A Portrait of the Dubliners

So now that I'm back in America, I've decided it is time to show you all how Dublin went. Something's really backwards about that, I know. Blame it on me being sick, then finals, then my computer deciding to toss itself off a cliff. But that's a bit too dramatic. It's okay and can hopefully hold on for another couple of months.

Why is it that AP English is everywhere?

Now, Dublin was such a beautiful trip. But I was sick for the majority of it. I suppose I really should have forced my doctor to give me a flu shot. What can you do, really? But the point is, I would get super tired after doing one simple thing, so a lot of the times I was the lame travel companion asking to go back and falling asleep before ten.

I know.

But it was still a super relaxing time and just what I needed to push me through the last few weeks of the semester. And also a nice way to distract myself from the fact that I was not home for Thanksgiving. BAH.

 

This is NOT Ryanair! How exciting!

The plane ride there doesn't usually stick out to me. But the fact that our pilot decided to make it a bumpy ride does. Now, I understand that turbulence is a real problem. But when I am bawling my eyes out because my ears are going to explode (head colds, what are you going to do?) and the plane is not stable, one can panic. Also, when you are supposed to be parallel to the landing strip and the plane decides to land on it's wing, you may grab your boyfriend's hand and get a little nervous. Then at the last second when the plane straightens out, you may feel like a doofus.

Ah well. When we got into Dublin it was WINDY and a bit chilly, but I was LOVING the colder weather. Rome was still hot, and I was jonesing for some weather that actually felt like November. We found our hostel with ease and got our first dose of Irish hospitality. It's a great thing! Of course, then we took our usual nap because traveling really tuckers us out.

After we woke up, it was really just a wander around and take pictures kind of evening. We also ate amazing, amazing curry and potatoes. But. We really just didn't take pictures of our food this trip because we forgot. Sorry.

Outside of some gardens by our hostel.

Hey there, glasses.

 

At the beginning of O'Connell Street

Who knows, really. 

After our delicious meal, we went to bed. But the next day we shopped around Grafton Street and then went to the National Wax Museum! Of course we played with all of the stuff in the science room and the music room, but who would we be if we didn't take funny pictures?

I wish my feet were this tiny.

Biggest indoor clock. Or something to the likes of that.

See how I frolic through the sickness?

And we bought CUPCAKES. :D

This was in the scary room.

I always knew he was a wizard too!

Kicking some butt.

Come on guys, this is gold.

Hahahaha.

Don't worry, he made it out alive.

That night, we also decided to go see Arthur Christmas. Because we do stuff like that. You should really go see it because we both thought it was hilarious and so sweet. We also got heckled by middle schoolers in the back row, hoping that we would make out during the movie. Come on now, kiddos. During a Christmas movie? Get a life.

We then went out to dinner where there was Irish music and Irish dancing! It was so much fun! The food was pretty good, but the entertainment definitely beats it out. Especially this young child dancing. :)

  

 

I hope one day my child dances like this.

The next day was more wandering and the Guinness Factory!

I love it when pictures get photobombed.

Oh, a large pint!

Then we went on a tour of Dublin (led by us, of course) by night. It was really lovely! We stopped to get burgers for dinner because we do stuff like that. And then we had a banana split for dessert and life was good. So besides the sick, it was a really lovely trip! The people were so sweet and the city itself was wonderful. 

GO TO DUBLIN.

I Have A Tummy Ache (Fall Break Part IV)

OKAY LAST ONE! I'll make it quick! I'll try my hardest! As always, so you don't get left in the dust here, I'll give you links to Parts I, II, and III.


Basically all you're missing on the Fall Break front is a lovely place where you can easily get shipped to a sugar coma.

Looks fancy, right?

The lovely Emily had told us about this a couple weeks before we left for Break, so we got our tickets ahead of time. Let me tell you, this was a nice Day After Disney recovery. This is one of (if not the) the largest chocolate festivals in the world. There's also a branch in New York City in November. So you know. If you're going to be up there for that, I would highly suggest going to see it.

We walked in and were TOTALLY overwhelmed. First of all, there were SO MANY STANDS. People were there to offer you chocolate literally everywhere. There were chocolate fountains, chocolate art, a fashion show, baking demonstrations, phallic chocolate; it literally had everything I could want and more. We tasted a lot of stuff and were a little caught up with eating and I didn't take SUPER many pictures. But I do have some!

This is insane. Like Food Network in person.

That fountain has Rome's fountains beat.

There's pineapple and banana in there. Healthy. Duh.

MACARON TOWER. And tree in the background.

The best thing I tasted there. It wasn't even chocolate.

So we spent a good three hours there navigating aisles of chocolate and goodness. We walked away with only a few purchases, lest we spend all of our money on chocolate. Because, really, who would do that? It should be noted the pictures were taken back in Rome. If there's any confusion.

Strawberry mousse filled chocolate thing.

I just think this is a funny picture.

SO MUCH FUN!

Macarons are the best. If you ever get in a fight with me, buy these and I'll forgive you in two seconds. We only have two left now, but they were SO FUN trying. You'll also like to know that Paul and I chose this specific booth to get them at based on the fact that they have a cerulean one. You can see the crumbs. 

One lesson that we learned here is that if you don't speak a language, you should probs just ask tell them, rather than standing there confused. This one lady called us out on it for having her "making wind at us." But ah well. We learned. She was also at a stand that made chocolate with olive oil instead of butter. It was tasty and better for you!

Wasabi covered chocolate...not so much.

So we had an early flight the next morning, so we wrapped up Paris with a walk down Avenue des Champs-Élysées towards the Arc de Triomphe because we hadn't seen it yet.

WOULDN'T YOU KNOW? Joe Jonas was in town! Lots of chanting fans! So. We were in Paris with Joe Jonas. Aw. Yeah. ....?

Things have a knack of being crooked when I photograph them.

Naturally, we also went out to dinner that night. More free bread. Salmon. Duck. Potatoes. Fries. Rice. YUMMY.

SO MUCH FOOD.

The night ended with the crepe fairy delivering a banana and Nutella crepe to the most amazing person ever (Emily). Paul and I had one too. It was a lovely end to a break that was so great and wonderful. 

I hope you weren't too bored reading it. And regular posting will come back soon, I swear. Paul's birthday is on Saturday. So I've got prep work to do. But I promise I won't neglect you too badly.

The crepe fairy is AWESOME.

The Best Day of My Life (Fall Break Part III)

I know you're pumped, this is a day full of excitement. I decided to just get it posted faster rather than have you waiting. There's one more post. And then I'll be done. I promise. So, if you need a lot of reading material little refresher, check out Part I and Part II.


So, as I'm sure you'll find wonderful, this isn't going to be a huge wordy post. Because yesterday's was a little bit overwhelming. But here's the post that everybody (read: my sister) has been waiting for. After our lovely days in Paris, we boarded an RER train heading towards Chessy. There was something there that we couldn't wait to get to.

Disneyland Paris.

Now. First of all, let me brag and tell you how great it is to have somebody want to go to Disney with you. And let me follow that up by telling you I got a yes for Florida soon. SO YAY. We'll see if I have any money at all by the time I get back.

There are the men of the hour.

IT WAS SO GREAT. I kept proclaiming that it was the greatest day of my life. I loved every second of it. And I'm not going to go into super huge detail so let me know if you want more pictures. Oh, I have them. I'm also not going to focus on food because we had quick service meals all day, and a lot of places weren't open because it was the off season. Don't ask about fireworks for the same reason. However, that also meant the longest line we stood in was twenty-five minutes at the longest. AWWW YEAH.

First we went to the equivalent of MGM Hollywood Studios. It's called Walt Disney Studios. 

I suppose this is their huge hat.

RAT PATOOTIE.

Front row. Our first roller coaster. You know.

It's not as tall, but still fun to scream your head off.

This is a reproduction of our Roller Coaster Faces.

TOY STORY PLAYLAND.

Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!

His first Mickey picture. :)

Mike n' Sully. 

LIVE AND IN PERSON. 

This is where you give the monsters power.

Yes. We for real screamed. The little boy next to me was jealous.

Original show! It was crazy in two languages!

WHAT'S THAT?

My french fry face.

And then. We went to the other side. And I nearly fainted about 4205945 times. Approximately.

I LOVE DISNEY.

I love pumpkins. Especially when they're shaped like my favorite mouse.

Thanks for loving Jasmine, Paris. :)

BAH. Kaitlyn's castle!!

This is the Phantom Manor for my bestest buddy. :)

The villains were out because it's Halloween!

Oh man. It's mini story time.

So, we were going happily along, enjoying our adventures. We decided to ride Big Thunder Mountain. It was the longest line we stood in, but I didn't mind! So we're going through the ride, screaming our heads off at not scary parts. (At the dark part. Just like my Dad. :)) Then we start going up the hill. And then we stop. And then a sad sounding announcement comes over the loudspeaker saying, "We're sorry but our magic can't continue at this time.." IT WAS SO SAD SOUNDING. So we walked down our first stuck roller coaster together. And traveled through the mountain. BEHIND THE SCENES DISNEY, WOO. I didn't take pictures to preserve the magic. But. Of course I do have two cool pictures that not many people can say they have.

Standing next to the train on the top of the mountain.

Aw yeah. Chillin.

Space Mountain. The weather looked daunting. But it didn't rain. :)

Which one of us looks tougher? We didn't get the Michelle treatment. :( Reference? Anybody?

The villain float in the parade!

GIRAFFES.

The princess float. <3

We asked Italian people to take this one!!

This a fake smile on my part. But I digress.

No Space Mountain fail.

It's very difficult to get a picture of this castle at night, apparently.

And that summed up our great day at Disney. We were sad to see it go. But it was so wonderful. 

Were our sad faces convincing?

So there's some pictures for you to look at. I hope you liked it. :)

One more post and we're out of Fall Break and back into my day to day life! CLING TO THIS WHILE YOU STILL CAN. I know I do.

SNEAK PEEK. 

FYI. It's a tad inappropriate for any of you reading this that see me in an angelic light. But it's mad funny if you think of it being in the midst of fancy chocolate in the middle of Paris. So can we set it aside and laugh? Yes.

Go on, laugh.