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Travel paper One of life’s pleasures is to obtain the ability to travel. I myself like most envisioning myself to someday travel the world and visit various cultures. Currently being employed part-time and being a full time student this will not be possible anytime soon, writing this assignment allows me to plan what I might do in the future. I love to learn about my own family history and for the two trips im going to go on are going to be from my maternal and paternal sides of the family. First my maternal side of the family is from Poland and I will plan a ten-day trip to the many various places to see in Poland.
I also have family still there and would plan a side trip one of my days to go visit them. My paternal side of the family s Irish and I will visit Ireland. I will start my travel of a lifetime on July 1st in the Newport News airport at 7:15 pm. I will be flying on delta airlines first class, and with only two stops. I will have a layover in Atlanta as well as Amsterdam. The flight as a whole will be 15 hours and 5 minuets. I will cost $4,889. I will return home to Newport News on the 10th of July at 6:05 am from Warsaw. Before I travel I have compiled a small list of things to know before I travel. There are no special requirements for entering Poland other than a passport. * Doctors: in Warsaw medical center there are a vast of doctors that speak English. * Electricity: I will need a transformer * Embassies: call 002/504-27-84 * Emergencies: police tel. 997, fire tel. 998, ambulance tel. 999, road assistance tel. 981 or 9637, 112. The number of English-speaking operators is small. * Restrooms: no many public restrooms available * Water: safer to buy bottled than to risk drinking tap water I will plan a 10-day trip in Poland using a car to get around.
July1st I will land in Poland and rent a car for the 10 days. I will travel to my hotel the Le Meridien Bristol Hotel. Le Meridien Bristol Hotel is the oldest hotel in Warsaw, next to the Presidential Palace. The room I will stay in includes breakfast and is 12,321 zolty (polish money) but in American dollars is only 3,680. I will spend two days in Warsaw exploring the surroundings. Some that I will attend are the Museum of Warsaw’s up rising as well as the old town. Old town is free and you are able to walk around and view the old neighborhood that Nazi’s destroyed.
On my third and 4th day I will ride the train to Krakow. It is a 3-hour drive and maybe a 4-hour train ride (trains are slower in Poland). I will visit Krakow’s Old Town on my first day there Old town is The historic center of today’s Krakow was once the medieval city established by Prince Boleslav V in the 13th century, which was encircled with defensive walls complete with 47 towers, seven main entrances and a wide moat. I would find a nice sit down restaurant to have an early dinner and travel back to Warsaw to return the next day.
On day four I will venture back onto the train to go visit Krakow’s Wawel castle area. It is a National shrine known for its superb religious art including the giant bell of Zygmunt of 1520, one of the world’s largest, and the burial place of many Polish kings and their families, national heroes and numerous bishops. On day five I will make a 90-minute car ride to a former Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz/ Birkenau. They have many day tours to educate people on the horrific things that happened there. I feel that it would be necessary to visit this because it was a huge part of history that killed millions.
For day 6 and 7 I will visit Poznan to see my family. I will stay with them and have a traditional polish meal. Some examples of a traditional polish dinner would be hot cucumber soup, cabbage soup, Chodnik litewski, which is a yogurt and beetroot soup, served cold with cooked egg. Fasolka po bretonsku, which is a bean and sausage stew, Zrazy zawijane, which is rolled fillets of hashed veal in a spicy sauce and Eberka w miodzie or honeyed pork ribs and the best dessert Sernik is a type of raisin-covered and orange flavored cheesecake.
When visiting family I would go with my uncle when he goes to work, he is a member of NATO and it would be interesting to see what he does on a daily basis. When I go with my aunt to her work would also be very informative. She is a teacher and as I’m an inspiring teacher it would be nice to see what and how learning is different. I would leave on day 8 and go to Gdansk for a day trip to see the Baltic seaport it is a restored city. I would return back to my hotel and rest up for the next days train ride back to Gdansk.
I will spend my last day in Poland back in Gdansk to visit the zoo. They have a hippopotamus, leopard, and many more animals you normally don’t see at the zoo. After the zoo I will visit Neptune’s fountain and then catch the train back to Warsaw and enjoy a nice dinner from he hotel and get ready to leave at 5 in the morning to get to the airport for my flight back home. My second trip will be to Ireland where my paternal grandparent is from. I have no family there but it will be interesting to learn about since I know very little. I will plan on going to Ireland in August.
The weather in august is very mild between the 60’s and 70’s and it rains a lot but doesn’t last long. In some cases the rain turns to a mist revealing gorgeous rainbows. As I made a list for things to know in Poland I also compiled a list to take with me to Ireland. * Drinking Laws – Individuals must be age 18 or over to be served alcoholic beverages in Ireland. Restaurants with liquor licenses are permitted to serve alcohol during the hours when meals are served. * Drugstores – Drugstores are called “chemist shops” and are found in every city, town, and village.
Look under “Chemists — Pharmaceutical” in the Golden Pages of the Irish telephone book or “Chemists — Dispensing” in the Yellow Pages of the Northern Ireland telephone book. * Electricity- To use standard American 110-volt appliances, you’ll need both a transformer and a plug adapter. * Emergencies – For the Garda (police), fire, ambulance, or other emergencies, dial tel. 999. * Language – Ireland has two official languages: English and Gaelic (also known as Irish). All native Irish can speak English. * Toilets – Public restrooms are usually simply called “toilets” or are marked with international symbols.
In the Republic of Ireland, some of the older ones still carry the Gaelic words FIR (MEN) and MNA (WOMEN). * Water – Tap water throughout the island of Ireland is generally safe. However, some areas in the west of Ireland have been battling with out-of-date water purification systems. I will leave august 1st from Newport News at 4:05 pm and arrive in Dublin on August 2nd at 7:45 am. The flight is through US Airways and has two stops one in Philadelphia and the other in Boston, my total flight time is 10 hours and 0 minuets.
On my return flight I will leave Dublin on the 10th at 11:00 am and return home at 7:25 pm. Once I land on August 2nd I will go to my hotel the Westin Dublin, which will be 3,546. 96 for my entire stay, which includes a daily food credit for my entire stay. I will go see the Dublin Castle that dates from the mid 1700’s and today is used by the Irish Government for state events such as the inauguration of the Irish President. It has art on the walls and ceiling but it has to be remembered mentally because no pictures are allowed. Another think I would visit would be St.
Patrick’s Cathedral, it was Built in honor of Ireland’s patron saint, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral stands adjacent to the famous well where tradition has it Saint Patrick baptized converts on his visit to Dublin. On august 3rd I will attend a pub-crawl that consists of 6 pubs. The first is Doheny and Nesbitt, the pub was founded in 1850 and it is where a group of politicians in the 80’s drank there giving the pub the name “the Doheny and Nesbitt School of Economics. ” It is known for its stout making it a good place to start on a pub-crawl.
The second pub is Grogan’s Castle Lounge, its wooden walls and large art collection makes it a fun place to meet locals while drinking a Guinness. The third pub is the Long Hall. The fourth McDaid’s was founded in 1779; it is a very popular pub for tourist and locals. The fifth is The Porterhouse, which is a microbrewery and has good food. The fifth pub is O’Neill’s a Victorian building that usually has live bands that play authentic Irish music. August 4th will most likely be a slow day with a late breakfast and if up to it a stroll around Dublin to local shops.
August 5th I will take a trip to wicklow ; Kilkenny, Wicklow is a mountain that is said to be so beautiful you won’t minds the 2-hour drive there. Kilkenny Castle is in a town with many stores for pottery and crafts. August 6th I will visit the Jameson Distillery; The Company was established in 1780 when John Jameson established the Bow Street Distillery in Dublin. Jameson is now distilled in Cork, although vatting still takes place in Dublin. On august 7th and 8th I will attempt to do the Ring of Kerry, it I a scenic drive through the countryside.
On my last day in Ireland I will visit the national museum of Ireland, The ground floor is dedicated to Irish animals, featuring giant deer skeletons and a variety of mammals, birds and fish. The upper floors of the building were laid out in the 19th Century in a scientific arrangement showing animals. During the evening I will attend the food, folklore and fairies at The Brazen Head, one of Irelands oldest pubs. It is a dinner theater that has storytellers who take you into a world of the imagination with wonderful insights and magical tales of Irish life in times past. On August 10th I will board my plane and return home.