Ireland

After a weekend in London with my friend, Kyle, it was off to Ireland for the next leg of my trip. I have to be honest, I've absolutely loved Ireland, I think it's been my favorite place I've visited so far. So here we go! I arrived in Dublin at around noon on Wednesday and set off finding my hostel so I could drop off my backpack and start seeing the city. My hostel was great. It was called the Abbey Court and it was located right on the Liffey River across from the Temple Bar neighborhood. After dropping off my stuff, I grabbed a map from the tourist office next door and went off walking. I kind of just randomly explored the city, I walked by Trinity College, pas the Christchurch and St. Patrick's Cathedrals, through the Temple Bar neighborhood where a lot of the famous pubs are and over to the Guinness storehouse. I didn't do the tour at that point, but would get to it later! After all that walking around, |I was pretty hungry for some lunch. I found a pub called Fitzgeralds right across the river from my hostel and had a sandwich and a pint of Guinness. I know everyone says it, but Guinness really does taste better over here! After a delicious lunch, I headed back to the hostel to get unpacked and relax for a little bit before going out that night.

I had a really fun first night in Dublin. I didn't really know anyone yet and was tired from a long day of travelling, but I made it out to one of the bars in Temple Bar where I grabbed a couple more pints and listened to the Irish band they had playing there. Most of the pubs have live music and it was so much fun to listen to them play some Irish music and some American music while everyone danced along.

The next morning, I was up pretty early to have the hostel's free breakfast and then go on the walking tour offered by the hostel. The tour was absolutely hilarious. It was led by one of the guys who works at my hostel and he led a big group of people from a few different hostels around Dublin. We saw a lot of the sights of Dublin and he had great stories about all of them. It may just be the accent, but the Irish are all so funny and great to talk to. We went by most of the places \I had visited the day before, but I liked getting to learn about the places. I also met a lot of kids in other hostels and we all decided to do a pub crawl later that night. The tour ended in a pub and we had a great Irish lunch (Guinness and beef pie, mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables) and a pint. After lunch, two girls I met on the tour and I decided to go check out the Guinness storehouse.

The storehouse was really cool, definitely a must for anyone visiting Dublin. We got to see how the whole brewing process works, learn how to properly "taste" Guinness, see all of the old advertisements and learn how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. I think the advertisements were my favorite part. I love the old Guinness posters and they also had touch-screen TVs where you could watch any Guinness commercial ever aired. After pouring our pints and drinking them, we went up to the Gravity Bar. The Gravity Bar is an all glass bar on the top floor of the storehouse. It offers a beautiful, 306 degree view of Dublin. All in all, we spent around 3 hours in the storehouse and had a blast the whole time.

outside the Guinness store house

Unfortunately, my Irish luck ran out when I got back to the hostel. It turns out that while I was gone that day, someone checked into the hostel, broke into the storage locker under my bed and stole my laptop, ipod, iphone charger and camera charger. There won't be quite as many pictures at the beginning of this post because I couldn't get them from my camera to the computer. It was such a bummer, but the hostel has the guy's info and the hostel owner was hopeful that the police may be able to do something about it. And what better way to get over something like that than by spending the night at a pub crawl in Dublin? I ended up going on the pub crawl and having a blast. It was a lot of the people from the tour group that morning. We went to 5 different pubs and had a blast drinking and hanging out and dancing to the Irish music bands were playing. It was the perfect way to forget about the theft for awhile!

On Friday, I got up and had to do a little shopping to replace my iphone charger and headphones. I decided that afternoon that I would take the train 20 minutes outside Dublin to a small fishing town called Howth. Again, this is a place anyone visiting Dublin should go to, it was an easy afternoon trip! Howth is on a peninsula and is well-known for it's incredible sea cliffs and views. I arrived at 1 and found the trail that goes out onto the sea cliffs. I ended up hiking a 10km trail that went all around the peninsula. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The sea cliffs were incredible to walk along and the landscapes were gorgeous. It was exactly what I pictured the Irish coast looking like. My favorite part of the hike went through the Howth Golf Club and offered an amazing view down the golf course and out to the sea. The hike took me around 4 hours and afterwards I found a pub to sit and have a well-deserved bowl of seafood chowder. I was back in Dublin by 6:30, it was such a great afternoon! I was exhausted when I got back and had to get up very early on Saturday to go on a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher and Galway, so I watched Braveheart (getting pumped for Scotland!) in the hostel's cinema room and went to sleep.

The coast in Howth

A beach along the Cliff Trail

Looking down the cliffs to the sea

The view up the coast from the Cliff Trail

My trip to the Cliffs of Moher on Saturday was phenomenal. The tour bus I was on left from Dublin at around 7:30am and drove right across the country to the cliffs. It was pretty wild to be crossing the entire island and going back in one day, I guess I didn't realize how small Ireland is. Anyways, we drove through the Irish countryside to get there. The drive was spectacular. The countryside was so green with lots of rolling hills, castles and sheep. Again, it was exactly what I pictured the Irish countryside looking! We arrived at the cliffs at around 11:15 and had 2 hours until we had to leave for Galway. The Cliffs were mind blowing. There was such a sheer drop down to the sea and they were so tall, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I took a great walk along the cliff-edge to O'Brien's Tower at one end and then all the way back to Hag's Head on the other.

The Cliffs of Moher

Looking down the Cliffs toward O'Brien's Tower in the distance

Another view of O'Briens Tower

It was beautiful and I had just enough time to walk pretty much the entire edge of the cliffs. We then drove through Burren National Park to Galway. Burren Park was really interesting. It used to be the old seabed before ice age melt off, so it was an almost lunar landscape along the coast to Galway.

Burren National Park

The coast at Burren

A castle we passed on the way to Galway

Galway was a great town to go visit. It was much smaller than Dublin but also a much younger crowd. I found it hard to believe, but there were actually more pubs there than in Galway. My tour guide said Galway was kind of like Ireland's Las Vegas in that people like to go there to vacation and party. We only had about 2 hours there, so I went on a quick walking tour led by the tour guide, and then the tour guide and I went and grabbed a pint and sat outside talking and people watching. It was a great time! We then got back on the bus and made the 3 hour drive back to Dublin! I got back pretty late and made some dinner in the hostel kitchen (chicken sandwich and pasta, my travelling go-to meal). I wasn't sure what |I wanted to do for my last night of going out in Dublin, but that was soon fixed when a guy I met the first night I was there invited me to a party at his friend's apartment. The guy I met at the hostel, a Canadian named Dan, was in Dublin working and staying in the hostel while he searched for an apartment. I ended up going to the party, Dan's friend lived in an apartment right above the Temple Bar, it was really cool! I had a great time meeting Dan's friends, they were from all over the world and were in Dublin working. We then went out to a pub, but by then it was getting really late so I just had a Guinness and headed home.

Downtown Galway

Sunday was my last day in Ireland and so I had to fit in the rest of what I wanted to do in Dublin. I got up and walked over to St. Stephen's Green to have a picnic lunch. It was a beautiful park and I really enjoyed eating and watching people walk around the park. After lunch, I walked up toward St. Patrick's Cathedral where I ended up running into a guy named Chris who I met in my hostel the night before. He ended up joining me and we walked over to try to see Kilmainham Gaol, the old prison in Dublin. The walk ended up being much farther than we expected and when we got there we were going to have to wait an hour to take a tour. Chris wanted to watch a football match and I wanted to see the Jameson Distillery that afternoon so we decided to bail on the prison. I then headed down to the Jameson Distillery. The distillery was great, the tour pretty much went through the entire distillation process and ended in Jameson's bar where I could have a drink. There was also a whiskey tasting, but unfortunately I was not randomly chosen to do it so I had to watch while I worked on my Jameson and ginger ale.

St. Stephen's Green

The Jameson Distillery

After the distillery, I headed back up to the prison because I really wanted to check it out and knew it was still open. I ended up getting on a 4:10 tour of the prison. It was so cool, I'm really glad I went back! The prison was built in 1796 and was in use until the mid-198s. Many of its prisoners were Irish revolutionaries making it very interesting to hear about the Irish political past. Walking through this old prison was definitely an eery experience, but I'm glad I did it because it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. After the prison, I headed back to my hostel to have some dinner and get packed up. I've got to be up at around 4:30 tomorrow morning to catch my flight to Edinburgh, so I'm thinking I'll grab one last pint of Guinness in Dublin tonight and get to bed early!

Kilmainham Prison- The newer, East Wing

Despite having some of my things stolen, I absolutely loved Ireland. I was nervous at first that I wouldn't have fun being here without anyone I know, but that ended up being one of my favorite parts. I loved meeting people and also being able to do things on my own schedule. It was such a fun experience! I haven't left yet but already can't wait to come back! It'll be tricky for me to keep this updated without my laptop (I've totally been monopolizing one of the computers at the hostel here) but I'll do my best!

For some more pictures of my trip to Ireland, go to: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151614864390481.847267.588220480&type=3&l=f882bd81e2

Headed on up to the UK!

After four months in Barcelona I said my goodbyes last Friday. Although it was tough to leave, I was so excited to spend the entire month of May travelling throughout Europe. Right now, I’m in the midst of a two-week trip through the UK. I started in London, now I’m headed to Ireland, then it’s Scotland and then I’m making my way down to Paris. From Paris, I’m meeting up with my friend Tony and we’re going to Budapest and Vienna. In Vienna, we’ll be meeting up with our friend Brian and going to Prague and Amsterdam. So while Barcelona was incredible, I’ve still got a lot to look forward to! After saying goodbye to Eulalia and my roommates on Saturday, I headed off to London to begin my trip.

A view up the Thames from Waterloo Bridge

The Wellington- Where Kyle and I grabbed a drink the first night

I had been to London once before, but that was only for one, exhausting day during Spring Break of my freshman year of high school. I was pretty excited to have 3 full days and 4 nights to really get to explore London. I arrived in London pretty late on Saturday night and met up with my friend, Kyle Chapman, who I was staying with. We dropped my stuff off in his room and then immediately made our way a nearby pub where I had my first pint in London. I had been looking forward to spending time trying the different ales in the pubs in London, and from the get go, it didn’t let me down! We had a great time catching up and hanging out for a little bit. The pubs in London all close around midnight (very early by the Spanish standards I’m used to) so we only had about a half hour at the pub until last call. We took a freezing cold walk in the rain back across the Waterloo Bridge to his dorm room where we watched a movie before falling asleep. I knew it would be pretty cold and rainy in London but was not quite ready how cold that first walk across the Thames would be. I was more than happy to get in bed after that!

Outside the British Museum

We got an early start on Sunday morning, Kyle had to spend the day working on some papers and I had a lot I wanted to see so we both made sure to get up and moving. The first sight I wanted to see was the British Museum, so I checked my map and walked over to it. What I didn’t realize was how cool the walk there would be. I ended up walking through the theater district and Convent Garden on my way to the museum. It was still very cold and raining but I bought and umbrella and sucked it up for the walk over. The neighborhood was so much fun to walk through that I hardly noticed the cold. After about 20 minutes walking, I found the museum. The museum was amazing, I only spent about an hour in there but I have never been in such a huge museum. I immediately went to the ancient Egyptian exhibit where I saw the Rosetta Stone and a piece of the Sphinx’s Beard! I wandered through a little more, saw an exhibit on mummies and some of the Asian exhibit and then headed back out in search of lunch.

The Rosetta Stone

An Egyptian Sculpture

I wandered around for a little bit before finding a pub called the Three Greyhounds where I decided to have some lunch. It was still cold and raining outside so the beef rib pie and mashed potatoes and the pint I had for lunch were the perfect comfort food. After eating, I headed back out in the direction of the National Gallery. This walk took me through Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and then down to Trafalgar Square where the National Gallery is. Trafalgar Square was definitely my favorite of the three sights, I loved the monuments in the middle of it and the view of Big Ben in the distance. I took a few pictures in Trafalgar and then headed into to National Gallery. I made it through the National Gallery pretty quickly (it was sunny outside and I didn’t want to waste an opportunity to be outside) and really enjoyed seeing some of the Dutch paintings that were inside. After the gallery, I headed down towards the Parliament building.

Beef rib pie, roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes and a pint for lunch

Piccadilly Circus

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square

A monument in Trafalgar Square

On the way to the Parliament building, I got sidetracked and ended up instead walking down the mall to Buckingham Palace. It was a beautiful walk with the sun shining, the tree leaves budding and St. James Park to my left. I got to the palace, took a few pictures and then walked through St. James Park on the way to the Parliament building. It was a gorgeous afternoon to walk through the park and I took my time getting to the Parliament building and Westminster Abbey. I got to Westminster first and saw a sign that said I could go inside in about 45 minutes to watch organ recital. I figured that was too good an opportunity to pass up, so I went to a pub and grabbed a pint while I waited out the 45 minutes. The organ recital didn’t disappoint. I didn’t think the inside of Westminster was that spectacular, but it was amazing to hear the organ in there. I then walked to the Parliament building and then back along the Thames to Kyle’s dorm. We cooked some stir-fry for dinner and then headed to sleep pretty early.

Looking down the mall toward Buckingham Palace

Me at Buckingham Palace

Westminster Abbey

Big Ben and the Parliament Building

We got off to another early start on Monday. Kyle still had to spend the morning finishing his papers and I wanted to go see the Imperial War Museum. We agreed to meet up again around noon so we could go to the Tower of London and the London Bridge in the afternoon. The Imperial War Museum was my favorite of the museums I visited in London. There were all sorts of old tanks, planes, submarines and other military equipment all around the inside of the first floor. There were also great exhibits about the British Special Services and all of the wars England has been involved in. My favorite exhibits were the Trench Warfare experience and the Blitz experience. I had a great morning looking at everything in that museum and then headed back to meet Kyle.

Outside of the Imperial War Museum

Inside the Imperial War Museum

Thumbs up to cool tanks

Kyle and I met around 12:30 and headed off to the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. We walked up the Thames to get there and passed St. Paul’s Cathedral along the way. We didn’t go inside, but stopped for a few to take some pictures of the outside. It was a huge cathedral and pretty awe-inspiring to look at. When we got to the Tower it was very busy, but we waited out the line to buy tickets and made it inside just as one of the Yeoman Ward tours were beginning so we tagged along. Our tour guide was hilarious and knew everything about the tower and its history, I was happy to be on the tour. I had seen the tower from the outside before, so it was interesting to see the inside. I didn’t realize all of the history behind it and loved hearing about some of the stories of the executions that happened on Tower hill. Seeing the Crown Jewels was incredible too!

King's College

St. Paul's Cathedral

The Tower of London

Our Yeoman Warder tour guide

A prisoner's graffiti preserved in one of the towers

The Tower Bridge from inside the Tower of London

Kyle and I in front of the Tower Bridge

We left the Tower and took some pictures of the Tower bridge and then headed back because we were going to meet up with a couple of Kyle’s friends to watch the Manchester City vs. Manchester United game at a nearby pub. We got back, had some incredible chicken at a restaurant called Nandos and then headed off to watch the game. The first pub we tried was full but we found another once called the Wellington and watched the game with a big crowd there. It was very different watching the game with the English than the Spanish. It’s a much more social experience with the English whereas the Spanish only watch the game and really don’t even talk to each other. We had a great time meeting some people there and watching Man. City win 1-0. After the game, we all headed home, made some more stir-fry and then went to sleep.

At the pub watching the Manchester United vs. Manchester City match

On Tuesday, Kyle and I got up, met up with Kyle’s friend Jeff and headed out to have a full English breakfast. The full English breakfast was so good, it consists of two eggs, sausage, bacon, beans, mushrooms, hashbrowns and black pudding. The English comfort food definitely treated me well, but there’s no way I could get used to eating those huge, rich meals everyday! After breakfast the three of us headed over to the Churchill War Rooms. This was another incredible museum. They turned to underground rooms used for all of Britain’s planning during World War II into the museum. Most of the rooms were left at they were in 1945 and we learned a lot about Churchill and British planning and operation during WWII. After a couple hours down there, were very happy to come back up to the sunlight and walk over to Harrods.

The War Council Room at the Churchill War Rooms

I knew a little bit about Harrods before going in, but I could not have prepared myself for how extravagant that store was. We only saw a little bit of the store, but we did manage to find the fine watches and jewelry section where we found a watch for over 500,000 pounds! After Harrods, we took the tube up to Camden.

Outside one of the markets in Camden

Inside the Camden Market

Another inside Camden Market

Camden was a really interesting neighborhood to walk through. It consisted mostly of outdoor markets where you could find just about anything to buy. It was a lot of fun to walk through the markets and look at all of the bizarre things people were selling. The people watching in Camden was also the best, we had a great time just sitting and looking at the people walking by. It’s definitely one of the more edgy and alternative areas in London. We walked through the markets for a while, grabbed some fish and chips for dinner and then took a long walk back into central London. I had tickets to Phantom of the Opera at 7:30 that night, and I made it to Her Majesty’s Theater with just a little bit of time to spare. I’m so glad I could a show in one of London’s theaters. I knew next to nothing about Phantom before going and was totally wrapped up in the show the whole time. It was great because I found a relatively cheap seat, but could still see the whole show and loved it! After the show, I took the tube back to Kyle’s so I could get packed up and ready to head out for my early morning flight to Dublin.

Inside Her Majesty's Theater at Phantom of the Opera

London was so great, I’m a little bummed to have left, but beyond excited for the rest of my trip. I’ll be sure to update this as often as I can and keep posting my pictures!

For more pictures of my London trip, go to: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151603260035481.846393.588220480&type=3&l=62233f7e67