This is also a little late, but I didn't have my pictures on my computer until yesterday so now I'm going to write about spring break week (4/4-4/11). Most of the program cleared out of Barcelona on Thursday as it was the beginning of spring break for us. Me and one of my roommates were the only two in our apartment and we both hung out until Saturday when we both got visitors. Mom, Dad, Julia, Gma, Gpa, and Mads all came to visit me!
Because it was my spring break too, I wasn't going to stay in my apartment, so I moved into the hotel with them. We stayed at Hotel Arts right on the water down in Villa Olimpica. Because I took so many pictures, I am going to add a link that has all the pictures for you to look at.
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=371857020/a=312151020_312151020/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish
If you go to that link, you'll be able to look at all the pictures from our trip! Enjoy
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
dublin
I know this is a few weeks late, but this is the first chance I've had to post. From March 26th-29th, I went to Dublin and met up with Sarah and her friend Devika who is also studying in Florence. We also met up with Trish and Erika and some of their friends from Alicante one night in Temple Bar.
I got to Dublin on Thursday night and everyone wasn't getting into town until Friday, but I scheduled my flight on Thursday because I wouldn't have gotten into Dublin until 11:00PM on Friday. So I was solo on the first night, which wasn't a big deal considering I didn't get to the hotel until around midnight. I stayed at The Clarence Hotel, the hotel U2 owns that faces the River Liffey and has it's back right on Temple Bar. It was in a great location and it was an awesome hotel even if I was only there for one night.
Friday morning I had to check out at 12:30, so I had time to get up, order room service, and shower before I had to leave. I walked from the hotel to Grafton Street which is the main shopping street in Dublin. I walked around there for a little while, made my way to TopShop at the end of Grafton Street.
After that, I decided to walk over to the other shopping street with more affordable shopping. On my way there, I stumbled upon Trinity College and decided to go in there while I passed it so that I could see the Book of Kells as well as walk around the campus a little.
As soon as I walked through the archway I realized how much I wish I went there, the campus is grogeous with cobblestone roads and brick buildings. It would be an amazing place to go to school. By that time, it started raining so I went into the Book of Kells and Old Library Exhibit. Like I had read in most travel books on Dublin, the Book of Kells was in a little wooden case with a lot of people grouped around it looking in. I made meself up to the front luckily so I was able to see it. My favorite part of the tour; however, was definitely the Long Room. The Long Room was the room with all the oldest books of the college, it was really cool to see how all the old books are still around and on display for the public. Obviously, I wasn't able to take pictures of this exhibit so I can't show you all.
After Trinity, I walked down Henry Street and then made my way back to the hotel to get my suitcase and go meet Sarah.
Sarah, Devika, and I stayed with Sarah's family in Black Rock, a town right outside of central Dublin. We stayed with one of Jerry's (Sarah's dad) and his family. It was a great situation and they were so amazing to us. When we got there, we all ate dinner that Judy (I swear she was a chef/baker in her past life) cooked for us. Since we didn't get to the house until 9:00PM, we didn't finish with dinner until around 1:00AM and we were exhausted. We went to bed because we were waking up early the next day to go to the Guinness factory.
Saturday, we met Sarah and Devika's friend, Ali and her boyfriend, at the Guinness Factory. The factory walked us through the fermentation process, but the best part was the free pint we got at the Gravity Bar at the top of the building, which also offered 360 degree views of the city.
After the Guinness Factory, we attempted to go to the Jameson Factory, but the guided tours didn't fit into our schedule so we walked to Temple Bar instead. There, we ate lunch at Elephant and Castle, which is a restaurant they also have in NYC. From there, we walked back onto Grafton Street because Sarah and Devika wanted to shop at TopShop, even though I went for the second day in a row, I was still able to find stuff I didn't see the day before and walked away with a leather jacket!
After that, we took the Dart, Dublin's definition of the metro, back to Black Rock where Brendan picked us up and brought us home. We hung out at the house for a while, showering and eating dinner and getting ready for the night. Saturday night, we went out with Brendan's daughter, Sheena, and her friends and we all went to Temple Bar. We went to a bar called Fitzsimons and ended up staying there until closing because of Daylight Savings Time, we lost an hour and the bar ended up closing early. We were still able to have a great time and that is where I met up with Trish, Erika, and their friends from Alicante. It was a really fun night and I wish we had more time there because the nightlife is right up my alley.
The next day, Judy and Brendan took us to a town right near theirs called Dun Laughrie (spelling is probably wrong). It was a really cute town and we walked along the water for a while. There was also a little park that had a market where we got some food that was delicious. Unfortunately, I had a 6:00 flight and Sarah and Devika had an 8:00PM flight so I had to leave everyone early.
The trip was amazing, I loved everything about Dublin. The thing I liked most was that it was a small city with the nicest people and a great nightlife. There aren't too many sights there, but I didn't mind it at all, it was such a nice break from the exhausting, sight-seeing weekends I had been having. I will definitely be going back to Dublin.
I got to Dublin on Thursday night and everyone wasn't getting into town until Friday, but I scheduled my flight on Thursday because I wouldn't have gotten into Dublin until 11:00PM on Friday. So I was solo on the first night, which wasn't a big deal considering I didn't get to the hotel until around midnight. I stayed at The Clarence Hotel, the hotel U2 owns that faces the River Liffey and has it's back right on Temple Bar. It was in a great location and it was an awesome hotel even if I was only there for one night.
Friday morning I had to check out at 12:30, so I had time to get up, order room service, and shower before I had to leave. I walked from the hotel to Grafton Street which is the main shopping street in Dublin. I walked around there for a little while, made my way to TopShop at the end of Grafton Street.
After that, I decided to walk over to the other shopping street with more affordable shopping. On my way there, I stumbled upon Trinity College and decided to go in there while I passed it so that I could see the Book of Kells as well as walk around the campus a little.
As soon as I walked through the archway I realized how much I wish I went there, the campus is grogeous with cobblestone roads and brick buildings. It would be an amazing place to go to school. By that time, it started raining so I went into the Book of Kells and Old Library Exhibit. Like I had read in most travel books on Dublin, the Book of Kells was in a little wooden case with a lot of people grouped around it looking in. I made meself up to the front luckily so I was able to see it. My favorite part of the tour; however, was definitely the Long Room. The Long Room was the room with all the oldest books of the college, it was really cool to see how all the old books are still around and on display for the public. Obviously, I wasn't able to take pictures of this exhibit so I can't show you all.
After Trinity, I walked down Henry Street and then made my way back to the hotel to get my suitcase and go meet Sarah.
Sarah, Devika, and I stayed with Sarah's family in Black Rock, a town right outside of central Dublin. We stayed with one of Jerry's (Sarah's dad) and his family. It was a great situation and they were so amazing to us. When we got there, we all ate dinner that Judy (I swear she was a chef/baker in her past life) cooked for us. Since we didn't get to the house until 9:00PM, we didn't finish with dinner until around 1:00AM and we were exhausted. We went to bed because we were waking up early the next day to go to the Guinness factory.
Saturday, we met Sarah and Devika's friend, Ali and her boyfriend, at the Guinness Factory. The factory walked us through the fermentation process, but the best part was the free pint we got at the Gravity Bar at the top of the building, which also offered 360 degree views of the city.
After the Guinness Factory, we attempted to go to the Jameson Factory, but the guided tours didn't fit into our schedule so we walked to Temple Bar instead. There, we ate lunch at Elephant and Castle, which is a restaurant they also have in NYC. From there, we walked back onto Grafton Street because Sarah and Devika wanted to shop at TopShop, even though I went for the second day in a row, I was still able to find stuff I didn't see the day before and walked away with a leather jacket!After that, we took the Dart, Dublin's definition of the metro, back to Black Rock where Brendan picked us up and brought us home. We hung out at the house for a while, showering and eating dinner and getting ready for the night. Saturday night, we went out with Brendan's daughter, Sheena, and her friends and we all went to Temple Bar. We went to a bar called Fitzsimons and ended up staying there until closing because of Daylight Savings Time, we lost an hour and the bar ended up closing early. We were still able to have a great time and that is where I met up with Trish, Erika, and their friends from Alicante. It was a really fun night and I wish we had more time there because the nightlife is right up my alley.
The next day, Judy and Brendan took us to a town right near theirs called Dun Laughrie (spelling is probably wrong). It was a really cute town and we walked along the water for a while. There was also a little park that had a market where we got some food that was delicious. Unfortunately, I had a 6:00 flight and Sarah and Devika had an 8:00PM flight so I had to leave everyone early.
The trip was amazing, I loved everything about Dublin. The thing I liked most was that it was a small city with the nicest people and a great nightlife. There aren't too many sights there, but I didn't mind it at all, it was such a nice break from the exhausting, sight-seeing weekends I had been having. I will definitely be going back to Dublin.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
happy easter!
I know I haven't written in a while because it's been spring break, but as soon as I'm back in Barcelona I'll post about Dublin and our family trip this past week!
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