London

Greetings my friends!

Here is my London blog!  Allison, Erik, and I spent 4 days in London, England.  I got a chance to see some stuff that I missed last time.  I got to go into Parliament, went to a cool market and spent lots of time on the underground.

I'm really glad I decided to go back a second time.  We arrived in London very late Thursday night or I guess you could say Friday morning.  But that didn't stop us from getting up early and heading out into the city.  

We went straight to Parliament and Westminster Friday morning.  Lucky for us, Parliament was open to the public and we decided to go inside and view members of the House of Commons during a session.  We also got to see the old great hall that was used when Parliament was a castle.  After leaving Parliament, we walked the short distance to Westminster.  I got some illegal pictures from inside the

 Abbey.  I just couldn't resist!  It really is amazing.  I got to see Chaucer, Handel, Mary, Queen of Scots, Queen Elizabeth 

I, and Bloody Mary.  My favorite part has to be the stained 

glass.  After Westminster we headed to the famous St. Paul's Cathedral.  Along with some more amazing illegal pictures from inside we saw the resting places of many famous 

Britains, including Horatio Nelson.  

After we left St. Paul's we went the Globe Theatre.  It was not the original but it was still very fun and different.  This was something Mom and I did not manage to squeeze into our time in London.  Erik, Allison and I walked around a lot even after everything closed.  Most nights we dined on McDonalds or Burgerking...nothing fancy for us.  We tend to spend very little on food.  Lunch everyday consists of PB&J sandwiches and we would probably be sick of them but we burn so much walking by the time we stop and eat we are starving.  But that is the life of a poor college student traveling through Europe.  :)

The next day we went to the Portobello Market.

  It was huge!  I've never seen a market this big.  It was divided into several sections.  Including a flea market, antiques, new and retro, and even

 food.  We didn't get to see half of it.  I bought some really cute jewelry pieces and a small dress...very English lol.  We hung around the

 market till about noon then decided to head back into central London.  Our next destination was the Tower of London where we spent 3 hours looking through towers and learning some of England's fascinating and bloody history.  Mom and I had visited the Tower when we went 2 years ago, but surprisingly there were some 

things new that I hadn't seen before.  We had lots of fun exploring the Tower and taking fun pictures.  Here is a picture of me in my favorite English King's Chair.  We all know Henry the 8th

 is a bad ass!  After seeing the incredible and most prized crown jewels we walked across Tower 

Bridge and I got a great picture of myself in the same spot that I was two years ago.  Looks the same but completely different at the same time.

After Tower bridge we walked down to Fleet St. and took many more photos.  We found some very cool buildings including the Australia House.  London has a building for each of it's old territories and some still current.  Althought I noticed America was not there lol.  I guess they are a little bitter about that one.  We met a friend from Cork for dinner that night and then headed back to our Hostel to prepare for another long day.  The first thing we did was head to King's Cross and get a picture with 9 and 3/4s.  For all of my Harry Potter fans you will understand the significance.  There was actually a line of people waiting to take their picture with 

it.  They even had half of a cart sticking out of the wall.  The 3 of us studious college students

 then headed to the British Museum and spent 3 hours on our own exploring the famous museum.  I know I've choosen the right major when I didn't want to leave the place.  I got to visit the exhibits I missed when mom and I visited there.  My major is still the Egyptian section.  I know I have to visit Egypt before I die.  My life would not be complete without it.  

Around 2:30pm we headed to the British Eye.  Something I didn't have a chance to do when Mom and I went but I was sure to book tickets in 

advance.  It was definitely a worth while thing to do.  I would recommend it to anyone who ever visits London.  You get to see the entire city.  The sight is breathtaking.  Here is a great picture of me with Parliament and Big Ben in the background.  I know you're all sick of see my beautiful face but this is my best picture with this background.  The Eye took about 30 mins and then we just walked around the city some more.  We watched some entertaining street performers for a little while and even went over to see Cleopatra's needle.  Hopefully we're not cursed now!  Our final destination for sunday was Trafalgar's Square.  Another thing I missed when I visited last time.  We spent some time just enjoying the afternoon air and sitting beneath Nelson's Monument.  

Monday was our final day in London and it was less then half a day.  We had to head to the

 airport pretty early for our flight back to Cork.  We got up earlier enough to go see the changing of the Guards and get some pictures of Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, and the Wellington Arch

.  London was a very successful trip and not even close to my last in Europe.  I am currently in Paris and will be heading off to Madrid very soon.

I have some amazing stories and photos from Paris!  I love the city so very much and can not wait to share my experiences with you all.  Promise to update very soon with Paris!

Love you all!

E

Edinburgh, Scotland and the Highlands

Hello friends and family!

Trying to knock out another blog entry for Edinburgh!!!  It was so unbelievable and amazing, I had the best time ever!

This trip was probably my favorite so far since arriving in January!

We had five days to explore Edinburgh and the highlands of Scotland.  We saw so many historical sites and we even got to see Loch Ness!  Although I did not get to see Nessie.  This first picture is my "I think I saw her" face.

Friday, our first day in Edinburgh we decided to explore Edinburgh Castle and do some other things on the Royal Mile (the main historic st in Edinburgh).  

However, we started out by booking a 12 hour Highland tour for Sunday.  After we took care of

 that, we climbed the mound up to Edinburgh Castle.  It reminded me alot of Windsor Castle.

  The castle is built on top of an old volcano so it was really far up and very windy at the top.  We

 spent about 3 hours exploring the grounds and learning alot about the history of Edinburgh.

After we finished at the castle we headed to the Scotch Whiskey Experience to whether Irish Jameson is truly the greatest of all whiskeys!  We

 learned about the brewing and 

blending.  I think my favorite part of the tour was

 the 2 free shots of whiskey we got at the end :)

Our last place of the day was something called Camera Obscure.  At the top of this tower was a small mirror that went around the whole city.  It was surprisingly focused and we got some great

 views.  They also had a bunch of crazy pictures and illusions.  We had a quick meal at McDonalds and headed to bed early for another day in Edinburgh.

On Saturday is was also fairly nice out so we took the bus to the Botanical Gardens.  I found that there is a plant named after me!  I was very excited.  We walked around for a really long time 

and went into the glass houses with lots of exotic plants.  The gardens were really refreshing and I also bought a small plant for my room.  It's a chives plant and so far it's still alive.  After we left

 the gardens we headed back into the city an 

went to the National Gallery.  Surprisingly, they had

 some really famous painters in their collections including Rembrandt and Rubens.  We got kicked out at 5 and later met a friend from Washington College for dinner and some drinks.

Sunday was our long 12 hour tour up to the

 highlands.  The scenery was amazing and my pictures could not compare to the landscape that I got to witness.  I even had a haggis sandwich in the morning...blah one and only.

Loch Ness was amazing but I'm sad I didn't get to see Nessie!  I got a nice necklace and we got to ride a boat on the Loch.  We saw a small castle on the Loch which you can see in the picture.  This tour was extremely long with alot of riding on the bus.  The trip took up the entire day but it was totally worth it.

On Monday we walked the Royal Mile and hit up even more cool historical sites.  We started out at St. Giles Cathedral.  Very grand and beautiful.  We quickly headed to my favorite part of

 Edinburgh, Mary King's Close.  It is an underground street that was paved over.  I've never seen anything like it!  We were not allowed 

to take pictures but it was amazing.  I did take a picture of a model of the street.  We heard some local ghost stories and history of how the city used to be.  Let's just say I would not want to live in that time!

After our guided tour through Mary King's Close we went to the National Museum of Scotland.  Not much different then any other museum but still interesting.  They had the first cloned sheep in the museum...I forgot the name.

The last thing we did that day was go to Scottish Parliament.  The building was designed by an architect from Barcelona.  It was extremely

 unique and creative.  It makes me excited to go to Barcelona which is famous for their amazing architecture.  The day was very productive and we still had all of Tuesday to finish up some more stuff before our flight that night.  Our last night in Edinburgh we had a 12 person hostel room with just the 3 of us in it.  So Allison and i decided to build a fort using the extra sheets and comforters.  It was really fun!  I really enjoy staying in hostels...it's quite an experience.

Tuesday morning we went to Holyrood Palace that is occupied by Queen Elizabeth II when she visits Scotland.  We saw the rooms of Mary, Queen of Scots.  She is really big in Scotland...weird.  

The grounds also had the ruins of an old Church.  It was very beautiful.  I really love Great Britain's history!  After we left the palace we went to the Aquarium!  It was nothing compared to the Baltimore Aquarium but it was still nice. 

After the Aquarium we went back into the city to see Nelson's monument, the National Monument and this old cemetery in the city.

We flew back into Shannon airport late that night and had to sleep in the airport till 7am the next morning to take the bus back to Cork.  It was not an experience I wish to repeat but I survived.  Edinburgh was an amazing city!  I would recommend going to Scotland even before Ireland!

I loved Scotland!!!

Dublin!

Hey Everyone!

I'm finally getting my Dublin blog up!  It was a great city.  Allison, Erik and I did so much while we were there.  We took the bus to Dublin on

 Friday and by the time we got into our hotel and headed back into the heart of the 

city we had a small amount of time to do something.  We decided to head to the famous Guiness Storehouse and find out how the drink was made.  Guiness has been around for 250 years!  My favorite exhibit was the advertising part.  They had so many pint glasses and posters.  I have

 way to many pictures.  I got a great Guiness shirt which you all can see me in above.  I also got some gifts for my family.  It was an amazing building and we got a free pint of Guiness at the end of our tour.  This photo I have is a the top of the storehouse looking down onto the city.  It was a incredible view and this

 photo does not do it justice.

We had a delicious and exotic meal of Supermacs 

(the big fastfood place in Ireland).

The next day was filled with lots of walking and lots of sites.  We started out going to the National Museum of Archeology.  It had alot on the Vikings and Irish history.  Unfortuneately we 

were not allowed to take pictures inside the museum.  We spent a long time in there and decided to head back out onto the streets.  We headed to Christ Church Cathedral and found it was not to far from other great sites.  As big as Dublin compared to other cities in Ireland it was nothing compared to London or Edinburgh. 

 Christ church was beautiful and had the largest crypt in all of British Isles; it spanned the entire foundation of the Church. 

 After we finished walking through the Church we headed to Dublin Castle and booked a tour for later in the day.  We went to St. Patrick's Cathedral to pass some time before our tour.  It was not a grand as Christ church but still

 beautiful.  

We did a guided tour of Dublin castle. 

 It is no longer an active castle but used by Parliament for government events.  The day seems to slip by so quickly when you have to walk everywhere. 

 On our way back to O'Connell St. to catch the bus we walked about Trinity College.  My one problem with site seeing is that everything closes at 5 and we never seem to have enough time to squeeze everything in.  We had another great dinner from the great King aka Burger King.  

Sunday we decided to take things a little slower since we had already gotten so much done the day before.  We bought tickets to view the Bodies exhibit.  I remember it had toured in the states and I was excited to have a chance to see it.  We had time before we would go into the exhibit but we felt better about getting our tickets in advance.  So to add to our relaxing day we headed to the Dublin zoo.  Some friends of mine had gone when they were in Dublin and said it

 was fun and it was a good day with little to no rain.  It was really fun and just what we needed to end our trip in Dublin.  The bodies exhibit had a line when we showed up at 3 to go in (very glad we had bought our tickets that morning).  It was very interesting and hard to believe that the bodies were real.  My favorite was the slices they had of the human body.  It was really cool!  (I sound very weird but I don't care it was fasinating)  I would definitely donate my body to something like that.  After we had finished there we decided to catch the 4:15 bus back to Cork.  Dublin to Cork is a 4 hour bus ride.  I had a great time in Dublin and saw alot of the sites.  I'm nearly done my traveling through Ireland.  The only city I would like to go to would be Belfast but I don't know if I'll be able to squeeze it in.

I finally have my spring break planned!  I have all of April off but I'll only be traveling for 20 days.

April 1-6 I'll be in Paris, France

April 6-9 I'll be in Madrid, Spain

April 9-12 I'll be in Barcelona, Spain

April 12-15 I'll be in Venice, Italy

April 15-20 I'll be in Rome, Italy

I'm so excited!  I can't wait for April to get here.  I will probably going to Greece and Amsterdam in May in between my finals but I still have to work that out with my friends.

I was in Edinburgh in the beginning of March and I should have that blog post up quickly.  This coming weekend Allison, Erik and I will be going to London.  I shall try not to fall behind on my blogs again but no guarantees lol.

I love you all!  Hope all in well back home!