Sorry for some reason my pictures will not load on the post =( I always have them same one on facebook though!
Tuesday, 23 October 2012
Brussels, Belgium
The city of Waffles, Chocolate, and Beer!
The flight to Belgium went a lot smoother than I though it would go. Brussels was definitely a lot bigger than we thought it would be. Once we got there we were so lost we picked up a map but things were in french and just really confused us. After taking the wrong train and missing our stop we finally found our hostel. The hostel was a lot of help they gave us an easier map and showed the key places to stay in. We went to dinner in the city center just at a little restaurant. Looking at the menu I literally closed my eyes and pointed at something to eat. I couldn't read anything it was in all french. Our waitress new some english and tried to help us as much as possible. Thinking I would save some money on my meal I ordered water like everyone else. Turns out my water was 5.25 euro!! I soon learned that beer was much cheaper than water which is crazy. We went to bed early that night since we were up so early traveling.
Saturday we took a tour bus that took you all over Brussels. At each stop you could hop off and take as much time as you wanted to do whatever you pleased. Then you wait about 10 minutes or so for the next bus. There were more older people on the bus than college students but, there was still handful. I found it funny that since it was raining a little the only people getting off the bus were the younger college students. A little rain never hurt anyone. We stopped at some really cool places like the Royal Residence, Parliament, and the Manniken Pis. Mannekin Pis street was my favorite. It reminded us of Diagon alley from Harry Potter and all weekend that is what we referred to it as. Along that street we walked in to pretty much every other chocolatier and sampled quite a selection of chocolates! So yummy! We didn't quite get our fill of chocolate so we decided to try a famous belgium waffle. I ordered mine with chocolate and strawberries on it. It was so delicious! Eventually the rain caught up to us and we headed back to the hostel and hung out there.
Most hostel's include a breakfast with your stay and this one was probably one of my favorites. Only in Belgium do they serve butter, jam, and CHOCOLATE for your spreads for toast!
Sunday was my favorite day! All weekend I was in search for grand place. We couldn't find yesterday and with the weather being a lot nicer today was the day. Turns out we walked in a circle outside the entire place yesterday without knowing it! Grand place was so pretty! I wanted to see it at night as well so we stayed in town until it got dark out. We had a lot of time to waste till it got dark out so of went to a few more chocolatier's grabbed some lunch waffles and did a little shopping.
Next we decided to kill the rest of our time by going to the famous pub Delirium. It serves over 2,000 different kinds of beers. My kind of place! I had a really hard time picking what to get. Since it wasn't that busy the bartender was very kind to help me out. He let me taste a lot of different types of beer on tap. I ended up ordering 3 different types of beer while stayed and hung out for a few hours. There was a few groups of people we got to talk to and hear their stories of traveling. Also the bartender had a lot to say. We were talking about our government oh joy! Turns out Belgium people are very interested in US government because ours is very well put together compared to theirs. They recently went 165 days without official government rule from the Parliament. This is because Belgium is made up of French, Dutch and Germans and no one in Parliament could agree on anything.
Finally, it was dark out and we headed to Grand Place! The wait was so worth it! The entire place was lit up and so beautiful. We took a lot of great pics.
Monday morning it was time to head back to Ireland and I was really excited to head back I actually missed the place!
The flight to Belgium went a lot smoother than I though it would go. Brussels was definitely a lot bigger than we thought it would be. Once we got there we were so lost we picked up a map but things were in french and just really confused us. After taking the wrong train and missing our stop we finally found our hostel. The hostel was a lot of help they gave us an easier map and showed the key places to stay in. We went to dinner in the city center just at a little restaurant. Looking at the menu I literally closed my eyes and pointed at something to eat. I couldn't read anything it was in all french. Our waitress new some english and tried to help us as much as possible. Thinking I would save some money on my meal I ordered water like everyone else. Turns out my water was 5.25 euro!! I soon learned that beer was much cheaper than water which is crazy. We went to bed early that night since we were up so early traveling.
Saturday we took a tour bus that took you all over Brussels. At each stop you could hop off and take as much time as you wanted to do whatever you pleased. Then you wait about 10 minutes or so for the next bus. There were more older people on the bus than college students but, there was still handful. I found it funny that since it was raining a little the only people getting off the bus were the younger college students. A little rain never hurt anyone. We stopped at some really cool places like the Royal Residence, Parliament, and the Manniken Pis. Mannekin Pis street was my favorite. It reminded us of Diagon alley from Harry Potter and all weekend that is what we referred to it as. Along that street we walked in to pretty much every other chocolatier and sampled quite a selection of chocolates! So yummy! We didn't quite get our fill of chocolate so we decided to try a famous belgium waffle. I ordered mine with chocolate and strawberries on it. It was so delicious! Eventually the rain caught up to us and we headed back to the hostel and hung out there.
Most hostel's include a breakfast with your stay and this one was probably one of my favorites. Only in Belgium do they serve butter, jam, and CHOCOLATE for your spreads for toast!
Sunday was my favorite day! All weekend I was in search for grand place. We couldn't find yesterday and with the weather being a lot nicer today was the day. Turns out we walked in a circle outside the entire place yesterday without knowing it! Grand place was so pretty! I wanted to see it at night as well so we stayed in town until it got dark out. We had a lot of time to waste till it got dark out so of went to a few more chocolatier's grabbed some lunch waffles and did a little shopping.
Next we decided to kill the rest of our time by going to the famous pub Delirium. It serves over 2,000 different kinds of beers. My kind of place! I had a really hard time picking what to get. Since it wasn't that busy the bartender was very kind to help me out. He let me taste a lot of different types of beer on tap. I ended up ordering 3 different types of beer while stayed and hung out for a few hours. There was a few groups of people we got to talk to and hear their stories of traveling. Also the bartender had a lot to say. We were talking about our government oh joy! Turns out Belgium people are very interested in US government because ours is very well put together compared to theirs. They recently went 165 days without official government rule from the Parliament. This is because Belgium is made up of French, Dutch and Germans and no one in Parliament could agree on anything.
Finally, it was dark out and we headed to Grand Place! The wait was so worth it! The entire place was lit up and so beautiful. We took a lot of great pics.
Monday morning it was time to head back to Ireland and I was really excited to head back I actually missed the place!
Dublin!
Dublin was so much fun and a very gorgeous city!! The bus ride there wasn't to bad only two hours. Once we got there it was pretty early and I spotted a real starbucks! So of course I had to get a skinny vanilla latte only it did not taste very good at all. Im starting to find the only good coffee they serve in ireland is Irish coffee's. Other than that I learned the way they brew the espresso is different they use more water. So ill just stick to regular coffee. Anyway we got so lucky with the weather we had two gorgeous sunny warm days.
Dublin is such a big city we didn't really know where to start. Luckily Moira had a friend who played Rugby at Trinity College which is located in the heart of Dublin. What better way to be shown around Dublin than by a big Rugby Player. He was so sweet he even took us to this very girly store that had things he thought we might like to buy as gifts for our mothers. Next, he took us to this gorgeous park that kinda reminded me of central park in New York City. There were swans just hanging out everywhere. I really wanted to go to the Trinity Library and see the book of kells but I decided i'll save it for when Carly and Katie come and see if they want to do it. Later, he took us back to his apartment and we got see a proper view of Dublin from his rooftop!! It was such a cool site.
We went to the Jameson Distillery and experienced some Irish Whiskey. They had some really cool cocktails to order there and naturally we had to try them. They were so good and the Bartender took a picture of us behind the bar. For dinner we grabbed some italian grub which was delicious. So much better than the pasta I make at school lol.
We went out to some pubs Saturday night and our first stop was the Temple Bar. Its pretty famous for big acts playing there. That night we caught a local act that played some old classic rock. Temple Bar is located in an area of a lot of pubs. It's a bunch of lit up alleys that kinda make their own city itself. It's actually really pretty how its decorated and how lively it is. Our last stop was a place we heard people recommended. It was a late bar called Lafeyette. Now, normally i'm not a big fan of clubs just not my scene since maybe middle school when I though they were cool. But this was place was so much fun. I mean when TLC or Jock Jams comes on there is no way you cant have fun to that! Conner our rugby player from earlier was there with the whole team and we got to meet the rest of the Trinity Rugby Team.
Sunday morning we were ready to do some shopping of Grafton Street. The street entertainers were fun to watch. Sadly the only thing I found worth buying was some Gelato!!! Not very shocking
Dublin is such a big city we didn't really know where to start. Luckily Moira had a friend who played Rugby at Trinity College which is located in the heart of Dublin. What better way to be shown around Dublin than by a big Rugby Player. He was so sweet he even took us to this very girly store that had things he thought we might like to buy as gifts for our mothers. Next, he took us to this gorgeous park that kinda reminded me of central park in New York City. There were swans just hanging out everywhere. I really wanted to go to the Trinity Library and see the book of kells but I decided i'll save it for when Carly and Katie come and see if they want to do it. Later, he took us back to his apartment and we got see a proper view of Dublin from his rooftop!! It was such a cool site.
We went to the Jameson Distillery and experienced some Irish Whiskey. They had some really cool cocktails to order there and naturally we had to try them. They were so good and the Bartender took a picture of us behind the bar. For dinner we grabbed some italian grub which was delicious. So much better than the pasta I make at school lol.
We went out to some pubs Saturday night and our first stop was the Temple Bar. Its pretty famous for big acts playing there. That night we caught a local act that played some old classic rock. Temple Bar is located in an area of a lot of pubs. It's a bunch of lit up alleys that kinda make their own city itself. It's actually really pretty how its decorated and how lively it is. Our last stop was a place we heard people recommended. It was a late bar called Lafeyette. Now, normally i'm not a big fan of clubs just not my scene since maybe middle school when I though they were cool. But this was place was so much fun. I mean when TLC or Jock Jams comes on there is no way you cant have fun to that! Conner our rugby player from earlier was there with the whole team and we got to meet the rest of the Trinity Rugby Team.
Sunday morning we were ready to do some shopping of Grafton Street. The street entertainers were fun to watch. Sadly the only thing I found worth buying was some Gelato!!! Not very shocking
Monday, 15 October 2012
Care package!!
Love you! Thanks Grandma Barb, Aunt Nancy, and Big Jim!
Weekend with the Girls
So my mom came!!!!!!!!!!!
First they picked me up and we went to breakfast Wednesday morning and the entire trip all my mother did was compare every scone to the one from this breakfast! It was really good though!
Thursday was Sir Arthur's Day. It was the 200th year celebration. Kinda a big deal so I made my mom, sister, and Mrs Spear stay. I bought my mom a Guinness which was really odd to be able to buy her a drink. We all toasted to Sir Arthur at 5:59. Then it was on the road and off to Dingle.
Friday was probably my favorite we went horseback riding on the Dingle Peninsula, although it was a little cold at first the view was just absolutely spectacular. I loved horseback riding and hope to get the chance to do it again! We made our way to Dingle Town had some lunch and drove to Killarney. Killarney was a cute little town and we had dinner then it was time for some drinks. We went to a few pubs but we were looking for some Irish music. This old drunk Irish man led us the way down some creepy roads till we found this cute little pub with some live music.
Saturday we took a horse and carriage ride through a manor in Killarney. There were so many scenic spots throughout the ride. The waterfall was so cool! Next we made our way through parts of the Ring of Kerry and did some shopping through some little towns. I bought an Aran Irish Sweater and it is so comfy and warm!! It was pricey but so worth it!. Saturday night we drove into Cork and spent the night there. Sam and I went out after dinner to the pubs. I heard the night life there was really fun but we just couldn't find a place that we really liked. Sam did get into Jameson some Irish whiskey!
Sunday we went to the Blarney Castle! Well we all know I love history and Castles!!!! It was so cool touring through the entire structure. Once we made it to the top it was time to kiss the stone. It was really scary laying back reaching to kiss the stone. We got some great pictures of all of us. My favorite part would have to be skyping my dad and brother while we were in front of the castle. I didn't know I was able to do that from my phone till then but I can't wait to do it again. We drove to this little town called Adare just south of Limerick and spent the night there.
Monday morning I got dropped off and had to go back to reality of school while they got to keep traveling. I couldn't wait till Wednesday to see them again. Once they got back we went out to a nice dinner in town of Limerick and went out with a bang. The food was so good! After dinner I got dropped off and didn't want to say goodbye to my mom. I had to hug her twice and that's when the tears came.
Thank you so much for coming Mom!! It meant the world to me! And Thanks Dad for letting her come ;) I miss you all and love everyone!!!
First they picked me up and we went to breakfast Wednesday morning and the entire trip all my mother did was compare every scone to the one from this breakfast! It was really good though!
Thursday was Sir Arthur's Day. It was the 200th year celebration. Kinda a big deal so I made my mom, sister, and Mrs Spear stay. I bought my mom a Guinness which was really odd to be able to buy her a drink. We all toasted to Sir Arthur at 5:59. Then it was on the road and off to Dingle.
Sunday we went to the Blarney Castle! Well we all know I love history and Castles!!!! It was so cool touring through the entire structure. Once we made it to the top it was time to kiss the stone. It was really scary laying back reaching to kiss the stone. We got some great pictures of all of us. My favorite part would have to be skyping my dad and brother while we were in front of the castle. I didn't know I was able to do that from my phone till then but I can't wait to do it again. We drove to this little town called Adare just south of Limerick and spent the night there.
Monday morning I got dropped off and had to go back to reality of school while they got to keep traveling. I couldn't wait till Wednesday to see them again. Once they got back we went out to a nice dinner in town of Limerick and went out with a bang. The food was so good! After dinner I got dropped off and didn't want to say goodbye to my mom. I had to hug her twice and that's when the tears came.
Thank you so much for coming Mom!! It meant the world to me! And Thanks Dad for letting her come ;) I miss you all and love everyone!!!
Thursday, 4 October 2012
Monday, 24 September 2012
Doolin/Cliffs of Moher/Aran Islands
This weekend was a very busy one. I felt like I didn't stop moving. Friday night my friends and I decided to go out to the stables for the international stop light party. You could say we probably had a few to many drinks. We went to bed way to late and had to wake up for an 8 am bus ride. It was not an easy ride. Needless to say we made it and got to Doolin where our hostel was.
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| Our Hostel! |
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| The hike up hill begins |
Once stepping off the bus checking in and locking our bags up we off for our hike. We hiked from Doolin to the Cliffs of Moher. Up hill it was an 8 mile hike... my calves were burning. As soon as we got to the cliffs and saw the view it was totally worth it. We walked almost the entire edge of the cliffs. It was just astonishing how high up you are and they are so beautiful. At one point we reached the gate that says Danger Keep Out! Well signs don't really mean what they say because, us and about 100 other people climbed over it to walk the rest of the cliffs. After we finished up there is was another long hike back, but we somehow made it. 
Later that night the girls and I went out to eat at a local pub. Now, Doolin is a very small town and when 8 girls walked into this little old pub you can believe we got some stares. We ordered our food which was delicious and the bartender was curious about our stay there so we answered his questions or as they say (queries). We decided to make it an early night with no drinks since the next morning we had a big boat ride ahead of us. The funny part about our hostel was that we split up into two rooms so we would all fit. 5 of the girls stayed in a 5 bed room private and Moira and I stayed in the 2 bed room private. The difference between the other girls room and ours was that their room actually had 5 beds while ours had 1 double bed. That's not what we pictured when we booked it. I'm sure the hostel owner probably thought we were dating when he gave us a weird look, but oh well. You win some and lose some.
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| The Happy Hooker |
The next morning we made our way to the pier which was only a 2 mile walk. Not a big deal after yesterdays adventure. Our boat was called the "Happy Hooker" a real charmer if you ask me. We toured the coast and stopped at the smallest of the islands. It was so gorgeous the water was crystal clear blue and the town so quaint. We spent two hours there just relaxing and enjoying the scenery. Next, we got on another boat that headed to see the Cliffs of Moher from a different perspective. We neared the cliffs and I ran to the very front of the boat. The sight of looking up at the cliffs was breath taking. The words I am typing and the pictures shown honestly can't describe the feeling of seeing them in real life and that close from the boat. If anyone is to visit Ireland and see the cliffs I couldn't recommend anything more than to take the boat tour to the cliffs. The money was totally worth it!
My weekend was so nice and relaxing minus my hike, but then again I hiked the coast of Ireland. Not many people would say they did that touring there. When we told the hostel owner that we hiked it his response was "you did what!" He said he hasn't heard of many people doing it but he agreed the views seen along the way must of been worth it.
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| We got even got closer to the cliffs! |
Love and miss everyone,
Kierstin <3
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