So after the days of amazingness that was Italy, it was time for Spain. We got at 4:30 Wednesday morning to get a bus at the Florence bus stop to go Pisa, where we would catch a flight to Girona (for 5 pounds) and then take a bus into Barcelona. We arrived in Girona absolutely exhausted, but the airport was absolutely gorgeous, up in the mountains. It was the only part of Spain I liked...
pretty
view from bus into Barcelona
Well, after catching up on sleep all day and then going out to eat with Garrett and his friend Gabe who were also in Barca, the unfortunate incident occurred. We went home the next day to London. I spent the weekend finishing up my presentations for that Monday and finishing a third paper (3 down, 5 to go). My presentations went pretty well, I'm just glad they are over!
I'm slowly realizing how much there is left to do in London before I go, and I only have 27 days! I've made a list and am working hard to cross everything off. Last week, I went to the Tate Modern to check out some modern art instead of the Renaissance art I have become so accustomed to. Not going to lie, I just didn't get it. Here are a couple pictures:
pile of dirty clothes = art?
desk and chair..
After a couple hours there, I was pretty much done. I'm not much of a modern art fan. Some of the Picasso stuff was very interesting though. There were definitely a few sections I liked, but overall not my favorite (I mean, how do you beat the Louvre or Vatican Museums???).
Anyway, Thursday came around and it was time for another trip! Before we left, Katie, Garrett and I climbed to the top of St. Paul's Cathedral. This is where Princess Di and Prince Charles got married!! It was another stunner. We couldn't take pictures inside but we got some up top. Katie and I have now officially climbed the three tallest basilica domes in the world!!!!!
St. Paul's!
London!
still gotta get on that big old ferris wheel
headsets = life
After we were done there, it was off to the airport again (not going to lie, so sick of airports). We boarded our flight to Dublin and we were off! Another Ryanair flight (people didn't clap after this landing...), and we were there! First thing we see when we got off the plane - loads of people in costumes. I don't know where they were from (somewhere in either the UK or Ireland), but they were crazy. There was Batman, a pimp, the three blind mice. They were drinking whiskey on the bus and asking random people how to get to Temple Bar. Welcome to Ireland!
We put down our bags at our hostel and went out for the night. Let me just say, the Christmas cheer in Dublin is unreal. It's still more than a month away and there is Christmas stuff EVERYWHERE. I guess because the Irish economy is absolutely tanking, they are trying to get people to buy stuff. Best of luck to them
Anyway, we headed out to a club we found off Grafton St (the main drag) and had a great time. It was like listening to my ipod. They played Kesha, Britney, Katy Perry, so much good pop music. I danced my life away (we would head back there the next night).
We got up the next morning and met up with our friends from Oktoberfest. They mentioned how cities in Europe all start to blend together (which I can sort of understand) so they took us out to where one of them was from in Glendalough. It was gorgeous! Unfortunately we didn't have time to do the entire nature walk which takes a few hours but we did see was beautiful.
upper lake at Glendalough!
National Irish Geographic
finally the outdoors!
ah, the life
It was really cold but we continued on our way to an old monk village sort of thing. It's now a cemetery but I guess monks used to live there. It was built between 900-1200, so it's pretty old.
their cathedral...could use some repair
view of mountains!
where they hid their treasure (there was no door)
They then took us to a pub nearby where I had the most delicious cream of country vegetable soup. It wasn't even that expensive finally. We spent the night out with them going to different bars that they liked. We stopped at Temple Bar but didn't stay long (it's really overpriced because it's so touristy). We had another crazy night of dancing. At one point, I hijacked a bachelorette party and got to wear a sash that said "bride to be." Becky is going to have the most fun wedding ever! All of her friends had shirts on saying "Becky's hen girls" (a hen is the word for bachelorette party). So much fun.
The next day we didn't have anything particular in mind so we just wandered the streets of Dublin. We took a quick stop at Trinity College - the top uni in Ireland.
Trinity!
We walked around into Stephen's Green and beyond until we had to head back to the airport to fly to Cork. Wish we could've had more time in Dublin! (I was dying to go to the Guinness factory)
so much Christmas cheer! and in Gaelic!
I told them to act like they liked each other and they got really into it
We flew out of Dublin into Cork that night. After a little trouble, we located our hostel and met up with our other Oktoberfest friends. They knew the most fun places to go! Again, more great music. I heard all my favorites. Lots of good oldies and slower songs too. We went to a few places until we finally ended up at a great place called "The Classic." It was definitely classic. Rachel and I danced all that Guinness we drank right off. The song of the weekend was definitely "Barbra Streisand." I don't know if any of you have heard it, but literally the only words are "Barbra Streisand" and then some techno beats. Apparently, everyone in Ireland loves it. Also, Rachel loves Cheryl Cole and so do I! She is unknown in the US pretty much but is starting to make a bigger name for herself. She's not a great singer, but she's super pretty and all over the tabloids!
We finally headed off to bed because we had a big day the next day. Rachel and Kevin (or Stacky as everyone calls him) picked us up in the morning and brought us to Blarney Castle. Neither of them had ever been despite living in Cork for years! It was a very beautiful area, but we were most concerned with kissing the Blarney Stone. I mean, what could be more Irish? We have been talking about since we were in the states. The moment had finally arrived. Rachel got really scared at the top and didn't even kiss it! When you kiss it, you lean backwards and hold onto rails while a guy holds you and you kiss this slab of stone. It's not even really it's own thing. Apparently they used to just hold people by their ankles and dangle them! It's a lot safer now.
FINALLY MADE IT
Blarney Castle! (it was really cold)
I took a picture of everything that said stone
Rachel was really scared at the top
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the moment I'd been waiting for
view from the top of Blarney Castle
I feel authentically Irish now. I drank Guinness, I kissed the Blarney stone. Pretty soon I will swear four leaf clovers. We spent the rest of the day walking around Cork, looking at different shops. It's a very cute and manageably city, I liked it a lot. I wish we had more than a day there! Rachel and Stacky were so helpful too, they really hooked us up! We were sad to go but we're hoping we'll see them again some day!
Now I'm back in London trying to get some work done before I go to Budapest on thursday. Traveling so much has me really exhausted. I'm hoping I can focus though because I have to get up to Cambridge soon! I can't believe I haven't seen Donnie yet. The time will come shortly though! Hope all is well at home! I will be back in the USA in 27 days!
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