Fall break in Dublin, London, & Sevilla!

4 flights, 8 days, 1 bag = 1 big adventure...


DUBLIN

Upon landing in Dublin, Grace, Rachel and I had to take a bus to the city center in order to get to our hostel. After riding on the bus for forty minutes we figured we had to be getting close to our destination, however, we began to get a little worried when we were almost the only ones left on the bus. After reaching the end of the line our bus driver kindly asked us which stop we were waiting on and then chuckled when we told him Trinity College. Apparently we had missed it by a number of stops, seeing it was the second one. He told us not to worry and that he would get us there after joking that it is a long walk from where we stopped. When we finally got there he told us exactly where to go to get to our hostel so we wouldn't have anymore unwanted tours.

Our first night in Dublin was Halloween so we ended up celebrating by going to a number of pubs and enjoying Guinness and cider. The following day we went to Bad Ass Cafe for a wonderful, big Irish breakfast (a concept Italy lacks entirely) and real drip coffee! With a full stomach we headed off to take a tour of the Guinness factory, which was very interesting and fun to learn about. At the end of the tour we enjoyed a pint of Guinness at the skybar which is a circular room with all glass walls looking out across the city. We then took a tour of Dublin Castle and Christ Church which were also very interesting. At the end of the day we were pretty tired from all the walking and touring but that didn't keep us away from the pubs!

That night we went to the Temple Bar area and ended up taking a seat in St John Gogarthy's Pub. The atmosphere in this place was very lively and upbeat. A traditional Irish band was playing in the second level of the pub so Bridget and I grabbed a seat and sat and listened the whole night into the morning. Being a fan of Irish music I made a few requests and they were happy to dedicate them to the American girls. We soon made friends with the violin player and the bango player (and I have a picture to prove it ;).

The last day we spent looking around St Patrick's Cathedral and getting our last fill of breakfast. I was very sad to be leaving Ireland, it felt the most like home to me.

LONDON

Our next stop was London! London was a whirlwird, I don't believe I have ever seen as much and walked as much in 2 days as I did here. First thing to note was that the tube and a good amount of all public transportation was on strike and second was that our hostel was not exactly close to the major attractions. That being said, it definitely was worth the sore feet.

On the first night in London we took a night tour called The Grim Reaper. Our tour guide was full of spunk and fun to listen to. He took us around the major sites made famous by Jack the Ripper as well as pointing out other spooky sites and stories. Lets just say that I am happy to have not been a female in London during the late 1800s.

The next day we walked through Hyde Park and the Queens gardens which were absolutely beautiful with all the fall colors and peaceful landscapes. After that we joined a walking tour that lead us to all of the major historic attractions that London has to offer. The tour was very informative and well worth it, even though the walking part was not so fun. That night we met Rachel's friend Matt at the Globe Pub and half chatted, half watched a football match.

After only two days in London we were off to the last leg of our journey in Spain.


SEVILLA

We arrived in Spain around 11pm, thanks to Ryannair's knack of not being able to make it anywhere on time, and found a taxi to take us to our hostel. Thankfully the reception had waited for us even though they normally close at 11pm, otherwise we would have been spending the night on the street. However, we had a surprise waiting for us as we walked into a room of three sleeping male strangers. Shocked and starving we dropped off our luggage and headed to the nearest bar to get some tapas at 12:30am.

The saying that everything is better in the morning definitely holds some validity. After getting some semi-interrupted sleep with a chorus of snoring men to thank, we were off to see the city. The weather in Sevilla was wonderful, blue skies and just the right temperature. We decided to go on a walking tour which took us to all the major sites. My favorite thing we saw was the city's main church and the Giralda tower which were situated among rows of lemon trees, horse drawn carriages, and warm colored stucco facades. The tower took 36 floors of ramps to climb but it was a sight to see from the top.

That afternoon we ate a three course meal which included sangria (wine with soda and fruit mmm) as well as a shot of some other type of sweet wine. It was delicious and the wait staph was very friendly. We spent the rest of the day wandering around and shopping which was nice and slow paced. That night Erica and I decided to go on a pub crawl. It was really fun because we got to meet some nice Australians and I ended up running into a friend from DU.

The next morning we took a tour of the Bull Fighting Arena and the Alcazar. Im still not quite sure what the purpose of the Alcazar was but it definitely was a grand maze of buildings and gardens. One thing is for sure, if anyone wanted to attack there they might end up dying before ever finding their way out haha. The bull arena was also fun to see, even though I still feel bad for the bulls.

I was sad to leave Spain and the excitement of the whole trip but after so much traveling and walking and touring, the thought of being back in Rome was a quite welcoming one =)