DUBLIN! March 25-27

Okay so on Friday, we flew out of Malaga to Dublin. Which meant that we had to take a bus to the Malaga bus station and then another bus to the airport (now I know what to do to pick up my family in 3 weeks!). Both bus rides were uneventful and we got to the airport on time, thank god - I hate having to rush. We did our Ryanair visa/passport check and then sat down to eat lunch. Going through security was fast and uneventful so we went and sat by our gate until it was time to board. The flight was uneventful too but I wasn't able to sleep - LUCKILY I had my newly repaired iPod to keep me company. Once we landed, we took a double decker bus into the city and from there, we walked about ten minutes to our hostel. The four of us were booked in a 10 bed female dorm and it was probably better than our hostel in Rome. Some girl from Poland had been living there for 3 months (!!) so she gave us advice on where to go and where not to go.

Once we put our stuff down, it was off to dinner! Of course we went to a pub with live irish music! I had a baked potato with chili on top - not traditional irish food but still spicy and delicious - with a Guinness, of course!

Probably the best beer I have ever tasted! After dinner, we went back to change and then we hit the streets in search of a true Dublin experience. On the way, we passed a girl drunkenly yelling at two cops and crying - welcome to Ireland! We ended up around Temple Bar and tried to go to one bar that reminded us of Harry Potter, only to be informed by the security doorman that we needed identification. Identification? I have never needed ID for a drink in Spain! We were taken aback for a moment and returned to our hostel to get identification. Round two, our first stop was a two-level bar with more live music! There was a woman playing violin and a man playing guitar - the music was so beautiful! Of course, we had more beer - I tried Irish cider, which was delicious! The bar was so cute - each beer was in its proper glass.

(The Bulmer's was mine and the glass on the left was Beck's)

From there, we went to the famous Temple Bar - where beers are 6 euro per pint and an Irish car bomb (I didn't have one) cost 10 euro. There was MORE live music here! - A woman with an amazing voice and the best guitar player I have ever heard!

Surprisingly, Guinness was the cheapest drink so of course, I had to have another - I was in Dublin, after all!

The people in this bar were so friendly! On the way to the bathroom, I had someone say "Hola" to me - I guess I looked Spanish? And then on the way back, someone started talking to me saying I had a Dublin accent. Whaaaaat? I just could not believe how nice people were! If they saw us taking a picture, they took the camera from us and took a picture of all of us! 

Of course there were drunk people there dancing around to the music and all but it was just funny. The only thing that was a little difficult was understanding their accents - it sounded like some of them weren't even speaking English! I felt like half of what I said was "What did you say? What?" I met some people and told them I was from Washington DC - more well known than Baltimore - and one guy called me out on not being from DC when I didn't know the name of some bar. My excuse was that because I'm only 20, I can't legally drink at home. I still got ragged on for that and eventually said I lived just outside of DC but went to school further north. After some more music, the bar closed at 230 and we made it back to our hostel at 3am to sleep. 

Saturday

We woke up around 8 to get breakfast and be out the door early. Our hostel stay included more free breakfast (yay!) so we stuffed ourselves and figured out our plan of action. Brittany and I both wanted to go to the Guinness Storehouse but Esme and Rebecca didn't want to go so we decided to split up - Brittany and I would go with Sam and Mackenzie (girls from our program who were also in Dublin AND in our hostel!) and Esme and Rebecca would go to two towns with one of the tour directors or employees or something. 10 am, we made it to the top of the Guinness Storehouse - the Gravity Bar - with a panoramic view of Dublin - even with a free pint! Even though it was early, I paid my entrance into the storehouse and I was going to finish my pint - no wasting money for me!

Pint: empty!

I did some damage in the Gift Shop but was able to get some presents for people aka you Dad. From there, we went to eat at SUBWAY for lunch. It has been too long since I've eaten some raw vegetables. But I did learn a lesson - don't drink a full pint of Guinness and then eat a 6 inch sub because you will walk around the rest of the day feeling stuffed to the brim. 

We walked by Christ's Church on our way to the castle...which was a disappointment.

This is not a castle ^^. I was very disappointed. But we continued on towards Trinity College, which was beautiful, even with the construction.

From there, we went to a souvenir shop where I bought more presents. So many presents - I'm too nice! And then we found ourselves walking down a major shopping street. I bought a claddagh ring from a street vendor for 9 euro and I love it! We finally found the park we were looking for and it was gorgeous! - St. Stephen's Green. So many flowers in bloom!

We walked around for a bit before heading back to our hostel to meet up with the two other girls in Mackenzie and Sam's group. Once we met up with them, we were off to the train station to buy a ticket to go to Howth. It reminded me more of a metro than a train and the ticket was cheap - 2.20 euro one way. The little port town was SO CUTE.

When we got to the harbor, we noticed a crowd of people and when we walked over - we discovered that there were seals!

After watching people feed the seals, we decided to walk towards the cliffs. Little did we know, it would take a long time to walk there, so we stopped once we saw a beach.

Just me and the Dublin Bay!

We decided to take the train home so we could go out earlier - thanks to a 9am flight the next day. Once we got back to the hostel, we headed out the pubs once more and ended up back at Temple Bar! This time it was just me and Brittany so we sat in a corner and just people watched while we enjoyed some overpriced beer. By just sitting and listening to the music, we had so many people come up to us to talk! The "official" photographer for the bar, friendly dad-types from London, and a whole Gaelic football team. (I just youtubed Gaelic football and it looks more confusing than rugby. Kind of like basketball + soccer + volleyball + rugby).  Surprisingly, multiple guys from the team were shocked that a girl was drinking Guinness. Why, I don't know but when in Ireland....

More camera stealing and craic. You can't even see Brittany's head. 

Also, these guys had the thickest accents ever. And according to them, my name was Kristan....

Around 130am (thanks Daylight Savings Time) we headed back because we were planning to wake up at 530 to catch the 630 bus to the airport with Sam. 

Sunday

We were up bright and early at 530 to be out by 6 to catch the 630 bus. So we went to McDonald's for breakfast where I got an Egg McMuffin that I had been craving since I left home. DELICIOUS. The airport was the usual, an airport, and we arrived at the correct terminal thanks to the help of a nice Irish man. And I passed out on the plane with a lovely window seat. Bus back to the airport, bus back to Granada where I met a guy from New Hampshire that is also studying in Granada who gave me advice about Amsterdam and Brussels, and then bus back to our street. I was sufficiently exhausted after a great 36 hours in Dublin. I definitely have to go back there - and travel around to Cork, Galway and of course, KISS THE BLARNEY STONE!

Cordoba and Sevilla - March 18/19

Friday morning, we were running a little late and were afraid we would miss the 8:30 bus with our program. Luckily, they never leave on time so we made it at 8:48 on the bus. I slept for most of the ride to Cordoba and then we went to go see the Mezquita - which I saw senior year of high school. It was still beautiful and I enjoyed it even more this time because I had learned about the architecture a few weeks ago! Perfect timing with my midterms coming up (side note, it wasn't on my midterm)

 Beautiful weather, beautiful views!

Un alminar de la mezquita (a tower of the mosque)

The inside of the Mezquita!

The wall that the Muslums face when they pray.

We hopped back on the bus for a 2 hour ride to Sevilla. Our hotel wasn't too bad - I shared a room with two other girls that I didn't know but they were super nice. Dinner was buffet style and it left me craving mac and cheese...It didn't sit well at all with me and not with my roommates as well. After dinner, I was showered and in bed by 10. Great night to catch up on sleep!

Saturday

I woke up around 9 and went down for the continental breakfast, which was 100x better than dinner. We left on a bus tour of Sevilla...that lasted 15 minutes, before we got to the Plaza de España. Interestingly enough, they filmed a scene from Star Wars there!

After that, we toured the Alcalzar (which I have also seen before) before going to the Cathedral (which I have seen too!)

Kinda looks like the Alhambra.....

La Giralda, the only thing left of the mosque that was where the Cathedral is now

The tomb of Christopher Columbus!

After the tours, we walked around some more and soaked up the sunshine before heading back to Granada. It was a refreshing two day trip with no stress on my part having to plan things!

I think I'm all caught up with big events that have happened so far. We leave for Dublin on Friday!!!

Saturday in Rome - March 12!

On Saturday, we woke up super early to get out of the hostel and trek over to the Vatican. Luckily, the hostel manager seemed to like us so he let us keep our valuables locked up and our luggage stored until we had to leave at 430. The breakfast was the same...delicious! The walk to the Vatican took over an hour but while walking through side streets, we stumbled upon Piazza Navona!

From there, we continued to walk to the Vatican. So. Much. Walking. But we finally made it after crossing a pretty bridge! St. Peter's Basilica was absolutely beautiful. We rushed to get in line, avoiding those rip off "skip the line" people and made it past security in 20 minutes. The inside of the Basilica was gorgeous and I actually teared up.

Then we paid 5euro to climb to the top of the Basilica....over 500 steps. Ridiculous! When we finally made it to the top, we had the BEST view of Rome EVER!

After that, we bolted over to the Vatican Museum. 15 euros later, we were inside and on our way to the Sistine Chapel. After about 20 different exhibition rooms, we finally made it and boy was it PACKED. There was a sign that said no pictures but everyone and their mother had cameras out so we joined in. So beautiful! The Basilica was more impressive in my opinion though.

After the Vatican Museum, we went and ate pizza for lunch before going back to pick up our stuff and take a bus to Ciampino, where we went to a biker bar for dinner before leaving at 3am for our cab to the airport!

Friday in Rome! - March 11!

We woke up super early on Friday morning to get our free breakfast from the cafe next door. A pastry and coffe or juice. Light, but free! Then we set out to see the Colosseum up close and personal. It was about a 20 minute walk from our hostel but not too bad. We stopped for coffee on the way. Even though I had a powerade - it was still delicious. At the Colosseum, there were a bunch of men dressed in Roman soldier costumes and we thought it woudl be fun to get a picture with them.....It ended up being 5€ a person. WHAT A RIP OFF. But the pictures are priceless! - I'll steal them from my roommate soon!

We continued to walk around the city, seeing the Tomb of the Unkown Soldier and climbing the 3849320 steps to this BEAUTIFUL chuch with a wonderful view of Rome. From there, we saw a protest happening on the main street which we went down and watched of course!

After that excitement, we decided to go to get some food. We found a cute little restaurant and sat down to eat. I had focaccia and proscuitto. Bad idea, gimme that pizza! We had the house wine which was surprisingly better than the wine we've had in Spain! When we left, we realized we were eating right by the PANTHEON! How cool is that!??

From there, we decided to just wander around and get lost in Rome. We found H&M - I bought a headband and cheap sunglasses. We got more gelato. YUM. Then we sat down in a piazza for about half an hour to people watch. We saw something for the Da Vinci museum and were going to go but then we realized it was just copies of his work - I'd rather see the originals! So we walked past it and found the most beautiful views of Rome at sunset!

We got bored so we walked down these slippery steps. We both wanted to see the Spanish Steps and just in case those steps were it, I took a picture. Little did we know, they were the Spanish Steps!!!!...which led right to the expensive ritzy shopping district. Of course I took pictures of the stores!

By that time, it was dusk so we went back to the Trevi Fountain! SO BEAUTIFUL AT NIGHT! I threw in my 2 coins (1 to return to Rome, 1 to get married) and off we went for food. We ate more pizza, surprise surprise! And then went to bed early to get up bright and early for the Vatican!!

Last week & Rome!

Last week wasn't too eventful. I think I mentioned that I got sick again and went to the doctor's - this time without a translator. Sinus infections will be the death of my patience here.

This past weekend (Wed-Sun) I went to ROME with my roommate Rebecca! We took a 5hr bus from Granada to Madrid - We literally were sweating bullets on the public transit bus from the city to the bus station. At the stop, we RAN to the station to buy a ticket and made it on the 7pm bus at 6:58. The bus ride was uneventful but we did meet another American girl who sat behind us. She helped us navigate the metro to get to the airport. Once we got to the airport, around 1:30 am, we sat down by a pillar and went to sleep. That's right, I slept in the Barajas airport. Around 430am, everything started opening up so we went through security and sat by our gate for another 2 hours.

We flew to Rome Fiumicino through EasyJet. Honestly, the only parts of the flight I remember are taking off and landing - I was asleep for the whole thing. Once we got off of the plane, we somehow found our way to the train station, after passing the ritzy stores like Ferrari, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, etc. We took the Leonardo Express train to the Termini station in Rome which was perfect because our hostel was on the other side of it.

The first meal of the trip was PIZZA!

^^ This was considered one slice. RIDICULOUS! But so cheap and tasty!

We found our hostel and because we were too early to get our rooms, we left our backpacks in the luggage room and set off to explore Rome! After walking for about 5 minutes, we decided we were too exhausted and paid for a double decker bus tour to show us the sights of Rome. I got some AMAZING pictures from the tour and it was nice to just be driven around.

When we made it back to the hostel, we were told that we would be sleeping in a private double room due to an error with the management. FREE UPGRADE YES!

For dinner, we went to the restaurant just around the corner from the hostel and I had this amazing pasta in a spicy meat sauce, but it wasn't spicy enough.

That's about it for our Thursday in Rome. I'll write about Friday later!

I'm BACK!

Since I have gone MIA, here is what's new in my life.

Saturday Feb 26: Bus trip to Malaga. 10€, 1.5 hours one way. It was so sunny and nice and beautiful! Malaga is absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait for my family to come see it. We sat on one of the beaches - la Malagueta - for 4 hours. I got a wonderful sunburn. Then we climbed some rocks - I was terrified but survived in one piece!

My Macbook repair ended up being full of false hopes. I refuse to pay 450€ for a new screen. So with 280€ I bought a snazzy little netbook. Complete with Spanish accent keys! Perfect for me being a Spanish major.

I also visited the bullring last Thursday, the 3rd, when I ended up getting sick again....

The better pictures are on my roommate's camera. I'll steal them once she uploads them.

Saturday March 5th. We took a bus to Carnaval in Cadiz. It was ridiculous and going once was enough for me.

We were right on the water!



I know that this doesn't even begin to cover the last 2 weeks but I'm trying to keep up. And these are just the interesting things that have happened. Next up, Rome this weekend!

Oh, and today I went to the Spanish doctor without a translator and survived. More sinusitis! What fun!