A Few Peeksures

First I will spoil you with a few pictures from last night. We stumbled upon a carnival! There was a snow globe that you could get inside and take pictures in, but it cost money. The guy running it told me I could go in for free if I took of my clothes, I politely declined. I know mom, you're loving all of these stories!


































Another jolly day today. Got up about 8, and got ready for life(kinda). Ate breakfast downstairs (it's included). DELICIOUS! It was so good. It's buffet style. Had lots to eat. Lots.

At about 10 we headed off to the British Museum. Went there last time I was here. Saw some cool things. There are just a lot of trinkets and old things there, so it's not my favorite. Rosetta Stone is still much cooler in texts books than it is in person (I remember feeling that was last time). I wish I'd brought my journal from then, so I could compare reactions after I go places. But whatevs.















First: proof that I was there. (Obv I didn't take this picture so it's not my fault it's not in focus!) Second: there was a whole room of time. It was jam packed with watches, clocks, pocketwatches, etc. Totally my favorite room of the museum. This clock had a ball that rolled back and forth to count the seconds. Pretty nifty.

We only had about an hour in there, then we headed to BBC. That was pretty great to see. Their biggest competitor is CNN which is only a third the size. It's nuts to think about. A few pictures. We weren't allowed to take many though. We got to step on a built set (and an empty one).

The weather booths are very small. They are fully automatic. When you enter, you put in your initials and the rooms adjusts to you. By this I mean the platforms moves up if you're short, or down if you're tall, the lights adjust to your skin tone, and the mics set up for the pitches of your voice. That was a lot more advanced than I knew/expected. There are no people that stand behind ANY of the news cameras there. They are all controlled by remote, by someone in a different room (that is probably true for all news stations, I just had no idea things were that far along. I knew it was possible, just not that it was so widely used).

Later in the tour we got to pretend we were on a show. I got to go back into the control room and handle the sound, and sound effects. I was pretty good at it, haha. There was a lot of applause while I was there, and a few boos. This is the ceiling of the empty set room. I think they said there was a possibility to 500 lights in there. Every inch of the room can be lit. A little more intense than the lighting in the DMC... just a little (hah).

What was way more interesting to me than the BBC though was this couple on our tour from Egypt. They were baffled by everything. The first thing that shocked me was the man asking how the news casters knew what to say. He had no idea about the scrolling text beneath the camera. Also the green and blue screens were foreign (no pun inteded) to them. I love experiencing different cultures!

Anyways, about all for now. We're meeting for dinner as a group in about an hour (18:20). I might go rest and watch TV for a bit. Love to you all, Cheers!

Soggy soggy soggy. I am soggy. Much more rain today than any other so far. Still not quite a cold as Ireland was.

Met up with the group at the hotel around 3:30 today. Took a little over an hour by tube to get to the hotel from where we were staying. Once again, it is exhausting to travel with a lot of luggage.

This hotel is out of freaking control. Very very nice. (we have jets in our bathtub) Eye was beautiful, even though it was rainy outside. 4-D film beforehand was cute. Split from the group and just wondered after that with four guys from the Savannah campus (one here for adve, 2 for grds, and 1 for arth). Saw some cool things, of course. Went over to Piccadilly Square. Not as cool as it seemed last time I was here. Hopefully got some good pictures. We are all having a difficult time taking pictures because of the weather though. It's much more difficult when it's dark. And it's often dark.

I have taken two showers since I got to the hotel. Making up for the every other day pattern from before, I supposed. Actually the second was to thaw out my feet from walking through the miserably cold puddles. I think that is all you get today. I'm a sleepy girl. Cheers!

Car, Bus, Airbus, Tram, Train, Train, Train, Train, Bus, Bus,

(brace yourself this is a long one!)

Jeeze what a day! It started at 8 AM (it’s about half past 4 here now). Earlier I forgot to mention that we had a traditional Irish breakfast (at a pub). Fun fact: the only Irish people that are up Saturdays before noontime are those who have work. Everyone else stays in bed, sleeping off their hang-overs. True story. Also while we were at one of the pubs yesterday night, a famous soap opera star (boy) was drinking with us. He was a looker too (obv), and into American girls! Haha, I can cross off “get hit on by a famous Irish guy” from the list! Saw a billboard with his face on it as I left town today - it was for UNICEF, I don't remember his name.

Anywho. Didn’t do much sleeping on the autobus today. Grasses were greener on this drive than the one we four took the other day. Ridiculously foggy though. Once we hit Dublin traffic was a bitch, because there was a rugby match in the city. We got stuck for almost 45 minutes in the city… do you know what that means? Yeah, I missed my flight to LHR. WHOOOOOOOPS! Cue luck of the Irish though! I got to the airport at about 2:35 for my 2:55 flight. The place is not well marked one bit. RAN through the place like a loon. But alas when I found the kiosk it was a few minutes too late. No need to fear though, I talked my way onto a flight that was leaving about 45 minutes later than the one I was scheduled for – and didn’t have to pay a cent!!! I hope I have this adorable smile for the rest of my life. (Kidding, just wanted to make sure you guys knew it was in fact me writing this!)

Sat next to an Irish couple on the airbus, would say they were in the late 50s. Very nice people. They were on their way to Australia. Offered me board for the evening, but I had a place to say. Still, genuine kindhearted people. When we landed there was a ladder off the plane. Just a ladder. Odd. Waltzed through the airport, no need for customs or anything. Sadly this means no passport stamp! Oh well, got one from London on my old passport I believe, but on the bright side it only took me 5 or so minutes to get out of the airport, though I was baffled by the ease of it.

Who knew missing a flight would be the easy part of the journey. Holy shit. Hoped on the Tube. Quite a few of the tracks are down, so it was no simple feat making it to Mariska and Ana. We were meeting at the London Bridge tube station, which was across the city from LHR. Took me three transfers to get there. The blue track, the brown track and the black one. They have much cooler names though. When I first got on I was sitting near a couple from Hawaii, and another pair from San Francisco. We all had a nice chat.

After an hour and a half or so on the tube (carrying my 3 bags up and down TONS of stairs, and on and off the trains, minding the gap of course), I made it to the proper station. Waiting a good bit more before Mariska and Ana had found me. From there we took a different train close to the apartment.

This apartment is an interesting place. Ana has a room to herself, but then there are only 2 bathrooms and 2 kitches for everyone. There are 19 girls that live here, or thereabouts. (But it is nothing like a sorority house!). Ana is from Spain, and has been here in London for 4 years now. She and Mariska went to the European school together. (and for those who don’t know, Mariska is an ad major at SCAD with me)

After unloading my stuff here, it was time to go out, of course. We hopped on a bus and went somewhere to some people’s flat. There were like 6 or 7 girls in total, and 1 lonely lad (or lucky lad I guess). What an interesting crowd. One girl has like a 2-inch strip shaved out of the side of her hair. It’s pretty badass looking, she also has a tattoo behind her ear. But yeah, everyone of them has their quarks. Two of the crew had nerd glasses- so in right now (hahaha).

After hanging out there a few hours we headed out to a warehouse rave party. I know, right. We had to wait in the queue for about an hour before we could even get in. Once in it was bananas. Now we are getting ahead of ourselves, first lets talk about the line though… while standing there in line it was raining (of course), but not terribly cold. In front of us we had an interesting group of cross dressers and people we just couldn’t tell their sex. Then, behind us we saw multiple drug transactions happen. Here, when you want drugs, you just go about asking everyone for them outloud (one lad was looking for meth-something. Never heard of the stuff, but it is like toned down x apparently). I feel like in the states it’s much quieter but I guess I don't much know. We talked a lot about the rules here though compared to the states, and if they find you with pot they just confiscate it, you don’t get in much trouble.
- Yeah, I know, I’m learning so much this go around! Aren't you glad Ma?!

Once inside the warehouse, it was hot and stuffy. I have a black lung now. Everyone smokes and it is okay to smoke inside, add in a few hundred people, turn out the lights, have a dj spinning techno, and one lonely green laser light and all of the sudden you have a rave! Never would have pictured myself at a rave in London, but it was a fantastic time with the locals. Definitely something that I will remember for quite a bit. At around 3:30 Mariska decided she was done, so the two of us took the key from Ana and hopped on the bus. We’re pretty savvy travelers. We found the stop ourselves, found the proper bus ourselves, and even made it to the apartment ourselves!

Now, it is time to crawl onto the airmattress, and get a few good hours of sleep! Meeting up with the group tomorrow. Can't wait to see Homeslice Mark! Loving the fact that they will all be jet lagged, and I will not (Though staying up until 4:30 is practically the same thing).

If you made it through this whole entry I commend you. You deserve a cookie. Speaking of - I'm starving! I only ate 1/3 of an Irish breakfast this morning (split it with Greta and Catherine) and 2 pieces of bread with some sausage between at about 6pm (made by Ana). Tomorrow I will eat better, or at least more. Cheers!

ps- yes I did write this whole entry thinking with an Irish accent.

Hiya!

So now I am actually riding on said autobus with free wifi. The internets work much better when you're on the bus than when you're following it! Dumb me though, didn't charge my computer last night so I only have a few more minutes of battery left (THANK GOD I GOT A NEW BATTERY BEFORE THIS TRIP THOUGH - LIFESAVER!). I will leave you with some pictures though, I hope you enjoy! Sorry for the shittastic quality of some, it is very difficult to take photographs while riding in a car going 120 (roughly 70 mph I believe). Also, it is hard to take quality pics when the sun sets at 4:30.


Typical. Crazy Catholics. Signs publishing events in the smaller towns do not have a time or place on them, they simply say "Following Mass".


Most of the livestock are painted with some mark. There are many homes that do not have fences, so this is the way they tell me sheeps from ye sheeps.:-) I'm a big big fan of sheep. They filly me with much joy when we pass them. Way cooler than horses! Though, all fo the horses here have coats on, and that's hilarious. I don't think I have a picture of it though.




This is a picture taken from the top of the Guinness building. As you can see, it's a pretty incredible view.


All of the graphic design majors at SCAD would be blown away at how well this place is branded. Very well designed, seems they did not leave anything out when constructing this place.

I had more pictures I was going to post, but my computer is practically dead (and I am too). Going to try to sleep for the last few hours of the bus ride! Love to you all! Hope you're enjoying traveling with me. Cheers!

It’s been about 24 hours since I last wrote… Oh how fun it is here! (AND TODAY WAS PAY DAY!!!)

It’s definitely more fun to travel with someone that knows the ropes. Last night we ate some stew that Tommy had made, and then hung out for a little. A little later (around 9) Greta, Tommy and I went out.

The scene here is fantastic! We had such a grand time. We started at a very crowded pub, full of Americans. Had a round there, then moved on. The second pub we went to was totally different. It was humongous, and full of old men, and had a live band. The band was jolly, and the beer was good. Had a few rounds there. That pub closed at midnight, so after that we headed to a third pub, which was another completely different experience.

This pub was a bunch of levels, the top being the roof, the bottom being a dance floor with a DJ. It was so fun. We danced and danced and danced, European men are much more fun to dance with. They have no qualms with busting a move! At 2:00am they turned the lights on to get everyone out… it was like being in high school. We called it a night when the lights came on. Took a taxi back.

This morning we all slept a lot. Didn’t get up until about 11. Went to the store to buy toilette paper, bottled water… and beer. (Welcome to Ireland!) Came back, ate some cereal for lunch (some things are universal), then hopped in the car. Spent a good 5 hours driving and looking at things. Tommy is a fantastic tour guide, he knows quite a bit about Ireland. He’s been here for about 15 months, got his masters and Galway University (is from Wisconsin like all of the Russler Clan). The two main places we stopped were Roundston and Clifton. We grabbed a mid afternoon snack in Clifton. I had a chicken and mozzarella sandwich, it was not on bread shaped like a shamrock though. The towns are very pretty, also very quite. Winter is not a very touristy time of year, so things all around (except pubs at night) are ghostly. I got some delightful pictures, but you will have to wait for them.

Here’s something interesting: all of the trees by the coast are swayed one way. Branches do not grow on the other side, why? Because of the wind! They are pretty cool looking, but I don’t think I got a good picture of them.

It’s like 6:30 here now, so we are going to head to town to get some fish and chips. Then hit up the pubs, obv. And hopefully go dancing! Tonight is my last night in Galway, tomorrow I fly to London. That’s all for now, Cheers!

End of Dublin

So now I am a day behind. I wrote this post while driving to Galway last night, but did not have internet. I was picking up some signal from the bus in front of us, but not enough to post this. So here it is! Will try to catch up sometime tonight.

Sorry, no pictures in this post. More later though!


Happy Thanksgiving back in the States!

After I last wrote, I went out to get dinner. Went to a place called Babylon. Got chicken fingers and French fries (with salt and vinegar). Took it back to the hostel and ate with a lady from New Zealand. She has been in Dublin for the last month trying to get a job. She is a receptionist. Seems pretty strange to me. But, after talking to Tommy (Greta’s cousin) some, I’ve learned that many Irish people bounce back and forth between NZ and Ireland and vice versa. Also last night, I spent a long time talking with Sean. He works at the hostel. Very interesting talking about the differences in cultures. There is a lot of common interest in music.

Greta made it safely to me at about 11:30 last night. Which meant we stayed up until the wee hours catching up and hanging out. We chilled in the lobby for a long time. The guy that had control of the TV remote was watching Jerry Springer… not the best moment for America, actually it’s damn sad. At one point the guy on TV was like “Why to I need to get a job, I collect unemployment.” Living the American Dream. Oh my. Anyways.

Set my alarm for 9 AM because the hostel served free breakfast until 10. Free breakfast consists of bread and jam, and coffee. Pathetic, but I’m definitely not complaining! Free is free (and man today has been an expensive day).

After my lovely breakfast, I got back in bed. Slept until about 10:00, at which point Catherine, Greta’s sister called. They were an hour away from Dublin, so we got our lazy asses up and got ready for the day. (Wore Erica’s red boots from Italy today!)

Greta and I leisurely walked to the city, stopped in a few shops on the way (our hostel was in the ghetto on the south side of the city). Met Tommy and Catherine in the city centre and had lunch. I had a delicious Brie and bacon sandwich at some place that started with an “O’ ”. The bread it was on was in the shape of a clover. I think the thing I’ve learned today is that every Irish stereotype has a very strong foundation. These people…

After that we walked to the Guinness Factory. It was a long trek, but it was by the river so that was legit. I’m already used to the cold, and now know and appreciate the power of pockets. Took a tour of the factory, and spent a few hours there. Once you get to the top (the 7th floor), you get a pint of Guinness, and (more importantly) an incredible view of Dublin. The weather was beautiful while we were there, so we could see a lot. It was beautiful. The city seems a lot bigger when you’re on the ground than when you’re above it all. It’s kinda crazy that being on the 7th level is all it takes to see so much, I feel like you have to go to the like 70th floor of the Westin to see around Atlanta.

After that we walked back to the hostel, they stored our bags for free. Then we walked to the car. Thomas has rented a car for the week…. It’s a VW Rabbit – how fitting!

Now we are on our way to Galway. Traffic getting out of Dublin was ridiculous, but we made it. It’s a little over 3 hours to get to Galway. It’s been raining on and off. They’ve had a lot of flooding in Galway in the past week, and there is still standing water. We’ve been listening to the radio, there is an interesting mix of Irish jigg music and American pop. The last song was Fireflies by Owl City, and now “New York” by those people is on. Feels like home.

Made it to Ireland! We landed at around 11:30, maybe 12 (Which is 6:30-7AM in Atlanta). Got an extra few hours of sleep. Probably total sleeping time was around 4 or 5 hours.

Made it through customs, got my luggage, got some Euros, got a bagel and locks, cursed myself because I ALWAYS pack so much, then went to the bus stop. (Note: No where in there did I say I picked up a map, or asked for directions…. Might’ve made sense) Waited for about an hour for the 16a bus. It eventually came. By then my hands were frozen – mom, there’s something I forgot to pack, mittens!

Then the bus ride…. Oh my word. It took forever. Everyone on the bus from the airport was confused about where they were and where they were going. On top of that, people here are pretty fearless. They drive crazily and walk crazily! (But since they all do it, it is normal to them I guess) The good thing about Ireland though is that (on some streets) everything on a street is named after that street, so you have the Camden Pharmacy, and the Camden Bookstore, and the Camden Hotel Camden Clothes, etc, which means you’re probably on Camden Street. The bad thing about Ireland is that there are no street signs, so the streets with nothing happening, there is no telling where you are.

Here's proof that I am in fact in Ireland

Anyways. I got off the bus once I started seeing things with “Camden” in the name and found the hostel I had booked. Success. Even got upgraded (from a 16 person co-ed dormitory, to a 4 person female only room – which, so far, I’m the only person in). Once I put my stuff down I walked out the front door, and turned left. I walked a lot. Saw a lot. It’s a curious place.

I stopped in a cathedral (actually two, but only of them was free.)

Then, I did go on a tour of the Dublin Castle. That was pretty bad ass. It was rebuilt at some point because it caught fire at some previous point. Blah blah blah. I am not a history major – feel free to Wikipedia it. There was a lot of pretty stuff to look at.
Oh- here’s a story for you mom, you’ll like this. So the original thrown was too tall for Miss Lady Queen (once again, not a history major). So instead of buying her a new thrown, they simply cut off the lion’s claw feet at the bottom. This way she could get up into it! (Totally ruins the look of the chair though, sorry the picture is blurry, I was being rushed by some French guy)

The tour lasted about an hour, so when I got out it was almost 5. This meant most all of the touristy things were closed/closing for the day. So, I just wandered. Spent a good hour playing tourist, snapping pictures, and watching people. Then I got totally lost – but no need to fear, I found a number 16a bus stop!

In other news. Greta just called from London. Something is wrong with her Visa, and it made her miss her flight. So, she won't be here until late tonight… or maybe not at all. We shall see! No worries though, it will all work out.

As for me, its about 7:15. I think I’m going to go downstairs and mingle with other people staying here tonight, and go to bed early. Just takin’ it easy. I’m EXHAUSTED!!! I leave you with a few more pictures and a whole lot of love!

I'm pretty sure this sign says, "We're so glad you're here Janet"

Flight

Things started off well. Was told the first in-flight movie was supposed to be Ice Age – It was 500 Days of Summer instead, a pleasant surprise! Obviously this meant that I did not read my textbook then, or sleep for that hour and a half. Had a lovely dinner of chicken, salad, corn, bread, cheese, crackers, a brownie, peanuts, etc…. the normal plane food. Yum.

Movie number two was Imagine That – those two words together will always bring back memories of Science Camp, therefore I opted to (try to) sleep through this movie. Third was Harry Potter. Also ideal for sleeping, and stargazing. There is a much better view of the stars when you’re in the sky than when you’re living in downtown Atlanta. Weird, right?

About an hour from landing time, I was awoken to some nasty breakfast. There was German on the packaging, so I don’t know what I was expecting. New philosophy: if it’s German and not a Brat (or beer), then it’s probably bad. Maybe one day this will be disproved in Germany.

Next few hours were spent circling around Dublin, hoping winds would chill out enough so we could land this bad boy. No such Irish luck! Had to detour to Manchester (only other option was to run out of gas and crash land – I guess the right choice was made). But, Manchester is a very pretty place to fly into, actually. People don’t seem to be too upset yet, but I think most people are pretty tired. Something about leaving one city at 6 pm, and arriving at another at 8 am without having 14 hours pass is quite strange. There was a little kid in the back of the plane that cheered, “We did it! We did it!” when we landed. I think he was the only one brave enough to verbalize what many people were thinking (especially the tatted up thug three seats over who turned into a complete pansy as we bounced through the air). It was rough flying over Dublin – had that rollercoaster feeling in the pit of your stomach. (I like that feeling.)

So here I sit, in the sketchy back lot of the Manchester Airport, waiting for them to refuel the plane, and Mother Nature to decide we can go to Dublin.

It’s interesting reflecting on the differences between this trip, and my last trip to Europe. For those who do not know about that trip, or have forgotten – it was about 5 years ago (in summer). We started in Great Britain, spent a few days there. Then traveled to France, Italy and Greece. Then ended with a bombdiggity cruise around the Greek Islands. The trip was 19 days (just like this one) but we only spent a few days in each country. We saw a lot, did a lot, and learned a lot.

The biggest difference is that at that point I did not realize the impact that art would have on my life. I enjoyed art, but am not sure I had a passion for it. I definitely did not spend every minute living it, surrounded by it, obsessing over it. We visited museum, after museum. The Tate Modern changed my life. I fell in love with the fact that a glass of water on a shelf, paired with the title “Oak Tree” was enough to be called art, and that it was acceptable for someone to be crazy enough to full heartedly BELIEVE that this glass of water, was in fact an Oak Tree. But, that was just the beginning of the trip. When we were in France we ran through the Louvre – only spent about hour there. But now, I could probably live there for a week.

The craziest difference that’s crossed my mind is that when I was here 5 years ago, I had 5 disposal cameras with me. This time, I have 2 digital cameras (and a computer). There’s a difference between 100 pictures and an infinite number. Oh, how we’ve progressed. Can’t wait to see what it’s like in 5 years when I come back – HOPEFULLY I’LL HAVE A ROBOT WITH ME!!!

Also last time, I think my communication back home consisted of one e-mail that had like 10 words in it. Mom you will have to correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it said “Am doing fine. Miss you, love you. Janet.” Look at me now- I haven’t even gotten to Dublin and my first post is written. Of course, you will have to wait for it to be posted because surprisingly enough there is no wi-fi on this plane. Don’t feel to spoiled by the length, and brilliance of this post. Hopefully I will not have this much free time during the rest of my trip.

Movie number four – Time Traveler’s Wife. Quite an broad range of films showing on this plane. I wish they would play P.S. I Love You, I mean, afterall, we are trying to get to IRELAND!