HELLO!!
Sorry it has taken us a few more days than expected to update you all about our 18 day Spring Break, but as soon as we returned to the RT we had classes and visitors from Valpo that have kept us busy busy busy! But, our entire group made it back safe and sound from our breaks and it felt so good to be back together again. Our group has grown so tight and we were all so excited to share our stories while we were separated.
The 4 of us girls spent the first week together. Then, LO and Suzanne went and met up with Gavin and Bryan while Andrea and I continued our travels... we didn't skip a beat! For this first post, we are just going to give you a little summary of each city we hit while together and then each of us will put another blog up describing our second weeks. Hold on to your seat... HERE WE GO!!!
London: First stop! We flew into London and didn't get into our hostel until 230am... it was our first experience with Ryanair (flight company) too. They have super cheap flights all around Europe but you can only have one bag of 10kg that fits into a tiny box. With tremendous force, we slammed our backpacks into the holes and wore way too many layers of clothing just so we could save the charge of 20 euro to check our bags. It was quite the start to our break...We were getting a lot of funny looks while going through security. Once we made it to our hostel, we went straight to bed. The next morning we woke up and got ready for our first day out in lovely London. We went to a restaurant called the Welmington and had fish'n'chips. It was really good and so nice to be in a country that SPEAKS ENGLISH!! Next we walked along the river through the beautiful English Gardens that line the streets and we saw the London Eye (giant ferris wheel), the parliament building with Big Ben and Westminster Abby. The architecture was just beautiful on these buildings. Next, we walked through another magnificent garden on our way to the Buckingham Palace. This was such an amazing building and so famous, we were really excited because the next morning we were able to see the 'Changing of the Guards' but that is coming later. Then we walked along some of the streets where we found some really cute stores. This got us in trouble because we spent a lot of time looking around and buying some things here and there. But, we were all very good! When we got back, we had a new room mate named Natalie who is from North Carolina. We ended up hitting it off and the five of us went out to a local pub and had some cocktails and talked for hours! The next day we woke up early to get to the Buckingham Palace in time for the 'Changing of the Guards.' We just barely made it but ended up seeing the entire performance and tradition with front row seats! It was sunny and warm out also, so it was such a fun day. Then, we got some food for lunch and made our way to see some more fun shops and finally to see the famous Tower Bridge. It was such an amazing structure and we were there right at sunset so the sky was full of pinks and purples! We went back to the hostel and called it a night because we had to be up very early for our flight to Dublin!
Dublin: We realized while we were in Dublin that it is quite a bit more expensive than London... bummer! But, as soon as we started walking through the city, we really liked it! Our hostel overlooked a river that divided the city... it was actually a very cool view. After checking in, we walked all around the city seeing St. Stephen's Green, Trinity College and of course we hit the Guinness Brewery! Surprisingly, we didn't think it tasted that bad... the brewery was so awesome and the architecture inside was just amazing. The next day we got up and got ready because we were going HORSEBACK RIDING/ TREKKING through the mountains! We had to take a tram and a taxi to get to a small town, Leopardstown where Paddock's Riding Center was awaiting the 4 of us. It was a very cute riding stable and the people there were so friendly and personable. We knew right away this experience was going to be great! For the trek, it was just the 4 of us, Denise (our leader) and our horses: Apollo, Sonic, Bo and Rosie! We went up the mountains, through rivers, across rocks and we even got to trot with our horses around the trails. We were so high up that we overlooked the entire city of Dublin. Words cannot even explain! It was an amazing time that ranks high on our favorites list of spring break. That night, we had 2 roommates who were Canadian girls. They met us for drinks after dinner and we got to listen to a live musician while we got to know each other better. We really met some great people during our trip. The next morning we were off to Brussels where we would then train it to Amsterdam...
Brussels/ Amsterdam: We only spent about 4 hours in Brussels because we had to check into our hostel in Amsterdam by evening. But, Brussels had great architecture throughout the city... and even better WAFFLES :) We ordered them with bananas, chocolate, strawberries and whip cream on top... they were to die for! We would go back in a heartbeat just for another one! Once in Amsterdam, we found our hostel and checked in right away. Being 4 girls in that city was kinda weird but we stuck together and made it through. The next full day we had there we went to Anne Frank's Secret Annex Haus which was amazing to see. There were a few tears shed watching the movie from her dad and reading all of the stories from that time. It's just so hard to comprehend it all. We got to see every room that her family lived in while they were in hiding. It is something I know we will never forget! Like pretty much every other city we visited, the buildings were so elaborate and very huge. We only had 1 full day in Amsterdam but we decided that was just enough for us- haha. The next day, LO left early to catch a train to see Gavin and Suz caught one around 1030am to meet Bryan. Our group had finally been broken for a little.... :(
Overall, the first week was a great way to kick off the 18 days! We all got to spend so much time together and see sooooo many different places. We are so lucky to get to share each experience with one another. These are memories that we will be talking about for the rest of our lives... cool, huh?
We must be heading to bed though- we leave tomorrow afternoon with the rest of our group for Budapest and then Vienna! We will describe the 2nd week of our breaks when we return! Enjoy the pictures we posted too! We miss you all so much and can't wait to share more stories :)
LOVE-
Anna, LO, Suz & Andrea
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