London with Grace: Day 1 (21/5)

Welcome to London!

(I don't feel like I'm in London until I see Big Ben)

Here is the last couple hours in Dublin and our first couple hours in London with a few bullets:

1. Left Roebuck Hall for the last time at 4:45 am after packing and cleaning that night.
2. Took cab to airport.
3. Tried desperately to rearrange things in order to avoid fees.
4. The flight was scheduled to leave at 7:55 am but was delayed but we didn't care because as soon as we sat down in the plane we fell asleep.
5. Took train to Victoria Station and took black cab to hostel.
6. Nice hostel worker named David at the Walrus Waterloo Hostel (I would recommend it).
7. Went out to explore London!
8. First went past Westminster to Trafalgar Square, stopping for lunch.
9. Went to see Buckingham Palace and took some pictures of it. A nice lady offered to give us directions.
10. Walked over to Piccadilly Circus.
11. Grace bought a purse made of candy wrappers near Piccadilly Circus.
12. Bought Billy Elliot tickets for tomorrow night (35 GBP each) which was a generous gift from the Wittenberg family who are our neighbors.
13. Headed back to hostel for short nap and to get ready to see Les Miserables (and fulfill a dream of mine).

Cashel-Cahir-Cork

View from the Rock of Cashel

The plan was for Laura and I to wake up early and help Brittany bring her stuff down to the cab then say goodbye to Stacy, Stevie, and Britt before their American Airlines flight back to O'Hare International Airport. Things didn't happen that way though. As Laura and I were about to come downstairs to help Brittany came to our door and told us that their flight had been cancelled due to the menacing volcanic ash cloud. So naturally I went back to bed until I had to wake up to head off our our Irish oddessey.

After resting a bit Laura rushed into my room (where I was sleeping on the couch because Grace was sleeping in my bed) telling me that Stevie had found another flight and was leaving right away and we had to say goodbye/find her a cab. We got down there and the cab company was being a pain on the phone so I rushed out into campus to see if I could with some luck flag down a cab.

And I did have some luck because as I ran outside I ran into Stacy who had called a cab and was waiting for it. She too had found another flight and was heading off to the airport so Stevie split the cab with her and they were on their way back to the United States.

I was packing for our trip, as was Laura, when I gchatted Brittany to ask if she wanted to food that she gave me back since she was staying a couple extra days (her new flight was on Tuesday). She said no and asked if I knew what Stevie and Stacy were doing. I told her that they had already gotten on a 10:30 flight back to the US and she was bummed that she would be in Dublin alone so I invited her on our trip, which she accepted, and after saying goodbye to Jenni, our little Canadian friend, we were off.

While on the bus to our first stop, Cashel, I called our hostel and got Brittany a bed in our room which worked out well. And after riding the bus bus for  while we got to Cashel, home of the Rock of Cashel, an old castle turned church turned ruin. It is located on the Plain of Tipperary and the surroundings are absolutely gorgeous. Here are some pictures to prove it.

Me, Brittany, Laura

The Rock

Sisters

While at the Rock we just sat down, enjoyed the view, and ate the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies Grace made (and waited the two hours until the next bus). It was good craic.

Our next stop was Cahir where Cahir Castle was located (creative name I know). Unfortunately, the castle was closed for tours but we got to see the outside which was cute. We also went in search for dinner in the town of Cahir and found a dive restaurant to eat at. And when I say dive, I mean there was an ant crawling on the table and I avoided anything with meat or claiming to be meat. After two hours, another bus came and we were on the final leg of that day to Cork.

Cahir Castle

We got to Cork no problem and made our way to the hostel that we booked. On the way, a friendly Irishman saw that we were tourists and asked where we were from. We responded Chicago and he said, "God bless you, God bless Chicago!" More proof that the Irish are the friendliest people out there.

We made it to the Aaran House Hostel no problem and the hostess was so nice. The property was very clean and Grace asked if all hostels were like this; I told her that this was the nicer end of what hostels offer. There was also a dog at the hostel that was cute and if it misbehaved the lady of the house was not afraid to put it in its place.

We went to bed early that night and rested up for the adventures ahead.

Venice by Night

Before dinner we had gone back to the hostel to check in and put out stuff in the room we were staying in. We talked to the kinda odd hostel worker again (who was sleeping on the couch when we returned) and he showed us the four bed female dorm that we had booked. He took us into the big girls’ room and then went to the wall where there was a padlocked door. He unlocked the padlock and we walked into a glorified closet that was supposed to be our room. We paid twenty-seven euro for this?

He left us there to unpack and make our beds and the three of us talked about how weird this was and a possible escape route (jumping out the window into the canal) should he use the padlock to lock us in the room (Stacy did ask him if the padlock would be on and he laughed saying that he would not lock us in while we were sleeping, which was only a little reassurance).

We went to dinner, which was probably the worst food that we had while being in Italy, and then tried to think of ways to avoid going back to the somewhat dirty and shady hostel. We strolled the streets of Venice for a while but it looked like things were shutting down and we were forced to go back to A Venice Fish.

When we got there we went into our little padlocked closet, which we were sharing with two other girls despite the fact that we thought we booked a four bed dorm, and tried to find the light switch but there was none to be found. Actually, we couldn’t even find a light that the switch would turn on. This was not looking good. While nervously laughing (I’m sure you’ve witnessed my nervous/scared/uncomfortable laugh before) I declared that there was no way that I was paying twenty-seven euro to sleep in a closet that didn’t even have a light and stormed off to find the rodent-like hostel worker (he had both a rat-tail and beady eyes, earning him this distinction).

I found him in the kitchen cooking for the hostel wearing a David apron. David aprons are aprons that have the front of Michangelo’s David  on them in an attempt to make the wearer look like he has David’s body. As we were walking down the streets of Florence and Rome we kept thinking to ourselves “Who would wear that tacky thing?” Now I know.

I asked him where the light for the room was and he showed me. We went back to the dorm room where Stacy and Britt were waiting and he went to the corner, pressing a switch with his foot that turned on a “floor lamp.” This “floor lamp” consisted of a broomstick with too light bulbs duct taped to it.

More nervous laughing occurred and we tried to pack for our flight back to Dublin. Brittany and I went into the common room of the hostel because we thought that more people we make the whole experience a little less scary. We met a nice boy from Canada who we talked to a little and I called my Dad to regale him with tales of me singing in a gondola, which he enjoyed.

Brittany went to bed but I stayed in the lobby so that I could use the internet. I continued to write in my journal and the rat-tailed hostel worker came up to me and asked what I was writing. I was tempted to say I was writing about him and his sexy apron but he seemed like the unpredictable type and I didn’t know how he would react. He also tried to get the other guests in the hostel to go out with him after his shift, which everyone declined. I did however meet a girl from none other than the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign! She said that I looked familiar but since she is in Psych I doubt that we had ever met before.

We survived the night but none of us slept particularly well. At one point in the night a dog started to continuously bark, which lead to a lot of screaming in Italian. A boat also came by blaring rap music, another indication that I might not be in quiet, picturesque Venice at all, just an Italian neighborhood in Queens (although I’m sure in New York cars bust out music, not boats).

Florence- Day 2

Shopping and eating- La Dolce Vida

On our first full day in Florence we got up and walked to the market, stopping for pastries on the way. As you can see, the day was off to a good start.

Apparently San Lorenzo Market in Florence is the biggest outdoor market in Europe; I would believe it. They sold everything there, from scarves to ties, meat to leather. The only problem with the market was its seductive nature. You could go in swearing that you won’t buy anything and come out with three new scarves and eight rings. I probably spent more than I should, but since I haggled for most things I like to think it was like getting them on sale.

The market was also a great place to pick up guys if very forward foreign men are your type. We got a lot of compliments, including “good price for blue eyes.” We even got called The Spice Girls once.

After we had our fun in the market we got lunch at a small restaurant where we could eat out side; its our usual. After having more bruschetta and a sandwich we headed over to the Boboli Gardens to witness the views of Florence. Unfortunately, before we could fully take in the gardens it started raining so we sought shelter with a group of seven year old Italian students. We did pay to get in the gardens and when the rain seemed to be lightening up we set out again to explore them. We climbed a hill and the views were so amazing. Frau Curry, Brittany, and I even took some self-timer shots with Florence in the background.

After having our fill of Boboli Gardens we headed back into the heart of the city. I had read about the Uffizi, an art museum in Florence and one of the best in the world, and wanted to see if I could get in. Turns out that the line to get in was over an hour long, so instead I opted to just get a reservation for one o’clock the next day.

It was still kinda rainy so we tried to find a nice rainy day activity, which turned out to be more eating. There was a nice chocolate shop in the Piazza della Signoria which was also mentioned in 1000 Places to See Before You Die, Caffe Rivoire, so we thought that we would splurge and give it a shot. They are famous for their hot chocolate so Stacy and I ordered to of those and enjoyed while taking in the views of Piazza della Signoria.

That's Amore

After enjoying our chocolate it was off to the Ciao Hostel to freshen up for dinner. The plan was to get dinner and then head up to the Piazzale Michelangiolo for sunset but we ended up having a very long dinner and missed the sunset. Dinner was great and we just took our time eating our pizza, drinking our wine, and chatting away. We even tried lemoncello after dinner, which I still maintains tasted like Crystal Light and rubbing alcohol. I do not understand why it is so popular.

We couldn’t let the girl talk stop just because we were done with dinner and had been sitting at that table for a couple solid hours, so we headed up to the Piazzale Michelangiolo to catch the night views of the city. Once we got up there Stacy bought another bottle of wine from a little stand (only in Europe) although at that point I was wined-out. The Piazzale is at the top of a large hill overlooking the city and there is also a bronze replica of Michelangelo’s David up there.

We had planned on going to a club called Bebops that night because it was Beatles Night but it was getting late and we were tired. Nevertheless, we decided to stop by and check it out for a couple of minutes. We got in there and went to the bathroom, on the way running into none other than Stacy’s roommate from U of I that is studying in Versailles. What a crazy coincidence! We talked with her and her friends for a while but Britt and I were wiped out so we headed back to the hostel. Stacy said that she would spend the night at her friends’ hostel because she could not get in to our without a key and she wanted to stay longer.

Cut to 3 am when there is a knock on the door. After being sufficiently freaked-out but a knock at the door in the middle of the night, I mustered enough courage to answer the door. Turns out with was Stacy and one of the guys that we were talking to that night. Stacy did not say anything to me just went right to her bed, while the guy looks at me and said “Hear you have an extra bed.” Confused as I was, I cleared off the bed and he collapsed there. And then I was left wondering what was going on.

Turns out Stacy was just going to sleep at her friend Maria’s hostel but one of Maria’s friends volunteered to walk her home. Since we had an extra bed in our hostel room Stacy offered him it so that he wouldn’t have to go out of his way. And that was another hostel adventure from my European life.

Florence- Day 1

After a scenic train ride through Tuscany we arrived in Florence and followed our usual routine- check-in then find food. We were lucky that the Ciao Hostel was located close to the train station so we got there quickly.

We had a four bed room but there was no one to occupy the fourth bed so we had it all to ourselves. It was a really nice place with a kitchen and two bathrooms on each floor and once we got into our room we opened our window up and let in the beautiful Italian breeze. (We got very lucky with the weather for the remainder of our trip.)

The front desk worker recommended a nice restaurant where the locals go down the street but when we arrived there it did not appear to be open. Instead we found a lovely restaurant by the train station and I had the best pizza that I had in Italia. The sauce on it was just fantastic. Frau Curry* and Britt got ravioli which I understand was also very delicious.

Brittany had a friend from high school that was studying abroad in Florence, Lydia, who had volunteered to show us around which was really nice. I also discovered something while in the night air of Florence- I love Florence! I was an amazing city which adorable streets and shops everywhere you turned. We also got gelato and had a fantastic first night in Florence.

Rubbing the noise on this wild boar statue ensures a return to Florence.

*Stacy has been given the nickname of Frau Curry ever since she got a letter from the German government addressed to Frau Curry. And why did she get a letter from the German government you ask? She got a ticket on the train in Berlin for not having a valid ticket and she did not pay it before leaving the country. Frau Curry thought that they did not have her home address but they seem to have tracked her down. Since the first letter she has gotten one more that seemed to have a harsh tone and it leaves us with the question- when is she going to get a knock on the door in Naperville from two angry looking Germans?

Day 2 in Florence

Rome- Day 3: The Vatican City

Day 3 in the Eternal City begins in the Vatican City!

Sunday we woke up rather early so that we could go to the smallest nation in the world, otherwise known as the Vatican City, before the giant crowds that turn up for the free day on the last Sunday of the month. Stacy and Britt turned out to be tired because our roommate, Nick from Wheaton, IL, had brought a girl (whom we've nicknamed "Hannah the Hostel Whore") back to the hostel at 3 am and they proceeded to make quite a lot of noise. They even went to take a shower and she apparently fell twice causing loud thuds. I have to say that I was the lucky one who slept through it all, but Brittany and Stacy suffered through it. Britt had it a little easier than Stacy because she had her iPod to listen to, but Stacy was exposed to Nick and Hannah raw without any distraction, especially since her bed was literally a meter from Nick's. I have to say, it is not classy to bring a girl back to your 8 bed dorm room and proceed to make a lot of noise with a girl. Not classy at all. Hannah, however, was classy and said goodbye to Nick by saying "Good luck on all your future endeavors."

Needless to say, we laughed about the situation all the way on the subway to the Vatican. Our first stop (after security) was St. Peter's Basilica. Although I resembled a lot of churches that we had seen before in Europe, it was massive and had a lot of beautiful things in it. Here is the tour:

St. Peter's Square

Michelangelo's Pieta which he carved at age 25.

Bernini's giant canopy in the center of the basilica

(In case you are looking for gift ideas for me, Bernini is my new favorite sculptor.)

Alexander VII's Monument by Bernini featuring the figures of Justice, Truth, Chastity, and Prudence.

After spending time in the Basilica our next stop was the Vatican Museum in order to see the Sistine Chapel. The line, however, was just outrageous and it was already 11; entrance stops at 12:30. Brittany and Stacy got in line and I found a friendly police officer to ask if we would get in if we were at the end of the line. She said that we would have time and it turns out we were only waiting for about 30 minutes.

Everybody waiting in line.

Once we got into the museum (for free) we began our walk through it. They really leave you no freewill and you have to basically queue through the whole museum in order to see the Sistine Chapel. We, along with hundreds of our closest friends, snaked through the museum for a long while, seeing everything that the Vatican has acquired through years of ruling the Roman Catholic Empire, which is a lot. Actually, if you just spend one minute in front of every piece in the museum you would be there for fourteen year. One of the big attractions, besides the Chapel, is Raphael's School of Athens, depicting Raphael's contemporaries as the Classical thinkers.

Hall of Maps

School of Athens

And then we finally reached Michelangelo's famous masterpiece, the Sistine Chapel. It was amazing, but I was expecting more natural light in there. I loved looking at the art but I wish I was alone, instead of crowded in with bunches of tourists, so I could take it all in. And photography was prohibited in the chapel but, of course, that didn't stop anyone. People were literally holding their cameras up snapping away and the security guards were doing nothing about it, not that I'm complaining.

Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

You can see (from left) the Creation of Adam and Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit and being banished from the Garden of Eden.

Creation of Adam

Christ giving the keys to St. Peter, illustrating the transfer of power to the Pope.

And that's the Vatican City! After going through literally four gift shops on our way out, we found a nice restaurant where we could sit outside and got some lunch in the Italian sunshine. I got the Spaghetti Carbonara, which was delicious, and the three of us split a tiramisu.

Sharing some tiramisu.

Second Part of Day 3

Rome- Day 1

All roads lead to Rome

My week long Italian odyssey began like most my other trips, on the Dublin Aircoach to the Dublin Airport. Friday was also the day of the UCD Ball, which claims to be the biggest private party in Europe. It is basically just two stages in a field and a bunch of students rocking out under the Irish sky. The odd thing was that only two bands performed live, the rest were just DJs playing sets. For example, they said that they were going to have the Venga Boys but the Venga Boys weren’t there in person, it was just a DJ playing their music. And I ask you, if you are ust going to have a DJ play a band’s music, why not pick a better band to play than the Venga Boys?

But I digress. Brittany and I (Stacy was arriving in Rome the next day) took the bus to the Dublin Airport not knowing what was awaiting us there after a week of cancelled flights due to the volcanic ash. Turns out the airport was not busy at all and we got through security in record time. We got on our Aer Lingus flight and were on our way to Rome.

When we arrived in Rome it was raining and we caught the Leonardo Express from the airport into the Rome Termini train station in the city itself. From there it was just a short walk to the Alessandro Palace Hostel. We were tired and wet when we arrived and they could not find our reservation. I had the booking confirmation printed out and so they said that they must have lost the reservation and put us in a 4 bed female dorm for the night, an upgrade from our eight bed dorm. How luxurious!

When I get into a new city the first thing I usually need to do is find some food. I asked the hostel if they had any suggestions for dinner and they gave us a 15% coupon for a restaurant down the street. Now, Italian is not my favourite cuisine (I don't dislike it, it's just not my favourite), but I was ready to embrace it full force in Italy. Therefore, for my first meal in Italy I ordered bruschetta and pasta with pesto. The bruschetta was not seasoned as heavily as what we have here, but the tomatoes were so fresh and flavourful! The pesto was good, but the pesto I get at home is pretty superb too.

Britt and I then headed back to the hostel and get to bed so we could rest up for our big day exploring Rome.

Adventures in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland suits me well

Stevie, Brittany, and I had booked a tour of Giant's Causeway, the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge, and Derry that was supposed to leave at 8:30. We woke up at 7:30 so that we could check out and hopefully get some of the free full English breakfast we were promised. The hostel was divided into two apartment buildings which were next to each other, each with multiple bedrooms and one with the front desk. We were in the building without the front desk so at 7:50 we went to the other apartment to check-out. We rang the bell and William did not come to the door. We stood there trying to get in by ringing the bell, knocking, calling William's cell phone, and even yelling through the mail slot for about 20 minutes and then we had to go catch our tour. There were three other women that could not get in either and were going to continue pounding on the door.

My driver's license was in a safe at the front desk but we assumed Willy was in a whiskey induced coma (remember that when we left him he was drinking a new bottle of whiskey alone) and the plan was to just pick up my ID and pay for the room. We walked over to Paddy's Palace Hostel which was only about ten minutes away. I went into the hostel and they told me that the tour was leaving at 9:30, not 8:30, and that the website was wrong. This worked out for us because we were sure that by this time William would have answered the door and I could get my ID and pay for the room.

We walked back to the hostel and no one was waiting outside, a good sign. We rang the doorbell and the three Australian women who were outside answered it, not William. Another guest had let them in and good ol' Whiskey Willy was still nowhere to be found. People were waiting in the lobby and discussing what to do. And what does one do when people are getting anxious and angry? Make breakfast.

I was promised a full Irish breakfast and I was going to get it, even if the chef was nowhere to be found. I went into the kitchen and got to work making toast for the hungry crowd. I made about ten slices of toast and served those along with jam and marmalade to the group of people gathered in the lobby. Brittany then came in the kitchen and we whipped up some scrambled eggs for Stevie and us. Unfortunately we had to get to the tour or you had better believe that I would be taking orders and feeding the masses. Due to shortage of time, toast would have to do.

We got to Paddy's Palace for the second time and got on the minibus for our all-day tour. Our guide was Troy from a small town in Northern Ireland. He, like most the Irish people, enjoyed telling stories and making jokes. Our first stop was the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge. The rope bridge is twenty meters high and was used by fishermen to lay nets on another island just off the shore. It cost a steep 4.90 GBP to cross it but we figured that this was a once in a lifetime thing and it was worth it.

The bridge itself was not the scary unless the person behind you was jumping and then I got a little nervous. The rope bridge was interesting but the views with the sunshine on my shoulders was the crown jewel. While we were lounging in the sun we also had a little photo shoot, and I love a good glamour shot.

We headed back to the bus and it was off to the Giant's Causeway, which is a geologic formation that looks like hexagonal stepping stones. When the lava cooled it formed columns and the waves have broken them down to varying heights as you'll see in the pictures.

That is of course the scientific explanation. The Irish explanation involves the giant Finn McCool. Legend goes that Finn heard that there was a beautiful female giant in Scotland. Finn didn't have anyone to love in Ireland and therefore built a path between Ireland and Scotland to meet his lady love. He went over to Scotland and fell in love with Eda and she returned with him to Ireland to live.

Eda was promised to another giant in Scotland who was out fighting the English at the time. When he returned to his town and found that Eda wasn't there he got angry and asked Finn for a duel for Eda's heart. He was a very skilled fighter and Finn would stand no chance against him. Finn told Eda what was going on and she said "Lovey, don't worry I have a plan. First, when he arrives I will tell him that you are out on a run around Ireland and you will be back in ten minutes. That way he will think you are a fit giant. Then I will serve him scones that are really rocks and they will break his teeth. While I am doing this you sneak into the bedroom and put a blanket over yourself and make a noise. I will tell him that this is our baby and then he will think you are a magical giant and will not want to fight you."

The day came for the duel and they began the plan. When the Scottish giant arrived Eda told him that Finn was dong a lap around Ireland and would be back in ten minutes. The Scottish giant thought that Finn must be a very fit giant if he could make it around the island in ten minutes. Next Eda served him the rock-scones and he broke his teeth. Eda said that the scones were prepared just the way "her Finny" liked. Next they heard a noise from the bedroom and Eda said that way their baby. The other giant asked if he could have a look and Eda said sure, but just from the hall because the baby was sleeping. The other giant took one look at the "baby" and ran because if the baby was this big imagine how big Finn was going to be. He ran down Finn's causeway breaking it up as he went and Finn and Eda lived happily ever after.

Now for the pictures!

This is my Celtic princess pose that I bust out when I feel particularly close to my homeland.

After checking out the causeway we went back up to the top of the hill for lunch at a hotel. I got the chicken tenders and garlic chips and they were bland and probably the worst food I have had since being here. I was not a happy camper. My pants were also very wet because I accidentally rolled into a pool of water whilst sunbathing on the causeway and that was causing me slight discomfort.

Our next stop was the town of Derry or Londonderry. If you are protestant you call it Londonderry, if you are Catholic you call it Derry, and if you don't want to show which religion you are you call it Stroke City. Derry is a walled city with 17th century walls surrounding it. There are still conflicts in Derry regarding the Troubles but there is hope that things are getting better. We wandered around the town a little, bought some jewelry from a lady selling it from a stand on the street, and then went to the mall to grab some iced coffee. Of course, once we were in the mall shopping ensued and Brittany and Stevie left Derry with new shoes.

One the way home William, our MIA hostel owner, called us and I was relieved to hear that he was alive. He said our stay at the hostel was on him and that we could swing by any time to pick up my ID. The mystery remained: where was he this morning?

We got back to Belfast and while Stevie went to  go get some dinner Brittany and I went to go pick up my ID. As soon as we got there I beelined for the washroom and left Brittany to get the details from Willy. Turns out he wasn't around that morning because he was in jail, do not pass go, do not collect 200 British pounds!

Storytime! So a girl staying at the hostel brought a guy back with her which is a no-no. William kicked them out and she started screaming, which caused the neighbors to call the police. When the police came William (who I am sure was fairly drunk) explained to them what happened and they understood but it is protocol to run someone's name through the system when making a call. When the police ran William's name it showed that he had an unpaid traffic violation and they brought him to the big house until noon the next day. William claims that he paid it and plans on suing the state. I was pretty psyched we got to stay in Belfast for free.

We got to the bus station in time to catch the eight o'clock bus back to Dublin. Stevie got out some more Sterlings (the currency used in Northern Ireland) so we could pay for the bus but then they said that they only use euros which was frustrating. One the bus the guy sitting in front of me (Franklin) told me that it looked like I had Celtic descent. I told him I was an O'Connell and he said that was a very Irish name and urged me to look up Daniel O'Connell, the Emancipator.

Highlights of Belfast:

1. Wendy our hilarious tour guide
2. Smoking a cigar with Victor
3. Hanging out with the locals and getting free cokes
4. Being in the beautiful weather
5. Making toast for the hostel
6. Finding out William was in jail

London- Day 1: Here I Come!

 

Peeking out of a phonebooth in London

I have dreamed of going to London for the longest time and my dream was finally realized Saturday. After taking a bus, plane, train, and cab I got to my hostel and started my London adventure.

It took a while to get to our hostel but we finally did. Our trip started with a bus to the airport which was easy enough. We then took our Ryan Air flight to London-Gatwick Airport. I didn’t mind flying Ryan Air too much (the flight was only about 50 minutes and we got there 20 minutes early) but the weirdest thing did happen. The flight attendant made an announcement about the new Juicy Couture fragrance and then they wheeled a cart full of perfume down the aisle. Just bizarre.

We got off the plane directly on the tarmac as is the norm for Ryan Air. When we when through customs they didn’t stamp my passport because I came from Ireland which slightly saddened me.Brittany and I then caught the Gatwick Express train to London, which took about 30 minutes. It was very easy and they even brought a refreshment cart through the train reminding me of the Hogwarts Express. Actually, a lot of things in London reminded me of Harry Potter.

We departed the train at Victoria Station in London and the first thing I saw was the marquee for Billy Elliot which was like a dream. We eventually got our bearings a headed in what we thought was the direction of our hostel.

And the wandering began. I don’t want to go into details because I would rather forget the two hours we spent walking around London with our backpacks trying to find the Journey’s London Bridge Hostel. We were having troubles with the map we had and the streets were curvy and two hours later we ended up at the hostel after taking a black cab. The black cab was really fun though and when we told the cabbie where we wanted to go he got confused so it made Brittany, our navigator, feel a little better.

Black cabs

We get dropped off at the hostel and I don’t really know what to expect from a hostel. So we walk in and check in. They ask me to pay the bill for my room and maybe it was the wandering, maybe the fatigue, but I could not decipher any other the British coins. I eventually just asked the hostel worker to tell me how to pay.

So we walk up to the room, open the door and I see five three-level bunk beds. I am freaked out because the only light is the light from the hallway and in the darkness it looks scary. And scary just means “unusual to a sheltered upper-middle class suburban girl.” So I told Brittany that I needed to go downstairs and take a deep breath and brace myself for sleeping in a room with 14 other people. We sat on the couch enough for me to pull myself together and then headed back up to our top bunks in room 102.

Bunks in hostel

Hostel bar

For the record, after the initial shock I liked the hostel. It was clean and the staff was really nice. Also, they had a bar attached which served pizza and snacks which came in handy. Free breakfast of toast and cereal was a good start to the day and everything worked out.

Adventures Continue with London-Day 2.