Since I spoke to you last, I swept through Vienna in two nights! Still though, what a cool city! The people seem so friendly! Although, as I lack the language, they could be cursing at me for all I know! Still, I’d interpret them all as compliments! Not only did Vienna give me some amazing sights, but it also gave me a chance to shop! I can’t go away for 3 weeks and arrive home with nothing but a smile! I’m sure that will be appreciated all the same, but thankfully I did find time to do a wee bit of shopping! Presents galore were purchases as well as a few things for myself. A few things in the form of Vinyl Records. I’m a lover of Vinyl and when you find a copy of Sgt Pepper by the Beatles, you buy it!
So by now, I’ve seen the sights, met the messers and travelled by train! I actually did a few calculations of my total travel time today en route to Munich. Trains alone and not taking into account planes, buses or metro underground trains, I’ve been on the railway for around 33 hours in the past 23 days. That’s insane!! Would I change a second of it? No. But those 80 minutes I was stuck outside of Frankfurt that eventually made me miss my train to Prague. I might alter those slightly. Only enough though so that I’d have to run to make my Prague train, resulting in a dramatic photo finish sort of leap of faith onto the train. But no. I missed that train. By 10 minutes!
What do I plan on getting up to when I return home? Tea. My bed. A good relaxing dip in the local pool! And of course my family and girlfriend! Throughout my time abroad I’ve shared with you different aspects of Ireland and what makes it great! However, I realised yesterday that I had made a mortal sin. I, never, not once, mentioned my hometown of Athlone! Could you imagine the local scandal. They even put me in the paper back there for winning this competition! Athlone is a town of around 20,000 people located on the River Shannon in the counties of Roscommom, and mostly Westmeath. As much as Irish people may say Athlone is in Westmeath, it in both. I should know, my address is Athlone, Co Roscommon.
So what is there to do in Athlone? WHAT ISN’T THERE!! Being on a river means that cruisers are always passing through and while you take in the breadth and length of the River Shannon, stop in Athlone for a relaxing break in the very centre of Ireland. That’s right, the very centre! There’s a plaque to confirm it! In recent years Athlone has become a hub for shopping in the Midlands. There are two shopping centres choc o block of designer outlets and high street names. Fashion ain’t my thing so I’ll stop here before I make an arse of myself, but if you like the biggest, classiest brands then you’ll find them in Athlone!
We also have a Clonmacnoise. A link to the Norman past of Ireland that lead to the formation of a multitude of monasteries across the country! I like Clonmacnoise because it has an incredible history, having been raided by the Vikings time and time again and still kept going strong. Not only that, but it was founded by a St Ciaran. Nice one!
Lastly on a list of what to see and do in Athlone, one should not leave the town without a visit to the Castle. Another feature of Athlones rich history and it stands on the riverbank so there is no excuse for missing it! They’re actually renovating it at the moment, so by the time you get there it’ll be even better! There might even be TWO CASTLES! Or not!
And that’s it. I don’t know when my time as the Isaacs Ambassador officially ends. I’m guessing when I leave their hostel tomorrow afternoon in Dublin. Supposedly there’s a big map of Europe in the hostel of where I’ve been. Looking forward to seeing that!
If this were a film, this would be the part where the credits roll down the screen! For this amazing opportunity I must thank a few people. Firstly, all of the Isaacs staff who stood in for the very cheesy pictures with me before I left! Thanks to Colm Hanratty of Hostel World who sat on the interview board. Without Hostel World, I would’ve been sleeping under a bridge each night! Thanks to Deborah from Isaacs for taking care of the online side of things and in particular the blog! And finally, I’d like to thank Alan Duncan and James Clancy of Isaacs who not only gave me the chance to cross Europe, but funded the damn thing. What were yee thinking!? Sending a leprechaun like me across Europe! The absolute lunatics! Thanks guys! It’s been incredible!
I might be finished travelling, but I’m not finished Tweeting. Follow me at @ciaran_o_connor where I tweet on all subject matter, expect hostels. I leave that to the professionals. You can follow them on @IsaacsHostel or on Facebook their page!
SLÁN
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