I'm back with some fun tales of other lands. There is a lot to talk about since my last post, so let's just jump in shall we? This summer, I got two weeks off from school and I made the most of my time :) WARNING: If you don't like hearing about people having an awesome time... stop reading.
First stop, Texas! It is no surprise that I was pumped to be back in Texas for a few days to start off my summer vacation. I was there for 4 1/2 days and got to really spend some nice quality time with my family and friends. We spent a lot of time hanging out and getting to really enjoy each other's company. Craig was even in town to hang out with as well! I made quite an impressive food tour: Mexican food, Whataburger, Chick fil a, Freebirds, and some yummy homemade goodness to boot. I also got to spend a lot of time with my BFF Charlotte. She is getting so big and every time I come home, I am shocked at how much more she can do and how much more personality she has! She's a genius. No, I'm not biased. I mean... she can do the chicken dance so... yeah. Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures, just videos, but here is one cute one of her.
Eating Mexican food just like any good Texas girl. I also got to swim a lot when I was home which I have missed so much. We even invented a new pool game which could have killed us, but Dad excelled at. We shall tell tales of his awesomeness in that game for generations to come. Mom even got in on the action herself. She got so dizzy that she almost drown.... but she did it with a smile on her face!
After a few days and hard good byes, it was back to NYC for a few days. Then it was time for... IRELAND!!!!! OMG, we had so much fun in Ireland. I now refer to it as European Texas. Our trip started out super classy in first class! Timmy's friend at work got us an awesome upgrade and now I am spoiled for life. Let me tell you... first class is better. People that tell you otherwise are lying. I had a drink in my hand and full bed that lay down flat. Yup... amazing!
For the duration of the Ireland portion, feel free to picture me talking in an Irish accent. It sounds fairly offensive... like an angry leprechaun. Or you could picture Timmy telling you these tales with an Irish accent, but then you would have to put a Jamaican twist on it. Haha, just kidding Timmy :) (no I'm not).
Anyway, we started out in Dublin. I feel like we never stopped moving from the minute we got there. The first night, we went on a traditional Irish music pub crawl. This was really cool and very interesting. I learned a lot about Irish music, and we even made some Irish friends :) I have never been anywhere but Texas, where the people were so incredibly, genuinely, kind. We went all over Dublin. We saw:
Dublin castle
Trinity College
Temple Bar
The Jameson factory
I found where they keep the leprechauns :)
And my favorite- the Guinness factory. I know what you guys are thinking.... wow Ally, really? Guinness? That's a far cry from pear cider. To you I say... YES... Guinness! I love it! When in Rome (or Ireland) do as the awesome Romans (Irish) do. :) Also, I can hold my own, thank you very much. At one point on the pub crawl, I had to defend all Americans by proving that we are hardcore. Don't ask, but you're welcome America. Anyway, the Guinness Factory was awesome. Think: part Hogwarts, part Willy Wonka for adults. We even graduated from the Guinness Academy, where we were taught how to pour the perfect pint! It really is a process, but worth it. If you ever go to Dublin, I highly suggest this place. The top floor is called the gravity bar that includes a 360 degree view of Dublin. It was pretty outstanding. Here is a view:
It's so cool from up there!
This is an Irish milk mustache :)
The perfect pint!
The graduating class: Guinness Academy 2013. I still have the diploma.
After Dublin we headed to Galway. This may have been my favorite place on the trip, because this is where we got on the tour bus to the Cliffs of Moher. We also met my favorite Irishman, our tour guide. He really did sound like an angry leprechaun, maybe that is where I pulled my accent from. It was amazing to learn about the history of the area. Insane to see things that were built over 5,000 years ago that are still around. We saw a ton, including a place called the "fairyfort" where fairies and leprechauns can be found. HOW GREAT IS THIS COUNTRY!!!! Here are some pictures from that tour:
Fairyfort
5,600 year old tomb
Celtic Crosses
And next you will find the pictures from the Cliffs of Moher. This was the most breathtakingly beautiful place that I have ever seen. Words really cannot describe how amazing this place was. When I die... I want my ashes to be spread here. Someone write that down. Don't fool yourself, this journey was treacherous! You walk right along the edge of the cliffs which are 702 feet high. Needless to say, I was nervous. Timmy was practically hanging over the side to take some pictures, and I sat on the edge, but lets get real. Our bus tour guide decided to tell us that 10 people had already died this year at the Cliffs because they got too close to the edge and fell. I'm sorry what? He then guilted us by saying that if one of us died, he would feel obligated to come to our country and go to our funeral which would cost too much money and he would be upset (I really loved this man). Needless to say... I wanted to make sure I didn't upset him, so I tried to stay safe. Definitely out of my comfort zone, but worth it for the great pictures.
On the way home, we drove down Galway Bay which was gorgeous as well. Feel free to marvel at my wild disregard for safety. I almost died at least 8 times that day. Here are some pictures from Galway Bay:
Sorry about the picture that looks like my attempt at a glamour shot :) It's a good shot of the view though. Also while in Galway, we went to the Galway Cathedral which was beautiful:
After Galway, we headed for a stay in Cork. Cork was a short trip that included our trip to Blarney castle. That's right... we kissed the Blarney Stone. The stone is located at the top of the Blarney castle which is quite awesome. I learned a lot about castles, but my favorite new term came from this excursion. That term: Murder Hole. Yup. Apparently a murder hole is a hole in the ceiling directly over the entrance where you could shoot arrows, or pour boiling liquids on intruders upon entering. So, lesson from Ireland: If you are building a castle, don't forget your Murder Hole!
Blarney Castle
More Blarney Castle
View from the top of the castle
Kissing the Blarney Stone: yes, it is as uncomfortable as it looks. The bars are a new addition. In the old days people used to fall to their death often trying to kiss it. Can't make this up.
Murder hole!
The next day we rented a car and drove out to Kilarney and into the Kilarney National Park. Again, I risked my life. Guess what? In Europe, they drive on the other side of the road and on the wrong side of the car! Those crazy Irish! I was terrified. Then to top it off, we drove up and down a mountain, along the side of the cliffs, with only enough room on the road for one car, yet people were coming in both directions. I didn't breath for about 45 minutes. Again, worth it for the pictures though! Here they are:
After the scenic drive, we headed back to Dublin for our last two nights. We decided to do it up right, and stay in a castle (first class really got us in a different mind set :) When we checked in, they must have felt that we were super awesome because they upgraded us to the King's Suite. WHAT?!?! It was awesome. We even had a lion!
He looked hungry
Then it was back to the old NYC. We had a fantastic time there and highly recommend the trip! We did have to fly back in coach with the riff raff, but we shall never forget our time in first class :)
Back in New York, it was time to get down to business... time to get into shape. As you may have read in earlier posts, I am extremely athletic. If you aren't familiar with my blog, please refer to the last post to get an accurate picture of my prowess. I have recently signed up for the Disney Princess Half Marathon, though running for more than 30 seconds was a stretch. I needed a goal, and boy did I set it :) Luckily, I have an incredible partner in crime running with me! Kristen and I are going to take that marathon down! It was about time to start the training, and things are going pretty well. I have learned some things about running, that I would like to share with you:
1. Running is harder when you eat something like this:
versus something like this- trust me, I keep testing it to see if it changes:
2. Pigeons do not move. They would rather you step on them than lose face in front of their friends. Or, they will fly at your face to teach you a lesson. They take their street cred very seriously.
3. If you aren't fast enough to pass other runners, you can pretend that the walkers are running, and laugh at how much faster you are when you run past them :)
4. Beyonce will inspire you to keep going. Every. Single. Time.
5. Running in the wind is hard. If you run a mile in the wind, count it as two.
6. If I can do it, you can do it!
7. If you run towards the Statue of Liberty, you can pretend she's waiting to give you a high five at the end. You can also pretend that she is fist bumping to your music, and cheering you on as you run (you can't really see the torch from that distance)
I am proud to say that I can now run 2.5 miles and it's getting better each week :) Running in New York is pretty neat. The weather is mild, there are two rivers that you can run next to, and there's fun stuff to look at. The con is that there are always tourists taking pictures. While I would like to think that the tourists see me looking like this in their pictures:
It's probably more like this:
You're welcome tourism board. More recently, it may have looked more like this:
Yup... that's right. I ran into a pole. It hurt pretty bad. The good news: I kept running! The sign of a true athlete. Here is the aftermath:
Not noticeable right?
Well that's it for now! Thanks for reading :) I hope you enjoyed it. I love you guys and hope to see you during the holidays that are quickly approaching! I miss you everyday.
Until next time,
xoxoxo
Ally
