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.

Budapest - Day 3

It's my last day in Budapest and I'm definitely going to miss it! 

I ate so much for breakfast this morning it's kind of scary! I had toast with that hot paprika cream, peppers, olives and fry up and peach juice. Is it just me or do you always eat loads of food when you're in a hotel? And that food is normally the kind of thing you'd NEVER have for breakfast? 

After breakie I walked down to the bus stop to catch the bus to go towards Andrassy Avenue (Andrássy út in Hungarian). The bus stop had this bakery beside it with the largest loaves of bread I think I've ever seen in all my life - they weighed 3kg! 

The House of Terror was all about the Nazi and Soviet Union control of Hungary. I hadn't even realised that Nazis came to Hungary, which was really interesting to learn about. I obviously don't know much about the history of Hungary, but it seems to be that until the fall of the Soviet Union, Hungary had been a terrible, scary place to live. The house had three floors with the basement being used as a prison during the Soviet control. The cells only had a wooden board as a bed - a toilet and sink weren't even provided and some of the rooms had no sunlight. Apparently they used to torture their prisoners by depriving them of sleep, water and food as well as more brutal methods. I just can't comprehend how any human being could ever be so cruel, I physically can't understand how you could do that. Even though the house is now a museum and currently nothing horrible is going on, it felt like such a horrible place to be in. Everywhere there were real life accounts of what happened to the people of Hungary during the Nazi and Soviet times; they're just so awful and sad. 

After the House of Terror, we went to this restaurant for lunch. We wanted a large lunch as we'd just be catching a bite to eat at the airport later. I had tomato soup with smoked cheese and then gypsy style pork, with potato rostis and spinach. The pork looked a little like this:

I quite liked it although it wasn't my favourite thing by any means - it was quite bitter. The restaurant was really nice however and all the staff were so friendly. Everyone speaks perfect English, which is great, although I always feel so rude not even trying to speak their language. 

We walked to this church after lunch. It was really beautiful. There was this little chapel inside which had someone's hand preserved in glass in it. It looked tiny but I guess that must just be because of how old it is and how long it's been preserved for. We went for a coffee afterwards and I had a Nutella muffin - so scrummy!

I didn't manage to make it up to the royal palace today, although I'm not upset because I've had an amazing time anyways. I think it might have been closed anyway what with Putin visiting and stuff. The city didn't completely shut down like they thought it might although there were a ridiculously large amount of police and helicopters everywhere!

Sorry there haven't been more pictures of the city - my phone camera just isn't good enough :( My dad says I can have his old Nikon one if I buy a new lens so maybe next time I'll have some better photos to show you guys!

Lizzie

 xxx

P.S. please feel free to comment and follow - it means a lot

Budapest - Day 2

Budapest is still so so amazing and so sunny! It was a lot colder today but still ok :) I'd forgotten how loud cities are until I tried to go to sleep - I feel so lucky living in the countryside.

The hotel I'm staying in has the biggest choice for breakfast I've ever seen! I ate so much - waffles, a fry up, peach juice and a pear, they were all so yummy! Their bacon is absolutely delicious and crispy, just the way I like it. They have some really unique things on the buffet, such as horseradish (I can't even imagine eating that for breakfast!), olives and that chilli/tomato stuff I talked about in my last blog. Apparently it translates as hot creamy paprika, which I guess describes it pretty well.

After breakfast dad and I caught one of those tour buses just down from the royal palace. The palace is such a beautiful building and absolutely massive - I'm hoping to go there tomorrow morning. It's on the top of this big hill. I got it wrong yesterday, Budapest is actually super hilly, well half of it is (the Buda side). Half of the city is on one side of the River Danube and the other half on the other side. We took the tour bus most of the way around the city and got off for a coffee in this square near all these grand buildings, one of which was the British Embassy. We then got back on the bus and went around a different route seeing even more of the city. The buses have these paintings on the side of the windows of cartoon figures so when you see the bus from outside, the passenger's heads are drawn onto cartoon figures, some of which are quite comical :) We got off the bus along this street which contained the opera house and shops such as Gucci. My dad really wanted to see this model railway. It was seriously good! They made the whole of Budapest, Vienna and some German cities miniature; the detail was insane! It covered over 3 rooms in total and was brilliant - if you ever go to this amazing city, I would definitely recommend it.

We skipped lunch which made me pretty sad :( buuuuut I did have a Nutella pancake so I guess that kind of counts as lunch?

We walked back toward the river after this and got on this boat down the river. It was great although absolutely freezing - I can't even explain how cold it was! Dad and I decided to sit at the front outside so he could take loads of photos. The city is beautiful as the sun is setting and at night. The sky goes these lovely light blues, pinks and purples and it's just so so gorgeous! They light up all the buildings - it just looks so pretty :) If you want to see what it looks like have a look here.

We had dinner at this little Hungarian/Italian restaurant and again, like every meal I've had here, it was delicious. I had mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and ciabatta and then schnitzel with spinach, garlic and potato wedges (over here they're called steak chips). The portions were huuuuge! My main had two schnitzels and about 20-30 wedges; I was absolutely stuffed once I'd finished.

Apparently Putin, the President of Russia is coming to Budapest tomorrow so they're expecting the whole city to almost shut down for security reasons, which could be kind of fun to see.

I fly home tomorrow so before I go I'm hoping to see the House of Terror, which is meant to be really good but really thought provoking. I also want to climb up to the royal palace. Fingers crossed I'll get them both done!

Sorry there are no pictures in this blog. I'm writing it on my iPad and for some reason they didn't come out on my last one. I'll add some photos once I get home because I really wanna show you guys how extraordinary this city is :) I'll also correct those pesky spelling mistakes and formatting errors because I can't actually see what I've written on here - iPad's aren't great for blogging!

Lizzie

 xxx

Budapest - Day 1

Hey guys,

Today I flew to Budapest in Hungary with my dad for a little trip away :) I had to wake up at 5am, which is ridiculously early in my opinion! There was this insanely hot airport guy - definitely got the trip off to a good start! The flight was good though even if it was pretty early; I mostly just read my book and napped. I saw a photo on Zoella's Instagram of the view out of her window on a plane a while ago and thought I'd have a go too, although I don't think mine's as cool as hers!

It felt so warm when we landed, I guess because it was so sunny, even though it was only about 10C! While I was in the taxi from the airport to the hotel I noticed these strange houses in the woods on the outskirts of the city. I say houses, they were these odd tents made of tarpaulins with fires outside of them and duvets, clothes and mattresses hanging over a washing line. My dad said they might have been gypsies although he didn't see the 'houses' himself. I can't imagine living like that, I guess if they're happy and that's how they want to live then it's ok, but they must be so cold!

After we'd checked in at the hotel we went out for some lunch at this little traditional Hungarian restaurant down a small back street. The food was absolutely delicious! I had the fisherman's fish soup to start, consisting of these strips of fish (not sure which) in this spicy, tomatoey sauce. Then for my main I had veal slices in this paprika cream sauce with pasta. I deliberately went for dishes I'd never normally eat at home and I'm so glad that I did because they really were amazing. In between courses we were given slices of this rustic kind of bread with chilli/tomato sauce. I thought it was going to be super spicy but it wasn't too bad at all. I'm not exactly sure how to describe the taste, kind of salty and spicy but neither overpowered the other - it was so scrummy! My dad had a bean soup and then a schnitzel stuffed with cheese, bacon and mushrooms, which were both also really tasty.

After lunch I walked round Budapest with dad. It's so flat but also so spread out so you seem to walk for aaaages. The city is extremely beautiful, especially the architecture. I know that's not exactly a normal thing for a 17 year old to say, but I think anyone my age would agree if they saw it for themselves! The parliament building is particularly pretty I think - hopefully we can go round tomorrow or Tuesday as I think it'd be really interesting :) I took a picture of it because I thought it was just so amazing! It's even lovelier at night when it's all lit up, but my camera wasn't good enough to not make it look blurry at night!

We went for dinner at this gorgeous little Italian restaurant near this church. As we were walking up towards it, the bells were ringing (apparently to call everyone to mass) and it just sounded really nice. I had this lovely dish of chilli and garlic king prawns with spinach and ciabatta - it was absolutely amazing! My dad had a pizza - the first he's had since we went to Italy last year (he got so fed up of them he swore to not eat them for a very long time!). For pudding I had my first ever soufflé, which like all the food I've had here, was brilliant. The walk back to the hotel was seriously long but I didn't mind at all - it was just so nice to be on holiday just walking around and enjoying the whole atmosphere of the city!

The money here is so tricky to understand. £1~325 HUF so when the bills come in at about 10,000 HUF it's very very odd. Fun though I think :)

Anyways, I better get off to bed now as I'm so tired! I hope to write again tomorrow and hopefully include some better pictures :)

Lizzie
 xxx