London

 

Dublin

Dublin doesn't quite fit the mold of most other European cities.  However, what it lacks in grand historical architecture and royal circumstance, it makes up for with its welcoming atmosphere and pub culture.  There's no Eiffel Tower or Colosseum but you will feel right at home the minute you step off the plane and into one of Dublin's many traditional pubs.  Its therefore no mystery why some of the main attractions in Dublin are the breweries. The most popular being the Guinness Brewery, which is a mecca for many people visiting Dublin.  I took a tour of the old Guinness Storehouse and it was quite impressive.  The highlight is the "Gravity Bar" which is a circular glass bar on the 9th floor with 360 degree views of Dublin. The view is great, and the free Guinness is even better. 

I also took a tour of the old Jameson distillery which lacked the great view of the Guinness Brewery, but still involved free alcohol.  And they basically use the whole tour to tell you how much better Jameson is than Jack Daniels.

I ate dinner one night in one of the most unique bars I have ever found, as it was formerly a church.  Aptly named "The Church" it is probably the best representation of what the Irish love: Catholicism and Alcohol.  Although usually not at the same time.  The main sanctuary holds the bar, the choir loft is an upscale restaurant, the basement is a night club, and the courtyard is a cafe.  You can eat your dinner and enjoy a drink underneath the large stained glass window, and sit in some of the old wooden pews. 

I flew out of Dublin on Sunday July 3rd and found it hilarious that a huge banner surrounded by streamers and balloons in the Dublin Airport read "Happy Birthday America!" At least I got a taste of fourth of july... in Dublin. 

The famous gate to the Guinness Brewery.

 

The Gravity Bar on top of the Guinness Brewery.

Its alive inside.

The Jameson Distillery.

Sweden

I could not have asked for a better time in Stockholm: gorgeous weather, wonderful sights, and great food.  Stockholm is divided into the old town and the new town. The new town boasts the Royal Palace, Parliament, and a myriad of old churches and various other sights. The new town holds shopping malls and Sweden's business and financial center.  I really liked Stockholm because it is a wonderful city, but not as touristy as the likes of Paris etc.  Stockholm is also an interesting city as it sits in the Swedish archipelago, and is therefore a series of islands. It has many harbors, and a bustling cruise ship industry.  The easiest way to get around the city is the ferries that run around the harbor.  Stockholm also has an interesting lack of suburbs. You either live in greater Stockholm, or you live in a rural lakeside cabin. A twenty minute boat ride outside the city lands you in a very rustic series of islands with a totally different feel.  It is a nice contrast to have so close to the bustling city.  Swedes are very into summer lake homes, and apparently nearly everyone has one somewhere in the country.  They embrace the summer lakeside lifestyle.  After spending a day in Stockholm I took a 2 hour ferry  to a remote archipelago island called Grinda. Grinda has roughly 80 residents, and lots of livestock.  The only, and I mean only, amenities on the island are two restaurants.  I had lunch there and then took a hike around the island on one of the trails in the nature preserve.

My dining experience in Stockholm was easily the best I have encountered on my trip thus far.  The first night I had amazing Swedish Meatballs (although not as great as my Swedish Grandmother can make them).  The second night I had cheek of Ox with a Bearnaise sauce and puréed  potatoes, which was probably the best meal I have every had.

Old Town Stockholm from the top of the Town Hall Tower.

Guard at the Royal Palace

Changing of the Guards at the Royal Palace.  Very impressive show including about 50 soldiers and a royal band. 

The winding street of old town.

The Nybroplan area of the New town.  A very ritzy part of Stockholm with residents including Elin Nordegren (Former wife of Tiger Woods).

The 1626 Swedish warship "Vasa".  The Vasa was built to be the most impressive warship of its day, mainly by the addition of a second cannon deck.  However, the extra weight of the cannons did not work well for the balance of the ship.  On its maiden voyage it made it a whole 20 minuted before capsizing and sinking to the bottom of the Stockholm Harbor.  And there it layed until the 1950s when a huge effort was undertaken to raise the ship from its watery grave.  Today the massive ship resides in its own museum in Stockholm.  The brackish water of the harbor preserved the ship extremely well, and obviously it had no damage from war.  It is regarded as the best preserved ship of its kind, which is easy to believe.

View from the island of Grinda, This is not that far from Stockholm, yet feels like a totally different world.  (Click to enlarge, its much more impressive)

One of two restaurants on Grinda.

The Bavairan Motor Works

While in Munich I was lucky enough to take a tour of the BMW factory. Unfortunately no cameras were allowed in the plant, much to my chagrin. Had they been allowed, I would have roughly a thousand photos up on the blog.  I would have tried to discretely take pictures with my phone, but I honestly feared they would burn it had I been found out. The plant is 97% robotic and has been recently updated to the most advanced technology.  The painting robots are very impressive, and they even use real ostrich feathers to dusk each car before painting. The welding robots are equally impressive and work at a mind blowing speed with incredible accuracy.  They even switch seamlessly from one car body type to the next, be it a wagon, coupe, or sedan.  Each car is built to a customers order, and only about 2 cars a year end up being identical, out of 600,000 produced.   The Munich factory is the original BMW manufacturing facility dating back to the 1930s and is the headquarters for the company.  The plant currently makes the 3 series, the company's largest selling model.   

This is a 1930 BMW 326 on display in the BMW Museum.

Every hour a man comes over the loudspeakers in the BMW Museum and tells visitors to clear a path on the main floor and to not be afraid of the noise.  This was a bit disturbing at first, but apparently BMW pays this man to ride a dirt bike all around the BMW museum. He rides up and down the staircases doing wheelies and burnouts. All of which is indoors.  Very impressive, and very wild.  I would expect nothing less from those looney Germans. 

Rafting on the Lütschine River

If you enjoy nearly freezing to death in raging frigid water, I highly recommend white water rafting in Switzerland.  Don't get me wrong, it was some of the best white water rafting I have ever experienced, it was just a bit nippy. We met a large group of Americans on the trip, and subsequently formed raft "Team America" only to be disbanded because we could not all fit in one raft.  Syd, Bob, and I were put in the second raft with a german family who spoke limited english. We then changed the name of our vessel to "team deutschland."  The guide decided to give all commands in English (he spoke German, English and French), which often took a few seconds to register with our german shipmates.  This was a bit unnerving (see look on faces below) as we hurled down the Luschine river on what the guides said was the highest water they had ever seen. We decided that he should give all commands in German as this sounded much more urgent to us.  SCHNELL! you get the idea.  We had a great time, and made it through the bitter cold with our new friends.  The river emptied into the beautiful blue lake surrounding Interlaken. We then proceeded to race Team America to the docks.  We barely made it back to the Chalet before collapsing on the porch. 

Team Deutschland: us and a family of germans.  Commands were shouted in english and german.  We decided that german sounds much more urgent.

So. Cold.

Game Faces.

The word your looking for is sheizer.

Victory!

Switzerland

Switzerland isn't the most beautiful place I have ever been.  Oh wait yes it is.  Switzerland holds unbelievable scenery from snow peaks to wildflower fields.  I went to Switzerland with my good friend Sydney and her father Bob.  We stayed at the Chalet Helvetia in Murren, a very small town of a few hundred people at 5326 feet in the Swiss Alps.  It is situated on the side of a mountain range, looking across a valley to another range including the Jungfrau peak which is the tallest in Europe.  Our Chalet had amazing views and one of our favorite things to do after a day of adventures was to just sit on the porch and take in the view.  The Chalet is actually an apartment above the owners residence, Kurt and Edmee, who were very nice and helpful.

Murren is mostly a ski town, and the summer is considered the off season.  The only way to get to Murren is by gondolas.  Despite being a tiny town on a mountain (this being Switzerland) there is impeccable public transportation to Murren and the surrounding area.  Trains are never, ever late.

While in Switzerland we went white water rafting (see above), hiking in the alps, had breakfast in a revolving restaurant on top of a 10,000 foot peak, and experienced Yodelfest (which is a big deal in Switzerland).

We had fathers day breakfast at the restaurant on top of Shilthorn Mountain.  This revolving restaurant sits at 10,000 feet and boasts the greatest panoramic views of the alps.  It does not, however, have great food.  But that not the reason we were there. The cable car ride to the top is quite the experience as a altimeter shows your ascent of over 5,000 feet to the top. 

One of the most impressive things in Murren was the tennis courts.  Six red clay courts sit on the most impressive piece of property in the town as they hang over the cliff on the side of the mountain overlooking the valley.  I wanted nothing more than to play on them, however I lacked proper shoes, access to the courts, a tennis partner, oh and a racquet.

My favorite thing was our hike through the countryside.  We trod through fields of grazing cows and wildflowers, enjoyed the breathtaking view of the surrounding alps, and found hidden waterfalls.  We even had a milkshake from a dairy farm way up on the mountain.  Needless to say, it was delicious. 

Our Chalet in Murren.

The quaint town of Murren.

Tennis court in Murren which had one of the best views in town.  The edge of the court is a steep cliff.

Waterfall overlooking the nearby town of Lautebrunnen.

The view from our Chalet.

Impromptu air show by the Swiss Air Force. (Yes they exist)

Cable car to Shilthorn.

Night view from the porch of our chalet.

Yodelfest in Interlaken!

Sign upon arrival at the Schilthorn restaurant.

Fathers day breakfast at Schilthorn.

View from the window of the revolving restaurant.

These are my interests.

View of a glacier from Schilthorn.

Another shot from our porch.

Fathers day hike in the alps.

Yay Switzerland!

Sydney likes wildflowers.

One of my favorite views from our hike.

"Sydney try to look pretty. Now try harder."

View of Junfrau the tallest peak in Europe.

Jungfrau peak.

Jungfrau overlooking Murren.

Sydney and Bob.

We found this amazing waterfall on our hike to Gimmewald.

Bob.

The revolving restaurant on Shilthorn is seen in the distance.

Sydney get the cow.

The town of Murren is on the top left of the cliff.

Looking down from our cable car at a rope bridge and another cable car.

Many cows in Switzerland.