Dublin Day 2

I'll start off by talking about last night (it's 7 pm on Friday now). After I checked my email/updated my blog at an internet cafe, I went to Starbucks (so cliche, but so familiar...) and read a book I'd brought with me for like an hour and that was really nice. Then I went back to my hostel to read and wait for Emily, and she arrived at about 9:30 I think. We went out to get her some food, then after she'd eaten that we went to bed. I slept well, and we got up a little after 8. After showers and free breakfast at the hostel, we headed to Trinity College. We went in to the Long Library to see the Book of Kells, which was cool, but the Long Library itself was awesome.

Waiting to go into the Long Library to see the Book of Kells:

A terrible picture of the very beautiful Long Library:

Next we went to a neat little street market, which we went back to later in the day.

Street Market:

After that we went to Dublin Castle for a tour, but the inside of the castle was closed for a government function. We did go in to the chapel and that was cool, but it was too bad that we couldn't go inside.

Next we went to Christchurch Cathedral, where we did an audio tour. It's a cool church, but I thought St. Patrick's was cooler. We met Frances, a girl we know from Edinburgh, at Christchurch, then went to lunch together (we had planned to meet up for lunch). We went to a pizza place called Hell, where we met her sister, who goes to school in Dublin. The pizza was great and it was an interesting place...

Frances and her sister went home after that (they live outside of Dublin), and Emily and I went into a cool covered market, where we saw some tasty looking cupcakes, which reminded me that my tour guide yesterday said that the market we went to this morning had amazing brownies, so we went back to that market. And yes, the brownies were incredible.

Next we went to the Chester Beatty Library. What a cool place! There's a huge collection of Asian art, but the coolest thing was the religious stuff on the second floor. They have the oldest existing copies of some parts of the Bible there, like from 180 AD or so. Really cool.

The Chester Beatty Library:

From there we went to St. Stephen's Green, which is a really nice park. It was really pretty and it was a beautiful day so it was nice to walk through there.

St. Stephen's Green

Then we went to Merrion Square. It's a square of Georgian (I think) townhouses where a lot of famous people lived (Oscar Wilde, Jack Yeats, others). There's a park in the middle which was nice too.

Statue of Oscar Wilde:

Merrion Square is right next to the National Museum (where I went yesterday) and the National Gallery, so we went into the National Gallery for a while. It was a really nice gallery, lots of famous paintings. After the museum we went to evensong at Christchurch Cathedral. It was cool, but I liked the one at St. Patrick's better. We might go to St. Patricks for evensong on Monday if we get back from our tour in time. We walked along the river after the service, taking pictures of the many bridges and enjoying the athmosphere. There are a lot of cool pedestrian streets around here with street performers and vendors and stuff, so it's fun to walk around.

Four Courts:

One of many bridges over the Liffey:

We grabbed dinner and now we're in an internet cafe. I think we're going to go back to our hostel for a bit after this then go out to a pub for some live music and drinks. Tomorrow we're taking a tour to the Cliffs of Moher, and other awesome looking places along the way (here's a link to the itinerary if you're interested http://www.dublintourcompany.com/dtc/tourinfo.jsp?id=1). Hopefully the weather is like it was today. Unfortunately the time changes tonight (goes forward an hour) and hour tour leaves at 7, so we're going to be waking up early...

Dublin Day 1

I'm in Dublin! The trip couldn't have gone smoother, everything was really easy. I got to my hostel around 9:30 am (after waking up at 5... ugh), and left right after dropping my stuff off. I wandered around the city, went in to Trinity College, and found a little cafe for breakfast. I was pretty well oriented by 11, which was when I took a free tour (like I did in London and Edinburgh). It was a great tour, as usual, and lasted for over 3 hours so I saw and learned a lot. Here are some pictures from around the city. Sorry they're kind of in random order, I'm having problems with this computer.

Part of Dublin Castle:

Dublin Castle Abbey:

Trinity College:

Christ Church Cathedral:

St. Stephen's Green

View from my hostel room window:

Grafton Street, a really cool pedestrain street:

St. Patrick's Cathedral:

After the tour I went back to my hostel and showered. I felt better after that, and headed over to the National Museum of Ireland. I spent about an hour and a half there, until it closed. It was pretty cool, it had a lot of viking stuff. I think my favorite part was the bodies that have been found in peat bogs. They're incredibly old, but the bogs preserved them so well that they have barely decayed.

After that I wandered around the city looking for a place to eat. Eventually I found a little cafe where I got carrot and coriander soup with bread. Delicious. There were two really scary ladies in there. I'm not sure what language they were speaking, maybe Spanish, but they sounded soooooo scary. They were really loud and intense, like maybe in an argument, and their voices were really raspy, like they've been smoking since they were born. Terrifying. When I went up to pay for my meal the waitress and I talked about how scary they were....

Eventually I ended up at St. Patrick's Cathedral (see above picture) for Evensong. Oh my gosh. What an experience. I've never seen anything like that, it was incredible. The cathedral itself is stunning, and when you add a choir (including 8 choir boys) and an organ, it's just jaw-dropping. You're not aloud to take pictures during it but I found this video on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uDndS88-5g

That video isn't quite like what I saw tonight (I thought it looked cooler than that video, and the choir was all male, 8 boys and 8 men), but you get the idea. It was so, so, so incredible. Words cannot explain.

So now I'm just hanging out until Emily gets here. Her flight gets in at 7:30 so after I finish this I'm going to go find a coffee shop and hang out til she gets here. Tomorrow we're going to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College, Dublin Castle, more churches, famous parks, etc.

Oh also, the rest of Dillon's visit was good. We went to a pub last night where he tried haggis, and he liked it. Our planes left at the same time this morning so as far as I know he should be landing in Grand Rapids about now.

Here's a video of some street performers on Grafton Street:

The rest of Dillon's visit

It's now Thursday and I wish I had posted more throughout the week because now I won't remember everything we did. But I'll try.

Monday was a busy day. We started off with a bus tour of the city with a live guide who was great. We got off at the Holyroood Palace, the Queen's official residence when she's in town. There were free audio guides so we learned a lot, but we weren't allowed to take pictures inside so I don't have any. Here are a few of the outside though, and of the abbey ruins behind the palace.

Inside the main gate at Holyrood Palace:

The abbey ruins at Holyrood:

After the palace we were going to get back on the tour bus and head back up to my flat, but we just missed the bus and didn't feel like waiting for the next one so we decided to walk back, which normally would have been fine, but it started raining so that was pleasant... We got back up the Royal Mile to a lunch place called Always Sunday. We got there about 15 minutes before they started serving lunch so we got drinks until we could get food.

After lunch we got on a different tour bus which dropped us off at the Royal Botanic Gardens. We walked around there for a while and it was pretty impressive.

The Royal Botanic Gardens

The Palm House:

Then we got back on the bus and went to Ocean Terminal in Leith, which is where the Royal Yacht Britannia is. That came with free audio guides too so we walked around that. It was really cool, I liked all the pictures of the royal family hanging out on the boat.

The royal family's sun room:

The Queen's bedroom:

The dining room:

View from the yacht:

After the yacht we went back to my flat and made cupcakes for small group that night. It was the last small group of the year so everyone brought food, we played some games, and hung out.

Tuesday morning I had class, then after I got back from that we went to Craigmillar Castle. See an earlier post or facebook for pictures of that. I love that place...

I had another class after Craigmllar. That night we had dinner and watched Trainspotting. What a weird movie... Parts of it are filmed in Edinburgh so that was cool, but what a weird movie...

Wednesday we got up early and climbed Arthur's Seat. It wasn't the best weather but it was still beautiful.

On top of Arthur's Seat:

Climbing down:

Sitting on the Crags:

Abbey ruins:

After Arthur's Seat we ate lunch then got on a bus to Cramond. Cramond is this little town just outside of Edinburgh, and at low tide you can walk out to Cramond Island. The island was awesome. Really, really beautiful and it had tons of bunkers from World War II so that was awesome. There's only a 4 hour window to get out there and get back because once the tide comes in the walkway gets covered with water and you're stuck. We made it back to the mainland with plenty of time to spare!

Submarine barriers and the walkway out to the island:

The walkway and one of many bunkers:

View from inside a bunker:

We kept finding more:

A beautiful place:

The town itself is cool too. There are the ruins of an old roman fort, the best preserved Roman bath house in Scotland, and a historic church and graveyard.

Roman bath house:

Cramond Kirk:

Cramond Kirkyard:

We had fun exploring the town then went back to my flat.

We made dinner, then went to Sandy Bells (pub with live music) with Emily, then went back to my flat to watch Paris je t'aime with some of my friends.

Today, Thursday, was my last day of classes this semester. I won 5 pounds in Society and Politics because I was runner up in a class challenge. We were supposed to email the professor and name as many of the pictures on the front of the course handbook as we could, and whoever knew the most would get a prize. I only knew 6 of the 10 (things like Robert Burns, haggis, Mary Slessor, etc), but I figured not many people would actually do it so I emailed the prof anyway, and I was runner up!

I had my Society and Politics tutorial after that and I got back my research paper, which is 50% of my grade, and I did well on it so that's good. I went back to my flat after that and ate lunch with Dillon (he went souvenir shopping that morning while I was in class), then went to my history tutorial. Dillon went to the National Museum while I was there.

After class I packed my backpack for spring break, and got a bunch of other stuff organized. Dillon just finished packing so now we're going out to dinner and he's going to try haggis.

So yeah leaving for spring break tomorrow. I'll be gone for 3 weeks but I'll try to update this as often as possible. Emails are welcome and I'll respond as soon as possible. The schedule is Ireland, Belgium, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, and Munich. I'll be back April 16!

Dillon's visit so far

Here is a quick (or not so quick, depending on how long it takes Dillon to shower) update on Dillon's visit so far.

He got in to Edinburgh with no problems on Friday morning. He had a long layover in Newark but everything went smoothly and his plane landed at 6:15 am here in Edinburgh. I met him at the bus station and everything worked out.

On Friday we walked around the city. We started with a tour of the campus, then had brunch at Elephant's and Bagels. After that we walked down the Royal Mile a bit to St. Giles Cathedral, then we walked down around the castle to Princes Street Gardens and Princes Street. It was a nice day (really windy though) so we walked up Calton Hill for a great view. On the way down we went into the Calton Hill graveyard, which is where David Hume is buried. Then we walked back over towards my place, and went to Greyfriar's Kirkyard, another cool, old cemetery which is at the oldest church in Edinburgh. Then we bought some food at Tesco and went back to my place. We had dinner at the Elephant House that night.

Saturday we got up early for a bus tour outside of the city. The tour started in Glasgow, where we had about half an hour to go into the cathedral and the necropolis (see earlier blog post for details/pictures about those places). The tour then continued to Loch Lomond, a beautiful loch, where we took a boat cruise out of the village of Balloch. The scenery was really incredible.

Boat cruise on Loch Lomond:

After that the bus went through The Trossachs, which are the mountains that are considered the "gateway to the Highlands". The scenery was different from the actual Highlands (there were more trees so I thought it looked more than Colorado than Scotland), but it was still beautiful. Here's a picture of us there.

At the "Gateway to the Highlands"

Then we stopped in Aberfoyle for lunch. Dillon and I got food at a little deli in the village, then found a picnic table near a river and a petting zoo. Here's the view from our picnic table.

Aberfoyle:

On our way to Stirling after the Trossachs, we stopped to visit Hamish the Cow, and Dillon made a new friend.

Dillon feeding Hamish the Hairy Coo:

See my earlier post about my weekend in the Highlands for more pictures of Hamish.

The bus then went through Stirling (as we heard about William Wallace, since his great battle was at Stirling Bridge). The bus passed Doune Castle, which is the castle used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Monty Python castle:

On to Stirling Castle, which was great. I liked it better than Edinburgh Castle, but the views are better in Edinburgh. Stirling was less crowded and had just less touristy (fewer museums and just more little places to explore). Here is a picture of the castle.

Stirling Castle:

From Stirling we went back to Edinburgh. It was a great trip! The tour guide was really good, and talked for most of the trip about the history and stuff of the places we were passing. I'll put pictures from the tour on facebook later.

That night we made dinner at my flat and watched a movie.

Yesterday we did other touristy stuff, mainly Edinburgh Castle. We did the free tour and spent a few hours going through all the buildings and museums and stuff. We got a quick falafel dinner after that then went to church. Of course it was "Missions Weekend" so it was a different service than usual with a different pastor but it was interesting.

Today we got up fairly early at 8:30 so we can get in a full day of sightseeing. We're going to start with a narrated bus tour around the city, followed by the palace. Then we're taking another bus tour up to the Royal Botanic Gardens, then on to Ocean Terminal, which is where the Royal Yacht is so we'll check that out. We might hang out in Leith for a bit because there are cool restaurants and the shore, then we'll go back to my flat to make cupcakes for small group tonight, then go to small group at 7:30. I can't believe it's already the last small group!

Ok we have to go catch that bus tour, I'll try to blog again soon.

Stuff

Thank you to those of you who expressed concern at my lack of decent pistachios. You'll be happy to know that I did find salted pistachios at Tesco, and they are delicious. I also found decently cheap trail mix (a rarity), but the price determines the taste.

In other news, I wrote my last philosophy paper today. No more philosophy for the rest of my life (unless of course I fail this class, which I don't see happening)! It was on an easy topic for me, which combined both philosophy and neuroscience, so it only took a couple hours to write. Now all I have to do for the rest of tonight and the next two days is plan spring break. Also St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow, so that should be exciting.

Around Edinburgh

Alex visited this weekend and we did a lot. We even went a couple places I hadn't been before so that was cool.

Thursday night we went to Sandy Bells (pub with live music) with some people from my small group. On Friday, we went to St. Giles Cathedral, then Alex went to the castle while I went to a lecture. After the castle we got lunch, then walked around Princes Street Gardens and Princes Street, then went up Calton Hill. We did Calton Hill graveyard after that, then went to Greyfriar's Kirk followed by the National Museum of Scotland. We made dinner at my flat then went with Lauren and another girl to Ruddigore, a Gilbert and Sullivan musical that was being put on by the Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group. One of my friends was in the pit, and it was really, really good! I really enjoyed it, I thought the play was great and that everyone did a really great job.

On Saturday, we went up Arthur's Seat and it was a beautiful day so that was really nice. After lunch at my flat we took the bus to Craigmillar Castle. It's only about 15 minutes, if that, outside of the city, and it's a really well preserved castle. It was so cool! The keeper didn't charge us to go in, and we only saw like 3 other people there while we were there. The whole place was open so you could walk anywhere. There were lots of spiral stone staircases and side rooms and stuff; it was really, really cool. Here's a short tour, more pictures on my facebook:

You have to walk a bit through a field to get there from the bus stop:

First view of the castle:

Castle entrance:

Dozens of rooms similar to this one (bedchambers, kitchens, dungeons, cellars, etc):

Gorgeous views from the top:

It was really awesome and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Check out the pictures on facebook!

On the way back, instead of waiting for the bus that we knew would take us back to the city we got on the first bus that came and that bus went everywhere except the city. We were on it for at least half an hour and we saw lots of places that I hadn't seen before, so that was cool. We stayed on it until the last stop, hoping it would eventually end up back in the city, but it didn't and we ended up in Leith, the shipyards. I hadn't been there before but I've been wanting to go and it was a really cool part of town! It's right on the water so that was beautiful, and when we got on the right bus to go back to the city we saw more of Leith and Ocean Terminal and they're both just really cool areas. Here are some pictures from that stop on the shore:

We got back in time to watch the last half hour or so of the Scotland vs. England rugby match online (a big game). It ended in a tie which was too bad but Scotland was supposed to lose so I guess that was exciting.

We went to dinner at the Elephant House after that, then went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D.

Today we walked around New Town. New Town is the more "posh" part of the city, with beautiful Georgian mansions, parks, squares, and a river running through it. We walked through a few circles of houses then along the river for a bit. Here are some pictures from that excursion:

On a side note, spring is coming in Edinburgh! We've had beautiful weather and the flowers are coming up. Soon the trees will start budding too and it will be beautiful.

We went to lunch at Elephants and Bagels then Alex took a train back to London. I will be spending the rest of this week writing my last essay (philosophy) and planning my whole spring break. 4 more days of class, and Dillon comes on Friday!