Blog Change!

The California girl is no longer in Dublin! :( I’ve started another blog that captures my everyday, rather boring life back in the states. It's called 'Life As I Know It' and you can find it at www.vrprovine.blogspot.com

INTERRAILING! Paris, France

Our next stop was Paris, where we were going to spend a week with our friend Caroline (who lives there). It just so happened that French employees decided to go on strike the days we wanted to go to Paris, so our plans were changed. We stayed an extra night in Interlaken and attempted to travel to Paris the next day. We got as far as we could before we were stranded in the most boring town in France. We met an Australian girl who was traveling on her own that was faced with the same predicament. So the three of us found the ONLY hostel (which was not a hostel, but a place for young, creepy boys to work in over the summer) and attempted to explore the city. Yeah we saw nothing. Fortunately, we met FRANCOIS <3 <3 <3 the kindest French train employee EVER, who helped us out :) We FINALLY made it to Paris, where Caroline picked us up at the train station. We went back to her house and then explored Paris for the next five days. It was so nice having a tour guide, especially since there is so much to see in Paris! Another bonus was that we got to try all of the French traditional foods and Caroline’s mom is an amazing cook :) I LOVE FRENCH FOOD!



view from the Eiffel Tower:



Eamon, Lisa, Caroline & I viewing Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower






Moulin Rouge (too expensive for us to actually see a show, maybe one day!)



Caroline took us to the best hip hop club in Paris, where we met and danced with professional basketball players!



Notre Dame



Arch de Triumph



We watched the Eiffel Tower light show at night... definitely more beautiful than during the day :)



Chateau de Versailles (all real gold!)



and the beautiful gardens:




We also spent a few hours in the Louvre, which is not pictured.

There was so much to see in Paris, so we were really lucky to have Caroline as our personal tour guide. Thanks baby Lini!!! :)

INTERRAILING! Interlaken, Switzerland

After Prague we headed to Interlaken, Switzerland which was soooo beautiful! I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves! This was the most relaxing part of the trip, as it was a small beautiful town that didn’t have much to see other than amazing landscape. Since Interlaken is known for its extreme sports, we had to do one while we were there. We opted for canyoning, which consists of abseiling, climbing down cliffs, jumping off waterfalls and taking natural-made waterslides down the canyon - with your body as your raft. It was way more intense than we imagined, but we had so much fun!

INTERRAILING! Prague, Czech Republic

Our next stop was Prague, Czech Republic. I think it may have to be my favorite city of our trip, as we had SO much fun! It started with the best train ride of the entire trip. We had our own private room that we were very pleased to have. Only we ended up having a view uh, drunk Americans crash our party for a while. It was entertaining enough and we had a great night! We explored Prague, but the best thing about the city was its nightlife. We joined a pub crawl that was AMAZING! The crawl started at 8 pm and we didn’t get back to our hostel until noon the next day! They took us to great pubs and ended at a club with 5 floors of different music.

What's interrailing without sticking your head out the train window?!



Our bedroom for the night:









The amazing pub crawl... best idea ever for a stag party :)

INTERRAILING! Krakow, Poland

Our next stop was Krakow, Poland. We had a very negative train experience to start off the trip. Employees at the worst and tiniest train station in Berlin informed us incorrectly about the time of the train. Long story short, we stood watching our train drive away. This resulted in a night spent in another train station. Yes, sleeping on benches like homeless people. Awesome. We eventually took the train at 5 am to Krakow. After a HORRIBLE night of missed trains, sleeping in stations, unfriendly train staff and an extremely hot and crowded last train to Krakow, we were not too happy. Our mood immediately changed once we saw Krakow and how amazing the city was. We weren’t expecting much, which made it that more amazing! We wished we had more time there!



Can you find Lisa?





LOVE the exchange rate in Poland! We splurged on a ton of wine and delicious food for less than 8 euro each!




Since we were so close to Auschwitz and Birkenau, we knew it was something we had to see. Seeing those concentration camps was the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen. Visiting those places is extremely different than just learning about it. Throughout the tours people were silenced by the horrific history that I still cannot believe mankind was capable of.



These were the toilets:

INTERRAILING! Berlin, Germany

I would have to say that interrailing is the most fun way to travel around Europe. I also have to add that the reason it was so much fun was because I was traveling with Lisa, one of my best friends from Ireland :) We made countless memories, met tons of people and had the time of our life. We spent two weeks traveling through five countries sleeping in trains and hostels. We flew into Berlin, Germany for our first stop. The train system is really confusing, especially for tourists, but we were lucky enough to meet a really nice girl to basically drop us off at our hostel (okay not necessarily, but told us where to switch trains & get off). We probably would have been lost for hours without her. We spent three days in Berlin and saw everything we had hoped to.

Our first hostel:





Berlin Wall Memorial:




Berlin Wall:






Checkpoint Charlie:



Our favorite part of Berlin, the beach bars!

Venice, Rome, Athens & Santorini

Well I suppose it’s about time I write about my adventures this summer traveling around Europe. As I am feeling very lazy, I will direct you to my sister’s blog, where you can read about our travels of Venice, Rome, Athens and Santorini. Her blog is much more detailed than mine would be and we have all the same pictures. Enjoy :) http://high-tide-or-low-tide.blogspot.com/

I'll add a few pictures, just to show off how beautiful these places really were.

Venice, Italy







Rome, Italy



inside the Coliseum:



Roman Forum:





Athens, Greece



Acropolis:



Santorini, Greece

view from our resort balcony:







sunset in Oia:

Itinerary to get home

1:00 am Irish time - got on bus from Limerick to Dublin - 3 1/2 hours

4:30 Irish time - Dublin airport - waited until flight - 6 hours

10:30 Irish time - flight to JFK, New York - 8 hours

12:30 New York time - JFK airport layover - 5 hours

17:30 New York time - plane not suitable to fly to California (just my luck, right?!) delay - 1 1/2 hours

19:00 New York time - flight to California - 6 hours

23:00 California time - arrive in Sacramento airport and reunited with my parents!! - drive to Orland - 1 1/2 hours

2:00 am California time (which is 10:00 am Irish time) ... back home!

TOTAL TRIP TIME: 31 1/2 HOURS

PHEW! I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

It was weird to be back. I experienced a bit of reverse culture shock :( It was something I told myself to expect, but didn't really think would happen. I've been very emotional, but the feeling is slowly dying while spending time with great friends and family helps. I'm also feeling very lucky, as all the shed tears and mixed emotions are results of one great year.

Apologies for the lack of blogging for the past month or so... now that I'm getting back on track I'll try to update on my travels of Italy, Greece, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland and France.

I also may be making a new blog since this title doesn't seem fitting anymore. Any name ideas?

Let the Summer Holidays Begin!

TOMORROW I am picking up my sister, who I have not seen in 9 months, from the Dublin airport!! I will be showing her around Ireland a bit before exploring Venice, Rome (where we will meet our other sister!), Athens and Santorini. I doubt I'll blog before returning to California on July 7th, but I'm sure Charly will. So if you want to hear about our Italy and Greece adventures, you can check out her blog: http://high-tide-or-low-tide.blogspot.com/

I'm taking a short break from packing to write this. My apartment is completely empty :( I had a very emotional week. You never realize how much you love a place/person until it is time to say goodbye. Luckily for me, I have a month and a half left... but it's still sad to leave campus, my apartment, friends and roomies.

Alright... let the summer holidays begin! After this trip, INTERRAILING!!! :)

Giant's Causeway & Coastal Route, Northern Ireland

Apparently we saved the best for last!! Caroline and I took a day trip (loooong day trip 6:00-22:00) up north to check out the 'eighth wonder of the world' and left amazed. This was the last trip we'd be taking in Ireland for the time being, and I'm happy to say it was by far the best. I know, I know... all along I was saying 'this is the best thing ever,' but now that I have visited every place I had wanted to (and more), I can confirm that THIS IS THE BEST PLACE IN IRELAND!! If anyone comes to Ireland, the causeway tour is a must!

We took a tour bus from Belfast along the coastal route. Along the way we stopped at a castle, the rope bridge, the Causeway and another castle. I won't say anymore and let the pictures speak for themselves... although they are not even half as great as what we saw.











um hello... are we in the Caribbean here?! Look at the color of the ocean... in Ireland!!





Rope Bridge... we crossed the Atlantic over a rope bridge! It was swaying back and forth and bouncing, frightening but exciting!



Giant's Causeway

You can believe the SCIENCE: an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption - or the LEGEND: The famous legend concerns two rival giants, Benandonner, who lived in Scotland, and Finn MacCool in Ireland. MacCool was a relatively small giant at 52 feet (about 16 meters), and the two giants would shout across the sea to each other demanding a trial of strength.

Finn MacCool decided to build a rocky path across the sea between the two countries to enable the contest to begin, but exhausted by the work, he fell asleep on the causeway and was found by his giant wife Oonagh. Suddenly she saw Benandonner approaching, who was truly a huge giant. Knowing that Finn would be no match for the huge giant, she placed a coat on top of the sleeping Finn.

Benandonner demanded to know where Finn was. Oonagh replied by pointing at the sleeping Finn and saying, "Be quiet or you will wake my child." Seeing this, Benandonner had second thoughts. If that was the size of their child, how big would Finn be? He ran back to Scotland, smashing the causeway in his trail.









Dunluce Castle - picture didn't turn out too great because of the damn sun in the wrong spot, but trust me, it was spectacular!!




OH! We had the NICEST WEATHER SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE on this day :) not a cloud in sight = unheard of and 25 celcius/77 farenehit. Once again... UNHEARD OF! Pretty much the hottest Ireland will ever get. Needless to say, I left with quite the sunburn. I don't even think they sell sunscreen here, so technically it wasn't my fault!

On a sadder note, this was the last trip Caroline and I will be taking together, aside from me visiting her in Paris in about a month. She has been one of my bff's/travel partners all year. The two of us traveled to many places, in Ireland and abroad, and always have the best time on our trips. Not to mention NONSTOP TALKING and laughing along the way. Ah reality... tear :(