On the streets of Dublin

I love Ireland!! We left Barcelona and arrived at Dublin airport at midnight a few days ago. Stephanie's cousins were there to meet us and it took two cars and a van to transport the seven of us and our luggage to Tallaght to the house.
Being in a house has been amazing! The seven of us posted up, two in a room upstairs and five of us crashing on the couch and two air mattresses in their living room. It's been nice to no longer have dorms to stay in with a bunch of strangers.
The weather here has been great! It's pretty chilly most days, but after the heat and humidity of the last 3 countries, it was a welcome change. It rains off and on, but not as bad as in Cambridge.
The first day we were all so knackered that we slept til 1pm and then headed into Dublin to walk around a bit and go to dinner (Stephanie's cousin Erin took us to Captain America's...irony, no?). The next morning we got up early and headed into Dublin to explore Grafton Street and Temple Bar, lots of cool little shoppes and pubs and cafes. The next day we went on a tour to Maldehyde to see Maldehyde Castle, which was smaller than the average castle but still cool, and then down to Howth, this cool little fishing village. They had seals in the marina! Then yesterday we headed out to an all day tour to Glendalough, the Wicklow Mountains, and Kilkenny. Glendalough was beautiful; the scenery was amazing. Sarah Mac, Kristen, Alex, and I took a little hike along the lake and got some really pretty photos of the scenery. Then we drove through Wicklow (saw where Braveheart and PS I Love You was filmed) and ended in Kilkenny. It was Heritage Week there, so lots of stands were set up selling goods, candies, pies, etc. We explored Kilkenny Castle, which was gorgeous, and then walked around the town a bit.
Then last night we headed over to Johnnie Fox's, which is a traditional Irish pub, and it's the "highest" pub in Ireland. The view of Dublin from the top was absolutely amazing, and we had a great time singing along with the musicians in the pub (EVERY pub has live music 24/7) and drinking Bailey's. Tonight we're doing a big pub crawl in Temple Bar in Dublin which should be fun.
Ireland has been really great! The people are all very friendly, and the scenery is gorgeous. Dublin itself is a very chill city. It's not intensely crowded or rushed, and it's a short bus ride from where we're staying so we've been in and out every day.
Tomorrow I come home!! I can't wait to see what you guys have been up to and hear the latest.
I hope you've enjoyed my blog and I'm glad you guys were interested enough to keep reading! I will probably be putting up several facebook albums with pictures from each country within the next week so stay posted if you're on FB!
<3

Sunbathing and Shopping...oh yeah and sightseeing too...

Yesterday we dedicated the entire day to the beach. The weather was amazing, and we spent all day sunbathing. Oh and by the way, it's nothing special for women to sunbathe topless here. I had originally thought we had gone to the topless beach (since the beach we go to is right next to the NUDE beach) but actually it's quite normal for women here (of any age unfortunately) to forgo bikinis. Quite a way to get a tan.
After that we headed over to La Rambla once again to try to attain the popular 1 euro meal at TravelBar, but showed up too late so we just ended up grabbing a bite by the Port and seeing the part of La Rambla that we didn't see yesterday. Lots of vendors, artists, caricaturists, etc...it was a fun night.
Today our group split up to see different things, so Sarah Mac, Kristen, and I decided to check out Sagrada Familia, the enormous building designed by Gaudi that has been worked on since the 1800s and which they expect to finish in 2070. It was very cool and very gothic. After that we headed over to Barceloneta and Port Vell and spent the early afternoon walking around and enjoying the sunshine (soaking up as much as possible before cold and rainy Ireland). After some gelato, we hopped back on the metro and rode over to Barri Gotic, the huge area next to La Rambla, which is packed with clothing and accessory stores.
The stores were VERY impressive. Their H&M had 3 floors and was decorated in a Victorian meets Techno style. There was a LOT to see and we spent a good 3 hours shopping, although it was more windowshopping for me than actual buying. And then tonight we FINALLY got over to TravelBar for 1 euro pasta which ended up being pretty delicious.
Tomorrow we have a 10pm flight to Dublin, and we arrive just before midnight due to the time difference. The plan is to explore the Bohemian quarter Passeig de Gracia and then head over to the airport tomorrow night to check in. Next time I blog I will be in Ireland!
One more week of my Eurotrip! It's been quite an adventure!

Barcelona Dream

Which is actually the name of the hostel we are staying in, which is located in Pep Ventura, about a 10 minute walk from the beach and a 20 minute metro ride from the city.
I love Barcelona!
Getting there was quite a trek. We took a bus from Aghia Marina to Aegina City, then a ferry to Piraeus Port, then a bus from there to the athens international airport, then we had a 9 hour layover, 5pm to 2am, until our plane landed. We arrived in Barcelona at 5am because of the 1 hour time difference, then grabbed a train to the metro and a metro to a bus, and a bus to our hostel. Whew!

Anyway, the first day we were so exhausted from the airport and flight that we siesta-ed in front of the hostel until 12 when we could check in, then immediately changed into bathing suits and hit the beach, which is amazing. It's not sand, it's all pebbles, so they don't stick to you, and the water's even clearer than in Aegina. It also wasn't crowded, although it WAS a topless beach, so there were quite a few older women baring all. Not too pleasant. But the beach itself was wonderful, and we are headed back there for a full day tomorrow.
Then today, we headed out around 12 to the famous Barcelonean street La Rambla, which is the famous one filled with living statues. It was awesome! i got a lot of pictures. Then after a couple hours we hopped on the metro and headed over to Lessepes to visit Park Guell. The Park itself is located at the top of this ginormous hill, which is so steep, there's actually about 4 escalators near the top to help you get there.
The park itself was amazing. It was designed by Antonio Gaudi, who is famous for his mosaics, and it was filled with gorgeous artwork, which I will be posting in an upcoming facebook album. We spent a long time sitting in the shade underneath a giant structure held up by columns, listening to a Spanish guitarist who was advertising his cd and walking around and looking at all the vendors who had set up under the columns. It was a gorgeous day, and we might go back to explore more of the park and the area around it.
Then we headed back to La Rambla for dinner and shopping and we reached our hostel around 11;30 at night. Altogether an amazing day.


Soooo....things I have learned as a traveler
1. Nutella is a staple around here. And I eat it every day.
2. Always ALWAYS carry around a little roll of toilet paper. Because somewhere, each week, there will be a toilet without any, and you will use it, and you will look down and notice too late.
3. Cold showers actually aren't that bad.
4. Having a member of our group who is fluent in Spanish has helped us more than I could possibly have imagined. Asking directions, menu items, and transportation information becomes infinitely easier.
5. Service charges suck. Make sure before you sit down in a restaurant that they don't charge extra just to sit down. Unfortunately, most do.
6. The lighter you pack, the easier it will be to lug it up the inevitable millions of stairs you will encounter.

I'm trying not to think about counting down and about the fact that I only have 8 days left in Europe. It will be a very bittersweet ride home, but I have already made so many amazing memories. I am gonna put together quite a picture album when I get back. Miss you all and love you all!

Aegean Adventures

Hi Everyone! I thought I'd post a quick update, because we have free internet at this hostel and that's quite a commodity.
I've found that the best hostels so far have included a free breakfast, free internet, A/C, and towels. We only have one more hostel to stay in, and that's the Barcelona Dream hostel, which looks really nice. We've been very lucky as far as hostels go. The one we were GOING to stay in in Venice was frightening, but through a lot of luck, we managed to procure a room in a different hostel in the same building for 10 euros under what we were going to pay. It was an amazing gift, bc the other one, I'm not exaggerating about, it was truly scary. That's been our biggest adventure so far. I will be glad, I know, to get to Ireland, where we are staying in a townhouse. From this trip I will have stayed in 6 different hostels (!). They're really not so bad, although I definitely prefer the 3 person bedroom ones to the mixed dorms.
Aegina has been nice. I've spent every day on the beach, which is a very small strip of blazing hot sand, but the water is amazing and SO warm. It's very calm water, so you can just sit and chill without having to worry about giant attack waves.
I wish I could post some pictures but we don't have any working usb port here so I will either have to wait for another country, or just show you guys when I get home. I'm planning to put together a big album of mine and stephanie's pictures (which are amazing...she's such a good photographer and her big nikon camera can do anything).
Sooo Aegina. We left Athens backpackers and took the metro to Piraeus Port (I love how the metro is the same in every country, no matter what it's called (subway, tube, etc). Then at Piraeus, we took a ferry to Aegina, and grabbed a bus to Agia Marina, where we have been staying at a beachfront hostel called Hotel Rachel.
The nights have been really nice. The first night, Steph, Nika, and I went down to the beach and did a little nighttime beach photo shoot, taking some really cool slow shutter pics with the moon over the water. We got some really cool stuff. Then last night, the entire town had a blackout for about an hour, so most of the group grabbed mats and ran down to the beach to look at the stars. Other than that, the days have been pretty chill. Yesterday I grabbed a book and sat out on the white rocks next to the sea and read in the sun for a good two hours.
Funny note about Aegina: they have little trashcans next to the toilet, because you can't flush any paper down the toilet, not even toilet paper. I'm in a room with Nika and Steph and we've each accidentally disobeyed the rule. :D
Also, we found this place called George's Take Away, which sells 2 euro gyros, so we've been grabbing that for dinner every night. I also had my first legit greek baclava and it was amazing. I thought of you, mom and dad, while I shared one with Nika. Sooo good!
Anyway 12 days left in the trip, two more countries to visit, one more hostel, 4 more flights, and who knows how much more unpacking and repacking and grocery shopping. Goodbye for now!

Super quick update

So I'm sitting in Athens backpackers and I have 15 minutes to be online so here goes a super fast update.
We're about to take the metro down to Piraeus Port to go to Aegina and move into our hostel there and then spend a few days on the beach! Yesterday we spent the day in Athens. We explored the Acropolis and saw the Parthenon, and one thing I thought particularly cool, the Ancient Theater of Dionysus. We sat up in the acropolis, looking out over the city of Athens for a good 2 hours. Greece is paradise; the weather is warm and breezy, and I can't wait to get down on the beach. I'm getting a bit of a tan already. :)
The day before that we spent getting from Rome to Greece. I was up at 3:30 am, we took a car service to the Rome Ciampino airport, hopped a flight there to Berlin, waited in Berlin for 4 hours, found out our flight was delayed 3 hours, finally got on a flight to Athens at 7, and arrived at our hostel right around midnight. It was a bit of a stressful day, but still fun. I had a lot of reading, so I was fine for the 8 hour layover.
Last week I spent 8 days in Italy. After Venice, we took a train to Chianti, which was fantastically beautiful. We stayed in a little town called Tavernelle, which was relatively free of tourists, and the landscape was beautiful. We rented bikes and biked all over the countryside, finding sunflower fields and grape vineyards, and old cathedrals, it was very beautiful, and I got very sunburnt.
Then we hopped a train to Rome, got to Rome around 11pm and found our hostel, which was right across from the Teatro D'ell Opera. We were trying to go see Carmen, but the cheapest tickets ended up being sold out so we spent a few evenings exploring Rome. On the first day we saw the Colosseum, the Pallatine, and the Forum, through a tour which was very fun. The second day we bought through the same tour guides and toured the Vatican City. I got to see the Sistine Chapel, which was amazing, but I think my favorite piece of art work was Raphael's school of Athens.
Oh, and I've eaten a ton of gelato!
Anyway, we're checking out soon, so I thought I'd update. Miss you all! I can't believe in 2 weeks I'm coming home!!

I'm On a Boat!: Gondelas, Italian, and Venezian Masks

Buon Giorno! I'm currently sitting in an internet cafe in beautiful Venezia, Italy, and it is HOT! It's been around 90° here everyday, a big change from rainy cold Cambridge.
On Friday we left Cambridge around 6:30am and flew RyanAir to Venice, then spent about an hour getting to our hostel. I had my first water taxi experience!
Venice is gorgeous! It's a very romantic atmosphere, and our hostel is fantastic. It's right in the middle of the city, we live by the Piazza Rialto. Friday night we got legit Italian pizza at a restaurant by our hostel which was delicious, and then we walked along the Grand Canal and watched the people ride around in gondelas.
Saturday was extremely hot. We walked down to Piazza San Marco which has a lot of museums and walked through a few, and then on our way back, a gondelier stopped us and offered us a ride for an amazing price. It was so cool getting to ride in a gondela down the Grand Canal! The scenery was beautiful. We rode by Casanova's house too which I thought was pretty funny. And at one point the gondelier in front of us started singing boisterously to his riders and that was pretty funny. I got some video during the ride that I will show y'all when I get home
The shops here are FILLED with masks! Apparently Venizia is famous for its huge carnivale, where everyone dresses up in masks and costumes, so every single shop sells tons of different masks! We had some fun Saturday night in a shop trying some on and taking photos, although most shops don't allow photographs.
I really love speaking Italian. We had a little phrase book that we've all put to good use, and Sam speaks fluent Spanish, which is a bit similar to Italian, so he's also helped out a lot with if we need to ask a specific question. I've picked up a bit too. Actually, funny story, we were in one shop last night and Nika couldn't remember the Italian word for tomorrow (domani), and I said it to her and the shopkeeper was certain that I was Italian!! I was thrilled that he thought my accent was legit. I've picked up some phrases pretty well, but as far as understanding goes, I mostly just get the gist of what people are saying. I kind of want to take a conversational Italian class at MC, because I really love the language. Also makes me think of The Light in the Piazza. :)
Anyway I have to go, but I just wanted to leave a little update of my past couple of days. Tomorrow afternoon we leave for Flòrence! Ciao!