Sunday
I went to an Internet Café with Eva (my roommate) and printed out my boarding passes...Then it was off to Part Dieu (the train station) where I took a bus to the airport. I waited a lot at the airport in Lyon, then flew to London where I did some more waiting. I finally arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland around 10:30pm, and took my 20 minute bus to the city center. I was met there by my friend Briana, a girl who I have had several classes with but was not particularly close with. But she was the greatest hostess ever! When I arrived, she had baked brownies and had an air mattress waiting for me! We chatted until we decided to hit the hay around midnight, as Briana had no classes the next day and was going to show me around.
Monday - First Day in Edinburgh
So we went to the Scottish National Gallery, which was pretty cool. I wasn't too familiar with many of the paintings though! Guess I should have brushed up on my Scottish painters...Afterward, we went to Edinburgh Castle, which was MASSIVE! This thing is like 15 little castles on top of a hill, each with a mini-museum inside or some kind of super cool artifact, like the Scottish Crown Jewels, or old jail cells. We spent a lot of time there, then went to a restaurant where I had my first Fish and Chips and a pint! Later that night, we met up with another of my friends from UCSB, Brian, who ended up living in the same building as Briana! We went to this little pub inside their University center with Brian and his flatmates, hung out for a while, then headed home (after forcing down some Scotch Whiskey).
The Scot Monument
Me and a kilted man!
Me and an REAL kilted man! With a bagpipe!
Edinburgh Castle
There were a bunch of cannons at the top of the castle...sweet!
My first fish and chips!!!
Me, Briana, Brio, and his flatmates each bought a different whiskey...and struggled our way through them. However, throughout my trip, I was determined to try everything, even if I didn't like it, especially if it was a specialty of the city/country...Tuesday
Briana and I decided to go climb up Arthur's Seat, a huge hill with a great view of Edinburgh at the top. Basically how Edinburgh is set up is that there are 2 huge hills, and in between the two is the Old Town area, where Briana and Brian live and where I spent most of my time. On one hill is Edinburgh Castle. At the bottom of the castle is the beginning of the Royal Mile, a street that leads all the way to Parliament, which is at the bottom of the other hill, Arthur's Seat. So we hiked up to the top of Arthur's Seat, which took about 45 minutes, and came back down. We also saw the outside of Parliament, which was a really cool building designed by a Catalan architect.
After that, Briana had class, so I met back up with Brian. We went to go eat at this hole in the wall Indian place which was SO good. I thought for some reason that I didn't like curry, but after this vacation I've decided that I actually really like it, and most Indian food. (Thought you'd be glad to hear that, Dad) That evening, I said bye to Brio and headed to the bus stop to go to the airport.
The end of the Royal Mile
About halfway up Arthur's Seat
Alllllmost at the top!
View from the top. I think this is the part that gives it the name Arthur's Seat. kind of looks like a big flat surface...
Queen of the mountain!!
Finally at the top!Tuesday Night - Arrival from Hell in Dublin
So I arrive in Dublin around 6:30pm. I get a nifty green stamp in my passport, buy a bus ticket for 6€, and head onto the bus toward Downtown Dublin, which takes about 25-30 minutes. I walk for about 15 minutes trying to find my hostel and I finally get there and start filling out my check-in paperwork. Then, I realize that I can't find my passport. So I get what I need (my passport number) from the copy that I keep with me, put my stuff in my room, and jet back to the airport...all the while, calling the airport Lost Items department repeatedly. I finally got through and someone said they had my passport, thank GOD!
So I return to the airport, go to the Police Station and get my passport...however, my Carte de Séjour (essentially, my temporary proof of French citizenship) was no longer tucked inside. I informed the nice man that the Carte was still lost, and gave him my information. Then, I went straight back to the bus (to make my total for the night 18€ already). I arrive back at my hostel, around 10pm, and realize that now, I no longer have my french cell phone! HONESTLY! What luck! At this point, I was much too exhausted to go back to the airport, and no one was answering the phone, so I decided to give up and deal with it later.
All the while, it was freezing and raining outside...thus was my first impression of Dublin.
Wednesday - First Day in Dublin
So I allowed myself to sleep a little bit, read some Harry Potter 6 en français, and I decided that I wouldn't worry about the phone thing until I went back to the airport on Thursday to fly to London. Brian arrived at our hostel at about 10am that morning, and we decided to go to Trinity College, which wasn't too far of a walk from our hostel, which was right on the edge of Temple Bar, a popular area of town heavy with pubs and bars. So we walked around the campus, then met up with Brian's friend Abdul, who goes to school at Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, or RCSI. Abdul gave us a little tour around the area and around his college, which was pretty neat. Then he treated us to lunch at an Italian place. Afterward, Brian and I hopped on one of the tour buses where you can get on and off at any stop, because we really had no idea what to do or where to go. We knew we wanted to go to the Guinness Storehouse, so we took the bus there (and got some ideas along the way for things to see on Thursday).
The Guinness Storehouse was a little unlike what I expected, it wasn't indeed the place where Guinness is brewed, but simply a museum of sorts that showed the brewing process. In any case, it was really cool. With a museum ticket, we also got to go up to the top level and drink a free pint of Guinness! The bar on the top floor had glass walls and a 360° view of Dublin, which was really neat.
Afterward, we headed home and out to a nice little restaurant where we got traditional Irish Boxty dishes. After that, we caught the end of the Manchester (soccer) match in a pub, and wandered around a little bit. By that point, we were pooped, so it was back to the hostel and off to bed for us!
Trinity College
Me and Brian freezing our butts off in the tour bus! It was SOOO cold! 8° C was the warmest in Dublin, which is about 46°F...plus, it rained the whole time!
At the Guinness Storehouse
With my free Guinness at the top!
Pretty view of Dublin!So that's it for now...I'll finish with the rest of Dublin and London sometime in the near future, but for now it's sleep time! After a vacation of very little sleep, staying up all night for Obama results, sleeping all the next day, and going out last night with my roommate, my body is all kinds of tired and confused!
Also, my parents informed me that quite a few people actually read this, which is news to me! If you ever want to leave a comment, feel free to do so just at the bottom of each post where it says the time it was posted and the number of comments...I would love to hear from any and all of you, sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself with this blog, ha ha.
Stay tuned for more!
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