April 9th, 2014

It was another early morning today because we had to take the Student Shuttle bus to the University. Even though we’re not students, it was free so we figured we’d give it a shot. Mel came with us and gave us a quick tour of the University before walking to the Square to grab breakfast before our bus.

We had breakfast at the same café, another delicious raspberry muffin! And on the way to the bus depot I bought a postcard of Galway and some snacks for the bus.

The bus to Dublin was uneventful, we played cards almost the entire time. When we arrived in Dublin, we hoped off the bus and started walking towards Temple Bar, roughly where we knew our hostel to be. We found a Visitor Information Centre along the way so we stopped to get directions and to ask what we could do for the rest of the day. The gentleman didn’t seem too pleased that we were only spending an afternoon in Dublin but he told us the way to our hostel and gave us a map anyways.

Our hostel was called Barnacles and it is in the heart of Temple Bar. It was a really quaint hostel with twisty staircases and steps. Like they took three or four buildings and knocked out the walls. We arrived too early to get our room keys but we were allowed to leave our bags in a locked storage area. The receptionist was actually an American too so she understood our accents and was able to tell us where was the best places to go.

We stopped first at a Subway restaurant for lunch before walking around Dublin, headed mainly in the direction of the Guinness Storehouse. On the way we passed Trinity College, and St. Patrick’sCathedral.

At the Guinness Storehouse, we took the tour, saw how they made the beer, had an official tasting, even posed for our own poster! TheGuinness Storehouse was built to look like the inside of a pint glass. In the centre of the bottom of the pint glass, under a pane of glass in the floor, is the signed 9000 year lease for the property. My favorite part though was the panoramic view of the entire city of Dublin from the top of the Storehouse.

Back at the hostel, we met Ben, a 19 year old student from US studying in Cardiff at same school as Eve Myles (one of my favorite actors from Torchwood). He was on a 24 hour layover so he was just relaxing at the hostel as opposed to the airport. We invited him out to supper with us but he said he’d rather go nap.

For supper, we met up with a family friend of Franny’s & her cousin who took us out for Mexican food & Margeritas. It was really good but I’m afraid I’m going to have terrible heartburn tonight from my burrito. After supper we walked to a milkshake bar near Trinity College.

When we arrived back at the hostel, we met our other roommates, who were also Canadians from Calgary! They invited us out to party but we had an early flight so we decided to try and go to bed early. 

April 8th, 2014

I actually slept pretty well, considering I slept on a leather love seat. Their apartment is set up so that the only washroom is in their bedroom. I went to bathroom in middle of the night, couldn't figure out the light, and I didn't want to wake them, so I went to the bathroom in the dark. Gotta love adventures!

We woke up early to catch the bus downtown to Square to buy tickets for the Aran Islands shuttle. Before leaving, Mel gave us oranges and granola bars in case we got hungry while on the Islands. We checked opening times for the ticket office to Aran Islands and it didn't open for a half hour so we decided to have breakfast at a little café just off the square. I had a Machiatto and a Raspberry muffin, it was delicious!

After breakfast we walked back to the ticket office. We asked for the student discount, well wouldn't you know, I was a genius and didn't bring my student ID on the trip so I told the receptionist that I didn't have mine and what the price is for the Adult ticket (it was only like 3 euros more) but she said she believed I was a student and gave me the discount anyways! Everyone is so nice in Europe! But if you ever travel anywhere as a student, bring your ID, you get so many discounts!

Mel then walked us to the bus stop for the shuttle to the ferry that would take us to the Islands. The bus took about an hour, but it was the ferry that got me… Normally I don’t get seasick but the crossing to the Islands was just so rough! I had taken two Gravol and I was still dizzy and nauseous! We were rocking and rolling! Franny was scared we were going to tip over at times, I guess I was too sick to notice how heavily we were rocking back and forth. It was probably bad because we were neither hitting the waves head on, or on the side, by diagonally into them. But I made it to the island without getting sick! Yay!

When we arrived on the Island there were a bunch of vans lined up to take passengers on tours of the island. Before leaving Galway, Gill told us the best tour guide was the man with the red van, so that’s who we walked up to! Since we were the first on his tour, we got the front seats in the van. They were the best seats because we could see everything and hear him perfectly!

Aran Islands are gorgeous! They’re all single lane roads, lined with rock fences. The fences are cool because they don’t need mortar. They are all fitted together perfectly, with small gaps and holes in them so the wind can get through. Most of these fences have lasted for thousands of years! They are truly a sight to behold. 

He drove us around the island for a bit, stopping for good photo stops. We spent sometimes at the fort & cliffs (where they filmed part of leap year). 

We had lunch in a tiny village, one where they make the Aran Knit Sweaters, the line up for the café was long but definitely worth it. Franny and I both had traditional Irish Guinness Beef stew, we then shopped in the wool shops until the van came back to pick us up. Everything was gorgeous but extremely expensive.

We also stopped at the old monastery. Men used to come from miles around to train at this monastery. There were even a few graves of roman soldiers who died while in training. At the monastery lives Jack the donkey as well. He was so cute and he’d walk right up to the fence when you called his name!!

We went down to the ocean a bit and saw a very pretty lighthouse. It’s actually the last lighthouse before you reach Newfoundland, Canada! We also tried to see seals but the tide was too high and they were all swimming in the water.

Our last stop was a round fort, the highest point on the island. Technically it was closed to the public but our driver said there wouldn't be a problem. It was a terrifying hill to get up to the fort. For those of you who know me, I don’t like hills because one of my biggest fears are the breaks failing and us rolling backwards uncontrollably… Well, we are on this tiny, steep hill, barely enough room for our van to get up there, with stone fences on either side of the road… and the car stalls… Scariest moment of my ENTIRE life. Like that is my biggest fear! But the driver recovered and we made it safely up the hill. We had to climb around some of the stone walls to get to the fort, pass some cows, and we got to the fort. It was so cool! Very beautiful! Then it was back to the village for some shopping before the ferry took us back to the mainland. I bought earrings while Franny bought a beautiful knit hat. I’m kicking myself that I didn't buy one as well!

On the ferry back I slept basically the entire way so I don’t know if it was as rough going back, I assume not though. We got to the dock and started looking for the same bus that brought us here. Well, the tour company changed buses on us (from a city bus to a coach bus) so it’s a good thing we asked before they left us there!

We met Mel and Gill in the square and they brought us to their favorite crepe restaurant for supper. I had a sausage, cheese and egg crepe and it was delicious! We have had such good food on this trip! As a thank you for them taking us in, I paid for supper.

After supper, we met up with Shelby and went out to a different pub for beers and music. Shelby and I bonded over Disney movies and our Claddagh rings. The thing about pub music in Ireland is that random people bring random instruments in and play whatever music they want, all jamming together. I preferred the music the first night but tonight a woman showed up and started dancing a jig, right in the middle of the pub! Everyone was so relaxed about it, it was so cool!

We missed the last bus so we walked towards the square in order to catch a taxi. On the way, we heard a helicopter circling so we decided to see what was going on. It was obviously a search and rescue helicopter and they were sweeping their search light across the bay. It was kinda freaky but there were no other emergency vehicles so we figured that they were just doing a training exercise.

We caught a taxi van back to their apartment where we showered and packed for our early bus back to Dublin. I got to sleep on the long couch this time!

April 7th, 2014

This morning we had our continental breakfast at theCaledonian Backpackers Hostel. It wasn’t anything too fanc but it was good. Then we packed up our stuff and checked out. We still have tons of time until our flight so we decided to go see Edinburgh Castle. Since our CitySightseeing tickets were still valid, we walked to the nearest bus stop to catch the bus up the hill (we didn’t feel like carrying all our stuff up the hill).

Edinburgh Castle is absolutely spectacular! Set on top of a dead volcano, it overlooks the city. There is so much history in it and the architecture is spectacular. You can see the entire city, all the way down to the bay, from the castle walls. There really aren’t words to describe it, so here are some photos…

On our way back down the hill, Franny and I stopped in front of her grandparents old house for a photo. They lived in Edinburgh for 5 years some time ago and they are literally the last house before you reach the castle, it was incredible!

We had lunch in the old city at a nearby pub. We were both craving nachos so we stood outside the pub until it opened. We found out later that the pub opened late because the power had been out all morning. The nachos were amazing! Definitely hit the spot!

We still had three hours before we had to be at the airport for our flight so after lunch we walked back to St.Andrews Square to catch another in our line of bus tours, the Majestic line this time, which would take us down to the port to see the Royal Yacht Britannia, the queen’s old sailing vessel.

To get to the Royal Yacht, you have to go up to the top level of a mall in order to cross over to the ship. It was so cool to see it. The Royal Yacht Britannia was home to Her Majesty The Queen and the Royal Family for over 40 years, sailing over 1,000,000 miles around the world. It hosted several honeymoons as well. It was beautiful inside, exactly what I would expect from Her Majesty’s Yacht.

On our way out of the mall, I had to run into a Build-A-Bear Workshop because I saw a Merida costume, something not yet available in Canada. As she is my favorite princess, and we are in Scotland I couldn’t resist! Then it was back on the Majestic Tour bus back to St. Andrews Square, then on to the Airport Shuttle to get us to our flight.

Going through security was a little more hectic this time. You can be a model citizen and security will still make you feel like you’re a secret terrorist or something. Franny even had to go into the full body X-ray!

I was struggling with some of my stuff (I bought a lot of souvenirs) so in the airport I decided to buy a bag with “Scotland” all over it, and on the way to the cash register I found a super cute change purse with a bunch of different cities and locations on it, including Ayr and Dundee where my ancestors are from, and Edinburgh and Loch Lomond where I visited on my trip. Unfortunately, my purchases forced us to have to run for the plane, it was on the other side of the airport and we didn’t realize it. Oh well, we made the flight all right.

We arrived in Dublin around supper time so on the way out we stopped at a little café for sandwhiches. We had to ask the information desk how to get to Galway from there (Galway is on the opposite side of the country from Dublin) and they told us not to worry, there were a couple different buses that would take us there in 2 ½ hours.

The bus ride was long and kinda boring, we took the most direct route so we didn’t get to see any of the beautiful spots in Ireland. Franny and I actually slept most of the way there. When we arrived, Franny’s friend Mel was waiting for us at the coach station. They both go to the University of Ottawa and both are on an international semester at the moment. We told her we were still ok carrying around our stuff so she took us to a local pub to meet up with her roommate (Gill) and a friend (Shelby) for some drinks and for some traditional Irish music.

It was a lot of fun, very cool to be in a traditional Irish pub, listening to Irish music, with Irish people in Ireland. There was one Irish man who was very fun, an older man, he was quite enjoying his whiskey. He asked us where we were from and where our families came from, and he swore up and down that I was nothing but Irish. It was very entertaining. We also met a couple who recently moved back to Galway from London and they were telling us of all the amazing places we needed to go in London, especially places that they weren’t able to get to.

I also found out that Galway is the home of the Claddagh rings, which is the ring that Loring gave to me before I left for my semester here.  Claddagh rings are traditional Irish rings given representing love, loyalty, and friendship (the hands represent friendship, the heart represents love, and the crown represents loyalty). The design and customs associated with it originated in the Irish fishing village of Claddagh, located just outside the old city walls of Galway, now part of Galway City.

After drinks, we caught the last bus back to the girls apartment. Basically just hung out for a few hours, trying to decide what to do tomorrow. Franny and I both wanted to do a day trip and there were two really good ones we had to decide between. We could either go to the Cliffs of Moher, or AranIslands. Both were stunningly beautiful, rich in history, and locations of movie scenes. After asking a bunch of people over Facebook who had done both, everyone was telling us to do Aran Islands, so that’s what we decided. It meant we had to be up and in the city centre for 9 am to buy tickets and catch the shuttle bus.

We spent the night at their place, sleeping on their couches. I slept on the loveseat and it wasn’t too bad. 

April 6th, 2014

Today, Franny and I took a day tour to Loch Lomond! We started our day with an early breakfast at the Caledonian. They had toast & jam, fresh fruit, yoghurt, lots of different stuff. I had toast and jam. Then Franny and I walked up near the castle to the rendez-vous spot for the tour. We were early so we walked around the shops a bit, looked around a bit. We went with the Timberbush Tour Company. Our driver’s name was Eric. He was amazing, we couldn't have asked for a better driver! He gave us history on the area, told stories, played traditional music. 

On the way to Sterling Castle he played “Caledonia” by Frankie Miller  I believe, it was a good song. Our first stop was Stirling Castle, the castle where Mary Queen of Scots lived. It’s a beautiful castle set on top of a huge hill overlooking plains. A great spot for a castle if I do say so myself. The Castle was absolutely stunning. We took a tour of the castle and even saw dressed up interpreters! It’s definitely worth a look. 

We stopped for lunch in Callandar, known as the gateway to the Highlands as it’s the last town between the highlands and the lowlands of Scotland. Franny and I had lunch at a small restaurant called Munchies. It was really good, and frequented by locals. On the way out of the village, we stopped quick to see some Highland Cows. They are so cute and shaggy! 

The roads up to the highlands are very windy, kinda made me nauseous a bit unfortunately. But we saw some pretty cool sights along the way, like an old Duke’s house that has been turned into a private resort, and Loch Drunken where they used to store old whiskey barrels (they whiskey leaked out of the barrels into the Loch). We also stopped at a lookout where we had an amazing view of the foggy highlands.

We finally reached Loch Lomond and it was pouring rain! Like coming down in buckets! But luckily we had a boat cruise so we didn’t have to walk around in it. It was amazing being in a place I sang about in choir for years! Loch Lomond is beautiful! Half-way through the cruise the sun came out and we even saw a rainbow! Ben Lomond (the mountain) was beautiful as well.

We stopped in the small village to grab some postcards and souvenirs quickly before we had to return to Edinburgh. The guy behind the cash register was very chatty. Apparently lots of famous people had passed through such as Micheal Jackson, so that was really cool.

On the way back to Edinburgh, our guide took a detour because he wanted to show us the Forth Bridges. I’m glad he did because they were beautiful! He also played us a different version of  “500 Miles” from movie Sunshine on Leigh. It was an amazing rendition of it! I didn’t know I could love that song even more than I already do. So the guide gave us two options for drop offs, where we met or on Princes Street. Franny and I were the only one who wanted Princes Street (it was closer to the hostel) so the guide decided he’d just drop us off at our hostel, which was so nice!

For supper we went to a local pub and I had a ceasar salad, it was very good. Then back to the Caledonian to hang out. Although Franny lost her key so we had to get new ones! 

April 5th, 2014

So today was the first day of mine and Franny’s European Tour. We met at the train station to take the 8:45 train to Brussels-Charleroi Airport to catch our first flight to Edinburgh, Scotland. I managed to pack everything in a single backpack because I was under the impression that we were only allowed one cary-on with Ryanair. When I arrive at the airport, Franny had a backpack and a suitcase. Turns out, we are allowed a carry-on and a personal bag… oh well!

It took a little over an hour to get to Brussels, then the shuttle to the airport was another 15 minutes. We arrived at the airport several hours early so we had time to grab some lunch and chill before out flight. In the airport duty free shop we found Jelly Bellies… my downfall. But not only did we find Jelly Bellies, we found Jelly Belly Uno… so of course I had to buy it! The box came with a package of Jelly Bellies and jelly bean shaped UNO cards.

We sat and played UNO until the flight. After checking our boarding passes, we had to go downstairs to the tarmac to climb the stairs to the airplane.

We arrived in Edinburgh mid-afternoon. When going through customs it was actually a blessing we weren’t citizens of the EU. The line for customs for them was an hour long, we were the only ones in our line. After customs, we headed straight to the Information desk to grab info about things to do in Scotland as well as info on how to get downtown where we could find our hostel.

We caught the CityLink 100 bus to the city centre, planning on going to the hostel first. When we arrived at Waverly Station (the last bus stop) we saw that there were a couple of sightseeing buses in front of us. Franny said she didn’t mind keeping her luggage with her for a few more hours so we bought tickets and hopped on. The tickets we bought were valid for 48hrs on all 5 sightseeing lines with the bus company as well as free, fast-pass entries into Edinburgh Castle, The Royal Yacht Britannia (the queen’s old private yacht), and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

We got on the green line first and sat on the top deck of the double decker. The tour had an older woman commentating and she was absolutely hilarious, telling jokes as well as the history of Edinburgh. We arrived back at the starting point with enough time to catch the red line and the last tour of the day. This tour we also sat on the top deck, but it was a pre-recorded tours with headphones. It also took a lightly different route of the city. Both tours were absolutely fantastic! CitySightseeing Tours Edinburgh

After the tour Franny and I were starving so we quickly went to the hostel to drop off our stuff before finding a pub for supper. We stayed at the Caledonian Backpackers Hostel. The hostel was so cool! We got lockers and duvets, there was a continental breakfast included as well. Plus the place was really nice and everyone was friendly. It had a very cool vibe. If you ever need a hostel in Edinburgh, definitely stay at the Caledonian. You can see Edinburgh Castle on the hill from the window.

We headed up Rose Street to find a pub. Initially we tried “Dirty Dicks” but the kitchen was closed so we went to a restaurant nearby. So far, Edinburgh is beautiful!

March 22nd, 2014

So today I went to Brugge, a city in Northern Belgium (in Flanders specifically), nicknamed "The Venice of the North". I went with my friend Franny (Toronto), Elene (Flanders), Alice (Paris), and Emil (Sweden). We took the 11 am train to Brugge. When we arrived we grabbed a couple maps at the Visitor Info booth in the train station, and we got information about the boat tours.

Then we decided to walk towards the city centre (closer to where the boat tours started) and to grab some lunch at a cafe somewhere. I say cafe lightly, we stopped at what looked like a nice cafe, but when we went in and looked at the menu, it was overly fancy. The cheap meal was a three course dinner. Starting with soup, then a choice of chicken, steak, salmon, or pork chops, and either ice cream of cream puffs for dessert. I had the chicken, and boy it was amazing!

After lunch, we bought tickets for the boat tours. It was so cool! We got to see the entire downtown from the vantage point of the rivers, streams, and locks that run through the city. It's almost impossible to describe.

We walked around the city, stopping to shop in some of the stores, looking at the brewery and the convent as well. We ran into Elene's brother as well! She's from Leuven on Erasmus to Liege (so not too far) and it was nice to meet some of her family. We also stopped to see a free harp concert.

(The Brewery)

Brugge is a beautiful city. It definitely lives up to its name of Venice of the North.

March 9th, 2014

So today I went to Luxembourg!! It was amazing! I went with Franny and Elena (Franny and I met her on the ESN Lille trip). We met at the train station at 6:45 to take the 7:15 train from Liege to Luxembourg city. I bought a GoPass, which is a train pass good for 10 rides in Belgium. It was cheaper to do it this way, take a train to the border and buy an in-country ticket for Luxembourg. So the trip cost 10 euros (there & back) instead of 60, so I think it was a very good idea!

We had a direct train from Liege to Luxembourg and we arrived a little after 9 am. It was a Sunday so all the stores were closed, which is ok because the tourist spots and the museums were all open. From the train station, we walked 15 minutes to the Visitor Information Centre in downtown Luxembourg. The city is absolutely gorgeous!

The Visitor Information Centre gave us a walking tour guide for all the historic and interesting spots in the city centre. I bought a set of Luxembourg Euros at the VIC. In one of the more tourist areas, I stopped to buy postcards and other souvenirs. We did the first part of the walking tour and ended up in front of the Duke's palace. Luxembourg is ruled by a monarchy led by a Duke (instead of a King). Facing his residence was The Chocolate House, a small cafe & chocolatier, famous for their hot chocolate drinks. It was right around lunch time so we stopped for lunch. We had quiche and salad. For dessert, we had to try some of their famous hot chocolate and we shared a piece of cake. Their hot chocolate is famous because it arrives separately. They give you a large mug of hot milk, and  a lump of chocolate (with the flavour you chose) on a wooden spoon. You lower the spoon into the milk and stir until the chocolate all melts. There was over 20 flavours to choose from, plus alcoholic and childrens flavours. I have Almost Raspberry and Franny had Hot Chili Orange.

After lunch, we continued the walking tour, seeing the entire city centre of Luxembourg. I can't believe how stunning this city is! Everything in the main part of the city is ancient, like they built the new city in and on old castle walls. It's stunning.

Our next big stop was the Bock Casemates and Acheological Crypt, and underground defence works, built in the Spanish era. It houses the origins of the city. There were tunnels and crypts that zig zagged forever. It was a little scary being underground with the traffic rolling over,  but the scariest part was the spiral staircase on the tour the steps were maybe four inches wide at their widest, and you could tell they were well used because they were all slanted downwards, there were several occasions I thought I was going to fall. It was terrifying but I'm really glad I got to see it. The Casemates are a Unesco World Heritage Site.

We then finished the walking tour, through the valley and back up to the Visitor Information Centre. We were all getting really tired so we stopped at a cafe for something to drink, and stopped back at the Chocolate House to buy some souvenir chocolates.

We then headed back to the train station to see when the next train for Liege left. We had two options, one that left in a half hour and took 3 hours to Liege, with a transfer in Nemur, arriving at 9:15 pm in Liege. Or a train that left an hour and a half, took 2 1/2 hours, straight shot, arriving in Liege at 9:40 pm. We decided to wait for the second train and have supper before leaving Luxembourg. Across from the train station was a small restaurant in a Best Western, so we had supper there. I had an amazing lasagna and we had plenty of time to get to the train.