So tonight was our last night in Dublin. Its bittersweet. We get to see all our friends soon which will be amazing but also, our trip will be over! And no we havent gotten sick of each other yet, we will actually miss being in each others company 24/7 as wierd as it sounds. We have met the most amazing people in Dublin, they have made the last few days of our trip incredible. Dublin is freaking awesome, definitely a place we will come back to some day, we have to go to Galway! Ok the internet is about to fail on me so I must go but anyone who is reading this Im sure you will here our stories another time. Thanks for following our blog!!!
TandC
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Three Course Meal for Breakfast?
Ello! We have just spent a couple of well earned relaxing days in the countryside by the sea in this town called Ballycotton. We went there to meet up with our friend from Corvallis Natalie who is going to the Ballymaloe cooking school (apparently an internationally known program). Halloween was at this tiny bar called the Blackbird, I think everyone from the three villages in the area all came there that night. Theresa and I didnt dress up unfortunately but everyone else did, allthough I liked Theresas idea of wrapping toilet paper around our necks and being toilet paper rolls! The bar closed down eventually and the bartenders decided to go home and leave all the townspeople inside. Now what would you think would happen in Corvallis (or anywhere else for that matter) if bartenders did that? I guess people are trustworthy in tiny villages in Ireland. We had to find a place to stay but of course there are no hostels there so we opted for a B+ B. It was a little pricey but we didnt really have a choice. It ended up being the most comfortable sleeping experience we've had on this trip and the shower was like a massage!( the toilet was scary though) Everyone was really nice but I dont know if they knew what to make of us. We had that moment where we walked in and everyone turned in their seats to gawk at us. They were probably thinking "Who would want to visit our tiny little village?!" The next morning we were invited for lunch at the ballymaloe school (it was breakfast for us) that started with shellfish (mussels, prawns, oysters...) washed down with fresh homemade lemonade. Then onto meat pies, salad picked that day from the organic garden, baked potatoes, broccoli, fresh bread, and pickled cucumber. Dessert was seaweed pudding with coffee and whiskey caramel sauce, carrot cake, lemon cake, chocolate chip cookies, ginger cake, fresh whipped cream and so many other things I cant remember. After eating we realized that we had to walk a couple miles back to Ballycotton. We eventually stumbled back. I think its about eight pm and Im still not hungry. It was nice to see Natalie and if it hadnt have been so expensive we might have stayed longer, alas we find ou rselves in Cork again trying to figure out our next move. Gallaway? Limerick? Who knows! Fun stuff . Only nine days u ntil our return, its bittersweet for sure. But I am not giving up on adventure yet! Oh yeah and we did end up kissing the Blarney Stone only to find out that I guess locals make a game of sneaking up there and pissing on it. What can you do? It was a beautiful place though, very mystical. mm yeah. kk bye!
-ChelsFace
-ChelsFace
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Beards would be convenient
So Chelsea and i have left London, to continuing being its rainy crowded self. It was great to see Canden, again thank you! And thank you to the whole Schwantes family for the gift, i really appreciate it!
We took a plane to Dublin on Saturday and spent a few days exploring the city. Our hostel in Dublin was nice but let me tell you, worst showering experience i have had in a long while, the showers have these little push knobs so the water comes in spurts and you have to keep pushing the button the whole time, plus there is no way to control the temperature. The joy of having hot water was quickly over powered by the fact that our skin was scalding.
We went to the Guinness storehouse one of the days, where we took the tour and got to learn all about the process of making Guinness and the history of the brewery, with a free Guinness at the end (apparently they have a 9000 year lease on the property-9000 years there is some foresight for ya) We saw some cool churches and some really cool buskers on the main streets. We also went to the Jameson distillery where we had real Irish coffee, and Jameson hot chocolate (both delicious!)
Our last night in Dublin we went to the Temple Bar. We had heard a lot about it but it looked pretty small from outside so we had passed by it a few times, but it was our last night so we had to stop in for a quick look around. Turns out it has all these different rooms and live music every night. It was super cool, so a quick look around turned into a full night out, listening to really good live Irish music and sing alongs with the whole bar. It was fantastic.
We have left Dublin for now and are currently in Cork, where it has been constantly misting since we got here. I really don't care though, i love Ireland! Last night we met this cool couple who are also from the states, we ended up talking all night in the bar at our hostel. They told us there are buses everyday that go the Blarney stone so we may end up doing that later today.
Well, off to see more of misty, cold, absolutely awesome Ireland. More later!
Theresa
We took a plane to Dublin on Saturday and spent a few days exploring the city. Our hostel in Dublin was nice but let me tell you, worst showering experience i have had in a long while, the showers have these little push knobs so the water comes in spurts and you have to keep pushing the button the whole time, plus there is no way to control the temperature. The joy of having hot water was quickly over powered by the fact that our skin was scalding.
We went to the Guinness storehouse one of the days, where we took the tour and got to learn all about the process of making Guinness and the history of the brewery, with a free Guinness at the end (apparently they have a 9000 year lease on the property-9000 years there is some foresight for ya) We saw some cool churches and some really cool buskers on the main streets. We also went to the Jameson distillery where we had real Irish coffee, and Jameson hot chocolate (both delicious!)
Our last night in Dublin we went to the Temple Bar. We had heard a lot about it but it looked pretty small from outside so we had passed by it a few times, but it was our last night so we had to stop in for a quick look around. Turns out it has all these different rooms and live music every night. It was super cool, so a quick look around turned into a full night out, listening to really good live Irish music and sing alongs with the whole bar. It was fantastic.
We have left Dublin for now and are currently in Cork, where it has been constantly misting since we got here. I really don't care though, i love Ireland! Last night we met this cool couple who are also from the states, we ended up talking all night in the bar at our hostel. They told us there are buses everyday that go the Blarney stone so we may end up doing that later today.
Well, off to see more of misty, cold, absolutely awesome Ireland. More later!
Theresa
Saturday, October 24, 2009
I can't Believe It's not Australian!
Chelsea here, So our Aussie friends left us a few days ago and we havent really known what to do with ourselves since then. London is interesting for sure, I am looking forward to not almost getting hit by cars every time I cross the street. But its just kind of cold and wet here (like home!) and its very big. Theresa's cousin Canden was really great and since we could finally sleep in, we did. A lot. we also watched a couple movies which we havent done since we were back in Oregon. We needed that time to just chill though. We were kicked out yesterday and in an effort to save money we decided to walk to our hostel at Hyde Park. Mostly I just hate the tube, with a firey passion. So with our massive packs on our backs, and smaller ones in our arms, we trekked out into the cool night air with our maps in hand. Eventually we took refuge under a tree in the park, our feet and back aching. We contimplated sleeping there but then we thought of the free breakfast in the morning and heaved ourselves up. (it ended up being that we had gross tea and white bread with fake butter and jam, they snatched the cereal off the table before we had a chance to have any) Finally we made it, our last night in London was uneventful, we watched crappy music videos in the lobby and then went to bed. But we are both geared up for Ireland! two minutes left on the computer so Im signing off.
-cwhip
-cwhip
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Is is Paris? Is It Amsterdam?...No...It's SPACE PICKLE!
Theresa Here-
So the "reliable" internet has arrived and i though i would take this opportunity to write a few little things about Amsterdam, even though Chelsea and I are not there anymore, and may not get to go back as we originally planned. Amsterdam deserves its own post i think.
So to recap a little on how we got to Amsterdam- We met two girls from Australia, Katie and Nicole, in Rome. They were heading to Paris and then on to Amsterdam. We thought we would go to Switzerland, Germany and then Amsterdam, but somehow on their last night in Rome they had us clanking our glasses together promising to meet them in Paris. So we did, we spent our last night in Rome in the creepy nun hostel and then hopped on a last minute plane to Paris.
Our Paris hostel was not quite as creepy, just sort of reminded me of a boat a little, but that didn't matter because we really didn't spend anytime there. We met up with Nicole and Katie and walked around Paris, my knees were hating me by the end. We saw a few random sights, and then of course the Eiffel Tower, where we had a lovely picnic of cheese bread and wine and watched the lights. ( The Eiffle Tower gets lit up with red and white lights at night, it has this sort of search light at the top, and for a few minutes after dusk it lights up with flashing white lights all up and down the Tower, very cool.)
After Paris we caught a train to Amsterdam, and then of course we were in Amsterdam.
Soooo Amsterdam....was amazing, besides the fact that all four of us could not feel our feet (or hands or arms or faces) for 90% of the time, due to the ridiculously cold weather we encountered there, we all loved it. The people there were all so nice and everyone rides bikes. The best part about the bikes are the sort of family bikes. They have little seats on the front and back of the bikes or a sort of wheel barrel things on the front that kids ride in. Like the mini van of bikes. Pretty cool (and a little weird). We stayed in a pretty laid back hostel that we booked ahead of time (for really cheap) turns out they messed up and gave us a private room for the four of us with our own bathroom for the same price, we kept our mouths shut! We spent alot of time wandering around, went to a few museums saw a lot a bridges, found a neat little market. The house of Bols and the Anne Frank House were both really interesting.
One of the first nights we were there we stumbled upon (and by stumble i mean spent twenty minutes walking around in circles looking for) a cheap, cozy out of the way pub. We thought we would just stop in to get warm, but we started talking to some of the people and the bar tender convinced us to come out with him after the pub closed. I have no idea what the Pub was called but the bar tenders name was Bryan, so for the remander of our time in amsterdam we just called in Bryans Pub. It was our temporary local.
The time passed to fast, Amsterdam is by far one of my favorite places now. But we had to get to London so Katie and Nicole could catch there flight home. That is where we are now, and will be for a few more days, then on to Ireland!
T
So the "reliable" internet has arrived and i though i would take this opportunity to write a few little things about Amsterdam, even though Chelsea and I are not there anymore, and may not get to go back as we originally planned. Amsterdam deserves its own post i think.
So to recap a little on how we got to Amsterdam- We met two girls from Australia, Katie and Nicole, in Rome. They were heading to Paris and then on to Amsterdam. We thought we would go to Switzerland, Germany and then Amsterdam, but somehow on their last night in Rome they had us clanking our glasses together promising to meet them in Paris. So we did, we spent our last night in Rome in the creepy nun hostel and then hopped on a last minute plane to Paris.
Our Paris hostel was not quite as creepy, just sort of reminded me of a boat a little, but that didn't matter because we really didn't spend anytime there. We met up with Nicole and Katie and walked around Paris, my knees were hating me by the end. We saw a few random sights, and then of course the Eiffel Tower, where we had a lovely picnic of cheese bread and wine and watched the lights. ( The Eiffle Tower gets lit up with red and white lights at night, it has this sort of search light at the top, and for a few minutes after dusk it lights up with flashing white lights all up and down the Tower, very cool.)
After Paris we caught a train to Amsterdam, and then of course we were in Amsterdam.
Soooo Amsterdam....was amazing, besides the fact that all four of us could not feel our feet (or hands or arms or faces) for 90% of the time, due to the ridiculously cold weather we encountered there, we all loved it. The people there were all so nice and everyone rides bikes. The best part about the bikes are the sort of family bikes. They have little seats on the front and back of the bikes or a sort of wheel barrel things on the front that kids ride in. Like the mini van of bikes. Pretty cool (and a little weird). We stayed in a pretty laid back hostel that we booked ahead of time (for really cheap) turns out they messed up and gave us a private room for the four of us with our own bathroom for the same price, we kept our mouths shut! We spent alot of time wandering around, went to a few museums saw a lot a bridges, found a neat little market. The house of Bols and the Anne Frank House were both really interesting.
One of the first nights we were there we stumbled upon (and by stumble i mean spent twenty minutes walking around in circles looking for) a cheap, cozy out of the way pub. We thought we would just stop in to get warm, but we started talking to some of the people and the bar tender convinced us to come out with him after the pub closed. I have no idea what the Pub was called but the bar tenders name was Bryan, so for the remander of our time in amsterdam we just called in Bryans Pub. It was our temporary local.
The time passed to fast, Amsterdam is by far one of my favorite places now. But we had to get to London so Katie and Nicole could catch there flight home. That is where we are now, and will be for a few more days, then on to Ireland!
T
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Is that a baguette in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
These are our two aussie friends Katie and Nicole! We had a lovely picnic under the Eiffel Tower with them, yay! They really made our Paris experience awesome...
This is a picture of Theresa in our creepy-tastic nun room in Rome. Complete with thunder, lightning and deafening sirens at 5 in the morning. We thought we were going to die.
This is us with our fellow Corvallisite Ky!!! Its not as wierd if you werent there but he lived in Corvallis for eight years and we even have mutual friends, what a small world!
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