Thursday, August 9, 2012

Come on Baby Light My Fire

Ciaran Isaacs Ambassador here  Hello once again!

find myself in Brugge, Belgium at the time of writing. What has happened since my last entry, when I was in London. Well... Paris has happened. Due to the never ending headache that trains and reservations are, I only arrived in Paris late Monday and had to leave for Brugge early this morning.

 However... with my one day, what did I do with myself!? Well quite a lot actually. Early in the morning after booking my train to Brugge, I went on a Pilgrimage. A pilgrimage for me anyways! For years, I have listened to The Doors and have wanted to visit the grave of their lead singer Jim Morrison for a very long time. As luck would have it, he is buried in Pere Lechaise Cemetry in East Paris. It was a really special moment for me finally laying eyes on the site where he was buried.

The famous Irish poet Oscar Wilde is also buried in the same cemetery and between him and Jim Morrison, I had a great morning! Of course, France isn’t the only nation to have a graveyard full of famous figures. In our own Dublin, Ireland we have Glasnevin Cemetery. Here you will find some of the most influential people in Irish history. Not only are there central figures from the fight for Irish Independence, like Michael Collins and Eamon De Valera, but as well there is Luke Kelly of the Irish traditional music group The Dubliners. Ever hear of Whiskey in the Jar!? I might bear a slight, indistinct resemblence to the man.

Yesterday, after visiting Pere Lechaise, I then took to the main streets of Paris. Using a guide from hostelworld.com I traversed the vast sprawling metropolis of the City of Lights, taking in the Norte Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and of course the Arc de Triomphe. Here is the guide if you’d like to explore it yourself.
http://www.hostelworld.com/guides/city-guides/paris/france/ Of course the website offers a host of different guides for Ireland too. Whether it’s the mighty Cork or the quirly Galway, everything you need is here! http://www.hostelworld.com/guides/country-guides/ireland/

Later on I met Alex, from the travel website Hejorama. We chatted for a bit before taking our party to the side of a canal for a few more drinks! He offered me a real insight in life in Paris and hopefully, I did the same for his knowledge of Ireland!

One thing I noticed on the streets of Paris was all the music. It was everywhere! This is very much the same in Ireland, as the evening becomes night, almost every pub in every city comes alive with music. Traditional Irish music is something that can not and should not be experienced on You Tube or the likes. You have to sit there, listen to it and feel it! As has happened to me on numerous occasions, you won’t notice that you’re foot will start tapping along. It’s magic! If you visit Ireland, it is a must!

So as I leave you, I’m comfortably relaxing in Brugge. The funny thing is that now, Brugge holds a special place in the minds if the Irish because of In Bruges, the film starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. I took a brief stroll to the main square in Bruges earlier and lo and behold the Tower was closed! If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll get my reference. I don’t plan on getting up to anything that Farrell did in the movie, but if I happen to befriend a dwarf who is coincidentally here shooting a film..well then, you never know! If that happens, you might not hear from me for a few days. Until then, in my Irish language, Slan go Foill, or Goodbye!

Follow me and my travels on Twitter at @ciaran_o_connor and @IsaacHostels and as well on Facebook on the Isaacs Hostel page!

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