TEN DAY

DAY ONE
Today turned out to be an absolutely amazing day. We left the Rome campus at about 5:55pm, got on a bus, and went to Champino airport. There are about 16 of us who went from Rome to Dublin straight away. The plane ride is a little hazy to me, because I slept through most of it. Apparently some woman passed out. It didn’t seem to take too long, and I survived another Ryanair flight.
The Dublin airport is HUGE. Walking through it seemed to take forever. I was in awe of the English and Gaelic signs everywhere. One thing I learned today was that Gaelic or “Irish” as they refer to the language, is taught in schools much like Spanish is taught in American schools (aka DRILLED into the minds of students everywhere, who promptly forget all of it). It is still spoken in the very north and south bits of Ireland. It went a little out of style, and they are trying to bring it back. At Trinity University, they have a dorm where you can speak ONLY Irish.
We checked into our hostel----VERY nice place called the Marlborough Hostel (NOT named after the brand of cigs) and went out to try and find an open bar. We were all thirsty.
We did find one, although I don’t remember the name of it. 10 Euro and two pints later, Denise, Shelsea, Lacy, and I had all made a new friend. His name was Gary (pronounced Gah-ree). He introduced us to some friends of his, and we spent the whole night chatting at Burger King. They like BK a lot in Europe….strange.
That is another thing. PEOPLE ARE SO FRIENDLY HERE. They hear us talking from a distance, pick up on our American accents, and LOVE US IMMEDIATELY.
Gary is a college freshman with braces and skater boy hair. He is a very deep kid and I was impressed. He introduced us to his friends, one of whom is named Fee. I am in LOVE with her name. She and I have the same birthday. By the end of the night we all had our named scribbled on her arm for Facebook purposes. We all just chilled and talked about all things Irish and American. Then we went home. We are SUPPOSED to go out with them tomorrow night, but that is IF she remembers to facebook friend one of us and give us directions to this pub. Hopefully she will, I really like her.
That’s about it for tonight. It is 5am and I am exhausted. CIAO!

DAY TWO
We did NOT get a lot of sleep last night. Waking up this morning was hell, but we managed it. Showered and out the door by 11:30. Went to a souvenir store called Carrols—interesting place for gifts and stuff. Cheap.
We were starving, so we stopped into this small pub for some lunch and a pint. It was only 11am and people were already drinking. Whyyyy am I not surprised!?!?
Men are very forward in this country. They like to come up to you and tell you about how in love with you they are. They aren’t too touchy which is FINE with me. They smell fermented.
Obama is extremely popular. They even have t-shirts with his picture on it. I am keeping my mouth SHUT
After eating, Shelsea and Lacy headed to visit the Guinness Brewery while Denise and I walked around town.
We stopped in at Trinity College, a few stores, walked down the river, etc. We didn’t do a whole lot, really. Mostly, we just took in the city. People watching in Dublin is fantastic.
We did go to the Jamison Whisky Distillery and got a tour. It was fantastic, and I discovered my new drink---yes, it is mine: Jamison and cranberry juice with lime. It rocks. There was a whisky tasting after the tour----I don’t like whisky straight up. We did get a chance to compare Scotch, American, and Irish whiskies. I need to convert my father from Scotch to Jameson—I think he would like it. Another great combo with Jameson is Jameson and ginger ale. Denise declared that one her own. It’s yummy.
We ran into Lacy and Shelsea at the distillery and we all headed out for dinner. Mushrooms and garlic, burgers and chips, and bread pudding……so so cooking. We went out for drinks afterwards (I got my Jameson Cranberry) and, after one drink we headed back home for sleep. We are all zonked. Denise and I walked about two triangles all around the city…whew!!!
Tomorrow, we head to Cork!
CIAO

DAY THREE
Woke up super early and showered at the hostel in Dublin. Went and got some last minute gifts. Had coffee and waited for our bus. Bus ride from Dublin to Cork is lovely—about four hours. Arrived in Cork STAVING. It is a charming small town. We are here for less than 24 hours, and don’t have a lot of time to sightsee. Walked around town. Went to eat REALLY expensive dinner. Went to a pub and had an interesting convo with two drunk Irishmen. They said they love Dallas and that Tony Romo is crap. Denise and I just sort of smiled and nodded and inched away. We saw movie---the couples retreat one. HILARIOUS. Internet not working. Pooh. Sleep time.
Oh yeah, we are in a room with about 7 others---mostly men. When we got here there was a dude taking a nap. We woke him accidentally and he got out of bed wearing NOTHING but some tiny underpants. Ick! Denise thought he was cute. hahaha I love her. Tomorrow, my favorite: LONDON. (groan $$)


DAY FOUR
Woke up in hostel in Cork. Missed breakfast. Missed the bus to the airport by five minutes. Had to wait two hours for the next one. Very boring—there really isn’t much to do in Cork unless you know a local or have more time to research, not to mention more time in the city itself.
Finally left for the airport. Not a lot of time to dawdle. Found a West Cork coffee mug. Made me very happy.
Plane to London about 1.5 hours. Very boring AGAIN.
Once we got to London we had a hell of a time finding our hostel. Had to take train to Victoria station. From Victoria station we had to go to Piccadilly. From there went to Russell Square. Our room has 18 people in it~!!~~ HOLY CRAP. After awhile it smells bad and people snore. *sigh…you get what you pay for, I think.
The beds are like barracks with little curtains pulled over them. I sorta like it with the curtains. The showers are crap. You have to continuously push down on this button thingy for water to come out, so only one handed showers are possible.. ….crapppp.
Ate at this interesting restaurant. We weren’t too hungry so we had olives, hummus, red pepper dip, pita, and chocolate cake. Yum yum! After that we went to a pub and watched the Dallas cowboys play Atlanta. With our Jameson of course.
Spent an hour at the pub trying to convince a group of Austrians on holiday that socialized medicine was a bad idea. They weren’t buying it. I will not even get in to how frustrating that convo went.
I love Europeans.
Came home early. The next two days are going to be jam packed with sightseeing.
I HAVE SPENT A MILLION DOLLARS SINCE I LANDED IN LONDON. This town is expensive…REALLY expensive. I mean….SERIOUSLY EXPENSIVE
Watch out.
I can’t think about it anymore. It’s depressing.
CIAO!!




DAY FIVE
Slept pretty well in the bed with the curtains. We woke up, got dressed, and went to breakfast in the hostel---shockingly we made it on time. Breakfast consisted of toast and a cup of cereal----didn’t quite do it for me, but whatever.
From there we took the tube to the area near the National History and Science Museums were—we made it through the National History one and then had to bail, the lines were too long. There truly is something to be said for the British’s ability to queue. They are REALLLLLYYY good at lining up. Whereas the Italians and the Spaniards (and even the Americans at times) just sort of crowd around an opening, the English really do it properly…..and never once leave their spot in line. Very impressive.
The museum was pretty interesting—lotsa stuff about monkeys and minerals. 
After the museum we walked in the general direction of Harrods, stopping for lunch at this pub. Denise had some bangers and mash—I tried it—it was ok. I had BBQ chicken, mostly because I haven’t had BBQ sauce since early August. The English managed to screw it up of course, but I was starving so I didn’t care. The Brits aren’t really known for their cooking,
Harrods was fantastic, of course. I got some coffee mugs, a magazine, shot glasses, tea, etc. to distribute as gifts (only to a lucky few, as I am poor).
After Harrods we were really sleepy—I think it was the bottle of red we drank at lunch. Anyway, we sort of gave up—we are such sissies. We headed back to the hostel for a nap which turned into a pretty serious snooze..It’s now about 11:30pm. I am going to drag Denise out to a pub for a snack and a drink soon. We need to do something.
CIAO!

DAY SEVEN
Woke up insanely early---3am to shower and check out.
Got on the train. Ate cold crumpets and honey that we got the night before.
Slept.
Got to Paris.
Dumped stuff at the hostel.
The hostel is awesome fyi. It is called St. Christopher’s. It is very clean, there are only girls in our room, the showers are nice, the people who work there are friendly, there is a bar/café downstairs, and it is in a great location. I CANNNOT speak any better of any hostel anywhere.
Went to Eiffel tower. Had a hot dog under that.
Went on a boat tour.
Walked to the Louvre.
Walked around the Louvre.
Saw the Mona Lisa, among other things that we learned about in class back in Rome. It was fun to see these things up close.
After the Louvre we went souvenir shopping. I got yelled at for throwing my water bottle in the trash can of a shop. What the heck!? *sigh, the French….
Went and had some dinner. Got train tickets for 6am tomorrow. I am really not feeling well….
Went back to hostel. Showered. Chatted with English chick and Mexican chick. I had so much fun translating Spanish….that language is so simple!
Went to bed. Still not feeling so hot, which is probably why this entry is getting so choppy….

DAY EIGHT
Woke up super early to catch the train to Brussels. Neither Denise or I is in a good mood. Both of us are tired and I feel really sick. My throat is killing me.
Once we got to Brussels, we walked around the city, got some food, saw all kinds of chocolate EVERYWHERE, including Neuhaus, which made me a little nostalgic. I did not buy any Neuhaus chocolate out of principle, but I did get some Leonidas Chocolate—good stuff.
What is the deal with this peeing boy fountain thingie? It is everywhere!!! I don’t think it is very appealing, but everyone here loves it. There are even chocolate models of it! Maybe I am just ignorant, but I really don’t understand it at all.
The city is really lovely and quaint. The people are friendly and our hostel is SUPER nice. Denise and I have a room to ourselves.
Both of us are feeling icky, so we will go to bed early.
CIAO!

DAY NINE
Getting from Brussels to Munich was hard on us; we are both in pretty bad moods. I think Denise handles frustration of any kind a little differently than I do. She is a little more….um…..vocal about it and lashes out a little more. I hope I didn’t get on her nerves too much.
Needless to say, we both wanted to get to the hostel and chill. Me because I was feeling like crap, and her because she was tired and wanted to see new people.
There is a tradition that Romers meet up at the Hoffbrau House on the last day of ten day if they can. We planned to see who was gonna show up…..EVERYONE DID~!
The first night in Munich was interesting. We walked all over the city center, ate sausages for lunch, ran into some UDers. I went out for some soup with some people really late then went to bed.
The SECOND day in Munich was Halloween. We went to Dachau Concentration camp. It was definitely intense, though not so much as I thought it would be. I didn’t cry, though I was pretty disgusted the entire time I was there. There is a tense feeling about the place. Visited a Russian Orthodox Church (open but mostly roped off) and did some thinking. Conclusion I came to: What a waste of life over something so stupid and unchangeable. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Made me a little angry. Thank God we figured it out. As a population we can be so thick.
Didn’t take any pictures; it didn’t feel right to. Disrespectful, you know?
After the concentration camp we rested a bit, ate some more German food, and went to the Hoffbrau. Everyone was congregated there and getting pretty drunk pretty quickly. I still wasn’t feeling well so I just got a pretzel and a beer or two and decided to chill. Tried to chat with people, but my voice is GONE. Yikes.
About that sickness thing: I went to a “health professional” and she basically looked at me like I was a plague victim while I described to her what was wrong. She said it was probably tonsillitis (AGAIN!) and gave me some stuff. She said I needed these things OUT and did I want to do it in Germany. I bailed.
Will call dad and get that arranged. I am sick of being sick.
Going home soon. I mean…Rome
I am pretty done travelling and ready to not move for awhile.