A little bit of Ireland

I decided that it would be best to tell you about Ireland before I actually forget what I did. It's amazing how bad my memory is at 20...it makes me worry about 30,40,50 etc.

When we arrived in Dublin I have to admit it wasn't what I expected. I don't know why I felt this way because I had never seen pictures of Dublin, but for some reason I was expecting cobblestone streets wet from rain, green mossy buildings, and collies. It's amazing the standards you can form, of things that you have never seen, based on movies that you've watched or stories that you've read. This makes it sound like I hated Dublin, when the opposite was true. Though it wasn't as nearly as astonishing as London, Dublin had it's unique Irish charm.

The second day in Ireland was mostly spent on a bus winding through the streets of western, trying not to get motion sick, and seeing the Ireland that I had pictured in my head (green, stone walls, black faced sheep etc.). If you take anything way from what you read here it should be this: put the Cliffs of Moher on your bucket list. TRUST ME on this one. I spent a good portion of my time there memorizing every sense that I had of the experience; the smell of spring in the air, the sound of crashing waves, how blue the Atlantic Ocean is, and even the way the stone wall felt on my hands. This way, every time I look at the pictures, I can remember the sense of awe that I felt seeing something that was so naturally beautiful.

Much Love

England: "Americans...this could have been yours"

I just want to say, for the record, that being a tourist is exhausting. Of course it is all worth it in the end, but after 8 days of traveling and seeing I could not have been happier to see MY bed in MY room without 2-8 other strangers in it. That being said...

London was amazing.

The quote is from the Yeomen Warder (or Beefeater as they are also known) from my tour of the tower of London. I couldn't help but feel a little sting of jealousy from that comment after having seen what London was like, I could easily see myself there someday :)

I arrived in London to the sight of a young couple being lead away in handcuffs, at the passport check, by two big police officers with even bigger guns (not the muscle kind). Needless to say when the guy was checking my passport for an extended period of time, questioning me, and consulting a colleague, I began to sweat a little. Thankfully I won't have to add "being arrested" to my list of firsts.

I experienced this sort of child-like thrill the first few minutes of our bus ride into London when we began driving on the wrong side of the road.

Paula and I managed to get to the hostel with little issue. When you live in a place where the primary language isn't your own you forget how nice it is to be able to easily communicate with people and find your way in new places. When we finally made it to Piccadilly Circus we had trouble getting our bearings from the several google maps I printed out (which I have learned are not helpful when you can't find street signs). Luckily a group of semi-locals (they only came to the city for work) saw the confused looks and our faces and let us share their cab to our location without having to pay. Our luck didn't end there. When we arrived to the hostel, we were put into a 4 bed room instead of the 12 person we had originally booked. That was HUGE!

The next four days were jam packed with at least 8 hours worth of touristy things a day. I brought along the most hideous pair of tennis shoes to walk around in (I opted for comfort over looks) so i definitely fit the tourist profile. We saw everything that you could think to see in London:

Big Ben
Parliament (and even sat in on a meeting in the House of Commons)
Trafalgar Square
The National Gallery
The National Portrait Gallery
The Eye
Westminster Abbey
Buckingham Palace
The Thames River
St. Paul's Cathedral
Tower of London
Tower Bridge
London Bridge
The Globe Theater
Abbey Road
The Camden Markets (I had my first bargaining experience)
Portabello Street Market in Notting Hill
China Town
Soho/Red Light District (and drag queens)

It would be interesting to know how many miles we walked to see all of that. It was almost sad but after every day of tourism we were too exhausted to really get out and experience the night life of London...other than a pub crawl around Soho.

And of course we couldn't tour London without splurging on a meal or two. The ironic thing about London is that, while it's an expensive city, I found that the prices we paid on our dinners were still cheaper than I would have ever paid in Copenhagen. We had a typical English dinner of fish and chips (chips = fries) and chicken and leek pie. And what is London without a little Indian food?! We had a fabulous three course Indian meal and we were so full in the end that our pace was definitely slowed that day. Four days of meals consisting of bread, cheese, and fruit from a grocery store really teaches you to appreciate a cooked meal.

There is really so much to tell about London that I could really go on and on for a long time. I know it's annoying to say that and then not tell more but I feel like I can't do the story justice in type. Unfortunately, it looses it's luster this way.

Stay tuned for the abbreviated story of Ireland and some 500 pictures of both places...maybe that will make the long post easier to read.

Much Love