Day 5 ~ Ireland

I woke up at 3am and never fell back asleep because I went to bed early the night before and some drunk assholes were being loud outside our window. We had to get up at 5am again to catch another cab to the city center for day trip #3. We got there very early again but only had to stand around for about a half hour before our tour bus came. We drove a couple hours through several small towns to Blarney. I was excited about this trip already because I remembered my grandma and grandpa telling me about going there and kissing the Blarney Stone and about how cool it was. The drive there was very scenic (as I figured out basically all of Ireland is) and it was a gorgeous day. Its the first day I didn't have to wear any kind of jacket and I was even hot sometimes. I don't know for sure but I would guess upper 60s. The castle was even better then I thought it would be. It was huge! We had to climb up to the very top to kiss the stone so we got to see all of the different rooms and the view from different heights on the way up.  I don't think I could have done it if I was at all claustrophobic because to get to the top you had to climb up a very narrow winding staircase made of stone that was barely wide enough for me to raise my elbows and the stairs were small and right on top of each other. Towards the top it was more like a ladder then a staircase. It was exciting to get to the top because even though I'd heard of it I really had no idea what to expect. Turns out a guy really does hold your legs while you lay down and bend backwards over the top of this tower. There is a pole thing above for you to hold on to and there are 3 small bars going across like a big grate a couple feet below where you hang over which would catch you (more like you would hit it, they were bars not a net)but it was clear that if you fell to that point you were kind of fucked. It was badass! I got pictures and they also had a camera up above which was awesome because they got a birds eye picture of me hanging over to kiss the stone. The story goes that if you kiss the stone you get the gift of the gab which i guess means you're able to speak really well or something. I was more focused on hanging off a castle then learning the legend haha  After we climbed back down the tower we walked through some caves we found on the grounds and along the stream. It was really pretty and I didn't even think to freak out about spiders and snakes until after we were out. We spent the rest of the time there sitting on a bench by the gardens people watching, it was very pretty. Then it was time to get back on the bus and head to the town of Cork. Cork ended up being the most stressful experience of this trip and I hope it's the most dramatic this trip gets .Our bus driver basically drove by a random place he would pick us up then drove around the town and dropped us off in a market on the other side of the town. We looked around in the food market for a little while and then walked to a store to get gifts for people and went to get pizza to go. ( no places in Europe have to go boxes or let you take food home no matter how much food you have left unless its specifically a place that says carry out on the sign, it's so fucking dumb). We left the pizza place to walk to the bus with 20 minutes left until we had to be back, I was in the back of the group originally so I didnt hear the name of the place we were supposed to meet in front of and she couldn't remember the name of it. We remembered it was by the river though so we walked there but the bus was nowhere in sight and nothing looked familiar. She thought the hotel we were supposed to meet in front of started with an M so I stopped a man and asked him if he knew of any hotels that started with an M by the river (I'm always the one who has to ask, I guess it's become an unspoken rule or something) and he gave us the name but said it was a 20/30 minute walk and the town was technically an island and we were on the wrong side of the river. At this point we had less then 10 minutes left to get to the bus. We started walking in the direction he pointed (someone was starting to freak out and shut down at this point but surprisingly I was calm. I was so stressed my body couldnt actually process it but either way in my head I said "okay, worst case we can't find the bus and we have to find another way to get back " so I asked another man if there was a train to Dublin from there and he said yes and it even leaves every hour. So I thought "great! If we miss the bus we can take the train and just call the company to tell them we made it back and ask to pick up our stuff  later (luckily I only left my jacket on the bus) and if for some reason that doesn't work out we can get a hotel room and take a morning train" my travel partner wouldn't hear it and looked like she was about to lose it but I already had a plan in mind so I was good to go ( pretty fucking amazing seeing as I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder a couple years ago and used to have daily panic attacks mere months ago). So anyways, we kept walking but were clearly lost so I had to stop a woman on the street and ask for her help, she said we were headed basically the right way but the hotel was another 30minutes away ( at this point we had 5 minutes to get to the bus) so I suggested we just grab a cab and have him take us since at that point we were pretty sure we had the right name but my travel buddy clearly didn't want to. We walked a little farther and then I said this is ridiculous we need to get in that cab so we did and he drove to the complete opposite of the town, he started to drive away from the river so we made him turn around a do a U turn and pull over because we saw the hotel a couple blocks downthe road (still not sure that it was even the right place) so she jumped out and started running to see if the bus was there leaving me to pay the driver and wait for him to give me change.  I power walked down the road with bags in hand and luckily there was our bus with everyone standing outside of it in front of the hotel. Somehow by the grace of god after all of that drama we were only 10 minutes late to the bus. I seriously have no idea how that happened, we got ridiculously lucky. Her hands were literally shaking when we sat down on the bus and I had such a rush I haven't been that proud of myself in a very very long time. I feel like every day of this trip I surprise myself in some way and the fact that I kept my cool while completely lost and about to miss our tour bus in a foreign country in a town hours from where we were staying is huge. I mean come on, we found the bus with just that maybe it started with the  letter "M" to go on but we weren't sure and that it was by the river!Not to brag too much but I feel like that would be a horribly difficult situation for anyone and I did it without freaking out and I got us there. Anxiety can go fuck itself. I was close to doing a little victory dance right there on the bus, I never come out on top. Literally.  I constantly fail at everything I try and watch people do things that are so hard for me easily but I think I may have finally found my thing. The thing that makes me special. I know lots of people want and love to travel but it turns out I'm actually pretty good at it. I finally have my own thing that I can be proud of and that I truly succeed at ~ not with my parents help or with the people in charge feeling sorry for me and making things easier or with my boyfriend carrying me through it ~ but something I'm doing on my own and let me tell you, it's the best feeling in the world. ~So back to the day trip, after we were back on the bus we drove for about an hour and a half (I slept for some of it) to a really really old cathedral (hundreds of years old) that the queen herself visited and that was really cool. (I should know all the names but sadly I dont ) We had to climb up a steep hill to get to it and my favorite part was definitely the cemetery in the back. I was at the top of a mountain and it overlooked a little town and fields with cows relaxing in the sun and mountains In the distance. I feel like I keep saying this (and I do keep saying this) but I could have stayed there forever, it was so peaceful ~ like the rest of the world didn't exist. We only had about 45 minutes there and then we had to make the drive back. When we were back in Dublin it was just like the day before but not quite as close, we walked to our bus stop and within5 minutes our bus pulled up and we drove back. I stayed up until 1 or so

Day 4 ~ Ireland

Got up at 5am and went on another day tour. We went to a small town that had the house of a guy that hundreds of years ago, long before the animal rights movement, used to punish people who shot animals on his land and helped start animal rights things in the UK which I thought was really cool. We also went to a really old church (cant remember the name because im dead tired) that Christopher Columbus truly went to  when he was a teenager. I wish i could retell all of the amazing history and names of things we saw but there was so much it was a lot to take in, I have it written down back in the room. We saw the remodel of a castle that had the hanging window (theres a famous story that goes with that). The town used to be really big for trading things because its on the water. Our tour guide was really funny (haven't they all been). Then we drove through the most winding up and down road I've ever seen. I was exhausted already and I could barely keep my eyes open so I let myself sleep on the bus to avoid getting sick, though I was very dizzy at certain points. Like room is moving around me dizzy.The drive was about 3 hours and we drove past the most classic "Irish country" scenes you could imagine. Miles and miles of green rolling hills and flowers and small farms with walls made of stone and small wooden fences and fields of hundreds of sheep and cows and a couple llamas.  If I could I would have loved to have spent eternity just laying in one of those fields, I think they might be the most peaceful place I've ever seen in my life. That's how animals should live, not the horrific cruel way they're treated in the US. I saw baby calves nursing from their mothers, other cows and sheep sleeping in the shade and walking together in the sunshine. Some calves were jumping around and clearly playing and they looked so full of joy it made me want to cry. So many animals never get to feel that, I don't understand why the rest of the world can't be that way. Our world can be so horrible sometimes, I wish I could have stayed in that peaceful bubble of happiness forever. On top of everything the sky was amazing, such a perfect day. It was bright blue with big white fluffy clouds. We ended up in this tiny coastal town in a pub for lunch that was so crowded we ended up sharing a table with some early 20 something's that were staying in a hostel in Dublin for different reasons. I heard stories of their experiences there and though they had a lot of complaints about the place in general I loved the way that they had started out strangers and bonded over being travelers together there. I think my next trip abroad I'd definitely like to stay in a hostel for a chunk of time, I've already made some friends on this trip just by being friendly so I can only imagine the sense of community that comes from living with other adventurers. After lunch we continued up the winding roads past more rural farms and several castle ruins. At first glance the ruins didn't look like a lot but the history there is hard to wrap your mind around. We stopped at the top of a mountain and had a view more amazing then any postcard I've ever seen. We were high up with nothing in front of us so from this mountain we could see all of the tiny towns surrounded by green below with mountains off in the distance and the ocean (i think it was the ocean? some huge body of water at least) surrounding it. After another 45 minutes or so we made it to the cliffs of Moher. I think it's impossible to be there and not believe in some kind of higher power or magic. I've seen the best and most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life this week and this was by far the most incredible thing I've ever seen in all of my existence. I don't know if I'll ever see anything that will top it. It's indescribable. No pictures do it justice nor could they. We hiked all the way to the top of the cliffs right next to it to get the best view and just stood there for a while. It was hard to leave and get back on the bus. I slept most of the way home and when we got back at 8 30 we completely lucked out when we got into Dublin because the tour bus dropped us off on the wrong side of the river from our bus stop and we saw our bus sitting there. We knew the next one wouldn't be for a while and the schedule wasn't exactly reliable so we ran over and got to the bus just in time. Seriously, we got on, sat down, and the bus pulled away and left. I was so tired I fell asleep in my clothes on top of my bed when we got back

Day 3 Ireland

Slept in till 12which was much needed. Our bus drove away as we were running up to it which was such bullshit, he clearly saw us. We started to try to walk into town but after 20min things looked a little shady so we walked back to the hotel. We caught the next bus over an hour later. We went and saw the book of Kells which was very cool and there was no line which was great. Then we walked a ridiculously long way to the Guinness storehouse and thought we were lost twice. Tension was definitely a little high on that walk but we made it there. We got to the Guinness storehouse and went on a tour, the beer was gross (dont tell anyone from Ireland that, they worship the stuff) but the view from the top floor bar was incredible. After that we walked back and on the way stopped for food. It was pretty good, we got beer battered cod and fries. I got

 whistled at twice on the way back. We walked to the city center and found out our bus wasn't for another hour so we went to a cafe and got dessert to kill time. We went back to the bus stop 25min early to make sure we didn't miss it but it never came, I wanted to get a cab but my travel partner made it very clear that wasnt an option in her book even though we didnt know if one was coming at all so we stood on the street and  waited a full extra hour just standing there till the next one came and it broke down while we were on it so we had to change busses. I still don't quite understand why we didn't just take a cab. Well I'll know for next time I guess

Day 2 Ireland

Got up at 8am

Took the bus and had to walk a couple blocks to our tour group.

We went on day trip to Wicklow mountains (which was incredible) where we:

-Went to the Irish Sea in Bray where we walked on the beach along the water

-Went to Glendalough

-Went to the Powers court gardens

 I threw up when we got off the  bus and later into my purse on the bus~which was not fun~ because of the winding roads combined with my temperamental body.

Through the country side we saw lots of sheep and cows. Our tour guide Trevor was really friendly and funny which added to the trip. I fell asleep several times on the way back which helped with the motion sickness. Back in Dublin we had to wait over 35min for our bus while it was raining, we stood under the ledge of a store until it showed up. I didn't eat at all that day because everything just came back up

Day 1 Ireland

After we were done resting we went and asked the front desk how to get into the city and about the busses. We ended up walking back and fourth between two stops before we figured out where to wait. When we got on we asked the driver how much it was and he said 2.40 euros and as we started to get out our money he started driving the bus. I handed him a 5 and he said the bus only takes coins and he didn't have any change. Lisa and I looked at each other nervously because we had no coins and the bus was already moving but he was super nice and let us ride for free. He ended up being our first Irish friend. Some things we saw:

People keep horses in yards and at parks

Dogs and children running all over

95% of music played was American and a lot of it is oldies

Walked around ALL over

Seemed a little like New Orleans with people dressed up and drinking

Found a really pretty park with ducks and swans

Went to a pub where I got locked in the bathroom~ what kind of bathroom has a door code on the inside and outside?!

and a guy was singing old irish songs as we had a bottle of wine

Took bus home at 11

Getting there

Even though our flight wasn't until 1:10pm we got up at 9am and left for the airport right at 10. We had to go back and fourth between two different workers who kept telling us to go different places to get our tickets printed off until we finally ended up in a line that took a little over 10minutes to get through, the part that by far took the longest was when we had to go through the line to show a worker our tickets before we could enter the security area. It was so frustrating, I guess we chose the wrong line because it was already super slow by itself and to add to it, every time someone in a wheelchair rolled up they, along with everyone they were with (sometimes a family of 8 or 9) got to jump the line and we had to wait even longer. Luckily, the guy finally let Lisa and I in and get through and after we finally got through that we flew though security and had time to stop at the food court before our first flight. Grossest pizza I've ever tried to eat haha and for $7! What a waste. When we finally boarded the plane we were pleased with our seats ( right in the middle of the plane and Lisa had a window) but we were nervous because we counted 11 little kids get on the plane and neither of us are huge fans of kids. Luckily they got most of their crying out of the way in the terminal. Neither of us slept at all since it was such a short flight to NC, just listened o music on our iPods. I got pretty nauseous when we started landing and my stomach cramped up a couple times but for the most part it was fine. When we landed I went and got a Quiznos sandwich and Lisa got a smoothie and we headed to wait at our next terminal. We were midplane again and Lisa got the window seat like before. A really old guy sat on my other side but he wasn't a problem, snored a little bit when he slept but that was it. The meal they gave us was surprisingly good, it was pasta and broccoli with some kind of  butter sauce, a salad with ranch, a roll, and a brownie. We also got a free glass of white wine but it was not good haha I slept for the first half hour or so but after that I couldnt fall back asleep so I watched movies on my iPad for a couple hours. With about 4 hours left until we landed I was worried the next day would be horrible unless I slept so I took 2 of the pills the doctor gave me to sleep. Definitely a mistake, they took a while to kick in so I only slept about an hour and it was like I was on drugs when I got off the plane. Seriously, I couldn't see straight. We landed 6:55 Dublin time. Luckily we got a cab right away and even though check in wasn't until 3pm  she let us check in right when we got there for a small fee. I collapsed into bed and was able to sleep a couple hours until we started our first day in Dublin

Getting ready for the adventure to begin

I've dreamt and obsessed about going to Europe since I was younger then 12 years old. The other day I  found a journal from when I was 14 that had pictures and lists of all the things I wanted to do and maps of different countries glued into it with pen lines marking out the routes I planned to follow all over them, so it's pretty unreal to me that in 2 days I'll actually be on a plane to Ireland to begin my just over 3 week trip across Europe. I've never written a blog or anything before but I was already planning on keeping a journal and writing everything down and I figured that this way I wont have to worry about losing it or anything. Also, since this is online if I don't get to talk to my family very often because of the time difference and high phone costs they'll be able to see that I'm alive and I haven't been "taken" or anything. (Watched Taken and Taken 2 last week because they were on TV ~ not a great idea...but I have to say that taken 2 was pretty dumb, they should have quit while they were ahead). So anyways, since I've never written anything like this before I wanted to get it started while I'm at home so I can figure it out on the computer and then hopefully learn how to easily use it on my ipad since thats what I'll be taking with me. I'm traveling with one of my best friends in this world, the beautiful Lisa, which I am VERY excited about. I cant think of a better travel buddy and I know we're going to have the time of our lives. I do have some worries about the fact that neither of us have done anything like this before and its just the two of us girls going from foreign country to country, but I know we'll figure it out (or die trying haha too soon?) What am I looking forward to? EVERYTHING. Seriously. I'm even excited about packing and sitting on the plane which are usually the two worst parts of a trip so that should show you that I'm really freaking excited. What am I worried about? I know that once we're there everything will be great but there is the terrifying fact that I tend to get sick at the worst possible moments and my body has been known to let me down when I needed it more then once so I'm working very hard to keep the image of me stuck in our hotel room missing out on the trip of a lifetime and completely letting down myself and Lisa out of my head. For the most part thats going well but the couple times that it has crept into my head in it takes about 2 seconds for complete panic to set in. For other travelers I'm sure this amount of time seems like nothing and it probably seems like I'm overreacting but this trip is huge for me on so many levels, not only because I know it will be incredible and its one of my dreams but also because this is the biggest thing I've ever tried to take on and if I can actually do it ~ actually get myself on the plane and through the entire trip, it will be proving so much to myself. Failure is no stranger to me so getting past my anxiety and physical limits and completing almost a month of going around Europe will be monumental. Wish me luck