I had planned on making a trip over to Dublin, Ireland to visit my old friend Javson. He offered to let me stay at his place if I ever made it out there and sure enough I was on my way. I left Paris from Beauvais airport in what was the worst airport experience I’ve ever had to deal with. All I can say is I will never fly RyanAir again. There customer service is atrocious. Who cares that your ticket is $20. Got charged almost $100 because I had to check a bag in last minute. Besides that Dublin and Belfast we’re amazing. Got to experience a pint or two of Guiness at the factory where it wad made. I pArticulary liked Belfast on this trip. The stories of war between the Catholics and Protestants really touched me. All I can say is Ireland is one beautiful ass place.

Trying to get over the jet lag from the day before. Riding the train thoughout the German countryside was pretty amazing. After a good rest in Fussen I wanted to head to Luzern Switzerland to meet up with my cousin. However I missed my train in Munich to Switzerland by 5 mins. Oh well. Considering the next one left 5 hours later I decided to take the high speed to Paris. Upon arriving I bought a 2 day pass on the railway system and booked it towards the Eiffel tower to get the touristy thing over with. That day I saw the Louvre, Champs Elysee, the Notre Dame cathedral. I also go to hang out for a few days with family (great aunt & uncle) Paris does have that aura of mystique. No one seems to be in a hurry and everywhere you look people are holding hands. Truly a romantic city. Oh yeah happy 30th birthday to me!

Decided to head out to Europe on a whim. No plans, just see as much as I could within the 10 days of vacation that I had. My base arrival point in Germany was Frankfurt. Immediately upon arriving I decided to head south towards Munich and into Füssen. Munich was a 2hr train ride and Füssen another 2 hours. The countryside of Germany was amazing. Green rolling hills as far as the eye could see. Upon rolling into Füssen you could see the snow capped mountains in the background.

Neuschwanstein castle was nestled up in the hills just outside of Füssen. Resemblance to the Disney castle is uncanny. It was a nice 45 min walk from the center of town to the castle where once there you charter a bus to the top of the hill. This is the first real castle that I’ve seen and quite an amazing feat of architecture. Sure we have Hearst Castle in San Simeon but that doesn’t really count. Its more a big mansion. This had it all: the overlook, the mountainous setting, royalty residence. Oh yeah, best beer in the world. Nough said.