Dublin, Ireland

It is crazy to think that we have reached our last city on World Tour.  To be honest, no one was really in the mood to do much touring while we were in Dublin because we were too busy anticipating the end, most of us excited, the rest dreading going back.  While I have been grateful for the past two weeks, all I can think of is going home.  Thankfully Dublin is awesome so I have been able to enjoy myself the past 3 days.  We have had very little structured time, so that has probably helped quite a bit. 

The first day we arrived in Dublin we had a free afternoon and evening, so we hung around the hotel for a bit and then headed out to a nearby pub for dinner.  The second day we had a morning tour with a guide that gave us a broad overview of Ireland and Dublin’s history and culture.  I ended up shopping the rest of that day and wandering around the pedestrian streets of the city.  I spent way too much money for my budget that day, but one way I can justify it with myself is that I was buying pretty cool ancestry stuff.  My mom has done some intensive research and sent me to Ireland with a couple family names in mind, Miller and Farquar.  I found a cool shop that had a wealth of information regarding Irish ancestry where I was able to purchase a parchment with our family crest and history printed on it.  I also found a neat guide to tracing Irish roots. 

While searching for dinner that night, we stumbled upon the most unique restaurant I have experienced on this trip around the world.  Just off the pedestrian street is a historic church dating back to the 1700s.  It was saved from being torn down and deprogrammed to become a restaurant/ bar/ nightclub.  As we walked into the front doors of the main sanctuary a huge bar dominated my view of the large room.  I then discovered the original organ in place along with a significant amount of the original interior architecture.  I clearly went architecture nerd as soon as I walked in, but I am not even ashamed.  It was that cool!  The food and drinks were great too!

Our last day in Dublin was an independent study day so Dan, Devin, Libby, Hanna, and I decided to spend it at the Guinness Storehouse, the brewery where the famous Guinness beer originated.  I had a wonderfully relaxing morning then left around noon to walk the long trek to Guinness.  It was a fun day, but I have to say that the Heineken experience was so much better!  The best part was drinking a Guinness in the Gravity Bar, the highest point in Dublin.  From there I could see the entire city from above.  We had to hurry back from the Storehouse though because a group farewell dinner was scheduled for 7:00p.m. at the Arlington Hotel Bar. 

Our group had a fantastic dinner along with great entertainment provided by a traditional Irish band, complete with dancers.  The music group awakened my new love for Irish pub music.  After the show our group collectively decided to finish off our world tour with the ultimate Dublin experience.  In search of a pub with enough room to fit us all, we accidentally found the perfect place.  All 24 of us raided the dance floor of a sketchy nightclub in the Temple Bar District of Dublin.  It. Was. Awesome!  And probably the best night of the tour by far!  All of our frustrations, stresses, and annoyances that had built up in the past 102 days just disappeared as we danced for at least two hours straight!  It was definitely a sight to see as we all danced in our world tour attire.  I was rocking a thermal shirt, jeans, and hiking boots in a club in Dublin, and I did not even care because there were 23 other people dressed exactly like me!  It was a heck of an ending to possibly the greatest adventure of my life!

The Greatest Lesson

I developed the following paragraphs for a friend who is writing an essay about traveling.  The most important things I have learned on this trip became apparent to me while I was putting this together, so I thought I would share it will you all!

I was raised in a non-denominational Christian church.  I believe Christianity is only about you and your relationship with Christ.  For me, religious spaces are personal.  They are a place for an individual to use for fellowship, reflectance, or a simple escape from the distractions of life.  Because of this, I had an awesome time experiencing religious places in different cultures throughout Europe, Russia, and Asia.  Catholicism, Buddhism, Muslim, and Jewish religions are some of the main ones I was introduced to over the past 3 months.  It does not matter what religion, we all believe in God in one way or another, but it is our actions and methods of worshipping that make the difference.  The cathedrals, pagodas, temples, mosques, and synagogues were all entirely different in the culture of the space, but I also found them to have one thing in common; I almost always felt a spiritual presence. 

I made it a personal goal at the beginning of this trip to take advantage of the wide range of religions I would be introduced to and pray in every church or religious space that I could.  As the end of World Tour 5 nears, I can say that this has been my absolute favorite thing I have done.  It has opened my eyes to the world, and caused me to question my faith in a good way.  Even though I may not agree with different religions, I am more respectful of them.  Witnessing day after day the Muslim dedication to prayer in Turkey is perhaps the most inspiring to me spiritually.  Also being able to worship in historic places like Notre Dame in Paris, Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, and the Vatican in Rome was almost unreal, knowing I was one of the millions of people who have worshipped there.  For me to say that I have grown in my faith is a huge understatement because my experiences in religious spaces around the world have simply been indescribable. 

Belfast, Northern Ireland

The weather we have had in Belfast has not been the greatest, compared to the warm weather at home.  Two straight days of rain and 40 degree temperatures is not quite what I had in mind, but it is definitely not the first time my expectations have not be met on this trip.  We had another long travel day as we made our way from Edinburgh to Belfast.  Our bus took us from Edinburgh to Cairn Ryan where we boarded a ferry for Belfast.  The ferry was nice and relaxing; I was even able to get some long-overdue sketching done.  We did not get to Belfast until about 7 p.m. so I decided to call it a night and stay at the hotel for the evening. 

I woke up the next morning to pouring rain, but thankfully we had a bus tour planned of the city.  We toured Belfast for a couple hours in the morning and headed out on a bus trip in the afternoon to Giant’s Causeway.  It is an amazing rock formation on the coast of Northern Ireland that makes up a beautiful Irish landscape.  Even though the day was gloomy and wet, it was still picturesque.  We started to climb the rock but after Dan slipped and fell we decided it was too slick.  I would love to be at Giant’s Causeway when the weather is more cooperative because it would be a really fun place to climb and hike.

We got back to the hotel and decided on a time for group dinner.  Someone had recommended to us a restaurant that would accept reservations for all 26 of us.  It was easily the fanciest place I have ever eaten at before.  I got a gnocchi dish that was extremely expensive for the food they brought me.  I had two pieces of cauliflower and 3 tiny gnocchi.  I did not eat lunch because I was saving my appetite for dinner.  Turns out, I probably should have gotten some lunch because that meal was a joke.  

After the not-so-filling dinner, Devin took me to a pub that he knew of which had Smithwick’s Irish Beer on tap.  I was told before I left home that I had to try it, so I was excited to finally get one; it was probably one of my favorite beers I have had so far!  The experience was pretty awesome too because the pub had live music and a lively atmosphere; I named it the Ultimate Irish Experience.  It was a great time!  I am even more excited for Dublin now, oh and the fact that I will be home in just 3 days!!!

Edinburgh,Scotland

It is only natural that World Tour cannot go down without a fight.  After almost a whole day on the bus, we got to Edinburgh around 9:00 p.m.  It was obvious we would be staying in a hostel, but the big surprise was that I got to room with 7 other girls!  My tolerance at this point on the trip is running thin, so the idea of 8 girls sharing 1 room, 1 bathroom, and 1 mirror was a bit like doomsday for me.  Now I realize this may seem quite dramatic, but it was like summer camp all over again, especially when I walked in to my roommates reading a Cosmo out loud as a group.  I guess now would be a good time to tell you that I did survive the doomsday hostel and the second night was not nearly as painful as the first, but I will get to that in a second.

Our full day in Edinburgh began at 8:30 a.m. with probably my favorite guide that we have had so far.  He had a lot of random information and did not just pump us full of ridiculous history facts.  Edinburgh is a pretty cool place with different historic buildings than we have seen in the past.  In the midst of all the old buildings was a pretty interesting modern piece of architecture, The Scottish Parliament Building.  I have studied it quite a bit in the past because I used it for a precedent in one of my projects, so I was excited to see it in person.

We had half a day for our own independent study.  It was a great afternoon of the exploring the Royal Mile and the rest of the city.  We went in to a couple whiskey stores, which was a lot cooler than I thought it would be.  A friend of mine was looking for some Scotch for his dad but had no clue where to even start.  The guy working was friendly and excited to give us a quick run-down of the basics of Scottish-Whiskey.  It was awesome, and so informative!  We found a cool pub with the nicest waiter and had a late lunch/ early dinner, then headed back to the hostel to work. 

Back at the hostel Dan, Devin, Ryan, Courtney, and I gathered together in the lobby to do homework, hang out, and eat Skittles, which by the way, do not taste the same here as they do at home.  I was so productive, it is almost unreal!  I got 3 different things done, all in one night!  As we were lying down to sleep we noticed a loud buzzing in our room followed by a slight burning smell.  Long story short, 2 electrical outlets for a room of 8 girls is not nearly enough!  Despite us overloading the outlets everything was fine, but we were lucky that we were awake when it happened; it would not have taken much to start a fire. 

So yeah, Edinburgh was cool, but I am so excited for Ireland!

Yorkshire-Dales National Park, England

After a long and exciting week in Paris and London, we finally got a much-needed break at Yorkshire-Dales National Park in England.  We arrived at our hostel in the village of Malham around midday and dropped off our luggage.  Malham is situated at the base of a popular hiking trail in the National Park.  Yorkshire-Dales is a national park set aside to preserve the natural countryside of England.  As you can imagine the entire park is possibly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  Rolling hill after hill and pastures outlined with waist-high stone walls.  Lambs frolicked in the fields alongside their mothers.  It was just so peaceful, and it reminded me of home.  Outside our hostel window was a small farm with chickens and geese roaming around the yard.  It was just like at home!  I cannot wait to get home to my own room.  I am getting sick of living in the city like I basically have for the past 3 months.  I need to see some more countryside!

Our group hiked the nearby trail in its entirety and made a day of it.  The trail is about 4.5 miles long, and we stopped periodically to enjoy the view.  Two waterfalls and a limestone formation called The Pavement were the highlights of the hike, as well as amazing views down into Malham.  The weather was perfect for our hike with the temperature around 50 degrees Fahrenheit.  We took our time and enjoyed the peaceful walk. 

We got back to Malham just in time for dinner at The Buck Inn, a small pub just down the road from our hostel.  We hung around the pub for a while just talking and enjoying our down time.  It was a great night except I was ready for bed before I got any work done!  Oh that is not true; I did do some laundry, which is the last time I will have to do laundry on this trip! :D  But still, I should have at least worked on my studio project.  Oh well, I guess I needed the sleep more!

We did not have to leave until 11:00 this morning so I took advantage of a nice, relaxing morning.  I woke up around 7:30 and took my time getting ready.  I headed down to get breakfast and joined up with Courtney and Ryan so we could walk around the village before it was time to leave.  The rest of the day will probably be a boring bus day with a high productivity level, which is what I am hoping for at least. 

Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Bath, England

We covered a lot of ground today and saw a lot of stuff, oh wait; that is pretty much been like that the last 3 months of my life.  I know I will be thankful when I look back in a couple months and know that I saw everything I possibly could, but right now I am so tired, in every aspect.  I would love for just one day where I do not have run through a city from landmark to landmark, furiously snapping photos, or listen to one more guide explain their city’s history.  That being said, I take it all back.  Because of the tight schedules we operate by I was able to visit 3 beauties today in England; Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Bath. 

Stonehenge looked exactly like the photos, but something about standing before it was indescribable.  I think the coolest aspect is that no one actually knows what it is, so it is a mysterious and eerie experience.  I loved it!  After Stonehenge, we drove a short distance to Salisbury and saw a gorgeous cathedral set in the middle of a small picturesque town.  After that quick stop we headed to our last destination of the day, the charming town of Bath.  There we visited the most well preserved Roman Bath in the world.  It was a cool experience, but I enjoyed seeing the hot spring more than anything.  I have already had a pretty extensive education about the Romans in southern Europe so I knew a good handful of the information already.  We basically sprinted through the rest of Bath with our guide, but at least we go to see it all.  It was a long bus ride back to the hotel but I did not mind it because I got to take a pretty awesome nap!  A pretty great day all in all!

London, England

I will be coming back to London again one day!  There is something about this city that I love but I cannot quite decide what it is.  Maybe it is because they actually speak my language; better yet they can speak it with an awesome accent.  It could be too that everyone is really nice.  London is one of the few cities that I remember having a successful integration of modern architecture into a historically rich city, and because of this the culture is hard to match.

We arrived in London on a high speed train; the train took the Chunnel through the English Channel which sounded really awesome.  The experience ended up just being a really long dark tunnel.  I did not even get to see any water, which I guess is a good thing in this case.  We got off the train around mid-morning to discover that ridiculously cold winds and snow showers were dominating London.  Thankfully most of the tour took place on the bus, but we did our fair share of walking through the city, and yes we froze.  I do not think I will ever get used to walking tours in this kind of weather.

The guide gave us a crash course about everything London and then led us to our hotel.  By this time it was mid-afternoon and none of us had eaten lunch.  So we basically dropped off our luggage and headed out to find something to eat.  Luckily, the coolest little pub was across the street so we just went there.  If I thought food was expensive in Paris, it is even worse here.  It is at least $20 just for a decent meal.  Thank goodness the end of the trip is nearing.  The rest of the evening was filled with laundry and homework.  I think I have reached an all-time low in personal productivity.  It seems I have to work twice as long as I usually do just to accomplish the simplest tasks.  It is the worst!

Yesterday we split up with Les and Rod again and went on separate tours of the city.  Rod and the rest of my group walked pretty much the entire day seeing almost every point of interest within reason.  If you were to pull out a map and point to a famous building or place, I guarantee we went there.  It was a great day, but also exhausting in every way.  I love when we split up as a group because Rod is able to take us to a lot more buildings, and I am sure the landscape architects feel the same way because they are able to spend more time in gardens and public spaces.  I was a bit disappointed throughout the day because for some reason all I wanted to do was shop.  I do not know why because I certainly did not need to spend the money, but we did not have any time at all to shop.  I barely had time to get a sticker.  We were on the move the entire day!

I got about 10 minutes to rest at the hotel before we had to leave again.  I was excited to leave though because Les was able to get us last minute tickets to Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London.  It was so awesome!  To see Phantom of the Opera live has been on my bucket list since 6^th grade when we read it in music class.  It was even better than I could have imagined it.  I could not have dreamed of seeing it here in London in its original theatre, and somehow it happened.  Like I have said before, you never know what you are going to wake up to on this trip.

Paris, France Part 2

Ok before I talk about the past couple days, please excuse me while I go on a rant about public transportation.  Paris has one of the best systems in the world, but personally I think it is the most complicated one, or maybe it is just because I have seen the metro tunnels more than I have seen the city.  Our hotel is located outside the city center pretty far away; therefore, everywhere we go we have to take the metro… or a train… or a bus… or most times any combination of the three.  I appreciate the fact that I could get virtually anywhere in Paris if I wanted to, but it also takes a lot of time and planning to figure out.  And I will spare you all from talking about how expensive it is.  I will say this though; in the past 4 days I have used 2 days-worth of my budget just on transportation.  Paris is nice, but it comes at a high price.  Ok, rant over!

Yesterday began with a group trip to the Palace of Versailles.  It is at the top of the list of the most amazing mansions and gardens in Europe.  So you think that I would have enjoyed it much more than I did.  The main reason I did not enjoy it… the crowds.  There were so many people, almost worse than day 1 of Paris!  It was beautiful for sure, but my experience could have been better.

After Versailles Dan, Devin, and I headed to the city center where we walked around the Arc di Triumph and shopped on one of the most expensive retail streets in Europe.  We all found the gifts we were looking for with little trouble, ate dinner, and headed to see the Eiffel Tower at dusk.  I think I have already talked about how beautiful it is in my last entry.  It was the perfect way to end a great afternoon.

Today we visited one of the most famous museums in the world, The Louvre.  It was as impressive as I thought, and I thoroughly enjoyed I.M. Pei’s pyramid of an entrance.  It is a pretty awesome addition to the museum.  I can say though that I was a little disappointed in the Mona Lisa.  I turned the corner in the museum and saw a huge blank wall with hundreds of people crowded around it.  Upon closer inspection I spotted the small legendary painting just above eye level and immediately chuckled to myself about the size of it.  Most famous artwork is much more impressive in person; the Mona Lisa, however, is not.  I spent the whole morning wandering around the Louvre viewing the best collection of art in the world, and I still cannot really fathom it.  I got lost several times trying to find the Egyptian exhibition.  Sadly, I gave up after a while and never found it. 

This afternoon Rod took the architecture students out to visit Villa Sovoye, probably one of Le Corbusier’s most famous buildings.  It was more than a pain to get out there because we had to take the metro, then a train, and finally a public bus.  As bad as it was getting there, it was one of my favorite places in Paris.  Today I got a whole hour to observe one of the most influential and important houses designed in the 20^th Century.  Again, I am reminded of how incredibly fortunate I am.

Paris, France Part 1

My first impression of Paris was not the best one.  A four hour bus ride Easter morning led us from Brussels to Paris.  I really enjoyed the bus ride because it gave me time to work, think, and just relax.  That time quickly came to an end as our tour of Paris began.  The metro, sidewalks, and streets were packed to capacity because of the Easter holiday.  It was terrible!  The only cool part was that I got to walk through the Sacred Heart Cathedral during Easter Mass.  But also imagine one of the most popular churches in Paris packed with people during Easter.  It was ridiculous, and I do not handle crowds very well.  I headed back to the hotel as soon as possible and tried to get some work done before I completely zonked out for the day.

The next day was much more enjoyable.  Half of the group went with Les, while the rest of us went with Rod on an informal tour of Paris.  It was one of my favorite days so far.  Everyone with us was relaxed and enjoyable the entire day.  We did not have much of a schedule or place to be, we just walked around and saw stuff; actually we saw a lot of stuff.  The day began with a visit to a contemporary church just outside of Paris, and then we worked our way into the city where we saw the Pompidou Center, Parc de la Viollette , Notre Dame Cathdral, and the Eiffel Tower. 

Paris would not be Paris without Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower.  I was going into this city with the mindset that it would not be all that impressive because I have heard that quite a few times, and to be honest I am not all that excited about French culture.  I am happy to tell you that I was pleasantly surprised.  It is not my favorite city by far, however, I had some enjoyable times visiting all the places I have only dreamed about seeing, especially the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame.  After seeing the Eiffel Tower, I can tell you that my respect for it in the architecture world changed.  Before it was just a tower to me, but being there and seeing the intricate details was amazing!  I can definitely understand why it has been an icon from the beginning.  To see it at night is even better because at the top of every hour the entire tower sparkles with lights.  The Eiffel Tower has not seen the last of me!  Notre Dame is just as impressive and original.  Its orientation along the river makes the cathedral one of the most picturesque places in Paris, in my opinion.  I have seen several churches throughout Europe, and Notre Dame is definitely among my favorites.  After the informal tour it was back to the hotel and bedtime for me because it was such an exhausting day. 

Day 2 of Paris was exponentially better than the first day, and for that I am thankful.  I think day 1 was especially hard because it was Easter.  While my family was at home celebrating together I was fighting through crowds and watching my back for pick-pocketing.  It was certainly unpleasant at times but then I stopped and realized how lucky I was to be spending my Easter Sunday in Paris.  It was an awesome feeling, but it still did not stop me from missing my family. <3