Westerbork

Visiting a concentration camp, while not really a fun activity, was something I knew I wanted to do when I came to Europe. We, of course, learn about WWII tons in school, but it is radically different to be "where it happened."

I went to the Westerbork transport camp with Hans. It's barely half an hour a way from Groningen, and was the main deportation camp for the Netherlands. Months ago, I attended a lecture about Jewish history in Groningen, and it was both fascinating and terrible. Essentially the entire Jewish population of the city was wiped out. Today, the only synagogue in Groningen has a congregation of only about 50 people (in a city of 200k). Of course this might be a reflection of the much greater secularism in the Netherlands than the US, but it is still an interesting statistic. There used to be a much greater Jewish population in the city (I forgot the exact number). Today the former "Jewish Quarter" is the location of the red light district in Groningen. :O

Only a few months after he got his license....terrifying. :)

Oh my god, a train.

On the walking path to the camp, electro-something-or-other monitoring satellites.

Memorial.

Why?

Memorial, each stone represents a person who was at the camp.

Queen's Night and Day, and Liberation Day

April 30 was Queen's Night/Day. It is the "queen's birthday" (actually her mom...her summer birthday has nicer weather.), but it is really just an excuse to wear orange and get plastered. Like most holidays.

This is the Queen.

 

 This is Queen's Day (in Amsterdam).


Clearly, the two have very little in common. 

Groningen was definitely the craziest I've EVER seen it that night. But it was a pretty good time, at least up until midnight. Then it started getting much too crazy and crowded on the Grote Markt...an excess of drunken middle-aged Dutchmen. Maybe too much jenever.

Barbecue at my student house before going out. My roommate is on the left with the sunglasses. :)

City center all decked out. 

Good times.

Getting way too crowded!

Queen's Day!

Got stuck at a drawbridge...

Martini Tower

Still Orange.

Some kinda orchestra concert on the Grote Markt. Bet half the crowd was too drunk to appreciate it. :)

"Town Hall"

Liberation Day, on May 5th, is the celebration/rememberance of the day the Netherlands was liberated at the end of WWII. There was a big free concert in the Stadspark. It was pretty fun, but also reminded me of why I never go to festival concerts (dusty, sweaty, dirty...).

Danielle, Chantal, and this random guy.

Kate Nash on stage.

Finally, the Ireland update!

So I went on this trip like a month ago...would've updated sooner but finals got in the way. :)

First city: Dublin! We got there on St. Patrick's Day...I think I met more Americans than Irish people as a result of this. We took a Ryan Air flight (which was about as lovely as can be expected) and met a bunch of other American students studying abroad in NL heading to Ireland for the weekend.

Not gonna post the other pics from this evening, but it was fun. :) Lots of random Irish people came up and talked to us, which was cool. I met a guy who spent the summer caddying in Briarcliff Manor (town next to mine). Small world! Being in Ireland made me a little bit homesick overall because it is A LOT more like the US than NL. It was mostly little things, like not having to pay for bathrooms or water in restaurants, that made me homesick! Small annoyances I have adjusted to in NL.

We somehow ended up spending St. Patrick's Day (well, the night of it anyway) in one of the most famous bars in Dublin. It was awesome. But the city was a bit of a mess!

St. Stephen's Green entrance.

Impulsively taking a horse-drawn carriage ride.

I'm just so photogenic.

St. Patrick's Cathedral (not the one in NY :)).

We hung out in the park until we were chased out of it by a demon child with a scooter. Long story.

Cheesy.

Dublin "castle."

Trinity College campus. Slight differences between this campus and Geneseo. :)

Obligatory photo of the Molly Malone statue.

Next city: Galway. I LOVED this part of the trip! So beautiful! We took a bus tour and it was really fun.

A "fairy ring" or a kind of ancient fort built around a house.

Brrr. It was cold and wet.

Ancient burial tomb....

Weird rocks.

BABY SHEEP!!!

Random donkey.

Our bus got stuck behind some unattended horses in the road!

Bangers and mash. Om nom nom. 

 

 

 

 

 Cliffs of Moher! Totally incredible, although it was freezing cold, wet, and windy. Brrr.

Those guys are too cool for the rules.

So. Cold.

Group photo!

You know that cave scene in the 6th Harry Potter movie....

 Back to Dublin!

Exciting to a nerd.

View of Dublin.