July 20 & 21

Yesterday (the 20^th) we did a lot of relaxing. Ashton and I wanted to be outside so we walked to the hotel that’s close to Katherine and Pete’s house. The weather was great so we sat on the porch of the hotel’s restaurant and ate until we couldn’t eat anymore! Fish & chips are my new fav! We took the scenic and mostly uphill walk home to try and burn off some calories.

Today (the 21^st) we had breakfast, watched some TV, then got ready for a long day. Katherine took us to Powerscourt Estate in Enniskerry for lunch. It was beautiful and had 47 acres of gardens. Powerscourt has a Ritz-Carlton so there were also specialty shops and a golf course. This would be an awesome place to revisit! When we left Powerscourt, Katherine drove us to Glendalough (pronounced “glen-da-lock”), a valley settled in the 6th century by the priest, St.Kevin. The drive to Glendalough was picturesque to say the least. We saw some really gorgeous views of the Wicklow mountains, walked a lot, and took tons of pictures.

Now we’re exhausted and about to pack up for the long haul back to the states tomorrow. We’ll be on 3 flights beginning at 6:30 in the morning…Dublin to London to Boston to Atlanta. Soooo much fun.

Pictured above: Me at Glendalough, me before we walked into Glendalough with baby Gabby, the front of Powerscourt, THE BEST FISH & CHIPS MEAL EVER, me before lunch at the hotel, Ashton and her cousin Oscar (digging for gold & helping her put on make-up)

July 18th & 19th

Yesterday (the 18th) we woke up and started getting ready to head into Dublin. Katherine was so nice and drove Ashton and me to the nearest train station, called the Dart. On the way in, we stopped at a seaside town called Dun Laoghaire for lunch. After we ate, we got back on the train and were in Dublin in less than 20 minutes. We walked to one of Dublin’s well known tourist attractions, the Guinness Storehouse. This was kind of like the World of Coke in Atlanta, except for beer of course. We spent about 2 hours in Guinness and at the end we got a complimentary beer at the Gravity Bar which was at the top of the building overlooking the entire city of Dublin. When we left Guinness, we walked around the city and did some exploring. We ended up at a beautiful park called St.Stephen’s Green. It was kind of like New York City’s Central Park, but smaller. We walked back to the Dart station and Katherine picked us up when we got to the stop closest to her home. We watched "P.S. I Love You" and drank wine before we went to bed in honor of our vist to Ireland. We are cheesy, but were really in the mood for a chick-flick and this was obviously the best choice.

Today (the 19th) we went to Donnybrook, a very nice suburb of Dublin, with Katherine and Pete and their baby Gabby for a tennis match at a tennis club. Pete use to play tennis and some of his friends were competing. We had lunch at the club then walked around the city of Dublin to check out the shopping. I got a t-shirt at the Hard Rock Cafe that is pretty cool! We drove back and Katherine made us a spaghetti for dinner. Now we’re hanging out and planning something for tomorrow…maybe a hike on the coast since the weather is going to be nice...a high of 65 degrees!

Pictured above: Me at St.Stephen's Green in Dublin, me outside of Guinness Storehouse, me at the Gravity Bar inside of the Guinness Storehouse, view from the train on the way into the city (not too shabby)

July 17th

Today was so relaxing! Ashton and I slept-in and when we woke up, Katherine (her cousin) made us porridge for breakfast. We took our time getting ready and weren't in a hurry at all! This was refreshing because we have constantly been on the move since we left Atlanta on July 2nd. Shortly after we got dressed, Katherine drove us and her two kids (Oscar and Gabby) to a nearby town for lunch. It was soooooooooo good, and probably the best meal I've had since I've been "across the pond." The restaurant we ate at had a gift shop attached to it with the cutest stuff. When we left, Katherine drove us to Bray, a beach town close to her home. There was a carnival going on so a band was playing and families were everywhere. The coast in Ireland is just how I imagined it: green and beautiful. We grabbed a coffee before we left at a place called "Finnbees Coffee House" and then headed home. About to watch some TV and plan something fun for tomorrow!

Pictured above: the most delicious/filling cheeseburger and fries I had for lunch (will definitely be hitting the gym pretty hard when I get home), me on the beach in Bray, Ashton and me in the gift shop where we had lunch

July 14, 15, 16

The past few days have been a whirlwind. I just realized it was Saturday and that I hadn’t blogged in the past couple of days. I haven’t had much internet access and I lost my phone in Paris, so I’ve been feeling a little disconnected.

On the 14^th, we left Paris and headed to London. The train ride from Paris to London was about 2 hours…I tried to sleep the entire way but couldn’t because I was pumped about London. When we arrived, we had free time for most of the day and saw a few tourist attractions like Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, and the outside of Westminster Abbey. After we walked around and explored the city, our group had a “Medieval Times” dinner that was so much fun and very close to the Tower of London. Food was good, entertainment was good and it was unlimited beer and wine. Everyone ended up dancing the night away and took the Tube (London metro-system) back to our hotel.

The next day (15^th), the study abroad program with the group was officially over. Some people went home to the states, some went to Germany, our professor and his wife left to explore the English countryside and Ashton and I planned on staying in London. We reserved beds at a hostel about a month ago and thought this would be an inexpensive way to stay in Europe for a week longer. When we actually got to the hostel and saw what we were in for, we had a little crisis. We knew it wouldn’t be the ideal place to stay, but I guess we were a little too optimistic. We went to dinner at a place called “Giraffe” in SoHo and did some shopping to kill time. Then we tried to figure out where we going to stay for the rest of the week. The hostel refunded our money and we got a hotel room at a nearby Travelodge for the night.

This morning (the 16^th), we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel then searched for other hotels and places to stay in London for the rest of the week. The Travelodge was all booked and everything else in London was either outrageously expensive or just as sketchy as the hostel we originally booked. That’s when we randomly decided to relocate our Eurotrip to Dublin, Ireland.

Why Ireland? Because Ashton has family in Dublin that welcomed us with open arms. We booked a flight and RUSHED to London-Heathrow airport with all our luggage. Half way to the airport, the Tube shut down so we had to RUSH out of the Tube station and get a taxi to take us to the airport. We checked in and RUSHED to the departure gate. We made it to our flight just in time. I was starving at this point because I hadn’t eaten a thing since breakfast and it was 5:00 p.m….not to mention the work-out I had to endure hauling bags and sprinting around London in attempts to make it to our flight on time.

It only took us about an hour to fly from London to Dublin and I took a nap on this flight. One thing I’ve learned on this trip is how to sleep at any time. You never know when you will get an hour of rest again so it’s best to rest when you can. Ashton’s cousin’s husband, Pete, picked us up from the airport and now we’re at their home, which he told us is 10 minutes away from where the movie "P.S. I Love You" was filmed. If you haven’t seen it, you should because the scenery is beautiful. He also told us about several things we could do this week and that him and his wife, Catherine (Ashton's cousin) have all the House episodes recorded on their TV and we can watch them when we want to relax. This is one of my favorites so I'm starting to feel at home again!

We’ll be here until the 22^nd and the next city I’ll be in is Atlanta, Georgia! Stay tuned to hear about our adventures to Ireland!

Pictured above: Ashton and me in the Dublin airport before we got picked up, Andrew (one of my classmates) and me at a pub before we all left London, Ashton and me at the Medieval Times dinner doing a dance called "The Bernie" (please click on the link to to see the real thing on YouTube), the front of Westminster Abbey, Big Ben