Ballin' in Holland

Amsterdam

Amsterdam was my favorite city yet. I absolutely loved the narrow brick streets, flowers in every window box and the fact that all the cars have been replaced with road bikes. It was awesome to see hundreds of bikes during rush hour and only a few cars sprinkled through out.

We had two full days in Amsterdam and the first thing we did was go visit the Ann Frank Haus. The museum consisted of the apartment that she lived in with her family and a few family friends for a year and half during the Nazi invasion as well as rooms containing artifacts and interviews from those few years. Her father, the only surviving member of the family, was the one who had her diary published and when he turned their apartment into a museum he requested that all of the furniture be removed to symbolize the fact that the people who lived there are gone, never to return. The museum also included pages torn from Anne's diary so we could see what her writing looked like. The craziest part of the tour was looking out the window that Anne looked out everyday, longing for sunlight and freedom. It was also interesting to see where they had marked on the wall the progress of the children growing, Anne was taller than me by the end of her stay in the Annex. It was kind of creepy walking through their old apartment, imagining  the family pacing quietly and desperately wishing to be free. I wish I had pictures to share however we weren't allowed to bring our cameras inside.

The Iron Maiden

After visiting the Ann Frank House I walked with a few girls to the floating flower market located right on the river. There was tons of flower shops as well as touristy stands and cheese shops. I bought some "Black Beauty" tulips that will bloom black. I then went to the medieval torture museum that consisted of tons of crazy medieval torture devices. The Iron maiden was there as well as the guillotine.  The evening we visited the Red Light district, one of the few places in the world where prostitution is legal. Don't worry, I didn't partake but it was shocking to see the girls lined up in windows, wearing bikinis and trying to lure in every person that walked by. That evening we went to an exotic show in the red light district but once again...no pictures allowed!

Beautifully painted clogs

The next morning I went on a bike ride through the Dutch countryside complete with picturesque windmills, a simple lunch of sandwiches and fruit and a demonstration at a dutch clog maker. They had all sorts of clogs in the display including wedding clogs that were white and beaded as well as roller-skate clogs.

Lovin' Holland

After our bike ride I visited the Amsterdam flea market where I wanted to buy absolutely everything I saw. From recycled clothing to feather/leather gear, crazy jewelry and beautiful paintings...they had it all. I found an awesome pair of old broken in overalls which I bought happily as well as an awesome leather backpack and some hair accessories. After enjoying some delicious Blonde Belgium beers we called it a night knowing that tomorrow we were bound for Germany.

Mussels In Brussels

"Grand Place" Brussels City Center

We left Paris early Thursday morning, destination Amsterdam. After nearly 4 hours on the bus we pulled into Brussels for lunch. Our tour guide, Mark, informed us that Brussels is the machine that runs Europe; the city where all the paper work and technicalities are taken care of. For such a drab sounding place we weren't prepared for how beautiful the center of town, appropriately named "Grand Place" was going to be. The square is surrounded on all four sides by towering buildings with ornate gold decorations. The lower level of each massive building consists of cafes and bistros with their dinners sitting leisurely under huge red umbrellas.

Mussels in Brussels! Absolutely amazing

We only had two hours in this town so we tore off down one of the narrow, cobble stoned roads in search of a lunch spot that would serve us Brussels's most well known dish, mussels and fries. We hit the jackpot with an elegant hotel that had outdoor dining and clean white table clothes. Our friendly waiter explained the menu and before we had time to blink huge bowls of steaming mussels and lightly seasoned crispy fries were being set before our eyes. The waiter explained that in Brussels it is typical to eat an oyster with an oyster, pinching the meat from between oyster A by using Oyster B as a small little clamp. We felt euphoric after our amazing meal and swore that any chance we have to eat mussels and fries again, we will take.

Viking Beer

With only an hour left in the town that was getting better by the minute we skipped off in the other direction in search of some quality German beer. We did well once again and sat down at an outdoor Beer Garden, each ordering something worthy of writing home about.  I ordered "La Corne" a hoppy, full flavored beer that is served out of a true viking horn. I couldn't have been happier.

Manneken Pis

With twenty minutes to go we rushed to the only well-known sculpture in the town of Brussels, the Manneken Pis; commonly recognized as the little baby boy holding his privates as he takes a pee. The statue was underwhelmingly small, true to size of a little baby. It was put up to honor a little boy who walked between two battling armies in the Grand Place square, he started taking a pee directly before the battle horns were sound and the two armies started laughing so hard that the entire battle was called off.

Waffles covered in strawberries
and chocolate. Oh lala!

Before we loaded back on the bus we made sure to pick up some of Brussels famous waffles, I got mine absolutely slathered in fresh strawberries and chocolate syrup. For such a clerical town, Brussels was extremely impressive. Some of the best food and beer that I've had up to this point in Europe and the cutest little cobble-stoned, flower lined streets I've had the pleasure to run down. Not to mention the people are smiling and English is known by all.

We hopped back on the Bus and made it to Amsterdam by 7 p.m. Here my roommate and I stayed in to enjoy the comfort of our nicest hotel yet. With Green Paisley wall paper, fluffy blankets and a big modern bathroom we were ready to get some much needed rest.

A Truly Haunted Place: The Parisian Catacombs

A ghost in the Catacombs!

On our second full day in Paris I decided to see one of the truly most haunted sites of any city in the world, the catacombs. The catacombs are underground caverns filled to every last, painfully organized corner, with human bones. The history behind the catacombs is that from the middle ages to the late 18th century, poor Parisians were buried in huge mass cemeteries near centrally located churches; these graveyards became known as "Saints Innocence." The thousands of decaying bodies, as well as the large amounts of lime used to accelerate the decaying process, resulted in contaminated water for nearby neighborhoods that used wells as their main source of water. In 1780 the mass cemeteries of Paris were closed due to overuse. The government began searching for a solution regarding the millions of decaying bones and the new bodies that desperately needed a place to go. They turned to the underground limestone tunnels that twist and curve for miles below the city of Paris. They had been hollowed out hundreds of years prior in order to carve out the building stones of the city we know and love today. That same year the government began restoring them for their new use, a second burial ground for the long dead.

Memorial inside the
Catacombs

Today hundreds of tourists pour through the underground tunnels each day, paying their respects to the 6 million deceased Parisians and getting chills down their spines as they walk mile after mile just inches away from perfectly stacked and organized bones; hollow eyed skulls included. I decided to join the masses and see what all the fuss was about.

After waiting in line for literally 2 and a half hours, I finally made it into the ticket office. Here I was treated the most rudely of any interaction I had experienced up until this point. The woman demanded my money, slammed it into her register, then literally threw my ticket at me while demanding that I move along. I decided not to hold it against her, if I lingered around all day near millions of dead bones I'd be pretty grumpy as well.

Scared inside the Catacombs

The journey begins with an ascent down nearly 300 narrow and damp spiral stone steps. After walking for nearly a quarter of a mile through dark and dreary tunnels lit occasionally by dim bulbs, you abruptly come across the first bones. For the rest of the journey the narrow hallways you walk down are literally crammed from floor to ceiling on both sides with perfectly organized, lovingly stacked bones. The Parisian government wanted the catacombs to serve as a worthy and respectful final resting place for the millions of bodies relocated, so they inserted engravings and pillars in with the morbid ornaments. The mood is quiet and respectful down in the catacombs, and people whisper as water slowly drips from the ceiling. Reading the ancient inscriptions gives the bravest onlooker the chills as it slowly dawns on you that these bones are real, and millions of souls call these grounds home. The tunnels twist and turn for what seems like miles until finally, after nearly an hour and half, you emerge from the damp tunnels... squinting from the bright sunlight and strangely awed over the fact that things are so quickly back to normal.

Circular formation of bones

After the catacombs I wandered into a nearby souvenir shop with a few friends. After tinkering around with a few bone shaped key chains and photo shopped postcards we caught sight of something that really caught our interest... Absinthe.  Absinthe is a highly potent alcoholic beverage made from wormwood that allegedly causes the drinker to hallucinate. It is rumored that it was while drunk on Absinthe that Van Gogh cut off his ear. The cashier caught us giggling over the bottle and offered us a taste...yes please! He explained that in order to make the perfect absinthe drink you pour one shot over 4 sugar cubes and then for each part absinthe add 5 parts water, red bull, what have you. The absinthe tasted like licorice and we decided to invest in a bottle.

Shakespeare and Company

At this time we realized we were late for meeting Amanda at the Shakespeare and Company bookstore on the left bank. The funky bookstore was a meeting place for writers such as James Joyce, Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway (he mentioned the bookstore in A Moveable Feast) during the 1920s and it's easy to see why. It's cluttered shelves are crammed with books that I couldn't believe I'd never heard of and wooden ladders made it possible to reach the highest shelves. Love notes and bitter musings are pinned to every corner of wall space with yellowed tape. On the second floor a young man played the piano while a beautiful french girl talked poetically along with the tune. The Seine is visible out the front door and Notre Dame Cathedral is a few short blocks away. The nerd in me was gasping with pure bliss, "I've found the bookstore of my dreams!"

Inside Shakespeare and Co.

After leaving Shakespeare and Company, Justine and I decided it was time to see the inside of Notre Dame and joined the long entry line. The inside was beautiful with the most impressive parts being the massive arched ceiling and the HUGE,  matching purple stained glass windows on either side of the church. The doorways leading into the church are amazingly elaborate with hundreds of faces carved one right after the next, each one different and containing a subtle message.

After exploring the church, our feet were exhausted and Justine decided to head home. I had one more task at hand, however, and headed back to the river to scour the temporary flea market that had popped up over night. I had only one purchase in mind, a lock and key. Paris is home to one of the few love lock bridges in the world, a bridge that is covered with padlocks containing the name of two people with undying love for each other. After the lock is attached to the bridge, the keys are thrown into the Seine to symbolize that their love will never be broken.

Notre Dame

I found a gold padlock and scribbled "Hannah Kincaid and Chris Bodamer" on the lock. I hunted out the perfect spot on the bridge with a great view up the Seine that I felt I would be able to find again, and I let our keys fly. As the keys hit the water I realized with a start that there was one other boy that I have unbreakable love for and I hurried back to the lock salesman, knowing that he was trying to close up shop. This time I wrote "Hannah and Thomas Kincaid" on the small gold lock and attached it to the same loop as Chris and I's. As the keys dropped like a stone into the cold, grey water his ashes floated lazily behind.

My Love Locks for Chris and Thomas

At this point I went back to my hotel to rest and clean up for the evening. Alexa and I decided to consult my Lonely Planet travel guide for a few fun bars and settled on a few near the Pantheon. It mentioned that the bars were underground but we were surprised at just how underground, we were some of the only people inside both places we checked out. We enjoyed a few drinks and made it back to our hotel by 12:30

My overall opinion about Paris is that I need to go back again...but I need to go back when it's not tourist season and after I have learned some basic French. There were so many tourists at this time of the year that simply walking down the street was a struggle. The lines were ridiculous and the waitstaff at every restaurant was fed up. Paris in ...say...October, after a few years of French and with a solid week to soak it all up would be an entirely different experience than the rushed and crowded 3 days I spent running from one huge museum to the next. I did not get a chance to go to either the Salvador Dali or Monet museums, so I will have to remember them both for next time. At the end of the day I loved seeing the city, but I'm equally excited to experience the other half of France, the warm waters and fresh air of the French Riviera.

Perusing Paris

Our first full day in Paris was completely packed with activities. After a 7:15 breakfast of croissants, coffee and yogurt we waited for our tour bus to arrive. We waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, an hour and half after our scheduled departure time,  the tour bus arrived, apologizing for the delay and we all piled on board. We drove all through the city of Paris with a cute little French lady explaining where we were and the history surrounding each important building. The frusturating thing about the tour bus was that we only saw each thing for a few seconds, not long enough to get a good look or really take a picture. We drove past the massive, Arc de Triomphe which honors those who fought in the French revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. The best part of our tour was when they allowed us to get out of the bus for a skimpy ten minute photo shoot with the Eiffel Tower. I now wish that I would have skipped the slow moving tour to explore the city on my own. I much prefer to see one or two buildings thoroughly, than 30 buildings from a distance.

The Louvre

The bus tour dropped us off in front of the Louvre where we had as much time as as wished to explore. I knew that I wanted to make it to the flea markets that closed at 5 p.m., so I allowed myself two and a half hours to browse the collection. My first destination was the Venus de Milo, located in the Denon building. I weaved my way through thick crowds of gaping, camera clad tourists intermingled with archaic Greek busts and lovingly detailed ceramic jugs. The Louvre itself is architecturally stunning with looming ceilings covered in ornate frescoes and glistening marble floors. The maps are well laid out and signs everywhere pointed in the direction of well-known attractions such as The Mona Lisa.

Venus de Milo

On my way to the Venus de Milo I stopped to admire panels once plundered from the Greek Pantheon and hundreds of white, curly haired busks. The room that contains the Venus de Milo does not have anything else in it, (other than about 300 people snapping pictures and battling for a good view). It is easy to see why the slender and graceful female sculpture has gone down in history. Larger than life the sculpture demands to be admired.

I decided to head towards the Mona Lisa next for a quick look, hoping that other Da Vinci paintings would be located in the same vicinity. I strolled through hallways packed with works from the Italian Renaissance period including paintings by Botticelli, Mantegna, Bellini, and even Veronese's massive Wedding Feast at Cana. After about 20 minutes of pushing through crowds I came across the biggest crowd yet. At least 300 people were crowded around the tiny Mona Lisa desperately taking pictures. I'm really not sure why they wanted a picture of the tiny painting because better quality prints are available everywhere and it's behind glass. I was really only going to see the Mona Lisa to check it off my bucket list so it took me by surprise when my throat tightened and I started to tear up while analyzing her mysterious smile. Perhaps it's simply all the hype that has always surrounding the painting, or perhaps Da Vinci really did infuse some strange energy into the work, whatever the case I was surprised at the strong emotional wave that washed over me.

Sarcophagus of Ramses III

I was disappointed to learn that no other Da Vinci's where in the near vicinity so I stepped away from the crowded halls to check my map and couldn't believe it when I saw that the Louvre is home to the Code of Hammurabi. Dated from 1772 BC the stone tablet is one of the first known codes of law to exist. To get there I had to cross through the Egyptian antiquities section where I passed row after row of elaborately decorated and perfectly preserved cases for mummies. I also passed by a small sphinx, dozens of slabs containing hieroglyphics and the massive sarcophagus of Ramses III.  After climbing a huge set of stairs I stopped in my tracks, stunned by a massive, winged and headless figure. I found out that she is called "The Winged Victory of Samothrace" and a victory she truly is.

The Winged Victory of
Samothrace

Intricately engraved Code
of Hammurabi

After the Egyptian Antiquities I was able to transfer over to the Richelieu building and the massive garden of French sculptures. I passed a recent installation of a man under a beautiful and dark starry sky. I finally came to the Code of Hammurabi and was impressed with the amount of writing on its dark surface. The massive pillar shaped slab is absolutely covered in ancient text. It was funny to think that even though this is one of the first codes of law that we know of, they really got straight to it. Laws and regulations cover the front, back, and side of the slab in print so tiny you have to squint to see the drawings.

I wound my way to the front of the building where I met Justine near the giant glass pyramid. We took the underground to the flea market in the Montmarte district, an eclectic gathering ground for artists and musicians located on top of a hill with a great view. At first we thought the flea market was horrible, cluttered with cheap t-shirts and dinky key chains. Disappointed we turned left down an alley to find water and a bathroom when we saw a sign for "antique and rare books." With only 45 minutes until closing time we raced through the covered market place, excitingly paging through prints of old maps and the human body. Leather bound French books, strange archaic wooden tools and delicate lace dresses overflowed from tightly crammed stalls. We were in heaven.

Our view of the Paris skyline from
the steps of Sacred Qoeur 

We had planned on meeting Alexa at the carousel in front of the Sacred Qoeur Church (Amelie movie reference, anyone?) so we started the walk up the steep cobble-stoned streets, reminiscent of San Francisco. The church at the top of the hill had the best view of the Paris skyline that I saw the entire trip. We enjoyed dinner in the area and returned to watch the sunset from the stairs of the church. We enjoyed a bottle of white French wine and listened to musicians while the sky steadily turned darker and darker purple. Near 10 p.m. we exchanged our spot on the stairs for one with a better view of the Eiffel tower. We saw the icon of Paris right as it started to sparkle and shine. A wonderful end to a perfect day.

Moulin Rouge

Not! This is the city of lights...it doesn't sleep!  After sunset we strolled through Moulin Rouge, the burlesque capital of the world. As the streets got darker it also got noticeably more dangerous and we stuck close together, clutching our purses and avoiding eye contact with sinister eyes. After seeing the iconic Moulin Rouge windmill we entered the Museum Erotica, open until 2 a.m. and packed with strange, old, sexual relics. I really enjoyed looking at all of the old photos of french prostitutes from the 1920's. The Moulin Rouge portrayed them in such a glamorous light and the write ups that accompanied each photo explained which famous artists and writers used to frequent the neighborhood. One other interesting item was an old, steel chastity belt complete with a metal lock. Finally we felt we had accomplished enough for one day and returned back to Hotel B&B for some much needed R&R.

Merci Beaucoup!

Notre Dame Cathedral

Justine ordered Escargot

We traveled from London to Paris via "The Chunnel" a high-speed railway that is above ground half the time and under the English Channel the other half. I passed the time chatting with Justine and Alexa, both from California, and Beth from Fort Lauderdale (another person to visit in Florida, yay!) The time went by quickly and a short 3 hours later we arrived in Paris. We arrived at our hotel, "Hotel B&B" by 5 p.m. Our rooms have been getting nicer with each passing country and we were pleasantly surprised that these rooms had lofts upstairs with two twin beds and a double bed downstairs. I was assigned to room with Gabbie and Brenda, both from Jersey, and Amanda from Texas.

Notre Dame at Sunset from the Seine

I appreciate how in each country, the first thing we do as a group is figure out the public transportation together and the location of our hotel in relation to downtown. We did this by traveling to Notre Dame Cathedral. After oohing and awwing at the soaring towers and stained glass panels of Notre Dame, I crossed the bridge (Notre Dame Cathedral is located on a small island!) to the Left Bank for dinner with Justine, Alexa, and Beth. We ate directly in front of Sorbonne, the prestigious Paris university that is lucky enough to have the Pantheon just a few blocks away. Our waiters were all very patient with us and helped to improve my notion of the "snotty French." They taught us a few phrases in French and even offered to take our pictures. We weren't prepared for just how the slow the French take their meals so we had to hurry to meet up with our group back at Notre Dame cathedral for our evening cruise along the Seine.

View of the Eiffel Tower from the Seine river

We hurried to meet the rest of our group in front of Notre Dame Cathedral for a cruise along the Seine. We chugged along past the Louvre and the Eiffel tower. The Louvre was so massive that it was impossible to take a picture of the entire thing. The Eiffel tower was beautiful seen from the boat and I was completely taken by surprise when it started sparkling. Apparently, once an hour, on the hour, the entire Eiffel tower lights up and sparkles like a giant Christmas tree for about 5 minutes. We ended the night with drinks at a small Scottish pub whose veterans were deeply involved in shouting out trivia questions.

Stonehenge and Bath

Stonehenge

I only got three hours of sleep the night before we journeyed to Stonehenge so the second I got on the bus I turned on my i-pod and went right back to sleep. An hour and a half later I woke up to excited gasps as the ancient, 40-foot high stones came looming into view. You are able to walk around the stones but not get very close or touch them. The large amounts of tourists jostling for a good picture is a little overwhelming and I quickly walked to the far side of the monument for a little more space. Here Justine, Alexa and I entertained ourselves for a good chunk of time taking cheesy tourist picture with the monuments, we pretended to eat the ruins and hold them over our shoulder.

My cheesy tourist picture

The feel around the monument is noticeably sobering. The grey sky occasionally parts to let a beam of sunshine warm the old rocks and black crows settle protectively on top of the massive slabs. People are quiet, as if entering a church building, and man-made mounds outline the sacred spot.

Bath, England

We loaded back in our bus and continued the journey towards the town of Bath. I knew very little about Bath prior to visiting and honestly thought it was going to be similar to Stonehenge, an ancient ruin used for outdated purposes. I was completely wrong.The baths are a collection of hot springs, dark green in color and gathered in a resorvoir similar in size to a regular swimming pool. The Romans considered it a sacred spot and used the waters for healing and spiritual cleansing. Hundreds of years later the then abandoned baths were rediscovered and became a popular vacation spot for the aristocratic English. To be seen at Bath , sipping the ill-tasting water, was the ultimate cool of the early 19th century.

With the rediscovered hot springs popped up a whole new town build in the Georgian style of matching architecture. Local, pale orange stone is used in every building  and the cobble stoned streets are filled to the brim with buskers, shops, and traditional English food such as the "pastey" (a pastry stuffed with beef or lamb and veggies). A collection of houses called the "Circus" was particularly beautiful, they formed almost a complete circle of pristine, matching, three-story apartments with large bay windows. In the center was a smaller circle of ancient Sycamore trees. I'm normally not a fan of matching houses, preferring instead the funky paint jobs and eclectic yard art of Lawrence, however, this enchanting circle was so much like something out of a Jane Austin novel it was impossible not to appreciate it's charm. The city itself is in fact so charming that it has officially been declared a World Heritage site.

Alexa and I drinking hard cider in Bath

The baths themselves were green and steaming, surrounded by Roman style columns. Attached to the baths were a whole museum dedicated to explaining the baths original purpose and displaying artifacts found in the area. There were many coins and gemstones that had either been thrown into the bath as sacrifices or fell out of bathers pockets. After seeing the baths I joined Justine and Alexa for a drink of Bath's famous hard cider at a local bar.

We loaded back on our bus and completed the three hour ride back to London. Justine, Alexa, Beth and I walked a few blocks down the street to "The Richmond" a pub and pizza house with a comfortable, homey feel. Our new friend Jonathan joined us for a drink and we then headed to bed early knowing that we would depart for Paris at 6 a.m. the following morning.

"The Circus" Matching homes in Bath, England

Hop-On, Hop-off Bus Tour of London

Achilles in Hyde Park

We woke up on our second day in London to a breakfast of toast and cheese, cereal, and coffee. As a group we took the tube downtown and were handed the tickets for our hop-on, hop-off bus tour of London. The way the bus works is that there are stops all around London in front of various popular attractions such a Big Ben, Tate Modern Art museum, and the Tower of London (home to the crown jewels). The pass works for 24-hours and includes a head-phone jack to listen to a pre-recorded tour of the city.

The egg-shaped
Swiss Re Tower

The first stop I jumped off at was Hyde Park where I was greeted with a massive statue of Achilles, his bow drawn and ready for battle. The entire city of London is preparing for hosting the Olympics in about a months time and Hyde park will be especially transformed. Large portions of the park where closed off for the construction of bleachers and bathrooms, the swimming portion of the triathlon will go right through  the middle. I visited the underwhelming Princess Diana memorial fountain, more like a small lazy river than a fountain but peaceful none the less. Hyde park had less statues and lush vegetation than Merrion Square and St. Stephens Green in Dublin and after 40 minutes of walking around I was ready to see what else the city had to offer.

Tower Bridge with the Olympic rings

Big Ben

A group of about six girls and I jumped back on the big red bus and rode it for quite some time, past the  very popular wax museum and Sherlock Holmes' fictional home and street. We snapped pictures like crazy as we cruised past Big Ben's elaborate watch tower and the massive, sharp tower points of Westminster Abbey.We jumped off, starving, at St. Paul's Cathedral and agreed on getting hot subs at a nearby restaurant named "The Earl of Sandwich." We congratulated ourselves on our awesome restaurant choice as our inexpensive sandwiches came out perfectly toasted and over-flowing with fresh ingredients. We were disappointed that St. Paul's had an entrance fee and decided to jump back on the bus and ride to the Tower of London, home of the crown jewels. We rode across the Tower Bridge, adorned with the Olympic Rings and passed the Swiss Re Tower, an Easter-egg shaped glass building nicknamed "The Cucumber."

Monet "Water Lilly Pond"

Van Gogh "Sunflowers"

Rather than spend the pretty expensive entrance fee for the tower of London we jumped onto a nearby cruise boat on the river Thames. The cruise ticket was included with our hop-on, hop-off ticket and we had a great view of the city from the river. When we got off the barge I split off from the rest of my group and headed to the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square. The exhibits started off old and got more modern with time, After about an hour of frowning, bearded men, fat babies and angels I finally got to the exhibits that really make me pause, the impressionists. Because the museum entrance is free I was surprised to walk into a room completely dedicated to Monet. His paintings on display included "The Water Lilly Pond", "Bathers at La Grenouillere", "The beach at Trouville" and "The Gare Saint-Lazare". In the next room I stumbled onto Van Gogh's work including "Sunflowers" and "Van Gogh's chair." The next few rooms included "Surprised" by Rousseau, multiple works by Dregas, Renoir, Signac and Seurat as well and my personal favorite "Harvest: Le Poulda" by Paul Gauguin. I walked around to the back of the museum and was pleasantly surprised to find an entire exhibit dedicated to portraits completed within the past 20 years. Some of the portraits were done so well I would have sworn they were photographs and the power of personality that the artists were able to capture absolutely amazed me.

"Harvest: Le Pouldu" Paul Gauguin

I walked a few short blocks to the restaurant "Silver Cross" on Whitehall road where our tour group had our complimentary welcome dinner of Bangers N' Mash with a pint of beer. After dinner we went to "The Zoo Bar" a local club that plays American dance music. I have actually noticed that all of the music played at European restaurants and bars is American, but usually a slightly tweaked version. The bartenders did not understand a single drink I tried to order, including the seemingly simple "whiskey water with lemon" so I settle on drinking beer from the bottle. After the Zoo Bar I walked with Alexa and Justine to the nearby Big Ben to see the amazing structure by the light of the moon. We met a friendly French boy named Jonathan who shared tips about safety in Paris and his views on American culture/politics. (obese, greedy and fear-mongering).  We called it a  night at nearly 4:30 a.m. knowing that in a few short hours we would be loading the bus for Stonehenge.

Arriving in London

Trafalgar Square

  I didn't sleep well the night before my flight to London, I was worried I would oversleep and miss my bus to the airport. The journey ended up being a smooth one, however, and I arrived at Hotel 65 in London just in time to drop off my bags and join my group for our first walking tour.

The lions at Trafalgar square

A few short blocks from our hotel is the London Underground which can take us pretty much anywhere in the city that we want to go. We have about 30 people in our group, ages ranging from 18 to 24 with me being one of the oldest. On the walk to the tube I had the opportunity to meet two girls from California, Alexa and Justine. We got off at the "Piccadilly Circus" stop and walked to Trafalgar Square, home of the national gallery, buskers of every type and war monuments that reach for the sky. The bustling, brick-paved square had pigeons brave enough to fly right at your face and buskers including everything from old-time violin music to ill-choreographed, dancing Korean teenagers. At the center of the square children climbed bravely on the backs of huge, stone lions and splashed water from the mouths of dancing mermaids. Branching off in every direction of the Trafalgar square are streets crammed with double-decker red buses headed for Big Ben,  Westminster Abby and the changing of the  guards.

A London street performer

After Trafalgar square we walked to Covent Garden, a fashionable shopping center that had food stalls and clothing stores. After carefully selecting a mozzarella, tomato and basil ciabatta and fresh squeezed lemonade I was forced to take shelter from the rain in a small and dusty bookstore. With another 30 minutes to spare before I was scheduled to meet my group back at the train station I browsed delicate lavender soaps and pitied a small french boy held captive by a mime for the sake of entertaining a small crowd.

A soap stall at Covent Garden

On the subway ride back to Hotel 65 I had the opportunity to get to know a friendly group of brothers and sisters from Utah. I have been surprised at how many people came on this trip with friends or family members and it makes me wish I would have had time for Erica, Chris or Jonathan to plan on joining me. I eventually found my room with three girls in it waiting for me. We ended up having five in our room total and spent the evening getting to know each other, journaling and reading. Tomorrow we have a hop-on hop-off bus tour of London and I plan on spending a pretty solid chunk of time in the National Gallery.

Dublin: Home of "The Black Stuff"

Yeats' original copy of
The Countess Kathleen
O'shea

"The Famine"

So far I have had one day in Dublin with dad, and one day by myself. I will do one more day here before heading off to London on Thursday.

Dad and I started our day in Dublin by leaving our hostel and heading towards Trinity College, the prestigious stone campus which is the bustling center point for downtown Dublin. We did a lot of ambling down busy streets and drinking lattes, we strolled through both Merrion Square and St. Stephens Green which are both wonderfully landscaped and include ponds and statues of famous Irishmen.

Yeats' tools for the Order
of the Golden Dawn.

The highlight of our day was when we stumbled upon the W.B. Yeats exhibit located inside the National Library of Ireland. Here we learned all about Yeat's childhood and his involvement with the Irish theater and the esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn. The exhibit included many letters and original copies of his poems including the first copy of Countess Kathleen O'shea which he wrote for his muse, Maud Gonne. The exhibit also included his personal set of tarot cards. and hand crafted tools symbolizing earth, fire, water, and air that he used during ceremonies with the Golden Dawn. Dad and I wrapped our day up by walking to the Temple Bar district, a touristy area but worth visiting. We ate at an Italian restaurant because the idea of any more bangers' N bash sounded, well, horrible.

The Temple Bar

The next day was my first day in Ireland as a solo traveler and I did what I'd been yearning to do but couldn't with dad around....sleep in! After getting plenty of beauty sleep I set off to do another girls only activity, shopping! Dad was surprisingly patient about popping into random stores during our time together (I'll thank Michale Ann for that one!) but I wanted to really browse, try things on, compare prices, all the good stuff. Dublin is much colder than I expected and I'm planning on London being the same so I got a few extra layers to keep warm including a black faux leather jacket and a few long sleeved, silky traveling shirts.

The tomb of a Knight
and his lady, St. Audoen's

Church of St. Augustine
and John

I wandered further west than dad and I had gone, through the Temple Bar district and into the Viking/Medieval area. This area was crammed full of  medieval cathedrals and castles. Most of the museums in this area had pretty expensive entrance fees that I didn't feel like dishing over so I instead chose to pop in and out of the beautiful, and free, Cathedrals. The first one I explored was St. Audoen's. From the sidewalk, I turned right down an unmarked path with a stone archway and flowering beds. Little did I know that at the end of the path sat one of the oldest, continuously used, medieval churches in Dublin. The highlight of the tour was a tomb of a knight and his lady. The next church I entered had stained glass windows and vaulted ceilings for days. I sat for nearly 10 minutes just interpreting the images that swam above my head. Hundreds of pews, beautifully detailed stations of the cross, ornate wooden confession booths and panel upon panel of stained glass windows completed the angelic scene.

Where the magic happens

I left the cathedral and turned right, making turns wherever the buildings looked most interesting until suddenly I was standing in front of a very interesting sign indeed: "Guinness Storehouse" it read. I followed signs to a visitors entrance where I learned that for 17 Euros (a little over 20 dollars) I could go on a self-guided tour of the plant, wrapped up with a pint of Guinness in the "Gravity Bar" overlooking all of Dublin. I signed up faster than an Irishman could say "blarney".

The inside of the Guinness storehouse

The Guinness Storehouse was a fermentation plant from 1904 to 1988 but it's now a seven story visitor center designed in the shape of a giant pint of Guinness (it would theoretically hold 14.3 million pints!) The first two levels focus on the creation of the porter and its four key ingredients; barley, hops, water, and yeast. The two most interesting things I learned are that 1) all of the water used in the Guinness recipe comes from the nearby Wicklow mountain range and 2) because this source of water is so important, in 1759 Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease on the land that the storehouse now sits on. When the city of Dublin complained that he was using too much water, Arthur took up an axe and stated he was prepared to defend Guinness' water source to the death. Luckily he didn't need to, and the recipe continues to use Ireland's Wicklow mountain water to this day.

Guinness has been wildly successful with its advertising campaigns and for years they convinced the people of Ireland that Guinness is actually good for you. The visitors centers contains dozens of letters from doctors saying that they recommend the porter to patients, and Shane O'Connor, our wildflower guide in Ballyvaughan, told us that he feeds a gallon of it to his dairy cows after they give birth. Perhaps there is some truth to it, when I left the tour I definitely had an extra spring in my step.

Another thing I learned, and maybe I'm the only person in the world who didn't put these two together, is that the Guinness Book of World Records was actually created by the people at Guinness. They created it so that bartenders around the world would be able to have a reference during all the drunken bar conversations regarding "fastest hunting bird" and the sort.

"The Black Stuff"

The tour wrapped up in the "Gravity Bar" located on the 7th story and highest point of the building. With a 360 degree view of the Dublin skyline it was the perfect place to enjoy a glass of "The black stuff."

My final stop on the way home was a quick walk around the gardens of Dublin Castle. The perfect circle of manicured grass is located where a large black pool of water originally stood during the time of the Vikings. It was for this pond that Dublin was named: "Dubh-linn" which means "Black Pool" in Gaelic. Brick pathways create a Celtic knot when seen from above.

The  grounds of the original "Dubh-linn"
or black pool.