Venice

Thursday March 17, 2011

We arrived in Venice pretty late, after our long train ride in. First thing we did was check into our hotel, which was gorgeous. It was by far the best place that we had stayed the whole trip. I ended up that I was sharing a bed with Jordan and Sean.. which got to be a little weird, but I won't get in that.
Anyway, our hotel was pretty far away from Venice still.. we were not on the little island itself we were back in some small town that had nothing in it except people who do not speak any English. After getting some food, me, Sean, Katie, and Ross decided that we wanted to go into Venice even though it was already after midnight. We wanted to make the most of our stay because we did not have much time there at all. Everyone else stayed and went to the hotel bar for drinks.
We took a night bus into Venice and once we got there I was in awe. It was such a beautiful night but since it was so late the streets were silent. We walked along the tiny little alley ways connecting from road to a canal and back and just enjoyed the peace and quiet. After coming from the busyness of Barcelona and Rome it was actually nice to have a relaxing walk in the dark. We found a vendor selling wine, so we got two bottles and sipped it as we walked. It was a really nice way to enjoy our first night.

Friday March 18, 2011
First and only full day in Venice =( However, we did make the best of it. We got up early and headed right into the good part of Venice. The first thing we did when we got there was get on a huge water bus along the Grand Canal. We figured that would be a lot more fun than walking. Being in Venice during the day was entirely different than being there at night. For one, there were a lot more people, and for two somehow everything looked even more pretty. It did help that it was such a gorgeous day, the sky was a beautiful blue and it was sunny and warm, just how it should be. Our water bus ride took us down to St. Mark's Square, which is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Venice. While we were there we learned that you are not supposed to feed the pigeons because there were too many of them around. Venice is trying to get rid of the pigeon overload as they are ruining the old things in the city.
However, we saw a lady who had popcorn kernels, and she was feeding them with her daughter. It looked like so much fun the pigeons would eat right out of her hand and land on her, so we decided that we had to try it. The woman gave us all some kernels and the birds starting flocking towards us. I normally hate pigeons because they are dirt scavengers.. but for some reason it was the coolest thing in the world right then to be able to hold one. Some times even more than just one would land on you. Katie Beers had one on her head for a while, that was hilarious.
After playing with the birds for a bit we took a tour of St. Mark's Basilica, and then ventured down little streets shopping and enjoying Italy. We got some wine and sat along the Grand Canal with our feet dangling over the edge for quite a while. The boys sketched trying to capture the beauty of the buildings and the water.
Since we didn't really know how to get back to where the bus picked us up, we got on a water taxi rather than walking and trying to find our way. The water taxi was sooo fun. It had an open back to it so you could still see the water and everything, but it was only us in it. Not a big huge thing like the water bus we had ridden earlier.
Later on we all went out to a nice sit down dinner on the canal. A little pricey, but entirely worth it. After dinner we all walked around some more grabbing alcohol where we could find it, and just drinking along the streets. We never made it in to a bar, but somehow ended up pretty drunk. It got late and we decided to head back to get on the bus so we could head back to the hotel. By this time it was too late to take a water bus or taxi so we had to try to find our way to the bus station.. which presented a pretty big problem. We ended up walking along small streets getting more and more into the residential areas and got really lost. It took us over an hour to get back to where we get on the bus.
While we were lost trying to find our way I was actually enjoying it. I started to think about how weird it is that people actually live here. As we walked along the smaller canals we could see doorways that opened right up to the water. The people would have their little boats right out front. It is just funny to think that's probably how they get to work in the morning. It doesn't seem like a place that people would actually live, but it would be amazing. I wish that I could live there because it was so calm and beautiful.
When we eventually made it to the bus we got on no problem, but for some reason we ended up missing our stop ad getting up at some other random location. We couldn't find a taxi because it was so late so we just walked and walked like we had just barely done back in Venice. Again, that probably took us 45 minutes to get back to our hotel. By the time we got back we were all ready to go bed so that's what we did.

Saturday March 20, 2011
By the time we got up and checked out of our hotel we didn't really have enough time to venture back into Venice because we all had to catch our plane in a few hours to go back to Dublin. We didn't want to risk missing our flight so we stayed close by. We wandered around a few stores, had some lunch and before we knew it we were taking off headed home. We really did not get to spend enough time in Venice and for that I am sad because it probably was my favorite spot of the whole trip. I think that if I ever get the chance I would definitely go back. Hopefully I do.

Italia

When in Rome....

Monday March 14, 2011

As we got to the airport and were about to leave to Rome, I realized how sad I was to be leaving Barcelona. I really didn't think that we had spent enough time there. Looking back it didn't seem like we were able to do too much because we didn't have enough days. Also it was sad because our group was getting split up as Sean was going to Paris with some other friends, but he was going to meet up with us again in a few days.
When we landed in Rome all of us were in the worst moods. It was still really early, none of us had slept, and it was just a bad time. We were all cranky and sassy little bitches. haha. For the first few hours we were there we weren't able to check into our hotel because it was too early, which sucked. We were forced to go out to breakfast and walk around for 3 hours, when all we really wanted to do was sleep. We saw a few things that were close to us a fountain, a basilica, some guys dressed up like warriors, ya know typical Roman things.. Finally we were able to check into our hotel. After some confusion about sleeping arrangements.. aka no one wanting to sleep with or near Dawnsquad..we were able to get in some much needed sleep.
We finally got up and got ready and explored some more. It rained a bit and we almost called it quits.. then I saw my roommate, Sam, in the middle of Rome. She was traveling with her Dad and I had no idea she was even going there. It was very strange. After talking with her for a minute we got some gelatos and made our way to the Trevi Fountain.. where we all made some wishes. After that we called it a night and figured we would up for not doing much by getting up real early and doing a lot tomorrow.

Tuesday March 15, 2011
One thing about Rome that by this time I had already realized, is that everything is such a big tourist trap. You literally can't walk down a street without being asked by 5 different guys if you want to buy something an umbrella, sunglasses, flowers, you name it. It was actually kind of annoying, but we liked to make fun of them. They always tried to make it seem like you were getting such a good deal. "I give it to you for a sexy price" and we mock them because its never a good deal. "normally 5 euro, but for YOU, 5 euro"
Anyway, we spent the day doing only the most touristy things we could possibly do. We actually went on a hop on hop off bus and toured the city that way. First stop was the Colosseum. Me, Emily, Sarah, and Dawnsquad actually went inside and walked around, the others went their own way. We figured we HAD to do it because its only like the most talked about old item in Rome... It actually was pretty cool to walk around and see where all the crazy gladiator fights happened, but at the same time it was sad to think about all of the people and animals that died there. Not nice. Not nice at all.
After the Colosseum we hopped back on the bus, saw some more things, and got off at Vatican City. We went to to Popes house. and walked around St. Peters Basilica. Vatican City is serious, its so pretty but they are s protective of everything too. Some of the girls that went with us were not allowed inside of the Basilica because they were wearing dresses. Apparently that is against the rules, who knew. That was shitty for them, but the rest of us enjoyed it. The inside was beautiful and it really sucks that they didn't get to see it too.
Next stop: Musei Vaticani. I got a little pissed because most of the group basically ran though the entire thing just to get to the Sistine Chapel.. and I'm like guuyyysss other things are cool in here too! so I kind of took my time looking at other paintings and sculptures and eventually made my way to the Chapel.. Michelangelo knew that the hell he was doing when he painted that. It was fascinating. Everything on the ceiling looks like it is 3-D. but its all flat There literally looks like there are statues in the corners it is just unreal. That was really really cool to look at. We stayed in that one room for probably over a half hour it was just so amazing.
After all those adventures we got on the bus and went back to our hotel. Shortly after that we got some drinks and made our way to the Yellow Bar. Not everyone came out and basically me and Emily were on our own, well at least that's what it seemed like as I remember it. We got these really gross drinks that I'm pretty sure the bartender messed up. Got pretty drunk. Met some boys. Got asked to play a game with these other randos said yes, until we got over there and realized it was a stripping game. lol. so we had to decline. After that we went down to a different bar and tried to get a drink where big mishaps took place and ended up in Emily thinking that she paid with a 20 and not getting back the correct change. Lots of screaming happened and we left.. only to get a little bit down the street to turn around and go back to demand money. haha it was insane. We threatened to call the police and we got our money back. In the end Emily realized that she really didn't pay with a 20 haha.. so she made a little extra cash it was great.

Wednesday March 16, 2011
Even though a lot of people didn't go out the night before, half of the group didn't feel like doing anything so the adventures that happened today were only with me, Jordan, Ross and Katie which was fine. We walked around for a while, the first real thing we did was go to see the Spanish Steps. I didn't and still don't really understand the significance of the Spanish Steps, but they were really pretty and there was a good view of Rome from the top.
Following that we took a scenic walk along the Tiber River and made our way around to the Pantheon. This was a really cool place to be at the time we were there. There is a big hole in the center of the ceiling and while we were there it was raining. It looked really cool as we were standing inside watching the rain fall into the building. After leaving there the four of us explored a little bit more then went back to meet up with the rest of the group.
Later that night we all went out to a little dance club that was located in the basement of a restaurant. There were not that many people there but it was actually really fun. There was good music and we all danced with each other and had a good time.

Thursday March 17, 2011
St. Patrick's Day! And the only place in the world where everyone wants to be on that one day is Ireland.. and we all went and left and missed it. I was a little sad about that. I know that Dublin had some wild festivities going on that would have been wonderful to take part in.
This was also our last day in Rome. We were taking a train later on to get into Venice. When we got going and checked out of our hotel we still had like 5 hours to go around and see more things, so me, Katie, and Ross took advantage of that. Everyone else basically wanted to be lame and sit in the train station waiting for our train... ALL DAY.
We hopped on the metro and went over to the Colosseum part of town again. I wasn't that enthusiastic about going in the Colosseum again, but when we learned that it was free today to view the Colosseum & Ancient ruins we had to do it. The ruins was really cool, seeing how the whole city was formed years and years ago was interesting. Rome indeed was not built in a day.
We got to adventure and made it back in plenty of time to catch our train. 6 hour train ride, not so great. But with Venice waiting for us, we were all very very excited.

ROCK IT, BITCH

Sooo I haven't written in a very long time. I got too caught up in the Irish lifestyle.. too much Guinness. Anyway as I sit here procrastinating doing my science final paper I am going to attempt to recall all of my trips and dates that I missed posting about. Here it goes..

BAAARRRRcelona

Thursday March 10, 2011

Spring break begins! First stop Barcelona, Spain. A large group of crazy college friends doing spring break right. Except for one situation- DAWNSQUAD. The group consisted of good friends - Me, Kyle, Jordan, Katie, Ross, Emily, Bonnie, Sarah C, and Sean, and somehow Amber Dawn caught wind of our travel plans and decided to invite herself. She is very strange.. and it kind of put us all in difficult times having her there.. Anyway we landed and immediately were so excited to be in Spain that it didn't really matter. Bonnie and Sarah were the only ones that spoke any Spanish.. so it was little difficult getting around at first.. but we all caught on and picked up small phrases as they were needed. Since it was the first night, we all decided that we would take it rather easy. We hadn't been into the real city part yet.. our Hostel was out like 20 minutes from city center.. pretty quite, very cute, but not in a touristy location at all.. since we hadn't found out about the city yet we thought we should stay close to the hostel go get drinks at a local bar and take it easy. Half of the plan held up.. the taking it easy part definitely did not.

To start off our night, we all went out and bought bottles of whatever alcohol for dirt cheap. So nice coming from Dublin where everything is overpriced. Then we went up on the roof of our hostel and there was nice chilling place so we gathered around and had drinks. Then the wildness started. Many toasts were made, to spring break, to Spain, to bob saget. I don't know how it started exactly but the boys started taking their shirts off.. and things got really sloppy to say the least. Kyle ended up wearing his shirt like a dress-> and screaming.. "I'm a dainty lady, take me to a club!" We were very very loud and obnoxious.. at some point we left. Some of us.. me, Bonnie, Katie, Ross, Jordan and Sean adventured to the park and climbed to the top of this small mountain and found a Jesus cross. Weird things happened. then we met up with the others at a bar we had scoped out earlier in the day. We didn't realize how much these people do not speak English. It was fun and challenging ordering drinks and stuff like that. Jameson Y Ginge my fave. after many more drinks we were becoming more 'comfortable' with Spanish phrases and saying things that we would never say in English like "muchos muchos huevos senior" and singing "cuantos anos aqui" which is not how it really goes.... the best ones being "no mas" and "no se" they really stuck with us.. basically we made asses of ourselves.

Friday March 11, 2011

After a night like that we really didn't know what we were in for in the morning. We ended up getting spoken to by the manager who was not pleased with our actions. He was very nice and explained that they got NUMEROUS complains about us and that we were more then welcome to stay there but we had to control ourselves and take the party to the bars not the hostel. We apologized and told him that it was a one time thing. we were just really excited .. and it wouldn't happen again. That was a close one.

After the lecture we left and adventured around some parts of Barcelona. Everything was so friggen pretty. Literally everywhere you looked there was something beautiful. We went to Parc Guell which was very cool. From the top you could see for miles and miles. When we first got there we noticed all of these Hispanic men with items on blankets for sale.. whatever they were doing must have been illegal because a cop showed up and they all grabbed their blankets with stuff inside threw it over their shoulder and ran up the hill. It was hilarious. Then after about 3 minutes they were all back setting up shop again.

At the parc they have these two big buildings that are made to look like gingerbread houses. They looked so much like real gingerbread houses it was amazing. It looked like you could literally walk up to them and take a bite.

After the parc we hit up the metro and went to check out the the port. We walked around for a bit, and then found something fun to do. There was a big jumpy thing. They strap you in and you basically just jump on a trampoline, but its cool because you can do flips and jump really really high and don't have to worry about falling because you are strapped in. I didn't do it because I was scared, but some of the others did and they had a blast. I enjoyed just watching them.

That night we still didn't make it into the city to go out. We stayed around the Hostel area, starting early on the roof because it was so nice out. We were quieter this time, and promised ourselves that we would leave early so we didn't get yelled at again, since everyone there already hated us. While we were up there a lady came up and started talking to us about our time in Barcelona. She was also American, and she told us she had over heard some very interesting statements coming from us the night before like, "No one wants to see your balls again we have already seen them" and "We're in MEXICOOOO" when clearly we were not. haha. Turns out she was an art teacher and really cool. we talked with her for a while and then she left. After that we met a guy and his girlfriend who were from England.. They were also really nice, and I could have listened to Jason for hours.. loved his accent. After meeting friends we went out to the same bar as the night before. Right beside the bar Me and Katie saw this big fluffy black dog that looked scary.. it was like a guard dog for this parking lot and it was behind a fence but the guy told us she was really nice so we pet her for hours.. Hola Jackie..Adios Jackie.. we tried to speak to her in her own language.

Saturday March 12, 2011

Rain rain rain... lots and lots of rain. It was pretty shitty that it had to rain, but we expected it and it looked like it was going to be raining off and on throughout the rest of our spring break. Whatever. We went out with our umbrellas and tried to find something to do for the day. We ended up doing a little bit of shopping along the Portal De l'Angel and then some of us (me, Sean, Emily, Kyle, Bonnie, and Dawnsquad followed) went to the Aquarium. As we were running around checking out all the little fishies and sea creatures, we realized that DawnSquad was surely way behind us and we didn't care at all. We got onto the the little moving strip that brings you through the underwater tunnel and had to take a celebratory photo because she was not with us. Yes, we are mean. Anyway the tunnel was really really cool. There were a lot of different animals to look at and some big big sharks that looked like they just wanted to rip your face off.

After the aquarium we went back to the Hostel. I'm pretty sure this is when we had a group nap session, where me and Kyle were laying in one bed and just kept giggling about the old lady bent over weird bouncing a little asking for change. And singing "cuantos anos aqui". Everyone was getting mad, but we had serious giggles and could not control them. haha. Finally we did nap.

After sleeping a little we all got up and got ready to go out for REAL in Barcelona. It had cleared off and stopped raining so that was good. We went down by the water and found a nightclub to go to. We went to a place called Catwalk that was huge. The layout was really nice. It looked so promising, and yet no one was there. There were literally like 5 other people in the whole club. Apparently in Barcelona the clubbing does not start until after midnight. We were a little hasty in our 11 pm entrance. While we were there we met up with some other kids from our school who happened to be in Barcelona as well. The bad thing about this place was that the drinks were like 10 euros a piece, and none of us were very drunk. The boys had their Kanye night.. spending a shit ton of their money. Well, a shit ton of their daddys money. Only a few of us ended up sticking it out and waiting to see the place blow up. Which slowly but surely it did. A few of us stayed out until probably 5 am dancing and going crazy. I basically had to carry sean to the taxi when we were leaving, which was challenging because I probably was in need of some assistance as well. When we got in the cab Sean passed out on my shoulder and I had the difficulty of figuring out how to get home and how to talk to the driver. Sean knew a little bit of Spanish, but he was of no help. Finally we got going but I still wasn't convinced that the driver knew where we were trying to go. He didn't seem to understand what the metro was or anything so it was confusing.. after a while I made the driver pull over because I didn't think we were going to get there and I wanted a different cab, so we got out and flagged over a different one. This time Sean remembers that he has a card in his wallet with the address of the Hostel.. seriously? you couldn't have remember that beforeeee! haha but yeah we made it home safely in the end.

Sunday March 13, 2011

Last real day in Barcelona =( We still hadn't been to the beach or anything, so we made sure that we were going to do that.. and it just so happens it was a gorgeous day out. It was by far the best weather we had in Barcelona. First thing we did was go Le Segrada Familia, which is in the process of being built, but is very very pretty. So we took a tour of that, then walked along the port, and then headed for the Beach. The beach that we went to was really nice. Watch out for the picture <- photo bomb coming in 4th person from the left. We spent a little time laying in the sun there, but since it was our last day we wanted to walk around and see as much as we could.

That night we took it easy. Our flight to ROME was really early the next day, actually we had to be leaving our hostel at about 4 am just so that we were at the airport on time.. We figured it would be a good thing if got some sleep and were rested up. We all went out to a nice sit down family dinner at Margarita Blue which was sweet. We didn't make it back to the Hostel until after midnight, so that was a very very short nights sleep we all probably ended up with 2 and a half hours of rest. Not good when you have to fly RyanAir the next day.

Irish History Field Trip

Fri. March 1, 2011

Holy shit. It is so hard to believe that it is already March! I have basically been gone for 2 months and it has flown by soo fast. I already don't want to leave. I mean obviously I miss everyone, but seeing all these new places, and learning all of this new stuff is really really awesome. Studying abroad is really a once in a lifetime opportunity and I couldn't be happier that I actually took advantage of it. Finally I did something right!
Today I went on a field trip with my Irish History class. Lately we have been learning about the very first people who came to Ireland. We have spent time looking at the differences between the Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Bronze ages. One of my teachers favorite things is massive burial tombs and things like that that were left behind that we can still see today. Ireland is full of historical sites, literally there are thousands and thousands of passage tombs, and she couldn't bring us to all of them so we visited some of the biggest and most accessible ones. First we went to Newgrange. My teacher kept stressing the idea of just how massive these things are. People had to create these thousands of years ago with there bare hands, they had no big machines like we have now. It would have taken a very long time and been very hard work. She also kept making us think of how important the people must have been who were buried there. There were only a few peoples remains found there and this tomb can be seen for miles and miles. We actually got to go inside of this one and that was really interesting. There was a bunch of art etched into the rocks for decoration. it was pretty cool
After that we went to the Hill of Tara, which basically looked like a big golf course to someone that doesn't know better.

Adventures

Fri. Feb 25, 2011

Today was our horseback riding adventure, put on through the school. A group of about 10 or so of us got up early and got on the train to Bray. As the plan was supposed to go a bunch of guy friends of mine were supposed to be going, but people got too drunk and couldn't make it, figures. But Kyle pulled through surprisingly, so he was the only guy horseback riding with like 9 girls. haha, it looked a little funny I have to admit.
When we got to the riding school we were given riding boots and helmets for safety, then we were paired up with our horses. They tried to pick the more experienced people for the horses that were a little more wild, and the really slow ones to the beginners. I have only been horseback riding like once or twice, so I really had no idea what I was doing, but they still insisted on giving me the horse that wasn't even allowed to stand next to the rest of the horses, Gracie. I was already nervous and then they told me that she doesn't really like the other horses, she had a bit of an attitude and that made me even more nervous. Once I got on her, the lady that worked there was trying to adjust the saddle, and Gracie tried to kick her. It was kind of funny, but then I got worried that she was just going to go crazy while I was on her.
Since Kyle was a beginner they gave him the oldest horse there I'm pretty sure. His name was Chucky.. he had a gray mane and was drooling when we first saw him. He was a sweetie though, but also a slow poke.
Amber was given a pretty sassy horse. When we were walking apparently it kept getting really close to the horse in front of it and biting its ass trying to get it out of the way. haha. I would have freaked out.
One we got on the trail Gracie was fine. I was starting to get a little comfortable on her, and then a dog ran out of the woods onto the trail in front of us and spooked her. She started to trot for a second and scared the shit out of me, but then she was fine. We walked the trails for probably an hour and a half. We climbed up part of a mountain and got a gorgeous view. By the end of the trip we were all very comfortable and attached to our horses and didn't wanna say goodbye. We had so much fun. I seriously wish that I could go riding every day. I absolutely loved it.

Northern Ireland

Fri. Feb 18, 2011

Today we are headed to Northern Ireland for the night. It is technically a school trip, but we had to pay 50 Euros and had an option as to whether or not we wanted to go. Of course, everyone decided to go. We rode 3 hours on a coach bus North of Dublin to Belfast. I did not know this before, but apparently Northern Ireland is a different country. It is owned by the United Kingdom, so we had to get our Euros converted into Pounds again (same as London). Changing the currency isn't really the problem, the problem is that the euro is more expensive than the dollar, so I lose money there. And then the Pound is even more expensive than the Euro, so when I look at my bank account, the money goes a LOT quicker than I think it is. Which sucks but what can you do...
Anyway, when we reached Belfast our bus parallel parked in between two other buses, it was pretty amazing. He was a good bus driver. The entire bus applauded him. When we got out we were met by a bunch of Black Taxi's. Northern Ireland has this thing with there taxi's.. it's like a tour. There were 6 of us to a car and the drivers brought us around to different important sites and told us all about them. It was kind of interesting, except it was freezing and rainy and every time we stopped to get out and look at things, we just wanted to hurry up and get back in the taxi.
Next we went to a neighborhood where there are murals painted on the ends of all of the buildings. They were pretty cool. They were commemorating people who had lost their lives in the wars and stuff like that. One mural had a picture of a guy with a sniper rifle, and in every direction you walk it looks like he is pointing at you. Like the Mona Lisa's eyes. That was probably my favorite mural of the day. Another place the taxis brought us was to the Belfast Peace Wall. This is the wall that separates the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. The wall was interesting because so many people have graffiti-ed on it from all over the world. People commonly put quotes about peace on it. It was actually pretty cool, and yes I signed it. After we left Belfast one of our teachers thought he should tell us what a dangerous place we were just in. He told us that if we had been out touring on our own with our cameras there is a good chance that we would have gotten beat up or shot. They really aren't good people. Apparently they really don't like tourists in their business and what not. Nice of him to tell us that AFTER we went there. haha.
From Belfast we went to a very small village called Ballintoy. This village was seriously small, it has about 10 houses, a hostel, and 2 pubs along one main road, then nothing but farms and ocean. It was beautiful there, but definitely the kind of place where everyone knows everyone and their sheep. <- picture taken across the road from the Hostel we stayed in. It was definitely nice to get out of the high speed of Dublin craziness. Seeing this place was just like WHOA this is Ireland. It is crazy how green everything is, and just how pretty the open fields really are here. We had dinner at the Hostel, and since there wasn't much to do in the small town, basically everyone filled up the two pubs and just got real drunk together. It was nice. We all made it to bed at a decent time in the early morning. lol.

Sat. Feb 19, 2011

Everyone woke up bright and early to start the days adventures. We walked just down the road from where we stayed, and walked toward the coast, and suddenly it felt like you were in a different place. The water was a really pretty bluish green and the cliffs were amazing along the Antrim Coast. We found lots of sea shells and had fun climbing around on the rocks.
After that we moved just a little bit up the coast and did something a little more entertaining. We went to the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge. They specifically told us before going that it was not for the faint of heart, and we did not have to do it if we didn't want to. However, to my knowledge, I think every one of us did cross it. It was very very scary. When I was walking up to it, it didn't looks so bad, but once I was standing in front of it about to step on, I got real nervous. It was definitely a lot more stable than some rope bridges that I have been on, which was a good thing. But believe me, it still wobbled quite a bit. It was hard because, you don't want to look down because its so high up, but you want to look where you are walking so you don't trip, so it was a little challenging. Even though it was wicked scary it was very worth it.
Next we went to another place on the coast. We went to the town of Bushmills, Northern Ireland, and visited the Giant's Causeway. This was unlike anything I had seen in my life. It was basically made up of thousands of rock formations coming out of the ground that were shaped like hexagon pillars. It was so cool, and 100% natural. It looks like it should have been man made, because it is so strange, but it was really neat and fun to walk on. Rocks like that <- stretched across the whole coast right here. My teacher, Stephen is obsessed with rocks so he took this as an opportunity to teach us about the formation of the rocks, how they were created from rapid cooling magma or whatever. It was pretty neat.
After Giant's Causeway we went to Dunluce Castle and walked around the remains. At one time the Castle must have been very beautiful. Today all that is left is some walls and a tower for remains, but it was still interesting to walk around. After that we got back in the bus for a long ride home.

London, England

Thurs. Feb 10, 2011

Constantly watching the clock all day during class. I could not wait to get out so I could go home and pack up all my stuff for our weekend adventure to London! Having never been to England, I pretty much expected it to be just like Dublin. Seeing how it's right next door, how much different can it possibly be right? Thankfully, I was wrong. Not that Ireland is bad or anything, its great, but I was just ready to see something different. Anyway, this is the first big trip that I have taken since being away from home, so I was very excited. We had a late flight, it was supposed to leave at 10 pm, but it got delayed so we ended up leaving around 11 or so. Going on the trip was me, Katie, Amber, Bonnie, Louis & Devon. Or so we thought. The second we got the airport the boys wanted nothing to do with us, so it ended up being just me and the girls for the whole trip, which was totally fine. The plane experience in itself was a little different than what I had done in the past. When boarding the plane, there was no terminal thing... we actually had to walk out and climb up a ladder to get on the plane which was kind of fun. And there was no arranged seating, so we got to sit wherever we wanted.
We had a safe flight over, it was only about 55 minutes which was nice because we had such a late start anyway. Once we got the the airport in London, we still had quite an adventure ahead of us to find our hostel. We had to take a bus from the airport to Liverpool st. Which took about an hour or so, because Ryan Air does not ever fly to the airport that you want it to, so it is always a big inconvenience. Anyway, that part was a success, but then we didn't know how to get from that bus station to our hostel, which was still quite a ways away. We were told to get on the Underground and it would bring us directly to Kennington, where we were staying. However, we did not account for the underground being closed because we were getting there so late. Now we knew we had to make a quick decision because it was like 1 am.. and we were a bunch of girls in a strange city, clearly lost because we were carrying all of our stuff with us. We really must have looked pathetic. haha. We are kind of smart though, so we figured out that the buses run along and stop at the same places as the underground, so after a few minutes of trying to figure out which one would take us there we were on our way. To make things even more embarrassing, when we were getting on the bus, you need to pay with exact change or you do not get your money back, so me and Katie were sitting there digging through our British Pounds that we had just exchanged our euros for. We had no idea which coins were what and it was dark so we couldn't see. It was hilarious, but we felt so stupid.
Finally we arrived at Kennington station. Now to find the hostel. This place looked even sketchier than where we were before.. so we were a little nervous. We went into the only store we could find to try to find out where our street was, and the man did not speak English very well so he was no help. We walked around a bit, and finally gave up and hailed a taxi to take us there. It felt so good to see the Journey's London Bridge Hostel sign. we could relax finally. Once we got inside, the guy at the desk was really funny and joked around with us for a little while before sending us to our rooms where were we could get some rest, for the long days ahead of us. I had never stayed in a hostel before, so I wasn't really sure what to think. We were staying in a room with 12 other girls so it was kind of crazy. We all had our own little cubbies in bunk beds. <- pic. It was cozy to say the least. It was a little weird leaving all of our stuff out at first, but we were smart and didn't being anything of real value so it wasn't bad. Thankfully no one had anything stolen either!

Fri. Feb 11, 2011
Today we got up early, after not getting enough sleep, and adventured all over London. We figured out how the Underground system worked fairly easily. I wish that they had one of those in Dublin, because it would be very convenient. The first thing we did was go see Tower Bridge because it is stunning. It is easily the prettiest bridge I have ever seen. I mean that doesn't say much because I haven't seen that many great bridges. But this one was just amazing. we walked around for a while, saw the Tower of London, which was also pretty cool. After that we went to Parliament square because we had heard so much about it. We checked out Westminster Abbey, and saw Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. I don't know why it was, but seeing Big Ben was my favorite part of the day. Before coming to London, I knew that Big Ben was a giant clock, but I didn't know what he looked like. So getting to see him was cool and he was MUCH better looking than I had initially expected. It was actually kind of funny because we took the underground and got off the Westminster stop and went out the exit that said "tourist attractions:Big Ben" and once we walked outside we were like hmm where is he? As we turned around we realized that we had actually come out from underneath him.. We actually almost missed him. After taking like a thousand pictures of Big Ben, we went and got some food a cute little restaurant and continued adventuring. I got to take my picture in one of those infamous red telephone booths =) I have no idea why those things got so famous haha, but yes I did the most touristy thing I could think of.
Next we crossed the River Thames and went over to the London Eye to check that out. We decided not to get on it because it was really foggy out, so we probably wouldn't be able to see much anyway. We figured we would wait and see if tomorrow was a better day. Instead we went to something that was near buy called Death Trap. It was basically like a haunted house, and it really was scary. They brought us out back and locked us in a pitch black room and told us the only thing we had to do was get out. We were supposed to follow this Doctor around who was wicked cute. It was fun. We all got scared and screamed a bunch, but we made it out successfully, and had fun doing it. Not quite sure it was worth as much as we paid though, it was kind of a short trip through the house.
After that we went back to the hostel for a little while and got all dolled up to go out. We went on a "pub crawl" around London. We met up with this group at Belushis, paid like 10 pounds to enter and from there we got to go with the group to 4 other clubs (cover charge taken care of). At all of the bars we got a free drink, and after that the drinks were reduced price. So we definitely made our money back, and it was really fun. We had to call it an early night though, because we wanted to catch the underground back to our hostel, and none of us got much sleep the night before so we really needed a good rest.

Sat. Feb 12, 2011
Today we got up early again. The first thing on our agenda was to hit up Buckingham Palace and see the changing of the guards. We knew we had to get there a bit early so we could get a good view. The palace was really pretty, but I have to say that I was a little disappointed because there were no guards in red that I could see and go up to and try to make laugh. BUMMER. That was another really touristy thing that I wanted to do while I was in London. Anyway, after being there waiting patiently with hundreds of other tourists, we realized that there was no changing of the guards scheduled for today. Apparently in the winter months they only do it once a day every other day. So that sucked, but as we were leaving we got to see like 8 important guard-looking people on horses, so that was cool anyway.
Later on I tried Fish N Chips for the very first time. Apparently it is supposed to be London's best dish, so I had to give it a go. I didn't think I liked fish, but I guess I was wrong. It was actually really good. After getting food we walked over to St. Paul's Cathedral. The inside of it was beautiful. You really have to go there to see just how amazing it is. We all decided we wanted to climb to the top to get the great view.... half way up I think we were all regretting out choice. The only way to the top is to go up flight after flight of spiral staircase. Like seriously, it never ends. There is something like 530 steps to the top. And believe me it takes so long. I got so dizzy from going around and around. To add to the dizziness we were getting claustrophobic because the spaces kept getting smaller as we went up. It was frightening to say the least. We were all having slight panic attacks it was scary. Once we reached the top it was worth it though. Just so happens it was a beautiful day, and we could see for miles. London is beautiful, as you can see. We were glad we did it. Going down was just as bad though. Tight spaces and spiral stairs. I don't ever want to do it again, but I'm sure I would if I were with people that really wanted to, just because it was worth it.
After seeing London from the top of the cathedral, we decided that going on the London Eye might be a little repetitive. What else could we possibly see from up there? It just seemed like a waste of money so we didn't do it. Maybe next time. Instead we went and checked out the Clink Prison Museum. Apparently the Clink was an actual prison in London, and that is why people now call jail or prison the 'clink'. The museum was alright. We learned a lot about different torture devices that they used back in the day, which was interesting.
After that it was getting dark so we figured we should go back to the hostel and get ready for another night out. On our way home we passed a view that could not be avoided. Looking at Tower Bridge and the rest of the city at night was amazing. The picture really doesn't do justice to it. We didn't realize that it lit up at night so it was a surprise to us and made it that much better. I have to say that so far I think London is the prettiest city I have been to. It's so classy. Not too over done, but just enough to keep you interested for a while. The only thing that I was not as impressed with as I was hoping was the night life. Well- the night life that we got to see. The pub crawl was fun, but I think we could have had a lot more fun than that. Also, Saturday night we went to place called Fabric that was so far away, and it was supposed to be 4 floors of craziness - said the girls in our hostel that we went with- but it turned out to be lame. It looked like it would have been a good time if you were on a lot of drugs, but it wasn't the kind of place that we wanted to go. The music was very techno-like and not what we wanted to dance to. So yeah, if I could do one thing different it would have been to go to different clubs than the ones we did. But that's not what the trip was really about anyway. We just wanted to go to see some amazing things and we did. So we can't complain.