The Excellent Adventure 2008

SORRY

July 9th- Canterbury and Dover: This was the nastiest day we have encountered thus far on our adventure weather wise. Pouring rain. Canterbury was disappointing although pretty. It probably would have been more exciting had it not been raining. While we were there, the University of Kent was having its graduation inside the cathedral. On our way to the subway stop out of Canterbury we bought a pound of Kentish cherries. They were delicious and probably our favorite part of the day. We took some pictures, so don't worry. Dover was an adventure, for realz. As soon as we got off the train (in the rain) we were very hungry and were in dire need of a restroom. Of course, everything in Britain closes between the hours of 2-6 in the afternoon. And everyone disappears. We're not sure where they go, but we think its a magical place free of the tourists who are hungry at all hours of the day. The tourist office didn't have a bathroom, all the pubs and restaurants were closed. Finally, after mindlessly wandering in the rain for several hours (just kidding) we arrived at Memo's Cafe. Most delicious meal of the day. And it was only 5 pounds. After satisfying our needs, we went to the Dover museum and saw the world's oldest boat from the Bronze age. There were also a lot of stuffed animals that scared Brie. Then we went to the ocean and saw the White Cliffs of Dover (from afar). We felt poetic.

July 10th- The Fratellis: We slept in. Really late. Lauren did at least. Then we went to London for the concert. When we got there we were hungry (of course). We decided on a Falafel hut. It was sketch. We had NO idea what we were eating and they were very bizarre colors. Then, an hour before the show, we decided we'd go ahead and get in line for the show. No one was there. There were literally five people in front of us. This meant that we got... FRONT ROW. We met some very enthusiastic people at the show... who like to jump around and step on our feet. But other than that, it was an excellent show. Even more excellent was when we made the last train to Horsham, ensuring that Jim did not have to come pick us up at one in the morning.

July 11th- Stonehenge and Salisbury: Brie really liked Stonehenge. So did Lauren but Brie wanted to have that written. It was awe inspiring. Minor confusion about the audio tape caused a delay in the tour but other than our minor blip with the technology, it was a excellent time. As soon as we got back to the car, it started raining. It was good timing. Salisbury Cathedral was a... cathedral. We did see a copy of the Magna Carta, that was cool. The town was very cute but there wasn't a whole lot to do there. On our way home, we drove through the country side. It was adorable.

July 12th- Brighton: Brighton was blustery. It was chillier than we expected and Brie wore shorts (bad plan). We went exploring through all the winding lanes and alleys, looking at all the neat shops and stores. Brie thought it was similar to Asheville and Lauren was reminded of Greenwich Village. After shopping, we went to Brighton Pier and saw all the rollercoasters (which were SO expensive!) That evening we went see Mamma Mia! It was good.

Are you noticing a pattern?

July 13th- The Boot Sale: That's about it. We went to a giant yard sale. Lauren bought the complete Back to the Future set. We packed for Scotland and watched Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. It was full of bad hair and humming children.

July 14th/15th- Edinburgh: We got up early to catch a train only to realize that we had missed the train. No big. We caught the next one. The Scottish countryside was "adorable" and Brie loved the sheep (and the ocean, but mostly the sheep). We arrived in Edinburraaahg (we're not really sure how to pronounce it, so we don't) to find that it is VERY hilly. We trekked a ways to our hostel which resembled a castle. EVERYTHING resembled a castle. Our hostel was much much better than we expected and our room was large and brightly colored. We met some nice people there. We ate at a cafe that offered a student discount (score!) and we sat in the bar window. It didn't take us long to realize that the same man standing "waiting for the bus" had been there for over 45 minutes. We decided he must have been on something, because something wasn't quite right up there. Across the street from our cafe was the old church where Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein and The Elephant House where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book. COOL. We also went to the Museum of Scotland... three times (it was free). There we saw Dolly the sheep and an amazing view of the city. We took a walking tour with Keith, who only had half a beard. That was odd. He was odd. He was not as cool as Alan. The weather was awesome and beautiful which was not at all what we were expecting. Sadly we came home

July 16th- Horsham: We bought groceries and took pictures of the town. We packed for London and we went to the One-Stop and met the goth girl who hates England. We were ecstatic! We had heard so much about her.

July 17th- London and Lauren's half birthday: We took a train and some tubes over to Palmer's Lodge. We walked up a giant hill because we had nothing else to do and got some crepes. Then we came back to the hostel and Brie didn't have a bed. But now she does so it's okay. It's big and international. And here we are.

OKAY BYE! We'll try again soon (we promise)!

Sorry if it seems like we've forgotten about our travel blog; we've just been having too much fun!

July 4: American Independence Day! We dressed the part to look festive. Sadly, this was also our farewell day in Dublin so we spend the morning taking pictures and buying some souvenirs. We stumbled upon a posh region of Dublin we hadn't explored yet and ate at the cute and delicious Gotham Cafe. After wandering and taking more random pictures (Brie isn't used to having a camera yet) we went back to our hostel to repack. We spend the afternoon fuming about RyanAir's ridiculous weight limit, squeezing hair mousse into a 3 oz. bottle, and putting pants into pillow cases. We left Dublin with at least 30 lbs. of carry-on items and 45 less euros... no big. On our plane to England, we met a boy named Tom who lifted our broken spirits by telling us terrible tales of RyanAir. He knew of Tennessee because his father is a big country music fan. This made us laugh.

The Horsham Experience: Karen picked us up at the airport on the night of the 4th. Unfortunately, we were so pooped from carrying all our possessions in our pillowcases that we tumbled into our "cozy" bedroom for a goodnight's sleep. The next morning we experienced our first real hot shower. Oh the joy! To our amazement, Horsham is much bigger than we expected but no less quaint. Over the next three days we went to a French Market and a carnival, played a little tennis in the park, baked a cake, and watched Bride & Prejudice and the entirety of the men's single Wimbledon match... the outcome is still upsetting us. We are one deck of cards short to play hand and foot. We've decided they don't play cards in England because we couldn't find any cards.

Today we went to Bath and it was incredible. The skies were bright blue all day long. It was about a 3 hour train ride, but the journey was scenic and cute so we dealt with it. We arrived around lunch time and ate at a very good (and cheap!) Thai restaurant. The only bad thing we've started to notice is that everything here is very, very sweet. The waitress looked at us like we was crazy when we asked for soy sauce, although that could have been due to the language barrier. After that we took a free walking tour with Alan! He was the happiest little old man and he showed us the greatest parts of Bath. We also took a tour of the Roman Baths, which of course was mind boggling and astounding all at once. After eating dinner, we got back on our train. Unfortunately, one of our connections was late and we missed the train to Horsham! But, being the resourceful girls that we are, we managed to hop on another train and make it home... late, but all in one piece.

Tomorrow we're headed off to Canterbury and Dover Beach! We hope everyone is doing well over there!

Yesterday (Wednesday) was filled with “highs and lows.” High: Seeing a movie at the Irish Film Institute; funny and heartwarming, it filled us with an optimism that is rarely found between the two of us. Low: Breakfast which included corn flakes, white bread, and instant coffee. We were left a little unsatisfied. Also, the Bagel Factory (YUCK) which eventually led to Brie’s downfall. We saw some gardens and we saw Christa Currey. We also went to see some Irish music and dancing which was fun but obviously for an older generation as we were pretty much the only ones under 35.

Today we decided to forgo breakfast due to our bad experience the day before and had some much needed extra sleep. This was mostly due to the fact that a group of Canadians who checked into our hostel. One of the girls was double booked for a bed that a French (?) woman was occupying. After checking in with the front desk, the Canadian girl proceeded to sleep in the bed she was assigned. In the middle of the night the French (?) woman came in, made her way across the room, and attempted to crawl into her bed with the Canadian. It was awkward. She came back later to get her stuff and woke Lauren up. Also early in the morning, a woman of unknown origin began screaming loudly in the alley. This is one of the things we love about Dublin; it’s a crossroad of cultures.

When we actually woke up, we went over to the National Gallery and somehow managed to see every exhibit. Brie’s favorite was the portrait of a man in the cross. We found another garden that was actually a jungle and ate at an all you can eat Chinese buffet. It was delish. Then it started raining really hard as we desperately tried to find the Dublin Castle. We thought we had found it but it was actually the tourist information center in an old church… oops. We finally found it but were too wet and cold to want to explore it (plus we didn’t want to pay the hefty price to get inside). We came back to the hostel and took our first warm showers (yay!) and watched a movie because it was still raining really hard. Then we went for our last dinner which was a conundrum because we couldn’t decide where to go. When we did, it was very good and cost efficient so we were pleased. We also splurged on some gelato!

And then, in the fading light across the River Liffey, we watched our final sunset in Dublin… Okay, that was an exaggeration, but it was definitely the prettiest scene of Dublin we’ve seen.

So, first off, everything went smoothly today. Whether that was due to an act of God or our sleepless stupor we're not quite sure. But yay! We're safely over the ocean! At the moment, we are sitting in the hostel kitchen, waiting for our frozen pizza to cook and listening to a fellow foreigner strum away on his guitar. Everyone in the kitchen is joining in singing; it's a familial experience. Recounting the day...
1. There was slight panic over the weight of our bags. Technically, the bags are only supposed to weigh thirty-three pounds for the flight from Dublin to Gatwick, but...we decided to shoot for the 50 pound limit on our international flight. Even that was a challenge. Just imagine us trying to ft our lives for three weeks in one large suitcase.
2. God was literally with us on the flight from Atlanta. We befriended a priest from afar. Of course we never actually spoke to him, but we were definitely tight. He spoke to the stewardess about Dollywood (!) so we're pretty sure he was from Knoxville. We were blessed.
3. Unfortunately, Jimmy Dennenennney was also with us on the flight from Atlanta. This was less than awesome because Brie sees Jimmy every time she goes to the pool, but didn't want to say hi. Also, we awkwardly avoided his eye contact at all costs as this was beneficial to our mutual ignorance of the others' existence.
4. While waiting for the plane to leave ATL, we noticed a girl ask a woman to take her picture...by herself. On closer inspection, three men were leaning into the photo as well. We liked the awkward alone picture better.
5. We got to our hostel around 11:15 to find out that we couldn't check in until 2. So we meandered, practicing being assertive and telling people NO when they asked for money, and then found a coffee shop for a mid-morning jolt of caffeine. After almost falling asleep in our drinks, we managed to get back to our hostel where we took a nap on the couches in the lounge... then we took another nap in our room for three more hours.
6. After we took a nap at our really awesome hostel, we decided to go find a restaurant for dinner. After walking around for about an hour, we finally found what we thought would be a good Italian restaurant. We ordered what we thought was zucchini stuffed ravioli. WRONG. We ended up getting a hollowed zucchini stuffed with mashed carrots and cheese. It was an... interesting experience. We were still hungry.
7. We found a cute little grocery/convenient store called "Spar" on the way back to our hostel and stopped in to get some snacks. We left with a frozen pizza, tiramisu, a pint of icecream, two drinks, and some chocolate, all of which cost less than our zucchini dinner... yum.

Now, we're really tired... again. Actually, we were never not tired. So, we'll go sleep. All and all, a good day.

-Brie and Lauren

So we're getting ready for our excellent adventure which is happening VERY SOON! We've got all of our hostel reservations and our railpasses confirmed and so we're pretty much ready to go. As most of you probably know, I'll be in Buenos Aires the week before we're departing and will hopefully be arriving back in Knoxville for a few hours to do some laundry and possibly take a nap before heading out on a plane to Dublin! You can check out our itinerary below.

Anyway, check back here. We'll try to post updates of our travels and pictures and all!
-Lauren

European Adventure Itinerary
June 30- Monday
-Leave Knoxville at 5:15, leave Atlanta at 8:25
-Delta Knoxville->Atlanta->Dublin

July 1- Tuesday
-Arrive in Dublin at 9:25

July 2- Wednesday
-Day: Trinity College (free), Irish Film Center (free)
-Evening: Walk Macabre (10 euros)

July 3- Thursday
-Day: Dublin Castle (3.25 Euros), Irish Music Hall of Fame (7.60 Euros)

July 4- Friday
-Shopping, Old City (markets), Picnics in the Parks.
-Leave Dublin at 7:15, arrive in Gatwick at 8:35

July 5- Saturday
-Undecided? Possibly Cambridge with Karen.

July 6- Sunday
-Sleeping
-Discovering Horsham, groceries, etc.
-Britrail: $447 per person

July 7- Monday
-Canterbury and Dover Beach (aka Literary Monday):
-Canterbury Cathedral (6.50 pounds), Canterbury Historic River Tour (6.50 pounds) includes-- Canterbury Castle (free), Saint Dunstan Cathedral (free). Marlowe Theater (student stand by tickets 30 minutes prior to show).
-White Cliffs (free), Roman Painted house (2 pounds), Samphirehoe Park, South Foreland Lighthouse (4 pounds).

July 8- Tuesday
-Bath: Roman Baths and Museum of Costume (11.50 pounds), Cross Bath (12 pounds), Museum of Fashion (6.50 pounds), Assembly Rooms- tea, Jane Austin Center (4.50 pounds), Victorian Art Gallery (free), Royal Victoria Park (free), Henrietta and Parade Parks (1 pound).

July 9- Wednesday
-Horsham: Resting/Lurking

July 10- Thursday
-London: All free!! National Portrait Gallery, Picnic at Middle Temple Gardens, British Library, British Museum, National Gallery.
-OysterCard for underground travel: (23 pounds per person)
-THE FRATELLIS: the Somerset House (51 pounds)

July 11- Friday
-Morning: Stonehenge
-Afternoon: Salisbury- Chocolate Bars (2-4 pounds), Salisbury Cathedral (donation request).

July 12- Saturday
-Brighton: Beach Day! Beach and Piers, Shopping: Maze and North Laines

July 13- Sunday
-Undecided

July 14- Monday
-Arrive in Edinburgh
-Edinburgh Castle and Park (9.80 pounds), National Gallery of Scotland and National Museum of Scotland (free), Palace of Holyroodhouse (7.50 pounds with student IDs), Dynamic Earth (4.95 pounds for students), Fruit Market Art Gallery (free), Out Look Tower (5.75 pounds), Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (free), Garden Parks, Elaine’s Vintage Clothing, Edinburgh University.

July 15- Tuesday
-Morning: Edinburgh
-Evening: Train to Horsham

July 16- Wednesday
-Horsham: Resting/Lurking

July 17- Thursday
-London: St. Paul’s Cathedral (9.50 pounds), Carnaby Street, Portabella Road Market, West Minister Abbey (10 pounds), Tower of London (16 pounds).

July 18- Friday
-London: All free- National History Museum, Royal Academy of the Arts, Tate Briton, Tate Modern, Victorian Albert Museum.

July 19- Saturday
-Greenwich: Primeridian Observatory (free), National Maritime Museum (free).

July 20- Sunday
-London: Museum of Childhood (free), Photography Museum (free), Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Soho, Hyde Park, Abbey Road, John Keat’s house!
-Return to Horsham

July 21- Monday
-Pack up
-Leave from Gatwick at 11:00, arrive in Knoxville at 6:25
-Delta: London/Gatwick->Atlanta->Knoxville