From the moment you walk in you're surrounded by history. Buildings of many shapes and size with various backgrounds will welcome you to learn about life in early 19th century rural New England.

My first trip to this living history museum was in the 5th grade. An assistant teacher styled the girls hair in 1830's fashions and we piled into the big yellow bus and watched in excitement as we pulled into the parking lot. We got the chance to try on clothing, make marbled paper, and tour the village.

Now over ten years later I am now a volunteer and dancer at Old Sturbridge Village. I started out as a greeter smiling warmly and offering directions to locations within the village. After becoming costumed in 1830's attire including reproduction dresses, petticoats and bonnets, I was able to become a docent and work in the Towne House.

This house has an interesting history. Its owner, Salem Towne Sr. came from a poor family. His father died during the French and Indian war. His mother eventually remarried to a lonely farmer and later would follow in his step-fathers footsteps. At the rough age of 20, Salem purchased ten acres of land and taking on the position as a land surveyor. He later would purchase and sell pieces of land making a profit and acquiring more land as time went on.

In 1796, three years after he married his third wife, Salem had the Greek revival home built in Charlton, Massachusetts. After his death 1925 the house would be passed down to his son Salem Towne Jr., Salem Jr.'s wife Sally and their ten children. By 1830 the family owned 400 acre's of land was considered the wealthiest family around gaining this status by progressive farming. Their wealth can be shown by the hallway that extends the entire length of the house that is fully carpeted. Another tell-tale sign of wealth is the elaborate sideboard placed in the hall. The house has three floor, a cast iron stove (the newest amenity in those days) and a pleasure garden.

As and Old Sturbridge Village dancer I am able to participate in 1790's to late 1830's style dancing. With skirts twirling and white gloves on you can imagine how elegant it must be to cast off in Jefferson and Liberty or circle six hands round in White Cockade. Dancing in those days was sometimes seen as scandalous but was also romantic as this was possibly the only chance you might have to touch the hand of the person you fancied.

Within the village you can also see three different mills (Saw, Carding, and Grist) that are run off of water power and are the start of the industrial revolution in this country. There is a tavern, tin shop, shoe shop, district school, pottery shop, bank, parsonage, and several farms with cattle and other animals native to this country during the 19th century. You can also grab an ice cream, watch as sheep are sheared, or taste freshly made butter.

So, if you every find yourself in search of experiencing history in a different way then Old Sturbridge Village is the place to go. You won't be disappointed.

Plaza de los Naranjos is the main square. Naranjos means oranges, and the square is filled with orange trees. Here you can find the Tourist Information Office, as well as the Magistrates Court and a wealth of cafes and restaurants.

In the Tourist Information Office you can pick up some free information leaflets, but for one Euro you can buy a pack containing a couple of useful maps, a guide book and a carrier bag, all of which I found very useful.

Branch out from Plaza de los Naranjos and wander around. The streets and alleys immediately off the square are filled with shops and cafes. Some of the shops are clearly tourist shops, but many have interesting and unusual goods for sale. There are also quite a few jewellery shops, and one or two delicatessens.

Slightly further on you can find small corner shops selling basic foodstuffs and household goods, which serve the local residents as well as passing visitors. A reminder that this part of town is not just a tourist attraction, but a vibrant residential community.

We had a table thanks to Herbie and his sweet connections. However, as people started trickling in, I noticed a lack of good looking guys in the club. In fact, it was worse than that, I noticed a lack of young guys in the club period. So since this club was expensive to get into. That means that the people in here have to be rich too. That means that the majority of the guys were creepy old men with lots of cash in their hands and camera ready to go. As I was moving through the crowd, I danced a little, but this only led to me being caught by some guy who did not look that old but he was creepy alright and he was way too touchy freely. I had to get saved by my buddy DJ Kao. It was not fun. Let me just put it that way.

The girls are hot though. The girls are smokin' hot. But this is not a good combination. What ended up happening was me and my friends going into the cage to have a good time and then old men took pictures up my dress. It kind of makes me sad that I wore my slutty dress to this club. What a waste...

Also, it was possibly the greatest display on how good Asians are at taking their alcohol. All the way to the bathroom, I saw people throwing up. I felt bad for the team of people they hired to clean up the puke. Yeah, they had people.

Oh there was also this lame moment where they turned on the lights, stopped the music, and told everyone on the loudspeaker that the cops were here and had to check our IDs. So everyone got carded, again. Pretty sick. We sat there for a while, too. Of course, it was all complicated at our table because we have a bunch of out-of-country IDs.

One good thing I noticed about Plush though was the fact that they played pretty good music for the most part. Although a lot of it was still hard to dance to, it's better than techno-rave music at Luxy after midnight. I love Luxy, though...

Although, I must say that I had a great time at Plush because I spent the time with a great group of people. I danced with our group and got saved if any creepers came by (Thanks, DJ Kao).

So here's the final call on Plush. If you're a guy, young, you're hot, and you can afford to get in, please do and save all the hot girls from the creepy old men.

Galway, located on the Western coast of the Emerald Isle, is one of Ireland's most beautiful bragging points. Along with the traditional Irish elements that fill the pages of travel guides(green hills, bona fide Guinness, and rainbow store facades that seem to violate every fire code), Galway has something more to offer. The town offers a taste of the old and the new.

If it's the old you're looking for, take a stroll into Tis Colis pub downtown, and (like I did) you just might find yourself occupying a table near a cluster of local musicians singing of their loves long-gone. These are the guys that make heartache look good. Directly across the street, you'll find the almost-hidden stone chapel that Christopher Columbus supposedly prayed in before setting sail for the New World. (Having sang two choir songs in there, I can tell you that the acoustics are perfect and the stone architecture isn't too shabby either). There's also the Aran Islands if you find trad Ireland more aesthetic. Taking one of the Galway ferries, you'll arrive on the main Island in an hour and experience one of the only places in the world that speaks Irish-they prefer this term over "Gaelic"-on a regular basis. For twelve euros, you'll even get a horse-drawn carriage tour, courtesy of one of the locals. (If your driver is like mine, he might even show you his cottage on the way).

If contemporary Ireland is more your preference, Galway offers that as well. As host to the National University of Galway, Ireland, there is a tangible city life here complete with shopping plazas (that don't just sell sweaters and crosses, I promise), swanky bars, and a beating heart for the county football team-just don't be fooled into thinking it's the same football we boast here in the United States. Also, if it's sports you like, be sure to swing by Kate's Tavern on a night when Galway is playing. If they win, you and your travel pals will be getting free food.

Bottom line...Galway has something to offer for just about anyone. Having lived in many small cities, I can tell you that you won't be finding another city with that old-world-meets-new world charm. Unless of course your city is prone to friendly strangers or cow traffic jams.