Ireland was absolutely fabulous and it was a great way to end a great trip! We had beautiful weather most of the trip, with the exception of the first full day we were there, when it drizzled a little bit. It didn't damper our spirits too much though because we were on an awesome walking tour around the city of Dublin. Our tour guide was lovely and very energetic and told us lots of stories about Irish and Dublin history. One of our favourites turned out to have a very important piece of advice attached-never take drinks from a dodgy Englishman (Kara will have to keep that in mind!)! We finished the tour and had a late lunch at a nice, cozy little pub. As can be imagined, there were a lot of those in Dublin! We then headed back to Trinity College which we'd seen on the tour to check out the library there and the Book of Kells-an old Irish manuscript of the Gospels. It was absolutely fantastic to see something so scared and so old! One of the rooms in the library, the Long Room, was astonishingly beautiful. It had most of the library's old volumes in it, from floor to ceiling-remarkable! Later that night, we embarked on a pub crawl (yes, a pub crawl) and it turned out to be a lot of fun!
The next day, we ventured outside of Dublin, to a little port town called Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Dun Leary-we learned that the hard way). Despite a little trouble with pronunciation and transportation, we finally made it there and we were so glad we did! They had a very lovely market there, with all kinds of yummy food, crafts, and other odds and ends. It was such a nice day and the park was beautiful with lots of flowers and trees. It didn't seem real! We had lots of great treats, including amazing falafel and a delicious chocolate brownie. We sat on one of the piers for a while and just enjoyed the beauty of the day. Later that afternoon, we wandered around Temple Bar and had great Cajun food for dinner. Afterwards, we went to a pub and tried a Guinness (Kara wasn't a big fan) and listened to Irish music. It was a fantastic day!
Monday we ventured outside the city again, this time into the Wicklow Mountains. We went on a guided bus tour, which was really nice and the driver/guide was very entertaining, making it that much more fun. The scenery and landscape is hard to describe-the only thing we can really say is that if you picture what you think Ireland would look like, this was it-only better!! While we loved Dublin, we were really glad to have been able to get outside the city and see Ireland at its best and most beautiful. Ireland was absolutely amazing-Kara thinks it might have been her favourite, but she's really not sure. We've loved every single place we've been, but we still have more to see!
Our last, albeit minor, part of the adventure was a 2-day layover of sorts in London. The royal wedding being so soon when we were there (already over a week ago), there were SO many people/tourists in the city! It wasn't too much fun to be jostled around on the Underground, but we still had a pretty good time. On the first full day there, we got to see Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey. We were sad though, because we couldn't go into the Abbey-we'd just missed the closing time by 10 minutes!! We did get to see the Supreme Court building and also the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. We didn't know that Big Ben was actually attached to the Houses of Parliament. Learn something new all the time!! We even ventured to Oxford Street where all the major shopping is. Needless to say, we will NEVER do that again!! There were so many people around that they had to close the entrances to the Underground for a while due to crowding!! Yikes!!
The next day, we explored Kensington Palace and hunted for the seven princesses that have lived there. It was like an interactive museum and an art gallery all mixed together-it was a lot of fun and the palace also had beautiful gardens. We also went to the Tower of London that day and saw the Crown Jewels and some of the old royal armour. We also got to wander around the Natural History Museum. The highlight of the London trip though was seeing the Phantom of the Opera at the theatre. Being our first theatre performance, we were ecstatic. Although Kara had seen others before, this one has now become her favourite!! We were singing the songs for days!!!
Although we had a great time the few days we were in London, we were REALLY REALLY REALLY ready to be back in Exeter!! Three weeks of travelling can be exhausting!! We finally arrived back last Friday and spent most of the week vegging and watching movies and not doing that much. However, Kara has exams coming up soon, so she'll have to start studying-BOO!! She's assured us though that our adventures are DEFINITELY not over!! We'll be exploring Exeter and the university campus soon and hopefully going to other places in England as well. There may even be a trip to Wales in the works soon!! So, expect to be hearing more from us. In the meantime, we're excited to share a few pictures of our travels thus far. Enjoy!!
On the bus from London to Edinburgh-it was a LONG ride!
Aunt Ka having a taste at the whiskey distillery in Scotland
At the hostel in Edinburgh-we were EXHAUSTED!
On the Isle of Skye, we went to the capital town-Portree-and went to an AMAZING bakery. That flapjack (kind of like a granola bar) was delicious!
Chillin' on a park bench in a tiny little Scottish town
Us and Kara at Loch Ness-we were sad that Nessie didn't show! :(
On our way to Rome!!
With Kara at the Piazza Navona-the fountains were beautifully lit up at night!
On the Palatine Hill in Rome
Rome was all about the food-this was fantastic lasagne!
With Kara at the Vatican!
Our suitcase has been decorated with stickers from each of the places we've been.
We climbed 551 steps to get to the top of the dome at the Vatican-
but the view was well worth it!
A beautiful statue at the Vatican Museum.
The ceilings in the Museum were magnificent-this picture doesn't do them justice!
On our way to Holland!
But one last gelato first!
The amazing pancake-pizza creations in Leiden-so good!
Amsterdam!
We couldn't leave Holland without a picture of a windmill!
Going to Dublin next!
But first a sunny sit by the canal in Leiden.
Us at Trinity College, Dublin.
In the lovely little port town of Dun Laoghaire.
In the Wicklow Mountains-BEAUTIFUL!!
Completing the journey-off to London!
We made friends with a peacock at the Natural History Museum.
-The Flats
