Carnivale in Venice!

This weekend was Carnivale in Venice! Carnival in Venice is an annual festival starts 58 days before Easter and ends on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. People come from all over to partake in the festival, many of them in costume or wearing highly decorated masks. They tell you that you should book Carnivale way in advance, and we probably shouldn't have taken that advice so lightly. We weren't able to find a hostel for under 65 euros a night since we were trying to book two weeks in advance. Sarah ended up being amazing and finding an apartment for only 50 euros for both nights per person, and it was on the island. A lot of people in our group were stuck with places off the island having to take a one hour bus then a 30 minute water taxi to get to the island. Our apartment turned out to be really nice even though we were a little hesitant with the fact that it was located in the Jewish ghetto.

 It ended up being only a 5 minute walk from the train station and about a 20 minute walk to the main square, San Marco. Venice was a lot of fun, although it wasn't exactly what I expected. It was packed, that pack I expected, but I guess I thought there would be more of a night-life. We tried going out the first night we got there, but we didn't pass one night-club or bar. We found out, however, that this is normal. Apparently, you can't go out looking for a bar in Venice because you won't find one. We tried to meet up with everyone in San Marco Friday night, but we were a little late at the meeting point. We did end up seeing some of the group, but we ended up not being able to find anywhere to go out to. San Marco was a really cool setup though with everything going on. There was a big stage in the front with performances going on all night, such as dances and magician acts. It got pretty cold and so we decided to call it a night.

There were 8 of us staying in the 6 person hotel, so that we didn't have to pay as much. We decided to push 3 twins together and 5 of us girls slept together. I thought it was pretty funny oh we all fit, but I was comfortable both nights with plenty of room. Saturday, we woke up and set out on the town. Venice was a very beautiful island. It was completely surrounded by water, and all the buildings were almost Victorian style.

All the streets were lined with people, vendors, and all sorts of costumes. It was so much fun just getting lost in the streets with everything going on. It was a cross between halloween and mardi gra. The costumes ranged from little kids in tiger costumes to couples in elaborately decorated attires. Half of them couldn't even walk down the street because they stopped every 2 feet for people to take pictures of them.

Venice is a very easy city to get lost in, but it's fun when you're trying to get lost. There were tons of little random alleyways, one after the next. I got a really good kebab from one of the street vendors, and got a mask to wear in the streets. Venice isn't a really big tourist attraction city; there's not many things to necessarily see. We had a blast just walking in the streets, taking everything in, and going into all of the shops. The shops were filled with handmade masks, jewelery, and another thing Venice is famous for: hand-blown glass. Murano, which is an island near Venice, is where the glass is made. Unfortunately, most of the glass, well at least affordable glass, is going to be made in China. We met back at the apartment at 5:30pm and all went out to dinner. We were able to bride the guy to give us free bread and cocktails if we went there. They advertised a 3 course meal for only 13 euro. The first course (spaghetti and seafood) was delicious, but my second course was supposed to be salmon, but it definitely wasn't the salmon that we're used to. It was not pink and did not taste anything remotely like it. But I ate it, because one thing I've learned being in Europe, there's no reason at all to waste food. You eat what you get. Which is an especially good habit to get in for with Africa coming up. In Kenya, I'll most likely be eating beans and rice everyday. After dinner, we returned to the apartment, and all of us just hung out and partied there since we didn't want a repeat of failure like the first night. I had a lot of fun with everyone, and learned some new card games.

The next morning we decided to take the 11:50 pm train back to Lugano, so we just slept in until 9am and cleaned the apartment and packed to get ready to return to the Montarina. This week coming up is going to be a busy one: one presentation, a midterm, and a final. And on top of that planning for next weekend: which I'm about 90% sure is going to be Paris!

Last Day in Dublin

That morning I actually got to sleep in until about 9 which is sad that’s considered sleeping in! I was the only one out of my hostel group to stay in Dublin, the rest of them went to Belfast for the day and night. I was instead meeting up with Val and staying with her, her brother, and his girlfriend in the hotel room for the night. I didn’t want her flying alone out of Dublin and we found a cheaper flight than the one from Belfast so I told her I’d fly with her. It ended up being a great decision. I had the best day with her and her family. Her brother was hilarious, and her brother’s girlfriend was so nice. They took me in like I was part of their family. Around 10 am I walked to their hotel room and got MY FIRST real shower (like in a shower with a tub). It was heavenly. I think I took at least a 30 minute shower. We all got ready and walked around Merrion Park (their hotel was in Merrion Square). We got lunch at Dublin's smallest Pub called Dawson's Lounge. The maximum number of occupants is 20 people standing.

After lunch, we took a bus to Kilmainham Gaol, one of the biggest unoccupied gaols in Europe. It ended up being one of my favorite things that we did in Ireland. It was only 2 Euro's for the tour of the jail, and our tour guide was really cool. This jail was known for having over 100,000 prisoners and executed several hundreds.  Life in the jail as explained as our tour guide was unimaginable. Most of the imprisonments occurred during the Potato Famine, which was a tragic time in Ireland. In order to keep the prison from becoming overcrowded the conditions in the jail had to be worse than the conditions outside or else people would just commit a crime to be placed in jail. The problem was outside the majority of the population was starving and homeless.

There was no segregation of prisoners; men, women and children were incarcerated up to 5 in each cell, with only a single candle for light and heat. They were only allowed to use this candle for one hour during the day. They received one hour per day to go out in the field for exercise where they were required to remain silent, and one hour with light for reading the bible. Twice a week for one hour they had to go to the Chapel which was located in the jail for mass. The youngest child ever recorded for being incarcerated was 5 years old for petty theft. Kilmainham Gaol played an important part in Irish history, as many leaders of Irish rebellions were imprisoned  by the British and later by the Irish Free State. One of the most famous was Joseph Plunkett. The picture below is a painting of him before he was publicly executed. At the age of 28, he released to be  married in the prison chapel to his sweetheart Grace Gilford, then three hours later he was executed by firing squad.

We returned to our hotel room after our tour of the jail because Val, Matt, and Carmela were attending an Irish House Party (dinner and Irish dancing) that night. I was invited many times to go but it would have cost me $72, which wouldn't fit in my budget. They went to their show, and I was fine exploring by myself. I went and got a postcard and went around in some shops. Then I stopped in a pub called Sheenan's and went up to the bar and sat by myself since they're weren't any tables lol. I ordered Irish Stew which I was definitely getting before I left. It was phenomenal, i still drool sometimes thinking about it. I went back to the hotel and was out by 9:30. I was so tired and we had to get up at 4:30am to catch our flight to Torino. We then took a train back to Lugano, and was back at the Montarina by 5pm. It was really good to be back I literally ran to the door I was so excited. Home sweet Home.  

Dublin Day 2

 Just like Scotland, the atmosphere in Ireland was just as amazing.The people were great and so welcoming; the pubs were so lively, everywhere had live music and dance. It made the Irish spirit come alive. We started the day with the free walking tour of Dublin. It started off great, but we unfortunately got a tour guide who was a little wacky. She was good at first, but she spent way too much time going off topic talking about her own opinions. She ended up being very negative towards a lot of the attractions, which was surprising because she's giving a tour to tourists. She went off on these rants about random things to where at the end of the tour we could all give a grief biography of her life, family, leisure activities, etc. I wish she would have spent less time talking about herself and more time about Dublin, or seeing other things.

We started off in Dublin Castle, which is now a major Irish government complex and once served as the seat of the English. Ireland is very split between Unionists (who favor the union with the English) and Republics (those who wish to be the Republic of Ireland).

 She did tell us a lot about of interesting things about the catholic church. Ireland has been historically catholic for decades, and is just now introducing things such a contraception and birth control (specifically 1996). When girls got pregnant through wedlock, they were sent to Laundries where their families pretty much sold them into slavery. They were supposed to return to their families after a period of time, however many families were so ashamed of their daughters that they stayed at the Laundries for the rest of their lives. We then were led to the 40 steps, the passageway between the interior of Medieval Dublin to the area known as 'Hell' - a denizen of whorehouses and drug dens. It's where the ghost of Darky Kelly, a famous brothel-owner, has been spotted many times. She was burnt alive after the father of her unborn child accused her of being a witch. Being a lady of the night, the accusations stuck and she was roasted slowly in front of a baying mob.

We were then led to Temple Bar, which is an area of cobble stone streets lined with pubs and shops, and a great night scene for tourists.

 
This picture has a funny story to it. Believe it or not due to the large Heineken advertisement, it's actually Guinness's marketing department building. Heineken bought the space, however, and had it's own name placed on the building.

If you look closely at the next picture you'll see a silver long spherical pole (not the flag pole). It is known as the Spire of Dublin or Monument of Light. It is the largest stainless steel pole in the world, but it cost Dublin 4.5 million Euros and no where near worth that outrageous amount of money.
 

We were then shown Trinity College, one of the main universities in Dublin. It is seen as a very high-class prestigious college, as it fits in the top tier of colleges such as Oxford and Cambridge. It's campus was very beautiful but of course our tour guide didn't have nice things to say about it because she thought that all the students who went their were snobs. It did house the famous Long Library which unfortunately we didn't have a chance to go into because it is said the library reminds people of Harry Potter with bookshelves stacked all the way to the ceilings. The bottom floor holds the Ulysses, a novel by the Irish author James Joyce.

 After our walking tour we headed to the Guinness Factory, one of the most famous tourist attractions in Dublin. We had booked our tour online, which included a self-guided tour through the factory, and a complementary pint of Guinness at the top.

 This was featured right when you walked into the factory. Arthur Guinness, the man who first founded the Guinness brewery business and family, signed this official lease for the land that now stands over 250 acres. This first lease is very unique, however, because it was to be instated for 9000 years. So Arthur signed a 9000 year lease for only 100 pounds and thus started everything we know about Guinness today.

 The museum was really interesting. It was 7 full floors guiding you through the entire process of how Guinness is made starting with all the ingredients and processes. You are led through each floor getting to see hands on the several enduring processes it takes to make that perfect glass of Guinness. You were also led through their advertising through the years, and you could see things from hundred of years ago when Guinness was first started.

This is the view from the very top of the factory, which is said to be the highest point in Dublin. The top is actually a 360 degree gravity bar, which is where you receive your complementary pint of Guinness. To be honest, I wasn't the biggest Guinness fan just due to the heaviness and how filling it was. I don't think I could have drank more than a pint. It does grow on you though I'd have to say. Funny many of the locals told me that what I was drinking was heavy and they considered Guinness to be light. They told me to give it a couple weeks drinking Guinness, but I don't see that ever happening.

 We walked back from the Guinness factory to our hostel, and got ready for the night. We decided to do the pub crawl that was advertised by our hostel. It was supposed to be a crawl of 4 pubs where you'd receive a shot in each bar and discounted drinks. We learned our lesson, though and ended up paying a lot more money than expected. But oh well at least we got to say we had the experience and it was fun to go to each pub and hear their live music and talk with the locals.

DUBLIN! Day 1

Dublin I'd have to say didn't start off too great, but it ended up being one of my favorite places. Long story short, Bryce, Val and Sarah ended up missing our flight to Dublin because Ryan Air is a total excuse my language ass-hole of a company. Abbie, Caitlin, and I all had paid to check a bag so when we gave them our printed boarding pass they stamped it, but we had no idea that everyone had to check-in and get their passes stamped since it was mandatory that everyone check-in online. We also arrived kind of late to the airport because two members of our group took a really long time to get up and get out in the morning. But we learned our lesson. No matter how hung over are tired you are you gotta get your butt up and get to the airport as early as possible. The three that missed their flight ended up having to pay 110 pounds to get the next flight, which is a ton of money and apparently a really common thing that passengers of ryan air have to pay. So if I could lend any suggestions to anyone, Do not fly Ryan Air if you can avoid it! The only thing is that the flights are so cheap compared to other airlines, but it looks like you could end up paying for it in the end. When we got to Dublin just the three of us who did catch our flight we tried to check into our hostel but we couldn't until 3 pm. We figured that would be good so hopefully our other group members would arrive by then. We walked around for a little and got lunch at this pub down the corner called O'Sheas. I got the best Roast Beef and sauteed onion sandwich ever. Ireland is known for their carvery, stew, bangers and mash, and fish and chips. I knew I was gonna like it here. Our hostel ended up being right across from the oldest pub in Ireland, called the Brazen Head.

After lunch we went back to the hostel and just used their free wifi for another 30 minutes before we could check0in. Four Courts Hostel ended up being the best hostel that we've stayed in Europe so far. The rooms were really clean and big, we had our own private bathroom and shower, and they had so many deals and group activities that we could do. Once we checked-in we actually napped until the other three got there. I was so tired that I actually felt like I was sleep-walking through my motions. The others joined us not too much longer (Val was staying in a hotel because she was staying with her brother and his girlfriend who were visiting). They got food and we all shower and such. Later all of us went to Darkey Kelly's Pub for dinner because our hostel advertised that on Thursdays they had free barbeque and live music. We were just taking it easy that night, and it ended up being a lot of fun. They grilled burgers, chicken, and sausage for anyone who was in the bar. The food was great and so was the live music. Click play on the video to hear it yourself!

London Day 2

 Our last and final day in London was quite the adventure let me say. I don't think my legs have ever been so tired in my life. That's the one thing I didn't like about London. The city is so huge that in order to see it all (and I feel like we didn't even see half of it) you have to cram a million and one things into one day, and we therefore weren't really able to enjoy it. It wasn't like Dublin where I could sit in a pub, enjoy the live irish music, and soak in all in. London was one subway ride after another--going one speed: fast.

We started our day going to Abbey Road, where the Beatles recorded their final album "Abbey Road." The actual crossing is the famous road that the Beatles are shown crossing on the cover. I'm really glad we went even though it was only like for 15 minutes, I can officially say I walked on the real Abbey Road. I was sure to also get a postcard at the small Beatles shop on the corner so I have proof. Well the pictures so serve as evidence too.

After Abbey Road, we went straight to the British Museum. This museum is famous for several of its treasures that it holds. One of the most famous being the Rosetta Stone. The Rosetta Stone carries an inscription in 3 different languages which helped decipher the ancient Eqyptian hieroglyphic script. This stone in the museum is the only surviving fragment of a larger stone slab recording a decree on 27 March, 196 BC.

I felt we allocated a little too much time at the British Museum. Don't get me wrong it was a very interesting museum but we only probably needed to spend an 1 or so there. Besides the couple of really famous pieces, it felt like just a typical history museum with artifacts from all over the world. We left the museum and started our journey to wait for it...CHIPOTLE. We were so excited when we saw it that I think Sarah went in full sprint around the corner when she saw the sign.

It was a fantastic lunch, especially since mexican is probably my most missed food group while being in Europe. I coudln't get the guacamole on my burrito though because it was an additional 2.3 pounds to get it. London really hurt my budget. If you think the Euro is bad, the pound is ten times worse. To help you non-mathematical people understand conversion rates, let's say you wanted to take out 100 Euros from the bank. It would cost you around $130-$140 US dollars. But if you wanted to take out 100 Pounds it would cost you around $160-$170 US dollars. So I really tried to watch what I spend even though it was a little difficult. After our bellies were full with delicious chipotle, we then crossed over the well-known "London Bridge." Funny though the London Bridge isn't a pretty bridge, it's just a basic gray stone bridge.

The really pretty bridge was Tower Bridge, which we didn't walk over personally but we got a good view of it from standing on the London Bridge. We did walk the "Queens Walk" over to where you could reach Tower Bridge, so I have officially walked the steps of the Queen.

We also kind of cheated with Tower London as well. We were short for time and since we had a clear view of it we figured hey we can just take a picture of it, say we went there and call it a day. Too many things to do too little time. It was a very pretty building however.

I stole this picture from my friend Abbie, which is Tower London at night. Kind of wish I got to see this in person, but it wasn't on the top of my priority list.

The last part of our day was making a trek to see the Olympic Village. Our tour guide the previous day had informed us that they have already started setting up for the Summer 2012 Olympics. We took the Subway to the closest station and had to walk a good bit to get to the village. We ended up not actually being able to get all the way there because so many construction sites blocked the entrances. We were going to keep trying to find a way to get in, but eventually we gave up and just said we were satisfied with the best possible view we could get. Unfortunately, they hadn't set up as much as we would have thought, but it was still pretty cool to say that we've been to where the Summer 2012 Olympics are being held.

 

Our stay still wasn't over. The four of us then ventured to Camden Market, this huge market and area of all kind of shops and vendors and restaurants. It was really cool, but we didn't stay long because it was just that cold. I was so cold I couldn't even function to shop and that says A LOT. We went through one area of vendors, I got a present for kc, and by that time we were just like "Where is a starbucks?" Of course one was just down the block and I ended up getting a hot chocolate which warmed me right up. After just shopping for probably a mere 30 minutes we headed back to the hostel and got ready to go out and meet up with Sarah's friend who was living in London. She lived in Kingston, so we had to take a subway then a bus to get to her, but we had a really good time. We pregamed with some of her friends, then went out to this club. Unfortunately we didn't get back to the hostel until around 3:30 and had to wake up at 5:30 to catch our flight. It's true when my friends who had studied abroad told me before I left for Europe, "sleep only when your dead." No such thing as beauty sleep in Europe.

London Day 1

We got to our hostel in London around 11pm so we didn't do anything that night except went right to bed. This hostel was our first experience with random people in our rooms. To get cheaper prices we didn't book private rooms and instead for example just booked 5 people in an 8 person room. It wasn't bad at all actually all we did differently was just lock up our valuables in the lockers at night. The next morning we woke up early and got free breakfast at the hostel. Our hostel was pretty cool because it had a 24 hour bar underneath that would close for the public around 11pm but stay open 24 hours for the people in the hostel. Everyone in our group went to see the changing of the guards, but the four of us decided to do the 11am free walking tour which encompassed changing of the guards so we killed two birds with one stone. First of all it was beyond frigid in London. I have like ten layers on and still freezing. The walking tour, given that, was as good as it could be considering all I could think about was going inside some place warm. Our tour guide, however, was hilarious and really good so that helped out a lot. The thing about London though I guess it wasn't good to go to after seeing one of the most beautiful cities in the world is that the famous landmarks didn't compare at all to the beauty in Edinburgh. London is a totally different atmosphere. Everything is fast paced. We had to cram a million things to see in one day, but once we got there I felt that it really wasn't all that. During the tour we did get to see most of the most-well known attractions, and don't get me wrong many were very cool.
Starting with:

The Duke of Wellington's Palace, the duke who defeated the famous Napoleon, but soon after became to self-obsessed and hated by many in England. He erected a 30 feet high statue of himself on top of an arch, which the Queen ended up taking down because she was tired of looking at a horse's ass.

Buckingham Palace. where the Queen resides herself

Changing of the guard, a tradition that has been taking place every Tuesday and Thursday for hundreds of years.

Outside the National Gallery stands the countdown to when the Summer Olympics will be held in London

Piccadilly Circus, the London Eye can also be seen (the big ferris wheel)

One of my favorite pictures taken in London

Big Ben

Westminster Abbey: where Prince William and Kate got married, and several highly famous people are buried

Parliament

We ended our walking tour at a pub, which was supposed to have wifi so I could skype call my interview with Goldman & Sachs for my summer internship. Just my luck, their wifi was broken but luckily there ended up being a Starbucks down the street which i legit ran to. I was kind of late calling them but they gave me some leeway since I was in another country without internet connection. The long of the short of the story is they were really impressed with my resume and I made the first cut down to 15, but the second cut entailed sending the final 3 people to New York for a series of 6 interviews. Unfortunately, that would not be possible at the time. Not to worry though I should have other opportunities and not gonna lie I didn't really want to be living in New York this summer. So I went back to the pub which was wonderful because it was SOO warm. They had tons of space heaters along with central heat so it felt great. I got a big bowl of chili which hit the spot after such a freezing day. We then headed back to the hostel to get ready for Wicked! Abbie ended up scoring an amazing deal for all 35 of us to see Wicked for only 17 pounds each.   

It was my first time seeing Wicked, and I absolutely loved it! The story was incredible and I would recommend the show to anyone who hasn't seen it. The actors also did a phenomenal job. The show wasn't over until about 11:30pm and a lot of people decided to go out afterwards but it was in the negative degrees and we were planning to go out the next night so a couple of us went back to the hostel and called it a night.