Spring Break and a Taste of Home

Spring break began on Saturday, March 21 as Patee, Rebekka, Kara, Sarah and I departed the train station to Pisa, where we took our flight to London with RyanAir. RyanAir is the most miserable airline ever and I am surprised with myself that I have not yet posted anything about it yet. While the prices are extremely cheap to fly, the airline finds some way to charge you enormously for something new, including baggage. First of all, it costs 10 euro to check in at the desk, which we have to do because it only allows you to check in online if you are an EU citizen. Second of all, we have to pay 20 euro to check in a bag, which we had to do this time because we would be gone for a week and they are extremely strict with carry-on bags. However, Patee and I were "overweight" with our bags (mind you, the airline lets you check in up to four bags, which have to be a total of less than 15 kg. ... how in the world is someone supposed to pack four bags that are equal to 15 kg?! (About 35 pounds)!!!), so we had to get out of the line and take out a bunch of our stuff. People clap at the end of the flight because it is so miserable, and since they don't give you assigned seats, people make a mad dash to the stairs of the plane so that they can get seats. It's insane. The airline only made our lives when our trip ended...

We arrived in London at about 10 p.m. and Rebekka's luggage was "stuck" in the baggage carrier that brings the luggage up to the carousels (thank you RyanAir). We had to wait around for about 30 minutes for them to bring it to her, but we at least got to sit down and have drinks and pastries, which was good because we hadn't eaten in awhile. We took a cab to our hotel, which was one of our favorite parts of being in London because the taxis are exactly how you imagine them in London: little black bugs that sit five people in the back. We went to our hotel in Hyde Park, the Admiral, which asked us to sleep at a hotel across the street for the night since it did not have accomodations for five of us that night. That was fine with us because the other hotel had the most amazing beds we have ever slept in. We called the beds like sleeping in clouds and we did not want to leave, or get out of bed.

On Sunday, 3/22, we used the day to travel to the sights that did not include the cathedrals since it was Sunday. We woke up and had scones and pastries at a "snack bar," which were delicious! We walked through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens where we saw the Princess Diana Memorial, which was absolutely beautiful. I could have sat there all day. I really wish we had parks like these in America or Italy. It would be so nice to have beautiful parks like that to run through and walk Fluffy through. We bought tickets for the hop on/hop off sightseeing bus so that we could see everything we wanted in two days. While this bus was helpful in transporting us to where we wanted to go, it was also a pain in the butt because it never showed up at the "stops" when it said it would. The first place we went to on the bus was the Tower Bridge, which had many interesting stories to it. Our tourguide told us that one time a double decker bus had to jump the drawbridge because it went up without notice, and another time a "shepherd" brought his herd of sheep across the bridge because God told him to. We went from Tower Bridge to the Tower of London, where we saw one of the Queen's houses that was being guarded by a soldier. We also saw where Sir Walter Raleigh was held prisoner with his family, and we saw the Crown Jewels. I remember when I saw the Crown Jewels with my family when I was younger, but I found it really fascinating this time especially when they showed videos of Queen Elizabeth's coronation. For some reason Patee and I were so fascinated with the Royal Family and want to know everything about them! After the Tower of London, we took a Thames River cruise, which was included in the price of the bus tour. The river cruise took us from the Tower Bridge to the London Eye, while we saw a lot of sights on our way, including the London Bridge. I had no idea that the London Bridge was so small. Like I said previously, I am glad that I had gone back to London because I barely remember everything from our trip when I was little. We also passed Shakespear's Globe and the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. We stopped at the London Eye, which is the tallest Ferris wheel in the world and offers a 360-view of the entire city. We went at perfect timing because it was sunset as we got on. By the time we finished with that, we were hungry for dinner and ready for bed!

On Monday, 3/23, we woke up in time to see the Changing of the Guard, which was so incredibly crowded so we didn't get to see much of it all. We then made our way to Westminister Abbey, which was one of the most interesting cathedrals I have been in. I liked how it gave us a free guided tour, and my favorite part was learning about the coronations and the coronation chair. I got in trouble for taking pictures, but at least they didn't fine me or take my camera like they did to another man Rebekka saw. After Westminister Abbey, we went to St. Paul's Cathedral, where Princess Diana was married. The Cathedral also has a "Whispering Gallery" at the top of the dome, where you can sit on one side of the dome and whisper something to someone on the other side and they will hear you. It was hilarious because we were doing it completely wrong and a security guard pretty much called us dumb for the way we were trying to do it, haha. After St. Paul's Cathedral we visited Harrod's Mall, where our eyes were bigger then our stomachs when we entered the bakery section. We bought so many pastries and desserts that we didn't even want dinner later. As we made our way out of Harrod's, Patee and I saw a homeless man with his poor dog and we bought them sandwiches, fruit and water. Of course when we walked back out to give them the food, they were gone. We were so mad, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

I absolutely loved London and would say that it is one of my favorite cities I have visited. Though I have been there before, I really appreciate the opportunity to have visited again since I don't remember everything from my first trip. It was also a great taste of home, being able to hear and speak English, eat American good and drink American beer, etc. I will go into more detail at the end of this entry.

On Tuesday, 3/24, we made our way to the airport to board yet another RyanAir flight to Dublin, which we were so pumped about. As soon as we got into Dublin, Patee called her Dad's friend who lives there, Justin. Justin rents out apartments in the area, so he let us have free accomodations in one of his apartments near the Temple Bar district! We are so grateful for this as it saved us a ton of money and made us so much more comfortable. Justin picked us up at a hotel and brought us to the apartment building. He had to park on the side street in an alley because it was the only place to park the car so we could get our luggage out and get into the building. By doing this, we had our first true welcome into Ireland as Justin pointed ahead of the car and said "it looks as if there is a bit of a party down here, girls." I looked ahead and saw about four men with beers in their hands, stumbling around and then another man laying face down on the ground with two other men patting him on the back. I was really confused because I thought Justin was telling us there really was a party down there, especially because Ireland had just won the rugby world cup so it was really supposed to be a huge party for the Irish for the week. After we had walked into our apartment, I looked out our bedroom window so I could see what was going on, and suddenly there were ambulances and fire trucks coming down the road and the men were yelling "he's dead! he's dead! he's dead!" and putting a jacket over his head. The paramedics removed the men from the scene, while I watched them check the man's pulse and shake him, so I assumed he wasn't dead, which relieved me. Finally the man got up and the paramedics put an oxygen mask on him and pretty much had to carry him to the ambulance because he was stumbling so hard.. yup, he was just passed out from drinking too much. Welcome to Ireland.

By this time, we were ready for dinner and ate in the Temple Bar district, which is a huge street aligned with bars and restaurants. The street is so crowded at night with drunk people who are stumbling everywhere and having a blast. We had some drinks at a bar that had a live Irish band, which was so much fun because everyone was out and singing, dancing and drinking with the band... even though it was a Tuesday night. We loved being able to have American beer, like Coors Light and Bud Light... it was the first beer we have drank since January, so it tasted amazing to us! I also really liked the Cider beer, which was also in England, but it was too expensive to drink every night. We made it an early night because we planned the next day as a hike through Wicklow Mountain.

On Wednesday, 3/25, we left the apartment and visited Trinity College while we awaited the bus to Wicklow Mountain. Trinity College was an absolutely beautiful campus with so much greenery. We saw the Book of Kells, which is located on the campus of Trinity College. I got myself a ring and earrings of the Irish Claddaugh, which represents loyalty, friendship and love. I also got Mom's Mother's Day gift there and gave it to her - the Celtic symbol earrings. After Trinity College, we caught the bus to Wicklow Mountain, which was a gorgeous drive through the countryside. We saw exactly how I imagined Ireland - green, sheep, cottages, etc. It was absolutely beautiful. We hiked Wiklow Mountain for about FOUR HOURS and saw two lakes, a cemetery that dated back to the 1700s, an old monastery, a natural waterfall and St. Kevin's territory. It was such a beautiful hike and we had such a good time and beautiful weather. It was really windy near the lakes so we were freezing there, but we managed. We caught the bus back to Dublin, where we showered and had dinner at Temple Bar again, where we enlightened ourselves with some more American beer... it was such an amazing taste of home!

On Thursday, 3/26, we pretty much traveled cross country in Ireland. We woke up at the crack of dawn to catch a train to Limerick, where we planned to catch a bus to the Cliffs of Moher. We got on the train and when we arrived in Limerick, we found out that all of the busses that go to the Cliffs had already left for the day, which was a huge bummer. We still had hope and decided to try the busses from Galway, so we took a bus from Limerick to Galway - another two hours. By the time we got to Galway and visited the tourist office, we found out that the busses for the Cliffs had already left for the day as well. I was DETERMINED to go see these Cliffs, so I asked a cab driver if he would drive us there (a two-hour drive) for 20 euro each, and he amazingly agreed to it! He wasn't Irish, which was a disappointment, but he got us there so we were happy. He is originally from Nigeria and I asked him why he moved to Ireland - he told me that his wife convinced him to move there because she was attending law school and he thought it was so much safer because you can walk around in the streets at night without being shot or robbed. I was shocked that he talked to us about that and was somewhat disturbed to hear what he had to say about his home country. He said that he dreams to take his family to America one day because his wife's uncle lives there. I felt so sad for him, but at least he is happy in Ireland. I also felt so sad for the amount of homeless people I saw in Dublin. They were so miserable on the cold streets and it was so hard to not give into their beautiful accents and give them my spare change. I gave one man some spare change I had and he said in his Irish accent, "Thank you love, and welcome to Ireland." I thought it was so sweet. We also gave one man a sandwich and fruit and water, and he had the biggest grin on his face. I had no idea that the country had so much poverty, and was surprised that it is more impoverished then Italy is (or at least what I have seen of Italy) - besides the homeless dogs, which I will go into a whole nother post with that subject.

Anyways, we finally got to the Cliffs of Moher about two hours later and after an extremely bumpy, yet beautiful ride through the countryside. It was so incredibly windy, that we couldn't even close the car doors! It was so amazing though and so hard to get up the steps to the top of the cliffs - my scarf blew off of my neck and into the ocean!!! :( It was so amazing though and I am so glad that we had gotten there even though it was a miserable day of traveling!

On Friday, 3/27 (exactly five months until my 21st birthday!), we used the day to sleep in until about 10 a.m. in order to catch up on sleep from traveling the day before. When we woke up, we went to a cafe we had seen in the Temple Bar district because it had pancakes and waffles - just like home! The pancakes were absolutely wonderful and made me miss America! After breakfast, we headed to the Dublin Castle and took a guided tour of it. When I first saw it, I was taken by surprise when I saw how modern it was and wondered why they made so many changes to it. During my tour, I learned that they re-structured it because of a fire in the early 1900s. I also learned that it is where a lot of government meetings take place, and I also learned that Ireland has a president, who is merely a representative of the country. It has only had seven presidents thus far and the last presidential term was the country's first female president. Maybe Hillary Clinton should do us all some good and move to Ireland. Just a thought.
After the Dublin Castle, we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was yet another beautiful Church! We then made our way to the Guinness Factory and did an AWESOME tour of how they make Guinness. We got a free pint at the end of the tour, which I barely drank because it is gross - no offense to those who like it. We then went home, showered and got ready for an amazing night at the Merry Ploughboys Pub, which we had reserved ahead of time. The pub served us authentic Irish dinner, which included vegetable soup, chicken and potatoes, and an amazing plate of desserts. We had some delicious Coors Lights along with it, which looked funny comparing it to the older couples near us who were drinking more sophisticated beer. Hey, we are college students and we will always like our cheap Coors Light. The Merry Ploughboys band gave a show of its Irish music, which was so entertaining, and then authentic Irish dancers came on and did a performance. I was disappointed in the Irish dancing and thought I could even do better than them... just saying.

Overall, it was such a fun night in Dublin! We had to go home though because we had to wake up at 3 a.m. to catch the bus to the airport for our 6 a.m. flight out of Dublin to London to Pisa, where our spring break would unfortunately end.

On Saturday, 3/28, we had the most miserable day of our lives because RyanAir made us sit in the London airport for 13 hours before we could take our flight back to Pisa. Once we got into London from Dublin, we RAN to check in for the flight only to find out that RyanAir decided to close check-in five minutes early that day. We were LIVID because it made us miss the flight, pay 100 pounds and sit in the airport for 13 more hours until the next flight to Pisa. I know you are asking why we paid the fee if it was the airline's flight, but like I explained earlier, RyanAir is MISERABLE and will do anything to get money out of your pockets. Our flight was not a connecting flight and was booked separately, so that was not to our advantage. However, we were so livid that they closed check-in early because we still had 45 minutes until the plane took off. We also were running on 1.5 hours of sleep from the night before, which made it worse. Meanwhile, Kara was throwing up from lack of sleep and exhaustion. Thank you RyanAir.

Overall, we had an amazing spring break and I am so glad that I got to re-visit London and that I got to finally see Ireland. I would say that I did not have enough time in Ireland and that I want to go back to explore more of the country, like Galway and Limerick and Cork. Being in these two countries made me miss America more than I have at all during this time abroad. I think that hearing the English language and being able to eat hamburgers and french fries, to drink American beer, etc., just really made me have a taste of home. I guess I didn't realize that I missed home until I had a taste of home in England and Ireland. It was actually the first time at all that I did not really want to go back to Italy! It's funny because we were dreading being with the Italians again... while we were in England and Ireland we realized how loud and pushy and annoying the Italians can be - they are so loud that you can hear them a mile away (they were everywhere in England and Ireland!!! I guess it was spring break for them too?!), and they give you no space whatsoever, and they can be so rude. But now that I am back in Florence, I still don't want to leave this country and I could still live here forever and ever.

Then spring break ended, and Mom and Dad came for a week....!