Samantha Brown in Dublin

Every time previous episodes of Samantha Brown have come up in the past I have always been "I wish I could go there".

Well.... I'm watching Samantha Brown in Dublin right now.  I HAVE BEEN THERE!! I was at almost all the places she went to and walked down the streets she's walking down.

I feel accomplished because of that some how.  It's silly but I feel like I've accomplished my first step in my traveling adventures.  I want to go so many places but I've started now.  I've done my first three weeks in 5 cities and I've learned so much that I'll be ridiculously happy to go back and to head to other spots I couldn't go this time around.

I can't describe the feeling I have of having gotten to Europe after planning this trip for 2 years and now it's over. One of the best things I could ever do with my life.

Videos from Westminster/Parliament and at the changing of the guard.

The rest of London

London= a ton of walking, drinking with Australians, making fun of New Zealanders (i.e. Kyle).  And taking pictures with more walking.

I forced myself (i.e. Steph made me) go for a run.  I ran along the Thames up past Parliament across Westminster bridge and then back to the hostel.  In total just over a 3 mile run.  It was a blast and it felt amazing even though I'd been walking all day solid for the days leading up to it and had partied the night before and then only gotten 3 hours of sleep.

Steph's First Train Ride! Toot toot...

Steph and I in the King and Queen's Chairs in the Young Henry VIII exhibit at Hampton Court

In front of the fountain in front of the William and Mary part of Hampton

Westminster Abbey.  Unfortunately no photography allowed inside so this is one of very few pictures of it

Totally random statue of Abraham Lincoln.  Why is he in London?

Total rip off for 6 euros to go through a really lame museum but I do love me some Sherlock Holmes

I want a carriage like this and two really gorgeous horses like those. Ah... To be a REAL queen

Sunday at Parliament and Trafalgar Square and Ponies!!

And by Ponies I do mean War Horses. Their Irish bred and beautiful if not nasty tempered animals.  Apparently quite a few of them are bitters and kickers and such.   Which might be because they aren't worked with until they're 3-5 years old.  Stupid.  Legitimately the horses are never going to be war horses again so why allow them to have that type of behavior is really unacceptable.

It was a short little tour through the military horse museum but it was pretty cool.

And then we took lots and lots of pictures of Parliament House and the clock tower (i.e. Big Ben).  We had an amazing lunch at Clarence right down from Trafalgar Square, Parliament and Westminster.  AMAZING food.  Steph had a cheese and leek cake which was heavenly.  I had a burger with bacon and chips (fries) and also heavenly in a slaughtered cow kind of way.

Everything is really impressive here.  So so so much history and hundreds and hundreds of years of it on almost every block in the downtown area.  It's amazing.

I do have to say that as far as a friendly service and patience for tourists Dublin does it best.  Londoners are less patient and can be kind of persnickety.  Still overall it's been a great experience.  I've met a lot of amazing people and have decided that Australians are definitely a good group of people to get to know (plus a Kiwi).    

Sick of long stories and just interested in short descriptions and pictures?

We arrived in London yesterday and checked in, got food and took naps.  We went out for dinner and drinks at a pub later but it was overall a chill day.  Which was good because the night before neither of us could sleep, the other girls in our dorm came in at 3 am from the bars and we had to get up at 6 for our flight to the U.K.  It worked out well. I felt genuinely better after having a nap.  Plus it's vacation. We are allowed to sleep more and not always be running around looking at stuff. 

GIANT BACKPACK!!

Tiger Beer is a Vietnamese beer that is imported into the UK.  Super delicious.

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Strange things and the best thing about Ireland thus far...

On Friday we had a little bit of a late start because we had forgotten to bring an alarm with us. So we bought a small 2 euro clock from a little store and other than it wakes us up 20 minutes after we set it for.  So we got going and out the door at about 10 instead of 9:30 like we wanted but no big deal.

We’ve been riding on this Hop-On, Hop-Off bus that runs the city circuit all day and you pay 12 Euros for 48 hours of unlimited riding.  It was really helpful because we originally weren’t going to go to St. Patrick’s Cathedral but it ended up being a great adventure to head on for Day 3.

            There is no way in words or in pictures to explain the experience within the Cathedral.  There’s a choir singing and candles and incense smell.  The sun comes shining in the windows and through the stained glass and it’s the most amazing thing ever.  If there was ever a time I come to god it’s in a place like that but I can also see why the protestant revolution happened.  A church isn’t supposed to be worshipped and a lot of money went into building that church and creating amazing things in that church.  Granted not the most opulent Catholic Church but there is still pieces which show the significant wealth of the church.  The choir was singing O’Sinners when I lit a candle and said a prayer for Grandpa Darold, Grandmas Keeler and Purple and to keep Steven safe and far from harm.  Grandpa Darold probably wouldn’t mind that I prayed for him in a Catholic Church but it also made me giggle just a bit inside.

After we had lunch we got back on our bus tour thing and went to Phoenix park where we sat out in the sun for a couple of hours and I got in about a mile run.  It wasn’t much of a run but it was also about 90 degrees and midday so I didn’t want to push it.  We didn’t really wander around to all the monuments in Phoenix park but it was a fun relaxing time none the less.

On the way out of the park some poor schmuck was trying to rollerblade for the first time with his girlfriend and the bus driver made a couple of funny comments and then the girlfriend noticed us and started hysterically laughing and the poor guy was trying really hard but just couldn’t make it up this one small hill. There is a memorial park where men were hung because they were fighting for Irish freedom in the 1700s that is next to a very busy rode and as we were sitting there in rush hour traffic the driver and about half the bus noticed a couple in the middle of the park.  My first reaction was “Oh they look like they are having sex but that can’t be. Oh… Oh… Holy crap! They are having sex in the middle of the day in the middle of a wide open park space with another couple of people sitting like 5 yards from them and next to a very busy rode!” It was really uncomfortable because there’s a light right there and it was really busy so only about one or two cars went through at a time so we sat there trying not to watch but not able to look away for long periods of time because that was the side of the bus we were sitting on.  MOST AWKWARD SEX EVER!!

As an fyi, every site I looked at and book I read said, "Don't get a rolling suitcase you'll regret it." B.S. I love my backpack and it's working out well but I needed a small rolling suitcase once we got here because trying to do day backpack and actual travel backpack was a horrible idea.  Rick Steves Lies.

We went shopping later and the only thing either of us bought is my favorite thing from the entire trip.  I bought it for my cousin's little boy Alex who is the sweetest cutest thing on the planet.  I'm hoping he likes it because otherwise I don't know what I'd do with it and I'm so excited about it I think I'll be devastated if he isn't. 

Some day I will have children to buy adorable things like this soccer uniform for.  

Day 2: A wee bit O'Guinness

Today was very full of things to do and see and eat.  I ended up being crabby for a large portion of the afternoon and against my original intentions I needed a nap before dinner.  It was for the best. I felt like a toddler about to have a temper tantrum and after I woke up I was feeling all better.  Tonight I will be taking a sleeping pill instead of being up late reading. 

There's another girl in our hostel dorm but other than her and a girl who came in for a couple of hours last night and then left when we were a sleep we haven't really met anyone else yet.  

Today we got on a hop-on, hop-off bus and totally worth the 12 euros to do it.  It goes around a circuit of downtown and you can hop on and off for two days as many times as you like.  We went to Dublin Castle and did the tour and did the Guinness factory.  I also got a couple of presents at the Guinness store and something for myself too.  

Dublin Castle is a strange mix of centuries of settlement in Dublin.  There are pieces of the Normans, 15^th, 16^th, 17^th and 18^th century as well as changes made in the last couple of centuries.  It’s not a fairy tale castle though. It’s an office of state and a fortress. There’s a Celtic design with bricks through grass in the gardens and we took a lot of pictures there.  It was awesome. The tour is worth it.

It’s amazing how cheap things are for students.  At least 1 or 2 euros less than full price adults.  I wish we had more of that in the U.S. but most student discounts are for high school or lower.

The Guinness factory takes up 8(?—Look up) blocks of downtown Dublin in the area that would have been outside the city wall in Norman times. The factory is actually a history museum (with taste testing) about the history, process and advertising of Guinness. I stole a bit of barley from one of the touch displays to bring home.

By midday I was flagging badly but I wanted to keep pushing through for the rest of the tour and possibly for some shopping later.  We had lunch in the Guinness factory. Steph had a spicy vegetable stew and I had a burger and potato wedges. The wedges were good but I forgot that the burger would not be the usual Angus beef.  It was a little bit of a shock and ended up being a really dry not so tasty choice (even covered in ketchup and mayo).  The deserts on the other hand were magical.

We had a Guinness Chocolate Mousse, White Chocolate and Bailey’s cheesecake, and an apple strudel.  They were little ones but the most delicious part of the food and by the end I was stuffed. Deliciously stuffed.  Unfortunately we didn’t take pictures of the spread but it was amazing.

Before lunch, we had our first Irish Guinness.  It was definitely better than I expected but heavy.  I think I had a sip of someone else’s at one point but this is my first actual glass of Guinness and Steph’s as well.  I’ll be drinking it again that’s definitely for sure.

We went up to the gravity bar and tried to look around but it was packed up there and no place to stand or sit and we had a big lunch so we were too full to actually use our free pint things but we’d had free beer earlier in the tour so it was an overall great experience. 

We ended up taking a couple of pictures but left for the shop soon after.  I picked up a couple of gifts and something for myself.

I think it has hit me quite suddenly several times that we are in Ireland.  I just forget that sometimes that we are legitimately across half a country and an entire ocean from Madison. 

Standing up on the top of the gravity bar looking out at the green hillside past the edge of the city and the ocean and docks on the other side, I really felt it then more than ever.