Eiffel Tower at night
St. Patty's Day!
Exhausted and napping in Hyde Park
Spring Break was such a whirlwind traveling to 3 different countries, BUT we had a blast! Six of us went to Paris, Dublin and London- me, Rachel, Frances, Bailey, Emily and Raley. We spent 2 days in Paris, 2 days in Dublin for St. Patty’s Day and 4 days in London. We never had issues with our flights, except for one delay from Paris to Dublin, but we made it everywhere we needed to be without extra fees or hassles. Our hostels were great- some kind of gross but none that felt unsafe or sketchy.
PARIS:
Paris was incredible! Honestly I had heard it was dirty and the people were snobby, but we had a blast. It was beautiful and everyone we met was so helpful. Saturday:
- Early departure at 5 a.m.
- French baguette lunch by the Siene River
- Much needed nap in St. Christopher’s Hostel
- Baguettes and brie under the Eiffel Tower for dinner
- Raley’s friend, Amanda, was studying in Paris so we hung out with her Parisian friends as they toured us around town
Sunday:
- La Chaise Cemetery
- James Morrison, Oscar Wylde and Chopin are buried there
- Notre Dame
- Walked along Siene River, passing Muse di Orsay and the Louvre
- Laid under the Eiffel Tower while the sun set
- Arch di Triomphe and Champs Elysees for shopping and savory ham, cheese and egg crepes! (DELICIOUS!)
DUBLIN:
Monday:
- Another 5 a.m. departure
- Enjoyed walking along quaint streets with Irish pubs on every corner
- Fish and Chips for dinner
- Irish pub and meeting locals the rest of the night
Tuesday- ST. PATRICK’S DAY!!
- Family breakfast in our cute apartment. We picked up bagels and eggs at the grocery and had a little homemade meal
- St. Patty’s Day parade with lots of bands, dancers, fun music… it felt like Game Day in Auburn times 1000
- St. John’s pub- best pub in Ireland! It was in Temple Bar District, had lots of dancing and fun people. We met up with the other group that had been in Dublin the whole week. We stayed there from 2-11 and thankfully my sweet friend here appreciates sleep like I do so we called it an early night. I’m not sure why that’s not the norm?! Dance and sing all day then go to bed at night- isn’t that how we were made?
LONDON:
Exhausted at this point so the first day, after traveling, we just rested and got to be quiet for a while. We planned to see the Girl Talk concert Wednesday night, but when we got there realized it had been sold out for 2 weeks! OOPS! So we went to the Big Chill bar for some Mexican food J The name is what drew us in- we were ready for chillin…
Thursday: After 9 hours of sleep (most we’ve gotten all week!) we were ready to go!!
- Walk through Hyde Park (where Finding Neverland is filmed- absolutely GORGEOUS!)
- Buckingham Palace and changing of the guards
- Fish and Chips lunch- the restaurant seemed like an old man’s club or something. I should’ve had my cigar and sports jacket…
- London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey
- Shopped at Piccadilly Circus and SOHO- imagine the European Times Square
- Falafels for dinner at “Just Falafs”- get it? Haha “Just for laughs”…
- After 12 hours of walking, we stumbled upon a movie theater- as much as we didn’t think it was right to see a movie while traveling in Europe, we couldn’t resist a cheap movie night and to put our feet up. So we saw “He’s Just Not That Into You”. Totally worth every cent to sit back and watch a girly movie!
Friday:
- National Gallery- holds Monet and Van Gogh
- National Portrait Gallery- amazing photos taken of celebrities over the years
- Kensington High Street for shopping
- Royal Albert Hall
- Subway for dinner- at this point we needed some familiar foods!
Saturday: Spent the entire day in Notting Hill! My favorite day of spring break by far!! Imagine the movie Notting Hill- it’s just as quaint and precious as the movie makes it out to be.
- Walked through the park where Hugh and Julia are laying in the end.
- Portabella Road, which is an antique market with unique trinkets and jewelry. The food market had food from all over the world- stuff I have never seen before. I didn’t want to leave! We had so much fun just tooming around, especially after a long week.
- PB&J picnic we ate in this beautiful little park that might have been private. We potentially could’ve been kicked out, but still, a fun picnic.
- Again, Subway for dinner in Hyde Park… 3rd times a charm and off to bed for our 5:30 a.m. departure!
The week was wonderful and the girls were so great. But I will say I’ve never been so thankful to get back to our small little town of Ariccia where everyone is so sweet and caring. We were all craving our cheap little pizza place so our whole group of 19 went to dinner as soon as we got back. As much as I loved traveling around, I learned that I’m more of a homebody than I thought. Whether it’s home or just being settled, I like having my nest and a place to escape. Good ole Ariccia. 
