Newgrange Tombs

I took a bus out to Newgrange to go see the "Newgrange Tombs"



Got to see more of the Ireland countryside, which is truly beautiful to look at



This tomb was built in 3200 BC.......seeing this monument (even older than the pyramids!) was quite a humbling experience



The entrance of the tomb, which was designed to flood with sunlight each morning for about twenty minutes during the winter and the summer solstices



The entrance stone with spiral engravings - crazy to think that these were carved out 5000 years ago



Coming through the entrance - coming down this long, very small passage way is not for the claustrophobic. Notice the sunbox just below the quartz - this lets the sunlight in during the solstice



Inside of the tomb, similar carvings on the wall



These stone basins are where the ashes of the dead would sit: when the sunlight came through during the solstice a theory suggests a belief that the sunlight would take the souls of the dead away......if this is true it's the first recorded instance of human belief in the after life



The spiral, stone-stacked ceiling of the tomb.......rain has not come through this ceiling in over 5000 years: the exhibition of trigonometry, astronomy, and engineering in this tomb is amazing. I wonder if they looked, felt and thought just like us?



The original foundation of another, long sinced destroyed tomb



More shots of the beautiful countryside - damn that's a lot of sheep



The Boine River, which sits just about 1000 yards from the tomb



I also stopped by the ruins of a monastery from the 8th century AD



An incredible celtic cross: monks had carved out scenes from both the old & new testament on these crosses in order to educate the pagan population



This will be my last post for a while - this whole thing has been an amazing experience, one I will not soon forget

The Netherlands

I had to head out to the Netherlands at some point



Amsterdam just has a very cool look and feel to it



Lots of horse carriages in this city, almost got run over a couple of times



Churches here have very tall, epic-looking steeples



Lots of little farmer's markets going on in the various squares located throughout the city


Rivers and canals run throughout the entire city



The Amsterdam Royal Palace, which sits in the middle of a massive city square



Amazing Dutch panckes - talk about a friggin' big pancake



Another cool little city square - lots of hustle & bustle in these squares



The tram can get you to just about anywhere in the city



Spent several hours in the Van Gogh museum: absolutely amazing place to get your Van Gogh fix



Also managed to make it over to the Heineken Factory - had to sneak in just as they were closing



Wandering around the factory



While I'm not personally a big fan of Heineken, the beer tasted pretty damn good straight from the factory



Another really cool looking building: the general designs were really eye-catching here



Best damn pancakes in the city here in this little pancake house on the 1st floor



Took a tour of Anne Frank's house as well: this was intense



Anne Frank's real diary



Just outside of Anne Frank's house. I was really far-removed from this whole thing when I read the book in high-school, but there was an indescribable impact to seeing just how "real" this all was by physically being there.



Another beautiful little canal running through the city



Also stopped by the Rembrandt house



The detail of these original sketches was amazing to look at, I could have stared at these for hours

France and Scotland, Part 2

Went out to France and Scotland for a few days each



Saw the Mona Lisa, definitely cool to see the real thing



Checked out the inside of Notre Dame: the interior is beautiful



The alter of Notre Dame



A shot taken just across the river from Notre Dame



Having a glass of wine in Montmarte, watching the painters work their magic



The weather was incredible during the entire stay in France



Chillin just outside of Concorde Square



Sacre Couer off in the distance



Standing next to a real Monet is amazing!......



Had to get a pic of the signature -> authentic



Yes - that is a real, authentic Van Gogh - bad ass.



Also got to see a real Renoir, all seen at the Musée d'Orsay



And of course, I had to make it back out to Scotland



Shot of the castle where Monty Python was filmed, just at the end of the river



The weather was so great in Scotland....beautiful the entire time



In front of the British Commando Memorial



Got to sail down the loch ness, where two F-18 fighters suddently flew down the river overhead; needless to say, I got pretty excited when I saw that



Just past the trees is the Speyside River. The Speyside River is where the MacAllan, Glen Livet, and Glen Fiddich distilleries all sit



The Firth of Fourth bridge in Edinburgh



Standing out from of the Edinburgh Castle



The Scotch just seems to taste even better in Scotland: took a Scotch tasting tour



Shot from the side of the castle, getting close to sunset



Still can't believe how nice the weather was