Lauren In London: They are Taking the Hobbits to Ireland

I am sorry about the title, but it just seemed right. For some reason the four of us-Taylor, Sarah, Melissa, and I- were talking about which hobbit we were from Lord of the Rings. I am apparently Sam, which is awesome. It is Sunday night and we are all watching We Bought a Zoo together in the lounge. Earlier today we got back from Ireland! It was extraordinary, and so amazing. I shall go day buy day to make it easier and make it two posts.

Day One: Friday
This day was rough as we had to wake up at 4 AM so that we could get to the airport buy our nine o'clock flight. It was fine because I went to bed super early, but waking up that early is never easy. We took the Tube at 5:30 to Liverpool Street station and from there took the 45 minute train ride to Standsted Airport. We were flying Ryan Air so we only got one carry on(they are very strict about it.) So we only brought a backpack each. It was fun though, going out on our own on an adventure. We navigated the aiport fine, and as the most experienced traveler, I led the way. The flight was only an hour and a half we landed in Cork, Ireland. It was so beautiful which we could tell on the bus ride into the city. When we got there we walked around a bit, just to get to know the city, because we could not check into the hostel till 1 or 2. At first we were a little hesitant we did not know what to see or what to do and we just walked around. Once we got some food though and checked in we were better. The hostel was actually really nice, not much different from a dorm and we had a room of four all to ourselves. After a little break we walked around the city and then out of it along the Lee River. We saw the University of Cork, which Arcadia has a program at and one of my friends is looking at. We walked all along the river looking for the elusive gaol that we only ever saw from across the river. It was a long walk and everyone was in a lot of pain by the time we got back to the hostel. For dinner we went to a pub that we saw in a broucher, but it did not have food so we eventually went to a resturant that had good food. Then we went back to the hostel and went to bed...very early.

Melissa and Taylor at 5AM on the way tot he airport.

Sarah and me

Cork Airport. It was so cool, everything in Ireland was in both Gaelic and English. We heard so many people speaking Gaelic.

Ireland...the Lee River

Taylor said that every time that she said "That is beautiful, what is that?" It was a church, so here is one of them.

Entrance to the English Market. It was a market with shops and food and stuff. It was amazing, we bought giant brownies there that were delicious.

Our room in the hostel. 201, it was nice. I had to sleep on the top bunk though. The mattress was super comfortable and the blanket was heavy and warm, but the pillow was terribke.