Italy and Beyond: England and Ireland

So I haven't mentioned this yet because I am really bad a blogging and nothing was really set in stone yet. I found an opportunity to be an English teacher at a summer camp in the region of Marche on the eastern coast of Italy. The only thing is that I had to find something to do for a month until the camp starts. Plus my big sister hadn't been able to find time to travel together. So I decided to tag along with two friends who were going to London and Dublin and then travel with my big, who was studying in Dublin, around southern England.

We spent about 4 days in London and then about 9 days in Dublin until my one friend left for her internship in China and my other friend was planning to go back to Italy and stay with some friends. London was rough because the first couple days it rained. Plus it is super expensive because of the exchange rate. The place we stayed at had a kitchen so we cooked and made food as much as we could so we wouldn't have to pay to go out. We stayed about an hour outside London and took public transport in. The station was kind of far and the first day was be worked on so we had to take a bus to another station. I wouldn't have mind staying closer to the city and paying a little more than having an hour commute to the city. Also, if you are trying to get to a train in the morning during the week, plan like 2 hours ahead because the public transport will be full of people trying to get work. We almost missed our train to holyhead where we would catch our ferry to Dublin because the first two trains were full and then we caught the third one, but it was so full and we were literally squeezed in into this train. It was terrible because we had all of our luggage too. Worst experience ever. On top of that we almost missed our train because we had missed so many trains in to the city. We literally got on the train with seconds to spare.

On the bright side we did get to see some cool things in London. We went on the London eye which was nice, but not really worth 16 pounds. I would suggest buying tickets ahead of time rather than at the London eye. You get a discount and it's easier. We accidently bought fast pass tickets which were 10 pounds more. It was nice because we got on quickly, but the overall experience was only okay. I went to the natural history museum which was nice, but very much geared towards children. We saw Hyde Park and Kensington gardens which were beautiful. We saw where the prince and Duchess were living. We had fish and chips because you can't go to London without trying fish and chips. We saw tower bridge and the tower of London. We walked past the globe theater where Shakespeare preformed his magic. We saw Buckingham Palace and saw the changing of the guard as well as West Minister Abbey and Big Ben. There is also this art exhibition going on where different business sponsored an artist and they painted a Sean the Sheep and then they were going to auction them off and donate the money to children's hospitals. There were 50 of them and they were placed all over the city. We found a bunch of them as we walked to different places. We went to see Wicked while we were there. This was my first time seeing it and I have to say that I enjoyed it.

We took a train to Holyhead and then took a three hour ferry to Dublin where we took a bus and met our airbnb host who took us to his house. They were such a nice couple and they were very helpful. I wish we could have stayed longer with them, but we could only afford to stay there if all three of us were there. So on Sunday I moved to a hostel and my friend moved in with her friend the next night. I didn't really like staying in a hostel because people were loud coming in late at night and then it would take me a while to sleep. Plus the people above me always snored. On the up side we did go and see some really cool stuff and went to some amazing places. We went to the Cliffs of Moher on a tour through the tourist office. We saw dublin castle and went to church at St. Patrick's Cathedral. We went to a comedy club and drank and poured the perfect pint of Guinness. We went to the natural history museum and a history of Ireland museum. There is also an old jail that is full of history and they take you on a great tour for a pretty cheap price. We visited Howth and took a tour of Trinity College. We even saw the book of Kells and the old library where they have a large collection of old books as well as the lab where they restore books. We also went up to a nearby town and saw a local castle called Malahide that had a lot of history and was important it much of Dublin's history. It is even said to be haunted. It actually wasn't that expensive and the ticket included access to the back gardens. Of course we went to a local pub and got cider and a nice Irish meal at least once. We pretty much explored most of Dublin because we had so much time there. Dublin was really nice and had a lot to offer. I would recommend going to Ireland if you ever get the chance.

My big was finally done with school so we were able to finally go on our adventure that we had spent time planning. So we hopped on another ferry back to England and our first stop was Cardiff which is also the capital of Wales. We didn't spend too much time there, but I went to the Doctor Who experience and we walked around the city. We stayed at a nice hostel although we had two strippers staying in our room and they were really loud when they got in late plus when they were getting ready to go to work. We also discovered. a nice pie place as in meat pies and another place called Nando's which serves Portuguese bbq. Our next stop was bath where we saw the famous roman baths. It felt like home seeing the familiar architectural design as Italy. We also happened to arrive at the start of their annual international music festival and got to enjoy different artists all over the city.
One night for dinner we were told about this famous restaurant that has been making these famous buns that no one can seem to copy right. They are the lightest and fluffiest bun ever and they tasted so good. It was a great choice for a restaurant. I wish I could have more of those buns though. We also saw the royal circle and the Jane Austen museum. They even had a cute little botanical garden and a nice trail along the city.

The next morning we left for Portsmouth along the southern coast. This is just a cute little seaside city we decided to stop by. They had a nice little museum that was free and had all different kinds of little exhibits plus and exhibit on Sherlock Holmes. There is also a famous trail that takes you along the coast and you get to see different parts of the protective wall that was used by the military. The trail ends at a big shopping center and where there is a huge tower you can go up and get a great view of the bay and the city. We decided instead to take a short boat tour of the bay and see it from the ground. I wasn't really sure at first, but it wasn't as bad as I thought and for 7 pounds it was a good deal.

The next day we hopped on a train to Oxford. This is a really cool city and I would l love to go back and continue exploring because there is so much to see. What we did see was the natural history museum and the Pitt Rivers Muesum. I really liked these museums. They were amazing in their own ways and they are both free plus they are attached so less walking is needed. You could literally spend hours in there because there is so much to see. The Natural History Muesum had lot of skeletons of dinosaurs and current animals and they also laid out different animals by Phylum and had common subphylum. They gave each a description and provided examples. I think that was my favorite part. The Pitt Rivers Muesum was essentially started by a guy named Pitt Rivers. He started off as an anthropologist but decided to go into archeology and started a collection between a big inheritance, what he found over the years, and what people brought him back from their adventures. This Muesum is full of interesting items. It is almost overwhelming how much their is to look at. There are items from all different cultures and from places al over the world and all different time periods from early human history to more recent. They have it set up in sections such "humans depicting animals" or "Human view of the human body" which was an unusual choice, but because there was such a wide variety of items it actually makes sense and makes the museum more organized. The Muesum is three floors of items you may or may not have seen before. They have an audio guide where they highlight a few important pieces, but I didn't get it. I'm sure it would be worth it though. After that my big wanted to go take a tour of the university campus, but I was too tired so I rested a bit and then walked around a little. I saw the library, but didn't go in. I saw a couple of the famous resturants. We also saw the River Thames before stopping for dinner. Then we went back to our hostel and where we relaxed.

We only stayed one day in Oxford before hopping on another train and arriving in Central London. This is also the last day of my England adventure with my Big. We checked in at our hostel and then went to the Victoria and Albert Muesum. This Muesum is free and is huge. It had exhibits on the history of fashion, medieval art, and statues to pottery. It is seriously huge. After that we went to the aquarium. Itwas 26 pounds which was more than I was expecting, but they had a wide variety of animal species and really cool atmosphere. If anyone decides to go, I would check before hand if you can get a better priced ticket. We did a little walking and enjoyed the city before heading back and relaxing before dinner.

I was kinda sad my adventure was over. I always hate saying goodbye and I'm really bad at. I like to keep the attitude of until next so hopefully I will be able to go back one day. At least though I was going back to Italy so that was a positive thought. Siena has really become my home in four months and it's comfortable because I know where everything is and I know people and I can get around easily. I don't even want to think about leaving Italy because it's just too soon. Luckily I still have 5 weeks, but I have learned that time flies when you are having fun. I mean four months flew by in the blink of an eye. How long can 5 weeks last?

Until next time. My next post will be soon.

-Cori

London