Dublin - Day 3

Today was my last day in Dublin - it's gone so fast! 

We got up quite early as we wanted to make the most of the day as we had to leave at about 5:45pm to get to the airport on time for our flight. I'd really hoped to have a waffle with nutella, as I'd seen them yesterday at breakfast, but they didn't have them on today :( I had another huge full Irish breakfast again - it's probably good we left today otherwise I'd be getting enormous!

The river Liffey in Dublin near our hotel

We took the bus to Kilmainham Gaol. It is a former prison where many of Ireland's political prisoners were kept, tortured and executed. I found it really interesting as I didn't know anything about Irish history before I went. Plus, it's only €2 for students which is seriously good. You go into this museum area before you're taken on a tour around the prison. The conditions were absolutely appalling. Obviously prisons aren't nice places but they used to keep the prisoners in the dark for 23 hours a day, the only hour they were allowed outside they had to walk in circles with their heads down, unable to talk or even make eye contact. A lot of political prisoners were kept there, mostly leaders from the 1916 Easter Rising where the Irish Republicans tried to gain independence from the rest of the UK. I know it sounds really really silly but I hadn't even realised Ireland was once part of the British Empire.

Is it just me or does this look like the prison on that CBBC show, The Slammer?

We then took the bus back to Trinity College after a seriously yummy cake at the coffee shop in the prison. We took a walking tour around the college that allows you to get into the Old Library which contains the Book of Kells. I really like taking walking tours when I'm abroad as they're normally conducted by students who are basically the same age as me, so they pick things that young people are interested in as well as all the main sights. I hadn't heard of the Book of Kells but apparently it's the oldest book in the world. It's beautiful. It's handwritten with lovely drawings throughout. The Old Library is also really cool and looks like something out of Harry Potter! There are loads of spiral staircases between floors and floors of books. They even have those ladders that let you reach the top shelves, which I always thing are cool.

Next it was lunchtime - we got quite a lot done in the morning! I had this scrummy goats cheese sandwich with tomato and red pepper soup with a cider. I love being 18; you can just order alcohol - it makes me so happy and I have no idea why!

We took the bus to the Little Museum of Dublin mostly because it was free with our bus ticket but also because it looked interesting. There's a whole floor dedicated to the band U2, so if you're a fan, I'd definitely recommend it! It takes you from the Victorian era (I think. It might be a little earlier/later) all the way through to the present day. There was this amazing bit where there was this shop sign up on the wall and these two elderly ladies were talking about how they remember seeing Santa Claus there at Christmas as children. I love times like that, because it just makes everything so real.

That's pretty much my day and time in Dublin. Hope you enjoyed reading it :)

Lizzie

 xxx

Dublin - Day 2

Hey

I had a seriously scrummy breakfast to start off the morning. It included white and black pudding, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, a fried egg and brown sauce. We had a really nice lie in beforehand - I really needed it as I was exhausted from yesterday and my dad snoring SO loudly throughout the night.

My dad and I caught one of those hop-on hop-off buses, which I would really recommend if you're ever in Dublin. It's only €20 for two days and it takes you absolutely everywhere you could want to go. All the national museums in Dublin are free, so we went to the Natural History Museum. It's the weirdest but coolest place ever. I don't know if that's just because I absolutely love biology so science is super interesting to me anyways, but the museum is really old fashioned. It's full of stuffed animals, which I can completely see would put a lot of people off but I found it great as it meant you could stand right next to an elephant and know exactly how big they are. They are ridiculously huge! I don't agree with stuffing animals and hunting in general, but I think the animals had been there for many years, almost since the Victorian era, so I'd much rather they be on display for people to appreciate than chucked away. They also have skeletons of extinct animals such as dinosaurs hanging from the ceiling which is really cool.

We hopped back onto the bus to the Guinness factory. It's the largest tourist attraction in Ireland - last year 1.27m people visited, that's the population of Dublin! There are just so many floors, you feel like you're climbing stairs forever. Each floor tells you how they produce the Guinness from field to pint. There's this really exciting bit where you go into sense rooms to try the drink. You walk down this dark corridor playing loud music upon which you enter a completely white room with four basins pouring out different smells. You're then given a small glass containing Guinness that you're not allowed to drink until you enter the next room, which is really dark, where this man tells you exactly how to drink it to taste the full flavour. It was quite a snazzy experience but I don't know if it actually makes a difference! We ate lunch at the storehouse in Gilroy's restaurant. It was extremely yummy! I had mussels in a cream and Guinness sauce which sounds horrible but it was ridiculously good! After lunch we went to the top floor. Here you get a pint of Guinness included in your ticket - I didn't get ID'd (sorry I have no idea the right way to write that so I'm hoping you get what I mean!) which made me so happy. I couldn't drink a whole pint - it was just way too heavy especially after a large lunch. I really liked it though which kind of surprised me as I never normally drink stout.

not my image

It was pretty rainy when we got out and quite late in the afternoon. You know that awkward time when there's not long enough to go to another sight but not too little time that you can just hang around? We decided to just continue around on the bus back to our hotel. I think the whole route is just over an hour so it was pretty good. Plus, seeing all the other sites is fun, even if it is just from the bus.

We had dinner at this gorgeous restaurant on the other side of the river in the Italian Quarter. I think it was called Bar Italia, if you ever go to Dublin I really recommend it. I had smoked salmon to start with lemon juice, capers and wholemeal bread. For my main I had this lovely pasta with sausages and spinach in a cream sauce. It was so filling! I say this, but I still managed a pudding of panna cotta with summer berries. I really wanted to take a picture of the meal to show all you guys but I wasn't brave enough. It just didn't feel right in the restaurant.

We walked back towards the hotel afterwards, but stopped to have a drink in an Irish bar, with live music. I absolutely love that about Ireland. Pretty much every pub/bar after about 7pm has live Irish folk music. It's so lovely sitting and listening to them. Plus, when a faster song comes on people clap along and get up and dance - it's so so cool!!

Thanks for reading!

Lizzie
 xxx

Dublin - Day 1

Heya!

So today was my first day in Dublin and my first ever time in Ireland. I absolutely love the place! It was really lovely weather today, which I think always helps, but still it's a great city.

I flew in this morning. Yup another morning flight where you have to set your alarm for 4am! But on a positive note, for pretty much the first time ever I didn't set the security alarms off. I know it's sounds weird but seriously, every time I leave the UK I get searched and set all the scanners off. I don't know why. I once left my iPad in its case by accident and they took it away to do swabs on it, I'm such a numpty. Do you guys get this or is it just me?

We checked in at the hotel and had a little look around the area. Our hotel is in the Temple Bar region near the river Liffey and Trinity College. We went to this lovely little restaurant for lunch. If I'm honest I didn't think it was going to be up to much because there was no one else in there and for some reason it looked odd, but it was absolutely delicious. Plus, as a bonus, once we'd sat down loads of others started arriving so there was a nice atmosphere. The meal was about €13 for three courses which they served all on one plate. I had seafood chowder to start, steak, Guinness and mushroom pie with veg and potatoes and for pudding, profiteroles.

oh look, there's muggins ready for lunch

After lunch I sat and wrote my post cards as part of post crossing, as mentioned in a previous post here. I must have been there for ages because the French family next to me were joking that I hadn't stopped and could I write theirs. I bought the stamps for them in the main Post Office. If you ever go to this city just go in and look around it's completely free! It's just like it would have been in the 1800s I imagine as it's all pretty ornate with wood fittings etc.

We wondered down to trinity college after lunch although missed the last walking tour - I think I'll try to do that later in the week. It's a great place. I wasn't too bothered about going as I live near Cambridge in the UK so have seen quite a few colleges, but this is totally different. It's so odd as once you've entered the gates it's almost silent and you can't hear any of the hussle and bussle outside.

Trinity College

We left the college and had a look down the main the shopping street - I think it's the Oxford street of Dublin. It's weird how Ireland is a completely different country but a large proportion of the shops are the same as those found in the UK. We stopped at this pub just off the Main Street for a drink. I had a pint of cider which was really refreshing. Personally I don't think I've ever been drunk (although my friends may disagree) but I definitely felt really tipsy afterwards! How ridiculous is that?! A pint of cider and I was just like woah I can't concentrate on anything and got seriously giggly. I've never felt like that after just one pint so I'm going to say it must have been super strong... I tell myself this to stop me feeling like a lightweight!

We got back to the hotel and I did a little more revision. I'm panicking so much for these A levels. I'm just so scared that I won't get the place at medical school that I've been offered! Aaaah. Ok I'll stop there otherwise you'll just get a very long panicked ramble!

My dad fancied a Thai meal so we went there for tea. If I'm honest I really didn't fancy it but I didn't want to stop him as he'd been looking forward to it all day. It was quite nice but I think it's one of those things where I didn't really fancy it so I didn't enjoy it as much as I could. We shared a plate of mixed starters and then I had some tom yum soup, which was really scrummy but pretty spicy. I had duck red curry for my main, which was lovely and I really would've enjoyed had I not been ridiculously full. But oh my goodness it was spicy! When a Thai place says very hot don't think 'ah yeah it says that but I'm sure it's not too spicy'. It is. Always believe the menu.

We had a lovely little stroll along the river after tea. Do you do this? My family always goes for walks after tea when we're abroad, which I really enjoy. Especially at this time of year when the weather is nice and it stays light for ages. 

We returned to the hotel and I really wasn't sleepy so it was just revision, revision, revision! Tomorrow we're hoping to go to the Guinness storehouse as it's meant to be a bit rainy and it's indoors so it seems like a good plan.

Lizzie
 xxx

P.S. This is being uploaded a bit late sorry as the wifi in the hotel wasn't great.

20 facts about me!

Hey

I've been tagged by Lamia L (her lovely blog is here) to write 20 facts about me and share them with you guys. It's honestly one of the hardest posts I've ever written, which is crazy because it's about me so surely it would be easy, but no!

Ok, I know there's only 20 facts and it says 25 but it just looked too pretty!

Fact 1: 

I've only ever worn high heels out and about once, I think. I'm not entirely sure why, I guess it's because I'm six foot so there isn't much point really. Also, I'm seriously bad at walking in them so I'll really need to practise before my school's summer ball (oh yes I'm wearing heels then - help!!)

Fact 2:

I never finish a cup of tea. Weird I know, but I'll always leave a little at the bottom. I don't know why. My mum used to do this too so maybe I picked it up from her.

Fact 3:

I really dislike people thinking I'm rich. I know it's an odd thing to say but I really don't like it. I'm not rich but I think I probably appear like it on the outside because I go to private school and I am lucky enough to go holiday quite a lot. However, I can only go to my current school (or I guess old school now that I've left :O) because I get a large bursary from the school. Also, with my mum dying a few years ago we've been able to get her pension which allows us to have enough money to travel - pretty much any spare money my family has we spend because you don't live forever and you should enjoy life while you can. 

Fact 4:

I notice really little things that most people don't see. I don't know why exactly but normally if I have an idea about someone or something, such as a small comment, I'll normally be right. My best friend and I used to call ourselves observant owls.

Fact 5:

When I'm bored I make up scenarios in my head and then make them into really long stories.

Fact 6:

I've got this odd pet hate. It really annoys me when people call squash, juice. I know, I know it's so silly!

Fact 7:

I constantly have a moral dilemma because I want to travel the world so much but in so many ways I'm eco freak and don't want to kill those polar bears aaah!

Fact 8:

Every week I do target shooting at 25m and absolutely love it. If you ever get to have a go at shooting, do it - you'll love it!

Fact 9:

I'd absolutely love to be a doctor. I've been offered places at Dundee and Leicester medical school starting in September, which I hope I get. Although I think it's unlikely after how the exams have gone but fingers crossed!

Fact 10:

I've never had a boyfriend. I guess this could be considered uncommon for someone my age but it's just never happened. Hopefully when I go to uni I'll meet a nice chap.

Fact 11:

I absolutely love garlic. I'll even have it for breakfast!

Fact 12:

I think I put on quite a confident persona when really I'm not that self confident. I'm trying to be more confidence because I think it definitely makes you happier.

Fact 13:

When I'm older I definitely want to have children. Although I'm not particularly great with kids, I think this is because I'm an only child and grandchild so I'm hoping it improves as I get older. I really want to adopt children as well as having my own.

Fact 14:

I'm terrified of snakes. They freak me out so much to the point that when there was a photo of one in my biology exam this year I started to panic. I think I'll definitely need to get over this if I want to travel!

Fact 15:

Talking of exams, I'm one of the worst people to be around during exam time. I just get so nervous and probably manage to wind up everyone because I keep talking and panicking.

Fact 16:

I love looking at photos. I got a camera for my 18th so I hope to take some nice pictures of my own although I'm not very good at it yet.

Fact 17:

I'd love to be bilingual. I just feel so awful when I go on holiday and I can't speak the local language. Plus, it saddens me that some of you lovely readers come from countries whose first language isn't English and I can't write my posts in your mother tongue. 

Fact 18:

A few months ago I fell out with a close friend. Even though I know it's probably the best thing for both of us and was a difficult friendship at times, I really miss it. We had all these plans for the future and it's weird to think they'll probably never happen. 

Fact 19:

I'm awful with make-up. Just so so bad. I think it's a little like the high heels - I've had no practise so I remain awful. I hardly ever wear it but I think this summer I'll start experimenting as I'd like to be good.

Fact 20:

I know it sounds super cliché but I genuinely get so excited every time someone follows, comments or views my blog. I find it so unbelievably lovely and cool that someone has taken time out of their day to read what I've written. To me it's literally mind-blowing! Thank you so so much :)

Thanks for reading all the way to the end! If you're reading this and you'd like to, I challenge you to write this post too! 

Lizzie

 xxx

Last day of school!

Hey!

Friday was my last ever official day at school, which is just crazy! My two years at my sixth form have gone so quickly and I honestly can't believe it's all over already (except those dreaded exams of course!).

I've been dreading leaving for ages but so far I haven't found it bad at all. I know it sounds odd but the main reason I've been getting so upset is because I'm leaving teachers that have helped me so much and are just ridiculously lovely, which I talked about here. I know I'll keep up with my mates, so for me that isn't a worry, although I can totally understand why it would be.

My school has this great tradition where the last day is muck up day. It's basically where the whole year plays practical jokes on the rest of the school. There were hundreds of photoshopped pictures of various teachers such as the senior management team as characters in Game of Thrones. We also put crickets throughout the school, parked a tractor in the headteacher's parking space, turned all the outside furniture upside down, kidnapped younger siblings from classes etc. It was absolutely hilarious!

To finish the day off we had a formal assembly where we went up on stage and were presented with a photograph of our year (which we'd had taken a couple of weeks ago) by our head of year, head of sixth form and headteacher. The senior prefects then performed a dance using music we'd listened to from the age of five onwards. The year went crazy throwing balloons, bouncy balls and blow up sharks (yep, odd I know but it happened!) across the whole school assembly. We then all sang the hymn Jerusalem before we were applauded out by the rest of the school. Everyone changed into their prep school uniforms, except me and my mates as we didn't go to a prep school, before the BBQ and water fight.

I absolutely loved my last day and it definitely wasn't as emotional as I'd been expecting, although I think that's because we were constantly kept busy by the vast number of activities as well as pranks through out the day.

Hope you enjoyed reading about my last day!

Lizzie

 xxx

Post crossing

A little while ago I saw this really cool blog post about post crossing here. Post crossing is this really amazing idea which is just so simple and fun! You sign up to this website for free, which allows you to send and receive post cards from all across the globe.

The postcards above are my first ever and I'm just so excited to send them! They're going to Russia and Germany, which I just think is brilliant. I was a bit scared that it would be quite a pricey thing but it's not too bad - the postage was £1 per postcard. On both the cards you put an ID number, which when the postcards arrive to their recipients, is tracked on the website allowing people to send you postcards as well as showing you that your cards have been received. 

I cannot wait to get a postcard from someone - I just love receiving post (I know a little odd!) and learning about other cultures. It'll be so cool to see postcards of places as well as reading everything that others have to say - it's lovely to think that someone will have taken time to write to me.

Let me know what you think in the comments :)

Lizzie
 xxx

Birthday in Paris - Day 2

We spent our birthday in Disneyland Paris! It was absolutely amazing!

We started the day with such a nice lie in because staying up till 2/3am two nights in a row is seriously tiring! We then went and had a really scummy breakfast of croissants, french baguette and all things yummy, and then opened our presents afterwards. I got a camera from my dad, which I'm so pleased about as now I can take lovely photos that will help me to remember all the fun things I've done and places I've been, in years to come. Apryl's mum got us both a beautiful silver necklace with a clear jewel pendent, which is just so lovely!

Disneyland was absolutely brilliant! I just love how everything is so colourful and everyone's so so happy. It was the spring fesitval when we went, so there were thousands of flowers in so many colours.

We went on pretty much all the rides I think! My favourite one was definitely either the Indiana Jones one or big thunder mountain. They were both roller-coasters and even though I've been to Thorpe Park with bigger ones before, they were seriously good. I also loved the small world ride where you sit in a little boat and sail around the world - the music is just so cute! One of the attractions was to drive around a course in a little car. I thought I was going to be good at it as I'm learning to drive but oh no, I was so bad! We crashed loads of times.

The great thing about Disneyland is how you can eat soooo much scrummy food and no one judges you! I had a burger with chips for lunch, which we ate outside (yep, it was pretty hot!). the burger was really cool because it was in a bagel which I've never seen before. I'd like to say I stopped eating after that, but no, this happened:

The most candyfloss I've ever seen

At the end of the day, Apryl, Chris (Apryl's dad) and I pretended that Chris was a really famous person. It was absolutely hilarious with Apryl trying to get his autograph and me running up beside them trying to get a shot of 'the celebrity'. So many people were looking so I'm pretty sure they believed it! Chris then photo bombed so many people's photos. There's this one massive group photo where Chris is standing at the back smiling away, and absolutely no one noticed.

To round off an amazing birthday we went to this little restaurant in Paris near our apartment for a yummy meal. Once we were back we had cake, because really there's no such thing as a birthday unless there's cake. It was absolutely delicious! The local patisserie made it for us. I didn't think I would be able to manage it after eating so much that day but it wasn't too filling at all so it was all good.

Ok, so a really bad picture but the cake was insanely good

It was such an amazing weekend away! The Monday was horrible - getting up at 4am to catch our train and then straight into school for a full day of lessons, but it was completely worth it for the brilliant time I had.

Lizzie
 xxx