A little luck of the Irish

My latest adventure had me traveling to Dublin, Ireland, the farthest of my travels thus far. When my roommate and I had first decided on this trip I was ecstatic because for one who doesn't want to go to Ireland and two who can resist those accents :) Unfortunately though, as the trip approached I noticed that my immune system was not at it's best and that I was feeling more and more under the weather. But of course I didn't let that stop me because I knew that this was an opportunity I wouldn't get back for quite awhile, if ever, so I sucked it up and we headed to the airport Thursday afternoon excited to see what the weekend was going to bring.

Our trip took off to a rocky start when we received news that our flight, which was scheduled to leave Barcelona at 3:45, would not be taking off until 9:45 that evening. So we spent a good 7 hours sitting in the airport trying to occupy ourselves while we waited to see if the plane would actually take off at 9:45 or if it would be delayed even later. Thankfully, the plane did arrive around 9:45 and we were up in the air by 10:30. Once we landed (at around midnight) we took a taxi straight to the hostel and went to bed because we were exhausted from all the waiting and traveling that had made up our day.

The next morning we woke up to a gorgeous day and set out to see some of the most popular sights in Dublin. These sights included Trinity College, which is one of the most prestigious and oldest Universities in the world, the Dublin Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral and after lunch the Guinness Factory/Storehouse. Every one of these sights was amazing and just walking through the streets of Dublin was exciting. My favorite spot of the day was St. Patrick's Cathedral because of the history and just the feel of the whole thing. I don't know what it is about Cathedrals, but when you walk inside them you just get this powerful feeling of awe and inspiration. I think it has to do with it's rich history and beautiful architecture, but there could be a lot of other reasons as well. Right outside of the Cathedral there was a beautiful park with flowers everywhere. Maybe it's because I'm from Texas and we don't have as many flowers just sprouting everywhere, but that has been one of my favorite parts of traveling around Europe is seeing all the amazing plant life and all the different colors coming out during the Spring.

My roommate was most excited to go to the Guinness Factory/Storehouse because she, unlike me, loves beer and had heard amazing things about this factory. I will admit the tour of the factory was pretty cool, but after taking one sip of the famous Guinness beer I knew it wasn't for me. I still had a good time though and enjoyed watching how excited my roommate got when she received her free pint of Guinness :)

That night we decided to try some authentic Irish food at a bar/restaurant that had live Irish music playing. The atmosphere of the Irish bars is extremely hard to describe, but everyone is just so happy and enjoying life that you can't help but be pulled into that energy and have a good time. My roommate and I both enjoyed a drink and some delicious food, and met some very interesting people who had nothing but good things to say about their homeland.

The next morning we woke up extremely early to head out on a tour of West Ireland, that included the Cliffs of Moher. We traveled from Dublin to Galway and then from there did a tour of the coast and a family farm. The family was extremely sweet and even gave us homemade apple pie when the tour of their farm was over. The tour was amazing because we got to go up to one of the mountain tops and from there all you could see were green fields and limestone mountains, something you would never be able to see in the United States. I think the best part of the day was visiting the Cliffs of Moher though. They were incredible and so beautiful and we thankfully went on a day where the weather was perfect and there wasn't fog to obscure out sight.

That night when we got home we were both very exhausted, but since it was our last night in Ireland we decided to go out and experience the nightlife one more time. I can say this for sure, the Irish sure know how to party haha! We met quite a few crazy people that night. I didn't stay out as long as I wished I could have because I was still feeling sick, but from the stories my roommate told me in the morning, they all had a very good time out.

On our last day in Ireland, my roommate and I walked around the city a little more and bought a few souvenirs and gifts for loved ones and then just relaxed until our flight, which thankfully took off at the correct time.

It's hard to believe that in about a month I will be back in Texas and back to my real life. This experience has been amazing so far and I have made lifetime memories that I will never forget! As excited as I am to come home, I will miss it here a lot! I still have a couple more adventures though before I leave, so I better enjoy them!

Love y'all!

xoxo

It was legen... wait for it... DARY!

Okay so first I feel that it is important to explain why I picked the title that you see above. The story behind this post's title comes from an expression that two new friends used when they met us, and somehow that became the saying for my latest adventure.

My latest adventure took place in Lisboa, Portugal. Now I have to admit that when my roommate Chase said we were booking a trip to Lisboa I wasn't exactly thrilled, mainly because I knew nothing about Portugal or what there was to do there, but after my trip I can honestly say that it is probably one of the greatest places I have been since arriving in Europe. The atmosphere is just so different in Lisboa compared to the rest of the cities I have visited in Europe. For one it is so much more relaxed and laid back. People are extremely friendly and the city is beautiful in a completely different way than you would describe other beautiful cities.

So let me begin to explain my adventures in Portugal...

This trip it was only me and my roommate Chase because we were the only two who really wanted to get out of Barcelona and explore a little more of Europe. We left on Thursday evening and arrived in Lisboa a little after 10:30 p.m. Our first adventure for the evening was figuring out how to get to the hostel that we would be spending the next four nights in. We decided to take a taxi and that was definitely our first mistake. The taxi driver literally didn't say a word to us and drove like a crazed lunatic (Chase and I seriously thought we might die during the drive), but somehow we made it to the hostel (after the taxi driver had dropped us off about 6 blocks away from where the hostel was actually located). I had never stayed at a hostel up to this point and I can tell you I was more than a little nervous (mainly because the only image of a hostel I had was from the movie Hostel in which the guests are slaughtered), but I soon came to discover that hostels are actually quite nice and the people that stay in them and run them are also extremely nice. The rest of our first night was uneventful, mainly because we were both exhausted, all we did was get something to eat and then headed off to bed.

Friday morning we woke up and it was an absolutely gorgeous day full sunshine and heat :) so we headed to the beach to get a little bit of sun, which we had been missing for quite some time. We took a train to a small village called Causcais and discovered that the beach part of the city was actually only two small sections of beach surrounded mainly by ports and other areas for boats. We weren't picky though and found a great spot to lay out and got a nice base tan for our trip to Mallorca in two weeks. Now I had assumed the ocean would be pretty warm since the ocean was extremely nice when we had gone to Cadiz two weeks earlier, but I was VERY wrong. It was freezing and after being in it for only a few minutes I could no longer feel my toes haha, so we didn't spend much time in the water on this vacation. After we arrived back at our hostel we decided to go to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner since we were both craving a little American style food. All I have to say is that even though the food was fantastic and the drinks were delicious it was extremely expensive and after our meal there we had to be very stingy on the rest of our meals.

Me at the beach :)

Chase and I enjoying the sun.

My yummy margarita :)

Saturday we decided to take a day trip to a small town near Lisboa called Sintra where we were told there was an amazing view of the city from a castle at the top of the mountain. So since the weather had been so amazing the day before Chase and I assumed it would be just as nice that day, so we wore shorts, t-shirts and our tennis shoes... boy did we wear the wrong outfit. As soon as we got off the train we discovered that the weather in Sintra was actually much cooler than in Lisboa and it was starting to drizzle. So first thing first we scoured the touristy shops in search of a sweatshirt or at least a long sleeve shirt to help keep us just a tad bit warm, and we eventually we did find some long sleeved shirts and of course they were 20 euros, but in for the sake of being warm it was worth it! It was also funny/cute because we got matching shirts that really pinpointed us as tourists haha! The hike was incredible and lots of fun, even though it did start raining halfway up the mountain. The castle was amazing and even though the view from the top was obscured because of the fog and clouds it was still an incredible feeling to be there and to see the view. The walk back down the mountain was an adventure as well since the rocks were so slippery from the rain, so we had to take our time going down, but on the way down we stopped to carve our initials into a tree that had a bunch of other initials in it haha.

Chase and I in our matching touristy shirts haha.

The mountain that we hiked up!

View from the top of the mountain :)

C and C for Caitlyn and Chase :)

When we got back to the hostel that afternoon we discovered that we now had two other roommates and from the smell of the room they were boys and we were right. They were both from Germany and both named Tobias, what are the chances of that haha. They were also very sweet and extremely funny! That night we made dinner in the hostel's common kitchen and just chilled with other people staying in the hostel. It's amazing how many people you meet staying in a hostel and from all over the world! It was definitely a good decision to stay at the hostel and I would recommend that hostel to anyone thinking of visiting Lisboa, Portugal.

Chase and I enjoying our dinner :)

Roomies :)

The next day we were off to a late start since we had stayed up late the night before, but we managed to grab breakfast before it was over and decided to head out and see a little bit of Lisboa. It was another chilly day and of course we hadn't planned on that weather so we were very unprepared. We ended up at a little cafe that sat in a courtyard/garden area overlooking the city and had a cup of coffee while we snuggled in blankets (offered to us by the cafe since it was outside) and just enjoyed the view and the peacefulness of the city. After a good hour and a half we made our way through the city and up to the Lisboa castle to see another amazing view of the entire city. This time though the view wasn't obscured by clouds and fog, so we got some amazing pictures thanks to the beautiful blue sky and fluffy clouds! One other awesome thing about the castle was that there were cats everywhere and they were all friendly, so I was able to get a little kitty time, which I have definitely been missing in Barcelona!

Having a coffee at a little cafe!

Chase and I enjoying the view

View from the Lisboa castle :)

Lots of kitties :)

Even though I'm making a face, I love this picture because of the clouds :)

After our castle walk we decided to head back to the hostel and make dinner with our two new friends Tobias. We made pizzas and ended up walking around the streets and wandered into a bar that seemed almost vacant, but they were playing good music and we just wanted to have a drink and dance. We made fast friends with the DJ and he started playing all the music we could ever want and soon people were pouring in and by the time the bar closed it was packed to capacity! Overall a great night!

The next morning, which was also our last, we went on one last adventure with our friends Tobias and Tobias to an elevator that was created by the same man that built the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Needless to say it was much less impressive and didn't offer a very good view of the city, but we had fun hanging out with our new friends and just laughing!

On top of the Elevator!

Chase and I with our new friends :)

Yay for new friends!!!

Chase and I were sad to head back to Barcelona, but we knew we needed to get back and that we still had many other adventures before our trip comes to an end, including our trip to Dublin this weekend :) Overall our trip to Portugal was a success and we made new friends and experienced many new things!

Love y'all

xoxo