Backpacking in England and Ireland!
So I managed to make it to England and Ireland really cheap on RyanAir. I went with a friend, Laura, and we really didn't have much of a plan. We didn't even know where we were going to spend our first two nights until the morning we left. We tried out couchsurfing and we ended up going to Derby England the first night. We stayed with this really nice vegetarian couple who cooked us dinner and we talked to them a while, but went to sleep not too late seeing we were exhausted from traveling (our 50 minute flight to England). We then woke up Saturday and we tried real English porridge and got ready for the day. Saturday we drove into the Peak district in England and we saw the mountains and a lot of small villages that were sooooo pretty and cute. It reminded me a little bit of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. We began the day by checking out the huge indoor market in Derby and we also checked out some Organic food stores/co-ops, which were awesome! We ended up going to the huge mansion from Pride and Prejudice (the Chatwick house) though we couldn't get close b/c it was off season and closed, but from a distance it was gorgeous. We then went to the country store outside of the Chatsworth House where there was sooo much amazing food! Everywhere you turned there was something I wanted to try. I ended up only purchasing dessert for the couple I was staying with. It was this shortcake filled with Brandy soaked raisins, it was sooooo good. We then drove through the Peak District, which I now really want to hike through because it is absolutely gorgeous. We stopped and took a boat tour of some old mine caverns and then drove some more before returning to their house. We were pretty lucky to have made it the entire way because the fan belt almost fell off the and was attached by one bolt! We then ate dinner at our hosts' house and they took us to a bar. Its sort of weird because in England they have a chain of bars that is particularly for students and drinks are cheaper there, so I tried some English beer that tasted like the grains it was brewed from and also some English cider. Cider is huge in Europe every region has their own cider. This was also the first time I realized how much the English drink. I feel like drinking and pubs are a much larger part of their culture then I had realized. This was confirmed throughout our Nottingham adventures too. The next morning after cooking breakfast for our hosts we headed out and caught a bus the Nottingham.
Nottingham is larger than Derby and has a bit of a different feel. The first thing we saw there was a huge Ferris wheel that we later learned was a part of the light installation for a light show that happened the week earlier. Our host in Nottingham was also incredibly nice and he picked us up in the town center and took us to his house so we could drop off our bags. We then caught a ride with him back to the town center and spent the day exploring. We went to Nottingham castle, which was a bit disappointing because the castle was destroyed and Great Britain made it into a museum which was a bit of everything but not really a cohesive museum, it had history, art, artifacts, movies about the castle, England and the world. But then after we continued wandering and found a tea room, that was Amazing. We went back the next day too and I think over the two days, Laura and I drank over 4 pots of tea, and I bought 3 bags of tea there (two for taking back to the US and one for my host family). We then ended up going to an Indian food restuarant that was also delicious and not ridiculously expensive. We then headed to a pub to kill time before meeting up with our host who treated us to English beer. Before meeting up with our host though Laura and I were asked to take a picture of these guys, so Laura took the camera and they insisted that I join them and get in their picture. So needless to say I ended up in a picture with some random strangers who we found out are from Nigeria. That night was a bit rough later though b/c our host didn't believe in heating his home b/c he simply thought it was unnecessary. Laura and I were so, so, so cold despite the fact he gave us tons of blankets. He was really interesting though b/c he has traveled the world so he go tell us about so many countries. His perspective was really different though then anything I have ever heard b/c I think he is one of the most left winged people I have ever met. The next morning (Monday) Laura and I took our first shower since Friday, so needless to say we were quite smelly. Monday we spent the day wandering some more and we took a tour of some of the caves beneath Nottingham and we ate at a yummy vegetarian restaurant and drank more tea. I also had the opportunity to try authentic fish and chips and mushy peas. Everything was so yummy, though it was a massive amount of food. We ended up going to sleep a bit early though b/c we had to wake up at 3:45 so that we could catch the bus to cath the plane to Dublin.
Dublin has been fun, though it hasn't been my favorite place at all in Europe. It is a huge city and very touristy. Everyone seems to be from somewhere different in the world and everywhere you turn you hear a different language. Quite often it is actually English with a strange accent. Tuesday was a bit rough because we were trying to get our barings for the city and we were both so tired. We ended up going to the arbertium, which was really pretty, though I feel like living in Texas, where everything grows with the right amount of water, I had already seen a lot of the plants there. We took tons of pictures. After Laura and I tried to find a tea room that could replace our tea room from Nottingham, but what we found was a hippie tea room, that was way over priced. They tried to charge 6€90 for a small pot of tea, and pots reached about 15€. After leaving we found a cheap, cheap Chinese food restaurant by our hostel that turned out not to be awful and we also planned our trips for Wednesday.
Yesterday was Amazing because Laura and I hiked around some of the cliffs of the Irish coast. They were so pretty, though it was sad b/c they were also pretty littered with garbage. I want to come back to Ireland though and hike around the island and see more than simply Dublin. Today we were going to continue hiking but the weather was a bit rainy and there were points yesterday where we were clinging to the fence so that we would not fall into the huge mud puddles. I also was not very appropriately dressed, I was wearing my black boots and my nice black jacket, next time will be better. It was cool though b/c we hiked down some of the cliffs and the bottom was so pretty and the stones were soo smooth, they seemed to be ready for jewelry. Its funny though b/c the stones we saw are the exact type of stones you can purchase at a museum gift shop and you begin to realize that they are really not quite as special as you might think at the age of seven.
Today was so much fun, we began the day by going to the Old Jameson Whiskey Distillery. We took a tour of the old factory and learned how the Irish make Whiskey and then we did a taste test and sample American, Irish, and Scottish whiskey before getting our own glass of Jameson whiskey. It was not a bad day to start the morning, though I feel like I drank a lot of whiskey at 10 AM. We then wandered around Dublin and saw the big touristy sights like Dublin castle, Christ Church, Trinity College, the Green, etc. It was fun though Dublin is so, so, so expensive so we tried not to do too much that costs money. We also found an area with Dublin a little bit away from the main touristy area, so we are going to go there tonight so that I can finally try Guinness! There is supposed to be a bar that plays live Irish music so I cannot wait.
I am ready to go to London and Cambridge tomorrow, primarily b/c I want more yummy Indian food that isn't ridiculously expensive, but I am also so ready to return to Nantes.
Nottingham is larger than Derby and has a bit of a different feel. The first thing we saw there was a huge Ferris wheel that we later learned was a part of the light installation for a light show that happened the week earlier. Our host in Nottingham was also incredibly nice and he picked us up in the town center and took us to his house so we could drop off our bags. We then caught a ride with him back to the town center and spent the day exploring. We went to Nottingham castle, which was a bit disappointing because the castle was destroyed and Great Britain made it into a museum which was a bit of everything but not really a cohesive museum, it had history, art, artifacts, movies about the castle, England and the world. But then after we continued wandering and found a tea room, that was Amazing. We went back the next day too and I think over the two days, Laura and I drank over 4 pots of tea, and I bought 3 bags of tea there (two for taking back to the US and one for my host family). We then ended up going to an Indian food restuarant that was also delicious and not ridiculously expensive. We then headed to a pub to kill time before meeting up with our host who treated us to English beer. Before meeting up with our host though Laura and I were asked to take a picture of these guys, so Laura took the camera and they insisted that I join them and get in their picture. So needless to say I ended up in a picture with some random strangers who we found out are from Nigeria. That night was a bit rough later though b/c our host didn't believe in heating his home b/c he simply thought it was unnecessary. Laura and I were so, so, so cold despite the fact he gave us tons of blankets. He was really interesting though b/c he has traveled the world so he go tell us about so many countries. His perspective was really different though then anything I have ever heard b/c I think he is one of the most left winged people I have ever met. The next morning (Monday) Laura and I took our first shower since Friday, so needless to say we were quite smelly. Monday we spent the day wandering some more and we took a tour of some of the caves beneath Nottingham and we ate at a yummy vegetarian restaurant and drank more tea. I also had the opportunity to try authentic fish and chips and mushy peas. Everything was so yummy, though it was a massive amount of food. We ended up going to sleep a bit early though b/c we had to wake up at 3:45 so that we could catch the bus to cath the plane to Dublin.
Dublin has been fun, though it hasn't been my favorite place at all in Europe. It is a huge city and very touristy. Everyone seems to be from somewhere different in the world and everywhere you turn you hear a different language. Quite often it is actually English with a strange accent. Tuesday was a bit rough because we were trying to get our barings for the city and we were both so tired. We ended up going to the arbertium, which was really pretty, though I feel like living in Texas, where everything grows with the right amount of water, I had already seen a lot of the plants there. We took tons of pictures. After Laura and I tried to find a tea room that could replace our tea room from Nottingham, but what we found was a hippie tea room, that was way over priced. They tried to charge 6€90 for a small pot of tea, and pots reached about 15€. After leaving we found a cheap, cheap Chinese food restaurant by our hostel that turned out not to be awful and we also planned our trips for Wednesday.
Yesterday was Amazing because Laura and I hiked around some of the cliffs of the Irish coast. They were so pretty, though it was sad b/c they were also pretty littered with garbage. I want to come back to Ireland though and hike around the island and see more than simply Dublin. Today we were going to continue hiking but the weather was a bit rainy and there were points yesterday where we were clinging to the fence so that we would not fall into the huge mud puddles. I also was not very appropriately dressed, I was wearing my black boots and my nice black jacket, next time will be better. It was cool though b/c we hiked down some of the cliffs and the bottom was so pretty and the stones were soo smooth, they seemed to be ready for jewelry. Its funny though b/c the stones we saw are the exact type of stones you can purchase at a museum gift shop and you begin to realize that they are really not quite as special as you might think at the age of seven.
Today was so much fun, we began the day by going to the Old Jameson Whiskey Distillery. We took a tour of the old factory and learned how the Irish make Whiskey and then we did a taste test and sample American, Irish, and Scottish whiskey before getting our own glass of Jameson whiskey. It was not a bad day to start the morning, though I feel like I drank a lot of whiskey at 10 AM. We then wandered around Dublin and saw the big touristy sights like Dublin castle, Christ Church, Trinity College, the Green, etc. It was fun though Dublin is so, so, so expensive so we tried not to do too much that costs money. We also found an area with Dublin a little bit away from the main touristy area, so we are going to go there tonight so that I can finally try Guinness! There is supposed to be a bar that plays live Irish music so I cannot wait.
I am ready to go to London and Cambridge tomorrow, primarily b/c I want more yummy Indian food that isn't ridiculously expensive, but I am also so ready to return to Nantes.
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