THE END of my EXTERNAL SEMESTER in NEWCASTLE

My semester finished officially on the first of June (we were supposed to finish our projects – which I couldn’t as it is really really a lot of work left…however I could do as much as possible until now…).

We gathered together for a final dinner and pub crawl after the exhausting semester.
But before that we mad a group picture with all of the students in my course!

…. All of my study colleagues which I will miss very much - we had very much fun together…

HI EVERYBODY!!!
Sorry for the biiiig delay of updating my blog… as my usb isn’t working any more and my cd-burner as well I had pretty much trouble downloading my pictures… (and I also forgot to take my camera with me to Vienna!) … however I’ll try to do my best to figure it all out to provide you with my latest news and (hopefully) pics!

Laura!

MAGGIE IN NEWCASTLE
Maggie came to visit me in Newcastle (26.-30.5.2007) so I wanted to show her only the best side of “the toon”!
She arrived and we went to another BBQ at the beach. We’ve been quite lucky as the weather was pretty nice until it started to rain heavily and we had to go home... .

... the weather...We’ve been to the Jesmond Dean Park and the Arts and Crafts Market on the Armstrong Bridge the next day, where we wondered around a bit and enjoyed the beautiful weather again!
Than we went to the Tynemouth flee market, which is in the metro station. Afterwards there was a Viking’s festival going on at the castle and priory in Tyneside which we couldn’t miss either... (of course we had a nice little break in a pub in between!).

in the Jesmond Dean Park...

Tynemouth flee market...

In the evening we’ve been to a bar called “As you like it” which has nice live music and bear... .

On monday (also in England free – but called “bank holiday” instead of “Pfingstmontag”) Maggie, Alex and me went to Alnwick castle and Lindisfarn castle and priory.

Both are in Northumberland.
Alnwick is the residence of the Duke of Northumberland. And it was built immediately following the Norman conquest.
The castle a stand-in for Hogwarts castle in the Harry Potter films!!!! (And I’ve been there! Yuppie!!!) ;-)
...Alnwick

Lindisfarne is also sometimes called “Holy Island” and it is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England, which is connected to the mainland of Northumberland by a causeway and is cut off twice a day by tides.
However we didn’t get cut off as we were so intelligent to have a look at the tide plans!

The monastery of Lindisfarne was founded by the irish born Saint Aidan, who had been sent from Iona to Northumbria at the request of King Oswald (around AD 635). It became the base for Christian evangelising in the North of England. The monastery is now a ruin (English Heritage).

The Lindisfarne Castle is a 16th century castle, much altered by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the early 1900s (however beautyful and worth a trip!).

After this exhausting day we decided not to lie down but to go to the “Evolution” festival (a Newcastle-town-festival with two stages and some performing bands!).
We saw “Maximo Prak”. They were really good (by the way; they are from Newcastle!) and so we had a great finish of this beautiful day... .

On tuesday and wednesday I had to go to the university again so Maggie had the chance to finally visit Newcastle!

On thursday Maggie went to another friend and I flew to VIENNA!!!

VIENNA
Unfortunately I forgot my camera in Newcastle so I have no pictures... :-(

However Vienna was great. I met lots of friends again and celebrated some occasions!

Back in Newcastle I finished my semester abroad, handed in all my reports, assignments and documentations and went to a Chinese restaurant and to a pub with my study colleagues once more! (Yuppie!)

BBQ
As I’m in England I definitely had to go to a real British BBQ. However a French guy invited us and so the real British BBQ was a real French BBQ with lots of other international students at the end... . It was a great evening... .

... a french girl had birthday.

...some french, german and austrian friends.

DUBLIN (19.-20.5.2007)
Monika, Alex and me went to Dublin... As the plane tickets were really cheap (even cheaper than the train tickets) we decided city hop a bit and visit Dublin.
We caught a beautiful weekend with marvellous weather. So everything was ready for two great days!

Of course we’ve seen a lot. For example:
We visited the Trinity College, which is one of the oldest universitys in the country. One famous alumnus was e.g. Samuel Beckett.
It is also – amongst others – the ‘home’ of the “Book of Kells” now, which is a great gospel book of the 9th century.

We’ve also been to the National Gallery, which holds a fine collection of artworks. Caravaggio, Vermeer, … everything can be found here.

As we had two days we also had a walk through the city, which is pretty nice. While walking along the alleys we saw many statues: Molly Melone - who was a fishmonger and inspired a very famous Dublin anthem: 'Cockles and Mussels' and of course Mr. James Joyce and many more.

As we had one night we didn’t want to miss the nightlife in the “Temple Bar” district with its various pubs, bars and discotheques.

The next day we say St. Patricks Cathedral.

After the exhausting events of the last one and a half days we of sightseeing we really deserved a cake at “The Queen of tarts”. This little coffee shop who won many prizes for their tarts, scones and cookies...(and thanks Aisling – a study colleague – we also could have a peace of one of its marvellous tarts!) … I definitely have to come back!... ;-)

Of course we’ve made a tour through the Castle of Dublin.

…and a walk along the river Liffey.

Before we got the bus to the airport we wondered around a bit and saw the Spire of Dublin, which is a 120 metre high landmark (you can’t miss it!), which was unveiled in 2002.