Happenings.

This past Tuesday we had our final presentation for our Business Spanish class. It went well & I am SO glad it is OVER! Praise Jesus!!! What would have been the final class on Wednesday, was cancelled! So after the presentation, I was officially DONE with classes here in Spain! (sothankful)


'So Caitlin, why aren't you coming home now if you're already done with classes?' Well I'll tell you. Way back when I had to book plane tickets, I had no idea all those classes in English ended in the middle of April. So I looked online and it said that the exams through the university ended on June 17th. So not knowing what classes I was taking, I had to assume I could have an exam then and booked my flight for the 22nd. I ended up taking only one class through the university (business spanish) and instead of a final exam, we had the presentation! So I was done May 24th!! I looked into changing my flight, but it would cost me over $600. To me that was just a confirmation that I was suppose to stay here. God's not done with me here yet!! 
So for these next 25 days (yes, 25!!!!!!!!!) I am going to be at the beach as much as possible. I am going to be training hardcore for this triathlon (still can't believe i'm doing this!). I might be taking some day trips to other nearby cities. I might be going to a theme park for a day. Oh yes, and one other thing... I am gonna see THE Jaime Meier HERE in Alicante!!! YAY! As some of you know, she is studying for a month in Madrid. She talked her instructors into letting her come here for a weekend and I couldn't be more excited!! :) So that is something to look forward to!! And that is my month! I'm sure it's going to fly by. Just like this semester has. It always happens that way.
The weekend Jaime comes, Margaret is going back to Latvia & she is so so excited. She has been a good roommate, especially since she has never had a roommate before! I have learned a lot about Latvia, and have an open invitation to come and visit whenever I return to Europe! It'll be weird without her here, but I won't be alone when she leaves! Today a girl named Alyssa from Texas moved in!! She is taking one Spanish class through the university for the month and then hopes to travel. She seems really nice and I'm excited to get to know her better! 


This past Wednesday was my little brother's 18th birthday. (Okay, he's not so little anymore. He's bigger than me.) I wish so badly that I could have been there to celebrate him, BUT that just means a bigger celebration when I get back!! :) Daniel, I love you and miss you a lot!! I'm so proud of you and so so thankful you are my brother!! Praying for you and CAN'T WAIT to see you so soon!!!!

So much sass.

UnoMesMas.

Holy Mackerel!!! In exactly THIRTY days I will be HOME!!!!!!! One Month!!! That's all!!!!! How in the world is it already one month left?? I felt like it was just yesterday when I was one month in!! (& at the same time I feel like I've been gone for centuries) I'm not complaining though! I am beyond excited to see my boyfriend again and my family and friends!!! I have had such an amazing time here in Spain (still not over!) and memories that I'll have with me for the rest of my life! 
I just thought this was an important day and wanted to post my happiness so I won't forget! I would love to write more, but like I said yesterday, I have this big final presentation tomorrow, so I need to finish it and get some good shut-eye!! :) 
God is beyond good and I am so so so blessed!!!

I've thrown myself headlong into your arms— 

      I'm celebrating your rescue.!

   I'm singing at the top of my lungs, 

      I'm so full of answered prayers!

-Ps.13:5-6 {TheMessage}

NothingShortOfThankful.

While I should be working on my final presentation for my Business Spanish class (for Tuesday), I am instead choosing to blog about Rome. Makes perfect sense. I'm so over this class and can not wait until Wednesday when I am OFFICIALLY done with all my classes!!! Praise the Lord!!! 


Okay, so Rome. It's my favorite place I've been to in Europe. By far. I love history and Rome is the definition of a historical city. But lets start at the beginning...

Day One

We woke up and got ready for the big day. The guy who worked at the hostel saw that we were up early (no one else was up) and prepared breakfast for us an hour earlier than normal! Saweeet! We took the metro the airport, checked in and hopped on the plane, jet-setting to Italy. The flight was fine and we were oh so excited to finally be in Rome! We took the public bus to the metro, and then the metro into the city (savvy money savers) to where we were staying. Our Mom was so nice to find and finance where we stayed! It was this little bed & breakfast right near the castle and the Vatican! (Thanks again Mom!) It took us a little bit to first find it and we were both tired, starving and delirious. After we checked in we decided what better to do in Italy than eat! I know you were thinking the same thing. Don't lie. So we ventured out (starving, weary (carlie's favorite word) travelers) and found this legit pasta place. 

Perfection in a picture, I know (well 2 pictures). Story of my life. But what you don't know is that I was very sick. I sadly only ate about 5 bites (with carlie forcing me) (but don't worry, I took it home and ate it later). I had an awful headache and was nauseous. I think it was brought on from lack of food and sleep. But Carlie, on the other hand, hand no problem what-so-ever and ate it like she had never eaten spaghetti before in her life. Our waiters were thrilled to help us with our Italian (seriously. 4 of them came out of nowhere) when we asked how to say Ibuprofen. We found a pharmacy, got some meds, then went back to the room. I felt bad that on our first day in Rome I had to feel bad. We took a nap which was so needed. When we got up I felt a little bit better and ate my pasta. So good. 

We didn't want to waste our whole day, so we set off to be exploradoras. Like I said, our room was right near the Castel San Angelo (beautiful), so we walked past it and then towards Piazza Navona. The streets were so pretty. On the way to the Piazza we stopped and got our first gelato (aka- heaven. i will never eat simply 'ice cream' again. only gelato). We sat by a fountain eating perfection, listened to music by the cutest old Italian man, watched people breakdancing, and walked through a mini market with paintings. Everything was so alive. We decided to keep exploring, so we walked to the Pantheon. It was closed when we went, but it was really cool! It's Rome's best preserved monument. It was built back in 126AD as a temple to all the gods. Hence the name. All (pan) of the gods (theos). 

We continued walking and saw the Tempio Adriano (a once magnificent temple built in 145AD, dedicated to Hadrian (emperor)), and the Parliament building. It was fun just walking around and seeing Rome. We found this pizza place for dinner. Yum! We were still so tired, so we headed back and hit the hay. 

Day Two

So at our B&B we had breakfast in bed. Kutos to whoever came up with that idea. I'd like to take my breakfast in bed from now on. The little Italian woman who worked there, named Dorina, spoke no english. We spoke no Italian. She was super nice and would come in talking in Italian to Carlie and I, give us our breakfast, pat our arms, still talking and walk out. Her daughter worked there some and knew some english, which was needless to say, very helpful. Anyways, we ate our breakfast (consisting of toast, a croissant, juice and coffee) and prepared for a day full of sightseeing. Today was the day for the Vatican! We got there and it was so massive and pretty! We got in line to go into St. Peter's Basilica when a man told us 'Can't wear shorts inside'. Opps. Didn't even think about that! So we decided to go see how long the line was for the museums. It was very long, so we went back to our room, changed out of our scandalous shorts and headed back to the Vatican. Take 2. We waited in line again and were cut by some suppppper rude people, right at the front of the line! I informed him and his friend that there was a line, and he just waved me off. Jerk. It ruffled Carlie and I's feathers, but we quickly forgot about it when we walked in and saw the splendor of the Basilica. 

This place is unreal. It has the largest interior of any Christian church in the whole world. The Basilica was built above the tomb of Peter, who was also the first Pope. There are also a lot of other past Popes that have been buried here, including the recent John Paul II (you can see his body. weird). We walked around in awe for a while then ate our leftover pizza from the night before while sitting under the columns in St. Peter's Piazza. Success. 

We went back over to the museums to see if there was still a line and great news - no line! Thanks Jesus! AND we got in with the student discount!! This always makes me the happiest! There were 10 museums all clustered together. Overload. We made our way through them, perfectly timing our steps so the english tour was directly behind us. Just addin knowledge to the noggin. Basically the grand finale is the Sistine Chapel. We sadly weren't able to take pictures, but even if we were, I don't think you could capture how beautiful it was. It was amazing!!! I can not imagine having to paint all of that!! Touche Michelangelo!!

After we finished the museums we took the metro a little ways. We got gelato (whatelse) and walked over to the Spanish Steps. Did you know that they are the widest steps in Europe?? Me either. We went and found some shade so the weary Carlie could rest. THEN the best thing ever happened!!! We stumbled upon the Trevi Fountain. We love the Trevi.

Love at first sight. This is THE BEST place ever to people watch. You see all kinds of things: people getting engaged, little kids, punk middle school aged kids, trashy Americans, too much PDA, cute Americans (who wore chacos, naturally), sassy Italians, people lounging on rocks eating their gelato, self-pics, guards patrolling way too seriously, Asian photoshoots, and much much more!! We walked around for a while, came back near the Trevi, had a great dinner, then back to the Trevi to continue people watching! We were waiting for them to turn the lights on, but we also didn't want to miss the metro (it stopped running at 9). So we took the metro back to our side of town and found a place for Carlie to have her tiramisu she'd been craving. Apparently if you order a coffee at 8:45pm, they think a shot of espresso is just the ticket. Noice. Even nicer for Carlie later that night when I was so hyper and she wasn't :) shelovesme.

Day Three

Words Carlie & I perfected in Italian: Ciao, Arrivedercci, Scusi, Grazie, & Burngiorno. Words we did not perfect: whatever Dorina said to us in the mornings. We understood Burngiorno and Prego... My go to is when in doubt, smile. Works like a charm :) Today was ancient Rome day. We took the metro to the Colosseum and right when you walk outside, there it is. In all its splendor. We were pretty much starstruck and did what anyone would do... whipped out our cameras and started taking pictures! Duh. 

We decided to share the audio tour (so worth it) and we got to skip the long lone!! I loved listening to all the history and facts. While we were up there walking around, there was some sort of police appreciation day going on down on the street that we were watching. Everyone was dressed to the nines and it was cool to watch. Noice! Once we left, we found a restaurant nearby for lunch. Annnnd my card got declined... splendid. We used the last of our cash to pay and decided to go to the Roman Forums (our ticket for the Colosseum covered the Forums too). We should have gotten the audio guide (but didn't have $$) because after a while everything just looked like different sized rocks. If (& when) I go back to Rome, I really want to go back here and get the guide because I think it would be so interesting!! It used to be the center of Rome - the heart. With temples, churches, houses, government buildings. Coolest. We walked around for a long time and then headed back to our room. We skyped Dad and he rescued us from starving in Rome (Thanks Dad!). After showering and getting ready, we headed over to the Trevi area to find someplace for dinner. We ate at this cutest place called That's Amore. Our food was so good! Our cute Italian waiter loved us and referred to us as the sisters throughout the night. 'Are the sisters done? Would the sisters like some coffee?'. Perfect. 

Afterwards we walked to the Trevi to see it all lit up. She's a beaut. We people watched for a while (our favorite thing) then started to head back to our room. When we were walking we got stopped by police and a second later all of these race cars sped right past us!! We thought it was cool, but didn't pay it much mind. Well once we got near the castle, we found out it was this huge race called the Miglia 1000! The checkpoint for that day was right in front of the castle! We have to walk right past it to go home, so we stopped to check it out (plus we knew dad would be having a field day). We were standing on our tip toes trying to see over people, when I looked over my shoulder and caught eyes with the security guy and he motioned for Carlie and I to go through to the VIP section!!! Believe it. We were directly by all of the fancy photographers! We took a ton of pictures for Dad until the last car checked in. 

Just so you can get a mental picture :) 

Day Four

Today was our last day of breakfast in bed :( Sad. We walked a little ways to an area called Trastevere. It was really pretty there! It was quiet and not as touristy as the center of Rome is. We walked around for a while and guess what we stumbled upon?? An Italian wedding. I forgot to mention that I have a best friend getting married and that's the whole reason Carlie and I went to Rome. To see her get married (justkidding). 

We stayed and drank cappuccinos nearby as we watched the action. I loved it. We explored around the area for a while, then meandered over to the old Jewish district and had sandwiches on a park bench while watching little boys play soccer. We walked through some more ruins and around the Forum to get to the metro. We decided to go to the catacombs and from the map online, it looks like it is accessible from the metro. Well it's not. We walked probably 2-3 miles, no exaggeration, in the heat, with no map. We were not very happy. And the area where we were was suupper sketchy. We finally found it (with help from a nice old lady) and it was really cool! We didn't really know what to expect. We went to the Catacombs of San Domitilla, the supposed largest catacomb in Rome. It was all combined over 11 miles of tombs. It's made up of 4 layers, getting smaller with each layer. Like an upside down pyramid. We had a tour around some of it and it was very interesting. And cold. So cold. We found out how to take the BUS back to the city and had the biggest struggle to date. You have to pay for your tickets on this machine in the bus and it only take specific coins. Well I didn't have these specific coins, so I'm asking people on the bus if they can give me 2 twenty cent coins for 4 ten cent ones. All the while being swung around the bus like a rag doll. I dropped coins and then it ate some of my money. Carlie and I were a hot mess. Finally a man just paid for us haha! We were that pathetic. We were so so thankful and grateful for that couple that took pity on us and helped us. For real. 

What better thing to make your day all better than some gelato?! That's right! Gelato at the Trevi for sadly, the last time. We did some souvenir shopping nearby and bargained a little bit. We had our last Italian meal :( I had spaghetti and Carlie had fettucini alfredo. yummm!

When we got home we packed and got a little bit of sleep.

Day Five

We had to get up so early to get to the airport on time. The guy who met us when we first checked in offered to get a cab to go to the airport. We agreed and when we went down that next morning we didn't have a cab, but a personal driver. Fancy! Driving in luxury to the airport! Our flight back to Valencia went fine. When we got back to Spain, it was sadly very cold! So instead of sightseeing, we spent some time in Starbucks. Works for me! We grabbed lunch, then played cards in the train station until it was time to go. Our train back to Alicante was the most shaky thing ever. Carlie and I thought it was going to go off the tracks! But don't worry- we made it successfully back! 

We had such an amazing time in Italy and just being together!! 

look closely...

Thank you for sticking through and reading all of that. Guess what?? 

ONE MONTH FROM TODAY AND I'LL BE ON A PLANE COMING BACK HOME!!!! :) 

can't wait.

FavorFallingLikeRain

Hi there! I have not forgotten about you! I may or may not have waited to blog until this Thursday so I could tell you how thankful I am for my sister (along with our glorious adventures). Thats right! This Thankful Thursday I want to share my heart and let you in on a secret (but actually not so secret). I love my sister. This is Carlie:

She is the sassiest sheila out there. And she is my best friend. I am so blessed to have Carlie as my little sister & I'm SO SO glad she was able to come see me here in Spain! I am thankful for Carlie's heart. I am thankful that she is in love with Jesus. I'm thankful that she wants to share that love with some middle schoolers next year through the great ministry of Young Life. I am thankful that we both are in love with Boone and go to the same university. I'm thankful that we've grown so close over this past year. I'm thankful for her silly, goofy and crazy personality. There is nothing like the bond of sisterhood and if you have a sister, you can probably agree! 

Carlie, I love you so much and you are my BSF. I am proud to call you my sister. I can't wait to hear about your adventures at the Gap. Praying for you. Miss you. Can't wait to see you so soon :) Lylas...but really haha

So I know what you want to ask. How was your time with Carlie? Well I'll tell you. It was so. much. fun. Like Carlie said in her guest post (here) the 10 days flew by and I can't believe she's already gone! Here is a quick recap of her first few days in Spain:

Her flight got in around 11 (yes, we might have cried in the airport) on the 6th and she was delirious. It's true. She pretended to be a dog on the bus back into the city. Then laughed at herself and proceeded to do it again! Crazy girl. Her first day here was crummy weather. So we had a typical Spanish breakfast (toast and coffee. yup that's it. again - still missing the full irish breakfast!!!) and we wandered around the town. We stumbled upon a beautiful cathedral in the historic district, a kite festival, and I showed Carlie my favorite coffee place on the water (she loved it. duh). My Turkish friend Selin cooked for us this night and it was ah-may-zing!! We had pasta with yogurt and this spicy stuff (sounds gross, but not), this patatoe salad sort of thing and cucumbers. I may have forgotten something, but it was really good! After dinner we had Turkish coffee. It's a small cup (like espresso) with the grounds at the bottom. When you get to the grounds, you turn your cup onto the plate, wait a few minutes then when you pick the cup up there are shapes and lines on the inside (from the grounds) and in Turkey they read your fortune for you! Selin is not an expert, but she read Carlie and I's fortunes and it was so fun!! The next day was beautiful so we decided it was the day to conquer the castle! The castle is the main attraction everyone takes their guests to when they come to visit. It's great and free - yay! We hiked up to the top and it couldn't have been a prettier day!!

We had a picnic at the top before heading down to the sea for some sunshine!! The next day we hit up the beach again and then walked around some shops for a while. We went out to dinner and in total excitement for Italy, we ordered pasta. Well it was covered in a sauce made of 4 different types of cheeses. Not normal cheese, but names you can't even pronounce. It. was. so. gross. We didn't even come close to finishing because it was that gross. The next day I had class, so we went to campus and I gave Carlie a tour of the campus and then she waited until I got done. We then picked up our bags from the apartment (and sneaked in a few minutes to watch some of The Lizzie McGuire Movie in preparation for Rome, naturally) and headed to the train station. We rode the train to Valencia (2 hour train ride) which is where we flew out of the next morning. We stayed in a nice hostel right in the center of town. After we checked in, we walked around a little bit, ate dinner and then went back to rest up for our big day - Travel to Rome.

I'm ending this post here because I am getting weary (i'm sorry, it's 1am here!) and I want to give full details when I tell you about Rome!! Until then, I hope this little gem can hold you over! :)

SURPRISE!

So... I'm sure you're wondering what this cliffhanger surprise is...
well: It's me, Carlie, here in spain. YES. guestpost. 
Tomorrow morning I leave. Caitlin and I have had such a blast together. I'm not ready to leave yet, these 10 days flew by. It seems like just yesterday I flew in and we ate pasta salad in her apartment late at night. I know that Caitlin will soon write about our time together and all our travels, adventures, and hilarious stories, but hopefully this is good enough for now!


After a few days here in Alicante (days well spent at the beach, castle, and around the city) we flew to ROME, and just got back today. Rome was so beautiful and with so much to see and do in the city, I think we conquered a lot. I have concluded: after my time spent in this beautiful city in Italy that I want to be a couple of things: 
1. A nun. (inspired of course, by the Vatican) and because they're everywhere around here. They are so cute and are always with fellow nun friends.
2. A gladiator. Brave, tough, and valiant, fighters. Why wouldn't you want to be a gladiator?
3. A tour guide in the Colosseum. More realistic way to learn about and teach others about ancient times I suppose
4. A Vestal Virgin in the Roman courts for the Emperor. Basically all they have to do is sit around in beautiful outfits, help out around the palace, sit by wonderful fountains, and look at pretty flowers all day. Great life. 
I'm so glad that I got to come to Spain to see my sister. I miss her alot and alot in America, she is my best pal. Our trip to Rome was the best and, needless to say we will remember it forever. We are grateful to our parents who support us mentally and financially in our travels! SISTERFRIENDSFORLIFE.


Caitlin and I came up with a list of travel tips if you ever decide to go to Rome (A cliffhanger until her next blogpost)

Travel Tips to Rome by C&C:

• shorts and tanktops are hoochie in the eyes of Italians. Wear clothes if you want to divert some eyes
• Bring good walking shoes!! You walk so so much.
• Don't rush through the Vatican museums . At least not as fast as we did (woops)
• Study basic Italian words before going. We knew nothing, which was sometimes a difficulty (thankfully a lot of people spoke English--Score!)
• Only buy one water bottle because you can refill it all over the city by these fountain things with spickets. You might question them, but don't- just accept a cool drink of water.
• Motto: "When in Rome!" - use as frequently as possible
• you may  at the men dressed up as gladiators, but don't take a pic with them unless you want to pay 5 Euros and be ripped off. A lesson we learned in NYC...scam. only take a pic from afar if you cant resist like me
• If you want to visit the Catacombs, find out which bus to take...DO NOT take the metro or you will have to walk too far to find it. and we didnt have a map.
• Say no to people trying to sell you stuff. As for the people hassling you outside of the restaurants, be sassy and they'll leave you alone to look at menus.
• Start fresh when going to the Roman Forums. Go ahead and get the audio-guide or you will have NO idea what rocks were what. Also bring sunscreen and fill your water bottle!

Duces Spain!

-Carlie

Ireland.

First and foremost you HAVE to listen (not necessarily watch) to this while reading this post:

And once it's over and you're still reading, you can play this one:

Day One

Okay, so you know those people you see at the airport at check in, with their suitcases open while they're cramming things into every inch of their carryon? And then weighing it multiple times to see how much further they have to go? That was Erin & I this morning. I accidentally paid for a 15 kilogram bag instead of a 20 kilogram. Great. And it weighed 20 on the dot so it would have been perfect, but no. I ended up wearing a sweater, jacket, carrying my sweatshirt, wearing Erin's boots, and almost wore my sweatpants over my jeans (luckily, that didn't happen). Erin was wearing her sweatshirt, jacket and carrying her other jacket. We threw away all of our shampoo & conditioner and stuffed our backpacks to the brim. It was finally the correct weight and we were slowly getting through security and of course they decide to go through all of Erin's stuff. Perrrrfect. Then we were those people sprinting through the airport (because the screen said 'Final Call') with all of our layers on. We were a hot mess. Once we got to the gate, they hadn't even started boarding. Naturally. I think I passed out on the plane. That humming of the plane can put me to sleep almost every time.

We got to Dublin, took the bus into town, found our hostel, left our bags (check-in was at 2) and had our first Irish breakfast down the road. First impressions: not impressed. I don't know what it was we thought we were going to see in Dublin, but we were really let down. We had imagined Ireland as super green, mountainous, stone everywhere- but Dublin was just another city. So what did we do? We hopped on a train to Don Laoghaire (pronounced dun leary. doesn't look like that, I know). In the movie P.S. I Love You they mentioned it and since it was only a 30 minute ride, we decided to check it out. However, once we got there, we found it was a little harbor town with nothing there. Beautiful, but we walked around and then decided to go back to Dublin and not waste our precious time in Ireland. 

Dublin is famous for the Guinness Storehouse. This is where we headed once we got back into the city. It takes you on a step by step self tour through the brewing process. At the end, you are in the Gravity Bar where you have a 360degree view of the city and a complementary pint of Guinness. Personally, I find the stuff disgusting. But the views were awesome, and the tour was pretty interesting!! 

We then walked to St. Patrick's Cathedral and then through the Temple Bar area. There is indeed a National Leprechaun Museum in Dublin, but unfortunatly it was closed :( Sad day. Headed back to the hostel to check-in and we had the nicest room! No bunk beds - actual beds with duvet covers!! I was in heaven! So spacious and so clean. If anyone ever goes to Dublin - stay at The Townhouse/Globetrotters. They're the best. After we unpacked a bit, we went out in search of food. We settled on Subway. Trying to save that moolah. 

At our hostel they had a table with tons of brochures. So we looked at some of them and found a tour that would take us to the west coast and down to see the Cliffs of Moher for only 35Euros! We booked it that night and went to bed early to rest up for our next day's big adventure :)

Day Two

We woke up early, got ready and went to meet our group. We took the coach (nicer bus system) to Galway, which is on the opposite coast line. It took a little over 2 hours! Our tour guide told us later that Ireland is about the size of Maine. Crazy. The drive was so pretty! As soon as we were out of Dublin, it was exactly what we expected to see! So green, hilly, the picturesque stone houses and so so beautiful!! Erin & I kept saying 'This is what I expected.' Once in Galway we switched to our tour bus and started driving to the family's farm (it was a family ran tour company). We drove along the coastline and through some small villages which was all absolutely beautiful!! We got to their farm and were able to see their baby lambs and calf before going on a walk. SO CUTE!

friends :)

Our guide led us up the mountain behind their farm telling us about the history of the area. The area is called the Burren Mountains (burren means 'rocky place' in Gaelic) because these mountains are basically a lot of rock. Well the tops of them at least. It was so neat and humbling to be sitting at the top of the mountain in the sun and looking out at the valley that led to Galway Bay. Beauty. God is good.

It was a great and beautiful hike. Headed back down to the farm and talked to the tour guide's dad- aka his farm. Cutest Irish man in a sweater. I wish I had taken a picture. Then we had homemade apple pie (the momma made it) with real cream - Y.U.M. 

We loaded back into the bus and then drove through a town called Lisdoonvarna which is where a big matchmaking festival takes place every September. So if you're single and wanna be hooked up with an Irish man - go here in September. We stopped in a town called Doolin for lunch which is home of traditional Irish music, although we didn't even hear any. It's right on the coast line where you can see the Aran Islands (which Erin loved) and Galway City across from Galway Bay. 

After lunch we drove to the Cliffs of Moher (pronounced mow-er). This place is unreal. 668 feet straight down. I'm confident when I say it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. By the way, the weather was absolutely gorgeous! Ireland is rainy and cloudy most of the time, and our tour guide, Michael, kept telling us how lucky we were because days like this don't come around too often. I'm so thankful we were able to see the cliffs when it was sunny! 

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy;
they will sing before the Lord.
-Ps.96:11-13

Amazing. Back in the bus, headed towards Galway City. We stopped a few times for photo ops. One of the stops was at a castle built in 1525. It was called Dunguaire (dun means 'fort' and guarie is the person it was built for. so it means Fort of Guaire). Very cool. 

We arrived back in Galway after another pretty scenic drive and had a little over an hour to kill before the coach left for Dublin. We walked around and had tex-mex for dinner. Duh. I really liked Galway! It was a lot smaller and cuter than Dublin and right on the water- always a plus! I tried to stay awake for as long as I could on the bus, but eventually fell asleep. When we got back to Dublin, we were exhausted and went back to the hostel to go to bed! Such a great day!! We felt like we actually saw Ireland, not just another city. And we learned about the history of Ireland which I think is really cool. :) I love that kind of stuff. Oh and when we got back to our hostel, there had been a leak in our room, so we were upgraded to our own private room! Like a hotel room! But going from 8 girls sharing a bathroom to 2 is quite the luxury!! We had nice beds and it was just so great :)

Day Three

If I didn't convince you to stay at the hostel we stayed at, let me tell you about their breakfast. You don't just get cereal and toast here. You get a full Irish breakfast! What does that consist of you ask?? I'll tell you. Cereal, juice, coffee or tea, fruit, toast, baked beans, tomatoes, fried egg, sausage, ham and hash browns!!! FO FREE! So good!!! I love breakfast, so this was the JAM.

For our last day in Dublin/Ireland we wanted to go to the Wicklow Mountains (outside of Dublin) where they filmed some scenes of P.S. I Love You. But we planned it too late, so there were no more buses going out there after 10. A nice lady who worked at our hostel told us about this town called Howth about 30 minutes away that we should visit. So we did. We took the DART (the train) to this quaint little fishing town. We really loved it there! We got coffee in this little market and walked around exploring. In the harbor we actually saw real life seals!! So cool!! They weren't very cute though. 

It was kind of cloudy and cold, but we didn't let it hold us down. There was a hike you could go on around the island (actually a peninsula) or half of it or whatever you wanted to do. We walked for SO LONG! It was a lot bigger than we thought. But the weather cleared up, and it was a beautiful hike! 

We finally got back to town, had lunch, explored the market from that morning, and then it got cold again so we got back on the train to Dublin. We went to a souvenir store and Erin stocked up haha! We went back to our hostel to rest for a bit. We wanted to go to the Temple Bar area which is famous in Dublin. So we grabbed dinner and headed first to a bar called Whelan's. This is more of a local bar and we found out about it because it was also in P.S. I Love You. Can you tell we like that movie? Great place to people watch. We found out it is where upcoming local musicians come to play. Once the door to the stage area opened we went in there and watched some tank wasted people dancing (sad, but funny). Some might be better described as just rocking. Then a lot more people started to dance too. I liked it because it wasn't booty dancing or gross, everyone was just dancing to the music. Like the kind of dancing you do in front of the mirror by yourself. It was cool. But by 12 the musicians hadn't even started setting up, so we decided to go to the Temple Bar to check it out. It was the most packed place ever. Ridiculous, but cool to see. We tried to find a place with traditional music, but no luck :( So we headed back to the hostel and went to bed. 

Day Four

Got up, had another amazing full Irish breakfast (yum.), showered, packed, checked out and took the bus to the airport. 

This trip was so much fun!! I really really enjoyed getting to travel to such different places and get to experience their cultures! Erin & I had so much fun. We laughed basically the whole trip. Minus the times when we were so exhausted and didn't talk at all. Which is good too. It's nice not to have to talk all the time. Good quality. I'm glad we travel so well together! So happy and thankful for this trip!! God is so good!!!

Oh, and PS- MY SISTER IS COMING TODAY!!!!!! I'm so so so so excited!!!! :) :) 

I can not believe I now have less than 2 months until I go home! Where did this semester go?! 49 days and counting...

Lovely London.

Fact: I love London. It's true. Maybe it's because we had more time there, so we didn't feel the need to cram everything in all in one day. Or maybe it's because of the nice accents. Or maybe it's because they have awesome things like Royal Weddings. Or perhaps of the free water at restaurants. Or all those things combined into one lovely package and then some! 

Day One

Like I said, Erin and I pulled an all nighter before our flight hoping to catch some shut-eye on the flight. Of course a school group (my guess is 8th grade?) piled onto the plane. The scattered themselves all over and then felt the need to shout to their friends sitting 6 rows ahead of them & behind them. Not so lovely. We are on a plane kids, not a bus. Needless to say, we were quite happy to land in England. 
If you've ever been to London you fly into Hethrow because it's right in the city and easily accessible by metro. Well no one told us. So we flew into Stanstead. We had to take a bus which took about 45 minutes to an hour to the metro station in the city. Not so bad cause we were able to see the country side a little bit and also saw the stadium and other buildings for the 2012 Olympics!! But then our stop for our hostel was outside of town. Which wouldn't have been bad, but it was the complete opposite side of town! (Note we were running on no sleep) We didn't plan all that too well. Oh well. But geewizakers we were exhausted! Little Miss Erin was nodding off a lot of the tram ride. She'd jerk herself awake, tell me she was nodding off (like i didn't notice), and then 2 seconds later, her chin would be at her chest again. I love watching people doing that in class. It's so funny! Or when they're resting their head on their hands and it slips off and they practically jump out of their seat? Perfect. I've been there too. Oh they joy of not being rested. 
We weren't able to check into our rooms until 2, so we left our bags at the hostel and headed across the street to a restaurant called The Swan and had a delicious breakfast. We discovered here that people tip in England. I have been spoiled here in Spain because you don't tip! It's so nice! So we had to keep reminding ourselves throughout the remainder of our trip to tip! We walked around the town we were staying in (it was called Hammersmith) and finally were able to check in. After a shower and a nap we decided to meander downtown and see whatever there was to see. 
We saw Buckingham Palace, St. James Park (beautiful), Trafalgar Square, and of course the telephone booths. 

We actually had dinner before 10, which was new, but welcomed. Walked back down towards Buckingham Palace then back to the hostel where we slept like little babies. 

Day Two

Erin and I were rested and prepared for a day full of sight seeing. We wanted to see the changing of the guards, but unfortunately just caught the tail end of it. So we headed down to Westminster Abbey where William & Kate would be saying their 'I Do's' 4 days later. So beautiful!! 

We rounded the corner and saw the House of Parliament & Big Ben!

We grabbed lunch at what came to be our favorite restaurant called Eat. right on the river. Afterwards we went and rode the London Eye! 

Super blurry, but this is hilarious. Our 'pod' was told to get in the photo zone for our picture.
Nobody responded, so Erin & I slowly went to the edge and smiled.
We laughed at this picture for quite some time.

After that great experience we just wondered around London. We walked around Covent Garden, Chinatown, Picadilly Circus (aka the weak Times Square of London), found the US Embassy for Erin, and sat in the sun at Hyde Park. Being a tourist is a tiring job, so at the end of our long days, once we were through with dinner, we were tired and just wanted to go back to the hostel. So that's what we did. Oh and the only place to get wifi at our hostel was the first floor bar. Yup. The first floor was a bar, then the rest were rooms. Weird set up but they make money from it. I was very thankful our room was on the second floor and we couldn't hear all the noise downstairs!

Day Three

We started our day out by going to see the London Tower and the London Bridge (aka the Tower Bridge). 

We explored the 'Old London' area, saw Shakespeare's Globe, ate at our favorite place (Eat.), saw St. Paul's Cathedral, and went to Abbey Road. Abbey Road holds a special place in our hearts. I am almost 100% percent positive I laughed the entire time we were there. When we arrived we watched as people crossed the road, over and over, in slow motion trying to capture the perfect shot. It was a lot funnier in person than me writing about it. You'll have to just take my word on it. They also don't tell you that this road is very busy. So sometimes when cars would stop for you to cross, you couldn't get the right picture because they were in the way. So you'd have to cross again... and again. Funniest thing. 

Me crossing Abbey Rd! Haha

Something really great is it's all recorded. There is a camera set up outside of Abbey Road Recording Studios which shows you live footage of the crosswalk and an archive of the past 24 hours. I just glanced at it again and saw people doing handstands, about 6 men dressed up in suits, and a bride and groom. No lie. Check it out if you want some entertainment. Check it out here! 

After that, we went and saw Kensington Palace and walked around Hyde Park. We saw the Peter Pan playground, but they wouldn't let us in because we were over 12 years old and didn't have kids with us. Lame. I love Peter Pan. Then we had the most brilliant idea to find some of the Harry Potter sites in London!! We ventured to Kings Cross Station and indeed went to Platform 93/4!! Yes, It was AWESOME!

I'm transferring to Hogwarts. Sorry, App.

We went to this place called the Australia House, which the interior was used as Gringotts bank. But they were having some sort of event and we weren't allowed inside. Bummer. We ate at a lovely burger restaurant then proceeded back to the hostel for the evening. 

Day Four

Today we slept in. Luxury. We hit up two museums which we weren't very into. They require patience and a love for that kind of stuff. Which we didn't have then. We ate and then walked down to Buckingham Palace and sat in the sun on the fountain. Everything was so pretty because of the preparations for the wedding. The processional streets had been lined with these huge British flags and the news cameras were finishing up their bunkers all preparing for the big day. I really really wish we could have been there for the wedding. It would have been unreal. But we were there days before, so it'll have to do :) We went to this 300 year old pub near our hostel, on the river called The Blue Anchor, then next door for dinner. We went back to the hostel early for 2 reasons. 1- The Madrid vs Barcelona match was on and Erin wanted to watch it and 2- We had to leave our hostel by 2am to take the city night bus (metro doesn't run at night) to Liverpool Station where we had to catch the coach to the Stanstead airport. Told you it was inconvenient. Our flight left at 630ish. 

Overall, I really really liked London. There was always something to do. I loved the parks and how historic the city was. I for sure want to go back. Thanks for reading all that. Geez, I wrote a lot.