Day 8 in Barcelona (by Hannah with input from Nic)
We went to the market and spent 8€ on fruits and veggies. We have only gone 2 days without going to the market! We walked to Sagrad Familia which is the most amazing cathedral EVER! We wish we could have gone inside but the line was ridiculous and it was expensive. They are still constructing the cathedral after 100 years and think it will be done in 2020 or 2040. It was designed by Barcelona's amazing Gaudi. There are many famous and gorgeous buildings by him in Barcelona.
After that we went to the temporary Realism exhibition at a museum. It was a fantastic exhibition! I love seeing all this amazing art in person!
We tried to find another one of Gaudi's buildings that had free admittance but for some reason we couldn't find it! Barcelona is HUGE and has so many streets going this way and that!
That night we went out to get tapas and accidentally went to a VERY expensive place! The food was yummy though! :)
Day 9 in Barcelona and Day 1 in Valencia
So of course we went to the market on our last day in Barcelona. We got fresh asparagus and lots of fruit. We had a nice brunch of eggs, toast, espresso and fresh oj. We left the hostel early so that we could make sure to find the train station and our train before we left at 2:30pm.
It took us awhile to find it but we made it onto the train. It was Nic's first train ride! It was about 3.5 hours and the ride to Valencia was beautiful!
We got lost on the way to the hostel (of course!) but only for half an hour! We LOVE this hostel. It is hands down the cleanest and nicest and colorful hostel ever. And Valencia is our favorite city we have visited too!
We had the asparagus for dinner which was to die for and some pasta!
Day 2 Valencia
We have done so much today! The weather is warm but windy so it makes it a bit chilly! We went to a bakery for breakfast. Then we went to Torres de Serranos. It was sooooo cool! It was part of the wall that used to be around Valencia! And the best part is that it was free! Most places are free or 1€ in Valencia! It makes for an awesome city to visit!
After the tower we went to a museum of miniature soldiers. There were thousands and thousands and thousands of little soldiers! It was freakin crazy!
We went to El Corte Ingles to get groceries and made a delicious supper of potatoes, carrots, broccoli and salad. And since it's super expensive to go out and buy drinks, we bought gin and tonic and had that with dinner!
Day 3 Valencia
Woke up way too late today! (12 pm) :) We had yogurt and fruit before heading out to tour Arabic baths from 1313! They were wicked! We got to see a movie about how they were used and then got a free tour of each room! Yay we love free stuff!
Then we went to an art museum that was also free. YAY! It was packed with so much art! The majority of it was religious art but there was also an exhibit with modern photography which was very cool!
We saw where bull fights are held but the arena was closed and they only do 3 fights a year. We would love to see one but I guess we will have to save that for another trip!
We had 2 yummy yummy pastries that we bought with the 2€ Nic found on the ground so it was basically like they were FREE!
That's all for now! Dinner and drinks soon! TTFN!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Barcelona
Day 3 Barcelona written by Hannah (and Nic)
It was soooo hot and sunny today! We went again to the market and got fresh fruits and veggies! We packed sandwiches and took them on the metro to Park Guell.
It's a park designed by a famous architect named Gaudi. It was meant to be a private wealthy community but the project was abandoned less than halfway through. There are a couple houses and an amazing entryway and gates.
It was really dry and as we were walking I (Hannah) slipped on a hill and cut my knee. I thought I was okay but while we were waiting in line to use the bathroom I started getting dizzy and fainted. Thankfully Nic caught me and carried me into the shade!
Needless to say we went home after that so I could lay down as i didn't feel very good! After resting a bit we went back again to the market to get more fresh food! We LOVE the market here!!!
Day 4 in Barcelona
We went and saw the Olympic stadium here where the Olympics were held in 1929 and again in 1992. We saw the pool, stadium and surrounding park and museums. Unfortunately nothing was open but it was still beautiful and there were some amazing views!
Once again we went to the market and then ate fresh fruits and veggies and baguettes as we walked along the beach. I'm so pumped that I finally get to see the Meditteranean!
We got a cafe con hielo. (espresso with ice) and a gofre with chocolate sauce! Yumyum!
It was again a beautiful day! Oh and Nic bought me two cute dresses! :)
Day 5 in Barcelona
Super hot day! I'm not complaining about the weather but it was HOT! We walked a lot today and of course went to the market!
We rode the metro around and just went to a random part of Barcelona where there turned out to be not much to do. We explored the city and then went out for drinks and had some great martinis and an amazing daiquiri, plus a free drink! After drinks we got some fantastic gelato and called it a night!
Day 6 in Barcelona
Another hot day! Nic is finally getting over his cold!
We went to the museum of science today where they have a one square kilometer reproduction of the amazon rainforest. They have legit animals too! There are over 100 flora and fauna from the amazon: snakes, birds, frogs, fish, turtles, a capybara and insects, AND gross tarantulas. There was also a bunch of physics experiments station and a section with dinosaur bones! Nic was in heaven!
After that we went into a bunch of stores and bought some pasta for dinner at the hostel.
Day 6 in Barcelona
Beach day! (the market was closed today so we couldnt go :( )
We went to the cathedral of Barcelona for church today which was UNREAL! We understood fragments of the sermon and partook in communion. They are restoring the cathedral so we donated 20 euro to buy two stones to help! The singing was absolutely angelic in there! It gave me the chills!
After church we spent a few hours at the beach and walking around. When we were done at the beach we got more gelato because it was again a hot hot day!
We went to bed early as our legs and feet were so tired!
Day 7 in Barcelona
Guess what? We went to the market today! :) Nic got figs (ewww!) and we got fresh fruits and veggies...as usual!
We met Andre around 3 after getting cafe con hielo and walking around a bit. He was a life saver and let us do laundry at the place his parents are renting!
We just chilled this afternoon and hung out with him and his parents and their friends, Abby and John.
Early to bed again tonight as we want to do a lot tomorrow! It's our last full day in Barcelona and then it will be on to Valencia!
Hasta Luego
It was soooo hot and sunny today! We went again to the market and got fresh fruits and veggies! We packed sandwiches and took them on the metro to Park Guell.
It's a park designed by a famous architect named Gaudi. It was meant to be a private wealthy community but the project was abandoned less than halfway through. There are a couple houses and an amazing entryway and gates.
It was really dry and as we were walking I (Hannah) slipped on a hill and cut my knee. I thought I was okay but while we were waiting in line to use the bathroom I started getting dizzy and fainted. Thankfully Nic caught me and carried me into the shade!
Needless to say we went home after that so I could lay down as i didn't feel very good! After resting a bit we went back again to the market to get more fresh food! We LOVE the market here!!!
Day 4 in Barcelona
We went and saw the Olympic stadium here where the Olympics were held in 1929 and again in 1992. We saw the pool, stadium and surrounding park and museums. Unfortunately nothing was open but it was still beautiful and there were some amazing views!
Once again we went to the market and then ate fresh fruits and veggies and baguettes as we walked along the beach. I'm so pumped that I finally get to see the Meditteranean!
We got a cafe con hielo. (espresso with ice) and a gofre with chocolate sauce! Yumyum!
It was again a beautiful day! Oh and Nic bought me two cute dresses! :)
Day 5 in Barcelona
Super hot day! I'm not complaining about the weather but it was HOT! We walked a lot today and of course went to the market!
We rode the metro around and just went to a random part of Barcelona where there turned out to be not much to do. We explored the city and then went out for drinks and had some great martinis and an amazing daiquiri, plus a free drink! After drinks we got some fantastic gelato and called it a night!
Day 6 in Barcelona
Another hot day! Nic is finally getting over his cold!
We went to the museum of science today where they have a one square kilometer reproduction of the amazon rainforest. They have legit animals too! There are over 100 flora and fauna from the amazon: snakes, birds, frogs, fish, turtles, a capybara and insects, AND gross tarantulas. There was also a bunch of physics experiments station and a section with dinosaur bones! Nic was in heaven!
After that we went into a bunch of stores and bought some pasta for dinner at the hostel.
Day 6 in Barcelona
Beach day! (the market was closed today so we couldnt go :( )
We went to the cathedral of Barcelona for church today which was UNREAL! We understood fragments of the sermon and partook in communion. They are restoring the cathedral so we donated 20 euro to buy two stones to help! The singing was absolutely angelic in there! It gave me the chills!
After church we spent a few hours at the beach and walking around. When we were done at the beach we got more gelato because it was again a hot hot day!
We went to bed early as our legs and feet were so tired!
Day 7 in Barcelona
Guess what? We went to the market today! :) Nic got figs (ewww!) and we got fresh fruits and veggies...as usual!
We met Andre around 3 after getting cafe con hielo and walking around a bit. He was a life saver and let us do laundry at the place his parents are renting!
We just chilled this afternoon and hung out with him and his parents and their friends, Abby and John.
Early to bed again tonight as we want to do a lot tomorrow! It's our last full day in Barcelona and then it will be on to Valencia!
Hasta Luego
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Spain so far, mostly...
Day 20-26
It's been a long time since we've written...
Day 3 in Madrid. I don't remember exactly what we did today. We had lunch with Andre at his dorm for free every day, and dinner there too sometimes. They had a buffet where you can get whatever you want from what they have. Hannah was sick, but Andre and I went out for drinks.
Day 4 in Madrid. We had a pastry almost every day. We got Thai food for lunch and then the best dessert ever!!! It was a waffle cone dipped in chocolate and then filled with chocolate mousse!!!!!!!! Yeah... Yum. We did a ton of walking again, and got a Gofre with Andre. I don't know why we don't have gofres in the states, or maybe we do, but it's a freshly made waffle with ice-cream and chocolate sauce on top! Freakin awesome!!!!! We walked about 10 miles.
Day 5 in Madrid. We walk about 5 to 10 miles every day. Really hot today, sunny and beautiful! Hannah bought 2 Spanish magazines so we can practice our Spanish. We also went to see a Spanish comedy movie with Andre called "Para Que Sirve un Oso?", which translates to "For what purpose does a bear serve?". We understood a little, but it was still funny and cool seeing a movie in a different language. No subtitles by the way.
p.s. We bought our Eurail pass today and a bunch of our train passes. We are flying to Barcelona from Madrid, €100, which is actually the cheapest we could find. 9 nights in Barcelona. Then Eurail from Barcelona to Valencia, 4 nights. Separate train from Valencia to Alacante, 2 nights. Eurail from Alacante to Sevilla, 2 nights in a cheap hotel with Andre. Eurail from Sevilla to Bilbao, 3 nights in a hostel with Andre again. Then Eurail back to Madrid for our last 3 nights in Spain!
Day 6 in Madrid. Saturday so Andre had the day off. We spent €15 on food for a picnic (baguettes, tomatoes, pesto, lettuce, avocados, strawberries, cookies, cucumber, goat cheese wrapped in Brie, and water), and then had the most epic picnic in the park!!! It was so yummy! We got some martinis at a really cool bar later that night.
Day 7 in Madrid. Andre took us to an awesome flea market that took up probably like 10 or more blocks. We saw everything from batteries to phone chargers, antiques to souvenirs, foods to animal skins, knives to candle sticks, and on and on. Then we went to and art museum that was 4 floors and had tons of awesome paintings, Picasso and Salvador Dali, and many others. It was really cool.
Day 8 in Madrid + day 1 in Barcelona. Hannah and I checked out of our hostel and dropped our stuff at Andre's and then got spring rolls and a coffee before Andre got off school at 1:00. We had free lunch with him at his dorms and then he took us to the airport for our flight to Barcelona! We got quite lost trying to find our hostel and walked around for 2 hours. We did find it though. We got some sandwich stuff from a grocery store and had a nice dinner :) and went to bed.
Day 2 in Barcelona. So much to write about! The architecture here is amazing, everything is just so elegant. We had a café con hielo, espresso with ice, with a little milk at a nice cafe. I picked up Hannah's sickness and I didn't feel too well, but we still enjoyed the day! We bought a sick magnet of a little coffee cup that says Barcelona on it. We found an awesome market that is wicked cheap and got strawberries for €1.56, 2 tomatoes for €.40, and 2 avocados for €1.05, we got bread too and had some nice sandwiches. For dinner we got tapas. My favorite was these fried Brie cubes with sesame seeds, and Hannah liked the goat cheese salad we got.
Just some tidbits for now, but I am working on a blog for yesterday and today and will try and have it up tonight. Later!
Nic
It's been a long time since we've written...
Day 3 in Madrid. I don't remember exactly what we did today. We had lunch with Andre at his dorm for free every day, and dinner there too sometimes. They had a buffet where you can get whatever you want from what they have. Hannah was sick, but Andre and I went out for drinks.
Day 4 in Madrid. We had a pastry almost every day. We got Thai food for lunch and then the best dessert ever!!! It was a waffle cone dipped in chocolate and then filled with chocolate mousse!!!!!!!! Yeah... Yum. We did a ton of walking again, and got a Gofre with Andre. I don't know why we don't have gofres in the states, or maybe we do, but it's a freshly made waffle with ice-cream and chocolate sauce on top! Freakin awesome!!!!! We walked about 10 miles.
Day 5 in Madrid. We walk about 5 to 10 miles every day. Really hot today, sunny and beautiful! Hannah bought 2 Spanish magazines so we can practice our Spanish. We also went to see a Spanish comedy movie with Andre called "Para Que Sirve un Oso?", which translates to "For what purpose does a bear serve?". We understood a little, but it was still funny and cool seeing a movie in a different language. No subtitles by the way.
p.s. We bought our Eurail pass today and a bunch of our train passes. We are flying to Barcelona from Madrid, €100, which is actually the cheapest we could find. 9 nights in Barcelona. Then Eurail from Barcelona to Valencia, 4 nights. Separate train from Valencia to Alacante, 2 nights. Eurail from Alacante to Sevilla, 2 nights in a cheap hotel with Andre. Eurail from Sevilla to Bilbao, 3 nights in a hostel with Andre again. Then Eurail back to Madrid for our last 3 nights in Spain!
Day 6 in Madrid. Saturday so Andre had the day off. We spent €15 on food for a picnic (baguettes, tomatoes, pesto, lettuce, avocados, strawberries, cookies, cucumber, goat cheese wrapped in Brie, and water), and then had the most epic picnic in the park!!! It was so yummy! We got some martinis at a really cool bar later that night.
Day 7 in Madrid. Andre took us to an awesome flea market that took up probably like 10 or more blocks. We saw everything from batteries to phone chargers, antiques to souvenirs, foods to animal skins, knives to candle sticks, and on and on. Then we went to and art museum that was 4 floors and had tons of awesome paintings, Picasso and Salvador Dali, and many others. It was really cool.
Day 8 in Madrid + day 1 in Barcelona. Hannah and I checked out of our hostel and dropped our stuff at Andre's and then got spring rolls and a coffee before Andre got off school at 1:00. We had free lunch with him at his dorms and then he took us to the airport for our flight to Barcelona! We got quite lost trying to find our hostel and walked around for 2 hours. We did find it though. We got some sandwich stuff from a grocery store and had a nice dinner :) and went to bed.
Day 2 in Barcelona. So much to write about! The architecture here is amazing, everything is just so elegant. We had a café con hielo, espresso with ice, with a little milk at a nice cafe. I picked up Hannah's sickness and I didn't feel too well, but we still enjoyed the day! We bought a sick magnet of a little coffee cup that says Barcelona on it. We found an awesome market that is wicked cheap and got strawberries for €1.56, 2 tomatoes for €.40, and 2 avocados for €1.05, we got bread too and had some nice sandwiches. For dinner we got tapas. My favorite was these fried Brie cubes with sesame seeds, and Hannah liked the goat cheese salad we got.
Just some tidbits for now, but I am working on a blog for yesterday and today and will try and have it up tonight. Later!
Nic
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Day 17, 18, and 19 (by Nic)
Day 17
Instead of continental breakfast at Isaac's Hostel, today we went out to eat, which was our first time going out to a restaurant for breakfast our entire time here. I don't remember the name of the place we went to, but it was almost like a buffet style, except you chose your foods and the people got them for you. Hannah got french toast and a fruit salad, and I got a double portion of scrambled eggs and two hash browns. It was all pretty good, not like phenomenal or anything, but it was pretty inexpensive.
We checked out of Isaac's Hostel next and moved our stuff literally two doors down to our next hostel, Paddy's Palace. Then we rushed to St. Patricks cathedral for one of the best church services I have ever been in. The organ mixed with everybody singing in the huge stone church made every note sound so incredible! It was awesome.
The rest of the day we walked around more and went into tons of stores. Hannah got two cheap tank tops, but that was all. We had veggie soup and rice for dinner and then did some Spanish before we hit the sack.
Day 18
OUR LAST DAY IN DUBLIN!!! We got up at 9 and had really fast continental breakfast. We wanted to fill our last day, and we did. From about 10 till 12:30 we managed to go to a store and look for food for the plane, although we only bought 2 muffins, then we went to another store and got hannah a jacket. We went to the library and went through an exhibition on W.B. Yeats, a famous poet. We went to a whiskey store, and maded it back to our hostel in time to eat before we took a free 1:00 shuttle to the airport.
Our flight was at 4:30 and we had no problem checking in or going through security. The flight was fine and it took 2hrs and 20min, and then......... SPAIN!!!
Andre was amazing and met us at our terminal. We had to walk like 10 min through the huge airport to make it to the metro. It was my first metro ride! Haha. He took us to Plaza de Espana which is right next to where we are staying. We had a little trouble finding our hostel because the name was different than what it said online, but we did find it. We have a double room, so it's just me and Hannah.
We walked around with Andre a bit and he showed us a few of the main plazas in the city. We went to a mexican place for dinner and got awesome nachos and an avocado salad and margarita for dinner. We didn't end up getting back to our hostel till midnight.
Day 19
Our first full day in Madrid, Spain. Andre met us at our hostel, since we still had no idea where we were really. He took us back to his dorm room, which is really nice! He has a private room with a sweet view and tons of stuff to make it homey.
He also showed us to his college, St Louis university of Madrid, and he showed us around too. We ate in his cafeteria for €4 each ($5.63), and it was a ton of food! Andre had class at 2:30 so we went back to our room. The walk between us is about 25 minutes. We looked at our spain book to figure what we wanted to do till 6:30, when Andre was done classes.
We decided to walk to a market a little past Sol, a big palaza near us. We got un Sueno de Chocolate. It was incredible, just imagine chocolate mouse with a rich chocolate sauce on top and then like a thick marshmallow topping.
Ww met Andre at 6:30 and used the computer lab at his school to book all of our hostels in Spain except for the last 3 days. We have booked Rambla & Catalunya Hostel in Barcelona from April 4th till the 13th. Purple Nest Hostel in Valencia from the 13th till the 17th. Calderon Hostel in Alicante from the 17th till the 19th. Then a Eurostar Hotel in Seville from the 19th till the 21st. Hostal Don Claudio in Bilbao from the 21st to the 24th. Now all we need is a place to stay in Madrid from the night of the 24th till the 27th when we fly home!
After all this planning we were hungry so we went to the cafeteria at Andre's dorms and ate. Then we went walking around a bit and Andre took us to a really cool sangria bar. We shared a bing jar of sangria and then we went and got hot chocolate and churros. The hot chocolate was like a pudding and it was so good!!!
We got back to our hostel at like 1:30 am and fell right to sleep :) We are having so much fun in Madrid already!!! It is insanely amazing here! Bye-bye folks!
Nic
Instead of continental breakfast at Isaac's Hostel, today we went out to eat, which was our first time going out to a restaurant for breakfast our entire time here. I don't remember the name of the place we went to, but it was almost like a buffet style, except you chose your foods and the people got them for you. Hannah got french toast and a fruit salad, and I got a double portion of scrambled eggs and two hash browns. It was all pretty good, not like phenomenal or anything, but it was pretty inexpensive.
We checked out of Isaac's Hostel next and moved our stuff literally two doors down to our next hostel, Paddy's Palace. Then we rushed to St. Patricks cathedral for one of the best church services I have ever been in. The organ mixed with everybody singing in the huge stone church made every note sound so incredible! It was awesome.
The rest of the day we walked around more and went into tons of stores. Hannah got two cheap tank tops, but that was all. We had veggie soup and rice for dinner and then did some Spanish before we hit the sack.
Day 18
OUR LAST DAY IN DUBLIN!!! We got up at 9 and had really fast continental breakfast. We wanted to fill our last day, and we did. From about 10 till 12:30 we managed to go to a store and look for food for the plane, although we only bought 2 muffins, then we went to another store and got hannah a jacket. We went to the library and went through an exhibition on W.B. Yeats, a famous poet. We went to a whiskey store, and maded it back to our hostel in time to eat before we took a free 1:00 shuttle to the airport.
Our flight was at 4:30 and we had no problem checking in or going through security. The flight was fine and it took 2hrs and 20min, and then......... SPAIN!!!
Andre was amazing and met us at our terminal. We had to walk like 10 min through the huge airport to make it to the metro. It was my first metro ride! Haha. He took us to Plaza de Espana which is right next to where we are staying. We had a little trouble finding our hostel because the name was different than what it said online, but we did find it. We have a double room, so it's just me and Hannah.
We walked around with Andre a bit and he showed us a few of the main plazas in the city. We went to a mexican place for dinner and got awesome nachos and an avocado salad and margarita for dinner. We didn't end up getting back to our hostel till midnight.
Day 19
Our first full day in Madrid, Spain. Andre met us at our hostel, since we still had no idea where we were really. He took us back to his dorm room, which is really nice! He has a private room with a sweet view and tons of stuff to make it homey.
He also showed us to his college, St Louis university of Madrid, and he showed us around too. We ate in his cafeteria for €4 each ($5.63), and it was a ton of food! Andre had class at 2:30 so we went back to our room. The walk between us is about 25 minutes. We looked at our spain book to figure what we wanted to do till 6:30, when Andre was done classes.
We decided to walk to a market a little past Sol, a big palaza near us. We got un Sueno de Chocolate. It was incredible, just imagine chocolate mouse with a rich chocolate sauce on top and then like a thick marshmallow topping.
Ww met Andre at 6:30 and used the computer lab at his school to book all of our hostels in Spain except for the last 3 days. We have booked Rambla & Catalunya Hostel in Barcelona from April 4th till the 13th. Purple Nest Hostel in Valencia from the 13th till the 17th. Calderon Hostel in Alicante from the 17th till the 19th. Then a Eurostar Hotel in Seville from the 19th till the 21st. Hostal Don Claudio in Bilbao from the 21st to the 24th. Now all we need is a place to stay in Madrid from the night of the 24th till the 27th when we fly home!
After all this planning we were hungry so we went to the cafeteria at Andre's dorms and ate. Then we went walking around a bit and Andre took us to a really cool sangria bar. We shared a bing jar of sangria and then we went and got hot chocolate and churros. The hot chocolate was like a pudding and it was so good!!!
We got back to our hostel at like 1:30 am and fell right to sleep :) We are having so much fun in Madrid already!!! It is insanely amazing here! Bye-bye folks!
Nic
Day 14, 15, and 16 (by Nic)
Day 14
We didn't do a whole lot today, it was our las full day in Galway. We walked around the town a bunch more and went in nearly every shop to see what they had. We went for a short walk along the coast, the city had a long paved path for walkers and bikers. We got two incredible truffles from a chocolate cafe that were amazing! We had a double chocolate one that rocked, and a baily's irish creme that was also phenomenal. We did laundry again today so we will have clean clothes again!!! Yay! Also we got a Spanish activity book and a dictionary and grammar book so we can practice our spanish before we go to Spain on Monday! That's pretty much it. We are going to do at least one section in our spanish book each night!!!
Day 15
Bus back to Dublin today. Usually I'm ok on the busses, but this time i got sooooooo car sick. I felt like i was going to throw up the entire time! Plus the bus driver was awful, and we took the express route which was supposed to be 2 hours and 20 minutes, but ended up being 3 and a half because of "traffic". It was the worst bus ride of my life.
We are staying in Isaac's Hostel now. It's really nice, but there are tons of people here! We slept in an 8 bed dorm with 4 French guys, and 2 guys from Virginia.
We walked around in Dublin a little, mostly just to get fresh air, and then had pasta for dinner and called it a night.
Day 16
Continental breakfast this morning was crazy! There were soooo many people trying to get food at the same time! It was insane! And then there were so few seats that I let Hannah sit down, but i had to eat standing up. We are going to go out for breakfast tomorrow for sure.
We did a lot more walking today and went in a bunch of stores. I let Hannah get a new pair of shoes that she is very excited about. We also got a hot chocolate at a store called Lemon (we had breakfast there one of our first days in Dublin). Then we went to a different coffee shop and got a scone and frappe and sat and did a lesson in our spanish book. It was a pretty relaxing day, like every day.
We're just hanging in our hostel now. Tomorrow we are going to church at St. Patricks church at 11:30 I believe. Tomorrow is our last full day in Dublin and then to Spain on Monday!!!
Ok, hope you enjoy reading! Remember you can ask us questions and stuff. Bye
Nic
We didn't do a whole lot today, it was our las full day in Galway. We walked around the town a bunch more and went in nearly every shop to see what they had. We went for a short walk along the coast, the city had a long paved path for walkers and bikers. We got two incredible truffles from a chocolate cafe that were amazing! We had a double chocolate one that rocked, and a baily's irish creme that was also phenomenal. We did laundry again today so we will have clean clothes again!!! Yay! Also we got a Spanish activity book and a dictionary and grammar book so we can practice our spanish before we go to Spain on Monday! That's pretty much it. We are going to do at least one section in our spanish book each night!!!
Day 15
Bus back to Dublin today. Usually I'm ok on the busses, but this time i got sooooooo car sick. I felt like i was going to throw up the entire time! Plus the bus driver was awful, and we took the express route which was supposed to be 2 hours and 20 minutes, but ended up being 3 and a half because of "traffic". It was the worst bus ride of my life.
We are staying in Isaac's Hostel now. It's really nice, but there are tons of people here! We slept in an 8 bed dorm with 4 French guys, and 2 guys from Virginia.
We walked around in Dublin a little, mostly just to get fresh air, and then had pasta for dinner and called it a night.
Day 16
Continental breakfast this morning was crazy! There were soooo many people trying to get food at the same time! It was insane! And then there were so few seats that I let Hannah sit down, but i had to eat standing up. We are going to go out for breakfast tomorrow for sure.
We did a lot more walking today and went in a bunch of stores. I let Hannah get a new pair of shoes that she is very excited about. We also got a hot chocolate at a store called Lemon (we had breakfast there one of our first days in Dublin). Then we went to a different coffee shop and got a scone and frappe and sat and did a lesson in our spanish book. It was a pretty relaxing day, like every day.
We're just hanging in our hostel now. Tomorrow we are going to church at St. Patricks church at 11:30 I believe. Tomorrow is our last full day in Dublin and then to Spain on Monday!!!
Ok, hope you enjoy reading! Remember you can ask us questions and stuff. Bye
Nic
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Day 13 (by Nic)
Day 13
Ok, I think we're at the point where I don't need to tell you that we woke up and had breakfast. You can just assume that if we don't say anything than that's probably what we did. Of course if anything extraordinary happens than I'll tell you. Basically we've been having toast and cereal for breakfast almost every morning.
Anyways... we went on another tour today, this time of an area of land to the North of Galway called Connemara. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connemara ). Connemara is a big, somewhat mountainous, marshy region used mostly for raising sheep. I don't really know what to say about the region itself. A few notable things we saw were the Killary Fjord where the local Irish people raise mussels in the inlet of the fjord. We also saw several large rivers where our guide told us thousands of salmon migrate. They swim up the river in the spring and people come from all over to fish for them.
Our main stop was at Kylemore Abbey. I'm not going to put up the link until the end because I want you to hear about it first. It was built by Mitchell Henry as a honeymoon house for himself and his wife because they loved the are. It has had one other owner before the nuns who now own it. They are working, and have been working, to restore the great castle along with the 6 acre garden. The nuns ran a secondary school out of the building for a while before focusing strictly on the tourism aspect of the abbey just last year. The original owner Mitchell Henry also had a church built on his property to remember the loss of his wife. I might be getting some details a little wrong, but basically it was incredible! The castle, church, and garden are all in the late Victorian style, and extremely extravagant. We took a ton of pictures. It was just absolutely beautiful! I think it was Hannah's favorite part so far! Especially the garden. Although it wasn't in full bloom while we were there, it was still incredibly immaculate. Ok here is a little wikipedia link, and also the main link to the Kylemore Abbey website. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kylemore_Abbey http://www.kylemoreabbey.com/
Well, that's it for now. Oh, also we saw hundreds of sheep during the tour today. Yep. Alright, until tomorrow! Bye-bye.
Nic
Ok, I think we're at the point where I don't need to tell you that we woke up and had breakfast. You can just assume that if we don't say anything than that's probably what we did. Of course if anything extraordinary happens than I'll tell you. Basically we've been having toast and cereal for breakfast almost every morning.
Anyways... we went on another tour today, this time of an area of land to the North of Galway called Connemara. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connemara ). Connemara is a big, somewhat mountainous, marshy region used mostly for raising sheep. I don't really know what to say about the region itself. A few notable things we saw were the Killary Fjord where the local Irish people raise mussels in the inlet of the fjord. We also saw several large rivers where our guide told us thousands of salmon migrate. They swim up the river in the spring and people come from all over to fish for them.
Our main stop was at Kylemore Abbey. I'm not going to put up the link until the end because I want you to hear about it first. It was built by Mitchell Henry as a honeymoon house for himself and his wife because they loved the are. It has had one other owner before the nuns who now own it. They are working, and have been working, to restore the great castle along with the 6 acre garden. The nuns ran a secondary school out of the building for a while before focusing strictly on the tourism aspect of the abbey just last year. The original owner Mitchell Henry also had a church built on his property to remember the loss of his wife. I might be getting some details a little wrong, but basically it was incredible! The castle, church, and garden are all in the late Victorian style, and extremely extravagant. We took a ton of pictures. It was just absolutely beautiful! I think it was Hannah's favorite part so far! Especially the garden. Although it wasn't in full bloom while we were there, it was still incredibly immaculate. Ok here is a little wikipedia link, and also the main link to the Kylemore Abbey website. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kylemore_Abbey http://www.kylemoreabbey.com/
Well, that's it for now. Oh, also we saw hundreds of sheep during the tour today. Yep. Alright, until tomorrow! Bye-bye.
Nic
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Day 12
Day 12 (by Nic)
Hello again everybody! Get ready for an exciting blog!!! Hahaha
We woke up a little earlier thsn usual today, 8:30!!! Oh yeah! (sorry I just had 2 cups of coffee, plus we had a lot of fun today). Anyways, before I begin I want everyone to get out a map of Ireland, so you can see where we went (I think google maps is the best so you can type in the locations that we went to, but another map is fine)...
Ok now that you have your maps out, we started the day in Galway, that is the city of Galway, not the county. We took a tour bus at 10:30am from Galway city about an hour south along the coast to a region called the Burren. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Burren ) I don't know how to explain it other than really rocky. The entire region is made of limestone and it looks similar to a moonscape. Here we went to a small town called Doolin where we stopped for lunch. Hannah and I had made spaghetti the night before so we had that to eat. After our lunch we went another 15 minutes along the coast to the south still to the Cliffs of Moher. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliffs_of_moher ) It sounds epic... and it was! The cliffs span a length of 5 miles and stand 650 feet tall at the highest point! It's so hard to picture, and i wish we could put up our pictures because it was so totally mind blowing!!! We did take tons and tons of pictures though.
After our 1 hour stop at the Cliffs of Moher, we took the bus inland to the east about 30 min and stopped at a place called Poulnabrone Dolmen ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poulnabrone_dolmen ) that's the wikipedia link be causes I know I won't be able to explain it right. But basically it is a 5000 year old burial site. There was an excavation 30 years ago, I think, and they found 16 adults and 6 children. They aren't exactly sure what it was for, but they think it was a ritual burial type of deal.
Next we went about 15 more minutes inland to a cave called Aillwee cave ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aillwee_Cave ) wikipedia link. The first person to find the cave was a farmer in the 1940's who happened upon it while hunting rabbits when his dog chased one into the cave. There has been some blasting and excavation in order to make a safe walkable loop for us tourists to tour. It was wicked cool though!!! We both agreed that it was cooler than the lava tube on Maui, and longer too. We had a tour guide with us and had 6 different stops where he told us different things about the cave. Oh I forgot to mention, the cave was dimly light while tours were in session so we could see, but at one point our guide turned out the lights so we could experience "true darkness". Hannah was on the border of freaking a bit, but it was really cool!
After our 30 min tour of Aillwee cave we took the bus an hour back to Galway and out of the Burren. We got back at 5:15pm. We're just hanging out now, probably bed soon, I'm tired. We had more pasta for dinner. Yep... I hope this blog was exciting and educational for all of you back home! Alright... Bye!
Nic
Hello again everybody! Get ready for an exciting blog!!! Hahaha
We woke up a little earlier thsn usual today, 8:30!!! Oh yeah! (sorry I just had 2 cups of coffee, plus we had a lot of fun today). Anyways, before I begin I want everyone to get out a map of Ireland, so you can see where we went (I think google maps is the best so you can type in the locations that we went to, but another map is fine)...
Ok now that you have your maps out, we started the day in Galway, that is the city of Galway, not the county. We took a tour bus at 10:30am from Galway city about an hour south along the coast to a region called the Burren. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Burren ) I don't know how to explain it other than really rocky. The entire region is made of limestone and it looks similar to a moonscape. Here we went to a small town called Doolin where we stopped for lunch. Hannah and I had made spaghetti the night before so we had that to eat. After our lunch we went another 15 minutes along the coast to the south still to the Cliffs of Moher. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliffs_of_moher ) It sounds epic... and it was! The cliffs span a length of 5 miles and stand 650 feet tall at the highest point! It's so hard to picture, and i wish we could put up our pictures because it was so totally mind blowing!!! We did take tons and tons of pictures though.
After our 1 hour stop at the Cliffs of Moher, we took the bus inland to the east about 30 min and stopped at a place called Poulnabrone Dolmen ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poulnabrone_dolmen ) that's the wikipedia link be causes I know I won't be able to explain it right. But basically it is a 5000 year old burial site. There was an excavation 30 years ago, I think, and they found 16 adults and 6 children. They aren't exactly sure what it was for, but they think it was a ritual burial type of deal.
Next we went about 15 more minutes inland to a cave called Aillwee cave ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aillwee_Cave ) wikipedia link. The first person to find the cave was a farmer in the 1940's who happened upon it while hunting rabbits when his dog chased one into the cave. There has been some blasting and excavation in order to make a safe walkable loop for us tourists to tour. It was wicked cool though!!! We both agreed that it was cooler than the lava tube on Maui, and longer too. We had a tour guide with us and had 6 different stops where he told us different things about the cave. Oh I forgot to mention, the cave was dimly light while tours were in session so we could see, but at one point our guide turned out the lights so we could experience "true darkness". Hannah was on the border of freaking a bit, but it was really cool!
After our 30 min tour of Aillwee cave we took the bus an hour back to Galway and out of the Burren. We got back at 5:15pm. We're just hanging out now, probably bed soon, I'm tired. We had more pasta for dinner. Yep... I hope this blog was exciting and educational for all of you back home! Alright... Bye!
Nic
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Day 10 + 11 (by Nic)
Day 10
We didn't do a ton today. It was quite sunny, but also very chilly. We walked around Wicklow a bit in the morning, just kind of looking around the town. We went to a nice cafe for lunch and had a very good tomato basil soup with homemade brown bread. Then we went and sat next to the ocean. There was a team of 3 420 sailboats that we watched for a while. We found some more sea glass also, and then went back to the hostel to figure out what we were going to do in Galway, our next destination.
Day 11
We woke up reall early this morning so we could take the 8am bus from Wicklow back to Dublin. We wanted to go to church in dublin this morning, but we arrived too late for the first service, and the next wasn't going to start for another hour and a half. So instead we took the 10am bus to Galway, but we will be going to St. Patricks church and the Christ Church next weekend when we are in Dublin, our last weekend!
The bus ride to Galway was 3 and a half hours long and so we didn't get here till 1:30pm. We were able to check into our hostel, the Galway City Hostel, when we got here, so we checked in and dropped off our bags and went about exploring the town. We found a great place for lunch called Food 4 Thought. We got a pretty good vegan shepards pie, and on Sunday's they give 3 free little salad samplers, so we got potato salad, broccoli salad, and pickled beets for free!!! Afterwards we walked around more and came upon a market stand where a guy was making fresh doughnuts in front of us and we got to watch him make them and then choose either chocolate, cinnamon, or sugar for the top, or plain. We choose one chocolate, one sugar, and one plain. Let me just say they were AMAZING!! Crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside, and warm! We hope to go back tomorrow too!
We are back at the hostel now after walking around a bunch more. Probably a salad and more peanutbutter sandwiches for dinner. Alright. Bye-bye.
Nic
We didn't do a ton today. It was quite sunny, but also very chilly. We walked around Wicklow a bit in the morning, just kind of looking around the town. We went to a nice cafe for lunch and had a very good tomato basil soup with homemade brown bread. Then we went and sat next to the ocean. There was a team of 3 420 sailboats that we watched for a while. We found some more sea glass also, and then went back to the hostel to figure out what we were going to do in Galway, our next destination.
Day 11
We woke up reall early this morning so we could take the 8am bus from Wicklow back to Dublin. We wanted to go to church in dublin this morning, but we arrived too late for the first service, and the next wasn't going to start for another hour and a half. So instead we took the 10am bus to Galway, but we will be going to St. Patricks church and the Christ Church next weekend when we are in Dublin, our last weekend!
The bus ride to Galway was 3 and a half hours long and so we didn't get here till 1:30pm. We were able to check into our hostel, the Galway City Hostel, when we got here, so we checked in and dropped off our bags and went about exploring the town. We found a great place for lunch called Food 4 Thought. We got a pretty good vegan shepards pie, and on Sunday's they give 3 free little salad samplers, so we got potato salad, broccoli salad, and pickled beets for free!!! Afterwards we walked around more and came upon a market stand where a guy was making fresh doughnuts in front of us and we got to watch him make them and then choose either chocolate, cinnamon, or sugar for the top, or plain. We choose one chocolate, one sugar, and one plain. Let me just say they were AMAZING!! Crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside, and warm! We hope to go back tomorrow too!
We are back at the hostel now after walking around a bunch more. Probably a salad and more peanutbutter sandwiches for dinner. Alright. Bye-bye.
Nic
Friday, March 18, 2011
Day 7, 8, and 9. (by Nic)
Day 7
Slept in a lil bit again. We took a taxi back from Newgrange to Drogheda (and paid €15 instead of the €20 we paid the first time) and made it back literally just in time for the bus to Dublin.
In Dublin we went to cafe shop and got a cream of veggie soup and a roasted veggie sandwich, both of which were very good. We used the Internet to find our next place, the Sandymount Hotel, a 45 min walk away from the center of Dublin.
Day 8 ST PATRICKS DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
....where to begin....
9am: we locked up our stuff for the day at the bus station.
10:15am: we were at our viewing spot for the parade with a veggie burger, fries, and chocolate shake :)
12:30pm: the long awaited parade, scheduled to start 12, finally started with over 600,000 people surrounding us on the streets, in buildings, and even on the roofs. It's hard to describe the immaculate costumes and performances that must have taken forever to plan out. But let me just say that it was totally mind blowing!!! We will put up pictures later, but right now we have no way to get the pictures off our camera.
2:30pm: the parade ended and we got a little food in our bellies before we took the 4pm bus to Wicklow, where we are now.
8pm: pizza from a very crowded store, and then bed shortly after :)
Day 9
The owners of the hostel we are staying in, Captain Halpin's Bunkhouse, took us up to a place called Glendalough where there is a national park, Wicklow National Park, and hiking trails, and also an old monastic village. It was all very interesting and i suggest you, whoever you are, look it up! We ended up doing a 5km hike up the side of one of the mountains that looked over a lake. It was very beautiful. At the top we had a lovely picnic of scones, potato salad, and a broccoli salad.
After our hike we came back to Wicklow and went looking for sea glass on the beach, and were quite successful! We had veggie burgers for dinner and then watched The Departed. I'm tired now so my writing is getting worse and worse. I would say it's time for bed. Good night!
Nic
Slept in a lil bit again. We took a taxi back from Newgrange to Drogheda (and paid €15 instead of the €20 we paid the first time) and made it back literally just in time for the bus to Dublin.
In Dublin we went to cafe shop and got a cream of veggie soup and a roasted veggie sandwich, both of which were very good. We used the Internet to find our next place, the Sandymount Hotel, a 45 min walk away from the center of Dublin.
Day 8 ST PATRICKS DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
....where to begin....
9am: we locked up our stuff for the day at the bus station.
10:15am: we were at our viewing spot for the parade with a veggie burger, fries, and chocolate shake :)
12:30pm: the long awaited parade, scheduled to start 12, finally started with over 600,000 people surrounding us on the streets, in buildings, and even on the roofs. It's hard to describe the immaculate costumes and performances that must have taken forever to plan out. But let me just say that it was totally mind blowing!!! We will put up pictures later, but right now we have no way to get the pictures off our camera.
2:30pm: the parade ended and we got a little food in our bellies before we took the 4pm bus to Wicklow, where we are now.
8pm: pizza from a very crowded store, and then bed shortly after :)
Day 9
The owners of the hostel we are staying in, Captain Halpin's Bunkhouse, took us up to a place called Glendalough where there is a national park, Wicklow National Park, and hiking trails, and also an old monastic village. It was all very interesting and i suggest you, whoever you are, look it up! We ended up doing a 5km hike up the side of one of the mountains that looked over a lake. It was very beautiful. At the top we had a lovely picnic of scones, potato salad, and a broccoli salad.
After our hike we came back to Wicklow and went looking for sea glass on the beach, and were quite successful! We had veggie burgers for dinner and then watched The Departed. I'm tired now so my writing is getting worse and worse. I would say it's time for bed. Good night!
Nic
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Day 6 written by Nic this time...
Day 6
Beautiful day today!!! We slept in till 9:40 and then enjoyed a wonderful continental breakfast consisting of fresh fruit, granola, coffee, and coco puffs.
We biked to Slane village today with the intention of visiting Slane castle. The views along were absolutely amazing! We saw sheep and their babies grazing in fields along the way, and tons of old stone houses, all very cool. My butt is so sore from the biking because my seat was up way too high and I couldn't lower it, but i do believe that I will survive.
In Slane we went to a little bistro for lunch and had the most amazing panini in the world (exaggeration)! It had avocado, pickled cucumbers, brie, lettuce, and tomato. We also got a hot chocolate that, for some reason, was lovely (everyone here say lovely so i decided to pick it up).
A little past Slane was the Hill of Slane where there was an old college and church dating from around the 1500s. It was here that Saint Patrick lit the paschal fire on Easter in defiance of a pagan holiday. We took a ton of pictures of the old stone buildings here because it was just so dang cool!
Our long bike ride home was rather uneventful, except for us panting to make it up the hills and then enjoying the downhills at the end. Although, we did see some cute baby sheep at the end.
Well, now we are back at the Newgrange Lodge and I'm starving! We will write more later! Tomorrow we head back to Dublin for one night and then... St. Patrick's day!!!
Bye everybody!
Nic
Beautiful day today!!! We slept in till 9:40 and then enjoyed a wonderful continental breakfast consisting of fresh fruit, granola, coffee, and coco puffs.
We biked to Slane village today with the intention of visiting Slane castle. The views along were absolutely amazing! We saw sheep and their babies grazing in fields along the way, and tons of old stone houses, all very cool. My butt is so sore from the biking because my seat was up way too high and I couldn't lower it, but i do believe that I will survive.
In Slane we went to a little bistro for lunch and had the most amazing panini in the world (exaggeration)! It had avocado, pickled cucumbers, brie, lettuce, and tomato. We also got a hot chocolate that, for some reason, was lovely (everyone here say lovely so i decided to pick it up).
A little past Slane was the Hill of Slane where there was an old college and church dating from around the 1500s. It was here that Saint Patrick lit the paschal fire on Easter in defiance of a pagan holiday. We took a ton of pictures of the old stone buildings here because it was just so dang cool!
Our long bike ride home was rather uneventful, except for us panting to make it up the hills and then enjoying the downhills at the end. Although, we did see some cute baby sheep at the end.
Well, now we are back at the Newgrange Lodge and I'm starving! We will write more later! Tomorrow we head back to Dublin for one night and then... St. Patrick's day!!!
Bye everybody!
Nic
Monday, March 14, 2011
Day 5
Slept in late today which was very nice. We then went to Newgrange burial site that was built about 1000 years before Stonehedge. It was absolutely mind boggling to see what the people back then were capable of building. Such an amazing experience. We then went into Donore and had a bite to eat at the supermarket and from there biked to the site of the Battle of the Boyne which was the biggest battle site in all of Ireland and England. The history that is here in Ireland is so incredible. It's lime being onside a history book and being able to go on amazing field trips every day! We probably walked about 1 mile today and biked about 8 miles. It was a gorgeous day although it did rain a bit on one day. But it pretty much rains at least once a day here so that's not too surprising. Oh and we had a very nice continental breakfast this morning!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Day 2
Very rainy day! Didn't sleep super well cus there were people up and about until 3 am! Lots of drunk travelers.
We clocked one hour of walking and found that we walked about 3 miles every hour. We have been walking 10-12 miles everyday and boy do I feel it!! We went and visited the Marsh Library which was built in the 1700s by an archbishop. There are over 25000 books in the library! It was so neat to walk through! We then walked around some of the gorgeous cathedrals, Christ Church and St Patricks to name just two.
We went a delicious vegetarian restaurant that was in an old mansion. It was sooooo yummy and the prices were totally reasonable! Then we walked around Dublin a bit more. We went back to the Avalon house, which is the first hostel we stayed at, and we went and hung out in at the Bald Barista which is right next to the hostel.
I cannot even tell you how much I love Dublin. It's such an amazing city to be in. The grass is green everywhere and the are buds on the trees. There are so many daffodils everywhere and violets too and hyacinths and tulips and crocuses. (I have no idea if I spelt that right). Also on many street corners are crates and vases filled with gorgeous bouquets of flowers.
For breakfast we have been eating continental breakfast at the hostels which is usually cereal and toast and tea. For lunch and dinner we buy a few baguettes and some fresh mozzarella and some fruit. Its actually quite cheap to buy things from the grocery stores here.
We also stop for tea at least once a day. There is something so lovely about just sitting down to a scone and a cup of tea on the streets of Dublin. I love it here!
DAY 3
I wish I could put up pictures! I would love to add them to my blog. I will as soon as I can! It rained on and off today which wasn't to bad. We have learned that no matt what you don't leave without your rain jacket and an umbrella as it will rain whenever and where ever, but usually when you least expect it! We walked about 12 miles today and my feet and ankles and calves and knees and thighs and just everywhere are so tired and sore! We have been walking everywhere so that we don't have to take the bus and we can see more when we walk anyway. Oh and did I already say all the buses are double decker buses!? How cool is that?
We walked around z lot just admiring the buildings. A huge thing here is that most of the buildings are brick or stone but the doors are painted these brilliant bright bold colors. They are so beautiful and I want to take a picture of every one! We had tea and a scone at Honest to Goodness and then went to the Guinness Storehouse. It was massive and so interesting! The tour was fantastic! I do not like beer but we hade to do this tour because Guinness is HUGE here. At the end we got a free pint of beer but I hated it so didn't drink it! :)
We then walked back to our next hostel which was called the Abraham House. We walked down Henry Street to get there. This street is the biggest shopping street in all of Europe! It was a bit frightening with all the people but we made it safely!
DAY 4
We took a bus from Dublin to Drogheda today and then a taxi to Donore. We are now staying in the countryside for 3 nights at the Newgrange Lodge. It's mostly out in the middle of no where but we have access to free bikes and there are a lot of historical sites around that I cannot wait to see. It's very nice to have a day to rest my legs! Early to bed tonight!
Very rainy day! Didn't sleep super well cus there were people up and about until 3 am! Lots of drunk travelers.
We clocked one hour of walking and found that we walked about 3 miles every hour. We have been walking 10-12 miles everyday and boy do I feel it!! We went and visited the Marsh Library which was built in the 1700s by an archbishop. There are over 25000 books in the library! It was so neat to walk through! We then walked around some of the gorgeous cathedrals, Christ Church and St Patricks to name just two.
We went a delicious vegetarian restaurant that was in an old mansion. It was sooooo yummy and the prices were totally reasonable! Then we walked around Dublin a bit more. We went back to the Avalon house, which is the first hostel we stayed at, and we went and hung out in at the Bald Barista which is right next to the hostel.
I cannot even tell you how much I love Dublin. It's such an amazing city to be in. The grass is green everywhere and the are buds on the trees. There are so many daffodils everywhere and violets too and hyacinths and tulips and crocuses. (I have no idea if I spelt that right). Also on many street corners are crates and vases filled with gorgeous bouquets of flowers.
For breakfast we have been eating continental breakfast at the hostels which is usually cereal and toast and tea. For lunch and dinner we buy a few baguettes and some fresh mozzarella and some fruit. Its actually quite cheap to buy things from the grocery stores here.
We also stop for tea at least once a day. There is something so lovely about just sitting down to a scone and a cup of tea on the streets of Dublin. I love it here!
DAY 3
I wish I could put up pictures! I would love to add them to my blog. I will as soon as I can! It rained on and off today which wasn't to bad. We have learned that no matt what you don't leave without your rain jacket and an umbrella as it will rain whenever and where ever, but usually when you least expect it! We walked about 12 miles today and my feet and ankles and calves and knees and thighs and just everywhere are so tired and sore! We have been walking everywhere so that we don't have to take the bus and we can see more when we walk anyway. Oh and did I already say all the buses are double decker buses!? How cool is that?
We walked around z lot just admiring the buildings. A huge thing here is that most of the buildings are brick or stone but the doors are painted these brilliant bright bold colors. They are so beautiful and I want to take a picture of every one! We had tea and a scone at Honest to Goodness and then went to the Guinness Storehouse. It was massive and so interesting! The tour was fantastic! I do not like beer but we hade to do this tour because Guinness is HUGE here. At the end we got a free pint of beer but I hated it so didn't drink it! :)
We then walked back to our next hostel which was called the Abraham House. We walked down Henry Street to get there. This street is the biggest shopping street in all of Europe! It was a bit frightening with all the people but we made it safely!
DAY 4
We took a bus from Dublin to Drogheda today and then a taxi to Donore. We are now staying in the countryside for 3 nights at the Newgrange Lodge. It's mostly out in the middle of no where but we have access to free bikes and there are a lot of historical sites around that I cannot wait to see. It's very nice to have a day to rest my legs! Early to bed tonight!
Friday, March 11, 2011
IRELAND!!!!!!!!!
It is day two here in Ireland! We arrived yesterday at 6am. We were totally exhausted by that point and were really only functioning on our adrenaline! I still CANNOT believe I am in Europe! Ive wanted to come visit here all my life and now I'm finally here! Ahhhhhhhhh!
I won't be able to put pictures up for awhile because I just have my iPad and no place to plug my camera in. But I should be able to add pictures once I get to Spain.
Dublin is absolutely incredible! It's so surreal being here in this country that ive only read about in books. The cobblestone streets and sidewalks are gorgeous and the streets upon streets of beautiful old shops and apartments stretch out in every direction! It's just thrilling to turn each corner and find an even more amazing view at every turn and the catholic churches just take your breath away. The magnitude and magnificence of these buildings just blows my mind.
We went to the Chester Beatty library yesterday. There aren't really any books but they did have amazing galleries and a very cool Japanese garden on the roof. On one floor they had displays of religious writings and I saw original pages from the books of the disciples, the book of Genesis and of Esther. That was definitely a surreal moment seeing those. And that wasn't just because I was only running on 2 hours of sleep within the past 30 hours!
We went and walked around in the gorgeous St. Stephens square yesterday where were beautiful flowers just budding, a lovely pond, bridges, oh and I saw two swans! In learned that this was the main square where people would be held in stocks, whipped, and even hung. I saw exactly where it used to happen. That was kind of a disturbing part of the square but it really is a huge part of any countries history as that used to be a common happening so it was cool, in a way, to see.
It was about 50 degrees here yesterday. It was beautiful out but a bit chilly with the wind. The grass is green and the trees all are budding and their are flowers everywhere!
Some things vie observed:
1. Everyone smokes, and I mean just about EVERYONE!
2. Irish accents are THE COOLEST THING EVER!
3. I'm having a very hard time controlling my excitement and I'm afraid I stand out as a total tourist!
4. There aren't that many red haired people.
5. History is absolutely everywhere here and I LOVE IT!
6. The tea here is VERY strong!
7. The cars driving on the opposite side of the road is psyching me out and I think I'm going to get hit because I always forget to look the right way before I cross the road!
8. People dress much nicer here, for the most part.
9. Irish people are very friendly and happy.
10. Europe is so way cooler than America!
I won't be able to put pictures up for awhile because I just have my iPad and no place to plug my camera in. But I should be able to add pictures once I get to Spain.
Dublin is absolutely incredible! It's so surreal being here in this country that ive only read about in books. The cobblestone streets and sidewalks are gorgeous and the streets upon streets of beautiful old shops and apartments stretch out in every direction! It's just thrilling to turn each corner and find an even more amazing view at every turn and the catholic churches just take your breath away. The magnitude and magnificence of these buildings just blows my mind.
We went to the Chester Beatty library yesterday. There aren't really any books but they did have amazing galleries and a very cool Japanese garden on the roof. On one floor they had displays of religious writings and I saw original pages from the books of the disciples, the book of Genesis and of Esther. That was definitely a surreal moment seeing those. And that wasn't just because I was only running on 2 hours of sleep within the past 30 hours!
We went and walked around in the gorgeous St. Stephens square yesterday where were beautiful flowers just budding, a lovely pond, bridges, oh and I saw two swans! In learned that this was the main square where people would be held in stocks, whipped, and even hung. I saw exactly where it used to happen. That was kind of a disturbing part of the square but it really is a huge part of any countries history as that used to be a common happening so it was cool, in a way, to see.
It was about 50 degrees here yesterday. It was beautiful out but a bit chilly with the wind. The grass is green and the trees all are budding and their are flowers everywhere!
Some things vie observed:
1. Everyone smokes, and I mean just about EVERYONE!
2. Irish accents are THE COOLEST THING EVER!
3. I'm having a very hard time controlling my excitement and I'm afraid I stand out as a total tourist!
4. There aren't that many red haired people.
5. History is absolutely everywhere here and I LOVE IT!
6. The tea here is VERY strong!
7. The cars driving on the opposite side of the road is psyching me out and I think I'm going to get hit because I always forget to look the right way before I cross the road!
8. People dress much nicer here, for the most part.
9. Irish people are very friendly and happy.
10. Europe is so way cooler than America!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
January 25th Already?!?!?
Almost three full months have passed by in Maui. How does time go by so fast like this!? And I have been absolutely horrible about keeping up on my blog!
I came on this trip hoping it would point me in a solid direction for my life. And while I have felt more confident in a life path I have found that I have learned so much about myself. I have been learning so much, not just about myself but who I want to be and become and VERY importantly who I do NOT want to be.
A lot has happened since my last update. We work hard every week and spend almost every afternoon and day off at the beach or exploring this beautiful island.
Every sunrise is unique and gorgeous! (I think I've seen 2...)
January 6th we went to see the I'ao Needle in the I'ao valley where Hawai'ians used to live.
There is the needle. Warriors would climb to the top as lookouts. Its amazing!
There was a walk all around the valley. It was very beautiful!
Walking around the valley!
We went on a snorkeling trip to Molokini on January 8th. I was petrified to go in the water but in the end I did go in! I braved my fears of sharks (thankfully I didn't see one) and had an amazing time! We rented a digital underwater camera and were able to take some awesome photos!
Hang Loose!
Look at the cool fish!!! I wore a wetsuit top as we went out at 7am to beat the big snorkeling crowds so it was pretty chilly!
Cool fish! We saw so many neat colorful fish out by the small island of Molokini. We also saw so many huge whales! It was absolutely amazing! This is the time of year when the come down here from Alaska to have their babies.
Swimming with these huge sea turtles was absolutely incredible. There is nothing like swimming right next to one of these!
This is such a goofy looking fish! It's called a unicorn fish because it has a little pointy thing in front of its face.
Very happy after the amazing snorkeling trip!
We then took our snorkeling gear and headed to the most amazing beach in Wailea. It is hands down my favorite beach ever!!!! The water is clear, the waves are manageable and the beach is so sandy and soft!
After the beach we went out to eat at Life's a Beach which was a yummy mexican restaurant.
Here are some random work pictures. Nic loves feeding the chickens and collecting the eggs!
This is the Rainbow cottage where we clean and prep for guests.
Doing laundry in the laundry room!
Chopping down bananas! Nic's favorite thing is chopping up trees and chopping down the bananas with big sharp machetes! :)
On our way to a trip to Lanai'i. Lanai'i is a small island off Maui. It's where Dole used to grow pineapple and produced 85% of the worlds pineapple! We saw SO MANY whales on that trip it was so cool! I also saw a flying fish and some dolphins! It was about and 1.5 hour trip over and back. There wasn't a whole lot to do and see on the island. We went on a Sunday so most everything was closed as everyone goes to church on Sunday. We walked around the small town and some of the big resorts and then spent the afternoon on the beach. It was hot and the waves were huge! We went to Lahaina (back on Maui) for dinner and then home after a long day!
A cute little elephant outside a store! :)
A cool sign! (Nic loves taking pictures of signs)
This is a pineapple!! It's soooo cute! If you chop off the top of the pineapple and plant it in the ground, a pineapple grows out of the middle!! HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!?!
These are koi fish. There were a ton in a pond by one of the resorts. There were so many and they were weird!
Oops! Don't know why this is sideways? But this is also at the same resort and this is a cool chinese gazebo thing!
Same gazebo thing...super pretty!
On the beach at Lanai'i putting on sunscreen! Don't want to get burned!
We went up Haleakala on the 17th and boy was it cold! I'm sure not as cold as back home but since we aren't used to it it was sooooo freezing! We even saw frost at the top.
We were a little over 10,000 feet high. It took about 1.5 hours to get to the top. One of the top celestial observatories in the world was at the top of Haleakala!
Sitting on the cool lava rocks, freezing our bums off!
Nic sitting near the crater. It is amazing!
Nic being a goof. He thinks he's being tough in a t-shirt!
Standing in the clouds!
Both of us in the clouds!
When we got home we had a little friend on the counter checking out our banana bread! These little geckos are all over the place!
We found this really neat nest hanging from a branch. It was woven to hang like this. I don't know what kind of bird uses it but it was so cool! (Bonnie I'm sure you know the answer!!)
Weed whacking! It's a hard job here because there is about 2 days worth of weed whacking here. I have like 3 blisters! OUCH!
We went to the beaches Ka'anopoli for the second time on the 22nd. I don't remember which day was the first time we went...but these are some birds we saw there! They look like mini puffins.
Nic and I took the buses on the 23rd back to the beach in Wailea that I love! We got a little bit burned since we spent the whole day on the beach BUT I did reapply 3 times so the burns weren't too bad. We had so much fun just relaxing on the beach playing Scrabble and then jumping in the water when we got to warm!
We spent some time in Wailuku yesterday at a little cafe. We got an amazing cappuccino with chocolate powder on top. YUM!
Nic and Kai love to spend time boogie boarding at Paia Bay Beach. Yesterday the waves were huge! They had so much fun!
Riding the waves like a boss!
Yay for the beach!!!!
<3<3<3
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)