Last Day in Dublin

9 November 2009

Liz had accidentally booked the wrong flight back so she had to leave early in the morning :(

The rest of the day we wandered a lot.

First thing we walked out to the beach. On the way there we saw the incredible harp bridge that they're building. It is sooo pretty!!

At the beach, the water was way way way out so there was probably about a mile of shore. I walked about half way there to touch the water and that was only a little inlet that had worked its way up!

Walking back toward city center got us a little turned around so we caught a bus.

Something fun!


We went around to some shops and hit up Carrol's--this huge 3 story everything-Irish shop-- and the Guinness store along with a few others. Then we tried to get into this cool library, but it was closed so we went over to the same church we saw on our tour, but it was too expensive for us, so we wandered some more. We made it to this park with a statue of Oscar Wilde reclining on a huge boulder as he looks across the street to what was once his house.

We stopped in at a little shop and got dinner.

The Irish Countryside

8 November 2009

Yesterday we had decided to get up and catch a bus for a tour of county Wicklow just SW of Dublin.

We started out heading toward Glendalough "Glen of 2 Lakes" where St. Kevin set up his monastery. It was an incredibly beautiful valley. An interesting thing our guide pointed out was that it was carved out by glaciers and the 2 lakes likely used to be one and in the next 5000 years they will likely disappear altogether.

The ruins were pretty cool. They included a rare double gateway and a huge keep where the door was 4+ meters above the ground, serving as a fortification during raids as well as a kind of beacon to help people find the monastery in the thickly-wooded valley.

We got to wander around quite a bit.

Then it was back to the bus to head to a good lookout point. You could see the beautiful valley all around and even the ocean!

Another interesting tidbit: the government has been planting a type of pine tree (Swiss or Norwegian--can't exactly remember) for paper that is really hurting the beautiful environment. They're too small so birds cannot nest in them, they're too close together and ground animals will not make homes in them, the needles fall and poison the water, and after they are cut down the ground is completely stripped of all nutrients and is unusable for at least 10 years. A long time ago the government promised to stop, but as we drove on our guide was able to point out seedlings recently planted. Pretty horrifying... Just thought I'd share.

We drove out of the valley area and into the flatlands.

Then into Kilkenny. We got a break for lunch so we ate in the small castle garden and wandered around the town a little. Then we met back up for our guide to lead us around and back to the bus. The castle had been in the same family's hands from the Norman time until the 1930s and belonged to relations of Anne Boleyn.

We checked out the Black church--named so because of the black-cloaked Dominicans. It had this cool statue of the holy trinity--I guess God has a forked beard...

Then we went up to this other church that had a tall keep similar to the one at the monastery ruins. No one paid to go in because it was pretty expensive, and in any case we were heading right out.

Back into Dublin and we went out to the same big pub as the night before and listened to some more music. Liz and I got a Kilkenny in honor of the brewery we saw on our trip.

Top 'O the Mornin' Dublin!

Stephanie, Kelsey, Molly, Liz, Megan, and I flew out to Dublin in the wee hours of Saturday morning. We hopped on a bus and went into the city center to find our hostel and dump our stuff before heading out to a free walking tour. The tour was pretty good. We heard all about how ridiculous people think the Irish government is and how proud the Irish seem to be of their many attempts at revolution, their stubbornness, their love of beer, and their humor! We saw Dublin castle and the very little left of the actual old building, where Swift's house was, the wall built to hide the slums during Victoria's visit Trinity College the haypenny bridge the main church (can't think of the name) where Strongbow's tomb is as well as a mummified cat and mouse..., site of Viking buildings, O'Connelley St. and some monuments. It was pretty cool and there is a lot of history that gets overlooked! I had no idea there were such recent conflicts, either! After the tour we went back to the hostel and rested for a little bit before going to the National museum to check out the bog bodies. They were pretty amazing even though I had to sheild my eyes a little bit--just too creepy at points. Long story short, the bog bodies are bodies thousands of years old that have been found in the UK that have been almost perfectly preserved by chemicals in the bog. All the bodies had been murdered in some pretty gruesome way, but the bodies were incredibly in tact--many with hair, fingernails, skin that is just brown and leathery now, and even some distinct facial expressions. It was pretty crazy! We checked out some other stuff there before heading out again. We got dinner at this pub restaurant. Steph and I shared this awesome beef Guinness stew! We went back to the hostel for a little bit and asked the guy at the desk where the best places to catch some traditional music were. He was so nice and helpful! First we went to this place called O'Donoghue's where some big artists have reportedly played. It was tiny and incredibly crowded, but I really liked the comfortable, friendly atmosphere. There was a group of about 9 old guys and 1 woman playing--but usually only about 4 at a time, they'd switch off. They played a lot of old Irish music and it was so much fun! Then we moved on to another, bigger place. It was also INCREDIBLY crowded. There were 3 guys at the front playing and singing and we managed to squeeze ourselves right next to them. There was a very different atmosphere and they played a lot of fun sing-along drinking songs. "The Wild Rover" is still in my head, but we love it!

Here's a bit of a different song at the second pub we went to:

New Moon Spotting!!!!

11 November 2009

So it all started when Molly and Megan found an ad in the paper for the special New Moon event for Nov. 11. We were a little on the fence about going because of some stress about papers, but though what a once in a lifetime opportunity it would be!! The event started at 6, but by the time 4pm rolled around, Molly and Megan dropped out; and if it weren't for Stephanie still wanting to go I wouldn' have.

Luckily she was all for it! So we found our way to Battersea Park and there were these big, waving spotlights to guide us to the spot. We walked around to find the best spot and since space on the actual red carpet was full (since we got there about 5:30) we went over under some bushes to peer from the fence. We actually had a pretty close, unobstructed view of a lot of the carpet, the MC's stand, the doors, and the 2 live television screens. This was the hole in the fence we totally could've sneaked through...but didn't!

It was sooooo much fun! And the crowd was great! So many awesome Twilight fans screaming and having a blast! It was completely infectious! First came these groups of "werewolves" (guys with no shirts jumping around) and "vampires" (Volturi with red capes). Next the MC interviewed some bands that would perform inside that had put some tracks on the CD. Then came Robert. *SIGH* (Rob's head on the screen)

It was soooo exciting!! It took a while for him to get in our view but when he did it was amazing! I can't believe we were that close to him--I can't imagine how the people actually right next to the carpet must have felt...I might have fainted! We could see him wander back and forth signing things and giving interviews. Then came Taylor (You can see Taylor's head on the left half toward the center, left of the red blob)
and the director Chris Weitz. (He's facing us with the white shirt under a jacket!)
They both did the same. Luckily we could hear most of the MC's interviews with them.

Rob also got up there and talked a little! SOOO exciting!! Then Kristin came. She was pretty slow making her way toward the entrance so we really didn't see much of her until she went up to talk. It was crazy hearing all the photographers and seeing all the action! What an INCREDIBLE experience!! Top night! :D Then, to make things even more perfect, on our way out of the park Steph and I were walking toward a gazebo so we had a romantic Twilight prom moment :) And then - the bus we took back to Victoria station had the New Moon poster on it! It was fate!!!! And since it was stopping at Victoria we were able to take some pictures with it! Best Night Ever.

There's lots more pictures, but I'd have to go through them with a fine tooth comb to find who's in the picture!! That'll take some time! :D

Here's one video. The trailer showed a little before they came. It was the least insane of all the videos but I'll try to get more up soon.

By Far The BEST Night Of My Life!!!!

I know I still have a lot of updating to do from fall break and my trip to Dublin, but something extraordinary has happened in my life this evening.

Be prepared for something very exciting.

Pictures and video will follow, but for now...just know that....





I saw TAYLOR LAUTNER,
KRISTEN STEWART,
and .... ROBERT PATTINSON-----IN PERSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




There was an ad in the paper this morning about the fan event at 6pm in Battersea Park. There were a few of us that were going to go, but by 4pm, it was down to Stephanie and me. We got there just in time to get the perfect viewing spot between some bushes and a fence--which, by the way, had a gap in it big enough for us to sneak through, but as true, respectful Twilight fans we resisted the temptation. But we had a FANTASTIC view of the red carpet and the two big viewing screens.



It was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go ahead. Be JEALOUS!!!!!!!!

Now just 9 days until the movie comes out!!!!

"In Brugge"

26 October 2009


FYI: Brugge, Belgium, is "The Venice of the North" because it has all these beautiful canals since the city used to be a major major center for commerce and trade to the UK. But then it fell behind Antwerp and was kindof forgotten until people started putting a lot of money back into it to bring people back. It is a very cool little city!

We got up and stuffed ourselves with the hostel's complimentary breakfast. It was nice not eating sliced bread and fruit on train station floors for once! :D We stuffed our bags in a locker and took advantage of the fun little Brugge map we got from the hostel.

On the way to the train station to book our next tickets we saw this cool gate into the city where they once put the skull of a guy who tried to let ransackers in from the outside. The canals and the grassy areas around them were sooo beautiful, especially with all the changing leaves!



We saw this cool gate where they put some guy's skull on to warn others not to try to let bad outsiders in to ransack, learned that the horses with carriages around the city have big leather slides connected to their backsides to catch all their poop!, saw a place where women established their own community, a church with Michelangelo's statue of the Virgin and Child, another church that has what it believes to be a vile of the blood of Jesus, saw the cool town square.



We had Belgian fries - the ORIGINAL fries, NOT French, troops got confused - ran around the foundations of an old church in the basement of this hotel, bought chocolate from a famous 97-year-old shop owner - she was really cute! - and walked around the windmills surrounding the old city center. Big day!

Paris! Paris! Paris!

Saturday, 24 October

We moved stuff in our bags around to get day necessities into one and then left the other one in the train baggage place to make the day a little easier on our backs--we'd switch on and off. So nice--our backs were REALLY starting to feel all the walking with the heavy backpacks!! Then we got Metro tickets and dominated the Paris Metro system!

We took the Metro to the Arc du Triomphe and looked around He's jumping too!

Then we walked over to the Eiffel Tower. A little farther than we thought because the Eiffel Tower is a lot bigger than we had expected. We should've known I guess since you can see it from the Louvre! It is really impressive!




We walked around it and down the Champ de Mars (the grounds and paths that stretch southwest).

Then we went down to the Hotel des Invalides and were able to wander around inside a little. The chapel was really beautiful and past the altar the wall was mostly glass so you could see most of Napoleon's tomb that is in a special room on the other side. The tomb was massive and we got to see it without having to pay - always good!



From there we walked down to this beautifully ornate bridge--don't know which one it was right now. But it had lots of iron figures and gold all over. Then we worked our way back to the Louvre to go inside. On the way Steph ran into a girl she went to high school with! How crazy is that?!?! She knew she was studying in Paris, but seriously! What are the odds?!?!

We made it to the Louvre, paid, and then figured out we had a little less time than we thought before closing...45 MINUTES!!!!! We absolutely SPRINTED around the Louvre trying to catch all the highlights we could--not an easy thing to do as it is an incredibly HUGE and complicated building!! But we did it!! We saw the Code of Hammurabi, the Winged Bulls of the palace of Sargon, the capital of Apadana, a bunch of Egyptian sarcophogi that we ran past, the Venus de Milo, and the Mona Lisa! I knew the Mona Lisa was smaller than everyone expects, but I didn't feel disappointed. She was really beautiful--although, I think I liked the Venus de Milo and maybe the capital of Apadana better.



After resting from our crazy trip around the Louvre we decided to have a very Parisian dinner: wine, baguette, and cheese. It was delicious!!

From there we wandered down the Seine and checked out some of the tourist shops, making our way to the Eiffel Tower to check out the night show.

The night show was INCREDIBLE!!! So perfectly choreographed and colorful!! It was really fun to watch. Plus they had this music that would play which totally reminded me of what plays as you watch a magician work.


It was really fun. We watched it twice--even though we had to wait about 45 minutes in between. But luckily the guys who walk around selling keychains and stuff gave us a deal on 3 for 1 so that was slightly closer to what they were worth!

We took the Metro back to the hostel since we are now experts!