6/17/11 Its a nouveau day!

wait for it :)

6/16/11 muse-see-ums

Wow so this day sticks out in my head more than most. We started out by going to a chapel, walking around, then to the Pompidou museum. I have never been a huge fan of the architecture of the Pompidou, but I absolutely loved the art inside! I wandered around by myself and was the last one in our group out of there. After a quick lunch we headed to the Louve which was the opposite for me...I enjoy the acrhitecture of the museum more than the outside. It was still spectauclar though. I got to see the Mona Lisa which was tiny, Winged Victory which is just gorgeous, and the famous Aphrodite. It was definitely a tiring day and I could go back to both museums and see things I didn't have time to look at.

6/15/11 Chunnel and the oo la la factor

wow so my blog is broken, wont let me post any pictures or post drafts. I might just create a new one... Well we went on the Chunnel aka channel tunnel, which sounds cooler than it actual is. The only way you know your under water is when your ears start hurting. Once we got to Paris we took our luggae to our cute lil hotel which was actually pretty close to the eiffel tower. My luggage handle broke so it was extremely hard to drag it around the metro station, and up and down stairs. I ate at this pizza place on our street where the workers greet us even if we are walking on the other side of the street before they are even open. I had this cool dessert which was a hallowed out frozen orange with orange sorbet in it. Then we headed over to enjoy a night chillin on the grass by the eiffel tower. There are the illegal street vendors everywhere trying to sell wine, keychains, and these whirly gig toys that light up. Once it got darker the oo la la factor happened! I decided that should be the term for when the eiffel tower lights up and twinkles because everytime it takes your breath away and people all around say oooo! and cheer. After that we headed home.

6/14/11 Last day in London

For our last day in London we went to Kensington Palace, which was really close to where we stayed, and then looked a a lil pattern exhibit. After that we had the rest of the day to do whatever and pack to leave the next morning.



Kensington Palace had this really wacky/creepy exhibit where it shared stories and glimpes of the lives of 7 princesses who have lived there. This was the only room we could take pics in and it had a knitted throne and knitted candle stands with microphones that made your voice sound creepy

I was just outside the Palace enjoying the sun when pidgeons came by me. They wanted a cracker in the grass but it was too big for them to eat so I broke it up with a stick for them. Then I noticed the skinnier one was misssing two toes, and had a gross swollen foot that was shriveled so it walked weird. I felt so bad for it so I shared some crackers with it.

Me feeding the birds, I felt like that lady off of Mary Poppins who sings the toppins song. Oh and the lame bird turned out to be a bully, it would follow and chase other birds away from the food!

When chillin at the Palace a helicopter came down and cops were guarding the area, so naturally I had to go see who the important person was. I never did find out...

The VIP helicopter taking off, the breeze from it felt amazing. Glad my last day there was so gorgeous.

One of the ways they mixed funky peices with the old palace

Saw this building on our way somewhere and I just love it!

Game time! Ok so the game is called Count the Cranes, and well ya you count the cranes...haha for some reason they were all over the place on this day

Beyond awesome astro turf area for people to enjoy there lunches at the National Theatre

Sweet skate park that drops down from the sidewalk and is tucked in under a building

Why?? cuz everyone wants to order food out of a giant seagull i guess haha

6/13/11 leaving me homeland

So this day we caught up on sleep, which only means waking up a bit after 8 30 haha I have gotten used to the early mornings so I just automatically wake up before then...so not like me I know. Maybe knowing all the exciting things I get to do helps me be more of a morning person. But I really couldnt sleep in because I had to make it to the yummy buffet breakfast that came with our rooms each day. They have deliscious pieces of fried waffle with sugar on them that taste like doughnuts. Everyone loves them so I have to make it to the beginning of breakfast to me able to get them :) After that we went clothes shopping for me, and souvineer shopping for the girls i went with. Obviously you can all see where my priorities are...jk :) After the exhausting shopping we ate lunch and then started our journey back to London. Once home practically everyone was so worn out that we just stayed at the flats.

European window displays are so much cooler then U.S. ones, it makes me happy!

Lots of the dressing rooms are alot cooler too.

After spending sooo much time shopping i felt like i needed to buys these... dont worry mom i didnt get the 72 caffeine pills that only cost 2 pounds!

Instead of the shady pills i got a coke to pick me up :) I went so much of the trip without drinking coke but once I caved I keep craving it. ok so i might have a slight cocacola (and H&M) addiction.

Thats right we found pound land! Guess what i bought, 15 lbs to add a lil cush to the tush of course haha jk its just their version of the dollar store. Oh and I actually did gain a few pounds this day cuz we only brought one backpack and Iwent shopping so Ihad no room to bring the stuff I bought on the plane. To make room for it all I had to wear two tank tops, a shirt, two jackets and two pairs of jeans when we left for the airport! Then someone in our group told me this airline allowed a carry on and personal item, so i layered my clothes for nothing haha but it did feel cool instantly gaining like 7 pounds

6/12/11 yer never know what yer gonna see..by the sea eh

This day we had our bus pick us up for a full day of touring stopping at points all up and down the coast of Ireland :) Our old heavy accented driver/guide kept saying "yer never know what yer gonna see...by the sea eh" like over 5 times. But he was right, our adventures that day exceeded my expectations. The weather was pretty nice, not as cold as i expected Ireland to be, but at times it was sooo windy! It took me forever to comb my hair that night, and it was extremely painful.


Near the beginning we passed these mountains, which look like a man lying down. This is the face and was the inspiration for the man who wrote Gulliver's Travels.

A castle we stopped at, The name was really long and hard to remember...sorry

This guy almost shot me down! jk it was weird cuz randomly they would have a random wooden figure where gaurds would have been.

This is the rope bridge I got to cross!

It was so dang windy that I was too scared to take pictures while crossing.

This is on the other side of the bridge and thats me about to take flight

The views up there were so beautiful with birds soaring all around.

Giants Causeway, with tens of thousands of hexagon shaped stones rising up at different levels. They think it was made a volcanic eruption but arent for sure i dont think...hm ok maybe its just me who doesnt know haha

Got so excited that i had an accident!

Chilli con carne! haha thats right i had mexican in ireland... random but oh so satisfying

This is Chiquitos where I ate. I just loved the interior so much :)

The awesome beer bottle chandelier, they had a spoon one too

6/11/11 wee bit of crack and lots of greenery

IRELAND! oh yeaaahhh haha I was so excited to be in ireland even though we were warned it would be wet and cold the entire time. And guess what it wasnt! Only for bits. We arrived and got off the plane from the stair steps onto the pavement which was cool cuz i have never been on a flight that small that usually does that. We then got our bus to the hotel and took a quick tour of the Belfast area. They say wee alot and use crack as a word for laughing so when our guide told us which pubs had a wee bit of crack we were soo confused and laughing haha After that was pub time for dinner, then I was exhausted and went to bed.



While we waited to get checked into the hotel we had lunch at the weekend marketplace. It was so cool, and they had yummy food everywhere. This giant jar of nutella made me smile :)




This is our hotel :) pretty close to the river



On our bus tour they took us to the Peace Line which is a gate put up during the troubles and bombings they had in the 90's it was put up to separate two neighborhoods and gates at each end to control who went through.




The peace line in soo long and covered in graffiti, messages, and murals.



This metal art peice was amazing, and it was sad to see the r.i.p. messages all around.




They colors there were so fun and beautiful. The people their turned something bad into a way to leave a positive message and it also brought tourists into the city.




The Parliment Building with 365 windows, one for each day in the year. Our guide told us to unite and try to work through thinks some ex terrorists and bombers served in the parliment... scary to think about.




The Titanic visitors center thats under construction. i just love the design! And the location is where the Titanic was built.




This is where the Titanic sat, the metal beams at the bottom are the original ones it used to sit on. In the center more near the back is a speck. Thats a human manican to give you a sense of the size. They filled this with water, and the pumps were so strong they could empty 100 million gallons in 100 minutes!




The locals call this the thing with the ring, pretty sure they said it represents peace and thanksgiving.




My room, and way comfy bed :)





At the mall these kids had weird music on and were dancing and chillin on this sculpture thing. This kid was the weirdest haha i cant even start to explain the weird moves he was doing. not to mention his creepy mask and duct tape decorated pants.





The center of the Victoria Square Mall, very cool




Dinner at the pub, It was all very delish!



We shared a few of the desserts but this was the best, it was banoffee, a banana toffeeish delight haha

6/10/11 punting with the blokes and yo sushi!

Tomorrow I have to leave at 5 30 for the airport and will be in Ireland until monday so the blogs will have to wait until i get back. No worries i am not dead, just lazy and dont wanna search for a place with wifi over there. Anyway today I went to Cambridge, so fun and educational! Im too tired to write much more but promise to add more once i get back :)


For now i will only post one pic. They freakin love bikes in Cambridge!

Well night, off to visit another country of my ancestors

6/9/11 trip to the halls

Today we took a train to go see first Haddon Hall then Hardwick Hall. A bunch of us were trying to get off the train but the doors wouldnt open and the train started moving so we had to ride another 10 minutes to the next stop and wait for the train to go the other way again. Now everytime its our stop I will rush to the door!


At Haddon Hall the family emblems are a boars head, and a peacock so thats the reasoning behind the cool hedges.

Entering in the door inside the door :)

Near the front of Haddon Hall, this is in The Princess Bride!!! the part where they announce Princess Buttercup

In the chapel they had the old paintings revealed in some spots

They obviously had a sense of humor at haddon, a down spout of a guy peeing haha and im not making that up, the tour guide told me so

A beautiful charcoal and watercolor theyhave inside.

Love these windows!!! They are angled diamond shapes to force the light to reflect and light up the room better.

It was such a beautiful day, and only sprinkled for a bit :)

Hardwick Hall, The E.S. was all over inside and out

The ruins of the old house which is right next to the new one

Chillin on some ruins surrounded by beautiful green grass and trees :)

Oh how I love the sun!

The Long Gallery...i think the name is pretty self explanatory haha When these rooms were in fashion they were sometimes used to exercise and play games in.

It was pretty dark in the house and no flash photography was allowed but there were lots of lights that threw these beautiful shadows on the ceiling