Whirlwind
“Amazing” doesn’t quite do my spring break justice. I visited 7 cities in 4 countries in 9 days. It was crazy hectic, exhausting, frustrating and the most fun I’ve had this semester. I’ve been especially excited about Ireland and Scotland for months—I’ve always wanted to see my home countries.
Saturday morning, Mary and I took the train to Pisa to check out the city—that took about an hour. Literally. We saw the Field of Miracles and the tower that has issues…and that’s pretty much all there is to Pisa.
So, we headed to the Pisa airport to catch our flight to Dublin at about 2:30, only to realize that our flight was at 14:30, not 4:30. Silly military time. So, basically, we missed our flight out of Pisa and had to catch another one (a costly mistake that we made sure not to do again).
We spent the night in Dublin at this really awesome hostel (that we nicknamed “The Ritz”). Sunday was Easter, so we went to St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral for Easter mass. That was certainly an experience. I realized even more that I am—and never will be—Catholic. It’s just not for me.
After mass, we took a 4 hour bus ride to Cork (southeast of Dublin). The ride alone was breathtaking—I fell in love with Ireland.
That night, we stayed in a hostel that Mary nicknamed, not so lovingly, “prison hostel.” It was gross and sketchy and blech. But, I figure it’s all part of the experience and now I now what a bad hostel is. At least Cork itself was beautiful.
We got up EARLY Monday morning (I thought we were getting up at 6:30, but I’d forgotten my watch was still on Italy time, so we really got up at 5:30. Yeah, I know, times weren’t really my thing on this trip). It was worth it, though. We would never have accomplished all that we did that day if it weren’t for that hour.
In the morning, we took the bus to Blarney and saw Blarney Castle (Home of the Blarney Stone, which they won’t let you forget). The castle was so much fun to explore—there isn’t any furniture or anything like that because it’s all open. We even got to explore UNDER the castle in the cave that I think was the dungeon.
I did kiss the Blarney Stone at the top. You have to hang upside down with only open air beneath you (a castle staff member holds on to you so you won’t fall to your death. Hopefully.) I’m not going to lie, it was slightly scary. I loved every minute. For those of you unfamiliar with that particular piece of Irish lore, legend has it that if you kiss the Stone, you will be granted eloquence for the rest of your life. Winston Churchill kissed the Stone. Think about it. Anyway, don’t worry—I kind of sucked my lips in so that I wouldn’t get too many germs and washed my face/mouth right afterwards.
The view from the top was incredible—plenty of beautiful Irish countryside. We explored the grounds, as well—lots of green, lots of trees. It was wonderful.
After taking the bus back to Cork, we took another bus to Kinsale, a small fishing village on the coast. We walked along a ridge for about 2 miles to Fort Charles.
For the last I don’t even know how many years of my life, I’ve made fun of my Dad for his obsession with Ireland. I thought he was a tad bit crazy—and overreacting. And know I feel like I need to eat all of my teasing words. Ireland got a hold on me, too. It was like going home, but to a home that I’ve never been to before. It lit up my soul in a way no other landscape has before. I better understand now the deep connection the Irish have to the land. I’m laughing at myself as I write this, because I sound as crazy as my dad. I really don’t care, though. There is something about Ireland that buries itself in your heart.
We took the bus back to Cork with 30 minutes to spare before the last bus to Dublin left (this was definitely a day of buses). Tuesday morning, we did a bit of retail therapy at the department stores in Dublin. It was ridiculously exciting to find clothes that weren’t crazy expensive (our favorite stores in Florence would even be out of my price range if the symbol before the number was dollars instead of euros). After that, we headed to the airport and (successfully) caught our plane to Edinburgh, Scotland. I was unbelievably sad to leave Ireland. I could move there in a heartbeat.
Fortunately, Edinburgh is absolutely breathtaking. I think it’s the one city that I’ve ever been to that I think I could actually live in. The architecture is amazing—and it is a lot of stone and concrete. However, the city is surrounded by nature. From many parts of the city, you can see all the way down to the ocean and all the way up towards the Highlands. Edinburgh isn’t a city that is taking over the countryside—instead, it feels as if it is fluid, growing with the land.
In Edinburgh, we met up with Taylor (from Berry and LDM) for the rest of the trip. Tuesday night we went out to Mexican. It was amazing. And not Italian (we gave ourselves a break from Italian for the week. In Dublin, we ate Thai. So good.). Don’t get me wrong, I love Italian, it was just fun to have something else for a change.
Wednesday, we hiked up Arthur’s Seat, a mini-mountain literally right outside of the city—reason number 384 that I love Edinburgh. The city pretty much just…ends and there’s the countryside. Wonderful. We thought that we were taking the easy way up the mountain…until we reached the summit and saw the easy side. Still, it was an adventure and fed my need for hiking. Mary and I sat on the top and listened to the Braveheart soundtrack as we looked off towards the Highlands. The view was incredible.
That night, while in a grocery store, we met a really cool Canadian named Jane. She had moved to Edinburgh about 30 minutes before running into us. So, we invited her along on our adventures for the next day. We ended up spending pretty much all of Thursday with Jane. She’s real great.
Thursday morning, we went on a free tour of the city. It’s a pretty cool concept—the guide works for tips, so their aim is to give you the best tour possible. You contribute whatever you can—even if it’s just a new perspective or culture. A very cool concept/company that is now in about 10 different European cities. Our tour guide was an Australian guy named Lindsay. He was very funny and entertaining and taught me a lot about the city—including stories about the real Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, the most loyal dog in Edinburgh, trip stairs, torture and the real William Wallace. I would have loved to go out to Stirling and the William Wallace monument, but we just weren’t there long enough. We finished off Thursday with an excellent hamburger in a pub, where we got to listen to live music. I love Scotland.
Friday, Mary and I had to leave our hostel by 5 am to catch our plane down to London. That wasn’t a whole lot of fun. Still, we got to see a very empty Edinburgh, so that was interesting.
We hung out in the London airport for a couple hours waiting for Taylor (she was smart and took a flight 2 hours later than ours). Still, I didn’t mind—I enjoyed a nice pot of tea in the café. We spent the rest of the morning doing a bit of wandering around Notting Hill (where our hostel was located). We also swung by Buckingham Palace.
For dinner, I had the ever classic English fish and chips. It really wasn’t bad, considering I generally don’t like seafood. Then, Taylor, Mary and I went to Wicked! For those of you who are unfamiliar with this wonderful example of theatrical goodness, Wicked is the untold story of the witches of Oz. It’ll make you rethink the whole story of the Wizard of Oz. The show was absolutely spectacular—everything I’ve heard about it and more. I already loved the music before seeing it, and now I just love it even more.
Saturday was unfortunately cold and rainy, so Mary and I took full advantage of the opportunity to check out the National Gallery—a museum FULL of masterpieces. Degas, Renoir, Monet, Giotto, Gauguin, Alfred Sisley (my favorite, an Impressionist), Van Gogh… It was amazing. The Gallery is located on Trafalger Square (pretty famous), complete with a statue of Admiral Nelson and a view of Big Ben’s clock tower. We also went to Kensington Gardens when it wasn’t raining and saw the statue of Peter Pan (my all-time favorite book/play/story). To make the whole thing just about perfect, there was an absolutely adorable little girl playing with her ball and the base of the statue. Oh my goodness.
We also spent the day becoming VERY acquainted with the London Tube. By the end of the weekend, I didn’t even really need a map.
Sunday, the weather was absolutely gorgeous. We went to the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. I wasn’t terribly impressed. Still, I’m glad I can check that off my list of things to do in my life. Sadly, there weren’t any guards stationed outside the gates, so we didn’t get to try to make them smile (which I’m sure they really really hate anyway).
We walked through St. James’ Park and saw a black swan attack a dog. That was entertaining. We also walked past the Houses of Parliament, saw Big Ben’s clock tower and the outside of Westminster Abbey.
Mary and I then headed across the River Thames to the London Eye—the world’s largest observation wheel. The views were incredible—everything looks so tiny. Mary wins points for the fastest ever ice cream run—she left the line, ran to the stand and was back within about a minute. The line had moved so fast, though, that we didn’t have time to finish our cones before reaching security, so we had to eat fast. It was very worth it, though.
After the Eye, we went to the Tate Modern—another museum filled with masterpieces. Monet (again), Warhol, Picasso, Matisse… It was a nice change after the last 2 months of all Renaissance art.
London was a fun city to visit—there really is a lot to see. I was ready to go home by that point, though. Sunday evening we flew back to Pisa, and, after a 2 hour wait in the airport because all the buses were full, we finally got into Florence at about 1:30 am. I can’t remember the last time I was that tired. Still, it was very very worth it.
