Days 59-65: DUBLIN! And a bit more…

I’m becoming slack at updating. I just have so much work to do. Boo. But I had an absolutely wonderful weekend. The Irish are just so damn nice.

Now what have I been up to? Let’s see…

Wednesday: Class from 10-12 of course, Library, HW… you know the gist. And at night I went to Woody’s (the parkwood pub) with Cathrin, Alex, Sonja, Lucy, Jackaby, and some of Alex’s friends. We just had a few drinks and they headed off to the Venue. I’m broke so I headed home… boo. But it was a good night. I really wish we had pubs in Columbia- not the disgusting bars we have in Five Points.

Thursday: Class from 11-12, came home and packed and got ready for the weekend and caught the bus into town around 3. Went to the Post Office to exchange money to Euros then headed to McDonald’s for a quick bit to eat. Took the bus to London around 4:30 and got to our hostel around 7.

We had a really early start on Friday so we wanted to head to bed early and have a quiet night. So we went to this beef pasta buffet at our hostel with yummy garlic bread and sangria (which was absolutely delicious). We met a nice girl from Brazil who had travel plans that matched ours… almost identically. Weird! She had just come from Dublin (which was where we were going.) And she’s going to be in Amsterdam and Barcelona the same weekends we’ll be there. That’s pretty odd! Haha, anyways… Steph and I went upstairs and played card games for a while and had an intense argument with our moron roommate about probability. Then we went to bed.

I was woken up RIGHT away by a French man snoring in our room. Gross. BTW this was SUPPOSED to be a Youth Hostel (meaning it’s for travelers under 35…) this guy was mid 40’s. So I didn’t get too much sleep. And we had to leave our hostel by 4:45 to catch our bus to Stansted Airport.

Our flight ran smoothly and everything. When we got in, we took the bus into Dublin and got off at a stop WAY after we were supposed to. So we had to get on another bus and ask more directions… But we eventually got there. Haha. Our hostel was really really nice. But they charged for luggage storage, so we had to hold on to our stuff until check-in.

We took the Dublin tram down to the AWESOME old jail on the sketchy part of town. It was really interesting. There was so much history there- with the emergence of the Republic of Ireland. The Political Leaders from the Republican side were all held at the jail and executed there. (Keep in mind, it was also Friday the 13th, so this was realllllly spooky.)

Afterwards we got lunch at a cute little Irish pub. Then we headed to the Guinness Factory. The museum was AWESOME. I think it was about 11 stories high. We learned all about the history of the beer, how to brew it, pretty much everything you’d want to know about Guinness. We even got samples! We ended up on the top story- which was a really cool bar that had glass windows in every direction- allowing you to see ALL of Dublin. We cashed in on our free beer and relaxed up there for a while. I could’ve stayed there all night.

When we left it was raining (boo…). We jumped back on the tram and made a quick stop at the Jameson Factory (so Stephanie could mail some Whiskey back to her dad). Then we headed back to our hostel and showered and got ready for the evening.

We ate dinner at our hostel (a beer and a burger for 5 Euros) then we made some friends with a bunch of Aussies and some Irish boys and we played drinking games with them for a while. Then we all headed out to the Temple Bar (the amazing Dublin nightlife area) and went to a great Irish pub with live music. It was so much fun but so damn expensive. The cheapest beer they had was 6 Euros (that’s about 10 US dollars). Afterwards we went to an even more expensive place- a 5 story nightclub with the cheapest drink being 8 Euros. Great… But it was still so much fun!

We left around 2 and made a few pit stops to fast food places on the way home. My junior whopper from BK was 4 Euros…. About $6.50 for a JR WHOPPER!!! WHAT THE HECK?! Apparently Dublin is in the top three of the most expensive cities in Europe.
We woke up Saturday and went down to our free breakfast of toast and OJ then started Day#2. We walked over to Trinity College, which has an impressive list of alumni. The campus was so pretty… Stephanie said it’s a lot like Harvard. Afterwards we went to see Temple Bar during the day. We walked and shopped there for a while… it’s such a cute area. Then we ate lunch at this Italian/Mexican Place… haha. I got a steak with potatoes and garlic bread for an appetizer…. Weird combo but delicious!

After lunch we went to see Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, which is stunning from the outside. But the inside was closed for a service, so we weren’t able to go inside. Then we walked to the castle and took a great tour of the inside. Unlike other castles we’ve seen, the modern part is still in use at least 2 times a week. Then we went underground to the ancient remains of the older castle. That was my favorite part… it was really spooky down there.

We left the castle and walked back to our hostel for a nice two-hour nap. When we woke up around 7, we went to dinner at a great Irish Pub. There was a huge football game on that night between Ireland and France so the place was PACKED. It was a really fun atmosphere. Plus the food was to-die-for. I got a bowl of Irish stew… yumyumyum!

After dinner, we went back to the hostel, played a few more card games and then headed out again. This time we went to a huge pub off the main street in Dublin. Once again, it was a really fun night!

We had to wake up really early on Sunday to catch our flight. We left our hostel around 6 and didn’t get home to Canterbury til around 2. A long day of travelling… When we got home we went to the grocery store and picked up stuff for the week.

Then I went home and relaxed. I got caught up on all of my favorite American TV shows and skyped with my parents then passed out.

Monday I had class from 11-12, went to the library, did HW… ate. Blah blah. That night I went on a really fun bar crawl with Amy and Sonja and the sailing society… lol. I’m so glad I went cause we went to all of these great bars in Canterbury that I’d never even seen before. Man, I don’t want to leave this place. Then we met up with Alexis and ended the night at the works. Wonderful evening.

Tuesday I had class from 11-1, went home and ate lunch, went to the library for a while then walked into town with Cathrin and Lauren. We ate our great meal deal again at Café Des Amis then walked home.

I’m so sad that I’m on the downward spiral towards going home. It’s going to fly by too. This weekend Amsterdam. Next- Marty’ll be here. Next- Barcelona. Next- Last weekend in Canterbury. Next- parents will be here. I love this place. Mom, can I please stay?!

The Rest of 54 and 55-58

Hello to my Nonexistent Blog-Follows! I bet you’re anxious to know what Kimmy Walt has been up to, right? Not too much has happened since I left you. Fun days… but don’t get too excited.

Friday night was so much fun. Alex had a Halloween/Birthday Party. I dressed up as a Policewoman, meaning I bought an 8pound cop hat and wore all black. Original, I know. We played American drinking games again and I must say that it was a tad frustrating being the dealer when ¾ of the players are foreign… Meaning that none of them know how to play. But whatever, it was still fun!

Saturday I went to the zoo right outside Canterbury and saw all of the gorillas and tigers and elephants. It was a beautiful day. And the zoo was so different from the Columbia zoo. Everything was spread out and the whole thing was just in the middle of all of this farmland. It was really cool.

When I got home, I relaxed for a while and then met up with Steph, Cathrin, and Lauren to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day. I officially love this holiday. And I want it to come to America. Really. The whole town goes to this huge bonfire and then they have a great fireworks display. We only caught the last thirty minutes or so, but it was so much fun. I want to come back to England every year just for this day. We went home early that night to save money.

Sunday I relaxed and did more HW… boo. Then at night I went to “Dorian Gray” on campus with the girls. Sorry, but I hate this movie. I don’t like dark, depressing stuff like that. No matter how cute the lead actor is.

Monday I had my IR class then I went home and worked on my Spanish Portfolio for about 3 hours. Boring. Then I skyped and caught up on my American TV shows. I had homemade pasta for dinner. Hey, it’s a step-up from Ramen!

Tuesday I had class from 11-1 and 3-5. Then I went to the library for about an hour to catch up on some reading. Afterwards I went into town to have dinner with Cathrin and Lauren. We went to Café Des Amis, an adorable little Mexican Restaurant with absolutely delicious food. They had a 2 for 1 deal, so we split two entrées between the three of us and still got stuffed. We had feta and spinach tacos and a vegetable tostado. AND we only spent 5 pounds!

Afterwards we walked to Tacos Locos for Ladies Night. We each got three delicious cocktails and shared a Mexican Pie Dessert. We had such a great time.

When we got back to campus, we intended to go back home.. but we ran into my friend on the way that said Origins was the place to be. So we decided to continue our night. And I’m so glad we did. They were playing great music, so we danced until around 1 then headed home. Wonderful evening. Only 2 days til I leave for Dublin and I CAN’T WAIT!!!

Days 49-54: More Work, Boo.

Once again, after a fabulous weekend… I really needed to catch up on work and save money. So my week wasn’t too exciting.

Monday: Got home at 9, completely exhausted from Italy. Read before class. Class from 11-12. Went home, worked on my Spanish project. Skyped with family. Nothing to exciting…

Tuesday: Class from 11-1, worked on my Span project. Presentation from 3-4 (it went pretty well), then class again from 4-5. Stephanie came over for dinner. We had frozen pizza and booked hostels for Dublin (WOOHOO!) She left. I skyped with Marty and did MORE HW.

Wednesday: Woke up, did HW. Went into town with Stephanie to run errands: i.e. topped up my phone, went grocery shopping… Went over to Amy’s for dinner and struggled making baked potatoes. It seriously takes an hour and a half to bake four potatoes?! Really?

Thursday: Class 12-1, lunch with Cathrin at Woody’s. I got Pita and Hummus and Cheesy Chips. Yum!! Went to Spanish from 4-5 then headed home to eat a small dinner. Went over to Amy’s around 9 and pregamed with Steph, Amy, Laura, and Alex, then headed out to KBar for drinks.

Today: Woke up, watched Gossip Girl. Went into town with Cathrin to buy Halloween costumes. Tonight’s Alex’s Birthday/Halloween Party. Should be a good time!!!

Looking forward to an exciting weekend in Canterbury! <3

Days 44-48: LONDON, ROME, MILAN

Wednesday I woke up and went to class from 10-12, stopped by the library to print off bus/plane/train tickets, then raced home and shoved some Ramen down my throat. At 1, I took the bus into town and caught the 2 O’clock bus into LONDON! We got there around 3:30 and shopped off Oxford street for a while. Then we grabbed a delicious happy hour dinner at pizza hut and wandered around the city.

I absolutely love London at night. We walked to Trafalgar’s Square then to Big Ben and Parliament then across the London Bridge and down by the river. Then we headed over to St Paul’s Cathedral, (which is still stunning), then over the millennium bridge. After wandering around for a good 3 hours, we took the Metro back to Victoria, grabbed a small snack, then jumped on a bus to our hotel. We stayed at the Marriott by Gatwick and got a total of 4 hours of sleep… we had to leave for the airport at 4:30AM!

Woke up bright and early, walked our way to the airport, checked in… everything went really smoothly. We got into Rome around 10:30 AM (cause of the time difference) and took the train into the city.

I simply cannot describe how beautiful Rome is. For some reason, I wasn’t too excited about it… but it’s absolutely fantastic. There’s so much history EVERYWHERE you look.

When we got there, we checked into our hostel, (Alessandro’s Palace- and what a palace it is!), then walked throughout the streets in search of some tasty Italian food. We found a self-serve place, and got mozzarella and potato pizza, and a mozzarella and tomato sandwich. Haha… both were pretty good.

After lunch, we walked over to the Spanish Steps, which at the top, provide an amazing view of the city. (But I was wearing shorts because of the 75degree weather, so I wasn’t allowed to go in the church… boo.) Then we walked to the Trevi Fountain- which is seriously THE KING of all fountains. Really, you’ve gotta see this thing. And afterwards we walked down to Ancient Rome, where all of the ruins are still standing. This area was absolutely breath-taking. It felt like I was taken back thousands of years in time. The architecture for that time, the marble, the fact that its still standing. It truly is remarkable.

Then we went to the Colosseum and walked around- right as the sun was setting. Amazing.
We then made our way back to our hostel and took a nap for about an hour. At 8:30 they had free pizza for us, and at 8:32 it was gone. But we stocked up on it and managed to get a few slices in. We also shared a bottled of wine and drank a bit at our hostel bar. There we met our fellow hostelers- Jimmy (from Sydney), and Rob (from Edinburgh). Both were so much fun that we decided to invite them out into town with us.

We went to the cheapest place we could find and met… AMY, who was also in Rome! It was a very interesting/entertaining/hilarious night. But it was great. MOST OF US walked back- taking a route right by the Colosseum at night, which believe it or not- provides an even more amazing view when its all lit up.

We woke up around 9, packed, ate our free breakfast, said our goodbyes to our new friends, then checked out of our amazing hostel.

We headed over to the Vatican, waited in line for about 45 minutes in the beautiful square, then walked around inside. It was so cool in there… so much history with all of the popes. We wandered inside for about an hour then went out and got some lunch. We ate at this really cute outdoor café. I got a great pasta dish.. and paid $4.50 for a sitting fee. Lovely.

Then we went to the Roman Museum, which is massive. And walked straight through until we got to the Sistine Chapel. Cathrin is an art history major so she almost had a heart attack. I can’t believe that he painted that within four years… it was absolutely amazing.

Afterwards, we sat outside and soaked up the sunshine and then met Amy for gelato. And to be honest, gelato is probably my favorite thing in Italy. IT IS SO FREAKING DELICIOUS.

We all then walked towards the Pantheon, which in my opinion, is one of the coolest places in Rome. It was built around 75BC… and its dome is still one of the biggest in the world. It was originally a pagan church but its now a Christian church. The inside of the building is absolutely remarkable.

We then walked back to our hostel, got our bags, and headed for the train station. We had 3 hours to kill, but we were all so tired… we just wanted to sit. We got on board at 11PM and headed to our disgusting seats. The Italian boys were all cat-calling to us and chain-smoking the entire ride. 8 hours of torture.

So when we got into Milan around 7AM that morning, we were all dead on our feet. Having slept VERY little, we took the metro straight to the Marriott and passed out until 3PM. I know, I know… sleeping that much in Milan?! But we would not have had any fun in the state we were in.

When we got up at 3, we got some lunch at…. McDonalds (hey, we’re broke okay?!) then hopped on the metro. We went to an area with a beautiful cathedral, walked inside, then walked around in that area. (By far- my favorite area in Milan.) We saw the famous opera house and walked through a really cute park. Then we went to a Milanese grocery store, stocked up on candy, dinner, and alcohol, and headed back to our hotel.

We hung out in the room, flipping through the Italian TV when… WE FOUND CONAN ON!!! Seriously, made my day. So we watched Conan, played drinking games, and pre-gamed for a good 2 hours then headed back out. It was Halloween, so we were excited to spend a night out in Milan!

We went to the area where all the nightclubs are, only to find each one charging a ridiculous cover of 35 EUROS!!! Boo! But we were all desperate to pee, so we went to this nasty little sketch-bar to use their bathroom. The toilet consisted of a hole in the floor that you were supposed to squat over. I will never complain about the bathrooms in five points again.

We then made our way over to a cute non-sketch bar that had no cover-charge and ordered a few drinks. I had a Halloween margarita, which was delicious. And there we met some very nice German boys and we hung out with them for the rest of our evening.

We took a taxi home around 2AM and slept in until 10:30. Yay for comfy Marriott beds.
When we got up, we headed downstairs for the spectacular Marriott breakfast. It normally costs about 20 Euros a person, but they had a special for associates… 5 EUROS. WOOHOO! We stuffed our stomachs as much as humanly possible, then went back upstairs and packed up.

We checked out, took the metro to a pretty huge castle, then walked over to the church where the Last Supper is painted. Unfortunately to see it, you have to get tickets a year in advance. Oh well.

We then shopped in the high-end area. Not buying anything… boo for being broke.
Then we went for dinner over by the canal. We got a 15Euro Special: bottled water, bread, a wonderful Italian chicken dish with salad, dessert, and coffee. Not a bad deal for Milanese prices… Not to mention, our extremely attractive waiters provided excellent landscape. LOL.

After dinner, we headed back to the Marriott, got our stuff, and took a bus to the airport. Our flight ran smoothly. We didn’t crash. And we landed in Stansted around 11:00PM. BUT… there were no buses, so we had to spend the night in the airport. Can’t be that bad right? Wrong.

First off, there’s no carpet in stansted so we had to sleep on the linoleum floor. Boo. Secondly, they turn off the heat at night. Put those two together= WE FROZE OUR ASSES OFF. Seriously, I maybe got an hour of sleep… Then I shivered my way to tears the other four hours.
We took a bus to London at 5 and then one back to Canterbury at 7. And I passed out on each ride. Thank God, cause I had class at 11AM!

Although we had some interesting sleeping arrangements, our trip was utterly fantastic. I love Italy, especially Rome. And I CANNOT WAIT TO GO BACK. Hint hint, Mom. <3