Ok so last time I updated was Belfast... So much has happened since then! AKA all of Scotland! Also, I'm uploading pictures to Flickr, so check out the bar on the right and click it to look at more!
When we got to Scotland, we had a 3 hour train ride to Glasgow. It wasn't bad... these long trains are seeming quicker and quicker. The hostel was really close, and oh boy was it nice! It was Euro Hostel, and it was like a hotel in size! That night was somewhat wasted since we decided it's be a good idea to do laundry, but we didd get some take out chinese food and had a good time with each other.
The next day we took a 10 hour bus tour. First stop was the Wallace Monument (note: check out the movie Braveheart for the meaning behind this monument). It was pretty cool, even though we had to pay to get in on top of the price of the bus tour. It was a really steep climb up the hill to the monument and it was a narrow steep spiral staircase in the monument, but it was SO worth it to see the views from the top! Beautiful!!
As I already noted in a post from the bus, there were sheep EVERYWHERE! And I've never in my life seen cows run before now... it was kind of funny! Next we were on the bus again, passing through Crief (Ewan McGregor's hometown). We stopped at a scenic overlook (SOOOOO pretty). I didnt stay outside long though since it was SO cold. The tour guide (who was wearing a kilt, by the way) kept teasing me for being so cold. It's the end of May, though! It should be 80 degrees!! lol.
The next stop was Aberfeldy, when J.K. Rowling either grew up or currently owns a place... not positive which. We had lunch there (mmmmm steak pie!!!!) and then headed to Dewar's World of Whisky. We didnt have enough time there to tour, but we saw a movie about it and then went through this interactive thinger. Pretty cool. Free whisky at the end... always a plus!!
On the bus we passes a town called "Dull". hahahaha.
We went to this really old graveyard that had a 5,000 year old tree... pretty cool! Apparently it's the 2nd oldest living thing on earth. I still don't know how they know how old it is... something about the roots?
Next stop was Dochunt Falls in Killin. We only had 15 minutes there, but it was AMAZING!! It was one of those gradual waterfalls, but it had these huge rocks that you could climb on and jump across. I got some pretty nice pictures there!
Back on the bus, we saw a forest that had been cut down. Next to every single stump, though, was a baby tree that had been planted! Not only does Scotland use tons of wind turbines for energy, but they also replant their forrests. Kudos, Scotland, Kudos!
We also went to the Falls of Falloch. Now, THAT was a waterfall. A few minutes walk down a path and we were there. It was so beautiful. It actually made me have the urge to go cliff diving! Dont worry, Mom, I didn't and I wont :-P We did climb down a more gradual way though and again jumped on big rocks to the middle of the water. Jen made it really far. So fun!!
On our way back, we passed Loch Lomond. Oh my goodness... saying it was breathtaking doeant even begin to describe it. Words and pictures just dont do it justice.. I only wish the bus had time to stop here.
We drove through a little conservation village, which was cool. The entire time we were on the bus, the tour guide played old Scottish music... it was neat to listen to it while we looked out the windows!
Dinner today was McDonalds... a nice traditional meal from Scotland! haha. 50 minutes into our train ride we were in Edinburgh! So short! We stepped out of the train station and were awestruck. Every single building is SO old. There's this huge castle built on a cliff (that happens to be across the street from our hostel!
Speaking of the hostel... SO great. 10 person room, but there's lockers for our stuff and our roomies are great. We have 3 guys who I don't know their nationality yet, Felix from Germany/ England who is now looking into grad school here, Mark from Germany, and Gary who did a 104 mile run in 25 hours and came in 3rd place (but he wont be here tonight... not sure if we'll have someone different). It's been great! The common room in the hostel is always packed with people, so it's a great place to hang out and meet new friends!
Last night we tried the pub that the guy from that Irish band reccomended, but it was closed. boo. Felix came with us though, and we wound up hanging out at a pub called The Beehive. It was nice, even though we weren't there for long.
Mom, I know today is Memorial Day, so I wore a red shirt so you wouldn't get mad :-P Today is a Bank Holiday here in the UK, so the streets were very busy! We went on a 3 hour walking tour through the city today for free!!! (A three hour tourrrrrrrrr)
Our tour guide was Andy... hea's a student at the university here and he was such a wonderful guide! Not only was he knowledgable but he was funny, said everything with a smile and made the tour fun!
We saw lots of places, such as the city chambers, Market Cross (used for proclamations and persecutions... now only for a new king or queen proclamation), St. Giles Cathedral, Greyfriars Kirk (Rowling got name inspiration from here... saw McGonagal!), Hogwarts (well, the school it was modeled after), the pub that J.K. Rowling wrote the first few books in, and sooo much more.
Andy had people act a few things out. Dave acted as a husband and his wife (a girl from Chicago) needed food for the babies so he had to steal it. He was then persecuted at Market Cross, getting his ear nailed to a wall, just like the olden days lol.
We learned about trip steps in old houses to catch burglars: one step would be smaller so they's trip down the stairs causing a commotion and would be caught. Smart! Andy had our couple act that out and Pat was the theif!
We learned about William Burke and William Hare, 2 serial killers who suffocated people to get money by selling their bodies to medical research. Apparently it's been made into a movie ( a comedy) that will be coming out later this year!
Grass market had tons of pubs and was where all the hangings used to take place. There's a story about Maggie Dickson that's really cool. She was left by her husband, came to the city to work, and fell in love with her boss's son. They couldnt be together since she technically was still married and never fgot divorced. She got pregnant, hid the pregnancy since she couldnt be fired or have a baby out of wed lock, baby died, got arrested and convicted for concealment of a pregnancy ( apparently a crime back then) and was hung fo this. She was pronounced dead and was on the way to the cemetary when she woke up and banged on the walls of the casket. She wasn't dead yet and the cobblestone drive apparently acted like CPR??? The driver took her back to be hung again, but just as they were about to do it, the judge stepped in, saying that she couldnt be convicted of the same crime twice! Then, since she had been pronounced dead, and her marriage vows said "til death do us part", she was able to remarry! she lived happily ever after!!!!!!!
We saw this place: the Heart of Edinburgh . Pretty funny when tourists propose there, then see people spitting there (as Andy had Pat and I act out lol).
Greyfriars Kirk is the resting place of John Gray. He had a dog for 2 years before he passed away named Bobbie. On the day of the funeral, Bobbie was there. The cemetary guard had to carry him out at the end of the day to lock the place up. Bobbie was still there in the morning. This dog layed at his master's grave every single day for the rest of his life. People took care of him, giving him food, but when Bobbie could be in the cemetary, he was there. How touching is that?!? Man's best friend! Sadly, the church would not allow Bobbie to be burried next to his master (you had to be Christian). He is burried right outside. There is a statue of Greyfriar Bobbie just across the street. Ironically enough, I saw a sign posted outside the cemetary that says "No Dogs Allowed".
The tour ended with us sitting in a park under the castle and Andy telling us about the students in the 1950's who stole the Stone of Destiny back from Westminster Abbey. Such a good story!! And Andy was a wonderful storyteller!
We got a late lunch at Garfunkel's (chicken and veggies for me!), went to get smoothies at Hulza, went to the store to buy food to cook for dinner, and went to visit the castle up closer. It was 13 pounds to get in, so we just took pics outside. I swear the moat and front door of the castle was the inspiration for Peach's Castle on N64. I jumped up the walkway saying "Wha! Woo hoo! Yippee!" Just for you, Bobby ;-)
Dinner was mac n cheese and corn for me! I'm hanging in the hostel common room right now doing all of this while the other 3 are on a ghost tour of the city. That's not my cup of tea, especially at night! I'm staying safe and sound right at the computer here... not even going back to the room since we're sharing it with a bunch of guys. They should be back fairly soon.
*Phew* that was a lot to type. I had to go buy another hour of internet time to finish this up!! lol. Anyway, in the morning we're off to Liverpool! YAY BEATLES!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
For My Sigmas...
There are lambies EVERYWHERE in the Scottish countryside! Just thought I'd share! I miss ewe ladies! SLAM!
More updates later today.. Back to enjoy the view!
More updates later today.. Back to enjoy the view!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
im on a boat!
Take a good hard look at the ... Boat!
Ok so we just got on the ferry to Scotland. It's seriously like a cruise ship! Movies, cafes, bars, casino, arcade, lounges, nail salon.... We are SO impressed. We thought we'd be rocked around on a tiny little boat! Ah loving this!
Last night Phil helped us book our tickets. Phil os awesome. He's our hostel workin buddy. Such a great guy. We talked to him fopr like an hour after he helped us. He travels to Jersey a lot to visit friends and family so we're facebook-ing each other to keep in touch! Yay Phil!
Ok time to go enjoy the boat! Woot!
Ok so we just got on the ferry to Scotland. It's seriously like a cruise ship! Movies, cafes, bars, casino, arcade, lounges, nail salon.... We are SO impressed. We thought we'd be rocked around on a tiny little boat! Ah loving this!
Last night Phil helped us book our tickets. Phil os awesome. He's our hostel workin buddy. Such a great guy. We talked to him fopr like an hour after he helped us. He travels to Jersey a lot to visit friends and family so we're facebook-ing each other to keep in touch! Yay Phil!
Ok time to go enjoy the boat! Woot!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Cullen/Blarney/Cork... oh and Belfast, too!
Hey all!
First off, a little birdie told me that there may be a plus to the next sentence I write. Hey Uncie!
Anywho, yesterday was AMAZING! We woke up in Killarney to another Toast breakfast, which stunk, but that's alright, because right after breakfast Uncle Tadhg picked us up!! We drove to Cullen to vistit with some of Pat's relatives, which was really nice. We saw the cemetery where Pat's Great-Great Grandparents are buried, and as Jen said, If you have to lay somewhere forever, THAT's the place to be. It was SO beautiful.
From there we went to Blarney Castle! Uncle Tadhg was so so sweet and paid for ALL of us to get in, including himself!!! It was soooo cool going through the castle, including the dungeon!! At the top we all kissed the Blarney Stone! I now have the gift of gab ;-)
Uncle Tadhg then dropped us off at the Cork Gaol (the old city jail). The four of us did an audio tour of the place... it was actually VERY interesting! Creepy at times, but interesting all the same. That took longer then expected, so we walked into the city and had something to eat. I had this delicious potato with chicken and cheese in it. mmmmmmmm! We had enough time to walk to Patrick's Street to meet up with Uncle Tadhg just in time!!
We went back to the house in Glenmire (we were all very impressed with the house... Uncle Tadhg built the entire house... as well as some of the other houses the family lives in!). We had some lasagna which was SO yummy! After meeting some more family, we hung out with Pat's cousin Tara and the girls (18 months and 2 months,... SO cute!).
That evening we went to the Yacht club with Pat's Uncle to race the sailboat!! We were pretty much dead wait on the boat, but we evened out the weight in the front of the boat, sticking our legs over whichever side stuck up in the air. Uncle Tadhg said it helped, so, yay! The Lady T (Micheal's boat that we were racing... Micheal is Tadhg's son) won 2nd place!! Yay!! Only a few injuries occured, like jen almost getting knocked off by a sail and Dave getting smacked in the face with the other sail's ropes and banging up his nose and getting rope burn on his neck. He's a trooper... he took one for the team!! We hung out at the Yacht club for a bit, drinking while waiting for the results.
We then headed to Michael's and Tara's house to celebrate the victory and give them the prize ( a 12 pack of heineken lol). Unfortunately Cuiva (spelling?) was sick again... poor thing. Marie spent a lot of time snuggled in my arms, so I was quite a happy camper! We had a great time with all of them... I just wish we had more time so spend with them.
Back at Uncle Tadhg's, we sat in the living room, talked,drank, and hung out ( Auntie Merlin was there too!). It was so noce to hear all the stories they had for us. All four of us agreed that it was the best day yet in Ireland! We went to bed well after midnight, and we were able to sing happy birthday to Pat before we went to sleep.
On that note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAT!!! We woke up this morning and had a DELICIOUS breakfast of eggs and sausage and toast and black pudding prepared by Auntie Merlin. We then had to say our goodbyes so we could get dropped off at the trainstation. We kept joking that we weren't going to leave...we'd just spend a month with Pat's family then go home! That's how much fun we had!
Anyway, all of today was spent traveling to Belfast. It was a 3 hour train ride back to Dublin since there are no trains up the west coast here... Everything goes through Dublin. Then we had a 2 hour wait til the next train to Belfast. That train was on the other side of town, though, so we walked all the way to the station and stopped for lunch on the way.
The train out of dublin was a bit delayed, but not bad. We talked and played cards (still trying to get the hang of Peanuckle) the whole way there. Last night Tara gave me a little cake with a hard chocolate coating on it and candles! It was so so sweet of her. 2 things though.. First, We didn't have matches and I couldn't find any in stores I went to. Second, the chocolate coating cracked apart in my bag, even though I tried to be gentle. It was too tough hiding it! Anyway, we made pat close his eyes as we unwrapped it and stuck the candle in. We sang to him and he blew out the non-existant flames lol.
When we got to Belfast we took a connecting train to a stop closer to our hostel. We were jokingly pessimistic about it, being in Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK and it being gloomy out and all. We went to our hostel to check in: it's really nice here! Its part of a chain of hostels. Were in a 4 person room, so with the key cards to get onto the elevators and into the rooms, we don't have to worry about locking our stuff up at night. That's really nice.
We got dinner at a place called Laverys. We almost went to KFC wheb we saw this place across the street! Yay! No american chains whike were here!! Although, the KFC had pretty much no menu in comaprison to the US anyway...
Our waiter and the manager at Laverys were both so great! They spoke with us about our trip and about times they've been to the US. When the waiter heard it was Pat's birthday he brought us a free bottle of sparkling white wine!!! I loved it, as did jen and dave... Even Pat said it was pretty good lol.
Now we're just taking it easy tonight. We may or may not spend time here tomorrow before heading to the ferry to Scotland... Who knows?
Oh wait I know. Just looked up ferry times. Unfortunately we won't be goibg to Giant's Causeway tomorrow, but I guess we'll have to come back sometime! Ferry to Scotland in the AM!!
Check out pats blog for pictures. I update from my phone so I can't put pics up from here. Sorry everyone!
One country down, many to go ;-)
First off, a little birdie told me that there may be a plus to the next sentence I write. Hey Uncie!
Anywho, yesterday was AMAZING! We woke up in Killarney to another Toast breakfast, which stunk, but that's alright, because right after breakfast Uncle Tadhg picked us up!! We drove to Cullen to vistit with some of Pat's relatives, which was really nice. We saw the cemetery where Pat's Great-Great Grandparents are buried, and as Jen said, If you have to lay somewhere forever, THAT's the place to be. It was SO beautiful.
From there we went to Blarney Castle! Uncle Tadhg was so so sweet and paid for ALL of us to get in, including himself!!! It was soooo cool going through the castle, including the dungeon!! At the top we all kissed the Blarney Stone! I now have the gift of gab ;-)
Uncle Tadhg then dropped us off at the Cork Gaol (the old city jail). The four of us did an audio tour of the place... it was actually VERY interesting! Creepy at times, but interesting all the same. That took longer then expected, so we walked into the city and had something to eat. I had this delicious potato with chicken and cheese in it. mmmmmmmm! We had enough time to walk to Patrick's Street to meet up with Uncle Tadhg just in time!!
We went back to the house in Glenmire (we were all very impressed with the house... Uncle Tadhg built the entire house... as well as some of the other houses the family lives in!). We had some lasagna which was SO yummy! After meeting some more family, we hung out with Pat's cousin Tara and the girls (18 months and 2 months,... SO cute!).
That evening we went to the Yacht club with Pat's Uncle to race the sailboat!! We were pretty much dead wait on the boat, but we evened out the weight in the front of the boat, sticking our legs over whichever side stuck up in the air. Uncle Tadhg said it helped, so, yay! The Lady T (Micheal's boat that we were racing... Micheal is Tadhg's son) won 2nd place!! Yay!! Only a few injuries occured, like jen almost getting knocked off by a sail and Dave getting smacked in the face with the other sail's ropes and banging up his nose and getting rope burn on his neck. He's a trooper... he took one for the team!! We hung out at the Yacht club for a bit, drinking while waiting for the results.
We then headed to Michael's and Tara's house to celebrate the victory and give them the prize ( a 12 pack of heineken lol). Unfortunately Cuiva (spelling?) was sick again... poor thing. Marie spent a lot of time snuggled in my arms, so I was quite a happy camper! We had a great time with all of them... I just wish we had more time so spend with them.
Back at Uncle Tadhg's, we sat in the living room, talked,drank, and hung out ( Auntie Merlin was there too!). It was so noce to hear all the stories they had for us. All four of us agreed that it was the best day yet in Ireland! We went to bed well after midnight, and we were able to sing happy birthday to Pat before we went to sleep.
On that note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAT!!! We woke up this morning and had a DELICIOUS breakfast of eggs and sausage and toast and black pudding prepared by Auntie Merlin. We then had to say our goodbyes so we could get dropped off at the trainstation. We kept joking that we weren't going to leave...we'd just spend a month with Pat's family then go home! That's how much fun we had!
Anyway, all of today was spent traveling to Belfast. It was a 3 hour train ride back to Dublin since there are no trains up the west coast here... Everything goes through Dublin. Then we had a 2 hour wait til the next train to Belfast. That train was on the other side of town, though, so we walked all the way to the station and stopped for lunch on the way.
The train out of dublin was a bit delayed, but not bad. We talked and played cards (still trying to get the hang of Peanuckle) the whole way there. Last night Tara gave me a little cake with a hard chocolate coating on it and candles! It was so so sweet of her. 2 things though.. First, We didn't have matches and I couldn't find any in stores I went to. Second, the chocolate coating cracked apart in my bag, even though I tried to be gentle. It was too tough hiding it! Anyway, we made pat close his eyes as we unwrapped it and stuck the candle in. We sang to him and he blew out the non-existant flames lol.
When we got to Belfast we took a connecting train to a stop closer to our hostel. We were jokingly pessimistic about it, being in Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK and it being gloomy out and all. We went to our hostel to check in: it's really nice here! Its part of a chain of hostels. Were in a 4 person room, so with the key cards to get onto the elevators and into the rooms, we don't have to worry about locking our stuff up at night. That's really nice.
We got dinner at a place called Laverys. We almost went to KFC wheb we saw this place across the street! Yay! No american chains whike were here!! Although, the KFC had pretty much no menu in comaprison to the US anyway...
Our waiter and the manager at Laverys were both so great! They spoke with us about our trip and about times they've been to the US. When the waiter heard it was Pat's birthday he brought us a free bottle of sparkling white wine!!! I loved it, as did jen and dave... Even Pat said it was pretty good lol.
Now we're just taking it easy tonight. We may or may not spend time here tomorrow before heading to the ferry to Scotland... Who knows?
Oh wait I know. Just looked up ferry times. Unfortunately we won't be goibg to Giant's Causeway tomorrow, but I guess we'll have to come back sometime! Ferry to Scotland in the AM!!
Check out pats blog for pictures. I update from my phone so I can't put pics up from here. Sorry everyone!
One country down, many to go ;-)
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Killarney
- same deal... emailed but never went through... here's the post from Thursday Morning...
So Killarney is awesome. We got to the town and the hostel was literally a 2 minute walk from the train. The hostel was cool; exactly like the website showed.
We walked to the national park since it was too late to rent bikes (10 euros for 3 hours is way too much). I kind of preferred it that way though... We went through so many paths on foot that we wouldn't have been able to go on with the bike! In the park is Ross Castle, so we explored there and it was soo beautiful. We walked back along a stream and had fun!
We had dinner at a place called The Silver Fox. We all had shepherds pie, and needless to say it was delicious!! We stopped back at the hostel before we went out to find a pub with some music. The first pub was too empty. The second pub was too crowded, but the third pub was juuuust right! ...or something like that... Lol. We wound up at The Danny Mann Pub. There were these 2 guys called Celtic Whisper playing a guitar, a fiddle, and singing irish-y songs. It was just what we were looking for! Such a nice night! At the end we went up and spoke to them and took a picture. They asked us to find them on facebook and post our picture to their site! It was so cute to see all the old irish men singing along!
Pictures to come soon!!! Thanks for reading ;-)
So Killarney is awesome. We got to the town and the hostel was literally a 2 minute walk from the train. The hostel was cool; exactly like the website showed.
We walked to the national park since it was too late to rent bikes (10 euros for 3 hours is way too much). I kind of preferred it that way though... We went through so many paths on foot that we wouldn't have been able to go on with the bike! In the park is Ross Castle, so we explored there and it was soo beautiful. We walked back along a stream and had fun!
We had dinner at a place called The Silver Fox. We all had shepherds pie, and needless to say it was delicious!! We stopped back at the hostel before we went out to find a pub with some music. The first pub was too empty. The second pub was too crowded, but the third pub was juuuust right! ...or something like that... Lol. We wound up at The Danny Mann Pub. There were these 2 guys called Celtic Whisper playing a guitar, a fiddle, and singing irish-y songs. It was just what we were looking for! Such a nice night! At the end we went up and spoke to them and took a picture. They asked us to find them on facebook and post our picture to their site! It was so cute to see all the old irish men singing along!
Pictures to come soon!!! Thanks for reading ;-)
Yay Dad!!
- i emailed this but it never went through... it's from Wednesday Morning!!
So, my Dad is the best! He went to verizon for me last night and fixed my phone. My hero!
We had another roomie last night... Luciano from Buenas Aires. It was funny... Our other roomie told him she Loves Latin dancing and he was like "well, I can't dance!". They were both nice people.
The pub was so crowded and we couldn't find a seat to order food at, so we went to Happy Harry's fast food. I hope we get more Irish-y food outside of the city!
Breakfast included at the hostel was toast. It stunk. We missed the 9am train to Killarney, but just got on the 11. Its ok though. I had time to get the stamps I need and some fast food breakfast! Yay for Supermac's!
The train is awesome... We had to reserve our tickets online and our names are above our seats on a screen! Too cool! We're sitting 2 and 2 across from each other. We have so much leg room and a table in between us. This train makes me miss NJ Transit... NOT! Everyone in Ireland is sooo nice, too. We've been so happy so far!
So, my Dad is the best! He went to verizon for me last night and fixed my phone. My hero!
We had another roomie last night... Luciano from Buenas Aires. It was funny... Our other roomie told him she Loves Latin dancing and he was like "well, I can't dance!". They were both nice people.
The pub was so crowded and we couldn't find a seat to order food at, so we went to Happy Harry's fast food. I hope we get more Irish-y food outside of the city!
Breakfast included at the hostel was toast. It stunk. We missed the 9am train to Killarney, but just got on the 11. Its ok though. I had time to get the stamps I need and some fast food breakfast! Yay for Supermac's!
The train is awesome... We had to reserve our tickets online and our names are above our seats on a screen! Too cool! We're sitting 2 and 2 across from each other. We have so much leg room and a table in between us. This train makes me miss NJ Transit... NOT! Everyone in Ireland is sooo nice, too. We've been so happy so far!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Dublin!
Ok so the plane ride was SO long. we had to go to chicago first then off to Dublin. I was able to sleep a little bit, but unfortunately not much. The most important thig is that we made the second flight... we were getting so nervous looking at our itinerary since our first flight was delayed a little bit, but we made it thanks to the time zone change that was NOT accounted for in the itinerary!! The first plane I sat next to Jen and the second next to pat! on the other side of Pat was a really nice man traveling for business. I had the "window seat", and I say that in quotations because there wasnt actually a window in our row! It stunk!!
We got in around 9am, headed to Trinity College, where we saw the Book of Kells. That was really cool, as well as an old library that's been preserved. It's straight out of Beauty and the Beast... it's that big!! we then went to our hostel todrop off our stuff in the lockers. Then it was off to St. Stephen's Green, a BEAUTIFUL park. we got lunch at a farmer's market on the way. I had falaffels and hummus. Yes, family of mine, I ate it and enjoyed it :-P
We were on our way to the Guiness factory when we came upon St. Patrick's Cathedral! We lyed on the grass outside of there for a little while and I got a much needed power nap in the sun :-)
The Guiness factory was so cool! i think that Dr. Cathell should have brought us THERE this semester instead of the brewery in Princeton!! It was much bigger and explained all the things we learned about in Biotech! We got free Guiness at the end, too!!
On the way back, we went to Dublin Castle to explore. It was very cool looking! Pictures to come soon...
Now we are at the hostel. We needed to rest up before going to the pub next door tonight. I'm on the computer in the lounge here (and the keyboard is horrible, so I apologize for the bad typing!)... lots of people are in here and it's so much fun!! Music is blasting and everyone is nice :) We are in a 6 person room tonight with 1 other person from San Diego. She seems nice!! The only problem i have is that my phone is not working!!! I don't know if it's properly activated, so hopefully Dad can work on that for me :-)
Anywho, I'll update again tomorrow hopefully (and i hooope my phone starts working so I can update more often and in more detail!!
LOVING this trip so far!! Yay!!
We got in around 9am, headed to Trinity College, where we saw the Book of Kells. That was really cool, as well as an old library that's been preserved. It's straight out of Beauty and the Beast... it's that big!! we then went to our hostel todrop off our stuff in the lockers. Then it was off to St. Stephen's Green, a BEAUTIFUL park. we got lunch at a farmer's market on the way. I had falaffels and hummus. Yes, family of mine, I ate it and enjoyed it :-P
We were on our way to the Guiness factory when we came upon St. Patrick's Cathedral! We lyed on the grass outside of there for a little while and I got a much needed power nap in the sun :-)
The Guiness factory was so cool! i think that Dr. Cathell should have brought us THERE this semester instead of the brewery in Princeton!! It was much bigger and explained all the things we learned about in Biotech! We got free Guiness at the end, too!!
On the way back, we went to Dublin Castle to explore. It was very cool looking! Pictures to come soon...
Now we are at the hostel. We needed to rest up before going to the pub next door tonight. I'm on the computer in the lounge here (and the keyboard is horrible, so I apologize for the bad typing!)... lots of people are in here and it's so much fun!! Music is blasting and everyone is nice :) We are in a 6 person room tonight with 1 other person from San Diego. She seems nice!! The only problem i have is that my phone is not working!!! I don't know if it's properly activated, so hopefully Dad can work on that for me :-)
Anywho, I'll update again tomorrow hopefully (and i hooope my phone starts working so I can update more often and in more detail!!
LOVING this trip so far!! Yay!!
Monday, May 24, 2010
On our way!!
So, everything is booked, I'm all packed, and I'm on my way to the airport! The only thing I'm nervous about is not making our connecting flight on time! This is all so exciting... The only thing I can think of that I forgot to do is take my toenail polish off! Not a big deal at all. Anywho, I'll be updating later. Adios!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Sorry It's been so long!
Hey Everyone!
So, It's been a LONG time since I posted anything. With finals and graduation and all of that, it's been crazy! So, everything on that previous To Do list is completed, as well as graduating and moving back home :-)
Sneakers: Jen and I went to the Princeton Running Store. I HIGHLY reccomend this place. The guy helping us watched how we walked, made 2 reccomendations to each of us, then guessed our shoe sizes without even measuring our feet (guessed correctly, mind you). After being at the store for about 45 minutes and making sure we were making the right choice, we finally bought our shoes!! While it was a little expensive, I have no regrets there... I've worn them a few times and they are SO comfortable.
Verizon situation is all figured out. I am using an old Blackberry my Dad had and got an international plan. It is under a different number though so that people wont be texting me and costing me money!!! Emails are free though, and so is the blackberry messenger, so feel free to contact me that way! My Dad and brother both have blackberrys so I will be able to message with them at any time. Rates for phone calls differ depending on the countries. I put my email address into my mom's phone so that I won't miss out on pictures that she would normally text to me :-) I set up this blog so that I can either log on to make posts or email my posts in (as you can see with the previous post!).
Spain and France are all booked thanks to Pat. I was off doing senior week stuff so he was awesome and took care of the bookings. In Barcelona, we will be staying at Alberg Barcelona Pere Tarres for 2 nights. We will be in Madrid for one night at Musas Residence. We then head to Paris and will be staying at the Regent Hostel for three nights. We don't have Switzerland completely figured out, but we will most definately be staying in the The Lazy Falken Backpacker while in Interlaken.
Our original plan was to take a plane from Switzerland down to Naples then work our way back up through Italy, but when Pat looked into the flights, he said that it wont work since there are apparently no planes that go that route. We need to figure out if we're changing the order of Italy or if we just want to take the long train ride.
In the next 24 hours I hope to accomplish a lot. In addition to celebrating Michelle's Birthday (Happy Birthday Michelle!!!!!), I need to finish booking Switzerland, book Italy, Pack, and call the bank/credit card company to tell them I'll be using the cards in Europe.
You may be saying: "Pack? Why now?"
Well, if you say that, I will respond with the following, "BECAUSE I LEAVE IN FOUR DAYS!!!! YAYYYY!!!"
I'll update again when I finish all that! I hope you're having a great day whenever you read this!!
So, It's been a LONG time since I posted anything. With finals and graduation and all of that, it's been crazy! So, everything on that previous To Do list is completed, as well as graduating and moving back home :-)
Sneakers: Jen and I went to the Princeton Running Store. I HIGHLY reccomend this place. The guy helping us watched how we walked, made 2 reccomendations to each of us, then guessed our shoe sizes without even measuring our feet (guessed correctly, mind you). After being at the store for about 45 minutes and making sure we were making the right choice, we finally bought our shoes!! While it was a little expensive, I have no regrets there... I've worn them a few times and they are SO comfortable.
Verizon situation is all figured out. I am using an old Blackberry my Dad had and got an international plan. It is under a different number though so that people wont be texting me and costing me money!!! Emails are free though, and so is the blackberry messenger, so feel free to contact me that way! My Dad and brother both have blackberrys so I will be able to message with them at any time. Rates for phone calls differ depending on the countries. I put my email address into my mom's phone so that I won't miss out on pictures that she would normally text to me :-) I set up this blog so that I can either log on to make posts or email my posts in (as you can see with the previous post!).
Spain and France are all booked thanks to Pat. I was off doing senior week stuff so he was awesome and took care of the bookings. In Barcelona, we will be staying at Alberg Barcelona Pere Tarres for 2 nights. We will be in Madrid for one night at Musas Residence. We then head to Paris and will be staying at the Regent Hostel for three nights. We don't have Switzerland completely figured out, but we will most definately be staying in the The Lazy Falken Backpacker while in Interlaken.
Our original plan was to take a plane from Switzerland down to Naples then work our way back up through Italy, but when Pat looked into the flights, he said that it wont work since there are apparently no planes that go that route. We need to figure out if we're changing the order of Italy or if we just want to take the long train ride.
In the next 24 hours I hope to accomplish a lot. In addition to celebrating Michelle's Birthday (Happy Birthday Michelle!!!!!), I need to finish booking Switzerland, book Italy, Pack, and call the bank/credit card company to tell them I'll be using the cards in Europe.
You may be saying: "Pack? Why now?"
Well, if you say that, I will respond with the following, "BECAUSE I LEAVE IN FOUR DAYS!!!! YAYYYY!!!"
I'll update again when I finish all that! I hope you're having a great day whenever you read this!!
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