London - The "Real" Day One

Today we had to be up early again to catch the light rail into the city for a walking tour David was giving us. The transit system is so much better over in London than it is in New York. It's cleaner, seems safer, a lot easier, and there were a bunch of good advertisements. We were a good way away from the center of London, but we were able to get there relatively easily by hoping the DLR (Dockland's Light Rail) to the Tower Hill Station, which allowed us to get on the Underground or subway.

The Underground spit us out right near the Thames River and pretty much right in the center of London. Once you are in a certain area, you can basically take the Underground to where ever you need to go. It's centralized around a specific area with some branches that reach out to other areas.

What I found really cool about London, was the walking bridges that took you over the river. We crossed one to get to the other side of the city where some of the landmarks David wanted to show us were. From the bridge, there was a fantastic view of London. David explained to us what most of the buildings were as we crossed the bridge.

After we crossed the bridge we walked along the river and saw the British Film Institute (BFI), Tate Museum, and Globe Theatre. We then got some free time to take a look at some of the landmarks in the area. A few of us ran into the Tate Museum and had a quick look around before heading to the Globe Theatre. Afterwards, Cait and I split from the group we were with to head back to the BFI. The BFI was awesome. It was really cool to see some of the smaller exhibits they had set up and what they had to offer. There were also media libraries and in house movie screens where they held screenings of select movies. Those movies change every so often depending on what they are covering during that time frame.

After the BFI, Cait and I decided to grab a small bite to eat, because we wouldn't have any other time to eat until dinner due to another bus tour we were going on through the city. There was a sushi place near the meeting point and since it was Good Friday and we both couldn't eat meat, we decided that was a good choice. It was pretty crazy though. Pieces of sushi were individually wrapped so you could mix and match any way you wanted. It was very good though and did the job of holding us over until dinner.

The bus tour we went on after our free time was really good. We got to visit all the major landmarks in London and get out for a few minutes to take pictures. The tour also helped us get to know the different parts of the city a little better and showed us some of the places that we wanted to visit on our free day.

After the tour, the bus dropped us off in Piccadilly Circus where we met David and had some time to explore. In that time, Cait and I managed to get tickets to tomorrow's showing of Spamalot. We also had some really good weather up until it randomly started hailing for about 20 minutes. We all met up after seeing Piccadilly Circus a bit and headed off to the restaurant where we were getting dinner - The Tower Hill Diner. Now, when we're told "diner" most of us from the states have a similar picture in mind, but in no way was this place a diner. It seemed more like a fast food joint. But, appearances can be deceiving, I enjoined the Fish n' Chips there more than I did at one of the restaurants in Dublin.

After dinner, David arranged a Jack the Ripper Tour for whoever was interested. A good amount of us went. The tour was definitely another highlight of the trip. Despite the fact that it was cold and wet, we all had a great time. The tour guide was really good. He was very funny and animated. He kind of made you want to keep listening, but if you know anything about Jack the Ripper, its a pretty interesting subject. It's like a murder mystery as well as a history lesson. But during the tour we walked around the streets of London to the spots where some of the victims lived and to the spots where the victims ran into Jack. The darkness along with the quiet of the night helped set the atmosphere.

After the tour we headed back to the hotel and hung around in the bar area with some friends talking about what we wanted to do tomorrow until we decided to call it a night. Tomorrow is our last day in London, so we didn't want to waste a minute of it.

Our First Day in London?

Our first day in London was not really a day in London, but an evening driving through the city to get to our hotel. Being that tomorrow is Good Friday, there was a lot of activity around the city. Many people were leaving, others were coming in, but regardless, there was a lot of traffic. By the time we got to our hotel it was already pretty late in the day, so going out that night started to look more and more like it wasn't going to happen.

After we got checked in, Gina, Akansha, Art, Niel. Effat, Cait, and I decided to grab dinner together at the hotel's restaurant, we were all starving. After being seated and waiting a bit for our meals, we were surprised to see how good the food looked. But, without hesitation, we dug in. The food was pretty good, which is sort of a rarity in hotels. While eating, we saw a few more of our Kean people come in for food, and a couple others joined us. We all decided that since it was already getting late, that it was probably a better idea for us to stay in tonight and rest up. The group of us grabbed some drinks and hung out together and enjoyed the down time our first night in London.

London Calling...

Well after our long night in Wales, it was time to head off to London. Yet again, we had another long bus ride ahead of us. During the trip, we stopped off in Warwick and Stratford. Warwick is the home of Warwick Castle. When we pulled up to the structure I was in awe to see how big it was. I was really excited to see what it was all about. The highlight of Warwick Castle for me was the high point of the castle atop one of the towers. From the top you could see everything, there was actually 700 some odd steps to the top. The rest of the castle was really nice to look at, but in my opinion it was too "touristy." There were different exhibitions set up, a lot of it was restored. I think that these factors, along with others, made the castle seem fake compared to Beaumaris, where we were able to explore by ourselves. I don't know, maybe its just me, but I didn't enjoy it as much. Thats not to say I didn't like it, I just wasn't as fond of it as I was Beaumaris castle.

Stratford was the home of Shakespeare. We visited his home and the exhibits set up for him. Again, it was great to be involved in such a history rich atmosphere. All of the locations on the entire trip are filled with history, so I took every chance I got to revel in it. After walking through Shakespeare's house, we got some free time to walk around. Cait and I ran into Gina and Art and together we walked around. Stratford was such a nice town. It was great to walk up and down the streets in our free time and visit the small shops and see what the town was like. We got lunch at one of the restaurants in the city as a group then headed back to the bus.

Next stop, London.

The land of sheep, and really really ridiculously long names for things...

As we traveled through Wales, I was truly amazed to see it's landscapes. In the beginning of our ride, there were nice green rolling hills where we could see loads of sheep roaming. A little bit into our ride, we made a stop at a small town where there was kind of a tourist center/souvenir shop/restaurant. Oh yea, the town was named LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLLGOGERYCHWYRNDROBWLLLLANTYSILIOGOGOGOCH.

Phew, that took a lot out of me. Even typing that is a task. Anyways, heres what that means: "The Church of Mary in the Hollow of the White Hazel Near the Fierce Whirlpool and the Church of Tysilio by the Red Cave." Yeah...don't ask. All I can tell you is that its pretty ridiculous that the above translates into that, and the mere fact that it happens to be the name of a town is beyond me.

But anyway, we got some lunch, piled back into the bus and continued through Wales. As we got further in, you could see the mountains clearly in the background of the landscape. It was really nice. I think the further we drove into Wales the more and more beautiful it got. We stopped again not too much longer after LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLLGOGERYCHWYRNDROBWLLLLANTYSILIOGOGOGOCH (muahahaha :-P) at Beaumaris Castle.

Beaumaris Castle was awesome. One, I love castles and that sorta thing, and two, i love history. So this was right up my alley. Being able to roam free in the remains of a castle made my day. I learned a good amount about the castle and the history of Wales while I was there as well, so I can say it was almost overwhelming. It felt great to climb up to the walkway around the walls of the castle keep and look out over the surrounding terrain.

After Beaumaris, we had another 3 hour bus ride to our hotel in Llangollen. When we finally arrived most of us were relieved. That was definitely enough travel for one day. The relief was suddenly disturbed though when we realized what it was going to take for us to get to our rooms. The hotel was historic, and small. There were no elevators, just lots of narrow stairways in all sorts of directions. Finding your room was like reaching the end of a maze. We lucked out and our room was only two flights up. But, I felt so bad for everyone who had to lug their suitcases up "X" amount of flights of horribly narrow stairways to get to their room. I think we all lucked out and got the "crooked room." What I mean is that all the rooms were crooked in some way. Ours was on an incline from the door to the far wall and then dipped to the side at then entrance to the bathroom. Nonetheless, I was just happy to see a bed that I could lay down in because I was running on only a couple hours of rest.

After dinner at the hotel, David had mentioned taking a walk up to the ruins of Dinas Bran castle, which is where the film "Camelot" was shot. Despite the cold, it being late night, and the fact that the ruins were literally on top of a mountain, a good bunch of us decided to venture to the Dinas Bran ruins. The trek was so much fun, and being up on top of the mountain where you could see the entire town of Llangollen was amazing. This was definitely the best part of our stay in Wales. Luckily we had the moonlight to help guide our way up and down the mountain. When we returned, it was time for a drink in the hotel pub, which was awesome by the way, and to head to bed.

To Wales!

After an amazing, but far too short, three days in Dublin, it was time to head off to our second destination - Wales.

Ugh, wake up calls at 6am are not for me. Anyhow, I rolled out of bed around that time and started getting ready for our departure. We had to be packed and in the lobby of the hotel so that we could pile into the bus and head to Dublin port for the 8:05 ferry to Holyhead, Wales.

When we left for the port, the sun had just started to rise. It was a beautiful sight to look out over the water and see the sun emerge. When we arrived at the port, I think all of us were stunned to see the size of the ferry we were about to get on. This thing was GIGANTIC. I'm talking, cruise ship big. Not some dinky little New York ferry that some of us might have been used to.

Getting on the ship was definitely no problem. Our bags were checked and we jumped on. Many of us were stunned to see the interior of the ship resemble that of a cruise ship as well. There was an on board movie theater, different places to eat, a souvenir shop combined with what we would associate to be a drug store, a bar, an arcade, and even more. I mean, we had a 3 hour trip to Holyhead, so at least we would be bored.

Boy was I wrong, despite there being some crazy stuff on board the ship, most of us just kinda hung out, maybe grabbed something to eat and just relaxed. Actually, the lot of us passed out as soon as they found a couch comfortable enough to lay on. In the mean time, I worked on a couple blogs and spent time just talking with friends. I was fortunate enough to go out onto the deck of the ship too. It was freezing outside, but wow was it a sight. I have never been on a ship like that before, and to be out on the open ocean was a treat.

After a long 3 hours, we finally docked, got our bags, and got back on another bus. Only this time it was going to be for a few hours.

Dublin Day 3

Our third day in Dublin was a free day with an optional tour in the morning to the country side of Ireland. I decided to stay back so I could wander around Dublin some more and get to know the city better. I love being able to explore new places and being off on my own so I can get a feel of what its like. Especially in cities. Dublin is a Mid-Level city so because of it’s size you don’t feel like you’re being overwhelmed like you might in a city such as New York.

During the day, Cait and I took the Dart into the middle of the city, and walked along the Liffy until we found a place to stop and grab some lunch. We ended up back in Temple Bar” where we found a really nice, small Irish restaurant. We treated ourselves to a great lunch followed by probably one of the best desserts I have ever had. It was ice cream with a shot of Bailey’s poured over it. WOW. Amazing.

After, we wanted to check out some of the shops that we had yet to visit because they were closed for the holiday. So we did that then did some souvenir shopping for our families back home.

We had to meet up with the group for dinner at the Stephen’s Green Arch, but as far as we were told there were only a few people that went to meet there. So, we must have missed each other because Cait and I ended up hanging out there until about 7pm and missing out on dinner. We then headed back to the hotel to grab some food and just relax because we had to get up early the next morning to make the trek to Wales.

At the hotel I finally got the chance to speak to my family and throw up a post. Afterwards a few of us just hung around sharing pictures and talking about the trip so far. We then heard we had to meet for the bus at 6am so we can take the ferry to Wales. I’m really excited to see Wales, I don’t know much about it so it should be an interesting venture.

Thats all for now, will post up again and update ASAP.

Dublin Day 2 - St. Patty's Day!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!! There is officially nothing better than being in Dublin for St. Patty’s. It was a long day though, so here it goes...

Today started early with a bus tour into the center of Dublin with our EF tour guide David as well as a special tour guide for Dublin, Renee. On the way we were able to see everyone setting up for the parade. We first arrived at St. Patrick’s Cathedral which was absolutely beautiful. Being Catholic, Irish, and with Patrick as my confirmation name, made it such a wonderful experience to be in such a historic place. The cathedral was filled with statues, plaques, and all sorts of tributes to founders of Ireland and Catholicism. There was also a crew setting up for the live shooting of the service and the choir was warming up while we were there too. It was surely an unbelievable experience. I took plenty of pictures, so I will post them soon so you can all see a bit of it for yourselves.

After the cathedral, we all piled back into the bus and we started off through Dublin again to a park area where we were able to step outside and stretch our legs out. At the park, there was a giant cross there where David told us that the Pope gave a service a few years ago. I’ll get back to you with more information about that.

After taking pictures of the cross and getting back into the bus, we ended up at Trinity College where we were visiting the Book of Kells exhibit. The Book of Kells was beautiful as well. The exhibit was composed of illuminated and enlarged parts from the Gospels of Luke, John, Matthew, and Mark. They had some relics from the original pieces of scripture as well. It was fascinating. The neatness and symmetry used in the written Gospels was almost impossible to fathom a person being capable of that. There was no photography allowed, so it you want to look up the Book of Kells on Google, I would recommend it. If I find some decent links I’ll post them up.

After the Book of Kells exhibit we pretty much had a free day to go enjoy the St. Patty’s day festivities. The streets were filled with people all looking to celebrate the holiday. We lost a few of the people we were with, so my girlfriend and I went out to grab some lunch and then walked around visiting shops and exploring Dublin. The weather was pretty good for most of the day so it was nice to be outside experiencing St. Patty’s Day.

Later we all met up for dinner again. Shortly after we made a stop back at the hotel before heading back out to celebrate. We hit the “Temple Bar” area and visited a couple pubs. The atmosphere was great. I loved being able to be part of such a huge event and to see everyone out that night having a great time no matter where you were from. The one pub we were in they had a few Irish musicians playing folk and drinking songs. They also dedicated a few to some of the visiting peoples in Dublin, the American’s got booed though. I found it to be hysterical. There was actually a fair amount of Americans there, so when one musician asked if anyone in the pub was American there was some cheers from one side of the pub then an overpowering “BOOOO” from the other. The timing was priceless.

But, as for the rest of the night, we hopped from pub to pub joining in on some singing and some drinking and the festivities. People were out until the wee hours of the morning, but most of us called it around 1:30/2am. When we left “Temple Bar” we ran into a couple of Frenchmen that kept us entertained for some time. My girlfriend, Cait, can speak and understand French pretty well so she was able to have somewhat of a conversation with them. But, according to her they were pretty well gone and weren’t making much sense. I’m not totally naive, but I didn’t even realized what they were until a few minutes into conversation with them because they were so drunk.

After a long wait for a taxi, we finally made it back to the hotel and got some rest. Tomorrow we had a free day, so sleeping in a little was a good idea.

Dublin Day 1

Well, after the first three days in Dublin, I've finally gotten ahold of the internet and a chance to blog.

Ok then, time to catch my blog up on the amazing time I've been having on our travel learn trip. There's honestly a lot to say so excuse me for being "long-winded." :-P

After my first experience on an airplane, the first day in Dublin was a little on the slower side. Though we were very excited to finally be here, I think everyone was a little on the tired side from the flight and the long day at the airport before we took off. When we arrived at the airport in Dublin, we were met by the bus driver who had a sign for "EF Tours." But, it wasn't just any sign, it was one of those signs where the letters are just written on a piece of cardboard like you would see in some movies.

Regardless of the condition of the sign, the driver was an extremely nice person and helped us all with loading all of our luggage on the bus. We were then off to our hotel, accompanied by our EF Tour guide David. On the way, David gave us a lot of information about Ireland and the city of Dublin.

When we got to the hotel, I think we were all pretty surprised to hear that our rooms were already ready. At that point we were able to go up, and drop off our luggage. David had told us that he would be leading a small walking tour into Dublin shortly, so most of us hurried back down to partake. During the tour, he showed us some of the monuments, how to navigate part of the city, and use the public transportation. We had a little bit of free time while in the city as well so most of us split up and explored Grafton Street, where a lot of different shops are located. After our bit of free time we headed back to the hotel until we all got together again in the afternoon to go out to dinner. After dinner, we all went out to the "Temple Bar" area to catch some of the Dublin nightlife. A few of us called it an early night though, and headed back to catch up on some sleep for the next days festivities. After all, the next day was St. Patrick's Day...