Days 3-6

Me and Big Ben in London!

Karina and I in front of the Tower Bridge in London

King Lear's tomb at Tara somewhere in the Irish countryside...

A little Leprechaun click o' the heels at Tara!

climbin' on some ruins

Celtic cross from the 10th or 11th century

At an old cemetary

cold and wind.

Cemetary and way weird tree

This was not fun to climb up going against some serious wind...

St. Valentine looking down on me....

Cristina and I at Trinity College

Tour guide showing us part of Dublin Castle

Different Guinness bottles throughout the years

View from the Gravity Bar at the Guinness Storehouse

Day 3: Guinness...and other things....

So on my third day there we got up and went to Trinity College, which is a very old and very pretty university in Dublin where people like Johnathan Swift went to school. It's also where the Book of Kells is, which is this really old illustrated book. Haha sorry, I can't tell you anymore because it was 10 euro to go on a tour or just 7 euro to go look at the book, and I didn't think that either would be worth the money, so Kim and I headed to the Chester Beatty library to see some manuscripts, but it was closed so we just decided to go see the relics of St. Valentine instead (which I was pretty excited about, I won't lie). Anyways, we walked around some more, met Marni who had flown in from London, had lunch and then headed to the Dublin castle. In true Ireland fashion it began to rain with ridiculous amounts of wind, so having an umbrella turned out to be more of an embarassment than a help (I didn't have one) because they would constantly turn inside out...luckily by this point I had decided that I wouldn't care what I looked like on this trip due to my lack of hair products and overused clothes...Anyways the castle was cheap to get into, beautiful, and really interesting. There were even Viking walls underneath it! There was a guy from Houston on the tour wearing an A&M hat on the tour who didn't end up being very friendly....not a true Aggie, or Texan even...I mean we're all the freaking way in Ireland for gosh sakes...at least act like it's a little cool to see someone from your home state! Anyways, after that we headed to the Guinness Storehouse after that to take advantage of the "free" pint you get at the end. The tour was kind of lame but the Gravity Bar at the top was really cool because it had a great view of Dublin since it was all windows. And guess who was there? More French guys. I'm guessing they were with the other ones. Anyways later we went out and had some Irish food---stews and meet and vegetables....I feel gross just thinking about it. Haha! We met up later with Catherine's friends and went to this club called Crawdaddy's...who in their right mind would name a club that I don't know, but the name equalled the atmosphere in my opinion. I just don't think I'm a "clubeuse" as the French say...I pretty sure it's the music and the somewhat creepy guys that tend to hang out there that I'd prefer not to dance to or with...

Day 4: wind and Irish countryside

This day was rough. We had booked a tour for about 9 in the morning around the Irish countryside, but we were all so tired that we got a late start and were sprinting through the streets of Dublin still quite hungry cause we didn't get to each much breakfast, and we were also freeeezing cold because the wind and temperature were the worst yet of the trip. We finally got there and it ended up that the tour guide was 30 minutes late anyway, so that was a good and bad thing. Anyways, he got there, this older, (very) Irish guy, and took us around to see all kinds of ruins of monasteries, cemetaries, and remanents of the ancient celtic civilization like tombs and also their largest colony, Tara. Tara was beautiful because although it seemed quite low, it is one of othe highest points in Ireland and you could see 26 counties looking in all directions. King Lear's grave was there as well as other remaining artifacts. Really though, it was just beautiful, and I felt so refreshed to be in the countryside seeing some of the greenest greenery I've ever seen in my life. The wind was miserable though, and we were playing games like who could lean furthest into the wind while it supported you without falling....rough! The hardest part the whole day was getting out of the van at each site and feeling that cold wind hit you..brrrr. Needless to say when we all got home to the hostel we were wiped out from the lack of sleep and the wind, and we ate at this cute art cafe down the street that reminded me a bit of Austin. Lights out were at 10h30...I hadn't gone to sleep that early since junior high!

Day 5: I'll miss you dearly, Ireland!

Last day in Dublin....tear! What I mainly remember about this day is feeling nauseous most of the time because I think I was dehydrated...traveling is rough! Anyways, we got up and went to St. Patrick's and then the National Gallery, which was really nice. Saw a painting or two from my Avant-Garde art class which was cool. I also found my new favorite store...Top Shop! I just moped around knowing that I couldn't (and still can't---what torture to be in France and be a poor student/have the American dollar as your currency!) afford to buy clothes let alone fit anything in my ridiculously stuffed backpack...Anyways we had lunch and then Karina and I caught a bus to the airport to London...too late. The bus took three times as long as it should've and we missed check-in by 4 minutes...!!! GRRRR RYAN AIR....je te deteste. We had to pay 75 euro to get another flight out a little later...there goes another weekend trip somewhere....Luckily though we still made it in around 8 and Karina's great aunt and uncle were SO nice enough to pick us up at Heathrow and took us back to their home near Kent and fixed us delicious, delicious Indian food. We went to bed early knowing the next day would be insanity...

Day 6: the most insane sightseeing you've ever...seen.

Karina and I got up and took a train into London and saw everything we possibly could within a matter of 6 hours. I honestly can't even remember everything that we saw, but here, I'll try: Trafalgar Square, The National Gallery, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St. Davis Park maybe?, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge and....that's when we headed home. I was wrecked and still suffering from dehydration/exhaustion I think, so we headed home and I slept and ate a bit before they took me to the tube which I took to take a bus which I took to spend the night on the floor at the Luton airport to go to Paris...Such a surreal day. I got about 1 or 2 hours of light sleep at a time, about 4 sessions in total the whole night. I felt so horrible but managed to get through it by getting on the internet and paying way too much (in pounds) for a muffin and yogurt, but at least they made me feel better. It was actually pretty fun even though I was by myself---a little adventure :) I mean, I made it from a tube station, walked around the streets of London at midnight, got my bus, slept at an airport and made my way to Paris...where could I go by myself next??? I think now the possibilities are ALMOST endless :) Anyways, Paris is the next and final installment. Enjoy these pics...they're my favorites!