Lavender Kay

Ireland

Ireland is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited.  We only spent one night in Dublin before travelling to the west coast.  We chose to stay in a town called Dingle in a hostel called Rainbow Hostel.  This is one of the most interesting hostels we have stayed in so far.  There was a large common room with long wood tables and a wood fire place.  Everyone cooked and ate together and it felt like a family.  We also rented a car while we were there!  This was quite the adventure.  I thought the hard part was going to be getting used to driving on the left side of the rode but the scary part was how narrow the streets were!  A two lane rode was actually the size of an American one land road! 

Our second day in Dingle we spent driving along the coast.  There were high cliffs, beautiful beaches and rolling green hills.  Everything I had imagined.  The pictures can’t even begin to capture the beauty of Ireland.

I am amazed by all the friends we have made along the way.  People have been so generous and kind.  It has been incredible to share in other people’s lives and listen to their stories. 

Scotland

Scotland has been my favorite country thus far.  We rode a ferry from Ireland to Scotland and after an 11 hour journey we arrived in Banchory, Scotland which is in Northern Scotland and very small.  We stayed in a wonderful bed and breakfast owned by the Morrisons which are friends of  Laura.  I got a bedroom and double bed to myself…and it was the best sleep I have had so far!  We went to a Good Friday service at this small chapel with about 3o members and after the service we had dessert with the Morrisons and talked with them until late into the night.  They told us how Don Morrison, the father, called the house one night and said to not let anyone into the house because a wolf had stolen his car.  Then he drove home wearing a wolf costume!  So amazing.  He is one of the most wonderful people I have ever met.

Scotland was breathtaking.  After Banchory we travelled on to Edinburgh and I got to sit in the birthplace of Harry Potter.   J. K. Rowling wrote the first two Harry Potter novels in the Elephant House cafe because she had just gone through an awful divorce and was so poor that it was cheaper to sit in the cafe all day than to heat her flat.  The spot where she would sit overlooks the beautiful Edinburgh Castle.

Berlin:

Our time in Berlin went so fast but we had a wonderful time.  There was so much to see and so much history surrounding the city.  We went on a walking tour led by a guy from London who did his undergrad in German History.  He told us so many incredible stories and I felt like I learned more in 4 hours than I did in 4 years of highschool!  We also toured a concentration campwhich left a deep imprint on me.  Our tour guide told us that just last week he had a rocket shot at him from the road while giving the tour. I walked through the Holocaust Memorial and was overwhelmed by the experience.  Seventy percent of Berlin was bombed making most of the structures relatively new compared to everywhere else we have been.  We also found a random outdoor art gallery created by squaters.  It was extremely alternative and really cool.  We also found a cafe with swings for chairs…it was delightful.

Stockholm Top 5 List:

1. Getting to know the Downeys and learning the meaning of true hospitality.  Thank you Madeleine!

2. Bike riding along the Baltic Sea.  And walking on it because it was completely frozen.

3. Learning about Flash Mobs – a group of people who meet in an open square and perform a spontaneous choreographed dance.  People in Stockholm did a tribute to Michael Jackson.  Here is the link:

4. Eating lots of chocolate and having evening tea.

5. Exploring the city.  There are 30 thousand islands in the surrounding areas!

Prague makes bread on a stick! While we were walking around the outdoor market I found about 8 different stands that sell hot bread on a stick and it tasted wonderful. It made me feel at home. They call it Pikle.

Prague was simply wonderful. We only spent two nights in this enchanting city and I loved every minute of it.  We stayed in a charming hostel which is in the heart of old town and a two minute walk from the famous Astronomical Clock.  Our room was on the fourth floor and from our window we had a view of the Prague Castle.  My bed was tucked away in an upper loft with a latter to access it.  Yesterday I was in need of some space and alone time so I broke away from the group and went for a walk through the city.  After I found an outdoor cafe for a cafe latte and some time to read.

My favorites:

1. Sitting in the window sill of my hostel with the windows wide open while taking in the beautiful view.

2. Learning about the history of this country.

3. Walking across the Charles Bridge at night.

4. Prague Castle

5. Sitting on the bench over looking the Vltava River with the glorious Prague Castle behind it.  We stayed out there until late talking and sharing bread and cheese we had bought from the underground market.

6. The ghost tour.

There is this group throughout Europe called New Europe and they put on free walking tours in a lot of the major cities.  Although it is free they do accept tips and the tours are always pretty great since the guides are working hard for their tips.  We decided to do the walking tour for Prague as it came highly recommended and it was well worth it.  I was amazed by the history and culture of this city.  Our tour took us through the Jewish Quarter and we saw the oldest, still active Jewish synagogue as well as the memorial site representing over 77 thousand Jewish lives lost in the Czech Republic during WWII.  I was overtaken by these numbers and the individual stories behind their lives.  An underground art school was started during the Holocaust for children.  The children drew pictures of parks and their families representing the hope they had in life after the war.  Most of these children never lived through the war.   Each time I hear stories of Hitler and the Holocaust I am overwhelmed with emotion.  This country has experienced deep pain.  Standing in specific sites that were occupied by Hitler and learning about the lives lost during that time remind me of how fragile life is.

So first of all, I am sorry this is so delayed.  Second, the keyboards here are a little different and it is really hard!

Florence –

Florence was wonderful. It had more of an old town feel and was a lot smaller than Rome.  Shelby made me choose whether I would live in Rome or Florence and I chose Rome – who would have thought.

More favorites –

1. Secret passages tour in Palace Vecchio – there was all these secret staircases and rooms that we walked through.  A painting was opened and we walked through it to another secret staircase! 

2. The David – so incredible

3. The neighborhood cafe next to our hostel

4. We made friends with two girls who were travelling together. Mary was from Mexico and Jing was from China and they were studying in France and vacationing in Italy.  They were quite the pair and we loved them. 

5. Irish pub where we made some friends and watched the Florence Championship football game.  It was very exciting!

Venice –

I loved Venice.  This city is like nothing I have ever seen before.  There are no cars and the streets are either alley ways or canals.  The hostel we stayed at was so great as well.  We made friends with everyone staying there right away and ended up spending our whole time in Venice with them.  The owner of the hostel, Lapo, loves Lady Gaga and on our first morning there he was blasting the same song on repeat from his computer for about a half an hour.  It was quite funny.  We have found Europeans really like Lady Gaga.  We picked Laura up at the airport so now there are three of us!  My favorite thing we did while in Venice was ride a gondola.  It was enchanting and everything I hoped it would be!

Quick update – we abandoned our plans to go to Croatia which was hard and a little sad but the only scheduled train taking us to Zagreb would get us in at 4am and then we would still have another bus ride to our destination that would last 11 hours.  So we altered our itinerary and are now in Austria…which is nothing like I expected and quite wonderful.

Here is a list of my favorites:

1. Campo de Fiori – fresh fruit from the market and people watching by the huge fountain.

2. Pizza Biaca – Warm bread with salt and olive oil

3. Sally Bogus

4. Ancient Rome – the Coliseum was incredible

5. Italian coffee

6. Getting soaked in a rain storm

7.The art in Vatican City was breaktaking.  It covered the walls and ceiling of each room.

8. Making dinner in Sally’s Roman apartment.

9. Eating Gelato on the stairs by the Pantheon.

10. Breakfast at our hostel while talking to travellers from all over the world.  Some people are so brave.  I met a girl who is only 18 and she is teaching English in Italy for two months and then travelling by herself for one month.

We had beautiful weather while we were in Rome.  I am amazed by this city and its historical culture.  Sally told us the legend of the founders of Rome – The legend says that there were twins, Romulus and Remus (around 700 BC), who were raised by a she wolf.  They discovered Rome together but had a dispute on where to build the city.  The dispute ended in Romulus killing Remus.  The symbol for the twins are all over the city.

After 18 hours of traveling Shelby and I made it to Rome.  Sally Bogus picked us up at the airport and we took a cab to our hostel.  There we quickly checked in and then walked to her apartment for a dinner party.  Shelby and I were expecting it to be just a few people but it was actually her whole program and professor.  The food was wonderful and we had a great time.

After being awake for about 30 hours we finally came back and went to sleep. Our hostel is charming and we share a room with a few other girls as well. Now it is 7am here and I just can’t seem to sleep anymore.  Soon we are meeting up with Sally for coffee and a morning walk in Rome!

My dad told me that I would only get his blessing in going to Europe for two months if I promised to start a blog for my trip.  So here it is.  Enjoy.

I had originally planned to go to Europe for one month and then when I was buying my plane ticket I decided to extend it to five weeks.  Then two months before my trip I became unemployed and decided to extend the trip to nine weeks!  We also added another traveling partner to our trip so now there will be three of us backpacking through Europe!  My roommate and I just spent the better part of the day making our revised itinerary and contacting people for where we will stay while we are in Europe.  I had no idea that planning a trip like this was such an undertaking.

To backtrack a little, I will tell you how this whole trip got started.  I went through a pretty awful breakup about a year ago.  The experience was devastating but it made me realize I had lost a part of myself during our relationship and I desperately needed to figure out how to get it back.  Within a week of our breakup my friend Shelby contacted me out of the blue to see if I wanted to hang out.  We didn’t actually know eachother very well – we worked together over two years ago for two weeks and that was about the extent of it.  We met up for coffee and ended up talking for hours.  During out conversation Shelby said to me, “I know I don’t know you very well but would you want to go to Europe with me?”  At this same time I had adapted the YES mentality and my answer to her was, “Of course!”  Well, I am not completely that irrational and after saying that I decided to take a couple weeks to think it over but was pretty sure I knew what my answer was.  My life was quite crazy at the time but God was gracious.  We also ended up becoming roommates and I am so lucky to have Shelby as my friend.  Now months later we are planning our two month journey through Europe and am very excited to see what adventures are in store for us.