Wales - Llandudno & Llanberis

Trekking up Mount Snowdon

Great Orme mini golf

From Holyhead I took a train to Llandudno, which in a basic sense was a resort town for the aged. Great weather - I got sunburned again though, which made me realize that I should've taken the sunscreen from OBS when I had the chance. I visited the Great Orme in Llandudno, though I'm still not entirely clear on what it was, but it was a nice walk down back to town. I took the tram up mostly because I didn't know where the trail was. There was actually a mini-golf course at the top, which was the first sign as to how touristy this location was. This made me appreciate the fact that there is not yet a "Moher Mini Golf" at the Cliffs of Moher. After the Great Orme I walked along the pier, which was a bit sad. The word that kept going through my mind was derelict. Definitly long past it's prime, which could perhaps be the reason there were so so many old people - they obviously came to Llandudno as kids when it was in it's peak and are now returning for their retirement... Perhaps? I walked to the Little Orme at the other end of the "boardwalk," but I didn't climb it and am not sure if you can. The beaches at Llandudno have very little sand. There are mostly rocks that look like what I imagine dinosaur eggs to look like and yet, people were sunbathing on them. It just looked very uncomfortable to me.

Ireland - Belfast & Dublin

Giant's Causeway

The journey from Doolin to Belfast was probably the most complex part of the entire trip going from Doolin to Galway, Galway to Dublin Airport, and Dublin Airport to Belfast, taking about eight hours. We made it though! It was a long day of sitting, but what was interesting was that upon entering Northern Ireland there was an explosion of Union Jacks so you knew you were no longer in the Republic of Ireland but rather Northern Ireland, still part of the UK. Even some curbs in Belfast were painted red, white, and blue.

Ireland - Doolin

OBS with awkward suitcase

Before I could commence my travels in Ireland I had to catch a 4:55AM train to Bristol Temple Meads and then a bus to Bristol Airport. Paranoia is the word that comes to mind when I think back to that pre-dawn walk along the Taff Trail, but it's my own fault. I've started watching too many horror shows and I'm too cheap for a taxi. Anyways, I made it to the train station, however, and I feel as though this is a solid piece of advice, I hadn't collected my tickets the day before and I recommend that if you know your old-fashioned swipe card isn't accepted by the quick-track ticket machines and you pre-purchased your tickets and need an actual human to print them for you, get them printed the day before your pre-dawn train because no one is at the ticket counter at 4:40AM. But if you don't do this then simply feign a catatonic state on the train and the ticket-collectors should leave you alone :) So, not having my tickets did not deter me from boarding my train, and I eventually made it to the airport and hopped on the shamrock decorated Aer Lingus plane to Dublin. Smooth flight, arrived in Dublin, found OBS, and then we boarded a bus for Galway. Relevant.

Procrastination Post

To Castell Coch

Whoa, the weather just changed in a rather drastic manner going from blue skies and a light breeze to an intense wind that looks like it's going to blow over the tree outside my window. With rain, of course. Blue skies when I was logging in to write this and then rain, right as I began to type. I mean, this is the norm, but it never fails to surprise me how quickly the weather can change here.

Quinoa salad I made for dinner

Classes have officially ended and we are now in the revision period. I only have two exams, though both are my least favorite classes here - ancient history. So my revision has not been that productive. You could probably say that this post is a form of procrastination. The weather has mostly been so nice for the past week or so and I've just been wandering around the Cardiff area, walking around the city center and along the Taff trail. I found that I'm able to walk to Castle Coch, so I plan to do that when I get back from Ireland.

Varsity

So, from what I've gathered from my time spent in the UK thus far, there are no real college teams, but rather everything is a club and is run through the student unions. That being said, today was pretty much the equivalent of homecoming here in Cardiff. There were multiple events with varsity games going on all day against Swansea, culminating in the men's rugby match held at Millennium Stadium in the evening (which is like the stadium of Cardiff - it was passable as far as stadiums go). I actually went and it turned out to be an interesting match. Apart from the rugby, there was a streaker, a flasher, and some guys who decided to throw their beer on everyone around them. Let me just say that security was prepared for that streaker, tackling him like a rugby player. Anyways, Cardiff was reminiscent of the Nats, what with having the lead in the beginning and then just losing 13-21. It was disappointing, but I'm happy to say that I was able to understand what was happening in the game. Thank you one semester of rugby at W&M! It was really fun to watch and I recommend going to see a rugby match if you ever find yourself in the UK. Oh, I made oatmeal raisin cookies at some point since my return from Italy (as a tangent from sports). The raisins I used, flame raisins, really expanded in the oven. 'Twas quite strange, but they were delicious. In all, things are mellowing out here now, what with exams coming up. Time really has flown.

London

HA RYANAIR! HA!

I started this leg of my journey with a large breakfast. I then made my way to Bologna's airport via public transportation (bus) and I almost lost my ticket! Thank goodness someone noticed it had fallen out of my pocket and chased after me. Ryanair would have charged me to have it re-printed because it was less than an hour before the flight by the time I got to their

Bologna, Venice, Ravenna, oh my!

San Luca walk

My time exploring Bologna was limited because Bologna was more of my base to visit other places due to its central location. From what I saw of Bologna though, it seemed to have a lot to offer in the gastronomy and shopping departments. It was a lot more gritty than Florence for sure, with graffiti being prominent pretty much everywhere and a lot of dog poop. I just tell it how I see it. Bologna did have its charms though. When I arrived via train it was raining and my umbrella was wedged somewhere in my backpack. Bologna though, has this whole system of porticoes that basically make having an umbrella unnecessary for the most part. They're also very picturesque when you look past the graffiti and people begging.

All roads lead to the Duomo in Firenze

Panorama of Firenze

Man oh man do my feet hurt. I've done nothing but walk! Walk and take pictures and eat gelato! Rough life, I know. So, my first full day in Florence (Firenze) I went to the Uffizi Gallery where I saw numerous Madonna and Child/ Madonna Enthroned works and a lot of Greek myth stuff including Caravaggio's Bacchus. Now, if you are going to Florence, I highly recommend that you take a renaissance art history themed class before going. I happened to take such a class last spring so it was interesting to see all of the actual works I had worked so hard to memorize.