Eurotrip 2011

So as many of you may already know (or could have guessed from my absence of blogs) I have been away on vacation. I know, how can you vacation when you are already pretty much on vacation? Well we had a week long break from classes, so we decided to take advantage of it and go travelling.

I feel that I might have been putting this blog off for a little while because how can one possibly write about a whole 9 days off? The entry would be far too long and no one would want to sit through it. Tackling this problem, I have decided to just give the highlights from every place. If you want to know more, all you have to do is ask!

Stop #1: Oxford
I am absolutely in love with Oxford. From the minute we got off the bus, I knew that I was going to be happy the whole time we were there. Surrounded by fall, Oxford could never have been more beautiful. Some of the best parts were definitely getting shown around by locals we had made friends with. We definitely got to hear all about the neat traditions and buildings from a different perspective. We also got to see the Harry Potter staircase and dining hall!! The nerd in me nearly died.

Dining Hall. Real students get to eat here!

So in Oxford, they have these things called "bops", which are basically college parties. We decided to go to one on Saturday night. Great idea, except when you get there after they've stopped letting guests in. Luckily for us, we came up with a plan. After walking along the surrounding wall, and when I say wall I mean a big serious stone wall. All I can say is whoever put that sign at perfect step up height was not expecting 3 people to use it to climb over the wall. Too bad once we were over that wall, there was still a fence in our way. Luckily for us, there was also a building with doors, which was a much easier access point. Pretty sure the people who left the doors unlocked weren't expecting people to use them to sneak in, but so we did. Was this bop worth breaking into? That may be debatable, but I had so much fun dancing to really old songs and it is still my favorite memory from Oxford.

Stop #2: London
For anyone ever travelling to England, don't do what we did. Give yourselves lots of time rather than just a day and a bit. I think I would have loved London much more if I had gotten a chance to see more of it. Though we didn't have much time, we made the most of it with a double decker bus tour of the city. Nerd alert: we also did a Harry Potter walking tour. We also drank a lot of tea, which I always love.

Big Ben isn't so Big

Trafalgar Square

So the London hostel was the most terrible place ever. And safety bear Kirsten also thinks it was a fire hazard. We did not want to stay there so our second night we decided to stay out all night. It was halloween after all. I have never had so much fun dancing all night. I love dancing, so the more time, the better. Unfortunately that's not quite the case when you have to catch the bus to the train station to catch another bus to the airport to catch a plane to Dublin REALLY early the next morning. We also could only take one tiny bag, so I had layered 3 shirts, which is never a cute look. I am honestly surprised security let us through in our  unshowered mess. Moral of the story: always shower before going through customs.

Stop #3: Dublin
I am Irish so I think it might be in my blood to love Ireland, even though it's not in me to love potatoes. Dublin itself is not the most beautiful city in the world, but it does have a certain charm. It's like that girl you say is sweet and funny because she's not really pretty? That's Dublin. It's not pretty, but it is quirky and fun in it's own way. But they did not lie about the rain. It rained the whole time we were there, without fail. And me without my umbrelly.

view from inside ruins of a church 

Temple Bar

Bridge from PS I Love You

Because we had so long in Dublin, we went on a bus tour of the Wicklow, the close by country side. So beautiful. Good thing it rains so much because all the green makes for a pretty picture. Wicklow has been the filming location for many movies, including PS I Love You and Braveheart. It is also home to Daniel Day Lewis and Michael Jackson apparently wanted to move here at one time to escape the paparazzi. The bus tour of Wicklow was so breathtaking. But I think one of the best things was coming back into Dublin and getting a Guinness at one of the 900 pubs and listening to some Irish music.

Stop #4: Amsterdam, Holland
Okay so I'm just going to say it: I don't really like Amsterdam. Maybe it was because it was at the end of the trip. Maybe I was just too tired. Maybe it was because we went to the wrong places. Unfortunately it added up to me not being Amsterdam's biggest fan. Poor Amsterdam never had a chance, but lucky for me, we went to Utrecht as well which was so much better. It is the cutest little town I have ever seen. It follows a canal and is so beautiful.

Houseboats!

So I would have to say my favorite part of Amsterdam was actually leaving to go to Utrecht, where I got to eat delicious fries and see some amazing live music. The first night we listened to a band in this cool little bar. The second night I heard the sound of my favorite Kings of Leon song in the distance and followed it to find a young man playing guitar for a big crowd of people. And he was good.  There is nothing that I love more than a voice that can actually push me to tears.

I had such an amazing time on this trip and wouldn't trade a minute of it for anything. One of the best parts was coming back to Paris and falling in love with the city all over again.