St.Ciaran Homeward Bound

Homeward Bound : Ciaran  (Isaacs Ambassador )

I’m sitting in Munich. Tomorrow morning (Saturday) I fly to Ireland. I can’t believe how fast these past few weeks have gone. Yet, I am very happy to be returning to Ireland!

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

Public Pay Phones in that direction...

Wilkommen from Berlin. I’ve been here roasting in the sunshine for the past 3 days expertly avoiding Sunburn like some well trained acrobatic. Actually, I’ve just stuck to the shade. The shade is my friend!

Berlin has been a reunion of sorts! Not only did I meet my Irish buddy Stephen from home here in the hostel, but also the guys I met in Brugge. So chaos and good times have ensued once again! I got here on Monday afternoon after a not-so-bad 6 hour train journey. That evening myself and Stephen got our map, found a beer garden and went there. We then left after one drink because you know... we’re students and €4 a drink is too much for us. Well, when beer is €1.50 from a street kiosk it is!

Yesterday was a much more interesting day! We visited the city of Potsdam, outside of Berlin. When we got there we trekked to the location of the Potsdam Conference in 1945 in the palace of Cecilienhoff. This is where Stalin, Churchill and Truman met after the end of World War 2 to decide the future of Europe. It was a pretty awe inspiring place, retracing the steps of history that have shaped the modern world. Not just that, but the palace itself was spectacular. Now, we didn’t see all 170 plus rooms, but the 10 we did were quite swanky! Germany isn’t the only country with some historical buildings of note! In Ireland we have a rich past of many Norman and Viking castles and other buildings galore! They literally take you back in time to when our island was conquered by our neighbours from Scandinavia. Their invasion also resulted in the foundation of many Irish monastries and round towers, which dot the Irish countryside and must be included in your stay in Ireland!

This morning, with heads too weary for sunlight, we took off in the blistering heat to view Germanys Parliament. We took in the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and the vast expansive park that is Tier Garten. Tier Garten reminded me of our own parks and greens in Ireland. Not only is there St Stephens Green in the centre of Dublin, but also Killarney National Park in the South West. Really and truly, the whole country is green, so get out there and smell the fresh air! Tier Garten was a cool place to be though, not only does it have expansive green spaces but supposedly there are spots of it which permit nude sun bathing! Madness! That piece of knowledge came to me via Adam of travelsofadam.com. We sat down earlier today and talked of everything from Berlins nightlife to his travels in South East Asia. I really enjoyed his company and he gave me a wider view of Berlin that I haven’t had the chance to experience in my 3 days here. 

What about the German stereotype? Serious, uncompromising and stern. Nope. By now you know a stereotype is a label and nothing more. We Irish don’t sit around drinking all day, munching Spuds and chasing pots of Gold. The Germans are a lovely people who have helped me out along the way, even when I was attempting to speak in their native tongue. Horribly trying too! However, one story must be shared about a German I encountered who didn’t do very much to help me. *COMMENCING RANT* Coming off the train returning from Potsdam yesterday, I went to an ATM in the station to withdraw some money. Card in, screen staring at me and then it froze. Wonderful yeah? So I walked over to the Information Desk and told the man behind it my card was stuck in the machine. He advised me to ring the help number on the ATM. I already had and it wasn’t in service. I asked him could he trying ringing it. “Nein!”. More wonderful! Raising his hand and pointing over my shoulder he put the final nail in the coffin of what could have been a beautiful friendship and he said “Public phones are in that direction”. By now, the machine had spat out my card and I, possibly far too sarcastically, thanked the man for his help and left. Thankfully the card worked and I’m still able to spend gratuitous amounts of my money in Berlin! *RANT COMPLETE*

Where to next? POZNAN in Poland! The home of many Irish fans during Euro 2012. I’m going there tomorrow morning and I hope to see just how bad a state the Irish left it in! Thanks must be paid to the Tourism Ireland office in Frankfurt for their helpful tips for Berlin! Other than that, slán! Talk soon!

Follow me and my travels on Twitter at @ciaran_o_connor and @IsaacsHostels and on Facebook at Isaac Hostels.