Ireland, it's been a long five days...

So here I am back from kissing the Blarney stone, sitting in the common room of the hostel I'm staying at for one more night and reflecting on the stuff I've done these past couple days....
(I'll get pictures up as soon as I get back to Spain)

Okay, ready for this list?

Dublin: I got in Thursday night and crashed pretty much. I wrote a little sitting in the cafe of the hostel I was in which was named the Avalon House. I got up in the morning and ate breakfast in that same cafe. So Friday, out of the hostel and on to the street. I went to Trinity College first and passed the statue of Molly Malone, forgetting to take out my cammera until afterward.... Then I went to a Starbuck's and got a Chai Tea Latte (because I'm addicted) and then from there I went toward St. Patrick's Cathedral, stopping at Christ Church on the way.... I didn't go into St. Patrick's because they wanted 5.50 euro to go in but I sat outside in the sunshine in the park next to it. After a quick bite from a local market, (apple and a sandwhich which I watched them make for me on a warm from the oven bun plus I found a Dr. Pepper which they don't have in Spain and had to indulge), I toured the Dublin Castle which is really cool then I went wandering toward the Guinness Storehouse, getting lost only twice. I am finding that people are extremely nice and do all they can to help. I was asked if I wanted to be accompanied to the Storehouse so that I didn't get lost any further.... The Guinness Storehouse is way cool and you get a free pint in the skybar....Then finally to the bus station so I could head out to Galway....

Galway: Well, plans didn't go exactly the way I thought they would and I had to enlist the help of more Irish people to find a bed and breakfast to replace my other accomadations....it was a stressful night but I'm alive and a guy bought me a drink in the bar because he said that after going through the hell I had, I needed it.... I had a full Irish breakfast the next morning and took a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher. They were so pretty and I'm still amazed that I haven't seen any rain (being in Ireland and everything).

Limerick: So after another night in Galway I got a bus to Limerick and met up with Nic Gareiss who's dad works with my mom. he was way cool and showed me around the University there. We also went to a gig where some of his friends where playing trad (traditional) music in a pub. I had so much fun! So if you're reading this Nic, Thanks for a great time!

Cork: I got to Cork on Monday afternoon, had to take a nap, then went exploring a bit... It's not a very big city and it isn't very interesting either. I stopped at a sandwhich shop for dinner and crashed again... Today, I got up and went on a day tour to Cobh, Kinsale, and the Blarney Castle where I kissed the Blarney Stone! It really isn't that spectacular but I did it and I'm happy because I've completed something else on my bucket list.

Tomorrow, I head to London. I have to get up and catch a bus to the airport at 6 in the morning but I'll be okay. I have a hostel for two nights in Westminster and I'll see Stonehenge on Thursday and head out of Victioria Station for Manchester Friday morning and meet up with friends of Aunt Deb and Uncle Tony for the weekend before heading back to Madrid and Finals week. I'll try to post again somewhere along the line and get pictures up when I get back to Spain.

Best wishes to all! See lots of you very soon!!

Taking the Northwest by Storm

This was meant to be posted a while ago. Sorry for the delay.

Hello all!
I've just gotten back from another adventure and man was it fun! I went to the Northwest of Spain called Galicia to a city called Santiago de Compostella Thursday morning and stayed there until this morning (Saturday) It was really quite the adventure seeing as I went alone and came back all in one piece. I wandered the old part of Santiago de Compostella on Thursday and got to sit in on a mass at the HUGE cathedral there. I even got to see some museums and sit in the wonderful sunshine just to watch people go by.

 These are the front steps of the cathedral...

 above the door

me in front of the cathedral

The next day I got on a tour bus and went on a tour of some places toward the south...little villages with tons of history, for example this place...

 That's a replica of the Pinta...you know the boats of Columbus's fleet...the Nina the Pinta and the Santa Maria...

 These are ruins of a celtic comunity that existed a way long time ago.....

Me and the celtic ruins....I would have stayed there all day.

This is officiallly Portugal...a fort where I had lunch

Here's a random band that I found as I wandered the streets of Santiago de Compostella on the last night I was there. It was pretty cool.

Where did it go?

Time,
I'm losing my mind I swear because it was March just days ago and now I'm in my last month in Spain.
Oh jeez. my time is ending... and its so very sad.

Sorry I haven't posted in so long...nothing terribly huge has happened but I have been having a wonderful time here. We went as a group from BG to the north East of Spain. A part called Cantabria. It was so very pretty.

This is just one of the pictures I took while we were on the bus. It was so green I wanted to get out and just stay there forever. Obviously, that's not what I did but I thought about it...and I had dreams about it....

While there we stayed in this incredible old hotel that was a noble's house at one time. It was located in this tiny little town where there was like no one but us and the town's people. I loved it.
We went to the beach the next day and ran around like little children. Putting our feet in the water even though it was absolutely freezing.

Aren't my toes beautiful?
You have no idea how hard it is to hold your feet still in cold water until you try to take a picture of it.

 Here's a picture of the tiny town where we stayed from the balcony of my hotel room...the town is called Santillana del Mar, but it's not saintly, there's no ocean and it's not flat....

These are the beautiful shells that were scattered all over the beach...

This weekend there was a bunch of stuff to do here in Alcala for a sort of celebration called La Noche en Blanco. I participated in a flashmob in the town center and danced the macarena with a bunch of random people...it was a ton of fun. Obviously, because I was dancing, I don't have pictures of it but I'm going to get some from my friends so that I can show you guys what it was like.
The night before, it was a friend's birthday so we went to the gay district of Madrid and didn't get home until 7 am...it was soooooooo much fun and so great not to be getting hit on by drunk men.
Now, I should be doing homework, so I'm going to get that done and I'll try to write again next weekend after a bullfight and my solo trip to Galicia in the northwest of Spain.
Love and best wishes!