how much has stayed the same... and how much has changed.

Sometimes a cold beer with your best buddy helps put things into perspective. Here's to the future, I hope the next years are as painfully amazing as the last.