Kissing Stones in Cork

Tuesday March 20th
So, we arrived in Cork with half of our group. Emma, Ashley, Kelcie and I were the ones to make it on the plane. If you want to know how it happened, read on. If not, skip to following paragraph. So, about the group splitting up: we had an hour bus to catch at 7AM, which we were told by our hostel we can buy our tickets on the bus. We get there in plenty of time, try to get on the bus, and the driver wouldn't let us buy the tickets on the bus! We had to buy them online, so ran around for a few blocks for the closest hotel to get internet and print off our tickets. Caroline and I were sent on the goose chase, and it took us 5 minutes to order and print the tickets, and by the time we RAN back to the bus stop, the bus had left. Next bus was in 20 minutes. SO we got onto that bus, and thanks to all the olympic construction and rush hour traffic, instead of our bus taking less than an hour, it took us an hour and a half, which made us an hour later than anticipated. 20 minutes until take off, Liz and Kate were too late to check their giant suitcase, and Caroline accidentally booked her flight for the wrong day. So that left Ashley, Emma, Kelcie, and I... sprinting through the airport past 45 gates to be the last ones in line for our flight, and no idea how we were going to meet up with the 3 other girls. Welp, to Ireland we go!

I have never seen more green in my life!! Even the misty rain and clouds couldn't hide all of it. We hopped off the plane and into a cab with the funniest guy from France, who was originally from Uganda, and thought our accents were funny and that we were from Holland. I don't think I've ever had someone laugh at me so much... maybe I was so excited to be in Ireland I was asking dumb questions (Emma and Kelcie can add to this I'm sure). He dropped us off right in front of our hostel, the Aaron House, and a bubbly lady named Tracy greeted us as the door with her very old and blind cocker spaniel, Riley. She gave us enough information about Cork and Blarney and Kilarney that would last us a years worth of traveling it felt like. It was only 10AM, and because we left before breakfast was served, we made way into the city of Cork to find a place for brunch.

Stumbled onto the Windsor Inn and Cafe, and the locals had already started drinking! I did not have a beer with my toastie (a ham and cheese sandwich, and chips), but Ash and Kelcie did. Some of the locals came up and talked to us and it was not like when creepy Italians come up to talk to you; they actually were very nice and welcoming! The oldest one pipped up after a few minutes, and with only 4 teeth said he had been to Cape Cod once. Never a lull in conversation with the Irish! Haha we left after a bit, and decided to take a short nap and make way to the Blarney Castle! Kate had texted Kelcie saying they were going to meet us in Galway the next day, and Caroline had rebooked another flight and would be in Cork later in the afternoon. So we were all going to be back together by tomorrow, a good sign! Our naps ended up being 3 hours long, still mid afternoon, but hopped on the city bus to Blarney Castle where we would meet Caroline.

Walked around the Castle grounds for an hour and a half and then we see Caroline running towards us with her backpack still on and so happy to see familiar faces! Now, a group of 5, went to explore our first castle of the trip! Blarney Castle, home of the Blarney stone that, if you kiss it, brings you eloquence, or ability to be a charming and persuasive talker. We explored the jail, King/Queen sleeping quarters, the "ladies in waiting" room that was right next to the priest's room, as well as the dining hall and other random little spaces. I have no idea how people could have slept in little rooms like that, they were the size of a king size bed! The spiral staircases were very steep and narrow, and the rain made it slippery. Made me wonder how many people fell down (or up) those stairs after royal parties. The dining hall was also missing a roof, but we could see parts of the original paintings above the fireplace.

The last part of the castle to see was the Blarney Stone, well, not just see it but kiss it, too! It was awkward because there was a worker that had to kind of hold you while you laid on your back, scooted over a big gap upside down and kiss the stone below. If that's confusing, I put a picture of my kissing it. Not sure if it actually worked but something to cross off my bucket list!








The Blarney Castle had a huge area of land with walking trails, giant trees, flowers, and cottages. We only had about an hour to walk around the grounds before it closed, so we got to see the tulip field, Arboretum, horse stables, old well, guard tower, and the forest! Another cool thing about the castle grounds was that there were little creeks everywhere. Reminded me of 4th of July in Stillwater, except there was a lot more moss in Ireland and not so many mosquitoes. Spent a good few minutes looking for 4 leaf clovers, too, but no luck! Time to head out, after tossing some coins into the creek on our way out for good luck. Went to a little pub by the bus stop and had some Irish goat cheese and scones, caught our bus, and back into Cork we went!

So, every restaurant and pub closed the kitchens right at 8. Unlike Italy where places don't open until 7, we were SOL on having a real dinner. So, instead we went to Oliver Plunkett's Pub where there was a live cover band (the only music we listened to the entire time in Ireland), and had my first pint of Guiness! That filled me up along with the scone, and after such a full day of traveling and stone-kissing, we were all passed out by 10PM. We had an 8:30AM bus to catch to Killarney, and a quick good-bye to Cork. Well, for now anyways since we flew out of Cork in 4 days. Yay! Obsessed about Ireland already. Much love, AF

Where in the World is Harry Potter: LONDON!

Sunday March 19th

After a 45 minute flight, we landed in the UK! But to our surprise and great travel planning abilities, we were over a 3 hours drive to actual London, we flew into Manchester... oops. And another surprise! London's train system is not cheap like Italy's, and we had no idea how we were going to get to London. After talking to the information guy, the car rental man (yes, we debated on driving ourselves to London because it was cheaper than the train. Manual 8 person van, driving on the opposite side of the road with only Emma and I knowing how to drive manual... that was quickly nixed), we were able to get ahold of a bus company that got us on the very last bus into London around midnight. Luckily our hostel was only a 10 minute walk from the train station, and without any time to stop for dinner, we got crackers at a bus station.

We arrived at the White Ferry House hostel and found it to be the cutest place! Well, on the outside. The entire first floor was a bar, and as we walked up the 3 flights of stairs (we were tired, crabby, hungry, and exhausted. 8 girls in this state is NOT pretty), we opened our room door and only heard snoring. A few manly snores. And we were in a huge room of 6 triple-bunk beds. We found ourselves to be in a co-ed, 18 person stuffy bunker, and thanks to delirium, Emma, Ashley, Caroline and I started laughing so hard we were crying. Could our day have gotten any worse? haha nope, but thanks to luggage locks, ear plugs, and a bed, I had no problem getting to sleep. Another full day of walking around was in the plan, along with a 7:30AM wake up call! London already has been an adventure.

Monday, March 20th
London is my new favorite city. Why? Because they have peanut butter of course! Our hostel had a breakfast, and the only thing I ate was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and was tempted to take one for the road! 2 cups of coffee were a must, and after such a delicious breakfast we were on our way to see everything we could in one day! The group split up because some wanted to do a double decker bus tour, while Emma and I wanted to walk and see everything. So, with my buddy Emma and camera in hand, we started south of Hyde Park and went straight to Buckingham Palace to find Prince Harry so he could marry me. Or maybe one of the crossing guards? Sadly, they do not stand outside anymore, and we couldn't try to make one laugh because they were way behind the gate. There were redcoats on horse, grey coats on foot, the horsies had really pretty gold harnesses it gave me goosebumps!

In front of Buckingham Palace there is a GIANT Queen Elizabeth statue that is facing towards the city and her back is towards the palace. Must be some reason for that, but before I had time to find out we were walking through St. James Park and found the squirrels you could feed. Sadly, I didn't have any food on me but we did see another girl feeding them. Caroline fed them when she went on her bus tour (they could hop off and get back on, so they did some walking around, too). In St. James Park theres a cute little pond with tons and tons of ducks, swans, and other water birds. On the bridge that crossed over the pond we could see little glimpses of the London Eye and Westminister Abbey. So naturally, that was the next area we wanted to go!

Walking along the streets, there were sooo many double decker red buses! Even though they were very, very common since we were in an actual city and that was their form of public transportation, I got excited every time I saw one (like a 4 year old in Disney World), and it was our goal to ride one. We stopped at a red telephone booth and took a few pictures.

There was a group of 5 older ladies on a trip: hope that can be us someday! And then a block further down was Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminister Abbey. We wanted to go into Westminister Abbey, but the line wrapped around the 2-block long church and we went into the small, neighboring church called Saint Margarets. Can cross off going into a London church from our list!

Parliament and Big Ben were right along the river, so we walked along that for a while, and then made our way towards the royal Horse Stables where they began the changing of the guards. Everyday at 11:30 all guards on horse and foot rotate spots throughout the city in a very fancy way. At the horse stables, they had the horses stand in a straight row, walk backwards, slowly turn around, and change spots. Then the ones who were bumped out made their way towards the Palace to rotate with the ones there (I think). We only saw the rotation part and then bee-lined it through St. James Park (the guards had to go around on the streets) to the Palace to find a good spot. Which we did!

Right on the steps of the statue, we got to see the little bands lead in the guards with their drums and trumpets, then go through the gates, do a greeting, and rotate through. The royal band played a few royal tunes inside the gates, and by now it was getting close to lunch time and we wanted to eat some real food! We went to Piccadilly Circus (Which is just a big intersection with 8 streets, the traffic made it a circus), and then to the Oxford Circus on Oxfor Street (same deal, but with big big ad screens like in Time Square, and a cool fountain). My friend Chloe from ISU studied abroad in London a year ago and lived on Oxford Street, so it was fun being where she had been! And so many shops, holy cow it was like Mall of America on a street.

After walking for 4 or so hours, we were hungry, and for some reason China Town's food wasn't too appealing. Zig zagging through that nice diverse area, we found ourselves in SoHo and at "The Spice of Life" cafe. How could you not want to have lunch there? So we did, and had pepperjack/whole wheat quesadillas with some chips (that's british for french fries). Cutest saloon-ish bar/pub yet I felt like I was in Uptown. Emma and I sat for about an hour letting our legs rest and mapping out where to go to next. My camera had died at this point, and luckily I brought my charger. Whew, I'm almost as bad as my mom when it comes to taking pictures. Ask all the girls on the trip, it's the main thing I do. Oh well!

Made our way to the Queen's Garden and Regents Park, which is in the north-western corner of London. We were obviously in the nicer part of London because all the homes had big white pillars, perfectly trimmed shrubs, and lots of black and gold accents. Too fancy for my liking, so getting into the park was enjoyable. Still, lots of people running/biking everywhere, but the Queen's Garden had everything perfectly planted in rows, giant trellis' covered in vines, large marble fountains and planters everywhere. Even statues! Fit for a queen no doubt, and something new to look at everywhere you turned. Even though I worked at Cals, still could have used a little help from Aunt Jackie identifying all the flowers!

Next we made way passed the 3-block long London School of Business (more like a royal palace.... all white, white pillars, massive domes, giant windows... Iowa State has some catching up to do!), through a quiet neighborhood and arrived to ABBEY ROAD!! One of the main things I wanted to go to, and it was under construction (most of London was because of the Olympics), but Emma and I still did the walk! Whoo we look so famous!






Stayed north and went to Kings Cross Train Station where the famous Harry Potter platform 9 3/4 is, pretended to run through the wall but since I am a muggle, they would not let me cross over into the wizarding world. Bummer. We then took a double decker bus to the Tower Bridge (top level, front row of the bus!), and then walked along the river for about 3 miles to enjoy the sunset. By this time, our feet were sore, starting to get hungry again for dinner, and found ourselves to be very satisfying walking the entire city of London in one day. But, our day was no where near being over.







  
We arrived back at our hostel and my friend Jake from high school was studying abroad there. He met me at my hostel and had a pint of Czech beer (Prague was one of his favorite places, too), and we talked for over an hour. In the mean time, were were waiting for my other friends Ali and Ashley to meet us and go out for dinner together (Ali was my freshman year roommate and Ashley is in my sorority). Jake had to go do homework because he just came back from Barcelona, wish I had more time to catch up with him! So Ali and Ash arrived and we went to O'Neils pub back near the Picadilly circus. Had my first plate of fish and chips! So yummy, and after catching up with them, we made our way back to the hostel and went to bed. Waking up at 6AM for the flight off to Ireland! Another city that wore me out, and spring break wasn't even halfway through. And back to the snorers... oh well! Much love, AF

Spring Break Stop 1: PARIS!

Friday March 17th
First day of our three country spring break excursion! End of 5 midterm tests, two papers, and many cups of coffee. We left at noon to head to the train station that took us to the Pisa Airport, hopped on a plane with my backpack holding everything I needed for 10 days, and arrived safely in Paris around 5! The travel group of 8: Ashley, Caroline, Maddie, Emma, Liz, Kelcie, Kate and I went to our hostel called Caulain Court, dropped off our stuff and went straight to find a place to eat dinner. We went to a restaurant that had EVERYTHING: among the 8 of us, we had mussels, cheeseburgers, fries, pizza, pasta, and salad. I split some pasta and a salad with Maddie, and then made our way out into the city.

We wanted to wake up early, and since we were an hours walk from the center of the city, we snooped out a Starbucks for the morning and Moulon Rouge! I never realized how hilly Paris was, and after walking up many many stairs/hills, we called it a night around 11PM. Alarm set for 7AM to hit up everything there is to see in Paris in one day! Wahoo!

Saturday, March 18th

Didn't realize how hard it was to get a group of 8 girls going in the morning, but we were out the door at 8:30 and made our way south (we were way north by Sacred Heart, the highest point in Paris). Stopped at Starbucks (Mom and Ann would have been proud) and after an hour, we made it to the Louvre, took pictures of random statues and historical things.

There is such a variety of churches and architecture in Paris, as well as plenty of history of WWII and being ruled under good and bad kings (like King Henry V and Napoleon). Even though it's rich in history, Paris is a true city with traffic, lots of people, and even Pizza Hut, which made the monuments few and far between. We saw the Square d' Estienne (HUUUGE church), the Opera House, La Madeleine church (picture) with giant pillars/statues, and many designer stores such as Marc Jacobs, Louis Vutton and Longchamp.





 Went to the Ill de la Cite, center of the city, where there is the Egyptian pinnacle and two giant fountains (that's Emma and I sitting on one). In every direction from the center, a different monument could be seen: The Louvre, Arc de Triumph, Eiffle Tower, and over a grove of trees Notre Dame.

The park in front of the Louvre was filled with runners, which was so different from the non-workout city of Florence. There were many naked statues that I'm sure Ricky would have enjoyed, as well as plenty of perfectly shaped trees and shrubs. Dead ahead was the glass pyramid of the Louvre and a smaller version of the Arc de Triumph Napoleon created before he was abdicated and exiled from France. Learned this on our walking tour, which was led by a guy from London and in our group we had people from Ireland, Australia, the US and even Belgium!

 

Notre Dame 

During our tour we saw LOTS of cool things, like the Palace of Justice, which was the Nazi headquarters for 4 years and had bullet holes still in the walls. Because of WWII, many buildings were bombed or caught fire while the city kept switching whose rule it was under.

I realize that I talk about my parents sometimes in my blog, but during the part of the tour while we were in the center of the city I could only think about my dad because our tour guide was talking about one of the greatest tours of the world: The Tour de France, biggest cycling race ever. We were standing right by the finish line where the final 20th stage takes place (called Paris Champs-Élysées if you were curious). A block away there was the hotel where the winner got to stay for 3 nights free and fly whichever flag they wanted from the huge flag pole. Called Hotel de Crillon, Lance Armstrong flew the Texas flag, and if you wanted to stay at that hotel like a normal person, it would cost you 7000 euro (which is about $9500) a night. Michael Jackson stayed there frequently, as well as other celebrities.

We also walked under one of the famous bridges in Paris called "Point Neuf, or "New Point", which isn't new at all; when they built it under King Henry the Fourth it was new, and the first stone bridge in Paris. There are also characture heads of all of the Kings friends that lined the crowning of the bridge. The story behind having all of their faces on the bridge was that, during a successful year, the King threw a massive party, and invited all of his closest friends to attend and get very rowdy. After two of his wine cellars were drank dry, he had some characature artist come over and draw everyone's faces. He then got the brilliant idea to have all their faces permanently put up on the bridge, so thats what he did and that's why all the faces look so... interesting. We also learned about the murder and conflict behind King Henry V, and how they tortured and eventually killed his murderer. If you would like to know that really graphic story, ask me in person because it was very VERY disgusting, and while our tour guide was telling us this Caroline looked like she was about to lose her lunch.

Next stop was the love lock bridge. A very rickety and artist-filled bridge with locks all over it that had the names of couples written on them. This wasn't filled with love locks a few years ago, but it became one after Carrie in the Sex and the City movie created a love lock in the movie and threw the key into the river below. Now it's covered and something that can be found in many different countries. After the bridge we saw the French Accademia, or their main university. Walked along the river that was packed with street venders, and came back to the Louvre. We took some goofy optical illusion pictures, "touching" the top of the pyramid, "leaning" up against it, and things like that. It's fun to get creative with all these traveling photo opportunities!

During the last half of our tour, we saw the World's Fair show buildings from the late 1800s/ early 1900s, which during that time included building the Eiffle Tower! Interesting thing about that tower is that people originally hated it. It was an incomplete structure and was an eye sore to the rest of the city. The city agreed to have it torn down after 25 years, and the year it was supposed to come down, radio was needed during the WWI and the tower was the highest point in the city and best for radio signal. Obviously served more than the original purpose and has been doing great ever since! The designer of the tower was also the person who designed the Statue of Liberty, and there are mini Liberties all over Paris. Didn't see one but just another fun fact.

Other things on our tour included:
Napoleons Tomb
Petit Palace
Latin Quarters

I think I ended up having selective hearing during the times we were learning about these places, so I don't have much to say about them other than they were very neat to see. I think the reason for not listening because we were already planning out what we were going to do after our tour: enjoy some bubbly and eat baguettes at the base of the Eiffle Tower! At the end of the tour I saw guys playing polo on bikes inside a short-walled hockey rink. Most entertaining part and definitely wish I had time to go play!


Right away, we found a market, got our goodies and went to the Eiffle Tower! We got a little lost and ended up being on the other side where there's gardens and we could see the big green grass area on the other side. I never thought I'd actually be able to be within arms reach and walk underneath; that was something I only saw in movies but today it was so unbelievably real. Being in a big group of girls reminded me of the Madeline movies and books I read when I was little. Thanks, mom!

We sat for two hours in a grassy spot, chatting and occasionally giving back the soccer ball a 2 year old kept kicking at us. Just to be able to sit and soak it all in was amazing. Took LOTS of pictures (I was obsessed) and cut our time by the tower short because of rain. We took cover in the Palace of Chaillot, the big one at the end of the Eiffle's park. That didn't stop us from walking, so we made way to the Arc de Triumph and got to see the Eternal flame (which has been put out a couple times by Germans roasting a sausage and an angry Mexican who lost a big bet after a soccer game and wanted to "piss on" the French). If you put out the Eternal Flame under the Arc, you are exiled from France... I want to go back so I left it alone. There was a Veteran ceremony going on under the Arc, which I think was for Saint Patricks day. It was hard to tell it was even St. Patty's day because there wasn't much green or clover decorations anywhere.

By the time we left it was 7PM and time for some dinner! Only place that had enough room for us all was an Italian restaurant. How fitting since we just left Italy the day before. They had great minestone soup and garlic bread, and since it was St. Patty's day we went to an Irish bar and had a pint of Guiness. Very fitting, but 10PM hit and we were all so tired from walking all day long. A few of us stopped at Notre Dame to take pictures of it at night, and I think its more beautiful then. We walked the hour home, and since we were so close to the highest point, Sacred Heart, we had to go. Sacred Heart is a huge white church that is surrounded by huge tombs and a monastery. After walking up all 373 stairs to get to the top (there was a warning sign and an escalator you could pay to use), we made it! Best view of the entire city. I couldn't believe it and what a great way to end the night! (sorry it's sideways!)

Sunday, March 19
Not sure if anyone noticed yet, but there is one very famous lady in Paris that I still had to pay a visit to in the morning before we left. Maddie, Emma, Caroline, Ashley and I were out the door by 8 and bee-lined it to the Louvre. There she is kept behind a sheet of glass and is mostly identifiable because of her eyes, and we were in the world's largest museum in the world for 20 minutes just to snap a few photos. If you have guessed who I am talking about, congrats! And if not, I will tell you: Mona Lisa. I was kind of disappointed with how small the painting was, but still amazing to see it in real life. And there weren't as many people there since we went so early! Anyways, thats all we did in the morning besides eat breakfast and make way to the airport to catch our plane to the next destination. Paris, you were great and wore me out but so ready for some real English speakers: HELLO LONDON!!

Hiking up cliffs: FIESOLE!!

It was a random Friday when I decided to text my friend Jessie (my roommate from the ski weekend) because I hadn't seen her in forever! She was going on a hike up in Fiesole and so Emma and I, along with Nicole and Katie (from Gustavus College) joined Jessie and her friends in a day full of getting lost in a small Italian city and hiking giant cliffs!

We took a 30 minute bus from Florence to Fiesole. It's a little town snuggled into the side of a hill/mountain (at least when we were hiking it felt like that), and once we hopped off the bus this is what I saw! A cute bell tower, along with rows of short trees and flower boxes of petunias underneath. 

Around the center of town there were statues and street vendors, but since we were here to go on a hike, we headed right to the tourist office to get a map of where we needed to go. On our way we passed many bakeries and ALMOST got one of those amazing chocolate mousse filled croissants, but I wasn't sure how difficult our hike would be, so I stuck to eating my orange and apple.

With map in hand, we quickly realized how many hiking trails there were in the Florence area. Fiesole is the town directly north east of Florence, but there is a 160 KM hike (or 100 miles) called the Renaissance Loop that goes through all the hills and small Tuscan towns surrounding Florence. We weren't able to do that one today, but maybe sometime in the future I can check that off my bucket list! We did a much shorter route, but to get to the start of the trail we had to walk through town. Every which way we turned, we got to see views like this!

What kind of Italian town would it be if there wasn't a huge church?

After going up a few nice hills and roads (we also passed a school. First one I had seen since being in Florence!), we found the beginning of the trail. It was tucked away behind a restaurant and passed an olive farm and open fields. But quickly came up to the map and we were in the middle of the woods. Felt like I was in the boundary waters again! But without the water. Just lots of trees.

The trail map split into 2, trails A and B. Trail A was a steady incline with a wide path and tini little pebbles lining the way. Trail B was very steep, lots of tree roots and sharp rocks sticking up everywhere, and looked darker: we went with trail A. B can be for another day! We hiked uphill for over an hour, slow and steady pace, stopping to take some pictures and enjoying the Italian country side. Even saw a tractor way down below! 

We made it to the top finally! One of the many great views

Here is where the trail got tricky: we got to hike/climb up that big rock thing there, and it was not easy! Luckily Jessie had gone rock climbing a lot and could seek out the narrow trails along the side of the rocks. If you've seen the Disney movie "Up", you could understand where I started calling everyone a Wilderness Explorer for going up this!

View from the top of the giant rock

Part of the trail on the way back down. We spent a good hour
on top of the rock and we all brought our own lunches! It was so sunny, and was the first day I wore a pair of shorts out. Since it was only about 60, we did get a lot of funny looks from Italians that were still in puffy parkas. That hike was a great workout and after telling my other roommates that didn't go how great it was, we will be heading back up there again before heading home to the states.

So after hiking up rocks, through forests, and the little town of Fiesole, we headed back around dinner time. Emma and I stopped at one of our favorite American restaurants called "The Diner", it's just like Convention Grill with many specialty burgers, breakfast plates, french fries, and milk shakes. I try not going there too often but its so hard to resist a chocolate chip shake after a day full of hiking! This was spray painted a block away from The Diner, and reminded me of home. Even abroad I seem to find MN everywhere! Next stop: SPRING BREAK!!!! Much Love, AF