Thursday
So when we were on the tour bus on Wednesday, we discovered a few places we wanted to go on Thursday. We decided on Dublinia and Christ Church Cathedral, without knowing anything about either place...However, they ended up being pretty cool. Dublinia was a museum depicting Medieval Dublin (which was called Dublinia...obviously), and it was super interactive (aka it was probably meant for little kids...perfect!). We bought tickets that gave us admission to both the museum and the church next door, Christ Church Cathedral. It was a kind of bizarre church, however I liked it. We also got to go down into the crypt, which was pretty cool!
At that point, it was already halfway through the day and I was flying out at 8pm, so we decided on one last destination, Dun Laoghaire. Pronounced "Dun Leary". Don't ask, I in no way understand Irish/Gaelic pronounciation, haha. Anyway, it was a little village 20 minutes south of Dublin that we decided to visit, since we had basically had enough of Dublin city at that point. So we took the DART (a commuter train sort of thing) to Dun Laoghaire and walked around a bit. It was a lot more quaint and personal, more typical 'Irish village' than Dublin was, which I liked. We walked out to one of the lighthouses on the docks, which proved to be quite a feat, as there must have been like 50 mph wind tunnels at some points in the walk! It was crazy, I had never felt such strong wind before! But it was great being back out on an ocean, even if it was like 8°C the entire time. It got really pretty and sunny (but still cold) just as we made it to the lighthouse.
Afterward, we searched for some kind of café where we could get a hot chocolate because we were dying of cold! But all we could find was a pub (go figure) so we went in and got hot chocolate there. Then it was back to Dublin, where I caught the bus back to the airport and was on my way!
When I got there, I went back to the police station to ask about my Carte de Séjour and cell phone, however no one had found the carte, and I was informed that if I lost my phone in the bus, it would be returned to the Bus Depot in downtown Dublin, not the airport. so i said goodbye to any hopes of finding either thing, and got on my plane toward London Stansted!!
Yes...I went there. Thank you photoshop!
Medieval Dublin's cures for a Toothache and Headache...ha ha
Christ Church Cathedral
Tram ride to Dun Laoghaire
Our treacherous windy walk out to the lighthouse...Me and the ocean reunited at last!
This walk took about 45 minutes against the wind...and 20 minutes on our way back, with the wind at our backs. Haha.
Finally, some clear-ish sky!
Notice my collar and hair...sooo windy!!
Kind of looks like that one row of houses in San Francisco!!
The view in front of the aforementioned houses.Thursday Night/Friday -- Halloween!
So I found my way from London Stansted Airport to Kings Cross station in London, where my good friend Meghan met me and took me to her building! She lives in a big building for international students where you have to sign in guests and swipe a card in and out...it was quite prison-like, and made me thankful for my independence here in Lyon!
We got back to her room and all her friends were already in there, ready to go out to a club for the night, so I gathered myself and was immediately whisked away onto the bus and out on the town! It was really interesting, Meghan and her friends' abroad experience is a lot different than my own. They aren't doing an immersion program, so they are basically taking a couple of classes at a Study Center, traveling every weekend, and clubbing when they are in London. Not that I'm not thankful for all my experiences and ups and downs here in Lyon, but it seems like they sure are living the life!
Luckily, another friend from UCSB (Jessica) had an extra bed in her room since her roommate was gone for the weekend, so I had a place to sleep while I was there! The next day, Meghan and I woke up and met my friend from Lyon (Robert) at a little café where we got traditional English breakfast. Afterward, we did the quickest tour of the British Museum in history, since we didn't have much time for touristy stuff. So we went through and saw the Rosetta Stone, the frieze of the Parthenon, and the mummy of Cleopatra. After the British Museum, we took the tube down to see Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey, then took a walk through a park (the name of which escapes me, I don't think it had a name) to Buckingham Palace, where there were unfortunately no beefeaters!!! (Picture idea failure number 1)
So after a fantastic lunch at a burrito place (Yummm), we went to see 007: Quantum of Solace, since it was already out, and why not? We were in London! It was pretty good, but I've gotta say, I never fully understand whats going on in action movies like that. Afterwards, we went to a couple of stores to put together our Halloween costumes...Meghan, her friend Bridget, and I decided to be Dead Lifeguards :)
Me and Meghan upon arrival in her room! 
No one ever told me what was inside those famous London telephone booths... 
I saw a bunch of these in Edinburgh as well, but I had to wait until I saw the real thing in London to take a pic! 
Westminster Abbey..too bad it was too expensive to go inside :(
Me and Ben/Parliament!
Phonebooth + Big Ben = Most LONDON picture ever!
Me and Buckingham Palace. Don't let the smile fool you...I wanted a picture with a Beef Eater!!
Chillin with James
Scary dead lifeguards! 
Me, who ran on the pool deck, Meghan, who swam without waiting 20 minutes after eating, and Bridget, our make up expert of the night who died of Shark Bite.
We found a Jesus to heal my wound!!!Saturday
After catching up on some well-needed sleep, we got up and got ready to see the Chelsea-Sunderland match!!! I was really excited, even though I don't follow Chelsea football, because I knew it was a big deal that we got tickets. And it was really fun! Meghan's friend Simone's English boyfriend brought us all jerseys to wear and we trekked out to Stamford Bridge, decked out and ready to go...Unfortunately, we looked a little silly being dressed in tons of Chelsea garb and not being able to sing along with the songs all the hardcore fans were singing...because 1. we didn't know the words and 2. we couldn't really understand what they were saying anyway!
Either way, it was super fun! Chelsea won 5-0, so it was a good game. It was rainy, but luckily we didn't have to deal with that until we left the game...and had to walk 30 minutes to the next Underground station, because there was a "Customer Incident" at the Stamford Bridge station...which we took to mean that there was an accident involving a body on the tracks. Yikes.
After getting home and warming up, we (me, Meghan, Bridget, and her friend Meg, who was visiting from Bordeaux) went out to an area of town locally known for its great Indian food, and we had a SUPER amazing meal. Again, after this trip I have found a new love for Indian food! Thank youuuu British colonialism! After the big (and expensive) meal, we went to a little bar and hung out for a while to kill time, because Meg was flying out early the next morning and had to leave at 3am anyway. We met some interesting guys, one of which claimed that he was a biscuit (cookie) designer, and wore a "spatial" watch...Then, we met a couple of others on the bus ride home who were, like all Europeans, very interested in the election and our opinions on it.
Simone, Meghan, and me...and our awesome seats!! Well worth the 45£!
Awesome action shot...the Blue is not only saving the ball from going out of bounds, but also slidetackling the opponent, and splashing muddy rain water in his face! SCORE!Sunday
Woke up about 3 hours after coming home and headed to the Tube to catch a train back to Stansted Airport. I saw Robert there, also on his way back to Lyon (but he was smart and bought a direct flight) and we discussed our Halloweens. Then, I flew to Grenoble (which is BEAUTIFUL, I can't wait until we get to go there for Thanksgiving with EAP!), slept through my 45 minute shuttle (a true testimate to how sleepy I was...I never sleep in vehicles!) to the Grenoble train station and took the 1.5 hour train back to Part Dieu, from which it takes about an hour to get back to my place.
And yet, after all of the cold, rain, 3-4 hour nights of sleep, and public transport, I have managed to stay healthy and not get sick upon my first week back in Lyon! (Knock on wood...)
All and all, it was a really good trip. I am, however, happy to be back in Lyon, which feels more and more like home each time I leave and come back.
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