Valencia

On to Spain city numero dos: Valencia! We left Barcelona early, so we could make use of the day in Valencia. We arrived right around lunch time, and the train we took to get there wasn't too long either. The first we wanted to do, once we had successfully checked into the hostel, was EAT! (Notice a trend here?) Valencia is known for their paella, so we had paella round two while soaking in the sunshine. It was tasty, but no where NEAR the deliciousness of the paella we devoured in Barcelona. It did the job though, and we headed back to the hostel to change into more appropriate clothes (it was warmer than we had anticpated) and also check out our hostel's rooftop terrace! Although very cool, the view was a bit obscured by fence, though the sun shining down on us was wonderful.

We started off the day's adventure by going back to the square/plaza where we had lunch. The plaza is home to the Catedral and Migulete, which is the bell tower attached to the Catedral. We grabbed some ice cream (see above right) while we walked around snapping photos. We then walked over to the Plaze de la Reina, which had some beautiful buildings and a very cool fountain (see left). Off to the side of the Plaza was this little garden, which we were delighted to discover was FULL of orange trees! They were too high to grab (we did try) but their blossoms smelled FANTASTIC! If they made an orange blossom perfume, I would buy it. We sat on benches in this little garden for quite some time, taking in the wonderful aroma, and finishing our ice cream. It was truly heaven (see right)!

With our noses full of the wonders of orange blossoms, we pressed on. We went down to the Mercado Central, or Central Market. Sadly, it wasn't open. This was due to it being Easter! This was about the time we realized that it WAS Easter, and that lots of things may not be open. After a bit of souvenir shopping, we walked further into the city. I was so impressed with the architecture in Valencia, though similar to the other Spanish cities, it just seemed to have it's own flair (see right). All the buildings had the beautiful scalloped edges and were different shades of pastels. I could have walked around for quite some time, just taking in the buildings! But, that did get dull after awhile, so we headed in the direction of the Jardín del Turia, which go along the middle of the city, like a river would (it actually used to be a river, back in the day). We had a few pit-stops (see left) on the way...climbed a few trees...played on some playground equipment, and I took a few dog pictures...as I like to do. We made it eventually...took in the view...found a good spot on the grass...and proceeded to take siestas. What a great tradition that is! I'm FOR it! After our little respite, we wandered through the garden further and happened upon a game of fútbol (soccer to those of us in the US). We watched for a bit before walking to the Jardines del Real (Royal Gardens), which were close by. These were MUCH more pretty than the area we had napped in, and were also FILLED with the wondrous orange trees (see right)! This time, we REALLY wanted to pick one. I being the shortest, was not the optimal choice for orange picker...Carolyn ended up going for one. She was successful! We each tried a slice and found out that we don't like the way oranges from these trees tasted, just how they smelled. We donated the remainder of the orange to the local birds. Speaking of birds, there were cages full of them in the middle of the Jardines del Real, and we took plenty of pictures of them! It was now time for our sangria break, which we enjoyed along with some tapas of fried potatoes. Afterward our liquid consumption came to an end, we wandered more throughout the gardens before heading back towards central Valencia. The Catedral was open now, which it wasn't this morning, so we were able to look around inside and even take in Easter Mass, in Spanish (see right)! Also, REALLY cool side note, this church is the supposed home to the Holy Grail! We weren't able to SEE the 'Holy Chalice' but still, being IN the church that houses it, ON Easter...that was pretty cool. Kind of gave me goosebumps! We even climbed to the top of the Miguelete bell tower (LOTS of stairs...LOTS) to see the sun set and catch the bells tolling. Took some GREAT pictures (see below) before we started the decent down. Dinner time arrived and we found a perfect spot. Carolyn had tried 'bocaditos' while in Madrid, and recommended them to the rest of us. These are little sandwiches (see left), a euro or so each, and you order multiple - each can be different. It was fun to try different sandwich toppings, and we all ooh'd and aah'd over them as we consumed each one. We washed it all down with some lemon beer, or the Spanish version of Summer Shandy! (Thought of Doug - who is INVOLVED with Summer Shandy, he likes it so much.) We hit the sack to prepare for Day #2 in Valencia...

Day #2 started off with some traditional Catalonia (the region we were in, in Spain) Easter fare for breakfast (a day late, we did realize). They call it 'mona' (see right) and it's cake that can be shaped in festive ways with a hard boiled egg in the middle of it. I enjoyed mine quite a bit, and even ate the entire hard boiled egg (of which I'm not a HUGE fan of usually.) We ate our breakfast in a plaza outside a small hidden church. We HAD to explore the church afterward, and I was surprised by how big it was inside! It also had a beautiful rose window, one of my favorite architecture pieces in churches. After church exploration had ceased, we walked in search of the train station, where were going to secure our tickets for the following day to Seville. We found out our train ride was going to be 8 hours, joy. Oh well, we still our day in Valencia - we could worry about the train the next day, when we were ON it!

Our plan for the day was to rent bikes (see left) and explore the areas of the city that were a bit on the outskirts. We found the bike rental place successfully, grabbed the bikes, and were off! We even had little baskets, which was handy with how heavy our purses were (I can cart an impressive amount of crap in there...ask anyone). We biked along the Jardín del Turia, heading towards the Mediterranean (our end destination). We found a much prettier part of the gardens that we didn't get a chance to see the day before. Beautiful fountains everywhere (see left)...which meant lots of pictures! We eventually made our way into the Ciudad de las Artes y last Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences) where there are many different museums to tour (see below). We wanted to go into L' Oceanografic one, which was a huge aquarium. We grabbed lunch after we made it inside, mine was a tasty tortilla espanola sandwich (potato omelette on bread basically...TASTY!). We then proceeded to watch lots of fish, penguins, sharks, rays, birds, flamingoes, jelly fish and even dolphins at the park's daily dolpin show (see below left). I really enjoyed the jellyfish tank, as the jellyfish were all lit up against the deep blue water, which made for fun viewing. Also, I have no idea why, but penguins are very entertaining to watch...as the waddle around and flop into the water and swim about. Enjoyed those as well! Full of knowledge about creatures of the sea, we grabbed the bikes and headed off in search of the Mediterranean! We had some difficulty, did a little off-roading, but eventually found the pier! We made a quick pit stop at the musuem dedicated to the American Cup (a BIG sailing race, that Carolyn had to explain to the three non-sailors) before grabbing some daily sangria and snack. We sat right along the beach, and were a bit sad as the sun had disappeared, and the air had gotten quite chilly. We still tested out the water anyway, with only our feet though. Frolicked in the sand for a bit, took LOTS of photos (see below) and hopped about in the waves. Before long, the cold air got the best of us though.

We headed back to return our bikes and find a place to eat some dinner. We decided that the bocaditos were SO good the previous night, that we'd be alright consuming them again - and we did! More lemon beer too!! We started to come up with games to be played during our day-long train trip the next day...coming up with a solid 32 options. (Many of which made the Top Ten!) Ice cream was dessert (and it was SO good, mango and strawberry - see right), and we proceeded to walk around town for the next hour, window shopping, chatting about life, and consuming our ice cream. We had intended to go out that night, but it ended up being only our walk and then bed for us that evening. We stayed up chatting more, about all sorts of random things (by the end of the trip, we knew WAY too much about everyone) before hitting the pillow.

Valencia was wonderful, and we had such a great time on both of our days there. I took WAY too many pictures, ate WAY too much great food and even added to my freckle collection! I would love to go back to Valencia to wander more throughout the city, licking another fantastic ice cream cone and feeling the sun on my face. :)

Barcelooonnnnaaaa!!!

I realize this is a long time coming...but the goal is to be all caught up with trip blogs by the end of the weekend. We'll see if I can do it!!

Alright - so the epic Spain adventure started off in Barcelona. Carolyn finished exams early and frolicked around Madrid while the rest of us stressed over exams. We (Ryan (from Canada), Theresia and myself) met up with her in Barcelona post-exams. The three of us were all on a combined total of 5 hours of sleep going into the trip...due to exams we all were behind in packing, laundry etc. We looked like zombies at the airport! Anytime we sat down, all three of us would have our eyelids slide shut...which I'm sure was amusing to those around us. We did successfully make it to Barcelona, and all caught about 2-3 hours of naptime in the process! YES!

We checked into the hostel and found our fourth traveler. Food was on the mind of the three zombies...so we found the first spot we could, a little Italian pasta place on Las Ramblas. No joke here, my pasta was gone in less than five minutes. Not sure if that's something to be proud of or not. But, at least we were all energized, so off we went to explore the city of Barcelona!

We walked down Las Ramblas (picture to the left), taking in the sun, all the people out shopping, the street performers and the gorgeous view of palm trees. We walked towards the Mediterranean and then headed in the direction of a large hill, that promised a spectacular view from the top as well as a palace we wanted to explore. The climb wasn't bad, and the view was very cool from the top! (See picture at the top!) All the buildings were so close together, and it was amazing to see how far the city stretched out. We were all feeling the need for some liquids, and started what became a daily tradition for our group - sangria!! We sat on a patio overlooking the city while we sipped our drinks - that's when I FINALLY felt like we were on vacation. :)

After the sangria pitcher was empty (sad) we wandered off in search of what else was on this 'hill' (which I now know is called Montjuïc, which is Catalan for 'Hill of the Jews'). We found some gardens to explore, instead of the presumed palace (though I'm sure it was up there somewhere) and commenced picture taking again. We walked through the gardens and on to the old Olympic stadium, from the 1992 Olympic games that Barcelona hosted. We were able to go inside and take a peek...though I was pretty surprised by how small it seemed to be. We didn't learn much about the stadium, but I'm guessing it wasn't for the Opening Ceremonies, it just seemed toosmall! We grabbed some snacks and then pressed on. We came upon the National Palace, which was a stunning building! It was originally created for the 1929 International Exhibition, but is now an museum. We didn't go inside but did take plenty of pictures of the outside and the gorgeous water-fountain/waterfall in the front! (See right) We also caught our first glimpse of the Magic Fountain: a HUGE fountain that spurts water in time with music. Each 'show' lasts about 25 min, and a new show starts every half hour starting at 7:00 pm. We saw about 3.5 'shows', each with different music. I took videos of all of them!! Our favorite was the last show, the water was now colorfully lit up (as the sun was going down) and the music was this epic opera/pop music featuring the city of Barcelona in the lyrics (hence the reason for the title of this post with the drawn out last syllable!). For those on Facebook - check out the video! Our rendition of the song was sung throughout the rest of the trip, usually started by Ryan. After we had seen enough of the Magic Fountain (see below right), we went in search of some authentic Spanish food for dinner. Wow, did we find it! We found a little tapas place, or so we thought, and ended up having the most delicious Paella ever made! We ate early (9:00) for the Spanish, so it was us and one other group in the restaurant. Our waiter was quite the jokster and helped us make our paella selections. I had never taken a liking before to mussels or shellfish, but that night - I officially became a fan. WOW! I ate it all, and was oh so proud. I even had to tear apart my little shrimps (they came with their heads and legs still attached)! Exhausted and full we went to catch some MUCH NEEDED sleep.


Day #2 in Barcelona started with the Sagrada Familia - one of the most famous things in the city. It's been under construction since 1892, and isn't projected to be finished until 2026. Antoni Gaudi is the architect, and his designs can be found throughout the city. The church is covered in sculptures and ridiculous amounts of detail, and it's no wonder it's been worked on for 100 years already. We took as many pictures as we could (trying to not get the cranes and construction work in the pictures) before wandering off in search of a bull-fighting stadium. Ryan was the one who wanted to see it, and I'm glad we went! No bull fights going on, but we were able to walk around the stadium and even on the ground in the stadium. We took lots of amusing photos and even played a few games (sword-fighting to be exact...will be discussed in the Top Ten) at which I was the epic loser. :) We even went through a small museum that was attached and learned about the history of bullfighting, the interesting (and very TIGHT I might add) outfits the matadors have worn since the 'sport' started. Full of knowledge about bullfighting...we left in search of 'Parc Güell', and park that was designed by Gaudi as well. The process to reach the park (which is NOT obvious on the map) is that you must climb uphill a WAYS. Thankfully at the top there were escalators! Halfway up we grabbed lunch and some AMAZING smoothies (all made with fresh fruit and we even watched this sweet little machine juice the oranges...I now officially want a juicer). Parc Güell was worth the climb, offering a spectacular view of Barcelona (from the opposite side that we saw it from the day before). The park had lots of elements featuring the smooth and rippled lines of Gaudi's architecture...we took photos like mad and even found time to take siestas.

We headed back into central Barcelona, on the way consuming ice cream and the view! (More to be explained in the Top Ten, but we walk rather strangely, and little jumps occur every now and then, exemplified by Carolyn and Theresia at the left.) Next on the docket was the 'Catedral' (which was undergoing a renovation at the time so we couldn't go inside, BOO) and the Picasso museum. The museum was very interesting, and I was VERY surprised to find out what Picasso's early work looked like. His style when he was young was truly that of a seasoned adult, and ironically, as he aged, his art became very much child-like. I MUCH prefer his early work, which is more realistic and not at all like his later, cubism-influenced work. Interesting to see nonetheless. In need of some increased blood sugar after the walk through the museum, we found some cheap tapas to munch on. Next, we hit up Las Ramblas, again, this time in search of things to buy! There were many stalls set up, each selling souvenirs of all sorts, my favorite being the jewelry! I found lots of wonderful things to bring home to certain people, as well as some fun things for me, including a scarf that I wore throughout the remainder of the trip! (See right!) The sun started to hide around this time, as we checked out the pier area as well as the Rambla del Mar, - a big bridge that you cross to get to the boats and shopping area. (In the background of the picture at right) We just walked around at this point, killing time until we felt like we could eat dinner. We decided, what better way to kill time than sangria?!?! We enjoyed our little ritual in a bar/restaurant that was playing this very odd movie, in Spanish of course. The movie featured a small boy that sang at quite a piercing level every five minutes. The volume was up VERY high and we giggled as we drank our sangria at the ridiculousness of the movie and the horrible pitch of the boy's voice. We reenacted his crazy voice throughout the rest of the trip...which started to morph with the Magic Fountain's 'Barcelona' song, which ended up to be this obnoxious high-pitched warble. We found it amusing though those around us were probably QUITE annoyed. Gotta love playing the part of a tourist! Once the sangria was gone we went off in search of a different place to eat that lacked background singing...and found the Sailor Restaurant! It was across from the water, and we even sat outside. We all enjoyed more tapas, multiple carafes of wine and great conversation. I had eaten the majority of what I THOUGHT were fried green beans when Carolyn asked me if I was eating the little heads or not. I was confused until she revealed I had been consuming anchovies!!! WHAT?!?! Yes, I had been eating the heads...the bodies and tails too! (By default of course). That stopped the anchovy consumption and started the wine consumption. We had a late night, full of great laughs and interesting stories before we headed back to the hostel to catch some Zzz's before we left for Valencia the next day! Barcelona was a wonderful city to explore, we lucked out with some great weather, and it also supplied me with a lot of hilarious Top Ten material. Get excited!

Ireland Top Ten!

Alright...so before I start with Spain, GOTTA do some Top Ten action...

1) PARENTAL UNITS! I was so excited to travel with the parents...we had a great time too! Lots of good chats, good food, and good beer was shared. It was fun too to share my knowledge about Europe, as we would encounter different things on our trip. And, as I walked up to the hostel and saw them waving out front, it felt like I hadn't even be gone...in a GOOD way. :)

2) GREEN! Not only is Ireland known for the color green, but Spring had FINALLY hit. It was the perfect setting to see flowers starting to bloom, have grass that wasn't dead-looking or covered in snow etc. Everything just seems so much prettier with the flowers in bloom, especially the gorgeous churches. I think too, having worked at Hilltop Florist in Mankato gave me a profound appreciation for flowers and gardening in general. :)

3) Cheers to the movies! If it weren't for "P.S. I Love You", Dad wouldn't have thought of what a COOL place Ireland would be to take Mom...and I wouldn't have gone either. Also, "Leap Year" which came out recently was one I watched to get excited for the Ireland. Mom and I watched parts of both of these movies as we fell asleep both nights. :)

4) Ian. OH MAN, probably not funny at ALL to you reading this, but man, Ian the goldfinch was one of funniest, if not THEE funniest moment of the entire trip. "Was that Ian???" (If you are confused...go and read the previous blog post...then you'll understand!) Dad - that was hysterical!

5) Street musicians! These were also a highlight...just walking down Grafton Street, and listening to some VERY talented musicians, for free! They were pretty young as well, and you could tell they do the street performing thing quite a bit. If there were more places to sit, I would have chilled and listened for awhile. I was able to take some video on my camera, which is on Facebook for those of you that are on there!

6) Guinness! I was surprised that I liked the beer, having heard so many negative things before arriving. We realized, after Mom and Dad got back home, that the Guinness they sell in the US - in BOTTLES - is the thicker stuff. If you purchase the cans in the US, it tastes like what we had in Ireland. There's still the typical white head on the beer once poured, and a much lighter taste. We had quite a few during our trip, and I will always associate Guinness fondly with our trip!

7) Food - United Kingdom food is FANTASTIC! I'm ALL about the bangers and mash, the fish and chips...LOVE IT! I like all food, let's be honest here, but we had some great meals while in Dublin. Not to mention the desserts! I won't rehash them out, as I already described them in detail in the previous post, but Dublin's food was awesome in my book. Especially the rhubarb/raspberry crumble...definitely going to attempt to make that once I'm back in the states and can use an oven again. (How I miss ovens right now!)

8) The Book of Kells....we weren't really sure what it was going into the tour...and we weren't fully understanding what it was even after the tour. Hmm...all we know, it's OLD and it's an illuminated manuscript. Ha...don't ask the three of us what more than that...we couldn't tell you! Cool to see it though...whatever 'it' really is! :)

9) The Friendly Irish - I mentioned this before, but the locals were by FAR the most helpful, the most genuine, and most fun to talk to of all the places I've been so far! They would ask if you needed help finding somewhere, weren't bothered when asked questions, and were genuinely interested in where you came from and what you were up to in their 'fair city'. In Europe, tip is rarely given in restaurants, so it's rare to get a waiter/waitress that is chatty and friendly...but all of our wait staff were AWESOME! I want to go back for so many reasons, and one of the main reasons is the people.

10) History - I learned so much about the founding of Ireland while we toured Dublin Castle...and the history of the involvement of England, and how the UK was formed, and my favorite - the royalty! I love learning about the English royalty, and all the different stories that are involved with it. Our tour guide told us so many interesting tidbits, and it made me want to research more about the UK. I've always loved learning about history...perhaps my Historical Perspective class I have to take senior year will be on European History! :)

GREAT trip! GREAT memories! Definitely want to go back, and wish I had more time there to explore the rest of the country! No worries Ireland...I'll be back!

Baile Átha Cliath

Hello hello! I'm back at the blogging after a wonderful week in Spain which followed a particularly stressful week of exams. I have a LOT to catch you all up with, and will attempt to blog daily this week to accomplish that. So, I must back up to where I left off. I do hope you all got a chuckle about Darth, and I'm happy to report his extended family got the hint and have yet to show themselves.

SO - ever since Christmas last year, Mom and Dad's trip to Ireland has been on my mind. In a good way! The trip was planned before I knew my schedule, and it turned out to be the weekend prior to exams. I was not be deterred, and started studying as far in advance as I could to compensate. This trip also was the first time, other than my trip to Maastricht, that I'd be traveling alone. Now, I discovered that traveling alone isn't necessarily for everyone, and not because it's scary or hard to do, mainly I find it dull. I'm a talker, which you all know, and enjoy having someone to chat with while traveling. Plus, it's fun to have memories to share with someone other than yourself. But - I knew my solo traveling would be worth it, as I'd get to see Mom and Dad!

I left on Thursday mid-afternoon and caught the bus to the train station. The train wasn't bad - only a hour ride. Once I finally made it to the airport, I had a bit of time to wait. My waiting was done with Pringles and iPod in hand, and also did a fair amount of people watching. Ryanair is first come first serve for seats, so as soon as our gate was posted, it was a mad dash to the line. I was towards the front, thank goodness. But that was the beginning of the wait - as our plane was an hour late. I'm never a fan of lines, but it's rather unpleasant in an airport, especially when one has to stand in line instead of causally sit until they call for boarding. Oh Ryanair, we are not friends! I did make a friend with a girl from California...she was wearing a Kappa Kappa Gamma sweatshirt, and so we did a fair amount of chatting about Greek life and such. It was nice to have someone to chat with while waiting! ANYWAY...we eventually made it to Dublin. I then had to find my bus to take me into the city and to my hostel. I should also mention it was dark and rainy. FUN! :) I found my bus, and also met another fellow traveler! This Dutch woman was going to see her daughters, who were studying in Dublin. She and I bonded while we tried to figure out when our stop was, as we both were looking for the same street. The two of us ended up getting help from this wonderfully friendly Irish woman. She made sure I had all my bags and pointed out exactly where to go from the bus stop to my hostel. I could have kissed her! (How appropriate, as we were in Ireland!) The rest of the night I spent eating Dominos pizza and meeting the other people who were staying at my hostel. Glee was on TV in the background, and that made me quite happy as well. :)

The next morning I was up early! I checked out of the hostel and headed out in search on Mom and Dad's hotel. I got a bit turned around, and again was helped by more locals. One guy that I stopped and asked for help then stopped another guy and they both hemmed and hawed about which way I should go. Apparently my directions weren't very good, as even they were confused. They eventually pointed me in the right direction, and as the hotel came into view, who should I spot on the front steps, but the parentals! I had hoped to beat them there, but oh well. Hugs all around and an overview of the travels we had all undergone commenced. We grabbed breakfast while we caught up and then checked into their room. I was on a roll-away in their room, which was better than any hostel. The hotel even had complimentary brownies with their name imprinted in the frosting. I was officially a fan!

We all showered and then went out to explore Dublin! We bought tickets for the 'Hop on, Hop off' bus tour, and started to take in the sights of city. We got off at Dublin Castle to take a tour. We had a bit of time before the next tour started, so we took the opportunity for their first pastry break in Europe! (And even they will admit, they were pretty hooked after that!) The tour was actually really interesting, and we learned some history about the building, the country's founding, the UK in general and of course, the royalty. They had some fantastic chandeliers and I took as many pictures of them as possible! The coolest thing I found out was that the Castle is still in use by the Irish Government! The President is inaugurated there and all the big Presidential events happen there. Back in the day it was for the Viceroy of Ireland, and used by the UK royalty when they visited. Lots of furniture dated to Queen Victoria, including the throne. I took LOTS of pictures, so if you want to see more - check out Shutterfly!

Post-tour we did a little souvenir shopping and then wandered towards Christ Cathedral. It's a BIG cathedral, and we were bummed it wasn't open for us to see the inside. Mom and Dad were able to go back after I left to see a service and take a look around the inside, lucky them! We then walked down to St. Patrick's Cathedral and the park next it. It too wasn't open, so we took pictures outside and strolled around the park. At this point we were all pretty hungry and found the perfect little Irish pub. We all enjoyed our first Guinness of the trip as well as some UK fare. Dad and I both had bangers and mash while Mom had an appetizing-looking fish soup. Afterward, we walked down towards Trinity College (which we decided to tour the next day) and then down Grafton Street. Grafton Street is the main shopping street as well as the place to see many musicians/bands playing outside. It was fun to wander and look in shops and have the music in the background! St. Stephen's Green is at the end of Grafton Street, so we walked in and enjoyed ALL the green plants and colorful flowers of the park. There were swans in the pond, birds chirping, and beautiful flowers planted everywhere. It was wonderful, and the perfect end to the afternoon.

Mom and Dad hadn't really slept for a few days, due to the overnight plane, so we took a bit of time to nap and be blobs in their room. We were a bit hungry later on, and we all were thinking of something dessert-y...and spotted a restaurant across the street from the hotel. Dad and I both enjoyed a wonderful rhubarb/raspberry crumble with whipped cream while Mom ate a delicious piece of cheesecake. It hit the spot! We headed to bed after that, so that we'd all be fresh and ready-to-go the next day.

Saturday was again a beautiful, sunny day, though a bit chilly. We hit up the 'Hop on, Hop off' bus again and rode it for almost the entire route. We saw up close the sights of Dublin, including the Guinness Storehouse and Phoenix Park. Phoenix Park is unique in that it's the place where the Irish president lives as well as the place the US Ambassador lives. The park is HUGE, and you could spend all day there. We intended to explore the park a bit on our own, but our bus driver/tour guide did a great job giving an overview and the cold wind was also a bit of a deterrent. We next drove along the River Liffey and saw all the different bridges that connect the North and South parts of Dublin. Mom's favorite was the Ha'penny Bridge, which got it's name for the toll pedestrians used to have to pay to cross the bridge.

We 'hopped off' in search of lunch, and found it at Toddy's. It was a restaurant/hotel and had the perfect lunch menu. Fish and chips was had by both Dad and I (we apparently like all the same foods!) and Mom had salmon. We tested out the dessert menu as well with a pear and almond tart and a creamy pudding. Full and warmed up from the cold on the bus (we were on the top level of the double-decker bus, which was open-air), we walked towards Trinity College. Trinity College is known for not only being a top-notch university, but also for being the home to the Book of Kells. It's an illuminated manuscript that contains the four Gospels of the New Testament, and was transcribed in the year 800. None of us knew much about it before the tour, and it was interesting to see and learn about the process of transcribing illuminated manuscripts. We also saw the very famous Chi Rho page (which Mankato West students studied in AP Art History)! We grabbed a pint of Guinness after our tour, at John Kehoe's pub. It was fun to listen to all the Irish accents as we sipped our drinks and chatted. We wandered around Grafton street again and bought ourselves some chocolates to munch as we continued to wander. We then headed down towards Merrion Square, another park in the city. We had a lot of fun exploring and picture-taking. Mom found the perfect spot to do her headstand picture and we even did a jumping shot too. After walking back to the main city area, we were famished. We located a neat place off of Grafton street, which turned out to be HUGE inside. We all tried different things this time, and I had a REALLY tasty steak sandwich. We enjoyed one more Guinness before heading back to the hotel for the night.


Sunday was my day to head home, but we had hoped to still get some sight-seeing in that morning. Sadly we all overslept our alarms, but it was almost a blessing, as I think we all needed the extra sleep. Instead of sightseeing, we grabbed some pastries for breakfast and sat in St. Stephen's Green while we ate. Fun story: we had a little goldfinch friend who kept eating our crumbs, and we eventually named him Ian. Ian eventually grew tired of us and hopped away. A few minutes later, we were still eating, and one of us had dropped a large crumb under our bench. All of a sudden, this bird flew from under our bench and up into trees behind us, which was quite startling actually. Dad just looked at Mom and I, and asked bewildered, "Was that Ian?" Perhaps it's the ridiculous name we gave him, or the situation itself, but we laughed REALLY HARD after that. Instead of asking, what was that, Dad simply wondered if Ian was back. Hilarious. Perhaps it's one of those 'you had to be there' things, but either way, quite funny.

We went back to the hotel so I could catch my cab to the airport and then start the travel adventure home. The trip home went much more smoothly than my trip there, no delays and very quick trains/buses (or so it felt). All in all, a really fun trip! I had never really traveled with JUST Mom and Dad on a vacation, only day trips here and there. It was wonderful to see them after being away for two months, and also to catch up in person instead of on Skype. We did miss G/D&L from the trip though! I loved Ireland, and all the green everywhere! Spring finally hit Europe, and I saw it in the perfect country. The people in Ireland were also the friendliest of any country I've been to so far, and I'll always remember that!

More to come tomorrow about Spain! Get pumped! :)

Darth

I realize I'm VERY behind in updating the blog...but it was exam week, so blame the delay on THAT! I have posted Ireland pictures on Shutterfly, and will hopefully get a chance to blog sometime while on Spring Break - in SPAIN! All of our hostels have internet, so I'll do my best to update Ireland when I get a chance. Spring Break officially starts tmrw...leaving for Barcelona, and will be there until Sun (Easter) morning...then Valencia for the end of Sun/Mon...then on Tues off to Seville until Thurs morning...and we'll end our trip in Malaga for the remainder of the trip. We fly home on Sat afternoon.

To keep you entertained until my next post...I'll share my 'Darth' story...

So for anyone who knows me well, I HATE spiders. They are the one creature that truly make me shiver. So one night this week, Melinda and I are studying in our respective beds and she lets out a yelp...I look over and this HUGE spider is in the middle of our floor. Biggest spider I've ever seen aside from tarantulas in pet stores. With legs spread, it was probably 3 inches wide. I leaped to the other side of my bed and we both were yelling. It was 1:30 AM so we probably woke our neighbors. The problem was, in Hungary - it's bad luck to kill spiders. Melinda wanted to try to transport him out our window. I was NOT into that idea as this dude looked capable of jumping...and also...to go out the window, we'd be going over my desk...and if he fell under there, I'd no longer use it. EVER. So I convinced her (at a loud decibel) that I brought back enough Irish souvenirs that we were BOUND to have lots of lucky stuff to overcome the bad luck of killing this spider. She agreed and, as he was closer to her side, she gave a mighty whack from her folder and a few solid smacks with a shoe for good measure. We checked to make sure he was dead and then left the folder...with the spider exposed...in the middle of our floor. For the next 24 hours. We then named him Darth. This was in honor of another dark foe - Darth Vader - who we felt was at the same level of evil. We left him out in hopes that his brutal public murder would terrify his friends into hiding. We both didn't sleep well that night...and kept thinking we heard or FELT little legs. AH! Hopefully there are no OTHER Darth's out there! Also - we think he climbed in the window...so we both are against ANY window opening from now on. No screens on our windows here...so all sorts of fun creatures may crawl in. Awesome.

And THAT is the story of Darth. The End.