Paris: Le Premier Jour

     After our final week of classes, our 4 weeks of traveling were about to begin! With the first stop being, Paris! We were super excited, but as with many travel plans we hit a roadblock before we even got on the flight. In order to get the best flight prices, we booked all of our flights months in advance. It took us about a week to figure everything out from which times we would arrive in each city, which hostels we would stay in, and what countries we wanted to go to. After a while, we were delirious with all of our plans and must have overlooked the fact that we bought a plane ticket to leave London at 7am. The early flight wasn't the problem, but the lack of transportation was. Since our Uni was in South East London it took about 25-30 minute to get into Central London and then it would take about another hour on a bus to the airport. We also like to at least have a hour at the airport before boarding time to get through security. This all meant that we would have to leave our dorms at 3am! Since the tube closes down at midnight we wouldn't have that option, buses can take hours to get into Central London, and we were terrified of what the cost would be to take a cab. 

After frantically weighing out the pros and cons we ended up changing our flight time at 1am. We got charged extra to change our departure time to an afternoon flight, but in the end we thought our peace of mind would be worth it. After that little hiccup was settled we got to the airport in London and had time to get a box of Krispy Kreme donuts. They were the prettiest donuts we had ever seen and it was nice to relax a little before take-off after our stressful night. 

Before we knew it we on our flight heading to Paris. It is fair to say that many people dream of visiting the "City of Love/Lights" and we were no exception. We were ready to partake in all the cliche and romanticized versions of the city. When we landed we roamed around the airport trying to find and buy tickets for the metro. We ended up asking the attendant at the help desk how to get to our hostel and he was super helpful. He explained in English exactly what trains and metro changes we needed to make and before long we were in our comfy hostel. 

It was super nice with a private sink and shower, TV, and a nice big bed. We got to our hostel a little late and didn't have any time to get dinner. However, McDonalds never fails to be everywhere, including right across from our hostel, so we got a quick bite and went to sleep to prepare for tomorrow's jam packed museum day.

We got up bright and early, and headed straight to the Louvre on the metro. Cailin and I had studied a lot of art history throughout school, and have always loved art and museums, so we were excited to see a lot of the works of art that we had only seen in textbooks. We got breakfast in the large shopping center that surrounds the Louvre and got into the museum as quickly as we could. The Louvre is overwhelmingly huge. After all, it is said that if you take only 30 seconds to look at every painting it houses, without any breaks, it would take 100 days to see the whole museum. In turn, we saw as much as we could within one day. All the paintings were really impressive and the structure of the Louvre is beautiful and full of energy. We spent a good hour or two just admiring the Louvre Pyramid, strolling around the plaza and people watching. As per usual, Cailin took many photos to capture the Louvre in all its splendor. 

After we bought our tickets which were definitely worth the 22 euros we each paid, we were ready to see some art! We started off in a large room of sculptures which were all pretty big and life-like. Except my favorite which was a bust of a man with a pot on his head. Not a very life-like scene, but I thought it was really funny. 

All jokes aside, the Louvre has some amazing art and famous pieces like Liberty Leading the People, The Raft of the Medusa, and Mona Lisa. We learned a lot about these works in our World Culture/World Literature class in high school and were able to recall the history behind the paintings and their meanings.

Except we couldn't do that for Liberty Leading the People... because it wasn't there! After scouring the museum and being sure we had been in every room, the painting was nowhere to be found! Eventually I just went up to someone who worked there and asked them if they could point us in the right direction. They ended up telling us it was on exhibition at another museum. Sad, but it definitely gives us a good excuse to go back to the Louvre again someday! We also went around the museum following the signs to find Mona Lisa. As everyone says, Mona Lisa is much smaller than you would expect, and they're right in that it's relatively small. That didn't stop a big crowd from forming around it though. After patiently waiting and a tad bit of maneuvering, we finally made it to the front of the crowd and were able to take pictures of us with one of da Vinci's most well-known works of art. It was definitely cool to see such a famous painting in real life.

The Louvre is organized really well with art from the same time period or nationality being housed in the same room. We definitely got a great glimpse of all the Louvre has to offer but I definitely would not hesitate to go back and spend even more time there. Ultimately my favorite painting was David's Oath of the Horatii. Besides being a really powerful piece, I spent a lot of time learning about it in class. Although it had been four years since my class covered it, I remembered talking about David's consistency in using threes (painting three columns in the background to match the three Horatii brothers), as well as the use of light that really defines the strength and prominence of the figures. 

After looking at all of the rooms, staying in some of our favorites longer than others, and gazing out the Louvre windows to see gorgeous views of Paris, we finished and headed outside. We had to be typical tourists for a second and take pictures of us touching the point of the Louvre pyramid which was really funny because everyone around us was doing the same. 

We also had a mini photoshoot around the area (since I love taking pictures!) and just ended up strolling around the Louvre and peeking into shops before our dinner plans. 

We were meeting our friends in Paris later into the trip since one friend was staying in Versailles, and the other was with her parents for a few days. However our friend's parents were nice enough to invite us to dinner at their really nice hotel, Hotel du Louvre. As you can guess by the name, it was right next to the Louvre so it was perfect that we were right there already! 

We had a great dinner and were lucky to have some real food and by real food I mean Sea Bass, my favorite! We also were treated to dessert and I got two cute tiny scoops of Pistachio and Chocolate ice cream. It was nice to have a fancier Parisian dinner, catch up with our friend and tell each other about our first days in Paris, and meet her parents. It was such a great first day and made us even more excited for the next four days ahead. I mean we were seeing the Musee d'Orsay and the Eiffel Tower the next day, what was not to be excited about?!

Ireland

The trip that we had planned the most in advance was one to Ireland for St. Patrick's Day weekend! Being half Irish we were really excited to see the home of our ancestors. We had always known our family was from County Cork and our grandma told us more specifically that they were actually from a small town called Skibereen within Cork. We found a flight that went straight to Cork from London and the Thursday before St. Patrick's Day we were on our way to Ireland!

The way we planned our trip gave us 2 days in Cork, a 1 day bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher, and 2 days in Dublin. For our first day in Cork, we explored the city, went into a few Irish shops to get St. Patrick's Day attire, and finished the day off in a typical Irish pub with live music! Cork is a really cute city and definitely felt more quaint and country-like. Although we wanted to get to Skibereen as well, the transportation in Ireland was a little confusing and it seemed pretty complicated to get to such a small town, so we decided to use our second day in Ireland to visit the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs are definitely a must-see sight in Ireland and safe to say Ireland's #1 attraction. After talking to some of our friends that visited Ireland in the past, one of them recommended a tour company that would take you to the Cliffs and stop at other momentous places along the way. We got up early Friday morning and met the bus in the center of Cork. Our tour guide was Irish so it was great to hear stories and learn about Ireland from someone who really knew what they were talking about. Our first stop on the tour was the city of Limerick. We only stopped for a short time, but while we were there, we got to see King John's Castle which is set on the River Shannon and so scenic! 

After numerous other stops such as the Burren and Galway Bay, we made it to the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs are located on the North Atlantic Ocean in County Clare. My middle name is Clare, and as I was named after this county in Ireland it was really cool to actually be in it!

Once we got a bit of information about the cliffs from our guide, we were given a few hours to walk around the area. This seemed like a lot of time at first, but once we started to climb up the trail to the farthest most cliff, we realized we had to hurry! Nevertheless, we still took a ton of pictures because we just had to capture how beautiful the scene was.

There were two trails you could go on that viewed opposite sides of the cliff, and we wanted to go on both and get each perspective. The trail we chose first was the longer one, and once we got towards the end of it we saw a rainbow over the cliffs on the opposite side! I'm pretty sure it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. The Cliffs of Moher are gorgeous enough, but with a rainbow too!? 

After staring at the scene long enough in the hopes it would stay intact in our brains, we ran down the trail to begin the walking to the top of the opposite side. The other side had a small castle on top of it and an equally amazing view. After hurriedly going through the gift shop and buying some post cards, we made it on the bus just in time to head back to Cork. 

The next day we woke up bright and early to head to the town of Blarney to see Blarney Castle and kiss the infamous Blarney Stone! I have wanted to do this as long as I can remember and finally the day came where I could cross it off of my bucket list. We took a local bus to Blarney which took about 20 minutes and once we made it to the castle, we explored the grounds which were beautiful! 

Along with Blarney Castle, there was a little stream, a pond, and gardens. There was also these wishing steps in which you make a wish while walking down the steps backwards and with your eyes closed! All of us had to do that! 

The castle itself was really cool as well, and there were little entrances that led you into these small caves all of which resulted in a dead end, but were so fun to walk through.

Finally though, the time had come to go to the Blarney Stone! We walked to the top of the castle, waited in a short line, and were finally right in front of the stone all ready to kiss it! There had to be a worker there to help us because the correct way to kiss the stone is upside down. So you have to lay on your back, tilt your head backwards and then give the stone a kiss! After it happened I was like, "Wait, did I really just do that?" I had been waiting for so long and when the time had finally come it was so surreal. Some of my friends said the stone tasted like disinfectant (which I guess is good because it previously served as the stone at the bottom of a toilet), but I didn't really notice any taste. Even though a lot of Irish people say they would never kiss the Blarney Stone because of its former use, I was more than happy to! What's past is past right? Plus, kissing the Blarney Stone is said to give you eloquence!

After our time in Blarney, we headed back to Cork for the first day of their St. Patrick's Day Festival. We thought it would be perfect to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in two very different Irish cities.

Their city center was filled with vendors serving green ice cream, cotton candy, and all types of delicious smelling food. There was even a stage set up with bands playing music. It definitely got us in the St. Patrick's Day spirit!

From Cork we took a train to Dublin. We arrived in Dublin a day before St. Patrick's Day so the city was a little crazy. We got to the train station around 10pm and had to ask the information desk how to get to our hostel. While traveling we always tried to take public transportation, since it is cheaper and gives you the opportunity to get to know the city better than just taking a cab. We ended up getting on a tram heading in the direction of our hostel which was just outside of Dublin. We didn't know how to get tickets to ride the tram so we just hopped on. The tram was really crowded and the second we got on we had no idea if we were going the right way. None of us could see the direction the tram was going, because we were squished into the middle of all the people. We decided it would be better to get off at the next stop compared to possibly go further in the wrong direction and it was a good thing that we did. Right after we got off the tram we saw a policeman checking the people in our section's tickets! We thought that perhaps we actually did make it to the right stop and tried to find the bus station that the information representative told us to take. After walking around aimlessly we decided we would just hail a cab. By the time we finally got to the hostel it was around midnight, but the hostel had a TV, full private bathroom, and four big beds. We all got into our pjs and ordered some pizza, and went to sleep in preparation for St. Patrick's Day.

When we woke up on St. Patrick's Day we were very excited! We opened the blinds to let the sun in and to our surprise there was snow everywhere! We all had our big winter coats, but we didn't really want to wear them since we had already bought all of our St. Patrick's Day clothing and didn't want to cover it up. So we tried to brave the elements as much as we could. Completely dressed in green, orange and white, we headed to our free full Irish breakfast provided for us by the hostel. We had fried eggs, beans, bacon, mushrooms, and black and white pudding. 

After our filling breakfast, we headed to the bus stop and were driven into the city center of Dublin. It was already extremely crowded along the parade route, but we found a spot where we could view the parade through a fence. The parade was filled with floats, costumes and a lot of Irish spirit! 

We then headed to a local pub where we met some people from Cork. We spent the rest of the day there singing and dancing along to our favorite Irish tunes like "Wild Rover" and "Galway Girl"!

The next day we walked around Dublin to see some more of the sites. We went to Dublin Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and finally visited Trinity College. 

We stopped in some Irish gift stores along the way too and bought anything with our surname on it as a keepsake. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to London for our final week of classes. In the end, our flight got delayed due to snow, so we were able to spend an extra 30 minutes in Ireland before we had to say goodbye. However, it isn't a goodbye forever. We hope to go back to Ireland someday to go to the exact places our ancestors lived so we can experience Ireland through their eyes.

Harry Potter Studio Tour

During our last weekend in London, our friends Sarah and Jackie came from the U.S. to visit! They both wanted to go see the Harry Potter Studios while they were in England, and being Harry Potter fans ourselves we decided to go too! Although the tickets were a little pricey, it was definitely worth it!  Before we headed to the studios though, we stopped at Kings Cross Station to take pictures at Platform 9 3/4. In the movies, Harry and his friends have to run through this wall to get onto the platform to catch their train to Hogwarts. Going here first made it feel like we were going to Hogwarts too!

The Warner Brothers Studios, where a lot of the movie scenes were filmed, is located about 40 minutes north of London, and after the pretty short train and bus ride, we were there! 

We started the tour with a guide that talked a little bit about what we were going to see, but after we went into the Hogwarts Dining Hall, we were left to explore the rest of the studios on our own.

Our first stop, the dining hall, had different character's costumes around the perimeter. It was really cool to see them because I recognized most of the outfits! The next section we went into had more costumes but had props and full sets as well.

We saw Harry Potter's dorm room, Dumbledore's office, and even Hagrid's hut! They also displayed many well-known props such as the philosopher's stone, the golden snitch, and many character's wands! There were props from every single one of the Harry Potter movies. 

My favorite part about the Harry Potter studios was the interactive sections. In one area, you could ride a broom and while you were riding, you could see yourself flying over different areas on a screen! Of course it was done digitally through a green screen but it was really cool to see yourself "flying" on a broom over mountains, oceans, and buildings. There was also a section where one of the studio workers taught different wand techniques. My friends and I all got to choose which character's wand we wanted to use and then learned about four different ways to use the wand. After getting a picture of us in an awesome wand pose, we moved on to the outdoor section of the tour.

Since it was bitterly cold that day we were a little weary about the outdoor section, but it had all of the props and sets that were too big to fit inside the building so it was a must-see! Also outside was where you had to go to purchase butterbeer!!! We all got a glass of cold butterbeer. It tastes kind of like cream soda except it has a really distinct butterscotch taste and a layer of creamy butterscotch foam on the top. It was so delicious. 

As we were drinking our butterbeers we stopped by Harry's childhood home on Privet Drive, saw the tombstone of "the one who shall not be named", the purple bus, a few of the bridges displayed throughout the movies, and the Weasley's flying car. The extremely icy temperatures combined with holding a cold butterbeer made my hands completely numb until they hurt. So we quickly took a million photos and went inside to continue looking through the rest of the studio.

The next section held a lot of the characters that were produced such as Dobby, Hagrid's head and body, the Phoenix, and the Monster Book of Monsters. Some of the creatures were interactive and you could make them move. The mechanics of the creatures were impressive and they really came to life in their movements.

We then went on Diagon Alley where we saw all of the shops Harry and Hagrid went to when they were buying school supplies for Harry's first year at Hogwarts. We saw Olivander's Wand Shop, Gringotts Bank, and a ton of other stores. 

Following that was a large room with a replica model of all of Hogwarts. It must have taken years to construct it and the details were impeccable. Next, was a room filled with sketches and paintings of different characters, scenes from the movies, and even some ideas for characters and scenes that didn't make their way into the movies. 

The tour ended in a room filled with wand boxes that had every single actor, producer, director, you name it, who worked on any of the Harry Potter Films. It was fun to try to find the most familiar names such as Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. 

Our final stop was of course the gift shop! We got a few postcards and played with a lot of the toy props. They let you take as much time as you want going through the studio and that day we happened to be the last ones to finish. While we were checking out though, the cashier said that the record for the longest time stayed was 8 hours! We thought we took a long time being there 3 hours! We have nothing on that person. We all had a really great time at the studios and if you're in London and a Harry Potter fan it's a definite must-see!