Yesterday (Wednesday) I have my Historic London class (walking tour of London). We went to Westminster Abbey. Last week we walked around the outside but this week we got to tour the inside. It was very interesting and probably my favorite class yet. Not only was it out of the cold, but very interesting. It's hard to believe that over 3000 people are buried in the church. They are mostly royalty and dignitaries. Their tombs vary from a slab of cement to lavish structures with statues and detailed carvings. The most interesting person buried in the church is Charles Darwin. He was hardly a believer, but apparently he came from a wealthy family and the Dean of the Westminster school was very interested in his studies at the time.
After my tour of the Abbey, I got to go home shortly only to head back in the same direction for a play later that with with Performing Arts class. We went and saw "Tribes" in a small maybe 150 person theater called the Royal Court. The performance was good. It was sad and I am not exactly sure what the underlining message was but it still was able to entertain me throughout (unlike the ballet).
Thursday, 28 October 2010
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
SCOTLAND
My weekend was fantastic! Yes, there was rain, wind, and the bitter cold but all in all it was worth every dose of bad weather/lack of sleep.
We (Patrick, Christina, and me) headed out to the Victoria bus station at about 10 pm on Thursday night. Our bus left around 11 pm from London and was set to arrive in Edinburgh at 8 am Friday morning.
Now I am sure that a 9 hour bus ride sounds like torture enough, mind you that the flight over to London was only 8 hours, but it got worse. The guys sitting in front, to the side, and behind us were part of a group heading to Edinburgh for their bachelor party and saw the bus ride as a pregame ride. Needless to say they were loud and obnoxious. I gave them until 4 am until I was going to say something (probably similar to the time I yelled at the neighbor about their boat, but that's another story). Luckily, they stopped making too much noise around 2:30 but it was still in and out sleep the entire time.
Finally we were in Edinburgh and to our pleasant surprise it was down pouring! We tried to trek to our hostel, but it was all uphill so we caved and hailed a cab for the rest of the way. We checked into our 8 bedroom dorm, which was surprisingly spacious! Then headed back out to the rainy streets for breakfast. We settled for good ole McD's on our first morning.
We headed out to the Royal Mile also known as High Street. There we booked out tickets for a bus tour the next day (i know, i know MORE bus time). We toured through St. Giles Cathedral (which is really not a cathedral but a church but they haven't changed the name for years). We decided in the afternoon that we would do an "Underground City Tour". There is supposedly really creepy and haunted things that go on in Edinburgh. We walked in underground vaults where hundreds of people died in the Edinburgh fire. I am scared easily so that kind of stuff freaks me out, but it was interesting to hear about some of the city's history. After the tour, we decided to head back to the hostel and clean up a bit then head out for dinner. We ate at a place called Garfunkle's. Patrick and Christina had traditional Scottish meals like Cottage Pie and Black pudding, but I stuck with the veggie burger. After we had some drinks but called it a pretty early night because our bus tour started at 8 am the next morning!
Sleeping in the hostel wasn't too bad. The bed was more comfortable than the spring board I have in London, but people were coming in and out all night so I was being woken up a lot.
7:20 am came quick! We all woke up got ready and headed to the Scotline Tours office to catch our bus to the Glencoe, Loch Ness, and Highlands day tour! This was my favorite part of the the trip because the sights were just breath-taking. I have never seen so much natural beauty! The monroes we so tall some of them were snow-capped. They had forests along them and the leaves were changing colors and then in the rocky terrain you could spot waterfalls jutting out of the side. Loch Ness was also very pretty. I didn't spot "Nessie" but I did see many many replicas.
Sunday morning we woke up early to beat the crowds at the Edinburgh castle. It was a wonderful sight to see. They changed most of the Castle itself into a museum like atmosphere rather than original room settings. Attached to the the Castle was the Scotland War Museum. After the castle we grabbed some tea to warm up then decided to head to the Scotland National Gallery. I cannot say that I am much of a Scottish art fan, but it was interesting none the less. Our morning went by quickly but we had the remaining afternoon and evening to kill before our bus left at 10:30 pm. So we walked and walked and walked. We ended up walking up a mini-monroe and getting some wonderful scenic views of the city! We decided on getting an early dinner and hanging out before we headed to the bus station. Dinner also turned into a few glasses of wine, which I can't decide helped or hurt my sleep on the bus ride home. Although we didn't have the bachelors on the way home, the heater wasn't working on the bus so it was very very cold! I did sleep in and out but i think I was more uncomfortable than on the way there! I got back into London around 7:30 am Monday and crawled into my bed by 8 just to wake up again at 10 for my 11 class.
Now with it being Wednesday, I have caught up on my sleep. I am staying in London this weekend and hope to do some sights around town. As always, I will keep you updated!
PS I forgot to mention, I did try Haggis! I am very proud of myself. It wasn't that bad! I would compare it to a salty stuffing.
We (Patrick, Christina, and me) headed out to the Victoria bus station at about 10 pm on Thursday night. Our bus left around 11 pm from London and was set to arrive in Edinburgh at 8 am Friday morning.
Now I am sure that a 9 hour bus ride sounds like torture enough, mind you that the flight over to London was only 8 hours, but it got worse. The guys sitting in front, to the side, and behind us were part of a group heading to Edinburgh for their bachelor party and saw the bus ride as a pregame ride. Needless to say they were loud and obnoxious. I gave them until 4 am until I was going to say something (probably similar to the time I yelled at the neighbor about their boat, but that's another story). Luckily, they stopped making too much noise around 2:30 but it was still in and out sleep the entire time.
Finally we were in Edinburgh and to our pleasant surprise it was down pouring! We tried to trek to our hostel, but it was all uphill so we caved and hailed a cab for the rest of the way. We checked into our 8 bedroom dorm, which was surprisingly spacious! Then headed back out to the rainy streets for breakfast. We settled for good ole McD's on our first morning.
We headed out to the Royal Mile also known as High Street. There we booked out tickets for a bus tour the next day (i know, i know MORE bus time). We toured through St. Giles Cathedral (which is really not a cathedral but a church but they haven't changed the name for years). We decided in the afternoon that we would do an "Underground City Tour". There is supposedly really creepy and haunted things that go on in Edinburgh. We walked in underground vaults where hundreds of people died in the Edinburgh fire. I am scared easily so that kind of stuff freaks me out, but it was interesting to hear about some of the city's history. After the tour, we decided to head back to the hostel and clean up a bit then head out for dinner. We ate at a place called Garfunkle's. Patrick and Christina had traditional Scottish meals like Cottage Pie and Black pudding, but I stuck with the veggie burger. After we had some drinks but called it a pretty early night because our bus tour started at 8 am the next morning!
Sleeping in the hostel wasn't too bad. The bed was more comfortable than the spring board I have in London, but people were coming in and out all night so I was being woken up a lot.
7:20 am came quick! We all woke up got ready and headed to the Scotline Tours office to catch our bus to the Glencoe, Loch Ness, and Highlands day tour! This was my favorite part of the the trip because the sights were just breath-taking. I have never seen so much natural beauty! The monroes we so tall some of them were snow-capped. They had forests along them and the leaves were changing colors and then in the rocky terrain you could spot waterfalls jutting out of the side. Loch Ness was also very pretty. I didn't spot "Nessie" but I did see many many replicas.
Sunday morning we woke up early to beat the crowds at the Edinburgh castle. It was a wonderful sight to see. They changed most of the Castle itself into a museum like atmosphere rather than original room settings. Attached to the the Castle was the Scotland War Museum. After the castle we grabbed some tea to warm up then decided to head to the Scotland National Gallery. I cannot say that I am much of a Scottish art fan, but it was interesting none the less. Our morning went by quickly but we had the remaining afternoon and evening to kill before our bus left at 10:30 pm. So we walked and walked and walked. We ended up walking up a mini-monroe and getting some wonderful scenic views of the city! We decided on getting an early dinner and hanging out before we headed to the bus station. Dinner also turned into a few glasses of wine, which I can't decide helped or hurt my sleep on the bus ride home. Although we didn't have the bachelors on the way home, the heater wasn't working on the bus so it was very very cold! I did sleep in and out but i think I was more uncomfortable than on the way there! I got back into London around 7:30 am Monday and crawled into my bed by 8 just to wake up again at 10 for my 11 class.
Now with it being Wednesday, I have caught up on my sleep. I am staying in London this weekend and hope to do some sights around town. As always, I will keep you updated!
PS I forgot to mention, I did try Haggis! I am very proud of myself. It wasn't that bad! I would compare it to a salty stuffing.
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Week 5
I can't believe that I have been gone for almost 5 weeks now! Time is really going by fast. I think a lot of that has to do with all the traveling I have been able to do. I am leaving today for Edinburgh, Scotland. Our bus leaves at 11 pm tonight and I should arrive around 8 am tomorrow. Our hostel is located right across the street from the castle, so it is supposed to have really beautiful views. We also talked about doing a day trip bus tour around Scotland, including a stop a Loch Ness. So if I see the monster, I will be sure to let you all know :)
I will be back from Edinburgh early Monday morning to fill you all in with my stories!
Hope everyone is doing well back home. I miss you very much.
Special thoughts for my Grandma: I love you very much! Stay strong. I think about you all the time. I wish I could be there right now for you but you are constantly in my thoughts and prayers. Love C
I will be back from Edinburgh early Monday morning to fill you all in with my stories!
Hope everyone is doing well back home. I miss you very much.
Special thoughts for my Grandma: I love you very much! Stay strong. I think about you all the time. I wish I could be there right now for you but you are constantly in my thoughts and prayers. Love C
Monday, 18 October 2010
Brussels weekend
My weekend in Brussels was interesting to say the least. I am glad that I experienced and 100x more glad that I decided not to study there. It's not that Christina, Sam, and I didn't have fun, because we certainly made the most of our situation, but Brussels was just nothing to brag about.
Christina and I arrived on Thursday around dinner time. We had some confusion finding the right tram to the hostel but we figured it all out and got there just fine. We actually had to check in at a different hostel then walk about 10 back downtown to the actual place we were staying. We only got one key and there was only someone at the desk from 4-11pm, so if we lost our key we were basically SOL. The hostel company didn't seem very well organized to say the least.
Our room was a private double, which was not two twin beds but rather one queen size bed. Christina and I didn't mind sharing because the mattress was wayyy better than what we were used to at home.
After we unpacked we went down to this street called Rue Des Bouchers. The hosts literally stand outside and seduce you into the restaurants. Within that 2 block walked I got kissed twice, asked to go out dancing, and approached countless times. The famous meal in Brussels is mussels and frites (fries). I didn't have them together for one meal but I can say that I tried them both. After dinner Christina and I went to Celticia. It was a pub/club that had everything from sports to live music to a club dance floor. They also had happy hour until midnight with 2 euro pints. After a drink or two we decided to head to the hostel to look for Sam. We were a little worried when he was almost an hour late but everything worked out. He had train delays and couldn't figure out the tram so decided to get a taxi instead. The three of us went back to Celticia then home to our comfy bed!
Friday we woke up and meet downstairs and decided to head out to the Atomium. It is a huge structure in the shape of an atom that you can go up to the top and get great views of the city. Apparently it was built in a time when Belgium thought the world was going to be run by nuclear energy. After we got the views we went on the walking tour from hell!
We got these maps from the hostel that were supposed to give interesting spot for young travellers to visit. Instead it took us a self guided walking tour through the poorest neighbors, prositute filled streets, oh and let's not forget the red light district. It was terrible. Not to mention, Brussels is a very dirty city. In comparison to London and Dublin, it was extremely dingy. The walk did take us to a botanical park, war memorial, and St. Micheal's Cathedral. Once we got back from walking we decided to find a place to eat (not on the road with the hosts). We ate a moderately priced Italian place before heading out for the night. We went to Delirium Cafe which is a three story bar that in total has over 2000 different types of beer and over 60 on tap. It was really impressive. The atmosphere was really cool, the only downside was that they still allow smoking in bars so the air was just a thick haze of smoke. Between Christina, Sam, and me we tried all these flavors of beer:
apple, passion, delirium tremors which is a 9% alc beer, cactus, cherry, honey, chocolate, lager, wheat, peach, kriek, lamis
they were all very good! some extremely sweet but all very good.
Saturday we woke up and decided we had to have a belgium waffle. We did some more wandering around Brussels before walking through the sketchiest part of town to get to the ONLY brewery offering tours that we could find. It was a really neat place that has been in operation for over 100 years and still uses the same old fashion brewing equipment and techniques. They specialized in traditional lambic beers. After our brewery tour we walked to EU, parliament, and archway. The wind was blistering cold by the end so we decided to take the tram home rather than walk. We had dinner at Chez Leon. It is the oldest restaurant in Brussels and by far the best meal I had there. After dinner we caught the Chelsea and ManU games at Celticia before heading back to Delirium.
By Sunday we felt we had done enough wandering around Brussels and decided to take a day trip out to Bruges. It is only about an hour and half away. It was a very quaint tourist town. It's known for being the "Venice of the North" because it has many canals throughout the city. They offer boat tours but unfortunately we didn't have enough time to get to take one on our visit. (I don't think that I could type out this story as funny as it would be in person, so if any of you readers get curious when I get back be sure to ask me about the Indian family in my tour group.) After seeing the sights of Bruges we headed back to Brussels. The countryside was really lovely and there must have been at least 15 hot air balloons along the way. I have always wanted to ride in a hot air balloon! I can't imagine how beautiful the views must have been! Dinner was not as successful Sunday as it had been previous nights but you win some and lose some I suppose. We went to bed pretty early on Sunday because we had to wake up at 7 to catch our train.
Our train that turned into a non-existent train btw. Apparently, the Belgium train workers decided to go on strike Sunday and Monday so there were no trains leaving or entering the country... wonderful.
So we had to sit and wait for a bus to take us to Lille, France where we boarded a train to London. This set us about 4 hours behind schedule and I had to miss class this afternoon. I have spent the rest of the day washing the smoke out of my clothing, setting up plans for Edinburgh next weekend, and finishing up some homework.
Brussels was overall an experience, but I don't think you will catch me back there any time soon!
Thursday, 14 October 2010
Brussels today!
Yesterday was an eventful Wednesday. I woke up and got a nice workout in then got ready for my historic london class (the walking tour of london). We met at Tower Hill, the tube stop for the Tower of London, but to my surprise and dismay, we talked very little about the tower it's self and didn't even get to see the bridge. We did get to walk through the origin of the London fire, Lloyd's building, and the area where Diagon Alley (spelling?) from Harry Potter was filmed. By the end of the two hours I was pretty tired. It felt like we were moving the whole time! After class me and some of the guys stopped for dinner at the place called Tortilla. It is the closest thing to Chipotle they have here but not quite as good. After dinner, Patrick and I were on the search for some dessert and we discovered Ben's Cookies. They are pretty big around here but this was my first experience. They were to die for! I wish that I could ship everyone home their warm, gooiness. We then took the tube back home and I had a little down time (where I could up on Desperate Housewives) before heading to the ballet. I went to see Romeo and Juliet for my Performing Arts class. The ballet was beautiful and the dancers were all very talented and full of expression. But it was 3 hours longggg. There were scenes that just seemed to dragggg. I know it's probably because I have very little appreciation for dance and have never taken a dance class in my life but still I think they could have done it within a two hour time frame.
Today I am off to Brussels!! Our train departs at 2:30 and we will arrive in Belgium at 5:30. I am very excited! I will take lots of pictures and share all my stories!
Just to let you all (mainly my mother) know, I will not be taking my laptop because I don't want to risk it getting stolen in the hostel. SO i will most likely on be updating for the next few days (at least until Monday night). I will try to get online if there is a computer in the lobby, but don't think the worst if you don't hear from me :)
Love C
Today I am off to Brussels!! Our train departs at 2:30 and we will arrive in Belgium at 5:30. I am very excited! I will take lots of pictures and share all my stories!
Just to let you all (mainly my mother) know, I will not be taking my laptop because I don't want to risk it getting stolen in the hostel. SO i will most likely on be updating for the next few days (at least until Monday night). I will try to get online if there is a computer in the lobby, but don't think the worst if you don't hear from me :)
Love C
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
on to my next adventure
Monday was a pretty typical school day. I went to classes. Caught up on some work from the weekend. Nothing really exciting happened.
I did feel bad though because the boys that came over to Dublin with me were supposed to be back Monday night but their flight got delayed and didn't get back until 4 am today! They had a long weekend at the airport!!
Today was exciting, not only because I am one day closer to leaving for Brussels, but also because I booked my trip to Edinburgh, Scotland for the weekend after! The group going as of now will be me, Christina, Patrick, and Parker. We all decided to go the cheap route and take an over night but to and from. It cut our cost in about half but also just about doubled our time getting there. I think that after that weekend I will be glad that England is an island and I will have to fly to other destinations because the bus ride will be about 9 hours long!!
Tomorrow is my first performance for my Performing Arts class. We are going to see the ballet Romeo and Juliet. It should be pretty good. I am nervous about it being close to 3 hours long though.
I'll be sure to blog and let you all know.
I did feel bad though because the boys that came over to Dublin with me were supposed to be back Monday night but their flight got delayed and didn't get back until 4 am today! They had a long weekend at the airport!!
Today was exciting, not only because I am one day closer to leaving for Brussels, but also because I booked my trip to Edinburgh, Scotland for the weekend after! The group going as of now will be me, Christina, Patrick, and Parker. We all decided to go the cheap route and take an over night but to and from. It cut our cost in about half but also just about doubled our time getting there. I think that after that weekend I will be glad that England is an island and I will have to fly to other destinations because the bus ride will be about 9 hours long!!
Tomorrow is my first performance for my Performing Arts class. We are going to see the ballet Romeo and Juliet. It should be pretty good. I am nervous about it being close to 3 hours long though.
I'll be sure to blog and let you all know.
Sunday, 10 October 2010
Weekend in Dublin
Well I have a lot of catching up to do!
We'll start of with my birthday: Overall I would say was a success! I drank for my first time ;) . We went to City which is usually pretty busy on Tuesday's because it is students night. I can't say that I remember every detail but I do know it was fun and I am now proud to be 21!!
Wednesday was a whirlwind of a day. Waking up for class was not the easiest thing I have ever done and on top of that, the class that I had was my walking tour class so I had the pleasure of waking up and walking around for 2 hours the morning after my 21. lucky me.
I survived though and right after class I started my voyage out to the airport. I first took the tube to the train station then the train to the airport then hopped on a plane to Dublin then finally a taxi to the hotel! The last thing on my mind was being tired though because I was SO EXCITED to see my mom and dad!! My taxi driver, Michael, was very nice. He asked a lot about me as well as the highlights of Dublin. He even walked in me into the hotel lounge! As soon as I opened the door, I saw my mom in the hallway. I squealed to Michael, "That's my Mommy!!" It was hard not to tear up a bit when I got to hug her!
It was close to 7 pm by the time I got to the hotel so we were all ready for a meal! We went to the Bank Bar and had a decent meal. The food didn't matter so much because I was just so happy to be there! We've all come to the agreement, English and Irish food SUCK! The selection is never that vast nor appetizing. It almost made me tempted for the McD's around the corner. (and I am rarely if ever tempted by McD's) The atmosphere at Bank was very nice. It was a beautiful wooden bar with a variety of age groups. They also house the replica of the Book of Kells, so if my Dad comes up to you and shows you his picture of the Book of Kells, don't be fooled! It's not the original from Trinity College, it's the replica from the bar down the street ;) After the bar we went to Hard Rock Cafe for a drink but decided to head in early since we had to wake up to catch our train Thursday.
My mom got down most of the highlights of Thursday when we travelled to the Cliffs of Moher. It was nice traveling the countryside but also gave the three of us some time all together! Thursday night we hung out in the bar of our hotel because they have free live music and Irish dancing every night.
Friday the boys came (two of my friends Ryan and Mike who are also studying in London and go to UW). We split off from my parents that day because we wanted to see some of the Dublin sights that my parents had done earlier in the week. There was a "hop on, hop off" bus that circled the city and stopped at all the hotspots. We visited Trinity College, Christ Church, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the best by far was the Guinness tour! but also on our way home we stopped at Ryan's Victorian Pub (a favorite stop of Bill Clinton and Julia Roberts). Guinness was awesome! I have so many fun-filled facts that I will be able to tell you all back home. At the end of the tour you get to go up to the "Gravity Bar" which is a circular glass room that gives you a panoramic view of the entire city, while sipping on a complementary Guinness of course. Friday night we met up with the parents for dinner at a very good Italian place then our for a few drinks!
Saturday the boys slept in (they had been awake for at least 48 hours before) and my parents and I did some shopping on Grafton Street before heading to the Leprechaun Museum. I wouldn't recommend the museum to anyone over the age of 7 btw...
After that experience I met up with the boys to get in some last stops on the "hop on, hop off". We only had enough time to tour through the jail before we planned to meet up with my parents again. Oh and let's not forget that the bus broke down on us so we had to walk at least a mile back to our hotel haha. One we were finally back we went to a bar called Citi, which Ryan Mike and I had all stopped at for a drink the night before. We had a wonderful meal of sharing tapas. They ordered everything from steak to pheasant to duck to crab cakes. It was so delicious. Another neat thing about this place was that right at the table there was a tapper for Guinness and Carlsberg. It kept track of how much you pour during your meal then charges you at the end. It was a really neat idea that I think would really catch on in the states. Saturday night the guys and I went out again to some local places including Temple Bar.
Sunday (today) i had to wake up at 5:20 to get to the airport in time to catch my 7:45 flight to London. I finally got back to my flat at about 11 and am pretty tired.
Overall it was a spectacular weekend!! I don't think it could have been any better! I love and appreciate my parents so much! They are so generous and caring. I am a so lucky (it must be the Irish in me)!
I have a lot of school work to catch up on tonight. Then class tomorrow.
We'll start of with my birthday: Overall I would say was a success! I drank for my first time ;) . We went to City which is usually pretty busy on Tuesday's because it is students night. I can't say that I remember every detail but I do know it was fun and I am now proud to be 21!!
Wednesday was a whirlwind of a day. Waking up for class was not the easiest thing I have ever done and on top of that, the class that I had was my walking tour class so I had the pleasure of waking up and walking around for 2 hours the morning after my 21. lucky me.
I survived though and right after class I started my voyage out to the airport. I first took the tube to the train station then the train to the airport then hopped on a plane to Dublin then finally a taxi to the hotel! The last thing on my mind was being tired though because I was SO EXCITED to see my mom and dad!! My taxi driver, Michael, was very nice. He asked a lot about me as well as the highlights of Dublin. He even walked in me into the hotel lounge! As soon as I opened the door, I saw my mom in the hallway. I squealed to Michael, "That's my Mommy!!" It was hard not to tear up a bit when I got to hug her!
It was close to 7 pm by the time I got to the hotel so we were all ready for a meal! We went to the Bank Bar and had a decent meal. The food didn't matter so much because I was just so happy to be there! We've all come to the agreement, English and Irish food SUCK! The selection is never that vast nor appetizing. It almost made me tempted for the McD's around the corner. (and I am rarely if ever tempted by McD's) The atmosphere at Bank was very nice. It was a beautiful wooden bar with a variety of age groups. They also house the replica of the Book of Kells, so if my Dad comes up to you and shows you his picture of the Book of Kells, don't be fooled! It's not the original from Trinity College, it's the replica from the bar down the street ;) After the bar we went to Hard Rock Cafe for a drink but decided to head in early since we had to wake up to catch our train Thursday.
My mom got down most of the highlights of Thursday when we travelled to the Cliffs of Moher. It was nice traveling the countryside but also gave the three of us some time all together! Thursday night we hung out in the bar of our hotel because they have free live music and Irish dancing every night.
Friday the boys came (two of my friends Ryan and Mike who are also studying in London and go to UW). We split off from my parents that day because we wanted to see some of the Dublin sights that my parents had done earlier in the week. There was a "hop on, hop off" bus that circled the city and stopped at all the hotspots. We visited Trinity College, Christ Church, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the best by far was the Guinness tour! but also on our way home we stopped at Ryan's Victorian Pub (a favorite stop of Bill Clinton and Julia Roberts). Guinness was awesome! I have so many fun-filled facts that I will be able to tell you all back home. At the end of the tour you get to go up to the "Gravity Bar" which is a circular glass room that gives you a panoramic view of the entire city, while sipping on a complementary Guinness of course. Friday night we met up with the parents for dinner at a very good Italian place then our for a few drinks!
Saturday the boys slept in (they had been awake for at least 48 hours before) and my parents and I did some shopping on Grafton Street before heading to the Leprechaun Museum. I wouldn't recommend the museum to anyone over the age of 7 btw...
After that experience I met up with the boys to get in some last stops on the "hop on, hop off". We only had enough time to tour through the jail before we planned to meet up with my parents again. Oh and let's not forget that the bus broke down on us so we had to walk at least a mile back to our hotel haha. One we were finally back we went to a bar called Citi, which Ryan Mike and I had all stopped at for a drink the night before. We had a wonderful meal of sharing tapas. They ordered everything from steak to pheasant to duck to crab cakes. It was so delicious. Another neat thing about this place was that right at the table there was a tapper for Guinness and Carlsberg. It kept track of how much you pour during your meal then charges you at the end. It was a really neat idea that I think would really catch on in the states. Saturday night the guys and I went out again to some local places including Temple Bar.
Sunday (today) i had to wake up at 5:20 to get to the airport in time to catch my 7:45 flight to London. I finally got back to my flat at about 11 and am pretty tired.
Overall it was a spectacular weekend!! I don't think it could have been any better! I love and appreciate my parents so much! They are so generous and caring. I am a so lucky (it must be the Irish in me)!
I have a lot of school work to catch up on tonight. Then class tomorrow.
Friday, 8 October 2010
Reddy's in Ireland
Cheers from Dublin...it's Colleen's mom reporting!
One of the happiest days of my life occurred on Wednesday, when Colleen walked into our hotel in Dublin! I was so happy/relieved/excited to see her again...and to anticipate having a few days together to explore this marvelous land.
We got an early start yesterday (0545 am), hopped on a tram to get to the train station by 0640 hrs for a day-long trip to Limerick (you can't go to Ireland without going to Limerick), Bunratty, lunch in Doolin, and the Cliffs of Moher. Ended up in Galway, where we boarded a train back to the city. It was a great way to see the countryside...glorious! The greens of the pastures are unbelievable, and yet the terrain is surprisingly rocky and barren.
I had better turn things over to the REAL author of this blog...just wanted to say hi to my peeps stateside, and to reassure you that Colleen is doing really well...Europe suits her (but only until December 18...I've told her, NO meeting some Brit and falling in love!)
Ellen.
One of the happiest days of my life occurred on Wednesday, when Colleen walked into our hotel in Dublin! I was so happy/relieved/excited to see her again...and to anticipate having a few days together to explore this marvelous land.
We got an early start yesterday (0545 am), hopped on a tram to get to the train station by 0640 hrs for a day-long trip to Limerick (you can't go to Ireland without going to Limerick), Bunratty, lunch in Doolin, and the Cliffs of Moher. Ended up in Galway, where we boarded a train back to the city. It was a great way to see the countryside...glorious! The greens of the pastures are unbelievable, and yet the terrain is surprisingly rocky and barren.
I had better turn things over to the REAL author of this blog...just wanted to say hi to my peeps stateside, and to reassure you that Colleen is doing really well...Europe suits her (but only until December 18...I've told her, NO meeting some Brit and falling in love!)
Ellen.
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| Lunch at the pub |
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| Cliffs of Moher |
Monday, 4 October 2010
Brussels here I come!!
Sunday was a relaxing day. I did go down to Stamford Bridge which is the stadium for the Chelsea football club. There was a game verus Arsenal, which would be comparable to a Packer v Viking game, so Sally and I went down. I went more to see the crowd and walk around but Sally was interested in a ticket. She ended up buying one for 150 pounds ( ~$250)! Which was wayyy too much for me but she is a lot bigger of a soccer fan than I am. The crowd was pretty disappointing! We are much much more rowdy for Badger games. There were only a few pubs and yeah they were packed with people but still not necessarily a sight to see. What also really surprised me was that only about half of the people were wearing team apparel or even colors! Where's the team spirit?!?
Sally did say that when she was leaving the game she saw Kobe Bryant and all his bodyguards excorting him out!
Today was a pretty typical Monday. I had class at 11 and met up with a group of other students to plan a group project that we have due for the semester. Then at 1 met with Christina to book our Brussels trip!!! I am SOOO excited! We are leaving on Thurs Oct 14 and returning early Mon 18 so I can be back in class on time. (flights are much cheaper if you don't fly fri through sat). We booked a hostel as well so I am very excited!!
I am looking into booking my flight to Madrid as well because I want to go visit Morgan, but I don't have any definite plans yet!
Tomorrow is my 21!! Not that big of a deal out here, but still very exciting for when I go back home!!
I can't wait to see my parents in two days! I just wish that Erin could be there too.
Sally did say that when she was leaving the game she saw Kobe Bryant and all his bodyguards excorting him out!
Today was a pretty typical Monday. I had class at 11 and met up with a group of other students to plan a group project that we have due for the semester. Then at 1 met with Christina to book our Brussels trip!!! I am SOOO excited! We are leaving on Thurs Oct 14 and returning early Mon 18 so I can be back in class on time. (flights are much cheaper if you don't fly fri through sat). We booked a hostel as well so I am very excited!!
I am looking into booking my flight to Madrid as well because I want to go visit Morgan, but I don't have any definite plans yet!
Tomorrow is my 21!! Not that big of a deal out here, but still very exciting for when I go back home!!
I can't wait to see my parents in two days! I just wish that Erin could be there too.
Saturday, 2 October 2010
Sightseeing Saturday!
Today was a great day! I woke up in the morning and got a good workout out in. (although I still get lost every time I try to get to Saddlers) Then came home and got ready in preparation to do some sightseeing (probably by myself) BUT I got a skype message from Christina, a friend that I met on the freshers week. (She is in the fireman's hat with me at an early post). We met up at the school because she lives in the dorms and set off on a day of sightseeing. It was beautiful and clear this morning but by the time we got to the Eye and waited in queue, it was raining. Of course!! It was still really awesome. I got some good pictures minus the raindrops on the glass. The interesting part of the Eye is that it never stops! You get on and off as the domes are still moving along the walkway. It felt like getting off an escalator, when one part of your body is moving and the other isn't.
We got discount tickets so that we could do the Eye and go to the Aquarium next door (saving a whole 5%). On our walk to the aquarium there were a bunch of street performers. There were men like statues that started singing when you gave them money, mimes, and this crazy group of dancing men. They did all these flips, folded their bodies up, and spun big saucers at the same time. It was pretty impressive!
The aquarium was really awesome too! It was large but not too big where things got repetitive. They had this Shark Walk where there was glass below you and a whole bunch of sharks. It was really cool! It was probably the best aquarium I have ever been to!
After this we were both really hungry and stopped at this Italian place near the tube stop. I am really excited too because Christina is interested in traveling with me!! We are going to make plans to go to Brussels in two weekends! It's hard to describe how excited I am!!
One of the Wisconsin boys has a friend in town for the weekend so I think that we are going to this big club in London called the Ministry of Sound. Should be a good time!
We got discount tickets so that we could do the Eye and go to the Aquarium next door (saving a whole 5%). On our walk to the aquarium there were a bunch of street performers. There were men like statues that started singing when you gave them money, mimes, and this crazy group of dancing men. They did all these flips, folded their bodies up, and spun big saucers at the same time. It was pretty impressive!
The aquarium was really awesome too! It was large but not too big where things got repetitive. They had this Shark Walk where there was glass below you and a whole bunch of sharks. It was really cool! It was probably the best aquarium I have ever been to!
After this we were both really hungry and stopped at this Italian place near the tube stop. I am really excited too because Christina is interested in traveling with me!! We are going to make plans to go to Brussels in two weekends! It's hard to describe how excited I am!!
One of the Wisconsin boys has a friend in town for the weekend so I think that we are going to this big club in London called the Ministry of Sound. Should be a good time!
Friday, 1 October 2010
Harrods
Sorry I know I have been slow about posting again. I guess I got nicknamed Pokey for a reason.
Wednesday night Sally and I went to a Korean place right by out flat. It was my first try at Korean food and I was surprised that I really liked it! It's pretty similar to Chinese food, which I don't care much for (sorry Sally), but Korean seemed less fried/ covered in sauces.
Thursday was the beginning of my weekend. I woke up and got a quick workout in before heading out to do some shopping. As I was walking to the tube to go to Harrods, I walked by a side street market. There was a little bit of everything: food, clothes, jewelry, bags! Everything was really cheap!! I didn't have much cash on me but I did find a sweater for just 5 pounds. Then I walked to the tube station and made a few transfers before ending up at Harrods! It is so large!! Seven floors total, I didn't stay too long because most of the stores options include Gucci, Versace, etc. so just a tad out of my price range. I walked around other stores on the same block and found a cute dress that I am going to wear on Tuesday for my birthday!
Today was not quite as productive as I hoped it to be. I woke up early to go to Saddlers and stop by school to pick up some course packets I need. They told me that the printers would not be ready until after lunch so to come back around 230. The rest of the afternoon I did some research on some trips I am going to take in the next week. I am looking into Brussels at the moment! At 230 Parker and me went to go get our cell phones exchanged because we discovered that we paid 20 pounds extra for a service that our phone wasn't doing! We went to the 3 store which is the name of the service provider. Waited in "queue" for about 30 min then realized that we had forgotten our chargers for the old phones that we were returning! Not to mention the fact that we had to make it back to school before 4 to get our course packets. So we powered walked from 3 to school, which is at least 20 min apart only to find out that the course packets STILL weren't ready! Then back to our flats to get the chargers then back to 3 to get our new phones! Here it is almost 6 and I am just sitting down for what feels like the first time all day!
Hopefully tomorrow I will get in some sightseeing like I had planned for today. It is mostly weather dependent on my activity. If it's nice out maybe Kew Gardens or the Eye but if it's rain and crappy (like today) then a museum maybe the Tate. Either way I will keep ya'll posted!
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| Harrods from the left |
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| From the right |
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