Dublin for St. Patrick's Day!

I remember back in second grade when I was pinched for not wearing green. Ever since then, I knew I had to do St. Patrick's Day right. But that was never accomplished until last week...

We arrived in Dublin bright and early at 8 a.m. After a night of no sleep and stressing over flying on Ryan Air, we wanted nothing more than to sleep. But that wasn't going to happen.We dropped our luggage off at our hotel and went straight to the Guinness Storehouse.

There are two iconic alcohol tours to see in Dublin: Guinness and Jameson. I've never made it to Jameson so I can't really suggest to see that tour. But I can guarantee that Guinness is a great time! The tour is self-guided and very interactive. Until I went last year, I never liked beer or had an appreciation for it. But Guinness really is perfecting the art of brewing beer. You start your tour by learning the ingredients of Guinness and end your tour by drinking your very own pint. My favorite part of the exhibit was looking at all of the advertisements. If you don't like the beer, the advertisements are the best part of Guinness. At the end of the tour, we choose to have our free beer in the Gravity Bar, which shows a 360 degree view of Dublin. Luckily for us, the woman at the bar didn't take our ticket...so we went back downstairs to learn how to pour our perfect pint. Just be careful, each pint of Guinness has 400 calories!

Apart from beer, I'm not sure if people realize what the Guinness family has contributed to the world...like the Guinness Book of World Records? That's right. It was started by the same family. Story has it that a managing director of the Guinness factory went on a shooting party and got in an argument over what the fastest game in Europe was. Since it was impossible to confirm, the managing director thought that other people might have similar questions because there wasn't a book that contained these facts. And there you have it. The Guinness Book of Records was created.

We had an awesome birthday dinner for Brooke at our hotel. We stayed in Ballsbridge (hahaha), which is a little outside of Dublin. Had all of us not been staying there, I don't think it would have worked out as nice as it did. After dinner, we all went out for Brooke's birthday! Every pub was full to the brim! We made it into one just before the clock stroke midnight. And the rest of the night is history!

The next morning we woke up at 10 to eat breakfast and get ready for the St. Paddy's Day Parade! Unfortunately, we never made it out of the hotel in order to get a great spot to watch the parade. Instead, we spent the majority of the day in a pub. Somehow, just about everyone from USC who was in Dublin that day ended up at the pub in one way or another. It was so nice to be reunited with everyone who was on spring break! I couldn't have been happier to see girls in ADPi! After spending a few hours at this pub, a few of us separated from the group and went to the Temple Bar! This place was HUGE! Not a bar that too many locals frequent, but you definitely have to go once. It's at least worth the visit.

We ended up having better weather in Dublin than in London! Friday ended up being a gorgeous day so my friends and I took full advantage of the warmth and sunlight. We went to both of the churches in Dublin: Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Guinness family restored St. Patrick's Cathedral from 1860 - 1900. But don't think you'll just stroll right into either. Each church costs money to visit, which it's nice to support them, but not great when you're a poor student. Instead, we sat outside and took in the sunlight. Luckily we didn't get sun burnt.

Dublin is a fairly small city and the main part of town is within walking distance. But in order to get to the touristy attractions (like Guinness, Jameson and Phoenix Park), you either take a taxi or a bus. So at the airport, we got a 3-day freedom pass which allowed us to take the hop-on, hop-off tourist bus as well as the city buses to get from our hotel to the city center. For 26 euro, it ended up being a great deal! However, I'd strongly recommend finding a hotel either off of O'Connell Street or near Temple Bar since you'll be close to everything.

So glad my second trip to Dublin was just as much of a success as the first one!! In early June last year, Joe met up with my mom and I and we explored Dublin! It was super helpful knowing my way around a little bit and the next time we go (May this year) I'll be a pro!

Next stop: Canary Islands for spring break!!

Czeching out Prague

When I initially started figuring out all of the cities and countries I wanted to visit this semester, Prague was at the top of my list. I wasn't exactly sure why I wanted to go to Prague, I just knew that everyone had said this city was their favorite.

It's now one of mine.

View from the clock tower in Old Town Square

Prague is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to. Most of the buildings are different shades of light pinks, greens and yellows with unique patterns and red roof tops. Honestly, none of my pictures can do this city justice. Walking down the cobble stone streets, you definitely get a different feeling than any of the other cities we have been before. It's not the really warm, welcoming feeling you get in Ireland or Italy. You get the sense that this place is different.

We arrived at midnight on Thursday. We literally czech-ed into (yes, those puns were used every two seconds) our hostel called Czech Inn. Granted I've only stayed in one other hostel, it was the nicest hostel I've ever been to. Seriously put the gross hostel reputation to shame.

After throwing our stuff in our room and putting some make up on, we went out to meet about 10 other USC students who were also in Prague that weekend! Not going to lie, being around so many USC people couldn't have made me happier. Oh wait I forgot...there was something that made me a little bit happier...the drink prices! $5 for a mojito and beer is cheaper than water!! I knew this would be a beautiful beginning to a great weekend.

The next morning the rest of our friends arrived and we set out for Old Town Square. After getting lost in the windy streets, we found the square. It was filled with tourists snapping pictures at the beautiful buildings (and yes, we were some of those tourists). On the side of the bell tower of Old Town Hall, you find the medieval astronomical clock. It has three components: the astronomical dial which represents the sun and the moon, "The Walk of the Apostles," which has figures that move hourly, and a calendar with medallions representing the months.  We were lucky enough to stumble upon the astronomical clock at 1 in the afternoon and got to see the show! I couldn't believe that it was from medieval times! And then after the show, a man in costume plays the trumpet along all four sides of the clock tower. Old Town Square is also home to St. Nicolas Church and various shops and restaurants.

We had a late start the next day. We took the tram to Prague Castle, which is situated on a hill overlooking the city. According to the Guiness Book of World Records, it is the largest castle grounds in the world with an area of 7000 meters squared. Now, this castle doesn't look like Buckingham or Windsor. It has so many different architectural styles because it has been built and rebuilt so many times. There's a beautiful gothic church in the middle of the grounds, but it was actually the coldest church I've ever been in! We could barely stay inside for 5 minutes before getting so cold we had to leave. Unfortunately we didn't go into the castle but the trip was all worth it when we saw the breath taking view.

On our way back to the castle we came across the Lennon Wall. Since the 1980s, the Lennon Wall has been filled with John Lennon-inspired graffiti and Beatles lyrics. In the communist regime, it was a source of grievances for students. That wall must contain so many personal stories and secrets throughout its various layers of paint. We spent quite a long time reading the messages and taking it all in. I couldn't imagine what the people who originally started writing on the wall went through under communist oppression. We slowly made our way across the Charles Bridge soaking in the view of the castle and the river. Again, pictures really couldn't do the view justice. We just had to see it again the next day!


We had heard that the boat tours were amazing and one company made us an offer we couldn't refuse. Free beer or mulled wine and a snack. How could we pass it up?? Our captain of the small boat told us the history of the buildings and bridges. Since we weren't entirely sure of everything we were looking at anyways, it was nice to hear a little bit of background information.

Even through all of it's beauty, Prague is still a city marred by communism. Compared to the other cities we've been to, Prague didn't have a very welcoming feeling. Not to say that it was extremely nice, it was just the people weren't as nice and welcoming to us as we had been used to. We didn't find the nicest service in the restaurants. We would ask if they had something on the menu and the restaurant would say no. I mean, it's on the menu.

All in all it was a great trip. I'm in love with Prague and would definitely go back in the summer when the beer gardens are blooming. If you visit Prague, you definitely should check out Bohemia Bagel! It was one of my favorite places to eat!

Next stop: Dublin for St. Patty's Day!

Manchester Visit!

Yes, it's been a while since I've updated my blog. However that hasn't been because I've been ignoring my obligation to update you on my life...I've actually been doing schoolwork. Although you may think I'm not doing any homework, I had been working on another blog until last week. Check it out if you get a chance: ec1exmouthmarket.com 

Anyways, two weekends ago I visited Joe in Manchester. We spent Friday night celebrating his great test results and Saturday night celebrating a friend's birthday. But Sunday was the real treat for me. I finally got my Christmas present: a taster ski lesson at the Chill Factore!

Since I have always wanted to try skiing, Joe got me a free taster lesson that we had never been able to arrange until that weekend. And you will never guess who was actually good at skiing...me!! I only wiped out once while jumping down the baby slope but still pretty damn impressive for me and my coordination.

Now I'm ready for the Swiss Alps.