Ireland...Oh Ireland

My roommate, one of our friends, and Myself decided we should rent a car and drive through Ireland, a place i have always dreamed of going. So we booked our flights, packed our bags and left. Our plans were that we wanted an advenure and we would go with the flow. No real itenerary, just a car, three girls, and peanut butter!

This is the perfect time to explain couch surfing. It's a website where people all over the world make profiles in which they either offer up their couch for a night or two, offer to meet for a coffee when you are visiting their hometown, or even offer to even show you around. My roommates and i all have accounts and have actually had people stay with us. It's a great idea especially when you are a poor college student trying to travel te world.

We arrived in Dublin on Friday and walked around the city in which we took a tram and ate lunch at Temple Bar (a popular square where everyone visits) We did get to see Croke park which is popular for Galeic Football (an interesting sport) and we did see Trinity college though i did not take any pictures of it. But the highlight of our day was the Guinness Factory. It is absoulety huge! i dont remember how many acers it is, but it was a lot. It took us 20 minutes of walking around it to actually find the Storehouse. The Storehouse is 6 floors plus the top gravity bar & sky bar where you can see a beautiful view of Dublin and get a complimentary drink. Walking through we learned how Guinness was made. The four major ingrediants being Barley, Hops, Water, and yeast! Yup doesn't it sound delicious.

After the Storehouse expereince we went and met up with a potential couch surfer. His name was Rory and he is called "Dublinguy"becasue he has hosted hundreds of people from all over the world in his home. It turned out that he had 8 people staying with him that night so he offered a place with one of his friends. The cool thing about couch surfing is that it is community orriented. All the couch surfers know each other and usually monthly or weekly get together. So anyways after meeting some cool people from Scotland, Israel, Greece, and Italy we headed off to Anthony's house. When we ot there, there were about 10 people circled around a dinner table waiting for us. 2 girls from Australlia, a girl from Portuagal, two from france, a guy from Brazil, and 3 from Ireland. It was such a neat expereince to eat dnner with so many people from all over the world. This was one of the highlights of my trip. Anyways after dinner we met up with all the couch surfers and went to a fun Pub. The general energy of the pub was really cool. People were having a good time, some even dressed up. We left the next day and rented the car. The first time driving on the LEft side. IT was quite and expereince!!! Here are some pictures of Dublin!

Marsielles, Avignon, Port Du Gard and Danny and Kat's visit!

Danny and Kat came to visit me for four days and we had a blast. It's the first time that i have actually ate amazing, expensive cheese. I mean the kind that just melts in your mouth. All weekend we ate cheese, bread and wine. Yes i know so cliche!!! I really wish that i had words to explain it, but i don't. It was just that good! The first day we took them to Marseilles and walked around. That night we went to this wine bar that was fantastic. I had the best wine i have ever had with cheese and this absolutely terrific salmon dish.





The next day we went to Avignon and the Port du Gard bridge. Avignon is one of the most visited areas in France. It is where the Pope lived after he was kicked out of Italy. The first picture below is the palace that he and 5 popes proceeding him lived. It was so cold that day because the winds were really harsh, but the town was very hip and it was a lot of fun. After we went to the Port du Gard bridge which was built by the Romans. It was kind of creepy because we sat on the very edge and ate granola. It was such a surreal feeling standing on something so old.













The last day they were here we went hiking on Mount Saint Victoire. It was a 30 minute bus ride though the countryside and it was gorgeous, but freezing! We hiked up and ate some bread and cheese at the top. We actually were going to drink wine too, but we forgott a bottle oppener. So anyways here are some fun pictures from their visit. hope you enjoy.

More Rugby

It's been a few weeks since South Africa beat England in the Rugby world cup, but i wanted to post some pictures of the Semi Finals. It was France vs. England and so we decided to get dressed up and join our French friends in cheering on the Bleus. We ended up sitting at a table with a bunch of English folk just to make the game more interesting. If i would have known the outcome of the game i probably would have sat elsewhere and maybe kept my mouth shut. I actually learned the first two sentences of the French national Anthem, though it did not seem to help. I just have to comment on the incredible atmosphere. It's like nothing i have ever experienced and the commodity among the fans was so warm and friendly. We actually got to the pub three hours before the start of the game just to make sure we got seats. And you know the rule you can't sit at a bar without drinking. So we drank!!! I am not one to drink a lot but in the Spirit of Rugby I couldn't pass up the opportunity. So the outcome was that France lost :( It was heartbreaking! They were ahead pretty much all game and then with 5 minutes left they choked. It was quite unfortunate. The week before when they had beat New Zealand the celebration did not end for hours, but now the energy was so depressing. It was a sad way to end the night, but being a part of the fans was fun.