Day four... let's see... I have to jog my memory. Ah yes, there it is.
I said farewell to Jacob's Inn which has been my home since I arrived in Dublin. I headed over to the busy and touristy O'Connell St where my hotel for the night is. Thank goodness it stopped raining, that helps a lot mentally in trying to get around and just appreciating the city in general.
After leaving my pack in the luggage room (this was a hotel, not some ghetto hostel), I set out for Dublin Castle which was quite far from my hotel. When I got there, it looked like it didn't open till 2pm though so I decided to change my plans and head to the Guiness Storehouse instead.
St. Patrick's Cathedral was on the way there so I stopped there. As I was walking there, a group of senior citizens (is that PC?) looked a little frazzled then asked if St. Patrick's was nearby. I told them I hoped so as I was heading in that direction too. Apparently they were late for a rehearsal to sing at that evening's services (or something to that fact). Luckily we were on the right track and arrived at the church shortly after. Like many Catholic churches that I've been to, it had that dark, mysterious feeling inside. It was a lot more... garish? than I expected. There are loads of memorial plaques and statues lining all the walls across the church. Interestingly, I didn't know Jonathan Swift was so involved with it, he was even the Dean for awhile. Oh and he's buried there. I find Catholicism fascinating... all those rituals and secret things going on for centuries and centuries.
After that soul cleansing, I walked over to the Guinness Storehouse which is where they have the exhibition. You don't actually get to see the working factory itself but they have a pretty impressive exhibition covering 3 floors. It's modern and really well done, in my opinion. Lots of big glass things, videos, and bright colors. I didn't really know how beer was made before and I liked getting to read about the ingredients and processes. What a nerd. Of course at the end of the tour, you get to go to the top bar called 'Gravity' where you snap off this ring from your souvenier and get a free pint. Well, not really free since you pay €9.50 to get in, but you get the point. The most rad part of the bar is that it's in the shape of a circle, all windows ceiling to floor, 360 degrees seeing Dublin. There's a bunch of quotes from 'Ulysses' and you can see most of the big landmarks around the city. I sat down with my pint, probably the only person there alone and just enjoyed the view.
I had to walk all the way back to the hotel but it wasn't raining and it was a nice walk. I really love Dublin, I could see living here for a few months for work or something. (Don't go having a heart attack, I'm not seriously thinking about it, well not yet at least). When I got to my hotel, I got to check in and when I walked into the room, I was thrilled. Even though it was the size of a shoebox, it was nice to have the luxury of a hotel. Thanks mom and dad!
DAY 5
Sadly, I had to check out of my hotel but it wasn't until 12noon. I still have not completely caught up on sleep and hostels are not a conducive way to do so since you have to be out of the hostel between certain hours. Since it's Sunday and much doesn't open to late, I took it a bit easy before heading over to Dublin Castle. On my way there, I stopped for lunch in Temple Bar which I hadn't really gotten a chance to explore. I like it a lot though and if I ever come back to Dublin with people, I want to party hardcore there.
This time the castle was open when I got there and they only offer guided tours so I paid my €4.50 and joined everyone else. For some reason, there are a ridiculous amount of Italians in Dublin right now. Anyhoo, I liked the castle a lot, it was totally sweet. The rooms are opulent and the history thick. I won't bore you with all the history that interested me, just know that I had a good time. On the grounds they also house the Charles Beatty library which has a huge Asian, Western, and Islamic art center. Apparently the library has one of the biggest collections of jade books in the world. Who would've thought I'd find a piece of my cultural history in Dublin, Ireland??
The grounds are really pretty so I just walked around and chilled out for awhile before heading back over to the hostel. I'm currently sitting at the Internet Exchange where I've visited almost everyday since being here. It's my last day here! Can you believe it? I have survived my first country on this crazy European adventure.
I'm missing everyone a lot and although traveling alone has been great, it'll be nice to start meeting people too. Hopefully I'll be over this jet lag when I'm in Scotland and the week after that I'll be headed to Barcelona to hang out with Julie (who I met through Kurtis) and Crissy! I think this is where a lot of the challenges will present themselves, but I'm up for it.
Well, that's it folks from Dublin, Ireland! Next time I'll be posting will be from Glasgow, Scotland. Till then, cheers!
P.S. Your emails and comments are dropping off. Quit it, people, especially those who haven't said anything yet!
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Day 3: Dublin, Ireland
Yesterday involved a load of walking and my dogs aren't too happy with me. To hell with them! But not really.
After breakfast yesterday, I headed out to the National Museum, the National Gallery, and the National History and Science Museum. The first place I stopped though was the National Library where they are having an exhibit on James Joyce. I haven't read any of his works but I've been itching to do so, particularly 'Ulysses' which this exhibit centered a lot of attention around. The building was beautiful, as many of the old buildings in Dublin are. Simply amazing and what you'd never find in the States.
The walk was nice even though there was a constant drizzle and showers while I walked around. The National Museum is right around the corner so I tromped over there. It's a lot smaller than I expected with exhibits on Prehistoric Ireland and curiously, Ancient Egypt (just 4 mummies). The highlight of the museum was the section on the fight for the independence of Ireland. These Irish people sure are persistant! Seriously though, the exhibition was pretty sweet although the museum in general was really small.
It's really cool because all four of the museums I visited were right around the corner from each other. I wasn't going to hit up the Museum of Natural History and Science but I was already there and it's free, so why not? The musuem is super old and a lot of the exhibits are pretty dated, a lot of the items were purchased in the early 20th Century. Hardwood floors, little windows, glass cases. It doesn't look like it's gone under any renovations since it's been open. Think creepy stuffed animals with glazed eyes and open mouths. Scary. But hey, that's not to say I didn't learn something. For instance, I never realized moles had such small heads, did you? I think my science loving friends would've enjoyed it though (cough, em).
The National Gallery was by far my favorite, it houses art work from all over the world but mostly by Irish artists. The best painting was by Carvaggio though, titled, 'The Arrest of Christ.' It was painted in the 1600s. THE 1600s! That's been my favorite part about Europe so far, the history and how far it goes back. I blame my dad for turning me into a history nerd but I'm totally fascinated by old stuff and how people lived back in the day.
I was at the museum till closing so we were ushered out around 5pm. On my way back to the hostel, I stopped at a Korean BBQ restaurant. I longed to have the BBQ but since there was only one of me, I settled on some spare ribs instead. Unfortunately, the service sucked and it took forever to even order the people there were not incredibly friendly. When I first walked in, they spoke to me in Mandarin but when it was apparent that I was American, they slightly cooled. Ew. I'm writing to the Lonely Planet people for suggesting it!
It was freaking POURING by the time I left dinner and I got quite wet with my ghetto ass umbrella that I bought on my first day out. It actually only lasted like half a day when it became victim to the wind. It was doing the whole being blown inside out thing. Seriously, you guys should just picture me tromping through Dublin through pouring rain with this half broken ass umbrella. See, you laughed. I did too. On my way back to the hostel, I was walking on O'Connell St with my pitiful, ghetto ass umbrella when an old man with a camera stopped and asked if he could take a picture of me with my umbrella. Apparently you can find his work here: http://www.seanhillen.com/UPW2/index.htm
Who knows, maybe I will show up in a couple days, ha ha.
After that, it was time to retire the ghetto umbrella and I went into a store called 'Penneys' (think Mervyns) and bought a €4 golf umbrella (my ghetto one cost the same price! but it was at a tourist shop of course). I cannot explain in words how happy that giant umbrella made me, it kept me SO dry. YAy!
I'm still suffering from jet lag (yeah, i know you're saying, 'still??' but it's because i went so hardcore my first few days here) so when I got back to the hostel, I chatted with Yinka for a bit before falling asleep around 8:30pm. It was pouring rain out anyway so I was more than happy to rest a bit more. It doesn't sound like I did a whole lot, but it's actually much more than you'd expect. Museums take awhile to walk through and I'm getting to each place by foot which has been quite the learning experience.
After breakfast yesterday, I headed out to the National Museum, the National Gallery, and the National History and Science Museum. The first place I stopped though was the National Library where they are having an exhibit on James Joyce. I haven't read any of his works but I've been itching to do so, particularly 'Ulysses' which this exhibit centered a lot of attention around. The building was beautiful, as many of the old buildings in Dublin are. Simply amazing and what you'd never find in the States.
The walk was nice even though there was a constant drizzle and showers while I walked around. The National Museum is right around the corner so I tromped over there. It's a lot smaller than I expected with exhibits on Prehistoric Ireland and curiously, Ancient Egypt (just 4 mummies). The highlight of the museum was the section on the fight for the independence of Ireland. These Irish people sure are persistant! Seriously though, the exhibition was pretty sweet although the museum in general was really small.
It's really cool because all four of the museums I visited were right around the corner from each other. I wasn't going to hit up the Museum of Natural History and Science but I was already there and it's free, so why not? The musuem is super old and a lot of the exhibits are pretty dated, a lot of the items were purchased in the early 20th Century. Hardwood floors, little windows, glass cases. It doesn't look like it's gone under any renovations since it's been open. Think creepy stuffed animals with glazed eyes and open mouths. Scary. But hey, that's not to say I didn't learn something. For instance, I never realized moles had such small heads, did you? I think my science loving friends would've enjoyed it though (cough, em).
The National Gallery was by far my favorite, it houses art work from all over the world but mostly by Irish artists. The best painting was by Carvaggio though, titled, 'The Arrest of Christ.' It was painted in the 1600s. THE 1600s! That's been my favorite part about Europe so far, the history and how far it goes back. I blame my dad for turning me into a history nerd but I'm totally fascinated by old stuff and how people lived back in the day.
I was at the museum till closing so we were ushered out around 5pm. On my way back to the hostel, I stopped at a Korean BBQ restaurant. I longed to have the BBQ but since there was only one of me, I settled on some spare ribs instead. Unfortunately, the service sucked and it took forever to even order the people there were not incredibly friendly. When I first walked in, they spoke to me in Mandarin but when it was apparent that I was American, they slightly cooled. Ew. I'm writing to the Lonely Planet people for suggesting it!
It was freaking POURING by the time I left dinner and I got quite wet with my ghetto ass umbrella that I bought on my first day out. It actually only lasted like half a day when it became victim to the wind. It was doing the whole being blown inside out thing. Seriously, you guys should just picture me tromping through Dublin through pouring rain with this half broken ass umbrella. See, you laughed. I did too. On my way back to the hostel, I was walking on O'Connell St with my pitiful, ghetto ass umbrella when an old man with a camera stopped and asked if he could take a picture of me with my umbrella. Apparently you can find his work here: http://www.seanhillen.com/UPW2/index.htm
Who knows, maybe I will show up in a couple days, ha ha.
After that, it was time to retire the ghetto umbrella and I went into a store called 'Penneys' (think Mervyns) and bought a €4 golf umbrella (my ghetto one cost the same price! but it was at a tourist shop of course). I cannot explain in words how happy that giant umbrella made me, it kept me SO dry. YAy!
I'm still suffering from jet lag (yeah, i know you're saying, 'still??' but it's because i went so hardcore my first few days here) so when I got back to the hostel, I chatted with Yinka for a bit before falling asleep around 8:30pm. It was pouring rain out anyway so I was more than happy to rest a bit more. It doesn't sound like I did a whole lot, but it's actually much more than you'd expect. Museums take awhile to walk through and I'm getting to each place by foot which has been quite the learning experience.
Friday, July 29, 2005
Day 2 continued
When I left you last, I realized that I hadn't booked accomodations for Saturday and Sunday night, yep two of the busiest days for hostels. I was dismayed to find my trip to Cork wouldn't quite work out as everything was booked. I started panicking and imagining myself sleeping on a park bench in the cold rain. I called about 10 different places listed in the Lonely Planet book before I found a room for €80 at a 3 star hotel. It's steep but I figured my parents would rather spend that than me sleep outside.
Lonely Planet wasn't lying when they said Ireland is an expensive place to travel and be. Meals tend to be around €10 and that's the cheap version. At least the museums and most of the attractions are free. That's what I love about Europe.
After being soaked pretty much all day, I walked around a bit more yesterday afternoon. I had lunch on Grafton St where all the shops are and was amused to see so many Asian people working in the restaurants. It's actually quite diverse here in Dublin, more so than you might think. After my late afternoon meal, I headed back to the hostel so I could finally get out of my wet clothes. On the way up, I met my new dorm mate, Yinka, from Holland. She's actually from Africa but she married a Dutch guy and ended up moving there. She is very talkative which was a nice change for me since I'd barely had any conversations since arriving in Dublin.
A hot shower was definitely needed and then I started to doze off when Yinka asked if I wanted to take dinner with her. I was happy to show her around a bit and we ended up hoofing around before making it to the Temple Bar district. Temple Bar is supposedly the 'hip' area of Dublin right now with a ton of pubs, restaurants and shops open late for tourists. We had dinner at a small cafe where our waitress was Chinese-Irish, with a heavy Irish accent, so cute! I could hear her speaking to what I assume was her family in Mandarin, trippy!
After stuffing ourselves, we shopped a minute. I bought postcards since I can't really shop (due to my wonderfully full backpack) and we went back across the river after that to get ready for bed. My body is still adjusting to the time difference so I was ready to pass out. Talking with Yinka was great though, she told me about the small 'village' she lives in Holland, how people talk, and haven't quite accepted her marriage to a white man. I asked if there's diversity and she said in Amsterdam there's a lot of Asians and Eastern Europeans but still not a lot of blacks. I couldn't help but notice she sounded a little sad as she hinted that her husband's family still hasn't entirely accepted her even though they have been married for 6 years.
Talking to her also made me think about how easy it is for Europeans to just jump over to other countries for short holidays. How awesome is that? It makes me want to travel the US a bit more, they aren't separate countries but they might as well be.
It ended up being just the two of us in the dorm last night which I was more than happy with. I had some trouble sleeping, like I said, body issues. Hopefully the kinks will work themselves out soon, I've only been on holiday (god, i'm already talking like them) for 3 days!
I'm a day behind, I still feel like it's Thursday but it's the weekend! Hope you guys have a great one, be safe!
Anyway, got a bit more to do today before heading back. I've been to the National Library and National History Museum and still need to see the National Gallery and the Guiness Storehouse (if there's time, if not, then tomorrow). I'll lay out the details tomorrow, stay tuned.
Kisses,
SaL
Lonely Planet wasn't lying when they said Ireland is an expensive place to travel and be. Meals tend to be around €10 and that's the cheap version. At least the museums and most of the attractions are free. That's what I love about Europe.
After being soaked pretty much all day, I walked around a bit more yesterday afternoon. I had lunch on Grafton St where all the shops are and was amused to see so many Asian people working in the restaurants. It's actually quite diverse here in Dublin, more so than you might think. After my late afternoon meal, I headed back to the hostel so I could finally get out of my wet clothes. On the way up, I met my new dorm mate, Yinka, from Holland. She's actually from Africa but she married a Dutch guy and ended up moving there. She is very talkative which was a nice change for me since I'd barely had any conversations since arriving in Dublin.
A hot shower was definitely needed and then I started to doze off when Yinka asked if I wanted to take dinner with her. I was happy to show her around a bit and we ended up hoofing around before making it to the Temple Bar district. Temple Bar is supposedly the 'hip' area of Dublin right now with a ton of pubs, restaurants and shops open late for tourists. We had dinner at a small cafe where our waitress was Chinese-Irish, with a heavy Irish accent, so cute! I could hear her speaking to what I assume was her family in Mandarin, trippy!
After stuffing ourselves, we shopped a minute. I bought postcards since I can't really shop (due to my wonderfully full backpack) and we went back across the river after that to get ready for bed. My body is still adjusting to the time difference so I was ready to pass out. Talking with Yinka was great though, she told me about the small 'village' she lives in Holland, how people talk, and haven't quite accepted her marriage to a white man. I asked if there's diversity and she said in Amsterdam there's a lot of Asians and Eastern Europeans but still not a lot of blacks. I couldn't help but notice she sounded a little sad as she hinted that her husband's family still hasn't entirely accepted her even though they have been married for 6 years.
Talking to her also made me think about how easy it is for Europeans to just jump over to other countries for short holidays. How awesome is that? It makes me want to travel the US a bit more, they aren't separate countries but they might as well be.
It ended up being just the two of us in the dorm last night which I was more than happy with. I had some trouble sleeping, like I said, body issues. Hopefully the kinks will work themselves out soon, I've only been on holiday (god, i'm already talking like them) for 3 days!
I'm a day behind, I still feel like it's Thursday but it's the weekend! Hope you guys have a great one, be safe!
Anyway, got a bit more to do today before heading back. I've been to the National Library and National History Museum and still need to see the National Gallery and the Guiness Storehouse (if there's time, if not, then tomorrow). I'll lay out the details tomorrow, stay tuned.
Kisses,
SaL
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Day 1/2: Arrival in Dublin, IRELAND
Hello everyone!
Well, I am now in Dublin, Ireland! As a forewarning, these blog entries may be quite long and detailed, more for me (I plan on printing these when I get home), so excuse the wordiness and rambling.
My flight left SFO yesterday around 2pm. It still hadn't quite hit me what I was doing. I've been on many plane rides in my life, so it just felt like I was going to Chicago or meeting up with friends on the East Coast. I'm actually grateful for the times I've had to fly solo or I may have freaked out then and there.
The flight was somewhat uneventful, I was amused by the movie 'Fever Pitch' (seriously better than I thought even though I think Drew Barrymore plays the same character in all her movies) especially being a fanatic of a sports team. I sat next to Australian guy who didn't speak a word to me but seemed to be an expert in dragons (don't ask).
We got into JFK around 11pm local time and my departing gate was right next to my arriving gate, how perfect! Granted, AA is a bit ghetto, but at least I felt relatively safe. They didn't feed us on the plane so I was pretty much starving by the time we landed. I only had $2 in cash and the only thing I could afford was a pack of 6 oreo cookies (the credit card minimum was $10). And that cost me $2.17, good thing I had a quarter in my pocket because I devoured them in about half a second.
The London flight was going to take another 6hrs 20 min (the first leg was 5hrs 30min) but this time it was considered an overnight flight so we got dinner and they turned all the lights down so we could sleep. For once I wished I had a seat in the middle section because the flight wasn't ful and people were able to lay down. Trust me, I was jealous. I nodded off for about an hour at a time. At least they had episodes of CSI playing which greatly helped in passing the time. As well as my fluff magazines (People and US... essential for a long flight). As the flight was closing in, I started getting major butterflies in my stomach. I mean, what the hell was I doing?!?!? I was already exhausted and I still had 6 weeks to go! By myself! I did some breathing exercises though and I was glad to find myself more excited than nervous.
We arrived in London at about 11:30am, there was much traffic at Heathrow but security wasn't as crazy as I thought it might be. I was again feeling quite nervous but actually felt better as I took the shuttle to Terminal 1 because I saw an American boy wearing a New York Rangers hat. I didn't get a chance to talk to him but I caught him smiling at me because I think he saw the Sharks sticker on my Nalgene. Even unspoken camraderie can make one feel more comfortable. I had to check in for my Dublin flight and was smiling as I walked down to the corridor to my flight. I recognized the area from when I went to Ireland the first time, in 2000 for my sister and Keith's wedding. Ah, memories. The flight ended up being delayed for about an hour and a half. During this time, I found out that the plane was going to be full of an Irish Boys Rugby team. It was a lot of fun listening to them talk with their accents and realizing that I was really doing this. I was really going to Ireland!
After the flight, I managed to get down to baggage reclaim (as they call it... it makes sense, doesn't it?) and was extremely relieved to see my backpack pretty much right away. I have this terrible luck with my luggage never making it to the place I am at at the same time. Then I headed over to get some local currency for the bus. When I walked outside, the Airlink was sitting right there so I got on, paid 5€ (that's euros people, haha), and tried to figure out where the hell we were going. I was a little bit paranoid that I got on the wrong one (there's only 2 and they both stop at almost all the same stations.. so really, not a big deal) but as we got closer to the station, we drove right by my hostel. I couldn't believe how smoothly everything went but am eternally grateful to all those sending me good vibes and karma. Awesome.
The desk people were really nice and the hostel is clean, which is all I could ask for. I am staying in a 6 bedroom suite with a private bathroom .. SO AWESOME. I am stoked to have a private bathroom in the room, I was not expecting it. Anyway, there were only two girls in the room when I got there and I said hello to them. Unfortunately, I was exhausted and could feel a headache from lack of sleep approaching. The girls headed out so I laid down and took a 4 hour nap. When I awoke, I was still alone so that gave me a chance to reorganize myself and plan for the next day.
Shortly after, a girl from the Czech Republic arrived. Her name was Petra and she was just staying overnight before heading to Belfast today. We debated going out but we were both super tired from our journeys so we just chatted instead. I am incredibly impressed with how Europeans know so many languages. Petra is studying in Germany so she can speak Czech, German, and English, all relatively fluently.
The German girls returned slightly before 1am (the pubs close at 12 M-W) and I got to chat with them a bit before we all went to bed. They were also leaving this morning to go back home. I felt really comfortable in my room and apparently the girls did too because they just left their stuff wherever. I didn't because I'm paranoid (thanks Je) but it was interesting to see. I think Ireland for the most part is pretty safe but I can't let my guard down because the rest of my trip won't be so.
I still hadn't caught up on my sleep so going to bed at 12:30am wasn't a problem especially since I wanted to be up by 8:30am this morning. I said goodbye to my roommates and headed downstairs for my free breakfast. I hadn't eaten dinner last night and my stomach wasn't too happy with just a muffin and orange juice. I think it was used to not eating so I pretty much had to force the muffin down.
It was raining pretty hard when I left the hostel. You'd think in a country like Ireland, it would easier to find a umbrella. NOT SO. I wandered for a little bit, got a bit lost, then found my way south of the Liffey (the busier side... on the other side of the Liffey River... hence the name). I had to walk around for quite a bit before I found a cheesy gift shop that sold umbrellas. Probably would have been smarter to buy one before now but, hey what can ya do? I was pretty soaked before I bought it though, serious drowned rat look. I layered though so it wasn't too bad, although all I had was my black hoodie so it was pretty soaked. Let me tell you though, I was pretty stoked once I had that umbrella, it's like the day got 5 times better.
I wandered over to Grafton St as I didn't really have any plans today except to book my ticket to Glasgow, Scotland. I figured I just wanted to get to know the city better and if I got a chance to see the sights that would be great. Otherwise, I just wanted to get comfortable in the city. I somehow ended up at Stephen's Greene Shopping Center where I stopped for some coffee and a sandwich because I knew I needed protein. Plus it would give me a chance to sort of dry off in the process.
Shortly after that, I started my walk over to Trinity College so I could book my ticket to Scotland. On the way there, I crossed the street and had the unfortunate timing to get to the other side just as a car hit a giant puddle that SOAKED me. It must have been pretty funny to see, but let me tell you, it felt like a bucket of water just got dumped on me. I just kept walking though because what else can you do?? I had to laugh at myself though because how typical it was to happen to me. I couldn't go back to the hostel to change though because rooms are closed from 11am - 4pm. All I could do was grin and bear it! At least I made it to the college and once I booked my ticket at the STA office (actually it was an agent affiliated with STA), I felt much better. Since I was there, I decided to stay and see the Book of Kells which is one of the oldest books in existence. It's 4 books of the New Testament written in Latin with these really beautiful color illustrations. The best part of the tour though was seeing the Long Room which houses some of the oldest books in Ireland. According to the Library Act of 1801, Ireland gets a free copy of every book published in the UK for free, even after independence. I love books so this was an awesome oppurtunity to see some old ones. There were also some incredibly marble busts of historical figures.
I wandered a bit more as I tried to find an internet cafe. The specific one I was looking for ended up being closed but I found a different one and here I am. It's been quite a morning already but I'm stoked to be here. I love Dublin even though I haven't ventured out at night yet. It's a great city with a great vibe, pretty mellow for being a major city. There's a number of fun shopping neighborhoods and there are a ton of tourists (particularly Italians for some reason.. and I heard a bunch of Americans at Trinity). I haven't quite met anyone yet but maybe that will change within the next few days. It would be nice to have someone here with me but I'm still having a grand time by myself just exploring. The rain and the wind (and being solo) have made it a bit of a challenge to take pictures but I'll still try my best.
Hope all is well in the States! It's time for me to book my Scotland hostel and eat something. Cheers!
Lesson of last night: Don't go to bed with your hair wet because it will look crazy when you wake up.
Lesson of today: Don't stand next to a large puddle where a car can splash you.
Well, I am now in Dublin, Ireland! As a forewarning, these blog entries may be quite long and detailed, more for me (I plan on printing these when I get home), so excuse the wordiness and rambling.
My flight left SFO yesterday around 2pm. It still hadn't quite hit me what I was doing. I've been on many plane rides in my life, so it just felt like I was going to Chicago or meeting up with friends on the East Coast. I'm actually grateful for the times I've had to fly solo or I may have freaked out then and there.
The flight was somewhat uneventful, I was amused by the movie 'Fever Pitch' (seriously better than I thought even though I think Drew Barrymore plays the same character in all her movies) especially being a fanatic of a sports team. I sat next to Australian guy who didn't speak a word to me but seemed to be an expert in dragons (don't ask).
We got into JFK around 11pm local time and my departing gate was right next to my arriving gate, how perfect! Granted, AA is a bit ghetto, but at least I felt relatively safe. They didn't feed us on the plane so I was pretty much starving by the time we landed. I only had $2 in cash and the only thing I could afford was a pack of 6 oreo cookies (the credit card minimum was $10). And that cost me $2.17, good thing I had a quarter in my pocket because I devoured them in about half a second.
The London flight was going to take another 6hrs 20 min (the first leg was 5hrs 30min) but this time it was considered an overnight flight so we got dinner and they turned all the lights down so we could sleep. For once I wished I had a seat in the middle section because the flight wasn't ful and people were able to lay down. Trust me, I was jealous. I nodded off for about an hour at a time. At least they had episodes of CSI playing which greatly helped in passing the time. As well as my fluff magazines (People and US... essential for a long flight). As the flight was closing in, I started getting major butterflies in my stomach. I mean, what the hell was I doing?!?!? I was already exhausted and I still had 6 weeks to go! By myself! I did some breathing exercises though and I was glad to find myself more excited than nervous.
We arrived in London at about 11:30am, there was much traffic at Heathrow but security wasn't as crazy as I thought it might be. I was again feeling quite nervous but actually felt better as I took the shuttle to Terminal 1 because I saw an American boy wearing a New York Rangers hat. I didn't get a chance to talk to him but I caught him smiling at me because I think he saw the Sharks sticker on my Nalgene. Even unspoken camraderie can make one feel more comfortable. I had to check in for my Dublin flight and was smiling as I walked down to the corridor to my flight. I recognized the area from when I went to Ireland the first time, in 2000 for my sister and Keith's wedding. Ah, memories. The flight ended up being delayed for about an hour and a half. During this time, I found out that the plane was going to be full of an Irish Boys Rugby team. It was a lot of fun listening to them talk with their accents and realizing that I was really doing this. I was really going to Ireland!
After the flight, I managed to get down to baggage reclaim (as they call it... it makes sense, doesn't it?) and was extremely relieved to see my backpack pretty much right away. I have this terrible luck with my luggage never making it to the place I am at at the same time. Then I headed over to get some local currency for the bus. When I walked outside, the Airlink was sitting right there so I got on, paid 5€ (that's euros people, haha), and tried to figure out where the hell we were going. I was a little bit paranoid that I got on the wrong one (there's only 2 and they both stop at almost all the same stations.. so really, not a big deal) but as we got closer to the station, we drove right by my hostel. I couldn't believe how smoothly everything went but am eternally grateful to all those sending me good vibes and karma. Awesome.
The desk people were really nice and the hostel is clean, which is all I could ask for. I am staying in a 6 bedroom suite with a private bathroom .. SO AWESOME. I am stoked to have a private bathroom in the room, I was not expecting it. Anyway, there were only two girls in the room when I got there and I said hello to them. Unfortunately, I was exhausted and could feel a headache from lack of sleep approaching. The girls headed out so I laid down and took a 4 hour nap. When I awoke, I was still alone so that gave me a chance to reorganize myself and plan for the next day.
Shortly after, a girl from the Czech Republic arrived. Her name was Petra and she was just staying overnight before heading to Belfast today. We debated going out but we were both super tired from our journeys so we just chatted instead. I am incredibly impressed with how Europeans know so many languages. Petra is studying in Germany so she can speak Czech, German, and English, all relatively fluently.
The German girls returned slightly before 1am (the pubs close at 12 M-W) and I got to chat with them a bit before we all went to bed. They were also leaving this morning to go back home. I felt really comfortable in my room and apparently the girls did too because they just left their stuff wherever. I didn't because I'm paranoid (thanks Je) but it was interesting to see. I think Ireland for the most part is pretty safe but I can't let my guard down because the rest of my trip won't be so.
I still hadn't caught up on my sleep so going to bed at 12:30am wasn't a problem especially since I wanted to be up by 8:30am this morning. I said goodbye to my roommates and headed downstairs for my free breakfast. I hadn't eaten dinner last night and my stomach wasn't too happy with just a muffin and orange juice. I think it was used to not eating so I pretty much had to force the muffin down.
It was raining pretty hard when I left the hostel. You'd think in a country like Ireland, it would easier to find a umbrella. NOT SO. I wandered for a little bit, got a bit lost, then found my way south of the Liffey (the busier side... on the other side of the Liffey River... hence the name). I had to walk around for quite a bit before I found a cheesy gift shop that sold umbrellas. Probably would have been smarter to buy one before now but, hey what can ya do? I was pretty soaked before I bought it though, serious drowned rat look. I layered though so it wasn't too bad, although all I had was my black hoodie so it was pretty soaked. Let me tell you though, I was pretty stoked once I had that umbrella, it's like the day got 5 times better.
I wandered over to Grafton St as I didn't really have any plans today except to book my ticket to Glasgow, Scotland. I figured I just wanted to get to know the city better and if I got a chance to see the sights that would be great. Otherwise, I just wanted to get comfortable in the city. I somehow ended up at Stephen's Greene Shopping Center where I stopped for some coffee and a sandwich because I knew I needed protein. Plus it would give me a chance to sort of dry off in the process.
Shortly after that, I started my walk over to Trinity College so I could book my ticket to Scotland. On the way there, I crossed the street and had the unfortunate timing to get to the other side just as a car hit a giant puddle that SOAKED me. It must have been pretty funny to see, but let me tell you, it felt like a bucket of water just got dumped on me. I just kept walking though because what else can you do?? I had to laugh at myself though because how typical it was to happen to me. I couldn't go back to the hostel to change though because rooms are closed from 11am - 4pm. All I could do was grin and bear it! At least I made it to the college and once I booked my ticket at the STA office (actually it was an agent affiliated with STA), I felt much better. Since I was there, I decided to stay and see the Book of Kells which is one of the oldest books in existence. It's 4 books of the New Testament written in Latin with these really beautiful color illustrations. The best part of the tour though was seeing the Long Room which houses some of the oldest books in Ireland. According to the Library Act of 1801, Ireland gets a free copy of every book published in the UK for free, even after independence. I love books so this was an awesome oppurtunity to see some old ones. There were also some incredibly marble busts of historical figures.
I wandered a bit more as I tried to find an internet cafe. The specific one I was looking for ended up being closed but I found a different one and here I am. It's been quite a morning already but I'm stoked to be here. I love Dublin even though I haven't ventured out at night yet. It's a great city with a great vibe, pretty mellow for being a major city. There's a number of fun shopping neighborhoods and there are a ton of tourists (particularly Italians for some reason.. and I heard a bunch of Americans at Trinity). I haven't quite met anyone yet but maybe that will change within the next few days. It would be nice to have someone here with me but I'm still having a grand time by myself just exploring. The rain and the wind (and being solo) have made it a bit of a challenge to take pictures but I'll still try my best.
Hope all is well in the States! It's time for me to book my Scotland hostel and eat something. Cheers!
Lesson of last night: Don't go to bed with your hair wet because it will look crazy when you wake up.
Lesson of today: Don't stand next to a large puddle where a car can splash you.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Here I go...
I'm about 15 minutes away from departing beloved Santa Cruz to start on my six week adventure traipsing throughout Western Europe. It hasn't quite hit me how long I will be gone, what I will go through, how much I will learn, or how much I will miss everything here. Sometimes I wonder how I ended up here, completely out of my element, but that's been my whole attitude with this trip... "just go with it." No matter how miserable it can get, it'll still be a great learning experience. As Bevan put it, "Your worst day there will still be better than your best day here."
I've already expressed this to a number of you, but I hope to receive emails from all of you updating me on what is going on with your daily lives. I have a feeling the internet will be a good friend on some days when I'm feeling a bit homesick. Instead of a mass email, I've decided to use this blog. It seems easier than writing 16 individual emails which would all basically say the same thing. But if you start the email chain, that gives me a chance to respond individually. See, we all win :)
My last night here was super mellow but I was still surrounded by some of my favorite people. Don't worry everyone, it's only for 6 weeks, I'll be back before you know it!
On that note, everyone should watch my new favorite show while I'm gone: Entourage on HBO.
Remember: salinalam@gmail.com
Have a great summer everyone! I'll try to post as soon as I find an accessible internet cafe in Dublin. Dublin... as in IRELAND!
Cheers!
I've already expressed this to a number of you, but I hope to receive emails from all of you updating me on what is going on with your daily lives. I have a feeling the internet will be a good friend on some days when I'm feeling a bit homesick. Instead of a mass email, I've decided to use this blog. It seems easier than writing 16 individual emails which would all basically say the same thing. But if you start the email chain, that gives me a chance to respond individually. See, we all win :)
My last night here was super mellow but I was still surrounded by some of my favorite people. Don't worry everyone, it's only for 6 weeks, I'll be back before you know it!
On that note, everyone should watch my new favorite show while I'm gone: Entourage on HBO.
Remember: salinalam@gmail.com
Have a great summer everyone! I'll try to post as soon as I find an accessible internet cafe in Dublin. Dublin... as in IRELAND!
Cheers!
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