Dublin

Got to Dublin on Wednesday night to stay until tomorrow morning.  The weather is very comfortable here compared to Italy.  

Did the usual touristy stuff here the past two days.  There is plenty to do here.  This is Saint Stephen's Green, basically the main park in the city.


These are barrels filled with Jameson whiskey at different points in the aging process.  They have different colors because of how long it has aged in the wood and different volumes because of evaporation over time.
Bono's hotel building on the River Liffey.

Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin.


War memorial park.

Cinque Terre National Park

On Tuesday I hiked from Riomaggiore to Vernazza in the Cinque Terre National Park.  That is about a four-hour walk through trails that were anything from brick sidewalk to stairs winding through a town to an Indiana Jones bridge.  The towns on the way to Vernazza are Manarola and Corniglia.  

Plenty of rest stops along the way.

Manarola

The only way to launch a boat here was with a crane.

Vernazza
After the long hike i came back to go swimming and relax on this beach.  The water is crystal clear and very comfortable after a long hot day.

Riomaggiore

Got into Riomaggiore, Italy today.  It is part of Cinque Terre (five lands) in the Italian Riveria.  Amazing views from the tiny towns onto the sea.

The View

Some pictures from the view from my room and out on the balcony.  They are looking out on the town and surrounding area of Wageningen, Netherlands.  The population is about 30,000 with another 10,000 students.  These pictures are from the 19th out of 20 floors in my building, and were taken on a sunny day, which is quite rare here.

Bornsesteeg

Moved to a different building today called Bornsesteeg because it's closer to campus and much less dirty.  Has a much better view, too.

These buildings are part of campus.  The brown building on the left is called the Forum, and I have one class there.

Has a nice washing machine and fridge to use.

Part of the walk to the city center goes through a park.

Then through this street lined with apartments.

Water is everywhere!

This is the start of the main shopping and eating area of town.

The pedestrian street in the city center is usually pretty busy.

Arrival

After a trip of who knows how many hours, I got to my room.

Wageningen has a ton of green space and more bike paths than roads. Everyone seems to be riding the same black bike with fenders.  Has a pedestrian downtown area just like Madison.

  

Took a walk to the town to get some groceries and look around.  It cools down nicely here at night.