London, England - Day 3

Although day two was incredibly busy, we packed even more on day three! We got London day passes so were inclined to see as many attractions as possible (to make them the best bang for our buck). 

In the morning, we set off for the Tower of London. After an unfortunate subway closure, we eventually made it to our destination and saw the new Poppy display and the Crown Jewels. We then continued next door to the Tower Bridge Experience which consisted of many stairs and a mediocre view of this glorious city.

The largest crow known to man! Seriously, it was the size of my dog!

The Crown Jewels. 

The Tower Bridge.

Hoping to learn even more historical information, we kept going down the Thames to the London Bridge Experience which sounded like a fun and interactive museum! Turns out, it was a haunted house. Who would have thought? So, still wanting to get the most out of our day passes, we went through the haunted house which was very exciting and scary! We made our way through periods of the bridge's history and then had zombies jump out in front of us! You gotta love history man!

Next we went to Shakespeare's Globe, one of the most interesting exhibitions in the city. Though it is not the actual theatre Shakespeare's plays were performed in, it is a reconstruction that opened in 1997. We got a tour of the theatre and learned about the seating and tickets sales back in Shakespeare's time. After reading so many of his plays in high school, I was eager to see where the magic originally happened!

We then hurried to check the final locations off of our list! Emily wanted to see Westminster Abbey (because of Will and Kate's wedding - heck, I love them too!) but, since it was a Sunday, they were not running tours of the inside. We did get to walk around it though and see Big Ben which is right next door!

One thing that I was very excited to do was see Churchill War Rooms, a museum comprised of the Cabinet War Rooms and the Churchill Museum. I had read about this site on TripAdvisor and was glad that we could run through it at the end of our trip. This bunker, whose construction began in 1939, was used by the Cabinet during WWI and WWII, most notably Winston Churchill who during WWII made many transatlantic phone calls and decisions from within the armored basement. I could have spent hours in this place but, since we only had about 30 minutes, I made the most of that time!

After this we rushed back to the hostel to gather our things and then departed for the airport! This trip was very packed and busy - just the way I like to travel! I saw so many amazing things and fell in love with London even more! I can't wait to return for a fourth visit soon!

Yours,

The Opinionated Lassie

London, England - Day 2

To begin our second day in London, we decided to take a bicycle tour of the city. I have been able to ride a bike for a very long time so was eager for this fun activity - until I realized the bike was a bit temperamental. I swear that the handlebars were touchy or something because I was zigzagging all over the place. If there was a monument, I would nearly hit it. If there was a narrow passage, I would hit it. Actually. Twice. But all in all, this was very fun and we got to see a whole lot of the city in 4 hours! Pictures:

Parliament Building. 

Westminster Abbey.

The London Eye.

Keep calm... I should have listened. Though I had a bell, I usually just screamed at the pedestrians walking in front of me to save their life from me, the juggernaut.

After we finished our cycling, we headed to Abbey Road to recreate the Beatles' famous album cover. It is funny because such an interesting tourist attraction lies on such a quiet, normal street. There are small groups of people that gather on either side, hopping in front of oncoming traffic for that perfect picture, and there is a funny old man that gave everyone a little sheet of paper that said "Abbey Road" and directed you to the "Official Abbey Road Museum" which was this hilariously tiny shop piled with Beatles paraphernalia. But just look at the picture! Totally worth it!

Abbey Road, Emily and Brooke's request of the day, was followed by Lindsey's request: the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens. This statue, was sculpted with reference to the J. M. Barrie's novel Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. Apropos, don't you think? (Ps: the gardens were beautiful too!)

Always ready for a good photo opportunity!

After the gardens, the group split up for the evening. I was with Brooke and we set off to see Ellen, a friend of mine from high school, who is studying abroad in London! It was so great to see a familiar face from home (though she moved from KC sophomore year so it had been four years!) and I enjoyed hearing about her study abroad experience! We also got to see where she is living - a beautiful townhouse - making me and Brooke drool.

Don't you just love reunions??!!

Brooke and I, looking for delicious but cheap food, followed Ellen's recommendation and went to a schawarma place called Taza (or something like that). Man it was delicious! We spent so little on the schawarma that we even splurged and bought coffee at Starbucks (yayay!) to refuel for our exciting night ahead!

We ran back to the hostel to get ready to see the musical Book of Mormon. Brooke had heard great things about the show and I was just along for the ride! We had a fun time getting quickly dolled up before running to the theatre. The show was very funny, and inappropriate most of the time, but made for an enjoyable evening out! During intermission I had a dark chocolate bar and Brooke had ice cream which made us even more happy!

After the show we wandered around Picadilly Circus for a while. We passed many shops, got invited onto a party bus (though we declined), and took our stereotypical London-phone-booth pictures! We also went to the M&Ms store which was the most colorful and exciting four floors of chocolate on planet earth! Like M&Ms bliss, truly!

Plus we found a photo booth so this happened...

When Brooke and I arrived at the hostel, we waited for Emily and Lindsey to come back from their show so we could take a picture. In the meantime, I befriended the guy working at the reception desk and this happened:

Our classy London pic!

Thanks for reading!

The Opinionated Lassie

London, England - Day 1

After a horribly busy school week and two large weekend trips in a row, I have finally found time to sit and record what I have been doing. Let's jump back to last weekend (October 24-26) for a review of my trip to London!

Previous to this adventure I had been to London twice. I went with my family as part of our Irish odyssey when I was in grade school and again with a class trip after 8th grade. Loving the city the previous times, I excitedly planned this trip with three of my five roommates (Kansas, Kansas, and Colorado).

After landing in the morning, we hit the ground running! We checked into the worst-rated hostel (according to TripAdvisor) and were on our way! Emily and I wanted to see Madame Tussaud's (wax figure museum) and Brooke and Lindsey wanted to see the Sherlock Holmes Museum so we broke apart and were on our ways! When we arrived at Tussaud's we were amazed by the huge line so instead walked around the area while the others were in Sherlock Holmes. When they finished, we headed to the Warner Bros. Studio in Leavesden to see the sets and everything else from the Harry Potter movies. This tour, taking approximately 3.5 hours, was absolutely incredible even for a mugle like me who didn't read the books. We had an itouch audio guide that included exclusive footage and interviews to take us around the sprawling building. Here are some of my pictures:

After such a long day of traveling and Harry Potter we were all a bit hungry. We decided to stop on the way home at Piccadilly Circus. This is in some ways the Times Square of London with flashing screens and plenty of nightlife. We found some great Chinese take-out and headed to our humble abode to eat, clean up, and drift to a peaceful sleep (with a little help from melatonin).

Dingle - Pictures!

Not wanting to contaminate my puking blog with pictures or contaminate my pictures with a puking blog, I am now posting the pictures from my day trip to Dingle. Better late than never, right?!

For context. I live in Cork. Dingle is the big blue dot on the left.

On the way to Dingle. Our stop in Killarney, Ireland.

The main shopping street of Killarney - lined with souvenir shops and places to get food and coffee.

A statue in the main part of town.

Same name, very different store. No 2x4s here!

During the first drive of our three part Dingle journey. 

A rainbow so big, I had to photograph it diagonally! I could actually see the end of it in a field which was awesome. Who knew a rainbow could foreshadow such doom!?

Dingle, Ireland.

Outside a very old beehive hut.

Inside a very old beehive hut.

The countryside around the very old beehive hut.

The rocky shore by the bus' stop for the very old beehive hut.

As with every great town, Dingle has a dolphin mascot, Fungie.

This mascot has prompted a very extensive shop appropriately named "The Dolphin Shop".

The main strip of Dingle.

Dingle's harbor.

Me and my German roommate, Stefanie (Steffi), riding the statue of Fungie.

Riding back from Dingle.

A picturesque stop. Some needed horse bonding time.

And there it is folks! It looks better than it felt!

(To better understand this post, for those entirely confused, please refer to "Hurling, Not the Irish Sport)

Hurling, not the Irish sport

Disclaimer: Beware, in the expected-from-Emily style I tell this story of motion sickness in a very forward manner. All events explained are true and were as bad as they sound.

I write this as I depart for Dingle on yet another Paddywagon Tour. As many people are traveling this weekend, I decided to book a tour for just me to this scenic area and town. As things worked out, my German roommate, Stefanie, and her boyfriend who is visiting also booked this trip - which we found out when verbally exchanging weekend plans!! So, I walked to the bus with them and off the three of us go...

I should also note, it is the same bus driver as I had for Cliffs of Moher. The slightly inappropriate, singing bus driver I had for Cliffs of Moher. Oh boy. 

The driver explained that we would first be dropped off in Killarney where we would be transferred to a smaller bus (with a different driver) for the Dingle portion of the trip. On our way to Killarney we drove through the picturesque town of Macroom. The buildings along the Main Street were all well-kept and painted different colors. The driver then gave us an hour stop to wander around the town of Killarney. On an earlier trip to the Ring of Kerry, we drove through Killarney. I thought, "man that looks like a cool place to stop" and, one weekend later, there I was. In need of coffee and excited to look around the downtown, I got caffeine and wandered through shops. Killarney, according to the bus driver, has developed primarily with tourism and is now very reliant on the industry. The only other way Killarney makes money is by manufacturing Liebherr cranes for construction. We then departed for the Dingle Peninsula.

Then, as the roads became more windy and the pavement more bumpy, I became that girl. The girl who gets sick. In a violent eruption of coffee. Who didn't bring a bag. And I got to be that girl for the rest of the day. Everyone knew I was fine. Because everyone asked. And I nodded. And tried not to cry.

We went to a pretty beach. Inch beach. I didn't see much of it because I was in the bathroom recovering my dignity and composure. 

(an aside) And this is where the whole "be proactive, write the blog as you go" effort ceased. Instead of getting back on the bus and having a wonderful rest of the day the winding roads got more tumultuous and narrow. After a short ride we stopped at a resting point to overlook the ocean and saw some very very old beehive stone structures... but then the bus journey continued.The driver kept saying that we were getting close to Dingle where we could get some lunch and stretch our legs. "Getting close" was too ambiguous and I kept praying that we would arrive soon as my stomach was not holding on very well. At last he said "five more minutes" as the passengers' stomachs were rumbling - unfortunately, reader, my stomach had another idea. Yes. Round two. Luckily the nice French girls across the aisle had given me a bag an hour earlier and I was excited to be armed and ready. Unfortunately for me and the sweet lady seated in front of me and my jeans, the bag had a hole in it, a large hole, and the fun continued.

A few minutes later we did reach the quaint town of Dingle. Excited to get off the bus and find a trash can and bathroom, we settled on a restaurant that served fish and chips (the Irish delicacy Stefanie's boyfriend was hoping to try). After ordering lunch and cleaning myself up, I excitedly got my fish and chips and eased my raging hunger with an excellent and rather large meal. "I'll be fine" I said, I'll be fine.

We walked down the main strip of Dingle and went into many souvenir shops. It was rainy and cold so getting and staying indoors was a welcomed concept. One of Dingle's main attractions is a dolphin named "Fungie" who is often seen by fisherman and on tours led by the tourist offices there. This also has led to a pretty extensive dolphin store and sculpture of the famous character.

After our lunch and walking break we boarded the bus once again to head back to Killarney and then home to Cork. The driver told me that there was an hour and a half of driving ahead and that if I needed him to pull over I could hit the service light above me. The bus was small, only about twenty people. I started googling motion sickness on my phone as we drove trying to distract myself from the actual motion sickness brewing inside. I stayed quiet, to myself, and stared blankly at the headrest in front of me for the first hour of the journey. Luckily Stefanie had given me a more sturdy, hole-free bag to use if I needed it and I thought I was going to be just fine with my stomach happy and full of fried cod and french fries. But man, I was wrong again. 

I tried to reach for the service light in hopes of hopping off the bus and sparing the group from the pending doom - but reader, I was too late. Quietly and to myself the third episode of this television drama played out. The driver then announced that we would be making a surprise stop to take pictures and I was like "woohoo, prolong the agony." When we got off the bus for the picture point the driver looked at me, happy that we didn't need to pull over, assuming I had made it successfully. My look said it all.

After this anticlimactic stop wrapped up we filed back into the bus. We then drove to Killarney and I got to reboard the larger bus back to Cork. For this hour and a half stretch I decided sleeping would help avoid episode number four. Twenty minutes away from Cork, about to make it home free, the bus driver STARTED SINGING. And not just one song, three awful karaoke renditions.

When we finally made it to the bus stop, I took a cab home and spent the rest of the evening eating - as I was a little hungry - and watching computer television.

Dingle is great people. Seriously beautiful.

But visit at your own risk.

The Opinionated Lassie