London: Day 1 - We've arrived!

We said our goodbyes to Kelsey and Dan, since they flew home to Minnesota. The rest of us arrived in London, crammed ourselves and the luggage into a taxi, and went to the Hilton London Euston Hotel. It was a gorgeous hotel and our rooms even had little balconies. My mom, Rita and I were sharing a room, so they brought in a cot into the room for me to sleep on. The weird thing was that it had a belt...like I'd need to be strapped in so as not to roll out of the bed.

After unpacking and having some lunch, mom, Rita and I decided to go take the "Ghosts by Gaslight" walking tour around the area of Trafalgar Square. Our tour guide was fun, though he sure kept a quick pace! There were times when we were literally jogging to catch up to him. But he seemed to really know all the nooks and crannies of the area. We saw:

the Benjamin Franklin House
the recently re-opened Savoy (and yes, that's a Bentley parked in front)
Somerset House
The George bar
Temple Church
and Royal Courts of Justice

Once the tour was done we hopped the London Underground (mind the gap) back to the hotel area to meet Gram & Gramps for dinner. We ate at a place called Prezzo, which was just a couple doors down from the hotel. It was really great Italian food and I had the "Bianca" pizza: goat's cheese, asparagus spears, semi-dried tomatoes, mozzarella, and tomato. Definitely something I'd love to try making back home with Steve. After that it was time to go back to the hotel, climb into my cot and get strapped in for the night ha.

Family Visit - Dublin

After driving around Ireland for a couple days, my family spent a few nights in Dublin. And they were right in the thick of it too - Temple Bar. The second night they were in Dublin I met them for dinner at O'Neill's. We all had a few pints, some tasty food (I had the Beef & Guinness Stew), and then enjoyed some live music. It was fun because I actually know enough Irish songs now to make requests, like Whiskey in the Jar.

For the last day in Dublin we all got tickets for the Hop On - Hop Off bus. I decided that I really wanted to see Kilmainham Gaol, especially since it's not something I can see straight off the DART. My grandparents, Kelsey, and Dan also joined me on the tour. It was really interesting and we had a great tour guide, but I still think the Alcatraz tour might be better. The bus then took us through Phoenix Park, which I hadn't seen yet. It's one of the "largest enclosed recreational spaces within any European capital city" and also has the Dublin Zoo. There wasn't really much else worth noting. The next day I met my family at the airport and headed off to London!

In Prague!

Well today I landed in Prague and in less than 12 hours, Steve will be joining me here. I have to admit I was actually nervous about coming to Prague even though it's been on my list of places to visit. Maybe it's the combination of horror stories about pickpockets and scamming taxi drivers, or having watched the movie Taken. Regardless, I was happy when my airport shuttle driver told me that it really is a safe city. Sure there are pickpockets, but apparently there is very little violent crime. So here's hoping I make it through the weekend without any issues!

Steve and I are staying in an apartment hotel, so the room is more like a studio apartment. There's a kitchen with fridge/freezer, stove, microwave, and dishes. I actually walked to a local grocery store and cooked myself some pasta for dinner tonight. But there is one odd thing about the room - there are two different bathrooms. The one off the living room area only has a toilet and sink, while the bathroom off the bedroom only has a shower and sink. I guess it makes sense on some level, but still seems a bit odd to me.

The last couple days I have been busy trying to finish an essay for my Employment Law Contracts class. Of course, there has been a fair amount of procrastination - including a day of shopping in City Centre with Colleen. I think my internet issues at the dorms are finally resolved, so upon my return there will be more blog updates about my family's visit and our trips to London and Paris. I also am trying to organize my photos, but considering I've taken over 1600 photos thus far, it has been a challenge.

Family Visit - Day Three: Dingle to Limerick

Sorry for the long delay between posts, but since my return from Paris I got sick for several days and have been having major internet issues at the dorms. Let me preface this post by saying that the day I'm blogging about was probably one of the days I feel best defines Ireland and what I love about this country. Hopefully it was worth the wait!

After breakfast in the B&B, we loaded up the van with our luggage and set out to drive around the Dingle Peninsula. It was my mom's first day driving in Ireland and for the most part she did really well - though we're still not entirely sure where the bottom chunk of the passenger side mirror ended up.

On our journey around the Peninsula there was so much amazing scenery. The day was foggy/overcast but lately that seems to have become the normal weather. Along the way we ended up stopping at a "famine" exhibit. It was basically a plot of land where the owner had rebuilt some structures and put up information about the Great Famine. But there were also some mannequins that I can only describe as creepy. They made me think of the movie Child's Play. I mean, I understand the purpose they were serving, but they were still creepy. See for yourself:

Anyways, we continued on our drive. There were tons of scenic stops to make along the road. We pulled onto the should a number of times to snap photos - which wasn't exactly easy considering the size of the van versus the size of the roads. Here is a small selection of the images I captured:

We made a couple other stops while we were driving around. The first was at a little cafe where we all shared some pie. None of us were actually hungry, but some people wanted to use the bathroom and they are very strict in Ireland about bathrooms being for customers only ha. We also stopped at a pottery shop. After taking a pottery wheel class this past summer, I have a new appreciation for just how hard it is to create some of the pottery pieces.

At one point we stopped at a pier/boat launch. My grandpa and I ventured down to the water while almost everyone else stayed up by the road. It was fun being down there, collecting rocks together. Kelsey and Dan ended up joining us. Though our fun was cut short by the bored passengers up at the van, we were able to collect enough interesting rocks so that each person could have one.

Since some people were more interested in going back to Dingle for shopping, that's where we headed. Back in Dingle for a few hours, we all set out on our own to explore and shop. There was a really cute store called Mad Hatters which, as you can guess, had a bunch of really interesting and stylish hats inside. They seemed pricey and I'm not a huge hat person, so I didn't get one, but I still think they were grand. I ended up running into Kelsey and Dan while they were getting some take-away food at a place called Harrington's. Kelsey got some seafood chowder and it actually came with what I'm guessing were mussels still in their shells.

Departing from Dingle, we headed for Limerick. We were staying the night in Limerick so that the next morning I could catch the bus back to Dublin in time for my afternoon Arabic language class. We ended up booking rooms at the Clifton House B&B. Upon our arrival we had tea and coffee and talked with the owner, Michael. Then we met his adorable dog, a boxer named Jake. It'd been so long since I had been around a dog, I had forgotten how much I love them.

For dinner, we were trying to decide whether to drive into the city centre area and deal with parking the van. Ultimately we decided to check out the Woodfield Hotel/Bar & Restaurant across the street from the B&B - and that was one of the best decisions we made. The food, drinks and prices were reasonable but it was the atmosphere that made it brilliant.

As we were eating our meals we kept seeing this little, old Irish man (who we later found out was named Willie) in a beige suit coat with stark white hair and big, dark bushy eyebrows coming through the bar area. Once in a while he would stop and give us some grief like, "You're all still here?" and then run off. Eventually, a woman named Theresa came in to order drinks at the bar and started talking to us. She seemed a little tipsy but she was really sweet and personable. Apparently I reminded her of herself when she was younger, so she took a liking to me. She ended up leaving her husband sitting outside with their friends and joined us at our table. From there, she gradually introduced us to all her friends as they came in the bar for drinks.

I don't know how it really happened but suddenly we seemed to know everyone in the bar and we were all drinking, laughing, and talking. Then my grandpa started singing songs with some of the people there and they didn't stop singing until hours later. It was so grand. Here are some YouTube links to a couple short snippets of everyone singing:

Singing in the bar - clip 1

Singing in the bar - clip 2

Singing in the bar - clip 3

The people there were so genuine and welcoming. Theresa ended up deciding that since I'm staying in Ireland without any family around, she was going to take care of me and be my "Irish Mama". She kept insisting that I put her down as my emergency contact at school because she could get to me a lot faster than my own mom in the U.S. Plus she has a brother-in-law that is a doctor in Dublin, so if anything ever happened to me, she'd make sure I was taken care of and looked after. Another woman, Frida, also gave me the contact information for her son who lives in Dublin.

At some point the bar was supposed to close, but since we were all still wanting to buy drinks, they opened up again ha. Finally, in the wee hours of the morning we made it back across the street to our B&B. When we got in Michael was there to great us and said, "Oh was that you all singing over there?". Then it was off to bed since we needed to be ready for breakfast early in the morning.

Family Visit - Day Two: Cork to Dingle

In the morning at the Garnish House, we had one of the most fantastic breakfasts ever! It all started with a bowl of porridge that was topped with a bit of Baily's Irish Cream. Then there was a full Irish Breakfast - though once again, I skipped the pudding. Hansi, the owner, even wrapped up some freshly made scones to take with us. It was absolutely fabulous and I would highly recommend it for anyone staying overnight in Cork.

Then it was off to the Blarney Castle. During our visit we checked out the various parts of the castle grounds. It was especially pretty because of how far you could see from the top of the castle and some of the leaves were changing, which provided a colorful backdrop to the gray stone.

Of course, we were determined to kiss the Blarney Stone. So we maneuvered our way through the winding staircase, until we finally reached the top. Now, to kiss the Blarney Stone, it is really quite a process. First, you sit down on the ground with your back to the wall:Then, while holding on to some metal bars and being helped by a man holding your waist, you lower yourself backwards so that you are basically hanging upside-down over the edge:
Finally, you plant a kiss on the stone - trying not to think about all the germs:
The rest of the day was spent doing some shopping in the nearby wool/gift stores and driving on our way to the Dingle Peninsula. As I was driving, I had originally wanted to do the Ring of Kerry. Unfortunately, it would have taken too long. Plus I realized that most of the van passengers were sleeping, so there wasn't much use in taking the scenic route anyways.

However, we did make one interesting stop. I can't remember exactly what town we were in, but we decided to make a pit stop and grab a pint. That's where we met John. We walked into this pub, which was completely empty except for this guy (John) sitting at the end of the bar. Although it was only about noon, he looked like he'd been there for quite a while and was clearly drunk - like in a stupor drunk. After returning from the restrooms, I found out that he was also apparently our bartender. I don't know what John's deal was, but he acted like he had multiple personality disorder. One moment he'd be chatting away with us about how he came over from England 20 years ago, then suddenly he'd stop talking, walk away, turn up the radio, and just stare at us. It was creepy to say the least, but also quite entertaining.

Arriving in Dingle, we ended up staying in a B&B called Coastline Guesthouse. The rooms were great and had a really nice view of the water. Here's a picture from one of the room windows, which also includes a view of the big, red van. That night for dinner we went to The Dingle Pub. I never knew it, but apparently my grandma enjoys Southern Comfort straight-up ha. We originally wanted to hear some traditional music, but unfortunately it wasn't starting until several hours after we'd finished eating. So we ended up making our way back to the B&B and calling it a night.

Family Visit - Day One: Dublin to Cork

On Friday morning my family arrived in Dublin airport. "My family" meaning my mom (Kim), sister (Kelsey), brother-in-law (Dan), grandpa (Ron), grandma (Gloria), and my mom's friend (Rita). The original plan was that we would rent two cars, with my mom and me driving, and head down to Cork. When we got to the rental car counter, we found out that even with two cars there was no way we were going to fit all 7 of us and the luggage into the two small cars they had reserved. The solution? A big red van! Yep, we all piled into a big, red passenger van, with me behind the wheel.

Along the way to Cork we stopped in a town called Cashel. We had some really tasty soup and sandwich at a little place named Ladyswell Restaurant and then headed to the main attraction of the town - The Rock of Cashel. It was an amazing place to visit and look out over the countryside. And there was actually someone buried there just a year ago. Here are some photos from our stop there:


When we arrived in Cork, we ended up going around almost the entire city before finding our B&B - The Garnish House. It's not that the B&B was really that hard to find, it's just that we got diverted onto the wrong street and then there were a ton of one-ways, etc. But it was well worth it to get to The Garnish House because it was absolutely a brilliant place to stay. The owner, "Hansi", generously welcomed us with tea, coffee, raspberry jam, fresh baked scones, and various other baked goods. It was like an afternoon feast.

After settling into our rooms, some of the family took a brief nap. Then it was off into downtown Cork for dinner - which ended up being much more of an adventure than originally anticipated. Now remember, I'm driving around a huge van and the streets were made much more for compact cars. So after not finding any street parking, we finally decided to enter a parking garage. Then we noticed the vehicle height clearance bars. Slowly, I creeped the van under the first bar - success! As I got about half way under the second bar we heard it hit the top of the van and saw the bar start swinging. But at that point we were already basically in, so why turn around - right? Plus we had managed enough foresight to get the insurance coverage with no deductible ha.

We ate at Clancy's Bar Restaurant on Princes Street. I guess there wasn't really anything special about the place, but the food, drinks, and prices were decent. People were still pretty jet-lagged so we made it an early night.

Ireland might as well be called Neverland

Today I joined Colleen and Adi on an afternoon trip to Malahide, Ireland. It is on the DART line, with trains coming about every half hour. So after Colleen got back from class and we ate some lunch, we set out to see what the town had to offer.

Upon our arrival we decided to check out the Malahide Castle. However, we were soon distracted by something even better - a fantastic playground. That's right, we may be some of the oldest students in our classes but we still know how to enjoy a big saucer-swing and some of the largest slides I've ever seen. For the slide, you actually had to go up a small climbing wall to get up towards the top. Not to mention the zipline!

Also along the path leading to the castle were various things to test your balancing skills. Like a "rolling log" that would spin around as you tried to walk across it. Adi and Colleen had both (somewhat) successfully walked on the rolling log, so I decided to give it a try. Big mistake - I fell within the first ten seconds. Luckily nothing was bruised too badly, other than my right knee and my ego.

At some point we finally realized it was time to focus and actually get to the castle before it closed for the day. That, and we'd gotten enough strange looks from parents who probably felt we were too old to be acting like children.

The castle tour was, well, a little bit of an odd experience. The outside looked fabulous and it was nice to see the inside with all the ornate woodwork and furnishings. But the tour itself had to be one of the cheesiest things ever. I mean, it's all narrated through large speakers, room by room. They don't even have a guide walking with you. On the plus side, that meant no one to scold me for taking pictures. Honestly, the first picture I took I didn't know photography wasn't allowed. But the second photo, I take full responsibility - it was just too tempting to resist.

As for earlier this week, Monday I discovered the yumminess that is banoffee pie. Colleen, Adi, Liz and I went for some tea at Avoca - a restaurant/bar near campus. However, once we got there, dessert sounded so much better than just tea. We ended up ordering three slices of banoffee pie.

Here is the before:And the after - clearly it was delicious:
This week I also had the opportunity to continue with my sports club activities. I went to both softball and archery on Tuesday. Archery is getting to be more fun now that I'm not ending up with bruises on my arm from the bow string. I'm also getting better on my form and learning the proper techniques.

Anyways, classes are starting to pick up and there are a few assignments due in the next couple weeks. My family is also arriving in Dublin in about 8 hours! I'll be gone for the weekend, driving around the country with them - so probably no blog updates for a couple days. But I'm sure there will be lots to share from my visits with them to Cork, Dingle, and Limerick.