In case anyone over here missed the move last month, this blog now exists in a new home.
Check it out at www.mandylivinglife.com!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Saturday, October 26, 2013
What I'm Loving - October 2013
I'm loving all the new episodes of Parenthood, Survivor, 19 Kids, and The Biggest Loser. Gotta love TV shows in the fall.
And speaking of TV shows, I'm loving the song that Howard sang for Bernadette on this week's episode of the Big Ban Theory:
I'm loving this fall weather. I've been enjoying sitting out on my back porch reading a book and sipping a drink while I pretend that there isn't yard work I could be doing.
I'm loving that the final book in the Divergent trilogy just came out. Earlier this year I intentionally stopped halfway through the 2nd book because I was afraid that there would be a cliffhanger at the end of it. This past weekend I decided to start at the very beginning and stayed up late into the night plowing through 500 pages because I just couldn't stop. I love devouring a good book.
I'm loving Arizona sunsets. I drive west to get home from work, and it's the time of year where the sun is just setting during my evening commute. Arizona sunsets are one of my favorite things about living in this state.
I'm loving that Desert Sun did a country western night for one of our youth group meetings. Check out the line dancing:
Monday, October 21, 2013
Tips for Traveling in Europe
NOTE: My blog has moved! View this post on my new blog at: http://www.mandylivinglife.com/tips-for-traveling-in-europe/
While planning my trip to Europe I read a countless number of websites for tips and advice. I enjoy planning the logistics of a trip almost as much as the trip itself, so I greatly enjoy this kind of thing. Since getting back from my trip I've had a lot of people ask me if I have any advice and/or things that I'd do differently, so I thought I'd compile a list. It'll probably benefit me when I plan my next trip more than it will benefit anyone else, but here it is.
There are a lot of common travel tips that you can find online, but these are some less obvious ones as well as the ones that really stuck out to me.
Have a chip & pin credit card - I wish I had paid more attention to these prior to my trip. All of the card readers in the UK are the type where you hold your credit card's chip up to the reader instead of swiping your magnetic strip through it. You can still swipe, but it's apparently an uncommon thing considering how many cashiers were surprised when I wanted to. I also wasn't able to rent a bike in Dublin because the self-serve kiosk only worked with cards that have a chip in them.
Make sure your credit card has a 0% foreign transaction fee - Even though my credit card wasn't a chip & pin card, it did serve me well and I used it whenever I was paying for larger amounts (like hostels or transportation) so that I didn't have to keep large amounts of currency on me at all times.
Get a Schwab debit card - I did my research before leaving on my trip and thought that I'd be able to find ATMs that were partnered with my bank (which is Bank of America) and thus avoid the ATM fees. It turned out to be more difficult than I thought to locate the correct ATMs when I wanted them.
Schwab has a debit card that waives all ATM fees worldwide and I wish that I'd had one while on my trip. I already had a brokerage account with them, so it was a piece of cake to add the debit card. This will be my debit card for all future travels.
Lodging
Plan all of your lodging in advance - This might not be as big of a deal for some people, but for me I only wanted to stay in all female rooms at hostels, and those weren't always available last minute. I don't regret booking any of them in advance and it was one less thing to worry about during the trip. Some people would say that not having reservations creates more flexibility, but I'd rather not spend my travel time trying to book a hostel.
Use that smartphone
Other than bringing your passport and money, the most important thing you can bring with you is your smartphone. If you don't have one, borrow a tablet or an old smartphone from someone. I never bothered with getting a data plan while I was there, instead I just used wifi the entire time and it worked out well.
Starbucks is the gold standard of free wifi - Most places, even fast food joints, will have wifi. However, a lot of them require sending a code via text message in order to use their wifi. Since I didn't have a data plan and thus didn't have a local phone number, I could never use the wifi at those places. Most mom & pop shops will have open wifi and every Starbucks I went to (or stood nearby) had wifi that was easy to get onto.
Text US numbers using Google Voice - It's free to get a Google Voice phone number and you can turn on texting for that number for free as well. Having this meant that I was able to text people at home whenever I had a wifi connection. I did this from both my computer and my phone. Even with a data plan, I'd still text using this method to save myself from texting from an international number.
TripIt - I love this app. It takes all of your reservations (flights, hotels, tours) and organizes them into chronological order in a really easy to view fashion. I don't use TripIt for shorter trips, but my trip to Europe involved numerous different flights and hotel bookings, so having those reference numbers handy on my phone was great.
I used the website as I planned the trip, and then the app on my phone to view the info during the trip. The app downloads everything so you'll have access to your confirmation numbers offline and it brings up the one you're most likely to need presently when you open the app.
Spotify - This isn't really travel advice, but I'll throw it in there. I use Spotify on a daily basis and pay the $10 a month to have Premium. This allows me to download music to my phone, so I loaded up my phone with music before the trip and used it the entire time without ever needing an internet connection. Plus I could create new playlists on the go to fit my mood.
Currency converter app - If you don't enjoy doing math in your head, having one of these apps already downloaded to your phone can be handy.
Navigating
Use Google Maps offline feature - Using the Google Maps app on your phone you can download chunks of maps to your phone so that they work in offline mode. You won't be able to search for places on the map without an internet connection, but you can zoom around on the map and use the GPS on your phone to pinpoint where you are if you get confused. I always downloaded enough of each city to cover the areas that I planned to go to.
Have step-by-step directions for travel days - I had a note in Evernote the had my own step-by-step directions from each airport/train station/whatever to the hostel that I was staying at. I did this for my own piece of mind, but I was grateful that I always had an easy plan of attack upon arriving at a new place. When you have all of your luggage with you is not when you want to be confused about which bus to get on. I also printed a hard copy just in case something happened to my phone, and I kept that copy in the outside pocket of my backpack. Use the advice on the hostel's actual website in addition to Google Maps to help make the best step-by-step directions.
Packing Tips
Use packing cubes - I used these for the first time on this trip and I'm in love with them. I know they probably sound over the top to most people, but I will never go on another long trip without them. They're particularly useful for trips where you move from place to place a lot. I have the eBags ones and I like using multiple of the small size instead of using the medium or large ones, but that's just me.
Bring a toiletry bag with a hook - Most hostels don't have a lot of space to set your stuff down, so being able to hang your bag onto something is handy and keeps your bag from ending up on the (potentially wet) floor.
Misc
Keep a daily log of what you did that day - I quickly found everything blurring together in my mind, so at the end of each day I'd create a note in Evernote and jot down a quick list of what I did that day. It's fun to look back on and helpful for scrapbooking/blogging after the trip.
If You're Not An Idiot
Do buy an actual waterPROOF jacket, not a water resistant one. I'm serious people, this one is important.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
{Northern Ireland} Belfast
The last city in my trek around Ireland was Belfast, which is actually up in Northern Ireland. When I initially started exploring my options for places to visit in Europe I was a bit clueless about the history of Northern Ireland. In fact, I didn't even realize that it is actually a different country from Ireland. Clueless me. When it eventually came time to make firms plans and actually book my flights, I decided to include two days in Northern Ireland. I almost scratched the whole idea after talking to a co-worker from Galway who warned me that going to Belfast in July might be a bad idea because of political issues that were going to be happening around that time. As the trip approached I was prepared to cancel my flight from Belfast to Edinburgh and just fly out of Dublin if need be. But in the end, I got a green light from my co-worker and Belfast stayed on my list of destinations.
Needless to say, I was a tiny bit apprehensive when I headed to Belfast, but in the end I'm really glad that it was a stop during my trip.
My cheapest option for getting to Belfast from Dublin ended up being a train, and since trains aren't a common thing in my everyday life, I was all over that. And this wasn't just any old train like in England, this train actually gives you an assigned seat and there's a little card with your name on it above your seat. I'd never experienced that before, so I thought it was pretty cool.
As previously mentioned, in Dublin I stayed at a ultra modern and trendy mega hostel. In Belfast I stayed in a really small hostel, and it was by far the quirkiest of the ones I've visited. But it also had the best staff and by far the most personal service of any hostel I've stayed at. There was one 6 bed room that was their all female room and I met some of the nicest women during the two nights that I stayed in that room.
One of the cool things about this hostel was the fact that you could see Queen's University across the street. The first thing I did was wonder around the campus a bit and then took a nice long walk with my iPod through the bordering Belfast Botanic Gardens, which was absolutely stunning. I was not in a picture taking mood that day, so I'm afraid I don't have any good pictures that show the true beauty of the place.
My original plan had been to go to the Titanic Museum since I'd heard such good things about it, but due to the distance from my hostel and the closing time of the museum, the manager of the hostel recommended skipping it in order to fit in some other things instead. I'm glad that I took the time to leisurely enjoy the garden because I ended up loving it. On the edge of the Botanic Gardens is the Ulster Museum, which is an awesome museum with a ton of different exhibits and displays. Like most UK museums it was free, and the layout was pretty cool. The entire museum was designed to be taken in from top to bottom and you rotated around and down in a circular route.
Despite not being a museum person, I spent quite a bit of time wondering around in this one.
By far the coolest thing about the Ulster Museum was the fact that I learned about the history of Ireland and the history of Northern Ireland. More importantly, I understood the history of the conflict between the two. One of the exhibits, The Troubles, was specifically about that and had an almost eerie feel to it. It gave me a similar feeling to the one I had during the last part of my time at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC.
What hit me more than anything else was that so many of the dates on the displays were during my lifetime. These events were recent history... and that caught me off guard for some reason.
There were multiple times while I was in Europe where I would see a TV turned to a news station and there would be happenings from the US on there. It always surprised me how in tune other countries are to what's going on in America. Those were always a great reminder to me to pay attention to what was going on in the country that I was in, which I think can be one of the coolest parts about experiencing a new country.
As I was walking back to my hostel after visiting the museum I came across a row of townhouses with painted doors that were almost in Awana order, so of course I Instagrammed it.
I also wondered around in downtown Belfast and explored the shopping. For some reason I found it highly amusing that they had a Pound World. In our terms that would be Everything $1.5!
After dinner I asked the manager at my hostel for recommendations for a pub with real Irish music. I went to a place called Fibber Maggees, and while it was authentically Irish, the live music just didn't compare to the band I'd gotten to listen to in Galway. I guess now I'm picky about my Irish music.
The second day of my stay in Belfast consisted of me taking a bus tour in order to get to see some of the countryside. Sadly this bus tour was a lot more packed than the two I did in Galway and half of the bus seemed to be a group traveling together who didn't seem to want to talk to anyone outside of their group. Boo.
But nonetheless, I took the opportunity to soak up the beautiful Irish countryside since I knew this was my last day in the country.
One of our stops was the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, which I enjoyed quite a bit and I only found it a tiny bit unnerving. The steps you take to get down to the rope bridge scared me more than the bridge itself.
See those little people out there in the distance? That's where you end up once you go across the rope bridge. It was quite a hike from the parking area.
I was out on the little "island" enjoying looking around and taking pictures for about three minutes before it started to pour. Irish weather at it's finest. This was the day that I found out that my new jacket was water resistant, not waterPROOF. Yes, there's a huge difference. As I was making the trek back to the gift shop and parking area I could feel the water soaking through my shirt and pretty soon I was soaked through.
When we stopped for lunch I ended up eating with a few tourists from my bus who were studying in Dublin. They were all from the US doing a study abroad program for a year and while they were there they wanted to see more of Ireland, so they'd decided to spend the weekend in Belfast. We all commiserated over our wet jeans and lack of a change of clothes while they told me about the program they were doing.
The main stop of the tour was the Giant's Causeway. There's an Irish story about a giant that gave the place the name it has now, but basically it's a bunch of basalt columns that are a result of volcanic activity. Before going I didn't understand why it was such a noted place to visit, but after going I realized how cool it was. It's definitely unique and I can't think of another place quite like it.
And the best way to dry out soaking wet jeans? High speed wind! It was crazy windy while we were at the causeway and by the time I ended up going inside the tourist center at the end my jeans had dried out from the wind. It was quite a hike in order to see everything, so I spent plenty of time in the wind.
I ended my last day in Ireland by picking up a pizza on my way back to the hostel and enjoyed hanging out with some people in the dining room and then with some of the girls up in our room later that night.
I had pizza in each of the countries I visited on this trip and the pepperoni always tasted different. In England it tasted like ham, in Scotland it tasted like a mix of spices, and in Ireland it just tasted sweet. Now it's my goal to try pepperoni pizza in more European countries just to see what it tastes like.
Needless to say, I was a tiny bit apprehensive when I headed to Belfast, but in the end I'm really glad that it was a stop during my trip.
My cheapest option for getting to Belfast from Dublin ended up being a train, and since trains aren't a common thing in my everyday life, I was all over that. And this wasn't just any old train like in England, this train actually gives you an assigned seat and there's a little card with your name on it above your seat. I'd never experienced that before, so I thought it was pretty cool.
As previously mentioned, in Dublin I stayed at a ultra modern and trendy mega hostel. In Belfast I stayed in a really small hostel, and it was by far the quirkiest of the ones I've visited. But it also had the best staff and by far the most personal service of any hostel I've stayed at. There was one 6 bed room that was their all female room and I met some of the nicest women during the two nights that I stayed in that room.
One of the cool things about this hostel was the fact that you could see Queen's University across the street. The first thing I did was wonder around the campus a bit and then took a nice long walk with my iPod through the bordering Belfast Botanic Gardens, which was absolutely stunning. I was not in a picture taking mood that day, so I'm afraid I don't have any good pictures that show the true beauty of the place.
My original plan had been to go to the Titanic Museum since I'd heard such good things about it, but due to the distance from my hostel and the closing time of the museum, the manager of the hostel recommended skipping it in order to fit in some other things instead. I'm glad that I took the time to leisurely enjoy the garden because I ended up loving it. On the edge of the Botanic Gardens is the Ulster Museum, which is an awesome museum with a ton of different exhibits and displays. Like most UK museums it was free, and the layout was pretty cool. The entire museum was designed to be taken in from top to bottom and you rotated around and down in a circular route.
Despite not being a museum person, I spent quite a bit of time wondering around in this one.
By far the coolest thing about the Ulster Museum was the fact that I learned about the history of Ireland and the history of Northern Ireland. More importantly, I understood the history of the conflict between the two. One of the exhibits, The Troubles, was specifically about that and had an almost eerie feel to it. It gave me a similar feeling to the one I had during the last part of my time at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC.
What hit me more than anything else was that so many of the dates on the displays were during my lifetime. These events were recent history... and that caught me off guard for some reason.
There were multiple times while I was in Europe where I would see a TV turned to a news station and there would be happenings from the US on there. It always surprised me how in tune other countries are to what's going on in America. Those were always a great reminder to me to pay attention to what was going on in the country that I was in, which I think can be one of the coolest parts about experiencing a new country.
As I was walking back to my hostel after visiting the museum I came across a row of townhouses with painted doors that were almost in Awana order, so of course I Instagrammed it.
I also wondered around in downtown Belfast and explored the shopping. For some reason I found it highly amusing that they had a Pound World. In our terms that would be Everything $1.5!
After dinner I asked the manager at my hostel for recommendations for a pub with real Irish music. I went to a place called Fibber Maggees, and while it was authentically Irish, the live music just didn't compare to the band I'd gotten to listen to in Galway. I guess now I'm picky about my Irish music.
The second day of my stay in Belfast consisted of me taking a bus tour in order to get to see some of the countryside. Sadly this bus tour was a lot more packed than the two I did in Galway and half of the bus seemed to be a group traveling together who didn't seem to want to talk to anyone outside of their group. Boo.
But nonetheless, I took the opportunity to soak up the beautiful Irish countryside since I knew this was my last day in the country.
One of our stops was the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, which I enjoyed quite a bit and I only found it a tiny bit unnerving. The steps you take to get down to the rope bridge scared me more than the bridge itself.
See those little people out there in the distance? That's where you end up once you go across the rope bridge. It was quite a hike from the parking area.
I was out on the little "island" enjoying looking around and taking pictures for about three minutes before it started to pour. Irish weather at it's finest. This was the day that I found out that my new jacket was water resistant, not waterPROOF. Yes, there's a huge difference. As I was making the trek back to the gift shop and parking area I could feel the water soaking through my shirt and pretty soon I was soaked through.
When we stopped for lunch I ended up eating with a few tourists from my bus who were studying in Dublin. They were all from the US doing a study abroad program for a year and while they were there they wanted to see more of Ireland, so they'd decided to spend the weekend in Belfast. We all commiserated over our wet jeans and lack of a change of clothes while they told me about the program they were doing.
The main stop of the tour was the Giant's Causeway. There's an Irish story about a giant that gave the place the name it has now, but basically it's a bunch of basalt columns that are a result of volcanic activity. Before going I didn't understand why it was such a noted place to visit, but after going I realized how cool it was. It's definitely unique and I can't think of another place quite like it.
And the best way to dry out soaking wet jeans? High speed wind! It was crazy windy while we were at the causeway and by the time I ended up going inside the tourist center at the end my jeans had dried out from the wind. It was quite a hike in order to see everything, so I spent plenty of time in the wind.
I ended my last day in Ireland by picking up a pizza on my way back to the hostel and enjoyed hanging out with some people in the dining room and then with some of the girls up in our room later that night.
I had pizza in each of the countries I visited on this trip and the pepperoni always tasted different. In England it tasted like ham, in Scotland it tasted like a mix of spices, and in Ireland it just tasted sweet. Now it's my goal to try pepperoni pizza in more European countries just to see what it tastes like.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
4 Years of Homeownership
Four years ago I was a girl who could hang pictures and curtain rods, plunge a toilet, and replace a light fixture. Anything other than that and I simply called the maintenance guys.
Four years ago today (October 9th) I signed a huge pile of paperwork, wrote a massive check, and entered the world of home ownership. Since then I've tackled numerous homeowner-ish tasks and acquired the essentials like a ladder, a drill and a full toolbox. Being a homeowner can be a big learning experience, and I would say that buying a foreclosure increases the experience significantly.
Some of the things I've dealt with - oftentimes by calling a handyman, but sometimes on my own - since purchasing a house:
If you'd told me four years ago that I would have gone through all of the things I listed above, I would have assumed that I would regret buying a house. However, it's quite the opposite. Not only do I have a decent amount of equity in my house now, I also have a ton of experience dealing with house related projects. Some of them were fun, like painting an accent wall or picking new tile for the bathroom floors. Other were stressful and terribly timed, like the water heater incident. And some of them were more about me dealing with hiring people to do a job, but I consider those experiences to be learning experiences as well. They all add up to me being a homeowner, and I wouldn't go back and change my decision if I had the chance.
There have been a lot of fun things that have happened in my house that make for great memories. Simple things like practicing with my quiz team every week in my living room, to hosting numerous parties for various social circles, to watching an orphaned ministry get back on it's feet again as everyone gathered in my living room, I feel very blessed to have a home that's capable of hosting people.
Who knows what will happen to house values in the near future, or what other surprises are in store for me, but I'm excited to continue down this road. Except for the weeds that are threatening to take over again...I could live without those.
Three things I've learned:
Four years ago today (October 9th) I signed a huge pile of paperwork, wrote a massive check, and entered the world of home ownership. Since then I've tackled numerous homeowner-ish tasks and acquired the essentials like a ladder, a drill and a full toolbox. Being a homeowner can be a big learning experience, and I would say that buying a foreclosure increases the experience significantly.
 |
| October 2009 |
Some of the things I've dealt with - oftentimes by calling a handyman, but sometimes on my own - since purchasing a house:
- Replacing leaky valves (the washer valve, the kitchen sink, the master bath sink, the hot water heater valve, etc).
- Comparing, pricing and eventually buying numerous appliances.
- Snaking a drain all by myself (no maintenance guys anymore!). The previous owners had black hair I found out.
- Frozen pipes (yes, in Phoenix).
- Learning how not to panic when an old faucet handle breaks off in the full "On" position with the sink not draining properly (hint: there are valves under the sink and there's no need to run outside to turn the water off to the entire house *coughs*).
- Replacing the AC unit after numerous other (expensive) problems with it.
- Partial bathroom remodel (new vanity with granite tile countertop, mirror, light fixture & replacing the carpeting with tile).
- Hot water heater replacement (think gushing water a few hours before I was going to host a high school girls sleepover).
- Rogue tree limbs after storms (both mine and the neighbors).
- The most resilient weeds on the planet (I'm only exagerating a little).
- Installing and wiring a new ceiling fan (every bedroom and living area except the master bedroom already had a ceiling fan - someone explain that to me).
- Installing a new garage door & opener.
- A hail storm - who saw that one coming? I got a new roof, two new windows, new wood for the side gate, and a new back door out of that massive insurance claim.
- My house being broken into. My first ever home insurance claim followed by me adding multiple security enhancements to the house.
- The ongoing war against the pigeons who think my front porch is theirs.
- Removing Tiki man.
- And numerous other projects...
If you'd told me four years ago that I would have gone through all of the things I listed above, I would have assumed that I would regret buying a house. However, it's quite the opposite. Not only do I have a decent amount of equity in my house now, I also have a ton of experience dealing with house related projects. Some of them were fun, like painting an accent wall or picking new tile for the bathroom floors. Other were stressful and terribly timed, like the water heater incident. And some of them were more about me dealing with hiring people to do a job, but I consider those experiences to be learning experiences as well. They all add up to me being a homeowner, and I wouldn't go back and change my decision if I had the chance.
There have been a lot of fun things that have happened in my house that make for great memories. Simple things like practicing with my quiz team every week in my living room, to hosting numerous parties for various social circles, to watching an orphaned ministry get back on it's feet again as everyone gathered in my living room, I feel very blessed to have a home that's capable of hosting people.
Who knows what will happen to house values in the near future, or what other surprises are in store for me, but I'm excited to continue down this road. Except for the weeds that are threatening to take over again...I could live without those.
Three things I've learned:
- Home ownership is not for the faint of heart.
- Houses eat up money like nothing else.
- The learning experience and pride of homeownership is much greater than I ever imagined.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
{Ireland} Dublin
As I was planning my trip to Europe I was most excited about visiting Ireland. And of all the cities in Ireland, I was most excited about Dublin. Oddly enough, looking back I would say that Dublin ended up being my least favorite city of the entire trip. I found it dirty and rundown, and the down economy of Ireland seemed most evident in Dublin. That being said, I know quite a few people who absolutely love Dublin and would want to live there, so it might just be me. It also didn't help that my one full day in Dublin was the day where my cold was at it's worst.
In total, I spent a day and a half in Dublin. After dropping my stuff off at my hostel I made my way to the Guinness Storehouse to be a classic tourist and take the tour. I've already learned quite a bit about how beer is made in the past, so the tour wasn't incredibly informative for me, but it is very well done.
Included with the tour you can either have a free pint of Guinness in the Sky Bar (the top floor room with 360 degrees of floor to ceiling windows and great views) OR you can get a free pint by taking a lesson on how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. I opted to go up to the Sky Bar since I thought it would be cool to get a good view of Dublin, especially because I was still trying to get the lay of the land.
Since I was there on a quieter day in the middle of the afternoon, and since I hadn't redeemed my free pint yet, they told me I could go do the Perfect Pint class as well, so I ended up going back downstairs to get my pint there. There's a very exact process to pouring a pint of Guinness..let me tell you.
That pint of Guinness was actually my first pint ever of the stuff, so I can't tell you if it actually tastes better in Ireland than it does at home. I've been told that it does.
After The Guinness tour I explored Dublin for a couple of hours just to see what was around. I knew I'd go check out Trinity College and some of the things in that area the next day, so I didn't worry about hitting any of those sites during my first afternoon. It was at that point that I realized that Dublin just doesn't do much for me. I can wonder around aimlessly in London and enjoy every minute of it, but in Dublin I just wasn't intrigued for some reason.
During my full day in Dublin I went on a walking tour of Trinity College and then got to see the library and finally, the Book of Kells. The walking tour was great and the tour guide was funny, so I enjoyed that. The Trinity College library is something that appeals to a library lover like myself, but the Book of Kells was a bit of a letdown to me.
One thing that I will say about Dublin is that it does have some great options for shopping. Both Grafton street and the mall there were fantastic and I enjoyed spending time in both of those places.
Something that I learned with the hostel in Dublin is that the mega-hostels can potentially be really annoying when there are large groups staying there. There was a group of high school students from Sweden who were making tons of noise in the hallways at all hours of the night. I've learned that smaller hostels can be much more peaceful and homey. Although the hostel in Dublin was very modern and had individual outlets and lights built into the headboards, so features like that can be nice.
As it turns out, the smallest hostel I stayed in was the one I was headed to next, so the contrast was heightened. More on that next!
In total, I spent a day and a half in Dublin. After dropping my stuff off at my hostel I made my way to the Guinness Storehouse to be a classic tourist and take the tour. I've already learned quite a bit about how beer is made in the past, so the tour wasn't incredibly informative for me, but it is very well done.
Included with the tour you can either have a free pint of Guinness in the Sky Bar (the top floor room with 360 degrees of floor to ceiling windows and great views) OR you can get a free pint by taking a lesson on how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. I opted to go up to the Sky Bar since I thought it would be cool to get a good view of Dublin, especially because I was still trying to get the lay of the land.
Since I was there on a quieter day in the middle of the afternoon, and since I hadn't redeemed my free pint yet, they told me I could go do the Perfect Pint class as well, so I ended up going back downstairs to get my pint there. There's a very exact process to pouring a pint of Guinness..let me tell you.
That pint of Guinness was actually my first pint ever of the stuff, so I can't tell you if it actually tastes better in Ireland than it does at home. I've been told that it does.
After The Guinness tour I explored Dublin for a couple of hours just to see what was around. I knew I'd go check out Trinity College and some of the things in that area the next day, so I didn't worry about hitting any of those sites during my first afternoon. It was at that point that I realized that Dublin just doesn't do much for me. I can wonder around aimlessly in London and enjoy every minute of it, but in Dublin I just wasn't intrigued for some reason.
During my full day in Dublin I went on a walking tour of Trinity College and then got to see the library and finally, the Book of Kells. The walking tour was great and the tour guide was funny, so I enjoyed that. The Trinity College library is something that appeals to a library lover like myself, but the Book of Kells was a bit of a letdown to me.
One thing that I will say about Dublin is that it does have some great options for shopping. Both Grafton street and the mall there were fantastic and I enjoyed spending time in both of those places.
Something that I learned with the hostel in Dublin is that the mega-hostels can potentially be really annoying when there are large groups staying there. There was a group of high school students from Sweden who were making tons of noise in the hallways at all hours of the night. I've learned that smaller hostels can be much more peaceful and homey. Although the hostel in Dublin was very modern and had individual outlets and lights built into the headboards, so features like that can be nice.
As it turns out, the smallest hostel I stayed in was the one I was headed to next, so the contrast was heightened. More on that next!
Thursday, September 19, 2013
{Ireland} Galway
It's been a while since I last posted about my trip to Europe. I still have my Ireland and Scotland blog posts in draft mode because they're waiting for me to add pictures to them. I really need to get rolling on this, so hopefully I'll get the rest of these up in the very near future.
When I started thinking about going to Ireland the top things that I wanted to see were countryside and castles. I wanted to see nature and natural beauty and lush greenness. I knew that getting over to the west coast to see the Cliffs of Moher was a must-do.
Since seeing the Irish countryside wouldn't be possible without some mode of transportation, I decided that a tour bus was the best route. Renting a car for one person wasn't cost effective, plus navigating random country roads by myself did not appeal to me at all. I was a bit leery of the tour bus route since it seemed so touristy and lacking in flexibility, however this specific tour ended up being one of my favorite parts of the entire trip.
I booked a two day tour package through the Galway Tour Company. For a few extra bucks they'll pick you up in Dublin instead of Galway, so that made my life even simpler. It's about a two hour bus ride from Dublin to Galway and I spent the time peacefully napping on the comfy tour bus. I also quickly found out that taking a tour bus is ideal when you're traveling alone. I met two girls who were traveling together and eventually met up with them in another city in Ireland later in my trip. I met a group of six girls who were traveling Europe together for multiple weeks and hung out with them quite a bit. I also met a girl who was staying in Dublin for a month and she and I hung out at the Cliffs of Moher and took pictures for each other. So, not only was the tour company itself wonderful, but it was a great way to connect with other travelers.
Also, after doing all of my own planning for every little detail of the trip, it was really nice to sit back and let the tour company do all the work. I just had to get off at the right times, and the rest of the time I got to sit back and watch the Irish countryside go by while listening to fantastic bus drivers who were immensely entertaining.
I got to see a lot of cool things during the two tour days, way more than I could hope to cover in a blog post. I'll try to cover some of the highlights though.
The most important thing is that I discovered my favorite place on earth during the first day of the tour. It had been overcast all morning, but when we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher in the afternoon we got a glorious dose of sunshine. I only got to spend two hours there, but it was hands down my favorite two hours of my entire trip. I am in love with that place. The natural beauty is stunning and none of my pictures can truly do it justice, but here are some pictures anyway.
See those tiny little people in this picture? (click on the pictures to see them larger) That gives perspective to how big these cliffs really are.
Included with the bus tour was a 1.5 hour walking tour of Galway itself. Like both of the bus drivers I had, the guide was awesome and I loved every minute of it. I also loved every part of Galway that I go to see (although I'm sure I saw mainly the touristy part).
I went to a pub that was recommended by one of my co-workers (my company has an office in Galway) and ended up being there on a night with a fantastic band and some great Irish dancers. I absolutely loved the music.
The Burren - amazingly unique landscape.
Cong - An adorable and very tiny town that's completely surrounded by rivers.
Kylemore Abbey - this is a pretty classic Irish tourist destination and it's absolutely stunning.
Amusingly enough, the hostel that was included as part of my two day tour ended up being my favorite hostel in Ireland. I spent hours upon hours researching all the hostels for my trip, and the one hostel that I didn't actually pick myself ends up being one of my favorites. Funny how things like that work out.
Next stop - Dublin!
When I started thinking about going to Ireland the top things that I wanted to see were countryside and castles. I wanted to see nature and natural beauty and lush greenness. I knew that getting over to the west coast to see the Cliffs of Moher was a must-do.
Since seeing the Irish countryside wouldn't be possible without some mode of transportation, I decided that a tour bus was the best route. Renting a car for one person wasn't cost effective, plus navigating random country roads by myself did not appeal to me at all. I was a bit leery of the tour bus route since it seemed so touristy and lacking in flexibility, however this specific tour ended up being one of my favorite parts of the entire trip.
I booked a two day tour package through the Galway Tour Company. For a few extra bucks they'll pick you up in Dublin instead of Galway, so that made my life even simpler. It's about a two hour bus ride from Dublin to Galway and I spent the time peacefully napping on the comfy tour bus. I also quickly found out that taking a tour bus is ideal when you're traveling alone. I met two girls who were traveling together and eventually met up with them in another city in Ireland later in my trip. I met a group of six girls who were traveling Europe together for multiple weeks and hung out with them quite a bit. I also met a girl who was staying in Dublin for a month and she and I hung out at the Cliffs of Moher and took pictures for each other. So, not only was the tour company itself wonderful, but it was a great way to connect with other travelers.
Also, after doing all of my own planning for every little detail of the trip, it was really nice to sit back and let the tour company do all the work. I just had to get off at the right times, and the rest of the time I got to sit back and watch the Irish countryside go by while listening to fantastic bus drivers who were immensely entertaining.
I got to see a lot of cool things during the two tour days, way more than I could hope to cover in a blog post. I'll try to cover some of the highlights though.
The most important thing is that I discovered my favorite place on earth during the first day of the tour. It had been overcast all morning, but when we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher in the afternoon we got a glorious dose of sunshine. I only got to spend two hours there, but it was hands down my favorite two hours of my entire trip. I am in love with that place. The natural beauty is stunning and none of my pictures can truly do it justice, but here are some pictures anyway.
Included with the bus tour was a 1.5 hour walking tour of Galway itself. Like both of the bus drivers I had, the guide was awesome and I loved every minute of it. I also loved every part of Galway that I go to see (although I'm sure I saw mainly the touristy part).
I went to a pub that was recommended by one of my co-workers (my company has an office in Galway) and ended up being there on a night with a fantastic band and some great Irish dancers. I absolutely loved the music.
The Burren - amazingly unique landscape.
Cong - An adorable and very tiny town that's completely surrounded by rivers.
Kylemore Abbey - this is a pretty classic Irish tourist destination and it's absolutely stunning.
Ross Errilly Friary - this ended up being our last quick stop right at the end of the second tour day and I took some of my favorite pictures here.
Amusingly enough, the hostel that was included as part of my two day tour ended up being my favorite hostel in Ireland. I spent hours upon hours researching all the hostels for my trip, and the one hostel that I didn't actually pick myself ends up being one of my favorites. Funny how things like that work out.
Next stop - Dublin!
