Why hello! I'd like to first apologize for it being almost a month since last time. I had meant to write week one's adventures in the minuscule gap between it and weeks two and three, however I found that sleep and repacking for the next trip took priority. As did, inevitably, the mindless bliss of watching a Disney movie ("And Daddy, they took my boot! And then I was saved, saved by a flying wild man in a loin cloth."-Name That Movie) and catching up on a more-than-slightly traumatizing episode of Arrow.
Anyway, so I didn't have enough time to tell you all about my exciting first week of travel, and now I've gone and had two more weeks on top of that and a couple days of recovery, so here I am. For the time being, week one is gonna be what ya get. Week two and three will come shortly thereafter, but three weeks of adventures is far too much for one post, and really with how packed these weeks were, one post for each week might even be stretching it. But I'll try. So, here we go!
I think I may have mentioned previously that my big sister Elisia and one of my best friends Sarah came to join me that first fateful week. If I hadn't, well, now I have. So I was pretty excited the days leading up to it, not only because I was getting to go travel around the UK and Ireland, but also because I haven't seen anyone from home since January, and two of my favorites were now flying out to come see me. :) In preparation, I got a really exciting dinner lined up for them in my flat, planned what we were going to do in the Northern part of this fair country, and laid out my clothes and supplies for the rest of the week.
They got here, and from what they told me, got to campus fine. Sort of. They forgot the name of my college here when going through customs, which thankfully didn't get them thrown out or anything, just made it slightly harder to locate me. When they got to campus, they had no idea where to go, though. It's not very big, but I know from personal experience how confusing it is when you don't know it. I got the message they were on campus though, and went out looking for them.
I found them heading my direction after a couple of minutes of searching, and sped up my pace, eager to throw my arms around them. It would have been a great dramatic moment, with the whole running and hugging thing, and I'm certain the world would have gone all slow motion for just a second to appease my cheesy side, but there was a security guard there who threw off the vibe. So I settled for speed walking and hugging instead. They thanked the guard who had helped them find me, and then I took them to my dorm, where they gave me Easter candy and letters from home. After I got what I really wanted from them, I promptly killed them and threw them into the river out back. The rest of the week I spent eating my candy and marathoning Audrey Hepburn movies.
The end.
Just kidding.
They did give me candy though, and then my host dad, John, along with one of my friends who is also his other host-kid, Bree, picked us up and we set off to see some of the highlights of the Northern Irish coast. We stopped at the Giant's Face, Dunluce Castle, The Giant's Causeway, and the River Bann, with John telling us all sorts of historical facts about it all, because he's kind of awesome and does that sort of thing. (Seriously, his job was in history. He helped on the Titanic Museum that I so admire. He's kind of my hero for that one.)
It was so exciting, though, getting to see them see this country I've fallen in love with. Sarah started her video travel blog and selfie-taking that continued through the week, we got rained on (surprise, surprise) and we found some gorgeous shells along the beach. It was an absolutely wonderful afternoon. When we returned, I made the girls dinner- fish fingers and custard, which they were super excited about, as I'd expected. We chatted for a bit and then made a run to a convenience store for some snacks and to fulfill some cravings (Magnum Bars, Magnum Bars ).
It was a happy time. And then, all of a sudden, it wasn't. We had waited to book two of our buses, thinking, "Oh, we'll be fine." Wrong. We were not, in fact, fine. Me specifically, since I was the one who stayed up late and got up early to resolve our issue. I was very not fine. The first bus ride was easily resolvable, if slightly pricier than we'd previously hoped. The second, though, was a nightmare. You would assume there would be a bus to a ferry port around the time that the ferry needed you to be there, right? Wrong. There was no such bus, even though I had checked when we were doing our early sketches of our plans, and there most certainly had been a bus. Should have bought the dang tickets then, but since our plans weren't yet solid at that stage, we foolishly had waited. And now the bus seemed to have vanished, because it simply wasn't there, even at increased prices. Finally, though, after some heartfelt praying and a few tears, I finagled our plan to get us to the ferry port, if a couple of hours earlier than when we strictly had to be there, and by the time we were ready to head out, we could do so with the confidence we had proper transportation between destinations.
So, then came our Dublin day. First was getting to Dublin, which happened later and in a slightly more complicated manner than expected. Because of our late night/early morning snafu, we left two hours later than intended, then had to speed walk to the bus station because the train was not as cheap as I would have hoped. Plus side: this speed-tour of Belfast finally helped ingrain the basic layout of the inner part of the city, which did help in later days. There was also just a really nice guy who, after I stopped at a corner looking mildly confused as to where to go next, kindly asked if I needed assistance and directed me towards where I wanted to be. I seriously love Irish people. They're the best.
We got our bus, though, and made our way to Dublin's fair city (where the girls are so pretty. And we did in fact visit sweet Molly Malone). It was a nice day, too, and because of my previous visits I was able to guide us through the streets with relative ease. Our hostel was lovely, and I was greatly amused to note that at the bottom of each poster on the wall, there was small script that read, "Flirt with us, we like it." I took Sarah and Elisia first to my favorite room of all time, via the exhibit of awesome, Trinity College's old library. The Book of Kells (aforementioned "exhibit of awesome") was as epic the second time as the first, though I admit in the informative parts I mostly just watched, slightly mesmerized, at the videos of people writing the pretty script and sewing together the books. Elisia was over the moon, seeing the Book and it's counter parts in its dimly lit glass case, and I managed to translate a couple of words of the Latin, which is always fun.
My sister was even more excitedwhen I led her and Sarah with their eyes closed into one of the most beautiful rooms in existence. It was kind of like Beauty and the Beast, except for I wasn't particularly trying to woo either one of them, as much as I might care for them. As exciting as it was for me to show them the room, though, I was equally happy to be back in it myself. It just has the best atmosphere, and the fact that I could turn and see beautiful floor to ceiling shelves stuffed with old books will never get old to me.
I wanted to take them to the archaeology museum, but it was getting too late. We did, however, stop by Dublin Castle, with its stupendous courtyard and lovely gardens. We had some mini photo shoots amongst the cobblestones and flowers. There was an incident with a passing-by Irish gentleman who decided to photobomb Elisia. Well not photobomb so much as join in, putting an arm around her back and grinning at the cameras before laughing and walking away. I thought it was hilarious (I love Irish people so much, and quite enjoy when I come across one who pulls something like that); Elisia did not appreciate it nearly as much. It made for something fun to laugh at later, though.
We did then go visit Miss Malone and got dinner, before heading to our hostel for a short bit and then going back out again to find a pub with live music. What I was hoping for was traditional music, which we didn't find at all. We did find live music, and it was quite good, but I had misunderstood the doorman when he said he'd be playing for "15 more minutes," thinking rather he'd said 50. So we ordered our drinks and we surprised when three songs later the musician stopped. He was quite good, though, and at least we'd found a nice pub. Turns out when my sister said she didn't like alcohol, though, she genuinely meant it. I did not anticipate that, though I was proud of her when she did successfully finish her cider. Sarah had a Guinness, I had a Smithwick's, and Elisia had Bulmer's cider; it is Ireland, after all.
Once finished our drinks we went to our hostel to get a couple of hours rest. Then we woke up bright and early the next morning, to take a wonderful Paddywagon Tour across Ireland to see the Cliffs of Moher. Now, up to this point, everything we had done I had already done previously. That's not a bad thing, don't get me wrong- I loved revisiting everything. The tour, though, was different, and so so wonderful. Granted, for a good chunk of the first couple of hours I was passed out, having gotten far too few hours of sleep the past two nights, but once I was awake enough to appreciate it, I really really enjoyed it. We saw an abbey in the middle of nowhere- Corcromroe Abbey- that has been changed into a grave sight, castles, walls to nowhere over the hills that were built for pennies during the Famine, and some of the most breathtaking countryside.
You know, if you've been reading my blog, seeing my pictures, coming anywhere close to talking to me in the last four months, that I am totally in love with this country, both the North and the Republic. Galway, though... I didn't think it was possible to be more completely and utterly enamored with Ireland, but it was in Galway. Between the rocks and the green and the sapphire sea, I lost a part of my heart that will now always reside in Ireland's west coast. And that was just the drive to the Cliffs.
The Cliffs of Moher have been on my list of "things to see" since I knew they existed. Soon after I was inexplicably drawn to the country itself, I was drawn to the cliffs, and that was years ago. There, finally, I was seeing them, and they were a sight worth the wait. They're indescribably lovely and dramatic. We all even wore dresses, which was perfect; if there was ever a time to pretend to be a princess in a fantasy story, that was certainly it, standing at the top of a precipice with the wind blowing your hair around your face and your skirt around your legs, looking over a wide expanse of blue. Apparently, too, part of the Princess Bride was filmed there! My guess is probably the "cliffs of insanity" bit.
It was a very good tour, and I am exceptionally glad we did it. Back in Dublin that evening, we grabbed a bite to eat and then went straight to the hostel and to bed, knowing we'd have to get up obnoxiously early the next morning too. 4AM was our wake-up time that day, so that we could get a bus to the airport to catch our flight to London. We discovered as we waited for our 5AM bus that by 5AM they really meant quarter after, and we could have probably slept a wee bit longer. But we got the the airport in plenty of time, and were patiently waiting at our gate 15 minutes before our flight was called.
When that time did come, to our surprise we were rounded into a bus that carried us in circles around the tarmac until we came to a plane with stairs from the ground up to our entrance point. Since it wasn't what they considered an international flight (though, technically, it totally was) we only had a small plane. The only thing I could think while boarding was how cool it was that we were boarding a plane like celebrities. It would have been perfectly reasonable to expect paparazzi waiting for us upon touchdown. Which they really should have been- we looked fabulous, if a little tired.
An hour and a half flight and a half hour train ride later- complete with two extremely helpful English people and one adorable little blond boy who kept playing peekaboo with us and more than once attempted to transverse the barrier of the back of our seats to reach us- we made it to London.
AND since that was actually really long, this post shall be finished right here. I'm immediately writing the second half of the week, don't worry, there will just be more posts than expected. Hopefully part 2 will be available later today. Let me just warn you ahead of time, though- London was the city that made us all crack. You should never, ever, go to London when you've had less than sufficient sleep and nowhere to store your bags. It does funny things to your brain, and actually quite painful things to your body. So. I'll get on that. Ttfn- ta ta for now! :)
Anyway, so I didn't have enough time to tell you all about my exciting first week of travel, and now I've gone and had two more weeks on top of that and a couple days of recovery, so here I am. For the time being, week one is gonna be what ya get. Week two and three will come shortly thereafter, but three weeks of adventures is far too much for one post, and really with how packed these weeks were, one post for each week might even be stretching it. But I'll try. So, here we go!
I think I may have mentioned previously that my big sister Elisia and one of my best friends Sarah came to join me that first fateful week. If I hadn't, well, now I have. So I was pretty excited the days leading up to it, not only because I was getting to go travel around the UK and Ireland, but also because I haven't seen anyone from home since January, and two of my favorites were now flying out to come see me. :) In preparation, I got a really exciting dinner lined up for them in my flat, planned what we were going to do in the Northern part of this fair country, and laid out my clothes and supplies for the rest of the week.
They got here, and from what they told me, got to campus fine. Sort of. They forgot the name of my college here when going through customs, which thankfully didn't get them thrown out or anything, just made it slightly harder to locate me. When they got to campus, they had no idea where to go, though. It's not very big, but I know from personal experience how confusing it is when you don't know it. I got the message they were on campus though, and went out looking for them.
I found them heading my direction after a couple of minutes of searching, and sped up my pace, eager to throw my arms around them. It would have been a great dramatic moment, with the whole running and hugging thing, and I'm certain the world would have gone all slow motion for just a second to appease my cheesy side, but there was a security guard there who threw off the vibe. So I settled for speed walking and hugging instead. They thanked the guard who had helped them find me, and then I took them to my dorm, where they gave me Easter candy and letters from home. After I got what I really wanted from them, I promptly killed them and threw them into the river out back. The rest of the week I spent eating my candy and marathoning Audrey Hepburn movies.
The end.
Just kidding.
They did give me candy though, and then my host dad, John, along with one of my friends who is also his other host-kid, Bree, picked us up and we set off to see some of the highlights of the Northern Irish coast. We stopped at the Giant's Face, Dunluce Castle, The Giant's Causeway, and the River Bann, with John telling us all sorts of historical facts about it all, because he's kind of awesome and does that sort of thing. (Seriously, his job was in history. He helped on the Titanic Museum that I so admire. He's kind of my hero for that one.)
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| Cuties on the Causeway ; ) |
It was so exciting, though, getting to see them see this country I've fallen in love with. Sarah started her video travel blog and selfie-taking that continued through the week, we got rained on (surprise, surprise) and we found some gorgeous shells along the beach. It was an absolutely wonderful afternoon. When we returned, I made the girls dinner- fish fingers and custard, which they were super excited about, as I'd expected. We chatted for a bit and then made a run to a convenience store for some snacks and to fulfill some cravings (Magnum Bars, Magnum Bars ).
It was a happy time. And then, all of a sudden, it wasn't. We had waited to book two of our buses, thinking, "Oh, we'll be fine." Wrong. We were not, in fact, fine. Me specifically, since I was the one who stayed up late and got up early to resolve our issue. I was very not fine. The first bus ride was easily resolvable, if slightly pricier than we'd previously hoped. The second, though, was a nightmare. You would assume there would be a bus to a ferry port around the time that the ferry needed you to be there, right? Wrong. There was no such bus, even though I had checked when we were doing our early sketches of our plans, and there most certainly had been a bus. Should have bought the dang tickets then, but since our plans weren't yet solid at that stage, we foolishly had waited. And now the bus seemed to have vanished, because it simply wasn't there, even at increased prices. Finally, though, after some heartfelt praying and a few tears, I finagled our plan to get us to the ferry port, if a couple of hours earlier than when we strictly had to be there, and by the time we were ready to head out, we could do so with the confidence we had proper transportation between destinations.
So, then came our Dublin day. First was getting to Dublin, which happened later and in a slightly more complicated manner than expected. Because of our late night/early morning snafu, we left two hours later than intended, then had to speed walk to the bus station because the train was not as cheap as I would have hoped. Plus side: this speed-tour of Belfast finally helped ingrain the basic layout of the inner part of the city, which did help in later days. There was also just a really nice guy who, after I stopped at a corner looking mildly confused as to where to go next, kindly asked if I needed assistance and directed me towards where I wanted to be. I seriously love Irish people. They're the best.
We got our bus, though, and made our way to Dublin's fair city (where the girls are so pretty. And we did in fact visit sweet Molly Malone). It was a nice day, too, and because of my previous visits I was able to guide us through the streets with relative ease. Our hostel was lovely, and I was greatly amused to note that at the bottom of each poster on the wall, there was small script that read, "Flirt with us, we like it." I took Sarah and Elisia first to my favorite room of all time, via the exhibit of awesome, Trinity College's old library. The Book of Kells (aforementioned "exhibit of awesome") was as epic the second time as the first, though I admit in the informative parts I mostly just watched, slightly mesmerized, at the videos of people writing the pretty script and sewing together the books. Elisia was over the moon, seeing the Book and it's counter parts in its dimly lit glass case, and I managed to translate a couple of words of the Latin, which is always fun.
My sister was even more excitedwhen I led her and Sarah with their eyes closed into one of the most beautiful rooms in existence. It was kind of like Beauty and the Beast, except for I wasn't particularly trying to woo either one of them, as much as I might care for them. As exciting as it was for me to show them the room, though, I was equally happy to be back in it myself. It just has the best atmosphere, and the fact that I could turn and see beautiful floor to ceiling shelves stuffed with old books will never get old to me.
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| Woohoo! Elisia was thrilled, as evidenced by her very pretty and excited smile. I'm pretty sure Sarah was thrilled; this expression kept being presented to me, though, so I can only assume she intended for me to share it with the internet. |
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| My lovelies and I in Dublin Castle's courtyard |
We did then go visit Miss Malone and got dinner, before heading to our hostel for a short bit and then going back out again to find a pub with live music. What I was hoping for was traditional music, which we didn't find at all. We did find live music, and it was quite good, but I had misunderstood the doorman when he said he'd be playing for "15 more minutes," thinking rather he'd said 50. So we ordered our drinks and we surprised when three songs later the musician stopped. He was quite good, though, and at least we'd found a nice pub. Turns out when my sister said she didn't like alcohol, though, she genuinely meant it. I did not anticipate that, though I was proud of her when she did successfully finish her cider. Sarah had a Guinness, I had a Smithwick's, and Elisia had Bulmer's cider; it is Ireland, after all.
Once finished our drinks we went to our hostel to get a couple of hours rest. Then we woke up bright and early the next morning, to take a wonderful Paddywagon Tour across Ireland to see the Cliffs of Moher. Now, up to this point, everything we had done I had already done previously. That's not a bad thing, don't get me wrong- I loved revisiting everything. The tour, though, was different, and so so wonderful. Granted, for a good chunk of the first couple of hours I was passed out, having gotten far too few hours of sleep the past two nights, but once I was awake enough to appreciate it, I really really enjoyed it. We saw an abbey in the middle of nowhere- Corcromroe Abbey- that has been changed into a grave sight, castles, walls to nowhere over the hills that were built for pennies during the Famine, and some of the most breathtaking countryside.
You know, if you've been reading my blog, seeing my pictures, coming anywhere close to talking to me in the last four months, that I am totally in love with this country, both the North and the Republic. Galway, though... I didn't think it was possible to be more completely and utterly enamored with Ireland, but it was in Galway. Between the rocks and the green and the sapphire sea, I lost a part of my heart that will now always reside in Ireland's west coast. And that was just the drive to the Cliffs.
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| Irelaaaaaannnnd!!!!! How do you expect me to leave when you keep showing me stuff like this??? |
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| I'll just stay here... for, you know... ever. |
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| YEEEEEEE!!!!! KHFKEHDKFHADKBKVABAHEWLRDFNKABDKLKJLJLJLSJ;FKDLG'KKSGDI (and that's what I think about that) |
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| ALL the dramatic moment potential!!!! |
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| *strangled noises* |
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| Oh hey right! Here's a castle we stopped at on the way back to Dublin. Kinda reminded me of Disney's Robin Hood. |
It was a very good tour, and I am exceptionally glad we did it. Back in Dublin that evening, we grabbed a bite to eat and then went straight to the hostel and to bed, knowing we'd have to get up obnoxiously early the next morning too. 4AM was our wake-up time that day, so that we could get a bus to the airport to catch our flight to London. We discovered as we waited for our 5AM bus that by 5AM they really meant quarter after, and we could have probably slept a wee bit longer. But we got the the airport in plenty of time, and were patiently waiting at our gate 15 minutes before our flight was called.
When that time did come, to our surprise we were rounded into a bus that carried us in circles around the tarmac until we came to a plane with stairs from the ground up to our entrance point. Since it wasn't what they considered an international flight (though, technically, it totally was) we only had a small plane. The only thing I could think while boarding was how cool it was that we were boarding a plane like celebrities. It would have been perfectly reasonable to expect paparazzi waiting for us upon touchdown. Which they really should have been- we looked fabulous, if a little tired.
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| Like a celebrity. |
An hour and a half flight and a half hour train ride later- complete with two extremely helpful English people and one adorable little blond boy who kept playing peekaboo with us and more than once attempted to transverse the barrier of the back of our seats to reach us- we made it to London.
AND since that was actually really long, this post shall be finished right here. I'm immediately writing the second half of the week, don't worry, there will just be more posts than expected. Hopefully part 2 will be available later today. Let me just warn you ahead of time, though- London was the city that made us all crack. You should never, ever, go to London when you've had less than sufficient sleep and nowhere to store your bags. It does funny things to your brain, and actually quite painful things to your body. So. I'll get on that. Ttfn- ta ta for now! :)
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